Fluttershy's POV

My fourth and fifth period classes flew by in a blink of an eye, and although I was quite happy how fast time was going, I couldn't help but constantly worry about what had happened Rainbow Dash. What would have caused her to faint in class?

"... Yoo-hoo, Fluttershy darling?" Rarity snapped her fingers in front of my face, finally breaking me out of my trance. I blinked a few times before looking back at the other group of friends. With the absence of Rainbow Dash, I seemed to be a bit less sociable here in the lunchroom with our friends.

"Sorry... I got lost in my thoughts again," I smiled sheepishly, then picked up a fresh green apple from my tray and took a small bite out of it. The others nodded, as they understood why I would be thinking so much. Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, Twilight, Spike, and Sunset Shimmer all sat in the medium sized circular table at the usual spot up here in the balcony of the eatery.

"So, anyways... We're having band practice today after school. Ya wanna tag along?" Applejack asked me, breaking the small silence. I stared over at her confusingly.

"Band practice?"

"Me, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Spike, Monstarr, and Rainbow Dash are all in a band called, The Neverlanders. Once or twice a week we all gather at Dash's house to practice. But since Monstarr hasn't been in Canterlot in about a year, I had been taking her place since... Luckily she's back and better than ever, believe it or not," Sunset Shimmer explained to me with a small smile. I thought about it for a minute, and thought it would be pretty nice seeing them perform... But at the same time, I didn't want Rainbow to think I was annoying.

"You know... Rainbow Dash doesn't mind at all when we invite some people to watch us play. You've got nothing to worry about," Spike reassured me, and gently punched my shoulder playfully. I giggled a little to myself, and finally agreed. The only thing left would be to ask for my mom's permission about it.

"All right... I just have one question; how come you chose 'The Neverlanders' as the band name?" I asked meekly. They all chuckled and exchanged glances before Applejack chose to answer the question before anyone else.

"Well, we all pretty much like the same bands an' all. We gave the band the name in reference to the song Somewhere in Neverland by All Time Low - we all have been huge fans of that song, and Dash decided to name our band that," Applejack replied. "So far, we're just startin' off as a cover band. Everyone from Canterlot, to Ponyville, up to the Crystal Empire has heard about us already. We've gotten somewhat popular so far - at least locally popular."

"Yep... Only thing we're waiting for is to hopefully get signed onto a record label. We've already posted videos of us playing on YouTube and already got a little more than five hundred subscribers so far! For sure, all of our hard work will pay off in the end," Spike concluded, and took a bite out of his hotdog.

"Hey - lunch ends in about twenty minutes. Want to come with me to the book shop?" Twilight's eyes sparked up in an instant the moment I said 'yes'. The both of us pulled on our backpacks and waved at the rest of our friends before we set off down the spiral staircase of the balcony. By the time we reached the ground, I walked side by side with Twilight as we soon ventured forth into the small book store beneath the balcony.

The interior of the shop itself was painted with warm autumn colors. The carpeting was a deep shade of brown, and had a zigzag pattern embedded onto it. Several large mahogany bookshelves were placed neatly in several rows - each row being organized by core subjects, and genres. The right side of the shop had a neat display of both magazines and comic books, all separated alphabetically.

Different colored bean bag chairs were spread out evenly in the comic book section, and small brown sofas were placed on the opposite side of the shop. Several other students wandered around the shop with a variety of books in their arms, and headed straight down the store to the checkout area.

Twilight tugged on my arm gently, and said she'd be down at the chemistry section. I nodded, and soon began wandering toward the fiction row. I walked down the row, skimming through the book titles. Along the way, I felt a small tap on my shoulder.

I turned around and was soon face-to-face with another girl about my age. The girl had short, sky blue hair with a set of violet eyes with rosy cheeks. She wore a black top hat, a black cape, along with a striped black and grey baseball shirt with dark cuffed jeans with matching brown Doc Martens. She seemed to be about three or four inches taller than I was.

"Hello! From the looks of it, I can tell you've never been to this shop before. Correct?" She asked with a pearly white smile. I nodded, unable to form words. "Heh... Thought so. Now, before you say anything - tell me... What is your favorite book's genre?"

"Um... I-It would be a mix of a-action and adventure -"

"Good, good. Now..." The girl reached into her front pockets, and pulled out a deck of worn out playing cards and began shuffling them up as quickly as possible. Once she was finished, she gave withdrew half of the stack and returned them in her pocket as she fanned the other cards in her hands. "Pick... Four cards, and memorize the number value of each card in the order you pick them. Got it?"

I slowly nodded, and figured that this was just another cliché magic trick. The first card I withdrew was six diamonds. The next ones were nine spades, three hearts, and one club. Six, four, three, and one. I gave the girl back the cards, and looked up at her with confusion.

"Whatever you do, don't tell me the four numbers you got. Let me explain something to you before you look around... The four numbers symbolize the book number here in the shop. Each first digit is the row number of where your book's genre is located," She stepped back and gestured for me to come forward. "All righty... Now look for the first digit of the number you got."

I still had no clue what was going to happen, but I desperately wanted to know so I walked around observing the numbers on the shelves. I was currently on number nine, which meant my row was only three lines down. As I walked down, the girl followed me, looking curious. Finally I made it to the row, and noticed that this column was labeled "6 - ADVENTURE" in all caps. Okay, this was getting interesting.

"Ah... The good old adventure category. Nice! All right... The remaining three digits you got represent the book number itself. As you can see," she pointed at the five shelves that held the books in the large bookshelf. "There are precisely ten shelves in each bookshelf. The second digit you got reveals which shelf your book is on. So, go ahead and have a look."

My second number was four, so I automatically pointed at the fourth shelf which was just in front of me. The girl clapped her hands in joy and began to smile, "Finally, the last two digits are the book number. Each book has a different book number and are always in order numerically. So go ahead and look for your book in the shelf number you got."

My last number were three and one - thirty one. I skimmed through the spines of the books, and finally got to number thirty one. I curiously pulled out the brown colored book from the shelf and held it in my hand and I was practically blown away.

"A.K. Yearling's Daring Do! How did you -"

"It's just magic! This is the beauty of it - you can take precise guesses, and blow everyone's minds." The girl replied to me, and I still couldn't stop smiling from the trick. She laughed and bowed down, "I didn't introduce myself properly - I'm Mirage. I'm seventeen and a senior here in CHS. During every lunch period, I work here in this shop to get my volunteering credits... I guess you can say my magic is a fun way to show people to their favorite books... What about you? Who are you, stranger?"

"Fluttershy Forrest. I'm a junior, and also seventeen. I just recently transferred to this school. Nice to meet you," I held out my free hand, and Mirage gladly shook it in return.

"Nice to meet you, Fluttershy. And I hope you enjoy your book! That's the newest Daring Do book in the series! Checkout area is just down there... But since I'm also in charge of checking out people's books, you can take it with you already. I'm pretty good when it comes to memorization." I politely thanked her for the amazing trick, and she just nodded with another smile. "I'll see you around hopefully! I gotta show some other students to their books. It was really nice meeting you, Fluttershy! See you around."

I waved bye to Mirage, and began wandering around the shop searching for Twilight. After about a minute or two, I finally found her looking through the thriller section. She spun around to face me and greeted me.

"Hey. You already got your book? Awesome! I can tell you've gotten some help from Mirage... You should see her other magic tricks. They're pretty amazing if you ask me! Anyways... Are you ready to head out? Lunch is already over..." Twilight and I began walking out of the aisle and we soon saw all the students quickly rushing out of the cafeteria to their next classes. "We better head out now."

I nodded, and we soon departed from the book shop.

My seventh and eighth period classes were pretty much a drag. Twilight and I had Pre-Calculus with Ms. Harshwhinny for both periods, and let me tell you... It was the most boring two hours of my life. While I had been stuck on solving the first problem, Twilight was already ahead of me by fifteen questions - and that was only in six minutes! How she was able to comprehend any of it was beyond me.

My ninth period class was gym, and I just so desperately wanted to this period to end. Since I had forgotten my gym clothes at home, Lyra was kind enough to let me use her pair of shorts that luckily fit me. After I changed in one of the bathroom stalls inside the locker rooms, I walked out with Lyra by my side to the top of the bleachers.

"So, how was your second day here?" Lyra asked me while sitting cross legged in front of me on the second seat.

"It's okay, I guess... I just wish the periods would pass by faster, you know? Especially my Pre-Calculus class..." I looked down at my shoes and sighed heavily. Lyra chuckled.

"Let me guess, you have Mr. Breezy for that class?" I shook my head, and Lyra's expression completely plummeted to surprise. "So... That means you have Ms. Harshwhinny?" I nodded, and the girl in front of me broke into a fit of laughter.

"Okay, now I really feel sorry for you! Man... She gives out the hardest exams and homework. I'm surprised you've survived it all so far. So congratulations!" She patted the side of my arm and I giggled along with her.

"She's a nice instructor... But you're right about the exams and homework," I responded to her in a hush. She nodded and was about to say something until Coach Iron Will called out to his students to come down from the bleachers and down to the floor to explain things to us.

We both got up from where we were sitting, and quickly jogged down the bleachers to meet with the other students. Upon arrival, Iron Will took note that I was wearing Lyra's shorts and said that it was a nice gesture for her to let me use them for today. Honestly, I thought he was going to get mad at the both of us for it.

"All right, class! Today is running day, so that means we'll be going to the roof to do our ten laps - jogging, running and walking are all accepted. But, keep in mind, if you walk the whole ten laps, you'll get a zero for your participation grade. At least jog or run five laps, and you'll be fine," Coach Iron Will informed us, and the other students seemed to be happy that they were going to the roof. "Boys go through the boys' locker rooms, girls go through the girls' locker rooms! Chop chop!"

With that said, everyone separated and began walking to their designated location, while Lyra and I trailed behind the other girls.

"So... How exactly do we get to the roof of the school?" I sheepishly asked Lyra. She snickered at my question.

"Well, basically we go through this door in the locker room, and we walk up a flight of stairs, and then go through another door and BAM! We're on the roof!" Lyra finished with a smile, then froze for a second, "I forgot you're new here... Okay, so the roof basically has this big track thing, and in the middle of it, the other students can play soccer, or football while the others finish their ten laps. There's also some of those metal bleachers on both sides of the track, so we can just sit there after we finish."

"Oh okay. Thanks for the explanation." She nodded, and soon we made it the track, and for a second I thought that Lyra had been lying about the track being huge. The top of the school gave an amazing view of the city around us, and it was nice seeing the sky blue sky above us with cotton clouds hovering above us carefully. And to make things better, the sun was hidden by some clouds, so it wasn't at all that sunny.

"Everyone line up at the starting line, and in the count of three, the ten laps begin!" All of the students quickly made their way to the white line in the track and took their positions just like me and Lyra.

"One... Two... Three!" After those three words were shouted, we all took off running. I wasn't at all that much of an athletic person, so you could already imagine how quickly I was slowing down.

"We can take a short break if you want. Just take a moment to catch your breath and we can start jogging the five laps, and then walk the rest. Sound good?" Lyra matched my pace, and I nodded with gratitude.

Even after walking five laps, my legs were completely sore and all I wanted to do was to go home and sleep, but then I remembered that I was going to ask my mom if I could go to Rainbow's house to see her band practice. Oh, the things I'm willing to go through for that girl...

"So, Fluttershy... Got any crushes?" Lyra asked suddenly as we had taken a seat on the bleachers in the gymnasium. My face flushed completely red, and I had to use my long hair to cover my face. Lyra began laughing, and even teased me at how red I had gone. "I'm guessing that's a yes. I was just curious, because I never told you about my girlfriend, Bon Bon."

"O-Oh, that's n-nice." I was stuttering like crazy, and I could still feel the heat in my cheeks burning relentlessly. "Well... To answer your question, yes, I do have a c-crush on someone at the moment. But... It really confuses me since me and her just met, and... I j-just feel attracted t-to this girl for some reason. W-When I'm with her, I get all nervous and just... Yeah." I covered my face with both hands and bit my lip to keep myself from smiling like an idiot.

"Aw, that's cute. Who's the girl? Do I know her?" I was going to say something along the lines of 'You probably don't know her' and what not, but I couldn't form words, so I just nodded. "Oh, what's her name?"

I let out a long breath and looked Lyra in the eyes, "Well... Her name's Rainbow Dash."

Lyra's happy expression quickly vanished, and her jaw dropped, "Like... Rainbow Dash? RAINBOW DASH? The really popular and athletic girl here in CHS? THAT Rainbow Dash? The one in our grade level? HER?"

"Um... Yes," I was extremely confused as to why Lyra was suddenly acting like this. Had Rainbow Dash done something awful in the past?

"Wow... Wait, so... You actually got to talk to her and hang out with her and all of that good stuff?" Now, she seemed genuinely intrigued.

"Yes. Well... Yesterday, my friends invited me to come with them to Soarin's party, and I said yes... And apparently they were close friends with Rainbow Dash -"

"Oh, the Mane 5 girls?" I looked at her confusingly, "The Mane 5. Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash. That's what everyone calls them. They've been a tight-knit group since they were in junior high... but anyways - continue, please."

"Well... I was at the party and I started walking around and I sorta bumped into Rainbow Dash, and she just asked me if I wanted to hang out with her and all, so I said yes and we just talked outside and I guess you can say I was attracted to her, and she was just so nice to me, and she even offered me a ride home and she asked for my phone number and we basically spoke all night, and this morning she gave me a ride to school -"

"Damn! Dash must have fallen hard for you quickly if she's already doing all that stuff for you! And she asked for your number? She rarely gives her phone number to people! Well, all I can say to you so far is that I think that's impressive! Plus she's in a band with her other close friends, I don't know if she told you that or not," Lyra's voice trailed away, and I could tell she seemed fairly surprised by all the information.

"Sunset Shimmer and Applejack told me about their band, and they even invited me over so I can see them perform. I'm pretty nervous and excited to see them play..." Lyra looked at me with shock once more.

"Damn... It's like you've gone VIP in one day! Let me tell you, their band has played in front of the whole school before during the summer, and they're pretty damn amazing. You're pretty lucky." She responded with a small grin.

"Yeah, I guess I am. They're all really nice people too, so I'm just glad I get to hang out with them and all. You know?" Lyra answered by nodding her head. Before I could say anything further, the school rung, signaling that it was now the end of the school day for all of us. Lyra and I pulled on our backpacks, and began walking out of the gym together.

"I'm going to meet up with Bon Bon, so I'll see you tomorrow! Good luck, with Rainbow Dash - not that you'll need it," Lyra smirked at me, then ran off to the opposite side of the hallway, as I began making my way downstairs.

Throughout the journey down to the first floor of the school, I felt sore everywhere. It didn't help that other teenagers constantly kept bumping into me; Twilight was right, I should have stayed close to the walls. After what seemed like forever, I managed to exit the school, and walked towards the bus area. At least a hundred students crowded up the area and were busy talking up a storm amongst each other. My bus came in second round, and it was honestly taking forever to get here.

"Fluttershy!" I heard someone shout my name, and I looked down to the street and found myself staring at someone I never thought I would see.

"Dashie?"

Quick A/N: So, here's your update! I'm so sorry if this chapter was totally boring and what not. It's more of a filler chapter and all... But I'm very happy to have introduced Miss. Mirage into this chapter! Thank you @NatalieKovanda for submitting your OC c: The other two people who got their character in this story... Your original characters will be introduced in later chapters, I promise you <3

Well, as always... thank you for reading, and be sure to leave comments! Add this story to your library in case you haven't done so, and you want to be updated with the newest chapters! Thanks for the support, I love you all!

Alex, over & out.