Bright light streamed through a slightly open window into the small bedroom. On the bed inside the room, a certain girl was not happy with the sudden intrusion.
"Ow, ow, ow." Rainbow Dash said as quickly sat up in her bed, and rubbed the sleepiness out of her magenta eyes. Yawning, she turned away from the bright sunlight. "Oh, Celestia. Morning already?" Rainbow pulled off the thin cotton sheets and set her bare feet on the wooden floor of her room. She was about to stand up, until someone interrupted her.
"Knock knock!" someone said on the other side of the bedroom door.
"Who is it?"
"It's me!"
"It's me who?"
"Rainbow."
"Oh, all right. All right. You win." Rainbow said in a mocking voice. "What is it, Scootaloo?"
"We're supposed to be helping with harvest in the orchard today. And we have to be there bright and early." Scootaloo said on the other side of the door.
"I'll meet you outside in the living room. Start tiding up."
"Okay, Dash. Bye!"
Rainbow stood up lazily, taking her time. She opened her wings and flew up to shut the window. When she touched down on the floor, her wings shrank and disappeared. They reappeared as cerulean-colored wing earrings on her ears. That was part of her pegasus magic. When she wanted to, or needed to, her wings appeared on her back, or on her ears. Rainbow usually avoided "wearing" her wings because: a) She had a wingspan of 6 feet (smaller when folded) and b) Amity was very down-to-earth, which meant a limited amount of unicorn and pegasus magic.
She walked to her bedside dresser and pulled out a red shirt with two small slits on the back for when she had her wings and a pair of yellow shorts. Dash yanked off her light green nightgown and put on her outfit. She slipped on a clean pair socks up her feet and stepped into her red sneakers.
Rainbow swung open her bedroom door and walked into the only other room in the house, apart from a small kitchen and bathroom. The living room. Scootaloo was on the rug, rolling up her blankets.
"Almost done there, squ- Scootaloo?" She was about to call Scootaloo "squirt", but "name calling" and "nicknaming" wasn't allowed in Amity.
Scootaloo gave Rainbow a thumbs up. "Yeah," she said as she smiled at her foster sister. When Scootaloo finished, she pulled on a pair of yellow sneaker-flats.
"Let's go, we don't wanna be late."
"True. Let's go!"
Both sisters took off to the Amity apple orchards, where people were already crowding around the trees. Some people were already up a tree, dropping apples down to people with waiting baskets. Some uni-people placed a few baskets in a section marked as "Breakfast". Others moved baskets to a section with a sign that said "Harvest". Dash chuckled under her breathe as she saw "Breakfast."
This is going to be fun, thought Rainbow.
They reached an apple tree, free of Equestrians, looked up, and saw many ripe, sweet, crimson apples hanging from the long, brown, leaf-covered branches of the tall apple tree.
"Can you grab a basket?" Rainbow asked as she patted Scootaloo's shoulder.
Scootaloo skipped to a pile of baskets and grabbed one from the top.
"Okay. I'll drop them down and you put them in the basket," Rainbow says as she climbs up the already placed ladder for harvest. She reached the top of the ladder and grabed a sturdy branch. She pulled herself onto the branch. A couple of apples hung in arm's reach, so Rainbow grabbed a few and called down to Scootaloo.
"Scootaloo, catch!" They repeated this over and over until the basket was full. She set her foot on the closet ladder rung and started down. Rainbow saw Scootaloo struggling to pick up the basket.
"Let me help." Dash says as she grabbed each side of the basket. She started walking to "Harvest" as Scootaloo headed to "Breakfast." Then they met in the middle of the two sections.
"Here," Scootaloo said as she tossed Rainbow an apple when a horn honked, the sound echoing acoss the orchard. A voice called out to everyone, "School kids, to the trucks!" Rainbow was startled, since this was routine. Instead, she called to Scootaloo as she ran to the trucks.
"Come on, Scoots!" Rainbow and Scootaloo ran to the parked trucks with the rest of the Amity school kids. Everyone sat down on the truck beds as the trucks started up and drove toward the city. Rainbow sat on the edge and felt the chilly air on her face. She felt happy, until she remembered what was happening today. The Aptitude test, which would help with the hardships of picking a faction in the Choosing ceremony. Her mood started to sour.
She wasn't particularly eager with taking the test, because she felt guilty. Guilty because she knew that she couldn't stay in Amity, because she knew she wasn't what they wanted her to be, and the test would certainly comfirm this.
Kind, gentle, peace loving. That was Amity.
Not rebellious. Tough. Adventure loving.
She had to leave Amity. Scootaloo. Her only family. But it was the only way to finally fit in. It was times like this she felt guilty, guilty of placing her own desire before others. A single tear fel down her cheek and she dragged her palm against her cheek to wipe it away.
* * *
The trucks rumbled to a slow stop in front of the school. Rainbow hopped off the edge of the truck bed. After hugging Scootaloo goodbye (Amity formalities) she ran to the Upper Level school doors. Scootaloo ran to the Mid-Levels building. Rainbow looked away from her foster sister running to the school building and faced the train tracks. She looked at the watch on her wrist, the only accessory she wore. Almost time.
At exactly 7:25, a train pulls up and as the last cars pass by, a black mass of people jump off. Many roll on the grass while others land on their feet. Rainbow always admired the Dauntless. Their courage and bravery. The train whistle blared loudly, as the train rushed past the school, leaving an internal ringing in Rainbow's ears.
When the Dauntless school kids started running to the front doors, Rainbow rushed inside to her first class. Faction History.
There's an unmistakable feel of tension in the air as Rainbow heads to Faction history. Two silent words rang through the halls. Aptidute test. Many teens crowd in the hallways, pushing and shoving each other. Someone pushed Rainbow, and she slammed into the ground. There were snickers from the Dauntless.
Rainbow stands up slowly and walks down the hall, in a um-Amity like fashion. She elbowed people and shoved. She was annoyed at the kids who took advantage of the Amity, simply because they knew Amity wouldn't throw a punch, but try and solve a problem peacefully.
She growled quietly, and ignored looks from other students as she quietly made it to Faction history.
Classes were cut in half because of Aptitude testing. Rainbow was relieved at this, and gave a small smile as she faced the blackboard, ready to learn stuff she'll probably won't need in the future.
Her day off boredom was now starting. Yippee.
