Author's Note

Don't worry, moderators and all those people who know what Standard English is! It gets better in this chapter.

F for Fail

Rainbow Dash was biting her fingernails, her eyes darting around the room. She had always had trouble in English classes, but her overall grade for the half term depended on the mark she was given for her homework. She had tried her hardest on this piece: the topic had been "Slice of Life" stories, and she had written about her friends. The story was completely made up, but she hoped that it was enough.

Mrs Cheerilee was handing out the now marked homework, and most students looked either satisfied or incredibly worried when they received their scores. She was handing out the occasional comments: both Sunset and Twilight received a, "Wonderful!" but Trixie Lulamoon's smirk was wiped when Cheerilee said that her work, "was if a far lower standard than expected." Rainbow had this almighty fear of being kept behind for a year in English. She began to imagine her parents' reactions, and a meeting with Principal Celestia.

"Rainbow Dash," Mrs Cheerilee called, distracting her from the daydream. She sighed, "This is simply not good enough," and handed her the homework. Rainbow turned the paper over. In the top left-hand corner was a red circled F. F for Fail. She gulped. Below, in her teacher's impossibly neat handwriting, were the words, "See me after the lesson."

When the lesson was over, Trixie stayed behind with Rainbow. Mrs Cheerilee gave them both a stern look.

"Girls," she began to berate them, "this is hardly good enough. I try, time and time again, to stop the likes of you to from failing your exams, but at this rate, you are both going to fail. Without proper qualifications, you cannot do your dream jobs when you are older, or any jobs for that matter. For that reason, you are both having extra English lessons after school next half term, until your work is of a high enough standard. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Miss Cheerilee," they both mumbled.

"I said, do you understand?"

"Yes, Miss Cheerilee," they said a bit louder.

"Good. I will be calling your parents to notify them. Now leave, I want my lunch break." The teacher walked out of the classroom. Trixie flounced out behind her. Rainbow was left standing there in silence, shocked at how badly she had done.

Rainbow's parents were not impressed. She was grounded for a week, but thankfully, her prison sentence was over by the time the holidays had begun. Her friends were horrified at what had happened to her, and were all rallying round.

"You know, we're here for you," Twilight told her, placing a hand on her chest, "I could come along to these extra classes and help with any extra homework you're given."

"Thanks," she muttered, giving Twilight a sad smile. This was a big deal for her. She had always managed to get away with her limited writing skills, but had never failed. Mrs Cheerilee was strict.

"Cheer up, Dash!" Pinkie shouted. The girl with the curly pink hair and ability to make anyone laugh was halfway up a pine tree. How Pinkie managed to get up there was anyone's guess.

"I suppose I should," she grumbled. Somehow, she was resisting all of her friends' efforts to lighten up and enjoy the holidays. No amount of visits to Sugarcube Corner or riding mountain bikes in the woods or playing sports at the park were helping. She was just depressed because of her scores.