//------------------------------//
// What Did I Do to Deserve This? 
// Story: The Average 
// by Short Stories 
//------------------------------//

	"I got a what?!" Twilight stared down at the two pieces of paper that had been perfectly stapled together. Mr. Cranky Doodle looked up from his laptop at her outcry, along with the rest of the class. Twilight didn't seem to care at that point that all eyes were on her and marched up to Cranky's desk; each student leaned forward and craned their necks to see what would happen next. "Mister Cranky, I'm sorry for bothering you at this time, but it's really important that I know why I got a--a--a--"

The teacher looked at her with irritation and snatched the test out of her hands. "A 'C'?" He asked quizzically. Gasps rose from the students that were close enough to hear the problem and they quickly whispered the news to their friends and desk partners. It was unlike Twilight to get such a typical score; at least, that's what they heard and knew from rumors of her being the best student at Crystal Prep, passing every exam and test handed to her with flying colors. Twilight's cheeks and ears started to turn red, as if she had just noticed that she and Cranky had an audience behind them. She nodded sheepishly and the teacher sighed as he pulled it closer to get a better look.

After several agonizing minutes for the girl, Cranky pushed the paper back to her and flipped the sheet to the second page, tapping two white spaces, one that was supposed to be a short paragraph and another being a sketch, both on how to explain quantum physics. "You didn't answer these." He said.

Twilight mentally face palmed herself; she had meant to get back to that question and try to explain it the best she could. Quantum Physics was something she could somewhat understand, but it was difficult for her to explain. Nevertheless, she looked down at them and wrinkled her nose. "B-but...they're only three points...h-how can that add up to thirty?"
        
Cranky sighed and went back to his work on the laptop. "There was only ten questions on the test, Twilight. I'm surprised you didn't notice that before; I had to multiply each problem point by ten, and each student got graded on those two for effort. Since you didn't do them, you simply didn't get any points." He stopped typing and looked at her with no empathy at all. "Does that make sense to you?"

"I--I--I guess..." She stammered, her usual quietness starting to kick in. "Is there any way I can make this up?" She heard some creak of chairs as most of the class leaned forward even further.

The teacher furrowed his brow and tried not to snap at the sensitive student; he was getting better at controlling his anger but he had had a particularly rough day that day. "No..." he said through clenched teeth, "It's the 26th of May. We get out in five days. There would be no time for me to enter it in with all these other late assignment." He gestured towards five thick piles of paper that were lined up on his desk and, after, at the note sprawled on the chalkboard that said 'NO LONGER TAKING LATE ASSIGNMENTS.'

Twilight lowered her head and shamefully retrieved her paper. "Oh," she mumbled, "right." She began walking back to her desk, offering a silent thanks over her shoulder. The minute she sat down, Rainbow leaned towards Twilight and asked in a whisper what had happened. "I got a seventy on my test." Twilight muttered, sadly shaking her head. "He won't let me make it up."

Rainbow froze, went to pause her game on her laptop, then looked at Twilight. "You got a seventy out of one hundred?" She asked, flabbergasted. "I got a higher score than you!?" At Twilight's nod, she felt a shout of glee building up inside of her, but once she saw Twilight on the verge of tears, she decided to focus on the situation at hand. "I'm sure you'll get it next time, Twi..."

Twilight shook her head again and shifted her chair to face the prism haired girl. "No, Rainbow, you don't understand." She sighed, a little cautious of whether to continue or not. "Ever since kindergarten, I always got a 4.0 average in my grades. This is bound to bring it down to a 3.5, and I just can't let that happen."

Rainbow sat straight up, puzzled by Twilight's statement. "How can you get a 4.0 average in kindergarten?"

“Nevermind, that Rainbow." Twilight said in frustration. "This C--this average score will ruin my perfect all-A record, then it will stop me from getting into Yale or Harvard, then I won't be the best scientist anyone's ever known, then I won't be able to solve every world disease, all thanks to a stupid, stupid mistake that I got back in the eleventh grade that "ll never be able to erase!"

Rainbow held out both hands in a surrendered gesture, trying to block Twilight's worries. "Whoa, Twilight," she chuckled, "I don't think it'll go that far." she hesitated, then leaned forward again, speaking in a lower tone so she wouldn't be easily overheard. "But, if you'd like, I think the girls and I can help you fix this smudge on your perfect grades."

Twilight practically jumped out of her desk and wrapped her arms around the sporty girl, so overcome with joy. "Oh, thank you, Rainbow!" She cheered, "thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!!"

Rainbow chuckled nervously and tried to ease her off, ass the whole class was staring at them again. "Of course I'll tell your brother off for you." She said in a tone that hardly convinced anyone. "What are friends for?"


/\/\/\/\


As soon as the bell rang for lunch, Rainbow and Twilight tried to get out the door before anyone else, but, unfortunately, Crank held them back. After a lengthy lecture on why it's important to not disrupt the class with one's problems, they were out the door and in the cafeteria in record time.

There, they saw the six girls waiting somewhat patiently for them, their lunch trays nearly empty. "What took you so long?" Pinkie asked, jumping up from her seat. "We've been waiting here for forever!"

Dash rolled her eyes in annoyance and crossed her arms. "Mister Cranky held us back." She scoffed, "he gave us this huge lecture on how rude it is to disrupt the class."

"Well, why were ya disruptin' the class in the first place?" Applejack questioned as she made room for Rainbow.

Twilight sighed and took her seat next to Sunset. "I--uh---" she stammered, "got---got a..uh..a....."

"A C?" Pinkie interrupted, causing all six to look at her with shock. Twilight had a hard time trying to pick her jaw off the table, though she didn't know why it surprised her so much; it seemed gossip spread twice as fast in Canterlot High than it did in Crystal Prep, probably due to the amount of friends everyone had.

Rarity cleared her throat once no one spoke up after a minute and a half. "Pinkie, don't you think it's a mighty rude of not letting Twilight finish what she was going to say?" She chuckled nervously. "I highly doubt one as smart as her would ever get a C on a test, anyway..."

"Nope, she's pretty much right," Rainbow said nonchalantly, causing all eyes to land on her for more information. "Don't ask me," she shook her head, gesturing towards Twilight. "She's the one who knows what happened."

Six pairs of eyes turned towards her, each as curious as the last. Twilight slumped down in her chair, still embarrassed from the predicament. "I--uh..." She mumbled, "I missed two problems. I meant to complete them, but it was just so difficult for me to explain. I had no idea those two were graded on effort. If I had--"

Sunset placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and smiled. "It's nothing to worry about, Twilight. We all make mistakes from time to time."

Twilight took a deep breath and explained to them why it mattered so much to her. Rainbow didn't seem that interested, as she already knew, but the others were particularity engaged, each questioning how she could get a perfect A in kindergarten afterwards, which she brushed off absentmindedly. "Rainbow said she knew you'd all help me." Twilight finished, "and I trust everyone here." She took a sip out of her milk carton before continuing. "So, who would like to help me erase that C?"

The six all shared the same confused expression until Pinkie voiced what they were all thinking. "How?"

"I dunno." Rainbow answered, "but I'm sure we'll think of something..."

Pinkie beamed and stood up, picked up her tray. "Works for me!" She cheered, "I'm in!"

Applejack rolled her eyes with a smile and shrugged. She then nodded, her sign of saying she'd help. Eventually, each girl agreed to help the science geek with her problem. Twilight, while minorly shocked at the outcome, was overcome with joy and proclaimed a group hug. Once it was over, she asked what the plan was.

"Meet me in here after school." Applejack said, "I think I have a plan that might work out fer ya."