The Canterlot High Chronicles

by The Incredible Werekitty

Launching a Fleet of Ships

That Saturday afternoon Sugarcube Corner had been transformed into The Sugarcube for the duration of the night, or at least until about ten o’clock, since the Cakes still had to open the next day. Mind you they opened a bit later, but they still had a business to run. The bass was thumping, thanks to Canterlot High’s resident deejay, Vinyl Scratch, and everyone there was in a party mood. There food was available on a buffet set up on the counter of the shop, with a punch bowl nearby. There was also a jar for people to buy drinks from the soda dispenser, should they want soda rather than punch. When Private got there he looked positively overwhelmed.

“How did she managed to… put this all together?” Private asked, sounding rather stunned. “She was at work, all day…”

“I, honestly, haven’t the foggiest,” Twilight replied, a touch uneasily. There had been a lot of knowing looks exchanged when she and Private came in the door, together. All she did was help him find the place, since he was still learning his way around. “But… You know, Pinkie can be kind of inexplicable.”

“Alright… I guess I can accept that. Well, let’s go and see what’s on the counter, I’m a bit hungry,” Private said, as they came, fully, into the shop.

As the party went on, everybody began to really enjoy themselves. Private, much to his surprise, found himself really getting into it. Classmates he had saw earlier that day came up and said words of welcome to him, and some even wished him luck with Twilight. That caused the trenchcoated teenager to blush a bit.

“Hey, man,” Rainbow Dash said, coming up to him, and swatting him on the back, in a friendly fashion. “I wanted to apologize for this morning. I’m sure you can understand where I’m coming from, right? I mean, Twi’s one of my best friends.”

Private staggered a little, before righting himself saying, “Hey no problem, honestly I’d do the same thing for one of my friends.”

Before Dash could continue Pinkie grabbed Private’s arm and said a mile a minute, “Heya, Private! Come on join the funerficies!”

“The what?” Private said, blinking.

“Ya get used to it, have fun, big guy,” Rainbow said with a wave as Private was dragged away by a prancing pink party person.

Private found himself pulled into a variety of party games. Quite to his surprise he enjoyed every one, even the classic “Pin The Tail on The Donkey”. He then showed off some of his moves on the dance floor, sharing it, briefly, with Twilight. Both seemed to be adorkably flustered by the proximity, but obviously enjoying dancing close to one another. All too soon the party had to wind down. The party goers started to leave, doing little bits of clean-up, here and there. Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow all volunteered to help finish the last of the clean-up.

“Ah wish Ah could, y’all,” Applejack said, hanging her head. “But ya know how early Ah have ta get up.”

“It’s okie dokey loki, Applejack, I appreciate the thought,” Pinkie said with a beaming smile. “You’ll be here, in spirit!”

“I’ll help,” Private said, with a smile. “I know the party was for me, but…” The smile he got from Twilight, though, seemed to make the offer worthwhile.

“Oh! That is so awesariffic of you! Thanks, Privy!” Pinkie said happily, giving him a brief candy-scented hug. As they cleaned Rarity, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow all noticed that that Private and Twilight kept having these cute, adorkable, awkward moments that made them blush. Private was always courteous, always a gentleman despite his blushing fit to match the leftover cherry-berry punch. They observed that this seemed to be the way that Private always acted, and they slowly started to approve of him more.

__________________________________________________________________________

When the weekend was over, bright and early Monday morning, Twilight and Spike walked up their street. They had started past the large house, or small mansion, that was on their street like they did every day. It had become a landmark, something that was just ‘there’. Then the front door opened, causing both Twilight and Spike to pause in surprise. They turned to see Private, and a younger boy come out, waving to a lovely woman with light blue hair.

“Have a good day, you two… Oh, who’s that?” she said first waving the two boys, then looking straight at Twilight.

“So, Bro, ya gonna tell her?” The younger boy asked Private. “That she’s your new-”

Private subsequently bonked him on the head with a fist. “One word more and everybody at school will hear about you and that pony show.”

“Well, if ya just gave it a chan-” Tailspin began.

“You watch it too?” Spike chimed in, with a grin. “Charity’s best pony in my opinion.”

“Because, maybe, she reminds you of a certain someone?” Twilight asked with a smirk.

“Uh… no comment,” Spike uttered, his eyes shifty.

Private rolled his eyes. “Come on, let’s get going before Mom decides to interrogate Twilight. I really don’t want her to have to put ‘hounded by overbearing mother’ as an excuse for being late.”

“Wow. I didn’t know you lived here, Private,” Twilight said, sounding amazed.

“We’d never seen anybody at this house, so… It kinda became a landmark,” Spike admitted.

“We live right up the street, there,” Twilight said pointing back the way she had come. “Anyway, who’s this?”

“I’m Tailspin, and gosh, no wonder Private was gushing about you during di-” Tailspin’s talking earned another bonk on the head.

“This is my little brother Tailspin, he’s in Spike’s grade. He also has a nasty habit of never keeping his mouth shut,” Private said, trying not to turn red.

Twilight blinked, then looked at private, the slightest hint of pink visible on her cheeks. “You… you were gushing about me during dinner?” she asked. “Uh… Thanks? Nice to see that your first friend at Canterlot High has made such a good impression.”

Spike just rolled his eyes, then he turned to Tailspin. “Hi. I’m Spike, Twilight’s younger brother.”

“Nice to meet a fellow fan,” Tailspin replied and the two younger brothers shook hands.

“Come on guys, we’ll be late if we don’t get going…” Private’s warning was lost on the pair as they went on to discuss their favorite show.

Luckily they could walk and talk. The younger boys chatted about their pony show, with Twilight occasionally chiming in an observation that was both intelligent, and well thought-out. It made the walk go faster, Private had to admit. Though the fact that Twilight seemed to have a mostly positive opinion about the show seemed to make Private want to check it out, himself.

Once they got to school…

“Hi! Who are you? Oh wow, you’re new? Another new person?! What are the chances?! Oh, hi, I’m Pinkie Pie, and you’re new, and we get to have another welcome to Canterlot High Party! But one that has to start earlier, and end earlier, ‘cause you’re younger, and probably have a 10 o’clock curfew or something,” Pinkie exclaimed, seeming to pop out of nowhere. Twilight simply laughed, as the rest of her friends came up to greet them. Applejack showed up with Mac who inadvertently bumped into Fluttershy. She looked up at him with wide teal eyes, and he looked back at her, mumbled an apology, and they both turned away from each other blushing like crazy.

Private raised an eyebrow at that as they ventured to start their day…

_______________________________________________________________

Apparently it had been Monday all morning long, and everyone was more than ready for the respite that lunchtime offered. They gathered in the lunchroom, either opening their bagged or boxed lunches, or going through the line, and getting something from the cafeteria. Then they sat with their friends, chatting about everything and anything. Private was, again, sitting at what seemed to be designated as the “guy’s table”, if they weren’t of a discernable clique. True there was a lot of mixing among the cliques, and even inter-clique friendships, but they still liked to keep to them, because of the commonality of interests.

Mac came to the table, and seated himself, before he began to eat in his usual stoic manner, though his eyes would often wander to the girls’ table to gaze at Fluttershy.

Private put on a smile as he sensed Big Mac’s longing. Having a mother who was highly prone to matchmaking, it was natural for him to want his friends to be happy together.

Private came to sit beside him. “See something you like Mac?” He asked with a smile.

“... Maybe…” Mac said cautiously.

“Well to be honest, I think you two could be a perfect match,” Private encouraged.

Mac just looked at him, chewing his sandwich. “Ya think so, huh? Pretty lil thing like her, an’ a big ole fellah like me?”

“She’s also one of the nicest girls I know, and you can’t say that you don’t find her pretty.”

“Eeyup. Don’ mean it’ll work out. She’s a smart, pretty gal, and I’m just a big ole farmer,” Mac said with a sigh. “We don’ have anything in common.”

“Well, you are a farmer,” Private pointed out. “So, that would have you working with a lot of…” Private turned Big Mac’s head to watch Fluttershy trying to hand out fliers for her animal shelter. “Animals”

“She likes animals? Huh. That’s somethin’... Don’ tell me you think I oughta go an’ talk to her…” Mac said, looking at Private in disbelief.

“Couldn’t hurt,” Private said with a warm smile.

“Oh boy,” Mac sighed, and got up, walking over. Fluttershy looked up at him, blushed, looking away, then looked back at him out of the corner of her eyes. “You… uh… you like animals?”

“Oh… oh yes. They’re all so nice…” Fluttershy replied, well… shyly.

“‘Round lotsa animals on the farm… Just had some chicks hatch out, th’other day,” Mac continued nervously.

“Really? Oh! I bet they’re all so fluffy and cute,” Fluttershy gushed.

“Eeyup. They are. An’ we’ve got a dog, too,” Mac continued. From there, they just started chatting about anything and everything. It was quite obvious that they were both quite smitten with one another.

“How… how did you know that would work?” a quiet male voice asked.

Private turned over to see another kid that most don’t really pay attention too. He just seemed to blend in with the crowd. Now, Private got a look at him. He was average height, lanky, with long red hair and clad in a black hoodie that had some kind of bug insignia on it.

Private just smiled at the student, “Sometimes I just, know when two people are made for each other. All it takes after that is a little push and some deduction of how the two would fit.”

“Oh. I hope it works out for them,” he said nodding to the new-minted couple. “I’m Swarm, by the way. Nice to meet you.”

“I don’t see you around much, are you new?” Private asked.

“Sort of…” He said, looking slightly uncomfortable at the question. “Just… trying to start with a clean slate, you know?”

“Uh, right,” Private said, raising an eyebrow.

“You know how high school can be, right? Well… Most of them… This one seems less… Clique-ey than most,” Swarm observed. “Seems like a pretty cool place, for the most part.”

“I’m sure you’ll fit right in here, if not naturally, then Pinkie will have at ya eventually.” Private replied with a smile. At the name “Pinkie” Swarm developed a goofy smile, and a far-off look.

“She’s pretty cool, isn’t she?” Swarm said dreamily.

“Huh?” Private blinked.

“I uh, I’d better get going, man…” With that, he ran off.

Private raised a brow… “Pinkie? How...how would that even work?”

Raiden subsequently plopped himself down next to Private. “Man! This sucks!”

“What happened?” Private said exasperatedly.

“I was trying to talk to Rainbow Dash and I just happened to catch her changing out of her practice uniform, she totally freaked out and slapped me.” Raiden groaned. “I swear, she’s the toughest girl I’ve ever had to deal with.”

“Are you sure you’re not a masochist Raiden?” Private asked.

“Dude, you know I suck when you pull out the thesaurus,” Raiden said. “Come on man, help me out here. You’ve always been good at hooking people up.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Just tell her how awesome, handsome, and undeniably charming I am. Also say I’m totally a nice guy and sweet and caring and…”

“So you want me to lie to her?” Private asked flatly.

“Yeah pretty much,” Raiden deadpanned. “So will you do it bestest buddy?”

“No.”

“What? C’mon, man! You’re a wiz with getting people together!” Raiden begged. “Heck, I bet you could even find a guy for that crazy party girl!”

“I’m only a wiz at getting people together that would work,” Private asserted. “As far as I can tell you and Rainbow would be like vinegar and oil. Great together for a little bit, but you two would separate, very quickly.”

“Man this stinks! The one hot girl in this school that I really like and she doesn’t wanna date me! What kind of messed up world is this?!” Raiden uttered, throwing up his hands.

“It’s called reality Raiden, look it up sometime,” Private quipped, as he ate his lunch

___________________________________________________________________________

It was post lunch, and Rainbow Dash walked down the hall with Twilight to pick up her next class’ books.

“I’m just saying he could show his affections better. I mean Private? He knows how to do it right, as far as I can tell. He’s not trying to peek in on you during gym, he’s a real sweet guy, and he’s not rushing things,” Dash said, as she put in her combination.

“Wait… what? You think that Private…” Twilight uttered, blushing.

“Yeah yeah, but that’s not the topic he- WHOA!” Rainbow yelped, as Scootaloo fell out of the locker. “Hey, squirt, what gives?”

“Man it stank in there,” Scootaloo said as she got up. “Oh! Rainbow Dash, hi, I just need to hide in your locker for the next uh...year.”

“Uh… Any particular reason?” Dash asked, looking perplexed.

“I doubt your teachers would let you take your classes from Rainbow’s locker,” Twilight said with a smile.

“Well how else am I supposed to avoid this new kid from following me around everywhere!?”

“New kid?” Rainbow asked. “What new kid? And how did you get into my locker?”

“Well, it was easy cuz your combination is 18-1-9-4-5-14 I figured out cuz it spells-”

“Don’t say it!” Rainbow yelped. Twilight looked thoughtful for a moment, then smirked. “Okay, kid, what’s he doing that’s freaking you out?”

“Okay, so this new kid came by this morning. I wave and he looks as if I was some kind of art piece or something. Then I accidentally trip up the stairs and he catches me and then at lunch he’s offering me all his stuff and now I can’t seem to get away from him!”

“So he’s freaking you out by being nice?” Twilight asked.

“It’s like he doesn’t think I can take care of myself! And plus he always seems to show up out of nowhere!”

“He’s probably in your grade,” Twilight said. “And anyway, he probably likes you.”

Scootaloo crossed her arms. “Yeah, well if he does like me, he’s gonna have to wait for when I want the attention from him!” She declared, then stomped away.

Twilight smirked at Rainbow. “I think she learned a little too much from you.”

“What are you talking about, Twi?” Rainbow uttered.

“Your locker combo?” Twilight asked.

“It came with the lock,” Dash said a little too quickly.

“You bought a lock that had a combination that spells out ‘Raiden’?” Twilight asked.

“Got it outta the bargain bin. Probably some promo or something. I didn’t care, it was only one Bit,” Rainbow replied.

“Sure you did,” Twilight said disbelievingly. ”When are you gonna just admit you like him.”

It was Rainbow’s turn to smirk. “Round the time you two eggheads do it on books.”

“RAINBOW!!!” Twilight uttered, her cheeks flaming. “That… I… I barely know him! And… And… And… I… Uh… Ugh!!!”’

Rainbow laughed the whole way to her next class, Twilight muttered all the way to her way to hers.

__________________________________________________________________

Applejack was helping with the produce delivery from the local farmers’ markets. That was part of how she, and Applebloom, was able to afford to got to Canterlot High in the first place. It wasn’t particularly exclusive, but it was one of the better schools, in one of the better neighborhoods in the city. Providing fresh-grown produce from the local farms around the area at a modest discount and helping bring it into the cafeteria's walk-in cooler was the least she could do. Also, it probably helped that her Granny Smith was a popular lunch lady, who was often asked by Miss Cheerilee to give the occasional cooking lesson in Home Ec. Today she was unloading crates of potatoes, carrying them with her unexpected strength, when she bumped into somebody.

“‘Scuse me, partner, didn’t see ya there,” she said adjusting her course, and starting to head inside.

“Oh. It’s all right,” came a deep, masculine voice. “Need any help?”

“Nah, Ah got it, partner,” Applejack said. When she came back out she saw a young man in an ROTC uniform standing there with a slightly dazed look on his face. He seemed to snap out of it, brought a pair of fingers to the brim of his hat. He then blinked, checked his watch, and took off. Applejack just shook her head, chuckling, and went back to work.

______________________________________________________________

The next morning, Twilight decided to be a bit more proactive. Spike went ahead, so he could help Rarity with her latest design, so Twilight felt a bit more free to go up to Private’s door, and knock.

The woman from before opened the door, and smiled. “You're the girl from yesterday, the one who walked with my boys to school,” She said in a friendly manner.

“Ah… Y-yes, ma’am. I’m Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight said, and pointed down the street. “I live down the street there.”

“I’m Sparrowheart, Private and Tailspin’s mother.” She then grew a smirk on her face. “So, you were the one who helped my son get settled?”

“Just trying to be a good friend to a new student,” Twilight said with a smile.

“Indeed, I’m glad you were able to help. I’m happy to see that Private’s testimony about you wasn’t exaggerating. He was never really the most, social boy in his school life. But, it’s nice to see he’s met a nice, sweet, and dare I say pretty young lady.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Twilight said blushing. “I, uh, just stopped by to see if Private was ready to head to school, today…”

“Oh, he’ll be right out.” She then stepped inside and Twilight could’ve sworn she heard Sparrow say, “Young love.”

“Uh…” Twilight uttered, then shook her head, deciding to wait patiently.

It wasn’t long before Private would step out, looking thoroughly embarrassed at the way his mother reacted to Twilight’s kind gesture.

“Your mom’s… nice,” Twilight said, grinning sheepishly.

“She’s just too invested in my life, bordering on overbearing.” Private said with a smile.

“I can relate,” Twilight replied with a laugh. “I swear my Mom’s trying to make sure she’ll get grandkids, once Shiny and I graduate college. But what if I don’t want to really think about… that sort of thing until… well… I’m established? You know, home, job, steady income, the kinds of things that you’ll need to be set up properly and not have to worry about finances. I’ve heard of a lot of families that don’t think about these things, before having kids, and it usually ends badly.”

“It just shows we have good parents. Honestly it’s better than having parents that don’t care about your growth and development. That leads to a lot of messed up childhoods.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Twilight said with a sigh. “But I would think either extreme could lead to a messed-up childhood… There’s got to be a happy medium.”

They continued to chat about just ordinary things, as they walked to Canterlot High, waving to their friends, when they saw them.

____________________________________________________________

A common sight on anybody’s walk/drive to Canterlot High was the sight of Pinkie happily bouncing her way down the sidewalk to school. Usually she was humming some variation of a tune, (The Smile song tends to stick into everybody’s ear). A lot of the time, just seeing her made everybody smile. Pinkie Pie was just so cheerful, and full of life, she tended to make everybody around her happy.

One young man, though, was gazing at the bouncing young woman with a look of wonder. He stood apart from everybody, watching her longingly. His very attitude seemed to convey that he was head-over-heels for Pinkie, but the way he kept himself apart seemed to give the impression that he thought himself unworthy.

There he stood, seemingly blending in with the crowd. His long red hair poked out from under the black hoodie he was wearing. Said hoodie was hardly different from any other hoodie, accept for the green insect design on the back. His green eyes found this bouncing bundle of joy and for a moment, a smile creeped onto his face.

Little did he know just what he was getting himself into. For as many a student and teacher knows, Pinkie does not leave a smile unappreciated.

The guy lowered his head, and moved to go into the school. There was no way she would ever consider him.

Pinkie stopped for but a moment, and saw briefly the insect design on the boy’s back, looking thoughtful. With the speed of a bullet she suddenly appeared in front of the boy. She gleefully began, “Hiya! I’m Pinkie Pie! Of course I’m sure you’ve heard of me and all my party goodness! I’ve never seen you around! You’re new just like that Private guy

“Gah!” he uttered, startled. “Uh… Y-yes. Yes, I am… And yes I’ve heard about you. You... you’re amazing.”

Pinkie gasped, and squeed. “You think I’m amazing?! That’s AMAZING! What’s your name? You should TOTALLY come to Sugarcube Corner! They have the best smoothies, and you can meet my friends, and they’d become your friends, and then you wouldn’t be AAAAAAALL alone, and looking so lonely, that it could break my little Pinkie heart…”

“Uh… S-swarm. My name is Swarm,” he replied, still quite dazed.

“Hiya, Swarmie, it’s great to meet you!” Pinkie said happily, shaking his hand like a pump-handle.

“Uh… ‘Swarmie’?” Swarm said, looking surprised.

“Yupperooni!” Pinkie said gleefully.

“I…” Swarm uttered trailing off, obviously speechless. “I… should get to homeroom… It was great to finally talk to you.”

“Don’t forget to stop by Sugarcube Corner!” Pinkie said cheerfully, as he wandered into the school in a daze, passing a young woman in a white blouse, pink shirt, lavender vest, a pink bow tie, wearing thigh-high white stockings, and black Mary Jane shoes.

She took a deep breath, hefting her cello case. “A new school, and a new start. I do hope they have some good music programs, here,” she said, heading toward the Principal’s office. Across the foyer a pale girl with blue-streaked spiky hair paused in her head-bobbing progress through the school to look at the new girl. What this flamboyant girl thought about the raven-haired girl with cello, it was hidden behind her purple-lensed shades, but the smile seemed to indicate a positive reaction.

Off to the side was a young woman, with wavy brown hair was observing the flow of students with a sour look on her face. She was dressed in a similar style as Principal Celestia, namely a blazer, slacks and blouse. Gold-rimmed glasses framed her purple eyes, as she stood there, watching the students, obviously not particularly happy.

“Thank you for choosing to intern at Canterlot High School, Miss Sour Grapes,” Principal Celestia said with a warm smile. “It’s not often we have a young woman if your caliber…”

“Or age,” Miss Grapes added.

“Uh… Yes…” Principal Celestia uttered with a quiet chuckle. “I’m, honestly, grateful for your being here.”

“Thank you for the opportunity, ma’am,” Sour Grapes said quietly. “I just hope this… doesn't get to be too… interesting.”

Author's Note:

Sorry for the long wait. I was just terribly uninspired with this particular story.

Comments

[SageBrony07]

I could help but cheer when I saw this story updated. I understand though how you feel. Some stories you can easily picture and want to see where the different possibilities take you. Others are a good spark, but then seem to dim. Thanks for the update. I was happy to read this chapter and I can't wait to see how the different love stories progress. Good luck with writing both of your stories.

[i_am_the_jam]

Interesting pairings.

An intern? This should be interesting...

[Mal Masque]

Why do I get the feeling that in this world, Swarm was either part of a gang or a delinquent? Call it a hunch, and my hunches are almost never wrong. NEVER.
Oh, and that little note about a certain "pony show", nice touch. Nice touch.