Little Ninja

by DanishDash

Chapter 8: Trouble At School

"Wow, is it a ninja?" Asked Rumble, with his maw full of that daffodil sandwich he had been eating.

They sat in the classroom, and ate their lunch. "Yeah, from Nippone. Apparently it was really expensive."

"Did you get it from your Uncle Stardust?" Button nodded, and Rumble held out his hoof wanting to take a closer look. Button was just about to give to him, when Sweetie Belle trotted inside the classroom. She was heading straight for their table, closely followed by Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. Button quickly stuffed the plushie back into his saddlebag. Rumble raised an eyebrow. "Can't I see it?"

Button tried to divide his attention between Rumble and Sweetie Belle. "Uhm, sure, mm, just a moment..." Sweetie Belle stopped, what now? Time seemed to freeze for maybe a second, and then she turned and trotted over to the table Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon was sitting.

She was giving out some papers, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo smiled. Button tried to pretend not to notice, but he couldn't really behave normally when she was so close to him. During class it was fine, as they were normally sitting so far apart. He had to try and look cool, he tried to drink from his Juicebox, but that didn't help much.

Sweetie Belle smiled as she talked to the two fillies. "It's on Saturday, at my place." Apparently she was throwing a party? The fillies studied the invitations, and Silver Spoon did so with one hoof, while still holding her sandwich in the other. She nodded, as if to say, 'I was right, it is on Saturday, it says so right here.'

"Oooooooooh," Rumble suddenly said loudly. "Is it Sweetie Belle?" Button laughed loudly in order to drown him out. "Want me to call her over?" Rumble asked teasingly. Button Mash stared angrily at him, and mimicked a very hard 'NO!' Smirking, Rumble leaned back in his seat. "Sweetie Belle, could you come here for a second? Button Mash wants to ask you something."

Button felt all the blood leave his head. Sweetie Belle turned around towards the table. "What?"

"Button Mash wants to ask you something." Rumble repeated.

Button was terrified, and everypony from Diamond Tiara to the Cutie Mark Crusaders looked at him expectantly. What should he do? His head was completely empty. Fuck Rumble, that giant prick. Sweetie Belle trotted closer, tilting her head as she waited patiently for Button.

By the stars, she was so beautiful...

Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow, as if to tell him she had other things to do. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo exchanged confused glances, then giggled. A few seconds later Sweetie Belle decided she didn't have any more time to spare and was about to leave, but then Button heard a loud smack.

Rumble's head flew forward, almost smashing his face into his lunch. Rumble let out a small groan, and looked behind him to see who had smacked the back of his head. Bulky stood and laughed along with his two friends. As they stood there, with Bulky in the middle, Button imagined they were standing on a podium, waiting to get a medal for the ugliest mug. Bulky definitely won the gold medal, no contest.

Bulky laughed. "What's up, tiny?" Rumble bit his lower lip, he wanted to say something, but Bulky could creak him in two. Bulku let out another laugh. "What's up, tiny? Cat got your tongue?" His two companions giggled.

Rumble mumbled. "Moron..."

The three colts stopped laughing. Bulky glared at Rumble. "What did you say?!"

Rumble's voice got really tiny. "Nothing..."

Bulky trotted closer, and placed his hoof behind Rumble's head. "Go on, tiny, eat your lunch." Rumble looked up at him, then back at his lunch. He reached out with his hooves, but Bulky dug his hoof into the back of Rumble's head, making him whine. "No, not like that. No hooves, you can stick your muzzle into it."

"Bulky, please..." Rumble tried, but Bulky just grinned, and started to press Rumble's head closer to the food. Bulky's companions laughed loudly.

Button looked around, somepony should do something, but nopony did. There was nothing you could do, every school had its bullies, that was just part of life. Sweetie Belle and her friends watched on as well, although they looked more outraged than uncomfortable like the others.

But even they said nothing, no one did...

But then, some pony did say something, or rather, yelled something. Button's voice cut through the noise of the bullies so every pony could hear. "Let him go you brain dead idiot, or I'll kick your ass!"

The whole classroom became utterly silent, everypony froze. Bulky slowly looked up at Button, and looked like he didn't understand what had just happened. Rumble looked up as well, too stunned to slip away from Bulky. He looked at Button with utter shock, as if couldn't believe what he just heard.

Button understood exactly what they were feeling, because he didn't understand what had just happened either. The only thing he knew for sure was this. He hadn't said anything, but he had heard his own voice yell out as clearly as the rest of the class. His eyes went down, and his eyes landed on the little ninja in his saddlebag. Its eyes had that strange shine to them.

Then the world moved fast once again. Before Button knew how it had happened, Bulky had leapt up and pushed Button Mash against another desk. It really hurt. Bulky leaned forward so their faces were close, his breath smelled of old apples. "I don't think I heard that right, Button. Mind repeating it?" He said in a low snarl.

His friends held their breath in excitement, while Rumle and the rest of the class still looked at Button with shock. What the hell was going on? Button wanted to cry, to yell it wasn't him. But at the same time there was something about the situation that overshadowed his fear of Bulky. The way the class was looking at him in shock and admiration.

They thought he had called out Bulky, even though Button knew he hadn't uttered a single word. That meant that in this very moment, everypony thought he of all ponies was pretty cool. It was a strange, but nice feeling, even if he was about to be killed. He stole a quick glance at Sweetie Belle, she had the same look in her eyes as the others. She had her hoof on near her mouth, as if she could not believe what was happening. It also looked like she was holding her breath.

"What is going on in here?" It was their teacher, Ms. Cheerilee.

Button felt as Bulky let him go and stepped away from him. He looked towards Ms. Cheerilee. "He was... It wasn't..." Bulky tried to come up with some explanation, but seemed at a loss for words.

Cheerilee raised a questioning eyebrow at Button, but he just shrugged. "You three," she then said. "My office, now." The three colts followed her outside, but just before Bulky went out the door, he turned his head and looked in Button's direction. He moved his hoof across his throat to show he was a dead, or he had swollen lymph nodes, one could hope.

"Thanks, Button." Rumble patted him on the back.

"But it wasn't me," mumbled Button, but nopony heard.

Another colt trotted up to him. "Or I'll kick your ass!" He yelled, laughing. "You're not sorry, huh?"

Button tried again. "It wasn't m-"

Then he suddenly felt a hoof on his shoulder, a soft hoof. He didn't need to turn around to know who it was, but he did so anyway. Sweetie Belle smiled at him. "That was really awesome, Button Mash." She rubbed his shoulder a little, then let her hoof drop.

'No no no!' Button thought. 'Never let me go!'

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo nodded, clearly impressed with him as well. Button looked into Sweetie Belle's emerald green eyes, they seemed to have this sparkle to them, which reminded him of stars in the sky. Button opened his mouth without thinking.

"Yeah well, he shouldn't touch my friends. Good thing Ms. Cheerilee showed up, or I would have ripped him apart."

That sounded completely ridiculous of course, but his classmates seemed to love it. Sweetie Belle tilted her head slightly, and narrowed her eyes a bit as if regarding him. Apple Bloom nudged her, and she nodded a little. "I forgot," she said. "I'm giving out invitations to a party at my place." She gave him an invitation.

Button stared at her. "T-thanks..."

She sent him another smile, and then started to distribute the other invites to the rest of the class. When she left along with her friends, Button allowed himself to fall back down on his chair. His mouth felt dry, so he downed his entire Juicebox in one go.

Rumble patted Button on the back again, it felt good, even if he wasn't sure what had just happened. Once again, his eyes went to the little ninja in the saddlebag...