At 7:30 on Wednesday morning, Sky’s alarm clock went off. He groaned and pulled the blanket off of his head, before opening his eyes and pressing the snooze bar. Even if he felt a lot better after talking to Sugarcoat a few days ago, he certainly didn’t feel ready for school right now. Waking up on the first day of school was always hard.

The alarm went off again at 7:39, and this time Sky was able to haul himself out of bed. He stood up and stretched before changing into his normal day-to-day outfit, which consisted of a royal blue polo T-shirt and gray khaki shorts. After combing his hair, he headed downstairs for breakfast, petting Sunny as he passed by him in the hallway.

Sky poured himself a bowl of cereal and a cup of orange juice, and brought both to the dining table, where Evening Shade was sitting. “Good morning, Mom,” Sky said as he sat down.

“Morning, sweetie,” Evening replied with a smile. “This is it, your first day at your new school. How are you feeling?”

Sky shrugged. “Pretty good, I guess. I’m feeling better after I talked to Sugarcoat on Friday.”

“Sugarcoat has always been very nice to you. I’m glad you’ll get to see her more often again.”

“Yeah, we’ve always gotten along really well. I’m looking forward to hanging out with her like I used to.”

“Hopefully you can make some friends at your new school. I know you didn’t like Valesbridge that much, but I think a change of environment will be good for you.”

“That’s pretty much what Sugarcoat told me. And yeah, I hope so too.”

After finishing his breakfast and brushing his teeth, Sky looked at the clock and saw that it was only 8:07. Since school didn’t start until 8:30, he had some time before he had to leave. He picked up his phone and sat down on the couch to browse the local news sites. It wasn’t long before he came across a headline that interested him. An auto racing movie titled The Garage Guys would be premiering on October 18th. The movie was to be centered around a ragtag team of drivers and mechanics who would come together to compete in the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans. Sky had always enjoyed European auto racing, so this was definitely a movie he wanted to see. “Hey, Mom, did you hear about that Garage Guys movie that’s coming out soon?” he asked.

“I did! I’m guessing you want to see that!”

“Definitely! It looks like a really good movie, and there aren’t too many movies about racing these days.”

Sunny soon trotted in and sat on the floor near Sky. Sky smiled and gently pet him with his foot. A few minutes later, Sky decided it was time for him to leave. Since the weather was nice, he decided to walk. He put on his sneakers, grabbed his backpack and opened the front door. “All right, I’m heading to school now. Bye!”

“See you later!” Evening replied as Sky walked out the door.

Canterlot High was located just two miles directly down the road from Sky’s house, so it was a short and simple walk to get there. Sky arrived at 8:26, four minutes before first period would start. The first day of school was a half-day, ending at 11:20 instead of the usual 14:15. To avoid the throng of students and figure out where he was supposed to go, Sky found a bench in the main atrium and sat down. He pulled his class schedule out of his backpack’s front pocket. His first class would be English in room 122. Once the crowd of students had dissipated, Sky got up again to look for that room.

As Sky walked through the corridors, he couldn’t help but notice how nice and clean everything looked. The doors and windows were all crystal clear, and the marble walls and tiled floors looked like they had just been polished. It was a major upgrade from Valesbridge High, which was an ugly old building that hadn’t been properly cleaned in a decade. I like this place better than my old school already, Sky thought to himself.

Sky soon arrived at a door with the number 122 painted above it. He entered the room and saw that most of the class was already seated. The class seating chart was displayed on the board. Sky found his name listed near the back of the room. He was glad he wouldn’t be sitting up front.

Sky walked over to his desk and sat down. The guy to his right was tall and thin, with white skin and very long light green hair. The guy to his left was of a more average build, with indigo skin and navy blue hair with gray streaks. They both looked half-asleep, and didn’t notice Sky at all.

After the last few students had filed in, the teacher stood up from his desk. He had purple skin and sleek gray hair. “Good morning, everyone! Welcome to your first day of eleventh grade,” he announced. “My name is Silver Script, and I’ll be your English teacher this year. Today we’ll just be going over the syllabus for this class, but let’s start by taking attendance.” He began reading names off of his clipboard in alphabetical order. “Afterglow Eventide?”

The guy to Sky’s left raised his hand. “Here,” he grunted.

Mr. Script put a check mark next to Afterglow’s name. “Nice to meet you, Afterglow.” He then moved to the second name on the list. “Amethyst Star?”

A girl with bright purple skin and hair answered. For the next minute, Mr. Script continued going through the attendance list. The guy next to Sky was named Emerald Leaf. Eventually, Mr. Script arrived at the letter S. “Sky Scraper?”

Sky raised his hand. “I’m here."

“Nice to meet you, Sky,” Mr. Script replied. “Interesting, we have the same initials!”

“Oh yeah, I guess we do,” Sky remarked. Mr. Script smiled, then continued reading through the remainder of the list. After checking off the last student, he went around the room and handed everyone a copy of the Honors English 11 syllabus. The class spent the remainder of first period reading through it. Most of it wasn’t very important, but Mr. Script seemed like a chill guy who was easy to get along with, so it was a decent start to Sky’s day.

After spending the next twenty minutes sitting through a rather boring introduction to Pre-Calc, Sky made his way to room 215 for his Biology class. It was a large classroom, with five lab tables and many shelves full of science supplies. Unlike his first two classes, there seemed to be no assigned seats, so Sky looked around for a good place to sit. It didn’t take him long to decide, as he soon heard a voice call out to him. “Hey, is that who I think it is?”

Sky turned around to see a familiar face from elementary school, a guy with dark gray skin and a silver mohawk. “Sky Scraper, my cool man!” Thunderlane exclaimed. “Long time no see!”

Sky’s eyes widened. “Thunderlane? I can’t believe you still remember me!”

Thunderlane laughed. “You think I’d forget? Of course I remember you, you’re a legend! Come over and sit with me and the twins.”

Sky followed Thunderlane to a table on the far side of the room, where two lavender-skinned girls were sitting. One of them had wildly spiky light blue hair, while the other had soft mint green hair with a pink bow. Both grinned and waved at Sky.

Sky couldn’t believe it. He was in the same class as not just one, but three of his old friends. “Cloudchaser! Flitter! You’re both in this class too?”

“That’s right!” Cloudchaser replied. She ran a hand through her spiky hair. “Where have you been, Sky? We haven’t seen you since fourth grade.”

“I just moved back here from Valesbridge. You know how I had to move six years ago because my dad got a job down there? Well, he quit his job this summer, and he managed to get his old job back. Therefore, I’m back too!”

“It’s so good to see you again,” said Flitter. “I’ve never been to Valesbridge myself, but I heard it’s not a good place.”

“Yeah, Valesbridge sucks. The schools are old and rundown, there’s nothing interesting there except maybe a burger joint, and it’s a pain in the ass to get to. I wish I never had to move there.”

“That sounds so bad,” said Cloudchaser. “Though I’d still say freshman year at CHS was worse.”

“Oh, freshman year was ass!” Thunderlane burst out. “That was back when Sunset was bullying everyone.”

“Yeah, my cousin Sugarcoat told me about that. Last year sounds like it was crazy. Hopefully this year is more normal.”

At the moment, the teacher walked in. She was an attractive young woman, with white skin and radiant pink hair with yellow highlights. “Good morning, everyone!” she said with a cheerful smile. “Welcome to Honors Biology. I’m Hyacinth Blossom, and I’m super excited to get to know all of you this year!”

Thunderlane gave a low whistle. “Ooh, we scored a hot one!”

“Can’t say I disagree with you there.” said Sky.

Miss Blossom began going around the room to take attendance. When she got to Sky’s table, Thunderlane acted suave, or at least he tried to. “What is up, my girl?” He leaned his elbow on the counter. “My name’s Thunderlane. I’m not a photographer, but I can picture me and you together.” He pointed and winked at her.

“It’s, um… nice to meet you, Thunderlane,” Miss Blossom replied in a confused tone. “All I needed was your name, though.” She checked him off the attendance list. After Sky and the twins gave her much more normal introductions, she headed to the next table.

“Imagine actually trying to use pickup lines on a teacher,” Flitter deadpanned.

“I think I nailed it,” Thunderlane replied nonchalantly.

For the rest of third period, Miss Blossom showed the students a slideshow about herself. In addition to being a biology teacher, she also co-owned a flower shop in downtown Canterlot with her sister. Throughout the whole thing, Thunderlane kept looking at her with a love-struck expression, which made Cloudchaser and Flitter roll their eyes.

“Looks like we would all have lunch during fourth period,” Sky said when the period ended, “but since it’s a half-day, I guess that means we’re free for twenty minutes. What do you want to do?”

“How about we give you a tour of the school?” Flitter suggested. “That way you won’t get lost on the way to your next class.”

“Oh, that’s a good idea! I could use someone showing me around. You lead the way, I guess.”

Thunderlane, Cloudchaser and Flitter led Sky to the CHS library. Located at the center of the school, it was the largest room in the building. The main entrance was on the first floor, but Sky and his friends entered onto the mezzanine level. The library must have contained thousands of books, as every square inch of the walls seemed to be lined with bookshelves. The first floor had a round computer desk in the center, and the roof was a giant glass dome. Several other students were also in the library, either looking at books or talking with their friends.

“Wow, this place is so cool!” Sky remarked. “I like how you can stand against the railing here and look down on everyone else.”

“Yeah, I love doing that too,” Cloudchaser chuckled.

“Funny story, I threw a burger off here last year,” Thunderlane recounted. “Got a detention for that, but it was totally worth it!”

“Really?” Sky laughed. “Were you throwing it at someone?”

“Of course I was! Some senior who was being a dick to me and my buddies. It landed on his head ketchup-side down! He turned around, but I’d already ran away!” Thunderlane burst out laughing, and Cloudchaser and Flitter laughed too.

“I probably wouldn’t have done that myself, but I agree that it was worth it!” said Sky.

After exiting through the other mezzanine door, Sky’s friends showed him around the other second-floor corridors. They soon arrived at a poorly lit hallway that led to a dead end. “Oh, we have to show him One Trick’s little hidey-hole!” Cloudchaser laughed.

“What are you talking about?” Sky asked.

“Follow us!” Cloudchaser replied. At the end of the hall was an open door with a mailbox next to it. The letter stickers on the mailbox spelled out “ONE TRICK”.

“One Trick is the CHS groundskeeper,” Flitter explained. “Just like his name, he only has one trick, the old quarter-behind-the-ear joke.”

“He loves pulling that one on freshmen,” Cloudchaser added. “And anyone who happens to be near him, really.”

“But the freshmen are the only ones who fall for it,” Thunderlane laughed.

“He’s completely incompetent at everything else,” Flitter continued. “Carrying stuff, mowing grass, throwing a football, you name it. He’s a funny dude.”

“If he sucks at mowing grass, then why do the fields outside look so good?” Sky asked.

“Probably because it’s the first day of the school year,” Flitter laughed. “He hasn’t had time to mess them up yet.”

“Even though he lives in this room,” said Thunderlane.

“How could he live in the school?” Sky asked. He had many questions about this One Trick guy.

“Well, for starters, that mailbox literally has his name on it,” said Cloudchaser. “And since the door’s open, we should probably show you what else he’s got.”

Cloudchaser stepped into the room, and Sky followed. To his surprise, the small room had a window, and contained everything a studio apartment would normally have. There was an unmade bed with stained sheets, a small TV set, a mini-fridge, a microwave, and a desk with a lamp. Now Sky was thoroughly perplexed. “Seriously, there’s a bed in here?” he asked.

“Well, yeah, he probably lives here,” Cloudchaser replied, trying not to laugh. “Why else would he have all this stuff?”

“This guy is… quite the enigma,” Sky said thoughtfully. “Where is he right now?”

Cloudchaser shrugged. “Probably somewhere outside.” She then giggled. “While I’m here, I think I’ll help myself to some of his quarters. It’s his fault for leaving the door open.” She snagged a roll of quarters off the desk, put it in her backpack, and then left the room. Sky chuckled and followed her back out.

From there, Sky’s friends led him downstairs and showed him around the first floor. As they passed through different parts of the school, they entertained him with more stories about the previous year at CHS. After about ten more minutes, the period ended and they all had to go to their next classes. “Well, it was really great seeing you all again,” Sky said with a smile. “Thanks for giving me a tour, and for just remembering me.”

“No problem, Sky!” Flitter replied. “It’s great to have you with us again. This is going to be an awesome year!”

The last three periods flew by very quickly. For fifth period, Sky had Latin, one of his elective classes. The teacher’s name was Iron Spear. Sky’s previous Latin teacher had been one of the only good teachers at Valesbridge High, and Mr. Spear seemed like a really cool guy too. Sky noticed that Emerald Leaf, one of the guys he sat next to in English, was also in this class.

After Latin, Sky had another free period. He spent those twenty minutes sitting in the library, looking at pictures he’d saved on his phone. These pictures were from the Montreal trip that he and his parents had taken at the start of the summer. They’d visited a big railway museum, walked through the underground city, and gone on a tour of a famous old hotel. It had been an awesome vacation, and it was interesting to think that Air would quit his job just two weeks after.

For the last period of the day, Sky had Drawing & Painting, another elective class. He was glad that Canterlot High offered art electives, and he was pleasantly surprised to find that Thunderlane was also in the class. The teacher, whose name was Harlequin Brushstroke, decided to let his students just hang out until the bell rang, since there wasn’t much time to really do anything. When the bell rang at 11:20, Sky headed downstairs and out the front door of the school. His first day at CHS had gone a lot better than he thought it would.

When Sky arrived back at his house and opened the door, he was greeted by a very happy and excited Sunny. “I missed you too, Sunny!” Sky laughed as Sunny wagged his tail and rubbed himself against Sky’s legs. After petting Sunny for a while, Sky headed into the dining room and set his backpack down on a chair. “Hi, Mom. I’m back!”

“Hello, Sky!” said Evening. “How was the first day of school?”

“It actually went really well. I have classes with three of my old friends this year.”

Evening smiled. “Really? That’s great! Which ones?”

“Thunderlane, Cloudchaser and Flitter. I was surprised they still remembered me after all this time.”

“I’m glad you were able to reconnect with them. I always worry about you not having any friends at school.”

“Well, I was lonely in Valesbridge, but I don’t feel so lonely anymore. I’m really glad we moved back to Canterlot.” He turned and went to the bathroom to wash his hands, as he always did whenever he came home from anywhere. As he walked back to the living room, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He unlocked it and saw that Sugarcoat had sent him a text. “How was your first day at CHS?” she asked.

Sky quickly typed his reply. “Pretty great, my old friends still remember me!”

“What did I tell you? 😉” was Sugarcoat’s response. Sky could only agree.

Author's Note

Emerald Leaf, Afterglow Eventide and One Trick are all OCs belonging to friends from MLP Forums.

This was a fun chapter to write!