Whisper's Protection Spellby Silver MistChaptersLyra's PosterRainbow To The RescueThe New PonyLyra's PosterSweetie Belle awoke with a start. Something or somepony was shaking her at the end of her bed. Her eyes were glazed over, she could just make out the sun shining through the gap in her curtains, her neatly decorated room had moons and stars dotted around the blue wallpaper, and somepony had turned her light on. She hoped desperately that it was a weekend, so she could go crusading with her two best friends, the cool, amazing athletic filly called Scootaloo, and the calm and dandy Apple Bloom. While Sweetie was thinking about all the fun adventures she'd had with her friends, while they were searching for there special talents so they could gain their cutie marks, something began to shake her again, "Sweetie Belle? Wake up, you don't want to be late for Miss. Cheerilee, do you?" A white mare with dark glossy purple hair became visible at the end of her bed, it was her sister, Rarity. "Oh um, no, I don't want to be late for..." suddenly Sweetie Belle sighed, if her sister was mentioning being late for Miss. Cheerilee, it could only mean one thing, "...school." she finished. "Well, Sweetie Belle, I'm rather impressed, you're actually looking forward to school?" Rarity chuckled and using her levitation spell took Sweetie's duvet off and folded it neatly at the opposite end of the bed, Sweetie Belle gasped as the swirling blue magic poured from her sisters horn and swept around the duvet. How can she do it so neatly? Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow. Rarity smiled anxiously at her sister, "...Yes?" "Oh, um... what?" Sweetie Belle looked confused. "Well, you were staring at me, it's not very lady like you know," "Well, I'm not a 'lady'!" Rarity just shook her head, "Breakfast is ready downstairs when you've finished getting changed." And then she left. "I was staring!" Sweetie Belle banged her forehead deliberately with a hoof, "Sweetie Belle keep your head on!" When Sweetie Belle walked into the kitchen she saw the room was filled up with clothes, ponikins and all sorts of other things like thread and material. However there was a nicely made breakfast on the table at the other side of the room. Sweetie sighed, if I can get to the other side of the room! "Rarity!" Sweetie Belle called. "Yes?" said a voice peering around the corner which separated the place where you eat, from the main kitchen where the food was prepared. "Why are all your materials and stuff lying on the floor?" asked Sweetie Belle, rolling her eyes. "Well, I was very busy on an ensemble before mum and dad dropped you round here for the week, and I haven't had time to clear up. Now hurry up and eat your breakfast or you'll be late for Miss. Cheerilee." Rarity gave Sweetie Belle a stern look and turned round and continued to make her own breakfast. Sweetie Belle made her way across the room when she found a purple book with flowers on, Sweetie immediately recognised it as her sisters diary, mixed in with all the other piles of clothes and half-finished ensembles. Sweetie Belle giggled when she remembered how she, and her friends had taken Rarity's diary when they were doing sneaky newspaper articles for their school newspaper, led by the evil and sneaky princess herself, Diamond Tiara. Sweetie Belle flushed when she remembered how her sister had absolutely loved their articles until she found the one with printed pictures of her precious diary in. In an attempt not to cause any more trouble than she normally managed she left the diary where it was. After Sweetie Belle had finished eating her daisy sandwich, she set off for school. "Have a good time!" Rarity waved her off, but then suddenly signalled for Sweetie Belle to come back. "Have I forgotten something?" Sweetie asked. "No, just," Rarity inhaled deeply before carrying on, "just make sure you walk back home with your friends, okay?" "Why?" "Because there could be some strange ponies around." "I always walk home with my friends, Rarity!" Sweetie turned her back on her sister, and galloped off. You must tell her soon, Rarity sighed, she's still so young, will she understand? Rarity shook her head and realised that she still had one curler in her finely styled mane, "Oh for Celestia's sake!" she mumbled as she walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. Sweetie Belle turned back and looked at Carousel Boutique, her sister was no longer in the doorway. "I wonder if she noticed the curler?" Sweetie mused. As she continued to walk through Ponyville to the outskirts where her school was, she realised that there was barely anypony around. "Where is everypony?" Sweetie Belle looked round frantically for anypony she could recognise, she noticed Lyra Heartstrings peering out of her window, she seemed to be looking for somepony, Sweetie Belle wanting to know why no pony was on the streets went up to Lyra's window and asked politely, "Lyra? Where is everypony, why is there no pony on the streets?" "Sweetie Belle!" Lyra turned round, obviously shocked, "You must hurry to school!" "No!" Sweetie Belle glared at Lyra. I tried to ask her nicely! "I want to know why everypony's locked themselves in doors!" Sweetie Belle kept staring at the mint coloured pony, searching for clues in her eyes. "Okay, okay," Lyra looked around before saying, "I'll unlock the door, you can come inside for a couple of minutes." "And you'll tell me?" Sweetie glared at her again, she could have sworn that Lyra had gulped. "As long as you carry on your way to school afterwards, then yes, fine." "Deal." Sweetie Belle beamed, glad she'd got the answer she'd been hoping for. Lyra left the window and Sweetie Belle could hear her scuttling towards her door, Sweetie Belle went round to the front of the cute cream coloured house with it's bright pink shutters and roof tiles. Lyra was at the door when Sweetie Belle came round the corner of the house. Lyra was looking in the opposite direction to where Sweetie Belle was standing, she seemed to be searching the streets and looking closely at the alleyways, almost making sure no pony was watching them. Finally she turned round to where Sweetie was standing, she didn't looked shocked at all, almost as if she'd got a little map in her head and had Sweetie Belle coordinates written down on it, and she changed the coordinates every time she moved. Sweetie shuddered, she'd only just realised that a little breeze had picked up, she looked around at the tree's and saw that their branches were waving frantically, almost warning her that danger was lurking. "Hurry, Sweetie Belle, come in, or you'll catch a cold!" Lyra beckoned Sweetie into the warmth of her little house. Sweetie Belle sat down on the pink fluffy rug that lay in the living room of the house. As Sweetie Belle's gaze drifted to different parts of the room Lyra trotted down the hallway and went into the living room and settled down on the sofa, looking out the windows nervously. She keeps looking out the windows as if she expects some pony's watching, Sweetie Belle wondered why, and she wasted no time in starting the conversation. "So," she began, trying to sound older than she was, "why is no pony on the streets? Is it annual stay inside day or something?" "No, thats not it." Sweetie Belle couldn't help but think that Lyra's thoughts were somewhere else completely, but she continued despite this, "So, what is the reason?" Lyra looked at Sweetie Belle for a moment, almost forgetting who she was, but then she reached into her bag and pulled out a poster and showed it to the filly, "Here, look at this." Sweetie Belle gave a confused glance up at Lyra and then started examining the poster. There was a picture on it of a pony of about Rarity's and Lyra's age, she was a white mare with hair which looked very much like Sweetie Belle's, and underneath was a reward price. Suddenly reality hit her clean across the face, "It's a reward poster for bringing a criminal to justice..." "Exactly. This "criminal" has been sighted around the centre of town, in the alleyways to be exact." Lyra looked down at the shivering Sweetie Belle, "Urm, Sweetie Belle?" "Y-yes?" said the shivering filly, looking up at Lyra with water dripping from her eyes. "How would you like it if I walk you to school?" Lyra tried to smile. "It's not the poster thats upsetting me Lyra!" Sweetie Belle bellowed, tears streaming down her face. "It's not?" "No!" "Then why are you upset?" Lyra looked concerned more than anything, what could scare her more than this? She wanted me to tell her! thought Lyra. "I've seen millions of those posters before!" Sweetie Belle exaggerated, "It's just that-" Sweetie Belle cut off and started crying some more. "Yes? Carry on, "it's just that" what?" Lyra felt bad now, she really had no idea what to do when a filly started crying in her house, probably because she didn't have any siblings of Sweetie Belle's age who ever came round, so she just managed to pull herself to put a hoof on the fillys' shoulder. "It's just that my sister told me to walk home with my friends," Sweetie gulped and tried to wipe the tears off her face, "but she didn't care enough for me to bother to come along while I was walking to school and there was a dangerous criminal about!" "Maybe she didn't know?" Lyra suggested. "NO!" Sweetie bellowed again and went into another fit of crying, "If she didn't know she wouldn't of warned me to walk home with other fillies!" Lyra bit her lip, how could she argue with that? "Well, she probably thought that you were old enough not to get so upset about it?" Lyra desperately tried not to sound as if she was accusing Sweetie Belle. Sweetie Belle's tears were starting to dry and she looked up and Lyra and sighed, "You're right, I shouldn't get so upset about it, I was just scared because no pony was outside." "Well, the mare has been sighted recently so ponies are still rather scared of what might happen if they go outside, including me." Lyra smiled sheepishly, Sweetie Belle's probably a lot braver than me, she thought. "Well, thank you for telling me, it's better than what my sister told me, which was...nothing." Sweetie Belle tried to smile, "I'm just going to head to school quickly now, I'm probably very late!" "Just go carefully, you're very brave, but I'm sure you'll be fine," Lyra got up and led Sweetie Belle to the doorway, "Do you still want me to come with you?" "Nope, I'm fine now," suddenly Sweetie realised that she'd probably slightly dropped the polite act and in her desperation to cover it up added, "but thank you for offering anyway." "Thats fine, I'm sure everypony will soon see that there's nothing to worry about and come out of their houses and fill the streets again!" Lyra and Sweetie Belle smiled at each other for a couple of moments. Although after a while it got a bit awkward so Lyra said, "You don't want to be late for your friends, right?" "Oh yeah, of course not, bye Lyra!" "Bye Sweetie, go carefully!" And Lyra waved Sweetie Belle off. Rainbow To The RescueScootaloo raced along at a fast speed on her bright red scooter, she was heading for school. She'd past very few ponies on her way and though it was a beautiful day, she expected it was because it was scheduled to rain this afternoon. Scootaloo hadn't seen Apple Bloom or Sweetie Belle yet, but she expected that they to, were on their way to school. She beamed as she realised she was coming up to her first obstacle, a low hanging tree branch. She licked her lips and started speeding up. This should be fun! she thought. She tightened her muscles and pushed the handle bars of the scooter away from her, then she flapped her wings over the branch and landed neatly back on the speeding vehicle. If only Rainbow Dash had seen me do that! Scootaloo started picturing Rainbow praising her for her awesome scootering skills, Well done Scoots, you've made me proud! When suddenly she shrieked as she realised there was a fallen tree dead on her path, and it was edging closer and closer, until it was only five fully grown ponies lengths away, "Slow down, Scoots!" she heard Rainbow scream, and suddenly Scootaloo realised that Dash wasn't just in her head anymore, she was on the side of the path looking shocked. I have to impress her! thought Scootaloo, she tensed her muscles again, but this time, instead of letting go of the handle bars she forced them upwards towards the sky, and started flapping her small orange wings feebly, she gasped as she realised just how heavy her scooter was and realised that it was forcing her downwards. She was unconscious before she hit the ground. When Scootaloo woke up, she was in a white room with one small window in the side of it and cuddly teddy bears and other toys lined a bench next to where she was lying. There was one massive plush pony which was blue with a spiky rainbow coloured mane and tail. She gasped as she realised how much like her hero, Rainbow Dash it looked. Her eyes were all blurry so it was hard to make out things far away from her, but she saw another pony in the room. This one was a dark purple colour, with different shades of light pink hair in a wavy style, and she was looking at Scootaloo with kind, green eyes. "Scootaloo, glad to see you're awake, is anything hurting?" the mare said, "When Rainbow Dash brought you here you had a giant bruise on your forehead, but it seems to be better now." Scootaloo shook herself and sat up, she suddenly realised she was on a bed in the nurses office of her school, and Cheerilee was with her. She looked over to the bench with the cuddly toys and realised that the plush pony wasn't a plush pony, but it was actually her hero, Rainbow Dash. "Scoots, you okay?" Rainbow added, seeing how awful Scootaloo looked. She had a big bruise on her forehead, a graze on both of her hind legs and one massive cut on her wing. Every part of Scootaloo's body hurt, and her saggy wing stung, but she didn't want Rainbow Dash to see her weaknesses. "Nah, I'm fine," Scootaloo's head was spinning, "thanks for...helping me Rainbow." She added. "No problem." Rainbow smiled. Suddenly the door swung open revealing a yellow filly with a bright red mane, Scootaloo beamed as her eyes cleared and she saw it was one of her best friends, Apple Bloom, coming in to see her. "Scootaloo!" she gasped, "I heard y'all were in 'ere, are you okay?" Scootaloo felt lucky then to have such amazing friends that would check in on her when she was injured, "Yeah, I'm alright, thanks for coming to check on me Apple Bloom." Apple Bloom smiled at her but then turned and went over to Miss. Cheerilee with a more concerned look in her eyes, "What actually 'appened to her, Miss. Cheerilee?" "Oh, Scootaloo just had a little accident, thats all," Cheerilee smiled, "I'm sure she'll be just fine and dandy soon. And then she'll return to class." Apple Bloom looked relieved, "Thank hayseeds she's okay!" "Okay, Apple Bloom, how about you go back to class, and I'll be there soon and bring Scootaloo with me, tell the class they won't have to wait much longer." Cheerilee waved as Apple Bloom turned to leave the room, carefully closing the door big wooden door behind her. Scootaloo felt embarrassed as she realised that everypony must be waiting for Miss. Cheerilee and she was the one holding her up. "I have an announcement for the class after you're feeling better, and I think they're all very excited about what I'm going to say so they're all checking that I won't be much longer." Scootaloo's face fell, so Apple Bloom only came in here to check if Cheerilee wouldn't be much longer, not if I was okay!? Cheerilee, seeing Scootaloo's disappointed face added, "But most of the class came in here to check that you were okay, just as Apple Bloom demonstrated." Scootaloo started beaming, she to, was now excited about the announcement that everypony was bugging Miss. Cheerilee about. "You know what?" Scootaloo looked over at Miss. Cheerilee, "I'm feeling so much better now, thank you." Cheerilee shot a puzzled glance over at Rainbow Dash who just shrugged back, "Well, if you're sure you're fine, Scootaloo." "YES!" Scootaloo burst out only to get another puzzled look from her teacher. "But only a couple of moments ago you were crying in pain..." "I know!" Scootaloo wondered what to say next, she glanced over at Rainbow Dash and realised she had to look cool, "But you fixed me up so well!" "Well, okay then-" Cheerilee started but Scootaloo wasted no time and shot out of the bed and raced out of the room, almost at speeds she reached only when she was on her scooter, suddenly she stopped outside of the door, "Urm... Where is my scooter, Miss. Cheerilee?" "Rainbow Dash put it in the bike racks outside, speaking of which, Rainbow, you've been a big help but, you can go now thank you, we'll manage." "Sure, but anytime Scoots needs me I'll be right there!" Rainbow Dash started flapping her wings and sped out of the room, a faint rainbow shooting out of her back side. Scootaloo stared, so awesome! *** Sweetie Belle saw the school getting closer and closer as she galloped along the path that led out of the main town of Ponyville. I have to tell Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, and well...EVERYONE! Determination made her legs move faster as the school kept edging closer. She let out a yelp when she saw a low hanging branch, just in a nick of time she ducked underneath it, gasping for breath and her lungs kept expanding, it felt as if they were about to burst clear out of her body. Then she screamed as she saw a massive tree stretched right across the path, and she was speeding right towards it. Rainbow Dash heard a yelp from down on the ground and peered down to see a filly, that looked like one of Scootaloo's friends. It's Sweetie Belle... she thought of her friend Rarity's sister who went "crusading" with Apple Bloom and Scoots. Rainbow wanted to know what she was doing so she swooped down lower and caught a glimpse of her ducking underneath a tree branch, Rainbow looked forward at what other natural obstacles the filly may encounter on the last home stretch until she reached her school. Dash panicked when she looked back, The tree! She's gonna crash into the tree! Rainbow sped downwards towards the path until she was right beside the filly, "You're going at a very fast pace, Sweetie Belle!" Dash yelled through the strong wind, "If you listen carefully you won't have the same accident that Scoots had earlier!" Sweetie Belle looked round and saw the friendly face of Rainbow Dash at her side, "I can't slow down!" she choked as the roaring wind stung her eyes, "I'm gonna crash!" "No!" shrieked Rainbow, "I won't let you crash, don't worry!" Rainbow Dashed ahead of Sweetie Belle to where the fallen tree was, much to Sweetie's horror she just stood there, at the side of the path, almost welcoming her to the tree that would bash the oxygen from her lungs. "RAINBOW DASH, HELP ME!" she screamed, unable to control her speed. Dash tensed her wings and when Sweetie was just a pony's length away from the tree trunk she rushed in, grabbed the filly and pushed her over to the other side of the path. "I told you I wouldn't let you crash!" Rainbow panted, "You can trust me, I wasn't just going to stand there and watch the impact, Sweetie Belle." It was all too much for poor Sweetie, her head was spinning as she pictured the trunk coming closer and closer, almost ready to swallow her up in one gulp, but then she'd felt the softness of somepony's flank and the strong hooves holding her tightly, and she'd heard the beating wings lower her to safety. "Thank you." Was the only reply Sweetie could think of. "Thank you for saving me, Dashie." Rainbow froze, only one pony ever called her "Dashie" she got "Dash" from Scoots and "Rainbow" from Twilight, but only one pony knew her true nickname, and that was Pinkie Pie, now though, hearing it from a young filly brought tears to her bright pink eyes. "You're welcome." Dashie replied, and embraced the filly in a tight, loving hug. I'll always protect you Sweetie, nothing will ever hurt you while I'm still breathing, I promise, nothing. Little did Dash know that they were being watched by evil eyes, little did she know... The New PonyApple Bloom opened the door that led to the classroom, she'd been so relieved that her friend, Scootaloo was okay. She was very excited about the announcement from Miss. Cheerilee that she hoped she hadn't come across as being rude to Scootaloo. Just as she opened the door to the classroom, a blue pegasi shot past her, as quick as a thunderbolt, a faint rainbow coming from her backside. It must've been Rainbow Dash! Apple Bloom remembered seeing Dash in the room next to the bed where Scootaloo had been lying. Apple Bloom trotted into the classroom where all the other fillies and colts were. Diamond Tiara's desk was turned to face her best friends, Silver Spoon, and they were gossiping over pointless things. Featherweight was chatting with Pipsqueak. And all the others where either joining in with the conversations or lying on their desks, hoping that at any moment Miss. Cheerilee would burst through the door and bring order to the class. Apple Bloom thought that it was her responsibility to get the class back together before Miss. Cheerilee arrived, "A'hem, I just went to see Miss. Cheerilee and Scootaloo, luckily, Scootaloo's okay!" No pony was listening to her, they continued to talk, "And Miss. Cheerilee said that she'd be back shortly to make the big announcement!" All eyes turned to Apple Bloom, "So how about y'all get this classroom back to it's usual state before Miss. Cheerilee comes back?" After a moment of silence some ponies nodded their heads and others grumbled in annoyance. Diamond Tiara turned to the front, "When did the mayor die and put you in charge?" Some ponies sniggered and laughed at the joke, some ponies grumbled, "We want a proper leader!" Diamond Tiara narrowed her eyes at Apple Bloom, "I think the class has made it very clear that they want a better leader than farm girl!" she said spitefully, "I think we need a better leader, a proper leader." Apple Bloom narrowed her eyes at Diamond Tiara. Suddenly Scootaloo burst through the door followed by Miss. Cheerilee. "Hello, everypony!" Cheerilee was in her usual, cheery state, until of course she turned around, "Diamond Tiara! Turn and face me if you please." Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes and continued to glare at Apple Bloom. Scootaloo, noticing these glances and realising something must have happened, went to stand by her lemon-yellow coloured friend. "Now, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, please return to your seats." Scootaloo saw that Apple Bloom was still narrowing her eyes at Diamond Tiara, so she gave her a friendly shove and they both padded over to their desks. Cheerilee winked at Apple Bloom before looking over at Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, "I hope nothing fishy has happened while I've been away." Silver Spoon looked alarmed and immediately shook her head as if she was trying to swat away an annoying fly with her mane, Diamond Tiara just turned round with a smug look upon her face. "I'm serious Diamond Tiara, if any meanness has been going on between you and other fillies, I will inform your father." Diamond Tiara's eyes went wide with alarm, and she shook her head and said, "I'm very sorry, Miss. Cheerilee, nothings happened, I promise." The teacher seemed fine enough with this response and turned back to the rest of the class, her eyes widened when she turned to an empty desk next to Apple Bloom, she started looking frantically around the room for any sign of the missing student, eventually she turned to the class, a worried look on her face, "Has anypony seen Sweetie Belle today?" The class looked at each other and back at their teacher, finally Scootaloo said, "I saw her yesterday..." Scootaloo's cheeks went ablaze when Silver Spoon started giggling and she realised that seeing her "yesterday" , wouldn't really help the situation at all. Cheerilee didn't seem the least bit frazzled by this answer, she simply mumbled, "Good to know." And started looking and searching around the room, desperately hoping that the filly could be hidden underneath a desk, or book shelf. She turned to the class, "Well I didn't get a call from her parents so she can't be ill, and Sweetie Belle is too good to try and bunk off school, right?" Suddenly the young teacher who normally remained very calm under pressure began to feel herself heat up and panic. At that moment somepony burst through the back door, "This is just getting dang DANGEROUS now!" Suddenly a blue mare with a rainbow coloured mane burst through the door that led into the class room, with a little white filly at her side, "Almost two accidents in one morning? This is getting completely out of hoof!" Everypony turned to stare at the intruder, only to realise that it was Rainbow Dash, the towns resident weather pony who spent her time practicing her flying skills or taking naps in the trees at Sweet Apple Acres. "Rainbow Dash!" Cheerilee cried, "You found Sweetie Belle!" Cheerilee was almost so overcome with joy that the missing filly had returned that she didn't notice for a matter of seconds that one, Sweetie Belle was crying and two, that Rainbow Dash looked very, very, very angry! "Yeah, I did. And guess where I found her? About to gallop into a massive tree trunk stretched across the road, unable to slow down because of her speed, now I don't know about you, but, that seems very dangerous don't you agree? After it's just happened to another filly and left her with severe injuries! Not to mention a pretty damn bashed scooter!" Cheerilee looked flustered, "Now Rainbow Dash, you're in a classroom, please control your language. I am very sorry that Sweetie Belle almost had the same accident as Scootaloo, and I realise now that this is a very big problem that we are all having to deal with and I shall tell the caretaker to look into removing it immediately, I assure you." "Good," Rainbow looked down at the filly who was only about half her size and said, "see, Sweetie? It's all going to be taken care of soon, no pony's going to get hurt again, Cheerilee says so, and what Cheerilee says goes." The class couldn't help but smile at this, the dare devil, rainbow coloured pegasi dealt with things so well, despite of her slightly big head and trying-to-look-cool style of character, and it was obvious that despite these things, she still cared very much for the well being of other ponies. Cheerilee smiled as well, "Yes Sweetie Belle, no pony's going to get hurt." Cheerilee turned back to the rest of the class, "Now class, I don't want any running when you return home from school today, be very aware that there are dangers on the path that leads back to the town centre, as you can see we have already had some accidents that I, as teacher do not want to see happen again, do I make myself clear?" The class all nodded in unison at there now very serious teacher, "Thank you for informing me that this will be a problem, Rainbow. But maybe next time you could enter the classroom in a more orderly fashion, but you had a very important thing to say, so for that, I forgive you." Dash nodded and smiled at Sweetie Belle and gave her a little wink, "Yeah, sure, sorry for bursting in like that, I was just agitated, thats all." "Thats perfectly fine, and I was almost having a panic attack when I realised Sweetie Belle wasn't here! Thank you for returning her to me safely, Rainbow Dash." Cheerilee gave one of her big cheery grins and Dash glided over to the exit and beamed, "I'll replace the door handle, by the way." And dashed out of the room. The class all burst into laughter at the look on their teachers face, it was a mix of horror and disbelief at Dash's cheekiness. Sweetie Belle wiped her tears and galloped over to her seat quickly so as not to attract too much attention to herself. Cheerilee shook her head and started laughing, "That Rainbow Dash, she's just so unpredictable!" "More like awesome!" Scootaloo couldn't help but correct her teacher. Cheerilee gave a hearty grin, "Well, yes. I'll give her that!" Scootaloo smiled but then cast a quick glance at Sweetie Belle just to make sure her friend was alright. The young filly was panting heavily. And why shouldn't she be? It must of been terrifying not being able to stop! At least I was on my scooter so I could easily steer clear! While Scootaloo was looking at her friend she heard a snooty laugh from behind her, she saw Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon sniggering at poor Sweetie Belle, "Your sure put on a good show! How embarrassing!" Diamond Tiara whispered in Sweetie Belle's ear. "Oi! Leave her alone!" Scootaloo spat in Diamond's face. Diamond Tiara didn't respond but sneered at Scootaloo, then turned back to the front of the class where Cheerilee was standing, she was about to start her announcement! "Well, everypony, as you very well know I have a very, very special announcement for you all today." She began, every filly and colt in the room were listening intently, "First off I'm just going to tell everypony what this is about because I can see that you can't wait any longer! We have a new student joining our school!" Scootaloo's face lit up, she was so excited, while she'd been here they'd never had a new filly or colt joining their small school, she turned round to look at Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, it seemed that Sweetie had stopped looking miserable and looked just as excited at Scootaloo felt! Apple Bloom was beaming too. "So, second off, it's a filly, not a colt, sorry boys." None of the boys showed any sign of being irritated by this fact, in fact some of the boys like Featherweight and Pipsqueak looked even more excited! Scootaloo just rolled her eyes and looked back at their smiling teacher, "Now, I want you to all show her around and be very nice to her, I'll have to pick a buddy to show her around, who'd be interested?" Everypony in the classroom raised a hoof. "Well, it may be a hard decision, so I suppose I'll let her choose! Come in dear!" Everypony's face turned on a small mint filly with magenta eyes and purple and lilac mane and tail. She should've looked nervous, but something about the filly's face made her seem undoubtably calm. She gazed around the room at all the eyes that were staring at her. Cheerilee turned on her, "Now, everypony! This is Whisper, I want you to be kind, introduce yourselves and make her very at home here, understand?" Everypony nodded, still never taking their eyes off the filly. Scootaloo turned and looked at Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom looked excited, just like Scoots, but Sweetie looked as if she were lost in thought, gazing at the filly with wide eyes and an open mouth. Cheerilee plastered a fake smile on her lips, noticing how awkward and quiet her normally chaotic class were being. She decided to break the silence, "So, Whisper? Who do you want to be assigned your buddy to look after you?" Whisper looked around the class, Diamond Tiara looked desperate, she probably thought having another filly in her posse would make the class listen to her more. But Whisper's eyes skimmed past without so much as a second glance. Her gaze fell upon the CMC, first she looked at Scootaloo who was giving her a lop-sided smile, then at Apple Bloom who still looked rather excited then her gaze fell upon Sweetie Belle who was looking her up and down, lost in thought. Whisper had made her decision, she pointed at Sweetie and simply said, "The frightened one."
Lyra's PosterSweetie Belle awoke with a start. Something or somepony was shaking her at the end of her bed. Her eyes were glazed over, she could just make out the sun shining through the gap in her curtains, her neatly decorated room had moons and stars dotted around the blue wallpaper, and somepony had turned her light on. She hoped desperately that it was a weekend, so she could go crusading with her two best friends, the cool, amazing athletic filly called Scootaloo, and the calm and dandy Apple Bloom. While Sweetie was thinking about all the fun adventures she'd had with her friends, while they were searching for there special talents so they could gain their cutie marks, something began to shake her again, "Sweetie Belle? Wake up, you don't want to be late for Miss. Cheerilee, do you?" A white mare with dark glossy purple hair became visible at the end of her bed, it was her sister, Rarity. "Oh um, no, I don't want to be late for..." suddenly Sweetie Belle sighed, if her sister was mentioning being late for Miss. Cheerilee, it could only mean one thing, "...school." she finished. "Well, Sweetie Belle, I'm rather impressed, you're actually looking forward to school?" Rarity chuckled and using her levitation spell took Sweetie's duvet off and folded it neatly at the opposite end of the bed, Sweetie Belle gasped as the swirling blue magic poured from her sisters horn and swept around the duvet. How can she do it so neatly? Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow. Rarity smiled anxiously at her sister, "...Yes?" "Oh, um... what?" Sweetie Belle looked confused. "Well, you were staring at me, it's not very lady like you know," "Well, I'm not a 'lady'!" Rarity just shook her head, "Breakfast is ready downstairs when you've finished getting changed." And then she left. "I was staring!" Sweetie Belle banged her forehead deliberately with a hoof, "Sweetie Belle keep your head on!" When Sweetie Belle walked into the kitchen she saw the room was filled up with clothes, ponikins and all sorts of other things like thread and material. However there was a nicely made breakfast on the table at the other side of the room. Sweetie sighed, if I can get to the other side of the room! "Rarity!" Sweetie Belle called. "Yes?" said a voice peering around the corner which separated the place where you eat, from the main kitchen where the food was prepared. "Why are all your materials and stuff lying on the floor?" asked Sweetie Belle, rolling her eyes. "Well, I was very busy on an ensemble before mum and dad dropped you round here for the week, and I haven't had time to clear up. Now hurry up and eat your breakfast or you'll be late for Miss. Cheerilee." Rarity gave Sweetie Belle a stern look and turned round and continued to make her own breakfast. Sweetie Belle made her way across the room when she found a purple book with flowers on, Sweetie immediately recognised it as her sisters diary, mixed in with all the other piles of clothes and half-finished ensembles. Sweetie Belle giggled when she remembered how she, and her friends had taken Rarity's diary when they were doing sneaky newspaper articles for their school newspaper, led by the evil and sneaky princess herself, Diamond Tiara. Sweetie Belle flushed when she remembered how her sister had absolutely loved their articles until she found the one with printed pictures of her precious diary in. In an attempt not to cause any more trouble than she normally managed she left the diary where it was. After Sweetie Belle had finished eating her daisy sandwich, she set off for school. "Have a good time!" Rarity waved her off, but then suddenly signalled for Sweetie Belle to come back. "Have I forgotten something?" Sweetie asked. "No, just," Rarity inhaled deeply before carrying on, "just make sure you walk back home with your friends, okay?" "Why?" "Because there could be some strange ponies around." "I always walk home with my friends, Rarity!" Sweetie turned her back on her sister, and galloped off. You must tell her soon, Rarity sighed, she's still so young, will she understand? Rarity shook her head and realised that she still had one curler in her finely styled mane, "Oh for Celestia's sake!" she mumbled as she walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. Sweetie Belle turned back and looked at Carousel Boutique, her sister was no longer in the doorway. "I wonder if she noticed the curler?" Sweetie mused. As she continued to walk through Ponyville to the outskirts where her school was, she realised that there was barely anypony around. "Where is everypony?" Sweetie Belle looked round frantically for anypony she could recognise, she noticed Lyra Heartstrings peering out of her window, she seemed to be looking for somepony, Sweetie Belle wanting to know why no pony was on the streets went up to Lyra's window and asked politely, "Lyra? Where is everypony, why is there no pony on the streets?" "Sweetie Belle!" Lyra turned round, obviously shocked, "You must hurry to school!" "No!" Sweetie Belle glared at Lyra. I tried to ask her nicely! "I want to know why everypony's locked themselves in doors!" Sweetie Belle kept staring at the mint coloured pony, searching for clues in her eyes. "Okay, okay," Lyra looked around before saying, "I'll unlock the door, you can come inside for a couple of minutes." "And you'll tell me?" Sweetie glared at her again, she could have sworn that Lyra had gulped. "As long as you carry on your way to school afterwards, then yes, fine." "Deal." Sweetie Belle beamed, glad she'd got the answer she'd been hoping for. Lyra left the window and Sweetie Belle could hear her scuttling towards her door, Sweetie Belle went round to the front of the cute cream coloured house with it's bright pink shutters and roof tiles. Lyra was at the door when Sweetie Belle came round the corner of the house. Lyra was looking in the opposite direction to where Sweetie Belle was standing, she seemed to be searching the streets and looking closely at the alleyways, almost making sure no pony was watching them. Finally she turned round to where Sweetie was standing, she didn't looked shocked at all, almost as if she'd got a little map in her head and had Sweetie Belle coordinates written down on it, and she changed the coordinates every time she moved. Sweetie shuddered, she'd only just realised that a little breeze had picked up, she looked around at the tree's and saw that their branches were waving frantically, almost warning her that danger was lurking. "Hurry, Sweetie Belle, come in, or you'll catch a cold!" Lyra beckoned Sweetie into the warmth of her little house. Sweetie Belle sat down on the pink fluffy rug that lay in the living room of the house. As Sweetie Belle's gaze drifted to different parts of the room Lyra trotted down the hallway and went into the living room and settled down on the sofa, looking out the windows nervously. She keeps looking out the windows as if she expects some pony's watching, Sweetie Belle wondered why, and she wasted no time in starting the conversation. "So," she began, trying to sound older than she was, "why is no pony on the streets? Is it annual stay inside day or something?" "No, thats not it." Sweetie Belle couldn't help but think that Lyra's thoughts were somewhere else completely, but she continued despite this, "So, what is the reason?" Lyra looked at Sweetie Belle for a moment, almost forgetting who she was, but then she reached into her bag and pulled out a poster and showed it to the filly, "Here, look at this." Sweetie Belle gave a confused glance up at Lyra and then started examining the poster. There was a picture on it of a pony of about Rarity's and Lyra's age, she was a white mare with hair which looked very much like Sweetie Belle's, and underneath was a reward price. Suddenly reality hit her clean across the face, "It's a reward poster for bringing a criminal to justice..." "Exactly. This "criminal" has been sighted around the centre of town, in the alleyways to be exact." Lyra looked down at the shivering Sweetie Belle, "Urm, Sweetie Belle?" "Y-yes?" said the shivering filly, looking up at Lyra with water dripping from her eyes. "How would you like it if I walk you to school?" Lyra tried to smile. "It's not the poster thats upsetting me Lyra!" Sweetie Belle bellowed, tears streaming down her face. "It's not?" "No!" "Then why are you upset?" Lyra looked concerned more than anything, what could scare her more than this? She wanted me to tell her! thought Lyra. "I've seen millions of those posters before!" Sweetie Belle exaggerated, "It's just that-" Sweetie Belle cut off and started crying some more. "Yes? Carry on, "it's just that" what?" Lyra felt bad now, she really had no idea what to do when a filly started crying in her house, probably because she didn't have any siblings of Sweetie Belle's age who ever came round, so she just managed to pull herself to put a hoof on the fillys' shoulder. "It's just that my sister told me to walk home with my friends," Sweetie gulped and tried to wipe the tears off her face, "but she didn't care enough for me to bother to come along while I was walking to school and there was a dangerous criminal about!" "Maybe she didn't know?" Lyra suggested. "NO!" Sweetie bellowed again and went into another fit of crying, "If she didn't know she wouldn't of warned me to walk home with other fillies!" Lyra bit her lip, how could she argue with that? "Well, she probably thought that you were old enough not to get so upset about it?" Lyra desperately tried not to sound as if she was accusing Sweetie Belle. Sweetie Belle's tears were starting to dry and she looked up and Lyra and sighed, "You're right, I shouldn't get so upset about it, I was just scared because no pony was outside." "Well, the mare has been sighted recently so ponies are still rather scared of what might happen if they go outside, including me." Lyra smiled sheepishly, Sweetie Belle's probably a lot braver than me, she thought. "Well, thank you for telling me, it's better than what my sister told me, which was...nothing." Sweetie Belle tried to smile, "I'm just going to head to school quickly now, I'm probably very late!" "Just go carefully, you're very brave, but I'm sure you'll be fine," Lyra got up and led Sweetie Belle to the doorway, "Do you still want me to come with you?" "Nope, I'm fine now," suddenly Sweetie realised that she'd probably slightly dropped the polite act and in her desperation to cover it up added, "but thank you for offering anyway." "Thats fine, I'm sure everypony will soon see that there's nothing to worry about and come out of their houses and fill the streets again!" Lyra and Sweetie Belle smiled at each other for a couple of moments. Although after a while it got a bit awkward so Lyra said, "You don't want to be late for your friends, right?" "Oh yeah, of course not, bye Lyra!" "Bye Sweetie, go carefully!" And Lyra waved Sweetie Belle off.
Rainbow To The RescueScootaloo raced along at a fast speed on her bright red scooter, she was heading for school. She'd past very few ponies on her way and though it was a beautiful day, she expected it was because it was scheduled to rain this afternoon. Scootaloo hadn't seen Apple Bloom or Sweetie Belle yet, but she expected that they to, were on their way to school. She beamed as she realised she was coming up to her first obstacle, a low hanging tree branch. She licked her lips and started speeding up. This should be fun! she thought. She tightened her muscles and pushed the handle bars of the scooter away from her, then she flapped her wings over the branch and landed neatly back on the speeding vehicle. If only Rainbow Dash had seen me do that! Scootaloo started picturing Rainbow praising her for her awesome scootering skills, Well done Scoots, you've made me proud! When suddenly she shrieked as she realised there was a fallen tree dead on her path, and it was edging closer and closer, until it was only five fully grown ponies lengths away, "Slow down, Scoots!" she heard Rainbow scream, and suddenly Scootaloo realised that Dash wasn't just in her head anymore, she was on the side of the path looking shocked. I have to impress her! thought Scootaloo, she tensed her muscles again, but this time, instead of letting go of the handle bars she forced them upwards towards the sky, and started flapping her small orange wings feebly, she gasped as she realised just how heavy her scooter was and realised that it was forcing her downwards. She was unconscious before she hit the ground. When Scootaloo woke up, she was in a white room with one small window in the side of it and cuddly teddy bears and other toys lined a bench next to where she was lying. There was one massive plush pony which was blue with a spiky rainbow coloured mane and tail. She gasped as she realised how much like her hero, Rainbow Dash it looked. Her eyes were all blurry so it was hard to make out things far away from her, but she saw another pony in the room. This one was a dark purple colour, with different shades of light pink hair in a wavy style, and she was looking at Scootaloo with kind, green eyes. "Scootaloo, glad to see you're awake, is anything hurting?" the mare said, "When Rainbow Dash brought you here you had a giant bruise on your forehead, but it seems to be better now." Scootaloo shook herself and sat up, she suddenly realised she was on a bed in the nurses office of her school, and Cheerilee was with her. She looked over to the bench with the cuddly toys and realised that the plush pony wasn't a plush pony, but it was actually her hero, Rainbow Dash. "Scoots, you okay?" Rainbow added, seeing how awful Scootaloo looked. She had a big bruise on her forehead, a graze on both of her hind legs and one massive cut on her wing. Every part of Scootaloo's body hurt, and her saggy wing stung, but she didn't want Rainbow Dash to see her weaknesses. "Nah, I'm fine," Scootaloo's head was spinning, "thanks for...helping me Rainbow." She added. "No problem." Rainbow smiled. Suddenly the door swung open revealing a yellow filly with a bright red mane, Scootaloo beamed as her eyes cleared and she saw it was one of her best friends, Apple Bloom, coming in to see her. "Scootaloo!" she gasped, "I heard y'all were in 'ere, are you okay?" Scootaloo felt lucky then to have such amazing friends that would check in on her when she was injured, "Yeah, I'm alright, thanks for coming to check on me Apple Bloom." Apple Bloom smiled at her but then turned and went over to Miss. Cheerilee with a more concerned look in her eyes, "What actually 'appened to her, Miss. Cheerilee?" "Oh, Scootaloo just had a little accident, thats all," Cheerilee smiled, "I'm sure she'll be just fine and dandy soon. And then she'll return to class." Apple Bloom looked relieved, "Thank hayseeds she's okay!" "Okay, Apple Bloom, how about you go back to class, and I'll be there soon and bring Scootaloo with me, tell the class they won't have to wait much longer." Cheerilee waved as Apple Bloom turned to leave the room, carefully closing the door big wooden door behind her. Scootaloo felt embarrassed as she realised that everypony must be waiting for Miss. Cheerilee and she was the one holding her up. "I have an announcement for the class after you're feeling better, and I think they're all very excited about what I'm going to say so they're all checking that I won't be much longer." Scootaloo's face fell, so Apple Bloom only came in here to check if Cheerilee wouldn't be much longer, not if I was okay!? Cheerilee, seeing Scootaloo's disappointed face added, "But most of the class came in here to check that you were okay, just as Apple Bloom demonstrated." Scootaloo started beaming, she to, was now excited about the announcement that everypony was bugging Miss. Cheerilee about. "You know what?" Scootaloo looked over at Miss. Cheerilee, "I'm feeling so much better now, thank you." Cheerilee shot a puzzled glance over at Rainbow Dash who just shrugged back, "Well, if you're sure you're fine, Scootaloo." "YES!" Scootaloo burst out only to get another puzzled look from her teacher. "But only a couple of moments ago you were crying in pain..." "I know!" Scootaloo wondered what to say next, she glanced over at Rainbow Dash and realised she had to look cool, "But you fixed me up so well!" "Well, okay then-" Cheerilee started but Scootaloo wasted no time and shot out of the bed and raced out of the room, almost at speeds she reached only when she was on her scooter, suddenly she stopped outside of the door, "Urm... Where is my scooter, Miss. Cheerilee?" "Rainbow Dash put it in the bike racks outside, speaking of which, Rainbow, you've been a big help but, you can go now thank you, we'll manage." "Sure, but anytime Scoots needs me I'll be right there!" Rainbow Dash started flapping her wings and sped out of the room, a faint rainbow shooting out of her back side. Scootaloo stared, so awesome! *** Sweetie Belle saw the school getting closer and closer as she galloped along the path that led out of the main town of Ponyville. I have to tell Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, and well...EVERYONE! Determination made her legs move faster as the school kept edging closer. She let out a yelp when she saw a low hanging branch, just in a nick of time she ducked underneath it, gasping for breath and her lungs kept expanding, it felt as if they were about to burst clear out of her body. Then she screamed as she saw a massive tree stretched right across the path, and she was speeding right towards it. Rainbow Dash heard a yelp from down on the ground and peered down to see a filly, that looked like one of Scootaloo's friends. It's Sweetie Belle... she thought of her friend Rarity's sister who went "crusading" with Apple Bloom and Scoots. Rainbow wanted to know what she was doing so she swooped down lower and caught a glimpse of her ducking underneath a tree branch, Rainbow looked forward at what other natural obstacles the filly may encounter on the last home stretch until she reached her school. Dash panicked when she looked back, The tree! She's gonna crash into the tree! Rainbow sped downwards towards the path until she was right beside the filly, "You're going at a very fast pace, Sweetie Belle!" Dash yelled through the strong wind, "If you listen carefully you won't have the same accident that Scoots had earlier!" Sweetie Belle looked round and saw the friendly face of Rainbow Dash at her side, "I can't slow down!" she choked as the roaring wind stung her eyes, "I'm gonna crash!" "No!" shrieked Rainbow, "I won't let you crash, don't worry!" Rainbow Dashed ahead of Sweetie Belle to where the fallen tree was, much to Sweetie's horror she just stood there, at the side of the path, almost welcoming her to the tree that would bash the oxygen from her lungs. "RAINBOW DASH, HELP ME!" she screamed, unable to control her speed. Dash tensed her wings and when Sweetie was just a pony's length away from the tree trunk she rushed in, grabbed the filly and pushed her over to the other side of the path. "I told you I wouldn't let you crash!" Rainbow panted, "You can trust me, I wasn't just going to stand there and watch the impact, Sweetie Belle." It was all too much for poor Sweetie, her head was spinning as she pictured the trunk coming closer and closer, almost ready to swallow her up in one gulp, but then she'd felt the softness of somepony's flank and the strong hooves holding her tightly, and she'd heard the beating wings lower her to safety. "Thank you." Was the only reply Sweetie could think of. "Thank you for saving me, Dashie." Rainbow froze, only one pony ever called her "Dashie" she got "Dash" from Scoots and "Rainbow" from Twilight, but only one pony knew her true nickname, and that was Pinkie Pie, now though, hearing it from a young filly brought tears to her bright pink eyes. "You're welcome." Dashie replied, and embraced the filly in a tight, loving hug. I'll always protect you Sweetie, nothing will ever hurt you while I'm still breathing, I promise, nothing. Little did Dash know that they were being watched by evil eyes, little did she know...
The New PonyApple Bloom opened the door that led to the classroom, she'd been so relieved that her friend, Scootaloo was okay. She was very excited about the announcement from Miss. Cheerilee that she hoped she hadn't come across as being rude to Scootaloo. Just as she opened the door to the classroom, a blue pegasi shot past her, as quick as a thunderbolt, a faint rainbow coming from her backside. It must've been Rainbow Dash! Apple Bloom remembered seeing Dash in the room next to the bed where Scootaloo had been lying. Apple Bloom trotted into the classroom where all the other fillies and colts were. Diamond Tiara's desk was turned to face her best friends, Silver Spoon, and they were gossiping over pointless things. Featherweight was chatting with Pipsqueak. And all the others where either joining in with the conversations or lying on their desks, hoping that at any moment Miss. Cheerilee would burst through the door and bring order to the class. Apple Bloom thought that it was her responsibility to get the class back together before Miss. Cheerilee arrived, "A'hem, I just went to see Miss. Cheerilee and Scootaloo, luckily, Scootaloo's okay!" No pony was listening to her, they continued to talk, "And Miss. Cheerilee said that she'd be back shortly to make the big announcement!" All eyes turned to Apple Bloom, "So how about y'all get this classroom back to it's usual state before Miss. Cheerilee comes back?" After a moment of silence some ponies nodded their heads and others grumbled in annoyance. Diamond Tiara turned to the front, "When did the mayor die and put you in charge?" Some ponies sniggered and laughed at the joke, some ponies grumbled, "We want a proper leader!" Diamond Tiara narrowed her eyes at Apple Bloom, "I think the class has made it very clear that they want a better leader than farm girl!" she said spitefully, "I think we need a better leader, a proper leader." Apple Bloom narrowed her eyes at Diamond Tiara. Suddenly Scootaloo burst through the door followed by Miss. Cheerilee. "Hello, everypony!" Cheerilee was in her usual, cheery state, until of course she turned around, "Diamond Tiara! Turn and face me if you please." Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes and continued to glare at Apple Bloom. Scootaloo, noticing these glances and realising something must have happened, went to stand by her lemon-yellow coloured friend. "Now, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, please return to your seats." Scootaloo saw that Apple Bloom was still narrowing her eyes at Diamond Tiara, so she gave her a friendly shove and they both padded over to their desks. Cheerilee winked at Apple Bloom before looking over at Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, "I hope nothing fishy has happened while I've been away." Silver Spoon looked alarmed and immediately shook her head as if she was trying to swat away an annoying fly with her mane, Diamond Tiara just turned round with a smug look upon her face. "I'm serious Diamond Tiara, if any meanness has been going on between you and other fillies, I will inform your father." Diamond Tiara's eyes went wide with alarm, and she shook her head and said, "I'm very sorry, Miss. Cheerilee, nothings happened, I promise." The teacher seemed fine enough with this response and turned back to the rest of the class, her eyes widened when she turned to an empty desk next to Apple Bloom, she started looking frantically around the room for any sign of the missing student, eventually she turned to the class, a worried look on her face, "Has anypony seen Sweetie Belle today?" The class looked at each other and back at their teacher, finally Scootaloo said, "I saw her yesterday..." Scootaloo's cheeks went ablaze when Silver Spoon started giggling and she realised that seeing her "yesterday" , wouldn't really help the situation at all. Cheerilee didn't seem the least bit frazzled by this answer, she simply mumbled, "Good to know." And started looking and searching around the room, desperately hoping that the filly could be hidden underneath a desk, or book shelf. She turned to the class, "Well I didn't get a call from her parents so she can't be ill, and Sweetie Belle is too good to try and bunk off school, right?" Suddenly the young teacher who normally remained very calm under pressure began to feel herself heat up and panic. At that moment somepony burst through the back door, "This is just getting dang DANGEROUS now!" Suddenly a blue mare with a rainbow coloured mane burst through the door that led into the class room, with a little white filly at her side, "Almost two accidents in one morning? This is getting completely out of hoof!" Everypony turned to stare at the intruder, only to realise that it was Rainbow Dash, the towns resident weather pony who spent her time practicing her flying skills or taking naps in the trees at Sweet Apple Acres. "Rainbow Dash!" Cheerilee cried, "You found Sweetie Belle!" Cheerilee was almost so overcome with joy that the missing filly had returned that she didn't notice for a matter of seconds that one, Sweetie Belle was crying and two, that Rainbow Dash looked very, very, very angry! "Yeah, I did. And guess where I found her? About to gallop into a massive tree trunk stretched across the road, unable to slow down because of her speed, now I don't know about you, but, that seems very dangerous don't you agree? After it's just happened to another filly and left her with severe injuries! Not to mention a pretty damn bashed scooter!" Cheerilee looked flustered, "Now Rainbow Dash, you're in a classroom, please control your language. I am very sorry that Sweetie Belle almost had the same accident as Scootaloo, and I realise now that this is a very big problem that we are all having to deal with and I shall tell the caretaker to look into removing it immediately, I assure you." "Good," Rainbow looked down at the filly who was only about half her size and said, "see, Sweetie? It's all going to be taken care of soon, no pony's going to get hurt again, Cheerilee says so, and what Cheerilee says goes." The class couldn't help but smile at this, the dare devil, rainbow coloured pegasi dealt with things so well, despite of her slightly big head and trying-to-look-cool style of character, and it was obvious that despite these things, she still cared very much for the well being of other ponies. Cheerilee smiled as well, "Yes Sweetie Belle, no pony's going to get hurt." Cheerilee turned back to the rest of the class, "Now class, I don't want any running when you return home from school today, be very aware that there are dangers on the path that leads back to the town centre, as you can see we have already had some accidents that I, as teacher do not want to see happen again, do I make myself clear?" The class all nodded in unison at there now very serious teacher, "Thank you for informing me that this will be a problem, Rainbow. But maybe next time you could enter the classroom in a more orderly fashion, but you had a very important thing to say, so for that, I forgive you." Dash nodded and smiled at Sweetie Belle and gave her a little wink, "Yeah, sure, sorry for bursting in like that, I was just agitated, thats all." "Thats perfectly fine, and I was almost having a panic attack when I realised Sweetie Belle wasn't here! Thank you for returning her to me safely, Rainbow Dash." Cheerilee gave one of her big cheery grins and Dash glided over to the exit and beamed, "I'll replace the door handle, by the way." And dashed out of the room. The class all burst into laughter at the look on their teachers face, it was a mix of horror and disbelief at Dash's cheekiness. Sweetie Belle wiped her tears and galloped over to her seat quickly so as not to attract too much attention to herself. Cheerilee shook her head and started laughing, "That Rainbow Dash, she's just so unpredictable!" "More like awesome!" Scootaloo couldn't help but correct her teacher. Cheerilee gave a hearty grin, "Well, yes. I'll give her that!" Scootaloo smiled but then cast a quick glance at Sweetie Belle just to make sure her friend was alright. The young filly was panting heavily. And why shouldn't she be? It must of been terrifying not being able to stop! At least I was on my scooter so I could easily steer clear! While Scootaloo was looking at her friend she heard a snooty laugh from behind her, she saw Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon sniggering at poor Sweetie Belle, "Your sure put on a good show! How embarrassing!" Diamond Tiara whispered in Sweetie Belle's ear. "Oi! Leave her alone!" Scootaloo spat in Diamond's face. Diamond Tiara didn't respond but sneered at Scootaloo, then turned back to the front of the class where Cheerilee was standing, she was about to start her announcement! "Well, everypony, as you very well know I have a very, very special announcement for you all today." She began, every filly and colt in the room were listening intently, "First off I'm just going to tell everypony what this is about because I can see that you can't wait any longer! We have a new student joining our school!" Scootaloo's face lit up, she was so excited, while she'd been here they'd never had a new filly or colt joining their small school, she turned round to look at Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, it seemed that Sweetie had stopped looking miserable and looked just as excited at Scootaloo felt! Apple Bloom was beaming too. "So, second off, it's a filly, not a colt, sorry boys." None of the boys showed any sign of being irritated by this fact, in fact some of the boys like Featherweight and Pipsqueak looked even more excited! Scootaloo just rolled her eyes and looked back at their smiling teacher, "Now, I want you to all show her around and be very nice to her, I'll have to pick a buddy to show her around, who'd be interested?" Everypony in the classroom raised a hoof. "Well, it may be a hard decision, so I suppose I'll let her choose! Come in dear!" Everypony's face turned on a small mint filly with magenta eyes and purple and lilac mane and tail. She should've looked nervous, but something about the filly's face made her seem undoubtably calm. She gazed around the room at all the eyes that were staring at her. Cheerilee turned on her, "Now, everypony! This is Whisper, I want you to be kind, introduce yourselves and make her very at home here, understand?" Everypony nodded, still never taking their eyes off the filly. Scootaloo turned and looked at Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom looked excited, just like Scoots, but Sweetie looked as if she were lost in thought, gazing at the filly with wide eyes and an open mouth. Cheerilee plastered a fake smile on her lips, noticing how awkward and quiet her normally chaotic class were being. She decided to break the silence, "So, Whisper? Who do you want to be assigned your buddy to look after you?" Whisper looked around the class, Diamond Tiara looked desperate, she probably thought having another filly in her posse would make the class listen to her more. But Whisper's eyes skimmed past without so much as a second glance. Her gaze fell upon the CMC, first she looked at Scootaloo who was giving her a lop-sided smile, then at Apple Bloom who still looked rather excited then her gaze fell upon Sweetie Belle who was looking her up and down, lost in thought. Whisper had made her decision, she pointed at Sweetie and simply said, "The frightened one."
