> Silly Stories of the Student Six > by Level Dasher > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > In the Park (Contest Entry 1) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “It’s nice to see them getting along with someone else their own age. My brother and sister have been a bit wary with creatures other than changelings.” “I get that. My little sis just doesn’t really care; she sees somepony that could be a friend, she just hops right to it.” Sandbar chuckled as he sat next to Ocellus in Ponyville’s park. Various creatures had come for Friends and Family Day, including the pony’s and changeling’s parents and siblings. One pony filly and a pair of little changelings were running after each other and rolling around as they all laughed together. “Little pony and changelings very cute,” Yona said from beside Sandbar. She sighed and shook her head as she added, “Yona miss young yak friends in Yakyakistan.”  “Well that was a mouthful,” Sandbar said, shaking his tongue. When Ocellus turned back to the grass in front of them after looking away for only a moment, the three children were gone. She gasped as she started, “Oh no! Where’d they—” “Don’t freak, they’re right over there,” Sandbar chuckled, pointing to a playground not far away. The little building consisted of a wooden step bridge, a pair of intertwining slides, and webbed netting to climb to the midway platform. “See? They’re by the slides.” Ocellus tilted her head at the middle platform where her siblings stood. “How come there’s a line for the other one?”  True to her observation, her siblings and Sandbar’s sister all went down their slide, and were immediately able to go down again. Three more foals still stood behind the other, waiting to go down. “Oh, you can’t see it from here, but the other one has a transparent bottom. You can look at the ground as you go down. That’s… that’s why the other kids are toppling over their heads when they get to the bottom,” he chuckled, holding back a snort. Yona cocked a brow. “That not hurt?” Sandbar shook his head. “Nah, I think that’s part of why they do it, actually.” After looking back at the other downward slide where his sister had just exited, he turned to Ocellus and added, “Looks like our sibs just like having one to themselves.” “It looks like they’re going a little slower, though,” Ocellus responded, tilting her head again. “Wouldn’t surprise me,” Sandbar said. “There are maintenance ponies that wipe down the whole thing after the park closes, but I don’t think they give as much attention to that slide as opposed to the one the other foals are on. It’s probably still got some tree sap or something on it.” Yona scowled. “That not fair. Both slides should be clean.” “Oh don’t worry, they’re both clean,” Sandbar told her. “It’s just that the glass is cleaner on the other slide.” > Ruined Breakfast (Contest Entry 2) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “These fancy gizmos from Canterlot are so cool! Maybe even— no, not better than stairs, but still!” Silverstream gleefully lifted the handle of the new pancake press that had been added to the line in the School of Friendship’s cafeteria. After dropping the large pancake onto her plate, she shifted down the line and added some syrup on top. “Would you chill with the stairs already?” Gallus deadpanned at her. Silverstream just stuck out her tongue at him. “Could Gallus make pancake for Yona, please?” the young yak asked from beside him. “Yak hoof too short.” Sandbar reached over and picked up the pitcher of batter. “I got it.” He looked over at Silverstream as he proceeded to carefully pour the batter so it filled every circular edge. “I’m with ya, these things are awesome.” “Not as awesome as the gem cutter they developed,” Smolder said from the back of their group of friends. “There was even an article about it with Dragon Lord Ember and the Princesses unveiling it. Check it.” She proceeded to toss the newspaper she was holding in Sandbar’s direction, and it landed in the batter he’d poured into the machine just as he closed it. The batter sizzled and spat out the sides. “Ah! Smolder, what that for?” Yona cried, covering herself with a hoof. “You ruin breakfast!” “Heh, sorry. You can make another, can’t you?” Sandbar looked back at her and cocked a brow. “Yes, but that’s besides the point.”  Yona frowned. “Yona sorry, Sandbar. Could—” “Yeah, I got it, don’t worry,” he replied with a smile. Yona beamed up at him as he carefully reached for the pancake in the machine by an edge of the embedded paper to prevent getting burned. She was about to reach for it before Sandbar shook his head and added, “No, don’t touch that one, Yona. It’s hot off the press.” > Customer Service (Contest Entry 3) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Sandbar? I’m not really sure about this.” “Don’t worry. I did it two years ago and I made a haul on tips alone.” Silverstream cocked a brow. “I mean, Smolder, sure—she looks perfectly happy in that apron, but Gallus looks like he’s about to rip his off.” “Silverstream have more faith in Gallus,” Yona said from beside Sandbar, putting down her menu. “He come around.” Ocellus pursed her lips. “I dunno, Silverstream hit it on the head. Smolder’s perfectly happy to be out there, but I think Gallus wants to slam that tray he’s holding right on that customer’s head. He puts up a good front.” They all sat at the corner table just outside Ponyville’s local cafe. The out-of-towners had decided to stay in their dorms over the summer with Headmare Twilight’s permission. Two of them had decided to work for some extra bits.  Smolder approached their table, her notepad held up with confidence. She took a glance at the cafe’s eagle-eyed manager out of the corner of her eye, then stopped in front of the table with a smile and loudly said, “Good afternoon, everyone! How are you today?” She winked as she waited for their response. “Quite well. Thank you very much,” Yona answered with perfect punctuation and enunciation.  The other four by the table all cringed. “I thought you said you weren’t gonna do that anymore,” Silverstream whispered. “How else Yona supposed to act?” she responded quietly. Smolder took a revitalizing breath. “Not like that.” She looked over at Sandbar. “This was a great idea. Thanks.” “No problem. Glad you’re enjoying.” Clearing her throat, Smolder then continued at a normal volume, “That’s great to hear. Are you ready to place an order?” “Yes please,” Ocellus replied. As his four friends placed their orders with his fifth, Gallus grumbled internally, Of course they get placed in her section. All the normal ponies are in her section. Why are all of the crazies in mine? “Boy!” a voice called. “I said one lemon wedge in my water! This has two!” Gallus groaned. “Sorry, Sir, I’m coming.” “Boy! Where is my daisy sandwich? I ordered twenty minutes ago!” You ordered it FIVE minutes ago, lady. “I’ll go check, Ma’am.” “Excuse me! This is not what I ordered!” YES IT IS, LADY, IT WAS ON MY PAD. “One moment, Ma’am, let me see what happened in the kitchen.” Gallus glared over at his friends’ table as Smolder left them with a smile on her face, having taken their orders, and retreating back to the kitchen. When he caught Sandbar’s attention, he narrowed his eyes at him. I am going to throw you into the Abysmal Abyss. “Okay, yeah, didn’t need you to say anything to read that one, Ocellus,” Silverstream said. Looking over at Sandbar, she continued, “He wants to hurt you real bad.” Sandbar waved a hoof. “It always happens. Sometimes you just have bad days. This isn’t even half as bad as when I worked here. Give it time, he’ll be fine.” Over the course of their meal, the four of them watched as Gallus went from customer to customer to customer, doing his best to satisfy them all. After going back and forth into the kitchen four times, and being yelled at three more, they could see his resolve crumbling. Smolder even glanced over at him with a sympathetic frown multiple times when they passed each other on occasion. Eventually, while Gallus was on his way into the kitchen, one of his customers stood up with her muzzle in the air. “This service was terrible. I refuse to pay. I’m leaving this very moment!” Gallus’s ears sprang up as he whipped around and saw her walking towards the exit, past a customer at one of his other tables. Said customer turned to look at the moving mare, accidentally knocking a spoon to the floor. The mare slipped over the spoon, causing her to swing in a backwards circle and angle herself into bucking a mare holding a daisy sandwich right in the barrel. The sandwich flew through the air, landing right atop the head of a stallion who was in the process of drinking a glass of water with exactly one lemon wedge in it. The stallion flinched, dropping the glass into his lap and spilling the water everywhere. Five teens’ hooves and claws shot to their muzzles as they suppressed their laughter. The rest of the cafe held no such restraint. The three customers involved in the tangle turned beet red. As Smolder elbowed him in the shoulder, giggling, Gallus shut his beak, but curled it into a grin. Tears dripped down his cheeks as he basked in the work of sweet, sweet, karma. “W-what’d I tell ya?” Sandbar cried, smacking a hoof on the table before he settled himself. He took a deep breath before he continued. “Just needed to give it time. Good things come to those who wait." > Baked and Burned > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Great job, everyone! Everything tasted super yummy! Have a good weekend! No homework for anyone!” All the students cheered as Professor Pinkie Pie set off her party cannon to dismiss the class. When the confetti settled, they looked around and found that their professor had disappeared. They all shrugged and filed out the door. Smolder suddenly let out a grunt. “Shoot, I thought I had it this time. I’m probably gonna hate this class.” Silverstream stared at the dragon, dumbstruck. “How could you hate Professor Pinkie’s class? It’s like, the best class ever!” “Yona like Professor Fluttershy best,” the young bovid jumped in. “…Seriously? Fluttershy’s class is the only one where you could actually get in trouble if you do smash anything,” Gallus said. “Not point,” Yona grunted. “Back to dragon. Why Smolder not like Pink Professor?” Smolder shook her head. “Nah, it’s nothing on Professor Pinkie. I just suck at baking. That’s all there is to it.” “What makes you say you’re so bad?” Ocellus asked. “Your muffins looked great from across the classroom.” “Oh surrre, maybe they looked good.” Smolder waved a claw. “But it’s what’s inside that counts, and—” “Friendship lesson right there,” Gallus cut her off with a smirk. “—and,” she continued, scowling, “the inside of those muffins were terrible. Pretty sure I burned ‘em.” Sandbar walked up beside her. “Oh c’mon, they couldn’t’ve been that bad. Professor Pinkie said everything was ‘super yummy.’” “Guarantee you she said it so I wouldn’t feel bad. I saw her when she tasted them; she practically gagged.” Smolder kicked an imaginary pebble.  Silverstream shook her head. “No way it was that bad. I saw you working on a cake last class and Professor Pinkie totally looked like she enjoyed it when she tasted it.” “No, it just wasn’t as horrible,” she grunted. Ocellus walked up to her other side. “Smolder, I’m sure if you—” “Stop trying to make me feel better!” she snapped. “My cake sucked, my muffins sucked, I bet if I tried doing that cake again it would still suck… I bet there are plenty of ponies in this school that aren’t good in that class; I’m bad as well, so I’m not going to bake it anymore.” > To Speak or Not to Speak > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Attention, students. Please report to the lecture hall for a short assembly. I regret to inform you that your next classes have been cancelled.” Silverstream pouted as she and her five compatriots changed their direction. “Awww, we have to miss Professor Pinkie’s class? I wanted to make macaroons!” “Fine with me,” Smolder said with a shrug. “I don’t mind not burning anything.” Gallus cocked a brow at her. “You could try actually using the oven.” “Where’s the fun in that?” The six of them approached the main entrance to the lecture hall. After entering behind another group of students, they all looked around. “Where should we sit?” Ocellus asked.  “Ooh! Ooh! Let’s go to the back!” Silverstream said with glee. “Yona want sit in front,” Yona responded. “No stairs.” “But that’s the best part! C’mon!” Silverstream then dropped to the ground and began prancing up the stairs to the top of the lecture hall wearing a big grin. Yona groaned and followed her, slowly hopping from step to step. Gallus rolled his eyes as he followed Sandbar up to the back of the hall behind the grumbling yak. “I don’t get why she’s still so crazy over stairs. They’re… well, they’re stairs.” “She grew up without them,” Sandbar said, glancing back at him. “Wouldn’t you be excited seeing something you’d only ever heard of your whole life?” “I mean, sure, but not for five months. When Professor Pinkie came to Griffonstone and introduced her scones they were awesome, but I got over it in a few days.” “Hey, everyone’s different.” Sandbar looked up the stairs again, then after a minute looked back at Gallus and smirked. “Besides, I don’t hear you complaining about the view.” Gallus cocked a brow. “What are you talking about?” Sandbar kept climbing as he stepped to the side of the stairway, and despite the yak behind her, Gallus got the perfect view of Silverstream’s rear end. “W-wha—!” Gallus stumbled on the stairs, causing Ocellus to bump into him. “Geez, ‘Cel, sorry about that.” “It’s okay,” she giggled. “Just try not to drag on.” “Har har,” Smolder scoffed. Silverstream reached the top row of seats, then filed in towards the center. Her friends followed behind her, and she beamed with joy when she finally sat down. As Smolder plopped down into the aisle seat, Sandbar elbowed Gallus in the side. “C’mooooon, you can’t tell me you haven’t taken a peek before,” he whispered. “N-no!” Gallus quickly replied, keeping his voice low.  “My empathy says otherwise,” Ocellus giggled. Miming taking a drink of water, she added, “That was spicy.” When Gallus turned and glared at the changeling, Smolder smirked and added, “And that sunburn on your cheeks is a dead giveaway.” With a scowl, Gallus crossed his arms and shifted his eyes side to side without moving his head, looking at his classmates. “…Fine, maybe once or twice,” he grumbled under his breath. “You all keep your beaks shut.” Sandbar, Ocellus, and Smolder all swiped hooves and a claw, respectively, across their mouths. “Why haven’t you said anything?” Ocellus asked. Gallus shrugged. “I’unno. She’s all bubbly like, twenty-four seven, and I’m just kinda… not. Wouldn’t work. Besides, she’s half fish. You know I’m claustrophobic; being down underwater isn’t much different for me. I’d rather stay in the air.” “But dude, she’s a catch. Gotta say something. Don’t even prepare anything, just wing it.”