Being Brave part II

It was a mighty peaceful day in Ponyville, as many days before. The sky was a magnificent cadmium blue, the clouds were ever so white, and the ground was a picture perfect green and brown. Everything seemed so alive and yet so calm and soothing. Everypony was placed to their customary duties. The Earth Ponies were either setting up shop or in their fields attending their plants. The Unicorns were practicing magic and placing a potion or two up for sale, and The Pegasus's were zooming through the sky, checking whether the weather is on schedule.

It was the end of the school day and all the fillies or colts rushed out after a long day in the classroom. But they weren't all ponies. One of them was a human. His name was Cory Agees, and though abnormal as he looked among the other residents, he was not looked upon as an outcast, but rather an intriguing specimen among ponyfolk. The reason being was that newly appointed princess and resident Twilight Sparkle had visited his world once, and ever since then, everypony had been dying to know about his species, where he came from and what humans are into.

But alas, his past was not the happy type. He was abandoned by his parents, lived an solitary existence in an orphanage, went to a harsh, disciplinary school, was bullied almost constantly, and had his friends taken away from him. One morning, as he decided to give this life one last chance, he was caught by the principal in bruises and rags. As he was dragged down the hallway, he tugged his arm free and ran out of the school. As he wandered aimlessly across town, he came towards a shack he and his five other friends used to hang out in. But when he stepped inside, he tripped and fell through a portal on the back wall. Before he knew it, he found himself in Equestria, where he became a stable colt at Sweet Apple Acres and a chauffeur to the owner of Carousel Boutique. In addition, he found a very unique talent of his, which included finding any discarded object or material, and turning it into a work of art. But he still hesitated in talking about his shady past to his new four legged brethren, for fear he would be looked down upon. But after a bit of encouragement from the Princess of the Night, he mustered up the courage and told about what he went through, the skills he lacked in, how he was picked on for it, and how he got here. Upon hearing this, his new 6 friends agreed to help guide him with what he needed help on.

Twilight would help him with Math, Science, Reading and Writing.

Rainbow Dash would be his new fitness trainer and self defense coach.

Applejack would give him a home, food and a place to sleep.

Rarity would give him clothing, a job and a more respectable position.

Pinkie Pie would cheer him up and keep him busy when he felt down.

And Fluttershy would hospitalize him the next time he was injured or sick.

Cory, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie got front row seats to a Wonderbolt Show the other day. Oh, how spectacular it was as he watched the three of them zoom across the sky, doing various tricks and turns only a Pegusi could dream of accomplishing. After the show, the Wonderbolts asked if they could meet Cory. Though he was a little uncomfortable with the three of them examining his body and looking at his hands all the time, he still managed to talk to them about such things as a T.V., a computer, a phone, and a copying machine.

Now it was monday. The subject in class dealt with equations, a topic Cory always struggled with. But what was he to worry about, he had an after school teacher to guide him through tough subjects. As he approached her castle, he noticed how it differentiated from the other architecture surrounding it. He couldn't quite figure out if whether he was looking at a surreal castle, or the most elaborate treehouse ever imagined. Regardless, it looked like quite a welcoming place. So Cory approached it, and after a deep sigh he knocked on the door. It was Twilight who answered it.

"Oh, hi Cory." She said. "You're right on time."

While escorting him to her upstairs studies, he noticed how the walls of the main entrance were surrounded by books of every genre and subject. The shelves of which they were placed on seemed to go on forever and forever, as if they were reaching towards the sky. He would need a ladder about 50 feet high to reach for one of them.

"Just find a place to sit and we'll get started." She said.

As he looked around he noticed how her room was almost as welcoming as the library downstairs. Bookshelves filled almost every nook and cranny of the walls. On the top left ledge was what was clearly her bed and window, and to his right was a neatly placed desk with a few blank papers, quills and ink jars carefully arranged by their size. On another desk were a few letters Twilight wrote. They were all addressed to Princess Celestia.

"You've been writing to the princess about me?" He asked as he looked at the letters.

"Almost every day." Said Twilight as she searched for notebook and pencil for him "She's really, really eager to meet you sometime."

On a few dressers and cupboards there were pictures of Twilight and her friends, a somewhat royal wedding, her coronation and other fun parties and events from her pre alicorn years. But the images that intrigued him the most were ones of what appeared to be the Mane 6 in human form that were placed on a shelf over the fireplace. He walked towards these photos and took a closer look. It looked like these human friends were attending a fall formal of sort and they somehow sprouted wings, a tail and pony like ears.

"Is that you?" asked Cory as he pointed to the pictures.

"EEyup!" Chuckled Twilight. "That's me as a human."

"Boy what a crazy adventure that was huh?." Asked spike as he approached approached the room and set down a few unwritten scrolls. "And luckily, no side affects. Although, I sometimes get an occasional crave for dog biscuits." He then promptly reached for a box of them and slammed a few down his mouth. Twilight chuckled at this as she searched for a few supplies.

Meanwhile, Cory's eyes were still fixed on a particular group photo of the human mane 6. To the right of the picture was a familiar face. At first he couldn't quite put his finger on who it was, but then he knew. It was the girl who picked up his pencil for him the day he saw Twilights Rainbow Cyclone.

"Cory, would you like a snack while we.." Said Twilight. But Cory's eyes were still fixed on the picture. "You alright?" she asked.

"Oh I'm fine." Said Cory as she gained his attention back. "I just thought I saw something here." Then he promptly put the picture back on the shelf. Twilight made a puzzled look, but in the end decided to brush it off.

"So, lets see what Miss Cheerilee assigned you today shall we?" She asked as she looked into his backpack and studied the homework assignment.

"Aha," she said "Mathematical formulas: just one of my many specialties."

Then she grabbed a nearby chalkboard from nearby while Spike scoched a desk from behind to which Cory promptly took a seak. Twilight cleared her throat and with the levitation of a piece of chalk and a blank piece of paper ready for Cory to write on, she began her first lecture:

"There are two parts to solving equations:" Said Twilight. "Undoing what has been done to our variable, and doing the same thing to both sides of the equation."

Cory raised his hand.

"Yes Cory?" Asked Twilight

"What's a variable again?" Asked Cory

"Good Question: A variable is a letter that represents a number in an equation that's either not fully specified or unknown, and by solving out equations we can figure out exactly what it is. Now, In a visual aspect, we can look at an equation as a see saw that is perfectly balanced. We want to keep it that way by making the equation the same on both sides. This means if I were to remove something from one side of the equation, I would have to do the same thing on the other. This process is the same for adding something on either side as well. Now lets take a look at 4 different examples I've drawn on the chalkboard:"

As Twilight continued on with her lecture, Cory noticed something he had never witnessed before. He found the subject matter engaging. He couldn't quite figure out why. Maybe it's because Twilight was using magic to make it more engaging, or maybe she was inflecting and emphasizing on what was important to know with exuberant energy. Perhaps it was both. But whatever the reason may have been, Cory was attentively writing in his notebook, listening to every word she was saying, though it was hard to comprehend with what she was talking about. Regardless, it was a very pleasant private class he was taking, and he couldn't have been more satisfied.