The bright sun cast not a shadow upon land, being held in the sky at the highest point, reflecting the leftovers of dew droplets upon the grass projecting a world of an unusual beauty. It was certainly a day to inspire courage in the introverted pegasus, and such courage was necessary considering the purpose of her journey into Ponyville. She trot along the path into town, saddlebags bouncing with each laid hoof, the ever slightest smile curling along the corners of her mouth. Though the circumstances could have been better, the very thought of improving the world in a manner which she could perform so admirably could only produce overwhelming feelings of joy. So onwards towards the task at hand Fluttershy went, coming up to the door of the Ponyville schoolhouse.

She peered through the nearby window, observing the few yet many fillies and colts in the classroom. Though indeed there were only three fillies and one colt in the classroom, it was a disappointment that there were this many young ponies who were made to remain after school, however hopefully their misbehavior that earned them such punishment shall be corrected by the end of this visit.

Fluttershy entered the small building, silencing the arguments of the young ones and the instructor in unison.

“Um . . .” She began, initially intimidated by the small ponies. “Hello Miss Cheerilee, I’m here for the lecture.”

The magenta pony, Cheerilee, was elated as to the appearance of the yellow pegasus. “Ah, excellent. Attention everypony! Given that those of you present have been particularly naughty lately, I’ve decided that it may be best to have somepony come and tell you all about how good it is to be nice. As such, I’ve gotten one of the nicest ponies in Ponyville to help teach you all about being good fillies and colts.”

And immediately this was met with a quick remark from one particular filly in the audience, one with a luxuriously styled mane and a tiara. “What makes her so nice?”

“Well Diamond Tiara, Fluttershy is the element of kindness and has saved Ponyville on a number of occasions. In fact, she’s so kind that Princess Celestia herself entrusted Fluttershy with teaching Discord how to be more kind and productive.”

“Yeah, well what does that have to do with us? I mean, I can’t speak for the rest of these ruffians but I, for one, am greatly kind!”

“You weren’t very kind when you and Silver Spoon put paste in that other filly’s mane, now were you?”

At this point Diamond Tiara was flush with anger and protested in her defense “She started it!” She exclaimed, slamming her hooves down on her desk.

“Now settle down. Just listen and you’ll all be out of here in no time, and hopefully you all won’t have to be held for detention ever again.”

And with this the filly settled down back into her seat and Fluttershy stood next to the desk, more comforted by the silence of the classroom.

“Thank you Miss Cheerilee. And good evening fillies and colts. I’m sorry if I’m keeping you a bit longer than usual, so I’ll try and get over this as soon as I can. Now, I’m sure you all didn’t mean to be so mean to any of your classmates, and we all sometimes do things without thinking of them, but we all have to remember self control and to try and stop ourselves from doing something mean to another pony.”

The four in their seats nodded in agreement, helping to encourage Fluttershy to continue.

“I’m sure none of you want to stay after school during detention, just like how none of you want to be mean to anypony else, so always try and remember that before you think about doing something to somepony else, think about how it will make them feel, and if it’s an okay thing to do.”

And with that a voice interrupted, quavering with uncertainty as the lone colt in the classroom began to speak up. “Miss Fluttershy?” He inquired, raising his hoof.

“Yes?”

The stout unicorn continued “What if somepony is being mean to you or did something bad to you? What do we do then?”

“That’s a very good question. If somepony is being rude to you then the first thing you should do is to ask them to stop. This doesn’t work all the time but you’d probably be surprised at how often it works if you just ask them very clearly to stop doing the thing that is annoying you, because they might not realize what they’re doing is wrong. If they keep doing the thing then you shouldn’t be mean to them back, like calling them names or getting into a fight, you should try and find the help of a teacher or an adult to help you.”

“But that’s snitching!”

“I know it’s a hard thing to do, but sometimes it’s the best thing to do before a situation gets out of control. If they don’t stop then I suppose you can probably try and talk to them and ask them why they’re being so mean. Like I said before, they might stop if they realize that what they’re doing is mean to you, and if they continue being mean then they might tell you why. If they tell you why then you can try and fix it, because sometimes you might have done something mean to them without even realizing it.”

She smiled as she looked at the faces of the young ones, seeing that the one adorned with a tiara was the only one who remained clearly unsatisfied.

“Do any of you have any questions?”

And immediately hooves went up from the four. With this, Fluttershy nodded to Diamond Tiara. “You first.”

“I didn’t even do anything that bad; I don’t need to be here!”

This complaint, though minor, upset Fluttershy. She continued to smile but was silently disappointed that her message did not get through. It was clear that the filly was corrupted and doomed to a life of trouble, irresponsibility, and misery. Great kindness could be exercised, but it would likely be to no avail, something greater must be done, a drastic measure must be taken.

“I’m sorry to hear that, what’s your name?”

“Diamond Tiara, now that you know my name, can I please leave?”

“If Miss Cheerilee says that it’s okay, you may leave. However, if Miss Cheerilee agrees I’d rather you come to my cottage tomorrow after school so that I may be able to help you much more.”

Fluttershy looked at Miss Cheerilee and the teacher nodded in agreement.

“I think it’s a wonderful idea Fluttershy! And if you come back well mannered and better behaved then I will cancel the rest of your detention.”

“So it’s agreed, you may go now. But remember to show up at my cottage tomorrow.”

The well groomed filly left the schoolhouse in a triumphant trot with not another word but at the doorway she stuck her tongue out and blew a raspberry at the rest of her classmates. Afterwards she hurried on home as Fluttershy addressed the rest of the questions of the young ones. The day continued on as usual and afterwards Fluttershy bid the now more joyous and even tempered children farewell and headed to her cottage, preparing her and the building for the next day.

Author's Note

Life in Equestria is one where concepts of mania and absurdity must be extended beyond the ordinary comprehension, for life in Equestria is one of magic, monsters, misery, and might. Conflict persists without necessary cause, where one is of a greater lack of knowledge if one may even remain in their bed asleep without being abducted by some horror of the night or be compressed into metaphysical energy. To live in Equestria, one is required for their own sake to hold the ideals of humor and hope, for to lack such would leave one a terrible fraction of a pony of unsound mind and unsafe body. It is of a particular necessity that only ponies of optimism may live in the wonderful and mystic land of Equestria.