Digital_Hex

by Waldo the Digital_Hex

Rating: teen
Tags: Slice of Life, Romance, Comedy, Tragedy
Length: 28137

High School was supposed to be fun, right? Weird, guess I never got the memo. With a whole lot of bass, friends, patience, and luck, I might just make this a year to rem- who am I kidding. My life just got f&%*ed up, welcome to my little Hex.

I was the new kid in town, Digital Hex. After being out of the loop for so long, having been home-schooled the first three years of high school, I was thinking I'd give high school one last try.
Yeah, that was a mistake.
Little did I know that what would follow would be filled with drama, friends, challenges, loss, and a whole lotta bass.
I lost the one I cared the most about.
I found the one who taught me to care more.
I lost myself in my own sorrow.
I found a friend to help me out of it.
My life changed, in ways I never would have guessed.
I didn't know what to expect, but looking back on it all I am faced with one question: If I had the chance, would I do it all again?
The answer is, yes.
This is my crescendo. This is my song. This is my story. This is my Hex.

–Cancelled for sucking major donkey dongles–

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2014-01-11 23:18:25 UTC

1_1_Updated

1_1_Updated

        High School sucks.

        I'm just another face there. At least, I was. Somehow, I ended up a lot more popular than I intended, and I'm still not sure if that's a good thing. I was content with being just another guy, but I guess when life throws you curve-balls, you have to try harder not to let them smack you in the face.

        Who am I? I'm an earth pony. Male, fifteen years old. I should be going into my sophomore year of high school, but nope. I'm a senior. We moved here right before the new school year, so not only would I be a new face in the senior batch but I'd also have to explain why I was so dang young to everypony! Oh well, surely it wouldn't be too bad. After all, High School was fun, right?

        Right?

        … Right?

Digital_Hex- - - - - - - -A shameless self-insert by Digital_Hex

Chapter 1

        “Digit! Time to get up!”

        My day started off reasonably well. Dad woke me up at seven o'clock sharp, as we had agreed. I finally managed to slick back my wild white mane in a fashion that wasn't too weird, keeping the streaks of green in a uniform fashion throughout. My white coat had a delicate blue sheen to it, and after grooming it briefly I was nice and purty. Purty enough for me to stop caring, at least.

        The last part of my short maintenance was slipping in my contacts. Now, this is where most ponies freaked out. I'd had to hide it from all of my friends at the last town we lived in, and I had no intentions of letting my one insecurity be wide-known.

        My eyes were naturally black with a faint pink ring around a white pupil. The doctors all said that it was superficial, that my eyes were perfectly fine.

        Bull.

        I cast a final glance at myself in the mirror of my bathroom. My eyes were now 'normal', with a deep blue iris. Good, very good...

        I straightened out my back, grinning confidently to my reflection. This year, things were going to be different! It was a new town, a new school! I was a new pony, pretty much!

        The past three years, the years that I should have been in high school, had been solitary years, learning from books that my dad tested me on. That was all about to change.

        I grabbed my back and slipped it onto my toned shoulders, sliding down the rail of the stairs, much to the irritation of my dad.

        “Hey, watch it now!” my dad, Hammer Hoof, chided me.

        “Seriously, when'd you get all stingy and not-cool?” I asked him as I rushed past him to the front door.

        “I dunno, when'd you get so confident as to mouth off?” he asked, his serious tone offset by the obvious smirk on his face.

        Yep, still cool.

        I chuckled as I slipped out the door.

        “Later, dad!”

        I landed with all four of my hooves under me, the sun barely glinting on the horizon. I had maybe four minutes to get to school, and I knew from practicing the path (I like being prepared!) that it would normally take about ten minutes to get there.

        I decided to take a tour around town, having only been here for a couple days now.

        Down the hill I went, passing a bakery that smelled of fresh goods. I inhaled deeply as the scent wafted past me, filling my nostrils with the heavenly feel-good. My stomach grumbled, angry that I had skipped breakfast that morning.

Eh, a bagel or something wouldn't hurt anypony, I considered as I stepped into the bakery. It smelled even better on the inside.

        “HELLO!” A very pink pony called out to me from behind the counter. I froze.

Please don't be talking to me, please don't be talking to me-

        “I'll be with you in just one moment!” she yelled out, returning to the frazzled customer before her. She slapped a big blue bow on a cake box and waved as the poor pony darted out, nearly toppling me over.

        “SO!” she said, voice tingling with excessive energy. “What can we get for you here at Sugar Cube Corner- Woah, you're tiny! You must be one of the middle-schoolers! But I've never seen you before!”

        She stopped, putting a hoof to her chin. I, for my part, was trying to keep from exploding violently.

She called me short- No, she called me TINY! That's even worse-

        “Oh well, I'm sure I'll see you again soon! Oooh, maybe I could throw you a party! Oh wait, you need something dont'cha? Can I get you anything?”

        She leaned forward expectantly, her bright blue eyes blinking expectantly.

        Of course, the only part I'd registered was still running through my mind, emphasized by the fact that she had to actually lean over the counter to see me.

She called me short.

        I swallowed hard, wincing while taking an involuntary step back. She noticed.

        “OH!” she called out, diving beneath the counter. When she came back, she had a baguette in her grasp.

        “You look like you could use a baguette!” she said with a knowing grin. “I've only got this one here, so you can't have two!”

        I raised an eyebrow, daring myself to speak.

        “You only have one left? You couldn't have opened up that long ago,” I reasoned. How could they have sold all of the baguettes this early?!

        “Weeeeell,” she began, taking a breath. “This yellow pegasus came in and said she needed all of the baguettes 'cause it was the first day of school and I can;t refuse anypony baguettes and when she got them she was sooo happy and I couldn't tell her that we only had one so I let her buy them but she was smiling so much I had to let her!”

        She huffed heavily, probably low on oxygen after the outburst. I let her take a moment to catch her breath.

        “So,” she practically groaned, “Can I interest you in this baguette?”

        I gave a shy grin. “Alright, how much?”

        “For this here baguette, I'd normally charge three bits-”

        She dramatically looked left, then right, then paused before looking left again. She motioned for me to step closer.

        Curious, I took a cautious step forward, resting my hooves on the counter and pulling my torso up so my head actually broke the plane of the counter top. Yeah, that's how short I was. Not that I'm sensitive or anything.

        Oh wait, I am.

        She glanced back at me before looking around again at the empty room, then leaned in closely.

        “Buuut,” she said slowly and quietly, “Because I haven't thrown you a party yet, I suppose I could give it to you for...”

        She whispered the next part slowly.

        “Two bits.”

        I couldn't help but chuckle slightly. She definitely had character, I gave her that.

        Reaching into my bag, I withdrew two shiny bits and slapped them on the counter. The pink pony smiled and handed me my baguette.

        “Here you go!” she said, tossing the two bits into the air and swiping them out of their fall with a hoof. When she showed me her hoof, they were gone.

        Neat.

        “So,” she asked as I sat in a chair for a small table next to the counter, prepared to start nomming on my fancy baguette, “How come I haven't thrown you a party yet?”

        She let her face rest on her hoof, elbow propped on the counter.

        “I dunno,” I answered. “Probably because I just moved here.”

        Her jaw dropped.

        “You just moved here! Oh my gosh! How did I miss that, I never miss that!”

        She dove once again behind the counter, breathing heavily as she pulled out a confetti launcher and pulled the string on the back with her teeth, showering the room in multicolored paper scraps.

        “I definitely have to throw you a welcome party now!” she said. Suddenly, she jumped into an entirely new topic as if the two were linked significantly.

        “I'm Pinkie Pie! What's your name?”

        I swallowed a piece of the baguette. “Digital Hex, but I prefer Digit.”

        “Oh!” she exclaimed, writing down on a small slip of paper she'd materialized from somewhere.

        “How old are you? Why'd you move to Ponyville? What's your favorite color? Cake or cupcakes?”

        I felt the bottom of my left eyelid twitch. I took another reassuring bite of baguette before answering her.

        “I'm fifteen, I moved to Ponyville with my dad because of his work, my favorite color is a secret, and I prefer cake.”

        Whew, that was the most information I think I'd ever disclosed in one sitting!

        “A secret?! But that's-” she stopped before giving it some thought.

        “Fair enough. But if you're fifteen, how come you're so tiny?”

        And cue eye twitch. Again.

        “It's not like I'm sensitive to my size or anything,” I huffed sarcastically. Pinkie Pie visibly cringed.

        “Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't realize-” again, she stopped. I guess a thought ran through her mind that was more important than apologizing to me.

        “Waiiit, if you're fifteen then that means you're a sophomore, right? How do you think it'll be at Ponyville High? That's where you're going, right?”

        I momentarily choked the piece of bread I was chewing on.

        “Funny thing about that, Pinkie,” I began. “I'm actually a senior.”

        Pinkie looked at me in disbelief.

        “Honest,” I said, raising my hooves.

        “So you must be really smart, then!” she said.

        I sighed and hopped down from the chair, turning to show her my cutie mark. It was a Pi symbol with a pair of blue over-ear headphones on it.

        “I recognize that symbol from somewhere,” she said, thinking hard.

        “It's the symbol for Pi-”

        “Right!” she said angrily, fire burning in her eyes. “That was the symbol that always tricked me in school! Just when I thought we were going to start going on a dessert-hunt, we had to instead do mathy-stuff with that guy!”

        I cringed slightly. She let out a vented breath.

        “Sorry,” she said, back to her cheery self. “Pi and I just don't get along very well. Not as good as pie does! I love pie! It's even in my name!”

        I laughed at Pinkie Pie. She was a fun pony.

        As I tore another chunk out of my baguette, I absentmindedly slipped my hoof into my bag and pulled out a pair of deep blue, almost purple hoof cuffs fashioned as horseshoes. I small wire led from them to small earpieces that were similarly colored. I had a runic branding on them that was linked to my Walkmare.

        I slipped in the ear pieces, able to hear my surroundings just as well as I could without them in, although there was a calming slight electric distortion to everything I heard. As I slipped on the cuffs, I felt a hum of bass around me, making the hair on my neck stand on end. In a good way, of course.

        “What are those?” Pinkie Pie asked me, pointing at the cuffs I wore around my front hooves.

        “Oh, these?” I threw my glance towards her, but my eyes glazed over the clock above the counter. I had less than three minutes before school started.

        I choked, coughing as I shoved the uneaten half of the baguette into the side pouch of my saddle bag.

        “I'm sorry, Pinkie, but I have to get to school!”

        I slung the bag back over my shoulder as I tore out the door. Pinkie Pie waved to me as I left.

        My hooves clopped furiously beneath me as I galloped in the direction of the school building, weaving between some ponies who were beginning their days. I did not want to be late on my first day of school.

        “Sorry!” I called back as I nearly clipped an old green mare with a walker, her frayed gray hair done up in a top bun.

        I winced as I felt one of my hooves slide out from under me as I slid on dirt, unceremoniously slamming my head against the ground a lot harder than I felt comfortable with.

        Above me, the school bell rang.

        I pried my face off the ground, taking in exactly where I was. The doors to the school closed behind me.

        I'd made it. I was on time.

        I raised a hoof in the air and instantly brought it down, hollering, “Ye-yeah!”

        I instantly regretted doing so as everypony inside the entrance atrium of the school cast me a look. A look that screamed What da buuu-

        “Sorry, ahehe...” I stammered as I rubbed the back of my neck, face going slightly red. I was overdoing it a tad, wasn't I? Yeah, I was...

        Glancing around, I saw a short line formed in front of the office window. A sign above it alerted me that I would receive my schedule there. As casually as I could, I slipped into the back of the line, smiling like a madbuck when nopony stopped me. Score one!

        “Name?” the old mare behind the desk asked me when I finally reached her.

        “Oh, Digital Hex,” I stuttered, taken aback by how bored her tone was. This was school, shouldn't she have been more excited about her job?!

        “Here you are. Lockers are full up, so you'll be receiving yours at the end of the week. Next.”

        I winced as I stepped aside, mentally cringing at the public school system. My heart started racing as I looked at the list in my hooves, and my breathing quickened. I could feel the butterflies in my stomach fitfully multiplying in a sick, twisted internal orgy.

        Maybe this whole school thing was a bad idea...

1_2_Gym

1_2_Gym

Digital_Hex- - - - - - - -A shameless self-insert by Digital_Hex

Chapter 2

        My first class was gym.

        Let me repeat this so I can confer upon you the exact feeling of dread that was creeping across my spine.

        My first class was gym.

        I'm an earth pony, so that shouldn't be a problem. Right?

        Wrong. Not only was I fifteen and thus understandably smaller than everypony else in the school, up until then the only physical exercise I'd gotten was running.

        That's it.

        I slipped into the gym right as the late bell sounded. There were about twenty other ponies in the class. I tried to mix in at the back of the class that was huddled around the center of the gym. As I got closer, I could hear the teacher calling off names.

        “... Comet Rush?”

        I heard a burly stallion say “Here!” on the other side of the huddle.

        “Dallop?”

        A small sky blue unicorn next to me called back to him.

        So far, so good. The ponies seemed friendly enough. As long as nopony paid me any mind, I-

        “Digital Hex?”

        My throat seized up. Crud. I'd have to answer.

        I felt a bead of sweat grow on my brow. This was it. Moment of judgment. My first impression in class. This needed to be-

        “Digital Hex?” the teacher asked again, his voice obviously amused by the prospect of a student being late on the first day.

        “Oh,” I coughed out. “H-here,” I fumbled with my words.

        And like the calm of the storm (which is exactly the opposite of how I felt it was like at the time), the huddle split apart, giving the gym teacher a perfect view of me. He was a deep red pegasus with a scorched orange mane.

        “A-huh...” he muttered to himself, sizing me up.

What is he doing?!, I thought nervously. Is this what all the teachers do with new kids or something?! Are new students really that rare?

        Quite honestly, I wasn't really sure what he was sizing up. I was tiny, and I mean even by earth pony standards and the fact I was the youngest one in the room. I was almost a full head shorter than most of the colts here, meaning I was a little bit shorter than the mares in school, too. Even the freshman!

        He gave me a disapproving glare before returning to calling off names. I swallowed hard.

Does that mean I didn't pass?

        Then I instantly slapped myself. Mentally, of course; I wouldn't want everypony to think I'm weird or anything.

        As I had my little fit inside my head, the gym teacher was reaching the bottom of the list. I decided I should start paying attention, as he'd probably be addressing us at large after roll-call.

        “Quiver?”

        “Here,” a sickly-looking green mare slobbered through braces. No, seriously, I think she was sick. I grimaced as I took a short step away from her.

        “Raindrops?”

        I waited for the response, and an eerie sense of deja vu gripped me. Was Raindrops new, too? Maybe Raindrops actually didn't show!

        Seriously, where is that filly?” the teacher huffed, looking around. Suddenly, the double doors at the back of the gym swung open, a pegasus mare barreling through.

        “Here,” the gym teacher muttered, checking her off.

        “AAAH! Look out!” Raindrops cried as she zoomed towards us, seemingly unable to slow herself down. Everypony moved except one idiot who was too busy staring at the pegasus to do anything.

        Who was this fool? Why, only yours truly!

        She slammed into my small frame and we went flying across the room. Thankfully, her impact with me slowed her down considerably. Not thankfully, that momentum was passed on to me, and together we skidded across the gym, ending crumpled against the far wall.

        My eyes were rolling in their sockets as she rose to her hooves, and I felt my face go red as she fell over laughing.

        I wonder, who could she be laughing at? It couldn't be yours truly, could it?

        Yes, yes it could. And it was.

        After she had her bout of laughing, she helped me up. She had a light jasmine coat, with really light cyan hair that was kinda just hanging there. Her eyes were a few shades darker than her hair.

        “I'm sorry about that, dude! Didn't mean to, y'know, send you sprawling... pft...” she had to actually choke back another round of laughing.

        “It's no problem I wheezed, picking myself up from the ground. Her eyes went wide when she say the top of my head was level with her muzzle. I braced myself for her to lose her cool and cackle some more. Instead, she nudged my shoulder and as tactlessly as possible-

        “You're pretty short, aren't you?”

        “No, I'm not self-conscious about that,” I retorted, perhaps a little more aggressively than I needed to as I headed back to the group, all of whom had seemed to have regained their composure and were chatting amongst themselves.

        “Thanks for asking, though,” I added, rolling my eyes. Seriously, that was a tad rude of her. Who knew, maaaybe I was a little cross on that fact- oh wait, I was.

        “You're not?” she asked, fluttering her wings until she was hovering next to me, keeping conversation. “If I was that short, I know I sure would be.”

        My jaw dropped. It wasn't completely what she said that did it for me, it was how she said it. It was almost as if she hadn't caught a hint of the sarcasm I'd drenched my words in. I swung my head disbelievingly towards her, and there she was, smiling obliviously.

        What. The. Buck.

        “Raindrops! Hex! Front and center!” The gym teacher roared, startling me.

        “Yeah, okay Mr. Rash!” Raindrops called to him. She flapped her wings once and hopped right into the back of the huddle. I skittered over as quickly as I could.

        “Alright,” Mr. Rash bellowed, his voice in coach-mode. “Today's your first day back from break, so let's see what you've got! Everypony, to the field! MOVE!”

        Like a charging herd, everypony in the class took off for the doors, leaving my behind, baffled. Was this really how class went? It sure was different then gym class in middle school, where you just had to show up and really didn't have to do anything...

        I begrudgingly hung my head and started off, heading in the general direction of the fields outside. It wasn't hard to get there; I just had to follow the wide swath of chaos and destruction the class had left in their mad wake.

        As I trotted onto the field, I saw that the entire class was waiting for me, scowling. I smiled sheepishly as I situated myself as far away from everypony as possible, waiting for Mr. Rash to give us instructions.

        “Alright,” he bellowed again, fully enjoying his outside voice. “I want ten laps around the track. Pegasi, no wings! Unicorns, no magic! Ready, go!”

        I was, of course, at the back of the class. Everypony just jogged along, chatting with friends and the such. Nopony was actually pushing themselves.

        Wait, this was my moment!

This is the only physical activity that I'm good at, I thought excitedly, picking up my pace.

Time to show my-

        “HEX!”

        I cringed at her voice, having already associated it with pain. I skimpered along faster, slipping unnoticed to the front of the herd.

        “HEX!” she called again. I actually whimpered as I beat my hooves against the track, trying to put some distance between us.

        Of course, by doing this I separated myself from everypony else, making it that much easier for her to pick me out.

        “Oh, there you are!” I heard her yell, and after a flurry of clopping against the track I felt her presence next to me. Raindrops. I refused to look her direction.

        “How'd you know my name,” I muttered, picking up my pace slowly. We completed our first lap about a quarter track ahead of everypony else.

        “I weaseled it out of Comet Rush, but that's not important! I wanted to apologize for crashing into you and all!”

        I refused to look her way as I poured a little bit more speed into each stride. Now there was a half -track gap between us and the rest of the class. I would actually be passing the stragglers at the rear soon, at this pace.

        “Thanks, apology accepted,” I returned, totally unconvincing.

        “So,” Raindrops continued, much to my anguish. She really didn't get when somepony didn't want to talk, did she? “You're new here, aren't you?”

        “Yeah,” I sighed, giving up on trying to fight her. I concentrated on my breathing as we finished the second lap, meeting back up with the back of the class. I received some impressed looks from the ponies I passed. It wasn't a red-faced colt rushing past them they saw. It was a colt with the perfect poker face plastered on him that raced past them, tailed by Raindrops.

        “That's so cool! Where'd you come from?” she asked, audibly excited at the prospect of meeting somepony new. Either she was really friendly, or there just weren't that many new faces each year. Or, maybe the fact that I looked like a middle-schooler in the senior gym class. That might have had something to do with her interest.

        “Hope hill,” I breathed. My chest was feeling a little tight. Surely she was feeling a little winded, right?

        I glanced towards her, and she was staring intently at me, not the least bit tired. Great.

        “Where's that?” she asked.

        “It's just North-West of Neighagra Falls, in the North.”

        “Woah! How was that place?” she pressed.

        We finished the lap, now back at the front of the class. We were now getting some looks.

        “Eh, it was a little cold at times,” I admitted, “but it wasn't too bad.”

        “Cool!” Raindrops exclaimed. “I've never been outside of Ponyville,” she admitted.

        “Sounds neat,” I grunted, trying once again to put more distance between us. She met me stride for stride.

        “Yeah. You know where I want to go?” she asked, excited.

        “Nope. Where?”

        “Los Pegasus!” she answered, positively giddy with excitement.

        “Oh yeah?” I commented, amazed at how she was able to keep this pace without showing the least bit of strain. I knew she was a pegasus, and they had amazing stamina, but... seriously?!

        I kicked off again, passing the lap marker again. That was lap four. Only six to go. Oh yeah, did I mention my math skills were pretty amazing, too?

        “Yeah, I want to go into the acting business,” she responded, smiling contently as she galloped along next to me. “That's how I got my cutie mark, I'm on the drama club and everything.”

        I risked a glance towards her flank, grateful my face was already red from running. She had three raindrops (or, I suppose they were teardrops, based on her talent for drama as she had suggested).

        “Cute,” I muttered, focusing back to running.

        “What's your cutie mark supposed to be?” she asked, pointing a wing at my rump.

        “My obsessive intelligence and my passion for tranquility,” I fed her. Honestly, it sounded about right. I was a smart-ass, as I'm sure she'd noticed by now, and I found music very tranquil.

        “Oh, cool!” she said happily as we finished lap five. We were passing ponies again.

        “So how can I help you?” I asked, beating against the ground furiously.

        “I was just trying to talk to you, we don't have that many new kids here,” she responded.

        A-Ha! So it was only because I was the new kid! I knew it...

        I took off into a full-blown sprint, breathing deeply and heavily. I tore up the track, weaving between ponies everywhere. By now, most of the ponies were actually running, and it seemed a few were actually trying to catch up to me.

        Pft, petty students.

        I heard rustling behind me, and then Raindrops was once again next to me, strain clear on her face.

        “Oh wow, you're fast for a little guy!” she exclaimed, struggling to keep up. I bled off a little more speed, taking the lead again.

        We finished lap six, and it was then that Raindrops began trying. Like, honestly trying.

        She was racing me.

        I, a miniature earth pony, was racing a pegasus. And was, in my opinion, winning.

        I grinned as I passed her again. She was dedicated, I gave her that. Still, she was going to lose.

        “Woah!” She called as finished laps seven and eight, and we were about to finish lap nine. As soon as we did, she threw me a mischievous grin. An instant later, she spread out her wings, taking the lead with a wide sweep of her unfair appendages.

        I took that as a challenge.

        I closed the distance, my legs screaming at me. I wasn't supposed to be running this fast. My joints were on fire, eyes were streaming. Even with that, though, I couldn't help but smile wildly as I reached her, neck and neck as we took the final turn. She cast me a surprised look, flapping her wings desperately. She couldn't go any faster.

        And what do you know, I could. Barely.

        I pulled ahead just by a nose, but it was all I needed. As soon as my hoof crossed the impromptu finish line, I stumbled, rolling the entire length of the track and smacking unceremoniously into a light pole.

        “Owww...” I groaned.

        “That,” Raindrops yelled as she landed next to me, “was amazing!” She let out an excited giggle.

        “How'd you learn to run that fast?! That was, like, wicked!”

        “I like running,” I sputtered stupidly as she pried my from the light pole. My head hurt a lot.

        “I see,” she giggled.

        Hey!” I heard Mr. Rash call to me, and I felt the blood that was returning to my face drop.

        “Yes sir?” I asked as he approached me.

        He looked over me again, and this time he nodded approvingly.

        “You should try out for the track team,” he said before he trotted away, barking at everypony who wasn't as fast as I was.

        I just stood there slack-jaw.

        Raindrops laughed and extended a hoof.

        “Nice, not many ponies impress that old buck!”

        After about a full minute, I met her hoof with my own.

        Huh, maybe High School could be interesting.

1_3

1_3

Digital_Hex- - - - - - - -A shameless self-insert by Digital_Hex

Chapter 3

        “Alright, ladies!” Mr. Rash bellowed as he trotted down the line of ponies, all of us doing pushups.

        “Up! Down! Twenty-nine! Up! Down! Thirty!” he yelled.

        Finally, he reached me, at the end of the line next to Raindrops. Raindrops was going along fine, but as for me...

        I was drenched in sweat, front legs wobbling as I struggled to lift myself up.

        I could feel his eyes on me, and desperately stiffened my front legs, snapping them straight. I did it!

        “F-fifteen...” I sputtered out, trying to blink the sweat from my eyes.

        Push-ups were NOT my thing.

        “Pathetic,” Mr. Rash commented before trotting back towards the other end of the line, humiliating anypony who wasn't up to his standards. Note that I was the only one below his standards. Hence, he was rather quiet.

        Buck.

        “You having trouble there, Hex?” Raindrops asked, a thin sheen of sweat on her coat.

        “N-nah,” I lied. I'm sure she saw right through it. No, scratch that, I KNOW she saw right through that.

        Push-ups were NOT my thing.

        Mr. Rash blew the whistle again, and I let myself flop unceremoniously onto the floor. My sweat pooled around me as I tried desperately to catch my breath.

        A lot had happened since I'd impressed Mr. Rash during the run. Enough to return my standing to zilch.

        After the run, he had us climb ropes. I barely managed to clamber half-way up the rope before sliding down, my hooves getting rope-burn from my grasp.

        Then it was wrestling practice, because apparently wrestling was a popular sport at this school and being the head coach of the teams he wanted to see everypony's skills.

        I will spare myself the humiliation of recounting the entire tale, but suffice to say, Raindrops had no trouble pinning me. I suck at wrestling.

        After that was sit-ups, which I did somewhat decent at, at least meeting the minimum requirements.

        And then it was the accursed pushups.

        Raindrops carefully prodded my side with a hoof, probably checking to see if I was dead. For all I cared, I could have been.

        “Kill me now,” I wheezed. “I can't take it any more!”

        “Uh, Hex?” she asked me, “You do know he let the class go, right?”

        And now to the rest of the world, you'd have thought I was amped up on mana!

        I leaped to me hooves, ready to get out of there.

        Raindrops laughed at my sudden dramatic change.

        “The colt's showers are that way, goof,” she said, pointing towards the boy's locker room.

        “Ah, okay!” I thanked her, ready to dash off.

        “Hey, wait. What's your next class? Something tells me you'd probably get lost in this school.”

        “That obvious?” I asked, rubbing my sopping mane with my hoof.

        “Yep!” she said, cracking a grin. “Meet me back here after you clean up, I can give you directions.”

        “Okay!” I agreed, then scurried off to the locker rooms. Sweet Celestia, I love scurrying.

        Now as much as you little pervs would love to hear about the locker room and all of the shower jokes I could make, I'll keep it PG. Plus, nothing interesting happened there. I took a shower. Hoo-freaking-ray.

        After I'd gathered my saddlebag and had re-fitted my earpieces and cuffs, I trotted back into the gym. Raindrops wasn't there. She was probably still in the showers.

        I sat down where we'd agreed to meet, pulling out my schedule. Before gym, all I'd done was glance at the first class on there since I was already almost late. Now, I had a chance to read it through.

Digital Hex, Senior

Master Schedule

Period 1: Gym/Fitness – Mr. Rash, Gym

Period 2: Equestrian History – Mrs. Victory, Room 202

Period 3: Senior Mathematics – Mr. Six, Room 305

Period 4: Governments and Culture – Mrs. Victory, Room 202

-LUNCH-

Period 5: Music is Art – Miss Clef, Drama Room

Period 6: Senior Health – Miss Heart, Room 401

Period 7: Class Team – TEAM B, Commons

        I read overt the schedule in my head a couple times, trying to dedicate it to memory. I did NOT want to forget my classes.

        Apparently, chanting your schedule to yourself is seen by some as a perfect moment to sneak up behind you whack you right between the shoulder blades. It was for me, as it seemed.

        “YEOW!” I yelled as I jerked on the floor, spasming. That was my weak spot, right between the blades.

        I heard Raindrops fall to the floor laughing. I craned my neck around, letting myself catch a glimpse of her. Her hair was still a little wet, and clung slightly to the sides of her head.

        I snorted as I tried pulling myself up.

        “Funny,” I commented.

        “Sorry,” she apologized, eyes still teary from her fit of laughter.

        “It was just so... funny!” she admitted. She shook as another round of laughter threatened to take her, but surprisingly she choked it down. I do mean choked it down, however. She almost let loose with the giggles.

        “Not for me!” I complained, picking my schedule back up. “Now, where are all these classes?” I asked her, pointing at the page.

        “Hmm... Oh, you have Equestrian History next period? Me too!” she said excitedly. I groaned. Not because she had the same class as me, but because, well... History. Not a fan.

        “The classes are grouped loosely on field of study. The one-hundreds are the physical science rooms, the two-hundreds are the history and culture classes, we have a lot of those here at Ponyville High!”

        Together, we left the gym as Raindrops took me on an impromptu tour of the school. At first, I was afraid that we would get in trouble for leaving the gym before the bell rang, but Raindrops must have had some credibility with the teachers because we weren't even looked at twice as we passed Mr. Rash out the door.

        “The three-hundreds are the mathematics and advanced studies classes, along with our business classes. The four-hundreds are for health, life science, and magic classes. There are also two pegasus-specific classes in the four-hundreds, but you don't need to worry about that; they're just flight classes.”

        We re-entered the main atrium of the school, following it along a circular hub until we entered the middle of the school, a huge grassy field with a small school store set up in the middle. Several benches, tables and trees dotted the area, which was about the size of two hoofball fields side-by-side. It was quite impressive.

        The two of us crossed the empty field, going back into the building on the other side, which housed the 200's rooms.

        “That was our commons. Most schools have a big room for their cafeteria area, but we get ours outside!” she said with a big smile. She sure was proud of it, wasn't she?

        She gave me pretty much the general lay-out of the school: from the commons, the entire school was laid out like a horseshoe. The open end led to the track and hoofball field, with each fifth of the building housing it's own set of rooms. The center, though, opposite the open end, held the offices and club rooms, such as drama. That was also where the gym was at.

        Raindrops led me to room 202, and we approached the door right as the bell rang. She reached for the door, but I cringed unintentionally, expecting a horde of students to pour out of the room. Raindrops must have sensed my thoughts and fears, because she cast me a reassuring look.

        “Don't worry, Mrs. Victory doesn't teach a class first period. The class is empty.”

        And sure enough, as she pulled open the door before us, nopony ran into us. The only pony in there was a deep purple mare, seated behind the desk. I assumed she was Mrs. Victory.

        “Mrs. Victory!” Raindrops called to her.

        Damn, I'm good.

        “Ah, Raindrops!' Mrs. Victory called to her. “How have you been? I am sure your summer was great, you had so many plans of things to do with your coltfriend when you left!”

        Aho, Raindrops had a coltfriend? I could use this against her at a later date to get her to do my bidding, I could.

        … Hey, don't judge me. I'm quite the cynical little colt when I feel like it.

        “Oh, we, uh... broke up, actually,” Raindrops said rather sadly, dragging her hoof in a circle along the floor. Her face went a tad pink.

        Screw cynicism, I felt bad after hearing that.

        “Oh- Oh my, I'm so sorry!” Mrs. Victory empathized. “I'm sure you'll find a new-”

        Mrs. Victory seemed to finally notice my presence. I couldn't really blame her, though; she really did seem engrossed with Raindrops' love life. Creepy...

        “Oh, and who is this?” she said, clapping her hooves together.

        “Oh, this is Digital Hex!” Raindrops said excitedly (as she seemed to say everything, now that I notice). “He's new here!”

        “I recently moved here from Hope Hill,” I told her. “Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Victory.”

        “Ah! Are you leading a tour of the school for the new eighth graders?” Mrs Victory asked, craning her neck to look over us for more students.

        I visually crumpled. Mrs. Victory noticed.

        “What did I say?” she asked Raindrops. Raindrops, bless her heart, was poking my side once again, trying to illicit a response from me. I swear I felt my soul float out of my mouth.

        “No! He's- ohmygosh, are you alright? Mrs. Victory, he's a student!”

        “Oh! My bad!” Mrs. Victory apologized. I started to return.

        “Shouldn't you be showing him the freshman classes, though?”

        Right in the feels. I was down.

        “No, he's a senior!” Raindrops argued on my behalf.

        “He is? But he's so small and young, he-” she stopped, perhaps noticing the state she'd put me in. Maybe, maybe not.

        “Wait, there was a memo about him in my files this morning,” she said, thinking.

        “Ah,” she remembered aloud. “You're the transfer from Hope Hill!”

        If I could have face-hoofed-

        My snout crunched under my hoof as I face-hoofed. It was done.

        “Yes,” I breathed, shaking in agony. That HURT!

        “Well then, it is pleased to meet you! Please, both of you take a seat; I'm sure more students will be arriving shortly.”

        I followed Raindrops to a pair of seats by the window, a nice view of the lake beyond the track right beside me. I liked the seat.

        As the room filled up, two students arrived that knew Raindrops. One was a brown earth pony stallion with sandy yellow hair, his cutie mark being a silver horseshoe with a hoofball inside of it. The other was a unicorn mare with a yellow coat, much like Raindrops, and a blue mane. Her cutie mark was three hearts, two that were blue and one that was green.

        “Hey, Raindrops!” the mare called, rushing to her friend where the two hugged.

        “Lemon Hearts! I haven't seen you in sooo long!”

        “Hey, where's my hug?” the stallion cracked up, getting a smug grin from Raindrops who gave him a big hug, too.

        “I dunno, Lug, where's the twelve bits you owe me?” Raindrops asked him, giggling.

        “Oh come ON, that was three years ago!” Lug complained, Raindrops and Lemon Hearts laughing at his frustrated look.

        Raindrops gestured me towards her friends.

        “Hex, these are my friends Lug and Lemon Hearts. Guys, this is Digital Hex! He just transferred here-”

        “AND I'M A SENIOR.”

        Every head in the room shot me a look as I wore my best poker face. Yeah, I said that a little too loud. Can't say I didn't do it on purpose.

        “Woah, you're a senior?” Lug asked. “You must be, like, crazy smart!” He said as he extended a hoof to me.

        “Thanks, but I was only smart when I was younger. If I was still that smart, I would've graduated by now,” I explained with a dry smirk on my face. Lug, despite his namesake, laughed at my joke as if he understood where I was coming from. He seemed pretty legit.

        “Well, as Raindrops said, I'm Lemon Hearts,” Lemon Hearts said as she took my hoof in hers, curtsying respectfully. How she managed to make it look that good even without a skirt, I'll never know.

        “Pleased to meet you!”

        I smiled. “Same to you,” I said.

        The two sat down next to us, and began talking with Raindrops about their summer. I just sunk into my chair, dreading the class that was about to begin.

        All too soon, the bell rang. It was time- Class time.

        In my head, all I could think was NOOO!!!

        Then, everything went black.

1_4

1_4

Digital_Hex- - - - - - - -A fan-fiction by Digital_Hex

Chapter 4

        I found out why the room went black.

        Mrs. Victory turned out the lights.

        “Hello, class, and welcome to Equestrian History!” Mrs. Victory addressed the class at large, which numbered around seventeen ponies.

        “As most of you remember,” I swear she made eye contact with me, as if I was the only one who wouldn't remember, “I'm Mrs. Victory. Now, I thought we'd start the new school year with a video! How does that sound?”

        A few stallions at the back of the class snickered, probably about some inside joke. An overhead projector flickered on, and then we were watching a documentary about a settler from early Equestria.

        I kind of dozed off there. I was still a little tired from gym... namely the push-ups *cringe*.

        It felt like five minutes, but before I knew it twenty had passed and the documentary was over. Mrs. Victory turned the lights back on, which was what actually woke me up. I yawned deeply, self-conscious of a thin strand of drool stretching between my teeth.

        “Alright, now that was interesting wasn't it?” Mrs. Victory asked. Surely it was a rhetorical question. I sure hope it was, as nopony responded.

        “Well then, if nopony found it interesting-” suddenly her voice was gruff and short. A few students shot upright in their seats.

        Oh no.

        “-then we'll do a pop quiz on this. Now-”

        Mrs. Victory was cut off as the intercom in the room blared over her.

“Digital Hex, to the counseling office. Digital Hex, to the counseling office.”

        Mrs. Victory scanned the room, finding me quickly.

        “You heard Miss Vox,” she barked. “Move!”

        My ears flat against the sides of my head, I skimpered out of my seat and scurried out of class, following the mental map I'd received from Raindrops to find my way back to the central block of the school. From there, I followed some signs until I was outside of the counselor's room.

        The door read Mrs. Dread.

        I felt myself die just that much on the inside.

        Breathing heavily, I swallowed hard before knocking on the door.

        I was immediately met with a response.

        “Come in.” Her voice was surprisingly lively and soft.

        Carefully, I opened the door and slipped inside. There was a huge desk situated inside, so tall that little old me couldn't see the mare seated behind it.

        Apparently, she couldn't see me either.

        “I said you could come in,” she repeated.

        I groaned inwardly as I closed the door behind me.

        “I'm here,” I piped up.

        The counselor looked over her desk, craning her head up until she could see me.

        “Ah, yes,” she said. “They did say you were short-”

        “I'M NOT THAT SHORT!” I barked, no emotion in my voice.

        “Of course you aren't,” Mrs. Dread said with a giggle at the end. “Now, why don't you have a seat?”

        I scrambled onto a (in my opinion) freakishly over-sized chair in front of the desk, feeling like a toddler in daycare.

        “So, Digital Hex, right?” Mrs. Dread asked. “What do you prefer to go by?”

        “Oh, uh...” I stuttered, as I usually do. That was quite a funny subject, actually, and had meant to be addressing that to Raindrops for the past hour and a half, but...

        “I prefer going by Digit, but lately it seems I respond to Hex,” I vented.

        “Ah... so Digit?”

        I nodded.

        “Alright, I just wanted to introduce myself!” she said, her voice flowing like silk.

        “I'm Mrs. Dread, the school counselor for the senior class. I put together your schedule; since it's been quite a while since we had a new senior student here, I thought I'd check in and see how you like your schedule. Do you have it with you?”

        I pulled out my schedule, laying it flat on the table in front of me.

        She pulled out a sheet of paper from a filing cabinet in her desk, a paper I guessed was a copy of my schedule.

        “Good, so how does your schedule look? Are you content with your classes?”

        “Yeah,” I replied.

        Honestly, I was quite happy with my classes. Except history...

        And government...

        And I'm sure I wouldn't be at the top of the class in health...

        “Yeah, definitely,” I repeated. Half of it was a bold-face lie through my teeth, but I definitely didn't want to make a scene over a schedule. I only complained about things that mattered. Like push-ups...

        “Good,” she said, exhaling contently as she sunk a little in her seat. She actually seemed a little relieved that I liked my schedule, or at least appeared to.

        “I saw that on your entrance request you put down music as one of your passions, so I really tried to get you into a music class!” she said with a smile on her face.

        I got it. She really cared about the students, enough to see if they were happy with her work. She seemed nice enough; I'd hate to see what happened when a student wasn't happy with their schedule. She'd probably start crying, the poor thing.

        “Oh, yeah,” I said. “I liked that, thank you!”

        She seemed really happy at my response. Heh, guess it was about time I please someone with my words instead of degrade them.

        “It's my pleasure to put the students in classes they like,” she told me.

        Silence ensued.

        After a while, the silence just got down-right awkward.

        “So... is there anything else you need from me?” I asked.

        “Oh!” she jumped, apparently lost in thought. “No, that's all! You can go on back to class now,” she informed me.

        I thanked her and slid out of my chair, falling to the floor below.

        Once my hooves were nice and settled against the ground, I scurried on off out of the counseling office.

        I don't know why, but the word counseling had a creepy sound to it.

        With almost a half hour left before the end of the current class period, I made my way to the History class. I clambered outside into the commons, still a little at odds with the outdoors being part of the school building.

        The first thing I heard was music.

        It was a soft, gentle flow of strings, a violin it sounded like. The notes rolled on softly but firmly, drenched in meaning. It was real music.

        It was beautiful.

        I followed the music until I was flush against the store in the middle of the commons. The music was clearly on the other side. I started to trot curiously around until a thought popped up in the back of my mind.

Hey, maybe this pony was playing in the commons because they didn't want to be found.

        I instantly began an argument with myself. I did that occasionally. You know, mentally unstable and all.

What? How does that make sense? It's the commons, it isn't like it's exactly a hidden alcove.

        I shook my head.

So what? It's the middle of class, surely there is a reason this pony chose to play in the least populated area of the school. Maybe they want to be left alone.

        Again, I shook my head. I am sure that if anypony had seen me right then, they'd have sworn I was talking to myself. Wait a minute, I was.

But the music, it's so good! Curiosity is going to win, you know this.

        I succumbed to the growing desire to find the source of the music.

        As I rounded the store, I was immediately confronted with two thoughts. The first was, Oh wow, that mare isn't much bigger than I am, and that's saying something- I then mentally kicked myself. I wasn't thaaat short...

        My second thought was Why is she holding that violin like a cello?!

        Surely enough, a white mare with a tinge of burnt red to her coat was sitting on a bench, faced sideways to me. Her eyes were closed as she ran her bow across a beautiful violin, seated in front of her just like a large bass string instrument such as a cello. Her mane was a deeper red, with a lock of light blue running through it. I then noticed a short, stubby horn sprouting from her forehead, almost hidden in her tapered school-filly hair style.

        I then had an extremely absurd thought run through my mind.

She's cute...

        It was then that I died. Figuratively.

        For the first time in my life, I admitted that I might find comfort in another pony's comfort that wasn't my dad. Hey, I loved my dad. He was awesome.

        The young filly continued playing, completely lost in her craft. The music she played was, as I stated before, beautiful. There really is no other single word to describe it.

        There was emotion laced in it, you could feel the music plucking at your heart. It actually made me want to smile. I wasn't a depressed child or anything, but it was still a feat in itself to make me smile; she was almost doing just that with her music.

        I could have stood there all day, listening to her play, but alas it was not to be. She brought her across the instrument one last time, and then there was silence. Se still didn't open her eyes.

        It was then that I realized I probably looked like a real creeper, just standing there watching her. I took a step back, trying to be as stealthy as I could.

        This is why you always leave your headphones plugged in, children. If your headphones are plugged in, then any sounds that they pick up will (normally) only be heard through the headphones, thus not disturbing those around you.

        If they aren't plugged in, well...

        A deep chord of a sharp bass drop echoed across the commons. The mare opened her eyes, immediately focusing them on me. I swallowed hard.

        Busted.

        “Oh, uh...” I stammered.

        She narrowed her eyes. The irises were a butter yellow.

        “H-hey...” I choked out like an idiot.

        She kept her eyes narrowed as she fell from the bench, resting her violin in a propped open case and sliding the bow into a sheath on the front. She finally broke eye contact with me as she swung the case up over her back, hung over her in such a fashion that she looked like she was about to be crushed by the instrument.

        She trotted away, and before I knew it my eyes had subconsciously dropped to watch her flank. I responded (when I finally noticed) by slamming my face into the ground. I rubbed my snout into the dirt for good measure.

        When I gathered enough courage to look back up, she was gone.

        I must have stood there for... well, honestly I have no idea how long I stood there, looking at where I'd last seen her. It felt like a while.

        At one point, I reached up to touch my cheek with a hoof. It was warm to the touch.

        I was blushing.

        I managed to crack out a rather ironic laugh. Me, of all ponies, was blushing over a mare I'd just seen. I hadn't even met her, all I'd done was listen to her play some music!

        It was beautiful music, though...

        The way she handled the instrument, playing so delicately as if she was going to break the music itself if she put too much pressure on it...

        But that wasn't the point! It was completely irrational of me to go getting all red-faced over a mare whose name I didn't even know. I needed to get back to class, surely the current class period was going to be ending soon. I needed to at least check in with Mrs. Victory before the bell rang, see if I would have to make up the quiz at a later date.

        I groaned. I was going to fail that quiz. I needed to be worrying about how I would figure out that mess, not worrying about some mare.

        Especially a mare whose face I would probably never see again.

1_5_Math

1_5_Math

Digital_Hex- - - - - - - -A fan-fiction by Digital_Hex

Chapter 5

        Turns out I actually had the next class with the mare. Imagine that.

        Immediately after I'd stepped back into Equestrian History, the bell rang.

        “And don't forget, we start chapter one next monday!” Mrs. Victory sand out as the students rose to leave. I waited patiently by the door, preferring not to be stepped on and trampled over.

        As the last few students left, I attempted to edge my way in through a gap. I was then shoulder-checked by a bulky black stallion wearing a cocky grin.

        “Oops, sorry. Didn't see you there, tiny,” he growled, laughing at his own stupid joke.

        Yeah, I totally believed it was an accident. Like, totally...

        I simply bit down a smart retort and stepped aside, letting him pass. I made eye contact with him, and I swear I felt the unbridled rage sear through my mind. He wasn't just rude, he was seriously pissed off at the world. Why, I had no idea; still, I made a mental note to avoid this guy at all costs from here on out.

        As the last few students cleared out, I passed Raindrops and Lemon Hearts, who were having a highly animated conversation with Lug. They didn't even notice me as we crossed paths. Not like I wasn't used to being noticed...

        I approached Mrs. Victory's desk. “Ah, Digital Hex!” she said with a big smile.

        I did a double take. Was she seriously happy?! Last time I'd seen her, I was expecting her to start foaming at the mouth and tear somepony's head off! That was an exaggeration, of course, but the point still stood. She had some serious mood swings.

        “You sure were gone a while,” she said as she eyed me suspiciously. “Is everything all right?”

        “It's Digit,” I said, “And yes, everything was fine. Mrs. Dread just wanted to check over my schedule with me.”

        I wasn't trying to be disrespectful, I was trying to be direct. However, after I corrected her on my name, she suddenly took on a rather hurt expression.

        “Oh, I am sorry, Digit,” she said a little too apologetically. She let her fake apology hang in the air, daring me to speak next.

        I took her challenge.

        “It's alright,” I said. “Actually, I was wondering when you wanted me to remake the quiz we took. I left right before it, so...” I trailed off.

        Happy Victory was back, all traces of her fake butt-hurtness long gone.

        “Oh, we didn't actually take a quiz!” she said, grinning ear-to-creepy-ear.

        “You... didn't?” I didn't believe her. This had to have been a ploy.

        “Nope!” she exclaimed, refusing to lose her excessive level of smile.

        “So then... did I miss anything?” I asked her. She shook her head 'no'. Again, she continued to wear that freaking creepy smile. There was something seriously wrong with her.

        “Okay then...” I began backing out of the classroom, cracking under the pressure of her never-ending gaze. If I could have felt any smaller than I normally was, I probably would have.

        “Good-bye,” I said as I stepped out the door.

        I breathed a sigh of relief. I wouldn't have to deal with her again-

        I froze up in fear.

        “Oh, no...” I whispered to myself.

        I had her for fourth period. Fourth period was the only class we had every day. I would have to deal with her EVERY DAY OF SCHOOL...

        I cried on the inside as I trotted dejectedly to my next class, math. At least math was one of my better classes.

        I rounded the bend of the hallway, and ran straight into her. My head clunked against hers as we both fell back, rubbing our noggins. I was about to yell an obscenity towards her until I realized it was her. The short mare from earlier. Her violin case was still slung over her back like a massive scabbard.

        I received an evil glare from her as she returned to her hooves, still rubbing her head. She didn't say anything to me, just stared me down before turning hoof and trotting into the classroom before her.

        The ice was thick in my veins as I rose to my own hooves, looking at the signs on the doors around me. I was searching for room 305.

        My heart soared and dropped simultaneously when I found it. It was the same room the mare had just went in to. Giddily, I scurried in, ready for the class.

I need to apologize for running into her, I told myself. Surely she would at least say something if I were to apologize.

        As I took in the room, I couldn't believe my contacts. There was only a minute left before the bell rang for third period, and there was only four other students in the class. Sure, the room was only half the size of the other room,s and only had one large window next to the whiteboard, but the room could have easily held between ten to twelve students comfortably.

        All of my qualms with the small class size vanished as I found her amongst the four students. She was in the front row, all the way to the left. There was twelve desks set up in four columns. The first line of desks, the front row, had three desks, as every consequential row did as well. That meant that surely the three smartest ponies would be the ones in the front row, right?

        Well, as I took in the students in the class, I had trouble understanding the situation.

        The other three students were sitting on the desks in the third and fourth rows, talking amongst themselves. One was a nerdy-looking male yellow earth pony with a darker shade of yellow in his mane. He had glasses and dark freckles, as well as a bowl-cut. A BOWL CUT. Yeah, he had the whole she-bang. Insta-nerded.

        The other two must have been twins. They were a soft shade of violet, with yellow and purple manes. They had the exact same cutie marks, even: a crossed pair of checkered flags. I honestly had no idea what they could have been. Trophy girls for all the jocks at school, perhaps? No, that was a rather demeaning judgment. I really didn't care, though.

        But there was the mare from earlier, seated in the front row. Destiny was calling my name. I trotted over to the middle seat of the front row, casually sliding into it and glancing her way.

        It was do-or-die time. Game on.

        “Hey,” I said as kindly as one could say hey, “sorry for running into you earlier.”

        There, I'd done it. I'd apologized. The words tasted like vinegar, but for some reason, I felt... relieved? Huh, maybe I was actually glad I apologized. The adrenaline rush that flooded into me was nice and all, but I still wasn't a big fan of the whole 'apology' thing. This was not going to become a habit.

        She just stared forward, completely ignoring me.

        I felt a blood vessel in my forehead inflame.

        Damnit mare, I'd just done the impossible and given you an apology! And what do you do?! You don't even pay me any attention. Disgraceful little-

        I took a calming breath, leveling my head out.

Maybe, just maybe, she wasn't ignoring you and actually hadn't heard you. It was possible she was actually that thick, right?

        “Hey?” I asked her, hoping she would answer.

        She didn't.

        I was about to start fuming when I realized something. Normally when somepony was ignoring me, they showed visible signs that they were trying not to pay me any attention. I always at least had them flick their eyes my way, something I was pretty sure was a natural response to hearing something. She hadn't even done that. It was almost as if she hadn't heard me at all...

        Then I noticed the thin white wire leading from beneath her mane to her bag hanging off the back of her seat. She had earphones in.

        She really hadn't heard me. I smirked slightly before taking a deep breath and gently prodding her side with a hoof.

        She must have jumped a foot and a half up in shock.

        She turned her head to me as she tore out her right earpiece, raising an eyebrow at me. There wasn't anger on her face, it was more like she was expecting me to say something. She said nothing. I assumed she was the type who tries to remain calm, waiting for me to explain myself. Fair enough.

        “Oh, sorry for running into you outside the classroom, it was an accident,” I said, letting out a nervous chuckle at the end. She lowered her eyebrow but other than that, had no further reaction to what I'd said.

        “I'm Digital Hex, Digit for short. What's your name?”

        Okay, me talking to somepony on my own accord and with no initial prompt was a rare sight. Me instigating a conversation and giving out my name was a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. This mare was quite a lucky gal. I swallowed nervously, waiting for her to say something in response.

        I waited until the bell rang, and then she returned her gaze to the front of the class, whipping her head back in a rather irritated fashion. It might have been my imagination, but I think I saw the faintest tinge of pink on her face as she scowled forward.

        “Hello class,” an orange stallion said as he closed the door behind us.

        “I'm Mr. Six, your teacher this-” I think I heard his breathing stop as he saw just how few students were in his class.

        “year...” he finished.

        He trotted along the isle on the right side of the desks, using his magic to pick up a marker and write his name at the top of the whiteboard.

        “I wasn't informed I'd have this few students,” he muttered quite audibly as he turned to face us. I noticed he had a pair of thick, boxy glasses perched on his muzzle. He levitated a clipboard and pen over to himself, clicking the pen as he did so.

        “Alright,” he said, “let's see who we have this year...”

        He glanced at the list before he cleared his throat.

        “Autumn Crisp?”

        The nerdy-looking colt responded with a surprisingly deep, “Here.”

        Mr. Six flicked his pen, then moved on to the next name.

        “Digital Hex?”

        My turn.

        “It's Digit, sir.”

        Hey, I did NOT want to be called Hex any more. I may not have really shown it, but I didn't like that name, even when Raindrops called me it. Granted, she was the only one who called me that, but still... It just wasn't me, you know? Of course you don't know, but that isn't the point here.

        “Alright,” he said, not missing a beat as he scratched out my name and, from what I assumed, wrote in Digit. He then flicked the pen next to my name, marking me here.

        “Sun Blink and Sun Breeze?”

        The twins both said, “Here,” at the same time. It was honestly a little creepy, how they both responded perfectly in-synch. Or, maybe I just found a lot of stuff creepy. Hard to tell sometimes.

        Finally, Mr. Six got to the mystery mare's name. It actually took a little bit of conscious thought to realize she was the only one who hadn't been called yet, and I sat at the edge of my seat, waiting for Mr. Six to call her name.

        “White Cross?”

        She raised her hoof calmly and evenly, almost as if she'd been practicing doing so for awhile.

        The final flick went across Mr. Six's roll sheet. Everypony was here. White Cross's hoof went back down, again just as fluidly as it had been raised.

        “Alright class,” he said as he trotted over to his desk, swapping his clipboard for a small stack of papers.

What are those, I dreaded instantly. Those aren't quizzes, aren't they? I'm not bad at math, but I haven't even studied! Oh no, what if I fail, I'll look like a complete idiot-

        I cut myself off.

Who cares if you look like an idiot? It's not like any of these ponies actually matter, especially not their opinion.

Yeah, I began countering myself, but what if White Cross thinks I'm stupid? That matters!

        I then had quite a revelation.

How? You don't even know her, and she definitely doesn't know you.

        I took a reassuring breath as Mr. Six placed a copy of the paper on my desk, face-down. I was back in control. There was no need to worry.

        “Let's start off with a little quiz. These questions are going to be a little difficult for some-” he stopped, probably remembering how 'some' would actually be 'most' of the class, considering the general lack of students.

        “Okay, it's going to be a little more difficult than you'd expect for a quiz at the beginning of the year, but don't worry about it. This isn't graded, so don't be too upset if you don't do well on it. This is just a quick check to see how far you are and how advanced some of you are.”

        With that said, he looked up at the clock above his desk.

        “You have the next thirty minutes to work on the quiz. You may begin.”

        I flipped over my quiz and hastily scribbled my name at the top of the paper, moving on to the first question.

        It was an algebra question, simple. Next question was a geometry question, still easy.

        Then it got a little tricky. I recognized the third question as an Institute-level calculus problem. It took me a moment, but then I had it solved. From there on, they were all similar to question three.

        All of them were based around the same root problem, but they had different modifiers and factors in play. Some of them were almost the same exact problem, half a page separate, but had completely different functions.

        Seven minutes later, all twenty questions were finished. A single bead of sweat rolled down my forehead, my heart beating joyfully. It had been a good quiz, it really had me thinking. While the questions hadn't been too challenging, they were clever. I had a sudden respect for Mr. Six; he might make a pretty good teacher yet.

        I rose to my hooves, grabbing my test as I did so. I suddenly felt everypony's eyes on me, freezing me in place.

        Oh, heavens no...

        I was the only one done. I was screaming on the inside.

The questions were tricky, I'll admit that, but I even went back and checked my work! I can't be the only onedone!

        Even with my sound logic, however, the fact still stood: I was the only one done.

        I tried to trot over as casually as I could to Mr. Six's desk.

        When I reached his desk, he wore a slightly amused look on his face.

        “Did you get stumped on a question?” he asked as he magically took hold of my paper, bringing it up to his glasses.

        “Let me guess, number 14-” he had his chance to freeze as his eyes went wide. I saw him look over my paper again, then scan over it one more time. His look then changed from one of surprise to that of impressed. He scratched a 100 on the top and levitated it back.

        “Good job, Digit. Good job...” he said, letting his gaze wander off.

        I hid a satisfied smirk as I turned around. I was glad I did.

        The three ponies in the back of the room were staring me down, outraged glares plastered on their faces. Their manes were a mess from them running a hoof through them, and all of them were bright-red in the face. They were actually having trouble with the quiz. I chuckled to myself as I returned to my seat. White Cross hadn't even thrown me a look the entire time.

        I sat there for about two minutes before White Cross rose from her own seat.

        “Oh come ON!” Autumn Crisp yelled, his voice clearly cracking.

        I could sense White Cross visibly choking back a giggle at his reaction as she had her paper graded by Mr. Six. He smiled as he returned it to her. I got a quick peek at the 90 scrawled across the top. So, she was smart, too? I smiled as well as she sat back down in her seat.

        I rose an eyebrow as I reached over and extended a hoof out to her.

        She looked a little taken aback as she focused between my face and my hoof, before snapping her attention back to the front. She put her earphones back in, slightly bobbing her head to the music she was listening to.

        I calmly brought my hoof back to me.

So, that's how she is? I thought to myself.

        Challenge-

Accepted.

1_7

1_7

Digital_Hex- - - - - - - -A fan-fiction by Digital_Hex

Chapter 7

        Mrs. Victory wore an apologetic smile on her face as I approached her. I cried on the inside. I knew that face.

        “Digital Hex,” she began, already coating her words with the horrible bath of sympathy and pity.

        “I couldn't help but notice that you seemed to have trouble with the class today.”

        She stopped, perhaps waiting for me to say something.

        Like Hell I was going to say something.

        “Is there anything that you want to say?”

        I refused to say anything, instead opting to stare thoughtfully at the ground. This was one of the times that I was honestly glad about my size (or lack thereof); she could only see the top of my head. She couldn't see my frustration. The anger I was directing towards me.

        I never had trouble with class. With my dad, I knew the answers to everything. After the incident at Hope Hill, he'd taken to homeschooling me. Three years, from freshman year until now, it had been him leading my lessons from a book.

        But here, it was all crashing on me.

        I wasn't as smart as I thought I was.

        “Digital Hex?” Mrs. Victory asked me.

        “It's nothing,” I mumbled as I turned around and trotted towards the door. She stopped me before I left.

        “Digital Hex, I'm not trying to nag on you, but...”

        She sighed.

        “Perhaps you should review over previous courses before class tomorrow?”

        I muttered a silent “okay” as I slipped out through the doorway.

        I kicked at the ground as I trotted down the hallway, taking the news way harder than I should have. I knew I was probably going to be a little behind in some courses, but...

        It hurt to not even know what was considered the basics. How had I even passed my dad's assignments in home school if I didn't even know such a simple question?!

        The sun was high in the sky as I passed a wide window in the hallway. I paused, turning to look out it. The sky was a warm blue outside, clean and free. Maybe going back to high school was a bad idea.

        I groaned as I swiped a hoof through the air around my head, feeling the familiar hum of chords around me. Against everything that was going on, I found the will to smile at the irony. That which made me weird was what cheered me up.

        Awesome.

        I pushed of against the floor, charging through the empty hallway. Nopony was in the halls; everyone was probably enjoying the lunch break.

        The top second-story floor I was on ended in a railed staircase that opened straight outside. I leaped onto the rail, sliding down it. The cuffs around my hoofs screeched sharp notes. I jumped off the rail when it ended, rolling forward. It was all very dramatic, but it was working: I was venting.

        Trotting forward, I entered the open field of the commons. Ponies were laying everywhere, laughing while talking with friends, enjoying company. I looked expectantly for any friends of my own, but I saw nopony I knew.

        I pony bumped into me from behind, making me take a startled step forward. I bit back a retort as I whirled around, half hoping I was wrong as to my suspicions of who it might have been.

        I grimaced as I recognized the dirty black coat, the toothy grin of the green-eyed pegasus. I remembered the bully now.

        Silhouette.

        He flicked his mane out of his face, spitting a thick wad next to me. I splattered sickeningly against the ground.

        “Well look at who it is,” he growled, voice high-pitched and gravelly.

        “Silhouette,” I growled.

        His head twitched almost instinctively, and he roared dangerously. A few ponies nearby looked our direction.

        “It's Tweak, dumb-ass!” He barked.

        “Whatever,” I spat back. Images of the first and last time we'd met flashed through my mind. Him and his gang at Hope Hill. Him flying backwards from me as he fell unconscious. The rage I felt. I could almost hear his laughing as clearly as I saw him before me now. It was like a bad nightmare.

        “What do you want? How'd you end up here, anyways?” I growled at him, turning from him. I wanted to get as far away from him as possible.

        The poor fool didn't seem to understand the subliminal message of me trotting away.

        “After you humiliated me in front of my friends, my parents thought it'd be a good-”

        I interrupted him. “I didn't actually want an answer,” I said as I explained the principles of a rhetorical question to him. “And honestly, I don't care.”

        Once again, I stepped away, wanting to get away from my past.

        And once again, he spoke up.

        “Hey, you shadow-eyed freak,” he barked, grabbing my tail and yanking hard. My face smashed against the floor, my contacts shifting against my eyes. Ouch.

        “I'm not done speaking with you!”

        I kicked out with my rear hoof, landing a decent blow against his snout. I didn't realize his face was that close.

        “I don't care,” I repeated. More images played through my mind. Silhouette reeled back, grabbing my around my neck as he glared into my eyes.

        And then I was back, three years ago. Hope Hill High School, my freshman year. More importantly, the first day of my freshman year.

Three years prior...

        I'd just closed my locker when his hoof snatched me up, holding me aloft by the back of my neck. Silhouette with two of his friends had circled around me in the hall, which was deserted. I'd been late for my first class.

        “Hey, look at what we've got here!” Silhouette coughed out, probably having just finished off a couple cigarettes. “I didn't realize they were letting babies into high school!” Silhouette cackled, getting a round of laughter from his two goons. I kicked out, failing to hit him.

        “Oh, and would you look at that! He's a fighter, too!” He cackled. “Didn't your mommy ever tell you not to fight ponies bigger than you?”

        “My mom ran out a long time ago!” I pouted.

        “Can't imagine why, with a little shit of a son like you!” he cackled.

        “Lemme go!” I cried, my twelve-year-old voice cracking.

        Suddenly there was a horrible crack against the back of my head as Silhouette smashed me against the lockers, looking my dead in the eyes. His eyes were a ghostly green.

        “Nah, I wanna see you squirm a little more-” he breathed, left eye twitching softly.

        “My god! Look at his eyes!” he bellowed, ushering his goons closer. They laughing menacingly as they pointed there hoofs, making fun of my oddly-colored eyes. I was fine with that. I reacted naturally.

        My eyes were unique. I liked it.

        I saw the green and blue fields around me. Blue was for bass, green was for sharps. The two goons were absolutely coated in the green fields, with snaking tendrils reaching out to me, while Silhouette was on the other side of a thick blue blob.

        I should have talked with my dad about the fields. I should have explained everything to him. I should have done a lot of things. But there was one thing I shouldn't have done.

        What I did next was that thing.

        I punched out with my right hoof while snatching the tendrils with my left. The cuffs around my hoofs gripped the fields, the stored energy colliding with the fields. The fields only I could see, only I could truly use.

        The effect was instant. A sharp wailing filled the air as blood spurted from the two goons' ears, while an explosion of deep bass rocked me and Silhouette. He flew back, unconscious before he hit the ground. I was crushed against the lockers, the air from my chest gone.

        “Don't talk about my eyes,” I wheezed, tears streaming down my face.

        “You sound just like my mother when you do...”

Back to the present...

        It was playing out just like last time, only Silhouette was even bigger than before.

        I wasn't going to get expelled again, not like this at least. I wasn't going to have to tell my dad the news.

        My left contact shifted ever so slightly, just enough to see a similar hue of blue coating Silhouette. It was so tempting. So, so tempting to see the look of shock on his face before he lost consciousness again.

        But...

        I felt his hoof collide with the side of my face, felt my body wrenched from his grasp from the force of his blow.

        I fell to the floor, hearing a pony nearby scream aloud. Seriously, were fights rare enough here as well that ponies had to scream that loudly and obnoxiously whenever they saw one?

        My vision fell to what was directly ahead of me, a green pegasus buck with a zebraik mane. He was standing next to White Cross-

        Wait, she just saw me get punched like that?!

        I leaped to my hooves, suddenly ready to throw down with Silhouette.

        Luckily, I didn't have to. A soft blue aura enveloped him and tossed him right into Mr. Rash.

        I saw White Cross give me a soft smile before rushing over to me, helping me up. I felt my eye beginning to swell, and I knew I was going to have a nice shiner there.

        “I believe we've told you multiple times, Tweak, that there is no fighting on school grounds,” Mr. Rash growled at Silhouette, dragging him by a leg towards the front offices.

        “But I- He- But-” Tweak desperately tried to explain, flailing his other hoof in the air in emphasis.

        “Don't care,” Mr. Rash bellowed, and then they were gone. I knew deep down, though, that I hadn't seen the last of Silhouette.

        “You okay there?” the green pegasus asked. He had the perfect surfer voice, I almost chuckled. Almost.

        “Fine,” I said, stepping away from White Cross. I suddenly felt very embarrassed by the whole ordeal. I'd let the bully get what he wanted; I let him win. I was ashamed, against all odds. I knew that what I felt wasn't what I should have been feeling, but it didn't change the fact that I was feeling it.

        A slight tingling washed over my eye, followed by a pleasant cooling rush over it. The soft blue aura was from White Cross's horn. I guessed she had performed some first aid on my eye.

        I should have let them help me.

        I should have thanked them, at least.

        I felt my contact rub against my eye again. I ran.

        Turning down hallway after hallway, I tore down the school.

        An open door ahead of me beckoned me forth. Slipping into the welcoming darkness, I found myself behind a thick curtain. Good.

        I sighed, cracking my neck while pushing through the curtain. As I pushed through the last bit of curtain, I emerged onto the stage of the drama room.

        Here, I was alone. Nopony was here.

        Good.

        “You thought it'd be better if you weren't there, huh?” I yelled, punching the air in front of me. An explosion of bass tore from the space I hit, perfectly amplifying my pent-up anger.

        The image of my mother seared through my mind, her bubblegum pink mane whipping around her pale blue coat. Her wings spread wide as she left for the last time, my dad calling after her, begging her not to go, begging for my sake-

        I screamed as I smashed my hooves together, an enormous clap that shook the room, the curtains billowing away from the energy. The air crackled around me as I swept a hoof around me, pulling it in and throwing it at the ground while kicking my back legs over me, swinging them in a clean forward arc. What followed was like clashing thunder.

        Bright energy flashed everywhere. I growled as my eyes stung, wiping the contacts from my eyes. The pink rings in my eyes glowed as I let out my anger.

        “Look at your son now!” I screamed, spinning around while pulling at every green field around me.

        “Aren't you so proud now! Wouldn't you just love to see how he's doing now?!”

        Everything was turning blue and green as the fields fell into my vision. Now, however, there were soft patches of pink in the mix.

        I hit a blue field, sliding against a green blip while giving a tentative tap at the pink field. The patch retracted, a smooth blast of clean middle-tone chords flowing from it as it poofed out of existence.

        I smiled a demonic grin.

        A quick tap of the blue, followed by a steady beat of pink and green, mellowing into pink before a hard drop of blue. Overlap with blue, bounce with the green, clean with pink and blue.

        I was so caught up in my dance of music that I didn't notice somepony else enter the room. I didn't notice that there was somepony in my presence as I started singing impromptu lyrics to my beat.

        “Did you ever want to see, see what happened to me?”

        I let loose with a set of blue, interrupting with a string of pink.

        “Did you ever really care, do you miss me over there?”

        Rapid fire with the green, clear backdrop of pink, end with a blue.

        “Can you just see me now, can you hear me nice and loud?”

        Alternate green and pink, growing in frequency.

        “Will you ever really care, will you ever seem to care-”

        I stopped my angry screaming at a cough.

        I turned slowly towards the cough, letting all the music drop.

        As I made eye contact with her, I saw her visibly shift as she saw my eyes.

        “No, don't-” I started, but stopped, letting the words die as fast as my will to fight.

        White Cross shifted her head slightly at me, seeming to understand what I wanted to say, understanding why I stopped.

        I hung my head, breathing deeply.

She saw my eyes, she's going to think I'm so weird now... Weirder than she probably already thinks I am, at least.

        Suddenly, I felt a hoof on my shoulder. I looked up, my eyes meeting White Cross's.

        And then she smiled. It was a beautiful smile.

1_8

1_8

Digital_Hex- - - - - - - -A fan-fiction by Digital_Hex

Chapter 8

        White Cross really was nice. After my venting in the drama room, she didn't ask for an explanation, she didn't say anything at all.

        As I learned, she couldn't.

        White Cross was mute.

        She had very good calligraphy, though. She wrote out looping messages to me, using fine care with her quill.

You're Digital Hex, right?

        My heart skipped a beat as I read that. She remembered my name?! Then I remembered that we shared math class. She definitely remembered my name from that class.

        I nodded to her. I opened my mouth, but paused, coming up with a better idea. Carefully snatching the paper from her, I pulled out a pencil of my own and began writing a response on the paper.

And you're White Cross, right?

        I returned it to her. She giggled silently, smiling. She had an adorable smile, she really did.

        After she read the silly message, she looked back to me and rolled her eyes.

Scritch-scratch went her pencil.

Ba-dump went my heart.

        Carefully she levitated the message back in front of me, her magic holding it almost daintily.

Now that we're done with formalities, do you care to tell me what that was about?

        I knew what she was referring to. I sighed, hanging my head. I shook my head once, telling her no.

        She scrawled more onto the paper.

It's okay if you don't want to, I just wanted to let you know... The music, it was beautiful.

        I turned and gave her a surprised look. She blushed before returning to the paper, glaring intently at it as she added a footnote to the bottom of the page.

Different, but beautiful.

        I smiled, lightly bumping my hoof against her shoulder.

        “Thanks, Cross,” I said.

        She smiled again. There was no way I'd ever grow tired of seeing that smile.

        Returning to the paper, her quill was off. A moment later, she brought the paper back to floating in front of me.

Do you want to hear some of mine?

        I raised a brow at her, surprised. She was offering to play me some music?

        I waved a hoof in front of me, ushering her on.

        “I'd love to,” I said respectfully.

        She pulled her massive violin case out and removed the violin, setting it before her like a contrabass rather than a violin. Granted, the violin was as tall as she was, so it was reasonable.

        Looping a band of magic around the neck of the violin to hold it steady, she slowly adjusted the pegs, sliding the bow across the strings with a hoof until she had the desired sound.

        Content with the sound, she sat back down and rested the neck against her shoulder, looking exactly like a cellist.

        Running the bow slowly against the strings, she added smooth flicks evenly until she reached an apex. Sliding the bow downwards, she started an upstroke as she pulled back again, flicking it about to add leaps in the pitch.

        She played slowly but gracefully. It was as powerful and strong as a bass instrument, but had the pitch and tone of a violin. She played it masterfully, using her magic to adjust the pegs minimally as she created the music.

        It was beautiful.

        I found myself swaying along to the sound, entranced by it. I smiled; I couldn't help it. I didn't always listen to slow music, but when I did, I gave it a chance. This definitely was a chance I was glad I made.

        Did I mention it was beautiful?

        All too soon, the music slowly bled off. The song was done, the magic gone.

        I sighed, wiping away tears I hadn't even realized I'd shed.

        “That was... beautiful,” I croaked.

        Whoa, hold up. Why was my voice so constricted?!

        White Cross looked down, blushing madly as she levitated her violin back into the case. She tried to hide it, but I could still clearly see it. She was pretty cute when she wasn't trying so hard to look serious.

        I realized I was staring at her when she poked my on the side of the head with the pencil. I snapped back to reality, seeing her blush was even darker.

        Taking the paper she had once again hung before me, I decided to read it aloud.

“Did you really think it was beautiful?”

        I raised a brow at her.

        “Yeah,” I said in wonder. “It was, like... awesome.”

        She gave me a goofy kind of smile, her blush refusing to disappear. Was this the first time somepony had ever told her that her music was good?

        She took the paper back. I used that time to feel my face. My hoof came away burning. Yep, I was blushing, too.

        Cross again gave me the paper, and I read it quickly. It only had one word on it.

Thanks.

        I looked over at her. She was obviously excited that I'd called her work good. The smiles we both wore would probably never disappear.

        Aaand then Raindrops burst through the doors.

        Buck.

        “I saw them go here,” Rainbow practically bellowed as she strode into the drama room. “Gosh, I haven't been in here in ages!” she exclaimed while munching on a half-eaten baguette. Behind her was a lanky green pegasus. He looked familiar. Where had I seen him before...

        “White Cross!” he called, a powerful sweep of his wings causing him to hop right next to us. More specifically, in the little space between Cross and I, leaving him teetering along the edge of the stage.

        “I was wondering where you are! You had me worried!”

        He then turned to me.

        “And you, I read all about you!”

        I looked left, then right, then left again before innocently lifting a hoof up to me.

        “Wait, are you referring to me?” I asked, oddly enough feeling a lot more confrontational than normal. It had to have been the music.

        The pegasus lifted me up with a hoof, dangling me in front of him.

        “You almost killed a few students at your old school. You won't go anywhere near my sister again, got it?”

        He waited for a response.

        I waited for him to let me breath.

        Suddenly, the doors barked open again.

        “Heat, put him down!” a strong feminine voice shouted. The green pegasus before me growled before complying.

        “I thought we had your anger problem under control, Heat!”

        Heat continued growling, turning to face the mare who had recently entered. She was a white unicorn with a calm blue mane falling down her neck. Her eyes were covered by tinted reading glasses, though these were sitting on the edge of her snout.

        “If we ever have this problem again, I will have no choice but to report you.”

        She then turned to me.

        “Are you alright?” she asked.

        “Fine,” I huffed.

        She turned back to Heat.

        “This will not happen again. Do you understand me?”

        He didn't respond.

        The mare growled, her horn sparkling a light blue color. A few vinyl records from behind her (I had no idea where they came from prior) floated menacingly in the air to either side of her.

        “Do you understand me?” she repeated.

        Heat growled.

        “Understood.”

        “Good,” she said, letting the records disappear with a POP!

        “Now,” she said, “in case none of you noticed, the bell has rung. Please continue to your next classes.”

        Raindrops waved me a good-bye before trotting out of the drama room.

        Heat strode off, huffing to himself as he sat down in the seats facing the stage.

        White Cross poked my side cautiously, causing me to jolt. I think I startled her a little bit, and I made sure to be very considerate to her when I asked her what she wanted. She answered with the paper, now almost completely full of words.

Sorry about my brother, he can get... protective, sometimes.

        I took a deep breath, trying not to let the encounter get to me. Gritting my teeth, I forced myself to smile. I knew it looked fake.

        “No problem,” I assured her.

        Together, we both trotted away and found seats in the auditorium, waiting for the class to start. The usual filler students slowly poured in, although one particular pegasus decided to sit near us. There was the entire auditorium open, but he sat right next to us, only one seat separating him from me.

        What. Gives.

        I turned and looked him over, trying to judge if he was a threat. His hide was dark brown, with a blue mane that was light near the base of his hair but turned gradually darker the further out it got. His icy blue eyes were focused straight ahead.

        “Yo,” I said. Jeez, I was suddenly VERY confrontational, wasn't I?!

        The pegasus almost jumped in surprise that I was talking to him.

        “Wha- me?” he asked, his voice strong but shy.

        “Yeah,” I said, leaning back. “You had the entire auditorium open, and you sit there?”

        I gestured with my hoof, creating a sweeping motion of the mostly empty room.

        “I... I was just...” he mumbled.

        I lifted a hoof to my ear. “Can't hear you,” I growled. Guess I was a tad touchy, too.

        “I was.... just trying to...” he whimpered. I still couldn't catch what he ended with.

        “What?”

        “Just trying to look like... I had friends....” he practically sniffled.

        Now I felt bad for the guy. He must have been one of those kids who got picked on for having no friends what-so-ever, and just wanted to make it look like he had friends. Heck, why didn't he just, I dunno, try and MAKE some friends?

        “Fair enough,” I sighed, returning my focus to the stage. The white mare from early had returned, this time she was dragging a massive set of double-stacked speakers behind her. I could clearly see her cutie mark.

        It was a double bass clef.

        Refusing to use her magic, she attached each and every cable the speakers had, opening a laptop that was inlaid on the surface of the table that jutted from the side of the... monstrosity. A beautiful monstrosity, mind you, but... wow.

        The massive speakers began pounding out a steady bass line. The sound carried through the entire auditorium with ease, immediately shutting up anypony who hadn't taken interest in what she had been doing before.

        Now, each of the individual speakers in the set were easily TALLER than me, so it wasn't all that surprising that the ONLY thing we could hear was the bass line.

        “Hello, everypony,” the mare said, defying any and all reason as she spoke above the crushing noise, and clearly at that.

        “I am Miss Clef, and welcome to Music Is Art.”

        Hot.

        Damn.

1_9_Music_is_Art

1_9_Music_is_Art

Digital_Hex- - - - - - - -A fan-fiction by Digital_Hex

Chapter 9

        “-and welcome to Music is Art.”

        The entire class was silent. Well, more like pinned to the back of their seats as the final bass chord resonated through their bodies.

        “Now, this is going to be a fun semester,” Miss Clef said as soon as the violent sound was finished. I looked over to White Cross, expecting her to be cowering in fright. Instead, she was leaning forward with a devilish grin on her face, obviously had enjoyed the blast.

        “We have much to cover, such as the history of music, why music is so important to Equestrian culture, yadda-yadda, all that manure.”

        A few students chuckled while Miss Clef didn't so much as break into a grin, instead levitating her perched glasses and breathing onto them softly, rubbing the lenses against her coat before returning them to her muzzle.

        “But for now, WHO WANTS TO MAKE SOME MUSIC?!?” she practically shouted, receiving much enthusiasm from the class. White Cross was even waving her hooves above her head frantically, a big smile plastered on her face.

        Maybe I'd judged this little filly wrong.

        After that, we were paired up into groups of three for a little “meet-the-class” project. Between White Cross, the pegasus next to us, and myself, we had to have been the most anti-social group in the room. While everyone chattered away, we kind of just sat there awkwardly.

        “So...” I finally spoke up after a few uncomfortable minutes had passed by. I turned to the pegasus. “What's your name?”

        “Oh, it's... Midnight...” he whispered. Jeez, this guy was even more reclusive than I was. I at least had my sarcasm and natural charm to fall back on, this guy was worse than a doormat.

        “Digital Hex,” I said, pointing to myself. “White Cross,” I said as I turned my hoof to White Cross, who was suddenly as bored-looking as she normally was.

        Midnight nodded in a jittery way before snapping back to cowering.

        I sighed. I used to be like that, I knew where he was coming from.

        “So, do you play any instruments?” I asked, taking a chance. Hey, the fact I was instigating a conversation from him was a big step for me.

        “Y-yeah,” he muttered.

        “What do you-” I didn't get to finish my sentence because I suddenly saw Heat charging my way.

        Please, not this again.

        Heat snapped his wings, launching himself into a seat behind me. Miss Clef had her back turned, and she wouldn't be able to hear anypony over the din of the other students.

        “I obviously didn't get to finish what I was saying,” he spat at me, grabbing at the hide in the front of my neck.

        “You stay away from her. You hear?”

        As he said this, he pressed a hoof against White Cross, attempting to push her away. She fought back valiantly, struggling to refuse to budge. It was a losing battle.

        “Excuse me,” I suddenly heard from my side. Both Heat and I turned to see Midnight glaring daggers at Heat, a small smirk on his face.

        “What?” Heat asked.

        “Leave him alone. Last I checked, physical contact against another student is considered assault.”

        “What are you, a snitch?” Heat spat at him.

        “Let him go,” Midnight demanded, ignoring the question.

        “I don;t think so. Again, what are you, a sni-

        I swear I saw Midnight's eyes gloss over red, if only for a second.

        “Nah, I'm a shield,” he interrupted before twitching ever so slightly.

        A second later, Heat was flying across the aisle. He crashed into the wall away from us.

        I turned back to Midnight, who was glaring after Heat. Miss Clef was now looking over towards us, a confused but slightly irritated look on her face. Heat saw this as he pulled himself up and growled before trotting back over to his group.

        “Midnight, what was that!” I said, somewhat impressed.

        “Oh that? That was-” He suddenly shook rather violently before his eyes shrank to pinpricks.

        “It- it was nothing...” he whispered, going back into his crab-like attitude.

        I was amazed at this rapid transformation. He goes from shy kid to ultimate bully-kicking bad-ass, only to revert back to shy kid. This guy was AWESOME!

        “Well whatever it was, nice one,” I said, lifting my hoof towards him. He looked at it wearily before slowly bumping his own against mine. I swear he even smiled a little bit.

        Midnight slowly opened up. He was from Ponyville, but he really didn't know anypony due to being a social hermit. Sounded familiar. He was a pretty nice guy, being quite honest. He got along well with White Cross, and it didn't take long for White Cross and Midnight to start conversing through paper.

        The whole meeting phase lasted a good twenty minutes, in which we learned a bit about Midnight. He'd gained his cutie mark, which was a shield with a pair of wings opening from it, pretty much the same way that he'd tossed Heat around earlier. He apparently was known around school for his actions, but in a way that after it happened ponies would talk about him for a few days and then completely forget he existed.

        Sounded dreamy.

        “Alright, class. I hope you all had enough time to meet, because we're going to have a little competition here.”

        I swear I heard everypony in the room lift an eyebrow at her.

        “Choose one member of your team for a music battle. I'll give you all a minute to decide. The genre is random, so I'd recommend choosing someone who is flexible.”

        The two in my group instantly began prodding me to go up. White Cross was at a disadvantage because she was incapable of speech, so any type of singing contest would have kicked our team out instantly, while Midnight flat-out refused to go up.

        Reluctantly, I trotted up to the stage. Five other ponies were already up there, with two more making their way up after me. Heat grinned angrily at me as he took his place on the other side of the stage floor.

        “Alright, now choose a partner to compete against.”

        All of us looked at her like she was crazy. We didn't know anypony else up there, nor what they specialized in!

        In a confused mess of shuffling and murmuring, ponies eventually began partnering up. I saw the choices slowly begin dwindling, and that's when Heat and I locked eyes. A duel.

        I trotted right over to him, sitting on my rump as he did likewise, both of us staring straight ahead. This was going to be a battle for the ages, musical style.

        “Alright, I'll randomly assign a style for each of you,” Miss Clef said as she clicked a button on her laptop, looking at the screen before pointing at two giggly mares near the front of the group.

        “Opera. Go.”

        The two mares let their jaws drop, looking between each other and the teacher in shock. Apparently they didn't know how to sing opera.

        “Can't sing opera?” Miss Clef asked them. They shook their heads no.

        “You're out. Next group!”

        A stallion and a mare, seemingly friends, approached Miss Clef next.

        “Screamo.”

        They looked at her before smirking. The mare gave Miss Clef the name of the song they wanted.

        The next three minutes just about ruptured my ear drums. Heat was in similar pain.

        “At least they didn't have top do opera,” I joked. “That would be a bastard child I would want to kill with great disdain.”

        Heat chuckled a second before realizing he was supposed to not like me and went back to glaring ahead.

        “You,” Clef said, pointing at the mare. “You out-performed your competitor. You win. Sit.”

        The two shared a shocked look before shrugging it off and returning to their seats.

        “Next!” Miss Clef demanded. And so it went. The next group, two stallions, went up.

        “Country.”

        The stallions managed to stumble there way through a quick country song, but it was obvious that they weren't used to that genre.

        “Neither of you win. Sit in shame,” Miss Clef demanded, pointing them to their seats.

        Suddenly Miss Clef pointed at Heat and I.

        “You two, rap. Go.”

        I swallowed hard, but Heat immediately jumped at the que, leaping straight up and soaring into the middle of the stage. As soon as he set his hooves on the stage, he began his angry rap.

You never know, where you're gonna fucking go,

But that don't mean nothing, no,

Cuz you're gonna show, blow, so-

        I interrupted him, sliding into the center of the stage, blocking him from the audience in a maneuver I never would have done before. Why? I was literally throwing myself out to the class. Yeah, talk about grabbing their attention.

Turn around, look at me did I say you could speak, NO!

Should have known, what you thinking man, think this is a solo?

Listen up, you little pup, I'll lay you out like a throw rug

Beat you in the back then go around and hang you up-

Think you're pretty funny, huh

Think that you can take me on?

Come on bring it on you little

Half-pint, light it up!

           I grinned, sharing a showdown with Heat. This was going rather well, I thought. We began circling the center of the stage, eyes staying locked.

Bring it on? I'll bring it on

Too bad you won't keep it on.

See this rhyme that you were spinning?

Boom- what? Now it's gone.

It's really gone, out of sight.

What did you want me to light?

I see nothing here, nothing there, nothing nothing around here

You really playing cocky when you don't know what you're up against.

Play this game? I'll play this game!

Then guess what? You will pay!

You gone and pissed me off son,

Now let's see if you can make it rain-

        I received a round of laughs and cheers from the room, and was surprised that the lighting had been changed. Whereas the last two songs had been relatively duets, now it was a flat rap battle between the two of us. Two spotlights followed us, tracing our circles as we continued pacing around each other.

That's some mighty strong words for a little tiny guy.

Did you hurt yourself trying to think all that up on the fly?

I must admit, pretty good but son you ain't seen nothing yet.

I'm just getting started boy, let me teach you a lesson-

Actually, dear sir, you just used a double negative,

And while I'm guilty of this too you did it quite like a dumb prick!

You haven't seen anything, ain't seen something, anything but that,

I'll let this one slide for now, but I won't cut you any slack-

I received some hoots from the audience for my little jab at Heat.

Very clever, very good. Looks like you might be kinda good.

However you need to learn the basics,

This isn't your grammar school.

I don't care, not today, whether I say what I say

Makes any sense or not, because I'm about to make you stop

Breathing as I tear you up, chew you up and spit you out.

You say that you can handle me?

Come on, give me your best shot!

Let's take a look at what you say, you say you're ready any day.

If I were to schedule Saturday, would be ready to play?

No, you stupid cock, you would wuss out, you got no spine!

This battle is won by me, this isn't yours, it is mine!

Look at where we've gone, didn't you start by saying where you'd go?

What you saying now, you're going to reschedule? Where'd you go!

I thought that you were ready, thought that you were psyched to go!

Guess I was wrong about you, that's a shame, I really thought it was for

A battle you would bring, you say you've brought, but I'm still standing here.

I don't know who you are, but I'm Digital Hex, the champion!

Heat started to try and return, but instead just smirked and raised his hooves in defeat.

        “Give,” he said.

        … Huh. My first rap battle, and I won. Who'd have thunk it?

1_10_Health:Part_1

1_10_Health:Part_1

Digital_Hex- - - - - - - -A fan-fiction by Digital_Hex

Chapter 10

        “You pass,” Miss Clef said as she pointed a hoof at me. She then turned said hoof to Heat.

        “You, not so much.”

        Heat shrugged it off and trotted back to his seat, while I did likewise to my seat. As soon as I sat down, White Cross prodded me with a new sheet of paper.

I didn't know you could rap.

        “Neither did I, to be honest,” I admitted to her. “I pretty much just spouted off anything that I felt fit.”

        I waited as White Cross scratched some words onto the paper.

Well for a half-flank attempt, it was very good.

        I gave her a smile, which she returned before punching my in the shoulder. I laughed.

        A few more students went through the challenge Miss Clef had, but nopony could even compare to the reactions Heat and I received. It was kind of a good feeling, knowing that I actually did kind of good at the challenge.

        It felt like after that, time passed by rather quickly. Before I knew it, class was over and we were all hurrying out the doors.

        “So what's your next class? I asked White Cross as the two of us, with Midnight in tow behind, trotted into the hall.

        She looked at her schedule before levitating it up in front of me, a narrow band of magic highlighting a line of text.

Senior Health – Miss Heart, Room 401

        “Hey, I have that class as well!” I said. “Convenient.”

        We then turned to Midnight, who had really opened up to us to the point that I might have been able to consider him a friend.

        “What class do you have next, Midnight?” I asked him. He fumbled around for his schedule, trying to avoid gathering attention from anypony else in the halls.

        Finally, after almost a full minute, he found his schedule, pulling it out and skimming over it.

        “Sophomore Mathematics.”

        I raised an eyebrow as I looked up, just now realizing exactly how towering Midnight really was. He was almost twice my height.

        “You're a sophomore?”

        “Y-yeah...” he said, looking sheepish.

        “Huh,” I stated bluntly, before raising my hoof to him. He slowly returned it.

        “Well, see you around!” I said before I trotted off, White Cross bumping hooves with Midnight as well before catching up with me. We trotted down the hallway next to each other, each step making me feel more self-conscious of the fact that she was taller and generally larger than I was. I shouldn't have felt nearly as bad about it as I did, considering she was older than me after all, but...

        Midnight had to have been the same approximate age as me, seeing as I would have normally been a sophomore, yet he flat out towered over me like I was an ant of some kind. How was that possible?! Was he really that freakishly tall, or was I really that microscopically tiny?!

        I was pulled from my train of thought as I felt a tug on my tail. Turning, I saw White Cross was standing in front of a room marked 401, using her magic to grab my tail. I had walked right past the room, distracted by my thoughts.

        “Thanks,” I said, blushing slightly as I met back with her. She gave me a smug grin before sweeping her hoof towards the door, motioning me to go in before her. I rolled my eyes, receiving a quick bout of silent giggles from her before giving in the her wishes.

        I entered the classroom.

        I exited the classroom.

        Raindrops, Lemon Hearts and Lug were all bunched together near the entrance.

        “Hey, Hex!” I heard Raindrops call after me, using the name I flat despised. Seriously, why would you call someone a word that in theory meant a physically handicapped curse? Why my mother named me that only solidified my theory that she was not in her right mind when I was born, possibly drunk or stoned. Maybe both. Probably both.

        Sighing, I trotted back into the classroom. Conveniently (or not) there were two empty desks right next to Raindrops' little gaggle.

        “How's your day been, Hex?”

        “Digit,” I corrected her. I didn't answer her question. She was friendly and all, but...

        “Oh, right! My bad!” she said with a goofy smile on her face. Lemon Hearts and Lug were chatting away behind her, simply waving hello to me without breaking their conversation.

        “So who's your friend here?” Raindrops asked me, trotting over to White Cross and looking her over. White Cross initially cringed and tried to hide behind her mane before striking an irritated pose. She must have had a split personality thing going on, battling for dominance inside of her.

        “This is White Cross,” I told her, but before our conversation could go any further, the bell rang.

        Seconds later, Miss Heart entered the room. She was a soft pink with a poofy yellow and purple mane. She had a single deep pink heart on her flank that bounced along as she walked- bad Digit, bad. Don't stare.

        “Hi mom!” Lemon Hearts suddenly shouted, waving excitedly at the teacher.

        “Lemon,” Miss Heart said, giving her daughter a warm smile.

        “And hello class, welcome to the last Health class that you have to take!”

        Everypony in the class cheered. Was it just me, or were the students at this school really energetic?

        “Now, this semester will be broken up into two sections: anatomy and sexual education. We shall begin the semester with sexual education, and move into advanced anatomy after the quarter ends.”

        A few of the male students in the room suddenly were at the edge of their seats, eager to learn more. I shrank back into my chair, not nearly as interested in the subject as they were.

        I kind of just spaced out for a little while until I felt a familiar prodding against my shoulder. I looked over slightly to see White Cross sneakily passing a note to me on a small sheet of paper.

        Carefully grabbing it while acting like I wasn't doing anything suspicious, I looked down at what was written.

Do you maybe want to hang out after school?

        I cast her a sideways glance. That was rather... forward. Although, I guess that's what friends did, wasn't it? I didn't know, as I'd never really had friends before to know what they did in their free time.

        I quickly scribbled sure underneath her words, and ever so casually edged it to the side of my desk. White Cross picked it up with her magic, slowly taking it back.

        “Is that note-passing I see?” Miss Heart suddenly scolded, and I closed my eyes in defeat. Damn it, we'd been caught.

        “Alright you two, front and center-” she paused before cocking her head.

        “I forgot to take attendance, didn't I?”

        I was a little confused as to why this was suddenly so important, but I pushed it out of my mind as White Cross and I slowly trotted to the front of the class. My face was red with embarrassment, and my tiny frame immediately got the attention of every student in the room. White Cross, not being much bigger than myself, didn't help the situation.

        “Let me see it,” Miss Heart said, holding out a hoof. White Cross levitated the note over to the teacher, looking a little shamed but trying to put up a strong front in front of the class.

        “Ahuh,” Miss Heart said as she read the note. “I figured as much. Lusty children these days.”

Aaand there went White Cross' strong front. She suddenly started shaking slightly, her face ging pink. I rolled my eyes at the teacher, charging my sarcasm beam.

        “This, class, is a common expression between teenagers, and is completely normal. It starts out as a simple let's hang out and slowly turns into more than just 'hanging out'. Just wait.”

        I facehoofed as the entire class chuckled. Poor White Cross simply stood there trembling like a leaf.

        “Or,” I said, challenging the teacher, “it has nothing to do with that and it's simply the new kid's way of making a few friends.”

        Holy crap, I'd just talked back to a teacher in front of the entire class and didn't feel like hiding beneath a rock! Woo! More progress!

        “Oh wait, you're the transfer student, aren't you? Digital something-”

        “Hex,” I finished. “But just stick with Digit, please.”

        “Alright then, Digit. Now, do you recall what we were going over while you were passing notes with your marefriend here?”

        White Cross immediately began waving her hooves frantically across her chest in a desperate NO! Motion, implying exactly what I was about to say as well.

        “We kind of only met, we're just friends, ma'am.”

        “That doesn't answer the question,” she chided, waiting for a response.

        “Nope, I have no idea what you were talking about,” I said non-cavalier.

        “Funny, I would have thought a young stallion such as yourself would be quite interested in this,” she verbally jabbed at me. I rolled my eyes as she continued.

        “I was explaining courting habits amongst the youth, and ways that mares would respond to such responses.”

        “Huh, that explains why I wasn't interested then,” I replied bluntly. “I'm only fifteen, not completely obsessed with hooking up actually.”

        I could sense White Cross stop shaking, now staring straight at me. What was that response all about?! Shouldn't she be agreeing with me?!

        “You're... fifteen?” Miss Heart asked, an eyebrow raised.

        “Yeah, you couldn't tell?” I asked as I stood on my back legs, still not even eye-to-eye with her while waving down my body, referring to my regrettably small form. Returning to all fours, I sat down on the floor.

        “I- never mind. However, how would the two of you like to make up for your interruption of class to assist in a demonstration for the class?”

        I gave her a suspicious look.

        “What kind of demonstration?” I asked her.

        “Ways that young ponies express interest in the opposite sex!” she said cheerfully.

        “Can I say no?” I asked her.

        “Nope!” she said, eyes closed happily. “Alright, both of you stand over there, facing the class.”

        White Cross and I trotted over next to her desk. I noticed White Cross wasn't doing to well, rather scared to still be up in front of the class, so I took a protective step towards her. She sidled up right next to me, I could still feel her trembling slightly.

        “Now, as many of you might very well know,” she said while giving her daughter a disapproving glare, “a mare will exhibit certain signs when they are in heat, which is completely normal for ponies your ages. In fact, some of you might be having their first time soon!”

        Crap. I already didn't like where this was going. Sensing by the fact that White Cross had completely froze up next to me, stiff as a board, she probably didn't like where this was going either.

        “Will you come here, dear?” Miss Heart asked White Cross. White Cross didn't move, didn't even budge.

        “Dear? What's your name?”

        “Her name is White Cross,” I answered for her automatically. Dang, that was a little scary, how quickly and naturally it felt to speak for her.

        “Oh, thank you Digital Hex, but you don't need to speak for her-”

        “Actually, Miss Heart,” I corrected her, “I kind of did in that situation.”

        “How so?” she asked, giving me a disapproving look.

        “That's an issue I don't think I need to say in front of the entire class.”

        “I don't-” she began, but then suddenly a switch was flicked on in her head.

        “Oh, right. She's the... I see. My apologies, White Cross. Now, can you please come here?”

        White Cross looked to me briefly, a pleading look on her face. I lightly nudged her forward, at which point she trotted over to Miss Heart.

        “Now, class, please be mature for this next part,” Miss Heart said with an evil grin on her face.

        Oh buck.

1_11_Health:Part_2

1_11_Health:Part_2

Digital_Hex- - - - - - - -A fan-fiction by Digital_Hex

Chapter 11

        White Cross and I slunk back to our seats, both of our faces deep red. Neither of us made a sound as we slid into our respective chairs, refusing to even look at each other in shame of what had just happened.

        That. Was. Awkward.

        Turns out that Miss Heart can indeed be very, very evil towards ponies who interrupt her class with note-passing. Sadly, White Cross and I were the ones who found that out. The hard way.

        The subject we had oh-so-knowingly interrupted was what habits ponies tended to do when a mare is in heat and a male catches on to that.

        Yeah. Dafuq.

        This went on for a good twenty minutes, with each scenario she put us through getting more and more degrading until she actually had White Cross flicking her tail under my snout, at which point I threw my hoofs in the air and rage quit.

        TL;DR: Oh my god, that whore of a teacher.

        White Cross and I refused to even meet eyes after that. Yeah, I wanted to make a freaking friend, not virtually dry-hump her in front of the class in the name of education. If this was what the school system was turning in to, then I was actually glad I wasn't part of it for a few years.

“Pssst...” I heard a distinctively non-stealthy Raindrops whisper to me.

        I rolled my eyes, trying to ignore her. There was no way I was going to interrupt again and be forced to go through that humiliation, with Raindrops no doubt.

“PSSST...” she whispered again. I felt a blood vessel on my forehead flare.

Just ignore her, Digit, I thought to myself.

        I winced in anger as I felt a crumpled ball of paper make contact with the back of my head. A growl escaped my lips as I struggled to remain focused dead ahead.

        Another ball of paper struck me. I saw Miss heart look directly my way. She was perfectly aware of what was going on. She must have known Raindrops, from the evil smirk she wore when she saw what Raindrops was trying to do.

        A second later, my vision flashed red as a FRAGGING BOOK crashed into the back of my head, tossing my torso forward out of the seat.

        “WHAT WAS THAT FOR, YOU BLOODY DITZ?!” I hissed at her loud enough that the entire classroom could hear me. Oddly enough, nopony was interested in my whispering. Then I saw why everypony was so distracted: Miss Heart was showing a video on reproduction between ponies. Beautiful.

        I turned around, glaring Raindrops down. Screw it, if Miss Heart wanted me to give another virtual lap dance to the class, fine. I didn't care. I was going to get this over with first.

        Raindrops leaned forward, beckoning me closer. I rolled my eyes and leaned towards her, waiting for her to talk.

        “I think she likes you,” she said, pointing to White Cross. Both of us looked towards Cross, who had an eye on us until we focused our direction on her. She suddenly snapped back forward, but that resulted in her looking straight at the video, which was raunchy enough to have been freaking porn as far as anypony was concerned. Her face went bright red, so she turned back to us, where we locked eyes again. Her face went even deeper red, to the point I was surprised the blood didn't pop out her eyes, and she turned to face away from us.

        I turned my gaze to Raindrops, my expression unamused.

        “Look what you did now, Drippy. Thanks so much,” I deadpanned.

        She smiled honestly, eyes closed and grin cheeky. “That's what I'm here for! Glad to help!”

        I chuckled dryly. The sad part is, I knew deep down she had to have been trying to actually help. There was no way she could feign being that dumb but honest that well. I sighed as I rubbed my temple with a hoof.

        A few seconds later, the bell rang. Health class was over. I collected my bag and slipped to my hooves, heading to the door. I wanted to avoid White Cross after our fiasco, but...

        I stopped at the door, turning around. White Cross was still putting her stuff away, looking quite flustered.

        Sighing deeply, I clopped over to her, grabbing her violin case strap with my teeth. White Cross gave me a confused and shocked look.

        “Leffz gah,” I managed to mutter through the fabric of the strap. White Cross giggled in her quiet manner, enveloping the strap with her magic and resting it on her back before pulling out her schedule. I did so as well, looking at my final class period.

Period 7: Class Team – TEAM B, Commons

        “I have team B, in the commons. You?”

        She nodded, and I felt my heart skip a beat. We had quite a few classes together, didn't we? It was rather odd, but refreshing to say the least.

        “Then, uh...” I stammered as I rubbed a hoof on the back of my neck. “Let's go?”

        She nodded again, a small smile on her face as she started making her way towards the commons. I was behind her, and I started to notice something. It wasn't something too dramatic, no, but it was... subtle.

        Miss Heart had said that when a mare showed interest in a stallion, she'd add an extra sway in her hips when he was near. She'd even made White Cross trot across the front of the room overly-dramatizing the action to get her point across.

        Well, I wasn't certain, but I was pretty sure that Cross was swaying her hips a little extra, bobbing her tail a bit more than necessary with each step.

        I took a deep breath and trotted up beside her, matching step with her and sidling up right alongside, almost to where our sides were touching but not quite. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her smile a little bit, a blush on her snout.

        As we reached the commons, the hallway opened up into the open air, and I breathed a lungful of relief. Inside was rather... musty. The outdoors tasted so much better than the classrooms did.

        Over by the benches was a teacher with a clipboard, as well as a few students. As we approached, the students hurried along, likely trying to find their next class. Cross and I received the attention of the teacher as we closed in.

        “Oy! You lot part o' team B?” she bellowed with a very strong voice. Cross and I nodded.

        “Good! Sit down, wait fer the rest o' yer clahs!” she yelled again. She didn't sound particularly angry, more like she just didn't know how to talk at a low volume.

        Cross and I sat down on the grass next to the benches. I laid down, sprawling onto my side as I felt the sun bath my in it's light. Perhaps my pale complexion could benefit from the light.

        I started as I felt White Cross lay next to my back, her back to mine. I felt my heart race pick up, but as I felt hers do the same through our touching hides, mine fell back down slowly. She was just as nervous as I was.

        So, I had to ask myself the question: Did I like White Cross? I mean, sure I'd only known her a single day, but... Was that enough to have taken a liking for her? I was certainly attracted to her, but was it just that: an attraction? Was I just interested in her demeanor and body, but not-

        No. She was a wonderful pony. If I liked her for anything, it was because of who she was, not what she was like.

        I rolled onto my side, still keeping my side touching her back.

        “Hey, Cross?”

        White Cross rolled onto her side, still snuggled up next to me. She cocked her head to one side as she looked at me. We both suddenly noticed the proximity between our muzzles, or more specifically the lack of proximity. We were practically nuzzling each other.

        Both of our faces flushed red as we looked at each other, rather shocked. I was the first on to crack into a grin, realizing we were probably both in the exact same situation. I adjusted my head so I was facing a little to the side, so our nuzzles weren't right next to each other.

        “About hanging out today...” I started. White Cross's ears perked up.

        “Where did you have in mind?” I asked, trying to give her a hopeful smile. Her face went bright red as she grinned from ear to ear, rubbing up next to me in a sign of affection.

        Pulling out the piece of paper, she levitated it out and started scratching words down. This time, though, I saw the words being written while they were being scrawled down. It was... a little relaxing.

There's a movie playing at the theater at five that I was going to go see, do you want to go see it with me?

        I smiled. I'd never gone and seen a movie with friends, as it required actually having friends. Come to think of it, the general lack of friends in my past had left me a rather unfulfilled past.

        “Sure, we can go grab a bite to eat before, too,” I said, to which she nodded enthusiastically.

        “Somepony looks a little friendly.”

        I leapt to my hooves at the sound of Heat's voice, spinning around.

        “Look, if you don't like me then that's fine, but-”

        I was cut short as I felt him give me a nuggie. I was familiar with it, having had my father done it to me many time sin the past. I recognized it not as a sign of aggression, but of friendship. At least for me, anyways.

        “Calm down, squirt. It's cool.”

        I shrugged off his grasp, which was surprisingly easy. Pegasi must not be as strong as- never mind.

        “Wait, we're cool?” I asked. Heat nodded. “Just like that?”

        “Well, it took you actually standing up for yourself in our little duel, but yeah. I'm honorable, you beat me. In my book, that means you're cool,” he said, a smart-ass smirk on his face.

        I laughed, rubbing my face with a hoof.

        “High school just keeps on getting weirder and weirder,” I said.

        “Damn straight it does!”

        I turned to see Lug and Lemon Hearts join the group, Lemon Hearts practically hanging off Lug.

        “At least have some tact, Lemon,” Heat said, rolling his eyes. Lemon stuck out her tongue at Heat, clinging even tighter to Lug, who struck a heroic pose as if her was defending Lemon from Heat.

        “I shall not let you pass!” he bellowed cinematically, to which Heat laughed, bumping hooves with Lug.

        “How come you didn't try out for the hoofball team this year?” Lug asked Heat, to which Heat responded by shrugging his wings (hooowww....).

        “Didn't feel like it. It just isn't exciting enough for me.”

        “Cuz running around a track is sooo much more exciting!” Raindrops said as she landed in the middle of our group, a bag full of- MOTHEROFGAWD!

        Her bag was CRAMMED, I mean CRAMMED with baguettes! Now I knew who Pinkie Pie was hiding that last baguette from at the bakery this morning...

        “Baguette?” she asked the group at large as she pulled out a rod of bread from her bag, munching on it contently. Heat shrugged and took one out, breaking off half and tossing it to Lug. Lug nodded and enjoyed the treat with Lemon.

        I raised an eyebrow at White Cross, who shrugged from her spot on the grass.

        “OW!” I yelped as I was thwacked on the back of the head with a baguette by Raindrops, leaving s few flaky crumbs in my mane.

        “Take one!” she said cheerfully, offering me one of the two-foot long sticks of bread.

        I accepted it rather begrudgingly and snapped it in half, offering one half to White Cross. She picked it up in her magic and began chewing absentmindedly, apparently distracted by something. I opened my mouth to ask her what was up, but then the monitor from earlier decided to pipe up.

        “Okay! This is your team, Senior Class Team B! You get your team project next week, so for now get to know each other! No leaving campus!” With that, the monitor left, trotting back to the school.

        I looked around at the five other ponies around me, the only five ponies I really had met on good terms today (or at least had ended with good terms).

        “Alright, we just get to hang out with a bunch of friends as seniors? This is awesome!” Raindrops shouted, pumping the air with a hoof. We all laughed.

Friends, huh? I thought, glancing over to White Cross. She looked back, her face toning back down but still a pinch rosy. I laid down back next to her.

        These were my friends, or at least the closest things I had to friends so far. This was till the first day of school, but...

Maybe having friends isn't going to be too bad at all.

1_12_Memories

1_12_Memories

Digital_Hex- - - - - - - -A fan-fiction by Digital_Hex

Chapter 12

“You told me that you were done with seeing him, and then I find out... this?!”

“So what do you want me to do, leave?!” she yelled back.

“I think that's an excellent idea!” the stallion shouted back. “Take that bastard child and get the Hell out of here!”

“H-Hammer, you can't be ser-” she began, voice obviously cracking in surprise to his outburst.

“I mean it, Remedy! Get out of here! I'm sure that stud from Canterlot would love to rut you a lot more than I ever will!”

“He's not from Canterlot, he's from An-”

“I DON'T CARE!” he shouted, “GET OUT! NOW! YOU WON'T PUT DIGIT THROUGH THIS, YOU HEAR!?!”

“Fine!” Remedy yelled, crying as she charged through the house. She turned a corner, heading straight for the front door, and saw him sitting on the welcome mat. Saw the confusion on his face, the concern in his eyes. He met his eyes with his mother, saw her for the last time. Saw the eyes they both shared, saw the family who would lose forever.

“Good-bye, Hex,” she said as she swept past him, not bothering to give him a kiss on the cheek or even a brush on the head. She charged out, her pale blue coat glistening in the fading light. Her bubblegum-pink mane swished over her dark eyes as she took one last look at the house she had called her home, the place she would never return to. She snapped out her wings, preparing to take off.

“Remedy...” the stallion from before cried, barreling past the small colt, picking him up with a hoof and holding him close.

“Wait, don't do this...” he cried, tears visible on his face.

“Oh, so now you don't want me to go!” Remedy yelled back, enraged. “Now you don't want me to do what you want! Take your son with his... stupid eyes and just leave me alone!” she cried as she leaped into the air, pumping her wings furiously.

“Remedy!” the stallion called.

“Mommy!” the young colt called as well, not fully understanding what was happening. He was too young to remember everything that happened, but he would surely be scarred for life by what had just happened.

“I fell in love with your eyes, Remedy... how could you call them stupid...” Hammer Hoof cried to himself, holding his son close to him. He looked his son right into his blacked-out eyes, a thin ring of pink in each of them.

“We'll be fine, Digit...” Hammer Hoof said before burying his face into his tiny son's shoulder.

“We'll be fine...”

        “Yo, Digit!”

        I snapped back to reality. A moment ago, I had just been thinking about how fun having friends might have been, the next... I dunno. Must have spaced out for a second.

        “Huh? What's up?”

        “Didn't you hear over the intercom? They want you at the front office!” Lug said with a little bit of a laugh.

        “Oh, my bad,” I said with a slight chuckle, blushing a little in embarrassment. Did I really miss that? I must have been spaced out pretty bad.

        Picking up a hoof, I turned to head towards the office.

        “I'll get back to you later Cross, okay?”

        She nodded with a smile, causing everypony next to us to raise an eyebrow before bombarding her with a load of their own questions, mainly focusing on what I meant by that. I laughed while charging off towards the office.

        “So you can see these... fields?” Hammer Hoof asked his son, a small white colt who was sitting on his father's workbench while Hammer worked on... something.

“Yeah! They're really cool!” the kid said excitedly while hopping up and down. “And look, when I touch them-”

The small foal paused to stroke a green line circling him with a hoof, creating a very soft shriek of pure noise, subtle but impressive at the same time. It lit up the workroom slightly, only for a moment.

“-they make noises! Isn't it cool!”

“It sure is, Digit,” Hammer said while laughing, ruffling his son's mane with a hoof.

“It sure is...”

        “Hey Hex!”

        I turned to see Raindrops charging after me.

        “It's Digit, but what's up?”

        “You okay? You seemed a little zoned out back there, a bit...” she said slowly, looking into my eyes.

        “Did I?” I said, rubbing the back of my neck. “Sorry. Just feeling a bit... off, all of a sudden. I'm sure it's nothing.”

        “Are you sure?” Raindrops asked again. She was honestly concerned, I could see it in her pale eyes. I must have really been throwing her off, and I hadn't even noticed.

        “Yes, my little pony,” I said while chuckling softly, reaching up with my own hoof to ruffle her mane, the way my dad always used to do to me. “I'm fine. Thank you, though.”

        “Okay...” Raindrops said, smiling softly. She was really annoying, but that moment right there, that moment let me know that beneath it all, she really did care. She really did want to help. I'd only met her today, but she was already a friend. A real friend.

A true friend...

“Whoa, dad! These are so cool!” the tiny white colt shouted in glee as he spun around, smacking his hooves together over a blue string. His headphones suddenly barked out a deep, rich booming of pure bass, clean and clear.

He spun around more, dancing between the fields that surrounded him. They were green and blue, intertwining at times and circling him always. On the colt's hooves were a pair of bands that led to small earpieces.

“I'm glad you like them, son,” Hammer Hoof said. “I've been working on them for a while, they were for... a friend...” he started, eyes welling up.

“Dad?” the colt asked. “What friend?”

Hammer sighed, steadying himself. “It was an old friend... she wouldn't want them any more...”

“Oh...” the colt said, looking a little sad while visually deflating. He hated to see his father sad.

Hammer took one look at his son, then suddenly had an idea.

“But...” he began, getting his son's interest. “I found a new friend to give them to.”

“You did!” the child asked, cocking his head. “Then why'd you say they're mine now?”

Hammer Hoof roared in laughter. “Because that's you, silly!” he said while bopping his son on his nose.

The colt looked up at his father, smiling widely.

“You mean it?” he asked.

“You bet it, bud. You're my best bud, my true friend, and never forget it! Okay?”

The colt ran over and tackled his dad, laughing while they wrestled on the floor.

“Okay, dad. I promise.”

        I stopped. Something wasn't right. I flicked my head back and forth. Why was I being called to the office all of a sudden? I'd already been there earlier, surely it wasn't anything to do with my schedule! Maybe... they had my locker? Even though they had said that they'd have it for me the next week, maybe they had it early?

        I shrugged it off and continued on my way, plugging my headphones into my music player as I made my trek through the hallway, bobbing my head to a familiar song.

“Dad? Why'd mom go? Where is she now?”

Hammer Hoof looked up from his paper, scowling at his son. Hammer's day was not going very well, having had to pick up his son from school on account of him getting into a fight, and now he was asking about his mother.

Hammer sighed. He shouldn't blame the boy, it wasn't his fault.

“Why do you want to know, Digit?”

“Er...” the colt stammered before looking down. He was a small child, noticeably smaller than other colts (or even fillies) his age. Hammer raised an eyebrow.

“Digit?”

“I- er...” the colt stammered before taking a deep breath.

“The other kids at school... they said something about her...”

“What did they say, Digit?”

“... Was I the reason she left?” the colt asked, tears visible in his eyes as he locked gaze with his father. “Was it something... I did?”

Hammer Hoof took his son in his arms.

“No, no. It had nothing to do with you, Digit. It was never your fault, it's okay...” Hammer assured his son as the tears poured out of his eyes.

“They-they made fun of my eyes, they- they said it was my f-fault she left! What did I do! I-I just want mommy back!”

Hammer Hoof sighed as he looked off into the distance, remembering the letter he'd received from far away in the new lands, by the griffon kingdom. The letter that assured him that she was never coming back...

“So do I, son,” Hammer said through gritted teeth, barely suppressing tears of his own.

“So do I...”

        I reached the door to the office, opening it carefully while slipping in. there was nopony at the counter, so I climbed into a chair and sat down, glancing at the table. Seeing an article, I thought I noticed, I picked up a nearby paper. I instantly regretted the decision. The paper was old, so old that I was concerned why the school still had it.

        The article was titled “Student in Hope Hill loses control, new anti-bullying rules being discussed by Equestrian school board”.

              I recognized the article. That was the article they wrote about me.

“That was it? They insulted you, and you just... snapped?”

The small colt whimpered on the floor of his house, crying. His father was still holding him from earlier, the traces of a single tear line still lingering on his cheek.

“I-I'm so sorry, dad...” the colt whispered.

“Digit,” Hammer Hoof sighed, running a hoof through his own mane. This wasn't good. His son had sent three colts to the hospital simply because they'd called him a couple names! His son had never struck anypony before, but all of a sudden...

He was aware his son had been picked on for his eyes before, for only having a father with him, but it was obviously starting to be an issue now.

“Tell you what,” Hammer said. His son perked up.

“Don't think you're off the hook at all,” he started, “but... I suppose we could go and get you contacts first thing in the morning.”

The colt cocked his head.

“Contacts?”

“Colored contacts,” Hammer explained to his son. “That way nopony will make fun of your eyes anymore.”

“I guess... Mom didn't like these eyes either...”

Hammer coughed slightly at the words.

“Excuse me?”

“I... I remember her saying my eyes were stupid...” the colt whimpered.

“No, Digit, your eyes- they aren't stupid, they're...” he stumbled for a word to use, a good word to describe them.

“Unique,” he finally decided. “Just like you.”

“You really think so?” his son asked, unimpressed but hopeful.

“You know it,” Hammer said again while pulling his son into another tight hug.

“Just promise me that you'll never, ever get into another fight. Can you promise me that?”

“I promise, dad.”

        I snapped back to reality, looking around. I was still in the front office waiting room. I glanced down; the newspaper article I was reading had a few tear marks scattered over it. It took me wiping the edges of my eyes to realize they were mine.

“We can't just drop the news on him just like that...”

        I caught the straying whisper of Mrs. Dread from behind the door to her office.

        What were they talking about? Were they talking about... me? Were they discussing what they wanted to talk to me about?

        Curiosity got the better of me and pulled me towards the door, which was barely cracked open.

“I love you, daddy!” the little colt said happily as the two of them, him and his father, strolled out of the eye glasses shop. The colt was wearing a brand new pair of contacts which were cast with a simple chameleon spell, making them look as though he had normal, powerful blue eyes. Just like his dad's.

“I love you too, son. Now we look just that much more alike!” Hammer bellowed, snatching his son up and tossing him onto his back, where his son cackled happily.

“Will we be together forever, dad?” he asked, hugging his father's back tightly.

“You bet'cha, son!” Hammer Hoof promised.

        I pressed my ear up the the gap the door left, breathing quietly so as to be able to hear what they were saying better.

“How will we tell him, then?” Mrs. Dread said. “It's not as though he can just waltz on home, not anymore! He hardly has a home worth returning to, now!”

“Correction, he has no home at all. It was... er, damaged too far to be usable any more. We'll have to rebuild something there.”

“Speaking of which, didn't you mention earlier that the city library needed to be relocated somewhere more central to town?”

“Well, at least we have that problem fixed! We can clear to rubble up and move the library there, but...”

“What do we tell him about... you know... his father...?”

        I pushed open the door gently, shaking slightly. This couldn't be happening. My house, damaged bad enough to no longer be usable?! Being hesitant to tell me something?! And my dad?!

        All eyes in the room suddenly shrank to pinpricks as I stood in the now open doorway. I was visibly shaking, sweating even.

        “What happened to my dad?”

1_13

1_13

Digital_Hex- - - - - - - -A fan-fiction by Digital_Hex

Chapter 13

        The silence that hung in the room frightened me. All of their eyes were on me, full of shock that I'd been listening in on them. None of them wanted to say the first word.

        Mrs. Dread, Mr. Rash and some pony I didn't recognize were all sitting down around a conference table, all three of them had news that I needed to know.

        “What happened to him!” I demanded.

        “Digital Hex-” Mr. Rash started, but I stomped my hoof, a large beat of bass crumpling the floor beneath it.

        “WHAT HAPPENED!”

        “Your dad, he...” Mrs. Dread began, “he was working on something, we assume, and there was an... accident. Your house exploded in a rather... violent fashion. Your dad is in the hospital.”

        “When... when was this?” I asked, head starting to swim. A few minutes ago, everything had been fine. Now, my dad was injured, in the hospital? Our house, gone?

        “About an hour ago, we just received the confirmation it was your dad.”

        “Confirmation? Why-”

        “I was nearby when it happened,” Mr. Rash said, standing up to reveal a few burn marks on his hide. “I rushed him to the hospital, he was intent on letting you know that he was fine, but...”

        “But what?” I asked him, on the verge of bursting into waterworks. Today had been a very emotional day for me.

        “He's not in the best condition...” he trailed off, receiving disapproving glares from the other two ponies.

        “You'd best watch your tongue,” the mare I didn't recognize scolded Mr. Rash. “While what you did was noble, the boy doesn't need to be hearing such negative things. I'm positive his father will be fine.”

        I think it was the fact she was talking about me in third person that set me off. It might have been the fact that she just assumed I was going to be fine.

        All I know is that I flipped shit.

        Next thing I knew, I was waking up in the nurse's office.

        I groaned, rubbing my head. I had a huge bump on the side of it. Looking round, I saw that the day was starting to turn to night.

        “I see you are awake,” the school nurse said. She trotted in, levitating a clipboard in front of her.

        “You think you can make it without knocking yourself out this time?”

        She worded it like a joke, but her face was anything but. I nodded.

        “Mrs. Dread will escort you to the hospital now.”

        Slowly, I picked myself out of the cot and out the door, meeting with Mrs. Dread. Together, we walked in silence out the door and towards the hospital. When we arrived, I was told to sit in the waiting room. The attendant even had the kindness in her heart to alert me that there was a kid's play room just down the hall, but I didn't have the heart to call her out on it. I was on auto-pilot.

        Ten minutes later, we were being led to my dad's room by a nurse.

        “And this is Mister Hoof's room,” she said, opening the door with her magic for us.

        “Thank you,” Mrs. Dread said while I just nodded.

        We trotted in, and there he was. Hammer Hoof, in all his glory: strung to IV's and wrapped up like a mummy.

        I lost it then. I cried. Rushing over to my dad, I shoved my face into the sheets covering him and cried.

        I must have been like that for... a while. After a time, Mrs. Dread managed to call me over.

        “His vitals aren't looking too bad, actually,” she informed me as she looked over a clipboard the nurses had left at the edge of his bed. “A lot of third-degree burns, but he was brought here fast enough that they didn't go any further than that. Shock would have likely gotten him, but- no, looks like he stabilized rather well.”

        Mrs. Dread let out a long breath of relief. “He's tough,” she chuckled dryly.

        “Yeah,” I sniffled, rubbing my head against my dad's side. He was asleep, probably from all of the stuff they were pumping into him.

        “He's going to make it,” Mrs. Dread assured me.

        A nurse appeared at the doorway. “I'm sorry, but visitor hours are closing. You have five minutes, then I'm going to have to ask you to please leave,” she said in a calm voice.

        “Thank you,” Mrs. Dread said, then turned back to me. She didn't say anything. She didn't have to.

        Reluctantly, I stepped away, wiping tears from my eyes.

        How could all of this have happened? It was a rhetorical question, of course. He was an inventor, it was a matter of time until something he was making blew up in his face, literally. But... why today, of all days?

        I trotted out of the hospital silently. It was a little after seven as we ended up in front of the town hall.

        “So now comes the difficult part,” Mrs. Dread said.

        “What,” was my quiet response.

        “Where you will stay. Your house is destroyed beyond use, and seeing as you have no other relatives in Ponyville...”

        I sighed. What was going to happen now?

        “I... I-” I began, but I was cut off. Who might have cut me off?

        “Hex! We've been looking all over for you!”

        I turned to see Raindrops charging towards me through the sky, skidding to a halt right next to me.

        “Woah, you don't look too good. You alright?”

        “Raindrops, what a... surprise,” Mrs. Dread said.

        “What happened?” Raindrops dead-panned. I wanted to tell her to get lost, to vent to the incredibly annoying mare, but...

        “My dad's in the hospital, house is destroyed.”

        Raindrops gasped in surprise. “Wha- wait- when did- OHMYGOSH!”

        Suddenly I was swept up in a tight embrace by Raindrops, crushing all of the oxygen from my lungs.

        “I'm so sorry! Is he alright?!”

        “He's... good. At the moment.” I choked out.

        “Raindrops, I think you should probably let go...” Mrs. Dread informed her.

        Raindrops slowly let her grip around me slack a little bit until I could just barely breath. Just barely.

        “Why are you here, then?!” Raindrops challenged Mrs. Dread, pointing at the town hall.

        “He has nopony to care for him, nor a house to live in, so-” Mrs. Dread suddenly paused, shifting tactics, “actually young lady, that is not of your concern!”

        “Yea-huuuh!” Raindrops argued. “I'm his friend, I can help!” she insisted.

        “What could you possibly-” Mrs. Dread started, but Raindrops shook me around like a ragdoll as she argued back.

        “He could stay with me until his dad's better!”

        Mrs. Dread cocked an eyebrow. “Excuse me? You expect me to allow that?”

        “Yes!” Raindrops said confidently, staring Mrs. Dread down. Finally, after a couple minutes, Mrs. Dread backed down.

        “Fine. I've learned better than to argue with you for long. Just... no funny business, you hear?”

        Raindrops shook her head violently.

        “I promise. No funny business.”

1_14

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2_15_Mornings

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2_16

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1_6_Government

1_6_Government

Digital_Hex- - - - - - - -A fan-fiction by Digital_Hex

Chapter 6

        White Cross was one tough cookie. She was could and tough, not the least bit sweet. But just like a cookie, she had my undivided attention. I would savor that cookie.

        I tried to talk with her for the rest of class, to no avail. Seriously, it was like as soon as she slipped in her earpieces, she was gone.

        I huffed loudly as my latest attempt to garner her attention once again went unnoticed. So much for trying. The time clicked away slowly as I dejectedly flipped on my Walkmare, tuning in to the local radio station. It was being deejay'd by some DJ PON-3, as she referred to herself numerous times, and she played some good music. I sighed contently as she struck up a track I recognized, a heavy set from Applewood Undead.

        Right as I settled in my seat comfortably, the bell rang. Figures. I reluctantly rose to my hooves, grabbing my saddlebags and turning off my Walkmare. White Cross was gone when I looked back her way.

        I left the room and headed back to Mrs. Victory's room. On the way, that damn black pegasus ran into me again, playing out almost exactly as it had before. Something registered in my mind that time. He was familiar, I recognized him from somewhere. No, I didn't mean from two class periods ago, but...

        Oh well. No need to try and sift through my memories. It was pointless to worry myself over silly things. I reached Mrs. Victory's fairly quickly and let myself in. Inside, I saw Lemon Hearts and Lug sitting in the same seats as before. Hesitantly, I trotted over to them.

What if they don't recognize me? They'll probably just make more fun of you. Don't go over there. You don't even really know them. These were a few things that were running through my mind. I might have been a little reluctant to try sitting next to them. Thankfully, however, I had nothing to fear.

        “Hey, Hex!” Lug said when he saw me, giving me a toothy smile. I gave a weak smirk back before settling in at my previous seat. The class filled up after I'd trotted in.

        “Hey,” I returned, feeling myself loosen up a little bit. They seemed like nice enough ponies... I wouldn't let my guard down, though. They could be trouble yet.

        “So, how're you liking Ponyville High so far?” Lemon Drops asked me.

        “Oh, it's a pretty cool school, I guess,” I said. In all honesty, the school wasn't that bad. I really couldn't remember much about the High School at Hope Hill, but this one was a pretty nice place.

        “That's good,” Lemon Drops said, smiling. “We rarely have new students here, especially cute little guys like you!” she said, making a d'awww face at me. I grimaced; there it was, the short jokes again.

        I recognized that she was joking, however. It took a moment, but I realized it. Dang, I really needed to work on my sense of humor.

        I let out a relieved chuckle that she was joking right before the bell rang. Aaand enter Mrs. Crazyhorse- I mean, Victory.

        “Hello, class!” she said with a demented smile. Have I mentioned she scares me?

        No?

        Well... to this day, she still scares me.

        “Welcome to Government and Foreign Culture! I'm Mrs. Victory, your teacher for today, and-”

        She stopped, suddenly eying a student suspiciously.

        “You,” she said slowly. Every face in the room turned to the mare she was looking at, which was Lemon Hearts. I felt my core temperature flare from the near-attention I was receiving. Don't panic, don''t panic, don't panic...

        “Me?” Lemon Hearts asked innocently. Too innocently. I knew that tone...

        “You're the one who was passing notes in my second period class, weren't you?”

        Oh no she didn't-

        “Wha- Me? Why, I would never!” Lemon Hearts said dramatically, lifting a hoof to her horn for emphasis. She was selling it way too hard.

        “Yes, it was you!” Mrs. Victory suddenly screeched, turning a hoof to Lug. “And you were the one getting them!”

        Lug did not live up to his namesake. With that type of title, you'd expect him to be slow and, well, a grunt. Not him, though.

        As if he'd rehearsed it, Lug shot back as cool as one could, “Me? You have no proof! Nay, it was not me!”

        For a second, Mrs. Victory's scowl twitched into a pleased smile, unnoticed by everypony except me.

        I facehoofed, grinning. I should have guessed it. They had rehearsed, this was all a ploy. What for, I had no idea, but it was still interesting.

        “You say it was not you, but I say it was!” Mrs. Victory declared, stepping forward. “However will we be able to decide who is right?”

        Some pony from the back of the room spoke up, playing right into their little game. It was actually rather clever, this interactive class she was holding.

        “Sue him!”

        A round of chuckling rose from the rest of the class, to which Mrs. Victory then spoke to at large.

        “Ah, but how would we go about doing that? Surely there is a place for such matters!”

        Another pony, seated ahead of me, said, “Go to court!”

        Mrs. Victory pointed a hoof while shouting “Aha! There you have it! One of the founding causes for the current government of Equestria, the Royal Court!”

        I winced. That was something I didn't know, but she had just played it out like everypony should have known that, like a review over past courses.

        “And who was the founding monarch of the Equestrian Royal Court?” Mrs. Victory asked the class.

        I hid in my seat, an easy feat.

        A pony on the other side of the class, a chunky unicorn, answered, “Wasn't it Princess Celestia?”

        “Yes, good job Chunk!”

        … Seriously, what was going through some of the parents heads here in Ponyville when they named their kids? That was the third name I'd heard that was, well, ridiculous yet perfectly fitting!

        “The first court case in Equestrian history was settled almost two thousand years ago. Who knows what it was over?”

        This time, it was Lug bouncing up and down in his seat as he waved a hoof over his head. He must really like to answer questions, I thought to myself as Lug shook up and down like he had to pee.

        “Lug?” Mrs. Victory asked him, “Do you know the answer, perhaps?”

        Another round of chuckles.

        “It was over an apple!” he practically yelled. Yeah, he was trying too hard.

        “Yes! The first court case in Equestrian history was over an apple stolen from an earth pony. Does anypony know who was originally accused of the crime?”

        Lemon Hearts spoke up, a hint of disdain in her voice as she said, “The earth pony accused a noble unicorn duke of stealing the apple, claiming that he had used his magic. The audacity of the merchant!”

        Mrs. Victory rolled her eyes, enjoying the conversation.

        “Yes, the earth pony originally accused the unicorn duke Sir Streamer of stealing the apple, but can anypony new tell me who was actually found to be guilty?”

        Anypony new. That should have been my first clue to become invisible. Instead, I just sat around thinking of what the answer could be. Surely I knew such a simple yet historical event!

        “Maybe somepony who hasn't taken my classes before?”

        My second chance, present.

        My second chance, wasted.

        “Maybe somepony who is new to the school?”

        I barely registered what she'd said, not enough to mentally tick strike three off my list.

        It took the entire class staring at me with Mrs. Victory tapping her hoof against the floor to return to reality.

        My first reaction?

        “What?”

        A few students laughed at my relapse. For my part, I blushed something fierce.

Oh no, they're all staring... Buck...

        “Do you have an answer for us, Digital Hex?” Mrs. Victory asked me.

        I didn't.

        I had no idea who was found guilty. Less than five minutes ago, I hadn't even known this encounter had happened! How was I supposed to know who had actually committed the crime?

        “Uh...” I sputtered out, looking like a total moron.

        … Yeah, there went all of the self-esteem I'd built up from math class. I was stupid.

        Five minutes ticked by as my face got deeper and deeper red, to the point that I expected my forehead to burst in a geyser of blood and gore from the pressure building up.

        “You don't know?” Mrs. Victory asked.

        “N-no...” I squeaked out, feeling every part the little colt I looked and sounded like. Embarrassing indeed.

        Mrs. Victory narrowed her eyes at me as if I'd failed some insanely important test of character or something dramatic like that.

        “Pity,” She then looked back at the rest of the class.

        “Does anypony else know who was eventually found guilty of stealing the apple?”

        Chuck spoke up, sounding only slightly smug as he answered a question I couldn't.

        “Yeah, it was a pegasus named Swift.”

        “Correct, Chunk!” Mrs. Victory said happily. Chunk just shot me a look that screamed I'm better than you.

        Oh boy, two enemies made, and it wasn't even lunch. This day just got better and better.

        The rest of the class, Mrs. Victory went through a slide-show of what to expect over the next semester, as well as some other stuff that I didn't pay attention to. I was too busy looking out the window. The sun was getting close to it's apex in the sky, spreading warm rays of light across the school grounds. Birds chirped and danced around through the air, free and not in school. I had to constantly remind myself that it had been my idea to go back to school, not anypony else's. It was a difficult thing to do at the moment.

        The gym class was out on the track again, but that wasn't what had me so focused. Not entirely, at least.

        There was one little mare who had my eyes in her grasp. White Cross.

        She wasn't the fastest pony out there, but she was keeping up pretty well as they ran the mile. Like me, she was considerably smaller than her fellow classmates. I wondered if she was younger than the other students, like me, and had skipped a grade or two. That would explain her lack of size, as well as her obviously under-developed horn.

        While I was thinking about her horn, I began to wonder what it would have been like to have a horn of my own. I had a taste of what magic was like, having my cuffs on my hooves, but it wasn't the same. It had to have been quite the experience, being able to alter the physical world around you with a simple pulse of magic. I wasn't envious, but still...

        I watched as a bird swooped past the window, followed by another bird chasing after the first. I smiled as they played a game of tag in the air. I'm going to assume it was tag, at least.

        What would have it been like if I'd been born a pegasus? To be able to soar through the sky, free to travel with the wind as far as it could take you. The adrenaline, the art. It had to be quite exhilarating. Now wings, I envied wings a tad. Those were some fine appendages, if I do say so myself.

        Before I even knew it, the bell rang. Class was over. I rose to my hooves as I collected my bag, ready to leave class and meet up with Raindrops for lunch, as we'd agreed after gym during our impromptu tour.

        I was about to leave when Mrs. Victory stopped me.

        “Digital Hex, could you see me for a moment, please?” she asked, voice strained with concern. I sighed as I trotted over to her desk.

        What did she want?

        . . . . . . . . . .

Note from Digital_Hex: I would like to personally thank all of the readers who have made it here. This means that you are actually reading my story! If you have followed the story thus far, please spend just a little time and send me a PM or quick review on the story in the comments of this blog post here. I'd love to know what your favorite parts of the story are, the things that have kept you interested. I would also like to know what you are disappointed in, and what can be made better. I'm about to start working on the second half to the first day of school, which is going to be pretty dramatic. I'd just like to let you all know that the story doesn't end with the first day of school, for this is merely the beginning to Digit's senior year. I'm sure it will be a blast, and I hope you all can ride this through with me til the end!

~Digital_Hex