Wednesday, September 16, 2015

2015
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Today's Horoscope (Virgo): Try not to let your worries and fears get the better of you today.

Early Morning

When I head down to breakfast, Pinkie has a knowing, teasing grin on her face. "Sooo...Twilight was up in your room an awfully long time last night," she says. "Did you two make use of my little gift?"

"Your little..." It takes me a second to realize what she means. "That was you?"

"Uh-huuuuh," Pinkie says. "So...did you?"

"Nothing like that happened!" I say.

"Awww...too bad," Pinkie pouts.

"You're lucky I didn't bring my tennis racket down yet," I mutter.

"Ooooh, why, gonna spank me?" Pinkie teases.

Twilight walks in at about this point, and looks from Pinkie to me questioningly.

"She's being naughty," I say.

Twilight rolls her eyes. "I can believe that." She sits down and opens a book. Pinkie giggles and goes back into the kitchen.

"I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to be spanking other girls when you're in a relationship," Twilight says without looking up.

"She was teasing me about you being upstairs so late last night," I say.

Twilight blushes. "Oh."

"She also left a box of condoms in my room yesterday afternoon."

Twilight's blush intensifies. "I'll go get your tennis racket."

"I think that'd just encourage her," I say. "Or turn her on."

"Gah!"

After breakfast, we walk Spike, then head for school.

After School

Tennis practice is mostly fun, but I'm distracted by Coco, who looks so nervous and sad it hurts.

Halfway through practice, the coach leaves to take a call. As soon as she's gone, Suri tells us all to practice serving on the court. Then...

"You! Manager! Keep the court clear of balls!"

Is she...seriously ordering Coco to run into the line of fire to scoop up balls?

I walk off the court. Pinkie stops serving and watches me. A few others do also.

"Ignore her, Coco!" I yell. "Stay off the court until we're done!"

"Excuse me?!" Suri snaps, glaring at me.

I walk right up to her. "Being team captain doesn't give you the right to bully that girl!" I point at Coco. "There's absolutely no reason for her to be on that end of the court until we're out of balls! For that matter, there's no reason she has to pick up all the balls herself!"

"She's the team manager," Suri says venomously. "It's her job, mmkay."

"Last I checked, her job wasn't to be yelled at by you and forced to walk right into the middle of a dozen tennis balls flying right at her head!"

Coco runs up. "I-it's alright, I don't..."

I hold up a hand to silence her. "Coco is a human being," I tell Suri. "She deserves respect. You're the team captain. You're supposed to respect everyone on the team, whether they're on the court or not."

Suri's seething.

The coach returns. "Is there a problem here?" she asks. "Why isn't anyone practicing?"

"The new guy is questioning my authority," Suri says. "He's disobedient and insubordinate."

The coach glances at me. "Yeah, I stopped practice," I say. "Because Suri was bullying the team manager."

The coach frowns at Suri. "Again? I thought I told you to stop that."

"Tch..." Suri clicks her tongue in annoyance. "All I asked her to do was pick up some tennis balls, mmkay."

The coach pinches the bridge of her nose. "Everyone, we're stopping early today. No, Coco, don't worry about...don't worry about any of that. I want the whole team to pick up the balls and straighten things up. Suri, when you're done here, come with me."

We spend the rest of practice picking up balls and putting everything away.

As I'm preparing to leave, Coco walks up to me. "Umm...thank you for...for sticking up for me, but..." She looks down at her feet. "Why...did you have to make a scene like that?"

"Because what she was trying to do was wrong!" I say.

"Oh, well...it...wouldn't have really bothered me..."

I sigh. "You've got to stop being a doormat, Coco. The way she treats you is not okay, and you can't just let her do things like that."

Coco sighs. "I...I'll try. It's hard...it's hard to stick up for myself. I've..." She looks away. "I've never...stood up to anyone before..."

"Well, don't you think it's time to start?"

"M-maybe..."

Since practice ended early, I head into town to do a little window-shopping, then go back to the dorm.

Evening

Everyone's pretty much doing their own thing this evening. Applejack is up in her room talking to her family on her computer, Pinkie decided to work the late rush at Sugar Cube Corner on a weeknight, Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy are all busy with homework, and Rainbow Dash is out back kicking around her soccer ball.

I spend a little while practicing my guitar, then take care of my homework and go to bed. I still need to get Twilight a birthday present, but I figure I'll probably take care of that over the weekend.

Also, I'm worried about...

I'm worried about...the next attack.

Sleep is long in coming.