Life In Allspark Wells

by The Fraudulent Brit

The past seven months have been quite the experience for Apple Bloom. Learning about and bonding with her uncle Ironhide, tap dancing with her boyfriend Tender Taps, helping her new sister Sideswipe, befriending Marble Pie and Rattrap, and in general, exploring her new home of Allspark Wells. But that was only the beginning. Currently being posted on Fimfiction first.

16. Aurochs Compost

Life in Allspark Wells

Part 15; Aurochs Compost

Taking a deep breath, Apple Bloom held the electric saw above the steel replica of a heavy machine gun's water jacket. Looking down at her target through her smelter's mask, the former farm girl made sure her saw was right above the middle of the target. After all, she only had one chance to get it just right.

From behind her, Apple Bloom heard Ironhide's voice called out, "If you need, I can do that for you kid. I doubt Mr. Compost will mind." Turning her head around to face her uncle, the young girl explained, "Ah know. But Ah wanna get more experience workin' with the heavy tools. That way Ah can be more helpful around here." As she returned her attention to the water jacket in front of her, Ironhide could only smile as he remarked, "As you say kid."

For Apple Bloom, this was about more than just proving herself proficient enough with power tools. It was the last week before Fall break, and the time had come for the former farm girl to present her project for Mr. Compost.

Thankfully, the former farm girl had planned everything out perfectly. She'd read up on how nature recovered from war and decided that if nature can cover fields in poppies, than perhaps people could help speed the process along. 'That was the point of the project, right?' Apple Bloom thought to herself. 'To show how we can help the environment. And what better way than to heal land affected by war.'

With her hands steadied and her breath calm, Apple Bloom lowered the electric saw's blade down, cutting through the machine gun's water jacket. Sparks flew in every direction as the rotating blade descended, splitting the water jacket into two equal halves. Eventually, the former farm girl's saw finished cutting its way through the steel cylinder, and the two halves fell to their sides.

As she powered down the saw, Apple Bloom pulled up her mask as she asked, "Ah get it right?" Ironhide made his way up towards the split water jacket and, looking the pieces of metal over, turned to his niece and informed her, "Perfectly equal halves kid. You're a natural." The former farm girl let out a sigh of relief as she wiped the sweat from her brow as she said, "Thanks Uncle Ironhide."

Setting the now powered down saw on the table before walking up to her uncle, Apple Bloom continued, "Thanks for makin' this mockup of a water jacket for me." The family patriarch wrapped his arm around his daughter's shoulder as he continued, "No sweat kid. I was happy to help." He then let out a wistful sigh as he added, "Reminds me of when we used to help Torque Wrench with her school projects." Apple Bloom couldn't help but feel a sense of warmth overtake her as she hugged her uncle back.

Once the two had finished their embrace, Ironhide said, "Now, I'm gonna make sure the edges on these halves here aren't too sharp for your presentation tomorrow. You go take a shower. You smell nastier than a skunk sprayed itself as it died." Smiling as she struggled to keep herself from laughing, Apple Bloom couldn't help but reply, "Yes sir." With that, the former farm girl departed the workshop as Ironhide thought to himself, 'That girl sure has a knack for this sort of work.'

Apple Bloom's Room, That Night…

"Alright, let's see…." Apple Bloom said to herself as she went over everything for her presentation for the next day. Pointing to the fresh halves of the water jacket, the former farm girl continued, "Water jacket, check." She then pointed to the long and thin pipes laying next to the water jacket halves and continued, "Rain gutter barrels, check." She then continued as she pointed to the gray box as she said, "Makeshift bird house? Check."

Taking a deep breath, the former farm girl said to herself, "Alright. All the props are ready. Now Ah just need…." She was interrupted by the robotic sound of Wheelie's voice informing her, "I've got your report right here Apple Bloom." Turning around, Apple Bloom found the small robot holding several pieces of paper in is hand. Taking the paper from him, the burgundy haired girl smiled as she replied, "Thanks Wheelie."

Rising his bottom eyelids up in a motion she'd figured out was his form of smiling, Wheelie happily inquired, "You think your project will impress Mr. Compost?" The former farm girl nodded as she replied, "Ah sure as hell hope so. At the very least…." Pausing for a moment, Apple Bloom knelt down to the floor and, to the robot's surprise, knocked the floor with her knuckle as she continued, "Knock on wood, Ah should earn a passin' grade."

Tilting his head, Wheelie asked, "Why did you knock on the floor? What's that for?" Apple Bloom giggled as she explained, "It's just somethin' Ah learned from back home. Sort of somethin' ya do so you don't jinx yourself." The small robot then replied, "Ooooohhh. So, it's something you do for luck, right?" Nodding, the former farm girl replied, "Exactly! A little somethin' for luck."

At that moment, Apple Bloom let out a large yawn before remarking, "Oh mah. Guess Ah better hit the hay. See you in the mornin' Wheelie." The small robot groaned as he whined, "Awh, come on. Can't we hang out just a little longer?" Smiling, the former farm girl reassured her friend, "Don't worry. We can hang out after school."

Nodding, Wheelie replied, "Ok. See you in the morning Apple Bloom." As the small made his way out of her room, Apple Bloom made her way to her dresser and to select her pajamas for the night. After settling on a red plaid shirt and pants, the former farm girl began to make her way to the bathroom, hoping she could beat Sideswipe to the shower.

Iacon High, the Next Day

Stepping out of her uncle's van, Apple Bloom turned to her uncle as she said, "Ah'm ready." From inside the red van, Ironhide nodded as he said, "Alright kid. Just let me get the trunk open." As he flipped a switch on his dashboard, the van's trunk door began to slowly rise, revealing two medium sized boxes full of Apple Bloom's makeshift props for her demonstration.

Stacking the boxes before picking them up, Apple Bloom bade her uncle, "See ya after school Uncle Ironhide. Love you!" The family patriarch nodded as he replied, "Love you too kid." Once the former farm girl had her boxes secure, she closed the van's trunk before picking her boxes back up as Ironhide began to drive off. The former farm girl then took a deep breath as she said to herself, "Alright. Let's do this."

As she entered the school, Apple Bloom couldn't help but feel confident for her presentation. "Ah've got everythin' here, Ah've got mah report in mah backpack, and Ah'm feelin' pretty confident about this." She said to herself. Making her way towards Mr. Compost's room, the burgundy-haired girl couldn't help but feel optimistic.

At that moment, Apple Bloom heard a familiar voice complain, "Oh shit man, this is bad!" Stopping in her tracks, the former farm girl thought to herself, "Wait a minute, that sounds like Oak Leaf." Turning her head, she found a trio of boys chatting amongst themselves. One was a boy with olive skin and white hair, one with orange skin and white hair, and the third boy had green skin with blue hair. Sighing to herself, Apple Bloom whispered, "Yup. It's Oak Leaf and his two stooges."

No sooner had she said this than Oak Leaf, who was visibly panicking, explained to his friends, "This is bad. I haven't got anything for that stupid environmental project, and it's due today!" Apple Bloom couldn't help but feel just a little sorry for the olive boy as she thought, 'That's a shame, though given Oak Leaf, he probably brought it on himself.'

The orange boy then reassured his friend, "Relax man. I heard from a senior in my English class that Mr. Compost is, like, a total wackadoodle. All you gotta do is make something up about the environment and you'll be golden." Oak Leaf let out a sigh of relief as he replied, "Yeah. I'm sure I'll be able to fake something for that overgrown carpet."

Shaking her head, Apple Bloom let out a gentle chuckle as she said to herself, "Good thing Ah came prepared." She would have continued to mentally gloat over her classmate's laziness and sloppiness, but she knew that she'd have to get to class sooner or later. 'That and mah arms are gettin' kinda heavy.' She thought to herself. With that, the former farm girl departed, hopeful she could get to class before Oak Leaf.

Mr. Compost's Classroom

Setting her boxes down next to her desk, Apple Bloom held her hands against her hips as she said, "Alrighty then. Got everythin' ready." Taking a deep breath, she continued, "Ah just hope Mr. Compost likes this."

Looking around the classroom, the former farm girl took notice of everyone else's projects. One boy had a diagram depicting what looked like a landfill, a girl had several bottles of some sort of liquid, and one boy even had a large glass container full of plants that she could only guess was some sort of compost machine. All in all, it was clear that everyone, save for Oak Leaf, had put a lot of thought and effort into their project.

After several minutes, Mr. Compost entered the classroom as he said, "Greetings fellow citizens of the world." Once again, the sickly green teacher was munching away at a bell pepper. Apple Bloom couldn't help but feel that, at least today, his long brown hair and beard seemed even more unkempt than normal. Once he made his way to the front of the class, Mr. Compost swallowed his mouthful as he continued, "Alright everyone. It's that time of semester, and from the looks of things, everyone seems to have brought their A-game."

Taking this in, Apple Bloom couldn't help but think to herself, 'Hold on. What does he mean by "seems" to have brought our A-game?' Shaking her head, the former farm girl reassured herself, 'Probably just wants to make sure everyone put effort into it himself.' After all, he did say that the project would be one of the most important for the semester, right?

Swallowing his mouthful, Mr. Compost spoke out, "Alright then. Let's not waste any time. Who wants to go first." Before Apple Bloom could even think of raising her hand, one of the other students, the girl with several bottles of different liquids, called out, "Me! Me! I wanna go first!" The sickly green teacher let out a gentle chuckle as he replied, "Alright. You can go first Gum Drop."

Bringing her bottles up to the front of the class, Gum Drop began, "Now then, have you ever wondered…."

A Short While Later…

"And now the worms can break down organic matter at a faster rate than under normal circumstances." One of the boys said as he finished his demonstration. Motioning to Mr. Compost, he asked, "So, what do you think sir?" Walking over to the composting machine, the scruffy teacher scowled as he replied, "I don't know. It's not really hip or original. Honestly, what's so special about that little contraption?"

Sitting at her desk, Apple Bloom thought to herself, 'That's it? He's not impressed?! That's gotta be the most sophisticated composter Ah've ever seen!" Indeed, all period, everyone had shown their hard work to their teacher, but he had proven himself to be fickle and hard to improve. The liquids? Mr. Compost failed her as soon as she finished. One kid's demonstration on wind farms? The teacher complained about how windmills required being built, and thus "robbing nature of materials."

And now he was seemingly unsatisfied with her fellow classmate's compost machine.

Walking around the machine, Mr. Compost remarked, "I see there is some sort of electric system here. If I may, how is this trinket powered?" Gulping nervously, the boy remarked, "Uh…. Its battery powered." The teacher immediately inquired, "And how exactly are batteries made?" When his pupil couldn't provide an answer, Compost concluded, "I've seen enough. D plus." The boy tried to speak up in defense of his project, but the teacher interrupted with a blunt, "That will do. Return to your seat." As the boy dejectedly sulked over to his desk, Mr. Compost turned to the rest of the class and asked, "Who's next?"

Apple Bloom gulped in fear at the prospect of having to give her report. While earlier, she'd been enthusiastic to give her presentation, now she felt scared that she wouldn't be able to so much as say anything without Mr. Compost failing her on the spot. Still, she knew that sooner or later, she'd have to give her presentation, and it would be better to just get it done as soon as possible.

Raising her hand, Apple Bloom called out, "Ah think Ah'm ready." Mr. Compost nodded as he replied, "Alright Apple Bloom. Show us what you've got."

Making her way to the front of the class with her two large boxes, Apple Bloom set them down and reached into one as she took a deep breath. "No pressure." She whispered to herself. "Just give it your all." Letting out her deep breath, the former farm girl turned around to face the class as she began her report.

"What does war do to an environment?" Apple Bloom asked the class. When no one answered, the former farm girl continued, "Whatever reason people have for fightin', they nonetheless leave an impact on the places they fight." She then presented a large picture, showing the "before" and "after" of a massive battlefield from the First Great War. Pointing to the charred remains on the "After" half, Apple Bloom rhetorically asked, "But how can we help nature reclaim what has been lost?" As everyone began to murmur amongst themselves, Apple Bloom smiled as she continued, "And the best part is that we can undo the damage with a little help from the very machines that inflicted the damage in the first place!"

Reaching into one of her boxes, the former farm girl pulled out one of the water jacket halves as she explained, "This is part of a water jacket. These were used on heavy machine guns to cool their barrels, so they didn't burst from the heat of constant use." Flipping the half cylinder around, Apple Bloom continued, "But split these in half, and you can grow flowers and other short root plants in 'em."

Setting the water jacket half down on the desk, Apple Bloom reached into her box and pulled out two of the barrels as she explained, "Speakin' of a machine gun, these long barrels would force a bullet through them and towards the enemy. However, what if they moved somethin' else, like say…. Water?" Pointing to the drilled holes, she explained, "Water comes out through these holes here and can be used for irrigation. This way you don't have to make somethin' new and waste any new metal."

As the class focused on Apple Bloom's words, the former farm girl smiled as she continued, "But what about somethin' related to animals?" Reaching into her box, she presented a wooden box and explained, "This here is the sort of box someone would use to hold everythin' from extra ammo to grenades and artillery shells. But with a little modification…" Fidgeting with the box, Apple Bloom continued, "And this here starts to resemble a bird house." She then closed the wooden box, revealing a circular opening similar to those on wooden birdhouses.

After setting the box down, Apple Bloom pulled out several papers as she continued, "Now these are just some simple examples Ah've been workin' on. Ah have several hypothetical ideas written down right here." Turning to her teacher, the burgundy haired girl nervously gulped as she asked, "Well sir? What do you think?"

Rising from his chair, Mr. Compost scratched his chin as he answered, "Well, If I'm being honest, there's nothing really exciting about your project. It's all just so…. Boring." As Apple Bloom took this in, he continued, "Like, this is the probably the most boring idea I've ever had anyone ever present." He then motioned to her props as he added, "And your whole point revolves around the existence of war, when we should be uniting as one people."

Gulping as she found herself growing annoyed and confused, Apple Bloom tried to defend herself with, "But Ah did everythin' you asked sir. Ah explained how we can help the environment recover…." She then reached into her box and presented one of the water jacket halves as she added, "And Mah family and Ah made these out of scrap metal just to prove the point and…."

Before she could even chastise herself for whining to her teacher, Mr. Compost interrupted with a stern, "And do you happen to know how much energy is used to make the materials you used, let alone how much energy was wasted so you could make these little trinkets?" Apple Bloom now found herself completely off guard, unable to think of what to say next. All the former farm girl could do was stammer, "Uh…. Ah…. Uh…."

Shaking his head, Mr. Compost bluntly said, "I believe I've seen enough. D minus."

Apple Bloom felt her jaw drop straight down to the floor. 'A D minus?' She thought to herself. 'No, this can't be. Ah mean, Ah don't expect a perfect grade, but a D minus?' Shaking her head, the burgundy haired girl tried to speak up with a gentle, "Sir, if Ah may…."

Mr. Compost interrupted with a stern, "I said a D minus! One more word out of you and its and F!"

Sighing in resignation, Apple Bloom could only reply with a defeated, "Yes sir." Setting the water jacket half back into her box, the former farm girl gathered her belongings up and returned to her desk before slumping down, resting her head on her desk in defeat and shame.

Mr. Compost then cracked his knuckles as he said, "Now then, I believe the next up is Oak Leaf." Turning to the olive boy, the teacher asked, "Oak Leaf? Please come up to the front of the class and give your report."

Gulping in fear, Oak Leaf stood up and began to make his way to the front of the class empty-handed. As he passed Apple Bloom, the former farm girl couldn't help but think, 'At least Ah know Ah won't be the only one forced to go on that stupid root and berry retreat, and it'll teach Oak Leaf to not sleep on deadlines.'

Standing in front of the class, Oak Leaf took a deep breath before asking, "Tell me, what has impacted the environment more than anything else?" When no one gave an answer, the olive boy bluntly replied, "It's people!" As everyone took this in, Oak Leaf continued, "The problem is there are simply too many people on the planet!"

Pausing for a moment, Oak Leaf explained, "This planet is overpopulated, and we need to do something about the surplus population! There is only one solution and it's to eliminate those who cannot contribute to our society!" He then gave a theatrical bow as he finished with, "There. That's my solution for this."

Taking this in, Apple Bloom felt her blood boil as she thought, 'That's it? His plan to help the environment is eugenics?' the burgundy haired girl could only shake her head as she thought, 'There's no way Mr. Compost would give him anythin' other than an F.'

Mr. Compost, on the other hand, was enthusiastically clapping and shaking his head as he said, "Bravo Oak Leaf! That is the sort of out of the box thinking we need in this world. A plus!"

Apple Bloom couldn't believe it. Her well thought out project was given a failing grade while Oak Leaf's improved rant was given an A. 'This…. This ain't fair!' The former farm girl thought to herself. 'Ah heard him frettin' over not havin' anythin', and he just pulls somethin' out of his ass and he gets a passin' grade and….' Growling to herself, Apple Bloom couldn't contain her frustration anymore.

Slamming her fist onto her desk, the former farm girl exclaimed, "That ain't fair! Oak Leaf just made all that up!" Before the olive boy could say anything to defend himself, Mr. Compost condescendingly replied, "If that's the case, then perhaps he just had a better idea than you." As Oak Leaf mockingly stuck his tongue out at Apple Bloom, the class teacher continued, "Besides, he is right. There are simply too many people alive today, and something has to be done about it."

Apple Bloom never thought she could ever be so angry at any of her teachers before. Sure, she'd been a bit annoyed when someone gave an extra bit of homework or sprang pop quizzes too frequently, but this? Failing students with well thought out ideas while passing someone who not only made something up on the fly, but also advocated eugenics? That was simply too much, and before she could even consciously notice her mouth moving, Apple Bloom made her opinion of the situation very clear.

"Oh, that is bullshit!"

The moment those words escaped past her lips, Apple Bloom held her hands against her mouth as everyone turned their attention to her. 'Oh shit! Please tell me Ah didn't just say that.' Sadly, Mr. Compost crossed his arms as he angrily replied, "That was uncalled for Apple Bloom. One more word out of you, and you're going straight to the principal's office!"

Sighing in resignation, Apple Bloom could only dejectedly nod. After a few awkward moments of silence, the bell rang out, signaling the end of class. Mr. Compost clapped his hands as he called out, "All right everyone. I shall see you all later, and to those of you who did poorly on your project, don't forget about the root and berry retreat this weekend."

All Apple Bloom could do was gather her belongings, pick up her boxes of props, and trudge out the door, too dejected and angry to even care about how the rest of the day might turn out.

Later That Day

Sitting outside as she waited for Ironhide to pick her up, Apple Bloom could only grumble to herself, "Ah still can't believe Mr. Compost would fail me while givin' a passin' grade to that asshole Oak Leaf." Shaking her head, the former farm girl tried to ask herself, "Maybe Ah did somethin' wrong? Ah mean, Ah think Ah got the gist of the assignment. Ah just don't understand why he hated it."

Before she could ponder what went wrong any further, Apple Bloom noticed the familiar sight of a red van pulling up. Taking a deep breath, the former farm girl could only say to herself, "Alright. Let's just get this over with." Picking up her boxes, she made her way towards her uncle's van as the trunk slowly opened. As she set the boxes down inside, Apple Bloom dejectedly greeted, "Hey uncle Ironhide."

"Hey there kid. How'd the presentation go?" Ironhide happily asked his daughter. "You knock that stuck up teacher of yours dead in the water?" However, Apple Bloom didn't say anything in response to his question. Instead, she just closed the trunk and made her way to the passenger seat and sat down. Concerned, Ironhide asked, "Everything alright there kid?"

Apple Bloom slammed her head against the back of her chair as she groaned, "Ah got a D minus! Mr. Compost said it wasn't "original" enough and complained about how Ah "required war existin' in the first place" and…." Pausing for a moment, the former farm girl angrily continued, "And he gave this one kid a passin' grade just for goin' on a rant about how the best way to deal with overpopulation is to just kill people!"

Pulling his van into an empty parking spot, Ironhide gently but sternly told his daughter, "Calm down Apple Bloom." As Apple Bloom took a deep breath to collect herself, she began to speak, "Well, you see….."

The Chop Shop, Later That Day

"No fucking way!" Wheeljack exclaimed as Apple Bloom finished her story. Turning to the others, the maverick mechanic asked, "I can't be the only one who thinks that Compost guy is full of bullshit, right?" Chromia spoke up with a gentle but stern, "As much as I don't appreciate your vulgarity, I do have to agree with you on that. What is this guy thinking?"

As Wheeljack, Chromia, and Ratchet were speaking between themselves, Sideswipe rested her arm around Apple Bloom as she tried to reassure her, "Don't beat yourself up. One bad grade won't ruin you." The former farm girl could only sigh as she replied, "Not with Mr. Compost. He said this assignment would determine whether we passed this class or not. And now, Ah'll have to go on this stupid root and berry retreat." Sideswipe tried to think of something to cheer her sister up but could only sigh as she pulled Apple Bloom into a tight hug.

At that moment, Ironhide joined the rest of the family as he hung up from his cellphone. Turning face everyone else, he explained, "I just got off the phone with Ultra Magnus, and he says that he's organizing a little get together with Mr. Compost about this. Hopefully we can get this whole thing settled out." Apple Bloom then asked, "What time do we need to be back at the school for this meeting?"

"About an hour." Ironhide answered. Chromia then said, "Sounds like we better start heading over." The family patriarch then straightened himself as he explained, "Ok. Apple Bloom, Chromia, you're with me. Ratchet, Wheeljack, Sideswipe, you two stay here. I got a feeling this could devolve into a clash of personalities, and I don't want this to get uglier than it already might be."

As everyone else began to leave the room, Ironhide turned to Apple Bloom and asked, "You ready for this kid?" Shrugging, the former farm girl replied, "Ah guess." Deep down, however, she was starting to think that getting her family involved would only make things far more complicated. 'Still, they're commin' to mah defense, and there ain't no point in stoppin' now.' She thought to herself.

Taking a deep breath, Apple Bloom said, "Alright. Let's do this."

Iacon High Conference Room, Later That Day

Sitting down at the conference table, Apple Bloom found herself sandwiched between Ironhide and Chromia on one side and Mr. Compost on her other. As everyone sat down, Ironhide spoke up with a polite, "Thank you for agreeing to speak with us about this. We apologize for the inconvenience." Chromia then added, "Especially on such short notice."

Mr. Compost, on the other hand, scoffed as he replied, "I don't understand what there is to discuss. I told everyone to be creative and original, and Apple Bloom wasn't creative or original enough." Ironhide immediately spoke up with, "I don't know what sort of hole you live under, but I think Apple Bloom's work was more than creative enough."

Folding his arms, Mr. Compost continued, "I'm not sure I gave instructions to operate heavy machinery or work with metals to create that water jacket thing for her demonstration. Do you know how much energy is spent and wasted from that kind of stuff?" He then pointed at Ironhide as he gloated, "Oh wait! Of course you do. That's why you work with all that scrap metal and junk in that landfill you own."

Ironhide immediately shot up from his seat as he growled, "Why you good for nothing little…." He was interrupted by Chromia, who placed herself in between her husband and Mr. Compost as she warned, "You better watch your temper mister, or you'll be sleeping on the couch tonight!" As she said this, Mr. Compost began to snicker to himself, leading the family matriarch to turn to him and say, "As for you, I heard you gave someone a passing grade for not only making something up on the spot, but for advocating mass murder."

Mr. Compost simply scoffed, "Well sometimes, drastic problems require drastic solutions." As both Ironhide and Chromia found themselves speechless by the teacher's statement, he continued, "For example, Apple Bloom has a drastic problem in the form of risking failing my class. But thankfully, there is a way she can still pass." Giving everyone a mischievous smirk, Compost finished with, "She can join me and everyone else who failed on the root and berry retreat this weekend."

"Ah'll do it." Apple Bloom spoke out in resignation.

As everyone turned their attention to her, the former farm girl took a deep breath as she explained, "At this rate, someone's just gonna get hurt, so Ah'll just cut mah losses and do the stupid retreat." As much as she didn't want to do it, Apple Bloom knew that this would be the only chance to pass her biology class. 'Besides, Ah've gone campin' before with Applejack, Rarity, Sweetie Belle, Rainbow Dash, and Scootaloo at Winsome Falls.' She thought to herself. 'And it'll be fall break once we get home, so it's not like it's really robbin' me of a weekend, right?'

Mr. Compost made his way up to Apple Bloom and smugly said, "There we are. Nothing wrong with a little teacher student bonding, am I right?" He then tried to rest he hand on the former farm girl's shoulder, only for Apple Bloom to shrug his hand off as she glared daggers at him, making her displeasure of the situation crystal clear.

Ironhide walked up to his daughter and asked her, "You sure you want to do this Apple Bloom?" Shaking her head, Apple Bloom replied, "Ah don't wanna do it, but Ah don't really have a choice. It's either this or repeat the class, and Ah don't wanna have to deal with this prick one second more than necessary." Mr. Compost raised his hand as he said, "You do know I'm standing right here, right?"

Both Ironhide and Apple Bloom bluntly replied, "Yes."

As Mr. Compost awkwardly nodded, "Well then. I guess that settles everything. I'll see you tomorrow Apple Bloom, and I look forward to the root and berry retreat this weekend." With that, he departed the conference room as Chromia folded her arms and said, "I don't like that guy." Ironhide nodded as he added, "You and me both."

But for Apple Bloom, it didn't matter how much she despised Mr. Compost. If she was going to have any chance of passing her class, she'd have to attend the cursed root and berry retreat. 'Ah'd rather not have to risk repeatin' biology.' She thought to herself. 'Better to go through one extra weekend with that twat than another semester.' She then began to giggle to herself as she thought, 'Heh. Guess Ah have to thank Wreck-Gar for teachin' me that new word.'

The former farm girl was distracted from her train of thought by Ironhide tapping her shoulder as he said, "Hey kid. Looks like this is a losing battle. We better head home." Nodding as she sighed in defeat, Apple Bloom replied, "Yeah. Let's just get out of here." With that, Ironhide, Chromia, and Apple Bloom left the conference room and began the long trek home.

All three blissfully unaware of what was to come that weekend.