Equestrian Education: Year One

by ChaoticHarmony

Rating: everyone
Tags: Comedy, Shining Armor, Princess Celestia, Slice of Life, Twilight Sparkle, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Spike
Length: 13776

Twilight Sparkle gets schooled... literally

If you want a story of epic adventure and war, this isn't the story for you. If you want a tale of intricate romance and betrayal, this also is not for you. This is simply the tale of a less-than-simple unicorn who goes by the name of Twilight Sparkle.

This story is an educational experience... literally.
(No, this isn't a story about schoolwork. Gosh, some people have actually thought that.)
< Temporary Hiatus due to real-life issues>

Published 2012-08-25 01:44:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-09-30 23:25:37 UTC

Year One: Prologue

Year One: Prologue

Special Thanks to AssasinMonkey for the amazing coverart!

----Equestrian Education----

Year One: Prologue – Midnight reading

“Is she sleeping?” Crescent Moon’s gruff whisper trailed down the hall as he peaked around the door to the unicorn colt’s bedroom. A brief bobbing of the purple and white mane told him the answer to his question. “That’s nice, so is Shining.” He stepped into the hallway, his hooves making faint clicks against the wood as he approached the pony that was peering into the other room. He lifted his hooves to rest on the mare’s shoulders, rubbing lightly at the slight tension that was building there. The grey unicorn looked up to him with a grateful smile that was tinged with fatigue as she leaned into his side.

“Thank you, dear, I’ve been feeling a tad bit sore.” Star Sparkle’s hair bobbed as she shook her head. “It must be those mares I have to work with. Oh you would not believe how upset they get when I don’t make their dresses the exact way they wanted them to be.” She rolled her eyes before continuing. “Why, just yesterday one of my clients came up to me and complained about a single stitch being a sixty-fourth of an inch off!” Crescent Moon, eager to avoid spending time with an upset pony, began working his hooves harder into her back.

“It’s all right, Stars, just remember who it’s all for.” As one, they both looked into the dimly-lit room of Twilight Sparkle, her blanket rising and falling lightly as she breathed in her sleep. Star Sparkle let out a small sigh, turning to peck her husband on the cheek before turning to walk back into their bedroom. Alone, Crescent Moon looked once more into the filly’s bedroom, smiling again as he watched her sleep with a smile of her own on her face. He grabbed the door with his magic, pulling it nearly all the way shut. “Good night, Twilight.” The mechanism clicked as the door was finally closed, its sharp snap sounding louder than it normally would in the silence of the night.

The purple unicorn filly listened intently to the sounds of her father’s hooves fading away as he walked away from her room. The smile on her face was in-fact a symbol of mischievous glee rather than peacefulness. Another door snapped shut, causing her to nearly fling her covers away before her mind caught up with her body. It was only Shining’s door, not her parent’s. She froze halfway between pushing away her magenta blankets as the sounds of hooves filled the silence again, eventually letting out a sigh as they faded completely behind another sound of a shutting door.

A small giggle bubbled up in her body and released itself on its own accord as she leapt from her bed and onto the floor. Bending down, she reached with a hoof below the bed to pull out a large volume of mathematics, her sense of excitement making her hooves shake as she read the stamped letters on the cover. ’Calculus for Beginners’, this looks interesting! I bet I picked a really good one tonight!

Without wasting another moment, she dove under her sheets and opened the book. Her horn glowed purple as she dragged out her ragged doll and pulled it close to her side. “All right, Smartypants, let’s see what this book is about!” Her excited whisper was muffled as she nuzzled the toy affectionately. With doll by her side and with a light coming from her horn to illuminate the words, she began to unlock the secrets that were contained within Calculus for Beginners.

Year One: Chapter 2

Year One: Chapter 2

----Equestrian Education----

Year One: Chapter 2 – Lunchtime Fun

Friday barreled around the metaphorical corner, taking the small Twilight Sparkle by surprise as it loomed overhead. The rest of the week had passed without much incident, though the lessons were still full of less-than-elementary math and English lessons, through which she had managed to get past without much incident by doodling idly and working on small problems she had copied from her calculus book that was stashed under her bed. Her new notebook that her parents had bought her sat in her saddlebags, now filled with fun activates for her to entertain herself in the trance-inducing kindergarten class. Just the previous night, she had been staring at the pages of Calculus for Beginners and furiously copying the unsolved problems from the review sections onto the pages that sat between the purple covers.

“First week’s almost over, Twilight.” Her father nudged her shoulder and chuckled. “Nothing getting incinerated yet now, is there?” Her father’s good mood was contagious, Twilight soon finding herself unable to hide the smile that the taller unicorn returned happily.

“Yeah, Daddy, I don’t think anything is on fire… yet.” She giggled mischievously at the suddenly-wary look he directed towards her, concern and worry plain in his eyes. The world spun as she rolled her eyes at him. “I’m just joking, Daddy. You know I’d never set anything on fire. At least, intentionally.” She added as one of his eyebrows rose ever-so-slightly. Twilight and her father shared an unsteady laugh at the shared memory of the “Flaming Birthday Cake Extraordinaire Incident” as their family had come to call it.

When their laugh had faded, he suddenly looked at her sternly. “Now, Twilight, I know it’s funny to laugh at your… erm… outbursts… from the past, but it’s very important that you control yourself. We don’t want you blowing up the school or something.” Her smile, which was slightly growing at the thought of ridding Equestria of the boring place, practically fell from her face as he coughed. “Do you understand me?”

Her mane bobbed as she nodded her head. “ Mmhmm.” Her father’s strong hoof pulled her into a strong hug as he kissed the top of her forehead. She pushed him away, a flash of heat coming to her face as the sound of laughter came from the schoolyard. “Daaad! Stop it! You’re embarrassing me!” Her father merely chuckled again and pulled her closer, his hoof messing up her hair and causing her to squeal in anger. When he finally released her, she leapt a few feet away and brushed her hair with a hoof, eyes glaring daggers at her father. “Bye, Dad.”

Crescent Moon watched his filly walk past the groups of children who were all standing in groups, noting at how she didn’t talk to anypony else on her way to class. He shook his head sadly, feeling a stab of worry for his little Twilight. “Have a good day, sweetie.” His whispered words barely cut into the net of noise that hung over the area, falling far short of their intended target. Without any more words, the royal-blue unicorn turned away from the school’s red face and headed back home.

She felt something, a notion that somepony was speaking to her from afar, that made her turn around quickly and scan the crowds of colts and fillies. Nopony was behind her, but she couldn’t shake the feeling of being talked to. With a shrug, she pushed the sense into a corner of her mind and stepped into the school, taking a deep breath before her hooves crossed the threshold. She was inside the cheerfully colored building for another boring day of kindergarten, or so she thought.

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The pealing of the bell filled the classroom, cutting off every train of thought as the school children all piled out of the room. Twilight slowly looked up from her papers, over which the workings of an expert mathematician were scrawled in black ink. After a few moments of blankly staring at the bell on the wall, her teacher’s voice brought her out of the world of complex formulae and back into Equestria. “Um, Twilight, dear? Aren’t you going to lunch?”

“Huh? Oh, yes ma’am.” She hurriedly closed her notebook and stuffed it unceremoniously into her saddlebag, using her magic to pull the clasp shut as she walked towards the door. She was merely inches away from leaving as the motherly voice stopped her.

“Twilight?”

Fear, coupled with worry, flowed readily through her body as she stepped back and turned to face the stern-yet-soft face that her teacher somehow managed to hold together. “Y-yes, M-Miss Spark?” She winced as her voice made its way to her ears, guilt plainly audible on every syllable.

“Twilight, I’ve been meaning to tell you something.” A hoof waved her further back into the classroom, eventually directing her to sit in the closest chair. “When I’m teaching a lesson… erm… I see you writing in your notebook.”

“Um… I’m taking notes?” Twilight punched herself mentally as her words, tinged with false innocence, came from her mouth.

Learning Spark wasn’t fooled. “Taking notes involves looking up at the board, little filly.” The motherly teacher’s stern words scared her slightly as they seemed to fill the room, the baby-blue unicorn standing and walking back behind her desk to sit down. She looked up at her from over a sheaf of parchment. “When you come back from lunch, I expect you to be participating in class.” After a few moments of awkward silence, she looked back up. “Well go on, dear, lunch is waiting for you.”

“Yes ma’am.” Her voice sounded utterly devastated, mirroring how she felt inside. Her heart practically fell to the floor as she walked, her hooves barely lifting from the tiles as she made her way towards the courtyard to eat her packed lunch of lilies and pansies.

The sun outside beat down on her neck and back as she pushed open the door to the courtyard, a gust of wind pushing against her efforts to move forward and nearly blowing away the little filly. She plopped down on a hot bench and set her saddlebags in front of her, opening their clasps and drawing out her lunch that had been packed earlier that morning by her mother. The wind tugged at the small flowers before she placed a ball of magic around the meal, stopping the small petals’ efforts at escape. “Oh no you don’t. You’re my lunch you flowers!” With a giggle, she plunged her muzzle into the ball of energy and took a large bite from the pile of plants.

Something collided painfully with her side and knocked her from the bench, the ground rushing up to meet her as she fell. Raucous laughter filled the courtyard, which was silent save for the occasional howl of wind. “Oops, sorry, little filly.” She looked up to see three unicorn colts, nearly stallions at their age, standing over her with mean grins on their faces. “Here… let me help you up.” The pony who had knocked her over reached out with a hoof, which she took gladly. The back of her head hit the ground again as the bully let go of her halfway, stars dancing across her vision as she shook her head. Another round of laughter issued from the other two colts as the one who had dropped her smiled at her coldly. “My bad, must be my butterhooves.”

She pushed herself up and dusted away the dirt that had found its way onto her body. Not knowing what to do, she merely smiled shyly at the colts as she used her magic to lift her plate of food and saddlebags into the air. A flash of pain came from her forehead as a hoof poked it. Hard. The shattering of dishware echoed in the silence that oppressively rested itself over the gathered ponies. From the ground she could see her former-lunch resting in a pile on the ground, her saddlebags in the dirt next to them. “Where do you think you’re going?” Another face pushed into hers angrily, the eyes full of anger that seemed to be teetering on the edge of release.

“I-I uh… I was… going to…” She stammered, trying to push herself up on shaking legs but succeeding in only falling back onto the ground. “Th-that is… I-I am g-go—“

“Ha! Look at this boys, she can’t even talk right.” The third stallion poked her nose and leaned in to look at her, the smell of unwashed pony blowing in the wind into her face. She could count the teeth that were missing from his mouth as he laughed right in her face. “What’s wrong, filly? Are you scared?”

Her vision misted as tears began to build up in her eyes, the bullies’ cruel laughter throwing her further into the depths of sadness and fear. “P-pl-please g-go away!” She covered her face with her front hooves, sobs wracking her body as she lay there.

The leader clicked his tongue. “Awww, does the little pony not like us? What do you say boys? Should we go dunk her in the toilet?” Grunts of ascent came from the other two colts, followed by raucous laughter. She found herself lifted into the air by an invisible force, her hair falling down away from her face as she floated further from the ground. The pair of doors that lead back inside grew closer and closer as the group of bullies approached them with her in tow. Panic mixing with a feeling of complete helplessness, ate away at the edge of her mind, her tears falling to the ground as she struggled against the magical grip that clutched her hoof.

The dirt was underneath her body once more as a blur of silvery-grey tackled the colt whose horn was glowing. Sounds of struggle came from somewhere beside her, but she couldn’t see anything other than faint outlines through the tears that filled her eyes. The three darker ones that were the colts all grouped around the silver one, each jumping in a separate times and leaping back quickly. Her hooves rubbed away the tears and her vision focused in time to see the silver filly leap away from the group and run past a tree only to turn around to confront the confused colts.

“Come on, you big dummies!” She shook her tail at them and giggled. “Betcha’ can’t catch me!” Twilight’s mouth dropped as she watched the filly continue to shake her flanks at the ponies, even when they were galloping towards her with ill-intent in their every move. She tried to scream, to warn the silver pony to run away, but her mouth couldn’t form the words. The small hooves of the filly sounded almost non-existent to the positively thundering hooves of the bullies. She closed her eyes and cringed, expecting a pained cry to fill the courtyard, but nothing came except three similar grunts of pain.

When she slowly opened her eyes, the three colts were impacted face-first into the tree that the filly had stood in front of, all pushing themselves away and rubbing at their heads stupidly. Suddenly the branches of the tree glowed silver and seemingly came to life, reaching down to tickle the helpless ponies that had collided with its trunk. The pleading laughter filled the courtyard and mingled with the giggles of the other school ponies, all laughing at the bullies’ expense. “No! Please stop it! I’m ticklish!!!” After a few moments of attack, the bullies all leapt up and ran way, tears that had come from the torturous leaves falling away from the their faces and peppering the ground behind them.

A calm and astounded moment later, the courtyard exploded into shouts of delight and glee at seeing the bullies finally beaten. Twilight cringed in fright as all of the ponies began chattering and shouting out thanks to the silver unicorn filly. “Hey… are you okay?” She looked up from the ground into the face of the pony that had saved her from her wet fate. “I have your saddlebags.” She held out the dark-blue bags that glowed with a silver aura. “I tried to use a cleaning spell on it, but I don’t think I did very good.”

She took her bags and put them onto her back, standing up on her shaky legs and kicking the dirt hesitantly. “Th-that’s all right.”

The pony held out a hoof. “I’m Silver Streak.” An awkward silence fell over them as Twilight looked at the hoof apprehensively and backed away subtly. “What’s your name?”

“I’m… um… I’m Twilight Sparkle.” Another moment of silence passed between them.

“Um… all right, Sparkle, I’ve got to get going. It was nice to meet you.” The silver filly turned around and galloped towards a group of ponies, who were all looking at her and waving for her to join them.

A feeling of unease settled over Twilight’s heart, driving her to follow Silver Streak. Suddenly a pealing bell filled the air, cutting through conversations and the noise of moving bodies. The paths soon filled with the bodies of fillies and colts on the way back to their classes, blocking her attempts to follow her savior. Dust blocked out the sun as it was kicked up, coating the sky with a light brown and driving away the beating sun. As suddenly as the courtyard had filled, it emptied. Nopony else was there with her as the dust slowly fell back towards the ground it had been resting on only moments before. “Um… thank you… Silver Streak.” She turned away from where she had last seen the light-colored filly and walked back into the building.

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“Twilight Sparkle?” The sound of her name pulled her from the compound fraction that she was currently attacking. When her head rose to face her teacher, she felt the eyes of all the class on her once again. “Twilight, what’s the answer to the problem?”

“Wh-what problem, Miss Spark?” Her cheeks burned brightly as the entire class descended into snickers which, only with the help of Learning Spark, eventually faded away. The mocking looks remained however, each set of eyes pointed directly at her as if she were a freak. “C-could y-you r-r-repeat the question for me?” Another wave of laughter, quieter this time, passed over the room before it fell silent again, an air of expectancy hanging over the crowd as they looked back and forth between teacher and student.

“Twilight… didn’t I tell you something before you left for lunch?” Twilight cringed as the Learning Spark’s words fell over the classroom, expecting something in terms of outright anger. However, the words held only a strong disappointment that cut deeper than anger would have. When somepony yelled at her, she could yell back, but when their voice is only full of disappointment, there was nothing the filly could respond with.

Her eyes filled with tears as she nodded and squeaked. “Yes… you did, Miss Spark.” Her whisper died several times in her throat before she could finally force it out. She studied her desktop, her eyes tracing the grains as a moment of silence filled the room, dragging far beyond a moment and becoming what seemed like hours. She looked up from her study of the wood after the nagging feeling had buried itself deep inside her mind. “I’m sorry, Miss Spark.”

The blue mare waited a few moments, staring back at her tearful eyes with that disappointed look before nodding. “Then, Twilight, I trust you will do what I asked you to do. The question I had asked you was: ‘What is five plus one?’”

Normally, such a high number problem such as that would have been daunting for many of the ponies that were sitting in the room, some of them even beginning to whisper amongst themselves to figure it out in case the teacher asked it to one of them should the purple filly fail to answer correctly. “The answer is six.” Of course, Twilight’s clear and eager response merely a second later shut off their whispers as they looked upon the nervously-smiling filly with awe.

Learning Spark was no exception, her eyes widened slightly and her mouth open. She shook herself out of her trance and rubbed a hoof over her face. “Y-yes, Twilight. That’s correct. Good job.”

Twilight felt her spirits fall to the ground at her teacher’s slight frown. “What’s wrong, Miss Spark?”

Almost as if she could feel the frown herself, Learning Spark put visible effort into hitching the corners of her mouth into a large, proud smile. “N-nothing, Twilight. You just did it so… fast.” Her eyes brightened as she looked at the filly with a new air of excitement. “Tell me… how do you spell ‘excitement’?”

“E-X-C-I-T-E-M-E-N-T.” Twilight recited in an instant, her eyes closed as she focused on her answer. A buzzing filled the room as the voices of twenty-five or so fillies and colts began whispering to each other, some of them shocked and others with ill intent. She opened her eyes to see the red-streaked mane of her teacher bobbing by the desk next to her, slowly looking up into the eager eyes of the pony. “W-what is it, Miss Spark?”

Her heart dropped as her teacher’s words passed over her. “Twilight, meet me in the principal’s office after school.” The whispers stopped as if they collided with a brick wall, the worried faces of the students peering back at her with pity. Shock and anger were the most prominent of emotions that she felt, warring with each other inside her mind.

“Yes, Miss Spark.” Her downtrodden reply was lost to the clicks of her teacher’s hooves as she walked back up to the front of the class, picking up a stick of the white chalk and drawing another simple math problem on the board. While Twilight’s eyes were focused on the board, her mind was going through multiple scenarios of what could possibly happen in the principal’s office, each new one growing more and more unpleasant until she had to blink away tears.

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Author's Note: Once again, not sure at how often these updates will be coming. Some may take a few days, while others may take a whole week to do. It depends both on my "feeling" the chapter as well as the time I have to write after I factor in schoolwork. Also, feel free to tell me what I'm doing wrong here. Spelling errors, stuff that doesn't sound right, things you liked as well. I wanna hear from you (try to keep the spoilers in the comments to a minimum please.

Year One: Chapter 3

Year One: Chapter 3

----Equestrian Education----

Year One: Chapter 3 – The Office

Twilight Sparkle sat in the vacant classroom, her watery eyes tracing over the different objects that stood out from the cheerfully-plastered walls. The bell had long since sent its pealing cry throughout the school building, signaling absolute chaos in the form of a thousand or more students standing up and exiting their classes, but still she sat in silence. Multiple times her small legs had tried to lift her from the seat only to fail and cause her to do a strange rocking motion in the chair that would have been comical in any other situation. Fear rolled through her body unbridled, sending small tremors down her hooves and her back to shiver occasionally.

Her brother was suddenly right next to her, his face stern like a brother who was chastising his sister. “Twili, what do you think you’re doing here still?” She looked up into his eyes and sniffed loudly. The imagined-Shining Armor recoiled, seemingly unsuspecting of her sadness. “Woah, what’s wrong, Twili?”

She brushed away a tear that had managed to escape her attempts to contain it, sending the drop of liquid sadness to soak into the carpet. “Shiny, it’s terrible! My day has been nothing but bad!” She ran into her brother’s open hooves and returned his embrace. “First Daddy embarrasses me in front of all the other kids, and then I have to sit through a boring class that I already know everything and more about, and then Miss Spark tells me to pay attention, and then… and t-then…” The distraught filly’s speech had descended into incoherency as sobs wracked her small body. Her brother’s warm body was a comforting presence, his large hoof stroking her mane as she cried into his mane.

“It’s all ri—“

“No, Shiny, it’s not!” She pulled away and looked pleadingly into his eyes. “After all that other bad stuff, Miss Spark told me that I have to go to the office after school!” She hated how childish she sounded but there was no stopping the flood after the gates in her heart had opened. “I can’t just go home but I can’t go to the office!” She buried her muzzle into the messy blue mane again, hiding away from her problems. “What am I supposed to do?”

He pushed her slightly away from him, a stern and brotherly light in his sapphire eyes. “Sis, remember when you wanted to go buy some candy from that store, but were too scared to ask the mean-looking stallion who worked at the counter?” She searched through her mind for a moment before finding the correct memory and nodding. “Well, remember how I went to go get you that candy?” She nodded again, her mouth watering at the remembered taste that the Flower Pop had had. “Well, that stallion was actually very nice. He only charged me half-price because ‘it was for such a cute little filly’. Those were his exact words.” Shining smiled down at her, a distant smile that told her he was still deep inside the past.

She pulled away from him angrily, walking over to the window and looking out at the nearly-deserted courtyard. “But what does that have to do with having to go to the office?” She looked back at her brother innocently, her mind, so apt to solving equations most grown ponies couldn’t solve, working to understand what her brother was trying to say.

She could tell that her brother was resisting the urge to sigh as he stepped over to her and rubbed a hoof through her mane. “What I meant is that if you weren’t so scared, you could have met a really nice pony! Twilight,” Her brother’s hoof turned her cheek up to look at him. “If you run away from the things that scare you, you won’t find the nicer things that are hidden inside the bad. You don’t know that what Miss Spark wants with you is bad, do you?”

She shook her head slightly. “But—“

Her brother held up a hoof to her protesting mouth, stifling the words of argument before they could begin. “But you don’t know what you’re going there for, Twili. You have to conquer your fear and go into that office with your head held high. Do you understand what I mean?” Suddenly the world seemed to flow back into her, the white form of her brother fading into nothingness as the gears inside her mind clicked. His voice seemed to float from nowhere, filling the room but meant only for her ears. Go get them, Twili, show them who’s the smartest pony around! Through the window a wind filtered into the room, lightly brushing Twilight’s mane as she looked at the spot where her brother had last occupied.

She nodded. “All right, Shiny.” After taking a deep breath, the purple unicorn filly walked to and out of the door. After navigating the now-familiar halls of the school, she found herself standing outside of the glass-walled office where a secretary pony was busy typing away at her typewriter. She walked through the doorway and looked up at the towering desk. “Um, excuse me?” The clicks of the typewriter didn’t slow in the slightest. “Excuse me?” She repeated a little louder, her voice cutting through the constant clicks of the device, which stopped after she spoke.

“Hmm? Oh, it’s you, Miss Sparkle. Go right in, Miss Spark and the principal are waiting for you.” The light-pink pony waved a hoof towards an ominous door made of oak, its surface polished to a mirror-like quality. “Go on then. Don’t be scared.” The clicks of the typewriter filled the office once more as Twilight slowly walked towards the gateway into her future. She stopped just outside of the looming door, staring into her reflection’s nervous eyes. Taking a deep breath, she lifted a hoof and pushed the door open, which did so with a loud creak that made her jump.

A deep voice reverberated from inside the room, coming from the pony sitting in the chair which was turned away from her. “Come in, Twilight, and shut the door behind you please.” In one of the chairs that sat in front of the desk sat Learning Spark, who was looking at Twilight with no expression. After the door clicked shut, the voice seemed to fill the space, vibrating her to the core. “Thank you, now please, sit.” The only available seat in the room was the chair next to the teacher, which she leapt onto and avoided her teacher’s stare, looking instead to the back of the large office chair. “Now, Miss Sparkle, Miss Spark here has told me certain things about you and, to be frank, I am astounded that a filly of your age and… background… would know such things.”

She bowed her head, fighting back her tears and sobs. “I’m sorry, Mr. Principal.”

The chair nearly turned around to show her the pony that was seated in it. “Sorry? Miss Sparkle, what in Equestria are you sorry for?” The words held a hint of incredulity that made blood rush to her face as she looked up confusedly and glanced to the teacher that sat beside her, who was returning her glace with a gaze full of confusion.

“W-w-well… I thought going to the office was a bad thing and well, Miss Spark told me to start paying attention in class, and when I got in trouble for not listening in class, I thought she was telling me to come up here because I was in big trouble.” She smiled sheepishly at her teacher, whose confused face melted into a reassuring smile. “That’s also why I took so long to come here; I didn’t want to get here and be in trouble.”

“Oh, Twilight, didn’t you see me smiling at you? I was happy about what you said! You spelled such a big word without so much as a pause!” Her teacher positively beamed at her as she leaned forward. “Why Twilight, you are the smartest kindergartener I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen a lot, believe me.” The excited schoolteacher winked at Twilight, her eyes reflecting a kind of excitement that Twilight usually only saw in fillies and colts at her own age.

“Um… Miss Spark, are you okay?” Her eyebrows lowered as she looked at her teacher with concern as Learning Spark began to bounce up and down.

The principal, catching onto the contagious excitement that practically oozed from the mare, quickly interrupted whatever she was about to say. “Y-yes, Miss Sparkle. Everything is more than okay. Miss Spark here is just… excited.” He also glanced at the teacher and chuckled. “For a good reason as well.” The chair turned to reveal a tan pony with a slicked-back, black haircut and a kind-yet-stern face that most teachers wore. He stood and walked around his desk to place a hoof on her shoulder. “You see, every year we send off our smartest students to participate in the ‘Young Genius Competition” or, the Y.G.C. for short.” His smile faded a small amount as he took in her vacant expression.

“Huh?” Her words only affirmed his suspicions of her cluelessness but in actuality, she was trying to understand what the pony in front of her was suggesting.

“And for this year’s contestant, we would like to send you, Twilight!” Her teacher’s excited voice overpowered the stallion’s words, her smiling face so bright it would have put the sun to shame.

“Huh?!” Her eyes widened in surprise as she looked back and forth between the mare and the stallion.

“Of course, we would need your parent’s permission, but that is only if you want to do it, Twilight. Nopony here is forcing you to do this, it is an awful lot of stress to put on such a sma—“

“Of course I want to do it! Yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes!” She jumped from her chair and rocked back and forth on her hooves, laughing along with her teacher with the principal standing off to one side with a small smile on his own face.

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“Oh, Twili, you're home!” Her brother waved to her and turned back into the house to shout. “She’s home guys, you can stop freaking.” He turned back to her and gave her a sympathetic pat on the head. “Good luck, kiddo. They are in full “parent freak out” mode.” He nodded sagely, eliciting a giggle from her as he quickly made his way back to his room. When she turned back from flashing another smile at her brother, who quickly popped his head out to wink at her, her parents practically towered over her, a foreboding expression on their faces.

Her father cleared his throat and began the dreaded attack. “Young filly, go sit in the living room. Now.” He added when she looked at him with confusion, sending her scuttling down the hallway and plopping down onto the couch. Her parents slowly stepped into the room, moving at a steady pace that built up more tension as they slowly sat on the chairs on either side of her. Her father’s rough cough filled the silence again as he prepared to speak. “Now, Twili—“

“Where have you been, little filly?!” Her mother flew out of her chair and put her hooves on Twilight’s shoulders. “We have been worrying all night about you because you weren’t home at four!” Twilight couldn’t stop herself from glancing out to the window, through which she could see the sun shining brightly, and then to the clock that hung on the wall. It was five thirty. Twilight turned back to the angry mare before her, who had been following her gaze. “Don’t be a smartypants, little filly. You know what I meant.” Her mother shook a chastising hoof in her face. “Where have you been?”

Twilight’s excitement couldn’t be contained any further, her hooves clopped together eagerly as she jumped up from the couch herself. “I’mgoingtobeinacompetitionforsmartpoines!” She blurted it out, her words mashing together and becoming nearly incomprehensible. Of course, her family had been more than accustomed to her excited outbursts. They both looked at her with faces that would otherwise come from a blow to the head. “Mommy? Daddy?”

Her mother was the first to recover. “T-Twilight dear, d-did you say a competition?”

She nodded eagerly. “Yes!” She bounced eagerly onto the couch, leaping in a circle on the cushion. “Yes yes yes yes yes yes!” A hoof landed on her back and pulled her back down to Equestria.

“Woah there, little filly, we’ve got to talk about this.” Her father’s stern tone barely hid his own happiness at his daughter’s success. “Sit down and go ahead and tell us about it.”

Twilight smiled widely at her parents, who returned the contagious smile, and began to tell her tale. “Well, when I was in class today…”

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A light blue glow enveloped the purple blanket and drew it over the sleeping filly. A smile spread across her peaceful face as she sighed contentedly. Her father had to resist yawning as he watched her breathe lightly; stuffing a hoof against his mouth to muffle the inevitable reflex that soon came. He looked at her glowing clock, his sleepy mind working to figure out if he was surprised or not. Eventually it made up its mind and sent a jolt of shock through him. Oh my stars it’s late. As the thought of how late it was hit him again, his body forced out another yawn. He bent down to kiss the top of her head, murmuring her name softly and pulling away. As the door swung softly shut behind him, he turned to his wife. “She’s quite the special one isn’t she?”

Star Sparkle blinked away tears as she nodded, rubbing away the ones that had escaped her efforts with a hoof. “Our little Sparkle, all ready being a smart pony like that. I just… can’t believe it.” Crescent Moon wrapped his hooves around her and kissed the top of her head like he did Twilight’s, making soft comforting noises in her ear as she nuzzled into his mane.

“Don’t forget her new friend, Star. I think her name was Silver Streak?” A nod against the side of his head ruffled his mane into further disarray. “I would love to meet her. She sounds like quite the hero the way our little Sparkle described her.” At the thought of his daughter, he yawned again, bringing a small chuckle from the mare in his hooves. “I think that it’s a little late for that, don’t you, Star?” With a hoof over his wife’s shoulder, he walked towards the bedroom, which called his name with a song that increased in volume with every step.

As he laid his head on the pillow with his love nestled against his side, he looked up at the dark ceiling and thought, like he often did at nights as he sometimes found the call of the stars to be too great to sleep through. Our little Sparkle, the pony that’s going to be the talk of her school, going into a competition of smarts. Why does that make me nervous? Her rolled over anxiously and set his muzzle on top of Star Sparkle’s mane, eventually stumbling into the realm of dreams.

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Author's Note: Now yes, I know that the updates have been coming in pretty regurarily. However, this is subject to change, and it most likely WILL change. Also, I apologize for a shorter chapter this go around, but this was going to be part of Chapter 2 until I thought that it deserved a separate chapter. So yeah, a little shorter perhaps, but still hopefully the same quality.

Year One: Chapter 4

Year One: Chapter 4

----Equestrian Education----

Year One: Chapter 4 – The Second Week Begins

Just like every morning last week, Twilight Sparkle was awakened by the blaring sound of her alarm clock. Also like every morning the previous week, she had to peel her face away from the book that she had spent her hours of moonlight reading, groaning as she stretched to rid her muscles of the vestiges of sleep that hung on them. As the sounds of hooves drifted into her room from the hallway, she snapped out of her trance and threw the book, Pony Psychology Series: Book One this time, hastily into the folds of darkness under her bed. “Twilight?” Her brother’s voice came from the other side of the door, still laced with grogginess.

“I’m awake, Shiny. What is it?” She was frantically brushing through her mane as she yelled over her shoulder, suppressing the cries of pain that came as her brush cut mercilessly through the tangles.

“I’m supposed to take you to school today, so hurry up. We have to leave earlier so I have enough time to get home and then go to school.” She could hear a hint of annoyance creep into her brother’s tone, urging her to quickly finish her routine. Shining’s hoof banged on her door impatiently. “Come on, Twili, we don’t have all da—“ She opened the door before it could get broken down and stepped down the hallway towards the kitchen. A white hoof stopped her and steered her towards the front door instead. “I’ve got your breakfast; we can eat it on the way. Does that sound good?”

“Sure, Shiny. Let’s go!” She bounded out the door and stopped on the sidewalk outside. “Cmon, big brother!”

Shining Armor rubbed sleepily at his eyes as he looked out the door to where is sister was waiting with an eager smile on her face. “Wish I could be so excited about school.” He muttered, then raised his voice. “Goin’ to take Twili to school, be back soon!” Without waiting for his mother’s reply, he lifted Twilight’s forgotten saddlebags and nearly fell down the steps to the sidewalk from the surprising weight that was enveloped in his magic. Twilight simply leapt up and grabbed her bags from him, tossing them onto her back with ease. He decided not to bring up how a filly was stronger than his magic, deciding to use said magic to grab a slice of bread from his saddlebag and levitate it in front of his sister, who took a large bite from it and giggled.

“Phranks, Shiny!” Small crumbs fell out of her mouth and peppered the ground as she giggled again, stopping the sound only to take another chunk of bread from the slice. “Mmmmm.” She groaned as she chewed, smiling up at him as he looked down to raise an eyebrow at her before smiling as well.

After a few minutes of silence, in which Twilight finished off the doomed slice of bread, her brother spoke up. “So, what book were you reading last night?” Shock passed through her body and was quickly replaced by fear coupled with anger. How could Shining Armor have known? He noticed her look of apprehension. “Oh come on, Twili, you think that I didn’t know my sister was an egghead who would rather read than sleep?” He chuckled at the sour expression that crossed her face. “How else are you smart enough to be in a competition for smart ponies?” He affectionately nudged her head with a hoof and smiled proudly at his sister as she glared a few daggers at him.

She swatted at his hoof and walked faster, trying to leave her brother and the ensuing conversation behind. Of course, for a much larger pony keeping pace was hardly a difficulty and soon Twilight found herself slowing down to the point where Shining could nudge her again. “So? What book was it, Twili?”

She squeaked as his magic ticked her sides and nearly coaxed the answer from her before she could put a hoof to her mouth to halt its escape. Of course, Shining didn’t really want to know what book it was; he was merely using the opportunity to tease his sister. After trying to walk while being tickled and failing terrifically, Twilight gave into the torture. “I-I-I was r-reading P-p-p-pony Psychology!” She managed to get out through the laughter that filled her throat, relief flooding her body as the tendrils of blue magic receded. She grabbed the hoof her brother held out to her and pulled herself to her hooves, immediately letting go of her brother and angrily setting off down the street.

After the rest of the walk, which was spent by Shining attempting to beg for forgiveness and Twilight ignoring his pleas, they stood silently staring at the deserted schoolyard. “Wow, we got here really early didn’t we.” Shining backed away slightly and waved her forward. “Go on then, go to school.” She stood there and looked at him expectantly, her eyes wide in a silently dangerous form of begging; the dreaded filly-eyes. His public-school-hardened heart melted in the face of such an attack, his hooves moving involuntarily into hugging position. The little filly squealed and leapt into his hooves with a hug that nearly toppled him. “Have a good day, Twili.” He managed to detach himself from his sister and back away a few steps.

She booped his nose with a hoof, giggling as he snorted. “You too, Shiny!” With that, she turned around and bounded towards the large front doors of the school. She pulled at the handle and felt her heart drop. It was locked, keeping her stuck outside. When she turned around to find her brother, he was already gone.

She was alone, or at least she thought she was before she heard the sounds of muffled sobs coming from the playground. Her muscles stiffened at the sound, her emotions switching between fear and a sadness of her own. Twilight leaned up against one of the stone pillars that flanked the school’s entryway, shivering lightly from more than just the feel of the frigid stone on her coat. After a few minutes of standing there awkwardly, her curiosity got the better of her as it did to most young ponies and she slowly stepped down the steps into the grass, which crunched slightly under her hooves.

The soft sobs faltered for a moment as she got closer to their source, causing her own hooves to stop their advance. “H-h-hello?” A small gasp issued from underneath the platform she was looking at, a small shuffling coming from below. She poked her head under the small opening and saw a pony whose coat was pure white with a mane of silver. “Silver Streak!” She exclaimed suddenly, bringing another jolt of fear from the mentioned pony. The hiding unicorn, upon recognizing the purple filly, came out from her hiding place and stood hesitantly.

“H-hey there, Twilight.” The silver unicorn looked around nervously before turning her attention back to her. “How’s it goin’?” Twilight frowned slightly, noting the tear tracks that trailed down the silver-maned filly’s face.

“I’m all right…” She trailed off, looking over the pony in front of her. “But are you okay Silver Streak? You sounded like you were crying and you have tears in your eyes and what were you doing under this thing?” She couldn’t contain her naïve curiosity as she leaned in to hear her friend’s answers.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine, Twilight. It’s… it’s nothing. Don’t worry about me.” Silver Streak averted her eyes and stared at a spot in the ground, fighting off a fresh wave of tears. After a few moments of silence, she looked up to see Twilight gazing at her with her head tilted to one side. “I said I’m fi—“ Her angry words were cut off as Twilight pulled the white pony into a comforting hug. Silver Streak, taken aback by this show of affection, buried her muzzle into the small mane of her friend, allowing a few tears to escape that eventually turned into quiet sobs. The purple filly patted her back and sniffed loudly, smiling sadly as the silver pony quieted her sobs. After a few moments of silence, they pulled apart. “Thanks, Twilight, I needed that.”

Twilight smiled proudly. “My brother says that hugs make everypony feel better!”

Silver Streak nodded in reply. “They sure do, Twilight. Your brother seems nice.”

“Yeah, not really. He’s a big pony pooper.” They giggled at the immature joke, smiling at each other as the laughter subsided. “I’m just joking, he is really nice. He’s the best brother ever. He’s my Big Brother Best Friend Forever!” She spread her hooves in the air. “I love him this much!” The purple filly was overcome with giggles as she tried to reach farther and farther, succeeding only in nearly falling over. Silver Streak found herself smiling at the staggering pony as she pushed the reasons for her sadness away.

“Hey, Silver Streak!” Said pony turned around to see some of her other friends standing a small distance away. “Come over here!”

The snow-white filly turned to the purple one, who was watching her with happy eyes. “Hey… uh, Twilight, I’ve got to go.” She waved a hoof weakly in the direction of her waiting friends.

Twilight looked to them and back to Silver Streak before nodding. “All right then, go ahead PFF!”

“PFF?”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Pony Friend Forever, duh!” She bounced into the air before trotting away from the confused Silver Streak, who watched her as she departed.

“Pony Friend Forever huh?” Silver Streak turned away and walked over to her other friends with a small smile on her face. Okay then, Sparkle, Pony Friends Forever.

--------

Twilight Sparkle walked down the crowded hallways at school, which were filled with students of all ages as they chattered away on various topics that an elementary school pony would be interested in. The small snippets of conversation that drifted into her ears were ignored as she walked towards her classroom with a smile on her face, which remained until the bell sounded its cry throughout the building. By the time she reached her class, which she only did so by fighting through the masses of other ponies attempting to do the same, it was nearly five minutes after the tardy-bell. She pushed the door open with her head and stepped quietly into the room, trying to make herself as unobtrusive as possible. Of course, her efforts were for naught, the tell-tale pricks of the class’ stares coming to rest upon her neck and back.

She stood there for a moment, waiting for her punishment to befall her. Silence reigned in the classroom, broken only by the occasional shuffle or cough from the ponies in the room. The few moments that passed seemed to stretch on for hours, eventually ending when her teacher cleared her throat. Twilight looked up, confusion floating across her mind as she looked at the baby-blue pony who stood with a piece of chalk in her hoof, still held up to the chalkboard. A few more seconds passed before her teacher spoke. “Um, Twilight, you can go sit now. I’m trying to teach the lesson.”

Mutters buzzed amongst the classroom louder than bees in a nest, silenced by a glare from Learning Spark only to buzz up again when she turned away. Twilight shook her head, trying to recall each word from the teacher and checking if they were real. Her results were, as usual, inconclusive. “Huh?”

“I said to go sit down, Twilight. I can’t continue until you do so.” She waved to the board again, indicating her unfinished problem that stood out white from the grayish-green slate.

“Y-yes, Miss Spark.” Without further argument, she trudged to the back of the room, enduring the stares and whispers from her confused classmates that stared at her with incredulity. When she sat down, the clicks of the chalk returned their attentions to the front, sparing her from further looks. Of course, the ponies around her couldn’t contain their obvious excitement that was coupled with their natural curiosity. She found herself besieged in questions from all angles, whispered attacks that invaded her privacy.

“Why were you so late?”

“How did you get out of trouble?”

“Is it because you’re a smart pony?”

“How did you get out of trouble?!”

She shrunk back in her chair, halfway reaching towards her saddlebags to pull them in front of her face and hide behind them. “I-I-I don’t know!” Her squeak cut across the lesson that Learning Spark was teaching, producing a cough from front. The ponies that had been barraging her with questions snapped their head back around to the front, leaving Twilight leaning halfway out of her seat.

“If you are quite finished, Miss Sparkle, I would really like to finish this lesson.” Her teacher’s stern voice made her shrink back further against the wood of her chair, shame rushing to her face in the form of a blazing heat.

“Sorry, Miss Spark.”

“Thank you. Now, as I was saying class…”

--------

After the usual chaos that the ringing of the lunchtime bell brought, Twilight found herself in the courtyard once more, happily chewing her chrysanthemum sandwich and humming a tuneless song. Her gaze rested lightly on each group of ponies in the yard, her mind analyzing and categorizing them into separate lists based on gender, colors, and age. Of course, she didn’t know of the vast database that her mind maintained, for it often fell away from the grasp of her conscious mind, but that didn’t stop her from doing it anyway. After she had scanned the open area, she threw the rest of her sandwich into her mouth and stood up to throw away her garbage. As she threw the trash away, three shadows cast themselves over her.

Fear was the first emotion to make itself known, as was to be expected of a small filly such as Twilight. Her hooves began trembling as she slowly turned to confront the ponies that were standing behind her. As their faces came into view, she tried to back away, only to have her path of escape blocked by the garbage can she had sought before. The leader of the group leaned in to look into her eyes, like he had a week before. “Hey, you’re that little filly from last week, aren’t ya?”

She shivered with a sudden chill, her hooves trembling with the rest of her body. “Y-yes, I-I a-am.” She squeaked, bringing a round of laughter from the bullies again, but somehow it sounded less cruel than before. The courtyard fell silent once more, all of the ponies present watching the events unfold. “W-w-what do you w-want?” They chuckled amongst themselves at her feeble attempt at sounding brave.

“Listen to her, boys, she sounds so brave!” More laughter followed the lead colt’s remark, still somehow coming off more good-natured than before. He turned his attention back to her and the rest of them followed suit. “Well, what I want, little filly,” He kneeled down and patted her on the shoulder with his heavy hoof. “Is forgiveness.” The other two ponies nodded eagerly in agreement. “We’re sorry about how we acted the other day. It was wrong of us to do it. Will you ever forgive us?”

She kicked at the dirt and looked around the silent yard, the fillies and colts all gazing right back. She backed away from the three ponies in front of her, nodding slightly and stammering. “Y-y-yes, I forg-g-give you.” Immediately their expressions brightened and they all stood, nodding at the still-terrified filly before quickly walking away, as if they were eager to leave. The courtyard slowly filled with mutters, which were replaced with quiet words until the entire place was buzzing with conversation again. She sat on her bench amongst this organized chaos, continuing her unconscious sorting of the students until the process was interrupted by a mane of silver crossing her vision. She looked up to see her friend looking past her to where the once-bullies had retreated into the building. “Silver Streak!”

The white pony tore her attention away from the bullies with visible effort, smiling down at the purple filly in front of her. “They didn’t give you any trouble did they?”

Twilight’s mane flapped around her face as she shook her head. “Nu uh, they just wanted to say they were sorry.” She tapped her chin, thinking to herself. “Isn’t it silly? I mean, how they wanted to apologize just a few days after they did it?” After a few more moments of silent thought, she shrugged. “I guess they just felt bad about it and wanted to be nice from now on and be good ponies! What do you think Silver Streak?” Her friend remained silent, looking once more at where the colts had made their escape. “Silver Streak?”

The silver-maned pony shook herself lightly, focusing back onto Twilight. “Uh, yeah, good ponies. I think you’re right on that one, Twilight.” She returned the satisfied smile that the purple unicorn flashed her way. “Hey, uh… Twilight?” She looked over at her shoulder at nothing in particular. “I’ve got to… um… go. See you around!”

“Bye, PFF!” Twilight couldn’t hide the slightly disappointed tone that leaked into her voice, her ears drooping slightly as she watched her friend walk away.

The white pony absently waved a hoof in the air as she walked, pushing the doors open with her magic and stepping inside the building, quickly turning a corner and exiting Twilight’s sight. A harsh ringing filled the courtyard, sending the gathered ponies into a flurry of motion. Twilight slowly turned away and walked back inside, pushing through the halls once more to reach her classroom.

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` The day had passed much faster than she could have ever thought, the boring lesson that her teacher had unleashed upon the classroom somehow failing to send her into a stupor, but perhaps that was due to the occasional question of difficulty that Miss Spark had directed towards her. Every time one of these questions was thrown into the air, she managed to answer within parts of a second after the words had reached her ears.

She sat on the soft couch in the living room, smiling at her brother who sat across from her. Her excited voice seemed to fill the room and her smile was contagious, as Shining Armor found himself with a happy smile on his face. “And then, I gave her a hug, just like you told me to, and we became friends!” She finished her story with a wave of her hooves, grinning at the fond memory from merely hours ago.

“Wow, Twili, you’re making friends already, huh?” Shining Armor put on an over-dramatic pout and kicked at the cushions sullenly. “Guess you won’t need me anymore, I’ll just go to my room now…” His attempt to leave was pulled to a hard stop by the purple hooves that clung to his leg.

“Nu uh, Shiny! I still need you to help me read my books!” She sang, giggling madly as she was gently tossed side to side, Shining Armor’s hoof moving with her still on it. “I’m. Not. Letting. Go!” She squeezed her hooves for emphasis, smiling up at her brother with a playful light in her eyes.

His own eyes shone brightly. “Oh yes you will!” He laughed aloud before renewing his efforts to shake her off. She squealed as her brother’s hoof disappeared from between her hooves, the rushing air filling her ears with its sound as she flew. Her world grew blue as Shining’s magic caught her and suspended her upside down in front of him, both of them panting heavily. “All… right… Twilight Sparkle… now… I get to pick… the book.” She couldn’t suppress the groan that bubbled up in her chest, dreading what was to come. Her fears were confirmed as her brother pulled a thin book from under the couch, Hoofball Ponies of the World stamped across its front in flaming red letters.

She struggled to free herself from the prison of blue, crying out in frustrations when the bonds held fast. Her cage fell down onto the couch with a soft thump, bouncing slightly as Shining Armor leapt up to lay beside her. “I don’t wanna read that, Shiny! It’s boring!”

“Well, too bady, Twili!” Her brother merely smiled as she screamed in rage at him, her hooves punching in futility against the blue wall that separated the siblings. “Pony Romo was the best hoofball quarterback in all of Equestria, that is, until he…”

Twilight’s pained groan drowned out her brother’s next words, but still he kept reading to her, a mischievous smile on his face the entire time.

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Important!!! Author's Note Time (Again): All right, I've recently gotten a comment on this fiction that has really opened my eyes as to what I'm doing wrong with this fic, or at least a few things that I SHOULD fix and the other thing I'm keeping the same for the sole purpose of stuff. As such, I'm going to be re-writing the chapters I have released currently. It shouldn't change too terribly much and, if anything, increase the word count as well as the quality of character development. I will post a new chapter stating that aforementioned re-writes are finished when I complete them. As always, thanks for reading!

Announcement (Update)

All right folks, I have some good news...

Aaaaaand you know the rest of the saying, so I'll spare you finishing it.

Well, good news first, however much it doesn't really apply to this story. I've got the lead role in my school play, which is called The Little Luncheonette of Terror. Yay for acting!

However, this comes with a downfall. That's right, bad news incoming. Basically, play rehearsals run for 3 hours after school ends, making it so I have about 4 hours after everything is done to do stuff. However, the program I'm in for school assigns an awfully large amount of homework, averaging about three hours every day. And, you guessed it, that leaves very minimal time for writing or doing anything in the community. Any time that I do write things, I will be keeping my promise to finish Dashed Hopes and Changing Flows before continuing this fiction.

tl;dr version: Real life is being a bitch, don't expect updates for a while.

Year One: Chapter 1

Year One: Chapter 1

----Equestrian Education----

Year One: Chapter One – First Day of School

Her face came away from the page of her book with a comical peeling sound, her hooves rubbing at her eyes as she attempted to fully resurface from unconsciousness. “Wha… What time is it?” She let out a yawn and turned to look at the aged clock that hung on her wall. The inlays of silver and lapis lazuli failed to mystify her today as shock coursed through her body.

The hour-hoof was pointing to the seven and the minute-hoof to the nine. Kindergarten started at eight o’ clock. “Oh no, I overslept!” She jumped onto the floor, grabbing her brush with her teeth and hurriedly brushing through her sleep-tangled hair. Her mane now a semblance of order, she threw the brush back onto the wooden stand and nearly galloped out of the doorway, but not before remembering to throw her book back into the dark cage that was the underside of her bed.

She stopped outside of the kitchen to take a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself. Her hooves still trembled despite her effort, but she hoped that her parent’s would shove it off on first-day excitement. The door creaked as she pushed against it, signaling her entry into the abode of nourishment. Her brother, Shining Armor, was the first one to notice her as she hesitantly walked into the room. “Hiya Twili!” His smile was some form of contagious disease as she found herself returning the show of affection. “I thought you died or somethin’ in there.” He laughed before returning to his toast, taking a seemingly-impossible bite from the morsel.

“Oh dearie, here’s a slice of toast for you too.” Her mother’s face beamed down at her as she placed the bread on the table in front of her. “We wouldn’t want you to be hungry for your first day would we?” Twilight grunted in response, her mouth too full of food to properly articulate a sentence. “I was just about to get you too. You usually get up a lot earlier than this.” Fear consumed her as her mother tapped her chin thoughtfully, retreating only after her mother shrugged and turned back to her cooking.

She looked nerviously up at the clock again, her eyes widening as she watched the minute-hoof moving forward with a small click. “Oh don’t worry, Twilight, you’ll get to school on time. It doesn’t start until eight thirty anyway.” Her father, the epitome of fathers, popped out his newspaper and continued reading.

Her brother saved her from certain doom and humiliation. “Um, dad? School starts at eight for her, it’s at eight thirty for me.” Both of their parents froze in shock, their head jerking as one to look back at the ticking device of time telling that hung on the wall. The only sound was that of the hay fries that were sizzling in the frying pan that sat on the stove, which were very subtly starting to cook past edibility. “It looks like it’d be a good time for you to go right?” Her parents quickly glanced at her brother, who was smirking at them, and then to her.

Her world vibrated as her father threw her up onto his back. “Twilight, hold on!” He snorted as he pawed the ground, taking off at a gallop that easily put her own to shame. Wind rushed past her ears as they practically flew down the street, the crowds that were on the sidewalks parting to make way for them. She looked up to see a blue glow fill her vision. “Hold on, Twilight! I’m gonna get us there quick!” She wrapped her hooves around her father tightly, dreading what was about to happen.

Up and down disappeared, becoming lost in the void that was the spell. Her eyes were shut tightly, but her vision was still filled with a blinding white light. It pushed into her from everywhere, filling her with warmth and distorting the images that had once been there. Sounds were inseparable, meshing together into a roar that howled in her ears. All the sensations grew, pushing at her harder and harder, driving her back into herself. As suddenly as it had all started, it had ended, and she was merely the little unicorn filly who was sitting on her father’s back.

When her senses finally returned, she felt as if something was… wrong. Her intuition was further reinforced by her father’s nervous chuckle as he pulled her from his back to set her on the ground. “What is it, daddy?” Her question sparked something in his eyes as he stepped away from her and pointed to a puddle of water. She looked at the surface of the lightly-waving water and screamed shrilly. “My face! My hair! Daddy what did you do?!”

The blue stallion backed away from her quickly, holding up his hooves innocently. “I’m sorry sweetheart! I didn’t think that would happen again!” He held her flailing hooves carefully, reaching into his saddlebag to pull out a handkerchief. He wiped it across her face quickly, messing up her hair further and causing her to sputter angrily. When he pulled the cloth away, it was nearly black with the amount of soot that had been on her face. “There… all better!” She looked at him skeptically, coaxing another nervous laugh from the older unicorn. She felt a scream build up in her chest again and was about to release it until the first bell cut across her anger, replacing it with anxiety. “Better get going, Twilight! Have a good day at school!” Her father’s large hoof waved excitedly, faltering only slightly as she looked over her shoulder to glare a few daggers at him.

She held her head low to the ground in embarrassment, not wanting anypony else to see her with a blacked over face that had only been half-heartedly cleaned and with hair that fared no better. Despite her efforts, a blush made its way into her cheeks that could have been seen a few miles away, even with all the soot that still covered her. The silence irked her, mainly because she was expecting laughter or taunts, but also because it meant that something else was wrong. She looked up, her gaze scanning the hallways before lifting to stare at the clock. It was nine-fifteen. The first class of the day had already started.

Her hooves clicked on the smooth floor as she ran down the passage, knocking aside the rolling trashcans that occasionally found their way into her path. She stopped outside her classroom, taking only a moment to attempt brushing her hair into something resembling neatness before giving up entirely. Her hoof seemed to weigh tons as she lifted it from the ground to slowly turn the knob on the suddenly-looming door. A deep, calming breath did nothing to halt the tremors that went up and down her leg. Come on, Sparkle, you can do this!

The floor squeaked as she walked into the classroom with her head facing low to the ground. Each of the students’ stares felt like little needles on her body, causing her to flinch as the roved over her. She staggered forward and landed on the ground, a hoof somehow being held out under her own. She glared back at whoever had tripped her, but she only saw the students looking forward, with no hints as to who she should direct her anger to. She pushed herself up and walked to an empty desk, setting her saddlebags down on its surface with a loud thunk. Tears misted her vision as the silence continued, broken by the occasional cough or shift of a body.

“Uh, can I help you miss?” The sudden voice beside her made her jump, a squeak escaping her mouth and setting the rest of the room into raucous laughter. Her face flushed as she looked over to the source of her reaction, more heat rising quickly as she looked into the teacher’s confused face.

“Um… I’m here for… class?” Her whisper sounded weak and pathetic, sending the room into more laughter as she shrunk backwards into her chair, whishing she could just become the wood that it was composed of.

“Quiet down, class.” The stallion looked over the groups of ponies, his stern glare plunging the room into a silence somehow quieter than before. He gave the room one last glare before nodding to himself and turning back to her. “Little filly, this is the sixth grade class.” He motioned for her to follow him to the front of the room and pointed a hoof at the map that hung on the wall beside the door. “I believe you’re looking for kindergarten, correct?” Her eager nod was her only response as she held up her saddlebags to hide from the still-staring colts and mares in the room. “Well then you want to go… here.” He jabbed a place on the map with his hoof, still smiling kindly at her.

“Oh, thank you sir!” She squeaked again as his hoof patted her hair.

“It was no trouble… er…”

“Twilight, Twilight Sparkle.”

“It was not a problem, little Twilight. However, you should hurry to class now.” The teacher opened the door with his hoof, waving goodbye to her with the other as she walked slowly to her actual class. “Have a good day at school!” The door closed with a click that echoed in the empty hallway.

Her smile faded as her hoof touched the ground again. “That’s the second time somepony has told me that so far.” She muttered the words angrily to herself, kicking a hoof angrily into the floor before setting off towards her class. It took longer than she had expected to reach the kindergarten classroom, mostly due to the fact that she ended up in the third and second grade rooms before finally stumbling into the correct hallway.

She stood outside the door, her hooves trembling as she reached out to turn the gleaming knob that hung slightly above her head. The metal was cold as she gripped and turned it. A loud, ringing noise filled the hallway as she worked up the courage to finally open the door, causing her to jump again and back away from the door, from which a sea of other fillies and colts emerged. Her flank touched the wall as the crowd pushed her further and further backward. Soon, the flood of ponies slowed to a trickle and allowed her to peel herself from the wall.

A kindly-looking mare looked out from the doorway, watching the running crowd of small ponies turn the corner with a motherly expression. Twilight peeked out from the plant that she had managed to hide herself behind, shivering slightly as the teacher sighed. “Another year, another class full of lovely children.” Her white-streaked, pink mane bobbed as she shook her head. “I wonder where that Twilight Sparkle is though.” The baby-blue hooves trotted in place nervously as the pony’s head swiveled as if she would find Twilight in the hallway with her. “Her parents didn’t call her in sick or anything. Oh, I should go tell the pri—“

Twilight squeaked for the umpteenth time that day as the worried eyes locked with her own. “Um… hi.” She tried to shrink away, but the teacher’s hooves pulled the plant off to one side.

“Oh? Who is this little filly?” Her motherly voice barely covered the worry that still burned in her eyes.

“Oh. Um… I’m Twi… Twilight… Spar—“ She cut off as a pair of hooves wrapped around her suddenly.

“Oh I’m so glad you’re all right! I was worried because you weren’t here!” The now-relieved mare placed her back on the ground and huffed a sigh. “Whatever did you do to be so late? And what happened to your head?” She added as she looked her over. Before Twilight could answer, the older unicorn shook her head and gestured to her classroom. “Never mind that, let’s just get you cleaned up. Luckily I’m still here, so I can still teach you what you missed.” When she didn’t move, the mare gestured again. “Come on dearie, I don’t bite. My name’s Learning Spark, but you can call me ‘Miss Spark.’”

“T-thank you, Miss Spark.” Her timid whisper barely made it past her mouth as she walked into the ominously-empty classroom. She slowly walked in front of the desks, all of them seemingly leering at her as she looked at them. “Um… Miss Spark?”

“Yes, Twilight?” Learning Spark was writing on the chalkboard, preparing to teach Twilight the few things that they had gone over that day.

“Where do I sit?”

“Oh just pick any empty seat.” The mare said it without turning around, her attention still focused on her lesson. Twilight sighed as she took the only available seat in the class, near the back corner and farthest from the teacher as possible. “If you’re wondering where the rest of the class went, its snack time right now. Oh don’t worry; you can eat after I go over what we learned.” She added as Twilight’s hoof attentively went into the air and casted a shadow over the chalkboard.

“Yes, Miss Spark.” She reached into her saddlebag, her hoof hesitating before shifting aside the packed lunch her mother had made her, and pulled out her supplies. All right, it should be fine now. I’ll eat in a bit, it’s all right. Learning. Yes. She ignored the loud rumbling noises that came from her stomach as she looked up to see what her new teacher was chalking into the board. I’m ready!

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The bell’s ear-splitting ringing pulled her from the trance she had been in, the world coming into focus as she resurfaced. She looked around the classroom with bleary eyes, rubbing a hoof into them in an attempt to regain focus. She gazed at her notes that she had taken, attempting to remember what her teacher had gone over with her during the snack period. She gasped as she looked at the drawings that ringed around the words ”This class is too easy! It’s BORING!” Her quill had even pressed hard enough into the paper that it had punched through.

“Oh, and that’s the end of snacktime! Will you be fine, Twilight, without having any food for now?” Her teacher looked at her uncertainly, guilt edging into her voice and eyes. It tore into her heart as she looked at her new teacher’s face, guilt of her own pouring into its wounds. She couldn’t just make her teacher sad like that.

She found herself nodding eagerly. “Mmhmm! I’ll be fine, Miss Spark. After all, a pony can survive for three whole days without food!”

The motherly eyes widened in shock. “Y-yes, that’s correct, but wherever did you hear such a thing, Twilight?”

She shook her head, smiling a little at how her knowledge had impressed her teacher. “Oh no, Miss Spark. I didn’t hear it from anypony; I read about it in my copy of Pony Science: Academy Level.” She bounced eagerly in her seat, and was just about to show off more of her repertoire of facts until the door slammed open to admit a host of colts and fillies who were all chattering excitedly amongst themselves. The class was comprised of all unicorns, typical of Canterlot schools in their area. Separating the ponies based on race made it easier to teach them all their respective skill sets that they would use later in life.

Learning Spark shook herself from a trance of her own, snapping her jaw shut as she smiled at the returning ponies. “Hello class! Please come in and sit down again! We’re going to talk about math now! Isn’t that exciting!?” The rest of the ponies in the room besides Twilight groaned, but the mare let the moans pass over her head. “Oh, and we have a new classmate joining us!”

Twilight shuddered as she felt the focus of the class suddenly concentrate on the teacher as they waited for her to announce who the new pony was. Once again she sunk down in her chair, eager to become nothing more than a speck of dust or dirt. Oh please don’t! She squinted her eyes shut as the dreaded words fell over the room.

“Twilight Sparkle, would you like to come down and introduce yourself?” Twilight shook her head frantically, hoping to get out of the torturous task, but her teacher merely chuckled. “Oh don’t be silly, come on!” Something in the motherly tone told her that she wouldn’t get out of this short of running out of the door and screaming in fright. Her hooves dragged on the floor as she slowly made her way towards the chalkboard, the crowd of students looking at her with curious eyes. Her skin crawled with the prickles of the ponies’ stares, causing her to shudder and tremble uncontrollably.

She stopped, taking a deep breath and looking up at the teacher, who smiled reassuringly. She gulped and turned, looking over the ponies who stared back at her. “H-hi… m-my name is Tw-Twilight… Twilight Sp-sparkle.”

“Her hair is weird!” One of the fillies shouted into the room, pointing at her and laughing, the rest of the class joining in. Heat flooded into her face as she slowly walked back to her seat, Learning Spark working behind her to restore order to the room. She plopped down on her chair, crumpling the used paper and pulling out a fresh sheet, small drops of tears falling onto the white surface.

“All right class, get out your notes! We are going to talk about math!” The blue pony whipped around and pointed at the board, a simple math equation written in white chalk on its black face. “Can somepony tell me what this is?” Already on Twilight’s paper was a rough drawing of her mixing chemicals with a pair of goggles over her eyes. She groaned softly as her stomach painfully grumbled again. Her vision grew misty as more tears welled up in her eyes, which swiftly closed to shut them away. She shook her head and looked up, putting on the show of being the focused student as her mind drifted longingly to the books that hid in the darkness under her bed.

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“Heya, Twili! How’d school go?” Her brother’s smiling face greeted her as she walked through the front door, his smile quickly faded as he saw the sad look on her face. She shook her head and sniffed loudly, her mind going over how horribly her day had been. Her brother silently gathered her into a hug, slowly rocking her side to side as she nuzzled into his mane. “It’s fine, Twili. Shhh.” It was only then she realized that she had been shaking with silent sobs, her anguish that had built up over the course of the day letting itself out all at once. Soon her cries quieted and her tears dried, her hooves reaching up to hug her brother back tightly.

“Thanks, Shiny.” She pulled away after a few more moments in his embrace, walking down the hall and stepping into her bedroom. He poked his head around the corner hesitantly, making sure she was all right. In her lap sat the calculus book, its large pages open and inviting her to dive into it once more. She looked up and smiled at him, her sadness forgotten and replaced with the joy of truly learning. “Wanna join my, Shiny?” He nodded, his hooves producing small squeaks from the mattress as he pulled himself up on top of her bed. “All right, math time!” She giggled at her brother’s grimace as he looked over the page that she had shoved under his nose. “What’s this?”

“Uh… um…” Her brother scratched at his mane embarrassedly, his face flushing as he furiously thought. She giggled again at her brother’s confusion; it was almost as if she could hear the gears turning in his head. Finally he groaned, pushing the book away and holding a hoof to his temple. “Ugh, Twili, can’t you pick something a little easier?”

She giggled mischiviously, reaching under her bed to pull out another heavy volume, this one bearing the name Pony Science: Academy Edition stamped in golden letters along the top. “Okay, Shiny, this one then!” She shoved the book under his nose so that he could read the title. His groan vibrated the springs of the bed as he fell backwards in mock agony.

“The smarts! They burn!” She giggled and jumped on top of him, reciting random math formulae into his ear as he fought to push her off. “Nooooooo!”

After a few minutes’ struggle, Twilight found herself held against the bed by a single heavy hoof. “No fair! You cheated!” Her brother raised an eyebrow at her, giving him quite the comical look. She giggled as he used another tickling spell on her. “Magic… is… cheating!” She choked out through her laughter. Suddenly the spell dissipated and her brother removed his hoof that held her down. She snuggled into his side, her sadness completely forgotten.

He looked over at her, messing up her hair with a hoof. “Don’t worry, Twili, tomorrow will be fine.”

She pulled away from her brother to look him in the eye, searching for any hint of a lie in his words. “Promise?”

He chuckled and pulled her into a hug. “Promise.”

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Author's Note: Well, this is something new for me to write. Just a warning, I won't be updating this very often due to schoolwork starting. So no promises on the next update.