Set aside from the Residential District, the Schoolhouse is where all young fillies and colts go each day to receive their education.  Operated by local schoolmare Cheerilee, the school offers quality teachings, trade experience, and extra curricular activities.  Plus it's got a great playground!
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:34, Sat 14 Apr 2012.

Starting Post

It would hardly be fitting to call Diamond Tiara 'poor'.  In fact, the value of her lunch alone (if only for the hard work her family's help put into it) would greatly out-cost that of most of her schoolmates'.  Of course, did she really deserve any less?  Her father was an important pony, and she was one too!  She smiled at her own self-assurances.  Whether Miss Cheerilee taught her a thing or not, she'd be on top all too soon...

Of course, right now, she was stuck in class.  Things were quieter than usual, but, it could just be that some of the ponies she'd usually gab with were worried that they'd be having a test come up soon.  Personally, she wasn't so worried about that.  Sure, she wasn't the smartest pony in the class, but she knew where her strengths were.  Besides, maybe her daddy would be able to convince Miss Cheerilee to give her a retest if she really did all that badly.

Yawning softly and politely, she resolved to get through this day and be less bored once school was over...

The first day at a new school was usually pretty vexing to most kids. For the timid little Glowbug who sat in the back corner, it was downright terrifying. Most of the colts and fillies had their groups and social standing all set up and good to go. Not really belonging to any of those groups due to being new, and perhaps a bit of help from a bright mane color, really made him stick out. It was only by the grace of being what might be the quietest of ponies, he'd managed to not really attract too much direct attention. Except maybe the shrouded whispers of his classmates to their neighbors.

He kept himself occupied with a textbook, to try and keep himself from thinking about the awkward social situation. There were already members of the class that had their cutie marks, and as a blank flank, he knew he might get teased for that. Or perhaps for the slight accent he got from his parents. Or his mane. If he could build a fort out of books to repel the eyes he imagined were constantly scrutinizing him, he would.

<From Sugarcube Corner>

Keen Eyes kept up a steady pace, not trying to run ahead of any of the other ponies.  Although it seemed his pace was still too fast for Strawberry Toast.  As the small group neared the schoolhouse, Keen Eyes' pace slowed.  If he recalled correctly, Mr. Cakes had said 'Pinkie Pie' had taken the twins to the schoolhouse to play.  Therefore, it made the most sense that she'd be at the playground, if they were still here.  Without a word, the detective began to make his way towards the playground, keeping an eye out for any sign of the pony called Pinkie Pie, or the twins she was supposed to be looking out for.

Diamond Tiara had not spared the new arrival scrutiny, but he had managed to avoid being called a Blank Flank by her...just yet.  Last time a new pony came to school, she took the lead on getting to know them.  This time, she had allowed the first meeting to go off for a while.  That way, they wouldn't know they had anything to hide from her magnificence...

Besides, she had showed up to school a little late this morning, and hadn't realized that the blank flank was there until Silver Spoon passed a note along to her.

Still, it was all according to plan; the observation period was over, and now it was time to attack.  It wasn't like she could really point things out in front of Cheerilee.

'Maybe we'll be able to get the blank flank in trouble on his first day...if not, he'll get the message.'

When the teacher had her back turned, she passed a blank note back.  Taking the chance to have a glance at the brightly maned pony, she ensured to have it sent back towards Glowbug...
This message was last edited by the player at 00:08, Fri 20 Apr 2012.

Keen Eyes didn't have to search for long.  Between being given a general location and the fact that his target was bright pink with a penchant for being extremely noisy, he was able to track her down in no time at all.  As the Schoolhouse appeared from beyond the hills, he could see the attached playground and sure enough there was a particular pink party pony present playing with two giggling foals.

However, it didn't appear that his job would be so easy.  Pinkie Pie happened to look up from the sandbox they were all playing in and spotted Keen Eyes coming down the way.  For a second she just blinked those big blue eyes of hers, but then her expression dropped into one of shock.  The pony gave a shrill gasp, quickly gathered up her charges into foal-carriers on her flanks, and took off like a shot in the opposite direction so quickly that it left a faint outline of her body in the remaining smoke trail.

Keen Eyes slowed to a stop as he caught sight of a pink pony.  She fit the description he was provided and she was with two foals.  No doubt in his mind, this was her.  The detective began to approach her, slowly now.  "Pinkie Pi-"  Before the stallion could even finish saying her name, she'd picked up the foals and bolted.  For a second, the detective stood there, dumbfounded.  However, he quickly regained his senses, and began to gallop after the pink pony.  "Wait!  I have some questions for you!" The detective called out.  This mare was fast; really fast.  As he galloped after Pinkie Pie, he wasn't so sure he could even keep up with her pace.  Keen Eyes was so absorbed in following after Pinkie, he'd completely forgotten about the two mares following him.

"You'll never take me alive!" the fluffy-maned pony cried over her shoulder as she dashed along.  The foals at her flanks were giggling up a storm, thrilled by the break-neck speeds their babysitter could hit.

As Glowbug slowly filled his head with math lessons, learning fun things like how letters could be numbers, he felt himself relax more. No incidents were happening. After all, Miss Cherilee was watching, and that meant nopony would be up to anything. He was still pretty paranoid something bad was going to happen, but at least he wasn't thinking he was in immediate danger of embarrassment.

Wroooong...

While he was reading, his neighbor passed him a note with a not entirely stealthy 'psst.'  He did take the note, only for the pony to give a subtle nod in Diamond Tiara's direction to indicate the sender.

Opening the note behind his book, he only saw an empty sheet of paper. Glowbug could only tilt his head a little quizzically, wondering if it was just some weird accident in the world of note-passing.

It took him a few minutes to figure it out. Blank message; blank flank. Ah-ha. Glowbug let out a silent sigh and gave only a slightly depressed curl of the lips. It was hard to be really saddened by an insult that had a punchline that took that long to get.

Diamond Tiara did not see the results of her note, if only because she dare not look, but she was sure that she had done as she should.  Math was pretty boring, though at least her tutors had helped her learn that the letters were special and weren't supposed to be twisted around with the numbers.

So complicated...so boring...

She noticed something, though, that there was a lack of grumbling or complaining.  If she thought her plan to be anything less than infallible, she'd probably wonder if her note had had any effect at all...

While the little silent back and forth went on between Diamond Tiara and Glowbug, it wasn't unobserved.  Cheerilee may have had her back turned at the board and thus didn't catch the prank, but the students were aware of it.  Some giggled over the joke at the shy pony's expense, but others weren't so amused.  Further, one in particular had enough self-righteousness to take matters into his own hooves.

Which is why it'd likely come as a surprise when Diamond Tiara's namesake headpiece would get sharply knocked off her head by a well-aimed ball of paper.  Were she to look back to see who dared do such a thing, she'd find Meadow Lark off to the side a few rows back grinning broadly and offering her a totally unrepentant wave of his wing.

The shot was certainly on target.  At first, the young filly wasn't entirely aware that her head gear had been altered, so smooth was the hit.  It was when the piece hit the floor that she really became alert to the sudden subtraction.  Crying out as it struck the floor, she ducked down to grab it in hopes that it wouldn't be too badly damaged.

So taken aback was she that she did not even cry out in indignence for Miss Cheerilee's aid as she usually would...

While Diamond Tiara kept quiet about her precious accessory getting knocked away, the rest of the class did not.  At first there was a shocked gasp that went out that anypony would dare play a prank of her... though it was promptly followed by a string of giggles when they realized she hadn't blown up in response.

Cheerilee quickly turned to look over her shoulder at the class due to all the noise.  Naturally everypony clammed up as soon as she did, which left her incredulously eying them for a moment before she turned back to continue the lesson.  "Let's stay on task now, my little ponies."  she warned gently.

As for Diamond Tiara herself, she'd no doubt be relieved to find that her namesake had not been damaged by the drop.  It was fairly sturdy despite its delicate appearance and the worst that had happened was that its frame got a little scuffed on the floor.  That would buff right out with a little polish.  At least she wasn't alone in her reaction; her partner-in-crime Silver Spoon looked equally scandalized and offered a silent, but sympathetic, look her way.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:36, Fri 20 Apr 2012.

Diamond Tiara barely blushed at the reaction of her schoolmates as she took a few moments to fix her mane (of course it had been knocked out of place by the impact).  She took a moment to look at the scuff and was not all happy, but she needed to maintain appearances.  Once her tiara was in place, she glared down at her (mostly unwritten) work.  For now, she would let this scurrilous assault upon her person pass.  It was too late to really get back at the pony who had done this.  Somepony would have seen it, and somepony would share the desired information with her.

'Oh...I bet that blank flank in back did it and thinks he's so funny...but I'll get him back for it!'

This pony was starting to annoy the detective.  She was being completely unreasonable and he couldn't seem to match her speed.  It was actually a struggle to keep the speed he was currently at.  As Keen Eyes chased after Pinkie Pie, he began to wrack his brain for what to do.  He could use what little unicorn magic he knew to stop her, but he feared for the safety of the two foals she was carrying with her.  If he was going to use his telekinetic spell on her, he couldn't just use it on one portion of the pony.  He didn't want to send the foals flying into harms way from the sudden stop it would cause Pinkie.  With his decision made, Keen Eyes began to cast his telekinetic spell on Pinkie and the twins, attempting to envelop all three entirely in his spell to suspend them in mid gallop.  If for some reason he was unable to completely envelop the three of them, he would quickly abandon this plan to move on to the next.

<-- Enter from Sugarcube Corner

Twilight eventually caught up with the rest, though the sight that greeted her was one she had expected.  Pinkie Pie rarely adhered to normal behavior so it was little surprise to see Keen Eyes actually having to chase her down for whatever reason.  The unicorn just sighed and shook her head in annoyance.

Pinkie Pie was fast, but even she wasn't immune to magic.  Keen Eye's spell caught the pony and her charges in its telekinetic glow to lift them right off the ground smooth and easy.  Pinkie's legs were still cycling away in a phantom run so swiftly that they made a sound akin to a chainsaw.

"Uh-oh... Pumpkin, quick!" Pinkie squeaked over her shoulder to one of the foals.  She gave an exaggerated wink; the little unicorn filly just squealed and giggled with laughter, then returned the wink in kind.  As soon as she did, her tiny horn glowed brightly and all three of the ponies 'winked out' -- they vanished in a flash of light and sparkles.

A moment later the three flashed back into reality high atop the school house itself.  Pinkie did a rather impressive balancing act as she scurried across the narrow rooftop peak and leaped off.  The other foal, a brown-maned pegasus, arched his back and set his little wings buzzing rapidly.  Against all logic, the three remained aloft and soared overhead, shooting past Keen Eyes and the rest back toward town.

Well... that was just silly.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:26, Fri 20 Apr 2012.

Glowbug found himself face-deep in the book's pages when he heard the soft giggling of a few ponies who found out about the joke. It left him primarily blind to the paper ball incident, which meant he heard only the gasp, and the added giggling from that. Trying to sneak a peek from the top of his book, he was met by Cherilee's voice reprimanding them for their distractions.

_{"S-Sorry ma'am."} The shy pony was barely audible to his neighbors, let alone the teacher.

In reply to Pinkie Pie (msg #17):

As his spell seemed to be working, relieved, Keen Eyes slid against the ground as he tried to come to a stop.  He was already panting and trying to catch his breath.  The detective wasn't exactly out of shape; but he wasn't quite used to galloping like that.  He most certainly wasn't an athlete.  The unicorn had to really push himself just to keep the distance he had between he and Pinkie.  His relief quickly disappeared as he watched Pinkie and the two foals suddenly wink out of his spell.  Still trying to catch his breath, Keen Eyes grimaced as he immediately tried to pinpoint where they'd "winked" to.

Keen Eyes looked all over, though it didn't occur to him to look up at the sky.  Why would they be up there, that made no logical sense to him.  Pinkie was an Earth pony, and the little pegasus she had with her was much too small to carry all of them, let alone simply Pinkie.  No, instead his gaze continued to search ground level and he didn't see any hints or signs of them.  The detective pony turned back towards Twilight and Strawberry, obviously confused.

Twilight had been far enough away that she had a better field of vision of the school yard.  Thus she spotted Pinkie when the three ponies reappeared up on the roof and shot into the sky in a truly ridiculous display.  Totally nonplussed, Twilight lit her horn up with a magical glow and swiftly undid the buckle keeping Pinkie's foal-carrier tied around her body, then levitated the whole thing with the babies safely in its grasp.

A moment later another shrill gasp sounded out from overhead.  Keen Eyes would get just enough time to hear it before Pinkie slammed into the ground nearby... and bounced with a sound identical to that of a squeaky toy that had fallen of its shelf.  She boing-boing-boinged~! a few more times before finally settled to a stop face-down in the dirt amongst the gathered ponies.

The twins, still safe in their magically levitated foal carrier, came drifting down light as a feather to settle down once more on Pinkie's back as she laid prone.  Her cotton-candy head pulled up with a dizzy waggle from side to side before she shook her senses clear.

"Whoo~!  Let's do that again!" Pinkie Pie giggled and snorted gleefully.

Keen Eyes still had his gaze on Twilight Sparkle and Strawberry Toast when Pinkie came crashing down.  The sudden sound of her crashing was enough to cause the stallion to jump in fright.  he shifted his gaze back towards the now grounded pony.  It was clear she'd fallen... but from where?  Keen Eyes was completely bewildered by this, but after a moments thought decided there was more important matters.  Trying to regain his composure, the unicorn took a couple steps closer to Pinkie Pie.  He hoped she wouldn't run again, the last thing he needed was another chase.  "Uuhhh..." Keen Eyes seemed at a loss for words.  Realizing he wasn't exactly making any progress, he shook his head, as if to clear himself of all other thoughts and tried again.  "Pinkie Pie, you were at sugarcube corner earlier this morning, correct?  We were told by the Cakes you accepted an order of apples, is that right?  Who was the order from?" the detective asked as he seemed to return to his usual inquisitive self.

Despite the fall, Pinkie Pie seemed perfectly alright.  Further, despite having initially fled from Keen Eyes, she didn't seem at all hesitant to pop up onto her hooves with a playful leap and smile up at him brightly.

"From?  The order was from the Cakes, silly!  How else would they expect to get them in the first place?"  she giggled.  "And of course I was at Sugarcube Corner this morning; I live there~!"
This message was last updated by the player at 20:37, Sat 21 Apr 2012.

Sweetie Belle wasn't exactly paying a whole lot of attention to the events unfolding in the classroom.  She did her best to pay attention to the lesson Cheerilee was giving the class, but Sweetie Belle soon found herself day dreaming.

However, the small filly was forced out of her day dreams when she heard a small thud.  Sweetie looked around, trying to figure out what had happened, all the while hearing the soft giggles of some of her classmates.  Then, Cheerilee spoke up, scolding the class, telling them to stay on task.  Whatever had happened, Sweetie's day dreaming had caused her to miss the excitement.  As Cheerilee regained control over the classroom, Sweetie Belle glanced at the clock, hoping recess was soon, before she began to drift off in thought again.

It was fortunate for all the bored children that time wasn't moving quite as slowly as it seemed to be from their perspectives.  Soon enough Cheerilee finished the portion of the lesson they were on and turned to give her students a bright, beaming smile.

"Alright children, that'll do for now.  I know it's a few minutes early, but let's take recess now so that you can stretch your legs.  Be back inside in twenty minutes~!" she dismissed them for a short break.

The dismissal for recess was met by cheers and happiness for most ponies, of course. Glowbug, however, stayed at his desk and kept reading. Th book wasn't really enthralling, but it wasn't horrible. At least it was educational. That, and he wouldn't be doing a whole lot at recess, considering he'd already been laughed at for the blank flank note.

Glowbug had gotten rather unlucky.  Miss Cheerilee had called for quiet BEFORE she could turn around to see the real prankster, and the little rich pony had decided that he had done the horrid crime of scuffing her tiara.  She approached him as every pony else left, looking at the title of his book while he was reading.  She was feigning an interest, at least at first, but the urge to glare a hole in his book was growing with every second.  However, she forced a kind smile and focused on composing the perfect dressing down.

She cleared her throat softly, as a mare of court might, and hoped that he'd catch on.  Daddy said something about honey and vinegar...

This pranking blank flank would get both, and he would be hit so hard he wouldn't know which one he got...

Diamond Tiara couldn't have had anyone easier to prey upon. The shy pony was hiding behind a book, as if that would somehow keep him from being noticed. Of course, it wouldn't, and soon, Tiara had him cornered. In a corner he'd chosen as his sitting place of all things. Hearing the cleared throat, he timidly peeked above the top of the book, the rims of his glasses, and his bright green irises visible just barely. _{"H-Hello? C-Can I help you?"} This was the one that sent him the note, so he wasn't exactly thrilled. But he had to stay polite.

Glad to get a response at all, Diamond Tiara smiled, "I'm Diamond Tiara.  What's your name?"

The way she stared at him was intense, even if her face was polite and soft.  The pony who had knocked the tiara from her head deserved nothing less than her full attention.

The glare he was getting from Tiara was enough to make him sink into his book more. But he still had to be polite. His parents told him to try and make friends. Ponyville was a nice place full of nice ponies. _{"I-I'm Glowbug."}

"I knew you looked new." Diamond Tiara fixed her tiara upon her head, as if to emphasize 'his' crime.  She stood up tall to look over the book at him, her smile strained into a look that just wasn't happy.  At that moment, she decided to dispense with the politeness.  This pony was too shy to stand up for himself openly.  She'd put things right!

Her tone quickly turned sharp and mean, "So, Blank Flank, did you think your special talent was breaking things you can't possibly afford?  Is that why you threw something at me?  Or are you just too stupid to see when somepony important is around?!?"

_{"W-Wait... What?"} Glowbug sunk in his seat as if he could somehow magically shrink away from the situation entirely. Of course, he couldn't. He wasn't a unicorn like his mother. Instead, all he could do was stay behind the book and pray that it would be over soon. Sadly, Tiara didn't look like the easy-going type. Heck, he wasn't even sure what was going on. _{"I... I didn't... I don't know what you're talking about."} He managed to squeak out.

"Yeah?  Then who did it, Blank Flank?" Diamond Tiara didn't get any closer or pressure him further, but her voice only grew louder.  Most weren't used to an open brow-beating like this from her.  Usually, she went to some level of subtlety.

"Because if you didn't do it, somepony had to do it, and you're the only pony who could have!" Clearly, she had fallen upon her own conclusion and she wasn't about to be taken off of it.  He might be able to count himself fortunate that she wasn't making fun of him in front of the others (again).

Of course, he was also pretty UNfortunate that events beyond his control conspired to make him the target of another pony's bad day...

Even as she seemed to get closer and closer, which she wasn't, Glowbug kept trying to find more and more ways to distance himself. So when the chair stopped him from going further, he felt trapped. Until he thought in three dimensions like a proper pegasus. He slunk under the desk, which put him closer, technically, but it also added another barrier between him and Tiara. Brilliant!

_{"I wasn't watching!"}

"Well I-!" Diamond Tiara tried to continue pressing him, but realized that he was just going to keep clamming up and lying.  So, in the end, she decided to calm down and to tell a few lies of her own to get him to let his guard down.

Her volume lowered, she still couldn't hide her irritation, "If you saw which pony did it, you should tell me; I'll forgive you..."

_{"I-I told you. I didn't see anypony throw anything..."}

Cowering under the desk, it still wasn't enough to get away from Tiara. As if he couldn't get any more pathetically low, he wound up scooting under his chair. There was little space under it, but maybe if he were thinking about more than the pony interrogating him, he'd have realized he might have a talent for limbo.

That continued refusal snapped something in the filly.  She stomped her hooves angrily, likely giving any onlookers a show, and gave a short cry of frustration.

Gathering her composure, she tried to look like this didn't bother her at all, "So that's the story you're going to stick to?  Okay.  That's fine.  I gave you a chance to be smart, but that's all you can expect from a Blank Flank."

Giving him one last furious look, she stomped out of the schoolhouse.  This exchange had been won.  Even if she hadn't won the war, she had won the battle.

And that was all that mattered.

While Cheerilee had stepped along out of the classroom to get herself some peace and gather for the rest of the day, it left the kids to their own devices.  Which was not a good thing for poor Glowbug.  Meadow Lark had hurried along thoughtlessly for recess before something nagged at the back of his head.  Was he forgetting something?  It felt like he was...

The little colt had come back along inside just in time to catch the tail end of Glowbug getting a lashing from Diamond Tiara.  The little Pegasus glowered and stepped back outside only enough for the pink pony herself to come sauntering along a moment later with her head held high.  She got just far enough along in her self satisfaction for a brief buzzing to flit overhead and she'd suddenly go walking straight into Meadow Lark.  The Pegasus was her size, but he'd been the one to set himself up for the impact as he dropped squarely into her path and thus wasn't to be toppled... though the same didn't apply to her.  More importantly -- he'd snatched the tiara right off her fluffy head with his teeth and, with a quick flick, tossed it up to land atop his own head at a jaunty angle.

"Well that was pretty dumb of you, filly-face~!  You shouldn't go picking on ponies, especially the wrong ones!" Meadow Lark stuck his tongue out at the girl as he glared at her sourly.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:05, Mon 23 Apr 2012.

Sweetie Belle hadn't wandered too far before Diamond Tiara lost her cool.  The young filly's gaze watched her and Glowbug curiously.  As she watched, Glowbug looked visibly distraught.  Still, Sweetie Belle wasn't entirely sure if this was the case.  Maybe they were playing a game?  It didn't seem likely though.  Sweetie found it hard to believe that Diamond Tiara would willingly be friends with a pony who didn't have their cutie mark.  She waited until Diamond Tiara wondered off before approaching Glowbug.  "Are you okay?" Sweetie Belle asked as she approached the young colt.

Glowbug had his book over his head like a tent, the rest of him well concealed under the chair. Well, not really well concealed, but it was as good as it got in the classroom. Peeking out from the book, he saw another pegasus making his way in. But there was another pony coming his way, peeking under the desk and looking right at him. Her voice made him cringe instinctively, even though she was there to make sure he was all right.

_{"Er um... I uh... I-i'm fine..."} Obviously not really okay as per the traditional sense of the word.

-Yo dawg, I heard you like edits, so this post is edited in response to editing.-
This message was last edited by the player at 02:13, Mon 23 Apr 2012.

For what it was worth, the little filly was not so bad at righting herself after falling.  In fact, the real 'shock and awe' of the impact didn't seem to hit her until she was staring right at him after she got up off of her rump.  Maybe it was just that she was so fired up that she bounced up and back into the argument that had started.

"It was you?!?" Diamond Tiara might have been embarrassed if she wasn't so mad, and she might have had time to start brow beating him if her tiara wasn't on his head.  That was when she really looked shell-shocked, as she felt her mane and realized it was not topped off.  She gritted her teeth and tried to keep her rapidly fleeting composure.

Where as she hadn't yielded an inch with Glowbug, even when he was in full retreat, she sounded more like the victim than the aggressor, now.  If Glowbug was watching, he'd probably appreciate the slight weakness making its way into her tone, "Give that back!  T-that's not yours, Blank Flank!"

Flustered, she remained where she was instead of pressing any advantage she might have had if she just got in his face.  In fact, he seemed to have found her weak spot and seemed to be pressing her into the corner.  This Blank Flank must have done his homework, or else he had gotten lucky, because very few ponies got to see Diamond Tiara taken aback by a non-adult...

Sweetie didn't seem satisfied with the colt's answer.  "Well... you don't sound very 'fine' to me," the filly said.  "I'm Sweetie Belle, what's your name?" Sweetie suddenly asked.  She hadn't seen him here before, he was obviously new, and Diamond Tiara had obviously not been very welcoming.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 03:14, Mon 23 Apr 2012.

It seemed that Tiara was rather distracted, so Glowbug peeked out some more from the book, a lock of his hair and his nose peeking out. "I... I'm Glowbug." He managed to speak up a little, less scared of Sweetie Belle for obvious reasons. It'd be clear why he had the name from the way his eyes seemed to give of a slight glow under the book.

Sweetie Belle's gaze fell as she seemed to kick at some stray dust on the ground.  She wasn't sure what next to say; the unicorn hadn't quite thought that far ahead.  "Weeelll..." she began as she struggled to find something to say.  "It's recess... do you want to do something?"  The filly's gaze had returned to the colt by this point.  She forced a smile, doing her best to make the new student feel welcome.  Sweetie was too busy speaking to Glowbug to even notice Diamond Tiara becoming a victim herself, not that Sweetie Belle would have much sympathy for the filly.

At the invitation from the unicorn filly, Glowbug finally peeked his whole head out from the book like a turtle, looking up at her. "U-Uh w-well..." He stammered a bit, not sure what to do with the invitation. A quick glance caught wind that she was a fellow "pony of unlimited potential" as his mother would say. It was a nicer way of saying blank flank. "W-Well... What would you like to do, Sweetie Belle?" While he couldn't help but blush a little, it was all he could do to at least hope for a friend in this situation.

"Better a Blank Flank than someone with a useless talent!" Meadow Lark shot back as he flared out his small wings, adding a bit to his presence since Diamond Tiara wasn't backing down too quickly.  "Who do you think you are, picking on ponies like that?  Glowbug didn't do anything to you!  So if you wanna pick on somepony, then try me on for size!"

Meadow Lark had simply gotten lucky when it came to the effectiveness of his position -- he didn't know explicitly that Diamond Tiara's accessory was all that important to her, but it seemed like a good place to start.  The little Pegasus wasn't about to back down either; he was just as stubborn and had the upper hoof at the moment.

Diamond Tiara growled, "Who are you to talk about useless talents?  All you're good at is breaking things and stealing!  I wouldn't even waste my time talking to you."

At this point, backing down just wouldn't be worth it.  She couldn't trust the thieving Blank Flank to return her tiara.  Still flustered and backed into a cornered, she pressed forward.  She didn't have wings, but she knew that most ponies got intimidated when she stood her ground and raised her voice, "Now give my tiara back!"

She tried to swipe it back, but she had neither the element of surprise nor the physical talent a more athletic pony might have had.

Most of the school ponies knew to either stay out of Diamond Tiara's way or to kowtow when she got in a mood.  Meadow Lark, however, was not one of those ponies.  As she fell back on tried-and-true methods to get her way he just dug his hooves in and raised his voice all the same.

"Apologize first!" he demanded.  As she tried to snatch the tiara back, Meadow Lark put his nimble nature to good use.  Even if he couldn't fly yet, Pegasi were naturally light and dextrous ponies -- he easily bounced back and flitted away a few strides with a quick buzz of his wings.  "Pony up and apologize to Glowbug, or I'll stick it up on the roof and you won't get it back!"

Diamond Tiara hated the ultimatum, but, at the same time, she knew that that orange-pelted friend of Applebloom's couldn't fly that well, and she was...probably about the same age as this miscreant.  Nervously, she decided to call his bluff, "You wouldn't dare!"

That came off sounding weak, so she pressed the attack, hoping she was hitting the mark, "Do you even know how much it's worth?  If it got so much as scuffed, you'd have to work for the rest of your life to pay it off!  Daddy would make sure you'd never get a job in Ponyville, too!"

Meadow Lark just smirked and turned aside, giving a quick nod of his head to slide the tiara off and loop it around a fore-hoof.  It twirled around and around as he spun it gently, not enough to damage it... but it was obvious he could probably get enough momentum to lob it up onto the sloped roof of the schoolhouse where it would get lodged in the rain gutter.

"Yeah right.  You're rich, so what does one little tiara matter?  You've probably got a whole closet full of 'em back home in your fancy mansion." the Pegasus snarked back at her.  "Besides, I'm not scared of you or your dad.  My Mom's a Royal Guard!  I can just go work for the Princess when I grow up."

Threats weren't doing the trick and it sure seemed like the boy was just reckless enough to hold up his demands.  Or failing that, he might accidentally damage the tiara.  "So are y'gonna apologize or not?"

The thread now rendered legitimate (or legitimate enough), she found herself almost ready to cry.  She'd either have to give in...or her tiara could really be broken.  She could just get a pegasus to get it down if he threw it up there, but it'd probably not land right up there without taking damage.

Her pride wanted her to press the attack, but the tiara was one of the few things she couldn't replace...

"...if you do anything to my tiara..." Meadow Lark couldn't have gotten such a pained, angry look on her face if he had twisted her foreleg and called her names.

Whatever she was going to do if her tiara came to harm, she skulked away to the schoolhouse without further resistance.  Her head lowered and bare, she stepped inside and tried to control her temper, for now.

The sooner the rich filly had her tiara back, the sooner she could get back at this insolent colt.

No pony got to lord over her like that...and this one did it like it was nothing!

Meadow Lark had her where he wanted her.  That was fair, even if he cheated to get there, she assured herself.  But she'd have him where she wanted, one day, and that'd be fair too.  She'd make him squirm, just like he made her squirm, and then he'd never want to mess with her again.

Vengeance aside, she had to go through the motions to get there.  She looked up and around the schoolhouse, and begrudgingly approached the two ponies in there.

Great.  Now two Blank Flanks would get to see her apologize for something that wasn't even wrong, while that jerk had a hold of her tiara and treated it like it was something to throw around!

Diamond Tiara was so distracted with her thoughts that she didn't even speak to the two, let alone the one she was supposed to apologize to.

Meadow Lark raised a brow as Diamond Tiara finally backed down and sulked off back into the classroom, defeated.  Some other ponies had been watching, though the reactions varied... some took a fair deal of schadenfreude in seeing the school bully getting taken down a peg, but others weren't quite so approving of the method.  Meadow Lark seemed pleased with himself though.  As he remembered the story of how his mom got her Cutie Mark, he quickly looked back at his flank... and found it still bare.

"Huh.  Oh well." he shrugged carelessly.  Unlike some ponies around school, he wasn't so obsessed with finding out his talent all that quickly.  In the meantime, he could just wait until Diamond Tiara finished her apology and then give back her stupid crown no problem.

While Diamond Tiara stood hesitant and distracted, she'd get a gentle bump upside the flank.  Her closest friend and cohort, Silver Spoon, had sidled up when she wasn't looking to come stand at her side.  Now where had she been during that whole humiliating debacle?  It would no doubt he hard to accept that smile of hers when she hadn't been around when Diamond Tiara needed back-up...

"Psst..." she hissed through her teeth and leaned in to whisper to her friend's ear.

Barreling In From the Business District

Applejack trotted ahead of Officer Blue Shield, with a clearly directed intent. She was on toward sthe schoolhouse, but slowed as she spotted Fillies and Littlecolts at play. "Ah, must be recess." she chimed to the officer... then took a glance about for Apple Bloom...

[In from Business District]

"But where is Pinkie, Twilight, and the P.I.?" Blue Shield may have simply been looking int he wrong direction, but he didn't see them immediately. If it was recess, that meant the foals wouldn't likely be on the playground due to the flood of fillies and colts from the schoolhouse.

The aforementioned group of ponies out in search of information were nearby the school house -- just a ways beyond amid the path and park out front, really.  It didn't take long at all for the bunch to spot the rest of them all standing with Pinkie Pie at the center of attention.

"It's the fuzz!  Cheese it~!" the pink pony shrieked as soon as she spotted Blue Shield.  She immediately moved to dash off once more but was kept in place as Twilight lit her horn to snag her by the tail.

"Pinkie, why in the world do you keep trying to run away?!" Twilight demanded.  She didn't want to believe Pinkie had anything to do with the missing cart, but she was acting weirder than usual.

"Huh?  Oh, well, that's what they always do in movies when cops show up~!  You're supposed to yell that and then it leads into a dramatic chase scene with explosions and breaking plate glass windows and fruit stands getting demolished~!  BWOOOooooOOOOM~!  Or with the detective, it'd be something cool like ending on a duel on top of a blimp or something~!" Pinkie giggled brightly.  Her friend just groaned and gave a yank on her cotton-puff tail to make the pony sit.

"Pinkie, this isn't a movie or a game.  Applejack's cart has gone missing and we're trying to find it!" the unicorn explained as she gestured over to the approaching farmer.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:18, Mon 23 Apr 2012.

Sweetie Belle gave the classroom a glance, as if looking for somepony before answering Glowbug.  "Well, usually I'm doing stuff with Applebloom and Scootaloo," the filly said absentmindedly.  Since Glowbug was new here, he might not have known the two ponies Sweetie had mentioned, but the unicorn had not thought of that as she talked.  As she glanced around the classroom, she didn't see any sign of them; they might have been outside, busy with their own devices.  Turning back to Glowbug she finally gave him a better idea of what the two could do during recess.

"We could play tag," Sweetie answered, though it seemed like she was just naming off an activity, "Or... we could draw!"  Sweetie rather quickly added, now a genuine smile on the little filly's face.  There was some craft paper and crayons in the classroom that could be put to good use.

Before she could go get any craft paper and crayons, the two ponies were approached by none other than Diamond Tiara.  The filly didn't say anything though, and Sweetie Belle was left standing next to Glowbug, mouth agape.  Remembering how Glowbug had been when she had first approached him, Sweetie put up a stern front.  She hadn't seen everything that had occurred between Diamond Tiara and Meadow Lark.  "What do you want?" the unicorn asked defensively to Diamond Tiara.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:19, Mon 23 Apr 2012.

Diamond Tiara had never been so happy to hear something out of her friend's mouth.  She whispered something back to the other filly (a quick thank you, in fact), glad that she could go back on the offensive.  Right now, she'd go merrily about her business walking out of the schoolhouse if she hadn't been addressed.

She smiled, shaking off a lot of her frustration quickly, "Oh, I didn't mean to interrupt your business, Blank Flanks!  I thought I left my notebook in here, but I did not."

Feigning concern, she stepped a little closer and added, quietly, "And I'd like to apologize, Glowbug!  That other Blank Flank tried to frame you for what he did to me...and to think he was about to let you take the blame."

She let that sink in for a moment, before turning to leave.

As opposed to the other filly that had been talking to him, Sweetie Belle turned out to be a whole cartload more friendly and likeable. When she mentioned that she was normally with two other, probably her closer friends, who were just as likely not mean to new ponies, he sheepishly looked away a moment. "I... I wouldn't want to keep you from your friends." But the colt was quickly cut off by the suggestion of tag. Or rather drawing as she quickly chimed in.

"Well... Okay. I mean. If that's what you want to do, I'd be happy to join you." Once he'd finally gotten out from under both book and chair, he wound up closer than he'd have liked to Tiara, who'd come back over to have a few choice words. Very insincere words, it seemed, since the term blank flank popped up more than once, and not in a good way.

Still, she'd offered an apology, and he had to be polite. Even if she didn't mean it, he had to show he was the bigger pony. "I... I accept y-your apology. Hopefully, after this, we can be friends." His voice was shaky, but at least he wasn't hiding behind Sweetie Belle... At least not by much...

Silver Spoon just gave a soft 'ppppb' sound with her lips, dismissing Glowbug's effort at friendliness as she turned and followed Diamond Tiara back outside.  There were going to be fireworks for sure and she wanted to be there to see them.

In reply to A Series of Events (msg #56):

Trotting over, and coming to a stop by the Pinkster herself, Applejack looked along to Twilight, curious. "Hay, Pinkie. How's yer' mornin'?"

Hearing the phrase "Cheese it!" had Blue ready for a chase. A chase that never happened. For the best really. There were three people he didn't look forward to chasing if they ever committed a crime, at least in Ponyville. Rainbow Dash, obviously, was on that list. Twilight Sparkle too, because teleportation. Then there was Pinkie... Quite frankly the mare just had the most curious ability to go anywhere anytime, however inconceivable.

But as everypony gathered, so did he. He just offered a small smile, not wanting to provoke any of Pinkie's potential cop-dodging triggers. And the situation was surely already explained.

"Oh, hiya AJ~!" Pinkie waved a hoof happily to her other friend.  Despite how she'd fled the authorities (or attempted on that second shot) she didn't seem to mind them coming right up next to her and gave them just as cheery a greeting.

"My morning's been great~!  I slept well and had a big breakfast and I got to help out The Cakes and pull a cart and had a chat with Daisy and have been playing with the Baby-Cakes and then I got to run away from a detective and--" she prattled off at a rapid pace, apparently totally pleased by everything that her morning entailed thus far.

Applejack raised a brow. Pull a cart. "Pinkie...  Ya'.. didn't pull.. mah cart, did ya?"

"Well, yeah~!  I totally did!  All the way from the library, to Town Square, to Sugarcube Corner~~" Pinkie giggled, raising a hoof each time she counted off a location.  She was just about to risk defying gravity by lifting her last hoof when she paused and looked to the other girls.  "Wait, Twilight said the cart was missing?  Where did it go?"
This message was last edited by the player at 20:33, Mon 23 Apr 2012.

Meadow Lark had waited patiently outside, but Diamond Tiara's return sure didn't fit the image he had in mind.  Not only did she look more smug than ever but she had a friend with her too.  That set off alarm bells in the boy's head, but he chose to ignore instinctive wisdom since his self-righteousness was still burning hot.

"You sure don't look like a pony who's sorry." the Pegasus muttered as he carelessly whirled the tiara around his hoof, tossed it up into the air, and caught it around his hoof again on the way back down.  He kept toying with it like that, not showing any respect for the item.

"I'm not sorry that I apologized.  Now give me my tiara back!" The filly seemed way too smug, but, she also seemed honest about the apologizing part.  What instinct Meadow Lark had was right; something wasn't quite right about this situation.

She stepped forward, anger and concern returning to her face, "Or are you a liar as well as a thief?!?"

Of course, he still held something very dear of hers in hand, and she just wasn't able to conceal how much she wanted it back.  He could take advantage of this situation...and really make her pay for her crimes...

"What good is saying you're sorry if you're not actually sorry?  That just makes you a liar!" Meadow Lark didn't seem the sort to put up with loopholes and weaseling out of responsibility.  It was a trait he'd picked up from his mother.  However, what the little pony didn't realize was that the situation had turned.  The girls would know it first as they spotted a familiar form step up behind the colt while other ponies who'd been watching quickly scattered.

Meadow Lark had kept the tiara spinning and tossed about, though he blinked in surprise as it didn't come back down after the latest flick.  He looked up to find it deftly clenched in the jaws of their teacher, Miss Cheerilee, who'd slid up behind him quiet as could be.  The Pegasus instantly shrunk on the spot as he realized what the situation looked like... and hearing Silver Spoon's snickering in the background, that he'd been set up.

"M-miss Cheerilee, I--" he started, but was cut off by the schoolmare's glare.  He fell silent as the teacher leaned over and set Diamond Tiara's namesake back onto her head.  However, any sense of victory the little filly might have felt would be short lived as that narrow-eyed gaze settled on the girls.  She focused particularly on Silver Spoon until the filly quailed as well, then gave a quick nod of her head to dismiss her.

"Sorry..." the gray-coated girl whispered to Diamond Tiara before hurriedly making herself scarce.

"Alright you two.  Explain yourselves right now." Cheerilee waved Meadow Lark to stand beside Diamond Tiara so that they could equally weather her disapproving gaze.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:26, Mon 23 Apr 2012.

Diamond Tiara did feel a sense of satisfaction as her tiara was replaced to its proper position, and it almost made her smile before might have had time to question Silver Spoon's 'betrayal' with more than a worried glance if she wasn't being fixed with the sternest of glares right this second.  She had a feeling that her friend hadn't meant to get her on the spot, too, but, she would still give her a stern talking to.

Right now, though, she was facing a glare from one of the nicest and, simultaneously, one of the sternest ponies in all of Ponyville.  It was enough to make the victory of recovering her tiara a relatively tiny thing.  Faced with a situation where it was either sink or swim, she decided to let Meadow Lark do most of the sinking.

She looked up to Miss Cheerilee as a victim would, her eyes bearing all the sadness she held in when he was toying with her tiara, "He was the one who knocked my tiara off in class, then he bumped into me and took it right off of my head!  He didn't even care that it's a precious gift that's worth lot's of money!"

Cheerilee took consideration of Diamond Tiara's claims and looked to Meadow Lark expectantly.  "Is that true?"

For a moment, the poor colt looked terribly conflicted.  His eyes bounced back and forth between the two females as he thought over what his classmate had said.  The fact of the matter was... "Yeah, it is." he offered in a small voice, no longer standing with as much bravado as before.  For some reason he seemed to be taking Cheerilee's glare harder than Diamond Tiara did.

"Thank you for telling the truth.  Because after Silver Spoon told me what was happening, I asked some of the other children about it before coming to you two." the teacher said in a level tone as she looked down at her two students.  She worked quick, it seemed.  "Diamond Tiara; we've talked about your behavior toward your fellow classmates before and I had hoped we'd cleared all this up.  Meadow Lark; the way you behaved in reaction is inexcusable.  Frankly, I thought better of the both of you."

That scolding seemed to strike Meadow Lark like a physical blow and he shrank further, looking as though he were doing his best to convince the ground to swallow him up on the spot.  Before either child could say anything further in their own defense, Cheerilee sighed.  "Normally I would settle these sort of matters myself, but seeing as how this isn't the first time this sort of thing has happened--" she led along as she gave Diamond Tiara a disapproving stare.  "--I've taken further measures.  The two of you will stay in for lunch today.  I've had word sent to your parents and they should be joining us to discuss your behavior.  Understood?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:29, Mon 23 Apr 2012.

Now it was Diamond Tiara's turn to look like a whipped dog, "W-wait!  You don't have to involve Daddy in this..."

What could she really do, though?  Cheerilee had her dead to rights.  It was only her pride that kept her on her hooves, though she clearly didn't think things were going to end well.  Still, it did give her a small bit of satisfaction that Meadow Lark would go down with her.  Maybe his punishment wouldn't be as bad as hers, but she couldn't stand the thought of going to the proverbial gallows alone.

At least she knew that Silver Spoon hadn't sold her out.  It was just everypony else!  If it weren't for the stern and attentive gaze of their teacher, she'd surely be glaring out at her fellow students.  They couldn't just let the best laid plans work out...and now she was going to be in big trouble for their failures.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:34, Mon 23 Apr 2012.

Diamond Tiara hadn't made a very good run at holding friends in school.  She'd alienated a lot of the class with her antics -- those that cared to have opinions about her had either been the target of her bullying, didn't like her as a result of how she treated others, or were more scared of Cheerilee than her.  Rightfully so as well.  Still... even someone like the bossy little filly still had friends.  Silver Spoon hadn't gone far -- she'd just scampered far enough out of sight behind a nearby tree and was watching from as close as she dared, looking worried for her friend as she strained to hear what was going on.

"Yeah, I'm with her.  I mean, Mom's really busy and I know she wou--" Meadow Lark was in the same boat as Diamond Tiara just then.  The two didn't have any fear of each other, but their parents were a whole other story.

"Understood?" Cheerilee cut the foals off as she repeated herself sharply.

"Y-yes ma'am..."

Diamond Tiara couldn't object further than that, not with her dad coming in soon, "Understood, Miss Cheerilee."

Detective Keen Eyes didn't really get much of a chance to ask Pinkie any further questions as the other ponies from before reunited with them.  Just as Pinkie Pie was about to flee once more, Keen Eyes was unenthusiastically ready to give chase once more.  Luckily Twilight prevented her pink friend from dashing off.  All Keen Eyes could seem to do was sigh in frustration as Pinkie began rambling on about the most random things.  She was starting to wear on his patience, but the detective did his best to stay calm and relax.  "Nonsense; you've been reading too much fiction," Keen Eyes interjected as Pinkie began speaking of explosions and breaking glass windows and fruit stands.

The unicorn didn't really perk up until Pinkie made mention of pulling a cart.  Still, before the detective could get a word out, Applejack had already spoke for them.  "Where did you last leave it?" the detective asked, suddenly more interested.  He wanted to the pink mare why she had the cart in the first place, but finding the missing applecart was more important to him now.  "Sugarcube Corner?" the detective then asked, recalling the last place Pinkie Pie had mentioned.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:29, Mon 23 Apr 2012.

"Good." Cheerilee stated as she turned and strode along back into the classroom.  Recess wasn't over yet, so the two punished ponies still had some glimmer of freedom to count down until their parents arrived.  Was that a mercy or further cruelty?

As soon as Cheerilee was gone, Silver Spoon came scampering right back.  "What happened?" she asked hurriedly, ignoring a glare from Meadow Lark.

"You two are real jerks, y'know that?  It's no wonder nopony likes you." the Pegasus snapped at them both.  Silver Spoon just turned her nose up at him and gave a flick of her tail to show her disdain.

"Like you've got room to talk!  If we're jerks, you're worse!  I've never taken anything from anypony." The earth pony glared at him, clearly as unaffected by his scorn, before turning to Silver Spoon and starting to walk away from the real jerk in this arrangement, "You should get out of here, Silver Spoon.  She's going to punish me along with this ruffian..."

"What?!  But you didn't do anything wrong!  That's so unfair!" Silver Spoon protested as Diamond Tiara started to head off.  That got Meadow Lark good and riled, causing the Pegasus to start forward again aggressively.  Silver Spoon cut him off though as she put herself in his path with a smug grin on her bespectacled face.

"Nuh-uh~!  You're already in enough trouble, aren't you Blank Flank?  How much worse do you think it'll be if you start a fight?" she challenged.  Meadow Lark cantered in place furtively as he tried to figure out how to react... he wanted to say something biting but lacked the wit for it.  Instead he just gave a frustrated huff and snapped his wings down hard, kicking up a flurry of dust that left Silver Spoon coughing as he turned and buzzed away.

"Geeze... laaaa~me." the filly gagged and sneezed from the dust.  With that taken care of, she hurried after her friend.  "How's your tiara?  Lemme take a look..."
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:44, Tue 24 Apr 2012.

The young earth pony would have thrown the second kick if Meadow Lark did anything but get out of the way.

Though she had been at ease after the argument ended, Diamond Tiara was suddenly nervous at the thought of her tiara having suffered damage.  She took it off of her head and examined every bit of its surface, fearful that those ungraceful hooves would have caused more damage than they seemed to.

Her eyes frantically scanned every feature of it, anger starting to grow as she explained and denied her comrade a true answer, "I don't know.  It was only scuffed when he knocked it off my head the first time, but...he was treating it like it was some sort of stupid Blank Flank toy!"

Earlier, when Diamond Tiara had given her "apology," Sweetie Belle hadn't really said much.  As Tiara left her and Glowbug back to their own devices, Sweetie Belle offered another soft smile; though she seemed unsure if that was sufficient.  Again, not knowing of the circumstances surrounding Diamond Tiara, Meadow Lark and now Cheerilee, she simply said, "Don't let her get you down... she's like that to everypony."  Remembering that they were going to draw, Sweetie began to head to the other end of the class to retrieve some craft paper and crayons.  "Do you still want to draw?" the filly asked as she looked back towards Glowbug.

"Why? I didn't do anything to her..." He asked, more to himself than to Sweetie. Why bullies bullied was beyond him, and probably beyond Sweetie Belle too. "Oh um, Yeah! Let's draw!" Glowbug had to admit he was a bit excited to have someone to call a friend. Or at least friendly. His parents would be happy if he made at least one friend on his first day. Lightly trotting to her as she got the stuff, he found a clean place for them to sit while they had their fun.

"Well, it's not like you can expect a low-class pony to recognize value." Silver Spoon said in a lofty tone as she sat next to her friend.  She didn't try to take the tiara from her -- instead she guided Diamond Tiara's hooves, letting her keep hold of it while she bade her to turn it this way and that.

Silver Spoon's name and Cutie Mark were, like the filly herself, a bit deceptive.  Most looked at her haughty nature and wealth, then drew the logical conclusion that she was just a spoiled brat.  The truth of the matter was that her family were all very skilled artisans; some of the greatest jewelers and silver smiths in all of Equestria.  Silver Spoon herself had a talent as a craftspony herself and took quick appraisal of the state of her friend's headpiece.

"Well, it's nothing too bad.  There aren't any dents or nicks... looks like the gems are fine too.  No cracks or messed-up settings." she muttered as she squinted through her designer glasses.  "It's just got a few scuffs and his dirty hooves ruined the finish.  Don't worry -- it's nothing a good buff and polish can't fix.  I'll get my big brother's work kit and come over to your place after school, okay?  We'll have it good as new in no time."

"Yep~!" Pinkie nodded vigorously.  One could swear they'd heard a sound akin to a handful of marbles rattling around in an old tin can when she did that.

"But... why?" Twilight asked the obvious question as she released her magical hold on her friend.  She knew Pinkie was absentminded and had odd logic chains, but she couldn't think of any reason why the pony would hijack an entire apple cart and then go about Applejack's delivery route.

"'Cause Granny Smith asked me to." the fluffy one elaborated.  "The Cakes were all freaking out this morning 'cause of their early order and they wanted to get started as soon as they could, so they asked me to go to the farm and pick up the apples myself.  But I met Granny Smith on the way hauling the apple cart and having all kinds of trouble with it."

Pinkie leaned over to Keen Eyes with a hoof raised beside her mouth, as if imparting some deep, dark secret.  "She's really old, y'know?" and then promptly leaned back to continue speaking in full and gesturing with her limbs in a very animated manner.  "So I helped her out~!  She got up in the cart to have a rest and I pulled it the rest of the way to Sugarcube Corner~!  Then I helped out with the ledger, which was kinda confusing but the Cakes were way too busy freaking out still and running all silly-willy-nilly to get the orders finished.  But I didn't want Granny to have to haul anything heavy around town, so I bought the rest of the apples too and let her go off with the empty cart~!  She said she was gonna head back home.  Then The Cakes asked me to take their foals out to play, so we came here~!  And then you guys all showed up and I was like 'GAAAAA~SP!' and I made a break for it and then I bounced around and then I was all 'It's the fuzz~!' and then there was a bunch of questions and then I kinda got lost about where I was going with this whole thing... I know I had a point in here somewhere but I lost track of it somewhere along the line.  Is anypony else hungry?"

Impressiely, Pinkie Pie had said all that without pausing to take a breath.  Once she finished she smiled brightly and looked amid the gathered ponies while blinking with an audible 'plink plink~!' sound every few moments.

"Why, was any of that important?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:13, Tue 24 Apr 2012.

"Thank Celestia." Diamond Tiara spoke as she saw it was fixed, "If anything had happened to this..."

She sighed, trying to show anything but weakness with her smile, and set it back upon her head, "Thank you, Silver Spoon.  It's good to see some ponies still have decency, these days!"

She huffed.  Though she would have appreciated Silver Spoon's reassurances and cares either way, it was great to have a pony around who had a useful skill.  She didn't know much about that when she was young, but she learned well from her daddy.

That thought made her smile vanish in a hurry.

"If what happened because of this Blank Flank really blows up, you probably won't be allowed over." Unlike a dutiful daughter, she sounded more offended at the idea things wouldn't be going her way than sad or guilty for doing wrong.

Of course, she really HADN'T done wrong...

---> From Sweet Apple Acres

Rainbow Dash almost reached sonic rainboom speeds as she flew quickly back into town and to the schoolhouse where Applejack said she'd be. She landed in the yard, looking around for her friend. "Applejack! Hey, Applejack, where are you? I found it!"

Applejack gawked a bit at Pinkie. She still found her friend's inexahustable and overflowing energy reserves difficult to keep up with at times. For now, though, she seemed to manage. Her eyes widened at the tale, and she sat down there on the grass, eyes widening. So.. Pinkie. No, Pinkie had taken it from... Granny? But.. .that didn't make any sense.

"Ya... say Granny Smith had it? But Ah'd brought it along to town myself... huh..." she put a hoof to her lip. "Well, this is a stumper. Ah dunno why she'd have come to do the  job ah just left on..." she said. With Rainbow's call across the sky, she turned upward, and waved her hat with one hoof. "Hay, Rainbow! C'mon!"

Applejack still didn't quite have exactly what happened put together - Pinkie could ramble, but she knew Twilight would piece it all together and make it nice and simple in the end.  The only thing that was bugging her was that Pinkie had seen Granny pulling the cart. AJ had left her back at the ranch...

She looked back to the officer and detective. "Ah don't think it was anything criminal, just very confusin'." she said. Maybe talking to Granny would clear up the last few questions.

Rainbow landed, breathing a little hard from her quick sprint to town. "I found the cart! It's over back at Sweet Apple Acres! Oh... you found out already? What the hay's going on? It's so weird."

"So that's it? Mystery solved?" He asked, tilting his head a bit. But, everything was ending well, so it was a good thing, really. Cart was found, the culprit was found, what happened had all been explained. Charges weren't being pressed against Pinkie. At least he wouldn't assume so since it was all just a big pile of confusion and miscommunication. "I'm glad everything is back in order."

Twilight was just left groaning and shaking her head over the entirety of Pinkie's explanation.  She was a sharp pony herself and put things together halfway through, so she figured out what had happened before her friend finished up.  But it still left the question as to why Granny Smith had the cart in the first place.  She looked over to Applejack and could tell the farmer had the same question in mind.

"Just about, officer.  I think we need to go to Sweet Apple Acres and see what was the cause of all this mess in the first place." Twilight sighed as she looked to Blue Shield.  "I'm sorry you wasted your time on all this.  It was a bit of a wild goose chase."

-->Twilight exits with the rest to Sweet Apple Acres
This message was last edited by the player at 16:50, Wed 25 Apr 2012.

"Aw c'mon Diamond, you know you can always count on me." Silver Spoon offered with a reassuring smile and a pat to her shoulder.  At the mention of not being allowed over later she just smirked and turned up her nose like she always did.  "It wouldn't be a social call -- I'd be performing a vital restorative service.  Your dad's a businesspony; he'll understand.  It'll all turn out okay.  And then we can figure out a good way to get back at that feather-brain, right?"
This message was last edited by the player at 22:40, Tue 24 Apr 2012.

Applejack gave a bit of an awkward chuckle. "Yeah.. uhh.. ah hope it's not been an awful inconvenience. An' thanks for helpin' us out."

Applejack circled about Pinkie, and gave her a tolerant smile. "Ya' wanna come along Pinkie? Rainbow?" she looked up to the blue pony who'd landed.

"Maybe another time.  I've still gotta keep an eye on these two sweetie-pies~!"  Pinkie hadn't forgotten her responsibility and drew up the carrier with the foals in it, cuddling the both of them cheek-to-cheek while they giggled happily.  "But let's all get together later, okay?"

"Yeah," Diamond Tiara smiled at last, "And once we've gotten back at him, he'll know not to mess with us, and I'll be the one having the last laugh, not him and his stupid guard pony mom."

Silver Spoon wasn't the best at handling things straight up, but her deviousness was certainly something to be respected.  And to think she had thought that one of her best friends had sold her out!  Silver Spoon wouldn't have the nerve to turn on her; they were the two ponies who would rule this school, and then Ponyville!  Maybe one day, they'd even rule Canterlot, too!

The gray pony canted her head aside curiously and blinked at the mention of Meadow Lark's mother.  "Wait, guard pony?  What're you talking about?  His mom runs that new drink shop that replaced the old Clover Cafe." she mentioned.  When Merriweather and her son had first moved into town, she'd come to the Silvers to purchase some quality decanters and percolators.  "She makes really good smoothies too... kinda weird to think a nice pony like that is the mom to such a bratty runt."

"Pinkie Pie... you are SO... random... She shook her head, but was more or less used to it after knowing the pink pony for so long. She walked back over to Applejack with a nod. "Yeah, for sure I'll go with you. I can never turn down a chance at getting my hooves on some Apple Family baking." She grinned.

"Pffft.  He said his mom was in the Royal Guard, but I guess I should have known he was lying!" Diamond Tiara shook her head, laughing at the situation, "Whatever.  Juice shop owner or Royal Guard pony, there's no way her son is allowed to act like this in our school.  Still...if her smoothies are good, at least we'll be able to get some tasty drinks once this is all over."

Diamond Tiara knew how to hold a grudge, but, on the other hand, she also knew that if Silver Spoon wrote off well on something, it was probably really good.

"Yeah right.  Royal Guards are important ponies from, like, strong families.  If his mom was one, they'd be richer and living in Canterlot."  Silver Spoon just snickered over that and hid her laugh in a lady-like manner behind a raised hoof.  "That'd be good... it'd really rub his nose in it to have his mom serving us drinks." she and Diamond Tiara had a similar vein of misbehavior in them... while Silver Spoon was arguably more passive than her friend, they did indeed share an antagonistic role in many young ponies' lives.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:50, Tue 24 Apr 2012.

"I know.  Good drinks AND proper revenge." Diamond Tiara grinned.  Sure, she was about to get in trouble, but looking at the long term made everything seem better.  It wasn't like she couldn't weather whatever storm she would be put through as her punishment.

Giggling, she glanced at her true comrade, "What do you think a thieving Cutie Mark looks like?  I'm not going to be surprised if he gets one!"
This message was last edited by the player at 00:17, Wed 25 Apr 2012.

"I don't think he's cut out for it.  He just stood around like a goon holding your tiara where everyone could see him, after all." Silver Spoon tossed her mane about merrily.  "His mom's Cutie Mark is a tray or a platter or something... I never really looked too well.  He's probably just gonna end up in a menial job anyway.  If he ever learns how to fly better than a beetle."

"Maybe.  Hmph." Diamond Tiara couldn't help but be irritated, even if she was the one poking fun at him and not the other way around.  The fact she wasn't able to get under his skin bothered her.  His mother getting mad at him would definitely make for some fun, though, and it might make up for the fact that Daddy was going to freak.

"Awright! Anypony who wants to come along, let's go! We'll wrap up this escapade, and have Sweet Apple Pie for everypony for helpin out!" she said, rearing up,a nd starting off at a brisk pace toward the farm, but she did call over her shoulder. "We'll save ya' some Pinkie~!"

To The Acres!

"Alright! Meet you there!" Rainbow Dash sped off towards the farm again.

To Sweet Apple Acres --->

"I'm glad everything is all nice and wrapped up. We won't even need to do any paperwork on this one." Blue Shield smiled half-heartedly as he found his impromptu duties done for now. Applejack's generous offer was on the table, and unfortunately, he couldn't go along. After all, some officer might still have been on duty. Not that Applejack was being inconsiderate.

"I'd love to join you, but I have to get back to my patrol route. Someone's got to keep this town safe from cart theives and low-flying Rainbow Dash collisions." With a light laugh, he waved a hoof before going back to his partol.

[To the Town Hall]

Keen Eyes was also a sharp pony; otherwise he wouldn't have been a very good detective.  It didn't take him too long to understand most of what Pinkie Pie was saying.  To him, what she'd just finished saying meant this case was pretty much closed.  There wasn't much more he could do that would be helpful at this point, and like the police pony decided it was time to bid the others adieu and head on his way.  Keen Eyes began to head off, saying as he did, "I think you all have everything under control from here,"  The detective paused momentarily, adding quickly, If any of you ponies ever need a detective, you can find me at the Red Hoofed Detective Agency, in town."  After he finished shamelessly advertising his agency, the unicorn began on his way.  After that chase with Pinkie Pie, the detective didn't quite feel up for finishing his walk.  Perhaps he'd go get something to eat or drink someplace?

<Will Add Tags When Destination is Decided>

Pinkie Pie just giggled and waved goodbye to all the ponies heading off to finish up their adventure.  As she was binding the foal carrier back onto her body, she suddenly froze up as her tail flickered about rapidly.

"Twitcha twitcha~!" she yelped, immediately curling back to try and cover the foals with her body to protect them.  But thankfully what set off her Pinkie Sense wasn't anywhere near them.  She looked up into the sky to see what looked like a firework soaring upward over town, sputtering, then falling back down with a whole lot of screaming attached.

"Pinkie Pie!" came a familiar voice.  The party pony's attention was drawn to find Mr. Cake trotting up the way looking much cleaner and relaxed than he had been that morning.  The foals on her back squealed and reached for their father, whom chuckled and leaned in close to them to nuzzle their heads adoringly.

"Hiya Mr. Cake~!  What's up?" she squeaked.

"I just came along to see if you were still in the area.  The missus and I had some extra help show up this morning and got everything taken care of ahead of schedule." he explained.  "Things have calmed down, so I came to take back the kids so that you can have your day to yourself if you liked."

Mr. Cake had made the mistake of blinking at some point in his conversation because, as he looked about, Pinkie was nowhere to be seen.  He gave a confused sound and realized suddenly that the foal carrier had been bound about his own body somehow without him noticing and that his kids were giggling happily over something he'd never know.  The baker just shrugged, laughed, and turned to trot on back home again.

-->Mr. Cake exits to Sugarcube Corner
-->Pinkie Pie exits to Town Square

Sweetie Belle merely shrugged when Glowbug pondered what Diamond Tiara's motives were.  She certainly didn't have an answer and sometimes wondered the same thing.  The small unicorn didn't say anything in response to Glowbug, deciding it would be better if the two forgot about her and tried to enjoy their recess.  After they gathered up their craft paper and crayons, Sweetie Belle took a seat next to Glowbug and began to draw.  "So, where did you live before Ponyville?" Sweetie Belle asked, trying to create both conversation and distraction from Diamond Tiara as the two drew and colored.  Sweetie Belle wasn't entirely sure what she wanted to draw; but after a few scribbles and some thought the pony settled for herself and her big sister.  She hadn't spent much time with Rarity after her last disastrous Cutie Mark Crusade and the young filly missed her.

As they started to draw, Glowbug made a few scribbles off to the side as he figured out what to draw. As Sweetie Belle gave him a question, it sparked a little inspiration. "I'm from Sydneigh." He explained, starting to draw a roughly bunny-shaped thing. "My parents liked to travel though, so I've been a few different places." Some of them very, very far away. He added spikey horns to the bunny's head, which made it look more than a little funny, but it was one of the creatures he'd seen before moving to Ponyville.

Recess came and went, giving the little ponies time to relax before the next bit of their schooling would come along.  History lessons were a little dull, but Cheerilee tried to keep it interesting for everypony since their focus of the week was on influential figures in Canterlot's artistic Renaissance period.  The clock ticked away and many of the ponies were eager for the lunch break, though there were at least two who were surely dreading the count down...

"Alright everypony, that's it for now~!  Enjoy your lunches and be back for the last lesson of the day in an hour." Cheerilee announced, which led to a brief stampede out the door.  She made sure to keep Meadow Lark and Diamond Tiara in sight though, not letting them slip out in case either had the gall to try.  "You two can come sit up here in the front until your parents arrive."

Diamond Tiara had tried, but she wasn't sat on the right side of the room to have any chance.  She was halfway out by the time Cheerilee warned them to sit in the front and wait for their parents, and she tried to return before she could be accused of attempting to leave on purpose.  Cursing her luck, she tried to face her punishment with dignity befitting of someone who had been improperly accused (which, as far as she was concerned, was true)...

Unlike Diamond Tiara, Meadow Lark had made no effort to try and escape his fate.  Whether it was just resignation or he suspected he'd be in even more trouble by attempting it was anyone's guess.  He just sighed and moved himself over to sit in the desk next to Diamond Tiara, quietly glaring daggers at her the whole time.

"This is gonna suck horse apples..." he muttered as he slumped forward to rest his chin on the desk.

--> Continuing from Summer Song Cafe

Along the road from Ponyville toward the distant Schoolhouse, two ponies met.  The path from Maison Le Rich merged with the main road taken by the rest of the daily traffic and it was there that a particular minty-green Unicorn waited.  Filthy Rich, the father of the snobbiest little filly in Ponyville, found it a bit surprising to meet Merriweather for the first time in such a place and the two walked side-by-side down the road.  They made introductions and a bit of chatter, talking on the way.  Naturally their children were the focus of the discussion and they each compared notes about the letters they'd gotten from Cheerilee.

Frankly, the two couldn't have been more different.  Yet as they walked they could chit-chat, smile, and share a laugh despite the situation.  They met at the fork in the road mostly as strangers but, by the time they arrived at the hearth of the schoolhouse, the two were of friendly acquaintance.  Merriweather found Filthy Rich's amicable nature pleasant, and he appreciated her maturity.  Both parents stood outside the schoolhouse door and sighed simultaneously.

"You know that once we go inside, we're enemies, right?" Filthy Rich looked to Merriweather with a raised brow.

"For their sakes." the mare nodded.  The two adults gave a polite shake of their hooves and Filthy Rich opened the door for her in a gentlemanly gesture.

Inside, Cheerilee looked up and offered the arriving parents an apologetic smile.  Meadow Lark sank a bit lower in his seat and looked as though he were ready to start practicing that sought-after disappearing act from earlier.  As Merriweather trotted past Diamond Tiara, the filly would get her first good look at the rumored 'Guard Pony'... and from the look of it, maybe there was some merit to that claim.  That, or being a cafe owner was a lot more dangerous than it sounded.  The mare carried herself with a dutiful posture and bore old, tell-tale signs of battles long since past.  Merriweather moved along and stood beside her son, earning a worried glance from the colt before she gave a subtle, reassuring smile to help put him at ease.  Filthy Rich, meanwhile, held a similar air as he stood beside his daughter and dotingly patted her back with a fatherly hoof.

"Thank you both for coming.  I'm sorry to have to ask you out since I know you're both very busy ponies."  Cheerilee began as she came from out behind her desk.  "I think both of these little ones have some explaining to do.  Diamond Tiara, won't you begin?  The whole truth this time, please."
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:12, Mon 21 May 2012.

Bolstered by the reassuring presence of her father, Diamond Tiara went on the attack to win sympathy while she had the chance, "I was taking notes during class when that-tha-that ruffian knocked my tiara off of my head!  Worse, he tried to frame another pony for the action!  He knew that I would assume it was Glowbug!"

Playing an odd sort of victim, she continued, seeming all the more passionate about her 'injuries', "I was understandably upset, and I let myself get out of control with poor Glowbug, and I'm very sorry for yelling at him, but then that bl- Meadow Lark took my tiara and made me go and apologize to him!  I tried to tell him I already apologized, but he wouldn't listen!  And he was about to break it under his cruel hooves!  I am really sorry for what I did, but that colt is the real bad pony here."

She was very good at earning sympathy, especially when it was not entirely deserved.  The facts might be enough to bury her telling under the weight of its falsehoods, but she was telling the truth about what Meadow Lark did.  Unlike the first time she had come here, she hadn't turned on the waterworks too early, either.  With her tiara on her head and her father at her back, she had no reason to fall apart...

"Glowbug?" Filthy Rich asked at the mention of the name.

"A new student." Cheerilee supplied before looking to Meadow Lark.  She gestured for him to explain his side of things as well.  The boy looked to his mother briefly, then drew himself up to sit straight at the desk.  He had nothing to hide.

"This all started 'cause Diamond Tiara was picking on Glowbug.  She did that stupid 'blank flank note' trick again when Miss Cheerilee was busy teaching.  I did knock her tiara off for it, but she didn't see me and she went after Glowbug at recess 'cause she thought he did it.  I wasn't even trying to hide it or anything -- I went right up and said it to her face when she came outside." Meadow Lark explained.  Diamond Tiara would no doubt get some satisfaction at the way Merriweather's brows furrowed at her son's words.

"And you stole her tiara after?  To break it?" she asked in a low, flat tone.  Meadow Lark winced at that but remained square-shouldered.

"I took it and said I was gonna put it up on the roof if she didn't apologize to Glowbug.  I was never gonna break it or anything like that." he continued as he gave a plaintive look to his mother.  "I was just trying to protect him, like you would do, Mom..."

"That is not how I would protect someone." she replied with an edge that left the poor boy crestfallen.

The two parents looked to each other over their children's heads for a moment of silent consideration.  Filthy broke the quiet as he drew Diamond's gaze to his and met her eyes with a firm, though gentle look.  "Diamond, sweetie, tell me the truth.  Did you play a prank on that Glowbug boy?" he asked sternly.  Filthy Rich adored his daughter, but she knew better than anypony he was no fool.  He'd talked his way through conniving businessponies' deceptive ways, so there was no way she could pull anything over on him if she tried.

Diamond Tiara didn't really want to put anything over on him, either, and she winced in the face of his loving scrutiny.  She winced as she made a concession and fell closer to the truth.  Still, her crime was small, and his was large, and she was NOT going to let anypony think otherwise, "Yes....but that's nothing compared to playing around with my tiara!  I didn't steal anything, and I didn't threaten any pony's things!  If he broke my tiara, I wouldn't be able to replace it!"

The look on Filthy Rich's face was difficult to read at best.  He had a great poker face, but the flicker of disappointment that went past his eyes was apparent.  He sighed and looked back up to Merriweather to give a nod.  She nodded in reply and both trotted over to Cheerilee to speak in a low chatter that the two kids couldn't hear.

Meadow Lark, at the very least, cast a look over to Diamond Tiara and shrugged.  They were both in the same boat now, so no point in being mean about it.

After a little while of quiet discussion, the adults returned.  Instead of moving to their children's sides again they stood before the both of them.  Surprisingly, Merriweather moved over to sit in front of Diamond Tiara and fix the girl with a solid gaze of her own.  It wasn't unlike her father's, she'd realize -- the mare's eyes were warm, but had a certain steely gleam that said she wasn't one to be trifled with.

"Everypony knows how wealthy your family is.  Surely you could replace any trinket without a second thought." the mare asked directly as she let her eyes flick upward to glance at the accessory.  Meadow Lark perked up at that since he'd had the exact same thought himself.  "But this particular tiara is very important to you, isn't it?  It can't be replaced.  Why is that?"

Diamond Tiara felt something stab at her heart, the sharpest pang of worry.  What she was being asked about was so uncool.  Her poker face faltered under the stern mare's expression, and as she fumbled at her choice of words, "Uh..."

Really, it had been a gift given at a very momentous point in her life, by her father.  However, she didn't want to discuss how she had gotten it from her father.  Silver Spoon, even, had not really been told the whole of it.  Things like this were scandals in the waiting, not things to be proud of like her bullying of Blank Flanks and her immaculate appearance...

Meadow Lark would probably be getting some satisfaction if he was the kind to enjoy when other ponies squirmed.  Right now, if she were sitting in his seat, she'd probably be grinning furtively.

"It is important to me!  Because...it was..." She weakened again, sinking down in the seat and away from the gaze.  Admitting the secret, here, in front of this Blank Flank would be unacceptable

He'd tell everypony!  His mom would probably tell everypony!  Cheerilee would probably tell somepony!
This message was last edited by the player at 21:08, Thu 26 Apr 2012.

"It's alright, I get it." Meadow Lark was the one to break the tense silence that Diamond Tiara had pitched the room into with her fretting.  He sighed as he looked over to his classmate -- his expression was still proud, but there was some sympathy in his eyes.  Not pitying either, but one of genuine concern.  Nopony liked seeing someone else squirm, after all.

"I just figured it was some stupid thing you'd get all fussy over.  I wouldn't have touched it if I'd know it was so important to you." he continued in a soft tone.  Merriweather's brows eased and she smiled gently.  "I still think I was right to protect Glowbug... but... well, I'm sorry.  I wasn't trying to hurt your feelings or anything, Diamond Tiara."

Despite how much a trouble-maker Meadow Lark could be, there wasn't even the semblance of insincerity in his apology.  He was a pretty straightforward pony and offered Diamond Tiara the chance to save face with his intervention.  He didn't need to hear her secrets anyway... the point his mother was after had been made.

"And do you have anything you'd like to say to Meadow Lark?" Filthy Rich looked over to his daughter expectantly.

"I..." Diamond Tiara couldn't help but falter when Meadow Lark apologized to her, but the fact that she wasn't about to have to reveal that fact was even better, "Maybe I shouldn't have sent the note in the first place?  Even if what he did was wrong, he wouldn't have done it if I hadn't done that?"

It might have been just how close she had come to admitting so much and the fact that her father was so close, but she seemed to have at least a semblance of sincerity about her.  Her pride forbid her from saying much more.

Filthy Rich and Cheerilee would probably be a bit surprised, if skeptical.  Coming that far on an apology was usually beyond her without some serious prompting.

Cheerilee and Filthy Rich were indeed a little surprised that she fessed up so easily, if grudgingly... but they both shared some obvious relief as well.  Her father moved to sit beside Merriweather as well, placing himself in front of a mildly confused looking Meadow Lark.

"You both made mistakes, but we're proud that you can own up to them.  Being able to admit when you're wrong and make amends is the sign of a good pony." Filthy Rich stated sagely.  Merriweather nodded and looked over to her son.

"While it's admirable that you'd want to help somepony out, you should never do so at the expense of another.  Defending others and taking petty revenge are totally different things." she lectured as well.

"Yes ma'am.  Yes sir."  Meadow Lark conceded with a reluctant nod.  He'd been on the receiving end of these sort of speeches before, so he knew what was coming.  First was the moral, and then the punishment... and there was no way either of them were going to get off scott free after getting their parents called away from work to deal with them.

"Now then, I don't know if you've heard by now, but Princess Luna has come to town.  She'll be raising the Moon from Town Square, and everypony is making a big deal of it.  It's going to be quite the little festival from what I've been hearing." Merriweather led in.

"Yes, daddy.  Yes...ma'am." Diamond Tiara also knew the punishment was coming, like a shooting star through Luna's night.  The lead-in completely confused her, however, and she had to resist the urge to ask.  To ask was to invite the punishment even faster, but curiosity quickly overwhelmed her will.

Sure, it was the former Nightmare Moon, but a Princess was a Princess!  Everypony knew that Princesses didn't just come to Ponyville any time, "The Princess is going to be in town?"

It was impossible for her to restrain her enthusiasm, however.  Really, though, what pony could?

Meadow Lark had no better luck containing his excitement over the idea as his little wings buzzed reflexively.  However, he suppressed it a moment later and let his ears droop.

"We don't get to go, do we?" he took the bait that Diamond Tiara had more wisely avoided.

"Nonsense, of course you're going.  This is the first time Princess Luna has ever made a public display of raising the Moon.  It's practically history in the making." Merriweather continued.  Her son perked right back up at that, but once again settled back into a suspicious poise.  He sure was expressive... the kid had absolutely no guile and was easier to read than the Foal Free Press.  It was obvious he was waiting for the other horse shoe to drop.

"We think you two need time to reconcile.  If you know each other better, we can avoid these sort of situations in the future." Filthy Rich explained their angle in the matter.  "You both will be going to the event.  Together.  And you'll be given an allowance of 50 Bits that the two of you will have to share for anything you buy."

"Talk about cruel and unusual punishment..." Meadow Lark grumbled despite it immediately earning him a glare from both parents.

Diamond Tiara wanted to object, both at the fifty bits part and having to go with Meadow Lark, but...  Really, it could be a worse punishment.  They'd go, stand next to each other so as to fulfill the requirement of the punishment, ignore each other for most of the time, and get on with their lives once it was over.  Seeing Princess Luna was worth it and she could avoid the real aspect of the punishment...

"Yes, daddy." She tried to nod and put on a proper face, but she couldn't hide her own concerns...

Fifty Bits was an absolutely pitiful sum to someone like Diamond Tiara... especially when it meant there was only 25 for her if they split evenly.  But for Meadow Lark, that was plenty~!  The Summer Song Cafe was successful enough that he was never left wanting, but Merriweather was frugal and didn't go wasting Bits needlessly.  It was more than two week's allowance all in one night, so he sure wasn't going to argue.  Now if only the company was better...

Any thoughts or musings the foals might have had on the matter were interrupted as each of the older ponies leaned in close.  Filthy Rich set his face right beside Meadow Lark's and Merriweather tucked in by Diamond Tiara's ear.

"I trust you will be the perfect gentlecolt, son.  Because if I find out you so much as make my daughter pout, I will end you."  Filthy Rich swore in a low mutter.

"I know a pony with a sharp, gilded tongue when I see one, sweetie.  I trust you two will get along together, because if you cause my boy any grief, you'll come to dearly regret it." Merriweather's tone had a very severe edge to it.

With that, both parents simultaneously sat back upright and offered cheerful smiles as if they hadn't just threatened misfortune most ghastly.

"Understood?" the asked in chorus.

Meadow Lark just gulped audibly and gave a frantic nod in reply.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:18, Thu 26 Apr 2012.

Diamond Tiara found herself feeling more fear than she did just a few moments earlier.  Still, fifty bits was better than none, and they could always have been forced to clean the entire schoolhouse with their hooves tied to the same broom, "Yes ma'am."

It took a lot to make her fear.  Merriweather's tone, alone, could set someone to fear for their life even if it was saying the nicest words.  Needless to say, she nodded, too, even after she agreed.  Maybe she could afford to lay off the 'Blank Flanks' for just this night...unless he really got unbearable...

Despite the fact that she had to and knew there was no way out of this, she almost wanted to be grounded from Silver Spoon instead of being forced to go to the appearance with Meadow Lark.  If the Princess saw her with that ruffian, she'd probably think she was some sort of lowborn...

She bit back that thought, she was NOT lowborn.

Instead, she turned loving blue eyes toward her father, smiling like an innocent little filly would, "It can't be closer to one hundred bits, though, daddy?  Pretty please?"

Fifty bits each way was still pretty small, in her eyes, but it'd be doubling her spending money.  The other ponies wouldn't think she was too poor to buy nice things if she had that much to throw around.

Meadow Lark, at least, wouldn't argue against this...

"Well... I suppose eighty Bits would be fair." Filthy Rich was a resolute pony, but he was still a loving father.  He melted just a little at the sight of his little girl's charm, though Merriweather just rolled her own eyes and voiced no argument.  He was the one hoofing the bill, after all, so it wasn't her place to debate it.  Meadow Lark, likewise, wasn't in any mood to argue either and was barely keeping his wings from flitting about behind him at the prospect.

"Well, I'm glad we could get this all settled.  Diamond Tiara, Meadow Lark, you both owe me a three-page essay about showing respect to other ponies by the end of this week." Cheerilee added in.  Meadow Lark instantly balked, but he was silenced by their teacher clearing her throat sharply.  "Your parents have their punishment for your actions, but I have mine as well.  I won't have anypony causing trouble for the class."

Meadow Lark just pouted but nodded all the same.  Okay, so it wasn't quite an ideal situation, but it could have been a lot worse.  The parents both rose to leave and addressed their children on their own -- Merriweather leaned in to give her Pegasus son a nuzzle on the cheek while Filthy Rich pushed up Diamond Tiara's mane to place a fond kiss on her forehead.

"Alright you two, go eat your lunches and behave yourselves the rest of the day." Filthy nodded for the door.

Diamond Tiara couldn't help perking up, even as Miss Cheerilee promised her own punishment.  She didn't really know all that much about showing respect to ponies, but she didn't know any pony who could write three PAGES about anything that wasn't a total egghead!  She would behave herself for the rest of the day, though she couldn't keep herself from turning a glance toward Meadow Lark.  She wasn't sure if she should be thankful, mad, or both, so she settled for saying nothing after looking at him confusedly for a moment and hurrying out to enjoy her lunch.  At least she wouldn't be grounded, even though this punishment was only a little less horrible.

It was better than most could expect, though.  She hadn't been kept from going to the Princess's appearance...

Meadow Lark kept any commentary or glances to himself as he hopped down from the desk and trotted out after Diamond Tiara.  No sooner had the two kids gotten out of the building was he immediately cut off as Silver Spoon swung right into him, flank-checking him aside with an indignant squawk.  He was about to retaliate, but decided against it since he was already in enough trouble... no need to make things worse on himself right outside of earshot of his mom.  He just shot Silver Spoon a dirty look and scampered off on his own.

"Feh... so, what happened?  Is he, like, grounded forever?  C'mon, dish the details~!" the gray filly was eager for gossip as she walked alongside her friend.

Meanwhile, back inside, the two parents took a few moments to speak with each other once the kids had gone.

"That went better than I expected.  Still, I'm sorry about Meadow Lark's behavior, Filthy." Merriweather began, though she was cut off as he tapped a hoof in annoyance.

"I prefer to go by Rich." he sighed.  Why did everypony insist on using his first name?  "It's alright though.  I know my little Diamond can be just as much a trouble-maker when she gets it into her head.  I've been trying to teach her better, but you know how foals are."

Merriweather just nodded sympathetically.  "True enough.  But I'm sure they'll both grow out of it.  Besides, it seems like she's got a good father to show her the way.  I can admire a pony who's good with children."  the commented as she lit her horn up, idly straightening Filthy Rich's tie for him.

"I could say the same about you.  It can't be easy holding down a business and a family all on your own." the stallion chuckled softly.  "Why don't I bring Diamond Tiara over to visit your cafe one of these afternoons?  To show there's no hard feelings?"

"I'd like that.  Feel free." she nodded in return.  Each said farewell to Cheerilee, apologized dutifully to boot, and left on their separate ways since they each still had jobs to get back to.

--> Merriweather exits to Summer Song Cafe
--> Filthy Rich exits to Maison Le Rich
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:39, Fri 27 Apr 2012.

Diamond Tiara wasn't able to bring herself to smile when her friend flank-checked the other pony.  She usually would have grinned and laughed haughtily, but her energy for cattiness was about gone at the moment...

"Well, no." The little pink earth filly sighed, continuing to walk away until she was sure no pony was too close.  She wasn't all that attentive, though.

"We've got to write three page papers about respecting other ponies, and..." She bit her lip, trying to be irritated but coming off as more embarrassed than anything else, "And, well, do you know about the Princess thing that's going on today in town?  That...Blank Flank and I have to go...together."

"Talk about cruel and unusual punishment..." Silver Spoon echoed Meadow Lark's earlier sentiment without realizing it.  She didn't understand the context of the punishment, but adults always did weird things that didn't make any sense.  So long as they stopped nosing in, it was fine by her.

"Still, I guess it's not so bad.  If you want, I can come along with you so at least you'd have somepony to talk to." she offered.  Seeing as how she shared the same opinion of Meadow Lark as Diamond Tiara did, that was actually quite generous of her.  "Then it would just look like the Blank Flank is tagging along after us.  We could make him carry our stuff~!"

Diamond Tiara stopped for a second, looking toward the horizon as if a smooth explanation would descend from the sky.  For several seconds, she didn't even speak as she imagined the myriad of ways Merriweather could make her regret anything that could happen to Meadow Lark during their punishment.  Though she had just a little respect for him after he saved her from having to explain her tiara's origins, she wasn't about to hold back because of that.  It was the pure pain that the Royal Guard pony had promised her if anything unbecoming were to happen, "Well, um...we can't make him carry our stuff, okay?"

How could she explain to Silver Spoon that the pony she was talking about had scared her into submission, practically, without even screaming?!?

Her words failed her, utterly, and her lack of confidence betrayed that something deeper was wrong.

Silver Spoon was a deceptive sort and, as a result, was pretty good at reading ponies too.  It was made easier since she and Diamond Tiara were such long-time friends.  She knew when the filly was hiding something and narrowed her eyes suspiciously behind her glasses... but, no doubt to her relief, didn't press in too hard.

"Huh... guess you didn't get off as clean as we hoped?" she concluded, figuring that was the simplest (and least embarrassing) explanation for Diamond's less-than-bombastic behavior.  "Well, alright.  I can play nice with the Blank Flank if need be.  It's better than getting grounded, right?  But are you sure you're okay?  You look kinda spooked."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:06, Fri 27 Apr 2012.

"Yeah, it's way better than being grounded, but I'm worried." Diamond Tiara shook her head, trying to focus on a better (and more convincing) truth, "Even though he won't steal from me since his mom came down hard on him too, what if the Princess sees me next to that Blank Flank and thinks I'm as slovenly as he is?  It'd be so embarrassing!  It's not every day someone gets to see one of the Princesses...and she might just see me if I get close enough to see her!"

It wasn't the real truth of the matter, but hopefully it'd get Silver Spoon away from the more sensitive issue.  She knew her grey pelted friend was zeroing in on the real problem that this worry was wrapped around...

"I don't think we have to worry about something like that.  I mean, she's the Princess of, like, the entire Moon~!  I think everypony is kinda slovenly from her point of view." Silver Spoon reasoned.  That concern was, in and of itself, something suspicious though.  Normally Diamond Tiara was so full of bluff and bravado that she would have deemed that it was an honor for the Princess to be meeting her, not the other way around!

"You're not still worried about your tiara, are you?  I already told you I can fix it good as new.  The Princess will be able to see herself in it~!" she reassured her friend with a pat on the back.

Diamond Tiara found herself wincing away from Silver Spoon.

The words Merriweather spoke echoed around in her head, demanding an answer.  For just a moment, she felt like she'd have that same question leveled at her by her best friend, and then she'd have to suffer worse than just the scrutiny of an adult who had no power in her life.  Silver Spoon would bear naught but scorn for her if she knew the truth, and then she would be truly alone...

She tried to gather some of her original bluster, unwilling to allow Silver Spoon to continue speaking about her tiara, "We're going to look really good tonight, okay?  We're going to get past all of this nonsense and we're going to show this town why we're the best fillies in it.  We'll look so good that Meadow Lark might look presentable standing next to us.  Okay?"

Silver Spoon canted her head aside in an inquisitive angle and Diamond would no doubt recognize the look on her face.  Concern, mixed with just a little... was that pity?  It was obvious Silver Spoon could tell there was something bothering her friend but didn't seem to know how to approach it.  Instead she just shook her head and replaced her genuine expression with a bright smile.

"Please, I always look good~.  But a home makeover for tonight will make us look amazing~!" the filly laughed haughtily as she raised her hoofs to invite their personal 'sugar lump' hoof shake in solidarity.

"Yeah.  We're going to look spectacular!" Diamond Tiara grinned as the subject changed to something they could smile about.

She proceeded with their hoofshake, a small flame lighting within her and burning away the worries, "Bump, bump, sugar lump, rump!"

It made her giggle and took her mind off of her real problems.  It didn't matter if she was next to Meadow Lark or even somepony as weird as Snips or Snails; she'd be a shining star to the Princess's Night.

The two fillies shared their personal shake, leaving both giggling and in better spirits for it.  Silver Spoon knew some other kids thought the two were odd for having such a mannerism, but forget them -- they just weren't cool enough to understand it.

"C'mon, let's go eat.  I'm starved and my big brother packed oat cupcakes for my dessert~!  We can share." she smiled brightly as she pointed off toward their usual personal spot under a shady tree.  It was perhaps nice to know that, no matter how bad things got or what events might shake her world, Diamond Tiara always had a smile waiting for her from that cheery, bespectacled face.  After all, even bullies needed friends.

Having entered from Ava's Treehouse

Poppy looked around the schoolyard as she munched on her daisy sandwich. She kind of wanted to go say hi to somepony, but she was feeling a little shy on her first day. Still, what harm could it do? Washing down the last of her sandwich with an apple juicebox, she cantered over to where Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were standing. "Um... Hi. I'm Poppy. What're your names?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:56, Fri 27 Apr 2012.

Diamond Tiara stopped.  She might have been angry at the (unintentional) intrusion any other day, but (for once) things were going badly enough that she really didn't want to make them worse.

She took a good look at Poppy before making any comments, and saw that her flank was marked.  It was good to see she wasn't going to have to make nice with a Blank Flank.  She smiled curiously, trying to maintain the proper demeanor, "I'm Diamond Tiara.  You just moved here, didn't you?"

Though she was by no means the friendliest of ponies, she knew better than to push her luck right after she had gotten in so deep.  Besides, a third for their little clique was something she could go for right about now.  Those Blank Flanks that banded together numbered three, after all...
This message was last edited by the player at 15:02, Fri 27 Apr 2012.

Silver Spoon had simultaneously paused, leaned over to check Poppy's flank for a Cutie Mark, then looked back to Diamond Tiara, mirroring her own appraisal.  She followed her friend's lead and took a demure pose.

"And I'm Silver Spoon.  We're the premiere fillies of Ponyville~.  Welcome to town." she introduced herself in a honeyed tone.

Poppy nodded. "My sister Ava and I just got here a couple days ago. It's not like Canterlot at all, but I really like it hear. It's not so crowded, and there's lots of room to grow things."

"You're from Canterlot and you have a sister?  How marvelous." Diamond Tiara nodded in interest, "Do you just grow the flowers or do you also style them?"

For all the arrogance the young pony brought to bear, she still understood that flowers were something to be proud of that came out of the dirt.  They looked pretty, and they were a part of an earth pony's heritage.  Even the least talented earth pony could shepherd flowers into growing into beautiful things, but it took somepony with a special talent to really make them flourish.

"I style them a little for special things, like Ava's birthday, but mostly I just grow them. I'm really excited about having a little space to try and grow some vegetables, too - Ava and I love zucchini and asparagus."

"Huh... pedestrian, but useful." Silver Spoon observed as she moved along, circling about Poppy briefly to look her up and down with a scrutinizing eye.  "Your fashion sense could use a little fine tuning though... have you thought of color-coordinating?  Caps are so last summer too.  I think you'd look a lot better in a pillbox hat, or maybe an Ella Cloche?"
This message was last edited by the player at 20:09, Fri 27 Apr 2012.

Poppy twitched slightly uncomfortably. "Yellow's my favorite color," she said, pawing at the grass with one front hoof., "And the baseball cap keeps the sun out of my eyes without dulling all of the beautiful colors - I sneeze in bright light," she said, looking up. Sure enough, as the midday sun crept under the brim of her cap, she sneezed into her shoulder. "'Scuse me," she said meekly, looking a bit embarrassed. "Anyways, I'm not to worried about what everypony else thinks - I like it, and Ava doesn't tell me that it makes her eyes bleed. I figure that's enough," she giggled.

Diamond Tiara nodded, considering the situation and deciding to tone things down, "Confidence is half of everything, but looking good is never something to shy away from."

She looked to Silver Spoon, but then suddenly turned her gaze back to the new pony.  Poppy could use a little bit of help to be somepony popular, and she could use somepony else besides Meadow Lark around for thecoming festival, "Have you heard of what is going to happen soon?  With the Princess coming to Ponyville?  Since you're so new to town, you could come get a little makeover with us, and then go enjoy the fun..."

"Poppy, please, there's a big difference between clothes for utility and clothes for fashion.  You're not planting flowers now, right?  So why dress like it?" Silver Spoon sidled in close, leaving Poppy surrounded by preppy.

"Yeah, do come with us~!  We'll be going to Diamond Tiara's mansion after school to get all prettied up for the Princess' big event~!  It's going to be amazing." she gushed.

"I gotta ask Ava if I can go, first - I'm not sure if she knew about it, she didn't mention it at breakfast. And I'm not s'posed to go anywhere but Sugarcube Corner, the library, or her office down at PIMT without askin' her first..." The little filly stood her ground - these two were making her kinda uncomfortable all of a sudden... But she wouldn't do anything that would scare Ava, like go off without telling her. She just wouldn't. "Anyways, if I do get to go, I'll probably keep it simple - maybe a skirt or somethin', I think I've got one that still fits. I don't wear 'em much." She looked around, again pawing at the ground uncomfortably. "Hey, I've got a great idea - let's go over to those guys and say hello," she suggested, nodding toward Sweetie Belle and Glowbug.

"Yes, that'd be perfect." It was forced, but it almost came out sounding like she didn't have something against the two...

Playing ball with this one would be hard, she saw, but she was sure it would be worth it.  Hopefully, Silver Spoon would just trust her.

Silver Spoon was mostly behind Poppy at that point and thus was out of the immediate line of sight, so only Diamond Tiara would notice her initial sneer at the mention of playing with the others.  When her friend went along with the idea she looked surprised for a moment, but had been in enough schemes to know when to play along.

"Alright.  No point in being antisocial, hmm?" she shrugged and gave a toss of her braided mane.  Between the two, Silver Spoon had a much smoother silver tongue than Diamond Tiara and was able to keep a perfectly friendly demeanor even at the idea of playing nice with a couple of Blank Flanks.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:59, Fri 27 Apr 2012.

Poppy trotted over to where Sweetie Belle and Gloworm were, hoping to find some company a bit less prissy-preppy than Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. "Hi, I'm Poppy - I'm new here, I don't think we've met yet," she said, once again feeling (and acting) rather shy.

A low droning can softly be heard in the distance, steadily growing louder with each passing moment. The source of the noise soon became apparent as a light brilliant gamboge filly on a scooter crested the hill and started speeding towards the school house. Zipping through the gates into the play ground she came to a skidding stop, just shy of bowling over Sweetie Belle. "Sorry I'm late, had some scooter trouble." She said, taking off her helmet and placing it on the handle bar.

She frowned when she noticed Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, though the pony with them was new.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:49, Sat 28 Apr 2012.

Poppy waved a hoof. "Hi, I'm Poppy. Um, I'm new here today. What's your name?"

Diamond Tiara looked at Scootaloo disinterestedly.  That filly was annoying, but at least she wasn't a thief.  The noise from that scooter was one of the biggest nuisances around the schoolyard, though, and she was glad that the pegasus dismounted.

Scootaloo shook out her mane, reaching up and scratching a spot that had been bothering her. While she did that she examined the pony before her, from her hat to her cutie mark to the ponies with her. "Scootaloo." She said, her voice civil but no hint of warmth could be found.

Poppy cocked her head to one side. "Did I say somethin' wrong?" she asked. Scootaloo seemed somewhat irked with her, but she couldn't for the life of her figure out what she'd done wrong...
This message was last edited by the player at 02:41, Sun 29 Apr 2012.

"No, not at all, Poppy." Silver Spoon reassured the hesitant filly with a gentle pat on the shoulder.  She leaned in close and whispered to her ear, though made no real effort to keep herself from being heard by others.  "Scootaloo and her friends are just jealous of ponies with Cutie Marks.  They're always causing all sorts of trouble trying to get theirs.  It's sad, really."

Diamond Tiara looked on at the Blank Flanks, watching their reaction.  She was in sync enough with her partner that she knew where this was going.  However, she'd have to pull back if it got heated; Cheerilee would throw on a harder punishment if she was caught acting out of order so soon after her last punishment.  At least she wouldn't be drawing Merriweather's scorn if something went down here.  That mare could scare the life out of somepony!

Still, she stood near her friend and Poppy in a show of support.  If a fight started up, at least it wouldn't have been her fault, though.

After all, she wasn't saying anything or doing anything but standing there.  That was not a crime...

Poppy's face took on a quizzical look. Lost in her own worries in class, she hadn't seen the now-infamous note or who had passed it, but until a few weeks ago, she'd certainly gotten her share of teasing for being a Blank Flank. She'd never heard of anypony being mean to others simply because the others did have their marks, though. This town was starting to feel kinda lonely for some reason - but, no, after all that had happened, surely it was just her... what was that word Ava always used? Per-cep-tion? Yeah, that was it. And Ava had been saying for as long as Poppy could even remember that nopony ever went wrong by being friendly to everypony, everywhere. "Anyways, it's really nice to meet you," she smiled. "I really hope I can be friends with everypony in Ponyville!"
This message was last edited by the player at 19:49, Mon 30 Apr 2012.

It was right about then that a bright, bouncy blue ball with a yellow stripe around its middle came bounding along down the way.  It rolled to a stop nearby the group of foals gathered and was chased down by a particular group of other students.

"Oh, howdy~!  What're y'all up to?" Applebloom was the first to reach the run-away ball and stopped it with a quick hoof.  She was followed along by a few others in her wake; a lithe Pegasus named Featherweight and a mottled colt named Inkwell.

A little blue earth pony waved a hoof at the newcomers. "Hi - I'm Poppy."

Diamond Tiara did her best to keep herself polite and proper in the face of Applebloom.  That little farm pony was the wrench in almost all of her plans, and somepony who her school would probably be better off without.  Still, she had been more mad about Meadow Lark.

Her usual scowl was replace with a more worried and distant expression.

Applebloom was one of her least worries, right now.

Scootaloo perked up as the last member of their trio arrived. "Heya Applebloom! What's up?" She asked, turning her attention away from the other ponies and focusing on her friends. "Anything exciting happen this morning?"

"Huh?  But you're..." Applebloom seemed confused as Poppy introduced herself and quickly looked around.  She focused on a small cluster of fillies off by the swings, one of whom had a very similar color scheme to Poppy.  Ah... another clone pony, it seemed.  One could always tell the difference close up, but mistakes were rare up close.  "...ah... one of th'new students~!  Howdy then.  Name's Applebloom." she greeted Poppy in turn with a wave of her own.


Scootaloo had asked.  At that the bow-wearing filly glanced over at Diamond Tiara with a mischievous smile.  Her and Meadow Lark getting in trouble was school yard gossip at its finest.  But... there was something about the pink pony's expression that gave Applebloom pause.  Instead of spilling the beans she just shrugged carelessly.  "Naw, just th'usual.  Y'all wanna play?"  she asked as she kicked the ball back over to Featherweight, who arched it off his hoof and began bouncing it atop his head.

"Yeah, c'mon!  We can make teams~!" the slender colt chirped up.

"Ooh, I'll play!" Poppy nodded enthusiastically.

Diamond Tiara would have seen that smile and have tried to give Applebloom a Cutie Mark for getting a piece of her mind, most of the time.  Right now, though, her thoughts are distant.

Then again, usually, she wouldn't step forward and say something like, "Sure, let's play."

By the time it's out of her mouth, she actually looked a little surprised at herself, but she can't back down now...

Silver Spoon was about to give off a snide remark about not wanting to mess up her hooficure on a messy ball game, but she was promptly shut up as Diamond Tiara agreed.  For a moment the gray filly was puzzled but quickly assumed her friend had something in mind.

"Count me in too then." she agreed.

"Count me in!" Scoots declared, moving to stand next to Applebloom. She cast a suspicious eye at Diamond and Silver when they both said they'd play. Oh well, if they wanted to get their flanks kicked then she would be more than happy to supply the hoof. "Let's do this!"

Applebloom was understandably wary when both of the class bullies piped in to join as well, but she wasn't going to turn them away out of hoof for no reason.  Maybe they were tired of being mean?  One could only hope.

"Awright then, let's go~!" the yellow filly cheered as she turned and dashed off with the rest.  It was just a silly game of ball with no real point other than keeping the ball bouncing in the air for as long as possible, and trying to make the other players miss being able to return it up.  Teams were quick to form on their own rather than being assigned -- naturally Silver Spoon would stick with Diamond Tiara.  They had an uneven number of ponies at the moment, but that changed as others would drop in and out of the game seemingly at random.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:39, Tue 01 May 2012.

"Hay, Scootaloo - coming your way," Poppy called as she got up on her back hooves and knocked the ball towards her teammate.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:23, Tue 01 May 2012.

It was good Diamond Tiara had Silver Spoon on her side, because physical affairs were not her skill.  The other fillies and colts could probably guess that, too, as she spent more time talking with Silver Spoon or bullying some of them than she did playing physical games.  To be honest, she didn't really even know exactly why she said yes to this.  There was no larger plan here, yet.  Her pelt would be taking a bit of a beating from all of this, though.  At least a bath and that after-school makeover would make things a bit better.

Scootaloo grinned when she saw the ball coming her way, this was too perfect. Leaping up into the air she twisted and gave the ball a mighty kick, sending it rocketing straight towards Diamond Tiara. Let the flank kicking begin!
This message was last edited by the player at 04:42, Wed 02 May 2012.

Diamond Tiara had just enough foresight to reach up and take her tiara off of her head.  That was all the time she had before the ball struck her clean in the face and bounced to the ground, lazily sliding to a stop.  She yelped in surprise as she was hit, but luckily managed to keep her tiara from dropping.  Rolling the ball to some pony besides Scootaloo (she took little care for who got it, so long as that pegasus did not lay hoof on it immediately), she set her tiara aside and got back into the game, grumbling.  That was more like the old Diamond Tiara.  Mad when things didn't go her way, and more concerned with image than a good time...

"HA! You're supposed to use your hoof, not your face Diamond!" Scoots called out trotting away with a snigger, going after the ball once more. The best part was there was no way she could get into trouble as she could just claim that she was playing the game and Diamond didn't react in time. Just what the prissy pony needed in her opinion.

"Blank...flank." Diamond Tiara muttered, refusing to get in trouble again.  Everypony knew she had been in trouble, and she knew this was not the time to stack on additional punishments.  And yet, since she had stepped up, she couldn't just bow out...so she had to present a strong and dignified face, even as she shook her head to clear out the pegasi flying around it.

Silver Spoon was at her friend's side in concern to make sure she was okay, but then leveled a glare over at Scootaloo immediately after.  So that was how the snotty Blank Flank wanted to play it, huh?  Once the ball was moving in the air again, the gray filly hurried to enact her plan.  It got bounced over to Inkwell, then over to Poppy, and once the volley came her way, Silver Spoon let the ball baff off the top of her head for a light bounce.

"Heads up, Scootaloo~!" she called her shot as she bounced the ball high up.  Silver Spoon was a tricky sort, after all.  The lobbed ball didn't go very far at all aside from straight up, but then came back down again -- it was enough to draw anypony's attention to see where it was going.  But as soon as it neared the ground, the filly whirled and kicked back with both hind-legs, sending the ball rocketing straight into the red-maned pegasus just as hard as she'd spiked it into Diamond Tiara.

Meanwhile, Meadow Lark watched the goings-on from a distance.  He'd placed himself up in the low branches of a nearby tree and lazily lounged there, half-bored and half-interested in the game below.  He'd taken the lesson to heart a bit better than Diamond Tiara had and was trying to behave himself, but he couldn't shake the feeling something was really bugging that filly.  She wasn't being her usual annoying self.

Scootaloo turned when she heard her name being called. Her eyes, like all the others, tracked the ball up and then back down. When the ball was launched back at her face she grinned, Silver Spoon would have to try much harder than that to get the best of her. Launching herself into a back flip she smashed both fore hooves into the ball and sent it straight back at the grey filly. "Back at'cha!"

14:14, Today: Scootaloo rolled 12 using 1d10+5. Hoof Ball Kick!

With her kick done and plan in action, Silver Spoon had turned to see the profit of her deviousness... only to have it immediately backfire in her face.  Literally.  The ball was returned much more swiftly than she expected and the filly didn't have enough time to dodge or put her hooves up.  No doubt the immediate and sharp 'WHUMP~!' sound that rang out from the ball meeting her face at high velocity was particularly satisfying to Scootaloo.

Being an Earth Pony, Silver Spoon was quite sturdy despite appearances.  While a lesser pony may have been bowled over by the impact, she stood firm... but not without effect.  As the ball bounced away, she was left with a pained expression -- her snout was bruised and her pretty glasses trembled atop her nose before they split cleanly in two and dropped to the ground, shattering where they landed.  One could only imagine the reaction yet to come.  Silver Spoon was one of the school bullies, after all.  She was forceful, devious, and wealthy...

...but she was also just a little filly, so it really shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone when fat tears welled up in her eyes and she burst out crying.  Silver Spoon immediately turned and dashed off, bawling from a combination of pain, embarrassment, and disorientation since she obviously needed her glasses given how she nearly clipped a tree on her way off across the school yard.


13:32, Today: Silver Spoon rolled 1 using 1d10. Critical Failure!
This message was last edited by the player at 21:36, Wed 02 May 2012.

Diamond Tiara was astounded by the effect.  What hit her, at least, wasn't enough to do more than stagger her.  Moreover, she had at least had a chance to square up for the impact!  Silver Spoon, however, had taken the hit right in the face.  It wasn't shocking that the ball hit her or that it broke her glasses.

The real surprise was when Silver Spoon cried and ran away.

Silver Spoon, the only pony in this school with half as much confidence as she had, was crying.

It was the second time today somepony had gone after something or somepony of hers.  It wasn't quite as personal this time as it had been when her tiara had been the target, but Silver Spoon was her friend!  Just because they were bullies didn't mean that they didn't have solidarity!

She was not nearly as strong as Scootaloo, but she almost felt that strong when she kicked the ball back at her.  It started bouncing before it got to her, but the point was made by the gesture and the glare.  She started to run off, but turned back to retrieve the glasses first.  Carrying them in her mouth was so crude, but it would have to suffice for now!
This message was last edited by the player at 03:39, Mon 06 Aug 2012.

Entering from Sweet Apple Acres

While this commotion at the schoolyard was going on, two ponies came up by way of the Apple Farm, and were rounding a corner toward the schoolhouse when Silver Spoon ran past them. Applejack frowned distinctly, as the filly went running by, and turned to watch her bolting away. "Ah.. Hay, Silver Spoon. What's got you all...." she paused. "Where'd yer glasses go?" she asked, and took a moment to trot back after Silver Spoon instead of sticking with Xing. She put out a comforting hoof. Something had gone wrong in the schoolyard drama again, it seemed. She cast a glance to Xing Ming, and smiled sheepishly. "Ah, Mei Mei, this is Silver Spoon, one of the fillies at school."

Applejack smiled reassuringly, hoping to allay some of Silver Spoon's worries with a confident and caring approach. Something had gone wrong, and it looked like it needed addressing.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:32, Wed 02 May 2012.

Scootaloo had just been about to cheer her latest success when everything suddenly went horribly wrong. Her ears dropped flat against her head in distress. She hadn't meant to make her cry! She didn't even try to get out of the way of the ball even though it wasn't moving nearly as fast as when she hit it. "I'M SORRY!" She yelled after the retreating ponies, unable to move and follow after them. "I-I didn't mean to! I didn't mean to hit her so hard! I'M SORRY!" She said, lowering her head and not meeting anyponies eyes. "I'm sorry."

<<< From: Sweet Apple Acres

Xing trotted along toward the schoolhouse as she watched the ball game from a distance. She couldn't help but to wince as the little grey filly was struck, and hard, by the ball, and took off crying. Xing forgot about everything else as she hurried after Applejack. "Oh... My! Are you alright, Silver Spoon?" she asked, looking more worried about if she was okay, than proper introductions.

Seeing that an adult mare had stopped to check up on Silver Spoon, Poppy turned to Scootaloo, who had by now been left in the dust by everypony else. "It was an accident, Scootaloo - it happens," she told the orange filly. "It'll be okay. Still, we should probably go see how she's doing."

Diamond Tiara was quick enough to actually catch up with her friend, and the other ponies.  She was glad to see that things hadn't gone too much worse.  Vengeance would come a little later, once she was sure her friend wasn't in any real trouble.

There wasn't much talking with those two sections of glasses in her mouth, but at least she could look concerned for her friend.

The other ponies gathered had been just as surprised to see Silver Spoon crying as Diamond Tiara was.  Of the pair, she was certainly the lesser of two evils and there was more immediate sympathy for her situation as she went bawling away.

"Actually, we might wanna steer clear a bit.  Most ponies don't like havin' folk they ran away from come chasin' after 'em, y'know?"  Applebloom mentioned, though she was a bit wary as she saw her sister of all ponies intercept Silver Spoon.  And who was that other filly with her?  She was curious, but as any good friend would, Applebloom remained by Scootaloo's side to reassure her as much as Poppy was.

Meanwhile, across the school yard, Silver Spoon most certainly hadn't wanted to be caught.  But that wasn't in the cards for her -- concerned adults had a way of meddling, after all.  She'd been rendered blind by both her lack of glasses and overabundance of tears to the point that she'd nearly barreled right into Applejack.  It took a few moments of her huffing and blubbering on the spot before she could even get a coherent answer out.

"I-it was that brute, Scootalooooo~!"  the filly sobbed.  "Diamond Tiara and I were just trying to be nice and play ball with everypony, and she doesn't like us, and she hit us both with the ball, and she broke my glasses!  Why does she have to be so mean?!"

Applejack knew Scootaloo well enough to know she was a good filly, but the evidence was pretty discouraging... Silver Spoon was in an obvious fit, Diamond Tiara looked roughed up herself, and the pegasus in question was still over with the ball across the yard looking awful guilty with herself...

Xing chewed on her bottom lip nervously, then turned to Diamond Tiara, seeing her with the broken glasses in her mouth. As Applejack tended to the little grey pony, she went instead to Diamond Tiara. "Here... let me... try..." she muttered in a very shy voice, a purple magic glimmering from her horn as she took the glasses with it, hovering it in the air. She bit her bottom lip and concentrated hard, the bridge between the half-oval panes of glass growing ridged as she tried her best to mend them back together.

After a little painstaking work, they did indeed come together, though the crack between the two halves was still visible as a white line. "... There... I hope... that's okay..." she murmured, obviously a little winded from the magical exertion.

Scootaloo kept her head down, barely able to keep herself from shaking. She could play off one hit to the face as accidental, but two hits right in a row? One where she broke a filly's glasses and made her cry? She was in deep trouble. Glancing up she was going to say that maybe she would just take the rest of the day off when she caught sight of who Silver Spoon was next to. "Oh no. Not Applejack." She moaned, starting to shake. If there was one pony she could have wished Silver wouldn't run into it would be Applejack. All Silver would have to do is tell the truth, they had been playing ball and Scoots had kicked the ball into both hers and Diamonds faces.

Her ears, if it was at all possible, flattened even more against her head. "I-I think that maybe I should go." She said, backing up slowly towards where she had left her scooter, eyes never leaving the small group that had conjugated around the crying filly.

Applejack knew that playing sports could have all sorts of injuries, accidental or otherwise. While she knew Scootaloo was a good filly, she also knew she had a rowdy nature and quite a kick.  She had probably played a bit unsafely, all things considered, but it was probably nothing more than an accident. She put a hoof on the filly's shoulder. "C'mon now, chin up, Silver Spoon." she coached with a smile, and glanced up as Xing worked her magic... AJ's  eyes widened just a bit. "Well, now, will ya' look at that.." she glanced at Silver Spoon, then blinked, ear flopping awkwardly. "Oh, right..." She smiled, and guided her with a hoof toward Diamond Tiara and Xing Ming. "They're back in one piece, an' just fine." she took the glasses from the filly, then wiped the lenses with her hat's cleaner under-brim, then placed them on Silver Spoon's nose gently.

"Now, girls, playin' sports an' ball games always has a risk of gettin' ya hit, an' ah'm pretty sure it was just an accident. Let's go back over to the playground an' talk to everypony." she said gently.

"An' Mei mei, ah'm real impressed with that magic a' yers." She said proudly, then glanced to Diamond Tiara. "This is Diamond Tiara. Tiara, Silver Spoon, this here is Xing Ming. She'll be stayin' at the farm with us, but she's from Shanghay. She'll be yer new classmate." she started back toward the playground, and motioned with her hoof. "C'mon, girls~"

Diamond Tiara watched the display a little jealously.  She wished that she could really do much more for her friend.

"A repair spell?  At least some ponies don't try to just break things that belong to others." Still, Xing Ming wasn't just the target of the pink filly's irritation, which was a lot better than most ponies could say right now.  Normally, she'd be glad to get extra friendly to put on a good face, for now, though, she lingered near her friend.

Xing Ming did get a nod from her, though.  It wasn't a nice look, but there wasn't a lot of nice in Diamond Tiara right now.  Usually, she was the one calling the shots, but this day had gone completely wrong.  Silver Spoon may have been spared most of the punishment, but that didn't mean that things hadn't gone a little too wrong for her taste.  She'd have to take control, even if the only result would be to remind her friend that they were in this together.  All of those losers around them were just jealous!

"She aimed right for us, Miss Applejack!  She bucked the ball right at me, and then she went after Silver Spoon, too!  Maybe if it just happened once it would have been an accident, but it happened twice!" Though she couldn't milk the drama of the situation for all it was worth, she knew the truth was absolutely on her side.  She hadn't done a thing to deserve any of this.

Silver Spoon had eventually quieted down into sniffles and muffled little sobs, trying to keep herself under control as she bit her lower lip to stifle her crying.  "Th-that's right!  She even made fun of us!  'You're supposed to use your hoof, not your face Diamond!'" the teary-eyed filly quoted.  She wasn't unappreciative of the help Xing Ming offered, but was in too much of a state to really offer anything but her own huffs.  As Applejack tried to herd them along back to the rest of the group, she stayed resolutely where she sat.  "No way!  I'm not going anywhere near that... that ruffian!"
This message was last edited by the player at 03:51, Thu 03 May 2012.

The less than warm thanks Diamond gave her surprised Xing, and it's effects were immediate. She seemed to shrink back and her smile to immediately crumpled, her already fragile confidence easily crumbling under Diamond's curt response, which sounded to Xing as if she had expected her to something to them other than fix them. She fell silent and shrank slightly down, her head forward with her teal hair and pink ribbons brushing her face as her ears bent back flat to her skull, and she dug gently at the ground with her hoof, knees bent a little. She stayed still and silent then, waiting for everything to blow over.

With everypony acting out so, Applejack had to let out a bit of a frustrated sigh. She was a farm girl, not a filly-herder. Still...  She tapped a hoof on the dirt. "Ya can't just run away from a problem, Silver Spoon.  Whether or not she did it intentionally... Ah wasn't there, so ah dunno. But she hurt ya', and she should apologize to that. An you should let her apologize." she raised a hoof, indicating  her head-hung Scootaloo. "But ah don't think she looks particularly glad about what happened. Trust me, alright?" she said warmly, and put a hoof on Silver Spoon's shoulder.

She continued along to Xing Ming, and nudged her side lightly. "C'mon. We kinda stumbled in at a pretty bad time. Don't let it get ya' down." she chimed, and smiled at Diamond Tiara, before continuing to the Playground. "Hay, Scootaloo~!" she called, and motioned her to meet her, with a hoof. She didn't look pleased... or particularly wrathful, at the moment.

Scootaloo, who could just barely make out what the others were saying, and determining that it was not going to be good for her if she stayed had just started to turn in preparation to bolt out of there when she heard Applejack calling for her. Freezing where she was, half turned and left fore hoof raised and ready to go, her mind whirred frantically as she weighed the pros and cons of pretending she hadn't heard and simply running away.

The cons of doing that greatly outweighed the pros and so it was with a distressed whimper that she slowly turned back to face Applejack. The look on the elder pony's face was enough to cause another whimper and she quickly dropped her eyes. "Y-yes Miss Applejack?" She squeaked out, not moving an inch as the orange coated pony hadn't told her to go to her. As she hadn't seen the hoof wave she couldn't be in trouble for not obeying, right?

Applejack noticed the filly hadn't seen her wave. She wasn't angry, anyway, and so she repeated the gesture. "Come'ere for a minute, Scootaloo." She chimed, and turned about to face the other three fillies. She tried to project an authoritative position and hopefully could keep everypony calm. She could see Scootaloo was sorry, and wanted to apologize - but she was also afraid of getting into trouble. While Applejack couldn't really punish her, she'd have to tell Cheerilee, given the bit of mess this had turned into.

Once Scootaloo came over, she tapped a hoof lightly on the ground. "Now, Scootaloo. Ah think you've got somethin' to say t' Silver Spoon.  It don't matter if ya were just playing or if ya were really trying to mess with'em. Hurtin' ponies isn't a good thing, an' nopony likes being hurt."

She paused, to allow Scootaloo and Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon the chance to do the right thing themselves, giving them a hopeful, watching eye, as she shuffled over to stand by Xing Ming.

Poppy trotted over to where Applejack was, glad to see that everypony was more or less okay. She was really hoping this could all be resolved smoothly.

Diamond Tiara just stood fast and watched Scootaloo with a mix of wariness and anger.  The 'brute' wouldn't have the courage to try anything in front of Applejack, but, she knew that the pegasus was more than their equal in a fight.  The fact that they had both been hit, no matter how sorry the scooter riding pony seemed, set her on alert.

"..." She wanted to say something, but she held herself back.  It would be best to just let her squirm and then leave the situation alone.  Silver Spoon had done enough manipulation, and Diamond Tiara couldn't afford to get in trouble for being impolite when the situation was pitched in her favor.  Normally, she'd grin at these circumstances, but she was far too soured by her day to think of that.

Xing looked up at Applejack as she comforted her, and gave a little smile, nodding as she followed her to talk to Scootaloo about what had happened between the ponies and the ball. She kept her eyes and face down slightly, trying to build her confidence up again to talk to them, but it was proving difficult. This was certainly not what she had expected in her peers, that was for sure.

Seeing a new filly off to the side and looking distressed, Poppy stepped over to Xing Ming, leaving Applejack (she thought that was what Scootaloo had said the mare's name was) to mediate things between Scootaloo and Silver Spoon. "Hay now, don't be upset," she said, gently laying a hoof on the filly's shoulder. "You didn't do anything wrong."

Silver Spoon sat back while Applejack handled the situation, keeping herself reserved and partially hidden at Diamond Tiara's side while she sniffled.  It certainly cast the lot of them in a different light... it wasn't often that a nice pony like Scootaloo was in the hot seat while the bullies were wronged, or Diamond Tiara ended up looking like she was protecting a friend.  Applebloom remained close to Scootaloo as well to offer her support, but the other foals weren't quite so keen to stick around when authority was being doled out.

"Psst~!" while Applejack was busy with Scootaloo, Featherweight and Inkwell had slipped along the side with Poppy.  The thin Pegasus waved both girls over in as hushed a manner as he could.  "This all got heavy... c'mon, let's let them work it out." he urged.  For Xing, it was a choice between sticking with Applejack (in an admittedly uncomfortable situation) or running off a ways with some kids who were to be her classmates, unknown as they may have been at the moment.  One way or another, the boys were getting the heck out of Dodge and were quick to hurry off to the swing set whether or not the girls came with them.

Meanwhile, Applebloom stood alongside Scootaloo as resolutely as the two preppy ponies did each other.  She couldn't exactly raise a word in defense though... Applejack didn't accuse Scootaloo of any real wrong-doing.  At least she could count on her big sister to keep a level head.

Poppy looked up surprised as Poppy approached, and she looked up at her. She smiled weakly, but obviously hopeful, that the situation would diffuse soon enough. "T-Thank you," she murmured, her ears perking up slightly and smiling very slightly. The sharp sound from Featherweight and Inkwell from behind the schoolhouse, beckoning them to follow. Xing wavered slightly, and then looked to Poppy. It was obvious that she was waiting to see what she would do before she decided to go or stay.

Scootaloo slowly made her way over Applejack, keeping her head down the whole time. When she got in front of her she glanced up before quickly dropping her eyes once more. She anxiously dug a hoof into the ground while her little wings fluttered a bit. "I'm sorry Silver Spoon." She mumbled out, not looking any pony in the eye. She shuffled a bit closer to Applebloom, taking some comfort from her presence.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:44, Thu 03 May 2012.

The weak voice brought her hoof gently down to lift Scootaloo's chin. "Say it clearly. Ah know it don't feel good, but neither does she." she said gently.

Applejack smiled at her, then at Silver spoon and Diamond Tiara. She hadn't done more than glance at Apple Bloom yet, but it was pretty clear she was mediating quite a powderkeg of filly feelings here. Applejack actually did feel proud of the flighty pegasus for sticking about to face her punishment.

The mare turned to motion Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon closer, to meet with Scootaloo more closely. As they approached, Applejack gave a good look to Silver Spoon's nose, to be sure she didn't get hurt by the breaking of her glasses. She watched them closely, hoping to see someponies making up on their own.

Silver Spoon huffed at the apology and pointed a hoof at Diamond Tiara.  Scootaloo had also bashed her with the ball too after all.  As for the state of the gray filly's health, Applejack would find that she was alright... subjectively speaking.  Earth Ponies were tough sorts, but the filly was a prissy one -- obviously she wasn't used to getting her hooves dirty, plus her snout was bruised a bit from the impact.  She'd be fine in a little bit, but that could be a long ways off from a little kid's perspective.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:57, Thu 03 May 2012.

Diamond Tiara did come closer, though she didn't seem any more calm.  She did, however, look at Scootaloo and manage not to entirely glare.  However, the pink filly stepped in front of the gray pelted young mare.  She wasn't obstructing the path so much as saying 'you aren't getting any closer than that, Blank Flank!  Not if I have anything to say about it!'

Scootaloo felt her chin being lifted up, she didn't fight it and found herself looking into a reassuring smile. Taking heart from the gesture she looked over at Silver Spoon, raising to her full height she spoke clearly. "I'm sorry Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara." There, she'd said she was sorry and hadn't lied by saying she hadn't meant to hit them in the face, which she had but Applejack didn't need to know that part.

Poppy nodded to Featherweight - she didn't think she had anything to say that would help, given that she didn't know anypony yet - not really, anyways - and Applejack seemed to have the matter well in hoof. "C'mon," she said, beckoning to Xing Ming as she trotted off towards the swings.

Xing nodded as soon as Poppy beckoned her, following her quickly back toward the two colts here were on their way to the swing set. "That was... not at all what I expected..." she said to Poppy as she followed the filly. "I'm... Xing Ming..."

Featherweight and Inkwell had already made it over by the swing set by the time the girls caught up, both looking a bit put-off by the way their playtime had been interrupted by drama.  It couldn't be helped though.

"Those two have always gotta be in the spotlight, huh?" Inkwell muttered.

"I dunno... they're not so bad most of the time.  Maybe today was a bad day?" Featherweight suggested.  When the girls caught up, the two colts introduced themselves in turn.  "Hey, sorry that you had to come in on that.  Not the best first impression.  You're the new kid, right?  Miss Cheerilee mentioned we'd be getting some new students to class this week.  Nice to meet you."

Meanwhile, back at the drama circle, Silver Spoon managed to stop sniveling long enough to turn up her bruised nose.  "Hmph... it'll do.  Just count yourself lucky that nice girl fixed my glasses with magic, or you'd be the one paying to get them replaced." she grumbled.  Her eye-wear was still notably damaged since Xing's effort only rendered a temporary fix, but it would hold until she could get new ones.  The cracked lenses she would just have to deal with for the time being.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:49, Thu 03 May 2012.

"Y-Yes... I'm new..." She looked back at the yard where the group was still converged. "What... do you mean... always in the spotlight?" she asked, looking at the other kids again.

"Those two -- Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon -- are the school's prima donnas.  Their families are the wealthiest in Ponyville" Featherweight explained with a shrug.  "I guess it makes 'em feel entitled or something.  They're always getting up to something, for better or worse.  Don't get me wrong; they do good stuff too, but they seem to like making a big show of things and getting attention."

*I'm Poppy," the little blue earth pony said, waving a hoof. "I'm new here too." She glanced back toward Applejack and the four other fillies. "Call me crazy, but somethin' tells me those four were having... what's that word Ava always uses... ish-oos?... yeah, that a looooong time before today..." The bustling economy based entirely on the trade of sneers, leers, stares, and glares between the CMC and the 'premier fillies' had not escaped her notice.

Diamond Tiara saw the filly was feeling bad enough, and she knew she couldn't take any risks on retaliation right now.  She hoped that no pony would think she was getting weak just because she wasn't pressing the advantage.  Of course, with older ponies so close and her punishments already stacked higher than Canterlot Castle (at least in her own mind), she couldn't act without subtlety.

"Apology accepted, Scootaloo.  You couldn't have meant to hurt anypony." She mustered up her best impression of her father, businesslike and polite, but not at all weak.  To be truthful, it was that kind of power she envied.  No pony could mess with her father; he was an unassailable fortress of confidence.

She couldn't help getting a last lick in on that pegasus's conscience, however, "Just be more careful next time, you could have really hurt somepony."

Facing this with poise and dignity, no matter how much she wanted to glare at that scoundrel, would leave her looking better.  Moreover, it'd leave no way for this to come back on her and Silver Spoon.

No pony acted so graciously when they were the wrongdoer.

"Now, Silver Spoon... ah'm told that a lady should be forgiving." She suggested with a smile. "It's gettin' to be pretty late though, everypony. Why don't ya'll head home. Unless ya wanna come with me an' fess up to Miss Cheerilee?" She said lightly, hoping to brighten the mood and break up the hostility with releasing the fillies to go about their business.

That... wasn't quite so bad as she expected. Moving over to Apple Bloom and her friend, Applejack dropped the authoratative posture, and nudged her sister. "Hay, sis." She paused. "Scootaloo. " she raised a hoof. "Ah dunno exactly how that really played out..." she began, once the wealthier fillies had departed. "But ah do know... that if ya meant them any harm, ah'm real disappointed in 'ya." she said gently, and then put a hoof affectionately around both of them. Someone who could make a pony feel so bad and still seem comforting was... real hard to find.

"Now, ah gotta introduce ya'll to Mei Mei, an' see Cheerilee fer a minute, then we gotta stop by Twilight's on the way home for supper." she said. "An' yer welcome along as always, Scootaloo."

Silver Spoon seemed stubborn enough to refuse Applejack's advice on how a lady should behave and simply rose to walk off, still sniffling every now and then.  With Diamond Tiara no doubt close at her side, she went off a ways off from the rest of the group by their favorite shady tree until they were out of sight.

...at which point her tears instantly vanished and she gave a smirk most devious.

"Hmph.  That'll teach that brutish Blank Flank a lesson." the gray filly scoffed as she sat down to tidy her mane and wipe away her tears.  "Admittedly not one of my prouder performances... that did hurt, after all." she conceded as she rubbed her sore muzzle gingerly.  She hadn't plotted to get Scootaloo in trouble from the very get-go, but being able to turn the random encounter with Applejack to their favor made up for some embarrassment.

Meanwhile, back with Xing Ming, the other ponies just nodded in reply to Poppy's observation.  "Yeah, I'd believe it."  Inkwell agreed.  "Those two like to make fun of Blank Flanks, and the other three are obsessed with getting their Cutie Marks.  It's like oil and water."

Also in the meantime, Applebloom smiled fondly up to her sister and leaned in for a nuzzle, but was confused at the mention of heading off for the day.  It was still the lunch period, after all.  They had another full lesson left before they'd be excused.  Before she could say as much or ask about the filly Applejack had accompanied, the school bell rang loudly to draw the kids back to the schoolhouse itself.  However, Cheerilee was at the doorway to intercept them before they could come back inside.

"I've got an announcement, everypony~!" the teacher called once the foals were at least within ear shot.  "Princess Luna has come to town and is going to be performing a special event tonight -- Raising the Moon!  This is a very unique occasion as she's never done something like this for a public audience before, so I think it would be alright if we all took an early end to the day to get ready!  Class is dismissed~!  Go along and get ready for tonight, my little ponies~!"

"Making fun of foals without cutie marks? Why, what's the point? Nopony's born with 'em, and everypony gets one eventually - why do someponies like making others feel like dirt just 'cause it hasn't happened yet?" The question was largely rhetorical - Poppy had been on the receiving end of plenty such teasing until she had discovered her profound passion for gardening a few weeks ago, and she hadn't understood it then, either. She had made a pact with several friends in similar predicament back in Canterlot that none of them would ever be on the giving end of such taunts - to anypony. She'd reserve final judgment until she found confirmation of the prima donnas' behavior other than schoolyard gossip, but right now her inclination was not to join them after school for makeovers.

At Cheerilee's dismissal, she squealed gleefully. "See you guys tonight, I hope," she said, waving at Featherweight, Inkwell, and Xing Ming. Galloping over to retrieve her saddlebags, she once again swapped her cap for her helmet and tugged on her skates.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:14, Fri 04 May 2012.

"I'm just glad we didn't get in trouble, again." Diamond Tiara noted to Silver Spoon as soon as they were safely out of sight, "I thought she was going to go running to Miss Cheerilee as soon as you kicked the ball at her.  Good job on making that Blank Flank pay for what she did to us."

The makeover looming ahead made her feel better, as well as the Moon Raising.  She remembered a little too soon that Meadow Lark would be there, and they'd only have a paltry eighty bits to share between them.  That Blank Flank would want a bunch of stupid things and waste away most of her money.

She sighed, looking back at the schoolyard.  Things REALLY could have gone a lot worse...and she was thankful that things couldn't have gotten worse...

"In Shanghay... it's... the other way around..." Xing Ming said thoughtfully. "The first one... to get their mark in a class is often teased... but only for a little while... because most ponies get their... their cutie marks around the same age..." She was suddenly much more glad that she had gotten her cutie mark on the way from Shanghay, or it would have made this whole visit a lot harder, it seemed.

Cheerilee's announcement surprised Xing, and she instantly looked interested and pleased. "Princess Luna... is here? Oh... Oh, wow... My mother... she is in Canterlot to... to meet with the Princesses... on diplomatic grounds... between Equestria and Shanghay... Oh, my goodness... I hope... I hope I can see her..." She watched Poppy rush off, and looked back to Applejack and the others. "It seems... things have calmed... I suppose... I'll see you in school, tomorrow." She bid goodbye to Inkwell and Featherweight, then went back quickly to Applejack, or at least nearby.

"Jei Jei, did you hear? A moon-rising? How exciting!"

Skating out to the main road into town, Poppy paused, considering her options. She could head straight down to Ava's office, sure. But she was thirsty, and she still had a little money left from her cutecenara - she was saving most of it to buy some seeds, but she could certainly spare a couple bits. And Sugarcube Corner was one of the places she was allowed to go without asking Ava first. Sugarcube Corner it was - she'd head to Ava's office from there.

-->To Sugarcube Corner

Applejack's eyes widened at Cheerilee's announcement. Princess Luna? Here? She hadn't been here since Nightmare Night. Applejack turned to welcome Xing Ming. She put a hoof around her sister, and one about Xing Ming. "Ah did, Mei mei~!" she said brightly. "But first, meet mah sister. Apple Bloom, this is Xing Ming, from Shanghay. She'll be stayin' with us on the farm for a while."

She paused to consider. "Apple Bloom, if there's a moon raisin', ah need you to run back to the farm. Tell Big Macintosh and Granny to break open the apple storage. We got a prime event to prep to sell at!" she announced, raising a hoof. "Ah gotta drop by Twilight's library with Xing Ming, ah promised I'd show her the place. Ya'll can hang out together at the Moon Raisin'?"

That sentence right there caused her more shame than any amount of anger ever could. The quiet disappointment was worse than any outburst could ever hope to be. She dropped her head, nodding and scuffing the ground with a hoof. She did perk up when she heard the bell start ringing to bring them all back inside. However, she was immensely pleased to find out that the rest of school was being cancelled in favor of letting them all go watch Princess Luna raise the moon! How awesome was that?

"Alright! We get to see Princess Luna raise the moon!" She cried out, jumping up and down a bit in joy. She raced off the collect her helmet and scooter, donning one and hopping on the other she powered back to Apple Bloom. "I'll meet you in the town square once you get back. You want me to come with you or are you good?" She asked, avoiding eye contact with Cheerilee and hoping she'd just forget about her not being there all day.

The boys waved goodbye to their classmates as everyone was dismissed, then set off on their own.  It was a sort of mini-stampede as ponies hurried about to take care of their own affairs or get ready for that evening.  Many of them still had very fond thoughts of Princess Luna because of Nightmare Night, so getting the chance to see her again was going to be great~!

"We're out early?  Even better." Silver Spoon observed after the announcement.  "That'll give us extra time to get ready.  I think we've earned a little R&R, right Diamond?  So back to your place?" she flicked her mane haughtily.

Meanwhile, Applebloom was trying to get her bow-clad head around the idea of Xing Ming staying with them.  It wasn't a bad notion at all, but she'd have liked a little more warning.  Still, it should have been fun~!  Like having a new sister, but her own age!  "Nice t'meet'cha, Xing Ming?  But what's with all this Jay-Jay-May-May stuff y'all keep sayin'?"  She asked, but soon had a responsibility placed on her to inform the rest of the family for business.  The little filly gave a salute and looked to Scootaloo.

"Actually Scoots, could y'give me a ride back t'th'farm?  It'd be much faster that way." she asked hopefully.

"Right, let's go." Diamond Tiara didn't want to get caught in more school shenanigans.  School was a safe place, but she had suffered enough punishments throughout the day that she really didn't want to hang around and garner more!  The sooner they got home, the sooner she'd feel a little better about what loomed head; the chance of Meadow Lark ruining this whole night for her...and the fact that she had to be on her best behavior for a while...

Exit to: Ponyville Residential District - Maison Le Rich

I'll post arriving later today.  I'm tired.

Silver Spoon followed close alongside her friend as they departed, eager to get tidied up.  She needed a bath after all that rough housing...

Up in the tree they'd been chatting under, however, sat Meadow Lark.  The young Pegagus glowered softly as he watched the two fillies go off down the way.  He'd been watching the entire event unfold from above where he hadn't been noticed; while the two of them had fooled everypony else, he'd seen the truth.  For a time he just sat and pondered, but soon gave a sigh... he could figure it out on the way home.  The colt hopped from the branches and buzzed his wings as fast as he could, cushioning his landing on the ground below before he trotted off on his own way.

-->Meadow Lark exits
-->Silver Spoon exits with Diamond Tiara to Maison Le Rich

"Nihao... Apple Bloom," she greeted with a shy tone but a smile on her face. "They are... nicknames... In Shanghay, families use nicknames... a lot... as a sign of... of affection. My name is... Shining Star... but in Shanghaiese, it's Xing Ming... Applejack's name... in Shanghaiese... is Pingguo Jeike. Granny Smith is... Nainai Shimisi... Mei Mei sounds like Ming, and Jei Jei sound like Jeike. But more than that, Mei Mei means Younger Sister, and Jei Jei means Older Sister. I... I don't have any siblings... or cousins... and I... can't keep in touch with friends... when they're so far away... It's very lonely... for me... when me and Mama travel... So, when I came here... and already, everyone has been... so kind... kinder than... anyone I've ever met before... I asked Jei Jei if I could... call her Jei Jei, and she said yes. And I'll be here... for such a long time... with no one... It just made me feel... better..."

She seemed a little embarrassed, just realizing that she hadn't told Applejack what Mei Mei and Jei Jei had meant, since obviously Twilight Sparkle had known, otherwise she wouldn't have suggested Mei Mei. She hadn't meant to be deceptive, but it hadn't really crossed her mind until now. After a second, though, she brightened considerably, as if something wonderful was just dawning on her. "Apple Bloom in Shanghaiese is Pingguo Hua. Can I call you Mei Hua? It means Twin Sister."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:27, Sat 05 May 2012.

As the shy filly spoke with her little sister, Applejack stood by happily and listened in. She was a  bit surprised at the meanings, but wasn't angry about it. She put a hoof around each filly. "Aww, ah didn't know that's what it meant. But yer' right. S'long as yer' here, yer' family, Mei mei." She smiled at Apple Bloom. "Honestly, Granny kinda' surprised us all with 'er. But it's a good surprise, huh?"

Applejack smiled at the two, and let them go. "And what a first day here, huh, Mei Mei?" she asked the girl from afar, then put a hoof about her sister. "Ya'll can play t'night at the Moon-Rasin', ah guess?"

In reply to A Series of Events (msg #221):

At the question of if she could give her friend a ride back to Sweet Apple Acres Scoots nodded and gave her a big grin. "Sure thing Apple Bloom! Though I don't have my wagon with me so you're going to have to ride on my scooter with me." She said, moving forward a bit to make room for her fellow CMC. "It was nice meeting you Xing Ming. I'll see you later Applejack! Come on Apple Bloom, lets go!" The little filly exclaimed, wings firing up with their distinctive noise.

"Y'outta breath or somethin'?" Applebloom was puzzled over Xing Ming's constant pauses in her speech, not recognizing the issues of bashfulness on top of coping with a second language when she saw them.  "Just call me Applebloom, okay?  I'm happy t'have y'as a sis, but I don't reckon I'd be able t'keep all that Chineighs, or Canternese, or whatever it is straight."

Despite her bluntness, it was obvious that Applebloom was just as pleased as her big sister to have Xing around.  The Apples were a very close bunch yet readily welcomed others into their home and lives without a second thought... be it a transfer student like Xing, or a stranger on the road like Honey Sweets.  Xing's mother had made a wise decision in sending her daughter to stay with such warm-hearted ponies, ensuring she would never be without a friendly smile and somepony looking out for her in Equestria.

"Awright then, let's go Scootaloo~!  See y'all later t'night!" the filly was quick to depart as she scampered over to her winged friend and climbed atop her scooter, balancing on her hind legs with her hooves on Scootaloo's haunches for balance.

-->Exit to Sweet Apple Acres with Scootaloo

"Out of...? N-No... It's just... hard to find words... I only learned Equestrian... a few years ago..." She was suddenly self aware of her hesitance in her speaking, the stopping and starting as she pieced the still unfamiliar language together in her mind, and blushed. "S-Sorry..." But Scootaloo and Applebloom were already gone, rushed back to Sweet Apple Acres. Still, Applebloom had been accepting, which was good for Xing. She easily could have been the jealous type. Xing knew she would likely have been possessive of her siblings, if she had any...

"Are all fillies and colts... in Equestria... so... so... energetic?" she asked Applejack a little nervously. Xing liked it quiet most of the time, reading books or watching the sky. That mostly came from necessity, though, having to travel so much, making and losing touch with friends as she did, and having to stay quiet a lot while her mother worked. What if she couldnt keep up with any of them...?

"Well, those two an' their friend Sweetie Belle are all pretty energetic. Ah lose pace with'em, sometimes. Apple Bloom'll show ya their clubhouse, later. They're always up to somethin', but we've got fillies and colts of all sorts here." She said, and pointed a hoof off toward town square. "Ah'll introduce ya' to Cheerilee t'morrow morning, when ah walk ya'll to school. We gotta get movin' to Twilight's. It's gettin' on in the afternoon."

Applejack made sure she was ready, then started off at a slow canter. Applejack noticed her nervousness. "Now don't ya go worryin' so much on yer first day here. If anything's ever wrong, you just come tell me or Granny or Big Macintosh.  Ah right?"

Exit - to Branches and Books

"Okay..." she said, brightening. Applejack was excellent at making a shy pony feel a lot better about being in a new place. She raised up her head a little, her ears perking as she smiled. She had to trot a bit faster besides the larger mare, her long legs still short in comparison to her guides. "Thank you... for saying I can... come to you... And thanks for... for letting me call you Jei Jei." Her smile brightening even more, she followed the path Applejack lead her down.

>>> TO: Branches and Books Library

Start of Day 2

<--From Avagadra's Treehouse

Finding that she was one of the first to arrive at the schoolhouse that morning, Ava took her skates off and replaced her helmet with her baseball cap. Setting her saddlebags beside the schoolhouse steps, she fished out her jump rope, and was soon skipping happily.

"P, my name is Poppy~
And I go hippy-hoppy~
Hooves go clippity-cloppy~
All day long!

I love planting seeds~
Busy as a hive of bees~
Tulips, daisies, and roses, please~
Won't you sing along?

I love skipping rope~
So I'm not grouchy - nope, nope, nope~..."

---> From the Moon Raising

Shortly thereafter, Rosebud arrived in the schoolyard. The pink filly carried a small set of saddlebags, and looked around the sanctum of learning curiously. She hummed tunelessly to herself.

=A new character approaches!!=


Like all other fillies and colts were, Bumblebee was trudging along to school.  She yawned, having stayed up late because of the moon raising and the games and all afterwards.

It was great fun.

Now though?

Bumblebee yawned, stretching her little wings and fluttering them quickly, like her namesake, "Guuugh... hope today doesn't require a lot of thinking~" she mumbled to herself through her yawn

she also sincerly hoped she didn't bump into any other fellow students as she walked, half-lidded eyes barely keeping herself focused on the road

"Shouldn't have stayed up to listen to that last song..." she yawned again.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:09, Fri 25 May 2012.

Rosebud wandered up to Bumblebee. "Do you know how many classrooms this school has? It looks a lot like the school in Appleloosa, and it only had the one. But there might be a basement, too?" she inquired of the universe (and possibly her fellow pegasus).

Bumblebee blinked, smiling at Rosebud, "Ah, pardon... you were wondering about the school house?  It only has the one room, dunno about a basement.  Probably, for storage." she offered her hoof for a bump, "Hiya, I'm Bumblebee."

"Avocado Blaze," Rosebud introduced herself, tapping Bumblebee's outstretched hoof with her own. "We just moved into town yesterday. Can you fly?"

Just then, Poppy noticed the two pegasus fillies. Folding up her jump rope, she trotted over. "Heya," she said, waving to Bumblebee. "I'm Poppy. Heya, Princess Velocipede," she added, waving to the pink filly. She giggled. "What is your real name, anyways?"

Bumblebee blinked at the name, but when she heard "just moved in" something in the back of her mind made a little chiming sound of recognition.  so, she ignored the 'odd' name.

In answer she hopped into the air, her wings buzzing as they carried her, "I'd say so, yes" she giggled with a smiled, "Well, welcome to ponyville, Blaze.  Y'kin call me BB." she drawled, inheriting a lighter version of her father's way of speaking.

It got weirder when Poppy, a filly she knew from school but wasn't terribly close to, came up and called her --

"... Princess Velocipede?" she canted her head to one side in thought, shrugged and smiled, "Hey Poppy.  What's up?"
This message was last edited by the player at 00:46, Fri 25 May 2012.

Rosebud reared up on her hind legs to answer Poppy's question with a spooky waving of her hooves in the air. "Nopony knooows~..."

Poppy grinned. "Nice theatrics," she giggled. "Nothin' much this mornin', BB," she said, in response to the yellow pegasus's question. "It'll be interesting to see what Miss Cheerilee is talking about today."

Bumblebee giggled at the other filly's antics, she nodded to Poppy, then yawned widely, her flight dipping as she focused on that instead of flying

"Ri--aaaaiiiii-ght" she tried to speak around the yawn, "I jus' hope it doesn't require much thinkin'." she drawled.

"Late night last night?" Poppy asked. "I don't remember much after the actual moon raising - I'm pretty sure my sister wound up carrying me home."

The buzzing pegasus finally landed, preferring not to fall flat on her face if her wings gave out, "Yeah.  Had a lot of fun with Daddy and after we went home I stayed up and listened to the DJ a little later than I should have.  But my favorite song of hers was coming on Just as Daddy said to go to bed... then the song after that was a good one too..."  she blushed.  She turned to Avacado, or the princess, or whoever, "What about you?" she asked, "What'd you think about the Moon Raisin'?"

Rosebud pondered the question for nearly a minute. "It was... shiny," she finally answered. "I've seen the Moon come up lots of times without the flashy parts," she then quickly explained.

From Ponyville Town Square

As was generally the case, one could hear Scootaloo coming before one could see her. Soon enough though the young filly crested the hill and began her descent to the school house. Not seeing any of her friends or ponies that she was particularly close to she simply pulled up to the playground. Clambering off her scooter she unbuckled her helmet and placed it on the handle bars. Giving a brief wave to the other ponies she began to play on the slide as she waited for the rest of her triumvirate to show up.

<-- Meadow Lark enters from Summer Song Cafe

"Give me a smidge of confidence!
Give me a speck of something that makes sense~!
Give me an idea of dependency!
Give me a dash of loyalty~!

I could save my lonely soul for you,
but the feeling in my heart can't follow through!
You can give your broken heart to me~!
Cause you know that i'll stay with you.
That's why they call me loyalty~!"

Meadow Lark hurried along down the road, humming and prancing all the way.  His saddle bag bulged with the awkward shape of his Mandopony record, which he'd already been listening to the evening prior.  He still couldn't believe Diamond Tiara didn't know about that kind of music... though it was going to blow her mind once she got a chance to hear it today~!  The little Pegasus continued singing to himself all the way up to the schoolyard where he saw other foals gathered, waiting for Cheerilee to open up the doors for them.

"Hey BB~!  Hey Scootaloo~!" he called out, waving to the two familiar girls as he trotted up the way.

Bumblebee fluttered her wings, buzzing brightly and smiled, waving a hoof, "Hay Meadow Lark!  Oooh, is that a Mandopony record?!"

Scootaloo looked around from the top of the slide when she heard somepony calling out a greeting to her. Spotting Meadow Lark trotting up and seeing as he was the only male around it was pretty easy to deduce who had spoken to her. "Morning Meadow Lark!" She called back, sliding down the slide and then moving back around to repeat the process.

"Aw yeah~!  It's a crossover album too, so it's got a bunch of other artists along with it." Meadow Lark seemed entirely pleased with the item.  He shuffled about in his saddlebags for a moment and withdrew a pair of dark violet goggles from within, pressing them onto his snout -- they were replicas of DJ P0N-3's trademark eye wear, though they looked rather silly on him.  "Diamond Tiara bought 'em for me at the festival last night.  Who'd have thought she could be so nice, huh?"

"Hmph!  Well that sure sounds ungrateful.  Besides, I helped too." Silver Spoon had just come up the road and caught the conversation.  Strangely enough, she was alone for once.  Normally she always walked to and from school with Diamond Tiara, so seeing her unaccompanied was pretty odd.

"C'mon, I didn't mean it like that." the Pegasus deadpanned.  Silver Spoon just shrugged carelessly in reply.

Bumblebee frowned.  She had been lucky to stay under the radar of the two prim and proper bullies of the school.  "Ah can't lie though... it -is- kinda surprising you two would be so nice to somepony else... anypony else, really."

Poppy remained silent for the moment - she'd only been here a couple of days, and didn't really know anyone well enough to have an opinion on the matter. But given what she'd heard of the premier fillies' views on foals without cutie marks, and that she was the only other one present who had hers... hmm, this could be interesting...

"Why is that?" Rosebud asked, "flawlessly" inserting herself into the conversation. "Aren't you supposed to be nice to everypony?"

At that, Poppy did speak up. "Yeah," she agreed. "Why wouldn't you be nice to everypony? You'd miss out on a lot of great friends if you didn't, and that's just sad."

Scootaloo surveyed the school yard from her vantage point at the top of the slide, she could see a group gathering yet upon seeing Silver Spoon and the filly that was hanging out with her and Diamond earlier felt no need to go over and join them and thus continued with the slide. Reaching the bottom she paused before heading back up, glancing between her scooter and the slide one could almost see the cogs and wheels in her head turning as she came up with a plan.

With no further thought she raced over and collected the scooter and helmet, snapping one in place and dragging the other up to the top of the slide she paused as she psyched herself up.

Leading the small procession of Apple Bloom, Honey Sweets, and Xing Ming, Applejack rounded the trail up from the farm and along toward the Schoolhouse. Spottign the various fillies and colts in the yard, she trotted along briskly  to Scootaloo and offered a slight wave of her hoof, then looked to Bumblebee, Poppy, and Rosebud. "Well, good mornin, mah 'lil ponies. Ya'll seen Cheerilee yet this mornin'?"

Part of her felt a bit concerned... the teacher was normally at the schoolhouse much earlier...

Scootaloo paused when she saw Applejack coming along, quite sure she was about to get into trouble for trying to ride her scooter down the slide. However, she simply waved at her and then turned her attention away. Grinning wildly she couldn't believe her luck! Mapping out her route she nodded in satisfaction. Down the slide, a grind along the fence followed by a scooterslam onto the horseshoe.

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADER DARE DEVIL! GOOOO!" She screamed, launching herself down the slide. Her balance perfect she kept straight down the middle without even a wobble to her stance. Coming to the bottom she crouched and used her momentum to send herself into the air and land on the fence rail, grinding along it she couldn't believe how well she was doing! She just might get her Cutie Mark for this! Coming up to end of the fence she prepared for one last hop and to stick her landing.

Once more crouching down she hopped and sent herself towards the horse shoe. But she could already tell that she wasn't going to make it. She didn't have enough momentum and she was in for a painful crash landing. Sure enough, her front wheel landed on the horse shoe but the rest of the scooter didn't. With her remaining momentum and her front wheel acting as a balance point she was flipped off of her scooter as she went under the horse shoe. The scooter acted like a launching pad and sent her flying forward, wings buzzing madly as she tried to fly but to no avail. Bringing her hoofs up to protect her face she landed with an "OOF!" followed by several "AHH!" and "UGH!"'s as she bounced and rolled several times before coming to a stop in a heap, eyes rolling wildly as she lay there.

So close, yet so far away.
09:27, Today: Scootaloo rolled 6 using 1d6+5. Scooterslam To Finish.
09:26, Today: Scootaloo rolled 9 using 1d6+5. Hop and Grind on Fence.
09:26, Today: Scootaloo rolled 9 using 1d6+5. Balance Down Slide.

Interest piqued by Scootaloo's bellow, Rosebud rushed to the orange filly's side following her major wipeout. Failing to keep from laughing, she managed to ask, "Hey, are you okay?"

"Because that was awesome!"

The farmpony winced as Scootaloo took her tumble. She knew the girl wouldn't just listen when it came to being told to back down, but ... Ouch.. She shrugged the pole off her back and trotted over to help her up. She turned her about to have a look, to be sure that she wasn't terribly hurt.

She gently lifted her chin. "How's your wings? Did ya' hurt'em?" she asked, then glanced up to some of the other ponies. "Somepony fetch me a washcloth an' some water." She said. She'd clean up the scrapes for her, at least. Hopefully she didn't bust a wing.

--> Applebloom enters from Sweet Apple Acres

Silver Spoon cast a glare at Bumble Bee over the rim of her glasses.  "You make it sound like we're a couple of mean old nags or something.  None of you are making any efforts to be friendly, you know." the filly huffed, though her tone turned honeyed as she canted her head over to Meadow Lark.  "Well, you did.  It's good to know somepony can be trusted to be a gentlecolt."

Meadow Lark seemed quite pleased over the flattery even if it was a bit hollow... not that he knew the difference.  It was all it took to get him more firmly on the primadonna's side of things and he looked to the other girls.  "She's got a point, I guess.  Besides, I hung out with them all last night -- they're cool." the Pegasus gave his stamp of approval easily enough.

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADER DARE DEVIL! GOOOO!"

Now that sure got attention.  All eyes went to Scootaloo atop the slide as she geared up for a dangerous stunt, though varying levels of concern raised immediately.  Meadow Lark, for instance, gave an excited hop in place and buzzed his wings about.  "Yeah~!  Go Scoots!" he cheered her on since he was the sort who'd be just as likely to try the same sort of foolish trick.  Applebloom, having approached with the rest of her family (extended as it was), seemed a bit more apprehensive at the sight since she knew where this sort of thing usually ended up.  Thus it came as no surprise as the rest of the bunch were left to watch and sympathetically wince on each tumble Scootaloo ended up taking.

"Ooh... that's gonna leave a mark..." Meadow Lark grimaced.

"Not the one she was hoping for either." even Silver Spoon had enough empathy -- and savvy -- not to point and laugh at Scootaloo's expense just then.  She was trying to smooth things over with the rest of her classmates after all.

With Applejack's request for a wet rag, Applebloom gave a quick salute and hurried off for the schoolhouse.  There was always a first aid kit kept under the front steps for just such an occasion as playground tumbles and she hurried to drag it back to her sister in her teeth.  Inside were basic curatives for minor injuries, but Applejack would find some wipes, gauze, and disinfectant no problem.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:54, Wed 30 May 2012.

Scootaloo laid there, eyes slowly coming to a stop before shining with unshed tears. That had actually hurt a lot more than she had expected. Feeling her chin being lifted she looked up to see Applejack examining her and was unable to contain a few sniffles. She gave her wings an experimental couple of flaps and was relieved to find that aside from a few out of place feathers they were ok. "That hurt." She whimpered, raising a hoof to touch at a nasty scrape along her chest.

Bumblebee frowned, muttering softly at Silver Spoon, which surprised even her as she wasn't at all confrontational "Gee, since you're so welcoming to other ponies who don't have cutie marks and don't have tons of Bits, I guess you're right, everypony's just been great big je--"

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADER DARE DEVIL! GOOOO!"

She spun on her hoof, "Oh, that can't end well..."

And... she was proven right.  Wincing as Scootaloo crashed and burned, figuratively thankfully, she was about to do as Applejack asked but Applebloom got to it first.

As she wasn't needed, and extra bodies just cause trouble... she figured it was best to just head inside silently.  There was that old saying about "if you aren't helping you're hindering" and well, she didn't want to hinder because it looked like Scootaloo got a nasty scrape.

Silently, Bumblebee just trotted into the schoolhouse

"Good job, Apple Bloom!" Applejack chimed, and opened the case. She retrieved a cleaning cloth, and leaned over Scootaloo. "Just relax, Sugar Cube. It ain't too bad." she looked up. "Everypony back up and give her some air."

As the fillies cleared some space, Applejack carefully wiped the antiseptic cloth over Scootaloo's cuts and scrapes, then fetched a bandage for the largest one on her chest. She smoothly spread the bandage against her coat, snug to her chest, and smoothed it into place for painless removal.  "There ya go, Scootaloo." She leaned down and planted a warm and friendly kiss on her bandage, then stepped back.

--> Enter from Sweet apple acres

Honey got into the the school yard just after Applejack with his sight turned straight at the little filly yelling. Oh colt Was all he manage to think before the accident and ran straight to the little filly and tryed to make sure everypony but Applejack kept a good distance with his wings fully folded out. "How is she doing AJ? Need to get to the hospital or?" he asked over his shoulder with a  concerned voice.

Scootaloo winced a bit at the slight stinging from the antiseptic, especially when it was applied to the one on her chest but it was over quickly enough. Once it was done and Applejack had kissed her bandage. Without warning her eyes teared up even more as a memory surfaced unbidden.

She looked up from where she was laying on the ground, eyes unfocused as she tried to figure out what had hit her. Spotting a rather common object in front of her she quickly determined that it was a mail box that she'd hit. She tried to sit up and winced as her chest flared up in pain. Glancing down she noticed that she was now sporting a rather sizable scrape. Her eyes started to well up with tears and her lip started trembling.

"SCOOTALOO!" A panicked shout drew her attention away from her chest and to a rapidly approaching light brown pegasus pony. "MOMMA!" She cried out, no longer holding back her tears as she was swept up into an embrace. "What happened?" The mare asked, leaning her head back a bit so she could examine the damage. "I-I-I was r-r-ri-ridin' my sc-sc-scoo-oo--ter an' an' an' I crashed!" She got out between wails. "It's ok little one, it's ok. Let's get you patched up." The elder pegasus said, turning and carrying the still crying Scootaloo into the cloud house. Setting the light brilliant gamboge filly down on the sink she got out the bandages and antiseptic.

Smiling gently at the still crying filly she began cleaning the wound, muttering a soft "Sorry." when her filly jerked in pain. Quickly it was over and she placed the bandage on, making sure it was secure. Leaning forward she kissed the bandage and gently rubbed her daughters mane. "There you go, all better!"

Shaking her head and blinking her eyes rapidly she pulled herself out of the memory and back into the present. Wiping at her eyes, Scoots gave Applejack a watery smile. "T-thanks A-a-applejack." She stuttered out, her voice thick with tears and to a careful ear more than a hint of sadness. Leaning forward a bit and nuzzling the orange coated pony, taking some small comfort from the contact.

<<< FROM: Sweet Apple Acres

Xing, with her much smaller legs and notably less athletic form than Applebloom, followed Applejack as she hurried to Scootaloo's crash sight. She was panting by the time she caught up and Applejack had mended the wound as best she could, but stayed back to give the other filly some room. She easily melted into the crowd of other foals who had gathered around and were gawking, though she did her best not to do quite that. She stood beside Applebloom, watching with a deep concern in her face. "Oh... poor Scootaloo..." she mumbled quietly. "She is... so good on her scooter most of the time... I hope she... she's okay..."

Smiling warmly, Applejack put a hoof around the poor filly, and squeezed her just enough to reassure her. "Yer' all better now, huh, Scootaloo?" she said, then let her go with a kind smile. "Everypony, ya'll should probably get ready fer' class..." she turned to look off to the roads from town. Where was Cheerilee?

She paused as she spotted Honey. "Ah, there you are. Nah, it ain't that bad. "

Poppy had kept her distance while Applejack had been busy with Scootaloo, giving the mare room to work. Now she trotted back up. "Are you okay, Scootaloo?" she asked, sounding concerned.

"Because that was awesome!" Rosebud reiterated, flailing her forehooves in the air for emphasis.

--> Twilight Sparkle and Cheerilee enter from Books and Branches Library

"--which is about the time the potion wore off.  I'd like to say it was the first time I'd ever found myself in the bottom of a pit trap with a stallion, but I did get up to some mischief when I was younger..." Cheerilee giggled idly as she walked along with Twilight at her side.

"Okay, Cheerilee, we've officially moved into the too-much-information zone." the unicorn sighed.  She'd come along to help with toting the books about -- as the teacher carried them on her back, Twilight helped balance the lot of them with a steady glow of magic to keep them in place.  The two mares continued up the road together but paused curiously at the sight of some sort of incident up in the schoolyard.  Already knowing what was coming, Twilight quickly levitated the stack of books off Cheerilee and the schoolmare darted along, bounding right over the fence with a swift leap.

"Oh my goodness!  What happened?  Scootaloo, are you alright?" the mulberry mare instantly went into mother-hen mode as she fretted about her fallen student, looking back and forth amid her and the other ponies gathered.  Twilight followed along behind at a more leisurely pace -- she was concerned for Scootaloo but knew better than to go stick her nose into a mess like that without reason.  Instead she floated the stack of books over to set down inside the doorway of the nearby school house in the meantime.

Scootaloo let out a few more sniffles as she turned away from Applejack to face the various fillies and colts that had gathered around her. Wiping her eyes she gave them a small smile. "That did not go as well as I hoped." She said, standing up and walking to join the others. "I'm ok, that just hurt more than I thought it would." She smiled at Rosebud, a pony she hadn't met yet. "It would have been more awesome if I had landed it instead of becoming a filly cannon ball."

"Well, at least you wore a helmet.  You can't afford to have your brains any more scrambled than they already are." Silver Spoon noted as she ambled along for the schoolhouse as well.  All the fuss was over and Cheerilee had arrived, so there was no point in dawdling around outside.

"Dude!  Scoots!  You've gotta teach me how to do that sometime!  Just without the whole crash-and-burn part at the end." Meadow Lark seemed far more enthused over the whole event than anyone else as he joined the little herd making their way inside.

Scootaloo turned around when she heard the rapidly approaching hoofbeats, seeing Miss Cheerilee running up to her. She turned so her teacher could see the bandage on her chest. "I'm ok Miss Cheerilee, I crashed while trying a new stunt." She pointed a hoof at where her scooter was still laying underneath the horseshoe. She smiled up at her teacher, pointing at her bandage. "Applejack patched me up good as new! Next time I'll know to build up more speed before trying the Scooterslam."

With Cheerilee approaching - and Twilight, Applejack stood up, closed the medical kit, and passed it back to Apple Bloom.  She trotted along to then meet with the pair as they approached, and brought a hoof up to adjust her stetson in greeting. "Howdy, Miss Cheerilee, Twilight.  Scoots had a  little tumble, but she'll be awright. Ah've brought ya' a new student, too." SHe gave a whistle. "Hay, XIng Ming, come meet miss Cheerilee."

"Okay Jacks If you think so." Honey said as he put down his wings and let Scootaloos friends talk to her.

"Hay Twilight! How did the evening go? Did it end as good as hoped?" Honey asked with a little smirk and a giggle. "Hay, you must be the school teacher I have heard so much about, My name is Honey. Are you really the only teacher around here? Where I am from each school have like, twentyfive teachers and we have more than one school." He asked very curious to the teacher that he had heard a bit but very little about. "I hope I don't delay your lesson for too long with this." He said a little concerned but not thinking about maybe delaying miss Cheerilee even more.

When it was apparent that Scootaloo would be alright, Xing breathed a sigh of relief and took a moment to look around her. At first, Cheerilee's approach fell by the wayside as someone much more interesting to Xing approached with the teacher. Her eyes brightened instantly as she spotted Twilight picking up the rear, and cantered quickly toward her.

"Nihao, Twilight Sparkle," she greeted brightly, walking backwards to keep facing her and follow her at the same time. "Thank you for... for that book. I read a lot of it before the... the celebration last night and it is... even more interesting than I thought!" she exclaimed brokenly, her excitement at seeing Twilight again apparent by her difficulty in getting the words out properly. "Did you... did you know that, during the mid summer months... the constellations Vulpecula and Cygnus are in a more... powerful position in Equestria than... than in Shanghay? That... that is why Pegasi born in mid summer... in Equestria are... faster and more graceful flyers than those in Shanghay. Likewise... Phoenix and... and Pegasus are more prominent... in Shanghay in... in the fall, so autumn-born Pegasi are more... resilient and swift than... in Equestria... Also... the constellation Columba..."

She would have continued at length if Applejack had not called her over to meet Cheerilee, turning her head to look at her Jei Jei and Cheerilee. "I will... talk to you later, Twilight," she said a bit shyly, before making her way over to where the other two adults were. She looked as shy as she always did when meeting new people, but smiled at her new teacher. "Nihao... Miss Cheerilee. My name is... Xing Ming."

Keeping an ear open all the time was one of Rosebud's better qualities, and the reddish filly wandered up to the "meet Miss Cheerilee" queue when AJ started introducing Xing Ming.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:40, Fri 01 June 2012.

"Well, I'm glad you're alright, but I'd rather you didn't try anything like that again, Scootaloo.  It's not worth banging yourself up over.  Have you ever considered trying Cutie Mark Crusader basket weaving?" the teacher suggested amiably as she looked over the little Pegasus for any further damage.  Applejack had done a good job... not surprising either, since apple bucking and farming no doubt led to its own fair share of bumps and scrapes.  "Go and head on inside for now.  We'll be starting class soon."

Applebloom had already gone toward that direction herself -- she waved a quick goodbye to her sister, Honey, and Twilight before scampering along to get to her desk.  Naturally she'd linger to stick with Scootaloo on the way in though.  With that done the teacher gave her attention to Applejack and Xing Ming, smiling to each.  "Thanks for helping out, Applejack.  It's always good to know you're looking out for everypony.  And it's a pleasure to meet you, Xing Ming~!  I just know you'll love it here in Ponyville."

The teacher couldn't help but glance past the two of them as she caught sight of a dark filly in the background, though she was quick to wave her over.  "Oh, and here's another new face as well.  You're Rosebud, right?  I met with your father already about your enrollment.  It's so wonderful that we've got so many new students coming in~.  At this rate we can--"

Cheerilee was cut off was Honey interjected himself with a stream of rapid-fire questions.  Twilight Sparkle had held back from the bulk of the group and barely managed to not blush and scowl too darkly when the young stallion had swung by her with his curiosity.  It was way too early in the morning for this.  She'd at least been able to smile and nod along with Xing Ming for the sake of the filly's feelings, but she really needed some coffee if she was going to be able to function properly throughout the morning.

"Yep! That's m--" Rosebud started to reply, before similarly being stopped by Honey. She took this as her cue to follow the other students into the schoolhouse.

Within, Rosebud waited patiently for the other students to fill the seats, so she could choose an empty one.

Applejack grinned broadly, then gave Honey a rather piercing glance. He was way too energetic for everypony this morning. She raised a hoof to his shoulder. "Easy, Honey, let somepony get on with her work." she said, and tipped her hat to the teacher. "Anytime, miss Cheerilee. Ya'll just let me know if ya' need a hand. Have a good day, everypony." She chimed, then trotted along toward Twilight. She recognized that look in her eye, and sidled up alongside her. "Hay, Twilight. Let's go grab a coffee before  ah drop this pole off." She said. "Town Hall's on the way, Honey, so ya' can join us or head on over there, however ya' please."

"Rosebud, Xing-Ming - there are some empty seats over here," Poppy grinned. Having collected her saddlebags from by the steps, she trotted over to the desk she had claimed yesterday, and indicated an empty desk to her right and another one in front of her.

"Oh yes. Sorry. I will let you get on with your morning miss Cheerilee. and I would love to get a cup of coffee with you two." Honey excused to Applejack and miss Cheerilee before moving on with Applejack and waving to all the small foals on their way inside.

"You lead, I follow" Honey said with a giggle as he skipped right next to Applejack giving twilight a friendly bumb with his flank. "Don't be so silent Twi, you can't be that tired! Is it okay if I call you Twi? or is it too fast for you?" Honey said with a playful tone trying to keep his pace of speak slow for the tired mare.

As everypony filed into the school room they other fillies had found out, if they were curious that is, where Bumblebee had disappeared to.

she was at her desk, reading a book and just sitting quietly alone.

"Bye, Jei Jei. See you tonight," said Xing to Applejack as she bid everypony goodbye, moving inside the schoolhouse and looking interestedly around. While the exterior of the schoolhouse looked very different from what she was used to, the interior looked much more familiar. Colorful pictures and teaching aids of different sorts on the walls, a chalk board with pull down maps and projector mats for presentations, the large teacher's desk, and of course, the little rows of desks in orderly fashion. Since not everyone was inside yet, Xing paused to glance slowly around and decide where she was allowed to sit. She felt her shyness crushing in on her as several foals turned to look at her interestedly, but Poppy caught her attention before she could think on that too much.

She turned to Rosebud, the other new student, and smiled at her shyly. "I guess... there are seats... this way," she murmured, and she made her way over to where Poppy had called them. She took the one beside, as it was more in the middle of the room, where she liked to be - near the front was too open, and near the back, too cloistered. The middle was just right. Usually, she would sit very quiet and wait to be noticed, but as her mind was more tired thanks to the night before, and everyone had, so far, been quite friendly, she felt more comfortable as she smiled at Poppy, and decided to actually say something to the nice filly who had invited her over.

"Nihao," she said to Poppy as she took her seat. "What is your name?" she asked as she set her saddlebag down beside her desk.

"I'm Poppy," the little blue filly replied.

Left with no choice, Rosebud took the seat in front of Poppy. She tapped her hooves on the desk's surface, trying and failing to produce a recognizable tune.

At Cheerilee's dismissal Scoots turned away and walked over to collect her scooter. Picking it up she walked it up to the school house and leaned it against the side of the building. Then, joining Apple Bloom, she walked into the school house and took her normal seat. Glancing around she wondered where the last of the CMC was. "Sweetie Belle better get here soon or she's going to be late."

"AJ, have I ever told you that you're my favorite pony?  Because you're totally my favorite pony." Twilight sighed gratefully at the suggestion of coffee.  She planned on meeting Widget at the cafe later, so it worked out for the best.  Ooh, maybe she could swing by the workshop and surprise him~!  Ponies who dated liked surprises, right?  That was a thing?

The unicorn squawked a bit in surprise when she was bumped on the pass by Honey, though she didn't quite seem to know how to take that.  He was way too energetic for her that morning though.  "'Twi' is fine -- most ponies call me that anyway.  You seem like you've had enough coffee for today already though." she sighed and shook her head.  Once the three of them started off on their way, she lagged down a bit to trot beside Applejack and lean in to speak to her in a low voice against her ear.


No sooner had almost everypony headed inside or away from the schoolyard did Sweetie Belle herself come dashing up the road, nearly tripping over herself in her haste to make it before the bell rang.  Cheerilee, who had been standing on the school porch, just laughed softly and waved the rest of the kids along.  "Come on my little ponies~!  Let's all get inside and start another day of learning~!"  she called.  With everyone finally present the teacher made her way inside while the students all took their seats.  Sweetie Belle cast a curious look at the newcomers to the class but didn't say anything at the moment.

"Alright everyone, I'd like to make some introductions~!  We have two more new students joining us: Xing Ming and Rosebud.  Would you two like to tell the class a little about yourselves?" the teacher asked kindly.

--> Twilight Sparkle exits to Summer Song Cafe
<-- Sweetie Belle enters from Carousel Boutique

Rosebud tried to shrink down into her seat and hide, casting a glance over her shoulder at Xing Ming. Being friendly to individual ponies was one thing, but the attention of the entire class?

In reply to Twilight Sparkle (msg #287):

As Applejack and Twilight departed for the cafe, AJ made a point of scooping back up the tent pole she needed to drop off on the way.  She'd ensure they did so so that she could keep her word to the stallkeeper from the previous night, but such was a brief stop.


Applejack rubbed a hoof to her head, as they got to the door.

Exit to Summer Song Cafe

Bumblebee put a hoof to Rosebud's shoulder and offered her a smile, "You kin do it Avacado" she giggled.  Hopefully the vote of confidence helped the pony, and using the name the filly gave BB would show there wasn't any hard feelings about getting the wrong name

When Xing heard her name called out, a dark color rose up in her cheeks. This was a lot like schools in Shanghay too... That it was expected, however, did not make it comfortable. "Um," she said quietly, gathering courage enough to speak before the entire class. "N-Nihao... My name is... Xing... Xing Ming... It means... Shining Star... in Equestrian... I am from... the country of Shanghay... northeast of Equestria..." She swallowed, trying to gather her confidence, though she still looked at nopony specifically, instead focusing on a spot on the floor near Cheerilee's hooves. It was easier that way. "My Mama is a ... um... diplomatic ambassador... from Shanghay to Equestria... She is in... Canterlot... I am staying at... Sweet Apple Acres... for my time in Ponyville... Nihao... is how we say... hello... in Chineighs... the language of Shanghay..."

Poppy also gave Rosebud and Xing Ming smiles of encouragement - she'd been in this unenviable position yesterday.

"Cool! Twi it is then." Honey said as he followed next to Twilight and Applejack. "And you can never get too much coffee you silly pony." He said with a small laugh and a wave toward.

Seeing that the two were whispering something to each other Honey just let them chit-chat in silence following them to the Café of choice.

-->Exit to Summer Song Cafe

After Xing Ming introduced herself, Cheerilee piped in to try and assuage some of the nervousness on the filly.  She trotted over to a nearby globe and spun it about until Chineigh was visible on its surface for the rest of the class to see.

"Very good, Xing Ming~!  Your speaking Equestrian is very impressive for a filly of your age." she praised the girl cheerfully.  "We haven't touched very much on world history as of yet, but this is worth taking note of.  Class; Chineigh is one over several Eastern regions outside of Equestria.  Many of these places, like Chineigh or Neighpon, actually predate the founding of our own nation by quite a long time.  Chineigh has a very rich history dating back thousands of years and has its own independent government separate from the rule of Princess Celestia and Luna."

That seemed to confuse Meadow Lark and he raised a hoof to get the teacher's attention.  "Wait, I thought the Princesses ruled, like, the whole world.  They control the Sun and the Moon."

"I'm afraid it's a little more complex than just that, Meadow Lark.  While it's absolutely a topic worth exploring, now's not quite the time for it.  We'd be here all week just covering the basics.  But just to touch lightly -- the majority of world governments remain independent of direct Equestrian rule, but we do  hold stable and reliable friendships with almost all of them.  Ponies like Xing Ming's mother have the very important job of maintaining relationships between countries." Cheerilee shook her head.  No, that was a lesson plan for a whole other time.  She looked over to Rosebud and gestured encouragingly with a hoof.  "Rosebud?  Why don't you tell us something about yourself?  Your hobbies, or maybe something you enjoy?"
This message was last edited by the player at 14:24, Tue 05 June 2012.

Rosebud listened to the geographical history lesson with rapt attention. When Cheerilee put her back in the spotlight, however, the reddish filly panicked. "Um, uh, I, er...  I am Rosebud the Terrible, conqueror of untold legions and warpriestess of Zantor the Blood God!" she declared, more loudly than was called for in the classroom environment.

Poppy stifled a giggle. "You read a lot of books, doncha?" she grinned. "I think I read that Daring Do book a few weeks ago," she said, offering the pink Pegasus a high hoof.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:14, Wed 06 June 2012.

Bumblebee winced, she understood nervouness and panic certainly.

Still she found herself giggling and offering Rosebud a smile, Ah'm sorry warpriestess but ah gave blood to tha nurse last week, no blood for the blood god this month."

Scootaloo slowly turned her head back around so she could see the self proclaimed priestess of the blood god. That had been one of the oddest things she'd ever heard in her life. "What? Blood God? What are you babbling about? Xing Ming made more sense last night when she was speaking in Chineighs!"

Most of the class was momentarily stunned by the introduction Rosebud gave herself, but only for as long as it took them to burst out into giggles and laughter.  Cheerilee smiled in a kindly manner and shushed the other ponies.

"A creative writer then, I take it?  Your father mentioned how much you love reading." the teacher noted over Rosebud's creative announcement.

"Hey, do you wanna join on the school newspaper?  We've got some column space we could use for short stories~!" Featherweight chirped up as he leaned over his desk to flag Rosebud with a wave.

"One thing at a time, Featherweight.  Though I think that would be a great idea if Rosebud were interested.  Imagination is something that needs to be nourished and expressed so that it can truly grow." Cheerilee giggled as she trotted over to a nearby heap of books that she and Twilight had brought them along that morning.  She gathered a few and began handing them out across the rows of students.  "Incidentally, I just got in the new expansion of the Young Readers' series.  We'll be using this in for our assigned reading for the rest of the year -- it's chock full of all sorts of stories, essays, and other fascinating entries.  As usual I'll expect a report each month from you all on a topic of your choice from the book."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:33, Tue 05 June 2012.

In reply to Cheerilee (msg #299):

Poppy eagerly leafed through the pages, scouting ahead for report topics. "Ooh, a mystery! And a fairytale about a princess and her dragon! Hey, a Loshadian folk tale - that looks interesting..." And then her eyes lit up - an article on different types of flowers.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:13, Wed 06 June 2012.

Rosebud retreated embarrassedly back into her seat when everypony laughed (she'd somehow ended up with her front feet on her desk during the proclamation). Why had she claimed to be a disciple of a Dark One? Sure, it was more interesting than 'Hi, I'm Rosebud and I like reading and imagining,' but as a first impression? Ugh. The filly's head hit her desk, though not loudly.

Thankfully, the moment didn't last too long, and Rosebud quickly opened her textbook to the table of contents. Read it... read it.... doesn't look interesting... read it... read the real book... Underwater architecture? That's a thing?

"Ah got laughed at too Rosebud, it's okay." Bumblebee said, hoping Rosebud would listen "Ah wasn' tryin' ta make fun of ya... jes tryin't go with it so ya don't feel so nervous."

She hoped that helped the pony, then she turned to look at what Cheerilee was passing out

If it was one thing Xing loved, it was getting new books. She took her copy and cracked open the cover with obvious interest. She usually liked science books over ones that were fictitious, but she supposed these would do for a bit of light reading on the side to break up all of those scientific essays she liked to read, and hopefully would be reading a lot of with Twilight.

When Rosebud thumped so loudly, she startled and looked up. She eyed the two small pegasi, but said nothing, shrinking like she was always so good at doing, and remained silent behind her book, waiting for Cheerilee to draw the attention back onto herself.

Cheerilee gave the kids all a chance to peruse through their books as they liked.  Meadow Lark had immediately caught sight of some serial adventure story and already begun digging into it with a grin on his face.  Silver Spoon seemed rather bored with the fare as she flipped through the pages.  Boring... boring... boring... wait... a sci-fi story?!  The gray filly looked around cautiously for a moment before she stealthily doggy-eared the page to come back to later.

"Now then, I'd like a report from each of you before the end of this month.  You can get started on it as soon or as late as you like, so long as it's in before the final deadline.  Find a part of the book you would enjoy writing about and develop a report for me detailing its contents, what you learned from it, and if you can apply that knowledge or how you did so in real life.  Remember: spelling counts." the schoolmare explained as she ambled back around behind her desk.  She produced a few more books and some scrolls that looked rather old and musty from the drawers.

"Let's get started on today's lesson, shall we?  Since Princess Luna is in town right now, I thought it would be a good idea to turn our attention skyward for a while." Cheerilee led in as she spread one of the scrolls onto an easel, revealing it to be a star chart.  "As we all know, Princess Luna controls both the Moon and the night sky.  There are many constellations made up of groupings of stars that remain constant in place -- she laid them out as static formations long ago for the sake of ponies who traveled the lands, seas, and skies, so that they could always have something to navigate by.  Other stars are dynamic and move about through the sky as the seasons change, or whenever Princess Luna is feeling artistic.  I'm sure you've all seen her meteor showers throughout the year."

Cheerilee went on with that thread of discussion, explaining both astrological concepts and the relevancy of the two Princesses in the development of their current celestial formations.  Naturally she took questions as she went along, stopping to address any curiosities her little ponies had with their raised hooves.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:06, Wed 06 June 2012.

Though Xing listened politely to the explanation of her new teacher, for it was interesting to hear it from another culture's point of view, she had to say that she didn't learn anything at all from Cheerilee's lecture. Xing's special talent was astronomy... She had long since devoured any common knowledge about it that would be present in a school aged classroom. She eventually found a question, and raised her hoof.

"Before the return... of Princess Luna... two years ago... did Princess Celestia... ever move the stars around at night... to be artistic? Or did she keep... keep them stationary because... of all the work she had to do? If not... If not, how do the sailors of today... compensate... and navigate... properly, now that the stars are moving... again, after being still... for a thousand years? Es... Especially sailors that... are not Equestrian..." It seemed to not occur to Xing that it was doubtful that Cheerilie would know how sailors operate.

Ooh, that was a good question. Rosebud waited for Miss Cheerilee's answer with interest.

Poppy cocked her head to one side at Xing Ming's question - she had never thought of that!

"A very good question, Xing Ming~!" Cheerilee always encouraged creative thinking and once more referred to the static star charts.  "Long ago, when Discord still controlled Equestria before the time of the Princesses, he cast the night sky into complete disarray.  But once he was defeated, Princess Luna spent her time restoring the stars to their proper places, which Princess Celestia has upheld throughout the ages.  It's thanks to her efforts that the ambient magical energies of the stars and the effect they have on everything else is stable once more.  The current star formations are just as they were over a thousand years ago."

Cheerilee then referred to a different style of chart -- it documented as many non-static stars and celestial bodies as could be relatively certain, but since their very nature was that of constant change and not always within a pattern, one couldn't rely on that to be 100% accurate.  "Princess Celestia has indeed made a canvas of the sky, often setting meteor showers or glimmering nights out for us all.  She's been quoted as saying that she does it to better understand her sister but also admits that Princess Luna is far more skilled at it.  When it comes to navigation by stars, naturally sailors and fliers rely on the static stars and relative positions of the constellations to figure out where they are at night.  At least, failing the presence of magical compasses or location spells.  Sailors in particular have been known to rely on the assistance of Sea Ponies to ensure safe voyages over long distances, both for navigation and to warn against dangers."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:13, Tue 12 June 2012.

Xing jotted down notes in her notebook in Chineighs characters, as it was easier for her to write and to read them for the purposes of study, as Cheeriliee answered her question in more than satisfactory length. The little unicorn knew already that she would very much like having Miss Cheerilee as her teacher, and that she had definitely lucked out, what with both Cheerilee and Twilight Sparkle willing and eager to help her in her education. This subject in particular gave her plenty to both lap up and say herself - her cutie mark wasn't a star for nothing, after all.

It seemed a lot of her shyness had passed, and now that she had someone willing to answer questions on the topic of her fascination, she was going to take advantage of it. However, this was more about the moon than the stars, though Luna did control both, she supposed. Her hoof was in the air again only a few seconds after Cheerilee finished answering her first question. It wasn't about Sea Ponies, though. She had known they exist! After all, they helped with safe passage through certain harsh areas of the sea, and were included in the diplomacy program. "Um... I have always wondered... What is... a lunar eclipse, exactly? Why do they happen?" she asked. One could hardly talk about the magic of the night sky and the moon in particular without mentioning the rare occurrence when the moon shed its soft white glow for a blood red coat.

When Xing Ming's hoof went up a second time so soon Cheerilee laughed gently and indulged her youthful curiosity.  Far be it from her to refuse an eager mind its hunger for knowledge.  But the question on eclipses seemed to give her pause and her normally chipper expression grew somber.  She moved over to a globe of their world -- from its axis rod were a few other prongs that held suspended models of the Sun and Moon alike, which rotated around the planet with a push.

"Keep in mind this isn't to scale." the teacher gave a quick disclaimer as she fiddled with the spin of the orbs.  "Our planet sits at the center of the universe, as far as we know, and all other celestial bodies orbit around us.  Princess Celestia and Luna control the path of the Sun and Moon in order to give the world regular phases of day and night, as well as the changing seasons.  The fact that daytime lasts longer in the Summer and nighttime is longer in the Winter is a direct result of this."

Cheerilee moved the models of the Sun and Moon so that they rested on opposite sides of the planet, aligning the three spheres with one another.  "In physical principle, a lunar eclipse is when the earth casts its shadow on the full moon.  The three celestial forms come into perfect alignment and the light from the sun makes the world's shadow lay over the moon, blotting it out temporarily.  At these times the moon and sky turn red.  This is called a Total Lunar Eclipse." she explained at length.  "The impact this has on magical energies worldwide has been long debated and studied, though it still widely remains a mystery as even the Princesses haven't divulged any information themselves.  Some ponies experience magical shortages while others become empowered.  There are fluctuations in natural energy fields.  Some innately magical animals and monsters experience behavioral changes... all in all, it's a good thing they only happen about twice a year."

Meadow Lark raised his hoof high and Cheerilee gestured to him for his question.  He'd noticed the way she'd gotten quiet when considering the question but didn't quite know how to broach it.  Instead he went for the next most pertinent question on his mind.  "But if the Princesses control the way the Sun and Moon move, how come eclipses even happen at all?  Can't they just push them around and avoid them or something?"

"Well... I'm afraid there's a rather sad story behind that, Meadow Lark." the teacher sighed.  "Tell me, do any of you know what a 'Selenelion' is?"

Bumblebee raised her hoof, "Miss... 'selene' has to do with the moon right?  er... I know this'll sound silly but... a moon lion?"

Scoots skimed through the book for a story about Rainbow Dash but couldn't find one so pushed it away from her with a huff. When Zing Ming asked her question she listened with interest, she'd always enjoyed just watching the night sky. At the question of what a selenlion was she simply shrugged, having no clue.

"A good guess, Bumblebee.  Incidentally, Princess Celestia and Luna have each been known by several different names over the centuries.  There are many ancient texts that refer to Princess Luna as 'Selene' or 'Selena'." Cheerilee explained.  She looked to the rest of the class.  "Anyone else?"

Xing kept her mouth shut at first, for as long as she could anyway. She didn't want to seem like a know-it-all on her first day and alienate everypony, but at the same time, while she didn't know a lot about history or science or math, she did know about astronomy. It was, after all, her special talent; the one thing she was truly good at.

"A selenelion is when... the moon... and the sun... are in the sky at the same time... always on opposite sides... of the sky... Some ponies call it... a Horizontal Eclipse..." she replied at last when it seemed no pony else knew. She had grown quiet, though her eagerness was still there beneath the surface. But Cheerilee's somber expression and state had her both concerned and intrigued. What sort of sad story were they in store for?
This message was last edited by the player at 04:34, Wed 13 June 2012.

Xing Ming's answer got an approving nod from the teacher.  "That's right.  A Selenelion is the rarest of all celestial phenomenon... and that's not by chance either.  You see, the Princesses control the Sun and Moon's movements purposefully.  Unlike the dynamic stars that drift where they please, these two celestial bodies follow specific patterns.  To date there has only been a single Selenelion in all recorded history: it occurred over one-thousand years ago on the Summer Solstice... or as you all know it better as; the Summer Sun Celebration."

Cheerilee moved around from her desk to stand before the class.  She needed a moment to consider her words and her reluctance to speak put some of the students on edge, both for the sake of curiosity and in worry for their teacher's feelings.  When she finally did speak up, her voice was soft and sad.  "It would be unfair to say that Princess Celestia ever lied to anypony, but the fact of the matter is that, until recently, we were given a somewhat edited version of historical events.  All of you know of Nightmare Moon's return a few years ago on the day of the Summer Sun Celebration and how she was defeated by the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, all of whom are residents of Ponyville.  Prior to this event, everypony thought Nightmare Moon was just an old mare's tale.  A story and nothing more.  She'd been the mascot of Nightmare Night for as long as any of us could remember.  When I was your age I put out candy for her too.  Following the defeat of Nightmare Moon and the return of Princess Luna, Princess Celestia came out with an explanation as to what had really happened.  Over the centuries she'd allowed the real details to fade into legend to spare her sister's memory.  I'm sure many of you have yet to learn all of what's happened since the whole story has not been widely published yet, but it's important to know the truth."

The mulberry colored mare gestured once more to the model globe and its aligned formation.  "The Sun and Moon move in harmony with one another, each rising and falling through the sky in balance and unison.  But the first Selenelion occurred when Princess Celestia and Luna faced each other not as the loving sisters we know them as today, but as enemies in the first, and only, Equestrian civil war.  It was then that Princess Luna refused to lower the Moon to make way for the day and, in doing so, set off a chain of events that nearly tore Equestria apart.  As Celestia and Luna battled each other, the Sun and Moon both stood in the sky, reflecting their struggle for dominance."

Rosebud began to raise her hoof, but hesitated and reluctantly put it down. Instead she picked up her pencil and doodled in her notebook; a simple drawing of winged unicorns facing off under dual planets. Suddenly her hoof shot up. "Miss Cheerilee! If the earth can cast its shadow on the Moon, does that mean that the Moon can cast its shadow on the earth? Is that what happened when Nightmare Moon returned?"

"Yes, Rosebud, it can.  It's called a Solar Eclipse: the Moon moves between the Sun and our earth, almost totally blocking it from sight except for a corona that can still be seen around its edge."  Cheerilee explained as she demonstrated with the globe, positioning the moon figure in between the Sun and Earth.  "That's what was originally thought to have happened when Nightmare Moon returned, but it was later discovered not to have been the case.  While I know it's difficult to imagine, when Nightmare Moon kidnapped Princess Celestia, the Sun... well... it vanished.  Following the event word came in from all around the planet -- the Sun wasn't observed in the sky from any known point in the world.  Whether Nightmare Moon simply hid the Sun away from sight or something more has never been fully explained.  Princess Celestia has said that she doesn't remember what happened to her after she was spirited away and Nightmare Moon herself has been destroyed, so I'm afraid it's a mystery that will likely never be solved."

Cheerilee gestured back to the globe set into its alignment for a Solar Eclipse and continued.  "While a Serenelion has never again appeared, I'm sure all of you have noticed that Total Lunar and Solar Eclipses do occur fairly regularly; about twice a year each.  Taking what we've already covered into consideration, can any of you reason why that might be?"

Scoots listened to Miss Cheerilee explain a little bit about what had happened in the past and the various cosmic phenomanom that occured. Raising her hoof she offered a tentative answer. "Um, maybe so it doesn't happen again? So that They can share the sky and won't get jealous of the attention the other gets? Maybe?"

Poppy paused, considering. Twice a year each... that's four eclipses a year... Kinda like the... what were those words Ava used, solstice and  equi...equinox? Well, she certainly hoped Miss Cheerilee wouldn't ask her to spell it, but when she'd asked Ava, she had said that it had to do with how long the day was in relation to the night, that day and night always added up to the same amount, but in summer the day was longer, and in winter the night was longer... and twice a year in spring and fall, they were the same. "Is it to do with the seasons - the solstice and the icky... the equi.. the e-qui-nox?" she asked.

This time, Xing wasn't so sure what to answer. The legends of why eclipses happen in Chineighs stories were likely much different than those in Equestria, and the last thing she wanted to do was to sound foalish. But she had little else to go on for the moment. "In... Shanghay... the legend goes that... eclipses happen because... a giant dragon is eating the sun or the moon... So we have a big party when it happens... and make as much noise as we can... to scare the dragon away." She blushed. "It always... seemed to work... _before..."

Cheerilee's momentary lapse into dour expressions faded away quickly in the light of so many curious voices chiming out.  She always adored the foals and seeing them all pipe up in their lessons just gave her a deep sense of the 'warm and fuzzies' inside.  It put her smile back on her face as she took each suggestion and theory in turn.

"Very good, children.  You're all on the right track." she exclaimed brightly, even factoring in Xing Ming's less conventional explanation.  "Eclipses only began as regular occurrences after Nightmare Moon was sealed away and Princess Celestia assumed full control of the cosmos.  Scootaloo was closest to the mark here.  The Princess has explained that she's kept Solar and Lunar Eclipses in effect as a symbolic gesture.  Nightmare Moon came about because Princess Luna felt shunned and unloved by the ponies of the past -- Eclipses happen as a way to represent the equality and unity of the two royal sisters and the parts they play in all our lives."

Cheerilee gestured to Poppy next and continued.  "Poppy - the Summer and Winter Solstices and related Equinoxes mark a sort of 'changing of the guard', so to speak.  Again, balance.  The Summer Solstice is the time of Princess Celestia's Summer Sun Celebration and the longest day in the year, while the Winter Solstice is the shortest.  Without the cooperation and unity between our Princesses as they control the skies together, the entire world would be in chaos.  The seasons wouldn't occur and everypony the world over would suffer."

Finally, she looked to the bashful Xing Ming and gave a fond smile.  "Xing Ming brings up a very good point as well with a legend from her homeland.  Not everypony in the world is aware that Princess Celestia and Luna control the skies, or the reasons behind why certain things happen.  In the past there were huge gaps in the collective knowledge of various cultures, some of which are still being rectified this very day.  For instance, Equestrian explorers didn't discover the existence of what is now Neighpon and its native Kirin until only a few generations ago.  The Kirin all had their own legends about how the cosmos functioned." the teacher explained at length.  "The cultural differences and unique outlooks of other beings, species, and groups worldwide are valuable and something to be proud of.  By coming together as a single people we enrich each other, strengthen the bonds of friendship all over the world, and help bring balance to our lives."

Poppy's hoof went up again. "Miss Cheerilee... if there's a summer sun celebration every year at the summer solstice, why isn't there a moon celebration every year at the winter soltice too? I bet everypony in Equestria would really enjoy it, and I bet Princess Luna would feel really special with everypony staying up to see her beautiful moon."

"Well, what do you think last night was?" the schoolmare giggled.  "Though it was rather off-schedule to be in observation of the Winter Solstice.  Princess Luna has been away for a thousand years and, based on what has been explained after her return, has only recently begun controlling the night once again.  Even after she was freed from Nightmare Moon's influence, Princess Luna didn't immediately return to her duties since she was too weak and needed time to reacquaint herself with the modern era.  But given how well her impromptu Moon Raising event went over the other evening, I'm certain we'll be seeing a new tradition come Winter."

The class continued on smoothly through the day, though the scheduling involved was likely going to take some getting used to for someone like Xing Ming.  Ponyville was a small town with an even smaller schoolhouse and only one teacher... outnumbered heavily by the amount of school-age foals.  As a result, classes were handled in waves to accommodate the large population of students -- their current class met twice a week and then had independent study until their next meet-up, allowing another bunch of students to have their own two-day period with Cheerilee in the meantime.  The last odd day of the week was, of course, the teacher's day off.  Since Xing Ming and Rosebud were scheduled in the first part of the school week, it meant they now had plenty of time on their hooves as their first day in class was everypony else's second.

Eventually the afternoon rolled on in.  The kids got to have lunch, returned for a few more lessons as Cheerilee moved on to more mundane topics like grammar and math, and then finally sent everypony on their way when the mid-afternoon bell rang.  School days tended to be longer in cities where foals often had a tuition to settle, but in little towns where kids were often required to help out with family businesses or chores at home, they were let out with plenty of daylight left to spare.

"Alright, that's all for today~!  You all did so well and I can't wait to see you all again next week~!  Don't forget about your reading reports and don't wait until the last minute to start into your books.  You'll be able to appreciate the reading much more if you take your time with it and really work to absorb the knowledge." Cheerilee advised as the final bell rang to dismiss all the students.  "Have fun and be safe, my little ponies~!"

As she headed out the door and tugged on her skates, Poppy nodded to Xing Ming, Rosebud, and Bumblebee. "I'm going down to the garden shop to buy some vegetable seeds. Does anypony want to tag along?"

Meadow Lark stretched his little wings out and grimaced as his spine popped in a few places, stiff from sitting still all day so far.  He liked classes just fine but really wished there was more of a P.E. period than recess and lunch offered.  The colt waved goodbye to his teacher and trotted off with his bags on his flanks, though he was a little curious to find Silver Spoon once more at his side.  She'd hung around him at lunch as well...

"Hey, not that I mind or anything, but are you gonna follow me around all day?" he asked in his usual blunt manner.  Silver Spoon just glared and turned up her nose.

"I'm not following you around.  We just end up in the same places." she hmmph'ed defensively, though even she softened a bit as she looked out over the school yard as if searching for something. "Besides... Diamond Tiara didn't come to school today.  I usually hang out with her..."

"Yeah, that is kinda weird.  Think she's okay?" he asked curiously.

"I don't see why she wouldn't be.  All three of us did and ate the same stuff last night and we're fine."

"Hm... maybe she just didn't want to get up this morning.  She seems like the sort who'd blow off school 'cause she felt like it."

"Geeze, you're so rude!  And here I thought you were trying to be our friend."

"What's that got to do with anything?  She's done it before, y'know.  And you haven't?"

"Th-that's not the point!"

Bumblebee nodded to Poppy, "I'd like to.  I don't have much else to do." she smiled at Xing Ming, "Hi. I don't think I introduced myself.  I'm Bumblebee, but you can call me BB if you want."

"Well, Poppy, I might like to, but I don't have any money..." Rosebud politely declined. Besides, she still wanted to know why that Scootaloo pony performed her amazing stunt.

She looked around for the orange pegasus.

Scoots found herself drifting in and out as the day wore on, her hoof would idly find its way to the bandage on her xhest as she contemplated her earlier wipe out. At the school bell dismissing them she instantly perked up. Now was the perfect time to go searching for their Cutie Marks. "Come on girls! Lets go try and get our Cutie Marks! I think we should try for zip linning today." She declared, grabbing her helmet and waiting for her fellow Crusaders to join her.

This was indeed something Xing would have to get used to. Independent study wasn't something usually exercised in Shanghay... but she was a good student and she was sure she wouldn't have any trouble. She was about to waste the rest of the day away reading the book Twilight had given her the day before to read, or perhaps peruse the book that Cheerilee had given them to get a start on the essay she had been assigned. But Bumblebee startled her out of her revelry.

"Um... Hi," she said with a shy smile. "It is... good to meet you... Bei bei. You can... call me... just Xing, if you want..." She grinned a little wider, apparently growing more comfortable. She turned her attention to Poppy. "Um... I would... like to see more of Ponyville... in the daylight," she confirmed. "I will go... with you."

Bumblebee smiled, "Ponyville is a really great place.  Everyone's nice and it's safe too." she cocked her head, "Bei Bei?  Ah'm guessin' that's how you say the letter 'b' in Chineighese?" she shook her head, "Ugh, ah'm sorry... I guess that's a pretty obvious thing, huh?"

"There is no... 'Bei'..." Xing made a slight face, and spoke even slower. "No... Bee... in Chineighs... Bei just... sounds... um... better." She looked awkward. There wasn't really a better way to say it than that. "'Bumblebee' is Mìfēng in Chineighs. It does not... work well as a nick name..." she admitted.

Bumblebee nodded, smiling, "Oooh, Ah see." she drawled softly, "ah'm might happy you wanna try givin' me a nickname Xing.  Just call me whatever you're comfy sayin', okay?" she nodded, "Ah wouldn't mah newest friend to be all tongue-tied after all."

she offered the chineignese girl a hoof to bump in friendship, greeting, or both.

"And I'm Poppy," the little blue filly giggled. She'd have offered a hoofbump if she weren't already wearing her roller skates.

Xing swelled with happiness at being referred to as 'a new friend'. She giggled and raised her own hoof, letting it smack against Bumblebee's in a friendly and very Equestrian gesture. "I would like to... see your 'seed shop', Poppy," she said with interest. "Lead the way!"

"Okay - let's go," Poppy giggled. With that, she headed off into town, skating slowly enough that BB and Xing Ming would be able to keep up with no trouble. "I can't wait to see how many kinds of fruit and vegetable seeds they have."

-->To Sprout and Bloom Garden Shop

Bumblebee grinned at Xing, her tiny wings sending her buzzing off the ground, "C'mon Xing! Let's go!"

-> To Sprout and Bloom Garden Shop ->