Anarchy in the Equestrian Nation

December 18

Well, it's official. My mood took a nosedive today. Why, you ask? Black Bell came back from Fillydelphia. That would have been a good thing if I hadn't seen her with another stallion. Apparently, according to a conversation he and one of his friends were having that I just so happened to "overhear", the two met while Black Bell was on vacation and started dating behind my back. Moreover, said stallion was a jock. As a general rule, the Outcasts are not allowed to date a non-Outcast, especially not jocks or cheerleaders. Not cool, Black Bell. Not cool.

I'm changing to a past-tense narrative from here through the rest of the chapter.

I walked into the music shop, my head hung low.

"What's wrong, bro?" asked Turntable. "I'm your best bud, I need to know what happened."

"Black Bell cheated on me, that's what. She was with another stallion, one who goes to our school. A JOCK, nonetheless!"

"SHE DID WHAT!?" roared Turntable.

"You heard me. She cheated on me." I said sadly.

"NOPONY TREATS MY PAL LIKE THAT!" he shouted angrily.

Six-String walked down the stairs. "Why are you shouting? What's wrong?"

Turntable's face went from angry to mortified in half a second, and he murmured. "Sorry about that. I got mad at Union Jack's marefriend because I found out she cheated on him. Not only that, but all of our friends trusted her."

Six-String frowned. "I know how you feel, Union Jack. A few of my marefriends have been unfaithful before. I'm sorry it had to happen to you."

At that moment, luckily enough, the door opened and in came Black Bell.

"Well, well, well. Speak of the devil and the devil shall appear." I growled.

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"Don't play dumb with us, Black Bell," Turntable said. "We know you've been cheating on Union Jack."

"What!? I don't know what you're talking about, guys!" she squeaked.

"Union Jack saw you with that jock. Not only did you cheat on him, you cheated on him WITH A JOCK! How many times have we told you that Outcasts do NOT date non-Outcasts!?" Turntable barked.

"Okay. You got me. I did. I'll just leave now." She turned towards the shop door.

"Not only did you violate MY trust, you violated that of all the Outcasts. Now GET OUT!" I shouted, face turning bright red with fury. "You're not welcome here, or at the table anymore!"

The last sound I heard before the door shut was her crying as she galloped home.

Six-String frowned and asked "Wasn't that a little harsh, guys? I mean, you made her cry."

"She deserved it. She was unfaithful, and she broke Union Jack's heart like a damn twig." Turntable said.

"Well, either way, I thought it was pretty mean of you two to yell at her like that."

"Can he take a couple days off to recover? He's pretty busted up about this." Turntable asked.

"You both can. He needs your help. I can hold down the fort myself. Here's your pay for the next three days. Consider it paid vacation time." Six-String answered.

"Come on, Jack. Let's go get some coffee. Vagabond's back from Manehattan." Turntable said, laying a hoof across my shoulders.

We left the shop, heading towards the cafe down the street from the music store. As we sat down at a table inside, I saw Vagabond waiting tables. She appeared to be the only waitress on staff, and thankfully wasn't too busy. She strolled over to our table levitating a notepad and started to ask if she could take our orders, but then stopped once she saw that I was none too happy.

"Something up? You seem sad." she said worriedly.

"Yes, something is up, and if I seem sad, that's because I am sad." I mumbled.

"What's the problem?" she asked.

"Black Bell cheated on me. That's the problem."

"HOW COULD SHE!?" Vagabond cried.

"Keep it down, we're in public." Turntable whispered.

"Sorry about that, but this is an outrage!"

"That may be an outrage, but we're here for coffee, not to tell you about my love life." I said, with a slight hint of anger in my voice. "I'll have a small coffee, black."

"One small black coffee, and what would you like, Turntable. Wait, Turntable!? I thought you moved to Manehattan!"

"I did, until a week ago. I turned 18 and moved back here. One hot tea with vanilla creamer please."

"Okay, that's one hot tea with vanilla creamer and one hot black coffee. I'll be back in a few minutes with your orders and a tray of nutbread." she said as she turned towards the kitchen.

A single tear slid down my cheek as I thought about all the good times with Black Bell, from my first kiss to the concert we had gone to last month. I loved her, and she had betrayed me.

"All right guys, here's your drinks and your bread. I know you didn't order the bread, but it's free of charge." Vagabond's voice snapped me back to the present, and I wiped away the tear.

"Thanks. Hey Vagabond, do you have any idea when Manga's coming back?" I asked.

"Yeah. He'll be back on Friday. Why do you ask?"

"I'm going to ask him to teach me to play bass. It'll take my mind off this." I said.

Another tear welled up as I took a sip of coffee. Not from memories of Black Bell, mind you, but from the acidic, bitter aftertaste of the coffee. Turntable's cell phone buzzed. He pulled it out of his saddlebags and looked at the screen. "Text message for you." I took the phone and read the message.

Union Jack,

Turntable told me what happened. Sorry for your loss. Also, of course I'll teach you to play bass. It's what friends do.

-Manga

"Oh." I said, disappointed, and hoofed the phone back.

"Why are you so disappointed about that? It was what you wanted to hear, right?" Turntable asked.

"I wasn't expecting something as hollow as 'sorry for your loss'." I replied. "Just seemed a little uncaring to me."

"Manga's kind of busy. He's got an Equestrian History report to finish. I'm sure he'll be a lot more caring when he's got free time. Now finish your coffee, we have places to go today."