[Ponyville] Class Is In Session (Open to Ponyville Fillies and Colts)

[SilverSwirl]

Timid was just along for the ride at this point. His head pounded like one of those island drums at one of those dancing rituals. It looked like they had a new partner in Snips as they were gluing all sorts of cotton, feathers and newspapers around the tomato. He shook his head and tried to focus, giving Light a sheepish grin. "S-sorry, I spaced out for a bit.", he said in apology as he took a quick look at the ball of soft materials surrounding the tomato. At that moment inspiration struck him and he snatched their supply of Popsicle sticks.

"I've got an idea! Guiding, Snips, save half of the soft things. We'll need them for the other layer.", he explained firmly, glancing at the new student momentarily and smiling. To make up for lost time, he worked like a pony possessed. He quickly took measurements of the sphere and began to fashion another layer for the cardboard box. The base and four sides would have extra reinforcement and padding as glue smeared along the sticks and sides of the box. There was a void between the sticks that could be filled with cotton and feathers for extra shock absorption.

[Bramble Rose]

Sweetie Belle gasped, her eyes wide as she stared at Apple Bloom. "Of course, a NAME! We can't just call him Mister Tomato! He wasn't just ANY tomato, he was a special tomato! He's ... he's ... Lord Lycopersicum, of the family Solanaceae of the Verdant Garden Countship! But as a younger brother to the family, he's not really in line for the countship, and has become a bit of a daredevil. When he's pursuing his extreme sports, he prefers the name... Crimson Flash!"

​

[AlisonRose]

-Silver Spoon-

Silver turned her attention over to Rosehip.

"Well hello there, welcome to our like totally awesome and going to fursure win this thing group. Do you want to help me get all this stuff packed in there so that Diamond can work on something else?" Silver handed some of the craft supplies to Rosehip and started on a second project herself of stuffing the smaller box with the cotton and feathers making sure that all of the feathers she had placed in it had their ends rounded so as to reduce the damage dealt to the fruit as much as possible.

Silver then looked over and say that Dazzle had been given to the group of Pip and Pinchy, perfect.

-Winter Dazzle-

Dazzle slowly and shyly trotted over to Pip and Pinchy as she sat next to them and looked on not knowing a thing of what they were doing. She had just woken up from one of her signature naps and it was very apparent by her mane being all mussed up and out of control.

"Tag me in coach. I'm willing to help." Was all she could think to say as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked on.

[Mojo]

Haywire decided to 'take the lead' with her group. Quickly drawing up a rough sketch of her idea, the blank flank filly presents it to Bebop and Snails.

"Here's mah idea, and I know it'll work! First, we take these here pieces of wood an' make a cube-like thingie. The secret ta our container's gonna be these..."

The blank flank filly opens her saddlebag to reveal several hoofmade 'rubber bands'. Taking one out, she stretches it in front of her two classmates.

"Ya see? These here bands I was gonna use ta make more slingshots, but instead, we kin use'm on the inside of our container, ta keep our tamader from gitt'n squished! Them rubber bands, if'n we put'm in the right places, will absorb the force of the fall, keep'n our tamader safe! What do y'all think of that?"

[Lux]

Scootaloo loved it when a plan came together. They already had their box for their tomato well together and now it was time to show it off! Sweetie Belle, ever the fashion and artistic one of the group, started recommending things like colors and glitter to be used and the all important name for their stunt performing tomato. The orange Pegasus wracked her brain trying to come up with an idea for a name until Sweetie Belle spoke up.

"Hey I like that. It sounds really neat calling him the Crimson Flash. Sounds like some kind of stunt tomato. What do you think Apple Bloom?"

As he awaited her friend's reply he imagined a sentient tomato performing jumps through rings of fire or base jumping from a cliff or even flying through the sky with wings.

***

Guiding Light listened in anticipation to Timid Star's plan for building a perfect protective shell for the tomato. It seemed like a perfect idea, padding the area so that nothing would damage it.

"Oh I see what you're planning. Ok, I'll save half the things while you build the inner box."

The colt began to carefully but quickly select some cotton balls and feathers out from the pile, placing them in a group until there were two piles each of the fluffy material.

"Let me know when and where you want to add them."

[RarityDash]

Diamond nodded at Silver's statement that they should split the work. Well of course. That went without saying. It wasn't a lot of work to do what she intended to do with the supplies, but Diamond certainly wasn't going to do all the work herself. Still, she was very intent to make sure it got done. She didn't say anything for a while and instead just went to work on the project. It was important that they had something to present and that it worked too! They were totally going to show up Apple Bloom and her dumb friends. There were no two ways about that!

When Rosehip was assigned to their group, she gave a shrug. She was a filly in the class Diamond didn't really notice or think about much. "We're using a two box system, one to hold the tomato and the other to absorb the force of the fall," she said very matter of factly as she continued to stuff feathers and cotton into the inner box with the tomato.

"I'm not sure there's much for you to do, but feel lucky you got put in a group with us," she added with an upturned snout.

​

[SteelEagle]

Sweetie Belle knew a lot more about tomatos than Apple Bloom could have possibly imagined, leaving the little earth filly a bit stunned for a second. Well, that was a nice surprise! Maybe Sweetie knew more about tomatos and fruits and veggies and how they grew and operated than Apple Bloom could have hoped for. A farm trip was in the unicorn's future where Apple Bloom would teach her all about everything and they could nerd out on the most important subject in the world: Agriculture. Scootaloo could come too if she wanted though there wasn't much to the act that may entice her. It could be a Crusader event! Of course Apple Bloom wouldn't get her cutie mark as she did that every day but hadn't gotten it in farming, but maybe that was Sweetie Belle's destiny! A unicorn farmer. It would be an identity crisis because of her sister. Such dramatics. Maybe they could make a play of it. Many options!

The name was fun too. Crimson Flash? Boy, weren't they just ahead of the curve with that unique name. Apple Bloom couldn't wait to tell her teacher all about it!

"Sweetie Belle, that's a great name! Crimson Flash sounds like tha name of a winner ta me, girls. Y'all see anything else that needs to be done? Ah don't!" Apple Bloom said as she bounced in place in sheer giddy joy. After a few seconds of inspection, she saw that it was finished and ran off to tell Cheerilee.

"Miss Cheerilee! Miss Cheerilee! We're finished!"

[brianblackberry]

Cheerilee was pleased at how much progress was being made, though she was nervous at how late it was getting. She still thought delaying the start to make room for Sweetie Belle's report was important, but all the same, she didn't want everyone else to miss out on the chance to learn. And she wasn't sure if all the foals would be excited. This project was usually a sure thing to get ponies excited, but you could never tell with foals.

But when Apple Bloom came up to her all excited about being ready, she felt a warmth inside. The bright sparkle of excitement in their eyes was so special! This was why she was a teacher, and what her cutie mark meant to her.

"Good job, Apple Bloom! I mean, Cutie Mark Crusaders! You can be the first to drop your tomato! Now remember, my little ponies, this is all about learning the effects of physics, and an exercise in creativity. This is a participation event, so as long as you participate, you'll get a good grade." She eyed their winged contraption dubiously. "Even if your tomato breaks, it won't penalize you grade-wise!"

She smiled. "Now, I won't have any of you ponies climbing up high to drop these by yourselves, because that would be much too dangerous! So instead, I got a special pegasus to come in and help us with this project! I'd like everypony to give a big thank y-"

It will be up entirely to you guys how your box falls, whether straight down, or floating, or twirling, or whatever, and if it hits anything (like the wall of the schoolhouse) on the way down. You all also decide how your tomato did when the box is opened. Be as crazy and creative as you like.

[Bramble Rose]

Rainbow Dash

"HI THERE, everypony!" Rainbow Dash cried as she flew in suddenly, cutting off Cheerilee, the blue mare's wings flaring and her rainbow mane and tail streaming behind her. "Your teacher asked me to come by today to help you out with this awesome project! So I'll pick one foal out of each group, and will fly you up into the air so you can drop your tomato down! Then we'll see tomatoes going SPLAT! That'll be so sweet, don't you think?"

​

Sweetie Belle

Sweetie blinked in surprise and leaned back as Rainbow Dash suddenly was there, being her normal brash and enthusiastic self. Fly ... all the way up there? Usually, her being so high in the sky ended with her being covered in tree sap and pine needles...

She leaned over to her orange bestie, hugging her arm round Scoot's shoulders. "This is *TOTALLY* your turn, Scootaloo!" she squeaked enthusiastically. "Think you can take Crimson Flash to victory?"

​

[Pretzelparty]

"He's ok, Bebop. A real nice guy, not all that bright, but he's probably the nicest colt in class, I jist know we're gonna make a humdinger of a container!"

The Dark brown filly smiled and quickly wrote down something in her notebook before tearing out the page and hoofing it to the colt beside her. The note read, "Since Haywire's vouching for you I'm cool with you working with us. It's nice to meet you, Snails. I'm Bebop." once snails finished reading the little filly smiled at him before listening attentively to Haywire's actually pretty sensible sounding plan. It was a bit surprising as the rust colored filly didn't really strike Bebop as the planning type when she'd first met her.

"Here's mah idea, and I know it'll work! First, we take these here pieces of wood an' make a cube-like thingie. The secret ta our container's gonna be these... Ya see? These here bands I was gonna use ta make more slingshots, but instead, we kin use'm on the inside of our container, ta keep our tamader from gitt'n squished! Them rubber bands, if'n we put'm in the right places, will absorb the force of the fall, keep'n our tamader safe! What do y'all think of that?"

Bebop swiftly jotted down three simple words on her notepad: "Let's do it!" then quickly added a smaller sentence under those three words asking what Snails thought of the plan.

[Mojo]

Haywire smiled as Bebop accepted her idea for building the container for class. With Snails apparently on board with her idea also, the rust colored filly dropped the contents of their project box on top of a nearby table.

"Here's all the stuff Miss Cheerilee gave us ta use, Snails and Bebop, since you two's got unicorn magic, you kin use it ta fasten together all the ends of the wooden frame part of this container. But the secret to this here thing's gonna be the inner cage that's gonna have all mah hoofmade rubber bands hold'n it steady, jist like in this here diagram I drew! See how it'll hold the egg in place in the inner cage thingie? Well, let's git to it!"

Working together, Snails and Haywire soon had the two main components assembled, the outer wooden frame 'cage' and the inner cage.

"Hay Bebop, while me an' Snails holds these here thingies together, you kin zap'm with yur magic so they'll stay together, right?"

[Imagination]

After her question was answered, the ambitious little filly ran back to her group, which was now +1!

"Tag me in coach. I'm willing to help."

"Oh, hi! This here's Pip, and I'm Ruby, but everypony calls me Pinchy! Now, as for what to do... Miss Cheerilee says if we can get the box to fly, it'll be an A PLUS!" she squealed with excitement. Two A's in the same year? Her mother would be SO happy if that happened! She might even get a raise to her allowance! As in, she might GET an allowance! That was a lot more than the zero bits she was making doing her chores right now!

"So, Pip! Do you think we might be able to stuff the boxy in a way that would make it more aeroeolnam... Aer-Airs-... Aryoel-y-dee... Flyable?" She had such a way with words. Right now, Pinchy was just focused on that A+! Oh no, Miss Cheerilee. She wasn't kidding at all! Quickly leaving her desk, she found a few scraps left on the floor by other groups and returned, as well as having grabbed a pair of scissors and started cutting some wings for their box. "You guys have any other ideas? I just wanna pass, but that A+ would be so super awesome! Maybe I'll get a tomato-dropping cutie mark!" Who knows? Maybe Pinchy is destined to be a physicist! That'd be a surprise during the class reunion, wouldn't it?

Oh, but she was being rude! She dropped what she was doing and had the most shamed, apologetic look on her little face when she looked back to her new team member! "Ah! I'm sorry! I didn't ask your name, I didn't mean to ignore you!" she seemed legitimately concerned for this filly's feelings. A good quality in a team member, right?

======================================================================================================

Snails was just glad he could be in a group at all! Especially one that seemed to be full of some swell ponies. Better than working with... them. He was all smiles even before the note was passed to him. He had to take a moment to read it, his skills being a bit slow... Luckily he finished once Haywire started laying out the plan! He was distracted from his previous thinkings, like why this other filly wasn't talking. Was she shy? Did she only know how to write Equestrian? Did a monster steal her voice and gave her its own and she doesn't want to scare anypony?

Either way, distracted! Surprisingly, on a school project! This seemed fun! A lot more fun than reading, or writing a paper. Though the wiry colt had the feeling Miss Cheerilee was going to make them write a paper about it anyway.

This was easy enough. Just helping to make a box, right? And then adding some rubber bands! So simple, even Snails could do it! In his excitement, he actually missed the next set of instruction from their little group leader. He blinked a moment before returning to Equestria and out of his head out of the clouds. "Huh? Wha? Hold what...?" after a quick look around, he could guess what was going on. He took his place to help Haywire keep the little cage in once place. He couldn't wait to see what this thinger was going to look like when it was finished!

"A-Alright, I got it! Fire away!" he said to Bebop, signaling his own readiness. Of course, he didn't check if Haywire was. Hopefully she was. Right?

[brianblackberry]

Cheerilee was caught off guard by Rainbow Dash’s sudden introduction, and she had this great speech all planned out too. Oh well, at least the foals would be excited right? Dash was pretty well known and pretty popular in Ponyville, even more so with the youth, only princess Twilight was more famous and adored by her class, at least form the various gossips and whispers she routinely heard. What was really important though is having a responsible pegasus mare fly each student up was much safer than having any student on the roof themselves. No matter how safe Cheerilee would have made the climb or descent, there was always that possibly one may fall off; well, with this class, it would be a certainty.

At least one group was finally finished, the ever enthusiastic and hyper Cutie mark Crusaders. “Excellent girls! Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Applebloom, meet us go outside and we’ll test your tomato carrier. Remember now, your grades won’t suffer if the tomato is smashed or broken, it is putting forth the effort that is what is important.” Cheerilee looked over the box, which was quite colorful and a bit elaborate with all the little wings pasted to the side, the Crusaders weren’t lacking for effort or imagination. “Er, wow, well you all put a lot of thought into making this; I am sure to will be spectacular. So.. Which one of you fillies are going to be carried up to launch your little tomato pilot?”

Is will be entirely up to each group to how well their tomato package will drop when it is released, as well whether or not the tomato survived, or how well it survived. Only suggestions are these:

• Be create with the fall, depending on the boxes setup and who is dropping it. It could go straight down or flutter about, or bounce into the school wall, trees, get stuck, whatever, the funnier the better.
  
• The tomato doesn't have to be fine or utterly smashed, it can be somewhere in between.
  
• have fun!
  

[Lux]

Scootaloo was surprised and excited to see Rainbow Dash enter the classroom and announcing that she would be judging the tomato drop. Why she was so excited that she literally hovered above her seat slightly at the chance for her and her fellow Crusaders to prove their talent in making the best box to protect the red fruit. The fact that no grade was being assessed for whether the project was a success or a failure was a load off her mind as well, considering having to go through the book report earlier on.

"This is *TOTALLY* your turn, Scootaloo!" she squeaked enthusiastically. "Think you can take Crimson Flash to victory?"

"Awesome. I'd love to drop the tomato! Don't worry girls this will be a tomato drop for the record books. You just see!"

The orange filly then set the winged box with the tomato cradled neatly inside on her back as she made her way outside. Once there, she held the prized creation carefully and yet tightly in her fore hooves,

"Alright I'm ready. Time for a little flying... um with your help of course Rainbow Dash."

[Bramble Rose]

Rainbow Dash floated out the door after Scootaloo, giving her a big grin at her hesitant assurance that she was ready for flying. "Comon, Scootaloo! You gotta have more enthusiasm than that! Keep hold of that box and let me give it to me again! Are! You! Ready!"

She hefted Scootaloo up into the air for the little orange foal's response, and the two pegasus ponies went soaring up into the sky - taking the long way, around the whole schoolhouse, so that Scootaloo could feel the wind in her wings for a bit.

​

[SteelEagle]

All Apple Bloom could imagine as Scootaloo was taken by Rainbow Dash to the point of drop was how cool their new cutie marks were going to be! Tomato dropping cutie marks didn't sound like much, but to a filly used to nothing getting something meant the world and then some. Soon she could claim confidently that she was a big pony and everypony, even Tiara, would have to admit it. The Crusaders would be the toast of the town, the whole kit and the whole kaboodle! Applejack would show Apple Bloom the few secrets that remained on the farm and were hidden from devious filly hooves. They would be grown up ponies despite their size and Miss Cheerilee would give them all A++++ for all of their work from now on, thanks to Crimson Flash and Scootaloo!

"You can do it, Scootaloo!" Apple Bloom roared as Rainbow Dash took her pegasus friend away to bigger and better things. Scootaloo may not be able to fly, but who the hay needed that when you had Rainbow Dash? She could fly faster than lightning and was always willing to help a pony. Better that Scootaloo be able to zip on around the sky! Andafter it was all said and done, the box would work. The box would keep that tomato safe no matter what, she was sure of it. The construction was solid all the way around with the proper balance of sturdy armor and impact absorbption distributed evenly and effectively throughout. Barring sabotage, Apple Bloom knew that they would have a nice tomato at the end. Unless it just fell from the sky like a twirling box of doom- all bets were off then!

"Sweetie Belle, we're gonna ace it and get Tomato Droppin' cutie marks for sure!"

[Lux]

Scootaloo smiled to see Rainbow Dash there, although her excitement was marred by a storm of doubt. What if she accidentally dropped the tomato box while being lifted up? What if Rainbow Dash accidentally drops her? She'd be smooshed like a tomato! Still her friends were counting on her getting the job done and in getting their tomato dropping cutie marks. She couldn't let them down, and she was the only pony for the job.

"YES I AM READY! CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS TOMATO DROPPERS!!!" Scootaloo said as loud as she could as she was lifted into the air. As she and Rainbow Dash took the long way around the school, she unfurled her wings and let the sensation of the breeze touch them. She then closed her eyes and imagined it was only her flying through a clear blue sky, watching the world below pass her by. One day she knew she'd get to soar like this on her own, but for now she had a job to do. After feeling her stop Scootaloo opened her eyes and looked down at the schoolyard below. Then with her hooves outstretched she let the box carrying the tomato go.

The tomato box began to twirl in the air as it descended due to the wings, making it look like those propeller shaped seeds from maple trees. The box danced gracefully in the air, making Scootaloo feel that maybe, just maybe, they would get their cutie marks today in tomato dropping. But then the unthinkable happened. A breeze blew through catching the box in flight and sending it right into the side of the school with a thud, ripping off its wings in the process. Then the now damaged box fell unceremoniously to the ground.

"Oh no! Our tomato!" Scootaloo shouted to the crusaders below, "Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, is Crimson Flash ok?"

[Pretzelparty]

"Here's all the stuff Miss Cheerilee gave us ta use, Snails and Bebop, since you two's got unicorn magic, you kin use it ta fasten together all the ends of the wooden frame part of this container. But the secret to this here thing's gonna be the inner cage that's gonna have all mah hoofmade rubber bands hold'n it steady, jist like in this here diagram I drew! See how it'll hold the egg in place in the inner cage thingie? Well, let's git to it!"

"Hay Bebop, while me an' Snails holds these here thingies together, you kin zap'm with yur magic so they'll stay together, right?"

"A-Alright, I got it! Fire away!"

Bebop nodded eagerly as her friend spoke, listening intently to her instructions. It was a bit surprising to see how good Haywire was at giving instruction to her peers, she was seeing a new side of her friend and she rather liked it! Lowering her head slightly she took the initiative and soon her horn lit up and her magic aura engulfed the wooden frame. So far so good, the mending and binding of the structure was going well... at least until somepony's entrance and exit.

Dash's entrance wasn't anything but annoying bebop and the only effect it had on her was the sudden blast of air over her mane that left it ever so slightly messy. The exit on the other hoof was a different story. As Rainbow Dash flew out with one of Applebloom's friends in tow she kicked up a gust that surprised the little filly and also knocked her on her haunches, accidentally sending their tomato carrier towards the ceiling. If somepony didn't catch the project it may be tested a lot sooner than expected!

[Mojo]

As Haywire watched the container coming together magically, the rust colored filly breathed a sigh of relief. That is, until Bebop got distracted and sent the completed container upward.

"Uh oh!" Haywire uttered as the container, the outer cage-like structure with the smaller cage holding their tomato inside it suspended by rubber bands, reached close to the ceiling and started it's descent.

"I got it! I got it!" the blonde filly shouted as she made a dive to catch it, only to collide with Snails. As the two tumbled to the floor, the container landed squarely on the table.

BOOOIIINNNNGGGG!

Surprisingly enough, the well constructed container didn't collapse, and the rubber band assembly attached to the inner cage absorbed the shock, leaving the tomato safe and sound.

"IT WORKS! IT WORKS!" Haywire neighed, "If'n this thingie works this well here, jist wait till we git it outside an' drop it down! Great job Snails and Bebop! We make a really good team!"

[Bramble Rose]

Sweetie Belle watched with bright eyes shining as the box started its slow descent. If the wings had all been facing the same direction, that tomatoe would have soared over the town! Needed some sort of song to commemmorate it ... just needed the right refrain to hold it together. Something about wind and wings? No... a leaf on the wind? Nah... Flight of the Kilted Tomatoes? No, that's just silly.

​

"Haha! Good goin', Scootaloo! Guess I won't get to see that first tomato go splat, after all! Not a bad first flight, either! Though it's getting a little close to-" Rainbow Dash winced and glanced away as the box collided with the wall of the schoolhouse. "Ooooo! Wings in for a dive, Scoots!"

She ducked her head down and zipped to the ground, the wind blowing their manes back as she zipped in for a quick but graceful landing.

​

Before Sweetie's mind could think up just the right phrase, her eyes widened in horror! The box! "Nooooo! Lord Lycopersicum! How will the family Solanaceae ever manage the Verdant Gardens without your plucky wit and dazzling charm!?" She went running over to the box, her little hooves churning. She was tearing the box apart swiftly, biting at her lower lip in worry...

Success! She lifted up the tomato - despite the wings being bent, the box dented and battered, the Crimson Flash was A-OK! "YAY! He's all right!" She gave the tomato a little hug, rubbing her cheek against the red fruit and letting out a lil' 'squee!' "Oh, you worried me! Never do that again!"

​

[SteelEagle]

Apple Bloom watched the box take majestic flight, incredibly excited to see the greatest grade imaginable. Wen everything went perfectly, everypony would be so proud of the CMC that cutie marks or not they wpuld be considered the cool kids of coolness who could do no wrong. Even Tiara and Spoon would be forced to kowtow briefly to the demands of the trio due to overwhelming awe! There he went, mister whatever his name was, tilting and flying about in the air. It was going perfectly, just like it had been planned to. Suddenly, a breeze hit it off target and it started cartwheeling and going NUTS. Apple Bloom bit her lip as she watched it tumble out of the sky with all the grace of a rock, which it looked like. It hit the ground with authority, luckily landing in the direction intended. That little detail soothed Apple Bloom's worried psyche. As Sweetie Belle panicked and galloped towards it, Apple Bloom trotted behind- confident, but nervous.

Sweetie Belle opene dthe box and then hugged the tomato, which was safe and secure! Abby let out a sigh as she trotted in behind, inspecting the crash. As expected, the first two layers of protection were heavily damaged because of the speed of impact. It was a solid enough structure so it withstood a lot, and the inner layer with tomato was unharmed. Heck, as Abby poked through it as Sweetie pitter pattered her way with the rock, Abby thought that her little box had help up mighty fine and could have done a ecnd, albeit better controlled, drop. That was a success.

"Yee haw! Now that's a tomato drop. Anypony get their cutie marks?" Apple Bloom asked excitedly, quickly checking her flank. Nothing. Shoot. At least they would get a cooler cutie mark. What would that have even looked like? What a stupid talent to have. Back to Miss Cheerilee, who Apple Bloom approached with class, beaming all the while.

"Miss Cheerilee, see?! Our tomato is as safe as it could be! Why, our box is so darn good it coulda dropped from twice that height!"

[Lux]

Scootaloo could see that her fellow Crusader friends had answered her call and made a beeline to the remains of their tomato box. The orange filly though was still airborne and couldn't just fly down on her own much as she wanted to knowing that she'd fall like a stone! While just a few feet hovering a fall wasn't bad, just sort of annoying, from way above her schoolhouse it could be very dangerous. Luckily Rainbow Dash sensed her worry and called for a dive. Scootaloo immediately folded her wings tight against her sides as she plummeted with her awesome friend.

"Whoohooo!"

As they landed softly on the ground Scootaloo wished the rush of the fall didn't end. Maybe next time it could be higher and faster. Her thoughts of future thrills was quickly stoped by the realization that she still had the fate of a certain red fruit to worry about.

"Thanks Rainbow Dash," she said before trotting over to her friends. To her relief the tomato was safe, Held proudly by Sweetie Belle.

"Yes, we did it! Crimson Flash is safe to do his epic stunts once more! Wait, does that mean we got our cutie marks in tomato dropping?"

She glanced behind to see if there was anything new on her flank but all she saw was the same expanse of orange.

"Awww... no mark for me. How about you two?"

[brianblackberry]

Cheerilee watched with a large smile as Rainbow Dash took little Scootaloo up in the air with her. It was good of the other Crusaders to volunteer the orange pegasus filly; Cheerilee was well aware of Scoot's problem with flying and to watch Dash soar her up in the air like that was most gratifying. Perhaps someday Scootaloo would get to join the rainbow maned pegasus in the sky under her own power. Cheerilee couldn't do much to help in that regard, but she could always offer encouragement and make sure her student had every ample opportunity to exercise her wings during outdoor activities.

Of course the moment of truth finally came and the box was released! It twirled down, the haphazard wings placed on either side actually gave it some lift. Cheerilee winched a little when the box hit the school house on its way down, but no matter the condition of the tomato, the trio of fillies had exceeded what was expected of them in both creativity and imagination.

The CMC's concern for their tomato was touching, abet a little silly, but that was just fine with Cheerilee; it meant the three fillies had put their hearts into the assignment, which gave the school mare a extra bit of joy. When Applebloom showed her the undamaged tomato, it was simply icing on the cake. "Great job Cutie mark Crusaders!" She normally wouldn't call them by their club moniker, but she make an exception this time in sharing their enthusiasm. "You each did an excellent job! Even if your tomato didn't make it, you all creative, diligent effort into your box. I hope you all learned something about the laws that govern the physical world from this experiment! Don't worry, you all will receive an 'A' for this assignment! You can take to tomato home and do what you like with it, or if you need to I can slice it up for you here to have as a treat."

Cheerilee trotted back inside to see who would be next,"any group ready with their tomato? We are running very low on time and we shouldn't dally!"

[Pretzelparty]

"IT WORKS! IT WORKS!" Haywire neighed, "If'n this thingie works this well here, jist wait till we git it outside an' drop it down! Great job Snails and Bebop! We make a really good team!"

The color practically drained from Bebop's face as she watched the item drop. too unsure of where it would land, the pony closed her eyes just as she thought the tomato would splatter against the floor of the schoolhouse. Strangely she didn't hear the clatter of the construct around the tomato break and didn't even hear the slightest wet noise, hesitantly she opened her eyes and let out a sigh of relief.

Hearing Haywire's affirmation of the little brown unicorns assumption of their unofficual tomato drop's success, Bebop galloped over and hugged her friend before quickly writing down that maybe Haywire should be an engineer when she grew up.

Cheerilee trotted back inside to see who would be next,"any group ready with their tomato? We are running very low on time and we shouldn't dally!"

The filly's ears perked a moment as she heard the teacher's voice. Preparing a hastily written note , Bebop dragged Haywire ,Snails and the project out to the yard; evidently she's stronger than she looks. Putting her notebook Miss Cheerilee's back. Assuming their teacher read her note she would see it read thusly, "I'm sorry, Miss Cheerilee our project was held by an incident that that rainbow maned pegasus' entrance caused. Our tomato was more or less already tested and didn't break so let's hope it works again!"

Setting down her classmates and the tomato in it's protective structure she gestured for for Haywire to take command. It was her design that was going to ensure their success after all, she should be the one to do the honors. While she waited for her friend to take charge she couldn't help but glare a bit intensely at the rainbow maned pegasus who's rather flashy entrance lead to her accident... even though it had no negative consequences.

[Mojo]

When Haywire heard Cheerilee's 'last call' for the tomato drop, the blank flank filly placed the apparatus that she and her team had built on her back and walked up to her.

"Miss Cheerilee, mah team's ready ta go! We'll git up thar and show ya!" Haywire announced, taking a quick glance at the written message Bebop had floated up for their teacher to read. "Good deal, Bebop! We need ta hurry up, C'mon Snails, we gotta git movin' now! Ain't gonna wait fer Rainbow Dash ta take us up on the roof. I gotta way to git up thar now! Foller me!"

Haywire led Bebop and Snails around the back of the school where the blonde filly pulled out a crudely made rope ladder from her backpack. Swinging it upward, the ladder's top rung lassoed the chimney so it was secure.

"Don't wurry about it, y'all. I climb up thar on the roof all the time, especially when I'm droppin' water balloons on other ponies. Maybe we kin do that later on. C'mon up!"

Soon, Haywire led her classmates on top of the roof where the blank flank filly shouted down to the other ponies below.

"HAY Y'ALL! LOOK OUT DOWN BELOW! HERE COMES MAH TEAM'S TOMATO CAGE THINGIE!"

Dropping the well constructed cube shaped apparatus down, Haywire watched with great interest as it fell to earth.

BOING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just as what happened with their 'accident' inside the school, the wooden encasement held together with the many rubber bands taking the shock of the impact and keeping the tomato perfectly safe.

"YAY! WE DID IT!" Haywire shouted but soon her cheering turned to shock when their 'box' continued to bounce up and down from the ground into the air.

BOING!!!!!!!

BOING!!!!!

BOING!!!!!

"Uh oh!" the rust colored filly neighed to Bebop and Snails. "That thing wasn't supposed ta do THAT! We better git down thar and stop it before it gits me inta big trouble!"