The New Kid By Lopoddity Watch

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Pandora sat comfortably in the afternoon shade, and rifled through the garden alongside Ponyville Schoolhouse. The garden housed a variety of fascinating insects, but right now they were all hidden away under a bed of worthless pretty flowers. Carefully, she plucked the daisies out of the way, inspecting the petals and stems for any lovely aphids, ladybugs, or spiders. She clutched the flowers in one paw, supposing that she could later fashion them into a gift for her mother, even though she was sure her mother would rather prefer a cool new spider pet-



"Leave me alone!"



Pan's ear twitched at the sound of a shout. Turning, she saw that the voice belonged to a furious little filly-no, examining them closer, she saw the child was a colt-who was currently retreating from a smirking colt she knew all too well. Bruce Carcharodon...the meanest school bully of them all. Pandora's personal bully. Apparently, he'd found a new victim.



Pandora instinctively ducked down behind the bushes, and carefully peeked out. Her best friend Cupcake was out sick, and Missus Cheerilee was inside cleaning the chalkboard. There was nopony around to defend her from Bruce's torment, so she hid, trembling.



Bruce was advancing on the strange, skinny colt, and, looking him over, Pandora could see why. The boy had a long, delicate mane and wore expensive ballet tights, and he looked remarkably slender and elegant, even for a unicorn. Bruce had sniffed out the new student, the young, pretty colt all alone at a new school, and immediately gone on the attack, like the loathsome little brute he was. It made Pandora scowl, but she didn't move from her hiding place.



"Aw, what's the matter, mate? You ain't gonna cry just 'cause I called ya a few names, are ya? Gonna cry like a little baby?" Bruce's prowled closer and closer to his target, confident and menacing, in a way that reminded Pan of a lurking shark.



"Of course not!" The colt was already in tears, but bravely didn't shed them. "I'm n-not a baby!"



"Know what?" Bruce tapped a hoof to his chin, feigning thoughtfulness. "I agree, mate. You're not a baby-see, at least babies are too dumb to dress themselves up. But look at you. All decked out in those dumb girly clothes, with that pretty mane-nah, you're clearly just a sissy." Bruce smirked. "Do pardon my error in judgement."



"I'm not a sissy! And my clothes aren't dumb, they're for ballet practice! My mama Maudie bought them for my birthd-"



"Did she now?" Bruce scowled, and his eyes gained a dangerous, jealous light. "Did your precious mummy buy 'em special for you? How touching." He lifted his muddy hoof suddenly, and smeared dirt against the colt's pristine white shirt. "Oh. Oops."



The colt gasped, and his eyes welled up with indignant, angry tears. But before he could protest, Bruce suddenly stomped on the kid's long tail, earning a squeal of pain.



"An' what's the meaning of this?" Bruce seized the long, lion-like tail in his teeth, and pulled hard. "Never seen a pony with a rat's tail before-"



Pandora flinched in her hiding spot. Don't fight back, she urged desperately. It'll only be worse if you fight back-



The boy, overcome with indignity and pain, wrenched his tail from Bruce's grasp and slapped Bruce hard across the muzzle with it, catching the bully off guard.



"Long-tailed unicorns are descended from Starswirl the Bearded." The colt glowered. "But I suspect you wouldn't know anything about nobility, would you? My mama made sure to dress me nice, but you-you're all muddy, and you smell like the rancid end of a fishing boat. When was the last time you even had a bath? Don't you have anypony to dress you nice? Or maybe you're just so vile, your mother doesn't care to." The little boy lifted his head, growing more confident. "So...you can go on thinking I'm a sissy, and that I have a funny tail, but...but at least my mother loves me."



Bruce suddenly became very quiet. A strange shine came to his eyes, one that Pan had never seen before.



Oh no. Pandora buried her face in her paws. Oh no no no. Oh no, you've done it now-



Bruce lunged forward, swearing. The colt moved out of the way, but Bruce seized his tail in his teeth and violently wrenched him back, then shoved him to the ground. The colt kicked weakly to defend himself, but Bruce was too strong. He seized the colt's shirt in his teeth and pulled, and the delicate fabric tore easily. Pandora dug her claws into her flesh, feeling powerless, hating what was happening, trying not to cry-



Missus Cheerilee will hear the scuffle, she'll come stop this-



Please, somepony stop this-



....Anypony!-



Deep in her mind, Pandora suddenly heard her mother's voice, faint and echoing. "And remember, Panny, a princess is kind, a princess is brave, a princess is strong. A princess stands up for what's right."



A princess stands up for what's right.



Pandora took a deep, shaky breath.



Bruce tore and savaged every scrap of stupid clothing he could reach, and bit and kicked to silence the colt's wailing. He was determined to destroy this awful little sissy's fancy rags, to destroy whatever he could reach of the girly idiot who'd dared to suggest that his mum didn't love him-



"Leave him alone!"



Bruce looked up. Pandora stood behind him, her paws glowing and sparking with volatile chaos magic. It almost made up for the fact that she was trembling.



Bruce paused, panting, and offered Pan a cruel smile. "....Oy, if it ain't Pandorka. You've been staying out of my line of sight since the lunchtray business, eh? Hey, just how long did it take you to stop cryin' and get them mashed potatoes out of your mane?"



Pandora thought of last week, of Bruce sneaking and dumping his lunch tray over her head, so that everypony laughed and laughed, and she'd been so embarrassed and hurt that she'd run home and hidden under her mother's wing, crying and refusing to be coaxed out.



Her voice shook when she spoke. "Get off of him, Bruce."



Bruce planted a hoof on the colt's stomach in defiance. "Or what? You'll get in trouble if you set off them freaky magic powers again."



He was right. The last time she'd used magic at school, she'd caused an explosion of fish custard and summoned a fully grown manticore inside the classroom. For a moment she considered simply charging Bruce, but he was bigger and stronger than she was. She'd have to use her wits. An idea came to her.



"If you don't get off of him right now..." Pan let the magic in her paws fizzle away, and instead extended her arms, smiling. "I'll hug you, Bruce."



Bruce froze. "Y-you wouldn't dare."



She took a step forward. "Oh, I would dare." She came nearer, and Bruce leapt away from the fallen colt, nearly stumbling over his own hooves. "I'll hug you and squeeze you and pet your hair, and all your cool colt friends will see you getting cuddly with me. Pandorka."



Bruce tried to growl at her, but it came out rather pathetic. He looked to be trying very hard to stand his ground. "You s-stay back and mind your own bloody business, before I-"



"And I'll give you a smooch, Bruce." Pan clasped her paws together and made goo-goo eyes at Bruce. "And then you'll be contaminated with all my draconequus germs, and then you'll turn into a draconequus like me, and then oh, we'll have no choice but to get married. It's science, Bruce." She said importantly, nodding her head, before lunging forward.



Bruce let out a tiny, terrified whinny, and immediately turned tail and fled. Pandora beamed and watched him go. Her mother had been right about the power of the magic of friendship-for some ponies, apparently, a little friendship seemed terrifying.



A sniffle at her side caught her attention. The colt was struggling to his hooves. His dance outfit, once staunch and pristine, now hung off of him in muddied, tattered rags. He wiped feebly at a smear of dirt.



"....I'm sure Missus Cheerilee has some colt's clothes in the classroom. She'd probably let you borrow some for your uh, dance practice." Pan tried for a smile.



".....Dance is stupid." The boy wouldn't meet her eyes. "Look where it's gotten me." He sniffled miserably, and curled his tail around himself. "....I want Maudie."



"Is that your mom?" Pan frowned. "Well, she'll come to pick you up after school, won't she? It's not so bad. And if you stick with me, Bruce won't come near again." This time she smiled genuinely, and extended her paw to help him up.



The colt glanced at her paw, then up at her. "....Do you really have draconequus germs?"



Pan flinched, hurt. This kid was no different. He was just like all the other little foals, always avoiding her out of fear, or lobbing rude taunts her way, as though she didn't have feelings. She felt her eyes prick with tears, but lifted her head.



"Of course I don't have draconequus germs! I'm not any ickier than one of you ponies, and I'm so sick of being treated like-"



Pan was interrupted by the colt suddenly throwing his thin arms around her. He buried his face in her chest, and her sharp ears caught the sound of muffled sobs. She paused, before hesitantly wrapping him up in an awkward hug.



"....Hey. Hey. I'm sorry I yelled-"



"Are you upset about Bruce? You just have to ignore him. My mom says he does a lot of 'projecting', whatever that means-"



"....Please don't cry. It'll be okay, shh. I'm, uh....I'm sorry I didn't help out earlier. Shh..."



".....I know what it's like to be all alone, y'know. And if....i-if you want, maybe...I could be your friend?"



The colt peered up at her meekly. "Would you really?"



"Well, yeah." Pan dared to give him a reassuring squeeze. "Of course I will!"



"Thank you." The boy hiccuped, giving her a watery smile. "Oh biscuits, I got dirt all over you-"



"No problem, I love dirt!" Pan grinned. To illustrate, she wiped a bit of mud from his nose, then booped it on her own muzzle. "See? Now we're stylishly matching." She said, badly feigning Missus Rarity's fancy accent.



"No pony could possibly love dirt." The boy shook his head, but laughed quietly, and Pan considered it a victory.



"This filly does." Pan offered her paw again. "I'm Pandora, by the way. Pandora Eris Sparkle....but you can call me Panny, if you want."



"I'm Moondancer." He lifted his hoof to shake her paw, then offered her a shy, sweet smile, such that Pan knew at once she'd made the right choice defending this strange, skinny colt.



"But...I think I'd like it if you called me Moony."



~~~~~

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Published : Nov 18, 2016