It was the dawn of a new school year in Canterlot High, and the air was full of opportunity, as well as humidity, lots and lots of humidity. (it was August after all). It was a new beginning, and a new chance to make dreams come true, or at least that's how one new student saw it as he got off the small school bus he rode there and looked at the building for the first time. This student had short green hair, purple skin, and wore a shirt with a pair of aces from a card deck embroidered on the front, obviously indicating one of his main interests/ borderline obsessions, poker. And if the shirt didn't get this away, his name, Pocket Pair, would make sure everyone knew this fact about him.
As he pushed open the front door and entered the school proper, he looked around and took the surroundings for the first time, and what a nice place it was. The main room he was in was large, and when he looked up he noticed that the second floor was clearly visible behind the railings separating those walking on it from the two story open area. If he was being honest, as dangerous as that is for a poker player to be, in many ways it reminded him of the entrance to the impractical jokers cruise he had been on that summer… well minus the terrible blind structure the poker tournament had… but digressions digressions. A set of glass doors was opposite the entrance, doors which he presumed probably led to the cafeteria, or the library, (which one it was probably would dictate how often he would actually use them) and on either side of both sets of glass doors, two hallways branched off, reminding him of the 3rd class corridors in the RMS Titanic, another one of his interests/obsessions. "Wait a minute, what do we have here?" he thought to himself as his eyes, catching notice of someone, flicked back to them and focused on a pretty female who was walking towards him while conversing with another student.
He couldn't quite get a clear look at her face, as she was enraptured in the conversation and not directly looking at him, but from the half of her he could see he noticed a hint of black eye shadow on one of her eyes, with gorgeous and well kept eyelashes extending down from the lids. She also had a set of gorgeous well kept curly purple locks, a lavender skirt, and a white shirt, all of which were very fashionable. Now Pocket Pair wasn't the most socially fluent person, but even he knew just by looking at her that this girl was a real rarity, and was clearly someone he should at least try and get to know. "I just wonder if she'd actually want to talk to someone like me?" he thought to himself. However, before he could ponder the subject any further, a shout from behind him jarred him from his thoughts.
"Give me back Holder's Boulder!"someone nearby shouted in a gravelly voice, and as Pocket Pair turned to face the person who had shouted, he saw that close to him, a female with lavender skin and straight, asymmetric white hair, was desperately trying to get something back from a short male with dingy blue skin and orange hair, and another taller male with beige skin and blue hair who were tossing it back and forth amongst themselves. Pocket pair, sensing something was wrong here, secretly turned on his phone's camera and hit record, just in case.
"AAARGH, stop messing with me and give that back!" the girl shouted before she sprinted towards the shorter boy.
"Oh yeah, well maybe we don't want to, what do you think of that, Oscar the Grouch?" The short one said before he chucked the object, which Pocket Pair saw was a small rock, to his ally before the girl could grab it.
"I told you before, MY NAME'S LIMESTONE, NOT OSCAR!" She growled, grabbing her hair in frustration, indicating this was unlikely to be the first time these two had given her guff. "Now give me the boulder back, or ELSE!"
"Oh yeah, well you sure coulda fooled me with your grouchy attitude, right Snails, the short one taunted.
"Yeah Snips, whatever you say is right!" Snails said back to him, before tossing it the boulder back to him to evade Limestone.
.
"I swear, if you don't give it back to me now...!" Limestone said in seething anger.
"Oh, I'm SOOOO scared…" Snips said cynically, "What're YOU going to do about it if we don't?"
"Uh, she could probably kick our asses and take it from us once we're beaten up, that would be pretty effective, since it's not like there's any teachers around right now on account of they're in the school preparatory meeting." Snails said to him matter of fact.
"Yeah, you could probably just kick our asses and , wait what" Snips started to agree before he processed what his partner in crime had just said. Fucking hell Snails, how many times have I told you NOT to give people we're messing with ideas about how to stop us?"
"Uh," Snails stuttered, "No, what I meant to say is that beating us up is a horrible idea, because we're totally muscle bound hunks who could kick your ass… it just came entirely opposite the way I intended it." Snails said, which caused Snips to face-palm and almost drop the boulder again and Pocket Pair, who was still watching from a distance, to chuckle at how lame a bluff that was.
"Oh, is that so," she said, before she walked up to Snails with an enraged malicious smile, causing Snails to rightly back away in fear, but he quickly found his retreat impeded by the wall of lockers behind him. "I think you're lying, and I agree, that WOULD be pretty effective now wouldn't it." She then grabbed his shirt and lifted him up, before she turned to Snips and said, "So Snippy boy, you gonna give me back that boulder, or am I gonna have to I take his suggestion to heart and pulverize you!"
"Oh please, we all know you aren't going to do a thing," a snobbish voice chimed in, causing the enraged girl to turn to it, and Pocket Pair as well.
"Piss off Diamond Tiara, me righty and lefty were about to have a business meeting with their faces and you aren't invited!", the lavender haired girl said after she turned to address the newcomer, a short but intimidating girl with pink skin, purple hair with white highlights, and, quite fittingly, a silver tiara on top of her head.
"Oh i disagree, when you threaten Sunset's lackeys I would say it IS my business, SLIMESTONE!" Diamond sneered back at her.
"Oh, you think so?" Limestone said as she dropped Snails to approach Diamond Tiara, to which Snails responded by running behind Snips and continuing to watch while peering from behind his back. "Well if you want to be involved, maybe I can pencil you in after all, righty and lefty don't have anything going on until class starts so I'm sure they'll have no problem with a slight change in plans." Limestone continued, before she cracked her knuckles and menacingly stood a few feet away from Diamond.
"Ah ah ah ah, I'd refrain from the threats if I were in your shoes… as tacky as they are." Diamond snarkily retorted, "Wouldn't want Principal Cinch to hear about you beating up another student, would you? Unless of course you just don't care about the REPUTATION of your family business that is..."
Limestone, losing her scowl for a second, quickly regained it and leaned towards Diamond Tiara. "Well then I guess I'll just have to…"
"Do what, stare me to death?" Diamond Tiara said, "HAHAHAHA please! You won't do anything, except go home and cry to your backwoods parents and family like a little baby… but wait, you CAN'T now can you? Because they all HATE YOU!"
"You're wrong!" Limestone said, jabbing her finger at Diamond, who held her ground.
"Oh don't even try to deny it… " Diamond replied, "Last I checked, that weird quiet one scowls at you, that weird monotone won't look your way, and even that weird pink one won't acknowledge you or your existence, and she does that to and for EVERYONE, even acquaintances! Of course I wouldn't blame her, or any of them, for not wanting to associate with you after what happened last spring…"
"SHUT UP!" Limestone shouted, covering her ears.
"Hey Diamond, I think that's you made your point eh?" Snails said, "We really should get going before…" but Diamond Tiara cut him off.
"Oh, what's the matter, did I hurt your feelings?" Diamond said cruelly, "My my my, I didn't even know you HAD any of those besides anger…"
"SHUT! UP! SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!"" Limestone said, still covering her ears to shut Diamond's words out.
"Shut up shut up? Is that all you can say?" Diamond Tiara mocked, "Are you a Pokemon or something? Or are you just too stupid to know anything else, backwoods hick!"
Limestone, livid with anger, walked towards Diamond Tiara with an expression angrier than Pocket Pair had ever seen, forcing her to take a couple steps back. "I said shut up, and I mean shut up NOW! And if you don't, then Cinch or no CInch, I'll…"
"Oh please, you're all TALK SLIMESTONE, and we all know it, even you." Diamond Tiara said, "That's all you've ever been, and all you'll ever be. A pathetic loser who never actually does anything, and no matter how much you try to deny it, deep down even you know I'm right. I mean really, I doubt anyone would even miss you if you were gone. Heck, I bet your family would throw a party, and that pink one would help plan it! So what are you waiting for? Stop keeping her waiting..." she concluded, before laughing cruelly. Snips soon joined in laughing, and Snails did soon after, though he was clearly apprehensive to do so. Limestone, in the meantime, turned away from them to try and shut their laughter out, but no matter how hard she covered her ears, she simply couldn't keep them, or their adverse impact, out of her mind.
Pocket pair, meanwhile, finally reached a breaking point at the last remark, and squeezed the phone he was recording in rage before he ended said recording and put it away. Had Diamond Tiara seriously just implied that Limestone should kill herself? UNACCEPTABLE! Suicide was not a joke, nor was the other bullying she had put Limestone through, and as much as he had wanted to just sit back and let the recording do the talking when he turned it in, this was just too much. he HAD to do something. But what COULD he do? They didn't look to be the best fighters, but they still outnumbered him three to one. And even if Limestone jumped in to help, which he had doubts about as she seemed to be having a mental breakdown of sorts, they might win, but the boulder she wanted back was liable to get destroyed in the fight, and she clearly didn't need anything else to go wrong.
But then, his eyes lit up as he remembered his poker games. Through experience at the table he had learned that the best way to beat someone was to exploit their weaknesses. And he could clearly see that Diamond Tiara had some glaring ones, namely that she was full of herself and seemed to relish in causing others misery. So, if he promised to feed into that, she might do something she'd regret later, like giving HIM the boulder despite not knowing him. With his mind made up, he took a deep breath and then said "Hey, mind if I join in?" to get their attention.
Diamond Tiara quickly stopped laughing along with Snips and Snails upon hearing his voice, and all three of them turned to face him. "Who the actual FUCK are you?" she said with venom in her voice.
Pocket Pair, after straightening his shirt out, said. "You know, I could go on and tell you my name, my social security number, and my multi chapter backstory, but I have a feeling you're an important and busy girl, so I'll cut to the chase to save you some of your very important time. I'm a new student who's looking to get involved in the right crowd here, and like you, I enjoy putting others in their place. So if you give me that boulder you took from her" he said pointing to Limestone, "I GUARANTEE to you I'll put a loser right where she belongs! So how about it eh? Sound like a good plan to have some fun?"
"I don't know Diamond, we don't know anything about him…" Snips said, but she cut him off with a malicious smile.
"You have spunk, and you seem to recognize greatness when you see it… I like that! Welcome to the club! With someone like you at our side there's no telling what we could accomplish! Diamond Tiara said, before she tossed him the boulder.
Pocket Pair, smirking, said Alright, go long everyone! This throw will be a doozy" before he reached back and the three aggressors backed up in anticipation of his throw. Pocket Pair, knowing they were now too far away to stop him, quickly walked up to the Limestone.
"I do believe this is yours…" he said before he slipped it in her pocket, causing her to finally put her hands down from her face. She quickly rubbed her pocket, but otherwise had no discernible reaction.
"Wha… what the hell was that?" Diamond Tiara said enraged, "You said you liked putting people in their place… you said you were going to put this LOSER where she belonged!"
"Oh… I did say that," Pocket Pair said, "Unfortunately however, the only LOSERS I see around here are Snips, Snails, and most of all, YOU! And I dare say I did a pretty good job of putting you where you belong, IN THE DOGHOUSE!. Eh, Diamond TiWHOREa!"
Diamond Tiara, tensing up with anger, said "Did you just call me a Diamond TiWHOREa!?"
"Wow, ding ding ding, you catch on straight away don't you? Tell me, are you a member of Mensa with how smart you are?" Pocket Pair said cynically.
"WHY YOU LITTLE…." Diamond Tiara said approaching him to intimidate him, but Pocket Pair simply backed up a couple steps and smiled smugly.
"Careful now there Diamond" Pocket Pair said, sticking a scolding finger out at her, "I recorded the ENTIRE altercation on my phone and saved it to the cloud, so if you do ANYTHING to me, Cinch, and the whole world, is gonna know EXACTLY what you and your lackeys just did to Limestone, and I'm sure they'll be able to use that deduce who messed with me as well...!"
"GRRRRRRRRRRR" Diamond Tiara growled, before she turned to Snips and Snails and began walking away. "Snips, Snails, come with me." She said.
"Come with you… but you can't tell me you're just gonna let him get away with..." Snips said in protest before Diamond cut him off.
"There's nothing I can do now… he beat me at my own game!" Diamond said again before all of them began walking away. However, as she was leaving, she turned back and GLARED at Pocket Pair. "This isn't over, YOU HEAR ME! Nobody makes a fool out of Diamond Tiara and gets away with..." but her threat was cut short as she, whilst looking backwards, slammed straight into the locker bank at the far end of the hall and collapsed onto the floor behind her.
"Diamond Tiara, are you ok?" Snails said going to help her up though she brushed it aside, while Snips just watched the scene and face-palmed.
Pocket Pair however burst into laughter. " BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh wow, I'm SO scared! No really, I am, honestly, miss I lose fights to inanimate objects! Tell me, when you get your 'revenge" are you gonna walk backwards into me too? Or are you going to get revenge on that support beam for making a fool out of you too first?"
Diamond Tiara, after getting back up again, growled at Pocket Pair, along with Snips, before she and the two boys left him behind and turned a corner out of sight.
Pocket Pair, rolling his eyes at them, turned to face Limestone, who still stood silently near him. "Hey are you alri...?" He said to her, before he was cut off by her mid sentence.
"What the hell was that about?" She said angrily to him, causing him to be taken aback by her anger. Before he could reply though, she continued. "No wait, let me guess, you thought I'd be a good fuck and I'd let you in my pants if you 'saved' me, well guess what! I'm NOT going to sleep with the likes of you, so you wasted your time!"
Pocket Pair, getting annoyed with her lack of gratitude, said "EXCUSE ME! Where do you get off saying that shit to me? For your information, I was trying to help someone who clearly was being bullied and teased, AND I managed to get your damn rock back, UNDAMAGED might I add, by duping them into giving it to me! I believe an appropriate response is, THANK YOU"
"It's not a rock, IT'S A BOULDER, Holder's boulder, and no one, not even you, is allowed to touch it!" Limestone said angrily as she held it up.
"... But you're touching it now..." Pocket Pair stated.
"I… GRRR, stop being a smart-ass DAMN IT!" she said as she put the boulder back away. "And stop acting like you didn't help me to get in my pants!"
"For your information, I helped you because it was the right thing to do!" Pocket Pair said getting angry, "And guess what, I could have just as easily walked away and left you to rot. Probably would have been a lot easier if you ask me!"
"Oh whatever, I don't expect a horndog to admit he's one, so I'm not going to press this issue anymore." Limestone said before she brushed past him in a huff. Before she left though, she turned back to face him and said, "And just for the record, I DIDN'T NEED YOUR HELP, I DON"T NEED ANYONE'S HELP! I HAD IT UNDER CONTROL! So next time, how about you mind your own bucking business instead of embarrassing me and making me look like an invalid in front of the entire school!" She said before she turned back away, and quickly turned the corner the opposite way of the antagonists and disappeared from sight.
Pocket Pair, disgusted with her response, thought "What the hell is her deal? I was only trying to help her, the least she could do is say thank you…" however he shook his head to clear his anger, and took a deep breath. "You know what, no, I refuse to let the likes of her and Diamond TiWHORA get me down." He then looked at the clock and thought "May as well get to class, early bird gets the worm, the sunrise makes me squirm… as does being stuck in the back because I got there too late to pick a good seat." And so, with his positivity restored, he took a look at his class list and then began to head in the direction of his first class.