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Chapter 1: New Kid
I once told my best friend: Don't ever think that you will never find love. Love is not something that just miraculously happens nor is it a predestined path. Love is what happens when you find a person that you can connect with on a different level than anyone else you know. A person who can mutually accept the fact that no one is perfect, and learn to or already accepts the abnormalities you may have. This was an important day for me, as I had came up with that on the spot. I had just answered all the doubting questions I had ever experienced in my love life. It has been years since that day and now with the world having such a high divorce rate, it is even clearer to me that I must search for love in people with whom I can connect and actually care about. For instance, growing up I never thought I would ever put myself in the line of fire for anyone, or risk imprisonment just to stay with someone. That all changed the day I met...her.
I woke up very early, not quite yet dawn. I looked at my alarm clock. It was only 5:13, but I needed to get to school. Today was going to be a new experience for me, I had just moved here from my home town of Truinston and I was also entering the 9th grade at my new school: Ponyville High.
I stayed in bed and waited for my alarm to go off at 6. When it did I was jolted to full consciousness by the death-metal that started playing through my iPod. My brother must have been messing with it before we moved and put more music on it that he downloaded off the internet. Mom would never have let him PAY for music that she said would make our ears bleed.
I quickly turned off the excessive music before I woke up the whole house, half getting out of bed in the process. Rolling over to reach my socks at the foot of my bed, I realized I had neglected to do the laundry the night before.
I swore under my breath to myself for being so lazy the day before school started.
"Whatever, I can just wear sandals." I said to nobody in particular while sliding them out from under my bed. I crawled into my bathroom and took a fairly long shower. When I got out I stood in front of the mirror for nearly five minutes trying to fix my hair, finally giving in to the anti-gravity my hair seemed to release after showering and just let it hang.
After getting dressed I made some toast and ran out to the bus stop at the front gate. I looked around at our yard. The driveway curved around the garden and took a fairly tight turn into the 2-door garage where our Yukon was parked. It was a quaint little plot of land for the price dad paid for it.
Just then I heard a low rumble from behind me. I turned around to see the bus, in all its Twinkie like features, pulling up and stopping to let me on parked on our brand new mailbox. The door opened to reveal a quite overweight man in short shorts and a grey beard to be the driver. He turned and stared at me as I climbed aboard. There was only one open spot left to sit, halfway down the bus. I walked back and sat next to a girl with pink hair. She turned in my direction immediately.
"Hi! You look new, my name's Pinkie Pie!" she said with a huge smile.
"Hi, I umm...yeah I just moved here 2 days ago. My name's Jason." I smiled back. "Also, why is Santa Claus driving us to school in short shorts in the middle of winter?"
Pinkie Pie giggled. "That's Mr. Kringle silly!"
I shook my head in disbelief.
"So new guy, why the move?"
"My father...he...sued my mother for custody. I barely even know him..."
"Oh, I'm sorry Jason. Do you and your parents get along well?"
I lowered my head and got lost in thought. My mother and I grew up in the small town of Truinston, a mostly agricultural town with only about 900 residents. Suffice to say I knew everyone by name within a few years. She was a very humble woman, she gave others time and help and never put her own safety or financial situation before the needs of the townsfolk. I learned quickly to be a nice person. But every story has something bad in the background.
When I was 7 years old my mother and I were in a terrible car accident that caused severe head trauma, mild schizophrenia, and a loss of long term memory in my mother. From that point she barely recognized me, nor did she even know I was her son. For the next 7 years I spent most of my time sleeping over at a friend's house, not wanting to see my mother call the cops to report a small boy breaking into her house again. Most of my friends understood my pain, and let me settle with them for a few months. On my 14th birthday my dickhead of a father came for a "Visitation." Little did he know that my mother was bat shit crazy. We had a brief discussion about where I had been living and he left. Three hours later I was picked up by two CPS agents and put into a temporary foster home for two days. When my father came to get me, he didn't call me Jason or even son...he called me kid. That might as well have been a smack in the face to not dignify addressing your own son with at least his name or some witty nickname like "Sport" or "Pal" or at least "Kido." No, he called me kid.
I looked up at Pinkie pie with tears in my eyes, "Not really..."
Pinkie Pie's quite curly hair started to droop, "I'm sorry, maybe you can meet some of my friends and we can have a party or something!"
I smiled a bit, with still shining eyes refracting my vision into a spectrum of distorted pinks. The rest of the ride to school was silent, aside from Pinkie talking to herself about what to do for the after-school party she was planning for me.
When we finally got to the school I was taken aback from its appearance. The school is laid back from the main highway that runs past it, with a small oval driveway running from the highway around the back and ends looping around to the front and reconnecting to the highway. But what really shocked me was the state of the school.
The huge front lawn was more like desert shrubbery. Crispy, dying blades of a graying brown were strewn across a field of mud and clay that had, at one point, been a lush and fluffy sea of green. The paint that covered all but the windows was chipped, and in some places non-existent. I could see three cracked and broken windows on the front of the school alone. As the bus pulled into the driveway and drove into the back parking lot, I got a first-hand experience as to the number of gaping potholes.
"Wo...AH!" Pinkie Pie giggled, falling on me from the force of the first pothole. Several other students had similar issues, including a few in the back that I heard hit the roof with a comical thump-thump.
"WHY?" one shouted as he returned to Earth after a brief moment of free fall, rubbing his head where the bus assaulted him.
"I don't wanna ride this bus anymore..." cried a small Catholic school girl that had been thrown into the isle on top of a Senior boy, who merely grunted and refused to get up until the bus was motionless.
I turned to Pinkie Pie. "What happened to the school, I thought it was just recently remodeled?"
Pinkie giggled. "Yeah, they started ripping up flooring in the whole school like two years ago until the school ran out of money and couldn't pay for the demo anymore. It still has no floor tiles."
The bus came to a full stop next to a huge oak tree, shading us from the little light that came through the overcast. The driver stood up and turned around, stumbling and making strange grunts in the process.
"Alright kids remember, in the morning I drive 93-D and in the afternoon I drive 93-F. I'm always parked here so you should find me easily enough." the plump Christmas figure look-alike yelled into the back seats, and with that, he sat down in his seat. The springs groaned and whined in protest. He reached over and pushed on the broom handle that served as a door opener and locking mechanism and let us off.
"Pinkie! What are you doing?" I demanded, muffled through a mouthful of backpack as she crawled over me.
"Trying to get out before Francis silly!" she turned and gestured towards an older boy in the back row of the bus.
I looked back expecting to see some hulking tank of a man and was stunned. This boy was handsome in every aspect of the word, from his perfectly trimmed nails and chiseled jaw to his slim, muscular body and flowing white-blonde hair. He was everything a girl could ask for, and he was looking right at Pinkie Pie. She looked away blushing, still laying across my lap trying to get out. I stood up, helping her off the bus and walked towards the school's cracked concrete and gravel sidewalk.
"You like him!" I accused her, smiling and chuckling.
"No! Well...yes...but...it's complicated. You wouldn't understand." her hair drooped again.
"I'll take your word for it, Pinkie."
Opening the front door, Pinkie grabbed my hand and gave me a tour of the school's lounge gesturing wildly at the lights on the ceiling that had about a third of its lights missing or broken.
"It's so sad, this school used to be so nice! I wish there was some way they could spruce it up or something!" Pinkie moaned, keeping her eyes on the floor.
"Maybe I can help."
"How? The school's broke and they're thinking of firing a whole bunch of teachers this year. For all we know the school might close and we'd have to go somewhere else!"
"My father could donate some money to the school. He owns a bunch of oil refineries, and makes plenty of money. I might even be able to get him to hire the renovators himself! Who knows, maybe we can make the whole school pink or something!"
Pinkie looked off into space and started to show a huge smile. "That's a good idea!"
We walked into a small room with windows that looked into the hallways. It had a few sofas littered about, many missing a cushion or two and most had stained or ripped upholstery. The thing that grabbed my attention though was the group of girls that were sitting on a wraparound couch that dominated the center of the room. Pinkie squealed and rushed over to them, jumping and landing sideways on the ottoman sending it flying towards the wall leaving a decent dent in the drywall.
"Don't worry, happens all the time." she said, dismissing the look of horror I gave her for the blatant disregard for her own safety. One of the girls turned around, facing me.
"So Pinkie, why did you bring a boy into the girl's lounge?" asked the girl with a full head of perfectly placed bluish purple curls. "I mean, come on, Pinkie!"
"Rarity, stop being so mean. He's new here and I wanted him to meet you guys! Which reminds me..." she handed me a folded piece of paper, "That's my cell number and directions to get to my house."
"Pinkie, do you even know him?" I heard a strong voice ask from somewhere on the couch. A girl stood up and I was shocked, but not really that surprised, that she had a rainbow pattern in her hair. I stood there looking like an idiot, still somewhat stunned by the vivid colors.
"Umm...can I help you?" she asked in an irritated voice, clearly not used to new people. Another girl, this one with orange hair and a southern accent, stood up and started to give me a funny look as well.
"Not really, I'll just leave." I turned and started walking towards the door.
"Wait!" I heard Pinkie plead from her upside down position on the floor. I turned to see her roll over and take a sip of something that was on the table. By now the whole group was standing and arguing about me, besides one girl. She also had pink hair, and was sitting alone off to the side, silently crying while looking at the floor. I couldn't quite see her face, but I saw the tears that were dropping from her face onto the carpet. No one else seemed to have noticed her solitary sorrow. I cautiously walked over and sat next to her slowly, never even attracting the attention of the group behind me. I put my arm around her and tried my best to calm her down.
"Hey...it's okay." I crooned, giving her an assuring pat on the shoulder. She choked on her sobs, which seemed to get her friends attention, turning there heads to see what was wrong
"Fluttershy, what's wrong sugarcube?" the girl with orange hair asked in her southern accent.
"You guys always fight...and...you never..." she sobbed. With a glance over at her friends to see who was fighting, she turned and looked up at me showing her face from under her veil-like hair.
At first I thought I had passed out and was floating away on a dreaming cloud of bliss. She was so beautiful, her eyes a perfect oval the color of the sky, her eyelashes covered in tears that made the color even more vivid. I had just enough courage to say two words.
"What's wrong?"
"Ohh!" she cried, standing and running from the room. I stood up as well to follow her, hoping she wouldn't hide in the girl's bathroom where I could not follow her. My dreams were dashed (HA!) when the girl with rainbow hair stepped in front of me, stopping me before I even took my first step.
"What did you do? Why is Fluttershy crying?" she accused me, grabbing my shirt collar and getting in my face.
"I didn't do anything. If you had been listening, she said it was because YOU were all fighting. Besides, she almost seemed scared more than upset." I windmilled my left arm counterclockwise to remove her hand from my shirt.
"Dashie, why don't ya just find Twilight so y'all can get ready for Gym?" the one with orange hair asked.
"May I ask your names at the very least?" I piped up before I got more confused. The one with orange hair stepped forward.
"Ah'm Applejack, you can call me AJ if you like, this 'un here is Rainbow Dash," she gestured to the one with rainbow hair...duh, who saluted AJ with the most serious face I've seen on a girl before.
"Y'all already met Pinkie Pie," AJ pointed towards the floor, "Fluttershy is the one that ran off crying, and Twilight. She's off somewhere at the moment, probably talking to teachers or something."
"Is she like a nerdy girl or something?" I assumed. After all, I used to be into nerdy girls.
"You could say that." Pinkie Pie chimed in.
"And I think you might want to go find out what your classes are Jason. Go up to the library to the center desk, they're still passing them out." she pointed her pink curls in the direction of the door that Fluttershy poofed from the room through. And with that, I was out of the lounge and on my way to the library. I walked maybe twenty feet when I realized I just passed the door. Walking in it was exactly what I thought it'd be: Brightly lit and cluttered with shelves smelling of must, dust, books of old, and a hint of mold.
I started walking towards what seemed like the center of the library when I heard a familiar voice. I stopped in the aisle I was in and listened, hiding amongst the mystery novels. I could hear another voice as well, much louder than the other, they must only be in the next aisle over.
"I...I can't stand them sometimes. Why do they always have to fight?" I heard Fluttershy sob quietly, "And now, Jason probably hates me for all the fighting and me running away from him."
"You like him don't you?" the other voice, who must have been Twilight, chortled.
"I do," she admitted with a soft sigh, " But I don't think he likes me, he must think I'm crazy."
"Why do you like him? Is he tall, dark, and handsome? Or does he drive a motorcycle and wear a leather jacket to school?" Twilight started listing off her own fantasies with more and more vigor as she went.
"Well..he was really nice and a bit shy too. Oh, and he has the most gorgeous golden eyes. I've never seen someone with gold irises before. I was stunned when he first looked at me, they almost glow."
"So why don't you go talk to him if you like him so much? You do actually like him right? You aren't just making something up to make me hopeful that my best friend might have a crush on the curtest boy in school are you?" Twilight asked her in a fairly rough tone.
"Well of course I like him, its just..he might think I'm weird or something. We only just met five minutes ago and the only thing I did was cry and run away. And you know I would never lie to you Twilight." she countered.
At this point, I realized I should stop eavesdropping and go get my schedule. I walked up to the center desk under a skylight with a tarp over it, and asked the wizened old librarian for my schedule.
"What's that you say sonny, you want your sketch book?"
"No, ma'am. I would like to get my class schedule. My name's Jason Merdeu." I handed her my school ID.
"Well why didn't you say so." she handed me an official-looking document folded into three with my name on the top. I opened it and looked at my class list. I had just seen that Algebra was my first class when out of the corner of my eye, I saw Fluttershy peek around the corner of a bookshelf at me.
I looked up just as she moved out of sight. Hmm, I wonder. I walked towards where she was hiding, sneaking past a sleeping senior, and literally ran into her as she again rounded the corner trying to spy on me again. She lost her balance, tripping on my left sandal and ended up nearly crashing into the bookcase full of encyclopedias. I caught her around the waist and picked her up a bit, setting her down right in front of me. Fluttershy's face was only an inch from mine, mouth slightly open and her perfectly beautiful sky blue eyes searching mine, hoping for something...
Silence and stillness flowed from us and made our close proximity seem like it lasted forever, even though it was only mere seconds. I opened my mouth to take a breath, trying to ask if she was alright, but I lost my thoughts immediately with that first gulp of sweet scented air that seemed to emanate from her like an endless rush of sunlight.
I coughed a bit, trying to regain my train of thought. Immediately Fluttershy looked taken aback and started to tear up, most likely thinking something was wrong.
"Shh, shh-shh. It's okay, they aren't fighting anymore." I crooned, putting a finger to her lips, soft against my finger. I leaned forward, giving her a gentle hug. She sighed, breathing through her mouth, fanning her sweet aromatic aura towards me.
After a few seconds I was surprised to find her hugging me back, her hands clenched against my back like she was trying not to cry still. And so we just sat there, giving each other comfort when we needed it without ever needing to ask for it. I had my face buried in her long pink hair and could smell nothing but lavender and chamomile, my favorite combination of aromatic herbs.
When the moment had passed, I looker up to see her smiling and blushing a bit. I knew why, but I didn't say anything for risk of messing up the plan I was developing.
"I'll see you at Pinkie's party then?" I asked her with an optimistic demeanor.
"Sure, if you'd like me to go. I have to go to class soon though." She gave me another hug, this one tighter and more meaningful, "See you later Jason." she walked away blushing.
I waved at the pink-haired, shy girl I'd been searching for my
entire life as she walked away from me without having even asked what classes she had.
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Chapter 2: A Well-Worked Room
The first half of the first day of school went rather well, it was actually quite boring to be honest. I had been given two classes I had already taken and was submitted to sharing them both with Rarity, a fate that she seemed to adore, constantly asking me meaningless questions and then proceeding to cut me off before I even opened my mouth to answer. This second fact didn't irritate me nearly as much as I thought, maybe it was the fact that I was at least getting attention. Back home in Truinston I never really had much for friends. I had a few decent people I would hang out with on occasion, but never really anyone I would call a friend. Even the people I lived with barely knew me.
When it was finally lunchtime I found I wasn't hungry in the slightest. The trip down to the cafetorium was quite strange. The hallways were very narrow, hosting a multitude of hand painted murals on one side, and a gallery of damaged stained glass windows on the other. It was defiantly a sight to see, or so it had been back in its prime.
When we spilled out into the bench-filled room that contained the source of the half-burned odors I had detected earlier today, I was amazed at the intricacy of the stage at the other end. There was at least three dozen lights and props leaning against the purple velvet curtains. Among them was a textured replica of a purple and green dragon. When y inspection was complete, I turned back to the room and spent my time searching for the girls I had met earlier in the day. It only took about three seconds, Rainbow was running circles around Applejack repeatedly taking her hat and jokingly giving it back only to take it again. I started over just as Twilight signaled to me.
“Hi, I heard the girls talking about you all day,” she giggled quietly when I got close.
“Sounds like you caused quite a stir in a few of Rarity's classes too.” another girl next to her said.
“By that I assume you meant she wouldn't stop talking to me and told you otherwise?” I asked in the same manner.
“Hey! New kid!” I heard Dash call out as she approached.
“His name is Jason.” I could barely hear Fluttershy say from behind me.
I turned just enough to catch a glimpse of her turned slightly away, obviously embarrassed to have even spoke near me. I turned back around just to get a face full of Rainbow Dash.
“Hey! I was talking to you new kid!” she nearly shouted in me face, “Where are you from anyway?”
“Are you guys getting food?” I asked them as a group, hoping to avoid talking about it in public.
“What's the matter New Kid? Afraid to tell someone where you're from? Or are you just a pansy hoping to sound all tough by standing up to the School's Track Captain?” the girl with rainbow hair leaned back in a calculating gesture, doning a pair of comically large sunglasses in the process.
“No, I'm not afraid to tell anyone, and no I'm not a pansy. I don't talk smack and I don't broadcast my life story on the first day of school hoping to get symmpathetic reactions. If you really want to know, ask me later at Pinkie's party.” I said in an even tone without ever blinking. This caused some mixed reactions among the spectators in the lunch line, some even taking bets on if there would be a fight, and who would throw the first punch.
The room got mysteriously quiet when Rainbow started forward slightly, soliciting no reaction from me other than a sigh and a dismissive raising of my my left eyebrow. Fluttershy gasped.
“You aren't seriously going to attempt to hit me are you?” the question struck her like a blow.
“Maybe I will maybe I won't but know this punk, I'm watching you!” and she walked away as several teachers converged on the scene attempting to appear as though they actually cared. After a minute or so the room resumed its previous chatter and noise as students sat down with plates of spaghetti and factory cut slices of black and brown garlic bread. In an instant I completely lost my appitite and held my stomach and stuck my tounge out. Pinkie smiled next to me and made a similair face.
“Hehe, they tried to use the wood stove again I see, they seemed to have failed again as well.” among all the conversations I overheard, this one made me laugh the most.
“Alright well, I have to go to the office and change mys schedule around seeing as I don't want to take two classes again. I already took Algebra I and American History.” I looked around to the girls around me as they continued their conversations. Twilight at least acknowledged my comment as I walked away, fuming over having to point out the school's mistakes for them.
Later after lunch I had a quite boring typing class, one that I made a mental note of having to point out to the secretary that I had ALSO already taken. The only interesting thing that happened was the ceiling tile that fell on the teacher, releasing a bee's nest from it and spilling out onto the floor. The whole wing got evacuated immediately and we chatted out in the mud-pond lawn outside waiting for the buses to arrive. In the meantime I texted Pinkie to find out the details about the party, finding out that it was to be held at her house in town around 4 o'clock.
When the 3 o'clock bell that signalled the end of the school day chimed and no busses had arrived, people started to get worried. A girl with blonde hair and a lazy eye started to call home, saying to the person on the other line that the buses were late again. I promptly did the same making sure Merlin, the driver, was the one who came and got me instead of my father. Students started to pour out of the school and stand around waiting for the buses or calling home to get a ride. I spotted a head of pink hair and meandered towards it hoping it was who I thought it was.
“Hi Fluttershy, you need a ride?” I asked of the poof that was before me.
“Sure...” came the soft response.
“And by God what happened to your hair?” I laughed slightly, poking the mass of pink as it swayed to and fro in the wind.
“Stop it, it has to dry first...”
I poked it again.
“Jason!” she giggled slightly. “Anyway who's giving you a ride?”
As soon as she asked I heard the purr of a 5.5 liter V12 engine pull up behind me and a door opening and closing.
“Monsieur Merdeu, would you like me to take your bag sir?”
Fluttershy looked over my shoulder while I complied with Merlin somewhat awestruck, as did most anyone in sight, though at least Fluttershy's mouth wasn't hanging open and leaking saliva all over herself.
“So uhh, about that ride?” she turned to me with a smirk on her face.
“Ladies first,” I gestured to the car as Merlin opened the back door. She slowly climbed in and carefully sat down in the center seat. I followed, trying not to make a scene, and failed. I tripped into the car slightly, landing half on Fluttershy. The moment quickly passed when I heard someone running towards the car and then all of a sudden-
“YE HAAAA!” and my protests were drowned out as five more people climbed over me into the car nearly crushing my ribcage in the process. I sat up, straightening myself out as I cast a glance around to find myself surrounded by the girls-piss on it I'll just call them my friends. Rarity was the first to speak.
“Oh my stars Darling! Is this a Maybach? I simply can not allow this car...no I can not even allow you to get touched by filth! This is marvelous! I've never before had the pleasure of being in a Maybach I am just simply thrilled!” was the general response from them all minus Rainbow Dash, content on pretending to not be present but still looking around raising an eyebrow at the interior.
“What's this 'ere do hickey do?” Applejack asked, flipping a few random switches on the ceiling console. A moment later I heard a soft, low pitch grumble as all the seats started to vibrate. A few of the girls, especially Fluttershy, started to blush before I turned it off.
“So, now that everyone decided that we're all getting a ride from Merlin,” I gestured to the drivers position, “You can give him directions to Pinkie's house seeing as we're out and about anyway.”
The car ride was quiet, with only a few tidbits of directions here and there. When we got into town I was stricken by the condition of some of the buildings. We passed dozens of broken down or burned buildings, many of which resembled the school's state, some were far worse. I turned to Pinkie.
“Has this town always been like this?” I pointed to an old gas station that was now a hole in the ground next to a sign with many missing letters.
“No, about ten years ago there was a really bad fire that took out a lot of houses and shops on this side of town. The county wouldn't pay for damages and the insurance companies denied claims left and right. What you see now is the result of a lot of businesses packing up and leaving to get away from the poor surroundings.”
We pulled up to a mailbox at the end of a fairly long looking driveway that curved into the woods in the distance.
“This is us! Pull in here Merlin.”
“Of course, Mademoiselle.”
And thus we followed the gravel road into the dark abyss of trees that formed a hollow over the driveway in the dim light of autumn.
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