Chapter 1: A Slap on the Face A Kiss on the Cheek
“Nikolai?”
...
“Mr. Ceskei?”
The reality of the world rushed back into the young man. He was blankly staring at a room full of expectant faces. Some were staring, others were giggling or whispering to their neighbor. He looked back at my teacher with a smile.
“Yes, Mr. Cranky?” Nikolai asked looking at my impatient teacher hunched over his desk.
Mr. Cranky responded with a reluctant sigh clasping his toupee with his hand. After finishing, he released the poor creature for his grasp and slid his hand down to his face. He pulled his eyelids, then his lips downwards until they too escaped the clutch of his fingers. He closed his eyes and looked back at me with his droopy expression.
“You were going to tell the class about yourself!” He said angrily gesturing his hand towards the class.
Nikolai looked back with a pleasant smile still plastered onto my face. The atmosphere was that of a landmine on the road that could go off if one did not tread warily enough. The expression were not of that demeanor though. The palpable awkwardness lead to more silent conversations between neighbors and some were about ready to releases their contagious laughter to break the ice. The only individual that drew his attention in the class was that of a pink colored girl with a warm welcoming smile of her own. Her body language was that of excitement, light jerking in place and her tapping fingers. I thought she was about to fall apart. She was… pink, pink puffy hair with huge blue eyes. She wore a white shirt with a pink skirt what had three balloons on them. I wonder if they were real.
He retained his composure and began to speak. “There’s not much to say really.”
“Humph” my teacher grunted smacking his lips.
I shrugged. “I came to Canterlot in hopes of a new beginning, a fruitful and everlasting experience.”
“Humph.” Grunted Cranky. “Well if that’s all you have to say please take a seat.” Gesturing to the seat by the pink girl.
He shot a glare at her in return she gave him a pleasant smile. He walked over towards the spot . Students on both sides of my isle looked up at me and then back down, pulling out notebooks and pencils. I sat down and did the same. Mr. Cranky was already out of his desk by the time he had reached his own. He began writing on the board.
“Alright class” he said beginning his lecture, “today we will be talking about local history.” He paused as he finished writing on the board ‘Canterlot History’. He coughed and pulled down the screen projector.
“Aw confound it” the teacher said as the projector in the back of the room failed to respond.
Shuffling his way back to his desk crouching underneath in hopes of finding the symptom of the problem.
“Pinkie” came a high pitched voice next to me.
Everything became muffled. Nikolai turned, facing the pink girl bearing a wide smile and enlarged blue-sky eyes.
“I’m sorry, what did you say?” Returning a slightly awkward smile.
“I’m Pinkie Pie” she responded reaching her hand out.
He looked at the offering. Nikolai pulled out my hand and clasping hers and shook it, but before he could let go she pulled him in with a warm hug. The sudden collision of their desks and the loud screeching of the legs of his desk against the floor surprised everyone, even made a few people jump. Their teacher responded to this startling noise by hitting his head on the bottom his desk in surprise.
“Pinkie Pie!“ said an angered Cranky pulling himself up from his desk, a group of sympathetic students also gave her looks of annoyance and disappointment ”you told me there would be no more surprises during my class”.
“Sorry Do-ah I mean Mr. Cranky” Pinkie said with a humble tone in her voice.
As I looked up, her face was the same as her voice, complete ownage. “I-“
“It was my fault sir” Nikolai interjected pulling away from Pinkie “my desk slipped and Pinkie here caught me.”
He looked back at her, who was looking back with a surprised look on her face.
“Well…” said Mr. Cranky with a more composed tone, they both turned to face him “just try to be more careful, I don’t want to start the morning by having to send a student to the nurse.”
Nikolai nodded, the rest of the class returned their gaze back to the front of the class. Mr. Cranky coughed and flipped the projector on standing behind his desk across from the projector board. Resting his hunched back against the wall he continued his lesson. Nikolai pulled up his desk and put it back to its rightful place.
“Now before Canterlot was founded it started as a settlement of farmers who emigrated from their home country during The Great War…”
“You didn’t have to do that” whispered Pinkie bitterly. “I don’t want to get you in trouble on your first day.”
“Besides Doodle wouldn’t have done anything too serious”
Nikolai turned my gaze back at her raising an eyebrow. “Doodle?”
The cotton candy-haired girl looked at him with a smirk. I didn’t want to know.
“Hey, might as well play the new student card now” Nikolai said to her giving me in return a nod and an expression of both sympathy and contentment.
Nikolai turned his gaze back to the board.
“The town was then built around the school founded by Dr. Star Swirl and his pupil Clover the Cleaver” Cranky Doodle continued “well respected in the fields of both Science and Literature, the two founded this school in hopes to offer families an education that they was unavailable back in their homelands.”
“So where are you really from?” Pinkie asked.
“Far” He said still looking toward the board.
“How far?” she said reiterating my statement into a question.
Nikolai sighed.
“As if you resided in another world.” He said plainly.
“Called back to his homeland to research a strange phenomenon , Star Swirl left his student in charge of the school.”
“Well… what did you do there?” she asked.
“Pinkie…” I said beginning to become intolerant of her… persistence.
“Were you a soldier?” Pinkie continued taking note of his dog tag and the tattoo on my neck.
“Not now!” He said annoyed.
“When?” she retorted.
“Another time.” Nikolai said impatiently.
“Lunch?” Pinkie persisted.
“Sure.” He said in defeat.
“-Government giving the school a mysterious stone found at the doctor’s dig site by the Alliance in western Bleuzusal before his disappearance.” Cranky coughed paused for a moment then continued “This stone was crafted as the base for the Canterlot Statue that graces the school, it served as landmark of our town and a memorial for our founder.”
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After the lecture was over Nikolai packed his thing and left the class leaving Pinkie behind. He made his way down the hall towards the bathroom when something grasped his arm. He turned around to see a solemn Pinkie Pie. Se was looking down then back up at me, piercing me with her huge blue eyes
“It’s just that…” speaking with sincere honesty “you’re new here, which means you’re lonely and I don’t ever want anyone to feel that way.”
His expression was still deadpan but inside he was taken aback. She was still staring at him expecting some answer, her gaze haunting the young man's very being. Before he could give in, Pinkie sighed and looked away releasing her grasp and walked away. Nikolai grasped her other arm with his bandaged hand.
“I’ll see you at lunch” He said reassuringly “we can talk later there.”
She turned and looked at him with a reluctant look on her face. “You mean it?”
He smiled and nodded. “Promise.”
A wide smile grew on her pink face. Pinkie spun around facing her new friend, hands on her hips, she gave him a playful expression her face was mere inches from mine. “Do you Pinkie Promise?” she asked raising an eye brow.
Nikolai chuckled. He put his ‘good’ arm out in a salute “Pinkie Promise.”
“No, no silly” she said shaking her head “not like that.”
Pinkie took off her back pack, knelling down she pulled out two cupcakes. You can’t be serious. Nikolai looked around the hallway, there were people around talking to each other, walking to their next class but no one really reacted to what was going on in the middle of the hallway, as if they expected this from her. She handed him the one with the green frosting.
“You just look like the type” Pinkie said before he questioned the color of my dessert’s topping.
“Do it like this” Pinkie said “Cross my heart and hope to fly stick a cupcake in my eye” finishing the ritual with impaling her left eye with cupcake smearing frosting and its enthralls all over her face and the floor.
“Alright…” He said caught off guard.
Nikolai looked around the hallway, no one reacted. Pinkie pulled out another this time one with red frosting. Oh boy.
“Alright now let’s do it together” the pink girl smiled showering her new friend with the feeling of her anticipation and excitement.
Let’s get this done.
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I can’t believe I just did that. Nikolai walked into the bathroom green and bits of red frosting castrating on his face. He turned on the sink and washed the mess off of his face. The young man looked back in the mirror inspecting his face. He smiled at the other facing him and chuckled, what a girl. Nikolai really wasn’t much to look at, long black hair with my ghostly pale skin, a pair of mismatched red and blue eyes. He checked his beard, nothing was left. Damn I really need to shave. Nikolai pulled the t-shirt’s neck to reveal the tattoo on his neck baring my serial number 6101010 with his company’s insignia a shield bearing eagle wings on each side with a skull at the bottom with our company’s phrase ‘poslednyaya liniya oborony’- the last line of defense.Nikolai looked back at myself with great melancholy. This was my choice.
The young man looked down at his watch. I got time. He moved into the open stall and took a seat on the toilet. He opened his rack sack and pulled out the tape player and then pulled a cassette marked ‘Queen- various tracks’. Nikolai placed it in the player closed the cover. I took my headphones out of my pocket and inserted the axel into the player and pressed play. Opening his eyes at the sound of the gong that finished thesong,he pulled out his watch to see how much time had passed, the console was flashing. Shit time is up, I’m going to be late. Nikolai shoved his belongings into my sack and raced out of the bathroom.
Cutting a corner Nikolai heard something coming from the hallway. My class is down there anyways. The sound became more audible and he came across three figures in the hallway. All three were girls from what he could tell. The first one was a light blue with orange slicked up hair with a blue track jacket, a white t-shirt with black shorts and white tennis shoes. She had another girl in a deathlock. She was yellow with pink hair with light purple eyeliner she wore a white tank top with a green skirt and green boots. The last was facing away from his she was pale yellow with short white hair wearing a brown jacket with blue jeans and boots.
“Where’s your friend now?” Said the girl with the brown jacket “Huh, Fluttershy?”
The yellow girl whimpered.
“She was your friend too, you know?” she spoke up.
"Stop this!" Nikolai shouted.
The one in the brown jacket turned around slowly greeting me with a pair of piercing yellow eyes, like the ones of an eagle. "Oh great company" said the blue girl "What are we going to do about this Gilda?"
The one named Gilda approached him wth a small grin on her face.
"I don't recognize you before, you must be new."
He nodded.
Gilda continued "We got no problem with you, our problem is with her.” Gilda pointing her thumb at Fluttershy, who was desperately trying to free herself.
Fluttershy reached out an offering hand. “Please… help me” she said opening her eyes a rush of tears flowing down her cheeks.
“Quiet…” hissed Gilda's companion.
I was silent for a moment. I turned my gaze form Gilda then at Fluttershy, she was still sobbing , then back at the former. My blood was boiling my sight was turning red, but I kept my composure.
Nikolai smiled. “Or…” he negotiated “you let her go now… and I won’t break your fucking arm.”
Fluttershy gasped at the stranger's profanity. Gilda looked back at her companion and then back at me then began to laugh.
“And how…” said Gilda walking towards Nikolai stopping mere inches from his face “…are you going to do that Mr. Big Shit?”
The young man was silent, his expression dark gazing at Gilda. Then suddenly she pulled out a knife. Gilda shanked her razor towards his stomach. Instinctively, he grasped her wrist with his bad hand, twisting Gilda's wrist releasing her talon. Nikolai quickly spuninning his body behind his attacker sending Gilda's arm over her shoulder breaking it over his delivering a loud crack. Nikolai released her arm. Gilda knelled on the floor letting out a defining scream
“And what about you subock?” Nikolai yelled, making his approach towards the orange hair girl, who stood there in shock at the sight before her.
She looked like she was going to drop a brick, looking at Nikolai and then back at Gilda. She was stuck in her track.
“Help me!” pleaded Gilda in field position.
Her accomplice was paralyzed.
“Lightning Dust, help me!” she pleaded once more.
This broke her trance releasing Fluttershy who let out a loud gasp. Lightning Dust ran towards her partner keeping her sights on Nikolai, who was doing the same. She grabbed her partner's knife and picked up Gilda over her shoulder who was now whimpering from the pain of her injury.
“If I ever see you two around her again” He threatened, his face now turning red. “I’ll kill you! You hear me!”
The duo trotted down the adjacent hallway leaving Nikolai and Fluttershy alone.
“Struhnja!” He swore under his breath slamming the bandaged arm on the nearby locker leaving a nasty dent. “Shit…”
Nikolai looked back at Fluttershy who put herself in the corner of the hallway in a defensive ‘cradle position’ two grapes for eyes staring at him with apprehension. He began to make my way back to the traumatized creature when the sound of nearby voices caught his attention.
“It’s coming from this way” came a crackly voice.
“Rainbow, would ya’ll jus slow down?” said another with a slight accent.
Suddenly, a cyan-colored, rainbow-haired girl power slid across the far end of the hallway staring Nikolai down with a pair of fiery red eyes. Oh… Fu- Before he could react, she recovered herself and made a bee line towards the duo. The panicked man looked back a Fluttershy, still terrified to the bone. Nikolai looked back at his pursuer mere yards form me, blazing intensity still in her expression. Damn, she’s fast. Nikolai began to make a dash towards the adjacent hallway.
“Oh no you don’t!” said Rainbow sliding once more.
She reached out her arm in an attempt to grab her prey's shirt. Stopping quickly enough, Nikolai pulled his body away from Rainbow'sr grasp. Her index finger grazed Nikolai's shirt. He quickly spun a one-eighty down the hallway.There was a loud thud, but to to his surprise it wasn’t over.
“You just made things a whole lot worse for yourself, pal.” She shouted before getting back up and continuing the pursuit.
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I fucked up, big time. I have been in many situations where I have had to run for my life. I’ve ran through trenches, rushed mountains and hills raining with bullets and mortar fire, and even angry suitors, but never before have I had to run so fast before. Nikolai looked back at his pursuer, who was beginning to close the gap. Damn, she’s REALLY fast! I had already broke someone's arm for terrorizing an innocent girl. I don't wan't do do anything unnecessary to this one, she hasn't done anything wrong. I'm done with violence, maybe I could reason with her.
“Look…” He panted “this is a huge misunderstanding.”
This girl was no suitor. His words could not phase her from abandoning this chase. Rainbow was closing in until she sprung into the air, almost as if she was flying. Her body collided with Nikolai's backside tackling him to the ground. He was pinned, looking up, he got a good glimpse of his captor. She slouched upwards sitting on his backside, legs knelled across the floor, arms crossed with a triumphant grin across her face and eyebrows raised, looking at me as if she had just caught a wild animal. She wore a white t-shirt that bore a thundercloud with a red yellow and blue lightning bolt, a blue jacket with black sport shirts, a white and pink skirt with blue boots and rainbow wristbands. The fascinating thing about her rainbow-hair was the split ends actually broke apart in perfect bunches with the coordinating color. She must be one of those tomboys I heard about. I was panting heavily but her breathing had already turned back to normal, so she spoke first.
“I have to admit, you’ve got some good moves…” the cyan girl snickered slowly leaning in, her long rainbow hair in my face “…but no one can outrun Rainbow Da-“
With all my strength I pushed myself upwards nailing her in the face with the back of my head. Stunned, I pushed her off my back and rolled across the floor and stood back up. I grasped the back of my sore head. Satisfaction now consuming my body, I smiled.
“Well, it looks like I’m full of-“ I turned to face her but I was greeted with the advent of a fist to the face.
My ego is going be the death of me. I stumbled hitting my back on the locker. Before I could react, Rainbow pressed me against the lockers with her right forearm and her other hand pressed on the lockers by my face. Her body was once more uncomfortably pressed against my own. I looked down, blood was running from her nose and fireballs of furry looking up at me.
“That…” she swallowed the blood in her mouth “…was a mistake.”
She was strong, very strong… Shit! She’s really strong. This new encounter was proving more difficult to escape from. I gave up for the moment. I stared back at her thinking of away to escape this. Blood began running down my nose staining both of our shirts. Neither of us spoke. Both of us just stared at each other waiting for one of us to say something. The silence was broken with the sound of voices coming from the hallway.
“Rainbow Dash, stop!” cried Fluttershy.
“Fluttershy…” said the tomboy still keeping her gaze on me. “You OK?”
I looked away from Rainbow and saw Fluttershy stopping short panting heavily. She was not alone, of course, she was followed by an orange freckled girl with a western cowboy hat, dress shirt, a denim skirt and cowboy boots. She had blonde hair and green eyes, she struck me as the big sister of the group.
"Hey!" yelled Rainbow Dash. "Eyes. On. Me."
I looked back at Rainbow, her expression was more calm now. Breathless, Fluttershy started wheezing kneeling down with her hands on her knees she began to catch her breath. “He… helped… me…” she said finally.
“What?” said Rainbow finally turning away showing her bloodied face to her friends.
“Now look wat ya'll don to yerself Rainbow?” said the cow girl crossed her arms. “I told ya’ll to be calm, now look at you!”
“It’s not ALL my fault, AJ” she said pulling herself away from me separating the small pool of blood fusing our shirts together.
“How was I supposed to know this kid could do some crazy judo shit?!”
“Flutershy told me dat this here ‘kid’ broke Gilda’s arm.” Said the farm girl gesturing to me. “Yall jus gave em an excuse to do this to ya.”
Ignoring that last comment, Rainbow looked back at me in shock. I stood there panting looking at her with a small degree of intensity. I pinched my nose to stop the bleeding. Rainbow looked back at her friends, her face still covered in blood.
“Him?” she asked again, pointing at me with her thumb, her other hand pinching her nose now.
Screw You. I flipped her off. The orange girl, AJ saw this and snickered.
Rainbow directed her attention at the exhausted Fluttershy. She had a red mark streaked across her neck, her eyes bloodshot. She gave her a weak nod.
“I… saw… him do it.” Fluttershy panted, her breathing become normal now.
Taking one last recovering breath, she stood up and walked up to her rainbow-haired friend. Fluttershy pulled out a handkerchief from her backpack and licked the tip of it. At first, Rainbow was reluctant, pulling herself away from this embarrassing spectacle, but eventually she sighed and gave in allowing Fluttershy to clean the blood off of her face. It was quite… abstract to see someone acting so motherly to someone. I slid down the lockers to help alleviate the bleeding.
The cowgirl walked towards me and knelled down and handed me her handkerchief “here you go sugercube.” She spoke with a warm smile on her face.
I nodded. Giving her a grateful gesture when I accepted her offering, I began wiping my face.
“What did they want with you this time?” Rainbow asked paying no attention to me now.
“Does that really matter now?” She said plainly.
Rainbow flipped her pinching hand up to make it easier for Fluttershy to clean her face. “Everything they do to you now is just to get back at me.” She said with a tone of both guilt and anger. “So yea… it does.”
Rainbow clenched her fist, her arm began to tremble.
“They always get away with it, every other day we have to meet you at the nurses on the way to lunch.” She said frustrated. “Why can’t you just drop that job you have across the campus so we can all walk to class together.”
“You know I can’t do that to the special-ed kids.” Her yellow companion argued, she finished cleaning Rainbow’s face and put her handkerchief back into her skirt pocket. “They need someone who can handle them, and my experience at the shelter made this perfect for me.”
“You’re kindness is going to get you killed Flutters…” said Rainbow bitterly.
“Rainbow!” AJ stood up giving a look of disgust and disappointment.
Rainbow sighed in defeat.
“Well, ah say karma finally caught up to’em” AJ said. “And we have ar ‘friend’ ere to thank.”
They both looked at her. She shrugged.
“What? Ahm just bein honest.”
Rainbow looked back at Fluttershy. I got up and removed the handkerchief from my face. Giving the handkerchief back to the orange cowgirl. I looked at the tiled floor small drops of blood smeared and stained across like some demented finger painting. See what pride leads you to? I looked back up at the trio of friends. Rainbow was getting lectured by AJ, Fluttershy giggled at this amusing development. I smiled at this in nostalgia. I cleared my throat.
“If it’s any consolation, Rainbow…” I began she didn’t look back at me. “I’m probably going to get suspended for this anyways.”
All three of them looked at me in surprise in how nonchalantly I said that.
She looked at me and then gave a playful grin. “Oh this?” she said gesturing to her bloodied shirt and face.
“Every once and a while I come off the field looking like this, and look twenty percent cooler the next day” she said reassuringly but not directed towards me but to herself.
She put her hands on her hips spreading a wide smile across her face, basking in her own glory. I nodded, still looking composed but still nervous on the inside. Fluttershy nudged her friend’s shoulder freeing her from the daydream. She opened her eyes and gazed at me expectantly, my demeanor was cueing her that there was more I wanted her to say.
“Oh don’t worry” she said pulling up a reassuring hand. “I won’t tell anyone.”
I loosened my body up in relief then I asked her “Well… what about Gilda and Lightning Dust?”
“What about them?” She asked coldly looking at me angrily.
“You think they will tell anyone?” I asked expectantly.
She composed herself and chuckled shaking her head.
“Those two…” She looked back up at me saying “If word got out that you kicked their asses-“ she stopped, AJ was giving her the obvious hint that wasn’t the answer I wanted to hear from her.
She then said flatly. “Nah, they won’t tell anyone.”
"Were you guys close?" I asked.
She was silent . "When I was a different person" she sighed bitterly.
"There is no need to grieve over this, Rainbow" I reassured her "You can never know what people will become."
Rainbow gave me a doubtful nod. Fluttershy put a encouraging hand on her shoulder. Rainbow turned around to face her. “I’m just glad that you’re OK” she said resting her hands on both of her shoulders and pulling her in for a hug that wouldn’t stain her friend's tank top.
Fluttershy squeaked and slowly began to smile at this. She placed her hands on Rainbow’s back to return the favor she closed her eyes and whispered into her ear “I'm fine now.”
They ended their embrace. Fluttershy pulled out a clean t-shirt and gave it to Rainbow. The cyan girl rolled her eyes, she got the message. Rainbow began to make her way back to her class “Oh by the way…” she stopped and turned to face me “what’s your name?”
“Nikolai Ceskei”
She smirked “Well…” she winked “I’ll see you around.”
I nodded and smiled. She turned around with her hands on the back of her head and quickly made her escape back to class.
I looked back at the duo.
“Wen yer done ere make sure you get to class before it ends, we got lunch afterwards.” The cowgirl said to Fluttershy.
She nodded. “I’ll be back before the class ends.”
The cowgirl turned to me. She pulled out her hand “thanks for helping Fluttershy, and not killing Rainbow Dash.”
He took the handshake and nodded. “I’m Applejack by the way.”
“Nice to meet you.” He smiled, she returned the gesture by tipping stetson before following Rainbows lead.
Once more it was just the two.
“Look... Fluttershy-“ but before Nikolai could finish the young man was met with a slap across the face.
This place is going to kill me. It stung but he held his ground. My own mother slapped me harder, mind you, other women have slapped me in the past, but none of them harder than my mother.
“That’s for being so stupid” Fluttershy said defensively “you didn’t to be so harsh to them.”
Nikolai was taken aback. Fluttershy immediately retreated this emotion. Looking passively at the floor, hiding her face behind her hair with a palpable feeling of guilt for what she just did. But, he just stood there silently taking all this emotion in. She continued.
“And this…” she put her lips to his opposite cheek and gave him a quick kiss.
This place is heaven.
“Is for saving me…” Fluttershy quickly turned away from Nikolai running after her friends.
Everything around Nikolai stopped, taking everything that had just happened. He touched the cheek Fluttershy had slapped him. Pinkie Promises, fighting, glowing girls and now this. He touched the other cheek. Twilight was right, this place is special. The sound of the school bell broke him away from his thoughts. Oh Shit!
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Author's Note
Well here is the first chapter, I hope you liked it. More to come soon about CHS's new arrival.
