It was the first time Big Macintosh ever left his farm of Sweet Apple Acres and the village adjoining it. Now Canterlot was something else. There were cars and busses and people walking fast and the noise and the restlessness. He wasn't sure yet whether he liked it or not. But whether he liked it or not didn't really matter. Aged nineteen, it was about time for him to fly off the nest and live his own life. In a new kind of comfort.
He hadn't have time yet to settled in what was going to be his home during his studies. It was a small guest house with a very reasonable rent and managed by a woman of thirty whose pictures on the site where they communicated released an impression of dynamism and cheerfulness, mixed with the rigor of military life. In order to go there, he would need to take a bus and Big Mac hoped he wouldn't get confused and end up being lost in the city for his very first day. Maybe he should have gone there first and wait the next morning before going to school. But no, he wanted to go there as soon as possible since this was the reason why he was here, in Canterlot.
The students called it a university in the forums but it was mostly designated as National School of Art by officials. There he would be able to learn how to become a director of photography for the cinema.
That was a strange dream to have for the son of a farmer (rich, but farmer nonetheless) that he was. Harvesting apple and holding a camera theoretically had nothing to do with one another. And yet, he had always been fascinated by the world of motion pictures, as soon as he could remember. Though he didn't have a wild imagination for stories, he had it when it came to lights and frames. His mother used to say that he was a genius and that such talent shouldn't be wasted in transporting buckets of apples to the market and the factories.
Big Mac - how he usually was nicknamed - didn't have a uniform yet. In this school, the official uniform was supposedly a way to set everyone on an equal footing. But just with a quick look around him, he discovered that though that uniform was said to be mandatory, very few students actually wore it. Most of them were in their everyday clothes, just like him, and a lot sported rather outlandish outfits, so to speak. Not just like him.
Someone called him a little earlier this morning and told him they would send a student to give him a tour of the the school. He has been waiting for more than ten minutes now, along in the middle of this thick crowd made of strangers. Strangers weren't his forte. Of a reserved natural, he didn't really like being plunged in the unknown. That always made him feel that he needed to become somebody else in order to get his head out of the water and breathe.
Someone suddenly started to go around him, examining his features as if he were an alien with three eyes and an elephant trunk in the middle of his chin. The boy was even taller than Big Mac, with midnight blue hair and green eyes like some jade pearl. After he took one last look at him and at something on his phone, creasing his nose, he finally smiled from ear to ear and stretched out one large comforting palm.
"Hi! You're Big Macintosh, right?"
"That's me."
"I'm Soarin Skies, but everyone just call me Soarin. I'm the one for the school's tour."
He went down the few flights of stairs on which they were standing without a word and Big Mac silently followed him. The schoolyard was as restless and full as it was when he first arrived and it seemed like the agitation never went decreasing and students kept on popping out from everywhere. To sneak in this crowd wasn't easy and he was scared he would lose the trace of his new schoolmate if he lost his focus for just one second.
They passed by a bunch of people holding violins and cellos and without further ado, Soarin warned him.
"There are a few things you have to know about this place. Everyone here stays in his own clique. And you absolutely have to know which clique is which if you want to survive."
Without scruples, they trampled on the freshly mown lawn, of a green as bright as the eyes of the beholder in front of him. There sat many different bunches of people chatting loud and laughing as loud. Noise, again and again. He already missed the silent pastures of the hills of Ponyville!
Quickly, though, as he looked all around him, trying to register each part of this gigantic place, Big Mac noticed that what Soarin had just told him was very much true. Cliques were anywhere you looked.
Pretty statuesque girls were standing near a bench, their mouths closed. They were wearing the mandatory uniform without a single pleats on them and apparenly looked down on everyone, absolutely not in touch with anything or anybody. They reminded him of the stone status on his hometown park. Beautiful to look at from a distance but cold and featureless when too close.
Like someone he used to know, too.
"Over here, you have daddy's girls of the ballet dance section. They're snobs thinking they're the queens of Canterlot. A little cliché maybe yet true. You have to come to school with a driver and a private sedan to be part of their clique. And to eat nothing but green beans and brown rice, of course. Tough life. Personally, I like myself a good apple pie."
Farther, there was another bunch but this time composed of both boys and girls and they weren't quite homogenous. Some where holding cameras, some were holding scripts and the others seemed to be playing a weird game which he doesn't really understand - for he didn't really try to understand, waiting for Soarin's new explanation with more eager than he would have thought.
"This is our nutty drama kids. They can play anything, from Shakespeare to Beckett... You'll often see them but if you hate noise, then you're going to hate them. In the traditional studies classes, they can't help standing out by thinking they're still on a stage."
Under a tree, a pretty girl with white hair was reviewing a music sheet. She wore headphones, apparently plunged in a dreamlike world where no once could go but herself. Yet her twitchy leg led Big Mac to think that, maybe, there was more than meet the eye with this one.
"Oh, this is our famous Trixie Lulamoon. Says of herself that she's Great and Powerful. She's a failed magician who became a singer through spite. Don't trust her appearance of quietness, she's more like the rest of the singers' clique - rather nice but loud and outlandish."
Soarin pulled Big Mac's shirt sleeve as he was about to walk towards her way, believing this was the natural direction of the rest of the tour. After all, there was no reason why they should turn back and go the other way. There seemed to be more cliques and funny stories to discover out there.
"I don't want her to see me. Last time, she followed me even in the washroom. I thought I would never get rid of her. Don't get me wrong, she's not bad people. But she's simply not my kind. She's too... Trixie."
As they retraced their steps and while Soarin kept on avoiding to be in the young woman's field of vision, they met another bunch of musicians, this time holding transverse flutes and saxophones. Big Mac followed them, amused, ready for another explanation. They already met many of them on their way and his new schoolmate never commented on their clique yet. Though at the beginning, he had very little interest for each of them, now he felt very amused and a bit curious too.
Soarin was about to open his mouth when two new persons drawn Big Mac's attention.
Walking against the bunch of flutists and saxophonists, two girls were singing out loud while hopping forward, arm in arm, with red lollipops in their hands. They weren't meddled up with a clique and didn't seem to care much about those around them, who didn't seem to care much neither. Yet, Big Mac immediately stopped walking and followed them with his eyes as they passed by him and soon got away.
"Who's that?"
Soarin turned around, a sweet and enigmatic smile on his face and he followed them both with his eyes as well. It was the first time he seemed to be smiling sincerely and this intrigued Big Mac all the more. Meanwhile, the girls were getting away and away, still hopping and singing, sometimes bumping into some of their schoolmates who cursed when they laughed out loud.
"This is Rainbow Dash and Pinkamena Diane Pie, aka Pinkie Pie. Canterlot's Ultimate Inseparable BFFs."
"Ah never saw so many colors all at one before..."
For their outfits, for sure, weren't the discreet type. One of them sported cowboy-style yellow boots (the same kind he often saw on someone else but not of that color), a purple pleated skirt with dots, a burgundy sweater and a yellow jacket. The other, who had rainbow hair, was dressed like a cheerleader, only in bright orange and with brown shorts under the skirt, green high-knee socks and blue sneakers.
"Yes, sometimes they really like to be seen from afar. Well, Pinkie Pie always likes to be seen from afar, actually. They're in fashion design, the best of their class. Is one of them your type or what?"
"Uh, Ah don't really know. What clique are they a part of?"
"The 'Not in your Wildest Dream' clique! They both are only living for their passions, fashion, sports and cakes. A lot of boys did tried to get a date with one of them and they all failed miserably. Once, I more or less liked Pinkie Pie but now I have a huge soft spot for Rainbow Dash... What a shame!" he sighed.
They resumed their exploration.
The school possessed many lecture halls, its own art galleries, one for pictures, one for paintings and one for sculptures. The rooms where the cinema students studied were well-stocked with digital cameras, editing rooms and even studios in a separate building. Soarin taught him the school was partitioned this way: a building for cinema and drama, a building for dance and music and a building for art and fashion. Then, there was another building, the one where students of all specializations met in order to have 'traditional classes'. The cafetaria, the administration offices and the library also were in this building, the one where Big Mac had waited for Soarin for so long.
In this school, students could enroll at any period of the day. Thus, the students were all used to meet newbies all the time. Thanks to Soarin, Big Mac quickly felt at ease with his class. During the first break, he accompanied him to go and get his uniform in the main building.
To go there, they had to pass by a room with large patio doors which allowed anyone to see what was going on inside of it. It was some kind of a workship where rows of sewing machines stood. Their shapes were various and the purr they made could be heard even from the outside. There were a few girls still inside, busy like in a beehive, bent over machines or drawing at huge tables or being active around foam models.
From afar, Big Mac spotted a bunch of three guys sitting on a bench, their feet on the lower plate, with smiles on their faces that were almost scary. They looked like lions lurking, in search of a gazelle to devour.
He stopped and turned to Soarin.
"Who are those guys?" he said, showing them with his chin.
"These are the worst people you'll ever meet in this school. See, the one with the clearer hair and the glasses? He's Trenderhoof, the son of Equestria's most famous movie critic. He's very rich and very conceited. His buds aren't outdone. They're singers and they think they're irresistible. The female singers are just another loud outlandish tribe but they are truly insufferable."
"Ah see the kind."
Big Mac took a few steps and turned around in order to have a glimpse at what the bunch of friends were staring at so hungrily. And he saw the sewing workshop. The behivee was working at full blast, busier than ever as girls and boys - but mostly girls - were coming and coming from the main door, filling up the room even more.
"So this is what they were looking at, uh? The fashion design class is preparing a show for the School's Festival," he added like some wildlife documentary commenter.
Big Mac was standing in front of the patio doors, his expression bland. One by one, his eyes stopped on the girls inside and on the clothes they tailored when a very colorful piece in yellow and purple drawn his attention a little more.
The girl named Pinkie Pie was here, placing pins on a foam model covered by a red piece of material. A pin cushion was on her wrist and she seemed to be so focused that she didn't even notice there were so many eyes on her.
No, she wasn't exactly his type but unawares, he couldn't even take his eyes off of her actions and the precision of her work, the way she trapped her tongue between her lips when she tried to reach the upper parts of her foam model.
Of course, Soarin noticed he was captivated by something and stepped closer in order to detect what had he so fascinated that he had stopped walking and didn't seem to be ready to go anywhere now.
"She's rather cute in her kind, right? You look in complete awe."
"Am not in awe. It's just that... Okay, let's admit she's rather cute and so what?"
"So what? I told you, she's not in your league. So what, well, not much... If that was possible, trust me, I would have invited Rainbow Dashie to the movies already!"
Inside, some of the girls finally noticed two boys were standing right in front of the windows and were looking inside the workshop. Some yelled while some, with red cheeks and ears, hid behind their sewing machines or models though they dared a few peeps here and there.
But Pinkie Pie never looked up even for one second, focused as she was on her dress in the making. It took a nudge from Rainbow Dash for her to finally see the two boys. She recognized Soarin immediately, for he was a favorite among the girls who admired his green eyes, his broad shoulders and his charming smiles but the one guy by his side, she had no idea of who he was. Tall, tanned skin, freckles. Decent. What did it have to do with her, anyway? She had a show to prepare and Miss Rarity wouldn't be very much happy if she didn't get on with her work because of boys. She had to create an evening gown and a wedding dress. These things took time and concentration. She had other things to do, much more important things to do.
In two shakes of a lamb's tail, she was already focused back on her gowns.
"Have you seen that?" Soarin said from the other side of the glass. "Too caught up in her passion. Even a good-looking guy like you can't get her attention for more than two seconds. This is Pinkie Pie. And the same goes for Rainbow Dash, unfortunately for me. Say, are you good in French?"
"Yeah, Ah do, why is that?"
"Pinkie Pie is looking for a French tutor, she's very bad at conjugation. You should take a stab!"
"Who said Ah wanted to take a stab?"
He shrugged and finally resumed walking. Soon, Soarin followed him with a smirk which said a lot about what he thought of his words. The break was going to end soon and they hadn't collected his uniform yet. Now wasn't the time to be spying on girls. As cute as they could be.
In the workshop, planting her pin in order to adjust the bustier of her dress, Pinkie Pie jabbed her finger. She let out a small 'ouch' before sticking her throbbing finger into her mouth. When she took a look outside through the windows of the patio door, the boys weren't here anymore.
In the main office, near the administration where he was waiting for someone to bring his uniform to him, Big Mac scanned the huge noticeboard where many want ads and announcements were pinned. Someone was trying to sell a MP3 player, someone else a guitar while others were looking for a very precise type of music sheet, this number of oil painting color, this violin chord. And in the middl, he saw a plain piece of paper badly torn off and cut. A manga-like character has been drawn with a felt-pen right beside a rather childish handwriting, saying 'Looking for a French tutor. Good in conjugation -especially pluperfect, what a plague ! Can't give more than 15 bits per hour. Ask Pinkie Pie, fashion design'.
An uncontrollable light smile floated on his face. What a strange character, he thought.
***
Only one bus was going to his destination. If he ever got lost, that meant he really wasn't fit to live in such a big city. Thankfully, his whole journey occurs without a stitch though it took him at least fourty minutes to go from his station near the school to the end of the line which was the guesthouse's station. As he set foot on the ground after getting off the bus, Big Mac just had to look up and he saw the house in question, right in front of him, on the other side of the road.
While waiting for the light to turn red, he settled the alarm clock on his cellphone. A quarter to seven. Maybe that was a little early for the city people but he was used to it. Back in Sweet Apple Acres, the whole family usually woke up at the sound of the rooster.
The house in which he was going to live was rather large. According to its Internet site, this had been a very popular boarding school for young girls before being partially destroyed during the Second World War. Now, the owner was called Surprise and used to live in Cloudsdale, the closest city to Ponyville. She had bought the place for next to nothing because the renovation would be long and physically difficult but that wasn't to scare her at all. With a few friends, and for at least five years she worked seven days a week and transformed it into the guesthous it was now, all while being adjoining a small bakery where she was currently working. And to replace the most deteriorated part which she didn't renovate, she created a garden where she could grow her own berries.
He pulled the braided rope of the entrance, as indicated by a small drawing right beside it and he heard a bell ring. After a few seconds of feet stampling the wooden floor, there appeared the face of Surprise behind the huge opened door. She was a young woman who looked at least five years younger than her age, with yellow hair in a mess, almost standing on end with laughing eyes and an apron tight around a jersey tracksuit.
"Are you Big Macintosh? Hi! I'm Suprise, nice to meet you. Come on in!"
Even if he wanted to, he couldn't answer. She made him go in by pulling on the sleeve on his shirt and immediately closed the heavy huge door behind her. It seems like she were a preteen happy to see that the first guests for her birthday party has arrived.
The entrance hall with a floor of cinder blocks was as large as a Cathedral. The walls were naked and reinforced the sensation of being entered into some mystical place where only the gods were allowed. A somehow deserted and creaking kind of heaven if even could be made of wood like in a mountain cabin. Next to a shoes rack, he only had a glimpse at two other pairs. Probably Surprise's and someone else's. Well... When they exchanged mails, the owner told him very few people were currently living here. Despite this, he never would have thought very few would have meant scarcely anyone at all!
"Your luggage arrived this morning so I put them into your room. I'm going to give you a tour of the house now... Do you like your school?"
"Eeyup."
"That's a relief! Would have been a shame to go all the way from where you were to arrive in a school you would hate," she concluded with a soundly chuckle.
To be honest, she didn't quite look like her picture on the site. He had been promised some serious former military and here he was with itchy feet who almost made him think of a teenager from a sports school who would take cooking lessons not to appear too much of a timboy. She led him through the corridors, explaining a lot very fast and he followed without a word.
"I'm going to show you your room first, alright? Thus you can put down your school stuff and make your tour less cumbersome."
They climbed wooden stairs slightly creaking like the rest of the house and reached another corridor, similar to the last one, all made of wood and with only a few plastic flowers in terra cota vases. Flowers had also been painted on the walls, like a storm of cherrytree blossoms.
Surprise took a bunch of keys from her tracksuit's pockets and opened a door in the middle of said corridor. This gave way to a very large bedroom, even larger than his barn's lounge which was entirely furnished with everything he needed, a king size bed, a bedside table, a closet and storage units, a desk, a coffee table. There also was a small recess on the side, which content he couldn't see clearly from where he stood.
With a nod, she invited Big Mac to come in and he obeyed, suddenly excited to think that was the place he was going to live. The rest had been so cold, almost from out of a dream and now, he knew he was back to reality.
"I hope you'll like it because this is the bedroom I've selected for you. Mine's near the bakery but if you have the least problem, my niece is living two rooms farther on the left, she'll help you. She's a dear, you'll see... Oh, there's a shower here but we also have a huge bathroom for everyone, à la Japanese. It's at the end of the corridor. Our outside thermal bath is opened twenty-four seven but since it's a co-ed one, I'd advise you to be careful that my niece and her friend aren't there already, or you'll hear from them, I garantee. Also, you're lucky, this is the room with a small kitchen so you can eat there if you like. But if you want to eat downstairs with us, there's no problem, only that means you have to help us cooking. Do you have any questions?"
"Nope," Big Mac answered with a smile.
This woman Surprise was a real chatterbox! If her niece was the same, he would often get headaches. This wasn't at all what he was used to. Of course, they talked together in the Apple family but more often than not, all the members of the said family liked to have their own activities on their sides, which led him to be on his own, in the quietness of the barn.
She gave him a bunch of keys, one for the entrance downstairs and another one for his room, then decided it was about time to resume her little tour. That was a day that was full of tours and new things to remember, for sure!
The outside thermal bath was empty. When going there with clothes on, the heat was suffocating therefore they didn't linger for too long. Downstairs, there was wide lounge at his disposal where he could go whenever he wanted to, no curfew had to be respected for anyone and he could use everything that was here as much as he liked.
This too was different from his life on the farm. They had no new technologies except for their own phones and their grandmother always made sure they would all follow her strict rules of life. Here, he was finally granted not only complete freedom but also complete autonomy. He had to answer to nobody but himself. And that, was refreshing.
Said lounge was a home cinema with Blu-ray and DVD players, all sorts of movies and there also was bookshelves overflowing with books, two couches and seven chairs as well as a coffee table with cushions all around.
"Now, the most important of all rooms," Surprised said as they were finishing the tour. "Obviously, it's the heart of this house, our favorite places of all places. The kitchen!"
The door was ajar when they reached it. Sounds of plates and glasses were heard, which made Surprise smile. She gestured to Big Mac so he would get closer.
"My niece is inside. She's a real food lover. Oh, now I come to think of it, you two are in the same school! Maybe you know her already... In which department did you say you were?"
"Cinema..."
"Well, maybe you don't know her after all. She's in fashion design."
Surprise put a finger in front of her lips and gestured again at Big Mac. As quietly as possible, she pushed the door and they entered in the huge kitchen on their tiptoes. On the large table in the middle of the room, a tray rested with a small pot of ice cream, poppy-favored cakes, slices of mango and a bottle of ice tea. From the back, the girl was on her tiptoes as well, trying to catch a glass inside a closet. She wore a pink sweater with a pleated skirt a little too short since when she rose on her feet with her arm up, a piece of her white panties could be seen. Big Mac had to look away but he saw her long enough to notice her hair was pink and puffy like cotton candy although she tied them on the top of her head thanks to a pencil.
"Turn around, Pinkamena Diane Pie!" Surprise screamed.
The young girl jumped and almost stumbled on her stool but stabilized herself by hanging at the closet's door.
"Guess what? We have a new guest in the guest house."
And Surprise burst out laughing.
Big Mac could have found it funny but he was too amazed at the strangeness of luck and how it would have it. From all the girls of his school, he had to live precisely under the same roof than this one girl in particular. Yet, he should have known because Soarin warned him earlier today than very few people from their school had relatives from other parts of Equestria, especially parts like Rock Farm, where he knew Surprise had family too. She should have guessed she would be the mysterious niece.
When Pinkie Pie turned around, she too opened her eyes wide from amazement. The newbie from school also was the newbie of the guesthouse. She should have known when she saw him with Soarin, this morning. Two new boys at the same time couldn't be due to mere chance.
Oh, but now that she thought about it... He was tall! He could catch a glass for her!
"Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie. Nice to meet you. Finally."
"Am Big Mac. Nice to meet ya as well."
"Now do you know each other?" Surprise asked, looking at them successively.
"By sight only," Pinkie Pie answered with a smile. "Auntie Surprise, why are you always storing the glasses in the upper shelves? I can't never catch them and right now, I'm soooo thirsty!"
"Then, why don't you catch the ones in the lower closets? You're going to drive me nuts."
"Oh yeah, it's true. I always forget you put some glasses there too!"
So, this was his new family (sort of)? It wasn't exactly what he expected, to say the least... For a short while, he watched them as they started to chat about school and the bakery. The way they acted around him was very natural, as if he was part of this house forever and they'd always known him. Did it really matter if his expectations were destroyed? It seemed like he might find something even better than said expectations here. And he wasn't going to be bored for one second, living in this place.
A certain someone would be very envious of him when he'd learn.
Author's Note
The reason the main female character isn't Rarity when she's the fashion designer of the bunch in both MLP and EG is simple... Rarity would have obliged me to change the character's personality too deeply. And it would have been complicated to find the right partner too. So, Rarity's Pinkie and Dashie's teacher 
"What?" Soarin said planting his fork into his raviolis. "I can't believe it... Some of us are that lucky! So, did you also see Dashie?"
"No, I'm sorry, I didn't... But it doesn't mean that I won't see her one of these days..."
"I guess I'll often be there with you."
It could seem that they hadn't addressed the topic of Big Mac's new place to live yet. However, the subject often came back to his friend's mouth during the three years of class they had this morning. The coincidence fascinated him so much it occupied the most of his thoughts.
Today, like any other day, the cafeteria was pretty restless. The cliques were all carefully respected, as if an invisible gate seperated each of them. Of course, it always existed in all sorts of schools except in this one the cliques seemed to be defined by a little something more. A sense of belonging expressing itself through the way each of them acted. To be honest, it often made you want to tear it all apart, just to see what would happen. Also, to Big Mac the students of this particular school were a little more noisy and frenetic than anywhere else.
Suddenly, he saw Soarin's eyes opening wide and his whole body turned stiff at the same time than his face froze like a freeze-frame on a computer's screen.
"What is it? Ya don't like yar green tomatoes fritters?" I take them if so..."
He stretched out his fork in order to take a fritter but Soarin prevented him to do so by making click his own fork against the metal. Yet, he kept on staring at something straight in front of him, as if he was witnessing the worst of torture scene ever.
"Maybe that's a good news came too late... Look who just sat beside them."
Big Mac softly turned around and finally had a glimpse at what his friend was staring at. There were the two singers he told him about last time, sitting next to Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. Soarin's horror was somewhat explainable, not only because of how he loathed the two boys but also because even him could see how embarrassed the girls were about that plot twist.
Her hair tied into a complicated side braid with her uniform sported in a rather unusual way, Pinkie Pie waved gently at Big Mac. They were now living in the same place and potentially going to school together at the same time as they would also probably be led to know each other better as time would go by, yet it really surprised him that she acted so familiarly with him.
"Why is Pinkie Pie waving you while Rainbow Dash is completely ignoring me?"
"I suppose it has to do with fact we're livin' in the same place. Don't get that excited."
He resumed his lunch but didn't forget to take Soarin a few fritters on the way. The latter didn't even notice because he was too absorbed by what the two girls were doing with the two singers. In reality, he was sometimes a little... weird. Similar to the image Big Mac had of the rest of the students here, in the end. He was serious, collected and skilled until the girl named Rainbow Dash came into the picture. Then, he became a complete different person, overreacting to everything and a bit, well, dumb. Or not, dumb. Goofy.
Everything looked back to the normal when suddenly, he froze again. This time, he swallowed but didn't chew the food in his mouth.
"What is it this time?"
Big Mac turned around to see if something strange or shocking was happening at Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash's table but he quickly understood it was something else now. Or rather, someone who changed everything by its mere presence - Trixie had just entered the cafeteria. This time, she was nothing like the quiet girl reading a music sheet under the shade of a tree. And it helped him to understand why Soarin was acting so stiff everytime she appeared in his field of vision. She walked through the room as if it belonged to her, a constant smirk on her face and she didn't stand anyone to stand on her way. Her eyes scanned the place, as if she were looking for someone precise, which she surely was indeed.
Soarin was already on his feet with his bag on his shoulders, tray in the hands and all.
"Sorry, you'll have to lunch on your own for today. I have to hurry. See you in class."
He didn't even have time to utter an answer that Soarin already was speeding through the tables in the direction of the emergency exit. But was that fast enough? Already, Trixie darted in the same direction and they soon both disappeared among the rest of the students. This whole story wasn't over yet.
At their own table, the two girls witnessed the exact same scene. Pinkie Pie softly nudged her best friend and whispered in her ear.
"Dashie... I think Trixie is trying to get her hands over your boyfriend. You shouldn't let her do so."
"Stop it, Pinkie!" she answered, nudging her as well but a little more aggressively. "I never said I liked him or anything."
"You don't need to. I know what you're thinking. Why don't you take the first step and talk to him?"
They forgot they weren't alone at their table anymore. Unfortunately, without them to ask anything to them, the boys from the Sing Department were still acting like pots of glue. They could barely say anything to one another without one of them to think they were talking about them, even when the conversation wasn't related at all. Demonstrated by how Trenderhoof got his chair closer to them both.
"Were my princesses talking about me? Look, I'm here with you today."
In order not to laugh at him, Pinkie Pie started to stare at the ceiling. Even she thought it was a stupid way of behaving. And she knew that Rainbow Dash wouldn't stand it for too long. She always hated everything that was too 'sappy' and didn't want to be considered like a lady but like the cool girl she was.
It didn't last very long. Rainbow Dash leaped on her feet so suddenly that it even surprised her best friend by her side, who jumped from scare on her chair.
"Sorry! I have stuff to do!! I have to finish my dress for the show. Are you coming too, Pinkie?"
"Yes. I better hurry up as well."
They left them there without even a goodbye and vehemently refused them to accompany them to their workshop. They were real pain in the arse, always following them around when they only wanted to relax and calling them stupid names. Maybe it came from the fact they were among the only ones who were completely immune to their so-called charm. But because of them, once again, they didn't have time to finish their lunch and the days were long. By the end of the classes, there was no doubt where they would both go and it wouldn't be directly home.
***
Once classes were over, the first thing Pinkie Pie did was to drag her best friend outside so they could take a snack at the closest possible restaurant. All day long, her stomach had gurgled and she had smiled embarrassingly at Miss Rarity each time it arrived during a moment of silence. Now, she couldn't take it anymore. She had to eat, to eat anything and quickly.
As they reached the entrance of the Burger King, her stomach made another noise and she could think of nothing else than her fries and her sandwich and maybe even an ice cream and onion rings and...
"Dashie, hurry up!" she said, looking behind her shoulders as her best fiend was walking while rummaging through her backpack. "I'm so farmished I could eat a mountain!"
"Wait a minute. I can't find my wallet!"
No, not now. It wasn't the moment for being head in the clouds.
Pinkie Pie took a few steps back and almost literally snatched the bag off of Rainbow Dash's hands. She started to rummage through it frantically, as if she was on the verge of a heart attack.
"What's the color of your wallet?"
"Well, rainbow, of course."
"But everything's the color of a rainbow in your bag. Oh, why can't I find it?"
She brewed everything that was inside the bag as if they were ingredients of a soup. Yet, there still was no trace of this damn wallet. Maybe it was because she was so nervous that it kept on slipping through her fingers. She had to calm herself but how could she when her stomach gurgled so much it hurt?
As her last resort, she crouched on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant and spilled the content of the bag. Everything that was inside fell in a disorganized pile in front of them and red from shame, Rainbow Dash had to crouch as well in order to hide a few tampons popped against the asphalt, under the curious gaze of many passersby.
It was worse this way. What if someone came here running and tried to steal her smartphone or her ID documents? Identity fraud existed after all.
"Do you think someone stole it to you? I really can't find it."
"I don't know. I don't remember if I had it with me this morning. My school card was in my jacket's pocket."
"Oh no!"
Pinkie Pie got up and with a annoyed face, she walked towards the electronic counter that rested outside in front of the door to embrace it close. Once again, passersby were staring at them but it wasn't what irritated Rainbow Dash the most. She didn't really care if people were looking. What was really upsetting was that she had to clean the mess made by her friend on her own.
"To think that I'm so hungry."
Once again, her stomach gurgled soundly.
"Goodbye my little onion rings with barbecue sauce, goodbye my pea and soja burger, goodbye my cheese fries, goodye my ice cream, goodbye my coke with a lot of ice."
And her stomach gurgled even louder.
"It's so sad. I think I'm going to cry."
"I can buy you two something to eat if you want."
Pinkie Pie, surprised, hadn't seen a small group had approached them. She turned around and saw two mature men with grey hair and glasses, dressed in the typical suits of office worker. Nothing was missing, not even the rings on their forefingers and the bawdy glow in their dark eyes. Frowning, her backpack now tidy on her shoulders, Rainbow Dash took a step closer, ready to pounce on them on the least sign of indecency.
"What?" Pinkie Pie asked after she let go the counter.
"You seem to be very hungry. You both are cute as a button, that would be a shame to leave you to your own devices. We could buy you something to eat, in exchange of you going in town with us."
Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash already heard about this type of men but they never had the misfortune to meet them yet. They promised teenagers and very young girls a lot of money and as a counterpart was expecting them to keep them company. Officially. Unofficially, everyone knew the girls were obliged to sleep with them after that. Many of the rape victims were their victims.
She had no intention of doing anything like that but as she glanced at Rainbow Dash, she immediately understood her friend was on the same wavelength than she. The best defense was attack. And in order to attack, they had to let them think they were tempted by the offer.
"You would really do that? How much would you give us?"
"Well," one of them said, looking at his workmate with dirty (and disgusting) eyes. "Let's say 200 bits to start."
"200 bits? Isn't that a little... Not enough!"
Rainbow Dash was about to pounce on them as she wanted since they opened their mouth but two strong arms held her back and forced her to step away. She was shaking and screaming insults at the two men who, red from shame, tried to act as if all this had nothing to do with them. As for Pinkie, she only stood there laughing. For sure, they weren't expecting something like that.
Soarin and Big Mac were strolling in town when Soarin stopped in the middle of the street, spotting Rainbow Dash from afar. He always seemed to be almost hypnotized each time he saw her, but also he possessed some kind of sixth sense allowing him to detect the young girl's presence even in the distance. They looked at the young woman as she was complaining about putting away the content of her bag on her own while Pinkie Pie was hugging the electronic counter. He thought that girl was really a special person at the same time as being incredibly endearing. Then, the two mature men approached them and they felt it smelled like trouble.
Soarin was still holding Rainbow Dash back, who kept on struggling with all her might. He never would have thought she would be so strong for a girl so small. It only comforted him in the idea that she was the perfect girl for him. He always liked girls with a temper.
"Us? Accompanying old codgers such as you? You could as well pay us a million bits if you want to, we won't even go across the sidewalk with you! You perverts!"
They were, one more time, the object of curiosity from all the passersby who were staring at Rainbow Dash screaming with an amused look. More embarrassed than ever, the mature men quickly blended in the crowd, looking at their feet and hiding their crimson faces. As they were getting away, Rainbow Dash seemed to struggle even more and to scream even louder. Soarin only let her go once he was sure they were away enough not to risk that she would pursue them to kick them.
"Why did you hold me back?" she asked Soarin. "You should have let me smash their faces in!"
Pinkie Pie's stomach emitted one more loud gurgle and, with a funny grimace of pain, she stopped laughing and held her belly. That was enough to make Rainbow Dash fidgetting and recover a semblance of calm.
"It's my fault. I lost my wallet... Well, in fact I only let it home. So, we can't eat."
Big Mac took a glimpse at Soarin. In his eyes seemed to be shining the words "that's my luck!'. He would really be a bad friend if he didn't understand the message and decided to turn away from him. As he could guess his intentions just as easily as he breathed, he evetually sighed and nodded. In all likelihood, it really pleased him.
"We were about to take a snack as well, so you could come with us. We'll pay, without anything in return."
Without anything in return, yeah sure, thought Big Mac. Although he wasn't expecting anything similar to what the mature men had in mind, he knew very well there was an hidden intention behind Soarin's act of generosity. He wanted to get to know the pretty Rainbow Dash better and why not, ask her on a date by the end of their snack. He was no fool.
He didn't know that Rainbow Dash as well wanted to say yes because it gave her an excuse to spend a bit of time with Soarin, who she admired in secret. Because she was very proud, she always vehemently denied being soft on him, afraid it would break her image of the cool girl who cared about nothing but her ambition and reputation.
As for Pinkie Pie, she was so farmished that she surrendered without further delay. If she couldn't eat right now, she swore she would collapse from hunger. In a way. She nodded to her friend, as a sign that she accepted the offer.
"Alright, we come. It's really nice, thank you. We'll repay you tomorrow."
"Don't bother."
Soarin stepped closer to Rainbow Dash, in the hope they would go to the same counter and order shoulder to shoulder. But Pinkie Pie followed her on her heels and disrupted his plans. She grabbed her best friend's arm and they both started to hop towards the counter while singing a song which main theme were fries.
