Today was a special day for the young, schoolponies. Because today was the first day of school! Ponies from everywhere came to school with colorful saddle bags that were filled with books at their sides. Groups walked along the gravel path through the green grass field, chattering amongst their friends. Some sat in the shades under big green trees that were planted everywhere. All of them wore a smile on their face...except one.
There was a single pony standing in front of the school. She had a pale-purple coat, with a magenta mane so full and wavy flowing in the wind. Her cutie mark was a pencil and paper with a drawing of a raincloud, the light of the sun’s rays beaming through it. This represented her passion for drawing in life.
Faded Light was standing in the middle of the path leading straight to the front doors of the Ponyville schoolhouse. She looked around and saw all the other ponies happily walking to class with their friends, her own nervousness readily apparent as she stood alone in the yard.
Somepony bumped into her causing her to stumble forward, and fall to the ground. “Ow!” She yelped and turned around seeing a pony glance down at her only to continue walking. “Well that was a bit rude…” Faded mumbled to herself. For a moment she took a deep breath, glancing herself over to make sure she didn't hurt anything in her fall. With a nod of assurance that she was indeed fine, Faded looked forward and slowly walked towards the school.
There were even more ponies inside the main hall beyond the door. They were all walking to their assigned classrooms while talking with friends, sharing the first day excitement they were all having. Faded continued walking through the hallway looking for her classroom. Alone.
Faded didn't share in their first day excitement for she didn't have a friend to enjoy it with. More so? She never had a friend at all before. She was much too shy and afraid to talk to other ponies. It made her feel so alone. She often felt like nopony ever cared about her, and thought everypony ignored her as if she did not exist. It made her feel like she was isolated in a dark room, alone with nopony who cared. It was a pain she had that was stuck in her heart. She never told this to anypony because she didn’t want to be a bother. It would only make their lives hard because of her. So she kept her pain a secret. A secret that nopony will ever know for she didn't have the heart to admit it outloud.
Faded looked at a clock that was hanging on a wall. 8:10. ‘School starts at 8:30. I need to find my classroom soon before I get late!’ She thought. She stared down the hallway, and saw ponies walking by, lockers stationed on both walls. And doors. Lots of doors. It all made her dizzy, and fear started to take over her. She whimpered, and it made her feel so cold, alone, and scared. Tears started to form in her eyes.
“Help…” She whispered, hoping that somepony heard it. She could feel her legs trembling. They felt like they were going to give up and cause Faded to fall to the ground any second.
“Um...do you need help?” A soft voice said from behind. Faded’s ears perked up as she turned around and saw a white pony standing in front of her with a worried look on her face. She looked a bit smaller than the other ponies. She had a white coat and a long, sparkling mane of light purple.
Faded just stared at the other filly for a moment, then felt relieved to see a pony who was willing to help. “Oh, umm...yes.” She said shyly, her legs still trembling. “I have a little trouble finding my class room.”
“Really? I’m having the same problem too.” The white pony said with a smile. “Hey, wanna find our classroom together? It’ll be easier and faster.” She asked with hope in her eyes.
Faded thought it was a good idea, and took this as an opportunity to become friends with the white pony. Her first friend. “That sounds like a good idea.”
“My name is Dream Desire by the way.” The white filly stuck her hoof out and greeting as she spoke.
Faded smiled and shook her hoof before they started down the hall together.
After a while, they both found Faded’s classroom. She turned to thank Dream for helping her find it. “Thank you for helping me find my class. I couldn’t have found it without you!” She said with a blush. She looked at the white pony that was showing an even bigger smile now. “Guess what!" Dream exclaimed with great excitement in her eyes.
Faded frowned, her mind instantly taking a dark route and assuming the worst. 'Does she not actually want to be friends? Is she going to make fun of me'
Dream Desire's own smile slipped off her face and dipped into a frown before she whispered, "Hey? Are you alright? You aren't nervous about class are you?" The white filly lifted a hoof and patted Faded on the shoulder, "I was just going to say What a coincidence I’m assigned to this classroom too.”
Faded's frown disappeared and was replaced with a surprised look on her face. 'Dream is going to be one of my classmates! She does want to really be friends. Come on Fade, stop being such a drama queen.' Faded thought to herself before looking back up at the white filly.
Dream had started bouncing up and down chanting, “We’re in the same classroom! We’re going to be best friends!” Faded’s lips turned into a happy smile. ‘I’m going to have...a friend?’ She thought to herself once more, imagining the happiness she’ll have with Dream as her best friend. Running around playing tag, helping each other with homework, sleep-overs, she thought that it would make her happier than ever.
The bell rang, making a loud shrilling noise throughout the school that notified everypony that the first day of school has officially started. “Oh my look at the time! Come on, we’re going to be late!” Dream exclaimed before tapping Faded on the shoulder once more and pointing into the room.
They made their way through the doorway and glanced around the room. The wall was painted in light red which made Faded feel like she was welcomed inside. There were small bookshelves in the corner in the back.
Dream had already taken a seat on the right side of the classroom next to the windows that gave a view of the outside of the school. Faded tried to look for an empty seat. There were some in the middle of the room, but she wanted to sit in the back or the sides because she didn’t want to sit in the middle surrounded by her classmates. She then saw Dream gesturing Faded to sit next to her. “You can sit with me if you want.” Faded nodded happily and sat on the empty seat next to her friend. She hung her saddlebag on the side of the desk before turning to Dream and whispering a small, “Thank you.” Dream gave her a warm smile and said softly. “No problem, Fade.”
The classroom door opened wide, and a tall stallion came in. He had a coat of brown, with yellow golden mane and tail that was shining in the light. He wore a white shirt which made him look bright, with a long golden coloured tie that was lined straight. “Good morning everypony!” He said with a high pitched voice as he walked to the front desk. He sounded like he was a kind and a teacher who was happy to see his new students. He stood behind the desk and looked at all of his students, and waved a hoof towards them. “Welcome to Ponyville High, everypony!” He said with a smile.
Some cheered, some groaned. Dream simply smiled with a happy look on her face. Faded however, was afraid of what’s to come. 'What if the other ponies don’t like me? What if I never get along with them!' She looked at Dream who was still smiling, and calmed down a bit. She had a friend now, which meant she wasn’t alone anymore. Faded turned her head to look at her teacher, and smiled.
And that is how the first day of school started.
The teacher kept his smile, and started to introduce himself. “I'm Pencil Tip, and I’m going to be your teacher.” He looked at all of his new students and felt very glad to see them. His white shirt was bright from the sunlight, and his straight golden tie offered a warm welcoming feeling to the new teenage ponies who came to Ponyville High. Some exchanged looks with their friends, while others focused to what the teacher was saying.
Faded Light, and Dream Desire was also paying attention to the teacher. “I hope that you all will get to know each other and make lots of friends.” Faded felt a shivering feeling, and felt like she was small compared to the others. She didn't know why, but she was afraid of talking to other ponies because she thought that nopony would like to be friends with her. She turned her eyes to see Dream. Dream was looking out the window, enjoying the view of the whole field the school had. Faded peeked over to see what she was looking at.
The school field was very wide with the color of green everywhere, with tall trees planted around with shades under them. She didn’t realize that the school had a great place like this to just sit and relax. There were some other ponies who were reading books under the trees, little kids running around the field playing tag, a couple of ponies sitting down talking to each other with laughter. Faded felt a smile appear on her face, knowing that she had a friend who helped her find the classroom.
“Since today is the first day of school, we're going to start the day by introducing ourselves to each other. We’ll start with the front row on the left.” he gestured to a pony who had red coat, and short pink mane in the front to start. She stood up and turned to the other ponies, and started to introduce herself. “My name is Red Rose, and I wish to make good friends here.” she said happily, as she sat down. The pony next to her knew it was his turn, and stood up. He was covered in white, and had curled dark brown mane. “Umm...I’m White Chocolate...” he looked nervous, as he sat down on his seat. And then the rest of the ponies took their turn to introduce themselves.
After a while, it was Dream’s turn. She took a deep breath, and stood up with a smile. “My name is Dream Desire, and I like making new friends!” She finished and sat down. Now it was Faded Light’s turn. She felt her heart beat faster. Fear started to crawl inside her, as she slowly and quietly stood up from her chair, trembling. “Umm...” She started to stammer. She tried to take a deep breath, like what Dream did, but she was shaking so badly she couldn’t. “M..my n..n..name is...” She took a short breath. “F..faded Light.” She said, as she quickly slumped back down on her chair, making a loud thud noise. She was so embarrassed she couldn't even introduce herself. She hated herself so much, she thought she was deadweight to the others. Cowering in shame, she buried her face in her hooves on her desk, feeling teared up. ‘I'm not going to make any friends here...’ She thought to herself, ears dropping downward. She then felt a warm hoof touch her shoulders. She turned her head, and saw Dream with a comforting smile meeting her eyes. “You did great.” She said in a whisper. It sounded so soft in her ears, she was glad to have somepony notice her nervousness. Faded responded with a shy nod, as her ears slightly went up with hope.
A few hours past as they all introduced themselves to each other, played a few boring games, and had some free time. Dream was talking to a pony behind her. Star Shine was her name, with long sparkling purple mane that seemed wavy, a dark blue coat, and on her flank was a star that was shining. The two became quick friends and talked about different kinds of Stars she liked to see, while Dream was fascinated by her talent in finding stars. Faded Light however stayed quiet in her seat, looking around at the other ponies talking, laughing with each other. One of them named Sketch was talking about how to draw pony art, which got Faded’s interest. She really liked drawing, in fact she wanted to draw right now. But she was afraid that she would get too much attention from the others. So she just listened to what the pony was talking about. “-and then you try to draw three circles. It's easier if you do that, cause then you got a head and a body. And then-” Faded tried to remember what she was saying, just in case it might help her improve in drawing ponies. “the two circles need to be crossed. So when you connect them, it'll look like a bean!” The ponies around her laughed together as Sketch giggled along. She seemed like a good friend who knows a lot about drawing. Maybe she should ask her to teach her how to draw! Faded shook her head. ‘No, I'll be a bother to her. I'll just listen to her advices and memorize them.’
“Fade?” She jumped as Dream called her name. “Oh, umm yes?” She looked at her and noticed Star Shine and a pony next to her were looking at her. “I'd like you to meet my new friends!” She said happily, as she gestured to the two ponies that were sitting behind them. “This is Star Shine, and this is Piano Tiles! Star Shine and Piano Tiles, Faded Light. Faded Light, Star Shine and Piano Tiles.” Faded looked at the two ponies with a shy look on her face. She tilted her head forward, letting her mane cover most of her face. “Umm...hi...” She whispered shyly, just loud enough for the three ponies to hear. “Hello. Nice to meet you.” Star said with her sparkling eyes meeting hers. “Hi. I’m Piano Tiles.” Piano said. He had black long curly mane with two white thin stripes on the middle next to his horn, he had white coat that looked like the white keys on a real piano, his tail was also black with a few white stripes on it. His cutie mark was a picture of three piano keys, which represented his love for piano music. “Pleased to meet you.” He said with a smile, as Faded realized that she now had three new friends in one day. Her lips curled up into a small smile. “I’m Faded Light.” She quietly said shyly.
The school bell rang, letting all the ponies know that it was lunch time. “Oh, it’s lunch time. Coming?” Star jumped off her chair and asked the three ponies. “Sure!” Dream answered with glee, as Piano nodded as a yes and followed her. “Come on Fade!” Faded looked at Dream with gladness, knowing that she had a friend who cared about her. She got off of her seat, and followed the group to the cafeteria.
