A/N: The main character's name is Cloudflare. He has light orange skin (a bit lighter than Applejack's) and short green-blue hair, and he wears a plain black shirt and blue pants.
I walk through the hall en route to the cafeteria. Some of the students start quietly laughing. Just keep my head down, don't look at them...
"Freak lover."
"Couldn't get a normal girl, huh?"
Having to endure this every day for the past six and a half months... I'm not sure how much more I can take. I'm getting closer and closer to dropping out. The principal keeps saying she'll take care of it, but nothing ever happens. Maybe I should ask her sister next time.
I arrive at the cafeteria, get my food, and sit at my usual table. A corner where nobody else sits. It's my only chance to get away from the verbal abuse. I eat my food in silence. At least I always have Pizza Friday to look forward to, especially when they're serving pizza bagels.
I still remember the day everything went to hell. The day she ruined my school life. And people say she's changed... Yeah, right. After the way she acted for the previous three years?
Suddenly, I hear a few students starting to sing. As I look at them, they don't seem familiar. One has long orange hair with yellow highlights, another has purple hair in pigtails held with... Are those shurikens? I know that one freshman can use her scooter in the hallway and that DJ can wear her headphones, but surely the line has to be drawn at actual weapons! The third one has light blue hair in a ponytail with dark blue highlights. Why are they singing...?
Their song starts getting the other students riled up.
"I can beat you!"
"Ha! You wish!"
"I so want this!
"Not if I get it first!"
As they repeat the chorus, the entire student body is singing along. I notice a strange green mist forming. Once the song is complete, everyone is arguing. What is going on? Three new students show up and perform a song about how they want to change the musical showcase to a battle, and all the students immediately go after each other...
I slouch in my seat, not wanting to get involved. I notice the blue-haired girl pointing in my direction and talking to the others. The orange-haired one takes out a sheet of paper and walks toward me. She writes something on it, leaves it on the table, and walks away. I look at the note.
"Meet us in the dimly-lit corner of the school after lunch."
I've walked past that area a couple times, so I know where it is. Why do they want to meet me there? Actually, what am I worried about? They're new here, so they don't know about my reputation. Maybe I can make a good first impression.
I reach the dim corridor. I've always thought this area was shady-looking. Is the school district so cheap that they can't fix the lighting? I mean, they built that huge library. You think they'd be able to spring for replacement lights as well.
As I slowly walk into it, I hear a voice behind me. "Glad you could make it." I turn around and see the same three students from earlier. "I assume you saw our performance," the girl with orange hair says.
"I did."
"I still didn't get any tacos," the girl with blue hair says.
"Enough with the tacos," the orange-haired girl says.
Today's Friday, not Tuesday.
"Huh..." The girl with purple hair looks a bit confused. "I don't sense any magic on him."
"I knew something seemed off when I walked by him," the blue-haired girl says.
Magic? "How come you weren't arguing with the other students?" the orange-haired girl asks.
"I've been yelled at enough in this school," I say.
"What do you mean?" the blue-haired girl asks.
I sigh, and look down. "I hate everyone in this school..."
"Go on..." all three say.
"There was a girl in this school that other students sometimes made fun of. We started hanging out over the summer, and began dating when the school year started. I knew this would make me a target, but I really liked her. She suggested we date in secrecy, which I was fine with. Then six months ago..." I feel tears starting to form. I can't believe I'm doing this... "Sunset Shimmer found out. She told the entire school that I was dating that girl. Since then... Since then, the other students either laugh at me, tease me, or beat me up..." This hurts so much... "We had to break up... and then she moved away..."
I start crying. Why did she tell the entire school...?
"Excuse us for a moment," I hear one of the girls say. I look up and see them turned away from me and talking amongst themselves. Why did I tell them that? Now they're gonna make fun of me as well.
They turn around. They're all grinning. "It sounds like you have a lot of contempt for this school," the orange-haired one says.
I wipe away the tears. "It's mostly for Shimmer, but yeah."
"Well, we plan to make this school adore us", the purple-haired one says. "If you want, we can make sure they never insult you again."
"What would I have to do?"
The blue-haired one walks toward me. "Don't worry about it. Just leave everything to us." She places a hand on my right shoulder. "All you have to do is join us."
The purple-haired one places a hand on my left shoulder. "We can help you show Sunset Shimmer what a mistake she made." I feel a flame burning inside me.
The orange-haired one walks toward me, then stops a few inches from my face. "The entire student body will know they shouldn't have messed with you."
They're right. This is my chance to get back at everybody. "Okay. I'm in."
"Excellent," the orange-haired one says as she walks behind me.
This is exactly what I needed. "Sunset Shimmer, you will rue the day you made me the laughingstock of the school."
These girls, who collectively go by the name "The Dazzlings", decided to make me a drummer for their group while they're on-stage. Although I've only used an actual drumset once, I have a video game that uses a drumset-shaped controller to play it. I know the skills don't entirely transfer to the real thing, but I feel I could get used to it rather quickly.
We walk into the gymnasium for the party they're holding for people competing in the, um, Battle. All of the students are already arguing with each other.
"Oh no!" the orange-haired girl, Adagio Dazzle, says in mock surprise. "No one's mingling! It's like there's some kind of underlying tension that could bubble to the surface at any minute!"
"It's the fruit punch, isn't it?" the blue-haired girl, Sonata Dusk, says. "I knew I used too much grape juice."
"It's not the fruit punch!" Adagio says. "It's us!"
"So that's why the fruit punch is awful..." I say.
"What do you know about good fruit punch?"
"Enough to know you'd be better off using something other than grape juice."
"You can't make fruit punch without at least some grape juice!"
"Well, maybe that's the problem!"
"I agree with Cloudflare," the purple-haired girl, Aria Blaze, says. "About the punch being awful, anyway."
"You guys are jerks..."
I see what bottle she's holding. "That's apple juice, not grape juice!"
Sonata looks shocked. "What?! No it's not!"
"Yes it is!" I grab the bottle and point to the label. "This is an apple! Not a bunch of grapes!"
"That's why the punch stinks..." Aria says.
"So I got them mixed up. Big deal! It's an easy mistake to make!"
What?! "What are you talking about? Even a 4-year-old knows the difference between an apple and a grape!"
"Focus, you three," Adagio says. "By the time the Battle of the Bands starts, they'll be in even more of a tizzy." Tizzy...?
"There isn't going to be a Battle of the Bands!" We look toward where that voice came from. There are six girls standing next to each other. "We're gonna make sure of that," the purple-haired girl says. "Alright, girls, let's do this." They all hold hands. "Friendship... is... magic!" They all raise their arms.
...
...
Okay... Was something supposed to happen?
...
Hang on. Something about these girls seems familiar...
...
Obviously the one on their right is Pinkie Pie. Everybody in school knows her. The rainbow-haired girl is Rainbow Dash, possibly the most athletic girl in school. I've seen the others around, but I never got their names.
...
Oh, right! They did a song in the cafeteria on the day of the Fall Formal. I still have the ears and tail. That was a fun day.
...
Rainbow and the purple girl start talking quietly to each other.
...
The purple girl ran against Shimmer for Princess of the Fall Formal, right? Wish I could remember if she won. I assume she did, since Shimmer wasn't gloating on that Monday, but I never saw that girl around school again until today.
...
A small purple dog gets out of the purple girl's backpack and appears to be "talking" to her. Wouldn't putting an animal in there count as animal cruelty?
...
This has to be a record for longest awkward silence at CHS. I look around the room and see everyone staring at them. I spot a girl with red & yellow hair and a leather jacket. That girl... I glare at her. When she makes eye contact with me, she looks a bit nervous. Good.
"Talk about throwing down the gauntlet!" I keep my gaze focused on Shimmer while Adagio is talking. "This group is obviously serious about winning! A little cocky though, aren't they? Claiming there won't really be a battle. Seems they think they already got this thing all locked up."
"Not if the Great and Powerful Trixie has anything to do with it!"
"Whatever, Trixie! We're the best band at CHS!"
"No! The Crusaders are gonna win!"
The students begin arguing even louder than before, forcing my gaze away from her.
"I think we may have found what we're looking for," Adagio says. "Or rather, it found us."
"You said something about that before," I say. "What exactly are you looking for?" Those girls slowly walk out of the gym.
"Magic. Everyone else has fallen under our spell. But not these girls. These girls are special."
Magic? "I'm not 'under your spell' either. At least, I don't think I am."
"We're not sure why you aren't. Maybe because you naturally hate the entire school. Also, we can sense their magic, which is stronger than the rest of these people's."
We arrive at Adagio's house. She opens the garage door. Inside, I can see a guitar, bass, keyboard, and drumset.
"Here's how this is gonna work," she says. "We already have the other instruments recorded. We'll play what we have, and you need to come up with a good drum beat for each song."
"Got it." Please don't screw this up...
I take my seat at the drumset, and Aria hands me a pair of headphones. I put them on, and Adagio starts the recording. I take the time to listen to the instrumentation, as well as their vocalizing. When the recording's over, I take a moment to get used to the kit. It's not too much different aside from an extra tom, a couple additional cymbals, being able to open and close the hi-hat, and likely having better rebound. I play a few different patterns, mentally comparing them to the song to see if they sound right. After several minutes, I find some I think will fit. "I think I got it. Play the song again, and give me a count-in." Adagio counts down, then presses play. I begin playing my pattern, being careful not to mess it up.
After I finish playing, they talk amongst themselves. "So? How was that?"
"I liked it," Sonata says.
"Not bad," Aria says.
"It was good," Adagio says.
I spend the next hour listening to 2 other songs and figuring out what the best drum beats should be. Luckily, the verse and chorus parts don't change mid-song, so I don't have to use a hundred different patterns in a 2-minute period.
I open the door to my house. Today was the best day all year.
My mother greets me. "Welcome home, sweetie," she says.
"Hi, Mom."
She picks up on my improved demeanor. "Well, somebody's in a good mood. You make a new friend today or something?"
"Three of them." I probably shouldn't tell her exactly what we're up to. "We're playing in the school's Battle of the Bands tomorrow."
"You mean the musical showcase?"
"It's a competition now. My new friends suggested the principals change it to make things more exciting."
"That sounds great. I'd be there to watch if I didn't have to be out of town all weekend."
I head to my room, change into sleep clothes, and play video games for a while. Since I can't practice on an actual kit, might as well use the next best thing.
At around 11:00, I decide it's time for bed. As I lie down, I get the feeling that tomorrow will be an interesting day.
I close my eyes and drift off to sleep. That night, I sleep better than I have all school year.