> Say Cheese! > by Dream-Plushie > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > "First Day Of School" > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The sun rose one Monday morning as young Cheese Sandwich blinked open his eyes sleepily. He yawned and got out of bed, looking around. "Cheese Sandwich!!" His mom called from downstairs. "Remember! Today is your first day of school!!" Cheese frowned. He had transferred to this school halfway through the year, and was incredibly nervous. He had never been a very social pony, adn often found it very difficult to fit in. Cheese grabbed his glasses off the dresser and put them on before brushing his mane and grabbing his backpack. "Bye mom...!" He called to her. "Goodbye, Cheese! I love you!" Came the reply. "Love you, too!" He trotted out, taking a deep breath and hoping he would make some friends. Cheese noticed two fillies close to him, they were laughing and seemed to be having fun. He smiled and walked closer to them. "Uhm...hi..." One of the small ponies turned to him and gave a smirk, knocking his glasses off with her hoof. "Freak." She said before laughing and walking away. Cheese picked his glasses up and frowned again, hanging his head low. Already, this day was terrible. How could ponies be so cruel? Soon, he arrived at the school. Trotting inside, all of the colts and fillies turned their heads and stared at him. He gave a fake smile and waved his hoof hello. The ponies began whispering among themselves. "Look at his mane!" One pony sneered. "And those big goofy glasses!" Another replied. The insults continued as Cheese Sandwich sniffled and held back his tears. He was a social outcast, and everypony knew it. "Excuse me?" The voice startled Cheese, making him jump. He looked up to see an adult mare staring down at him. "I'm your teacher, you must be my new student. Come with me." The teacher smiled. "...Okay..." Cheese whispered shyly before following the teacher to his desk. The teacher gave a warm smile before trotting back to her desk. "Pssst!" The filly next to him was trying to get his attention. He turned his head. "Do you brush your hair in the morning at all??" "...I..yes, I do..." Cheese Sandwich answered, nodding his head. "Well, it doesn't look like it!" The filly sneered, laughing with the other students. Cheese's ears lied back on his head as he looked to the front of the classroom. "Alright, students, hush now!" The teacher announced. "It's time for class to begin!" As the teacher taught, Cheese didn't listen. He stared out the window as he thought about how the other ponies had insulted him. Why would they do that? He thought as he watched the clouds roll by. "Cheese Sandwich, can you answer the question??" Cheese's head snapped up at the sound of the teacher's voice. He had no clue what was asked. "I...uhm...I..." "He's ugly and stupid!!" One of the kids shouted. The room exploded with violent laughter. Cheese felt cornered, like the whole world was laughing at him. He hid his face as he sniffled, once more trying to hold back from crying. "Amethyst Splash!!" The teacher scolded. "Go to the principle's office at once!" The filly who had called out stood and glared at Cheese Sandwich. "Idiot." She whispered before walking out. The teacher trotted to his desk. "I'm so sorry about that, Cheese Sandwich..." She whispered. "Ignore them, alright?" He nodded slowly. That afternoon, when Cheese went home he dashed up to his room and sat in his bed. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he cried, looking out the window. As he was sobbing, a balloon floated up outside his window. Cheese looked at it go and somehow felt better...he wasn't sure where the balloon came from but he...didn't care. As the object flew upwards, he found himself smiling once more. > "Nopony Knew His Name" > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The next morning was dull for Cheese Sandwich. He sleepily blinked his eyes open and sighed. After stepping out of bed, he trotted into the living room of his house, where his mother greeted him with a smile. He gave a fake smile back. "Do I have to go to school again, mom?" Cheese asked sadly. "Of course you do!" She replied. "Cheese, did something happen at school yesterday? You can tell me..." Cheese Sandwich looked up at her. "...N-No, nothing happened!" He lied, not wanting his mother to worry about him. Sighing, he grabbed his back pack and trotted outside. As he began making his way to school, Amethyst Splash and her sister, Sapphire Stone passed by him. "Hey loser!" Amethyst said with a huge smirk. Cheese looked up and opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off when Sapphire pushed him back with her hoof, knocking him over. "Ow..." He whined in pain. The two fillies laughed and walked away, leaving him alone once again. Cheese sighed and stood, walking the rest of the way to his school. As he walked through the doors, whispers filled the room. Listening closely, he heard the words 'that new pony' multiple time. They couldn't even remember his name. "Hey, new kid!" A colt called to him. "My name is Cheese Sandwich..." Cheese replied softly. "Whatever." The pony replied. With a smirk, the colt grabbed Cheese's glasses. "He-Hey!!" Cheese exclaimed. "Give those back!!!" "Make me, pipsqueak!" He laughed. The student was much larger then Cheese. He ran off with his glasses, laughing. "I can't see anything!!" Cheese stumbled, tripping over something and falling to the ground. "Ow ow ow!" He heard all the other fillies and colts laughing at him and he looked up sadly. "Are these yours?" He recognized the teachers voice and he reached out his hoof, finding his glasses and putting them on. "Y-Yes, m'am..." Cheese whispered. "I sent the colt who took them to the principle's office." She told him. Cheese looked down at his hooves sadly. "Hey...Cheese..." He looked up. "I know it's hard transferring to a new school, but I promise things will get better, okay?" He smiled slightly at the teacher and nodded. Once the day had ended, nothing had gotten better. He had been insulted, pushed around, and tripped countless times by the end of the day once more, and he found himself racing home. As he burst through the doors of his home he sighed. "Welcome home, sweetie!" His mom chimed. "Are you alright?" "...I hate school..." As he said this, his mother's face turned to a frown. "Why? What's wrong, baby?" She hugged him close. "A-All the other ponies are so mean...they kept laughing and calling me names..." Cheese explained, a tear rolling down his cheek. "I felt like the whole w-world was against me..." "Oh, Cheese..." His mom wiped his cheek. "Just you wait, little colt....your going to grow up to be just like your father." cheese felt a pang of sadness at the mention of his dad. "Your going to do great things, just like him. Your going to be a hero one day, Cheese Sandwich." She kissed his cheek. "Why don't you go upstairs? I'll call you when dinner is ready." Cheese nodded and trotted upstairs, crawling into his bed. Sighing, he picked up a picture of his dad and smiled. "I'll come home, little stallion, just you wait. Your dad's gonna be a hero." His father's voice rang in his ears. Cheese flinched with the memory. His dad was right about being a hero... But he never did make it home. > "New Start" > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Everypony has a limit. No matter how calm and collected they may be, everypony has a limit. Even Cheese Sandwich has a limit... It had been a week after his first day at the new school. Cheese woke up and went to school just like every other day so far. The event took place during lunch. He was in the lunch line, and Amethyst Star was bullying him yet again. She was using all the insults she usually did, until she said the wrong thing. "I bet being a loser runs in your family!" Amethyst sneered. Cheese looked up immediately. "I bet you get it from your loser dad!" Cheese glared at her, his face turning into pure anger and hatred. "How dare you talk about my dad that way!" He yelled. The class jumped, not expecting him to lash out like that. "My dad is a hero! He's the bravest, most amazing pony I've ever known!!" Cheese sized up to Amethyst and growled. "He fought for Equestria, and you have the nerve to call him a loser?!" "Get off of me, punk!!" Amethyst swung her hoof at him and he was sent to the floor. The crowd gasped, and Cheese slowly stood, trembling fiercely. His nose felt like it was on fire, and he rubbed it only to discover that blood was trickling down his muzzle. Cheese stumbled back and looked at the pony who had struck him, only to see a huge grin on her face. He snapped. Cheese swung his arm out, and struck her right back. The kids and teachers alike fell into a silence as Amethyst shakily looked at Cheese. "Big. Mistake." She said as she stood, looking down on him. "If you ever show your face in this school again, I'll bring you to the ground!" Cheese Sandwich trembled and galloped out of the school, terrified. He didn't want to get beat up...he hated getting hurt...Cheese dashed to his house, and snuck through the window, beginning to gather his things. "I'm sorry, mom..." He whispered. "I'm no hero...I'm leaving forever...I need a new start..." After getting his stuff, he lugged it onto his back and began walking off to...nowhere in particular. "I'm such a wimp..." He told himself. Cheese looked into the sky, observing the clouds. "I'm sorry, dad...I'll never make you proud." Hanging his head, he walked slowly and sadly. Suddenly, he spotted something from the corner of his eye. It was a balloon... Cheese tilted his head. "Where do they keep coming from?" He asked himself, admiring the balloon as it floated forever upwards. He smiled slightly as he watched it go. > "Laughter" > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The path was hot and hard underneath Cheese Sandwich's hooves as he walked along. He wasn't sure how long it had been, but it felt as if hours had gone by. As he walked, all he could think of was the awful things that were said to him over the coarse of a week at that awful school. Cheese had lost all faith in Equestria at this point. It seemed as if there was barely any good left in the world. As he stared off into the sky once more, he stopped paying attention to where he was going. Suddenly, he felt something fabric underneath his hoof and he slipped, stumbling along the road face first. In an instant, he heard laughter. Ponies were laughing at him again, he just knew it. As he slowly lifted his head, he expected to see smirks and horrible ponies pointing and laughing, but what he saw was something he had never witnessed before. Ponies were laughing, but not out of evil intent. They laughed with glee and ran around. Pegasi flew in the sky, everypony looked so happy. Cheese stood and looked around, a smile beaming on his face. Ponies looked at him with warm and accepting smiles. From somewhere, a boneless rubber chicken was thrown and he smiled, putting it on his back for safe keeping. His party hat fell over his eyes, and when he lifted it, the most amazing thing was presented in front of him. A small filly, no older then he, balanced on a rubber ball, juggling rubber chickens. Her mane and coat were both amazing shades of pink and her mane was poofed out much like his own. And her smile....oh, it was her smile that got to him. Bright shimmering teeth sparkled in the daylight as this filly laughed and sang with the others. Her eyes were a brilliant blue. Cheese felt something strange in this moment. In his chest, his heart beat faster than before, in a quick thu-thump, thu-thump rhythm. Unable to understand these feelings, he tilted his head as he stared at her, and he suddenly felt his cheeks heat up. The filly spotted him and she walked closer to him. Cheese hid his face, afraid to be bullied by her. But she gave a warm smile and giggled. "Hi!" She chimed. "My name is Pinkie Pie!" Cheese looked up at her. There was a small pause. "What's your name?" "O-Oh, uhm..." He replied shyly. "...My-my name is C...Cheese Sandwich." Pinkie Pie giggled. "I like your name!!" She told him. He never got a compliment like that before... "Thanks!" Cheese replied, starting to open up a bit. "Did...you throw this party?" "I sure did!!!" Pinkie said. "Isn't it the most fantastical terrific amazing super-duper party you've ever seen!" "Yeah, it is!" Cheese laughed. "I wish I could stay in this town forever!" "You can if you want! This is ponyville!" Pinkie bounced around him and snorted as she giggled. "I would but...I don't have anywhere to stay-" "That's no problem! You can stay on the rock farm with me and my family! We have plenty of room!" Pinkie informed him. "I don't want to be a burden..." Cheese insisted. "No, really, my family won't mind!" Pinkie grabbed his hoof. "I'll show you the way!"