The Power Ponies

Chapter 2: First That Dumbass Hoop, Now This Spoiled Piece Of Turtle-Poop.

'Twas almost noon, and not a creature was to be seen. . . not gossiping their heads off in the open-roof school cafeteria.

   Well, except for Rainbow and her friends, that is. Applejack, Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were all sitting at the table farthest from the chattering crowds, each one emersed in their own work and food. The school's traditional mid-year examinations were coming up, and student were studying their heads off trying to ensure a good grade.

   Then again, they were teenagers, and as stressful as the exams were, they had to lay off let loose every once in a while, right? Rumours of a party at Cheese Sandwich's (the biggest party-junkie in town) house were flying around and the best dance of the year, The Masquerade Ball, was right around the corner. Unfortunately, instead of spending her lunch-hours thinking up of ways to ask Soarin to the Ball without seeming weird, Rainbow Dash was stuck studying Prench and Pre-Calculus because Twilight Sparkle thought that lunch was the best time to form a study group of the six friends.

   Speaking of six. . .

   "Hey, Twi?" Rainbow said, raising her head out of the mountain of reference books surrounding her. "Where's Pinkie?"

   Twilight shrugged, barely paying any attention to the curious girl. "Dunno. She said she was going to join us after she made a call to Maud."

   Maud was Pinkie Pie's elder sister who had been "visiting" her at her foster parents' home, the Cakes, for the past fifteen months (everybody knew her newlyfound internship was just an excuse to be with her sister again); yes, Rainbow had counted. It wasn't as if Pinkie'd let them forget for even one hour since Maud first came, going on and on about how much fun they had and how many "rock-candy necklaces" they had made.

   She seemed to have toned down on the excitement lately, seemingly having taken the message that none of her friends were interested in what Maud had had for lunch, but Rainbow had the feeling there was more to it than that. "When was the last time you talked to her? 'Cause we have about twenty minutes before lunch ends."

   Before Twilight could give an irritated response, Rainbow saw Pinkie enter the cafeteria and start their way. As she neared them, Rainbow noticed dark circles under Pinkie's big, usually-bright blue eyes that hadn't been so prominent last night. And she looked exhausted too, slouching as she walked, a frown on her face.

   Hmmm. . . Rainbow Dash knew what this called for: Mission Cheer Up Pinks: Second Edition.

   "Duuude! Pinks!" Rainbow called in a boisterous tone, loud enough for half the cafeteria to hear, holding her fist out for their signature fist-bump. "What's up, my bro?"

   "Rainbow! Sshhhh!" Twilight hissed, finally losing her composer and banging her book shut.

   "This isn't a library, Ms. Egghead." Not bothering to wait for Twilight's response, Rainbow instead looked towards Pinkie hopefully. Goading Twilight and getting hilarious reactions out of her had always been one of the (admittedly many) things that made Pinkie laugh.

   Not this time.

   Pinkie Pie soberly walked over to the table and took a seat next to Applejack, smiling at the confused girl weakly. "Hey girls."

   "Pinkie?" Fluttershy asked, looking out of her book on Biology, her favourite subject. "Ar- are you alright?"

   Pinkie nodded meekly. ''Uh-huh. What's for dinne- I mean lunch?''

   Rarity pulled her earphones out and groaned ungracefully. ''I can't believe he ditched her in front of a camera, of all things. At least wait until you're not in front of millions of fans, why don't you!''