Darling Do and a Daring Dash

As the two ponies made their way to the auditorium, Daring Do took in the classy style of the whole campus. Chandeliers hung from the ceilings, each portrait was framed with an elaborately designed golden frame, and the windows were effortlessly spotless giving off views to the perfectly trimmed lawns and brick arches that lined the buildings.

"So, what exactly am I gonna do for the next eternity tonight?" Daring asked her escort casually. Snowscort sighed and answered pointedly.

"Tonight, you will be meeting your headmaster and the rest of your teachers. You will sit with your class and you will be given schedules, grade books, and a packet of course goals. You will begin to understand what each of the next eight weeks entails and what you are expected to do by the end of the course." The white unicorn clipped the end of the sentence with annoyance as they stepped towards a set of polished doors.

"Got it," Daring said. "Cult initiation. " She said with a wicked smile as she trotted around the corner into the room.

Cult initiation couldn't be further from the truth. Daring's gray eyes scanned the room looking for the section with a blue banner over it. The chairs were plush but not too plush and the floor was polished wood. The stage shone in a subtle light that covered the whole auditorium in a yellow glow. When she finally spotted her class, she trotted down the aisle towards them, staring at the high ceiling that was draped in diamond chandeliers. Daring took a seat near the right of the row in between two kind enough looking ponies. One was a mare with a pale blue coat and a gray mane that trailed around her side in elaborate curls. She had black eyes and was flipping casually through a writing guide in ancient Saddle Arabian. The other was a stallion with little glasses on the bridge of his purple muzzle. He had blue eyes and a matching blue mane that was closely cut to his head. He was leaning over a black briefcase and cleaning another pair of glasses with an embroidered handkerchief.

"Hellooo there," Daring said with a smile, addressing the mare with the writing guide. All she got in return was a slight smile.

With that, it was Daring's turn to humph. After a few minutes of leafing through a map of the campus and making origami birds out of it, the lights dimmed and returned to normal brightness. Gray stallions with little glasses and short straight black manes passed out labeled journals for note-taking. Then, a stallion stepped onto the stage. He was wearing a suit and blue tie that matched his blue eyes and mane. As for his coat, silky white. He tapped the microphone that was provided with a hoof and then began.

"Hello, students. My name is Fancypants and I am the headmaster here at the Equestrian High Society Writer's Guild. Tonight, you will be given everything you need to start class tomorrow. When you return to your dormitories tonight, you will find a black briefcase outside of your door. Inside it, you will find your schedules, course map, and a map of the campus. Along with plenty of other supplies that you will need for your course. Tonight, I will introduce all of our teachers and I will also give a speech about the main purpose of this guild. But first, I will introduce the heads of class. Each color class has a head of the class. Sort of like their own personal class headmaster. They will monitor your activity and track your progress." With that, he took a step back and another stallion stepped onto the stage. Sadly, Daring recognized him.

"Hello. My name is Jet Set. I am the head of the class for the blue color group." With that, her section raised their hooves politely. Daring had no choice but to follow suit.

He then gave a little speech about why he wanted to teach and why he fell into High Society writing. After him, a pegasus mare stepped out. She had a brick red coat and a wavy brown mane that she was constantly flipping to one side of her face. After her, she lost track. Unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies alike trotted on and off the stage. Their words about high society jumbling together into one big unessecary mess in Daring's brain. After a while, Fancypants came back out and spewed jargon about how high society writing was the only kind of good writing and that that was why we were all here. Finally, she heard a slight drizzle of polite applause and the pitter-patter of ponies getting up and trotting to their escorts. Snowscort stood to wait for Daring outside of the auditorium. They trotted to her dorm in silence. Daring dragged the briefcase into her room and tiredly mumbled thanks to Snowscort before she closed the door and trotted over to the stove to make some "Bloody Pete Blood Orange" tea. She probably should have read the course expectations, but the bed was too inviting.

The next morning, Daring dragged herself to the bathroom and brushed her mane. She slapped her face to wake up and trotted to the kitchen. She searched through the fridge until she found some eggs and milk. She scrambled the eggs and drank a glass of milk in one gulp. Suddenly, a knock sounded at the door. When she went to open it, Snowscort greeted her. Daring sighed and grabbed her stuff.

All Jet Set did was give a soliloquy about high society writing for about a half an hour before he even mentioned their classes.

"For the first month, you will spend half of each week doing a different workshop. For the second month, it will be about putting it all together."

"Putting what together?" A minty unicorn asked.

"You book." Jet Set answered. "Your final product to pass my class is a book. You are expected to use everything you will have learned over the course to make a book. You will have different workshops for character building, setting, plot, vocabulary, and the sorts."

"What if you don't write high society and think its just a bunch of poop?" Daring asked.

"Go to the headmaster's office." Was Jet Set's only response.

Daring stepped down from her seat and found Snowscort waiting at the door. The two wound through hallways and up several silver lined staircases, Snowscort's hooves making an annoyed clacking with every step until the reached another shined wooden door. Snowscort knocked.

"Come in." Fancypants said with an annoyed hint in his Canterlot accented voice. daring pushed the door open and trotted over to a leather chair studded with gold that sat in front of a wooden desk laden with neat stacks of white paper and a little jar of quills. Across from her, fancypants sat in a matching chair.

"I understand you are skeptical." he began. "But, Celestia-"

Daring's eyes went wide at the sound of the name and the idea of what came after it. her head whirled and images flashed before her face. Images that had terrorized her for years and had made her want to fly away more than ever.

"I got it," Daring said quickly. With that, she bolted from the room and down halls and stairs until she found her classroom. She took a second to breathe, gritted her teeth. She was determined to prove to everyone that she was the best high society writer of the Guild.

Especially if Celestia's word had anything to do with it.