Group Project
Minuette resisted the urge to sigh as she struggled to keep her attention on Princess Celestia’s lecture on the fundamental principles of the next spell they would be undertaking. It was easier said than done, though. Every few moments, Minuette’s gaze would drift over to Split and Bristle, only to find them focusing on their notes with their ears swiveled squarely at their teacher.
They hadn’t spoken much with her over the last few days. She had approached them multiple times wherever the chance presented itself, but on each occasion, she had been gently directed away or told that everything was fine before they wandered off. It was becoming increasingly disheartening. They were still clearly bummed out and working themselves to the bone to make up for the test they hadn’t done so well on.
First Aid seemed especially worried about them. Every so often, when Minuette would ask about how they were doing, or if she had any idea as to when they would be able to head over to her place for that ‘surprise’ she had kept talking about, she would either receive shrugs or noncommittal responses as her answers.
“They’ve never been this quiet before,” First had said during lunch one day. She and Minuette had been sitting alone in the courtyard, as Split and Bristle had elected to head to the library instead. “And, what’s worse… They’re quietest around you.”
“Oh no. Do you think they’re mad at me for something?!”
“What? No, no of course not! Why on Equestria would they be mad at you? That’s silly, Minuette.”
“Heh. Yeah, I guess it is…”
First Aid had found the idea to be completely and utterly ridiculous. And, at face value, Minuette couldn’t exactly blame her. The other filly had known those two for a lot longer than her. But while First was dead-set in her belief that their silence and distance from Minuette was purely a result of stressing out over their next big test, Minuette wasn’t so sure…
“Hearing about how you were lightly picked on and teased after you failed yours, I can only imagine it might be worse for them, especially considering the fact that they are of the nobility, while you are not. The natural expectation is for them to excel where others fail, but if they come up short…”
Minuette gasped, her eyes flying wide. “Oh my gosh! Do you think they’re being bullied?!”
“I am considering it as one of many possibilities,” Fangs answered in a level tone.
It was an unpleasant possibility to consider, but if Fangs was right, then it was very much a possibility… and in some small way, Minuette couldn’t help but feel responsible for it. Celestia’s school was filled to the brim with foals from well-to-do or noble families. There was a high standard on everypony here. Minuette was among a rather small group of outliers. She was a commoner. No noble blood, no highly influential family, or family ties—she was just a normal filly.
And she, the normal commoner filly, had aced the last big test… The very same one that those two, the children of noble families, had done poorly on. And now they were being quiet and distant from her…
Of course, she was probably just being paranoid. But still… the timing was there, and Fangs hadn’t been very optimistic about pony nobility. All Minuette could really do was hope that she was wrong and try to make her friends feel better as soon as possible.
The class dragged on and on, before, eventually, Celestia set down the chalk and turned away from the board. “Alright, did everypony catch all of that?” she asked.
A wave of affirmatives came from the other foals, including Minuette. Her mind had been distracted, but she had the gist of it. It was an advanced form of the lights and illusions they had been working with so far but in a less rigid form. The spell created ‘fluid light’ that the caster could weave into any shape they so desired, lending it whatever colors they chose. However, it was significantly more complicated than the previous two spells, and Minuette had a feeling it was beyond her to tackle.
Celestia smiled and nodded. “Good. The test for this spell will be in three weeks, and it will be a little different from the last one. Instead of a paper quiz and demonstration of the spell, this time, there will only be a demonstration. However, you will not be tackling this magic alone. I want all of you to split into groups of at least three and work together to come up with the best picture you can think of. When the time comes to show your mastery of the spell, you will be expected to work together and pull your weight, presenting your work of magic art. The art itself does not need to be good, to be clear. I am not testing your artistic talents, but your magical skill. I will be grading each student based on their contribution, the stability of the creation, and the distribution of the work. However, for the creatively inclined amongst you, there may be some extra credit in it for you if you produce a particularly good image. Does everypony understand?”
As yet another wave of affirmatives ran through the classroom, Minuette’s eyes darted to her side, locking onto First’s. The other filly was grinning back at her. They both knew it, then. This was their chance to get Split and Bristle where they needed them to be!
“Very good. Take a minute and find who you want to group with,” Celestia declared, holding her head up. Already the room was breaking into a clamor as foals raced to claim their friends before anypony else, and she had to raise her voice to be heard. “Once you’ve done that, you may spend the rest of the period to begin planning!”
With the go-ahead from Celestia, Minuette leaned forward to look past First Aid at Split End and Bristlestroke. The two colts were glancing at each other with frowns on their faces. Evidently, they had already decided to team up. But they needed at least three team members. Minuette grinned and waved at them. “Hey, guys! Why don’tcha team up with First and me?” she asked eagerly.
Split and Bristle turned to look at the two of them, their eyes darting between Minuette and First. There was clear indecision in their eyes. Minuette’s earlier bead of anxiety grew just that little bit more from their expressions. They were hesitating. Why would they hesitate, unless they didn’t want to be part of this group?
“Come on, guys,” First Aid added, leaning forward and giving them puppy dog eyes. “Minnie and I can’t do this alone.”
Split winced at that, glancing to the side. “Er… well, we kinda have to have at least three team members, don’t we?” he asked quietly.
“Mhmm!” Minuette chirped in affirmation.
Bristle sighed a second later, seemingly dissatisfied. “Alright, okay. Guess we’re teammates, then,” he said.
“Sweet!” Minuette cheered, turning to First Aid and sharing a quick hoof-bump with her.
That had been relatively painless. Now all she had to do was get them back to her house after school so they could discuss what they were going to do for the picture. And so she could show them Fangs, of course, but that had been a part of the plan right out the gate.
“Any ideas about what we’re gonna make?” Split asked as if reading Minuette’s mind. He glanced back at his cutie mark and grimaced. It was a pair of scissors slicing through a mass of straight brown hairs. “Cause, uh, I’m not thinking of much… Hair’s always been my thing.”
“We know,” Bristle replied, glancing down at his own. A paintbrush upon a canvas, unsurprisingly. “I’m sure I can think of something… but I’m pretty tired today.”
“It is a group effort,” First Aid reminded him with a gentle nudge. “So we all gotta contribute.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” the colt replied, lightly brushing her hoof away. “Just… I’m just really not feeling it today. I didn’t sleep very well.”
“Oh… Okay,” First Aid conceded, withdrawing a bit. “Well, uh… the rest of us can make a start, then, and you can chip in some more when you’re a little more rested. How does that sound?”
Bristle shrugged. “Sounds fine, I guess… Just gimme a time and a date.”
Minuette’s eyes practically sparkled. Here it was! “Ahem. Well, we could head over to my house tomorrow afternoon,” she said eagerly. “We can talk things out in my room, figure things out, throw some ideas at the wall to see if they stick. Maybe even get some ideas from-”
Her friends blinked as she caught herself just shy of mentioning Fangs by name. She frowned and looked down somewhat. They hadn’t met him yet, and if she went name-dropping him now, the odds of them believing her would be slim to none. And calling her sanity into question was the last thing she wanted to do.
Besides, they already went through that whole song and dance about whether or not she was crazy.
“From… your parents?” First Aid ventured a second later with a raised eyebrow.
Minuette was quick to latch onto the offered escape and gave First Aid a smile that was perhaps a bit too grateful. “Y-yeah! My parents, yeah. They might not be painters like Bristle, but they’re grown-ups, and grown-ups just have the best ideas!”
“Heh. Tell that to my alchemy teacher,” Split scoffed, a tiny smile appearing on his face. “Let’s grow pony eating plants in class, he said. It’ll be fun, he said. Oh, don’t worry. The plants won’t turn aggressive and spray you with a quart of foul-smelling green gunk, he said!”
All three pairs of eyes fell on the complaining colt. Minuette stifled a snicker at his indignant smile. “Heh. Wh-what the heck happened in your alchemy class?” she asked between her barely stifled chortles.
“Yeah, cause uh, I don’t remember anything like that in mine,” First added, also trying and failing to stifle her laughter.
Split End’s cheeks puffed up in agitation, an embarrassed flush enveloping them. “...L-lucky,” he grumbled quietly before looking straight down.
Bristle also managed to put on a small smile at that, some of the tension leaving his face. “Heh. No, Split, that one was your fault. The teacher wasn’t the one who decided it was wise to put a hoof file in the plant’s mouth.”
“Eeeeww,” First Aid said, cringing back in spite of her continuing laughter. “Dude, that is such a stupid idea! What were you thinking?!”
Split End groaned in humiliation, covering his head with his hooves. “Ugh… just drop it,” he whined pathetically, his ears folding down to rest flat against his skull. “It took all night to get the smell out… and everypony else already laughed at me for it.”
Minuette’s laughter ended immediately, guilt replacing her mirth. How could she have been so stupid? She should have figured that he would have been laughed at for something like that, and considering that he was probably already being teased and picked on for the failed test, he wouldn’t have taken it well at all.
First Aid followed close behind her, quickly sensing that the joke was over. She briefly glanced back at Minuette, her ears drooping.
Minuette swallowed heavily. Slowly, she slid out of her seat and trotted up to Split’s side. Bristle kept an eye on her as she went but otherwise did not move to stop her. With a deep breath, she placed her hoof on Split’s back and smiled. “...I’m sorry, Split,” she said quietly. “I didn’t mean to make you feel upset or anything. I… I wasn’t thinking.”
“No. You weren’t,”
Minuette flinches away from the sharp response. She withdrew her hoof and backed away, looking down. “...I’m sorry… I guess I was the dumb one, this time,” she apologized again.
“So am I,” First agreed, reaching over to pat Split on the shoulder. “I’m just not used to you acting like this, you know?”
Split was quiet for a moment. He took a deep breath and lifted his head. The humiliation on his face had faded at least a little bit. “...Apology accepted,” he said after a moment. He glanced at Minuette for a moment, his mouth opening as if to say something more. After a moment, he decided against it and looked back down at his hooves. “...So… o-our project?”
The attempted redirection was about as obvious as it could get. But given what had just happened, Minuette was all too happy to get back on topic. She nodded and returned to her seat, trying not to worry. She shared a glance with First Aid, though, and they both knew then and there that not worrying about their friends was strictly out of the question for now.
With that concerning thought setting up its nest in their minds, they turned their attention to their group project and spent the remainder of the period discussing various ideas for their illusionary art.
All the while, Minuette hoped that their meeting with Fangs would be the kick her friends needed to pull themselves together and get out of this rut. It was no fun when they were sad and upset like this… and she just wanted things to go back to normal.
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It's not going to go well when Minuette tries to show Fangs off to the other foals.
Aww, poor Minnie. It's sweet she's concerned for Split and Bristle. I hope they take their meeting with Fangs well. Can't wait for the next chapter!
Welcome to the new normal. You don't get the old one.
10396652
I'm getting the feeling that First will be able to see him, but the other two won't.
After reading this chapter I'm getting the feeling that the reason split and bristle sometimes avoid minuette is because one of them was the foal from the first chapter and after seeing Minnie make an illusion of him that brought back some memories. But I could be wrong and them failing tests and such is the sole reason for their behavior.
Minuette is quite a self aware filly. The incident with Fang will definitely be a curious one...
Why do i feel like that meeting with fangs is going to be a failure?
Because it's never easy.
While I'm glad Minnie and her friends are talking again, I have a feeling that things aren't going to go well when she tries to introduce them to Fangs. She means well, but sometimes even the best intentions don't lead to good results.
Wow. Minuette, Classroom Queen is now in charge!
Really hoping things go well, but I have a bad feeling about the meeting.
10396750
you're not the only one
Ah, I spy a typo.
If it weren't for the introduction chapter with Fangs and the colt, I could see this story going for the angle that Fangs is not actually real. Basically, if Minuette's friends can't see Fangs and the first chapter or two doesn't exist, Minuette could very well be imagining him. Of course, those chapters do exist, so arguing around them about Fangs being a figment of her imagination would be a bit of a stretch.
I'm also trying to avoid invoking the insanity card since Minuette wouldn't actually be insane if Fangs was in her head. She would just have some schizophrenia, but I wouldn't even want to call it a disorder as it isn't negatively affecting her life. She also isn't experiencing any other symptoms of it. My source is a friend with schizophrenia who would experience something not that different.
10397294
Yeah, Fangs is very definitely real. Were this story intended to have a sad ending, then sure, maybe I'd make him fake to be a monster.
Either Split or Bristle or both are changelings in disguise and the reason they're so mad and avoiding Minuette is because her illusion almost blew their cover as they are Advance Scouts for The Invasion
Poor guys, it's way to early for them to get shoved into noble politics...
Well, I can see 3 possible outcomes to the meeting with the mirror.
Either they see fangs and are terrified, they don't see him and minnie is disappointed, or they don't see him, and she tries to use her illusion magic to make it so that they can see him. And then proceed to terrify the kids again.
Very nice chapter, I look forward to the next chapter.
this is not going to go good. they wont be able to see Fang.
Does Split have a crush?
10396683
i get the feeling that split and bristle have already seen fangs
10396688
i thought the same thing