Digital_Hex
A shameless self-insert by Digital_Hex
Chapter 2
My first class was gym.
Let me repeat this so I can confer upon you the exact feeling of dread that was creeping across my spine.
My first class was gym.
I'm an earth pony, so that shouldn't be a problem. Right?
Wrong. Not only was I fifteen and thus understandably smaller than everypony else in the school, up until then the only physical exercise I'd gotten was running.
That's it.
I slipped into the gym right as the late bell sounded. There was about twenty other ponies in the class. I tried to mix in at the back of the class that was huddled around the center of the gym. As I got closer, I could hear the teacher calling off names.
"... Comet Rush?"
I heard a burly stallion say "Here!" on the other side of the huddle.
"Dallop?"
A small sky blue unicorn next to me called back to him.
So far, so good. The ponies seemed friendly enough. As long as nopony paid me any mind, I-
"Digital Hex?"
My throat seized up. Crud. I'd have to answer.
I felt a bead of sweat grow on my brow. This was it. Moment of judgment. My first impression in class. This needed to be-
"Digital Hex?" the teacher asked again, his voice obviously amused by the prospect of a student being late on the first day.
"Oh," I coughed out. "H-here," I fumbled with my words.
And like the calm of the storm (which is exactly the opposite of how I felt it was like at the time), the huddle split apart, giving the gym teacher a perfect view of me. He was a deep red pegasus with a scorched orange mane.
"A-huh..." he muttered to himself, sizing me up.
What is he doing?!, I thought nervously. Is this what all the teachers do with new kids or something?! Are new students really that rare?
Quite honestly, I wasn't really sure what he was sizing up. I was tiny, and I mean even by earth pony standards and the fact I was the youngest one in the room. I was almost a full head shorter than most of the colts here, meaning I was a little bit shorter than the mares in school, too. Even the freshman!
He gave me a disapproving glare before returning to calling off names. I swallowed hard.
Does that mean I didn't pass?
Then I instantly slapped myself. Mentally, of course; I wouldn't want everypony to think I'm weird or anything.
As I had my little fit inside my head, the gym teacher was reaching the bottom of the list. I decided I should start paying attention, as he'd probably be addressing us at large after roll-call.
"Quiver?"
"Here," a sickly-looking green mare slobbered through braces. No, seriously, I think she was sick. I grimaced as I took a short step away from her.
"Raindrops?"
I waited for the response, and an eerie sense of deja vu gripped me. Was Raindrops new, too? Maybe Raindrops actually didn't show!
Seriously, where is that filly?" the teacher huffed, looking around. Suddenly, the double doors at the back of the gym swung open, a pegasus mare barreling through.
"Here," the gym teacher muttered, checking her off.
"AAAH! Look out!" Raindrops cried as she zoomed towards us, seemingly unable to slow herself down. Everypony moved except one idiot who was too busy staring at the pegasus to do anything.
Who was this fool? Why, only yours truly!
She slammed into my small frame and we went flying across the room. Thankfully, her impact with me slowed her down considerably. Not thankfully, that momentum was passed on to me, and together we skidded across the gym, ending crumpled against the far wall.
My eyes were rolling in their sockets as she rose to her hooves, and I felt my face go red as she fell over laughing.
I wonder, who could she be laughing at? It couldn't be yours truly, could it?
Yes, yes it could. And it was.
After she had her bout of laughing, she helped me up. She had a light jasmine coat, with really light cyan hair that was kinda just hanging there. Her eyes were a few shades darker than her hair.
"I'm sorry about that, dude! Didn't mean to, y'know, send you sprawling... pft..." she had to actually choke back another round of laughing.
"It's no problem I wheezed, picking myself up from the ground. Her eyes went wide when she say the top of my head was level with her muzzle. I braced myself for her to lose her cool and cackle some more. Instead, she nudged my shoulder and as tactlessly as possible-
"You're pretty short, aren't you?"
"No, I'm not self-conscious about that," I retorted, perhaps a little more aggressively than I needed to as I headed back to the group, all of whom had seemed to have regained their composure and were chatting amongst themselves.
"Thanks for asking, though," I added, rolling my eyes. Seriously, that was a tad rude of her. Who knew, maaaybe I was a little cross on that fact- oh wait, I was.
"You're not?" she asked, fluttering her wings until she was hovering next to me, keeping conversation. "If I was that short, I know I sure would be."
My jaw dropped. It wasn't completely what she said that did it for me, it was how she said it. It was almost as if she hadn't caught a hint of the sarcasm I'd drenched my words in. I swung my head disbelievingly towards her, and there she was, smiling obliviously.
What. The. Buck.
"Raindrops! Hex! Front and center!" The gym teacher roared, startling me.
"Yeah, okay Mr. Rash!" Raindrops called to him. She flapped her wings once and hopped right into the back of the huddle. I skittered over as quickly as I could.
"Alright," Mr. Rash bellowed, his voice in coach-mode. "Today's your first day back from break, so let's see what you've got! Everypony, to the field! MOVE!"
Like a charging herd, everypony in the class took off for the doors, leaving my behind, baffled. Was this really how class went? It sure was different then gym class in middle school, where you just had to show up and really didn't have to do anything...
I begrudgingly hung my head and started off, heading in the general direction of the fields outside. It wasn't hard to get there; I just had to follow the wide swath of chaos and destruction the class had left in their mad wake.
As I trotted onto the field, I saw that the entire class was waiting for me, scowling. I smiled sheepishly as I situated myself as far away from everypony as possible, waiting for Mr. Rash to give us instructions.
"Alright," he bellowed again, fully enjoying his outside voice. "I want ten laps around the track. Pegasi, no wings! Unicorns, no magic! Ready, go!"
I was, of course, at the back of the class. Everypony just jogged along, chatting with friends and the such. Nopony was actually pushing themselves.
Wait, this was my moment!
This is the only physical activity that I'm good at, I thought excitedly, picking up my pace.
Time to show my-
"HEX!"
I cringed at her voice, having already associated it with pain. I skimpered along faster, slipping unnoticed to the front of the herd.
"HEX!" she called again. I actually whimpered as I beat my hooves against the track, trying to put some distance between us.
Of course, by doing this I separated myself from everypony else, making it that much easier for her to pick me out.
"Oh, there you are!" I heard her yell, and after a flurry of clopping against the track I felt her presence next to me. Raindrops. I refused to look her direction.
"How'd you know my name," I muttered, picking up my pace slowly. We completed our first lap about a quarter track ahead of everypony else.
"I weaseled it out of Comet Rush, but that's not important! I wanted to apologize for crashing into you and all!"
I refused to look her way as I poured a little bit more speed into each stride. Now there was a half -track gap between us and the rest of the class. I would actually be passing the stragglers at the rear soon, at this pace.
"Thanks, apology accepted," I returned, totally unconvincing.
"So," Raindrops continued, much to my anguish. She really didn't get when somepony didn't want to talk, did she? "You're new here, aren't you?"
"Yeah," I sighed, giving up on trying to fight her. I concentrated on my breathing as we finished the second lap, meeting back up with the back of the class. I received some impressed looks from the ponies I passed. It wasn't a red-faced colt rushing past them they saw. It was a colt with the perfect poker face plastered on him that raced past them, tailed by Raindrops.
"That's so cool! Where'd you come from?" she asked, audibly excited at the prospect of meeting somepony new. Either she was really friendly, or there just weren't that many new faces each year. Or, maybe the fact that I looked like a middle-schooler in the senior gym class. That might have had something to do with her interest.
"Hope hill," I breathed. My chest was feeling a little tight. Surely she was feeling a little winded, right?
I glanced towards her, and she was staring intently at me, not the least bit tired. Great.
"Where's that?" she asked.
"It's just North-West of Neighagra Falls, in the North."
"Woah! How was that place?" she pressed.
We finished the lap, now back at the front of the class. We were now getting some looks.
"Eh, it was a little cold at times," I admitted, "but it wasn't too bad."
"Cool!" Raindrops exclaimed. "I've never been outside of Ponyville," she admitted.
"Sounds neat," I grunted, trying once again to put more distance between us. She met me stride for stride.
"Yeah. You know where I want to go?" she asked, excited.
"Nope. Where?"
"Los Pegasus!" she answered, positively giddy with excitement.
"Oh yeah?" I commented, amazed at how she was able to keep this pace without showing the least bit of strain. I knew she was a pegasus, and they had amazing stamina, but... seriously?!
I kicked off again, passing the lap marker again. That was lap four. Only six to go. Oh yeah, did I mention my math skills were pretty amazing, too?
"Yeah, I want to go into the acting business," she responded, smiling contently as she galloped along next to me. "That's how I got my cutie mark, I'm on the drama club and everything."
I risked a glance towards her flank, grateful my face was already red from running. She had three raindrops (or, I suppose they were teardrops, based on her talent for drama as she had suggested).
"Cute," I muttered, focusing back to running.
"What's your cutie mark supposed to be?" she asked, pointing a wing at my rump.
"My obsessive intelligence and my passion for tranquility," I fed her. Honestly, it sounded about right. I was a smart-ass, as I'm sure she'd noticed by now, and I found music very tranquil.
"Oh, cool!" she said happily as we finished lap five. We were passing ponies again.
"So how can I help you?" I asked, beating against the ground furiously.
"I was just trying to talk to you, we don't have that many new kids here," she responded.
A-Ha! So it was only because I was the new kid! I knew it...
I took off into a full-blown sprint, breathing deeply and heavily. I tore up the track, weaving between ponies everywhere. By now, most of the ponies were actually running, and it seemed a few were actually trying to catch up to me.
Pft, petty students.
I heard rustling behind me, and then Raindrops was once again next to me, strain clear on her face.
"Oh wow, you're fast for a little guy!" she exclaimed, struggling to keep up. I bled off a little more speed, taking the lead again.
We finished lap six, and it was then that Raindrops began trying. Like, honestly trying.
She was racing me.
I, a miniature earth pony, was racing a pegasus. And was, in my opinion, winning.
I grinned as I passed her again. She was dedicated, I gave her that. Still, she was going to lose.
"Woah!" She called as finished laps seven and eight, and we were about to finish lap nine. As soon as we did, she threw me a mischievous grin. An instant later, she spread out her wings, taking the lead with a wide sweep of her unfair appendages.
I took that as a challenge.
I closed the distance, my legs screaming at me. I wasn't supposed to be running this fast. My joints were on fire, eyes were streaming. Even with that, though, I couldn't help but smile wildly as I reached her, neck and neck as we took the final turn. She cast me a surprised look, flapping her wings desperately. She couldn't go any faster.
And what do you know, I could. Barely.
I pulled ahead just by a nose, but it was all I needed. As soon as my hoof crossed the impromptu finish line, I stumbled, rolling the entire length of the track and smacking unceremoniously into a light pole.
"Owww..." I groaned.
"That," Raindrops yelled as she landed next to me, "was amazing!" She let out an excited giggle.
"How'd you learn to run that fast?! That was, like, wicked!"
"I like running," I sputtered stupidly as she pried my from the light pole. My head hurt a lot.
"I see," she giggled.
Hey!" I heard Mr. Rash call to me, and I felt the blood that was returning to my face drop.
"Yes sir?" I asked as he approached me.
He looked over me again, and this time he nodded approvingly.
"You should try out for the track team," he said before he trotted away, barking at everypony who wasn't as fast as I was.
I just stood there slack-jaw.
Raindrops laughed and extended a hoof.
"Nice, not many ponies impress that old buck!"
After about a full minute, I met her hoof with my own.
Huh, maybe High School could be interesting.
