"Um..." Bright Eyes stood before the class, looking nervously around the room. She looked over to the teacher, a light yellow earth pony with a tan mane and tail, and three pencils as a cutie mark. The teacher gave a reassuring smile, and Bright looked at the class mates again, "M-my name is Bright Eyes, and I just moved here from Cloudsdale."
"Bright Eyes?" A filly near the back whispered to another, "Shoulda called her Lazy Eyes."
Bright looked at the floor and went to her seat, in the front right corner. The teacher smiled at her for a moment before beginning her lecture for the whole class. They started with mathematics, which didn't really interest Bright, but she was immediately hooked when they reached the topic of geography. At the end of the class time, everypony was allowed to go outside, and Bright Eyes looked from pony to pony. The first one she noticed was a white unicorn with a spiked electric blue mane and tail. Over her eyes, she wore a pair of sunglasses. To that pony's left was a grey earth pony with a darker grey mane and tail, well combed. Her eyes were blue, and she was talking to the unicorn.
Another earth pony approached Bright. This one had a light purple coat and a dark purple mane and tail, which was heavily curled, and her eyes were teal. "Hello, Lazy Eyes."
"Um.." Bright started, "It's Bright Eyes, actually. What's your name?"
"I'm Suri Polomare," the earth pony replied, "I noticed you really liked the geography part of class. Think you'll be a mapmaker--oops, my mistake."
"What mistake?" the pegasus blinked in confusion.
Suri sneered, "I almost made the assumption that you could read a map."
The white unicorn was watching curiously, and drew the grey earth pony's attention to the scene that was unfolding.
"But I can read." Bright said defensively.
"If you say so," Suri shrugged, "There's no shame in not being able to read, as long as you don't try to hide it." She made it seem like she was showing respect, but Bright only heard the insulting part.
"But I--" She started.
"Shh..." Suri placed a hoof in front of the pegasus's muzzle, "Don't get upset."
"Hey, Suri," the white unicorn said, "Don't you normally hang with Rarity after school?"
Suri smiled at the unicorn, "I just figured I should get to know the new filly, but I suppose I should go see Rarity." With that, she trotted away with a smug look on her face, leaving an upset pegasus behind with the two other ponies.
Bright's lip quivered as she started to look down, but she felt a hoof on her shoulder. Looking up, she saw the grey earth pony, who was smiling gently at her, "Don't cry, Bright Eyes," she said softly.
"Yeah!" The unicorn said with a grin, "Suri's just a sneaky bully!"
The earth pony rolled her eyes, "What Suri was saying is completely meaningless. My name is Octavia, and this is my cousin, Vinyl Scratch."
"I'm Bright Eyes," the pegasus responded.
"Nice to meet you!" Vinyl beamed, holding out a hoof, "Y'know, maybe we should all hang together! What's your schedule like, Bright?"
Bright smiled, "my mom and I didn't really plan anything. I'd love to hang with you guys!"
---Two Weeks Pass---
"C'mon, Tavi! I've gotta practice too!" Vinyl complained.
"Practice what? you put a couple of discs onto a table." Octavia said irritiably.
Bright Eyes walked into the room, "Hey girls! What's going on?
"Oh, hey, Bright!" Vinyl said, cutting the argument short, "We're just trying to figure out how we can both practice. Tavi doesn't want to hear my music."
Octavia sighed, "Vinyl, it's not that I don't like your choice of music, but it drowns out my cello. I'm still learning, you know."
"And I'm still learning how to properly DJ," Vinyl countered.
Bright decided to cut in, "What about headphones?"
Both of her friends looked over at her with a bit of surprise and Vinyl facehoofed, "I should've thought of that."
Octavia rolled her eyes, "Well, at least somepony did."
"By the way," Bright started, "I came here today because my birthday's in a week, and I was hoping to invite you to the party."
---Six Days Pass---
"So, party's tomorrow, huh?" Vinyl said, "Um... What do you want? I mean, as a present?"
Derpy beamed, "I'd like a big map! I've got one of Equestria, but I've been wanting a big map that focuses on Ponyville!"
Octavia rolled her eyes, "I get the feeling you're going to get a cutie mark that involves a lot of travel."
"Or Carti--Car.. Mapmaking!" Vinyl blurted, stumbling over the word for a moment.
"I think the word you're looking for is 'cartography,' Vinyl." Bright said, "Although mom says my strabismus might get in the way of that."
"Your what?" Vinyl looked at her with a mildly confused expression.
"Strabismus," Bright repeated, "It's a disorder where ponies have their eyes improperly aligned. It's kinda why mine do this. And why I'm so clumsy."
Vinyl looked at her, "I didn't know there was a name for your eye position," she said, then added as an afterthought, "I just thought it looked cool."
All three of them looked wide-eyed as a white unicorn filly with a dark purple mane and tail floated past them, about an inch from the ground.
Bright looked back at the other two, "Did Rarity just--"
Vinyl shrugged, "It's probably best if we don't question it."
"Agreed," Octavia said, trying to keep the confusion off her face.
---The Day After---
Bright squealed in excitement, "An atlas! Thank you, mom!"
She went to hug her mother, and then turned back to the guests. Most of the class was there, and the boxes that they each had were of various sizes. Vinyl had a cylindrical tube a couple feet long, and Octavia had a long, thin box. Suri Polomare was also there, and she had a cubic box.
"Who's next?" Her mother asked, smiling at Bright.
"Does it matter?" Bright pointed out.
"Alright, Bright. Suri, would you bring yours up here?"
Suri smiled and nodded, walking up with her box and setting it in front of Bright. The pegasus reached down and tore off the paper, setting it on the pile with the paper from her mother's gift. Inside the box was a small bag of gold pieces.
"That should be twenty bits right there," Suri said, "I wasn't sure what else to give you."
Bright nodded, "Thanks, Suri."
Before her mother could call another guest up, the doorbell rang, "Now who could that be?"
Bright answered the door herself, to be greeted by a mailmare.
"I have a letter for a Miss Derpy Hooves," the mailmare said.
"Um..." Bright looked at her, "I think you might be--"
"You're in the right place, Special Delivery," Suri said with a smile, "This pegasus is Derpy."
"Oh. Okay," Special Delivery said, handing Bright the letter, "Have a nice day, Miss Hooves."
With that, the mailmare left, oblivious to the fact that Bright was just confused.
"Well, Derpy, aren't you going to open your letter?" Suri asked.
"But--My name's not--"
"It's just a nickname. Don't get upset about it."
Bright sighed and opened the letter. Inside was a card; a generic birthday card, though there was one thing that stood out. A photo stuck to the back of it; of Bright directly after she accidentally knocked over her science project. Her eyes teared up as she looked at the caption: "Happy Birthday, Derpy Hooves. Don't break your presents."
"Bright Eyes, is something wrong?" Octavia asked, approaching.
Suri decided to take her leave, "Ma'am, I did have somewhere to be today other than the party, so I'm going to have to leave early."
Bright's mother nodded a bit, "Alright, Suri. Thank you for coming."
"C'mon, Bright, don't cry." Vinyl said, sitting next to her friend, "So somepony sent you a piece of mail that called you 'Derpy.' So what? That doesn't have to ruin your whole party. Most of us are here to make you happy! Besides, if you weren't clumsy, you wouldn't be you. And me and Tavi like you."
Bright sniffed a bit, "You're right. Thank you, Vinyl. Let's continue with the party. We haven't even had cake yet!"
They went back in, where the ponies were playing a couple of small games. "There you are, Bright," her mother said, "Is everything okay?"
"Whoever sent that card was just a little mean. I'm fine now," Bright responded, just before Vinyl picked up her gift and held it out to Bright.
A variety of toys and a couple boxes of chocolates were most of Bright's gifts. Rarity had given her a hoofmade scarf. But Bright wouldn't forget the gifts from Vinyl and Octavia. Vinyl Scratch had given her a huge map of Ponyville and a frame with lights in the back, to be delivered in a few days, and Octavia had given her a folding map of Canterlot. A red earth pony colt had shown up to deliver an apple pie, with a note that read "Sorry I couldn't make it--Applejack."
When the party was finally over, Vinyl and Octavia were the last to leave, staying behind to help clean up.
---Part 1---End---
