Chapter 1

New school, new people

"Scroll! Be ready in five!" a deep thundering voice reverberated throughout one of the typical flats for military personnel and their families in Cloudsdale.

"Yes, father!" a teenager's voice sounded in response.

Thunder Barrel looked at his watch. Military man through and through, he valued punctuality a lot, and had this habit of measuring the time his son had remaining since... well, since his son learned what a schedule was.

Something scraped against the floor, and an eighteen-year-old boy showed himself out of his former room, having a rucksack behind him and a wheeled bag behind him (which he pulled with his left hand).

"I am ready!" Scroll Pen reported, giving a mock salute that would render Thunder Barrel apopleptic with rage if he were to see such a salute coming from some FNG (Freaking New Guy) who was yet to give an Oath of Service. But Scroll Top was his son, not an FNG from the boot camp, and he did not treat his own flesh and blood as such.

"Good," he said instead. "The sarge will be here soon. We write off this flat, and off to Canterlot."

"That said," Scroll adjusted his rather heavy rucksack, "why exactly did you decide to transfer me to Canterlot High? It's not as if there are no other schools in Cloudsdale. You did not have to change the flat and such..."

"Son," Thunder interrupted, "other schools would be no better. They have the same contingent you do not want to see in first place, but with even less tact and honour than Cloudsdale High. I am not putting you in one of those. Plus, I was Principal Celestia's former student, and I asked a few people before making this decision. Canterlot High really did a turn-around since their... less than fortunate days, they even managed to tie with Crystal Prep Academy at the latest Friendship Games. That said, are you sure that you don't want to..?"

"Heck no, father. I can't stand those rich snobs at CPA even more than those dumb hulks at school and you know that."

"Language, son. I know your opinion of many of your classmates, and deserved it may be in some cases, but not all of them are dumb hulks."

Yeah, like ninety-nine percent instead of one hundred, Scroll thought, but only said:

"Yes, father."

Ding-dong! the doorbell interrupted their conversation. Thunder Barrel opened the door, where a man with insignia of a sergeant was standing with a clipboard and a pen. The sergeant immediately stood straight and saluted to his superior. Scroll Pen internally rolled his eyes when he saw the man.

Honestly, do they all go through some form of thorough beating that makes their faces uniform? I swear, all sergeants have the same facial expression, he thought.

"At ease, sarge," his father's voice snapped him out of his musings. "Hand me the papers and tell me where to sign."

"Of course, sir. Please read the papers, and sign here," the sergeant showed the place for Thunder's signature, "when you are done."

Unlike many of his contemporaries, Thunder Barrel took care to carefully - but quickly - study every line of text that was on the papers. Several minutes later, he took the offered pen and signed all of them.

"Thanks," he returned the clipboard and the pen to the sergeant.

"Not at all, sir," sergeant replied. "Permission to speak freely, sir?"

"Granted."

"We're gonna miss you here. You were a great example to follow, and the cadets just love your lessons."

"I know you will, but family is more important to me," Thunder barrel drew his son into a semi-hug.

"And nobody begrudges you for that decision, sir. It's just..."

"What? Speak freely."

"Some... kids are saying that had your son not... ahem... expressed his desire for transfer, you would have stayed."

"Typical underage grunts," Scroll Pen muttered, rolling his eyes. "I'm not even gone yet and they're already throwing me in dirt..."

"Son," Thunder Barrel warned him, and the 18-year-old teenager quickly silenced himself. The sergeant gave him a fleeting look that Scroll was unable to decipher, and continued:

"Yes, well, I get where Scroll's coming from - he just never fit in with anyone, and having no friends his age here won't do any good. Know that myself, used to be in a similar position. So I'm not holding it against him, or you, sir."

"Thank you, sergeant," Thunder Barrel said. "Son, your ticket with you?"

"Yes, father," Scroll showed his airplane ticket and hid it back in his poach bag.

"I will give you a lift to the airport, if you don't mind, sir," the sergeant said.

"You didn't need to, sergeant."

"My gesture of gratitude for what you have done for us... and for the guys in Griffonstone. My brother was stationed there; if not for your timely arrival, and your improbably precise bombing, well... consider that I just owe you one. More than one, actually. And I'm not that busy with paperwork today, so I'd like the chance to get out of that damn office for some time... oops, sorry, sir."

"Well, if you put it like that, I wouldn't say no. Just be careful not to get buried once you return. Lead the way, sergeant."

Three males left the flat, and Thunder Barrel locked it with the keys - keys that were no longer his or Scroll's - and gave them to the sergeant. Together, they went down and left the block of apartments that had been a home for them for several years...

The sergeant (whose name turned out to be Steel Drill - Scroll Pen had to call upon all of his internal strength not to laugh at that fact) drove them to the Cloudsdale Central Airport. He and Thunder Barrel were engaged in some small talk regarding Steel Drill's brother and the armed conflict near Griffonstone in general. Scroll Pen was simply gazing out of the window from the back seat, deep in thoughts on his past and on the uncertain future.

His time in Cloudsdale High has not been the most pleasant. He was different from many of his coevals. While many sons of the military officers that inhabited Cloudsdale were well on the way to become career soldiers or officers, he has made his choice to pursue a different path in life that was not related to the army. As such, he devoted more time to books and learning than to physical exercise (although he did that as well - his own father would not let him become a weak wimp, no matter his preferences in career, and physical prowess never hurt in self-defense). This initial rift between him and his classmates only widened when he discovered an interest in tabletop RPGs and videogames. Gradually, his interests became increasingly different from those of his contemporaries.

The rift only grew when Scroll managed to outshine his classmates in something, be it grades, videogames or even lasertag games. Scroll liked lasertag (one of the few things he actually liked as much as his coevals did), and while physically he was not as strong as many others, he used his smarts to compensate for his lesser strength. Getting shot by "that nerd", as he became known, did not endear anyone to him, unfortunately.

It did not help that the girls who attended Cloudsdale High seemed to pay more attention to the muscle mass and "manliness" than brains. While Scroll did not put his sex drive as the highest priority, privately he wished for some female companionship as well. Unfortunately, none of the girls he looked at as potential girlfriends seemed to have any common interests with him; if they had, then they were already dating someone - and if there was a Rule To Never Break, it was "Do not be a third wheel in others' love affair". His father made it crystal clear that if he ever broke that rule, Thunder Barrel would tear his scalp and then throw him into a sack of salt, and tar and feather him after that. Tempted as the young teen was to steal a girfriend from someone whom he believed to be a worthless sack of meat with more sex drive than brains, the fear of his father was greater.

All of this led him to resent his surroundings and the society around him, as well as try and put himself above everyone who surrounded him. But he realized pretty soon that this path would lead him nowhere, and arrogance would only lead to his downfall.

Which lead him to the day when he asked his father to consider the possibility of transferring him to another school.

To his surprise, Thunder Barrel did not try to pressure him to stay at Cloudsdale High. When Scroll presented his reasons for desiring a transfer, he listened very attentively, asked several questions, and then uttered an agreement. When Scroll expressed his surprise at his father's quick response, Thunder Barrel replied that he had come to the same conclusions, and that Scroll's happiness was more important than family tradition.

Still, Scroll Pen did not expect a transfer into another city. It helped that their family had a flat there, sure, but the young teenager did not expect his father to be on speaking terms with the school's principal.

Personal connections still matter, he deduced.

He and Principal Celestia (Scroll was quite amazed at the name) had a short online chat about CHS in general, as well as curriculum and some other things, after which the latter agreed to have him at her school if he wanted to. He didn't think twice before saying yes.

He continued his ruminations as they arrived at the airport, said goodbyes to Steel Drill, passed the rigorous security process and took their seats in the plane, before he decided he had enough and decided to catch a nap while they were flying.

They arrived in Canterlot several hours later. After taking their luggage, they proceeded to hire a taxi which drove them clsoer to the city outskirts. Scroll was intrigued as to where they were going, but when the taxi stopped in front of a well-kept two-storey house, he rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

"Dad?" he asked, surprised. "Is that actually ours?"

"Of course, son. You thought I would invade someone else's house?" Thunder Barrel replied with a short laugh.

"I just didn't expect this."

"Well, this was my parents' house, actually. They left it to me in their will. I used to live here before I joined the army. Come on, son, let's get our luggage once I pay."

Thunder Barrel paid the driver their fare, including a rather generous tip, and refused the driver's help in carrying the luggage. Father and son entered the house.

"Whoa," Scroll breathed out. "That's where we're gonna live now?"

"Yes, son. I'll show you your room, and then you go unpack."

On Monday...

Scroll Pen was approaching Canterlot High with a mixture of trepidation and excitement swelling in his stomach. His classes were about to start, and he could not reign in his accelerated heartbeat.

The school's building was magnificent; if it were to appear in some movie with medieval setting, it wouldn't look out of place at all; with some small adjustments, the building could actually be presented as a castle. Scroll knew, of course, that castles were built differently, but he could not resist the comparison.

He also noted that the horse statue that CHS boasted in front of entrance was busted. Only two back hooves remained of it.

Strange, he thought, walking towards the entrance. What happened?

Coming up the stairs, he pulled the door and entered. Inside, there were some people walking or chatting around, but not too many - there was still some time before the first lesson, and apparently, not many were early risers - and many leveled their curious looks at him as he entered. Scroll fidgeted with the straps of his backpack, feeling uncomfortable. One girl, who had fiery red and yellow hair and was dressed in short-sleeved leather jacket and aquamarine-green dress and dark-green stockings, approached him.

"Hi!" she told him with a smile. "Are you Scroll Pen?"

"That's me," Scroll replied, "but you have me at a disadvantage, Miss..?"

"I'm Sunset Shimmer," the girl held out a hand, and Scroll shook it, "and Principal Celestia told me to greet you and show you around before classes begin. That's kind of my duty."

"Oh, I see. Pleasure to meet you. Shall we start, then?"

"Certainly."

The fiery-haired girl showed him the essential parts of school - the lockers, the gym, the cafeteria, the library (Scroll was especially amazed by the library) and the locations of teachers' room and of Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna's offices. This took them no longer than twenty minutes, which amazed him, given that the school's building was by no means small. Sunset also told him how the classrooms were organized by floors and how they were numbered, so that he would easily find the needed classroom by its number.

In the end, they arrived at one of the classrooms where their English lesson was about to start. Scroll checked the time - there were two minutes left until the bell, plus-minus one in case the bell rang earlier or later. (He did not really expect that - in Cloudsdale High the bell was precise until a second - but who knew how it worked here?) When he entered, the classroom was almost full, and everyone gazed upon him with curiousity.

"Ah, you're here!" a voice sounded to the right of him; turning in its direction, he saw a rather young woman - no older than thirty-five, as he estimated - standing. "Welcome to Canterlot High, Scroll Pen! My name is Cheerilee, and I am your English teacher!"

"A pleasure, Miss Cheerilee," Scroll nodded his head as a sign of politeness.

"Everyone," Cheerilee addressed the class, "let me introduce you to our newest student, Scroll Pen, who recently transferred from Cloudsdale High! He moved here very recently, so let us welcome him into our school and our city."

A round of cheers, hand waves and hi's followed as the class greeted Scroll. The boy slightly blushed, not used to such attention.

"Where do I sit?" he asked Miss Cheerilee.

"In the first row, actually, in the middle," the teacher showed him his seat. Scroll smiled; he preferred such places.

"Thank you," he said, turning to move in the intended direction.

Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnng!!! The school bell started ringing, and he started moving - only to feel the air whoosh past him.

"Made it!" he heard a loud voice to his left; apparently, his owner was trying to be heard over the bell ringing. "I made it, right? Going in while the bell is not late, right?"

"It is borderline late, Miss Dash," Cheerilee said, in a sterner tone. "Take your seat quickly, and do try to arrive before the bell next time."

Scroll turned around to have a quick look at the person who almost rammed into him (and would have done so, had he not moved a couple of moments sooner). He immediately noted her dishevelled rainbow hair and beads of sweat on her forehead.

Trademark signs of a tardy person, he deduced. I suspect that she actually is late to classes on occasion.

Then he processed the rest of the information he got from his eyes: athletic build, short-sleeved jacket over a T-shirt and a skirt draped over tight training pants, trainers on her legs, and slightly shorter hair than what other girls had.

Apparently, prefers sports over academics, but will have to see later, he decided, turning away and taking his seat.

English lesson proved to be both relatively easy and enjoyable. Scroll never had problems with his English, be it written or spoken, but Miss Cheerilee proved herself capable of providing interesting (as he thought) tasks. Closer to the end of the lesson, she gave them a pop quiz in spelling, which elicited several audible groans (Rainbow Dash's might have been the loudest). While the words were not that common, Scroll managed to get them all right - or so he believed. He also sneaked a glance at others' papers as he collected them from his new classmates sitting behind him, noting several errors. His opinion of Rainbow Dash as an athlete not interested in academics only solidified as he saw that her paper seemed to have the biggest number of errors.

Seriously? She doesn't know how to spell "rhombus"? In this grade, they should have had geometry classes for over a year!

Another paper from someone named "Twilight Sparkle", however, proved to have no visible errors.

Well, it looks like this class is here and there in terms of academics. It appears, though, that I may have competition here in this field. This is gonna be interesting...

When the bell rang, he stayed slightly behind to take a look at his timetable as he exited the class room. He jerked a little as he felt a hand on his right shoulder, but it turned out to be Sunset Shimmer.

"Hey," she said.

"Oh, hi."

"How did you find the lesson?"

"Miss Cheerilee is a good teacher. I never had problems with English classes, but she still made it interesting. Even the pop quiz didn't throw me off."

"I'm glad. What's your next lesson?"

"Biology."

"It's in a different class from mine, think you can find your way? I can ask one of my friends to help."

"No, no, thank you, I have understood the school's layout. I'll be fine."

"OK. Meet me in the cafeteria after this lesson? I'd like to introduce you to my friends."

"Eh, sure," Scroll scratched his pen. Strange of her, to offer introduction to her friends. Then again, this school is in general friendlier than Cloudsdale High.

"Great!" Sunset beamed. "See you!" she said, walking away from him.

Canterlot High's cafeteria, as Scroll Pen learned, was pretty spacy, and offered more variety in terms of food than his old school did. He was surprised when he learned that CHS even offered vegetarian burgers. Cloudsdale High was less accepting of "choosy" students, and their vegetarian menu was minimal - only to be in accord with federal law. Even then, he could hear some officers say to his father that the "current generation was too damn picky for its own good" and that "the government should not pander to anyone" and how it "was better in their days". He privately thought that he was lucky to have been born when he was born, but he admitted that he sometimes himself could not understand the fuss about vegetarianism and veganism. From what he read, alternating between vegetarian and meat-filled diets was actually the best way to eat, and tried to follow it, but he really had trouble not eating meat. Fortunately, the cafeteria offered decently-sized meat balls.

The "cafeteria lady", however, fully conformed to the stereotype Scroll was familiar with. Granny Smith, a kind elderly woman, stood behind the counter to take note of what each student decided to take, and acted as the cashier, counting the lunch money with not fast but thorough and pedantic movements. As a bonus, she gave everyone a free fresh apple. Some students, as Scroll noticed, did not eat the fruits, but passed them around to friends or acquaintances.

He paid for his food and was searching for a free place to sit when he heard a shout:

"Scroll! Scroll, over here!"

It was Sunset Shimmer, and she was standing so that Scroll would see her. The newest CHS student nodded in acknowledgement and moved to the table where she was sitting with her friends.

"Hi, Sunset," he said, settling himself on the only free space that remained at the table.

"Hi," the fiery-haired girl replied. "Everyone, this is our newest student, Scroll Pen. Scroll, meet my friends," she waved around the table. The guy looked around at all the girls, noting that no students of his gender were present.

Then again, friendship circles do seem to be mostly gender-based along with common interest-based, he deduced.

"Hello," Scroll paid his attention to the speaker - the girl dressed in a uniform that looked out-of-place for a school like CHS, who was wearing rather thick-framed glasses. "I'm Twilight Sparkle, I transfered here recently as well. I have been here for a couple of months."

"Where did you transfer from?" the teenaged man asked.

"Crystal Prep Academy. They had some good curriculum, but... certain circumstances - which I am not ready to discuss - resulted in me transfering here. I feel much happier here, actually, even if curriculum is less... challenging."

"Yeah, Twilight's our number one egghead here," the girl with prismatic hair, whom Scroll had identified as the tardy one who arrived at English classes when the bell was ringing, ruffled Twilight's hair a bit, eliciting a small, but half-hearted (as far as he could determine) protest.

"Rainbow Dash, right?" he hazarded a guess.

"The one and only!" Rainbow jabbed a thumb at herself. "Your resident awesome girl and future star athlete!"

Holy crickets, does she have an ego, Scroll internally rolled his eyes.

"Also the gal with the biggest ego 'round here," a blonde girl with a Stetson hat on her head muttered. "Name's Applejack," she offered her hand for a handshake, which Scroll accepted, and noticed that she had quite a strength. "Ah'm just your average country girl from an apple farm."

Combined with her Stetson, her simplistic and practical attire and her accent, she has to be from a region where farms are widespread, probably Appleloosa or Ponyville, he deduced.

"A pleasure," he said, and turned to the pale-skinned girl with exquisite hairdressing, who was dressed in clothes he suspected to be not cheap.

"My name is Rarity," she said, flipping her hair. "I am an aspiring fashionista, and have an interest in fashion and clothes design."

"Charmed," Scroll replied, trying to put a haughty tome into his speech - only to realize that it probably sounded stupid, but Rarity seemed to pay no heed. He quickly analyzed his first impressions.

Attempts to imitate high-class manners and style, and from what I can gather, she even succeeds at that. Good clothes, very well-articulated speech, aura of a refined person. Yep, she can easily pass off as a high-class girl, if she puts more effort into it. Maybe she doesn't even need to.

His analysis was suddenly interrupted when his field of vision became occupied by a face with the biggest smile he had ever seen.

"Hi!" the voice almost gave him a heart attack. "I'm Pinkie Pie, and I like making people smile and laugh, and I like to throw parties, with cakes and balloons and streamers and confetti and punch and party cannons! Do you like cake? What cake would you want for a party? What are your favourite colours? Would you like grape punch or cherry punch or cherry-chimichanga punch? Do you..."

"Brain overload!" Scroll shouted involuntarily, making the overly-energetic girl drop back. "Sorry, er, Pinkie, is it?"

"Yep!" Pinkie replied with a smile as if she had not just been shouted at from a point blank distance.

"I'm... glad to meet you, but why so many party-related questions?"

"Duh! Because you're gonna get a Welcome-to-Canterlot-High party!"

"Er, what?" the young teen boy was close to losing a jaw. "Why?"

"Because parties are fun, silly!"

"My advice," Sunset said, "don't refuse. She won't give up, and her parties are enjoyable, trust me."

"Alright..." Scroll drawled, trying to reboot his brain.

This one... defies explanations.

Suddenly, he noticed an eye looking from behind a wave of bubblegum-pink hair looking at him.

Huh? Why is her face so fully covered?

"And you are..?" he inquired, but only got a "meep" in response.

"This is Fluttershy," Sunset said. "She likes animals a lot and works at the animal shelter as a volunteer. Also, as you can see, she is very shy. Still, you'd do well not to make her truly angry. Last time that happened was not pretty."

"Er... It's good to meet you, Fluttershy," Scroll said, trying to defuse the tension. Fluttershy said nothing, but stopped hiding her face behind her hair.

Practically cripplingly shy, he deduced. But maybe she feels better in her comfort zone. I also bet she has a pet hidden in her backpack. I hope it has an air supply.

"So what's your opinion on CHS?" Sunset asked.

"I am still formulating it, but so far I like this school. I'd like to wait until the end of the day to summarize all my thoughts, though."

"You said you transfered from Cloudsdale High?"

"Yep, I did. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I was kinda curious whether you had attended Cloudsdale Junior. You see, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are also from there."

"Really?" Scroll looked at his newly found compatriots. "Sorry, I really can't remember either of you from there. As far as I recall, Cloudsdale Junior had several campuses, in which of them were you?"

"Campus number two," Rainbow Dash replied, "both of us are from there."

"I was in third campus," the teen boy said. "So yeah, we never crossed paths. What made you move to Canterlot, if it's not a secret?"

"Well," Fluttershy spoke up for the first time; Scroll had to strain his hearing to distinguish her voice from background cafeteria noises, "my family wanted to move here, and Rainbow was unwilling to part with me. Her family owns a place here, so moving here was not a problem."

"So she basically followed you?"

"And I don't regret a single minute of it," Rainbow Dash took over. "Not even when Sunset was on her queen bee rampage... er, no offense," the prismatic-haired girl quickly glanced at Sunset, who gave her a wry smile.

"None taken," she said.

"Hold on a sec," Scroll interrupted, turning to the fiery-haired girl, "queen bee rampage?"

"Long story short, I used to be a stereotypical queen bee of CHS, and bullied or humiliated anyone who dared to stand against me. Nasty pranks, embarrassing someone in public or in social media, rumour spreading - you name it, I most likely did it. Until karma bit me in the behind so hard that I realized I was in the wrong."

"What happened?"

"A... former student of CHS managed to strip me of my popularity within days. Compare that to years I had spent to get to the queen bee position, just for perspective. She even managed to reunite this company - excluding Twilight, who was not here at that time," Sunset waved around the table, "and that was after I broke them apart. I got angry, and tried to hurt her... badly, but got my butt handed to me thoroughly by her and everyone here. She, however, was quite forgiving, and convinced them to give me a chance to redeem myself," the girl sat uncomfortably, looking away from Scroll.

"Well, I'll give you a credit of trust and say that I don't see a queen bee in front of me, but a good girl," the latter replied. Still gonna be on my guard for a while.

"Thanks," Sunset replied. "If honestly, part of the reason I greet the newcomers is to make a good impression before they come into contact with the local rumour mill and end up hating me."

"I don't like to base my interactions on rumour mills. While rumours do often have some basis, one needs to peel through layers of hearsay and what-not. It's tedious as Tartarus. Although I am curious how other girls came to accept you as a friend, given... ahem... what I know of your history."

"Long story short," Applejack said, "it took time, and an argument between us that Sunset was able to resolve, as well as her help with a... very important thing. Sorry, partner, ain't tellin' ya, it's kinda our very important secret," the farmer girl fidgeted nervously. Scroll internally raised an eyebrow, but said:

"It's OK, I won't pry."

"Thanks, fella."

"Break's going to end soon," Twilight spoke up, "let us finish our food before it's too late."

"Good idea," Sunset agreed, and the rest of the lunch time was spent in silence.

The next lesson (algebra) turned out to be relatively uneventful. Canterlot High's curriculum on the subject was no different from Cloudsdale's, so Scroll experienced no problem with it.

The real kicker was the last lesson of the day - Physical Education, which was to take place in open air.

Scroll Pen was a nerd - he never denied that, and carried the name loudly and proudly. However, high intelligence had a price, and as it happens in stereotypes, Scroll was not really athletic. He would not call himself weak per se, and he still engaged in some sporting activities - otherwise his father would verbally flay him alive; the retired war pilot would not stand his son to be a wimp, high intelligence or not - but when he looked at the local clique of CHS athletes, he knew there and then that him fitting in was out of the question.

While Sunset had assured him that the student groups did not isolate themselves, he was sure that him being considered good enough to be a fully-fledged member of the athletic clique was out of the question. One particular guy, who looked like he belonged in bodybuilding competitions, scared the willies out of Scroll when he approached the latter for a handshake. He introduced himself as Bulk Biceps, and defied the expectations one has from a burly-looking guy, being a rather approachable and friendly guy - although a bit loud sometimes, as Scroll learned the hard way when they finished talking.

"I'm sure you'll do fine, buddy," Bulk told him as they were coming closer to the running track.

"You think that?"

"Of course! I had my doubts too when I started here. All you need is the right spirit! Give it all you're worth, and be proud of yourself!"

"That... sounds good," Scroll mulled over the simple yet truthful words. Who knew that hulking guys had wisdom too? "Thanks, Bulk! I'm definitely gonna show my best!"

"YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAH! That's the way of Canterlot Wondercolts!" Bulk declared, and went on, leaving a shell-shocked Scroll in his wake.

Damn that guy has a set of lungs on him, he thought as he recovered. He had to admit - Bulk's pep talk helped him get over his nervousity, and he decided that he would do his best. He only hoped not to embarrass himself in front of the girls. He still had "manly pride", after all.

It would be especially embarrassing, since many of the girls here are pretty attractive, he mused. Like any healthy 18-year-old teenage boy, he appreciated female beauty.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Rainbow Dash approaching him, dressed in a T-shirt and sports pants that comprised Canterlot High's sports uniform.

"Hey, Scroll," she called, "you ready?"

"Ready for what?"

"Duh! For the lesson, what else?"

"Ready."

"All right!" Rainbow clapped him on his right shoulder. "Hope you aren't gonna fall down by the end of the lesson, egghead!"

"Oh ye of little faith, Dash," Scroll was not about to let that one slide. "And seriously? Egghead?"

"I overheard Cheerilee and Vice-Principal Luna speaking 'bout you and how you managed to get two A's on your first day here. So yeah, totally an egghead," Rainbow put her hands on her hips, adopting a cocky smirk. "But do you have what it takes for P.E., smart guy? 'Cause Twilight here had to suffer for a while."

"Thanks for reminding me of that," the girl in question quipped sarcastically.

"No prob," the tomboyish girl apparently entered a sarcasm-blind mode. "Anyway, hope you're ready to see my awesomeness!" she waved and left him. Scroll shook his head.

"Is she always like this?" he asked Twilight.

"She does have an ego, but when it comes to sports, she knows her stuff. She is not the captain of like every CHS' sports team for nothing. Did she annoy you?"

"She sounds as if the only thing she needs from school is sports, not knowledge. I can appreciate the need for physical health, but calling smart persons eggheads and trolling like this? Not cool in my book."

"Oh, I understand how you feel... still, she is a loyal friend. Got to take the good with the bad."

"She isn't my friend," Scroll replied.

"But..."

"The fact we sat together doesn't make me her friend yet," the teenager replied. "Only an acquaintance. I do not call people "friends" on the first day I meet them. Sorry if I offended you."

"Don't be," Twilight smiled. "I'm very new to this friendship thing."

"Alright, everyone, line up!"

The students immediately hustled together to form several lines as Coach Iron Will approached them.

Scroll learned pretty quickly that Iron Will could easily approach the "Drill Sergeant" nastiness levels (having seen actual drill sergeants, he sa that level of nastiness first hand), only without colourful invectives - this was a school, not a boot camp. However, he could compensate it with some random rhyming lines which he seemed to easily conjure up on the spot. When one of the girls stumbled and fell due to an untied shoelaces, he quickly checked her for injuries and sent her away to the nurse (with Fluttershy volunteering to see that the injured student arrived safely), but added:

"Badly tying your shoelaces and bonking your head may end up on one day with you being dead!" the last three words were practicaly shouted. "Continue your exercises!"

The set of warm-up exercises was not that different from what Cloudsdale High offered. Once those were finished, the students spread around, doing other exercises like pull-ups, push-ups or crunches. Scroll did his best to carefully regulate how much effort he put into everything, trying not to overexert himself before the lesson was even half way. To his surprise, he found out that he did pretty decently - not on the top athlete level, but he had a higher than average result. When he managed to do nine pull-ups and jumped down, he heard a whistle. Turning sharply to his left, he saw Rainbow Dash leaning against another pull-up bar.

"Not bad," she said. "You actually have some strength in those arms."

"Thanks."

"Bet I can do more than you, though," the athletic girl gave him a self-assured smirk.

"Prove it," Scroll crossed his hands on his chest. Rainbow's smirk grew even wider, and she grabbed the pull-up bar. In less than a minute, she managed to do thirteen pull-ups.

"So how's that?" she grinned at him as she released the bar, putting her hands on her hips. "Pretty awesome, huh?"

Scroll felt irked that the cyan-skinned girl in front of him managed to outpace him in terms of physical fitness, but he was not the one to deny the obvious truth when he saw it. and he opted to say:

"Credit where it is due, you certainly have strength in your arms."

"Duh!" Rainbow flexed her limbs. "I'm not the captain for nothing, y'know."

"All right!" Iron Will barked. "Today's task is twelve minutes running! Your objective is to run as many laps as possible in twelve minutes. And no groaning!" he raised his voice at several groans that came from several students. "Life gives no loan to those who moan and groan! Get onto the track! Start running once I fire the starting pistol! Stop running when I do so again!"

The students gathered on the track. By force of habit, Scroll picked a row behind the majority, closer to the left edge of the track, which had the shorter lap.

"Ready!" Iron Will had the starting pistol raised in the air, and one second later pulled the trigger.

Everyone started running. Scroll felt himself falling into his element. He was not much into sports, but he really liked running. It was a simple physical activity, if compared to, say, lifting, but whenever he ran, it felt somehow... liberating.

As the crowd became less dense, he found more place for maneuvering, and began outpacing students who were less inclined to run faster. Twelve minutes running was a familiar practice for Scroll, and he wanted to do well - better than a "C", anyway. He may not be athletic, but he would be damned if he allowed himself to get anything lower than a "B"!

I am not a perfectionist, but I still want my report card to be good, damn it! he thought. He took care to carefully pace himself, control his breath and conserve strength - burning himself before the time was out would do no good.

Four minutes later, Scroll found out to his surprise that he was slowly but surely approaching the athletes, who started running first. Meter after meter, he was slowly gaining ground on them, and even managed to outpace several before slowing down. As he did, he noticed one girl with short hair and a T-shirt with an image of tennis ball come closer to him.

"Looking good there, Scroll!" she winked at him.

"Thanks," Scroll breathed out, "and you're..?"

"Tennis Match."

"A pleasure."

"So how's Iron Will for you?"

Careful, Scroll, what if she's a snitch? the old instincts kicked in. Scroll replied:

"He's fine. I think I'll survive."

"Well, gotta give you points for optimism. Although if you keep running like that, you might even get on track team. Wanna try?"

"Not sure; truth be told, I'm more into academics than P.E."

"How come you run so well then?"

"My dad's ex-military, he wouldn't let me get rusty, so he got me into jogging, and makes sure I do exercises regularly. I like jogging and running, but not for sake of competition. Plus, I'm from Cloudsdale, remember? It's full of kids whose parents are military, I had to be at least on par with them."

"Why did you leave?"

"Long story short, my interests were so unlike those of many of my classmates that I was becoming a recluse. I'm not the most social person, granted, but I didn't have being a lone wolf on my agenda. And my dad saw it, so when I brought up this topic, he agreed, and transfered me here."

"Well, glad to have ya here."

"Heh-heh..." Scroll blushed, not expecting to hear that. "Thanks."

"I need a small break, mind if I lag behind?"

"Eh, I need a break too, actually," Scroll slowed down and started walking very fastly. This was his method of a small rest. Faster walking allowed him to replenish some strength while making progress in the task Iron Will gave the class. He walked half a lap when someone called him from behind:

"Hey, egghead, what's that stuff?" Rainbow Dash slowed down beside him as she caught up with him; apparently, she was a full lap ahead of him.

Holy grief, must she call me an egghead all the time? Scroll thought irritably.

"It's racewalking, or at least my attempts to imitate it," he replied.

"Whatcha do that for? We're running, y'know."

"It's my idea of a temporary rest. A compromise between regaining strength for further running and progressing."

"Say what?"

Holy crisps, it's not as if I spoke quantum physics! "See how others walk for some time before running again? I'm doing the same, but I'm walking faster, like racewalkers do."

"Got it. How long you gonna racewalk?"

"Almost finished a full lap."

"Heh. Well I gotta run further. Betcha I'll be ahead of you by two laps!" Rainbow Dash picked up the pace. Scroll growled internally.

OK, I know I shouldn't be nursing my wounded manly prise too much, but this is getting out of hand. If I get to wipe that smirk off her face...

Reaching the end of the lap, he picked up the pace and started running even faster than he had done before.

"Four minutes left!" Iron Will bellowed.

Crap, I'll have to push myself harder than I expected to, Scroll thought and added some speed. Turning around the U-turn, he saw Rainbow Dash approaching the U-turn ahead of him.

His eyes narrowed. He remembered a soundtrack from one of his favourite chase scenes in the movies, and started playing it around in his head as he focused on gaining ground on the rainbow-haired athlete.

His muscles started burning from the effort, and his respiratory system also felt the consequences of increased stress it was not used to, but the repeated song in his head, as well as his irritation, forced his body to move forward.

Rainbow Dash started the U-turn; as she did, Scroll already covered one half of the straight distance until it, and did not slow down.

"Three minutes left!"

Come on! Push harder! Scroll berated himself. Don't let this jockette get more bragging rights!

His breathing became heavier, and muscles were protesting the abuse he heaped on them, but he was slowly approaching her. Meter after meter, her figure was becoming closer and closer...

"Hey pardner," Applejack's voice broke his concentration, "what's got into ya?"

Blast, I didn't even notice her! So much for being aware of surroundings!

"Eh, just wanna wipe the smirk off her face," Scroll jerked a thumb at Rainbow. "She said she wanted to be two laps ahead of me."

"Ah, she riled you up," the farmer girl said. "Yeah, she does that. Ah wouldn't mind a chance to wipe that smirk of hers, too. Y'think ya have the strength to catch up to her?" she gave him a challenging smile.

"The question is: do you?" Scroll responded with a smile of his own, and increased his speed.

"Ah like the way ya think, pardner!" Applejack picked up the pace. Both of them pushed their bodies to the limits and outpaced one another. When Scroll would take the lead, Applejack would soon come ahead, but soon Scroll would push himself even further and outpace her.

The teenaged boy had to admit that Applejack was no slouch when it came to P.E. She had strong legs and an athletic build like Rainbow, and could easily give him the run for his money if she wanted to. He understood that she did not try to go full ahead and instead teased his ego with small advantage over him so that he would try harder.

"Two minutes left!"

"C'mon," Applejack breathed out, "work those legs, pardner!"

"I'm working!" Scroll had trouble articulating his words. His body was feeling the drain of energy; soon he would collapse.

Not before I catch up to that rainbow-haired jockette! his brain screamed, and he somehow managed to increase his speed slightly. Applejack followed suit.

Slowly, they caught up to Rainbow. Applejack overtook her from her right side while Scroll took the left one.

"Hey RD," the blonde called her with a smirk, "feelin' tired?"

"Ha!" Rainbow spoke in a raspy voice. "I can do it all day, AJ, you know that!"

Despite her bravado, Rainbow was feeling tiredness creep in, and Scroll could see that clearly. The athlete's T-shirt was sweaty, and tension was visible in her posture. The teenager slowly picked up the pace, while the cyan-skinned girl was distracted by Applejack.

"Really?" Applejack said. "Ya look as if you're ready to drop dead!"

"One minute left!"

"We'll see who's gonna drop dead in one minute, AJ, wait 'till... what the heck?!" Rainbow exclaimed as she turned her head forward - and saw Scroll Pen ahead.

When he heard her scream, he turned over his right shoulder and smirked, then re-focused on the track and ran further.

"How did he..?"

"Well, well, the fella looks mighty focused," Applejack said. "Think a certain friend o' mine is ta blame. Somethin' 'bout two laps ahead?"

"Why you..!" Rainbow Dash picked the pace, intending to overtake the new kid.

"Hey, wait for me!" Applejack shouted.

Scroll noticed that the prismatic-haired girl was gaining ground on him, and pushed himself against the pain in his legs and even abdominal muscles. Despite his efforts, Rainbow was getting closer.

Damn it! She's getting to me and she looks pissed! What to do... Oh! Imagine that if she gets you... she'll do something bad to you. Like, really bad... oh yeah, she'll castrate you! Run for your life!

He mentally facepalmed at what image he just conjured up, but the feeling of fear that every man has of losing his "pride" solidified well enough to push himself forward.

"Thirty seconds left!"

"Come on," Scroll growled at himself, "come on!.."

Despite all his efforts, Rainbow was getting closer and closer...

"Twenty seconds left!"

Scroll attempted to motivate himself even further by conjuring images of horrific vengeance Rainbow would exact on him if she caught him. The images got more and more gory to the point of ridiculousness, but all that he got from that was keeping the asme distance from the athletic girl for several seconds.

"Ten! Nine! Eight!" Iron Will shouted.

Scroll, Applejack and Rainbow pushed themselves to their limits. Scroll felt that his muscles were about to split apart, and he didn't need to look back to know that the cyan-skinned girl was closing on him now...

"Seven! Six! Five! Four!"

Scroll noticed that Rainbow's shadow moved to the side - she was overtaking him! In a desperate attempt to regain his advantage, he made a tremendous effort and worked his legs beyond extremes, and re-positioned himself slightly to the right, but Rainbow foresaw that and moved further to the right as well.

"Three! Two! One!"

Rainbow was relentless in her attempts to outpace him. Inch by inch, she was getting to him...

BANG! Iron Will's starting pistol rang across the air. Immediately, Scroll and every other student slowed down and stopped. The teen looked frantically behind him.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack were behind him. The pistol's shot caught them before they managed to get ahead of him.

Well, technically, they got a lap on me, but not the whole lap, he noticed with satisfaction. He put his hands on his knees, bending forward from tiredness.

"So," he looked at Rainbow, victorious smirk on his face, "two laps ahead of me? You didn't even get one full lap ahead, Dash."

The rainbow-haired athlete breathed heavily, looking at him with annoyance.

"I'm still ahead of you," she reminded him.

"Yeah," Scroll managed to straighten himself, despite the burning in his abdomen, "but not by a full lap, and certainly not two, like you boasted."

"Fine. Enjoy your victory, egghead," she said as Iron will approached them and wrote in his notebook how many laps they ran. When he finished, he dismissed the class, and everyone rushed into shower.

"So, son," Thunder Barrell addressed Scroll Pen as he entered the house, "how's your first day at Canterlot High?"

"Splendid, Dad," Scroll smiled. "I already like it better here than back in Cloudsdale."

"Why do you sound so tired?"

"P.E., Dad. Had to work hard to ensure I bring no shame on our family," the teen replied.

"Was the end result worth it?"

Scroll thought back to Rainbow Dash's expression when the starting pistol rang and she realized she failed to deliver on her boast. The memory invoked a feeling of... accomplishment, which slightly soothed his aching body.

"It was, Dad. It was."

Author's Note

I humbly present to you Love Dashed Into Life, my first romance fanfic. This will be a multi-chaptered story focused on Rainbow Dash and Scroll Pen - the original character specifically created for this story.

As of now, you don't see much romance going around here, heh-heh Fret not, dear readers, everything has its own right time of appearance.

Next chapter will focus more on Scroll's first days in CHS and his interactions with other students - and Dash, of course.

I do not have an update calendar, but I will try to deliver the next chapter ASAP. In the meantime, share your thoughts, comments and criticisms with me in the comment box.

Stay tuned!