Friday Highs
Twilight sat at the kitchen’s countertop where bacon and eggs was the breakfast of the day as Sunset and Applejack took up their roles as chefs by the stove. Through the window came piercing sunlight with the dawning sun rising above the distant hills.
As Fluttershy and Rarity ate their breakfasts—with Fluttershy having pancakes and syrup instead—Twilight took her phone out and scrolled through her messaging app, seeing who texted her what.
At the top of her screen, she saw the blue-haired head of her brother beside the name “Shining Armor”. The words under the name: Twily, what happened last night?
Twilight gulped. Tapping on the virtual keypad, she wrote: Magic-related. Took care of the problem in half an hour.
She turned her phone off and picked her fork and knife up, ready to chow down.
Pinkie walked down the hallway, wearing a stack of hats on her puffy pink hair. “Hey! Did you know today’s National Wear-a-Hat Day?” And she brought out her party cannon and—
“Wait!” Applejack yelled, holding out a spatula at her. “You don’t wanna ruin breakfast now, do ya’?”
“Aww! But I had everything planned!” Pinkie then took out a scroll of paper which stretched all the way to the floor. “I got berets, panamas, fedoras, tuques, hard hats, top hats, bowlers—“
“We get it, Pinkie!” came Rainbow’s voice as she followed her, carrying a box labeled “Hats” before putting it down.
Then, Twilight heard slurps and swallows; she turned her head to a starving Starlight, gobbling up the bacon in no time, devouring the food down her throat with soda, and smacked the glass down without cracking it.
Fluttershy cringed at the sight of meat eaten so carelessly. Rarity did so, too, though out of a general disgust at her lack of manners.
Twilight, on her part, tried to hide her laughter behind a hand. “Last night, you had qualms about eating meat. Look at yourself now!”
Starlight then looked at that glasses-wearing ruffian. She dropped her fork in a little shock. Then, she shrugged her shoulders, effecting a nervous smile. “Eh-heh-heh. Those pigs don’t think, right?”
“Starlight!” Rarity yelled, shielding a cowering Fluttershy while still sitting down. “Be considerate of others, will you?!”
Starlight threw her hand off in a spin. “Oh. Sorry, Fluttershy.”
Fluttershy gulped. “O-OK. Y-You’re f-forgiven, but—“ standing up from her chair and picking up her plate and utensils “—I’ll just move to the living room and...let you eat as you please.”
Starlight held up her hand, trying to block her. “No! I’ll eat the bacon, uh, like a pony—uh, a person with manners!”
Fluttershy gave her a thoughtful look and then put the plate and cutlery back down. “Alright, then.”
Starlight then turned to Rarity, putting on a smile for her. “Sorry for the scare, Rarity, but...who knew bacon tasted so delicious?”
Then, Twilight’s phone rumbled and she picked it up, saw Shining’s reply: OK. Celestia told Cady about the disturbance last night. Just checking if you’re OK.
Twilight made a fake smile for him despite Shining being a kilometer or so away. Thanks for checking up on me, BBBFF! She turned the phone off and continued with her breakfast.
“So, what’re you gonna do?” Sunset then asked Starlight while flipping another pancake for Fluttershy. “You can’t just barge into classes and stay with us since you can’t just sneak into school like I did way back when.”
Starlight chuckled. “I think I can handle going around on my own.”
“Promise us you won’t walk around on all fours again?” Sunset asked with a taunting chuckle.
Starlight snickered back, trying to play along. “I basically mastered the art of using two feet. Don’t ask me to dance, though.”
Rarity’s phone rang and she brought it up, dropping her fork. “Yes, Sweetie Belle?….Uh-huh.” A sigh. “As long as you’re not late to school, you’re fine by my book….No, I’m not writing a book!….Wait, you stayed up until when?!….I told you you shouldn’t be watching trilogies past ten in the evening unless it’s a weekend, movie club or no...Sweetie Belle!”
Applejack laughed. “What’s she gotten into now?”
Rarity covered her phone with a hand. “They’re off watching Earthquake: The Complete Trilogy for the third time in a row.” She shook her head, looking like she was giving Sweetie herself a stare down. “I don’t know what’s good in those disaster movies, but it seems to work with young kids these days.” Hearing mumbling through the phone again, she resumed talking with her sister: “Sweetie Belle, you have to listen to me very carefully. I know you’re having fun, and it’s nice you’re having sleepovers, but you can’t just sleep at one A.M. and expect to have a mind ready for classes the next day!….No, you’re not borrowing any of our cameras to make your own films, either!”
Twilight looked at Applejack. “What an ambitious trio!”
Without looking back, the cowgirl responded, “Too ambitious for their own good, I might add.”
Twilight smiled, turning to Rarity who had not touched her breakfast since the call began.
“No, you can’t ask from Sunset for her camera, either!” Rarity said, almost shouting. “Don’t tell me that phones are too low-quality for your taste! That’s why I labored hard and late at Carousel Boutique to give you the latest model!….Of course, actual cameras are better, but that’s because the only thing they do is take pictures! You expect phone companies to dedicate all their resources to taking pretty pictures?!”
“And there she goes,” Applejack remarked, taking out a couple pieces of bacon and putting them on a plate which Starlight grabbed and put beside her own plate. The cowgirl glanced at her, that lady ready to wipe out whole servings of bacon in minutes.
The first half of classes came, the first half of classes went. Now, it was lunchtime in Canterlot High. Columns mixed with brick and wood dotted the checkered floors of the cafeteria. A lot of chairs were occupied by students and teachers eating whatever was on the menu which, for a cafeteria, was moot since there was no menu to read from.
Anyway: Not all of them were there, but Starlight and her friends resumed their eating habits at the table with bread, fruits, vegetables, and—most importantly—more pizza. As expected, Fluttershy got the veggie pizza all for herself.
Sunset had her camera around her neck again, browsing through the photos and leaving her food out to cool as she went down memory lane, seeing photos of her time at Pinkie’s, and then those of her time at the kite competition back in Ponyville. She closed her camera and faced Twilight who was drinking the canteen’s apple juice. “I heard you’re working on a cell made out of fuel. Wouldn’t that be...kinda’ small?”
Twi laughed. “It’s not a cell, per se.” She adjusted her glasses a bit. “To put it in simple terms,” putting her hands up and moving them around to illustrate, “it’s like a battery but better. You know how a battery ends up dying after a long time?”
Sunset nodded. Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity looked their way at her. Then, Fluttershy raised a finger. “Actually, why do they die after some time? Is it the rust?”
Twi shook her head. “Technically, it’s not rust; what you see when it dies is potassium carbonate which looks like white fluff.”
Rarity’s eyes began to droop at that.
“Batteries have chemicals inside themselves and they use that to make electricity. However, when it’s all used up, the battery’s worthless...which is why fuel cells are better,” with Twilight perking up, “because they don’t use the chemicals inside themselves to make electricity; they use the chemicals outside themselves!”
“Like a reverse battery?” Applejack asked, narrowing a brow a bit, trying to understand.
Twi twirled her finger around. “Sort of, but that’s not the best part. The magic happens with what it really uses to make electricity.”
“Didn’t you say it was the chemicals outside the cell?” Rarity asked, flourishing the question with a half-crossed arm.
“And, what would those chemicals be?” Twi shot back.
Rarity tapped her chin, thinking hard on it as if it was a test. “Air…?”
“Specifically, the oxygen part of air, but that’s good enough!” Twi then spread her arms out. “The other thing you need is fuel, which is why the most famous use of fuel cells is as an alternative to ordinary cars...but, don’t you see?” She looked at her five friends at the table, Starlight staving off a yawn. “Since the only other thing you need is gas without the other chemicals, you won’t breathe noxious molecules in, you can merge it with other alternative sources of energy like wind turbines, and they’re good for the environment—“ pointed at a passing Wallflower Blush with food in tray “—which I’m sure Wallflower will like.”
Wallflower herself turned around, froze on the spot. “Huh? Me?”
“Yeah, you!” Twi said, beckoning her to sit down on the table.
So she did, putting her food down which consisted of a salad, some dressing, and a glass of water alongside an equally tall glass of vinegar.
Applejack and Rarity resumed their lunches; Fluttershy, pleased to have Wallflower sit beside her as well looked at her bag where Angel poked her head out of.
Sunset gave Twi a strange look, but otherwise returned a good smile. “I guess you’re quite enthusiastic about fuel cells.”
Twi smiled back. “Well, when smartphones came along, most of us just took them without really studying what was going on behind them—and, I admit, I didn’t give smartphones much serious thought at first.”
“Uh, what’re you talking about again?” Wallflower asked, utterly confused at this point.
“Oh, the exciting and fascinating and upcoming technology of fuel cells!”
Wallflower pursed her lips. In an innocent-sounding voice: “Why should I care?”
Twi eyed her. “It’s better for the environment than the batteries we know because they only need fuel and air to generate electricity. No need to put yourself at risk with chemical leaks!”
Wallflower then nodded, remembering something. “Oh. Isn’t that the thing they’re trying to use for cars?”
“Yeah,” Twi nodded back, grinning. “They’re replacing—“
Thud!
And everyone stood up from their chairs, then looked around, trying to see what was going on. Some went over to the windows but only saw their own schoolmates looking around, too.
Twilight and the others went up, left their food. They went to the glass doors and saw Rainbow hiding beside one of the lockers while holding a soccer ball. She was throwing up in the air nervously.
“What’s going on, Dash?” Applejack asked, giving her a mean look. “Broke a trophy or somethin’?”
“Hah-hah.” She poked her head past the locker, seeing only other students at the hallway. “I may have...uh, broke the statue’s horse with this thing,” holding up the ball.
Sunset scratched her head, puzzled. “Just the horse, right?”
Rainbow poked her head out again, trying to see if a teacher was there. “Yeah. Just the horse.”
Sunset wiped the sweat off of her forehead, relieved. “Looks like the principals will have to pay for another marble horse...again.”
Wallflower looked at Rainbow, who was wearing a grin that would pass off as genuine on other days.
Lunch was gone and, other than some detention for Rainbow Dash, the day went on as usual. Before everyone knew it, classes were over for the entire week as students piled out of the school in droves, most of them wearing exhausted smiles as they talked fast to each other, made on-the-spot plans for what to do this Friday night. Some wanted sleepovers by a friend’s house, others wanted a night out in a restaurant or a coffee shop, still others wanted to push further and have a drive out of the city. There were also those who intended to stay home tonight with either a good book or a good game.
But, there were others who were more committed to the school’s cause than most, and Wallflower Blush was one of them, hanging up baskets of flowers in between the school’s windows along with a few others like Derpy, Roseluck, and Bon Bon who had their own baskets of flowers to put up.
“Excellent!” Principal Celestia said while standing by them, seeing the natural adornments on the walls as they glowed a little orange under the sunset sky. “And...Rose, is that lavender? I’m sure my sister would love to have that this upcoming Floral Week.”
Wallflower looked at her and made a blushing smile. “I’m honored, miss, about you giving our club a chance to shine.”
Celestia nodded, beholding the vibrant flowers grooming the dull brick walls. “Every club deserves their chance to shine, and yours is no exception, though you are also tasked with the burden of making sure the boys will not puke on Monday at the smell. They were already surprised enough with the announcement.”
Wallflower giggled as Celestia waved them all goodbye before going back inside.
But, racing past Celestia and into the outside was Lyra Heartstrings, ruffling her spiky green hair in the wind of her pace, whizzing past Wallflower and almost made her trip, and went up to Bon Bon, holding up flower baskets of her own. “I was going to meet up with Pon-3 at the music shop to try to sort things out, but she said she won’t be having her night shift this time, so I thought this up last minute.”
Bon Bon looked surprised, examining the flowers and seeing that there were some forget-me-nots nested in those baskets. “You’re really gonna stay until nine to help us for Floral Week?”
Lyra nodded, shaking her head up and down vigorously. “Of course! It’s even better when you do it with your best friend, eh?”
Bon Bon smiled as they traded flower baskets. “You stored everything in your locker, remember?”
“Yeah, I won’t forget! Forget-I-not!”
Bon Bon and Wallflower groaned at such a good pun.
Nighttime came. After hours of strenuous work, of trimming bushes and vines, of placing flowers and shrubs at just the right places, of debating on whether plastic plants would add to or subtract from the spirit of Floral Week, everyone was done and the school was now decked with flowers and potted greenery, decorating the pavement to the school as they were lined up with different colors of tulips, lavenders, sunflowers, roses, and the like.
Wallflower and her group stood at the entrance of the school, standing at the top of the steps. “Girls? I think you’ve all done a great job sprucing up Canterlot High.”
“Does that mean we get to go to Sweet Snacks to celebrate?” Lyra asked with a wide grin.
Wallflower looked at her weird. “Uh...yeah?”
Bon Bon raised her wallet. “I’ll pay for Lyra, so don’t you worry.”
And so, the Gardening Club—plus Lyra—walked down the fresh-scented pavement to the sidewalk, passing by the statue which was now missing its iconic rearing horse, leaving only the base.
Then, Lyra placed her hand on her back and—
“Wait! I forgot my bag!”
Bon Bon shook her head. “You told me you wouldn’t forget!”
Lyra laughed. “Mistakes happen all the time!” Then, she looked at the doors of the school; she saw some lights on through some windows.
“Just run and be back,” Rose said casually. “You know the route, right? It’s rush hour, so we won’t stop for you; it’ll get full if we wait.”
Without saying anything, Lyra ran back to school, leaving her friends to journey to Sweet Snacks Café by themselves.
Inside the dark hallway, Lyra’s steps reverberated as she ran over to a locker that was hers. She rotated the knob on the lock, inserted the correct combination, and opened her locker. She grabbed the backpack and slung it round her back. She closed the locker, secured it by fastening the lock, and ran here and there through more main hallways and then the foyer and then outside, down the steps, tried to run to the grass—
“Agh!” as she saw the flowers over there, still running straight though leaning a bit to the left, eye on the sidewalk. Between gasps for breath, “No stepping on the plants…no stepping on the—“
Foot misplaced.
Lyra tripped, screaming and falling headlong to smack her head on the base of the statue.
Except she didn’t, for she disappeared into the base of the statue in a bright white flash.
Now, no one was outside. Only flowers and shrubs bending under the breeze.
“...and, how may I take your order?” Pinkie asked, decked out in her waitress uniform once again in Sweet Snacks Café, as all the tables were filled with not-so-busy teenagers enjoying the start of the weekend, buzzing with talk and phone beeps.
Bon Bon looked at the empty spot on their cushion seats. “Uh, we’re actually five, but Lyra’s late.” Sitting beside the wall, she looked out the window and saw no sign of her friend despite the sidewalks being packed with people walking up and down under the streetlights.
“I’ll just have fries and a milkshake,” Wallflower spoke up.
“I and Derpy will both have the Four-Layer Monster,” Rose ordered.
Bon Bon tapped the table, staring with a tired look at Pinkie. “What do you recommend?”
“Ooh! Chef’s recommendations!” Pinkie wrote a few words on her notepad. “Or, waiter’s recommendations, ‘cause, you know, I’m not a chef—“
“I get it!” Bon Bon cut in, sounding irritated. “What do you think’s best for me?”
Pinkie tapped her chin with a pencil. “Cherry burgers with egg!”
And everyone at the table looked at each other, confused.
Bon Bon sighed, giving up on making sense of the dish. “One of that for me, one for Lyra.”
Pinkie grinned. “Okie-dokie!” She scribbled all of that done in illegible shapes and read, “Fries and milkshake for Wallflower, Four-Layer Monsters for Rose and Derpy—with softdrinks?”
Rose nodded.
“...with softdrinks, and two cherry burgers and eggs for Bon Bon and Lyra. Correct?”
“Correct,” Wallflower replied.
“Good! It’ll be here in a minute!” She rolled away with her shoes-on-wheels, not forgetting to turn on the jukebox to usher in soothing vintage music throughout the whole café, making Rose bop her head to the beat.
Bon Bon looked out the window again. “Ugh. She’s still not there. Know what? I’m gonna call.”
Wallflower looked at her nervously as Bon Bon brought her phone up and heard the rings.
First ring.
Second ring.
Third ring.
“This is the first time I’ve heard of that,” said the chef behind the counter to Pinkie.
Fourth ring.
“Cherry burgers with eggs?” the chef continued. “But, alright.”
Fifth ring.
“Might be a surprise hit. I’d have you to thank for.”
Sixth ring.
“I’ll always be here!” Pinkie said, shaking her hand. “Don’t need to thank me!”
Seventh ring.
Then, a beep. A kind voice said, “Sorry, but the number you are calling is beyond—“
Bon Bon took her phone back inside her pocket. “That’s unusual. Lyra always keeps her phone charged at a hundred percent.”
“What’s the percentage last time you saw it?” Rose asked beside her.
“It was...five minutes before we were done. Caught a glimpse and it was at ninety.”
“Does her phone drain fast?” Wallflower asked.
“Not that I know of,” Bon Bon said. “It’s a juicy phone. She only charges it once every three days.”
Rose and Wallflower had wide eyes at that.
“What if she actually went out of range?” Rose suggested. “Like, she’s out of town?”
Bon Bon narrowed her brows. “She has no relatives nearby outside of Canterlot, and she’s not visiting her grandparents. She’d tell me well in advance if she was.”
“Then, where could she—“
Bon Bon gasped. “I have a really bad idea where she’s at!”
And everyone else at the table looked at her.
“Since she wanted to find her backpack, she went back to school. But, she also stores some of her excess stuff inside the maintenance room. What if...what if she locked herself inside?!”
“The phone would still work,” Rose said. “It’s within range.”
“No, it wouldn’t,” Bon Bon replied, sounding haggard. “I had to go there once to retrieve something for Miss Cheerilee, and there’s a warning sign about stray magnets…or something….”
And took Wallflower’s hand as she stood up.
“Rose! Stay where you are and don’t leave until I call back!” Turning to Wallflower, ignoring the curious looks she garnered from everyone else in the diner: “You’re coming with me to save Lyra from the maintenance room!”
“How could she lock herself inside if the knob’s broken?” Wallflower asked as she was pulled out of the diner.
“It’s because it’s broken! Now let’s go!”
Stats
Page generated in 0.164 seconds
Total duration
866 users online
400,288 hits today, 2,244,100 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Okay, we need to put a grate on this thing that only opens outwards...
If that 'she' was Lyra... I don't know which one is better? Two Pinkie Pie ... or two Lyra?
9057995
That's Lyra. Encountered my own ambiguity issues there. Fixed it, so her name should come up in that section now.
...okay then.
Also, the fuel cell discussion is kind of strange. I took a course on corrosion in college so I have some understanding of it, but it seems odd here. Unless fuel cells are going to be very important later as a method to fix accidental portal travelers, this seems like very out of place filler.
...I'm surprised Lyra only went through the portal on accident.
I'm confused.. unless I read the chapter too fast and missed the Equestrian Lyra turning up, should this really be Lyra?
Silly CMC, the trilogy you should have been watching is Star Wars. Because #CLONEWARSSAVED!!!!!!
Soda with breakfast? Yuck. Might as well just eat a bag of sugar.
"After the Battle of the Bands, the school board forced Principal Celestia to change the admissions policy from 'Whoever walks in and looks like a teenager is a student.'"
Wait, Rarity had to pay for Sweetie's phone? Where are their parents?
If Starlight can't barge into classes, why can she still eat in the cafeteria?
What purpose does the talk of fuel cells serve? I suppose we'll find out in time.
Questions aside, this looks like it's going to get very interesting. Here's hoping Lyra doesn't cause too much of an interdimensional incident. (And seriously, Twilight, turn the portal off when it's not in use!)
...uh oh!
9057881 We know nothing about the bloodthirstiness and competitiveness of governments in the EQG world. However, we do know that Equestria had a black ops organization that kidnapped scary creatures and locked them up in a black site (Tartarus), and that Celestia kept this organization a secret from her own people. We also know the nations of Equestria are one missing student away from a world war. They're certainly no more reliable than human governments.
The idea that "the authority" will ruin things mostly just comes from lazy writing from YA authors who want to keep the focus on teenagers. The government might well want to trade with the aliens and make contact with them, they're not going to dissect Sunset or try and invade through the portal.
And just having a bunch of magic doesn't make you immune to bullets and bombs, unless you cast some kind of specific physical repulsion spell. Magic does what it is directed to do, it's not a universal force that makes its bearer better at everything.
9058311 You're right, it did happen in one of those 1 minute shorts. It's just that at the end of that short, it pulls back to show Sunset Shimmer is illustrating the whole story of them stopping the mugger in a comic book.
One wonders how many people this chain reaction is gonna catch before someone manages to head it off.
Seriously Twilight, you should really keep the portal shut off unless you're expecting to use it. You have no one but yourself to blame for this one. Come to think of it, I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often.
Looks like as Sci-Twi’s heading to Equestria in canon!
9059491
Well.
Alright, then. It's nice that they're actually having that, and I'll do my best to watch it. Nevertheless, this is making me think about adding the Alternate Universe tag in the near future.
9058104
According to Bon Bon, she has no relatives nearby outside of Canterlot. Assuming she's a teenager, her parents are somewhere in the city; won't be surprised if she lives with them.
9058313
Unhealthy, yes, but this fic is not about being healthy.
As for the other questions: It could be Rarity's gift to Sweetie for her birthday; she is generous, after all. And, concerning Starlight—don't take my word on this because my memory's a bit fuzzy about it—but, from where I'm from, cafeterias aren't that strict. If you're a student's parent or a close friend of a teacher or a presenter for some special event, then you could also go to the cafeteria and buy your food.
9059295
If you're referring to Sunset's order in the first chapter: She's not a vegan. She only ordered veggie burgers because she didn't feel alright with eating meat while writing to a close pony friend.
I think that should be Bon Bon.
Also, Oh frack.
9059804
OK. Will fix that shortly. Thanks for spotting it.
Damn it, Lyra.
Replace "for" with "as". "For" sounds like some old-timey schtick you'd read from a 1600s document.
I'm wondering how totally blissed out Lyra is right now as she has hooves!
9058313
To be fair, the Dazzlings apparently transferred since Sunset was asked ahead of time to show them around. Or that only happened in fanfiction, I can't remember.
Welp, time to fear the worst.
The problems with having an portal in the open, amazing what issues fanfic writers come up with that the official show doesn't.
Both Lyras are going to love this.