The first thing people tell you during freshman orientation is that high school is not a prison. Rather, it should be seen as a fortress of knowledge where one can grow and learn with close friends. At once, Rainbow Dash sat up straight and asked around to see if there were canons on the roof, only to slouch again and mutter something about being stuck in the fortress' dungeon of boredom.
Fluttershy, upon the other hoof, knew not if her 'second home' for the next four years was a prison or a fortress. All she knew was that is was big. Really big.
"Really, really big," she said.
"Yeah, there's definitely more elbow room than at Cloudsdale Elementary," Rainbow agreed as they made their way through the crowded halls. "I'm sure we'll figure it out though, no sweat. Where's your 01 class?"
"Umm..." she rummaged through her bookbag, disorganizing a few books (and quite a few animals), until she triumphantly pulled out a slightly crumpled piece of paper. "Room 42," she said, then furrowed her eyebrows. "That's funny, I thought our guide said they skipped the forties."
"Nope, that's in the old bell tower, Flutters. Good luck up there, I've heard it's as hot as a dragon's breath without air conditioning. And that's after you make it up four flights of stairs."
"Oh, that's a long way up," Fluttershy said with a weak chuckle. "Guess we'd better start walking, shouldn't we."
Rainbow gave her a sideways glance. "Umm, actually Flutters, my class is right here." She jerked her thumb to the door on their right. "Non honors and everything."
"Oh, that's right. It's strange, not having any classes together after spending every other grade in the same homeroom." She shrugged her shoulders. "I guess that's how high school works, isn't it?
"Yup. Don't sweat it; everything's gonna be fine. Maybe even better for you, without a lab partner who makes a rainbow explosion with nothing but hydrogen peroxide and food dye. Still wondering how that was even possible..."
"That was just once in third grade, and besides, it even brought the whole school together to make it into a mural. But I'm sure nothing like that is going to happen."
"Thanks," Rainbow said, patting her friend on the back. "Wouldn't want to mess things up like that on my first day. Nope, the two of us are gonna make this year awesome!"
Just then, the bell rung, marking the three minute passing period.
"We'll meet up at Sugarcube Corner after school, right?" asked Fluttershy.
"Definitely. See ya, Flutters!"
And with that, Fluttershy found herself standing alone in the middle of the hall and waving to Rainbow's backpack, which certainly appreciated the sentiment. As she turned around herself, she could just hear Rainbow shouting, "Cloudchaser, hey! Didn't know you were in this bio class! Hey, let's grab a table, 'kay?"
"Watch where you're going!" Came an indignant cry to Fluttershy's left as she stumbled into a pair of fashionably dressed girls wearing this fall's trending line of death glares.
Letting out an inaudible squeak of apology, Fluttershy scurried away. She pressed herself against the lockers, fighting to gain every inch as she pushed against the current of students. As she stopped to apologize for every trodden foot, she realized to her dismay that not one face looked familiar.
There is another thing people tell you during freshman orientation: that every stranger in this school is a friend waiting to be met by you. And yet as Fluttershy looked out at the endless sea of students, she already saw them merging into groups to fend off against unwanted strangers. There was no question unanswered, no gap in the hall unfilled, no laugh left unechoed. There was no place left for her to fit in.
Fluttershy was only allowed breathing room at the end of a corridor, where a winding staircase spiraled up to the bell tower. Already, the air felt humid and dry, a fate which promised only to get worse with each step.
So with nothing else to do, Fluttershy counted them. And once she no longer needed to lean on the top railing to soothe her burning legs, she found there was 94 in all. Everyday it would take 94 up and 94 down to reach a familiar face again.
Fluttershy sighed. Welcome to freshman year.
Then she stepped through the prison gates.
"Can I get you another cappuchino, dearie?"
Fluttershy nodded. "Thank you, Mrs. Cake." Her fingers like brittle twigs, Fluttershy held the warm cup in her hands to keep herself from once again checking the time on her cell phone.
"There's nothing to worry about," she told herself. "Rainbow did say she had an 11th period."
A period that had ended half an hour ago.
With a sigh, Fluttershy peered into her cup's brown, murky depths. A fitting approximation of her mood. Her first day might have been akin to drowning, except drowning was such a rushed affair. No, she had been drowning in quicksand, with each of her awkward stutters and mumbles dragged out for an eternity until they could have been filled with a 500-word essay. Which, incidentally, had been assigned that day. And would be read aloud the next.
Good thing she was taking Speech next year.
Still staring into her cappuchino, Fluttershy imagined diving in and swimming through a tunnel, under Sugarcube Corner, and back to Cloudsdale Elementary, where you knew all your classmate's faces since second grade. It was simple, safe, and without any strangers like the one currently standing at Fluttershy's table.
Fluttershy looked up with a start when the girl said, "Excuse me, darling, I don't mean to bother you. I just saw you from across the room and had to know where you got your lovely ensemble."
Fluttershy's eyes darted across the tiled floor, as if expecting a 500-word essay on how to respond. Finding none, she looked back up at the girl and, anxiously smoothing out her skirt, said, "My mom got it for me on one of her trips to Fillydelphia. I don't remember the shop's name, sorry."
"No worries," the girl said, brushing away a stray lock of her curled purple hair. A sweet lavender fragrance wafted around her. "You're mom has very good taste, umm..."
Her eyes snapped open wide. "Oh! Sorry, I'm Fluttershy." She held out her hand with the manner of someone knowing it was about to be chopped off and wanting to get it over with.
"Rarity. It's a pleasure meeting you." She shook Fluttershy's hand firmly. "You're the freshman who got into English II, right? We're in the same class."
"How did you know I was a freshman? I'm a year older than most in my grade."
Rarity gave a dismissive wave of her hand, jangling her blue beaded bracelet. "Oh, once you're a sophomore, you can tell; they all have a different look about them. Plus, they always crowd together in the middle of the hall. Have you been pennied for it yet?"
"No, sorry, I only have a dollar-"
"I was once," she said. "Just ignore it. It's a good thing the seniors this year have horrible aim, but I'd still duck if I were you. How about getting backlocked?"
"Umm, the janitor gave me back my lock after I jammed it."
"Oh, you'll see how–"
"Hey, Rares," called a Southern accented voice from across the room, "you're not gonna make me and Pinkie do all your summer reading homework, are ya?"
"Of course not, darling," Rarity answered with an amicable smile. "I'd never trust Pinkie Pie with anything other than geology homework. And dissection labs, strangely." Turning to Fluttershy, she said, "Would you like to join my table?"
The force of her shaking head sent her pink hair cascading over the side of her face. "No, that's okay, thank you. I'm waiting for someone."
"Alright then." Her smile glowed like diamonds. "See you tomorrow, Fluttershy!"
As Rarity waltzed away, Fluttershy let out a sigh of relief. Then she pulled out her cell phone, the universal sign for 'I am ignoring all of surrounding existence, including you, so yes I am busy, no I am not buying anything, now go talk to someone else.'
Thus, it was the ringing of the bell above the door that alerted Fluttershy to the arrival of Canterlot High's most awesome and un-fashionably late friend.
"Flu... Fluttershy," Rainbow panted, her sneakers screeching to a halt. "I'm so sorry I'm late."
"It's fine, Rainbow," she said, her smile kind and genuine. "Where were you?"
"At the soccer field, having the best first day ever! Fluttershy, there's someone I'd like you to meet." Then she stepped aside, revealing another girl standing behind her.
"Flutters, this is Spitfire, soccer captain of the Wondercolts," Rainbow announced with her chest puffed out in pride. Spitfire stepped forward, ran a hand through her spiky orange hair, and then held out her fist. Fluttershy answered with a weak attempt at a fist pump, which Spitfire just shrugged off. "Nice to meet you, Flutters. You're friend here's quite the athlete."
"Aw shucks, I don't know," Rainbow said, though her eyes were all aglow to hear more.
"Are you kidding? With the way you ran away from the science lab after that explosion, you were probably faster than a pegasus! You'll be a great soccer player, Dash, no doubt about it."
"So you joined the soccer team?" Fluttershy asked. "But I thought we were going to join something together."
Rainbow glanced sideways at Spitfire, who raised her eyebrows. "Umm, can you give us a minute?" she asked. The captain nodded in understand and walked to the counter.
"Look, Flutters, I'm really sorry," Rainbow began as she slid into an empty chair, "but this is a really big break for me. With her help, I can make varsity like I hoped. You understand, don't you?"
"I know, it's your dream," Fluttershy said. "And I'd never want to hold you back. But... You're my best friend, my only friend."
"Didn't you make any new friends?"
The answer came out louder than either of them had expected. "No, because I thought after today I'd still have one!"
"Fluttershy!" Rainbow reached across the table to touch her shoulder, shaking from the sobs that hiccuped to the surface. "What are you talking about? Of course we'll still be friends!"
Then Fluttershy's gaze darted from Rainbow to Spitfire to Rarity and back, and the combined weight of those three pairs of eyes squeezed all the air from her lungs. Her shaking hands knocked over her coffee, and with her last means of escape gone, she chose the only remaining option.
At a speed that would place her right next to Rainbow Dash on the team, Fluttershy ran out the door in tears.
Fluttershy didn't even raise her head from the crook of her elbow when she heard the sound of high heeled boots and caught a whiff of lavender perfume. As Rarity stood behind her, she braced herself for a helping of empty words people told you during freshmen orientation about making new friends by paying the school lots of money to join in after school clubs.
Much was her surprise then, when the first thing out of Rarity's mouth was, "Oh dear, it looks like a terrible cloudburst has ruined your lovely makeup. Come, I'll fix you up; my house is just down the street."
Feeling too drained to object, Fluttershy let herself be helped up off the curb. Together the two girls walked in silence, with Fluttershy keeping her face behind a curtain of hair to hide her tears. She only looked up when the grey sidewalk was replaced by the soft pastels of Rarity's home.
"I'll be but a moment, dear; my makeup kit is upstairs." When Rarity's boots could no longer be heard, Fluttershy sniffled and rubbed her eyes a few times until the tear streaks would be all but invisible to the untrained eye.
Unfortunately for Fluttershy, both of Rarity's trained eyes flickered on her face before quickly averting their gaze. She hastily cleared off a space on the low bench next to the dressing room and gestured for Fluttershy to sit as she selected the proper mascara with the focus and precision of a surgeon.
"I'm terribly sorry I can't invite you upstairs," Rarity said. "I think there's too much 'organized chaos' there for any sane person to handle."
"No, that's fine," said Fluttershy as she twirled her hair around her finger. "This is very nice of you, Rarity."
"Think nothing of it, dear. Cloudbursts are nasty surprises, but luckily I've been prepared for many a makeup emergency at my old school."
"Where did you used to go?"
"A little Mountassori school in my neighborhood. It was very little, mind you. There were only eight of us in the entire class."
"Really? My graduating class at Cloudsdale Elementary had forty, and I thought that was small," Fluttershy said.
"Yes, now please widen your eyes a bit more, dear, and do try not to blink. Yes, very good. You're not at all like my friend Fleur, always worried I would poke her in the eye. She is lovely though, just as the rest were, and we all got along well."
"High school must have been really different for you then."
"Oh yes, I can't even begin to tell you how hard it was, trying to navigate through those hundreds of students without my friends. But at the same time, I found it thrilling. At Mountassori, I couldn't really choose my friends. Not to say I hated them, but when you put a small group of children together, they have to learn how to get along one way or the other. But CHS gave me the great opportunity to meet new people, like my good friends Pinkie Pie and Applejack. Sure, they're quite different from my old classmates, but they're some of the most wonderful people I know."
"But what about Fleur?" Fluttershy asked. "What happened to her?"
"Her parents enrolled her in a Prench boarding school. But we always text each other, and we're together like sisters when she comes home for the holidays."
"But can you two still best friends like that?"
Rarity set the makeup kit down. "I won't lie, our friendship has changed. She's had experiences that have shifted her interests to becoming a model, while I've gone more into fashion design. I wouldn't say we're best friends anymore, but it's a bit harder to choose with more than one friend, isn't it?"
"I suppose..."
"Fluttershy darling, you've spent all your time with Rainbow in the past, haven't you? Both at school and on weekends?"
She nodded.
"But you won't be able to do that anymore, will you?"
"I know, and that's what bothers me," Fluttershy admitted. "I mean, just this morning, there was this lab accident that Cloudchaser and Spitfire will be talking about for weeks, and I wasn't there. Even if Rainbow tells me about it, that doesn't mean I can experience it with her, laugh about it with her. What... What if more of that happens? What if I end up missing some of the most important events of her life?"
Rarity placed a hand to her chin in thought. "You behave differently in different situations, right? You're quiet in class, nervous around me, and secure around Rainbow Dash. It's almost like you're a slightly different person. That's how we all are, even Rainbow Dash."
She placed a gentle hand on Fluttershy's shoulder. "You may not be able to be best friends with Rainbow Dash the soccer star or Rainbow Dash from the chemical explosion, but you'll always be best friends with Rainbow Dash from Cloudsdale Elementary. There, you've already shared with her some of the best memories of her life. No friend in her future will ever be able to compare to that. If the two of you can still look back on those times and laugh, then Fluttershy, you have a true friend for life."
Fluttershy's eyes lit up. "And you really think she'll feel the same?"
Rarity smiled. "Of course..."
"...she will, Rainbow," said Spitfire, handing Rainbow a coffee. "I've been down this road before, and I've always had friends who've helped me when the pressure gets to my head. They're the ones who remind me who I was and wanted to be. They were the reason why I picked up the soccer ball in the first place. Friends like that you just can't replace or forget about."
"But I don't want to feel like I'm neglecting her," Rainbow said, staring gloomily at the floor.
"There's always the weekends. And even then, you've gotta give her breathing space, even if she doesn't want you to. There needs to be a day when she's not just Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash's best friend, but Fluttershy... Amazing butterfly catcher or something."
"Maybe, but..." In a rare moment of weakness, Rainbow could hear her voice tremble. "Am I a bad person? For moving on and making friends too quickly?"
"Nah, you've got nothing to worry about. First day at CHS is exciting, but it's definitely a game-changer from before. You just handle change differently is all. It doesn't mean she's done anything wrong either, you know?"
Rainbow shrugged. "I guess so."
"Look, maybe I don't know what I'm talking about," Spitfire said, "and I'm definitely not good at giving advice. But I can tell you two are good friends, and the best way you can fix this is by talking, plain and simple." Then she looked out the window. "Which is why I'm going to leave this chair open for a bit..."
But as it turned out, the other chair was neglected as Rainbow got up and ran to meet Fluttershy and Rarity at the door. "Fluttershy! I'm so, so sorry for how I acted! I never wanted to leave you behind or-"
Fluttershy pressed a pair of fingers in front of Rainbow's mouth. "Apology accepted," she said with a giggle. "And I'm sorry too for overreacting. True friendship is a lot more than an after school sport."
"'True friends are those who help shape you into the person you're destined to be,'" quoted Spitfire. "Isn't that what Principal Celestia always says during freshman orientation?"
"Yup," said Rainbow. "Looks like we'll be the best-shaped group of dungeon inmates this fortress as ever seen!"
"Lovely, then Fluttershy can help me decipher the ancient fortress's tomes of knowledge," said Rarity, looking back to a thoroughly disgruntled Applejack now working on Pinkie Pie's essay. "There's still one seat open."
Fluttershy carefully examined the seat in question. After spending all day alone, here was finally a space for her to fit in.
Then she left and returned with two extra chairs.
