Young Love

by Amethyst Flower

First Day Back

Silver Rose couldn't wait to get back to school. After talking to both Roseluck and Princess Cadance, Silver Rose was determined to make this new school year a time to remember.

A week before the new school year, Silver Rose had Boysenberry over so they could make their plans for the year.

Boysenberry flipped her purple braid over her withers, as she studied a Cosmare magazine a while laying on Silver Rose's bed. "If I got lip gloss what color would match my coat?" she asked.

Silver Rose looked at Boysenberry's light yellow coat, in the dresser mirror. "Uh, I don't know... Wait, you don't have lip gloss?" she asked in surprise.

"No, my mom hasn't let me wear makeup yet," the country, earth pony said, absent-mindedly.

Silver Rose stared at her reflection. "Do you think I should do something with my mane?" she asked, fluffing her short red mane.

"You just cut it this summer!" Boysenberry exclaimed. "What more do you want?"

"I don't know, it just doesn't look quite stylish enough..." Silver Rose glanced down at the scissors that lay on her dresser. She lit her aura and took the scissors. With a couple of snips, she had elegant side-swept bangs.

Boysenberry gasped. "What did you do?! Rosey?"

Silver Rose took a deep breath and slowly turned around. "What do you think?" she asked nervously.

Boysenberry's jaw dropped. "Oh my goodness, that's amazing! How did you do that?!"

Silver Rose shrugged, a satisfied grin on her face. "I'm an artist. So do you think it screams 'I'm making a new start'?"

Her best friend nodded. "Definitely! Oh, those side bangs remind me of my other friend's mane cut! She and I went to this beauty parlor in Canterlot, that her mother suggested, and we had the time of our lives! You wouldn't believe the mane styles they give there!" Boysenberry continued to ramble on about her amazing summer.

Silver Rose turned back to the mirror with a sigh. It wasn't that she minded when Boysenberry talked all about her 'amazing' life -she had other friends, and was talkative at that, and was entitled to talk about her life outside of Silver Rose-, but the young unicorn, just wished that her friend would take the time to ask about her life too.

Well, maybe this year I will make some friends who are actually willing to listen, she thought hopefully.

As Boysenberry talked, Silver Rose began to clean her room. She piled some of her paintings into her neatly organized closet, and put a few scattered paint brushes back into their holders on her black desk.

"You're listening, right?" Boysenberry asked, suddenly.

Realizing that she must've zoned out, Silver Rose quickly replied, "Yes, yes, of course. Continue."

Boysenberry gave her an odd look. "Okay, well, then Diamond Tiara was all like 'You can't be serious,' and I was like, 'Of course I am!'..."

Wait, Diamond Tiara? Silver Rose remembered that Rarity had said that Diamond Tiara was a filly that treated Sweetie Belle rudely. Is Boysenberry friends with her? She realized that she really hadn't ever been completely listening when Boysenberry started rambling about her other friends. Feeling guilty, she promised herself that she would do better at listening to her bestie this year. Let's just hope I stick to all these promises I'm making for this year. Silver Rose felt a large, ball like knot build up in her stomach.

---

"What did you do to your mane?!" Roseluck gasped, after Boysenberry left, and Silver Rose came down stairs.

Silver Rose rolled her eyes. "I just gave myself side bangs! How did you even noticed?"

Roseluck squinted. "I notice everything."

Silver Rose cleared her throat. "Um. Okay. Well, I just wanted to look a little more fashionable for the new school year."

"Oh, so are you taking what I said about making new friends to heart?" Roseluck asked, a delighted look on her face.

"That and I decided to make a fresh start. You were right, I need to get out of my shell," Silver Rose said.

"I am so happy to hear you say that," Roseluck said, giving Silver Rose a hug. "I think this is a good year to make some changes."

Silver Rose noticed an odd look in Roseluck's green eyes as her sister released her. "What do you mean?" she asked, confused.

"Well, you won't believe this... but..." Roseluck blushed. "I-I found a colt friend..."

Silver Rose's jaw dropped. "You're dating somepony?!" she gasped. "But... how....? When?" She was so shocked. Her sister had a special somepony? Why hadn't she told her before? She never even mentioned that she found anyone that appealed to her!

"Well, he came to us Flower ponies' carts for a bouquet of flowers for his grandmother... and I don't know... we started talking and now we are going to go out on a date on Saturday," Roseluck sighed, dreamily.

"And this happened when?" Silver Rose asked. She was thrilled for her sister, but she really wished that she would have told her before now.

"Um, two days ago. I'm really sorry, Rosey. I would have told you sooner, but you were so busy preparing for school and working on your paintings that you're painting for ponies," Roseluck explained.

Silver Rose nodded. "I understand. But you still could've told me. Just one question..."

"Yes?"

"I thought you didn't believe in true love..." Silver Rose said, hoping that Roseluck was changing her mind about that.

"No one said this is true love," Roseluck said. "Besides, all I said was I don't know if it's real or not. The last stallion I liked wasn't exactly faithful, so you can see where I'm coming from."

"I guess," Silver Rose said. Then she grinned. "What's his name? Where does he live? Tell me everything!"

"How about over a pot of chamomile tea?" Roseluck suggested, heading to the kitchen.

"Sold!" Silver Rose chirped, following her older sister.

---

Silver Rose's black alarm clock blared early in the morning. She groaned and flipped the covers off of her before silencing the clock. She rubbed her eyes with her hooves and looked out her window.

First day back to school! she realized suddenly.

The unicorn jumped out of bed and immediately began to brush her mane and tail. She grabbed an ivory scarf and a black beret. She stared at her reflection in her dresser mirror.

Artistic yet glam, Silver Rose thought, pleased.

She lit her aura and took her neatly organized book bag off of her bedpost before heading down the stairs to the kitchen where Roseluck had breakfast laid out.

Silver Rose sat down and began to eat her buttered toast.

"Good morning!" Roseluck chirped. "Ready for your first day back to school?"

"Totally!" Silver Rose grinned.

"Wonderful. Now, apple or orange juice?"

Silver Rose hesitated for a moment before choosing, "Orange."

"Are you sure?" Roseluck asked, surprised. "I thought you didn't like orange juice."

"I'm sure. What are brand new starts if you're not willing to try something new?"

"Fair point. Orange juice it is!" She poured Silver Rose a glass of thick orange juice. "Here you go."

Silver Rose frowned. Orange juice was just too stringy and thick for her to really swallow. Finally she took a swallow and her eyes widened in amazement. "This is good!" she exclaimed. She drank more. "Like, really, really good!"

Roseluck smiled. "I started buying the original at the market instead of the country style."

"I can't believe they have country style! Why would they make young fillies think they hate orange juice?" Silver Rose mock pouted.

Laughing, Roseluck said, "Some ponies like the country orange juice." She glanced at the large clock on the sunflower covered kitchen wall. "Looks like you need to get to school! Do you want me to walk you there like before, or are you going to go by yourself?"

"I'll go by myself, thank you. You can head to work," Silver Rose said, getting up.

"Whatever you say," Roseluck said, before grabbing her purse with her muzzle. She set it on the table then said, "Have a good day."

Silver Rose picked up her bag and the rest of her toast and headed to the door. "You too!" She used her magic to open the door and headed out.

As she walked along the road to the Ponyville school house, she inhaled deeply, bringing in the smell of autumn flowers, pumpkins, and spices.

This is going to be a great day! Silver Rose decided.

"Hi-ya filly! Would you like some cupcakes?!' a bubbly, high-pitched voice chirped.

Silver Rose turned to see Pinkie Pie from Sugar Cube Corner holding a tray of freshly baked cupcakes. They looked scrumptious, but if she stopped to get one, she'd be late for school. "No, thank you," she said, giving the pink pony a smile.

"Are you sure? They're delicious!"

"I'm sure," Silver Rose said, continuing down the road.

The school bell began to ring just as she reached the top of the hill on which the school house sat. She went into the school and immediately singled out Boysenberry, who was surrounded by her giggling friends. She started to head over to them, before she recognized Rarity's younger sister, Sweetie Belle.

Silver Rose walked over to the white unicorn who was talking to an orange pegasus and a yellow earth pony who had a large pink bow in her mane. She cleared her throat. "Um, hi," she squeaked. She had tried to sound confident and friendly, but all that came out was a mouse like sound.

The three fillies turned around. "Howdy," the earth pony greeted. "Hello," Sweetie Belle said. "'Sup?" the small-winged pegasus grunted.

"Uh-um... I'm Silver Rose..."

"We know," the earth pony said. "We've seen you in school before. You sit with the foals that are a grade above us."

Rarity said Sweetie Belle was a couple years younger than me... not one, Silver Rose thought in surprise. It also amazed her that these fillies knew who she was, but she only faintly remembered seeing them last year. "I, um, I'm trying to make some new friends this year... and I thought that maybe I could introduce myself to you three."

"Well, you've come to the right fillies!" Sweetie Belle said. "In case you don't know, I'm Sweetie Belle, that's Apple Bloom, and the pegasus is Scootaloo."

"I see you have your cutie mark," Scootaloo pointed out, only to received a warning glare from Apple Bloom.

Silver Rose nodded. "Um, yes, I do. I got it around a year ago."

"Aren't you that filly that's friends with my older sister, Rarity?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Uh, well, I don't know who all Rarity is friends with, but yes, she's my friend, I guess," Silver Rose said, taking a deep breath. Why do I have to start every sentence with 'uh' or 'um'?!she wondered frustrated. Get it together, Silver Rose, get it together! You don't have to be afraid. They're fillies just like you. She searched her brain for what else she could possibly say.

"All right, my little ponies, time to take your seats," the teacher, Cheerilee, announced, saving Silver Rose from having to say anything more.

Silver Rose sighed in relief and found the desk with her name on it. Thank you so much, Cheerilee! Now she wouldn't have to say or do anything, non-school related, until recess.

During the lessons, Silver Rose decided that today she was going to observe her classmates. As she looked around, she realized the school room was larger than she had remembered. It had to be to hold all the grades in Ponyville.

Suddenly a light gold earth pony colt with blue mane and tail caught Silver Rose's eye. He had a bowling cutie mark and azure eyes. He looks interesting...she thought to herself. How come I've never seen him before?

"Miss Silver Rose," Cheerilee said. "Are you listening?"

"Huh? Oh, yes, of course," Silver Rose quickly recovered. Oh, yeah, that's why.

***
When the foals rushed out of the school house for recess, Silver Rose gulped nervously. Who would she talk to? Would Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo let her hang out with them or not? Or would she be stuck by herself or, even worse, with Boysenberry and her group of friends?

Feeling out of place, Silver Rose hung her head and walked over to a bench. Suddenly she stumbled into some pony.

"I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" came an unfamiliar voice.

Silver Rose looked up into the blue eyes of the colt that had stood out to her earlier. "Uh... y-yes..." She quickly collected herself and said. "I'm sorry for crashing into you, I wasn't watching where I was going." She noticed that that the colt was flanked by two other young colts, a blue pegasus and an orange earth pony.

"That's okay," blue eyes said. "I'm Strike."

"Um, I'm Silver Rose..." she nervously glanced around. For some reason Silver Rose always had a problem with eye contact. Perhaps it was because she was afraid that if ponies looked into her eyes they would be able to tell what she was thinking. Or maybe it was because the depth of the soul behind the eyes made her nervous. Whatever the case, she simply couldn't focus on his eyes and so decided to look at his muzzle, which she soon realized was also a mistake.

Silver Rose cleared her throat. Well, this is awkward...

"I've seen you around before; aren't you that florist pony's sister or something?" Strike asked, blinking thoughtfully.

"Oh, yes... Roseluck... yes, she's my sister," Silver Rose stammered. "Do you have any siblings?"

Strike shook his head. "No, I'm an only foal, unfortunately."

"Hey, Strike, let's go play some soccer or something," the pegasus said, obviously bored.

"Do you wanna play?" Strike asked.

Silver Rose frowned. She was no good at sports, especially not soccer, but she desperately wanted to get to know Strike better. It was simply a choice between humiliating herself in front of the entire school to hang out with a cute colt, or waiting until another time to simply talk to him. "Uh, I'll pass."

The pegasus snorted, "Like a filly could play a sport anyways!"

Silver Rose turned red with anger. "Th-that's not true!" she objected.

"Hey, Chip Mint, don't be rude," Strike said to his friend, with a frown.

Ignoring Strike, the pegasus -Chip Mint- smirked at Silver Rose. "Oh, okay. Sure. So, why don't you play then?"

A knot twisted in Silver Rose's stomach. "Fine. Let's play," she said, sounding more confident than she felt. "Your four best colts against my four best fillies," she dared. What am I doing?! Silver Rose mentally screamed at herself.

"Done, and done," Chip Mint said.

Silver Rose found Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom and explained the situation -leaving out the part about Strike being cute, of course-. The three fillies agreed to help and said they could get another filly to help.

Soon it was Silver Rose, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and a purple unicorn named Dinky Doo against Chip Mint, Strike, a brown earth pony named Lickity Split, and Strike's earth pony friend, First Base.

Chip Mint was bouncing a soccer ball up and down with his hoof. "Prepare to die," he said, chuckling.

"Uh... what?" Apple Bloom asked, looking worried.

"I think he means prepare to be defeated," Sweetie Belle explained.

"Oh, right," Apple Bloom nodded. Then to Chip Mint she yelled, "Ya'll will look like a bunch o' chickens by the time we're done with ya!"

The colts burst into laughter.

Silver Rose set her jaw. "Okay fillies, let's prepare to fight. Apple Bloom will help guard our goal, awhile Scootaloo and Dinky Doo will try to get the ball into the other goal and score the points. Sweetie Belle can be the back up with either guarding or "goaling"."

"What about you?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"I'll be the goalie," Silver Rose said, hoping that she had placed everyone correctly. "Does everyone concur?"

The fillies stared at her, blank expressions on their faces.

She shook her head. "Does everyone agree with my plan?"

"Oh, yes, yes," everyone chorused.

"Great, it's game time," Silver Rose said, glaring angrily at the colts. Please don't let us mess up, she begged mentally.

***

The game hadn't started off so well, with the colts gaining all the points. But after Silver Rose had given herself a stern mental lecture, she began blocking the balls better, and then the fillies started scoring more goals.

By the time the school bell rang, announcing the end of recess it was a tie at five to five.

"We would've won if the school bell hadn't rung so soon!" Chip Mint snarked.

"In your boyish dreams!" Scootaloo spat.

"Fillies are just losers," Chip Mint said.

Strike shook his head. "We tied, Chip Mint. That's got to prove something."

"Come inside, my little ponies!" Cheerilee called. "It's time to get back to school!"

With a satisfied smile on her face, Silver Rose skipped back into the schoolhouse. She had only been the goalie, but she had been better than she thought she would be. Thank Celestia that I didn't make myself look ridiculous! she thought, relived. Now, when she went home, she could tell Roseluck that she actually wasn't that terrible at sports, like she had previously believed.

So far, this has been a pretty good first day back to school, Silver Rose decided as she sat back down in her seat.

Comments

[Sapphire Shadow]

you're welcome! I can't wait to read your THIRD chapter! congrats by the way.

[Amethyst Flower]

6512174 Thank you (again)

[Sapphire Shadow]