Ponyville High: Friendship 101

Third period seemed to go by pretty fast.  Thankfully nothing crazy seemed to happen. It was just plain old math class.  If there was a crazy place to be however, it was the cafeteria.  Loud voices filled the room.  It would be nearly impossible to hear yourself think.

The new girl was placing her food on her lunch tray.  Then she heard a voice call, “Twilight, over here!”  She looked over and saw Pinkie.  Her fellow student was making a gesture for her to join her at one of the numerous cafeteria tables.  Twilight picked up her lunch tray and made her way over to Pinkie.  There she took a seat beside her.  Twilight glanced over and saw another girl with long pink hair, the same one she had met before first period.  The shy girl sat there gradually picking away at her lunch.

Twilight turned to Pinkie and asked, “Is the cafeteria always this loud?”

The shy girl looked up from her tray and remarked, “Yes, it is.”

Twilight looked at the girl.  She tried to remember if she knew her name.  "Her name is Fluttershy, right? I’m pretty sure, it is," thought Twilight.

“Oh Fluttershy, it's not that loud,” declared Pinkie in a less than mild voice.

“Pinkie’s right Fluttershy.  I’ve been in louder rooms than this,” Twilight noted.

“I don’t know.  It's pretty loud,” Remarked Fluttershy in a soft voice.

She half wanted to place her hands over her ears.  The garbled sound of all the students talking at once seemed to assault her ears making her head hurt.

“So Twilight, how is your first day of school going?” asked Pinkie still brimming with excitement.

“It's been interesting so far,” she replied.

“Really how so?”

“Well for one thing, I learned that Rainbow Dash is a horrible baker,” Twilight noted, recalling second period.

“Well duh, everyone knows that,” remarked Pinkie.

“And I also learned that she has a crush on somebody,” said Twilight. She gasped and covered her mouth after realizing what she had just said.  “Why did I say that?”

“What?  You man that Rainbow has a crush on Soarin?” asked Pinkie. “If that’s the case, I already knew that.”

“Um, pretty much everyone in the school knows that,” added Fluttershy, “Oh I shouldn't have said that.”

“Why its not like anybody can hear you.” said Pinkie, “You worry to much.”

“She’s right,” added Twilight, ”I can barely hear myself think.”

“Rumors aren't nice to speared around,” remarked Fluttershy making a valid point.

“It isn't a rumor if it's true,” stated Twilight.

“If what's true?” said a voice behind the new student.

Twilight turned and looked behind her.  There she saw Rainbow Dash standing with a lunch tray.

“Nothing,” Twilight remarked sheepishly hoping the noise of the room had swallowed her previous remark, before Rainbow had come within earshot.

“What are you guys talking about?” asked Rainbow Dash as she sat in the empty seat next to Pinkie.

“Uh…just stuff,” answered Twilight feeling a nervous sweat form on her forehead.

“What kind of stuff?” Rainbow inquired.

“Crushes,” blurted out Twilight.

“Oh,” uttered Rainbow.  She grinned deviously and then added, “Did you know that Pinkie has a crush on Pokey Pierce?”

Pinkie growled in frustration and waved her hands in the air.  “Why does everyone say that?” she asked sounding quite annoyed.  Pinkie crossed her arms and remarked, “I do not have a crush on Pokey Pierce!  End of story!”

“Well then, if you don't mind telling us.  Who do you have a crush on?” asked Fluttershy.

''Is it Applejack's cousin?” asked Rainbow, “Braeburn or whatever his name is?”

“How would you get that?” gasped Pinkie.

“Well ever since he transferred here from Appaloosa, you've been asking AJ questions about him,” explained Rainbow Dash.

She continued to grin at Pinkie.  “Am I wrong?”

Pinkie crossed her arms and pouted.  She let out an annoyed sigh and finally asserted, “I don't have a crush on anyone and that's final!”

“Fine, whatever.” said Rainbow Dash nonchalantly.

Pinkie promptly ignored Rainbow’s remarks and turned to her new friend.  “Twilight, you got a little something on your face,” said Pinkie pointing at her right cheek.  “You might want to wipe if off.”

Twilight was about to check her right cheek and reply, when someone threw something at her.  She put her hands on her face and discovered that someone had lobbed a blob of mashed potatoes at her.

“Opps,” said a callous voice, “Trixie's bad.”

“Why did you do that?” questioned Twilight, wiping the food off her face with a napkin.  Shaking her head in dismay, she said, “I didn't do anything to you.”

The other student huffed at Twilight.  “Didn’t you?  You deliberately ran into Trixie!  And I told you, Trixie would get you back!” She declared.

Twilight blinking in confusion.  “No, you said that if I did anything else to you, that you wouldn’t show me any mercy.  You also said that was my warning,” recalled Twilight.

Trixie sneered at her, and still felt quite displeased with their prior meeting.  “Trixie is well aware of what she said, however…

Trixie wanted her revenge!” She shouted, her voice being mildly muffled by the ambient chatter of the other students.

A stern expression crossed Rainbow’s face.  She turned to look at Trixie and asked, “You do realize what this means…right?”

“Means what?” replied Trixie.

Rainbow Dash grabbed her tray and flung the contents at Trixie.  Then at the top of her lungs she shouted, “FOOD FIGHT!”

Immediately following that dreadful phrase, the other students in the cafeteria momentarily quieted.  They picked up various food items from their trays or their entire trays.  Then in moments food had begun flying everywhere. The cafeteria was now a war zone of consumable mayhem.  Twilight looked around to see where everyone was. Rainbow and Pinkie were throwing food at people, while Fluttershy hid under the lunch table.

“What do I do?” asked a panicked Twilight.

“You’ve never been in a food fight before?” asked Pinkie.

Shaking her head Twilight said, “No, what do I do?”

Rainbow Dash chuckled at her and said, “Simple, you grab food and you throw it at the other students!”

“It's pretty self expiatory!” Remarked Pinkie.

Just as Twilight went to pick up an item from her tray, a loud booming voice echoed, “What is going on here!”  The stern quality of the shouted words brought the fight to a grinding halt.  The students quickly stopped what they were doing and looked over at the door.  To their collective horror they gazed upon the principal.

“You two, stop that at once!” shouted the principal.

Everyone looked over to see where the principal was pointing.  Underneath one of the lunch tables, they saw a girl with blond hair wearing a gray shirt kissing a boy with orange hair sporting a red button down shirt.

“Big Macintosh!” roared Applejack as she ran to the table. “What in tarnation are you and Derpy doing?”

Big Macintosh looked up at Applejack and blushed nervously.  “Sorry sis,” he muttered.

“Is he your boyfriend or something?” asked Twilight.

Applejack turned to look at Twilight.  “Excuse me?” she asked sharply glaring at the new student.  “What did ya say?”

Twilight swallowed nervously and repeated, “Is he your boyfriend?  Is that why you're mad and jealous?”

The angry blond girl facepalmed and said, “What?  Naw, he's my brother.”

“Oh.” Twilight hunkered down, wishing she hadn’t opened her big mouth.  Maybe I am lucky that my brother is in military school, thought Twilight as Applejack gave her a strange look and then walked off.

“I think she's warming up to you,” said Fluttsehy.

“How do you figure?” uttered a confused Twilight.

Fluttershy smiled at Twilight.  “Applejack acts like that at first, but when you get to know her, she's really nice.”

All conversations ceased as the principal surveyed the aftermath of the food fight.  “Who started this!?” shouted the principal demanding to know.  “I want names!”

Silence filled the room. Nobody said or did anything. They just stated blankly at each other remaining quiet.

“Who did this?” shouted the principal even louder.  “No one is going anywhere till I get a name or names!”

“It was Trixie,” Rainbow Dash said softly.

“What?!” gasped the principal.

“Trixie started the food fight!”  Rainbow said nearly shouting.

“Why would Trixie even start the food fight?” asked Trixie.  Then pointing a finger she remarked, “Maybe it was Pinkie Pie.”

“Why would Pinkie start the food fight?” inquired the Principal still giving everyone an annoyed expression.

“Well.”

“Quiet Trixie.” said the principal, “Maybe you can you discuss who started the food fight when you stay after school to clean up this mess.”

“What?” questioned Trixie, “You can't be serious.”

“I am,” said the principal. “Meet me here, after school.  And as for the rest of you…clean yourselves up, return your trays and then get back to class…is that clear!?”

No one said a word.  They all simply nodded their heads.  The principal turned and left the room.  The students began cleaning up and placed what remnants of their lunches they could find back on their trays.  Then they lined up to return the soiled trays. Twilight was in line with her friends, feeling like she had dodged a major bullet.

“Phew, that was a close call,” she said.

“Tell me about it.  That was some quick thinking Rainbow,” noted Fluttershy.

“Yep, that’s me…always cool and collected in the worst of situations,” remarked Rainbow.

“It’s so true,” chimed Pinkie.

“Quite the modest one aren’t you Rainbow,” grinned Twilight.

“Yeah…I…hey!” snapped Rainbow.

“I’m only joking,” replied Twilight.

Rainbow chuckled and rubbed Twilight on the head.  “You’re all right you know that.”

Twilight blushed lightly.  While friendship was something new to her, she was starting to enjoy the wonderful feelings she got from interacting with the others.  Though this happy moment wasn’t to last.  Trixie stormed up to Twilight.  Her face was smeared and dripping with an assortment of food.  At first Twilight thought she was hallucinating, but she actually saw tears in the corners of the girl’s eyes.

She sighed at Twilight and said, “What do you have against Trixie?  First you run into her, and now this!  All I can say is that…this is war Twilight!”

A horrible feeling coursed through Twilight.  She didn’t particularly care for this annoying student, but she couldn’t help feeling bad for her.  Especially since in honesty, she wasn’t the true instigator of the food fight.  Trixie continued staring at her with a look Twilight found most unsettling.  She didn’t want to remain at odds with her.  While friendship was new to her, she certainly didn’t want to make enemies, least of all on her first day.

Trixie was returning her tray and was almost ready to leave.  Taking a deep breath, Twilight gave the situation some quick thought.  Then she said, “Trixie wait!”

The angry girl stopped in her tracks and glanced back at Twilight.  “And what do you want with Trixie now?  Huh?” she asked still sounding somewhat annoyed.

“Uh…Again I…I’m sorry I ran into you earlier.  And…” she began stammering.  This sort of thing was still so new to her.

Trixie crossed her arms.  The tone in Twilight’s voice had caught her attention.  “Go on,” she said.

“It’s not fair that you have to clean this mess up all by yourself…so…uh…why don’t I stay after and give you a hand?” she proposed, not knowing why she even suggested it in the first place.

Trixie’s arms fell to her sides and her mouth dropped open.  There was a strong sincerity in Twilight’s voice, unlike any she had heard from her fellow students in a long time.  She walked up to Twilight and looked her in the eye.  Trixie’s face had slightly softened.

“Do you mean it?” she asked doubtfully.

Twilight smiled at her and replied, “Yes.  And I promise I will help you.”

Trixie leaned forward and said, “Do you Pinkie promise?”

Twilight gave her a dumbfounded expression.  “What’s a Pinkie promise?”

Pinkie Pie grinned as she walked over to Twilight.  “Oh I’ll tell you.  It’s something I came up with,” she remarked.  “It’s easy.  You just say, Cross my heart, and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”  As she said those words Pinkie made the accompanying gestures: she drew a cross over her heart, mimed flying and then placed her hand over her eye, mimicking sticking a cupcake in it.  “You see, that’s a Pinkie promise.  Oh and a Pinkie promise is never ever broken…NEVER!” she declared boldly.

Twilight blinked.  It sounded quite serious, but she really didn’t want things to remain like this with Trixie.  “Okay then, I Pinkie promise.  Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” recited Twilight.  She had also made the appropriate gestures as well.

Trixie smiled for the first time since the two had met.  “Trixie will hold you to your Pinkie promise.  But don’t think you’re off the hook just yet!”  She replied.  Trixie then turned and walked away from Twilight and her friends.

Twilight ran the back of her hand along her forehead and sighed.  Rainbow Dash looked at Twilight funny.  “Why did you do that?” She asked.

“I don’t know.  I hated that she was so angry with me.  I came to this school to make friends, not enemies,” declared Twilight.

“I think it’s sweet of you,” said Fluttershy.  “I’ve never been fond of Trixie either, but you’re right.  It’s not fair that she have to clean up this mess by herself.”

“Especially since Rainbow Dash was the one who really started it,” uttered Pinkie carelessly.

Rainbow covered Pinkie’s mouth and said, “Quiet, someone might hear you.”  She then began laughing nervously.

“Well I guess I’ll be getting home pretty late after the rest of my classes,” noted Twilight, surveying the disaster area that once was the school cafeteria.

Fluttershy placed a hand on Twilight’s shoulder.  “Oh don’t worry about it Twilight.  If you like, I could give you a hand…if that’s okay with you.”

“Sure Fluttershy, I’d appreciate the help, and I think Trixie will as well,” replied Twilight.  “Oh does this mean you want to be friends?”

“I guess so, if it’s all right with you?” replied the shy girl.  Twilight nodded.

Pinkie stepped up and said, “Well if Fluttershy, who just became your friend, is going to help you, then I’d better help you too!  After all I said I want to be your all-time best friend.”

“Thanks Pinkie,” replied an increasingly happy Twilight.

Pinkie Pie grinned.  Then she looked over at Rainbow Dash who was whistling innocently.  “Hey, why don’t you help us too.  You are Twilight’s friend right?  Besides you’re the one that started this whole mess during lunch,” said Pinkie.

Rainbow Dash let out an exasperated sigh, then she finally replied, “Fine.  I guess it’s what a good friend would do.  But I was really looking forward to watching the cross-country team train this afternoon.”

Twilight smiled at Rainbow Dash.  “Don’t worry, with five of us cleaning up, we’ll get done in no time. You should still be able to watch them practice.”

Rainbow smiled at her and then the four of them returned their lunch trays and went to wash up in the restroom.