In The Flesh

“Wake up, sleepy head!” A high pitched voice chimed.

“It’s too early for this…” The lump in the dark green sheets groaned.

“It’s already seven thirty! We have to be there for eight!” She argued.

The lump turned over. “I’m fully aware.”

Suddenly, the warm quilt was torn away from him. The warmth of the night was replaced with the cool air of day. The teenaged boy sat bolt upright, looking for where his blanket went. He did not have to search long.

“Looking for something?” A young blonde girl asked innocently, hardly trying to hide the green quilt behind her back.

He moaned. “Will you stop?”

“Only after you get up.” She stuck out her tongue.

“I’m up!” He hissed.

“Well then, prove it!” Still clutching the blanket, she ran from his room, leaving him chilly and tired on the bed.

He pulled his blue t-shirt down over his exposed stomach and kicked his legs, sporting a pair of plain grey sweat pants, over the side of the bed. Brushing back his dark brown hair, he sighed at his sister’s weirdness and stood up.

“Light,” He called out, standing still, “I want to be able to make my bed.”

“That’s hard to do without a quilt!” His sister, First Light called back. “C’mon, Rivet! Find me!”

Rivet’s head rolled back, letting a painful crack out as he groaned loudly. “Please?”

“Why didn’t you just ask in the first place?” First Light slid around the doorway and dropped the quilt on the floor. “Now, mom wants you to get dressed and have a little breakfast. Then she’ll drop us off at school. Happy first day!” She grabbed his hand and dropped a muffin into it with a candle sticking out before running excitedly out of the room. “Make a wish!”

Rivet was left alone in his room. Though, it was hardly his room. Since he had just recently moved in, most of his belongings were still in cardboard boxes scattered around the room. Only his furniture, such as his bed and bedside table, had made it out already. The floor was a dark brown carpet, and the walls were a bland off-white colour.

As soon as she was gone, Rivet looked down at the muffin with a little smile tugging at his lips. His sister may have been a pain when she woke him up, but she was thoughtful. He blew out the candle and pulled it out of the muffin before chewing on the pastry. It was even his favourite flavour. He had a hard time staying mad at her. Maybe it was her bubbly personality, or the fact that she was the only friend he had been able to keep in the move, but she always knew what to do to make him smile.

Quick as he could, Rivet pulled on a grey t-shirt with wings and a cog on it, as well as his dark blue cargo pants. He quietly made his way down the stairs into the kitchen, where his mother was sitting at the kitchen desk with a coffee, reading the newspaper. Rivet looked over to to the coffee pot, which was still half full, and retrieved his favourite mug, one his father had gotten him.

As he mixed his coffee with a light tinkling noise, his mother noticed him in the room and looked up. “Good morning, Rivet.”

“Mornin’, Mum.” Rivet grinned slightly, raising the mug to his lips and taking a sip. “Where’s Dad?”

“He’s already at work.” She replied, before looking down at her crossword.

“Already?” Rivet turned to the clock to confirm the time. It vividly read ‘7:29 AM, October 11’. He muttered something to himself about his sister lying about the time before looking back to his mother.

“It’s becoming the new trend, but they need him.” She smiled. “That’s why we’re here.”

Rivet nodded, leaning back on the counter, observing the morning light drifting in the window. The peace of the morning made him want to just lay back and watch the day bloom, but before he could totally lose himself in the beauty of the new day, his mother brought reality back in.

“C’mon, Rivet.” His mother stood up. “I’m gonna go get ready for work, and hopefully your sister will be ready in time to leave. You finish up here and get your jacket.”

“Sure thing, mum.” Rivet turned back to the window, but the sight had lost its captivating air now that he knew he would leave it. Finishing his coffee in silence, Rivet dropped his mug in the sink and headed over to the closet to grab his jacket.

He quickly found his green jacket, dusted off the epaulettes and threw it on. While he was getting comfortable, his mother came down the stairs and looked at him, then to her watch, and then back at him.

“Have you seen your sister?” She cocked her head, pointing a thumb back up the stairs.

“No.” Rivet shook his head. “Last I checked she was up there, getting ready.”

“That girl…” His mother bounced back up the stairs, returning nearly a minute later.

“She up there?” Rivet asked.

“She can’t seem to find which hairpin represents her.” His mother groaned.

Rivet walked up the stairs, giving his mother a pat on the shoulder as he passed her. He knocked twice on his sister’s door and waited for an answer.

“Just one more minute!” First Light pleaded innocently through the door. “I almost found it!”

“Why not the one shaped like the sun?” Rivet smiled. “You know, like a metaphor. It’s a new school and a new day. Start it off with a sun.”

Silence was her reply for a solid ten seconds until her door swung inwards, revealing her attire for the day. She wore a light blue shirt and white pants, her sneakers squeaked slightly as she walked out. Her blonde hair was brushed, but still stuck up in places, giving it an orderly chaos look. To top it off, a red and yellow sun pin sat off to one side of her head.

“Perfect!” First Light called. “I’m ready to go!”

They all filed out into the car before motoring away to the school.

Rivet had to keep looking down at his schedule to find the right classroom for period one. Canterlot was a huge school, and he was finding it very easy to get lost. It was a hard enough time to find his locker, but the classroom was a completely different story.

Stopping in the middle of the hall, Rivet shook his head in frustration at his inability to find his class. But when he looked up, he saw the room number he needed, and found an empty seat at the back of the class.

Looking around, he began to question if he really was in the right classroom. Some of the students were shouting across the room at each other, throwing things back and forth. There were students who obviously came expecting a tough class, sitting quietly at their desks. Rivet was in neither category. He was still tired from the morning, so he rested his elbows on the desk and let his head hang slightly.

The boys in the desk just in front of him and the desk to the right of that one were chatting quietly. Not whispering, but at least quieter than the ones shouting at each other. Rivet had no intention of joining in the conversation, so just stared off into space towards the front of the classroom until the bell rang.

The loud banging of metal on metal caused Rivet to shake his head and start eyeing the front of the class, scanning for a teacher. There was no teacher, and the students continued talking loudly. Rivet was a little confused, had he really heard the bell at all?

Suddenly, a young woman with dark blue skin and flowing hair entered the door, sitting quietly at the teacher’s desk and staring into space the way Rivet had been. She waited for the class to settle down and have a seat, but to no avail.

The woman turned to the loudest and rowdiest student who was in the act of throwing a ball of paper like a professional pitcher to another student at the back of the class. “You. Detention.”

He choked on the throw, the ball of paper sailing through the air and hitting a girl at the back of the class on the head. “What?” The room suddenly became very quiet.

“Detention.” The woman maintained her calm demeanor.

“What for?”

“One, for not going to your desk-let’s see-four minutes past the bell.” She nodded at the clock. “Two, disrupting the class with your shouting. Three, for throwing things in class. And four, for hitting another student with a ball of paper.”

“But I wasn’t the only one.” He raised his arms.

“Unfortunate that you were the first one I saw.” She raised an eyebrow. “Unless you want another detention, Brad.”

His head dropped. “No, Vice Principal Luna.”

“Good. Now have a seat.” She then stood up. “As you heard, my name is Vice Principal Luna.” Luna turned and wrote her name on the board, making it official. “I am filling in for your teacher today, who is away for personal reasons. I don’t know how long she will be away, but I will be in charge until then. As your new English teacher, I will be teaching ‘By The Book.’” Luna paused for a recognition of her poor attempt at humour before moving on. “As it just so happens, we have a new student joining us today.”

Rivet slumped down in his seat, silently begging to stay where he was. His eyes staring so intently at his desk, it was almost like he hoped his eyes would hold him there.

“So, I hope that you will all give a warm welcome to our new student, Rivet. Will you come up to the front?” Luna’s eyes scanned the class for the new student.

Rivet almost groaned, but composed himself and stood up. His shoes awkwardly tapped across the tile floor to the front. When he reached the teacher’s desk, Luna gave him a comforting smile before motioning for him to turn to the class.

“Tell us about yourself. Where are you from?” Luna prompted him.

“I’m-” a voice crack caused Rivet to cough, clearing his throat. Some of the students laughed quietly. “I’m Rivet. I just moved here from up north because my dad got transferred.”

Luna nodded. “Thank you, Rivet. I hope you enjoy your experience here at Canterlot High.”

Rivet nodded back, shoved his hands in his pockets and walked back to his desk.

“Alright, class. Turn in your books to the last chapter for some silent reading.”

Rivet dropped his shoulder bag in the foyer and walked into the kitchen. It had been a pretty long first day. Each of his teachers insisted on getting him to introduce himself to the class, his only break was his study period at the end of the day. He didn’t really talk to anyone other than apologizing whenever he bumped into people.

“How was your day?” His mother asked.

“Fine.” Rivet shrugged and turned to head up to his room.

“How about you, Lighty?” She turned to First Light, who had been a short way behind Rivet on the walk home, chatting happily with two girls she met on the bus.

“It. Was. Awesome!” First Light squealed. “Oh my gosh! There are so many cool things at the school, like this one…” Rivet was unable to hear the rest of her explanation as he closed his door.

Sitting down on his bed, he reached next to his bed and pulled up an acoustic guitar his father had given him for Christmas one year. It was a parlour guitar, a slightly smaller size than a usual guitar, so it could be kept in a room with less clutter. He strummed a chord and frowned, plucked every string, tuned them to their proper sound, and strummed the chord again. Content with the sound, he started playing some songs from memory, quietly sitting on the corner of his bed.

When the first song ended, unfortunately on a sour note, Rivet thought for a moment and began playing another song. He went on like that for nearly an hour until a knock came at his door, causing him to mute his guitar with his palm and listen.

“Rivet?” First Light called through the door. “Hello?”

“Yeah?” Rivet replied, leaning the guitar against the bed.

“Can I come in.” First Light asked, turning the knob and poking her head into the room.

“Sure, thanks for asking.” Rivet raised an eyebrow. “What’s up?

“Were you playing guitar?” She asked innocently, pretending not to see the guitar next to him.

Rivet looked over at the instrument. “Yes. I was.”

“Can…” First Light swayed on her heels, “Can I try?”

Rivet grinned slightly. This wasn’t the first time she had asked to try playing guitar. She went through waves of trying different things, eventually coming to music and wanting to try guitar once in a while. Once it was dancing. Once it was magic, then juggling, then magic again. Most of her hobbies lasted about a week, and then she became bored, deciding it wasn’t her special talent this time.

Of course, she’d try again later.

“Sure.” Rivet held out the guitar by the neck for her to take.

First Light held it awkwardly in her hands before sitting down next to Rivet and playing the few chords she knew. The chords were off key, she was strumming hard, and her rhythm was off, but Rivet kept it to himself. She played for nearly thirty seconds before handing the guitar back to Rivet with a broad smile on her face.

“Thanks, Riv.”

“No problem,” Rivet replied, laying the guitar across his lap.

“Can you play a song?” She asked.

“Which one?”

“Any of them.” She shrugged. “Pick one.”

Rivet sighed. That question was like asking a person to say something in another language. You could say anything, but you seemed to forget every word in the language the second the question was asked. It didn’t matter what he played, but he had no idea what to play. Rivet thought long and hard before deciding on a song to play.

He cut it short, and he left out a part, but he didn’t feel like playing the song for its full duration. Regardless, First Light swayed to the rhythm and, once he was done, she stood up. Suddenly, they heard their names being called by their mother.

“Oh, right,” First Light squeaked, “Mom wanted me to tell you it was dinner time.”

Rivet shook his head and dropped the guitar next to his bed, following his little sister. When he came to the kitchen, Rivet looked in either direction around the room.

“Where’s dad?” he asked.

“Dad had to work late,” his mother explained, “he said to go ahead without him. He doesn’t know when he’ll be back.”

Rivet looked down, but proceeded to the table, taking his usual seat across from his sister, who was bouncing in her seat, excitedly awaiting their mother. The table had been set with three bowls and a spoon for each. Eventually, their mother came over from the oven with a steaming pot of soup.

“I haven’t had a chance to go shopping yet, so we’re still stuck with canned food from the move. I hope that’s okay.” Their mom smiled.

“Of course.” Rivet grinned back.

“As long as it makes my tummy stop growling at me.” First Light grabbed her stomach dramatically. “Of course it’s fine, mom. You make the best canned soup!” She giggled.

Their mother chuckled and poured the soup. “Okay, then.”

That night, Rivet lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. He hadn’t seen his father all day. He should have been used to it, it wasn’t the first time his father had to work from the early morning until late at night. Just because he was used to it didn’t mean he had to like it, though.

Ideally, Rivet would have liked to stay up until his dad got in, but he needed his rest, and he had no idea when he would be back. Rivet rolled onto his side and stared at the wall, wishing sleep would take him. Unfortunately, it seemed his mind had other ideas as he found it impossible to close his eyes for even a second.

Was it the excitement of a new school? Probably not. Was it the idea of a new house? Not likely. Then what could it be?

He gave up looking for an answer, tossing and turning, hoping a new position would help him feel tired. Nothing seemed to help.

Regardless, Rivet eventually did get to sleep. He did not remember when or how, but he did. The light of the street lamps faded into the blackness of the night as his mind felt the fatigue his body knew.

Wouldn't It Be Great?

Rivet turned over in bed, now realizing that the sun was peaking over the horizon, and the dark of night was behind him. Suddenly, he realized that his lungs were empty and took a deep breath. He stared at the door, enjoying the warmth of the bed sheets before turning to his clock.

7:04 AM

“No point in staying here,” Rivet told himself as he slid out of bed.

His left foot caught on a piece of sheet music on the floor, making him slide about three inches before falling backwards and landing with his behind on the floor, and his back hitting the bed frame. Cursing under his breath, Rivet kicked the music off of his foot and got back to his feet. He then took the time to stack up the music and put it back where he got it from.

As he usually did, Rivet made sure to close the door quietly in case someone was sleeping, and tapped down the stairs.

He came down into the foyer just in time to see a man with a dark blue jacket putting his hand on the doorknob. Under the jacket, he wore a matching set of coveralls and a polished pair of boots which clicked on the floor as he walked. The man’s hair was the same colour as Rivet’s, but shorter and neater.

“Dad?” Rivet whispered, hoping not to wake anyone.

“Hey, buddy.” The man turned to him, his hand still gripping the knob. “How’d you sleep?”

“Are you just getting in?” Rivet asked.

“No. Sorry, Riv.” He smiled sympathetically. “I’m just going out again.”

Rivet tried to keep his face from dropping. “Again?”

“Yeah. I’ve got a lot to do. Sorry, bud.”

“Okay.” Rivet nodded.

“See you later.” The man smiled before turning the knob and walking out of the house, closing it quietly behind him.

“See ya,” Rivet whispered, only to himself, “Maybe.”

He could hear the car turn on and pull out of the driveway, still sitting on the stairs. After a few moments, Rivet headed into the kitchen for something to drink.

“Alright, students,” Luna called out, “take out your books for more silent reading.”

“Is that all we’re going to do until he gets back?” the boy ahead of Rivet asked the boy next to him. He had blue skin and dark hair, with a dark blue jacket.

“I hope not.” The other replied. He had grey skin and jet black hair.

Rivet thought of something clever to say in response, but kept in in his head. After all, he didn’t know them, and they didn’t know him, and he didn’t want to seem awkward. Instead, he just grinned to himself and pulled out the reading material.

This was the normal thing to do for Rivet. Even before they moved, he kept to himself, not normally talking to people, except the few friends he had. Thinking back to that made Rivet a little sad. His father had to move around because of work. Even though it was only every few years, Rivet always hated leaving the friends he made behind. But now, especially after the move, Rivet was keeping more to himself. It one of his last years at school before going away to college.

“How’s she been?” the boy with blue skin asked his friend.

The grey skinned boy looked confused. “Who?”

“The girl you had that huge crush on. The one you won the dinner with.”

Rivet looked down at the book. He didn’t even want to think about getting a crush, let alone going on dates. The idea just unnerved him.

“She’s good.”

“How about the basketball tryouts?.”

“Still nervous about those. You?”

“I’m-”

Luna looked back at them, “The operative word is silent reading.”

Without a word, the two boys buried their faces in their books. Rivet hadn’t listened intentionally, but it was hard not to. They had been the only ones making any noise in the class. They had, however, gotten him thinking. The idea of a relationship made him both nervous and excited. But the idea of making friends at the school loomed in the back of his mind. Shaking his head, he pushed the thoughts down and returned to reading.

Though, another idea did roll into his head as he pushed back the others. Maybe he should try a club or go out for sports. The idea remained in his head the whole time he was reading, so when he came to the end of the chapter, he closed his book and took out some papers he had been given by Vice Principal Luna only a few days before.

Finally, he found a lists of sports teams and clubs at the school. At least on one of them, he could have some fun, but he could stay in his comfort zone. But what sport would be right for him? Or what club? Rivet looked up at the clock to see he had ten minutes left in the class, so he might as well start deciding what he could do.

In the remaining time, he went through, crossing off group names and teams he wouldn’t qualify for, or just sounded off to him.

When the bell rang, he collected his things and headed out the door along with the rest of the class, the idea of a club still on his mind. The halls always buzzed to life with the ringing of the bell, and Rivet was used to the noise. He could easily tune it out by putting his headphones in and turning on some music.

His next class was gym, and as he was getting changed into the gym uniform of blue shorts and yellow t-shirt, he noticed that one of the boys from his English class, the one with grey skin, was in the class. He hadn’t noticed the day before. The only reason he noticed now was the boy came over to him and asked him to pass him his bag, which was on the shelf overhead. Without a word, Rivet complied and left the change room.

As he left the change room, he thought he recognized another boy from his English class, but did not spend enough time to look at him to be sure.

The rest of the day was fairly average. Since he had been introduced the day before, he easily slipped into the background that day and got through the rest of the day. Again, his father was late coming in, and that night his sister decided that she was going to try magic as her talent for the one hundredth time.

Before he knew it, his life was coming back into the simple blur of routine. Without warning, it was the weekend, and boredom was creeping into his life. As he lay in bed on Saturday morning, he wondered what he should be doing. Before the move, he would spend weekends out with friends, but even thinking back to the time with friends just made him want to stay in bed.

Eventually, though, he hated the feeling of lying in bed, and needed to do something. Dad was at work, mom was out for the day, and his sister was doing goodness knows what. Rivet sat alone in the kitchen, hoping for something to do. Maybe he could go for a walk later, but what could he do now? He wasn’t feeling like playing guitar, and it wasn’t like he could drive anywhere since his parents had the cars.

“I could always go exploring.” Rivet chuckled at himself. Looking over at the clock, it was already past noon, and he had done nothing all day.

Going back up to his room after a quick snack, Rivet found himself faced with several unpacked boxes from the move. With nothing better to do, he began to open up and sort out the contents of the moving boxes. The first few were a bunch of old books he hadn’t read in years mixed in with old school papers and projects he didn’t care much for anymore, but kept because they all had memories attached to them.

He opened another box to discover a book he remembered fondly, but never finished. It was an old Daring Do book he had bought years back, but for some reason forgot about. He took it out of the box and put it next to his bed.

“I’ll save you for later.” Rivet grinned at the book, tapping the cover.

The next box filled Rivet with pride mixed with sorrow. Inside were a bunch of things his father had given him. There was a baseball glove and a ball, a few old patches, old movie tickets, and a few souvenirs from trips the family had taken. He wouldn’t part with them for the world.

Rivet was almost tempted to take out the ball and bounce it off the wall, but he knew how his mother and father felt about him doing stuff like that in their old house, so he decided not to. Instead, he leaned his back against the bed and pulled the Daring Do book close to him and opened up to the first page. It had been long enough that he had forgotten where he was and what was going on, but not so long that he was able to remember bits and pieces of the story.

He spent his whole afternoon reading the little book, absorbed in the adventure it held. with reading, he felt like he was a part of the action, something a movie couldn’t normally do for him. With this, it almost seemed like the book was a letter, written just to him from the author. He felt like someone was telling him all about their own adventure, and he was happy to come along for the ride. Daring Do was tough, brave, and cool. Rivet almost wished he could meet her, but that would be ridiculous.

As he closed the book, he felt accomplished for some reason. Maybe it was the fact that he finally finished the book, or the fact that it was like he had just finished the adventure himself, and was relaxing in his room after saving the world. It didn’t matter. He had really enjoyed himself. His proud trance was broken when he heard the door swing open and slam downstairs.

“Rivet,” his mother called, “I’m home!”

“Be right down,” Rivet called back, standing up with the book under his arm. By now, the sun was setting and the sky was turning a deep purple.

“Well, I haven’t seen that one in a while,” mother smiled as Rivet came into the room. “Is that your Daring Do book?”

“Yup.” Rivet nodded. “I just finished it.”

“Have you eaten yet?” His mother asked.

“Yeah, I had something earlier.” Rivet replied. “Now that you’re home, do you think I could have a look around town? I want to find out what there is around here.”

“It’s a bit late.” She looked out the window. “But I guess so. Just be back before too late, okay?”

“Sure.” Rivet responded. He grabbed his green jacket and headed out the door, admiring the colours of the clear evening sky. He had no idea where he was going, but he couldn’t wait to find out. He was in an unknown area, with no one but himself. Almost like Daring Do, lost in the jungle, using only her wit to navigate.

The street lamps were already starting to come on as Rivet made his way through the streets, observing houses with a few lights on, and others where only the lights of a television set were present.

Eventually, he came to the shops and recreation area of the city. He stared in awe at the vast expanses of lights and buildings all down the street. The line of buildings weren’t overly decorated, either. There were no flashing signs, no large neon displays. There were quiet little coffee shops, a few pubs, little niche shops and several nice restaurants further down.

So, he walked down the road, window shopping. There were some very nice looking places that he wanted to remember just in case he ever had the chance to go out to dinner. The coffee shops looked very nice. As he passed one, he looked up to see the stars stretched out across the sky. He remembered a few constellations, but not many.

A shop came into view with a sign that read ‘New Classics Bookseller.’ It was a used book store. The lights were still on, so Rivet decided to take a look. When he reached the window, the man inside was just organizing some books that he pulled from a box.

The door opened with a ring of bells, causing the man to look at Rivet.

“I’ll be closing up soon. But feel free to take a quick look.” He smiled.

“Than you.” Rivet nodded towards him. He knew what kind of book he was looking for. Hoping for anything, Rivet scanned the shelves where most adventure books were. It did not take long for him to see those two words. Daring Do.

He was completely surprised to see so many books. The book had tied up all the loose threads, it was impossible to think that there was a sequel, or several for that matter.

“All of these are Daring Do?” Rivet asked in disbelief.

“Yup.” The old man at the counter confirmed. “It’s pretty popular.”

“Which one is the second book?”

The old man stepped out from behind the desk and over to the shelf. After scanning it himself, he pulled down a gently used copy of the second novel and handed it to Rivet.

“Thank you. How much is it?” Rivet turned the book over to read the synopsis.

“Ten dollars.” He nods.

“Okay.” Rivet reached into his pocket and pulled a ten dollar bill out of his wallet.

“It’s yours.” The old man smiled and walked back to his counter. “Hey, when you’re on the way out, mind flipping the open sign over?”

“Sure.” Rivet nodded and did as he was asked, closing the door behind him. He looked down at his book as he walked away from the store, then turned it to hold it under his arm.

The stars were in full view now, and the street lamps were on. Rivet decided that he could start turning back towards home. The street seemed to be completely clear of all people, except around the pubs.

Rivet saw people with their friends in the various restaurants, but turned away from them. It wasn’t that he couldn’t make friends. The problem was that he did not want to make friends. If he made friends, he would have to leave them, just like before. He hated having to leave his old friends, and he knew that it was only a matter of time before he would have to leave any new ones too. It was easier, he thought, to stay by himself and not worry about making friends.

He shook off the thought and emotions that came with them like snow off his shoulders and hurried his pace slightly to move away from the scenes.

He finally came to a bridge crossing a small river and stopped. The night was calm and cool, and the streetlamps glowed over the cement, almost making it glow. The stars would normally have been drowned by light pollution, but here, they shone brightly. Under the bridge, the water was still, reflecting the beauty of the starlight. Rivet leaned on the guardrail of the bridge, staring out over the water. The sky never seemed to end on the river.

Behind him, Rivet heard footsteps from the other side of the road. Turning his head, he saw a boy carrying a girl on his back. She seemed to be sleeping, and was wearing a jacket too big for her, most likely the boy’s. Her purple hair flowed over her face, and the boy made sure not to jostle her too much as he walked. He looked over his shoulder to her, not noticing Rivet, but giving Rivet a view of his face.

As the boy looked lovingly over his shoulder at the girl, Rivet recognized him. The grey skin and dark hair of the boy gave him away as the boy from his English and Gym class. He looked so happy with the girl. Even though he knew neither of them, Rivet could tell. The stars seemed to shine for them.

Turning back to the guard rail, Rivet let out a deep sigh. “That must be nice…” He waited for the footsteps to fade into the distance before he himself turned back for home. He turned up his collar and kept his hands in his pocket with the book still under his arm.

As he came up to his house, he noticed that there was still only one car in the driveway, his father was still not home. Rivet opened the door quietly, taking a moment to look at his watch. It was about 11:15 PM, Rivet had apparently walked much slower coming home. He made sure to be quiet, but it did not matter. His mother sat in the kitchen, waiting for him.

“A little late coming in.” She raised an eyebrow.

“Sorry about that.” He lowered his head. “I lost track of time, I guess.”

She looked up at him. “Are you okay?”

Rivet breathed out. “Yeah. I’m fine.”

His mother didn’t seem to buy it, but she walked up to him, gave him a pat on the shoulder and headed upstairs without another word other than the usual ‘goodnight’.

Hanging up his jacket, Rivet made his way upstairs to his bed, and rolled back in. That night, he had no trouble letting the day fade away into the nothingness of sleep. All he had to do was close his eyes and the day slipped away.

The First Crack

“Good morning, class.” Luna smiled at the front of the room.

The whole room seemed to groan at the mere mention of the morning. After weeks of trying to get the students enthralled in her lessons, Luna had them in a firm routine. They would be in their desks after the bell, or it was detention for them. They would read silently for more than half of the class, only after a discussion about their previous reading. Luna would sit at the front of the class with her eyes scanning the room for any disturbances such as notes being passed, gum being chewed, and rabbles being roused.

“Now, what did you all think of the chapter from last night?” She asked innocently.

“The ending was off.” A boy in class noted after raising his hand. “The ending didn’t solve anything. They just leave. Nothing is solved, and nothing gets fixed.”

“That’s one point of view, yes.” Luna nodded. “Any others?”

A girl raised her hand. “They left, and that sort of gave them back what they had lost while they were there. In leaving, they got their conscience back, and they started feeling guilty for what they did.”

“Excellent.” Luna grinned slightly. “Anything else?”

“I think the author just ran out of ideas and called it quits.” A boy in the back called out.

“Funny.” Luna deadpanned. “Do you want detention?”

“No, Vice Principal.” They muttered.

“Good.”

Rivet hadn’t said anything to the boy who sat just ahead of him about seeing him on the bridge. Whenever he thought back to it, it made him a little jealous, but also made him feel strange. It made him conflicted about making new friends. It may seem trivial to some, but to him, it was one of the biggest issues plaguing him.

Over the past weeks, he had had many chances to talk to the boys in his classes, but he had let them slide. He would answer questions with quick, few word answers. Rivet stayed away from people during lunch, which came after Gym, and kept to himself for the rest of the day.

Once the final discussion was over, Luna called attention to herself an a stack of papers.

“Class,” she began, “since we have finished the required reading it is time we consider the final project. It may be early, but some of the potential books are rather long, and you will be doing several assignments on your book.” This caused a groan to rise from the class.

“Settle down. These are the books you may choose from. Only one person per book. I will be giving you over a week to consider what book you want to read, during which time we will be reading short stories and poetry.” Another groan.

“Class!” Luna looked sternly at them. “After this unit, you will tell me what book you want to read. It’s a first come-first serve basis, so if the book you want is taken, have a second or third option.”

Rivet’s mind began to consider his options. He was completely unsure what to do, so he thought to what his tastes were. He loved comedy, and action, and adventure, but what author could he read. he could only hope that A.K. Yearling was on the authors’ list in Luna’s hand.

His mind seemed to be on a loop, the same ideas and thought rolling back and forth through his head. Luna continued to talk about the assignment, naming off authors that most people only ever heard of by name when talking about masterpiece novels.

Rivet’s trance was broken with the words, “Daring Do.” His head snapped up to better understand what Luna had just said.

“I heard the books were very well written by miss Yearling. I am allowing these, as well as books written by A.R.R. Coltien and Marey Pratchett. They aren’t considered classics, but they are well written and may appeal to you more than the others.” Luna dropped the sheets back down onto the desk.

Rivet almost smiled from ear to ear, but he would have felt silly. Instead, he nodded his head and felt his excitement grow. His excitement was put on hold as the bell rang out for the end of class. Collecting his things quickly, he took one of the sheets off of Luna’s desk and headed straight for Gym class.

As he got changed, his mind was still filled with ideas of what book he could read. It was the only thing that had happened since he had gotten to the new school that seemed to go his way. The grey boy from the bridge and his English class once again asked Rivet to pass him his things from the shelf. Rivet wondered why he kept his things in the locker room, but never bothered to ask. He handed it over, with a mixture of absent-mindedness and forceful apathy.

He didn’t see the glance that the boy gave him, or that he gave the blue boy from the English class. But soon, he would understand.

After Gym class, Rivet was back in the locker room, drying his hair with his towel. Most of the others had left the room, leaving Rivet in relative silence. He had offered to help clean up after the basketball game they had played, so he was running behind. It didn’t really matter to him, though, there was nowhere he had to be for lunch. When the bell rang, the others rushed from the room, but Rivet took his time.

As Rivet pulled the towel off of his head, he saw the blue boy standing in front of him, and the grey boy off to one side.

“What’s your problem with us?” The blue boy asked, his voice an unclear mix of emotions.

“What?” Rivet cocked his head, unsure of the problem.

“You don’t talk to anyone.” The boy shook his head. “You don’t work with anyone. The only time you say anything is short answers to teachers. So, what’s the deal?”

“I don’t…” Rivet couldn’t think of the words.

“I don’t remember seeing you with anyone around here.” The boy continued.

Rivet didn’t say a word.

“What do you think is wrong with other people?”

Rivet stared intently at the floor.

“What’s wrong?”

“Everything!” Rivet shouted, his head snapping upward to meet the gaze of the boy. “Everything is wrong with people!”

Now it was the blue boy’s turn to be speechless. Rivet’s shout echoed through the locker room.

“We make friends and enemies, only to leave them behind. We feel loss and pain when they leave our lives. We hate for no reason, we like for less. The only reason people seem to make friends is to alienate everyone else!” Rivet clenches his fists. “I don’t make friends because I don’t want friends. Friends make everything harder in life.”

As his voice fades from the room and surrounding halls, Rivet looked from one boy to the other.

“Friends don’t make everything harder.” The blue boy shook his head. “In fact, most things, they make easier. It sucks when you have to leave, but it doesn’t have to be the end of the world.”

“Maybe someone else out there feels the same way you do.” The grey boy raised an eyebrow. “Everybody loses people.”

Rivet suddenly felt embarrassed for his outburst, and for the weeks before. All of his emotions from the weeks passed came rushing up like a volcano, and he had had no time to prepare. Perhaps his words were more true when he didn’t have to filter emotion through his mind. How could he have been so selfish? He kept everyone at arm’s length to make himself feel safe. He had built a wall around himself to keep his own mind safe from pain, not thinking that it was a problem for everyone to face.

“I’ve…” Rivet stared back at the floor. “I’ve kept everyone away… What makes you think anyone even wants to make friends with the guy who pushed everyone back. The guy who only spoke to teachers. How am I supposed to make friends?”

“A conversation is a good start.” The boy reached out a hand to Rivet. “My name is Swift. Swift Justice.”

“Rivet.” Rivet took his hand, standing up.

“I’m Clyde.” Clyde waved from the side.

“Nice to meet you, Clyde.” Rivet waved back, weakly.

“What do you say we get something to eat?” Swift asked, offering a smile. “That game today took it out of me.”

“I think I’d like that.” Rivet nodded, throwing his bag over his shoulder as he felt something change inside of him. It wasn’t a feeling of absolutely needing friends now that he made two, but it was a feeling of accomplishment, mixed with dread. These two had been nice to him, and he still wasn’t sure if he wanted to make friends, but he couldn’t be rude to them.

He followed them to the cafeteria, where Swift and Clyde sat down at what Rivet assumed was their usual spot. The cafeteria itself was plenty large enough, with the static noise of people talking and laughing with some even singing random songs. The whole area seemed to be teeming with colour and life. Normally, he would have expected to see some pretty limited groups around the tables. He was used to seeing kids only sit with people with the same interests. But for some reason, the groups in the room were diverse in taste and colour.

“Where are the other guys?” Swift looked around.

“I think most of them have a detention today.” Clyde shook his head.

Detention? Rivet was not sure what to think of hanging around with a bunch of guys who spent a lot of time in detention.

“Again?” Swift shook his head. “Those guys…”

“Rivet.” Clyde leaned over the table. “Where’d you move here from?”

“Way up north.” Rivet nodded upward. “We had to move because my dad got transferred.”

“Your dad’s with the Guard?” Clyde presumed.

Rivet tilted his head. “Close. Air Force.”

“Cool.” Clyde nodded.

“How about you?” Rivet asked both of them.

“I live with my brother. He’s in the Guard. We moved here a little while back.” Clyde’s eyes lowered slightly.

Rivet caught the emotional twinge of Clyde’s words, allowing him to understand. Swift gave a consoling look to Clyde before turning back to Rivet

“I’ve been here forever. My sister’s always trying new stuff so it never gets boring.” Swift raised his eyebrows.

Rivet shook his head. “Tell me about it. My sister can’t go more than a day without doing something new.”

“What’s your sister’s name?” Swift asked.

“First Light.”

“That’s your sister?” Swift laughed in disbelief.

“What about her?” Clyde turned to Swift, equally as interested as Rivet was.

“She’s only been here a few weeks, and she already knows practically everyone at this school. And everyone knows her! Well, almost everyone.” He shook his head. “You’re saying that First Light is your sister. You two are like complete opposites!”

Swift started talking directly to Clyde, and Rivet seemed to lose focus. His eyes began to wander around the cafeteria, getting lost in the sea of colours. Suddenly, his eyes fixed themselves upon something. Strangely, the thing that caught his eye was a mixture of all of the colours. Even stranger to him was the fact that it wasn’t something his eyes chose to focus on, rather someone. There was a girl, her hair done in streaks of rainbow colours, just on the other side of the cafeteria. He had never seen anyone do anything quite like it before. He could not see her face, but she looked to be a little shorter than he was, and quite fit.

Rivet shook his head, realizing he was staring, which caught the attention of Swift and Clyde.

“Rivet? You alright?” Swift asked.

“Hm? Yeah.” Rivet nodded. “Just a bug buzzing around my head.”

The buzzing, however, was not around his head, but rather in his head. Part of him wanted to go over and say hello to the girl, but the rest of him slammed a hard boot down on the first part with a loud ‘no!’ Rivet quickly shook off the idea of saying hello, remembering that he was still reluctant about making the two friends he had. Even the thought of attempting a relationship at this point was almost enough to make him cringe with worry.

He returned to a polite conversation with his new friends. He did not open up very much, but there was a crack in his armour, in the arm’s length wall he had kept himself in. The crack was big enough to let out some feeling, some emotion.

When he thought back to his friends from before the move then, he did not feel so bad. He remembered that, even though he may have left them behind, others had had to do the same in the past, and everyone would have to go through it again at some point.

“Did you hear about that movie?” Swift asked.

“Which one?” Rivet cocked his head.

“It’s about three guys who head to an asylum. It’s a found footage thing.”

“Just in time for Halloween.” Clyde smirked. “Yeah. I heard about it. Me and my Boo are going to see it.”

“Your what?” Rivet turned to Clyde.

Swift chuckled, “That’s what he calls his girlfriend.”

“She’s not my girlfriend.” Clyde shook his head.

“Yet.” Swift added, pointing a finger at Clyde.

Clyde tried in vain to hide a smile that crept across his lips. He raised his eyebrows at Swift, nodding slightly.

“So, what are you guys planning for the English assignment?” Rivet asked.

“We have a few weeks to think about it.” Swift shrugged. “I haven’t even looked over the list yet. Do you have something in mind?”

“Not sure.” Rivet quirked. “But I have some ideas in mind.”

“Take your time.” Swift smiled. “You have weeks to decide. Don’t choose a book right now. You might not really like it.”

“I guess you’re right. But I’ll still probably take a look somewhere tonight, just to see what my options are.” Rivet grinned.

It was beginning to rain just as Rivet crossed the bridge to the shopping district. It was slow at first, only a drop here or there. The sky was completely clouded over, but not with thick storm clouds, just a thin layer of rain clouds offering a slight drizzle which became a light mist as Rivet moved along. Taking a breath, Rivet could taste the water, and he could see his breath in the cool air interrupt the flow of the mist.

He saw no point in rushing to the bookstore, it would still be there when he arrived, and rain couldn’t hurt him. The ground quickly became damp, allowing for a watery tapping noise as he walked. In his head, it sounded like soldiers marching, when in reality it was little more that a small click. He could see the faded sign of the bookstore, in fact he was close enough that he could read the words on it.

“Just a little further,” Rivet told himself, grinning.

As he was about to turn the corner to the door of the shop, the door swung open quickly, and a blur of colour charged out the door. The blur slammed into him, knocking them both to the ground, and launching a bag full of books onto the sidewalk. As it skidded to a halt, the bag tore open and spilled its contents on the damp sidewalk.

“Hey! Watch where you’re going.”

“Sorry, miss.” Rivet apologized, pushing his back off of the pavement and rubbing the back of his head. “Are you okay?” He paused. Sitting on the damp pavement was the girl he had seen in the cafeteria.

Her rainbow coloured hair was made damp by the rain, and obscured by the blue hood that had rested atop her head until she had fallen. Her face was a light, sky blue. One of her eyes was closed as she patted herself over, looking for any injuries. She shook her head to clear anything that may have gotten into her hair, as well as clearing a bit of rain. Her open eye was a deep pink colour, sparkling in the dim light, despite the dark atmosphere. Rivet forced himself to stop staring as she looked up.

“Fine.” She huffed, looking at him with a twinge of anger. Suddenly, a look of realization washed over her face. “My books!”

She looked around shortly until she found the torn bag with the books on the wet pavement. The girl scrambled over to them, attempting to group them together. When she noticed that the bag was torn, she let out a loud groan and threw the shredded remains.

“I could help you carry them, if you’d like.” Rivet offered politely.

His father had always taught him to be polite to a lady, no matter what. The idea of chivalry may have been outdated, but Rivet felt that he should still follow that simple rule. It wasn’t that he thought women couldn’t take care of themselves, in fact, he knew they could. He thought that by being polite, he could maybe brighten someones day, and he knew people could have hard days. At that moment, he realized that by that standard he should probably extend the same kindness to everyone, even men.

“Sure. Then you can tell everyone at school what an Egg-Head I am.” The girl mumbled sarcastically, still gathering up her books. “I’ll pass.”

“Why would I do that?” Rivet raised an eyebrow, moving over to help her get her books.

“Seriously?” She stared at him blankly. “Why wouldn’t you do that?” She started faking a jock’s voice. “Look at her, she’s such a dork, she buys stacks of Daring Do books.”

“I like Daring Do.” Rivet defended.

The girl stared back at him again. “The main character’s a chick, you know that, right?”

“So? A guy can’t like a strong female lead?” Rivet asked. “Let me help, please. It’s the least I can do. After all, I ran into you.”

The girl shook her head before looking back at Rivet. “You seriously have no idea who I am?”

“No clue.”

“How?”

“Pardon?”

“How can you not know who I am?”

Rivet considered the remark a bit conceited, but replied anyway. “I’ve only ever seen you around the school. I don’t even know your name.”

“You have to be joking.”

“I just moved here a little while back. I haven’t gotten a chance to know very many people.”

The girl looked at her books which she was now covering with herself to protect them from the rain. Looking back up, she saw Rivet still offering to help.

“Fine.” She nodded.

Rivet took off his jacket and used it to wrap up the majority of the books, tying the arms around them. The rest were divided between him and the girl.

Rivet let her lead the way to her house, walking side by side on the sidewalk. The whole walk was fairly silent, which Rivet was fine with. Occasionally, he caught himself staring over at the girl for some odd reason. He would give his head a shake and look back forward. For some reason, he would keep looking back over at her.

At one point, she looked back at him while he was in one of his staring dazes.

“Are you staring at me?” She asked, a little on edge.

“I don’t mean to.” Rivet apologized.

“It’s the hair, isn’t it?” She sighs. “Everyone stares at the hair. Some people say it’s too flashy, some people say it’s weird. Other people think I’m trying to make a statement with it.”

“I think it’s nice.” Rivet replied, absentmindedly.

They continued to walk, both of their footsteps making the similar tapping noise. The girl pulled her hood further over her hair when they reached a residential area, with more than a few teenagers from Canterlot High living in the houses. Whoever she was, she did not want people knowing that she read so many books.

Eventually, they came to the door of an average looking home, and she paused when they got to the threshold of the house. She propped open the door and ferried the books in, giving Rivet his jacket back as soon as it was empty.

“Well…” She rubbed her arm, “thanks for the help.”

“No problem.” Rivet shrugged, sliding his jacket back on.

“But.” She looked at him seriously. “If I hear one word about this is school-”

“Don’t worry about it.” Rivet shook his head. “I still have no idea who you are.”

The girl paused with her mouth open, as if she was about to say something, but closed her mouth. She nodded in understanding, and then raised a hand, waving slightly.

“Well, see ya, I guess. And… Thanks.”

“Yeah.” Rivet nodded, turning for home. He heard the door creek shut behind him.

With one quick peek over his shoulder, Rivet shrugged, turned up his collar against the rain, and headed towards home. He could have gone back to the bookstore, but he didn’t feel up to it. By then, the rain had started to come down harder, making his tapping more like a splash with every step.

When Rivet came through the front door at home, his hair was soaked and hanging down into his face. His jacket had served the purpose of keeping the rest of his body dry, but his cargo pants were soaked. Rivet hung the jacket on a hook so it could air dry, and ran a hand through his hair to clear some of the water.

“Rivet,” his mother called, stepping into the room. “You’re soaked! Go put some dry clothes on.”

Rivet nodded and started heading up the stairs.

“How was the bookstore?” his mother called after him.

“It was fine.” Rivet recited, still climbing the stairs.

When he got to his room, Rivet rolled onto his bed. He laid his arms outstretched, causing his hands to brush against something on the night stand. Turning his head, he saw the second Daring Do book sitting there, with a bookmark next to it. He pulled the book over and flipped open the cover, starting to read.

Who's She?

“I hope you’ve started to consider your ideas for the assignment.” Luna stared out over the class. “It is important to get an early idea for your book so you do not realize too late that you have no idea what to do. Do not wait until the last minute, or I can promise you that you’ll regret it.”

“You’ll make us regret it.” A boy in the back of the class grumbled.

“I heard that.” Luna snapped. “My rules are strict to prepare you for real life! People don’t bend to your needs, it’s best that you learn that now. Now, I’ll give you a little time to consider your books today before we start poetry.”

The class collectively groaned, but with a stern look from Luna, they got to work, chatting together about what books they could read.

Swift and Clyde made a special effort to turn to Rivet and engage him in the conversation they had. They really had no interest in thinking about what book they would read, but Rivet joined in, so they were making progress.

Rivet was still a bit on edge about talking with them. Even though he had only met them yesterday, they helped to break him in to the new environment. He couldn’t help but feel more comfortable around them than anyone else. Even when talking about mundane things like what book to read for an assignment.

“Oh, and class!” Luna called their attention back to the front. “Don’t forget. You only have until next week.”

The three of them met up again for lunch that day. The cafeteria was as it had been the days before. However, Rivet had become accustomed to the noise of people, now it was just white noise. All three of them sat at the lunch table and began to chat. It was small, but engaging. Even still, Rivet notices something odd.

Rivet caught himself looking over at the rainbow haired girl again. There was some strange fascination with her. He had no idea who she was, and no idea why she wouldn’t want people to know that she read so much. But somewhere inside, he still wanted to say hello. Maybe under different circumstances than carrying her books through the rain.

Today, she was sitting with a group of five other girls, each with an obvious difference in tastes, and practically making up a rainbow of their own. A girl with white skin and wavy purple hair. A girl with pink frizzy hair and matching skin. A pale yellow girl with long pink hair. A purple girl with dark purple hair, and a girl with orange skin and blonde hair. They all sat chattering amongst themselves, apparently having a great time.

“Hey, Romeo.” Clyde tapped Rivet on the shoulder.

“What?” Rivet turned to him quickly, pretending that he wasn’t looking.

Clyde smirked. “I saw you staring. Who’s the girl?”

“Girl?” Rivet coughed. “What girl?”

“I know that look from Swift over here. You see a girl, and you definitely have a crush on her.” Clyde smirked at Swift. “So, who’s the lucky girl?”

“You’ve been here over a month and already have a crush?” Swift smirked.

“And how long did yours take?” Clyde shot back.

Swift’s smirk dropped and he gave Clyde a dirty look.

Rivet looked timidly back over at the table of girls. He did not like staring, but something inside made him want to.

“Who’s…” Rivet thought for a moment. Then he whispered to them, “who’s the cute one over there.”

Clyde stuck his head up, looking over at the table Rivet was indicating. “That’s Rarity. She’s my Boo.”

Swift stood up, peering over at the same spot. “Nah. That’s Pinkie. She’s my girl. She just… Doesn’t know it yet…”

“No.” Rivet shook his head. “The girl with the… The rainbow hair.” As he said the words, he found himself stealing one more glance back at her.

“Her?” Swift did a double take. “That’s Rainbow Dash. She’s on almost every girls’ sports team. Whatever the girl equivalent of a jock is, she’s it.”

“She’s trying out for the boys’ teams too this year.” Clyde added. “Just because she can.”

“She’s pretty popular around here. I’m surprised you haven’t heard of her already.”

Rivet leaned back. “Me too.”

“You’re like complete opposites.” Swift looked at Rivet.

“But so are me and Rarity.” Clyde shrugged. “And you and Pinkie.”

“I’m not looking for a girl.” Rivet shook his head.

“Then that is one weird looking guy.” Swift elbowed him.

“I mean,” Rivet sighed, “I’m not looking for a girlfriend.”

“It’s a crush, not a life commitment.” Clyde shrugged. “It might pass. But if it doesn’t, after talking to her a little. Maybe there’s something there.”

Rivet shook his head again. “I might as well abandon the idea.” Leaning further back, Rivet stared up at the tiles on the ceiling.

Clyde exchanged a glance with Swift for a moment before turning back to Rivet. “You never know.” He turned away from Rivet, grinning slightly.

“I guess…” Rivet shrugged.

On his spare that day, Rivet walked up to his locker. Turning the combination lock to the three digits, he yanked on the lock, but it was jammed. Groaning, he input the combination again and tugged, with the same result. One last time, Rivet slowly rolled his lock back to the numbers. This time, he was satisfied to feel the lock slide open.

Rivet leaned against his locker as he pulled the small metal piece away from his locker and pulled the door open. On the top two shelves, there were papers and books from his classes, not any pictures, like many others in the school had. Reaching in, Rivet pulled out his parlour guitar in its case and closed the locker back up, slapping the lock back on.

As soon as the lock clicked into place, Rivet let out a loud groan. He had just realized that he had forgotten the homework from the English class. If he had a chance, or if he got bored, he would look over the poetry they had been assigned. After leaning his guitar up against the locker next to his, he fought with his lock again to get it open.

Now that he had all that he needed, Rivet made his way back down to the cafeteria. Sitting down, he opened the case and pulled out the instrument. Rivet took one last look around him with the hopes that nobody was watching. When he saw the coast was clear, he laid the guitar across his lap and slid his left hand up the neck.

Starting slowly, he played one of his go-to songs; one of the songs he just started playing as soon as it was in his hands. It was a fairly simple song to play, though he hadn’t thought that when he was learning it. Now it was natural, easy. He closed his eyes, just letting his hands move over the guitar, producing the tune. At first, he just strummed out the same three chords of the song over and over, but eventually began picking them. Eventually, he let the song die out before moving on to the next one.

After the song had come to a close, Rivet took one more look around the room and pulled out the English paper with the poem on it. His eyes scanned the page, not taking in any of the meaning, only seeing words, phrases, grammar. The poem seemed meaningless to him. Without the words put together with feeling and emotion, the whole thing was just words. For some reason, he did not feel like reading it.

But he did force himself to read it, it came across literally. Rivet considered bleeding meaning out of the words. Instead, he dropped the paper back on the table and pulled the guitar back close to him. It was slow, and solemn, with a very bardic style to it.

He began to play an older song he knew, humming the lyrics to himself. As he did, he felt almost what could be described as a revelation. He knew lyrics were poetry, but something seemed odd about them now. He repeated the lyrics aloud to himself.

“Under lock and key, and no one can see me. Surrounded here by ice, away from heat, away from life.” Rivet now realized that they weren’t solely about being cut off from the world. It had a whole meaning to it. Locks and keys kept things safe, out of prying eyes. But they also kept things prisoner, away from everyone and everything. The ice itself was another double meaning. Being alone was sad and scary, but to this person it was also refreshing, like some cold on a hot day. Yet, even with the good things solitude bought him, he was still scared and alone.

Rivet ceased playing. How was that so easy? He started to wrack his brain about why he found the assignment to odd and bulky, but why he found the song so simple. There was something in there, but Rivet couldn’t put his finger on it.

He spent the remainder of the period staring into the poem, hoping that the meaning would come out of it. He forced a few random and ambiguous themes and deeper meaning onto a sheet of paper before giving up and stuffing it into his bag. As he did so, his bag fell from the seat next to him and onto the floor.

As he reached down after his bag, he noticed a book sticking out of it. As it happened, it was the second Daring Do book, which he had forgotten that he had packed. With what time he had left in the day, Rivet decided to read more of the adventure novel. He considered using this book for his assignment, but wasn’t sure. If he was having so much trouble finding meaning in a poem, finding meaning in a book packed with adventure and action would be insane.

Even without a reason, Rivet decided that as soon as he got home, he would start reading. If he did find some way to get deeper meaning from Daring Do, he would have been more than happy to use it for his assignment. But there was significant doubt in his mind of that ever happening.

The bell sounded for the final time that day, so Rivet collected his bag, slid the guitar back into the case and headed for home. His shoes tapped along the floor as he made his way through the cafeteria, when something caught his eye. In the middle of the cafeteria, there was a wall, perhaps for privacy on one side when it was used for study hall, or perhaps just as an aesthetic. On the other side of the wall, he noticed a girl with pale skin and purple hair sitting next to a girl in a cowboy hat with long blonde hair. Both girls had their eyes trained on their phones.

As soon as he saw them, Rivet’s cheeks flushed red. His mind and heart raced. Had they been there the entire time? Had they heard him playing guitar and singing to himself. It wasn’t that he was worried he had done a poor job, but rather just the idea of someone listening to him play. Someone he wasn’t related to, to make things worse. His pace faltered with his sudden realization, and he nearly tripped over himself.

The clatter was just enough to attract the attention of the two girls at the table, who looked over to him, making him blush even more.

“Hello.” The pale girl waved. “Your playing was delightful.”

Rivet’s eyes widened at the compliment. He smiled politely as best he could and acknowledged the compliment with a quiet ‘thank you.’ The girl offered him a smile, which didn’t help his situation at all. Rivet quickly remembered he had to meet up with his sister, perhaps just as an excuse, but regardless, he waved back and headed out of the cafeteria. As soon as he was through the door, his heart pounded with a mixture of excitement, embarrassment, and surprise.

As he navigated the halls to his exit, a thought occurred to him. The girl at the table was the girl he had seen with Clyde on the bridge those weeks ago. For some reason, she seemed like a completely different person than he recognized, but it was definitely her.

Rivet grinned to himself. “I guess that must be the Boo.”

“Boo to you too!” A peppy girl with blonde hair bounced up behind him, grabbing his shoulders. “Did I spook ya?”

“I’ll be honest,” Rivet sighed, “A little.”

“Did you have a good day?” First Light giggled.

“I think so.” Rivet nodded. “How about you?”

“Do you want the long version or short version?” She asked, taking her hands off of him.

“I’ll take the short.” Rivet smiled.

“It was good.” First Light winked. She had realized that Rivet wasn’t much one for listening to long explanations, so she tried to keep it short when she could. But there were still times when she was too excited or too happy to contain herself and let her words flow.

Today, she was wearing a purple jacket and blue pants, and a pin with a music note was in her hair. She also had her hair in a ponytail over one shoulder. Going through the school parking lot, she waved at everyone she knew, which by now was most of the school.

“How did you manage to meet everyone here?” Rivet shook his head.

“You know those things called ‘boundaries?’” First Light looked up at him.

“Yeah?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Apparently I don’t have those.” She shrugged. “Who knew?”

As they continued down the road towards home, First Light kept asking random questions about Rivet’s day. He tried his best to answer them, though some were rather odd. Lining the roads were well kept lawns and fine houses. The way the sun shone out over the bright colours almost made the city seem perfect. If not for the occasional cracks in the road, and the occasional angry person, it was perfect.

“Any girls you like?” First Light piped up.

Rivet tensed slightly. “What? No. Not yet.”

“Shame…” She looked down. “Any boys you like?”

“What!?” Rivet asked, extremely surprised at the question.

“I mean, like friends.” She rolled her eyes. “People keep saying that my phrasing of things needs work.”

“Yeah, I’ve made a couple friends.” Rivet sighed.

“Good!” First Light smiled. “Mom was worried for a while.”

“I know.” Rivet nodded slowly.

“She still is. But now that you’ve made friends,” she giggled, “we can all get back to normal now.”

“Normal?” Rivet raised an eyebrow again, stepping over a crack on the sidewalk.

She grinned widely. “Yeah. Like we never even moved.”

“I guess.” Rivet shrugged.

First Light was the first one to cross the threshold of the house. She dropped her bag on the tile floor and called out.

“Mom! We’re home.”

Their mother came into the room, smiling slightly. “Hey.”

“As it turns out,” First Light stated, “Rivet likes boys.”

“What!?” Rivet turned to her, his face contorted in surprise with his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open.

“Pardon?” Their mother asked.

“Sorry, sorry. That’s not what I meant.” First Light shook her head around. “Rivet made some friends at school. But they’re not friends like that. And they’re boys.” She started messing with her hair with more than a twinge of embarrassment.

“I’m happy to hear that.” She smiled, still a little shaken by the surprise First Light had dropped.

“Can I go to my room.” First Light asked, still fiddling with her hair.

“Okay, Light.” Their mother smiled, giving First Light a quick hug before the blonde girl ran upstairs. As soon as they heard the door close, their mother turned to Rivet.

“I’m happy to hear that you made some friends.” She smiled. “To be honest, I was a little worried about you.”

“Yes, mom.” Rivet nodded. “I made friends. And I’m doing just fine.” He smiled weakly back.

“I know your father hasn’t been around a lot, and I know how much you want to spend time with him.” His mother sympathized. “And I was worried that you were boarding yourself in.”

“You don’t have to worry about it, mum.” Rivet shook his head slowly, his weak smile still present. “They’re a couple of good guys.” He shrugged. “I still wish dad was around more, but I understand why he has to be gone so much.”

He did understand, but he didn’t like it. Other kids got to go actually do things with their dad, but Rivet’s dad was on call twenty-four/seven, and sometimes it wore on him. He knew what his dad was doing was important, but he wanted to have some time with him too.

As those thoughts rolled through his mind, Rivet hung his jacket up and picked his bag back up. He gave his mother one more smile before retreating up to his room to fight with the poem and continue to think about what he could do for a book for the assignment. As he was pulling the worn book out of his bag, he kicked the door lightly shut behind him with his heel. The lock clicked into place as he dropped the bag onto the floor.

Rivet had tucked the poem into the front inside cover of the book. Now he tugged the slightly crumpled page out and returned to staring at it. Rivet lay back on his bed, holding the page over his head and looking over the words. He found himself completely incapable of coming up with the meanings. The words he had written in the margin of the page before were still staring back at him.

Rivet looked over at his guitar bag on the floor, longingly. He knew he needed to do his homework, but it was so boring to him. Just looking at his page would get him nowhere, but guitar was more fun to him, and at the very least he could improve with it.

Giving in, Rivet dragged the guitar over to him. He pulled the instrument out of the bag, and his face dropped. Instead of six strings pulled tight down the neck of the guitar, there were only five. The low E string had snapped, and now hung loosely down the side.

“Damn…” Rivet looked down at what to him was a mess. He pulled out a box of strings from his bag and peered inside. Within the box of strings was every string, except the one he needed. Dropping his head limply, Rivet slipped the box back into the bag, defeated, and put the guitar away.

“Looks like I need to go shopping.” Rivet stood up, but heard a crunch underfoot. He looked down at the page he had stepped on, the poetry. He groaned loudly and took it back up. “Dad would want me to finish my homework.” He slumped back down on the bed and stared at the little piece of paper again.

After dinner, Rivet had retired back to his room and tried his best to work out the problems. After hours locked away in his room, he had made absolutely no progress. He pulled out his phone and opened the messenger. He searched through his list for the right number, but soon slapped his forehead.

He dropped his phone on the bed. Rivet had just remembered that he had no one he could text. Before, he would have sent a text to one of his friends from the class for a little help, or just a push to get him moving forward on the work.

But now he had no one he could text. He did not have Clyde or Swift’s number, and he hadn’t made any other friends. Short of faking his way through it, there was nothing Rivet could do. He would just have to wait until the morning. He hated leaving homework unfinished, it made him feel antsy and worried about not getting it done at all.

Instead, Rivet just laid back in bed, dropping the poem to the floor. He shook his head as he stared up at the ceiling.

Reaching back to his phone, Rivet plugged his headphones in and pushed them lightly into his ears. He entered the password and turned on the song which seemed to speak to him at the moment. With the song drifting into his head, Rivet felt himself drift away to total darkness with the final words lulling in his ears.

Funky

He turned over, the light of the morning sun drifting through the window. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes.

Rivet must have been dreaming.

A girl was in his room like every other morning. She stared out the window, which she was propping open, only allowing Rivet to see her from the back. The fact that she was there was not the surprising fact, or maybe it was. More so than her presence was her hair. In the bright sunlight, her hair shone with every colour of the rainbow.

Rivet slid back in his bed, half in surprise, and half in embarrassment.

“Rainbow!?” Rivet gasped.

A familiar giggle radiated from the girl on the other side of the room. She messed with her hair in her pink hands and turned around, allowing her hair to flourish. “Do you like it?” The high pitched voice asked.

“Light?” Rivet asked, his eyes wide. “What’s with-”

“The hair?” She flipped it around. “Isn’t it… Funky? Mom helped my do it last night while you were up here sulking!”

“I wasn’t sulking!” He defended. “I was… I was… working.”

Completely dropping the previous subject, First Light moved on. “What do you think?”

“It’s…” Rivet shook his head in disbelief. “It’s different. How did you learn to do that?”

First Light giggled madly. “It was easy. There was this girl at school with it, Rainbow, and she had hair like this, and so I asked her how she did it. She said she gets asked that a lot, and told me where to find instructions. So I did it!”

“And it turned out this well?” Rivet looked at her. “On the first try?”

“Of course!” She smiled broadly, barely containing her giggles. “I’m First Light.”

Rivet still lay in absolute surprise at his sister’s hair. He felt embarrassed that he had mistaken her for Rainbow Dash. Quickly as she had appeared, First Light bounced out of the room closing the door behind her. Rivet rolled off of the bed and rubbed his eyes.

“This,” Rivet chuckled. “This is gonna be weird.”

It was the last day of October, Halloween day. At the school, they were allowed to dress up, and surprisingly, most of the kids did. At his old school, Rivet remembered that most kids could not have cared less about spirit days. But here, people couldn’t get enough of them. Everyone’s school spirit was peaked.

Rivet, however, had no idea what to wear, until the day before, when Swift had suggested 40s mobsters. Then they could wear suits, look good, and coordinate their costumes. Thankfully, the day before, Rivet had asked Clyde and Swift for their numbers. After a remark from Swift about ‘stranger danger’, he had gotten both of their numbers, and was able to text them if he had any more issues with his homework.

Rivet looked in his closet for his black suit. It was all still there, though he hadn’t worn it in a while. As he tried on the pants and white shirt, they fit like a glove. He found a black tie in the back of the closet and tied it around his neck. Remembering that Clyde had said that he did not have a tie, Rivet grabbed a second black tie and stuffed it in his bag.

First Light was a little more eccentric when it came to her costume. That day, she decided to wear all black. Her shirt was a black turtleneck, and she wore black cargo pants with combat boots. Her hair, even though it was rainbow now, seemed to work with it somehow. The fact that she was so mellow was eccentric to Rivet.

“Well, what do we have here?” Their mother asked as they came into the kitchen.

“I’m a mobster.” Rivet shrugged. “Me and some guys decided that it would work.”

“Cool.” Their mother smiled. “And… Sweetie, what are you?”

“I’m the scariest thing of all.” First Light mumbled, extremely subdued for her. “A moody teenager.” After a moment of silence in the room, First Light cracked a smile and began giggling. “This is gonna be so hard!”

“I’m sure you can do it.” Rivet grinned.

“Totally.” First Light’s voice dropped down to the same dull and depressed tone. “Whatever.”

“Have either of you even thought about a book yet?” Rivet asked Clyde and Swift, taking his seat in English.

“Of course.” Clyde pulled out a sheet of paper with book titles on it. “I have three I decided on.”

Swift pulled out a page from his bag, dropping the bag back to the floor. “I have some too.”

Rivet did the same as the others, and they exchanged their lists, noting that not one of them had the same story on any of their sheets. The bell rang loudly, causing the class to quiet down, and Luna to take her seat at the front. Luna was dressed for the day as well, in a white lab coat and glasses. Her hair was a mess, but still had a slight elegance to it. She had a name tag pinned to her chest that read, “Vice Professor Lunatic.”

She pulled out a page of her own, with the heading “Selections” on it, lay the list on her desk and looked out. “Single file in front of my desk with your selections, please.” Luna stated.

Immediately, the class stood up and began to form a line at the desk. One by one, the class rattled off their lists, most getting their first choices. There were more than a few, however, that did not get their first or second choices and had to settle with the third. Those who had to resort to the third or fourth choice mumbled their way back to their desks.

Finally, it was Rivet’s turn to make his choice. He approached the dark blue woman in the labcoat, grinning slightly to try to ease the awkwardness.

“Did the Principal put you up to this?” Rivet chuckled, looking at the costume.

“Yes.” Luna sighed in relief. “Finally, someone who gets it.”

“Did you get to make one for her?” Rivet asked.

Luna raised her eyebrows with a devious grin. “Of course. Just wait and see. Now. To your book?”

“Daring Do number Three.” He stated.

Luna scanned the list and looked back up at him. For a moment, Rivet’s heart sank when he assumed she was going to tell him that it was taken, and he would have to settle with something else. Her hand hovered over a previous entry before sliding back up the sheet.

“Alright. Thank you.” She nodded, penning his decision in the box next to his name. “Have a seat, please.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Rivet nods and takes his seat, waiting for Clyde and Swift to return.

When they both sat back down, Rivet looked at Swift, who groaned and put his head down. Apparently he did not get any of his top three. To that, Rivet responded by giving him a consolatory pat on the back before turning to Clyde. Clyde shrugged, pointing to his second choice with a look that said “I am okay with this.” Rivet pointed to his own first choice and Clyde nodded.

As soon as everybody was back in their seats, Luna cleared her throat. “Alright, class. I want you to begin reading your books as soon as possible. Remember to take notes. For the time being, we will continue the poetry unit in class for part of the lesson, and the rest will be silent reading.”

The class groaned at the all-too-familiar concept of silent reading time. Acting as if she hadn’t heard it, Luna told them to come up to the front again to get a new sheet of poetry. Another chorus of groans sounded as they all stood up again for the sheets.

“Oh.” Rivet snapped his fingers as he looked at Clyde when they sat down. “Your tie.” He began fishing in his bag for the black tie. He pulled it out and handed it to Clyde.

“Thanks.” Clyde looked down at the tie as if it had instructions in a foreign language.

“You can’t tie one of these, can you?” Rivet raised an eyebrow.

Clyde scratched his head. “Nope.” He handed it to Rivet with a shrug.

Rivet received the tie and wrapped it around his neck, tying it over his other tie. When he was satisfied, he pulled it off and handed it to Clyde again. The other boy thanked him and wrapped it around his neck, folding his collar over it.

For the rest of the class, he spent his time trying to decipher the new poem and its meaning.

The three boys walked through the halls in their suits, headed towards the cafeteria for lunch. As they moved through the halls, they observed all of the costumes that people were wearing. There were pirates, doctors, cats, police officers, criminals, soldiers, even a few zombies and more. Occasionally, there were costumes that were pretty obscure, and only a few people got the reference.

One costume in particular, however, caught Rivet’s eye. There was a girl wearing a pith helmet and a green combat jacket. He immediately recognized the Daring Do costume. He offered the girl a thumbs up in appreciation, and she smiled back.

When they reached the cafeteria, the loud sound of music drifted into the halls. As they stepped through the doors, they realized why. The Party Planning Committee was throwing a Halloween party in the cafeteria. It had everything a Halloween party should; food, music, teenagers dancing like they had horrible stomach pains, it had it all.

From across the room, Rivet could see everything. The girl Swift had identified as Pinkie Pie was standing behind a table where there were snacks spread out, with her was the girl with the light yellow skin and pink hair. Pinkie Pie was wearing a tinfoil jacket and had a hat with a giant cherry strapped to the top of it. The girl who shyly stood next to her wore a simple pair of cat ears which matched the colour of her brown sweater.

Scanning further, Rivet saw the girl in the cowboy hat and blonde hair was wearing a straw hat and a striped vest sitting behind the punch table, which had several flavours arranged in a rainbow. Next to her sat Rainbow Dash, with her hair tucked up into a ballcap and wearing a blue bomber jacket with a pair of wings pinned to the chest.

“Guess who?” Cooed a voice from behind the three of them. Rivet turned to see a girls hands covering Clyde’s eyes. It was the pale girl with purple hair. She was dressed in a short white dress and a hat with a red cross on it.

“Hm.” Clyde faked thinking. “Is it… Rarity?”

“No.” Rariy giggled, trying to make her voice different. “It’s… It’s…” She pulled her hands off his eyes, allowing him to turn around and see her. “Nurse Redheart.” She put a hand through her hair. “What do you think?”

Clyde’s eyes widened, and he blushed slightly. He looked her in the eye and shook his head. “Wow.”

“Oh…” She stuck out her lip and widened her own eyes. “I see… You don’t like it. I understand. You don’t have to say it.”

Clyde was visibly panicked by her reaction, he paused, stammering on words he could say to apologize or recover, but nothing came.

Rarity winked, giving Clyde a smile. “Oh Clyde, I’m just having a little fun.”

Clyde sighed in relief.

“Enjoy the party.” Rarity giggled over her shoulder as she was headed over to see a girl with purple skin and hair who was wearing robes and a pair of round glasses over top of a school uniform.

“Well, that was…” Rivet nodded slowly. “Different.”

“That’s her.” Clyde smiled over at where Rarity had disappeared into the crowd of people.

“Speaking of her…” Swift elbowed Rivet in the side. “Who’s the cute new girl with the rainbow hair?”

“Cute new girl?” Rivet tried to find out where Swift was looking. Over to one side of the room, he found out who Swift was talking about. Rivet saw a girl with combat boots, cargo pants, a black turtleneck, and rainbow hair smiling and shaking her head around, air guitaring to the music. She looked over to a girl next to her, one with orange skin and purple hair, who was dressed similarly to Rainbow Dash, and began to talk to her while still dancing.

“She looks familiar.” Swift tapped his chin.

“I thought Pinkie was the girl of your dreams.” Clyde joked.

“She is.” Swift blushed. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t say another girl is pretty.”

“I would argue this with you,” Rivet said, “But that’s my sister.”

“Whoa!” Swift looked back over. “She looks way different. She’s normally so bright and peppy, but today she looks like a…”

“Teenager.” Clyde raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah.” Swift stated in disbelief.

“It’s Halloween.” Rivet grinned. “At least she’s enjoying herself.”

First Light proceeded to look at the orange girl in amazement before bringing her in for an excited hug. Apparently she liked whatever they had talked about. The orange girl seemed just as excited as she was as she lead her somewhere else, disappearing into the crowd.

“Hey.” Rivet nodded over at a table. “What do you say we get something to eat, eh?”

“Sounds good, eh.” Swift mimicked Rivet, who gave him a look. Swift chuckled and lead Clyde and Rivet to the table with snacks on it.

“Hiya!” Pinkie smiled at them as they got close. “Wow! Don’t you guys look classy!”

“Hi.” Swift waved slightly, picking up a snack.

“What’s your costume Pinkie?” Clyde asked as he did the same. “I can’t figure it out.”

“Isn’t it obvious?” She posed with a hand on her hip, crinkling her tinfoil jacket and jostling the fruit on her head.

“Not exactly.” Rivet shook his head slightly.

“I’m a pie!” She posed again, in another way. “Get it? Pinkie Pie?” She snorted with laughter, causing Swift to smile and blush a little.

“Good one.” Rivet grinned. “Thanks for the food.”

“Hey! No problem.” Pinkie waved as they walked away from the table.

“I’ll be back in a bit.” Clyde looked back at Rivet and Swift, looking over to another corner of the room.

“Sure.” Rivet shrugged as Clyde walked away.

“So.” Swift looked at him. “What do you think of Canterlot High so far?”

“It’s nice.” Rivet said as he dodged a person who cut him off. “Everyone is really into this, aren’t they?”

“Oh yeah!” Swift smiled. “Everyone here is all about school spirit ever since the last fall formal.”

Rivet paused, but continued walking. “Fall formal? What about it?” He looked over his shoulder to see a bunch of people where Swift had been before. “Drat.”

He looked all around him, but could not seem to catch a glimpse of Swift. He decided it would be easiest just to keep wandering around, and eventually he would find someone. Feeling a little claustrophobic, Rivet made his way to the outside of the pack of bodies and sat down against the wall. He felt much more comfortable against the wall than in the group of people.

“Riv?” He heard a voice ask from beside him. He looked over to see a pair of combat boots.

“Hey, Light.” He looked up into her concerned face. “What’s up?”

“Why are you all alone?” She asked, sitting next to him. “What happened?”

“I lost them by accident.” Rivet shrugged. “I’m sure I’ll find them soon, though. What happened to your new friend?”

“New friend?”

“The girl you were talking to before.”

“Girl…” First Light squinted. “Oh! She was asking me, since I was new, if I had any special talents. I told her I had no idea. She said her and her friends have been trying to figure out what theirs are, and invited me to join! They make internet videos about it.”

“Sounds like fun.” Rivet grinned slightly, feeling the calming coolness of the brick wall behind him on his back. He hadn’t realized with all the people in the room, just how hot it had become.

“I hope so!” She giggled. “We’re gonna meet up some time to try some stuff out. Oh! There she is! And her friends.” She looked back down at Rivet. “Is it okay if I-”

“Of course.” Rivet nodded. “Go hang out.”

“Thanks, Riv.” She stood up and dusted herself off. “Have fun with the rest of the party!” She immediately jogged away towards her new friends. Rivet enjoyed the slight peace he had in his spot. But it didn’t last very long.

“Hey, Rivet!” Swift called from a few metres away, coming out of the crowd. “There you are.”

“Sorry I lost you.” Rivet said.

“No problem. This big guy just came out of nowhere.” Swift looked over his shoulder. “Lunch is only half over, what are we gonna do for the rest of it?”

“I dunno. Where’s Clyde?”

“Probably with his ‘boo.’” Swift shrugged. “She’s probably telling him how she made the costume.”

“Why?” Rivet raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, right.” Swift slapped himself on the forehead. “She’s a seamstress, makes her own clothes and stuff.”

“She’s so young, though.”

“Welcome to Canterlot!” Swift laughed. “Everything is possible!”

“It seems like it.” Rivet looked at all of the commotion going on.

“Hey, why are you all the way out here?” Swift looked back at the group. “That’s where all the fun is.”

“I took a break.” Rivet shrugged.

“Why not get some punch? I hear it’s good.”

Rivet slowly rose to his feet, dusting himself off. “Sure, why not.”

The two of them waded back into the sea of people, towards the table on the opposite end of the room. When they reached the table, the both of them stepped out of the crowd.

“Howdy.” The girl with the straw hat and vest said, fighting a strong southern accent to sound like a businessman. “What can I do for you?”

“Can we get a couple glasses?” Swift asked.

“Sure enough-I mean…” She worked out the words with slight difficulty. “Certainly, sirs! Why, with this punch, you’ll have the confidence to jump out of helicopters!”

“You’re a travelling salesman.” Rivet stated.

“Not just a salesman.” The girl grinned and whispered, breaking character. “I’m a scam artist.”

Rivet looked down the table, only to lock eyes with Rainbow Dash. She seemed to recognize him, and slid a pair of aviators over her eyes, her cheeks flushed. Rivet averted his eyes to the ground, feeling his cheeks warm up. Before the glasses covered her eyes completely, they made eye contact for a split second, causing them to look away again.

“Rainbow.” The girl with the straw hat called. “Can you pass me a couple of cups? I’m fresh out over here.”

“Sure, AJ.” Rainbow kept her glasses over her eyes and slid two little cups across the table.

“You okay, RD?” The girl asked, pouring the drinks. “You look a little warm. Maybe you should take the bomber jacket off.”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “No, I’m fine.”

The two boys turned away from the table, taking their drinks and walking back into the group, thanking the girls at the table.

Swift lead Rivet around the room, meeting up with various friends and acquaintances along the way. Eventually, Rivet felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see Clyde smiling at them.

“Sorry I was gone so long.” Clyde said.

“No problem.” Swift shrugged. “Have you tried the punch?”

“Yeah.” Clyde nodded.

“Hey, how much time is left in lunch?” Rivet asked, tapping his bare wrists to show he had no watch on.

“Um.” Clyde looked down at his watch. Suddenly, the bell rang for the afternoon classes to begin. “I guess that answers that.”

“Well, I’ll see you guys around, then.” Rivet said, heading towards his next class.

They parted ways towards their respective classes.

Later on, during his spare period, Rivet was back down in the cafeteria. All of the tables had been moved, and the floor was being swept up by the janitor. Rivet almost felt strange, seeing the cafeteria empty now, when it had been teeming with life just a few hours before. He sat there in cold isolation, without a guitar to play, only the worthless poetry from Luna had dished out that morning.

With nothing better to do, Rivet pulled out the sheet and stared down into the verses and lines.

“How am I going to do this with Daring Do,” Rivet shook his head, “if I can’t even do it with poetry?”

Other kids in his class had seemed to understand and find the meaning in every line of the poem. Sometimes it was the word choice, sometimes it was how long or short the line was, and sometimes it was so farfetched that Rivet had no idea where it came from, but it made perfect sense once it was said.

After fighting with what sorts of assertions could be made about the text, Rivet felt a presence near to him. Looking up, he found himself staring up at Rarity, still sporting the nurse’s uniform. She looked a little concerned, mixed with sorrow.

“No guitar today?” She asked.

“Afraid not.” Rivet shook his head. “One of the strings is busted and I haven’t found any of the music stores in town yet.”

“That’s a shame.” She replied. “You always seemed so intense when playing. It’s a pity you can’t do what you like.”

“I’ll probably be back to it eventually,” he said.

“I should hope so.” Rarity nodded, turning to leave before stopping. “You know… There is someone you could ask for the location of a music store.”

“Really? Who?” Rivet put the page down on the table.

“Rainbow Dash.” Rarity stated. “She plays guitar too, you know. She would know where to find a music shop around here.”

“I see.” Rivet nodded.

“Actually, as I recall… There’s a music shop next to the little cafe downtown. Do you know the one?”

“Not sure… What’s the name of it?”

“It’s called Le Café Enchanteur,” Rarity stated, accenting the French words.

“I’ll keep an eye open for it.” Rivet smiled.

“It’s best to keep both open.” She replied, chuckling. “It’s a small place, you might just miss it.” As soon as she finished speaking, she turned and walked away, her high heeled shoes clicking on the hard floor.

“I’ll see if I can go tonight.” Rivet nodded to himself, turning back to the page on the table. “But first, I need to find out what makes you tick.”

Rivet walked down the sidewalk of the shopping district as he had before, but this time he was more observant of his surroundings. He was changed out of his suit, and was back into his street clothes of a t-shirt and jeans, with the added warmth of his jacket in the cool evening. He walked past the bookstore where he had purchased the second Daring Do book, and silently reminded himself to go in there at some point to look for the third.

Rivet found himself moving farther and farther away from the semi-familiar part of town, and towards some nicer shops. Not that the ones before weren’t nice, but the shops further down were kept in incredible conditions. Signs were replaced when they became faded, and displays in windows gave off a welcoming glow.

He saw a hanging sign on the corner, where the street veered off to the right. It had the words “Le Café Enchanteur” printed in white on a black background in cursive letters. When he stood directly in front of the shop, he looked to his left and right, searching for a music shop.

There it was. It was a well lit little shop with guitars of all different kinds in the front window. Rivet took hold on the door handle and stepped inside. He looked around the store, trying to locate the strings.

“Can I help you find something?” The man behind the counter asked. He wore a fedora as well as a t-shirt with a band name on it, Rivet could not see what kind of pants he was wearing. His face was accented with a five O’clock shadow.

“Yeah, I need some new strings for my acoustic.” Rivet looked over his shoulder, as if they were walking up behind him.

“Sure. They’re over there.” He pointed to a corner.

After paying for the strings of his choice Rivet went back out into the street, stuffing the bag into his pocket. As he walked past the bookstore, he stopped. Looking over at the door, he decided that it would be a good time to check for the book.

The bells jingled as he came through the door. The shopkeeper nodded in greeting as Rivet passed him by. Moving to where he remembered the Daring Do books were, he peered up at the shelf. He found the third book quite quickly, but noted how there were no more until the sixth on the shelf. If he wanted to keep going after he finished the assignment, he would have to find another source of the books. Perhaps the library would have something for him.

He paid for the book and left the shop, tucking it under one arm. When he got home, he would have to begin reading for the report. Hopefully, it would go better than the poetry assignments.

Cold And Dark Of Winter

A cool air had fallen over the city, and with it came a sheet of snow strewn across the ground. In the past weeks, Rivet had gotten right into reading the Daring Do book for his assignment and, for some reason, was doing very well with it. He was able to find random tidbits of symbolism and meaning in various parts. Unlike the poetry, which he had never gotten the hang of, Rivet found Daring Do to be perfect for analysis.

When he was having trouble with his analysis, Rivet would text either Swift or Clyde, and normally they would have a discussion about their books and what they could make of them. Once or twice, even, they had met up in person to talk to each other and discuss their work thus far.

Rivet stopped strumming his guitar and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He checked the time, and returned to his guitar. That morning, he had woken up early for some reason, and decided to work on tuning up the new strings on his guitar. Something his dad had taught him was to change all of the strings at the same time so they wouldn’t all break at unexpected times. This way he could gauge how old the strings were, and when to change them.

As he was plucking the strings quietly, there came a knock on his door. Silently, First Light let herself into his room.

“Good morning.” She smiled. “I guess you’re already up.”

“Yup.” Rivet nodded.

She came over to Rivet and sat next to him on the bed. He continued to play while she listened quietly. When he finished the song, he held out the guitar to her.

“You want to try?” He asked, already knowing the answer.

“May I?” She took the guitar with a smile on her face. She did what she normally did, and when she was done, handed it back to him. “Thank you.” She smiled and headed out of the room. Once she was gone, Rivet decided to get dressed, seeing as First Light only came to wake him up at the same time every day.

Stepping out of his room, his usual attire on, Rivet descended the stairs to the kitchen, where he saw an unfamiliar sight. In the kitchen, his mother was sitting with her newspaper as usual, but across the table from her was someone else.

“Good morning, Dad.” Rivet smiled as he came in.

“Hey, buddy.” His father looked over at him. “How’d you sleep?”

“Pretty good.” Rivet nodded, noting that his father was not wearing the flight suit, rather a pair of dark blue uniform pants and a light blue collared shirt. It was the summer dress for his squadron. Hanging off of a doorframe was his tie and blue tunic. “What’s the occasion?”

“I’m not out working on planes today, I’m in the office.” He shrugged.

“Oh, yeah,” First Light came into the room. “I was going up to tell you that dad’s home.”

“Thanks.” Rivet shook his head, still smiling.

“Sorry I haven’t been around much.” Their father sighed. “Work has been… Work.”

“It’s no problem.” Rivet raised his hands. At the time it did not feel like a lie, but Rivet did wish his dad could spend more time at home. But he did not want to make his dad feel guiltier than he already was.

The four of them took the time they had to chat and have a coffee each. First Light decided to have orange juice instead, because coffee was ‘icky.’ Regardless, they enjoyed each others’ company for the first time in weeks. It was the first time in even longer that they had had breakfast as a family.

“I hate to cut the chat short,” their mother interrupted, looking down at her watch. “But it’s almost time for school.”

“I can drive them.” Their father said, “I’ll be fine.”

“No, you have to get ready to go too.” She pointed a finger at him. “You don’t have time to do both.”

“Yes ma’am.” Rivet and First Light’s father faked a salute, winking at them.

Rivet and First Light grabbed their supplies, Rivet remembering to grab his guitar. They filed out to the car, Rivet giving his dad one last goodbye before he left.

Luna sat at the desk, not nearly as energetic or awake as she normally was. She pulled out a thermos and took a long, slow drink of the contents before looking back down. Her hair was a bit of a mess, having not been brushed in the morning, and her eyes were half closed. Instead of her normal attire, Luna wore a long sleeved turtleneck. The blinds of the class had been drawn, even though the morning light was not too bright.

“Alright, class.” She whispered, her voice a mixture of hoarse and tired. “I’m a little under the weather today. So… If we could just do some silent reading today, I would really appreciate it.” She laid the thermos against the side of her head.

“Looks like the hammer got hammered.” A boy at the front of the class mumbled.

“Brad,” she growled, “I am not in the mood. Get out your book.”

The boy pulled out his book immediately, and grumbled again. “But you were obviously in the mood to get smashed.”

“Detention.” Luna sighed. “I’m too… Sick… For this.”

The class returned to silence, only a little chatter now and then.

“How’s the book so far?” Swift asked Rivet.

“Actually, pretty good.” Rivet nodded, putting his thumb in the book as a bookmark. “I’m still finding it easier to work with. Yours?”

“It’s going great. I didn’t think it was going to be my thing, but it’s pretty good.”

“How’s yours, Clyde?” Rivet asked.

“It’s a little dry sometimes, but I’m getting it read.” Clyde shrugged. “It has a lot of symbols in it, though.”

Vice Principal Luna looked up and groaned“Oh, yeah… Your assignment… The book thing… It’s due at the end of the semester in January. If I didn’t say that already, here’s your warning.” She put her head back down on the desk, covering her eyes.

“We have loads of time to get this done.” Rivet looked down at his book. “How far have you guys gotten?”

“I try for at least ten pages a night.” Swift looked at his own. “I’m a fair way in.”

Clyde nodded in agreement. “Same.”

“I think I’m about a quarter through already.” Rivet stared in surprise at the book in his hands. “I guess I like this book.”

“Why do we have such a long time for this?” Swift asked.

“Because she probably has big plans for what we’re doing.” Rivet looked up to Luna. “It must have slipped her mind to tell us the whole thing.”

“She’ll tell us soon. She just doesn’t want us panicking about it.” Clyde shook his head.

“Either that, or she’s too focused on the hangover.” Swift whispered. “Poor Luna.”

Clyde and Rivet chuckled.

The three of them returned to their books, and Rivet took out a notebook. For the time he had been reading, Rivet had started a reading log. He had written down important parts and notes about certain scenes in the book that may be important during the write up at the end. Rivet already had a lot written down for what he had read.

Rivet, Clyde and Swift sat around the lunch table, enjoying their food and talking about various topics that came to mind. Rivet did not follow Basketball, but Clyde and Swift seemed to, so Rivet was slowly beginning to understand who was on whose favourite team, and different statistics. When the subject changed to something Rivet could talk about, he would. They would have discussions, arguments, and eventually come to a conclusion before moving on.

“That’s the first time I’ve ever seen VP Luna like that. I wonder what’s up.” Rivet said in a concerned tone. “I hope everything’s alright.”

Swift laughed. “Yeah. I’m sure everything’s fine. Yesterday was a staff birthday party.”

“How do you know that?”

“The Party Planning Committee, which I’m currently on, is in charge of organizing events at the school. Even though we weren’t in charge of this one, we helped arrange that the cake was brought to the the right place. It’s only realistic that they had a party after school too, whoever's party it was.”

“Did someone say party?” A girly voice giggled from behind Rivet. Suddenly, First Light jumped onto the bench of the table next to Rivet. “I’m good with parties.”

“Light?” Rivet looked all around himself. “Where did you come from?”

“Hm…” First Light put a finger to her lips. “I don’t know. I was just with my friends, and then I saw you over here and thought I would say hi.”

“Hello, Rivet’s sister.” Swift joked, seeing as he knew her name.

“Hi, Swift.” She waved at him, then turned to Clyde. “Hi, Clyde.”

“I’m surprised that you know me.” Clyde said.

“Rivet talks about you guys.” She shrugged.

“Aw, Rivet,” Swift said sarcastically, “I didn’t know you cared.”

Rivet turned his head for just a moment, only to catch a glimpse of Rainbow Dash out of the corner of his eye. His gaze stayed for a moment, which was just long enough for First Light.

“Whatcha looking at?” She brought her face close to his and tried to find out where he was looking.

“Nothing.” Rivet snapped his head back forward.

“Was it that table full of colourful girls?” She nudged him.

“No…” Rivet blushed slightly.

“Uh huh.” First Light wasn’t buying it. “Which girl?”

“None of them.” Rivet lied.

“Is it the one with the straight pink hair?” She looked back to Rivet. “She’s kinda like you, shy and stuff.”

“No.” Rivet said seriously.

“The one with the purple hair?” She asked. “She looks nice.”

“She’s my Boo.” Clyde raised his hand defensively.

“Okay, so that’s a no.” First Light shook her head. “What about the… The one with the rainbow hair?”

Rivet blushed madly, but said absolutely nothing.

“It is!” She smiled broadly, giggling. Her face suddenly went straight. “Wait… How long?”

“A long time.” Clyde raised his eyebrows.

“And now…” First Light did the math in her head, made it very apparent by the look on her face. “I have rainbow hair. Oh my gosh!” She looked at Rivet, a look of surprise on her face. “This must be so awkward for you!”

“Not as much as you would think.” Rivet muttered, continuing to blush. “But it was surprising.”

“Well, does she know that you have a massive crush on her?” First Light put a hand on his shoulder.

“No.” Rivet’s eyes went wide and he blushed even more.

“I know! I’ll make up the awkwardness by telling her how you feel!” She stood up.

“What!?” Rivet gasped. “No!”

First Light gave him an assuring glance before moving further towards the girls’ table. Rivet looked breathlessly at Clyde and Swift who had the same blank expression Rivet had.

“Light!” Rivet called hoarsely.

“Stop her!” Swift called out.

The three of them stood up quickly, going after First Light. When she saw them behind her, she smiled coyly and sped up her pace. Just before she arrived at the table, Rivet and Swift charged over, tackling her and dragging her behind the wall in the middle of the cafeteria, away from the table.

When the commotion caught the attention of the girls’ table, Clyde leaned nonchalantly against the wall, acting as if nothing had happened.

“Clyde?” Rarity asked. “What was that noise?”

“What noise?” Clyde asked innocently.

“There was a girl. And then a whomping noise.” Rarity replied. The others at the table nodded in agreement.

“Girl?” Clyde asked smoothly. “You’re the only girl I pay attention to.”

“Oh, Clyde.” Rarity giggled, putting a hand over her face to cover her blush.

Clyde dropped her a casual wink before disappearing behind the wall. The girls at the table stared in blank confusion, while Rarity continued to giggle.

Behind the wall, Rivet pointed a finger at the giggling First Light. “Don’t do that,” Rivet panted. “You scared the crap out of me.”

“You should have seen your face.” She snorted in her giggling. “But you have to tell her some time!”

“It doesn’t have to be now.” Rivet groaned. “I’m not ready. I can’t do relationships.”

“But relationships make things easier.” She smiled tenderly. “Maybe you could use one.”

“Light…” Rivet rubbed his face. “Just promise me that you won’t talk to anyone on the other side of this wall about it until I do, please?”

“Okay, Rivet…” She faked a pout.

“Now, let’s just get through lunch, okay?” Rivet asked.

“Okay. I won’t let anyone know your little secret.” First Light giggled. “I’m gonna go find Scootaloo!” She jumped up and waved at them as she bounced away.”

“That was way too close.” Swift sighed as he sat down next to Rivet against the wall.

“Tell me about it.” Rivet shook his head.

Clyde sat down on Rivet’s other side. “That could have gone worse.”

“But it could have gone better too.” Rivet groaned.

It was the first day of December, now. In the weeks past, Rivet had tried to get up the courage to tell Rainbow Dash how he felt, or at the very least talk to her. But, he could not bring himself to talk to her, the idea of even having a relationship still looming in the back of his head. First Light had kept her promise to not tell anyone Rivet’s secret. The only thing that had changed was the weather.

The cold snow crunched underfoot, and Rivet turned his collar up against the chilly wind. The nights had grown longer and colder, only the light of the streetlamps showed the way. His foot faltered for a moment on the sidewalk, it only took one missed step. His other foot slid out from under him, and he fell flat into the snow, his shoulder hitting hard against the pavement and a sheet of ice shattering up into his face.

Before anything else, Rivet rolled onto his back, groaning at his sore shoulder. The hood of the hoodie he wore under his signature jacket filled with snow as he tenderly felt his shoulder for any injuries. Assured that there would be a bruise in the morning, Rivet worked his way back to a standing position, wary of where he placed his feet.

He continued the rest of the way to his location, the High School. The sun had set, but he was going for a completely different reason. For the days before, Clyde and Swift had suggested that he come out to the first basketball game of the school season. “You might enjoy yourself,” they had said. Either way, it was a good way for him to get away from the insanity of his project.

When he stepped inside the slightly warmer interior of the school, Rivet brushed himself off. He could already hear the commotion from the Gymnasium where the game would be under way in just a few minutes. He flipped his hood around to make it comfortable, only to get snow rolling down his back. He groaned in discomfort and headed towards the source of all the noise.

Coming into the Gymnasium, the noise hit him like a wave. There were excited voices, annoyed voices, and just idle chatter before the game began. Rivet had no idea what he was supposed to do, or where he was supposed to go. Looking around, he hoped he would find a spot where students were supposed to go.

“Hey, Rivet!” He heard a voice call over to him. When he looked over, he saw Swift standing on the sidelines.

“Swift?” Rivet asked, “shouldn’t you be getting ready?”

“I’m all set, I’m just getting a breath full of not-locker-room-air before the game.” Swift looked directly at Rivet as he came closer. “What happened to your face?”

“My face?” Rivet raised an eyebrow. “What’s wrong with it.” He raised a hand and ran it across his cheeks. When he looked at it, he saw a bit of blood on his hand from his face. “How bad does it look?”

“Not too bad.” Swift squinted at it. “Not stitches worthy, but enough to draw blood. Only a few little cuts. What happened?”

“Must have been when I fell on the ice.” Rivet said, repeatedly touching his face to find the exact place of the cut. “Oh well.” He then looked over at the locker room door. “Who’s the big, sweaty guy going into the locker room? He looks angry.”

“Coach!?” Swift turned to look. “Oh, crap. I gotta go. See ya, Rivet!”

“Good luck out there.” Rivet called after him before finding a seat in the bleachers.

Music began to play over the loudspeakers and the lights dimmed as the Canterlot team rushed out of the locker room. The crowd cheered even louder than before. Even though sports weren’t Rivet’s thing, he still cheered and clapped along with the rest of the crowd.

He noticed something odd about the team. Among the usual giants and sporty types, there was one guy who was shorter than the rest. He ran out and high fived one of the big guys who was dribbling the ball, and gave another guy a punch in the arm. For a little guy, he sure had a presence. He had pretty long hair which was tucked into the back of his shirt, but the colour was indistinguishable.

The guy had the ball passed to him, and he took it down the court at what seemed like the speed of sound, jumped high in the air, and tossed it into the basket, his hair flying out of the back of his shirt as he landed. When he turned, that’s when Rivet realized it.

He wasn’t a he at all. He, in fact, was a she.

Rainbow Dash waved out at the screaming crowds, sporting a winning smile as she ran back to the rest of the team.

“So…” Rivet chuckled to himself. “I guess she made the team.”

As the game began, Rivet forgot all about who was on the team, focusing on the game as a whole. Whenever Clyde, Swift, and especially Rainbow Dash got the ball, Rivet would watch with increased interest. When the buzzers sounded as a basket was scored, Rivet cheered just as loudly as the rest of the crowd.

Their training obviously paid off, because at the end of the game, Canterlot had taken the other team by storm. The crowd gave a standing ovation to the victorious Canterlot team charged into the locker room, waving at the the standing audience. Rainbow Dash did not follow the team, instead breaking off to go to the women’s change room. She was smiling all the way, but seemed so alone, broken off from the team.

Rivet shook his head, assuring himself he was just fooling himself. When the room began to empty, Rivet stayed where he was, deciding not to fight the flow of traffic to get out. It would be much easier to get out when everyone had gone, he thought. It was sufficiently clear in minutes, so Rivet left out of his seat on the bleachers. He was just on his way down the hall away from the Gymnasium when he heard a voice behind him.

“Hey, Riv!”

Rivet turned to see Clyde and Swift coming towards him, gym bags tossed over one shoulder. “Hey, guys.”

“I didn’t see you out there,” Clyde shook his head, “where were you sitting?”

“Near the top of the bleachers.” Rivet nodded.

“What did you think?” Swift asked.

“I can’t believe that call! The ref was totally out of line!” Rivet shook his head.

“But… We won.” Clyde looked at him, confused.

“The call was still bogus.” Rivet chuckled.

“We still won.” Swift grinned.

“I know.” Rivet laughed. “You guys must not watch hockey.” They shared a laugh before turning towards the exit. “So, how did you feel about your first game?”

Clyde furrowed his brow. “It’s a lot different than pick-up games, but it’s way more fun, too.”

“I second that.” Swift nodded.

The three of them stepped through the doors into the parking lot, where Clyde had parked. Swift faltered on a patch of ice in front of the door, but regained his composure like a proud cat. Clyde tossed his bag in the trunk of the car, let Swift do the same, and headed back towards the driver’s door. Swift closed the trunk and hopped in the passenger’s side door.

Rivet had just turned up his collar and stepped onto the sidewalk when Clyde called after him, “You want a lift? I’m taking Swift home.”

“Nah, I’ll be fine.” Rivet shook his head, moving down the sidewalk with the same caution as before.

“Alright! See you later, Riv!” The called as the door slammed and the engine started.

He began his slow trek home, but as he turned the corner, the front door of the school opened up, and Rainbow Dash stepped out in front of him. When she saw a person where she thought none would be, she did a double take in surprise, causing her to slip on the just outside the door and fall on her backside.

“Are you okay?” Rivet asked, stepping closer and offering his hand to help her up.

“I’m fine.” Rainbow Dash rubbed her back, groaning slightly.

“You don’t look it.” Rivet knelt down next to her. “How bad does it hurt?”

Rainbow Dash leaned back, her eyes squinted in pain, trying not to let it show. “The cold ground helps.”

“Let’s get you on your feet.” He stood up and moved around behind her. “May I?”

“Knock yourself out.” She raised her arms.

Rivet put a hand under each armpit and gave her a helping lift to her feet. She winced as she straightened her legs out to support herself. She looked over her shoulder at him, letting him know he could let her go now. He pulled his hands out from under her arms, blushing a little.

“Thanks.” She looked down, blushing too.

“What are you embarrassed about?” Rivet asked, nervously chuckling. “You’re on, like, every sports team, aren’t you? A little fall is nothing.”

“It’s still embarrassing.” Rainbow Dash huffed. “Plus, I don’t like depending on people. I don’t need help.”

“You may not need it,” He looked down, “but it’s nice to have it.”

She started limping towards the sidewalk, Rivet came up beside her.

“You don’t have to protect me, you know.” She grumbled, trying to fight the limp.

“I’m not.” Rivet shook his head. “This is the way I have to go anyway.”

Rainbow Dash looked over at him. “Really?”

“Yeah.” He nodded, then noticed her gym bag. “Would you like me to carry that for you?”

“No, I’ve got it.” She shook her head, then slipped on a patch of ice, Rivet reached out to stop her fall out of reflex. When he realized what he had done, he blushed again, stepping back. “Maybe you could take it.” She nervously chuckled, smiling over at him.

Rivet returned the warm smile and received her bag.

They walked for a short while in silence before Rivet got up the courage to ask her a question. “Why did you leave later than everyone else?”

“What do you mean?” She asked, pretending not to know what he meant.

“You left after all of the fans had gone, and most of the team, too.” He looked over at her. “Why is that?”

Rainbow turned away from him. “It’s… It’s nothing.”

“Sorry, I don’t want to pry.” Rivet shook his head.

“No, it’s no problem.” Rainbow looked at him, her eyes wide. “It’s just… a little embarrassing. And I don’t even know you, actually.”

“Sorry, where are my manners.” Rivet chuckled. “I’m Rivet. I don’t know if you remember me from-”

“I remember.” She nodded. “I’m Rainbow Dash, you may remember me from the basketball game we just won.” She did a quick fist pump.

“I remember.” He grinned. A little awkward silence fell before Rivet spoke again. “How are those Daring Do books?”

She looked sideways at him. “Fine.” She grumbled.

“I’m not mocking you.” Rivet apologized. “I’m reading the third one right now.”

“Number four’s where it’s at.” Rainbow smirked before putting a hand over her mouth. “Tell no one.”

“My lips are sealed.” Rivet raised the hand that was not carrying her gym bag. “I can’t actually find number four.”

Rainbow took a deep breath and let it out before replying. “Have you checked the used bookstore?”

“Yeah. They didn’t have it last time.” He said.

“It might come in soon.” She added.

“Well, I have to finish the third for my English assignment.” Rivet groaned. “But, at least it’s going alright.”

“Who’s class are you in?”

“VP Luna’s.”

“Oh boy. The Hammer came down.” She giggled a little.

“Yeah.” Rivet shared her laugh.

When she finished laughing, Rainbow Dash became serious. “Did you know I was on the team?”

“No, I came out for Swift and Clyde.” Rivet stated. “I had no idea you joined the boys’ team.”

“Okay.” Rainbow seemed to relax.

“Why?”

“It’s…”

“Private?”

“Well…” Rainbow sighed.

“It’s okay.” Rivet smiled. “That’s your business. You only tell me if you want to.”

“Thanks.” She smiled back.

They finally came to the area where they would have to part ways. Rainbow Dash looked at Rivet and took her bag. The cool wind blew her hair in all directions, creating a sea of colours mixing together.

“Hey, Rivet?” She asked. For some reason, her saying his name made his heart race in his chest.

“Yes, Rainbow?” He looked back over at her.

“This is the second time you’ve helped me carry something home.” Rainbow scratched the back of her head, laying her hair back down. “I wasn’t very polite, I guess… So I just wanted to say ‘sorry’ if I came off as rude.”

“No problem.” Rivet shook his head.

“And I wanted to say thanks again.” She looked down at her bag and rubbed her back. “You really helped.”

“Just get home and rest. I don’t want a little fall to keep a player like you off the court.”

“That I can do.” Rainbow smiled competitively. “Nothing keeps me off the court.”

The two of them headed in opposite directions before Rainbow called to him again.

“Hey!”

“What is it?” Rivet turned back again.

“Are you the guy who always plays guitar on the last period?”

Rivet blushed. “Yes, that’s me.”

“It sounds good.” She grinned, shooting him a thumbs up. “Keep up the good work.”

Rivet stared in shock as she turned around and limped back down the street. His mouth hung open for a moment, before he chuckled to himself and headed back home, a spring in his step, which caused him to slip on ice more than he would have liked to admit.

'Tis The Season

Rivet pulled out his cell phone, partially to check the time, and to check whether or not anyone had replied or sent him a text message in the past few minutes. When he saw nothing had changed since the last time, he slid the phone back into the pocket of his jeans. It was understandable, though. With all of the decorations to be hung, and the gatherings to prepare for, he was not surprised that they were not too keen to chatting.

Swift seemed to respond with relative frequency, whenever he got the chance, Rivet assumed. But Clyde had stopped texting him altogether. Rivet just assumed he was busy with the holidays, he had heard Clyde’s brother was coming home around that time.

Now Rivet’s room was cleared of moving boxes, and all of his things were in their rightful place. The usual teenaged clutters kept his floor in constant need of tidying. He reached for the doorknob, opened his door and stepped into the hall. Down on the ground floor, he could hear speakers playing some old Christmas music on a CD he had gotten years ago. It was one of the only bits of Christmas music they had, so Rivet had come to equating the low, bassy voice of the man singing with Christmas time.

He stepped off the landing and headed into the kitchen, which had become the usual gathering place for he and his family.

“Good morning, Rivet.” His mother greeted him. “I wasn’t expecting you to be up and dressed so early.”

“It’s almost eleven.” Rivet stated, looking at his watch.

“It’s a holiday.” She looked back at him. “Even Light’s not awake yet. Your dad actually slept in for once.”

“So, what are our plans?” Rivet asked, stealing a glance at the calendar on the wall for any indications.

“Same as usual.” She smiled. “Nothing all day, with Christmas dinner tonight with the whole family together.”

“I can’t wait,” Rivet said, though his voice did not show as much enthusiasm. He took a cup out of the cupboard and poured a coffee for himself. “Where is dad, by the way?”

“He’s around here somewhere.” His mother took a quick look around herself.

Suddenly, Rivet heard a noise from the garage, like a steel rod being dropped on concrete. Rivet grinned. “I guess that’s him.”

“Probably.” His mother nodded.

Rivet headed towards the garage, sipping his coffee delightedly. The door opened to the sound of tools clicking and tapping on metal. Scents of gasoline, oil, and other mechanical fluids drifted through the air. Rivet saw the family car hoisted up on a couple of jacks, with his dad peering underneath. Instead of his usual uniform, his father wore jeans and a light t-shirt.

“Hey dad.” Rivet called.

“Hey, bud,” his dad answered.

“What are you working on?” he leaned over to get a look.

His father rolled out from under the car and looked over at Rivet. “Well, it’s my first day off, so I thought I might as well get some of the house work done. In this case, I thought I would check and refill the fluids. I’m just about done, though.”

“Anything I can do to help?” Rivet asked, trying to get a look at what his father was doing.

His father scrunched his nose. “Nothing really comes to mind. Like I said, I’m almost done here.”

“Are you sure?”

“Well, you could hand me the bag of rags over there, I need to clean some of this crap off.” He looked at his hands.

“Sure.” Rivet tossed him the bag. “Anything else I can do?”

“I’m not comfortable with more than one pair of hands under here. At least if it’s just me, there’s someone to call an ambulance.” He grinned coyly.

Rivet chuckled. “I guess.”

“One of these days, I’ll show you how it’s done, sound good?”

“Sure.”

“In the mean time, I think I’m just about…” He finished up, wiped his hands off and slid back out from under the car. “Done. Can you help me get if off the jacks?”

Rivet and his father got the car down and headed back into the kitchen. Rivet was happy he could help his father, even if it was a small part. He never really got to spend time with his dad, but when he did, he loved to make the most of it. The little things really made a difference.

He sat back on his bed, the smell of Christmas dinner wafting into his room. The mixtures of scents caused his stomach to growl. Normally, he would grab a snack, but he wanted to save his appetite for the meal his mother and father were working so hard on.

Pulling out his phone, Rivet checked if any of his friends had responded to his previous messages. When he had entered his password, he noticed that Swift had replied to his message, but Clyde had not.

He tapped into the messenger to Clyde, “Is everything alright?” and sent it.

Then he clicked over to Swift’s message. He replied to Swift’s greeting and began a small conversation with him.

Swift had replied, “Hey.”

Rivet then responded, “How’s your Christmas Eve?”

“It’s been good. My family’s all together. You?”

“It’s the same over here. Have you heard from Clyde?”

“Not really. He hasn’t really said anything to me since the game. Any ideas what’s wrong?”

“It’s the same, do you think we should call?”

“I don’t know. If he’s not replying to messages, why would he pick up the phone?”

“I suppose…”

“Maybe he’s with family.”

“He might be. Maybe I can try calling him tomorrow.”

“Good call.”

“Well, I’d better let you go. Dinner will be ready any minute I’m sure.”

“Alright. Talk to ya later.”

“Bye.”

Rivet slid his phone back into his pocket and stood up. He took a deep breath, filling his nose with the scent of dinner. Cracking his back, he stepped towards the door, only to be stopped by a knock as he was opening it.

“Rivet?” First Light asked in a shy voice.

“What’s up?” Rivet opened the door.

“I wanted to tell you to get stuffed.” She said timidly.

“Pardon?” Rivet was taken aback.

She messed with her hair. “I mean… The stuffing is ready.”

“Oh, thanks, Light.” He grinned, patting her on the head.

“My words are like soup in my brain! They’re all there, but I keep messing up the order…” She pouted.

“You’ll figure it out eventually.” Rivet assured her.

“So, yeah… Dinner’s ready.” She smiled. “Doesn’t it smell great!”

“I’ve been waiting to eat for hours,” Rivet chuckled, “I hope it tastes as good as it smells.”

Rivet opened the door fully and followed his sister down to the kitchen. The whole family gathered down for the meal, and Rivet could not help but feel a little sad mixed into the joy of the gathering and celebration. He knew he should feel happy, but seeing everyone together was melancholy. The idea that it took a day where no one had to work, only one day, to get them all seated together for a meal was depressing.

If he could have had his way, dinner would always be the time when the whole family could come together. For his family, dinner was the only time where they were almost forced to talk to each other. Even though his sister could talk an ear off, he was fine with the pressure being off of him to speak, and he could listen to how someone else’s day went. Whenever his father could join them for meals, Rivet always loved to hear how his day went. For some reason, his father’s stories were always Rivet’s favourite.

It was all going just fine, until First Light brought up something she had heard at school.

“Mum? Dad?” She asked, reverting to a timid stance.

“What’s up?” They asked.

“I was invited to a party on New Years, can I go?”

All eyes turned to their father, who put down his fork and knife. “What kind of party?”

“A New Years party.” She said, not quite understanding the question.

“Where?” He asked.

“At this guy’s house.” She shrugged.

“What’s his name?”

“Tyrone, I think…” She bit her lip, trying to answer with satisfactory answers was hard for her when she was not quite sure of them herself.

“What will it be like?”

“I dunno. I’ve never been to one of these before.”

“Rivet.” Father turned to Rivet. “Do you know anything about this?”

“Not really. I know a couple of people who will be there.”

“Any problems I should know about?”

“No, the guys I know are pretty good guys.” Rivet shook his head.

Turning back to First Light, their father continued. “I hope there won’t be any alcohol.”

“I don’t think there will be.” First Light shook her head as if the idea was insane.

“Well, your mother and I are going to be at the annual Officer’s Gala that night. Rivet, is there anywhere you need to go that night?”

Rivet shook his head. “No, I think I can hold things down here.”

“If anything goes wrong,” their father said sternly, “be sure to let us know ASAP, okay?”

“Yes, dad.” She nodded, grinning.

“I hope you have fun.” He smiled back.

“Thank you daddy!” She squealed.

“Now that all of that is out of the way,” their father cleared his voice, “Who can help me clear the table for some dessert, eh?”

First Light whooped.

“Sure.” Rivet stood up and took the empty plates from First Light after he was sure she was done, and following his father, who had his mother’s plate, to the kitchen.

When all was said and done, Rivet returned to his room, the sun had long since set in the distance, and the deep voice from the CD was still cheerily singing through the house. He let his door glide shut behind him, just barely tapping the door frame. Rivet pulled his guitar towards him, laying it across his lap. He considered playing, but he could still hear the music from below, so decided against it. Instead, he lay back on his bed and listened intently.

It all seemed to come together. The music and the voice complimented each other in a way that you could feel the intentions and emotions. The words said one thing, and the music emphasized the feeling, or said something completely different. It could be said that those moments defined the word ‘bittersweet.’

He closed his eyes while listening to the music, allowing memories and ideas to drift in and out of his mind. Memories of Christmases past. Soon, these memories became close, and vivid. The memories themselves began to fill Rivet’s dreams as he slowly drifted off.

Eventually, New Years Eve arrived, and it seemed as if everyone except for Rivet had somewhere important to be. First Light and their mother were upstairs preparing for their various engagements, while Rivet and their father were in the kitchen, waiting for the other two.

“You’re sure you’ll be okay here by yourself?” His father asked, his well shined boots clicking across the floor of the kitchen to the window, using it as a mirror. He straightened his bow tie and tugged at his lapels to flatten the front of his tunic. As one hand adjusted the belt around his waist, he nervously combed the other through his dark hair. “Positive?”

“Yeah.” Rivet assured him. “What are you so nervous for?”

“I always get this way with this stuff. It’s how I am.” He peered down at his watch. “I hope your mother is ready to go soon. I want to be there early enough to get seated before the room fills up.”

“So, you’re worried about being late to being early?” Rivet chuckled.

“That,” his father agreed, “is exactly it.”

Finally, his mother emerged from the upper floor, wearing a bright red dress and silver necklace Rivet’s father had given her as an anniversary gift several years before. Her high heels tapped onto the hard tile floor as she approached her husband and pecked him on the cheek.

“Ready to go?” she smiled as she stepped back.

“You look wonderful tonight.” He sighed in wonder.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” She turned to Rivet. “Are you all set for tonight?”

“Sure am.” Rivet nodded.

“Remember to keep a light on for us, thought we might come in a bit late.”

“Sure thing.”

She turned back to the stairs and called up, “Goodbye, Light.”

The muffled voice of First Light echoed down the hall, “bye mom! Bye dad!”

“See ya later.” Their father called as well.

The two of them closed the front door quietly as they exited the house. Rivet waited to hear the car pull away before retreating to the living room to lie back on the couch. He rolled onto his side and stared at the wall until he heard footsteps on the staircase. First Light entered the room wearing skinny jeans and a light t-shirt. Her hair was in the same fashion it always was.

“So, I’ll be headed to the party soon.” She smiled.

“I hope you have fun.” Rivet nodded. “Do you need me to give you a lift over? Or back?”

“Nope.” First Light shook her head. “I have some friends coming by to pick me up and drop me back off.”

“You sure?”

“They’ll be here any minute now!” She giggled, obvious excitement weighing on her voice.

“Okay.” He smiled back. “Remember what dad said.”

“I promise.”

A light drifted across the wall behind the two of them. First Light perked up and threw her shoes on as fast as she could.

“Okay, I’ll see you after! Bye!” She called as she barreled out the door, slamming it behind herself.

“Bye.” Rivet called, semi-sarcastically.

He laid back further on the couch, staring up at the ceiling. Since his parents always told him to stay on the ground floor when he was home alone, he quickly snuck upstairs to grab his guitar before coming back down. Rivet sat with his back against the wall, giving himself a view of the road. With no particular reason to play, he strummed random chords which seemed to flow together after a while.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. He moved to his book bag and checked the contents for his book. When he found it, he leafed through the pages and realized how close he was to the end. With that in mind, he looked at his notes, which were full of symbols and meanings he could use in class and for his assignment. Happily, he slid the book away into his bag and flicked on the television to a New Years comedy show.

During commercial breaks, Rivet would play guitar until the show came back. It may not have been his dream of a perfect New Years Eve, but at least he was enjoying himself. The comedians were funny, sometimes for being clever, and other times for being crass. Since he was alone, Rivet did not care what the comedy was, he laughed at all kinds. The lights of passing cars spread across the wall behind him at random times throughout the night.

As midnight approached, Rivet turned to a channel where he could watch the ball drop. The numbers counted down from thirty on the screen. When it fell to zero, Rivet let out a sarcastic ‘yay’ and turned off the television, just as two celebrities with too much makeup started talking about what it meant to them. He groaned and leaned back against the wall, letting his eyes fall closed for a moment. At least, he thought it was a moment. In fact, he fell asleep in that short moment.

Rivet awoke to the sound of the front door opening and banging shut behind someone. The sounds of giggling echoed through the hall. First Light was heard kicking her shoes off and twirled into the room, her hair a complete mess. She was smiling from ear to ear as she spun around once more and sat on the couch.

“Have fun?” Rivet yawned, causing First Light to jump in surprise.

She turned to look at him. “Yes I did!”

“How’d it go?”

First Light sighed dreamily. “It was amazing. I met this guy from the basketball team, and he asked me out!”

“Oh yeah?” Rivet rubbed his eyes. “Who was that?”

“Tyrone. The guy running the party. He was really nice and fun and cool and he rode me home and it was awesome.”

“Wait! What?” Rivet shook his head.

First Light started messing with her hair frantically. “I mean-” she giggled, “he gave me a ride home.”

“Oh, okay.” Rivet relaxed. “You ate there, right? Or would you like me to reheat something for you?”

“No, it was great.” She smiled. “I got a mouthful of meat from Tyrone.”

“What!?” Rivet’s panic returned.

“At the party!” Her face fell with the realization of what she had said. “He ordered a bunch of chicken and stuff! There was a bunch! That’s what I meant!” She buried her face in her hands. “I’m a mess…” She messed with her hair again.

“You’re a lot more nervous than normal.” Rivet said.

“I think…” She giggled loudly, standing up and twirling. “I think I might be…” She giggled again, messing with her hair.

“You like him, huh?” Rivet smiled. “Is he a good guy?”

“He’s super nice! And he’s cute.” She said the last sentence more quietly, her face turning red. “He even helped me clean my hair when he busted a nut on me.”

“What!?” Rivet’s panic was vividly apparent.

First Light blushed madly. “He had a bag of mixed nuts in the car! Oh my gosh! We hit a bump when he was offering me the bag and shells and nuts got all through my hair! Oh my gosh…” She buried her face again. “My tongue is so tied…”

“It’s okay.” Rivet smiled, trying to reassure her. He stood up and gave her a pat on the head. “Did you have fun?”

“Yes.” She shyly looked up at him.

“Good.” Rivet yawned again. “I think now is a good time to go to bed. I’ll stay here and wait for mum and dad.”

“Can I stay up too?” She pleaded, pouting.

“Will you be able to talk to them when they get home without your tongue twisting?”

She thought for a moment. “Of will I course.” Then she thought again. “Nope. Goodnight, Riv.”

“Goodnight, Lighty.” He patted her on the back as she headed towards the stairs, all the while giggling and twirling around.

Rivet returned to the couch and waited for their parents to return from the Gala. The room returned to its quiet state, other than giggling and and squeeing from First Light upstairs.

Some 'New' Friends

“Welcome back, students and faculty of Canterlot High!” Principal Celestia called over the announcements. “I hope you all had a good Christmas and New Years, and I hope you are all ready to get back to work. This is going to be a good start to a new year, I can simply feel it. Now, for the first Period University Prep English class, I would like you to know that your teacher has extended her leave for a while longer. Therefore, Vice Principal Luna will continue to be your teacher. Again, welcome back. Enjoy the rest of your semester.”

“Well, you heard it.” Luna muttered. “I guess I’m here with you for a while longer.” She put a hand to her forehead. “Now, you are free to read your books, and I hope that you are ready to write up your reports soon. There is an updated rubric up here on the desk, please grab one each.”

After each student had gotten one and each student had returned to their place, Rivet turned to Clyde and Swift. “How were your vacations?”

“Good. We had a pretty normal Christmas, and I was at that New Years party.” Swift nodded.

Clyde looked up. “I was there too.”

“Hey, Clyde.” Swift asked. “Were you busy over the break? Because before the party, me and Rivet couldn’t get in touch with you.”

“You know,” Clyde shrugged, “I was a bit busy. There was stuff going on. But it’s all good now.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah.”

“Good.” Rivet nodded.

The class turned to their books. By the end of the class, Rivet had made it to the end of the book. When the final page was passed, and the story had drawn to a close, Rivet slid the book shut and turned to his notes. Most of his points on meaning and symbols were sound and warranted, now it was up to him to determine which ones he could use in his essay.

At lunch, Clyde called Rivet away from the table for a moment, meanwhile Swift was at the Party Planning Committee meeting. The dull roar of the cafeteria was given new life with the buzz of people discussing their various vacations. The room was full of bright colours, as it always was. The Christmas colours had been taken down, and the walls seemed bare without it.

“What’s up?” Rivet asked.

“I just wanted to introduce you to some friends of mine, since we’ve been hanging out for a few months now.” Clyde replied.

Rivet looked around for anyone new. “Who’s that?”

“Just follow me.” Clyde smiled slyly.

Rivet did as he was told, and followed Clyde to a table. Clyde checked his phone and stuffed it back into his pocket. Then they made a U-turn back towards another table. This table had five girls sitting around it. Rarity was one of them, he recognized the rest from before, and then there was Rainbow Dash. Rivet’s eyes went wide and he stared at Clyde.

Clyde smiled again, putting an arm over his shoulder, almost forcing him to continue forward. Rivet made eye contact with Rarity for a second before she looked to Clyde and smiled.

“Hello, darling!” She smiled.

“Hello, Rarity.” Clyde said, then turned to the others at the table. “Hi girls.”

The group greeted him. When Rainbow Dash caught sight of Rivet, she blushed lightly and turned her eyes away. Rivet reacted the same way.

“Rarity, would you care to introduce your friends to Rivet?” Clyde elbowed Rivet.

“Certainly.” Rarity stood up. “Hello Rivet, I remember you play guitar.”

Rivet’s body language practically seethed with embarrassment.

Rarity went around the table, introducing her friends. When she finally came to Rainbow Dash, the two of them made eye contact and nodded politely at each other. Rarity invited them to have a seat. Clyde took the open seat next to Rarity, leaving only the spot where Pinkie Pie usually sat in, which was right next to Rainbow Dash.

“Have a seat, Rivet.” Clyde smiled coyly.

Rivet quietly sat next to Rainbow Dash, and neither of them made eye contact.

“Hey, Rivet,” Clyde asked, “aren’t you reading those Daring Do books?”

“Oh!” Rarity let out an exaggerated gasp. “Rainbow Dash reads those books. Don’t you, Rainbow?”

“Not so loud!” Rainbow Dash growled at Rarity.

“Oh, right.” Rarity giggled. “You don’t want people to think that you’re an ‘egg head,’ right?”

Rainbow Dash looked over at Rivet, blushed, and stared angrily at the floor. Rarity giggled, nudging Clyde. Rivet stole a quick glance over at Rainbow Dash, who continued staring down at the floor, her eyes scanning around.

“Oh, Rainbow, it’s all in good fun.” Rarity covered her mouth to stifle a giggle.

“Maybe I should go.” Rivet stood, feeling the same way Rainbow was, embarrassed and a little on the spot. He did his very best not to blush, but failed in his attempt. Turning up his collar to hide it, he took one step away before a voice stopped him.

“No. You can stay. It’s fine.”

He turned back with surprise at what, or rather who, he learned was the source. Rainbow Dash kept her head down, but sure enough had spoken. Rarity looked over at her with a bit of surprise on her face, Clyde’s face was more one of accomplishment. Sitting back down, Rivet looked back at Rainbow, who raised her head and looked down the table. She shook her head and brushed her hair back.

“I’m not stupid.” Rainbow growled at Rarity. “I can see what you’re trying to do.”

“Rainbow, dear,” Rarity sighed, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Sure.” Rainbow huffed.

Applejack spoke up, hoping to change the subject. “How was that New Years party?”

Rarity began giggling uncontrollably and pawing at Clyde. “Oh, me and Clyde shared our very first kiss at midnight.” She let out a dreamy sigh, laying her head against his shoulder. “It was like a page out of a romance book.”

“It was okay,” Rainbow Dash replied, “The food was good.”

“You were there?” Rivet asked, trying to loosen the tension between them.

“Of course I was.” She smiled determinedly. “I’m on the team, and a teammate threw a party, why wouldn’t I go?”

“Did you see my sister?”

“Who’s your sister?”

“She has rainbow hair, like yours.” Rivet pointed to her head, then shyly looked away.

“Oh, her!” Rainbow pointed a finger at him. “Yeah, she was there. She really hit it off with T.”

“Sounds like her,” Rivet chuckled.

Rainbow’s body language relaxed, and Rivet felt himself relax as well. He settled in and took a look around the table at the other girls.

When the bell finally rang, putting an end to the still awkward seating arrangement, they all stood up. Rivet headed towards his locker, but was stopped by a familiar voice.

“Hey.” Rivet turned to see Rainbow Dash.

“Y-yes?” Rivet suddenly became very nervous.

“Would you…” Rainbow thought over her words. “Would you like to come to another game? There’s one this weekend.”

“Yeah.” Rivet nodded, a bit quickly and excitedly. “That would be… Awesome.”

“Cool.” Rainbow gave him a thumbs up and walked off, leaving Rivet to go to his locker for his guitar.

Now his paces were less burdened somehow. He did consciously know why, but he felt more excited to go to the game than he did before. Some part of him knew it for sure, but he tried not to dwell on the idea. After all, ideas like those were not something he had wanted to think about. Or were they? His mind was conflicted on a simple, one syllable word.

Crush.

The buzzing of the crowd and the smell of the gymnasium were a basket of memories to Rivet. He had played in gym, but when it came to watching sports, it was an entirely different idea. The room seemed bigger somehow, and the game itself looked much more complex and chaotic from the audience.

Rivet slid into the bleachers and waited for the game to start, the droning of the crowd was the only sound he heard. Until a girl sat next to him.

“Hiya, Riv.” First Light poked him on the face. “Fancy meeting you here!”

“I told you I was coming.” Rivet replied, staring at her while not moving his head.

“I didn’t tell you I was coming, though. Surprise!” She giggled.

“Why?”

First Light tried to look serious. “Ah, don’t we all ask that question? Why are we here?”

“That’s not what I meant.”

She snickered. “But that’s why it’s funny!”

“It’s not.”

“That’s why!”

“Why what?” Rivet became confused.

“Why anything!” First Light called out, enjoying the randomness of the conversation, reaching up and messing with her hair.

Suddenly, the loud music cut off their talk before it had a chance to get any weirder. The team barreled out onto the court and started doing warm up drills while the crowd cheered. Their skill had improved since the last game, and they were able to perform like never before. Rainbow Dash was like a streak of greased lightning as she charged down the court, hurling the ball at a teammate who laid it up with ease.

He paid attention to Clyde, Swift and Rainbow Dash the most. He noted their specific roles in the game. Clyde was like a wall, unlike a few of the players who were built like them. Clyde made sure no balls got past him, and would get the ball out of his area as soon as he could. Mostly, though, he would pass the ball to a teammate who was open at the right place and time to score. Swift did his best to stay midway down the court so he could set himself or others up quickly. As for Rainbow Dash, she was everywhere. She scored baskets, assisted, blocked and passed. She made it all look so easy.

When Rivet turned to First Light, she was staring intently at one player in particular. He saw a strong, built boy who was quick, and agile. Rivet assumed that this was the Tyrone First Light had been talking about. She messed with her hair more and more whenever Tyrone got the ball, and surprisingly even more when he was surrounded by the other team’s defence. First Light would squeal whenever he scored, and whimper if he lost the ball. Rivet could tell she really had something for him, even if Light had never appeared as the type to get so worked up over a boy. What was he thinking? This was First Light! She would get worked up over everything! A boy was only the most obvious one!

The game ended in a victory for Canterlot. Like the game he had been to before, Rivet was nearly deafened by the noise of the cheering crowd as the buzzer sounded to end the game. First Light jumped up and squealed, her hair looking more like a clown’s pants had been thrown in a blender.

First Light watched the team run into the locker room and jumped from the bleachers to follow them. When she reached the door, she suddenly realized what would be in the room, and quietly waited outside. Rivet smiled to himself about her silly display before leaning back in his seat. He closed his eyes as the buzzing died down. He was far enough up that he would not impeded anyone’s exit, and he could wait for First Light to talk her lungs out to her “bae” as she had taken to calling Tyrone. Rivet had looked up the term on the internet, and only found negative connotations. However, it was a pet name, so he could let it slide.

When people started to leave the locker room, someone called First Light, telling her that everyone was decent for her to enter. She excitedly ran in, calling out for Tyrone. Rivet chuckled and kept his eyes closed, listening to the subtle sounds of the empty room. The quiet sounds of footsteps coming up the bleachers came to him, and his eyes fluttered for a moment, allowing him to see a streak of rainbow.

“I thought you were with Tyrone, Light.” Rivet said, eyes shut again. When no answer came, Rivet opened his eyes to see Rainbow Dash sitting in the bleachers a few feet away from him. “Sorry.” He sat straight, embarrassed at his mistake.

“It’s fine.” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “What did you think?”

Rivet looked over at her, his face a little red. “You were… Awesome.”

“Awesome?” Rainbow Dash smiled. “Sweet! What about the game?”

“You blew them away.” Rivet tried to smile back.

“Did we ever!” She laughed. “Hey, have you seen the team jackets?” She pulled at her windbreaker to display the blue jacket. Her number, twenty, was displayed on the left sleeve.

“It looks,” Rivet blushed at the idea of complimenting now, “good on you.”

She blushed slightly in response. Then she turned her head to look down at the court. “Oh, those two…”

Rivet followed her eyes to see Clyde and Rarity kissing in the middle of the basketball court.

“Get a room.” She said quietly, chuckling.

Rivet suppressed a laugh and looked over at Rainbow, who covered her mouth.

“Well…” Rainbow tried to act like she had meant for him to hear, “they should…”

“You’ve never done that?” Rivet asked, on the spur of the moment.

“Have you?” Rainbow shot back, making him blush.

“No. Not even in a more private area.”

“Me neither.” Rainbow punched him on the shoulder. “Get over it.”

“You?”

“What about me?”

“It’s just…” Rivet stammered, looking for words, “I thought since you were so popular… You wouldn’t have any problems with…”

“Boys?” Rainbow finished, looking towards the floor at the same time as Rivet. “Well… Everyone else thinks the same way…”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s just…” She sighed. “They all assume that, since I’m popular, and on sports, that I’m… Easy… When I say no to a guy who just wants to hook up and say “I dated Rainbow Dash” or a guy who just thinks I would make good arm candy, they assume I’m just stuck up… None of them know I read books, they think I’m just another female jock.”

“They never even ask?” Rivet stated it more that asked.

“Not one of them.” She shook her head. “It’s never, “hey, what do you do for fun?” It’s always, “hey, wanna come with me to this wild party?” or “wanna date a real man?” or whatever stupid pick up line comes to mind. I never really get a say. Once in a while, I get one who asks me what I like… But I don’t want to risk losing a friend.”

“But sometimes there’s more to gain.” Rivet recited.

“What?”

“Sometimes you have to risk it for something better. Maybe you don’t want to lose one thing, but you might have to for what’s more important.”

Rainbow Dash looked thoughtfully down, smiled and nodded. “You have a point. I’ll remember that.”

“No problem.” Rivet smiled, his cheeks still warm.

Suddenly, Rainbow Dash did a double take. “They’re still at it?” She looked down at the court.

“Do they ever breathe?” Rivet coughed, hiding a chuckle. Then he turned away from the couple in the court. “So, how are those Daring Do books?”

“Number four will blow you away.” Rainbow grinned.

“No spoilers!” Rivet warned her.

“No spoilers.” Rainbow agreed, raising her hands. Then she added teasingly, “but it will.”

“I’ll take your word for it. When I get the chance, I’ll read it.”

“Clyde says you were reading them for class.” Her eyes shifted slightly. “What’s it for?”

“I have to analyze a fictional work and provide an essay on specific examples of how symbolism affects the story.” Rivet recited from memory.

“Oh, then you picked the perfect book!” She grinned widely. “It’s full of that stuff.”

Rivet raised an eyebrow. “It’s not too hard to find it, eh? A lot easier than poetry.”

“Way easier.” Rainbow nodded. “These are practically made for analysis! The myths and legends are full of symbols, and the story itself is practically a mirror to some of the legends it talks about.” She blushed, still smiling sheepishly.

“I might need your help on this.” Rivet chuckled. “You seem to be the expert.”

“Not really. But I am a huge fan.” She smiled.

“Hey! How long have you been there?” Clyde called up to the two of them, a tad surprised.

“In his own world.” Rainbow whispered to herself, but just loud enough for Rivet to hear, then called back. “A few minutes before you two started.”

Rarity was visibly shocked, covering her mouth with a hand. Clyde looked over at her.

“Why didn’t you make any noise?” Clyde asked.

“We did.” Rivet shook his head. “We were talking the whole time. Don’t worry, we weren’t watching you or anything.”

Rarity giggled, half out of embarrassment, half out of actual humour at the situation. Clyde put an arm around her and walked to the door, ushering her through the door and following.

“Do you have a ride?” Rivet asked Rainbow.

She shrugged. “No. I walk everywhere. I like the fresh air.”

“Well, would you mind if I tagged along?” Rivet asked, his voice dropping into a shy whisper.

“No problem.” Rainbow Dash nodded, her face showing what Rivet felt.

“What about your sister?”

“She’ll probably be with us.”

Suddenly, Rivet’s pocket vibrated, and he pulled out his phone. He read a text he had received from First Light. “Bae’s giving me a lift. See you at home.”

“Well, that takes care of that.” Rivet sighed, slipping the phone away. “I guess it’s just us.”

Rainbow stood up and dusted herself off. “Then I guess we had better get going.”

“Sure.” Rivet agreed, following her down the bleachers and out the front doors of the school. Snow was still on the ground, but the temperature had warmed since December, and salt had been laid on sidewalks to melt the ice and excess snow. The sky was clear, the stars were in full view, and the moon was full and bright. Rivet’s ears were still ringing from the noise of the game, but the sound of his boot crunching in a small patch of snow seemed to blow the old noise away.

The two of them clicked across the sidewalk, still feeling a little nervous around each other, but the talk from before had given them the ability to feel a little less awkward around each other. Snowflakes shifting in the light breeze were made to look like mist under the streetlamps. Most of their conversation consisted of discussing the Daring Do books, however they did not talk much, and that was fine by them. The silence between them was less awkward as well, and they could handle it.

When they finally had to part ways, they said a quick goodnight, and Rivet headed for home. His spirits were high, and he felt as if he could keep smiling forever. He was excited to go back to the bookstore in the coming weeks to look for the book, and had even arranged to meet Rainbow there to look. She had said that she would look for some other Daring Do books at the same time.

The Clouds Burst

Rivet felt unnaturally nervous as he walked to the bookstore. The pavement was dampened by the slow and steady rain that bathed the city. The weather was irregular for the time, and seemed to contrast with the snow on the ground. The mix of old and new left a mix of slush and ice on the pavement, making walking a bit difficult at times. Rivet, however, knew which patches of ground to dodge by the look of them by now.

The store came into view just a few doors away from where he was, and his pace seemed to falter, his nerves kicking in more and more as he drew closer. Rivet had promised to meet up with Rainbow on this date and at this time. She had a way of making him feel a mixture of happy and anxious whenever they talked. Sometimes, he felt like First Light, tripping over his words at times.

The bell jingled as Rivet slid into the shop. He could see the shopkeeper behind the desk, sorting through more old books on the desk, a pile which seemed to never shrink. A small, blue hand waved over a stack of books at Rivet as he came in.

“Hey.” Rainbow Dash called.

“Hi.” Rivet practically whispered. Bookstores always had a way of keeping him quiet.

Rivet gave the shopkeeper a small wave before heading towards the shelf he saw the hand come from behind. Rainbow was kneeling behind it, looking intently at the shelf of Daring Do books in front of her.

“Anything new?” Rivet asked.

Rainbow shook her head. “Not yet. But right now I’m looking for number four.”

“That’s the one I’m looking for too.” Rivet knelt beside her.

“I know. Who do you think I’m looking for?” She smiled at him, causing them both to blush.

“I’ll help.” Rivet smiled back.

The two of them scanned the shelf, trying to find the desired volume. They were looking so intently that they did not hear the front door ring open and a pair of boots stomp into the room. The boots came to the counter and stopped. The shopkeeper came over to the newcomer and asked if there was anything he could help them look for. The only audible response was a shuffling of clothes and a light, metallic clicking noise.

“Hey!” The shopkeeper shouted. “I don’t want any trouble, okay?”

“Just empty out the register.” The newcomer, obviously a man, growled. “Now.”

“This is just a small bookstore. There isn’t much.”

“That’s bullshit. I know you’ve got cash in there. Now hand it over.”

Rivet keyed into what was going on as soon as the shopkeeper reacted, so he looked over to Rainbow Dash and put a finger to his lips. She attempted to catch a glimpse of what was going on, but Rivet grabbed her sleeve to keep her low. He had her shuffle in close to the shelf with him, and slide down as far away from the action as they could manage.

The store owner clicked a few buttons on the register, causing it to ding and open up. The rustling of cash, and the jingling of change was heard as he emptied out the till.

“That it?” The thief hissed.

“That’s all.”

“Is there a safe in the back?”

The pause left by the keeper was enough to set off the other man.

“Empty it!” He slammed his hands down on the desk, causing Rainbow Dash and Rivet to jolt in surprise. A book which had been perched on the edge of the shelf fell to the floor with a thud, and the room went eerily silent. The boots of the assailant stepped slowly over to the shelf. Rainbow Dash looked over to Rivet, then pressed her eyes shut. Rivet clenched both fists and closed his eyes as well. He hoped that this was a dream. He begged that it was a dream. But the boots drew nearer and nearer.

When they finally fell silent, Rivet dared to open his eyes. His eyes did not meet another pair, and he was certainly not at home in bed. Rivet’s eyes fell on the closest thing to his face, a metal tube with a spiraling groove cut into it. The tube was the barrel of a handgun, cocked with a bullet resting in the chamber. It was close enough to his face that he could see the bullet in detail.

“Up. You and your girlfriend.” He waved the gun to indicate Rainbow Dash.

Rivet reached over to her and helped Rainbow to her feet. His heart was pounding in his chest as the gun trained back on him.

“Empty your pockets. And no bullshit about no money. I know this place is cash only.”

Rivet reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. His hand shook as he pulled out what little cash he had on him and held it out. The man took it and stuffed it into his pocket, then turned the gun to Rainbow. Her eyes went wide at the sight of the weapon and she froze. Rivet wanted to say something. He needed to say something. But he could not think of anything at all.

“Are you stupid? Give me your damn money!”

Rainbow looked over at Rivet, and they shared a look of horror and panic.

“Leave them alone!” The shopkeeper shouted. “They’re just kids! I’ll get you the damned money.”

The man quickly changed directions and headed towards the desk, but paused. He swung a fist back at Rivet and hit him on the side of the head, knocking him to the floor. “Teach her to listen,” he growled before heading back to the desk.

Rainbow dropped back to her knees, taking a look at the side of Rivet’s head. “Are you okay?” she whispered.

“Mhmm.” Rivet mumbled, rubbing at his head and rolling onto his back. He sat up, Rainbow helping him and supporting him.

“Stay where you are!” The man shouted, pointing the gun back in their direction.

Rivet and Rainbow said nothing, but shuddered at the idea of the gun.

“Here!” The shopkeeper came back into the room and held out a tray of bills and coins. “That’s all of it.”

The thief pointed to a bag behind the counter and told the shopkeeper to put the money in it. The keeper did as he was told and stepped back. The thief pointed the gun back at Rivet and Rainbow and walked their way. He grabbed Rainbow by her hair and looked her in the eye.

“Never ignore me.” He stated, his voice callous. “Never.” Giving her hair enough of a pull to make her squirm, he dropped her back onto the floor and ran from the store.

The entire room went dead silent. A clock hanging on the wall was the only thing in the room daring enough to make any noise. Rivet’s breath was short, quick, and quivering. But his concern quickly fell on the girl who sat in a heap beside him. Her hair was tossed to one side, and her eyes were wide and distant. Rivet used his hands to slide over to her, sitting at an angle, facing her.

“R-Rainbow?” Rivet asked, hoarsely.

Her eyes slowly rolled upwards to meet his as he stared in sympathy at her. She closed her mouth which had been open in shock, swallowing despite the dryness of her mouth. They maintained eye contact, until Rivet’s shaking became more intense than before, and he looked down at his hands which were practically vibrating. When he looked up, Rainbow was still staring at him.

Rivet could feel his eyes burning, and the throbbing in the side of his head sounded like a drum. Tears fell from both eyes, streaming down his cheeks. He hated the feeling of helplessness he had experienced, and now he felt worthless for not doing anything. Sliding his hands across his face, he tried to stop the tears, pressing both hands firmly against his knees. He clenched his eyes shut, but only saw the barrel of that gun again. He needed something else, he needed something to change. Someone needed to do something. Someone needed to say something, anything.

Even with his eyes closed, Rivet could feel Rainbow’s heat as she leaned closer to him. She was leaning back now, changing her seated position, he assumed. In the background, he could hear the shopkeeper frantically dialing the police and telling them everything he could remember.

Suddenly, Rivet felt a pair of arms wrap around his neck, and a body lean against his. He opened his eyes momentarily to see Rainbow Dash was the one holding onto him. His arms wrapped around her as well, holding her gently as she began to shiver with light hiccups. Rivet closed his eyes again and laid his head on her shoulder.

Their embrace was one of pure comfort. They needed some sign of human gentleness, some sign of real human emotion, and the hug they shared encompassed that. It did not by far allow them to forget the terror they had just lived through, but it made it more bearable to know that someone knew how they felt. It made it better to know they knew how each other felt at that very moment. Rivet’s head was still pounding, but it could not have mattered less at that moment.

Too little, too late, the sirens of the city police force were heard in the distance, coming to help in a matter that had already physically ended, but would not end for the victims for much longer. Rainbow Dash and Rivet held tightly to each other, trying to keep some form of calmness in the chaos and fear.

As the adrenaline of the event bled away, Rivet regained control of his senses. Rainbow was still shaking, and Rivet could feel her heavy heartbeat against his shoulder. Her breath was slowing back to a regular pace, and her arms tightened around him. Rivet reacted the same way, pulling her close and raising a hand to the back of her head. She jolted at the touch to her head. Rivet understood and held his hand back from her to keep her comfortable. Rainbow immediately relaxed and leaned on him more, her hiccups all but gone now.

The phone was slammed down on the counter, and the shopkeeper called over. “You kids alright?”

Rainbow Dash hesitantly pulled her head off of Rivet’s shoulder and used a sleeve to wipe her eyes. She sat back and sniffed before nodding. Rivet wiped his own eyes, and noticed that the shoulder of his jacket was damp with Rainbow’s tears. He looked away from them, as if they were all of her secrets exposed to him.

When the police arrived, they processed them the way Rivet had expected. They were asked when the crime took place, what they had heard, what the criminal had done, what he looked like, and other pertinent questions. For the life of him, Rivet could not remember what the man looked like. All he could remember was the gun. It came to him in perfect detail.

The shopkeeper was the only one of them who remembered the man’s face. He did all he could to help the police, they all did. All they could do was hope it was enough. Rivet and Rainbow Dash’s parents were called, and arrived before the interviews were done.

Rivet’s mother and father ran to him, holding him close and giving him words of encouragement and comfort. Rivet kept his eyes on Rainbow, who was getting the same from her parents. The two of them had been through something difficult for both of them, and it seemed as if they were the only ones who could fully understand each other.

When Rivet and his parents arrived at home, First Light was sitting worriedly on the couch, watching them come to the door from the car. She ran to the door and wrapped her arms gently around Rivet’s neck and held him in the front hall for nearly a minute. She did not say anything, she did not do anything, she just held him.

When her arms slid off of him like rain drops, he looked at his parents, who offered comforting smiles, and he headed straight upstairs. Rivet closed the door behind him and sat in the corner of his room, with the wall on either side of him. He put an arm over each knee as he leaned his head back against the cool drywall.

The silence was too much for him to handle. All he could hear was the clatter of the shop, the shouting of the man, and the clicking of the gun. He needed something to get his mind off of the events of the day, so he pulled out his phone. Maybe a talk with his friends would offer him some normalcy.

There was, in fact, a text from Clyde. Rivet pulled up the message, which read, “Anything exciting and new going on?” It was from earlier, but Rivet had not seen it until now.

Rivet stared in awe at the message. No one would have heard about the robbery yet, let alone who was involved. The message was simple, yet Rivet could not help but see the bitter irony of the text. He had seemingly no control over his emotions at the moment, because he let his head roll back against the wall as he began laughing. It started as a light chuckle, but grew until he had his face buried in his hand with his cell phone in the other.

He turned the phone off and tossed it onto the floor ahead of him. He chuckled until the laughter died completely, and hopped onto his bed. The ceiling was all he saw, the bland colour making the whole room seem dark and dank.

There was nothing for him to do. Just like before, he was helpless. Now, Rivet was helpless to change what had happened. He closed his eyes, trying to block out his day from memory so he could sleep.

As the world faded into nothingness around him, he faintly heard his parents talking in the kitchen.

Rivet awoke with a start as a knock came from his door. His forehead was beaded with sweat, and his breathing was laboured. His dreams had been laced with reenactments of the events in the store. The only words in the whole dream were still vibrant in Rivet’s mind. It was the voice of the thief, shouting and commanding Rainbow and himself.

Turning to the door, Rivet wiped his forehead with the sleeve of his shirt and called out, “come in.”

First Light Slid the door open slowly and stepped into the room. She kept her eyes to the floor, as if looking Rivet in the eye would hurt him. Her hands were clasped behind her.

“Hi Riv,” she practically whispered.

“Hi.” Rivet sat up and flipped his legs over the side of his bed.

“Can I get you anything?”

“No. I’m okay.”

First Light, without looking at him, walked over to his bed. She stood over him, unsure of what to do, but knowing she had to do something. Rivet kept his eyes on her face.

Finally, she made eye contact. Rivet could not help but feel like a wounded animal that First Light found on the side of the road. All he could feel was discomfort. He was anticipating what she would say, but waited for her to speak.

“I…” First Light fought for words. “Rivet…” She sat down on the bed next to Rivet. “Are you…” Her hands made their way up to her hair, and she started to lace her fingers into the mass of colour.

Rivet leaned over and put an arm over her shoulder. He forced a weak smile and nodded. First Light returned the fake smile and her posture relaxed. They shared a look of understanding before First Light stood up and walked to the door.

“Dinner’s almost ready,” First Light managed.

“Thanks.” Rivet nodded.

When First Light was gone from the room, Rivet remained seated for nearly a minute. He did not move, he just sat without any thought. When he stood up, he had a small head rush, his vision blurred, but soon cleared. After his vision returned, he went straight down to the dinner table. His family tried to act as if it was a regular meal, which was hard to do without talking. Rivet could feel the tension in the room. Everyone sitting at the table wanted to talk, but none of them could say anything. All of the usual conversation starters were useless.

When they finished the meal, each member of the family put away their dishes. Rivet returned to his room, and lay back on his bed again. His parents climbed the stairs to their own room. In a few minutes, they sounded like they were in a heated discussion. He did not want to eavesdrop, but he could not help but catch part of the conversation.

His mother spoke first. “I really think he needs to talk about this. He needs to know we’re here for him.”

His father obviously did not agree. “No. He needs time to cope. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a problem this early on. If we make him relive the experience over and over by talking to him about it, it could cause a lot of problems.”

“PTSD?”

“I wouldn’t lie about something like that. Give him time.”

Rivet heard his father close the bedroom door, causing the following conversation to be a series of muffled tones. He couldn’t tell what they were saying now, but their tones were indicating they were stressed, but not arguing.

His phone buzzed in his pocket, and Rivet pulled it out. The message was from Swift, which read, “Did you hear about that robbery today?”

Rivet considered answering the message with the truth. But then he would have to relive the experience again, and he feared that more than anything at that moment. If he gave any answer it would end the same way. Instead, he dropped the phone again and rolled over in bed.

“It can only get better, right?” Rivet asked, staring a hole in the wall. “Right?"