A Much Different Seed

"This is so exciting!" Anon's friend, Rumble, says as they enter the Canterlot High School front entrance. He straightened his bowtie and cuffs to his tuxedo as he walked. "Our first school dance, man!"

"Yeah, whatever, dude," Anon replied back, "It's not that big of a deal."  He straightened out his regular tie, along with tucking in his brown button-up shirt into your plain jeans.

"NOT THAT BIG OF A DEAL?!" Rumble gets in front of you, face to face, stopping you in his tracks, his mouth agape. "It's a school dance! You know, the time where we can be the life of the party?! And at school, of all places!" He then leans into your ear. "Not to mention, nice looking girls in hot dresses, single." He grinned, raising his eyebrows a couple of times.

"Oh, please. Still not that exciting."

"That's because you're not gonna make a move, Chicken-boy," Rumble said, grinning.

Anon looked over to his friend with a smirk. "Says the one who took almost two years to start dating Scootaloo!"

Rumble frowned and ruffled his brow, showing his unamusement. "I'm serious, Anon. I mean, come on. You haven't even tried this whole school year. Well, here we are at the Valentine's Day Sweetheart Dance! Now's your chance to make a move!"

They paid to get in, and entered. The dance was being held in the cafeteria of the school, with a few tables around for anyone to sit at, and the rest put away to make the dance floor. Streamers, colorful lights, and a disco ball were the main decorations.

"All right!' Rumble whoo-hooed as he strode in. Girls giggled as he strode by, himself raising his eyebrows at them, trying to look cool, and, from the looks of it, succeeding. Anon could only watch as his friend managed to take the hand of an orange-skinned girl with short, dark pink hair and a simple black dress and boots. The girl snorted and giggled, even giving Rumble a kiss on the cheek as he courted her some more.

Anon could tell this was going to be a long night.

Anon sat at the table, watching Rumble dance along to the song with his date.

Rumble looked back at him, and gave him a wave and a thumbs up. Anon rolled his eyes. And Rumble said before the dance that he would never leave Anon's side. Big surprise that he didn't.

Anon had gathered up a big plate of food from the snack table, including brownies, cookies, tarts, and who knows what else. That cross-eyed girl, who happened to have a muffin for a best friend, was handling the snacks, with said muffin in her hand wearing a bowtie, so Anon wasn't quite trusting of her cooking abilities. He took a bite out of a brownie, and it tasted ok. With that, he shrugged and continued to eat.

He watched the scene on the dance floor as he took a chomp of a cookie. On the far corner of the area, a yellow-skinned girl with pink hair and a blue dress was sitting alone, sighing. Anon almost got up to maybe talk to her, but soon sat back down as a grey-skinned boy in a mismatched tuxedo, with crazy hair and yellow eyes, not to mention discolored hands, took her hands, instantly making her smile as she led her to dancing.

Still crunching on a sweet, his eyes wandered to another table, where a chubby silver-colored boy, with black hair wearing a small tuxedo maybe a size too small for him, and a red-curly-haired girl, with large glasses and braces wearing a sailor's outfit of sorts with a bowtie on her neck and in her hair, were sitting. The boy had a rose behind him, and he was obviously in an awkward situation. The girl was smiling back at him, blushing and twirling her hair. Then, after a moment, Anon saw the boy gulp and, with sweating hands, give the girl the flower. The girl, showing a fantastic grin, took the flower, sniffed it, and, to the boy's surprise, gave him a big kiss on the cheek, which left him flabbergasted and red, but smiling back at her as she hugged him and kissed him some more.

Anon felt a mushy feeling in his hand. He looked towards his hand, and found that he had crushed the cookie he was eating. He dropped the crumbs on the plate, and cleaned his hand with a napkin.

He glanced back at the snack area as he cleaned himself up. A big, buff man with white-skinned muscles poking out of his tuxedo T-shirt and obviously too-small jeans was gathering food onto a plate, his eyes filled with glee and his tongue flapping out. The cross-eyed snack girl was doing the same thing, only a few feet away from the man. A moment later, the man found his hand resting on hers as they both reached for a brownie. They looked at each other, and blushed, smiling at each other.

"Yeah..." the man said quietly, which caused the snack girl to somehow giggle.

Anon smashed the napkin as he did the cookie, though purposefully, then threw it in the nearby trashcan.

He turned back around, when his eyes catching sight of the front. Anon wished he hadn't.

"Seriously?!" He heard from the front, shuddering at the familiar voice.

At the front stood Babs Seed, freshman, city girl, and bully. Not to mention, the least favorite for Anon to see. She was wearing her usual brownish-green leather jacket, zipped up, and a grey square-pattern skirt, which became ruffled as Babs argued with the teacher keeping watch over the admission table. Her black shoes stood their ground as Babs talked.

"Whaddya mean, I can't come into this dumb dance?!?" Anon focused his ears on Babs's complaints as the front admissions teacher, a blonde-haired woman with orange skin and a purple dress suit, tried to talk to her.

"I've told you, Miss Seed, you cannot come in on account of your several bad marks in your grades, and for your certain...behavior at school as of late."

"Oh, please! I haven't been that bad! So what that the principal didn't find my joke sprayed on his car funny! Or that that boy didn't appreciate my little act of putting him in a locker! That boy had the face of a gremlin! I was saving him the embarrassment." Babs giggled at her thought. "That is, the embarrassment of ever being seen with that ugly mug of his!"

"Well, even so, us teachers and students do not want that type of behaviour at our events, so if you would kindly leave..." The teacher pointed towards the door.

"Aw, fine. Forgeddaboutit! Who cares about these dumb dances, anyway?!" Babs began to stomp out, but then turned back. "It's not like I need weird dancing and stupid music to have a good time!" She chuckled deviously. "I can do that just by popping your tires outside!"

"Do that, Babs Seed, and I will suspend you for a month!" The teacher turned red with anger.

Babs smiled right back. "Just try, Miss Bullhead." She then laughed as she walked out the front door, leaving the teacher fuming at the ears.

Anon shook his head at the sight. How glad was he to not be in that situation. Ever. He had heard of Babs and her escapades sometime before school had started from another student who was unfortunate to suffer her wrath, and since then has stayed clear for all of the school year so far.

Well, almost.

There was this one time when he wasn't looking where he was going in the cafeteria, and-

SMACK!

The impact was so great, it was sending them both on their butts to the ground.  He gasped as he got up and saw her staring directly at him, her eyes red with rage. She had then looked down at her jacket and skirt at the time, now caked with messy food.

It just had to be chili dog day, he thought.

She had looked back at him, which gave him the shivers. Then, she muttered, her anger apparent in her voice:

"Yer gonna pay for that, bonehead!"

Anon had never before felt terror like he did at that moment. And he certainly didn't want to feel pain as well.

So, on instinct, he shot back up onto his feet, shouted, "Sorry!" and ran like a speeding pony away from the cafeteria.

Anon still shivered at the memory of that experience. Who knows what would've happened if he stayed longer?

Thankfully, he won't have to go through that again. Especially now, at the dance.

Having the time of his super-awesome life.

Yay.

Then, with that, he continued to munch on delicacies from his plate alone as he watched Rumble dance with his girl some more.

It was an hour in, and Anon had gotten even more junk food from the snack table. He noticed that the table was now unoccupied, and looked to the dance floor. There, the muscle man and the snack girl were both dancing to the music, her in his arms as he spun her around. Anon then watched as the girl, after looking at it for a moment, threw the muffin away, and gave the man a great big kiss on the lips.

The muscle man could only stare for a moment before smiling the goofiest, teethy smile ever and saying, "yeahhhhhhhh...", with the snack girl blushing and twiddling her thumbs.

Anon felt a nauseous feeling coming up in his throat, and didn't like it. Unfortunately, for him, it got even worse.

The music in the dance hall began to turn into a slower tune, and everyone began to couple up and sway to its charms.

Anon could only look as they danced. He noticed Rumble slowly courting his girl, who gave him a sweet kiss on the cheek as they held hands and danced together. The snack girl and the muscle man also danced, with the girl also dancing along too, looking up into the muscle man's eyes with big crossed, yet bedazzled, eyes. Even the red-haired girl and the chubby boy got into it, though they were sitting down and swaying instead of dancing, but from the looks on their faces, and how the girl hugged the boy, her cheek rubbing against his, they were certainly enjoying it too.

Anon looked for one more moment, then looked at his plate, then at his empty table where he sat. Slowly, he stood up, grabbing his plate, and threw it in the garbage.

"I'm out of here," he sighed, before walking past the admissions teacher and striding out the door, taking one last glance at his friend Rumble, who was not noticing his friend walk out as he danced with his sweetheart.

He kicked at the rocky sidewalk as he walked along the lake near the school, regretting ever going there in the first place. If he wanted to pay to watch people get all lovey-dovey like that, he would've just rented a romantic comedy.

He stepped over to the lake's edge, and gazed into the water at his sole reflection. No other reflection, just his. The lone, single man he was.

He couldn't help but feel that Rumble was right. He was too much of a wimp when it came to this sort of thing. But Anon couldn't help it; he just couldn't handle the mushy talk.

Not to mention he had never really talked to a girl his age. Ever.

Whatever. Anon kicked at the dirt under his shoes, furrowing his brow. Rumble can go screw it. It's not like I *need** a girlfriend.*

His thoughts then went to Rumble again, though this time of him moments ago, dancing with his girl on the floor, happy and content. Living it up with someone who cared about him.

**Sigh. Though, it would be nice.

He couldn't help but sigh again as he gazed at himself in the lake and listened to the crickets chirping, the cars zooming by on the highway a half-mile away, the distant grunting and splashing nearby.....

Wait a minute. Grunting and splashing?

He looked around the whole lakeside, and found a figure several yards away.

Anon could only mentally gasp. There stood Babs, a pebble in her hand, staring at the water with a fury unlike any other student at Canterlot High.

Anon wasn't really the ninja type, yet even he had to keep out of sight from her. He set his eyes on a nearby tree, and quickly ran behind it as if his butt was on fire.

Behind the tree, he continued to hear Babs grunting and throwing, wondering what she was thinking.

His wonders were answered as he began to hear Babs talk to herself.

"Who needs those losers?" Babs grabbed a small rock, and tried to skip it, to no success. "Like I said, I can find fun all by mahself." She grabbed another and tried. No dice. Anon saw her brow begin to furrow.

"Not like I haven't been alone before. Not the first shindig I couldn't go to cause of my attitude!" Babs grabbed a slightly bigger rock, and tried slightly less to skip it. Again, no success. Anon could swear her eyes were turning red. She continued to grab rocks and throw them, failing one after the other. "After all, I am alone much of the time!' Anon noticed her volume begin to increase. "No weirdos, no losers to beat the stuffing out of, no bossy teachers! Just-the way-I like it!"

She began to pant, her faces beginning to match her eyes. "No friends, either. So what?" Her throwing began to speed up, with each passing moment her throws increasing in force and splash, and her voice increasing in tone and volume. "All alone! Big, Bad Babs the Bully! No one wants to hang out?! Fine with me!"

Anon began to cover his ears as Babs continued to rant.

"So what I got no friends?! So what everyone hates me at school?!?" She began to sputter, her rage was boiling so much. "So what if I get in trouble a bunch?!? So WHAT if I get bad grades because of it?!?!? SO WHAT if my mom and dad don't give a flying feather, either?!? THEY CAN GO AND SUCK AN ORANGE TO GO ALONG WITH THEIR BEER, FOR ALL I STINKIN' CARE!!!!! SO-WHAT!!!!!?!?!?!?"

With the last sentence, the biggest splash rang out through the night. Anon watched the splash crescendo into the air from the huge rocks just chunked by Babs, then seep right back down into the lake below, along with the rock.

Anon closed his eyes and turned away. He didn't want to see anymore.

But then, his ears caught wind of another sound.

Sniffling. A little coughing. Wheezing. Almost like.....sobbing.

Anon uncovered his ears and eyes and looked again. There stood a much different Babs Seed. Whereas the first one was angry, forceful , and a bully, this one....Anon just couldn't believe it...was wiping at her eyes from the waterfalls of tears she was leaking. Anon then could only look in disbelief as Babs slumped on her knees to the ground, her face in her hands.

Anon looked in exasperation. There, right in front of him, stood a different, a much different, Babs Seed

Then, a whisper.

"So what-sniff-that I have nobody?"

Anon leaned against the tree. He continued gazing at this person he, though seen many times before, felt like he was seeing only for the first time.

Wow. Anon closed his eyes, suddenly wincing.

Did I really.......just see that? He continued to lean, looking at the thing that was Babs Seed in complete unsureness.

Babs Seed showing....weakness?

"Really?"

Gasp! Anon heard Babs gasp and shuffle, then clamped his mouth, suddenly realizing what he had just done.

"Who's there?" he heard Babs shout out. "I'm warning ya, Ah know karate!"

Anon then put his other hand over his mouth, as if it would keep it closed, but unfortunately, forgot this was his tree-support hand. In a matter of a second, Anon found himself face-first with the ground, his nose instantly searing with pain.

"Ow!" He shout out. He stood back up, grabbing his nose, wondering if it was bleeding.

But then his eyes found hers. Her big eyes, green, like fresh leaves in the spring, staring at him. They gave him shivers once more, but this time, felt sort of different.

Anon then saw her cover her own mouth with her hands as she gasped again. "Oh my gosh, are you ok?!"

Anon looked down at his hands, bringing them down to waist level. No blood. A good sign.

"Nope."

Babs sighed. "Oh, that's a relief."

Anon somewhat smiled, but then, Babs, widening her eyes, then ruffled up, furrowing her eyebrows again.

"Uh, yeah! A relief! You should be glad you got so lucky!" Babs said, pointing at anon as if she were labeling him a killer in a murder. "Cause if I weren't feeling so tired right now, I'd be bustin' yer butt from here to Albuquerque!"

Babs then grabbed Anon by the collar, and shoved him into the tree, making a fist with her other hand. "In fact, i think i still have enough energy to make you sorry enough, you peeper!!"

She readied the punch. Anon began to sweat and shake. His lips began to flutter.

The fist was in position, ready to strike. Anon wanted to run, but couldn't. His legs were up in the air.

So, without even thinking, Anon's lips worked up the courage to shout out one thing before Babs's hand touched it:

"You don't have to do this!"

The fist was merely an inch from his face. Anon opened his eyes, realizing he had shut them again, and looked into Babs's face, obvious confusion showing from it.

"Whaddya mean, don't have to?! Answer me that, Shaky!" She began to cock her fist again.

"B-b-becau..."

Anon's lips started to sputter again. What was he supposed to say? He couldn't say the truth, lest he be an official creeper. He couldn't just shut up, either, though, lest he actually wanted a bloodied nose.

"Well?! On the count of three, mister!" Babs shouted. Anon began to panic.

"One.."

Uhhhh.

"Two...."

Idon'tknowidon'tknowidon'tknow!

"Three!"

Anon, suddenly finding the bravery in him, put all his strength into his lips.

"Because i know you don't like this!"

The fist stopped only an inch from his face. It was close enough for Anon to count the lines and wrinkles on the skin of her knuckles. Anon could only sigh inside.

Babs raised her brow, lowering her fist. "How the heck would you know?" She said, her defiance mixed into her words.

Anon, his bravery still surging while it could, looked directly into her eyes, and sighed out, "because I saw everything."

"Wha..?" Babs only sputtered in confusion for a few moments, but then gasped. Immediately, she let go of Anon, him slumping to the ground. Her words began to become understandable.

"Y-you mean.." She pointed to the lake where she stood, "All that?"

Anon only nodded.

Babs bit her lip, shutting her eyes. Anon couldn't quite tell, but he could swear he saw tears forming in her eyes.

Babs noticed Anon looking, and turned around to hide her obvious sadness. She put on her tough mask again. "So what? Not like you can do anything about it! Forgeddaboutit!"

Anon stood back up, his bravery turning to frustration. "No."

Babs looked back around. "No?!?"

Anon walked up to her side, putting his hand on her shoulder. "You can put away the tough girl act now. I saw everything."

Babs pushed him away. "ACT?!? I'm not putting on an act, ya liar!"

Anon couldn't find a response to that, so he could only stare into Babs's face.

Babs started to back away. "It's not an act!"

She continued to back up, more worry appearing on her face, Anon continuing to stay silent in confusion and stare. "It-it isn't! Do ya hear me? SAY SOMETHING!"

She backed up, continuing to rant. Anon felt a tingle of concern as he saw her feet hit the edge of the lake.

"SAY SOMETHING, DARN IT!!"

Then, a stumble.

A moment later, she became soaked as her behind hit the water.

Anon kept staring down, though this time, with a surprised gaze.

Then, the sounds of sobbing began to come up once more.

Babs looked up. Her eyes were filled with tears, and her cheeks were stained with redness and water trails.

"Who am I kidding?" She said, choking up with each word. "I'm no tough girl." She put her face in her arms, drooping to her lap and looking to the water, watching as her tears penetrated its surface. "I'm just a lone little flunkie who's hated by everyone."

Anon let her sob for another moment, sitting down to get to her level.

Then, he said one of the most surprising things to ever come out of his mouth:

"I don't hate you."

Babs stopped sobbing. "Yes, ya do. Everybody else does."

"Well, no," he responded, his voice calm, "In fact, to tell you the truth, it was more...fear than hate." Anon edged closer, the water edge hitting his jeans.

Babs looked up, putting on an I'm-not-amused face. Her eyes were red. "Yeah, like that's any better."

"But I was wrong."

A gasp escaped from Babs's mouth, and in Anon's mind. Babs continued to stare, shocked.

Anon continued, to his surprised, yet enlightened, self. "Before I started here, I heard stories about you. Things that terrified me. The things you do to people. The way you behave. How you bully.  I heard it all so much, I became so afraid of you, I couldn't bear myself to be near you." Anon then sighed, drooping his own head, really surprised at what he was about to say. "I was wrong to feel that way." He then started to twiddle his thumbs. "Plus, you're not the only one who's alone."

Babs edged closer to him. "Are you....?"

"Yeah, I am." Anon's chest grew heavy as he continued. "I have friends, but....they aren't really much of friends, to be honest. They never hang out with me, they never help me out. We just talk every once in a while, then they go off to do things with their other friends." Anon looked back to the school. "Or their own sweethearts."

Babs looked at the school, and nodded. "Yeah, I hear that."

"I always thought that maybe, it wasn't all that bad. Maybe I wasn't truly alone. Maybe-someday-things would change." Anon sighed once more. "Now I realize it is true." He sighed. "Guess it just took some cruddy, love-dovey dance to realize that."

Anon kept looking down at the ground. He found tears forming in his eyes, to his astonishment, as his chest grew heavy, yet lighter at the same time with the release of his burdening realization of alienation.

Then, he widened his eyes as two arms wrapped around his neck. He saw as Babs hugged him, her dark pink hair rubbing against his ear. It was only a few seconds that she hugged him, but to him, it felt like an hour.

Babs let go of him, and looked eye-to-eye with him. She smiled. Anon decided to smile back.

"You're not alone, anymore," she whispered, "ya got me now."

She took a seat to Anon's left, gazing at the lake, Anon joining in.

"So.....what now?" she asked.

"Well..for now, we can just..sit here." Anon scoffed, smiling. "Certainly better than the lovefest at the school.

Babs chuckled, and scoffed with him. "Yeah. Who needs that jazz?"

"Yeah-" Then, Anon pulled out a small radio from his pocket. "Especially when we got our own music to listen to?"

He set the radio in his lap, and turned it on. In The Summertime by Mungo Jerry. Anon began to pat the ground to the tune.

Babs giggled, and did the same thing.

The pats soon turned to clapping as the radio continued to play more music. We Will Rock You. The Twist. Blueberry Hill.

Then, the station began to crackle, and Anon, tired yet satisfied with the merriment they just enjoyed, tuned it to another station.

As he tuned, however, he noticed Babs begin to shiver.

"Are you ok?"

"Y-yeah," she responded, her teeth chattering, "b-but My c-c-clothes aren't. They're soaked!"

Anon drooped his brow. "Here, i'll help you."

Anon put the radio aside, and, with a gentle hand, pulled off Babs's coat. He internally shivered as he noticed Babs's bare, smooth arms and skin, and silently gasped in awe at her dress, a white torso with no arms. He then, his hormones rushing, took a peek into Bab's dress and blushed. He turned away as he continued to take off the jacket.

"There," he said as he was done, throwing the jacket to the side, "That should help."

"Th-th-thanks," Babs said, still chittering, "but that didn't help."

Anon bit his lip. That was the only thing he had thought of.

Then, an idea came to mind, but Anon wasn't sure about it. However, it was the best he could come up with, so it couldn't hurt to try.

So slowly, while Babs didn't stare at him, he edged closer and closer, till he was within arm's reach.

Then, quietly and gently as a whisper, his arm came to rest around her back and shoulders and his hand wrapped on her arm.

Babs gasped, and looked at the hand now holding her. Anon widened his eyes. Boy, was he in for it now.

Babs looked for a moment, then looked at Anon, his face beginning to sweat.

Then, to his surprise, she smiled, and, to his shock, leaned in, burying her body in his torso, her head resting on his shoulder.

Anon only stared in stupid awe for a second, as Babs looked up to him, smiling, and said, "Thanks."

Anon smiled back, then decided to go back to tuning the radio.

Almost every station was bad, except for one. Anon eventually settled on that one, and listened as he cuddled with Babs (he shivered again at the reality of the situation).

Then, a kind of jazz music came bursting from the radio, trumpets bellowing out sweet tunes and trombones billowing good bass and rhythm.

To Anon, though, it sounded much like the romance music he heard at the school, and immediately began to blush.

Babs looked at the radio, then at Anon. Then, her eyes became lidded as she stood up, beckoning a hand to him.

Anon, confused, took it, and stood alongside her. Then, very subtly and slowly, they began to sway.

Anon's mind began to swarm with thoughts. He had never been in this situation before. What should he do?

Going off of pure movie knowledge, and what he saw at the dance, Anon put his arms on Babs's hips.

Babs smiled, and slowly wrapped her arms around his neck and shoulders. She began to blush, and gazed away from Anon's eyes.

They then continued to sway as the song went on. As the jazz continued to ebb its way to their ears, Anon found himself getting closer and closer to Babs. Then, the next thing he knew, his forehead was touching hers.

Babs stared back into his eyes, her expression as one of astonishment.

Anon looked back in shock, as well. "U--u-umm....well, uh...."

That was all he could get out before a hand grabbed the back of his head and pulled him in.

Anon felt his pupils dilate as Babs kissed him. He stared as Babs closed her eyes in the joy of the moment, her body waist going limp in Anon's arms, her own arms grabbing his head as she continued her kiss.

Anon closed his eyes as well, and kissed back, as they continued to sway to the beauty of the music playing, and to the joy of a moment that felt unending.

Eventually, though, the song ended, and their lips separated. Anon looked at Babs, who began to play with her hair as her blush increased. She began to rock back and forth from left to right, looking away from Anon.

"Looks like that lovey-dovey talk got to us, huh?" She said, after a few minutes of silence.

"Yeah," Anon said a moment after, taking her chin and directing her face to his. "But that's....ok. It wasn't all that bad."

Babs grinned and giggled, Anon doing the same.

"Ya know, for a clumsy bonehead," she said, smiling, "yer worth keeping around." She frowned, looking away. "Sorry about that."

Anon didn't say anything. He simply took her hand, crossing her fingers with his, and led her away, herself putting her head on his shoulder as they did.

He then kissed her on the cheek, leading himself and her to blush.

"No worries."

As they passed the school, Anon noticed Rumble and Scootaloo at the entrance. Both had shocked looks and open mouths as they stared at him and Babs, smiling and staring at each other like Romeo and Juliet.

Anon didn't say anything. He only smiled.

After all, he wasn't one to judge anymore.

THE END