Precious-la Estella still remembers her first school day. Her first day, when she went to the School of Friendship. When she went to Ponyville, far away from her home and her family in Manehattan. It was a good memory.
Technically, that wasn't her first day at school. It was her second. It was the day after Chancellor Neighsay almost shut down the School of Friendship. Nevertheless, it was still a memoriable experience. A completely new experience. A perfect chance for Precious-la to make a fresh start.
Precious-la moved to Ponyville just to attend that school. She likes Ponyville. She didn't like Manehattan, because in her opinion, Manehattan is too boring, too normal and too strict. In Manehattan, friendship barely existed. In her own school, she didn't have many friends. Not that she wanted to be besties with all the bullies and peers, who didn't care about each other and prefered segregation over integration.
In fact, she only had one friend. One close friend, one kind friend, whose name was Lithium Evergreen. They did everything together and were very close to each other. So close, that Precious-la was still sad to leave Lithium after their mandatory school years. She didn't have a Lithium anymore in Ponyville. Nevertheless, Precious-la was still excited for her first school day. And she hopes, that Lithium had a great first school day in the Crystal Empire as well.
Saying that Precious-la was excited for her first school day might be a little bit underrated. Actually, Precious-la was really really excited. Not only because she got the chance of leaving her gloomy home city and all the mean ponies. Also because her teachers will be the prominent heroes of Equestria. Those six ponies, who saved Equestria several times, defeated and reformed many destructive villains and almost every year showed up in the newspapers.
Precious-la has read a lot about them. Usually, she isn't interested in the news at all, since she doesn't want to be involved in politics and stuff. However, every time, an article about the Mane 6 showed up at the title page of the newspaper, she was eager to read and know, how they saved Equestria this time. And now, at her first day, it was her first time to meet her six idols in person. The first day, she will have attended their classes. Thus, she was overexcited. She was nervous.
Together with approximately hundreds of other students, Precious-la went to the big gate of the School of Friendship, an enourmous, castle like building, standing over the water, sparkling in elegant colors. She went through the gate.
She has already seen the school from the inside on her literal first day at school. At the Neighsay day. Nevertheless, she was still highly impressed of the beauty of the building, of all the colors, large halls and high windows and she assumes, that she will always be that stunned, whenever she walks through the halls to several class rooms. Even after many years.
The castle was beautiful, both from the outside and the inside. Incredible, that it was supposed to be a School of Friendship, when it almost looks like Princess Twilight Sparkle's castle. Of course, Precious-la has never been in Twilight's castle before, but she has been in a school. Her old school in Manehattan was never that divine, when she remembers right.
Precious-la somehow heard in the news, that the building used to be a old hotel, which has been abadoned since the owner of the hotel has been arrested for threating her guests in an inappropiate way. She wasn't sure, since she was at a very little age, when she heard scandal.
She was sure however, that the Mane 6 reused the abadoned building again to build up and decorate their own School of Friendship. To teach several creatures and ponies about the value of friendship and harmony. To make their students rediscover their pure values. For example herself.
"Be careful," a female voice said amused.
Precious-la realized, that she accidently bumped into a pink pony, when looking astonished around the hallway. She caused the pink pony dropping her stack of papers, pens and other important forms, from which the forms floated down slowly in all directions.
"Oh sorry sorry," Precious-la immediately apologized to the pony and used her magic to pick up all the dropped items.
When she gave the pony her paper forms and pens again, she had the chance for the better glance at her face to notice, who she was. Precious-la instantly froze, when she recognized the pink mare, she bumped into.
"You are..." she started her sentence with, but was unable to continue.
Precious-la stood in front of Starlight Glimmer, also a mare, about whom she read a lot of articles. Although she isn't a very big fan of her like she is of the Mane 6, she still admires her a lot. She is aware, that Starlight used to be a hero and brave rescuer of Equestria as well, together with her friends, when the Mane 6 didn't have the chance of helping. She knows, that Starlight has grown a lot, since the Princess of Friendship took her as her very own friendship student.
Starlight nodded.
"Yep, I'm Starlight Glimmer, the friendship councellor of the School of Friendship," Starlight said and gave Precious-la her hoof. "Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too," Precious-la said, still pretty astonished but also embarrassed and shook Starlight's hoof meanwhile. "I'm so sorry, that I accidently dropped your forms and your pens and stuff. They must be very important to you."
"That's okay," Starlight responded. "Now, tell me your name and I can tell you, where to go."
"Precious-la Estella," Precious-la said.
"Hmm...Precious-la..." Starlight murmured and scrolled through a particulary long from, which seems to be a list. "Bingo! You're in the same classes as Cozy Glow, so I would recommend you to follow her."
By saying that, Starlight pointed at a short female pony, who is walking down the hallway in the direction of the staircase. Precious-la looked at the pony and tried to remember her appearance and her name.
"Thank you so much," she said to Starlight. "By the way, I'm really happy to meet you. I have heard of you and Princess Twilight!"
Starlight laughted shortly and amused by hearing Precious-la's phase and responded calmly: "You can come to my office everytime. Everyone is welcome here. But now, follow Cozy Glow quickly, before she disappears!"
Precious-la looked at the staircase and noticed, that Cozy Glow's light blue tail just disappeared. She must have been in the second floor now. Therefore, Precious-la quickly nodded in agreement and hurried into the same direction as Cozy Glow did before.
"See you later!" she exclaimed to Starlight for the last time, before hurrying up the stairs into the second floor.
Precious-la was happy to meet Starlight. She seems like a nice and helpful pony, who cares a lot about her students and welcomes everyone. On the other hand, Precious-la was also very nervous about her first day. A feeling, that she didn't have before she entered the School of Friendship. A completely new feeling for that day.
Then, she realized, that she absolutely had so idea, what she will learn in the School of Friendship. In what extend will it be different than her old school in Manehattan? How does she even learn Friendship here? Will she ever learn something at all?
The more questions Precious-la asks herself in her mind, the more nervous she gets. She doesn't know, what to expect. But she knows, that it'll be something, that the EEA won't approve. That it'll be something, which the EEA doesn't call education.
Precious-la looked at the female character in front of her, who is supposed to be Cozy Glow, and kept following her. She wondered, why Starlight only told her to follow Cozy Glow. Why didn't she tell her in the first place, which classroom she should attend? Is the classroom structure at the School of Friendship different than in Manehattan? Different than in usual schools? EEA approved schools?
She noticed, that Cozy Glow walked into a classroom at the end of the hallway, next to a large, long window, so Precious-la followed her into that classroom. She should probably talk to her, since Starlight didn't tell her without reason to follow Cozy Glow into her classes. Precious-la decided, it's the best way to pick a seat next to Cozy Glow, near the large window.
"Hi, you're Cozy Glow, right?" Precious-la said, as soon as Cozy sat down.
Cozy Glow somehow startled and turned her head to Precious-la, staring at her with cute, big eyes. Precious-la could recognize her eye color now. A soft hazelnut brown tone with slight accents of bright red.
Then, her confusion turned into calm happiness. Cozy nodded and smiled. It was a cute, innocent smile.
"Golly, I'm so glad to meet you as a new friend," Cozy squealed. "What's your name?"
"I'm Precious-la," Precious-la said and smiled back at the cute pony. "Nice to meet you too. Councellor Starlight just told me to follow you in your classes and since we are in the same class, we could be friends, right?"
"Oh, you're Precious-la!" Cozy said in excitement. "Councellor Starlight Glimmer also told me, that you're in my class. What a lucky coincidence! Although, I didn't know, who Precious-la was in that moment."
"Now you know," Precious-la laughted.
Cozy laughted.
"Precious-la Estella, Cozy Glow, our lesson is already starting!" a sudden voice sounded over their heads, probably the voice of a teacher. "Just because I didn't pay attention in school, when I was a student, doesn't mean, that you can do the same."
The voice didn't sound strict at all, but nevertheless the two girls immediately quietened and looked up at the teacher. Rainbow Dash stood near the teacher's desk. She was wearing a black graduation hat and hold something like a show bar in her right wing.
When everyone went quiet, Rainbow Dash introducted herself. Precious-la of course has already heard of Rainbow Dash in the news. Several times when she and her friends saved Equestria, but also in the sports section about the Wonderbolts. There should even be a Rainbow Dash fanclub in Ponyville, found by a filly, whose name Precious-la already forgot.
Precious-la should actually be overhyped to be in classes with one of the Wonderbolts and heroes of Equestria, but in fact, she was very calm. She didn't know why she was so calm, but one thing she knows is, that she didn't care about Rainbow Dash anymore.
In the following days, Precious-la and Cozy Glow got very close to each other, just like real friends. They were in the same class every day and spent enourmous much time together. Also the other students in their class were very friendly, upbeat and open minded, just like herself.
Precious-la easily bonded with them and fellow students from other classes. They grew together just like a family, which helped each other when necessary and always cared about each other. It was excactly that kind of class, Precious-la always wished to have back in Manehattan. Where no one gets bullied or segregated. Where everycreature was accepted, even the most quirky and crazy ones.
Precious-la gets along with every single creature in her class. However, she still shares the closest and deepest friendship bond with Cozy Glow, who she would even dare to call her Ponyville bestie. They did everything together. Everyday. Every weekend.
And Precious-la got to know more and more about Cozy Glow. Their friendship got stronger with every new day. From a Ponyville bestie to her new best friend, to her soulmate, even her sworn sisters. Yes, that's how they used to call each other back then.
Of course, Precious-la hasn't forgot her own family yet. She often writes them letters and tells them, how much fun she has in Ponyville. How much about friendship she learned in the School of Friendship. She told them everything about her new class and especially Cozy Glow, whom she mentioned at least 5 times per letter.
She also wrote Lithium tons of letters and sended her tons of photos with her and Cozy Glow spending their time together. She even attempted to bring her "Ponyville best friend" and her "Manehattan best friend" together. Several times. She made hundreds of arrangements and plans, of what the three ponies will do together to become best friends.
Probably, she was too eager about the whole thing and scrabbled her school planner full with possible ideas, just to found out completely shocked, that Lithium barely had any time for fun meetings. Her new private school in the Crystal Empire stressed her out, that she hardly had any time to read all the letters of Precious-la. Not to mention all the arrangements and the meetings with Precious-la and Cozy.
However, Lithium was still very happy and also proud of Precious-la being happy in Ponyville. In her new school. She sometimes sounded jealous, but Precious-la knew, that she actually isn't. That she could meet her and Cozy Glow whenever she wants to.
Or that's at least what Precious-la assumed at the beginning. It feels like a billion years ago, since she wrote that phrase in a letter to Lithium. Since she wrote: "You can meet us whenever you want to." On the other hoof, Precious-la knew excactly, that she didn't know better back then. She wasn't smart enough to know, what will happen in the future. Or to be honest, in the present.
Then, the day arrived, where everything in Precious-la's life turned upside down. Everything happened so fast and Precious-la still remembers, that on that day, she didn't have anything but question marks over her head. Question marks and question marks. If she was in a cartoon, thousands of question marks would have popped up onto her head.
Everything was so mysterious and Precious-la didn't get it at all, why Cozy Glow failed that friendship test. This shouldn't have happened. She knows, that Cozy was smart, gifted pony, who knew a lot about friendship and got As along with herself. And if she had problems with the test, she should have asked her. Why didn't she go to Precious-la and asked her for advise? Why did she cry at the property of the Apple family and asked three random fillies for help? That was definitely just attention seeking.
After that day, she went to Starlight's office to clear some of her question marks away and to have someone to talk with. However, Starlight wasn't supposed to tell her, what Cozy Glow confessed to her the session before. She was dependent to a pledge of secrecy. Under no condition was she allowed to transfer the issues of one student to an outside standing pony or creature.
Even the days after that incident, the question marks remained in Precious-la's head, which however didn't change her strong friendship bond with Cozy. One day, Precious-la decided to forget all her questions and suspicions, but nowaways, she wished, she didn't.
On her first day at school, she did the worst decision in her life. She did a decision, that she wished, she has never done it. She wished, that she can still reverse her dumb, stupid decision on her first day of school. She wished, that her first day at school never existed at all. That she stayed in Manehattan her whole life.
Precious-la's eyes suddenly got misty, when she remembered back her time in the School of Friendship. Her time with Cozy Glow, her former sworn sister. She couldn't control her tears anymore. She didn't want to control them.
"We're not friends anymore and we never were real friends!" Cozy Glow shouted in a sudden flashback.
Precious-la heard her voice loudly and sharp like a knife, but she was aware, that the devilish little foal wasn't standing next to her. She was turned to stone by the princesses. She has been wiped out of conscience.
A sequence of various scenes forced before Precious-la's inner eye and she saw Cozy Glow over and over, without wanting to. She saw herself playing Hide and Seek with Cozy, going to Sugarcube Corner with Cozy, learning with Cozy and eventually being trapped by Cozy.
"I used you all the time for my own plans, as I can always need a good student at the School of Friendship!"
"No!! This can't be!" Precious-la shouted, without controlling her emotional outburst.
She suddenly realized, that it was the excactly same reaction, she had back then, when Cozy trapped her in the basement. She was sitting lonely in the darkness and barely had any control of her tears. Of her emotions.
"I must been dreaming!!" Precious-la shouted with all her voice. "Cozy Glow a traitor? No! Never! Wake up Precious-la, wake up! This is a dream!"
"But you did, so I needed you!"
"Wake up, Precious-la! Wake up!" Precious-la shouted in the hope of waking up and realizing, that everything has been a dream the whole time.
That Cozy Glow was still her Ponyville bestie and her sworn sister. That none of that happened. But deep inside, she still knew, that everything she does of waking up from the nightmare, was useless.
Precious-la wasn't trapped in a nightmare. In fact, she was trapped in reality. She couldn't do anything but accept, that her former sworn sister has turned evil and attempted to take over Equestria. That Cozy Glow was one of the villains, the Mane 6 conquers and defeated. That she is nothing but a stone skulpture in front of her own eyes.
In that moment, when she realized her attemps being hopeless, Precious-la suddenly quietened and tears ran down her cheeks and wetened the dry ground under her hooves. She didn't attempt to wipe her tears away at all, but continuously stared at the Cozy Glow skulpture, which was as dead as their friendship, while sensing intensely her own tears running down her cheeks.
Precious-la has already calmed down, but was still continuously staring at the skulpture. Right in Cozy Glow's hazelnut brown eyes, which were staring forwards at a distant object, as grey and cold as the Frozen North.
Although the desastrous war of Canterlot has already happened a week ago, Precious-la had the feeling, that it was yesterday. All the dangerous windigos and the negative energy in Ponyville frightened her, that she had to stay inside. She was definitely too young for such huge dangers and was more than glad, that the whole drama was finally over. That she could live her life in peace again.
However, she felt something triggering her and disturbing her from being in peace and being a happy-go-lucky friendship student. Something, she doesn't know herself. She couldn't explain it in words, but she just had the feeling to visit Cozy. It felt inevitable and forced her to eventually travelling to Canterlot.
She indeed had a bad feeling of skipping school. She has never skipped school before. She is a good student, a well-behaved student and was always against illegal stuff like skipping school. She couldn't explain it with her intellect, why she did that and went to Canterlot, when she was actually supposed to be in school.
She just did it, without actually knowing the reason. She just told the teachers being sick today, bought a moustache and a train ticket and went to Canterlot, just to be sitting in front of a dead skulpture, remembering old days and letting her tears run. She even doubted, whether everything of that was worth it.
She was supposed to hate Cozy Glow, after everything, she has done to her. After all the lies, the betrayal and the fake friendship. After shutting her in the basement and not even turning on the light.
"Cozy Glow," Precious-la slowly murmured and she felt an intense feeling rising up her body, from her hooves to her head.
It was anger. Pure anger. Anger, which she has never felt before in her life. Anger against a lifeless, grey skulpture. No! Anger against a friend, who betrayed and exploited her just for her own goals.
""I...I hate you," Precious-la went on, becoming angrier with every word. With every syllable. "And I will never forgive you for that, what you've done to me! What you've done to us! To the School of Friendship, even Equestria!"
Slowly, Precious-la stood up on her hooves and pointed her head to Cozy Glow's lifeless skulpture. She felt angry against Cozy Glow, like she has never felt angry before. She knew excactly, that she will do the right thing. That she had to do it. So she did it.
Precious-la fired a magic blast right at Cozy's head and then another. And another. And another. She didn't feel bad. She felt good. When she was lucky, she could burst Cozy's body entirely with a hundred blasts and eliminate her enemy once and for all.
Aside of shooting magic blasts, Precious-la also shot with a lot of swear words. She shouted various inappropiate curse worlds and swears at her former friend, just to express, how angry she was. How sad she was and how disappointed she was about the whole lie of their friendship! Precious-la shot with all her energy, both physically and verbally.
"Hey, young mare!" a loud voice called.
The voice didn't told her to stop shooting. Precious-la did anyways. She stopped, broke down and just cried. She just wanted to give Cozy the worst and forgetting all their time as fake friends together. Nothing more.
"What went into you?" the voice went on.
Precious-la looked up. Behind the water curtain over her eyes, she recognized the silhouette of a white stallion. Probably a royal guard. She didn't care anyways, who it was.
"You kept staring at the trio since today morning and tried to wake up yourself," the Royal Guard exclaimed. "Then you stared at them again and now, you're practically trying to destroy the filly. Should I bring you to the Doctor?"
Precious-la quickly wiped her tears out of her eyes. The first time, she did so for today. Now, she realizes, that she wasn't sitting in front of only Cozy Glow's skulpture, but also Tirek's and Chrysalis' skulpture. She remembers them being turned in stone by the Royal sisters after the war. When everything was fine again.
"Wait, shouldn't you be in school for your age?" the Royal Guard asked sceptically. "Should I report Princess Twilight about you? She is sure worrying about a missing student."
"No, it's okay," Precious-la said, still rubbing her eyes. "I'm fine."
"Are you sure?" the Royal Guard sounded truly worried now. "I just don't want any of Princess Twilight's students feel bad."
Precious-la nodded.
"It's really fine, thanks," she said. "I'm going back, okay?"
With those words, she stood up again, trying to find her balance and quickly went away. Before entirely disappearing, she turned her head again and looked at the Royal Guard.
"Everything started with our first acquaintance at school. I remembered back into those days," Precious-la said.
Precious-la disappeared entirely, seriously thinking about her return journey to Ponyville, before she gets trouble for what she did, letting the Royal Guard remain with question marks on his head.
THE END
