Anarchy in the Equestrian Nation

I sat at the table, munching happily on a toasted basil sandwich from the Ravine Cafe. Thoughts of the talent show flowed through my head, accompanied by the constant buzz of the schoolyard, the whole hundred by hundred hooves area alight with conversation regarding our victory at the talent show. My thoughts flitted to the news I'd gotten from Silversix the night after the talent show, and I almost dropped my sandwich when I remembered I had to tell the Outcasts about Pitch.

I gulped down my current bite of sandwich and tapped the table loudly to gain everypony's attention.

"Okay, I almost forgot. All of you know about my marefriend, Pitch-Perfect, right?" I got a silent chorus of nods. "Her parents are transferring her here to PHS." The second part of the news was met with shouting and smiles all around, along with ecstatic cries of "We're getting a new Outcast!"

Red Tear walked over to the table, a little happier now that he had some respect. He parked his plot on the bench, staring at his name, which had been carved into the teak, examining every curve of the gouged name. His cold exterior cracked a smile at finally being accepted somewhere. He quickly resumed his original expression and disinterestedly took a bite of his lunch, a tofu burger with a side of chips.

That was, until all hell broke loose. It started simple, with Red's old enemy Rampage trotting up and hassling me. I was used to it by now, so the petty insults didn't hurt in the slightest. Red Tear was visibly irritated, obviously attempting to keep from decking Rampage where he stood.

He hurled heckles at me like tomatoes at Trixie. I brushed them off and simply continued eating, unaware of the fact that Rampage was approaching me. I didn't know he had any intention of physical harm until a hoof hit the back of my head, knocking my face into the table and thoroughly pissing me off. I stood, exactly the reaction he wanted, with one difference from his plan. I wasn't going to fight back.

"Oh, so you want to fight?" I asked with a smirk. Rampage nodded eagerly. "Well, don't hit me with your purse this time." I finished, rearing up to accept any blows he had to throw at me. What came next was unexpected. Rampage dove for my bass and swung at my head once he got a hold of it. I ducked under the blow nimbly, but was shocked to hear the sound of my beloved instrument breaking upon impact with a wall. Now I was really pissed. I growled, slipped my mask onto my face, and the deep throaty rumble coming from my chest broke into a full-on roar. I knew I couldn't take Rampage in a fight, but if I went down trying, then so be it. I rushed towards him and took a swing, only to find my attacker AWOL.

Why, you ask? Red tackled the bastard with such force I seriously thought I heard bones cracking. Rampage crumpled under Tear's sudden assault from his side, the hapless unicorn pinned under the livid pegasus' body as Red delivered pounding blow after pounding blow into the bully's skull, eventually ending with a double-hoofed punch to the horn, incapacitating him. Before I could go over to drag Red off of Rampage's unconscious body, he grabbed the KO'd pony by the nape of his neck and dashed towards the gate of school, kicking it open and throwing Rampage out into the street.

The now-calmed pony made his way over to our table before sitting down and continuing his tofu burger as if nothing ever happened.

"Not sure if I'm supposed to be disturbed or grateful." I said, inching along the seat away from him. "On one hoof, you just beat the hell out of him and threw him into the street, but on the other, you just saved my sorry ass."

I thought I saw Red crack a smile, which was short-lived as a certain teacher tapped him on the shoulder. Cheerilee was standing behind him, a scowl crossing her face, accompanied by the school resource officer, who none of us ever had the misfortune to meet. Instead, we all referred to him as Monday, due to the day he was closest to our table at lunch. He had a system. Stay posted at different points at the schoolyard on different days. Obviously, it was a flawed plan, but it worked for the most part.

"You're under arrest." Monday declared, grabbing Red by the hooves. The pegasus hardly struggled as he was hoofcuffed.

I watched, speechless, as the pony who'd come to see me as his only friend was carted off to jail. As he was dragged away from us, I saw small dark spots on the dirt leading to the gate, obviously tears. A rather large stain concerned me, and I realized it was blood from Rampage's broken nose. My eyes widened and then shifted back to Tear, who was staring at us, and he mouthed three words.

'I'm so sorry.'

I sat in Cheerilee's office as she paced back and forth, roughing up the carpet. "So," she began, "Tell me exactly what happened back at that table."

"I was eating lunch when Rampage came up and started hassling me. He's done it for the whole year, so it didn't matter to me that he was picking on me, at least until he punched me in the back of the head. I stood and egged him on. I had no plans of fighting back, but he grabbed my bass and swung at me with it. It hit a wall and broke, which caused me to snap. I was about to take his sorry flank to town on the ass-kicking express..." I cut myself off as I noticed Cheerilee giggling. "What?" I asked defensively.

"Nothing, go on." she denied, still smiling.

"As I was saying, I started to attack him, but Red took him out from in front of me before I hit him." I continued, a little irritated.

"And what did Red Tear do?" she asked, now putting on her best poker face.

"Hit him several times, I wasn't keeping count, hit him on the horn, and threw him out into the road." She grimaced as I recounted the last part of it.

"Seems to me that Rampage was the instigator. But I need a credible source. Your friends are considered biased, so I'll consult the teachers that were on duty who saw it." I nodded gravely and left. My bass was destroyed, my newest friend alone in jail, and no hope of bailing him out. All in all, pretty shitty day.

I entered the music shop for my last shift. After this particular work day ended, I was going to quit. The stress of work, school, and my friends was hard to deal with, so I needed time off to catch up.

What I saw as I entered brightened my day, if only a little. Six-String sat at the counter, eyeing my destroyed bass and taking measurements. "Ah, Jack. I can't save this, and there's no way in hell, heaven, or earth I could get a hold of another 4001 without paying exorbitant prices." he lamented. "There is a new bass in the shop you can keep as compensation." He gestured to where the Ric once sat in the glass display, and in its place was a polished Rickenbucker 4003 in cobalt blue. I turned back to the shattered 4001 and gave it a salute before placing the 4003 in a new case.

I thanked Six-String with a hug, then broke off. "I have bad news, Six. I won't be able to work at the shop anymore. I have a lot to juggle right now with school and friends and recent events..." I trailed off, a tear forming in the corner of my eye.

"Recent events?" Six-String asked curiously. "The hell's that supposed to mean?"

"Red Tear got arrested." I mumbled. "He flipped his lid on some bully who'd been picking on me."

His eyes widened at the mention of Tear's arrest. "I guess I should've seen this coming. Red was always 90 percent explosive and ten percent fuse, and you were his first real friend in a long time. It makes sense that he defended you."

"I wanted to go visit him, but then I remembered it's my fault that he's in there." I replied. "If it weren't for Rampage picking on me specifically, Tear wouldn't have attacked him and gotten himself arrested."

Six-String patted me on the shoulder. "Come back when everything's sorted out. I'll help any way I can."

I smiled a little and left for home.