Unforeseen Consequences - A new season!

>“I still can’t believe that Princess Celestia allowed me to go with you to this school trip thing. I’m very thankful though. Some vacations is just what I needed to get rid of that nasty indigestion and my back problems. Ahhh! Isn’t this great Anon?”
>The sun shone high above the fields located in the outskirts of the Crystal Empire, the wind made the crops to dance graciously with its gentle touch, the snowy peaks of the faraway mountains looked like they were made out of diamonds.
>Everything was brimming with a simple yet delicious beauty, proper of the spring season. It sucked that you weren’t able to enjoy any of that.
>Nope, instead you were stuck in a very large “carriage” that for you, was nothing more than a glorified wagon. No, in fact, the best term you could use for this wooden cage was a “school bus”.
>Sure, it had a very pretty golden paint coat in the outside, and of course, the seats were comfy enough. But being stuck with the entire fifth and sixth grades in such a confined space was hardly your ideal way to spend the spring break.
>Not everything was horrible though. Your moms did give you permission to bring Thorax with you, with the only condition that he had to keep a disguise at all times, y’know, to not scare anyone.
>So instead of the psychedelic bug-moose Thorax, the one sitting by your side was “Crystal Hoof”. An eart-pony colt with a blue coat, black mane and tail, and the complexion of a starving roundworm.

“Crystal Hoof, my man, I’m a very patient pony, trust me, but if you say “isn’t this great?” one more time, I’m gonna use your moose horns to tear this frickin’ oversized wagon apart.”
>Thorax rubbed the back of his neck and replied a bit depressed “Gee… I’m sorry, Anon. I had no idea that field trips made you so grumpy. Look it on the bright side though, getting out of that dank laboratory and mossy library will do wonders for your health!”
>You looked at him with a stoic face and shook your head.
“For your information, my laboratory is lit in a super aesthetic way and Moon Dancer worked super hard to clean most of the moss from the royal library. Secondly, I have no problems with going outside”
>Thorax looked at the seat in front of him “Then…” He turned to you with a small smile on his face “What’s the problem?”
>Immediately after your friend asked that question, some idiot sixth grader colt popped from the back of your seat and basically yelled into your ear “Hey, dude! How hot was Chrysalis?”
>A filly from your grade popped up right beside him and slapped the colt in the back of his head “Stop asking him that, you massive perv!” She then turned to you with a massive smile on her face “Oi, Anon! I bet the hive was super scary, huh?”
>Of course, frickin’ Ruffle Truffle couldn’t keep himself away from this one. The grey idiot was sitting in the seat in front of you after all.
>So he tried to appear as “macho” as possible by flexing his hooves and said with a triumphant tone “Oh, please! The Ruffle would’ve beaten that Chrysalis chick with two of his hooves tied behind The Ruffle’s powerful back!”
>Of course, it didn’t stop there, basically the entire “bus” surrounded your seat and started parroting the same dumb questions they asked ever since you returned to school.
>”What is the changeling hive like?”

>”Are the changelings’ cocoons comfy?”
>”How hot is Chrysalis?”
>”Did you use your magic on the changelings?”
>”What color do the changelings prefer?”
>”Seriously dude, how hot is she?”
>You let out a groan and looked at Thorax with an annoyed face.
“Do you see the problem now?”
>Thorax slowly nodded and gulped “I-I’m afraid so…”
>You rolled your eyes and rested your head on your hoof as you looked outside the “school carriage” window again.
>And as you passed a crop field, you swear that you saw something odd. It was a pony, but not quite like it. Almost like a shadow moving across the fields… and it was going in the same direction as you.
>That… that wasn’t right, so you squinted your eyes to see a bit better… but you were interrupted by Thorax who was shaking your shoulder
>When you turned to him, Thorax asked with a worried voice “Anon? Is everything alright? You kinda look as if you had seen a ghost.”
>You looked at Thorax and pointed at the window
“Did you see that?”
>Thorax raised an eyebrow and tilted his head “See what?”
“Are you kidding me? There was a massive shadow…”
>But when you turned to the window… there was nothing but the green fields
“… Following us…?”
>Thorax looked at the window and then at you with worry “Anon… I think you are suffering from claustrophobia. I know how it feels, sometimes I have very bad attacks when I’m in the hi… higher tower of your castle… yeah”
“I’m telling you, man! I saw this giant shadow chasing us at a super high speed!”
>The entire bus was silent and looking at you with baffled looks. That is, until Ruffle Truffle starting to laugh at you “Har, Har, Har! Look at this nerd! He’s afraid of clouds now!”
>After the foals got a heartedly laugh at your expenses, Miss Sunny Hill disbanded the crowd “Alright, that’s enough. Everypony go back to your seats, I have an announcement to make.”

>The crowd laughed at you a bit more before they followed Miss Sunny Hill’s order. You looked at the window one more time to be sure… yeah… no shadow or anything…
>Thorax gave you a pat on your back “Maybe you are still a bit agitated about what happened with Queen Chrysalis, but don’t worry, because your friend Tho… Crystal Hoof knows the perfect way to deal with these kind of problems! It’s something that we’ve been doing back in the hi… home, and we call it “feelings forum””
>You let out a tired sigh as you shook your head.
“Thanks man, but I already got over what happened at the hive… maybe… I’m just tired, you know? We had to wake up super early for this and some guy didn’t let me sleep all night because of his indigestion or something like that”
>Thorax let out a nervous chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head “Heh… I wonder who could’ve done that”
>You raised an eyebrow and gave Thorax a smug grin
“Maybe you saw him on your way to the castle. It was this guy who looked like a psychedelic moose”
>Thorax was blushing pretty hard now, he just looked away from you and said “M-Maybe it would be better if we listen to what your teacher has to say”
>You let out a chuckle and shrugged
“Whatever you say, my man. But hey, maybe we could-”
>“THAT’S ENOUGH!” Sunny Hill angrily looked left and right to make sure that no one was out of their seats.
>When Sunny Hill made sure that no one was moving or making a sound, she nodded to herself and cleared her throat “As all of you may know, our annual school trip will be a tad different this time. Instead of the usual chateau located in the outskirts of Manehattan, this year we will be heading towards the no less spectacular “Camp Crystal Lake”…”

>As Sunny Hill continued with her description of the place, Thorax handled you a small note that read “Didn’t she tell us this like five times already? I think your teacher is getting old.”
>You chuckled as you wrote in the back of the note “Man, I think she has been around longer than my moms”
>When Thorax read what you wrote, he let out a giggle and handled you a different note that said “She was this old when Queen Chrysalis was still an egg”
>You and Thorax continued passing small notes and giggling.
>That is, until Sunny Hill walked to your seat and shot a murderous glare to you two “Is there anything you want to share with the group, Mister Anon?”
>Thorax froze in place, shaking like a wet dog, but you? You simply shook your head.
“Nah, you’re free to continue, Miss Hill”
> Sunny Hill glared at you one more time before turning with a “Hmph!” and continuing with her explanation “As I was saying, the location is not the only thing that will be different this year. For, you see, my dear students. The Princess Twilight Sparkle had a wonderful idea on how to improve this traditional trip during her last visit to our prestigious school”
>The entire bus then was filled with gasps of surprise and voiced proclaiming that this was going to be the best thing ever.
>Except for you and Thorax. The two of you had first hoof experience with how “great” Twilight’s plans usually are.
>Sunny Hill smiled proudly and calmed down the excited voiced “Now, now, I know these are great news but at least let me tell them to you. As many of you should be aware, our school has had a long time rivalry with another center of education in Canterlot. I’m of course talking about the prestigious “Ms. Gwynyvere’s Royal School”

>When Sunny Hill mentioned the name of that school, the cheerful mood got absolutely destroyed. Now everyone was murmuring angrily about that place.
>Others, like Ruffle Truffle, voiced their opinions more loudly “Pffft! Those dudes think they are hot stuff because they beat the Ruffle’s team at the hoofball finals last year. Well, let the Ruffle tell ya something. They ain’t!”
>Sunny Hill rolled her eyes and nodded “Yes, I was expecting that kind of reaction, but you see, Princess Twilight Sparkle had the fantastic idea of changing our bitter rivalry for sweet friendship, but, you may be thinking, how is that possible? Well, it’s quite simple! Our schools are going on a field trip together!”
>Not to your surprise, the entire “bus” started booing super hard the moment they heard the news.
>Sunny Hill was now dealing with a bunch of angry foals, except for you and Thorax of course, the two of you were chillin’ on your seat, looking at everyone protest at Twilight’s “brilliant idea”.
>Twilight Sparkle, man… you respected and still kind of liked her, but that gal should open her own school.
>Thorax turned at you and raised an eyebrow “Hey Anon, everypony in here is angry as heck but you on the other hoof… well, I can sense a lot of joy coming from you. Why’s that? Do you have a lot of friends in that school or something?”
>You made yourself comfortable on your seat, placed your hooves behind your head and shrugged.
“Kinda, most of the foals who go there are a bunch of arrogant, snobbish jerks but hey, Cherrywood also goes to that place… the only thing that kind of bother me is that she never told me about this… but neither did my moms.”

>Thorax tapped his chin “No offence, Anon, but that doesn’t seem too weird for me. In my experience, the Princesses are the type of ponies who really like to keep secrets and surprise everypony later on… and uhm… your marefriend was kinda like that too… only way bossier”
“Yup, that’s why I ain’t too worried, and hey, between Cherrywood, you and me, we will have the best camp stories this side of the Crystal Empire, and we can also…”
>You were interrupted by Sunny Hill’s mighty roar “I SWEAR THAT ALL OF YOU WILL SPEND A YEAR IN DETENTION IF YOU DON’T STOP WITH THIS RECKLESS BEHAVIOR!”
>It worked wonders of course, every single foal was back to their seats in the blink of an eye and the “bus” was now more silent than a grave.
>Sunny Hill furiously looked left and right, and she made sure that everything was under control, she nodded to herself and cleared her throat “Right, as I was saying, our two schools will go on this field trip together, and to ensure that everypony actually gets to known each other and avoid a segregation, the cabins will have two ponies from our school and two ponies from theirs. Selection will be at random, of course”
>Every foal in the bus collectively said in dissapointment “AWWW!”
>Sunny Hill didn’t care though, she shrugged it off and dismissively said “This is a very important moment for our school, so I expect the best behavior from all of you, but if you have any socialization problems, you can always rely on your dear classmate, Anon”
>You immediately jumped from your seat and protested
“Wait, why me?! Why can’t Twilight take care of that?! She’s the frickin’ Princess of Friendship!”
>Sunny Hill chuckled and gave you a huge grin “Because, Mr. Anon, Princess Twilight won’t be able to join us thanks to certain complications in Griffonstone and as a Prince it is your duty to give guidance to everypony who needs it”

“Ooooh! That’s something I would’ve expected from Discord… or my moms, but not from you!”
>“With age comes experience, Mr. Anon…” She then turned away from you and chuckled “And you have three months of detention for getting out of your seat”
“Aw, man, and I just had finished my last sentence!”
>You angrily returned to your seat, crossed your hooves and huffed.
>But it certainly didn’t stop there, because Ruffle Truffle of all ponies popped from his seat and actually tried to comfort you “Hey, nerd. If ya start seeing things… just close yer eyes and count to three or, ya know, try to think on the nerdy garbage you like, okay?”
>Okay… now that was weird.
“Why are you telling me this? I thought you hated me.”
>Ruffle Truffle nodded as he gave you a shrug “And that is right, every time The Ruffle sees your nerdy face, he wants to Truffle it but… The Ruffle knows that if ya hadn’t played the hero at the bug hive… then… yeah, it would’ve sucked pretty hard for everypony… so… yeah… just try to keep your cool for the team, dude.”
“Uh… Thanks?”
>Ruffle Truffle held his hoof and shook his head “Can it, nerd. The Ruffle is just being nice ‘cuz you saved Equestria and ‘cause we’re counting on yer nerd flank now” And with that, the guy returned to his seat, leaving you confused and slightly disgusted.