Scootaloo briefly stirred the yellow and green sludge quarantined in one corner of her lunch tray, watching it congeal back to stillness. "What did the menu say this was?" she whined to her two friends seated nearby.

The Ponyville schoolhouse was a single room, much too small to have a cafeteria, so the local government had hired a catering company to provide school lunch from a wagon parked on the lawn outside. The contract went to the lowest bidder. It showed in the surly serving mare with her dead eyes and mane-net that stank of cigarettes as much as the quality of the slop she served. The wet slap of another ladle full of “nutrition” landing on some poor pony’s tray somehow pierced the persistent murmur of the students who’d already found their seats. “No wonder nearly everypony who can afford to brings their own lunch.”, Scootaloo thought, before settling down on the grass at the edge of the sports field.

Sweetie Belle looked up from her carefully packed lunch box, to regard the other filly’s tray. "It was, corn.. something, wasn't it?" she only half recalled. A quick spell cracked open her own meal as an afterthought. Rarity had recently discovered a passion for Neighponese food, so her little sister's lunch had rice balls and little veggies lovingly cut to resemble cutesy sea creatures.

Apple Bloom was also in the free lunch crowd, but she was already obliviously munching through the slop on her own tray. "Who cares? Food's food, mah granny says." Sweetie noted that her friend had never quite managed to master NOT talking with her mouth full and discretely pushed her own lunch out of the spray zone. "And ya gotta eat ALL of it afore you get an apple for dessert, or you won't grow up big an' strong!" Bloom patted the paper bag with 3 sweet treats at her side. The Apple family may be poor in bits, but they were definitely rich in, well... apples. "Thems tha rules." The words landed with the finality of the grave.

Scoots flapped her tiny wings in annoyance, surveying the herculean task before her. "Your family's rules! I don't know why they should apply to me..." Another poke, another jiggle, then stillness. "This looks like something Sweetie could have made!" Apple Bloom chuckled, while the unicorn sniffed and levitated a bit of steamed zucchini carved into the shape of a smiling squid. Scootaloo looked on enviously as Sweetie took a demure bite, decapitating the jolly little morsel. It looked both delicious, cute, and awesome. "Hey, Sweetie Belle, how about you give me some of those carrot-fish?"

"You think you can insult my cooking and then ask me for some of my lunch immediately afterward?" An arched eyebrow conveyed her skepticism. "Really?"

"C'moon!" Scoots did a fair impression of Rainbow Dash's scratchy timbre. "Where's the Generosity?"

"First of all, that's my sister. If anything, I should get to be a little stingy to balance her out! And second, you didn't wash up and I don't want your hooves touching my lunch!"

"And third, you eatin' her lunch won't get you any closer to yer apple. Thems-"

The pegasus filly rolled her eyes and finished before her friend could "the rules. I know."

Apple Bloom smiled and looked around the school field, tuning out her friends as they continued to bicker good-naturedly. The three of them always ate together, but they were far from the only regular group sprawled out on the grass enjoying the late autumn sun. The few school-colts usually ate in one big group. Among the mares, free lunchers tended to gather together in groups of 4 to 6, and most of the bag crowd did the same.

Diamond Tiara's group was an exception. She got gourmet lunch specially prepared and delivered from her father's estate daily, and had built a circle of sycophants largely on "sharing the wealth". The Queen's Court, the school-fillies called it, laid claim to a shady tree on the far side of the field. Only the most elite and popular young ponies were welcome there, and it was many a filly's dream to be invited. Not Apple Bloom though, she'd had her taste of the high life and didn't miss it. If other ponies wanted to swallow Diamond Tiara's bull-pucky in exchange for some tiny sandwiches, they were welcome to. At least holding court usually kept their nemesis too busy to harass them at lunch.

As her eyes wandered across the field, she realized most everyone in their class belonged somewhere, except the new colt Silver Slice, apparently. He lay on his barrel next to an empty bag, a little ways away from the other boys, napping by himself. She wondered what he was thinking. Was he being excluded from the boys' group or did he choose to be alone?

The colts did seem a little more animated than usual, and Apple Bloom spotted several of them gesturing towards the loner. She tried to filter through the buzz of general conversation to catch what they were saying. Her focus was rewarded with a small snippet "he's dangerous, boys". Maybe Silver Slice's actions last week had made everypony too scared to include him?

"Hey!" Apple Bloom snapped he head around. "You alright there, Bloom?" Scootaloo was looking at her strangely.

"Sorry, sorry. Mah mind went wandrin'."

"So you gonna give it, or what?" the pegasus asked.

"Give what?" She was still confused, and looked to Sweetie for clarification

"The apple." Sweetie motioned towards the bag with a hoof, then to Scootaloo's bare tray. "Scoots there finally conquered the dragon and now she wants her prize."

Apple Bloom smirked as she reached into her bag and passed over the fruit. "Ya'll's prize, knight Scoot of Loo! A worthy reward fer a worthy deed!"

The mockery went right over the pegasus' head. "Damn right!" She tore into her apple with a vengeance.

The other two smiled at the sight, until Sweetie noticed something which caused her mirth to die. "Trouble coming." she said simply, nodding her head subtly towards the Queen’s Court. The others tried their best to look without being obvious, spotting the Queen herself cantering primly in their general direction.

Scootaloo groaned at the sight of Diamond Tiara’s approach, whispering to her friends "Why now of all times!? It's enough to spoil my appetite!" There was a pause while the pegasus took another large bite from her apple. "Almost." she clarified while chewing.

"Alright gals, just play it cool and don't let 'er git a rise outta ya! Remember that's what she wants!" It was good advice, hard learned through years of harsh experience. The others nodded. Resolved to not repeat last Friday’s debacle, they braced for their nemesis’ arrival.

Diamond Tiara's words were daggers wrapped in mock sympathy. "Still slumming it over here with these two, Sweetie Belle? I'll never understand why someone with connections to high society chooses to lower herself like this." Apple Bloom and Scootaloo exchanged glances while they waited for the other horseshoe to drop, but Sweetie Belle focused on her lunch, barely acknowledging she was being spoken to. "You should join me and my friends for lunch sometime." There it was. Ever since Sweetie's older sister made it big in the fashion world last year, Diamond Tiara had been playing on and off at peeling her away from the Crusaders. None of them trusted for a moment that it was a genuine offer.

The unicorn finally lowered her food and fixed Tiara with a stare. "I hang out with people who enjoy my company, not those who enjoy my lunch. So what brings you over to our area..." Sweetie paused for a moment, her eyes darting across the field to where court was being held without its queen but with her food. "alone?"

Apple Bloom gave a holler in her mind at the blush Diamond Tiara sported, but kept her outward reaction to a snigger. Sometimes she wished she could be as catty as Sweetie Belle.

Unfortunately, Scootaloo was less adept at social one-upmanship than either of her friends, and chose this moment to interject. "Yeah, just a couple minutes ago she was being totally stingy and wouldn't share her lunch with me at all! But we're still here, so there!" Now it was Sweetie Belle's turn to blush, while Diamond Tiara smirked, Bloom facehoofed and Scootaloo cast her eyes down and ran a hoof through her mane sheepishly. "Sheesh, that seemed a whole lot more like a burn in my head." she mumbled.

"I heard from a little birdie that your valiant colt-friend managed to upset the other colts." she pointed a hoof over to the boys' circle even as two of them broke away, sauntering towards their napping target. Her smile was all teeth, and no mirth, "I'm just here to watch the show."

Author's Note

Not much action in this one, just some build up to a confrontation, sorry! I am pretty proud of the brief interplay between the school fillies, but I had trouble establishing a strong POV in this chapter, which is less good.

Oh well, onwards and upwards!