Torn Between Two Worlds

by Alex Barkhorn

Chapter 14

I climbed into my bed with heavy, exhausted eyes, flicking my lamp off. I heard my door creak open again, and sighed, sitting up. Look, Rarity, last night was sweet of you and all, but I stopped short when I saw who was in the doorway.

"Oh, Alex, I m sorry, did I wake you?" Fluttershy asked quietly. I sighed and shook my head.

"No, I just barely turned off my lights," I replied with a small smile. She returned the smile and nodded, and there was a brief moment of silence. "Something you need?" I then asked.

"Well, since Rarity was here last night, I figured that maybe, um, I dunno, I could take her place tonight?" She asked shyly, hiding away the right half of her face with her hair. I thought for a quick second, before giving my reply.

"Yeah, sure." I said with another small smile. Her smile widened as well, and I got up from my bed, going to my couch and sitting down. She made herself comfortable in my bed, and looked at me for a few moments. I looked back, and we sat there, for only a few moments, in complete silence.

"Well, um Goodnight, Alex." She said sweetly, laying down and burying her head in my pillow. Soon enough, she was sleeping peacefully, and I could see the smallest smile on her face. I chuckled silently to myself, and drifted off to sleep.

I awoke the next morning to the sound of my door opening. Fearing the worst, I bolted upright, seeing Pinkie sneak her way in again. "Ohh, no ya don't!" I called out, pointing at her with a playful grin.

"Aww!" She pouted, crossing her arms. I chuckled and got up and out of bed, stretching and yawning. Another full eight hours of sleep, this was looking good. These girls were definitely onto something.

"Allison making breakfast again?" I asked. This time, Pinkie was quicker to react to the new names.

"Oh, yeah! So, hurry up! We have another big day ahead of us!" Pinkie said, dashing out of my room.

"We re just going to school." I said with a smirk, though I was now talking to an empty room. I closed the door and looked through my closet, wondering what to wear today. It was a bit warm, so I settled on a plain black crew neck shirt, and faded black slim-straight jeans. I laced up my boots, and stepped outside, to be greeted by the smell of cooking breakfast, pancakes, or maybe even waffles by the smell.

"Mornin' , Alex," AJ began, glancing over her shoulder to look at me. "Breakfast'll be up n' ready in a few." She finished.

"You know how to make pancakes?" I asked with a quirked brow. I nodded a good morning at the other girls, who were all sitting around the dining table.

"Heh, 'course I do. Not that hard." She replied with a slight chuckle. I only shrugged and dug through my fridge for something to drink, making small talk with the girls.

The rest of the morning went by normally. Well, as normal as things could go, recently. On our way to school, it was oddly quiet. I decided to comment on the matter.

"Everything alright, girls?" I asked them.

"We're fine," Twilight replied absently, much in a tone I would use.

"Okay, I know that tone. What's eatin' ya?" I asked them. Twilight sighed and replied.

"I guess we're just a little nervous, still." She said quietly.

"But, I thought yesterday went well?" I asked in mild confusion.

"Oh, it did!" Applejack began with a nervous chuckle. "It's just that, well, today's gonna be whole new classes, so...We just dunno what to expect." She finished timidly.

"...Girls, you sure everything is alright?" I asked skeptically. They all gave quick nods in reply. "Alright, then. I trust you." I said with a sigh, pulling into the school parking lot. We entered the school, and went to our usual spot, seeing Dana and Gray were already there.

"Mornin', guys." I said, giving Gray and Dana a small smile.

"Morning, Alex. Girls," Dana replied with a friendly smile of her own.

"So, Pink- Ah, I mean, Patience, ready for foods?" Gray asked with a nervous chuckle.

"What was that?" Dana asked Gray with a quirked brow.

"Ah, nothing, don't worry about it." Gray replied quickly. Before Dana could comment, Pinkie responded to Gray.

"Oh, yes, I am! I can't wait to see what kind of super awesome food we'll be making!" She said with bright eyes. Dana laughed at Pinkie's excitement.

"Heh, you know, I could swear I've seen that kind of excitement somewhere." She commented with another soft chuckle. Gray and I instantly glanced at eachother, but didn't expect Dana would find anything out.

"Yeah, well-" I began, but the bell cut me off. "Well, looks like it's time for English. Ladies?" I said with a slight smirk, holding my arms out for Rarity and Dana.

"My, what a gentleman," Rarity cooed while taking my arm, eliciting a small blush from me.

"Yes, Alex is quiet chivalrous, isn't he?" Dana teased, taking my other arm.

"Oh, please. Alex, where's this government room?" Twilight said with a mocking grimace. I chuckled and gave her, Fluttershy, Rainbow, and AJ directions to the gov room, before leaving to my first period english class with Mr. Donnovan, who was not only my favorite teacher, but was also my third period teacher.

"Good morning, class." He said, earning tired looks and yawns from the other students. "Well, you all seem bright and chipper this morning. Anyway, incase you missed the memo, we have a new student joining us today. This is Raine Teno." He said, waving a hand towards Rarity, who smiled at the class.

"Pleasure to meet you all," She said with a slightly nervous chuckle, and she gave a couple students a strange glance. Following her gaze, I saw that a few of the guys in our class were giving Rarity a lecherous stare, and I over heard a couple other mooks talking of...Inappropriate things involving Rarity. I grimaced and shook my head.

"Thanks for joining our class, Raine. Go ahead and have a seat next to Alex." Mr. Donnovan said, and she nodded, sitting next to me.

"I'm glad I have this class with you. It'll make this whole situation so much easier," Rarity whispered to me.

"Situation? What situation?" Dana asked from behind us.

"Oh, um, well, be-being a new student!" Rarity said, effectively saving herself from an awkward explanation.

"Oh, right. Duh." Dana said, and I blinked in surprise. She fell for it that easy?

My thoughts were cut short as the day began, and I could only wonder how well the other girls were doing...

First Period Government...

Twilight sighed as introductions were out of the way, and Fluttershy was the last to speak.

"Um, my name is Faith...Faith Sherman." She said aloud, giving the other students a shy smile, before scurrying to her seat next to Rainbow Dash and starting her 'warm up'.

"Thanks, girls, good to have ya," The teacher, Mrs. Grammar, said. Twilight then chuckled at the irony of having someone named "Grammar" teach a government class.

"Hey, I know you," Twilight heard a familiar voice say.

"Oh, nuts..." Applejack whispered in irritation.

"Yeah, and we know you two. Jake and Aaron, right?" Rainbow said with attitude.

"Yeah, and you were the chumps hanging with that loner. He stuck at home again? Or is he not always at your side?" Aaron chimed in with a scoff.

"For your information, he isn't stuck at home. He's here, at school, not being a couple of immature jerks like yourself." Rainbow said in Alex's defense. Jake and Aaron only laughed.

"Oh, man, is that the best you got?" Jake taunted. Rainbow Dash had to be held down by Applejack at this point, when the teacher finally paid attention.

"Hey, guys, what's goin' on over there?" She asked with a raised brow.

"Nothin'. Just conversatin'." Applejack replied curtly. That was enough for Mrs. Grammar, and she went back to grading papers.

"Lemme rephrase it for her, then," AJ said. "Alex is doing his work in school so that way, he won't end up a loser after school like you two!" She finished with a smirk. That seemed to get the two nice and wriled up.

"You gotta lot of nerve, ya know that?" Aaron said with a growl.

"Oh, we got more than that, chump!" Rainbow said with a clenched fist.

"Girls," Fluttershy said quietly. "I think we should just ignore them..." She then whispered.

"She's right, listen to your girlfriend." Aaron spat. Rainbow's eyes widened at the insult, and she furrowed her brow in anger.

"Alright, now you're in for it!" She growled, and stood up to approach Jake and Aaron, who actually looked ready to retaliate, but AJ intervened before anything could happen. Finally, the teacher took action as well.

"Jake, Aaron, are you two really picking on the new girl? God, you guys, grow up!" She scoffed. "Now calm down before I send you two boys to the discipline office," She then said. The two grumbled incoherent response, and Twilight sighed.

"Crisis averted..." She whispered to herself. She then heard hushed voices at the front of the room. A few students were whispering to eachother.

"What just happened?" One girl asked her friend.

"The freak with the rainbow hair nearly got into it with Jake and Aaron," She replied in a whisper. Twilight glanced at Rainbow, who must have heard her comment, as evident by the scowl she gave the gossiping girls.

"Hoo, boy..." Twilight muttered to herself.

First Break...

First period ended, which went by pretty well for Rarity. A few of the rather prissy girls in my class gave Rarity disgusted looks, but I helped by saying they were jealous of Rarity's natural beauty, which was true. Just like Dana, she wasn't wearing any makeup or cosmetics, but it didn't matter- she still looked amazing. Must be a perk of being a natural fashionista. We waited at our usual spot during first break, and Gray and Pinkie were the first to come back.

"Heya, guys. How was foods?" I asked them.

"Booooring!" Pinkie exclaimed. "There was no food, no sweets, and no cooking! We did a paper on stupid Italy...Whatever that is." She said with a sigh, crossing her arms. We sat down against the lockers, when I noticed Dana gave Pinkie a strange look after her comment on Italy, and was about to question it, but I saw Twilight and the others heading our way from their class.

"Hey, look! It's Twi- I mean, Takara and the others!" I interrupted. "How was..." I began, but noticed the scowl on Rainbow's face, and the annoyed frown on AJ's face. Fluttershy and Twilight were the only ones giving me smiles, though they were hardly reassuring. "Allison, Raven...What's wrong?" I asked, before they explained their situation to me.

"Those two jerks again?" I asked with a growl. Moments of silence passed, and I stood up.

"Alex, where are you going?" Twilight asked.

"To have a talk," I replied curtly. I began to walk off, but a hand darted out and snatched my wrist. I looked down to see Rainbow holding my wrist.

"It's fine, Alex. I'll get over it. They were just being dumb. I'm used to handling bullies myself, remember?" She informed me, slowly forming a small smile. I remembered back to the Sonic Rainboom episode, and how she handled the bullies in Cloudsdale her own way.

"Alright. if you insist," I replied, sitting back down. The bell rang once again, signaling time for second period. "Alright, Takara. Time for Psych." I said, standing and helping her up.

"Great," She said with a small smile.

"And you have gov with me, Patience." Dana said, leading a very enthusiastic Pinkie down the hall.

"Right, then." I began, waiting until Dana was out of earshot. "Applejack, you, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity have algebra down there," I said, pointing down the hall.

"And you have English with me, Fluttershy." Gray told her, and she nodded, sticking close to Gray.

"Right, then. Let's get to class," I said, leading Twilight to Psych.

Down the Hall...

"...Did he just call her Rainbow Dash?" Jake asked, watching Alex walk down the hall with the new girl, Takara. The others went their seperate ways as well.

"Yeah, and called the other ones Applejack or some junk. Sounds like the characters from the Pony show my sister watches." Aaron said with a raised brow. "Probably some lame nicknames." He surmised.

"...You watch that?" Jake asked?

"...No. My sister does." Aaron replied slowly.

"Yeah, right...Anyway, something's up with them. I dunno what it is, but I'm gettin' a weird vibe." Jake said, narrowing his eyes, before being scolded to go to class by a school administrator.

Second Period Psych...

Twilight took to Psych as a moth takes to a flame. That is to say, she was drawn to the idea, but it wasn't gonna end well. She understood the concepts well, but just had trouble applying them to situations. We got her there, though. Our teacher, Ms. Kelly, was happy to help her, as was I. Again, I began to think about how the others were doing.

Second Period English...

"Hey, new girl." Someone said. Fluttershy perked her head up for just a moment when she heard the voice, but looked back down at her book. "Hey, new girl! I'm talkin' to you!" The voice said again.

"Calm down, B. New girl has a name, ya know." Another voice said, though she recognized this one as Grayson's.

"Whatever," The first voice replied.

She looked up, seeing a girl she recognized from her first period class looking at her.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Were you saying something?" Fluttershy asked quietly.

"Yeah, you're friends with crazy hair?" She then asked.

"Crazy hair...?" Fluttershy repeated in question form.

"Yeah, the one with the multi colored hair. She nearly got into it with Jake and Aaron this morning?" She then explained.

"Oh, you mean Raven. Yes, I'm friends with her, why?" Fluttershy asked with a kind smile.

"You better tell your friend to watch out. It isn't a good idea to mess with them. If they don't do something, their little groupies will." She warned.

"Please, Bianca. Jake and Aaron may be jerks, but they wouldn't hit a girl." Gray retorted. This Bianca girl only shrugged.

"Never know. Like I said, if they don't, those girls that practically follow them around will." She replied.

"Oh, my..." Fluttershy said to herself.

Second Period Algebra...

Rainbow Dash was absently doodling on her paper, when the room suddenly became quiet. She stopped for a moment, and listened intently, thinking she heard a slight buzzing sound.

"Raven? Raven!" The buzz, apparently a voice, called out. Rainbow looked up to see the teacher staring at her with her arms crossed.

"Oh, uh, yeah?" Rainbow asked aloud. Some of the kids snickered, but she ignored it.

"Care to give us the answer to this equation?" The teacher asked.

"...Not really." She replied honestly, earning a couple more laughs, though these seemed to be less mocking. Rainbow sighed and looked at Rarity, then AJ, who didn't seem to be paying much attention, either.

"Look at that hair..." Rainbow heard, and she shut her eyes in frustration.

"I know, that's crazy..." Another voice said in reply.

"I kinda want it..." The first voice then said, and Rainbow opened her eyes. She could tell it was the two girls behind her talking, but didn't bother to turn to look at them. They were probably saying that sarcastically.

Looking at her two friends again, Applejack looked at the person sitting next to her in annoyance. Seemed like she was asking for help, but the student didn't do anything to help. Seemed like the lazy type for AJ to get so irritated.

Looking to Rarity, it seemed she was making friends with the popular-looking girls. Though, moments later, Rarity's smile faded, and she traced her fingers along her eyes, then lips. The girl she was talking to pulled out a small container that held what looked like various types of make-up. Rainbow sighed and shook her head, going back to doodling.

Lunch Break...

"Alright, class, remember, reading tonight will be a lot of fluff, so write down those important terms!" Ms. Kelly told the class after we began to leave for lunch break.

"So, Takara, enjoy Psych?" I asked, using her human name in the presence of the teacher, who didn't seem to be paying attention anyway.

"Actually, yes. Kind of a slow start, but I'm glad to be understanding it now. Thank you, Ms. Kenny!" Twilight then said, directing her attention to the teacher for a moment.

"Not a problem, Takara. And welcome to Equitas high school!" She said with a friendly smile. Twilight and I made our way to our spot, seeing Dana and Pinkie approach.

"She's an energetic one," Dana said. There was a strange tone in her voice, almost an ominous one, and I glanced at Pinkie, who only grinned widely at me. Oh, I had questions for her when we got home.

"Yo," A calm voice said. I looked over and saw Gray approach, with Fluttershy close at his side.

"How'd english go?" I asked the two. Gray shrugged, and Fluttershy followed suit.

"It was fine..." She replied absently, apparently deep in thought. I sighed and looked over my shoulder, seeing Rarity, Rainbow and AJ approach as well. AJ and Rainbow seemed quiet, though not upset, like Rarity.

"Alex, quick, where's the nearest cosmetics store?" She asked. Everyone shot her a surprised look.

"Raine, you don't need any cosmetics." I replied slowly, still shaking off the initial shock of the sudden question. "You're beautiful the way you are," I then said in honesty. She gave a light blush, and laughed lightly, shaking her head. "See, that's the only blush you need, that one right there." I said.

"Pfft. I like how you knew that was makeup..." Gray muttered.

"Right, you're right. I don't know what I was thinking. Thank you," She said. I surmised that someone had tried telling her that makeup was an important aspect of beauty, and I was hoping Rarity of all people wouldn't conform to that. Even though she did in Equestria, it was different here.

The rest of lunch went by much better, as Gray and I managed to get the girls' spirits up with jokes and different stories of school. Dana, though, was oddly silent throughout the whole thing, only making the occasional witty comment, mostly aimed at me. Before we knew it, lunch had passed, and third period awaited.

"Alright, girls. Guess you're all with me. Time for speech and debate. The best class, might I add." I said with a small smile. We all got up, and said our goodbyes. Gray silently agreed to meet me at my house after school, and we went our separate ways.

Third period definitely went as expected. We got in there, and the class was a bit bustling, but, that was just how things were. That is, until a whiny, slightly nasally voice spoke up. "Oh, hey! New people! Great, I love new people Ya know, I used to be new..."

"Can it, Matt." I snapped, catching the girls by surprise.

"Aw, thanks, Alex. Love you too." Matt replied, going to sit in the back next to the only person in the class that could tolerate him, Ron.

"Who was that?" Twilight asked.

"Seems like an egghead. Like, mega egghead. Bigger egghead than Twilight..." Rainbow muttered.

"That's Matt. Matt Barkhorn." I replied irritably.

"Is he related to you?" Rarity asked, to which I vigorously shook my head.

"God, no! He just has the same last name as me. But, he's the most egotistical, annoying, narcissistic pest in the class. Even the teacher can't stand him." I said with a smirk. The girls all looked at Mr. Donnovan, who was staring at Matt with an annoyed smirk, as he continued on about some kind of outrageous adventure he, of course, never had.

Class officially started, and Mr. Donnovan had the girls introduce themselves. Thankfully, the people in this class were at least somewhat civilized, and gave them all warm welcomes. We started off the class by giving the speeches that were assigned to us, and a lot of them were good. The central theme was that we needed to touch on an important subject in our lives. I was last, and Mr. Donnovan looked at me.

"Alright, Alex. You're last. I hope you're prepared?" He asked with a bemused smirk.

"Eh, I kinda got something." I said, taking my notebook that had notes scrawled across the paper. I took my place at the front of the room, and inhaled deeply.

"After hearing all of these speeches on...Things from love, life, and family, to, no offense, trivial things like baseball and video games...I'll go in the former's direction. Friendship is a beautiful thing. Friendship is a light in the darkness, it's the thing that loves on any terms. Friendship is Magic," I began, looking towards Twilight, and each other individual girl. "Friendship is more than just someone you talk to at school. It's someone you love talking to, someone you trust with everything. From simple things, like, remembering to wake you up," I said, looking at Pinkie with a smile. "To stories of a dark and troubled past," I added, looking at Rarity, then Fluttershy.

"Friendship is the other half of the human, the other being family. But if you think about it, it technically counts as a whole. For some, or me, at least, my friends are my family. I'll protect them to the end. I'll defend their honor, and help them in a time of need." As I spoke, I looked between each of the girls. "I'd happily take a bullet for them, even if it would just extend their time a bit longer. Pam Brown once said, 'In loneliness, in sickness, in confusion-the mere knowledge of friendship makes it possible to endure, even if the friend is powerless to help. It is enough that they exist. Friendship is not diminished by distance," I paused to look at Twilight and the others again, "or time, by imprisonment or war, by suffering or silence. It is in these things that it roots most deeply. It is from these things that it flowers.' Friendship is the thing that binds each person together at the smallest root. Friendship is magic."

A moment of silence passed, and the room suddenly roared in applause - as much applause as a class of thirty students could give. I looked at the girls, and they all had the smallest hints of tears in there eyes.

"Alex, that was beautiful. Thank you for that, go on and have a seat." Mr. Donnovan said. I nodded, and sat back down. After getting compliments from the students that sat around me, Mr. D assigned our next piece of work, and class ended.

"Alex, that was an amazing speech." Twilight said with a smile as we walked to my truck.

"It was from the heart." I replied in honesty.

"Darling, that was simply poetic. You should consider writing," Rarity said with a warm smile.

"Funny, I've actually thought of doing that." I admitted.

"It was very sweet." Fluttershy said, as I opened the door for her and the others.

The ride home was spent talking about my speech and how they all loved it, and were glad to have heard it.

"To be honest, you all inspired it," I admitted.

"We kinda had a hunch." Applejack said with a grin. I returned the grin, and shook my head in amusement.

"Alright, well, I just wanted you all to know it for sure." I replied, pulling into my driveway, only to see Gray was already there, along with Dana. My heart stopped for a moment in suspense, and I put the truck in park, exiting with the others.

"What's she doing here?" I asked, straight to the point.

"Way to be tact," Dana chuckled.

"Dunno. She insisted on coming here." Gray replied with a shrug. Pinkie exited last, and jumped in joy when she saw Dana.

"Dana! Hi!" She said excitedly, hopping up and down.

"Patience, you should-"

I was cut off when Dana spoke next.

"Hey again, Pinkie Pie." Dana spoke with a smart grin, turning to me and Gray. We both stared at Dana, jaws agape, before we spoke in unison.

"What'd you call her?"

( A/N

Well, sorry about the little hiatus, everyone. Every author is bound to hit the inevitable and immovable wall called Writer's Block.

...And also that itty bitty nuisance called a job, but, still. Enjoy the new chapter. I'm trying to get a good mix at focusing on the girls and Alex. Anyway, things seem to be going along a bit more smoothly, so chapter updates might come along a bit more frequently. Remember to check out my tumblr for news concerning BNW (at alexbarkhorn[dot]tumblr[dot]com )...Or, soon to be a different name. Speakin' o' which, I've narrowed it down to three different titles. They are:

Believing in a New World

Torn Between Two Worlds

Waking Up

Cast your votes now, folks. G'night! )

Comments

[Iron Sides]

I might have to go with torn between 2 worlds

[csnthenavy]

Excellent chapter, I really enjoyed it, especially the little bits of foreshadowing I've been seeing in each chapter. Keep up the good work!

[totallynotabrony]

Been waiting a while for a new chapter. Thanks.

[Spiffers]

She then whiepered - should be whispered (Fluttershy's line durin government class)

Rarity's naturally beauty - should be either just natural, or something like "naturally occurring beauty" (start of First Break)

Must be a perk of being a waited at our usual spot during first break, and Gray and Pinkie were the first to come back. - this line's just worded weird. Probably just need to switch the start and end of the sentence eg. Gray and Pinkie were the first to come back, must be a...

I should stop this now... me editor's kicking in... If you want any help editing/proofreading, I would be glad to help.

Anyways, glad to see that ending. It was sort of obvious that it was going to happen soon enough.

And... My vote goes to Believing in a New World. Although, I'd also like something like "Stuck Between Two Worlds". I don't like Torn, makes it sound like they have a decision, although I do understand the idea you're getting at

[VerdantSentinel]

I laughed at the irony when you put "You should consider writing"

[Alex Barkhorn]

440786

Actually, thank you for catching those. I practically had to strap myself down to write a new chapter. So, I was worried about stuff like that. I'll fix it right away.

[Spiffers]

441422 Well, just so you know, when I said I should stop now, I mean I started seeing too many errors, and didn't want to copy them all down. They're all fairly minor though, so no worries.

[Guardian]

Believing in a new world, that's my vote.

[Menoshe]

"Hey again, Pinkie Pie." Dana spoke with a smart grin, turning to me and Gray. We both stared at Dana, jaws agape, before we spoke in unison.

"What'd you call her?"

Hm..... Yeah, that's an issue.

[DragonEmeraldKeyBladerXZ]

"Hey again, Pinkie Pie." Dana spoke with a smart grin, turning to me and Gray. We both stared at Dana, jaws agape, before we spoke in unison.
"What'd you call her?"

OH NO TIME PARADOX ALERT EVREYPONY TO THE GIANT PANIC ROOM NOW