Life at Canterlot High

There was a time, not so long ago, when the school of Crystal Prep, though renowned as an excellent place for education and success, also came to be known as a place where students weren't exactly all that happy. True, awards and trophies and high grades were all well and good, but the school itself never had the kind of unbridled love of its students that Canterlot High had become famous for. Things had started to change, however, and wherever one looked, there seemed to be genuine smiles on the faces of the boys and girls who passed through those historic doors. Things were, for lack of a better word, lightening up around here, and for one girl in particular, she had even more than usual to be pleased about. "Oh yeah! Who has two thumbs and just passed her test? This girl!" Indigo leapt off the top stair at the front of the school, landing with all the grace expected of the school's top athlete.

Her friends soon followed, with Sour shaking her head to the display of bravado. "You know, the rest of us passed too, Indigo."

Indigo turned, smirking to her classmate. "Yeah, I know. So where's your enthusiasm for it?"

Lemon walked alongside Sour, smiling to her. "She's not wrong. This was pretty great."

Indigo pointed to her. "Now that's the spirit!"

"It really shouldn't be that big of a surprise that we passed. Passion for doing well at this school has been on the rise lately," Sugarcoat noted as she emerged from the school, adjusting her glasses slightly.

Sunny, smiling to her friend's usual matter-of-fact tone, took a few steps down the front stairs before adding her own voice to the conversation. "Well can you blame us? Ever since Cadance took over, students here have been wanting to learn...well...because we want to now."

Chuckling, Indigo took a seat on one of the bottom steps, looking out to the other students around them. "I'll say! That lady really knows how to run the place. I don't know about the rest of you, but learning because I enjoyed the subject never really came into play under...well, the last Principal we had." Seeing the general look of agreement among her peers, Indigo stood tall again. "Guess that's one more thing we oughta thank the girls for."

Sour looked down to her. "Who? Sunset and the others?"

A shrug from Indigo. "Who else?"

Another round of nods from the girls, ended when Lemon took off her headphones, and whatever she had been listening to, smiling to her friends. "Say what you will about CHS, but boy do those guys know how to add some weirdness to the town." She started counting off her fingers. "Let's see, we've had magic from another world, we've had crazy she-demons, and now we apparently have a team of super-heroines going around stopping monsters and bad guys."

"And also a talking dog," Indigo nodded.

Lemon giggled. "Oh yeah, that too."

Sugarcoat gave a single nod. "Quite. An exciting time for all."

Her tone had not changed in the slightest, much to the amusement of the rest, and after shaking her head slightly, Sunny considered what had been said. "Do you ever worry about how they don't even bother hiding their faces when they go out like that? Like, no masks or anything?"

Lemon shrugged. "Hey, if Superman can go out and save people without a mask and get away with it, I guess anything's on the table." The girl took a moment to enjoy how none of her friends could come up with a counter to that, but then got distracted by a sudden buzzing in her pocket. Whipping out her phone, she looked to the message she'd received, and before long there was a massive grin on her face. "Oh yeah! Looks like our music video with the Rainbooms just got itself a million hits on CanterTube!"

There was a round of high-fives among the group, followed by a rather smug look on Sour's part. "Well, can't say I'm surprised. We were pretty great there."

Indigo gave an uncharacteristically solemn nod, then looked away. "Yep, you really were."

Instantly getting the feeling that came off those words, Sunny stepped over to her, placing her hand upon her shoulder. "Hey, sorry you weren't able to be a part of it. If we could have postponed, we'd..."

But Indigo, smiling in gratitude to the kind words, shook her head. "No, it's fine. Being with my family for the vacation was pretty great too. I'm glad you all had a decent time with it."

Sugarcoat arched an eyebrow. "Decent might be stretching it. I distinctly recall going through some rather unfortunate times before things came together."

Sour groaned. "Uuuuuuuuugh! Don't remind me! I can't believe I went and made promises like that to the rest of the school!" She buried her face in her hands. "If Rarity hadn't come along and helped us, we'd have been a laughing stock!"

Sugarcoat glanced down to her. "Well...you more than us."

Sour frowned to her. "Thank you, Sugar, that was really helpful of you."

Indigo, now feeling at least a little bit better at not having been a part of all this, smiled over to her. "Hey, things worked out in the end, right? I mean you've got an awesome and popular music video now, so that's pretty neat."

Sighing, Sour nodded. "It would have been nice to have done it without help, but...yeah, it is pretty neat." She smiled over to Indigo, then suddenly got an idea, pointing over to her. "You know, if you want, we could always try making another video. You could be part of it this time."

Indigo tapped her chin as she considered that, slowly smiling to herself. "Yeah...that'd be sweet alright. I'd probably need to call Rarity to figure out what outfit would be good for me."

Lemon smiled mischievously to her. "And don't forget you've gotta pick up some dance moves. That's kind of important too. Don't wanna spend the whole time just jumping around randomly."

Sugarcoat nodded in agreement. "Quite. Though if nothing else, Indigo has that part covered. She's at least as good as I am when it comes to ballet."

Instantly, the rest of the group fell silent, as if struggling to process what had just been said to them, and after a while all eyes were on their resident tomboy, who promptly shrugged. "Hey, don't look at me like that! It's helps with my balance." She smirked right back to them. "Anyone who's seen me in gym class will tell you that much."

"Indeed. You were quite impressive at it, if I recall correctly." The unexpected voice caused all five girls to turn, and there they saw the smiling face of their most recent Principal, Mi'Amore Cadenza, though just better known as Cadance. "Apologies for interrupting, but I believe, Miss Sour, you left this at your desk earlier."

Sour watched as her Principal offered her an open hand, in which was, very definitely, her phone. The girl's eyes widened, and she patted down her own pockets, before blushing fiercely at having realized what had happened. "Oh! Thanks! I didn't even know I'd left it!"

Cadance gave a single nod. "I can see that. I suggest you be a touch more careful with it. Especially since phones aren't technically allowed in the classrooms here." Seeing her student start to look nervous, Cadance laughed briefly, patting her on the shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll let it slide this time. If it happens again though..."

Sour shook her head. "Don't worry, I'll keep it somewhere else."

Again, Cadance nodded. "Glad to hear it. Now then..." She started walking past the group and away from the school. "If you'll excuse me, I have a meeting to attend to in town. The Superintendent has some new regulations to announce and the local Principals need to attend."

Lemon looked at her watch. "But it's only lunchtime. Who's in charge while you're gone?"

A sly smile crept onto Cadance's face. "Oh, I'm sure the other teachers can keep the place from falling apart while I'm gone." She looked back to them, eyebrow raised. "Unless you girls perhaps have some shenanigans planned?" Seeing them all vigorously shake their heads, her smile grew. "Very good. Now, if you'll excuse me."

The girls watched as she got into her car, and before long the thing was off, heading down the road at a decent speed. Now alone, Sour held her phone close to her chest, breathing a sigh of relief. "Oh geez! Can you imagine how bad this would have been for me if Cinch had been Principal right now?!"

Lemon chuckled. "Oh yeah, you'd have been in detention faster than you could blink!"

The girls, even Sour, all shared a laugh together, and when it was over, Indigo glanced in the direction Cadance had left in. "You know, she's been a pretty great Principal so far. You actually feel like you can talk to her. I mean...talk to her and not get into trouble for it."

Sugarcoat considered that. "Unless you arrive unexpectedly while she's on a conversation with her...'colleague' in the city's police department. Those moments are rather adamantly private for her."

After a collective smirk from the other girls, it was Lemon who ultimately said what they were all thinking. "I'm guessing you're talking about Twilight's brother?"

Seeing Sugarcoat nod, Indigo, leaning on the side of the stairs, chortled for a moment. "Honestly, do those two actually think they're being subtle about that? They have to know it's not really a secret, right?"

"I'll bet anything that Twilight hasn't noticed," Sunny remarked. "I don't care how smart she is, that girl can be the most oblivious in the world sometimes."

Getting out her own phone, and after pressing a few buttons, Lemon started to look a touch mischievous. "Well, there's definitely plenty out there for her to pick up on. She'll notice one day."

Looking to her with confusion, Sour stepped forward. "Wait, what are you...?" Getting closer, she soon noted that Lemon apparently had a number of photos involving their Principal and Twilight's brother. Moments like him leaving her office and smiling back to her, or them meeting up with one another in the local park. After looking to the photos, then to Lemon, Sour started to speak, her voice giving away her uncertainty. "Um...have you been stalking those two?"

Lemon rolled her eyes. "No! I just take photos whenever I spot them. There's a difference!"

The girls all looked to one another again, after which Indigo walked over to her music-loving friend. "Well don't just hog them, girl! Let us have a look!" They gathered around, looking through photo after photo after photo, with giggles abound, even for Indigo. "Oh yeah, there's no doubt, those two are gonna go at it like friggin' rabbits before long!"

But after a few moments of this, Sunny glanced to Lemon with concern. "Er...you don't take photos of other people getting close like this, do you?"

Lemon waved her off, looking as cool as a cucumber. "Nah! That'd just be weird!" She laughed for a moment, and then, while looking away, whispered under her breath. "Note to self, delete personal files when I get home."

Sunny, who at least had some inkling of her friend's words, looked to her warily. "You know, maybe just stick to video games as a hobby, okay Lemon?"

Lemon grinned excitedly. "Oh! That reminds me! I've gotta meet up with Pinkie later for a rematch on Tirek's Revenge!"

Sour twirled her ponytail with one finger as she smirked to that declaration. "Oh yeah? Well in that case, make sure to beat her at it. Can't let up with those CHS girls after all."

Indigo rolled her eyes. "Sour, I know this is rich coming from me, but after all we've been through do we really need to keep up the whole rivalry thing between our schools?"

Sour shrugged. "Hey, gotta keep each other on our toes somehow. Besides, they kinda made it personal when they stole that cutie Twilight from us." After seeing her friends give her surprised looks, she snickered. "Admit it, you've all thought that about her at least once."

A moment of awkward embarrassment, ending when Sugarcoat leaned in and whispered to Indigo. "Credit where it's due, she's not wrong."