Author's Note

It's Fireflower yet again with the seventh installment of my first My Little Pony fanfic still going beyond the typical oneshots I'd made from before and already using canon characters as human beings instead of their normal forms; however, this is nonetheless a Mature fimfic despite this chapter also being tame compared to future ones.

As usual like before, My Little Pony, or rather Friendship Is Magic, including its settings and characters belong to Lauren Faust and Hasbro; however, this concept of my fanfic still belongs to me so I will say this very line one time only: please do not steal this story or I will sue.

Lastly, let me also say that I'd planned this chapter to be more in depth as to how and why this character in particular is not the same as the one from the core show: since, I'd wasted so much time with the past chapters, this wasn't easy for me to get this over with it but thankfully with other shows being far too careless with commonality, or lack thereof, I'd decided to use this to my own advantage so there.

Daybreak

If there was one thing that proved to be noticeable for many of its inhabitants already though, then it’d be that many of them were now on the lighter side as of this particular moment in time. Daylight was burning bright as a fluorescent lightbulb as the scenery below it was being bathed in its glow, providing only warmth and guidance in their entirety from high above into the sky. Within a large dream drop distance was but a mere civilization already defined in such various materials whatsoever, most of them being the ones surpassing the likes of even three little pigs. The calm gentle breeze was found to be surfing across the grassy knolls, the brilliant green surrounding it all on a solid lower plane of existence even with concrete roads laid side–by–side. In the background, there had rested a valley and ridge of mountains, raging with growth and erosion in the process of their trying times as the sun had hovered over them at the event horizon. The location bustled with utter abundance of people from various demographics: age, gender, finances, and social standing being nothing short from the standardized metallurgy of life itself.

Out of many buildings in this rather quiet, there was one that had stood out amongst others: a large one in the very outskirts of the town remained in the very distance from the remainders. It’d stood up as high as about three stories tall, complete with a clock tower stretching upward wearing a straight face and a long red flag waving about from the tip of the lanky pole upon top. Its predominately ligneous roofing had possessed the style of a tent save for the middle where a glass dome served as the skylight to provide illumination to the people below inside the building. Out from the very entrance was a marble statue of an equine being already standing about atop a pedestal on its hind legs with a free spirit and perhaps, a sense of direction that signals departure. Surrounding it already were thin blades of grass with the occasional stone pavement carved into themselves, a large piece of nature becoming intertwined with the likes of something so artificial. All that remained out there was a pair of horseshoes out in front of them, a smaller one resting upon its side inside another as they became integral to the theme which they were all setting for.

If one were to be given a tour on what the edifice had looked like on the inside, then the first stop would be one of the rooms sharing a typical atmosphere in the making thanks to choice decorum: chalkboards, chairs, counters, cubbies, cabinets, communiqués, charts, and clocks; the only integral parts which would keep things in order would be a score of people taking up such space. Of course, there were limits in regards to where the occupants would stay and go as far as the finite dimensions were concerned; after all, whilst the atmosphere itself was still fresh with the airs of life, stagnation was the norm for the sake of such singular goals: the only saving grace was that much of the background was dyed in the wool a deep blue sea despite lacking in liquids. There were more than enough of plentiful photons to illuminate the dense area, seeing that the floor was cloaked in darkness; thankfully, the flat side within was solid like an old snake in a continuously changing ecosystem, whether at peace or in turmoil: in the room’s case, it was both and neither at the same time, so representative of the felines in otherwise cardboard derivatives. At the very least, almost every single individual found within there was dressed to the height of cosmetic uniformity altogether: thickened yellowy cotton helmets, a cyan jacket and skirt combo, thin pink ribbons, snow–white blouses and socks, and brown boots; despite this, it was rather acceptable that each and every wearer were going to be different from one another so to speak of.

As a matter of fact, one of the occupants in particular was found to be sitting by the windowsill in the middle rows by the right: a gangly brunette with skin lighter than the long hair already braided into curls and adorned with some little peachy bows too; staring off into the outside world were emerald splashed orbs dull and listless yet mobile as far as anyone was concerned.

“Miss Yona, since you’re so interested into outside world, kindly read what’s written on the wipeboard…!” a harsh coloratura escaped into the eponymous target’s ears, hereby silencing the notions of ownership instantaneously.

The speaker on the other hand was the only anomaly in a room full of individuals such as the gangly brunette herself no less: for starters, the former was stout and bald yet still matronly as the integuments were brighter as the sun, albeit without any heat; additionally, a white longcoat draped over its wearer’s body, accented by a long red skirt matching the eyes overlaid by glasses.

This was more than enough for Yona to turn towards the elder almost immediately, shaken yet stable as the former stood up and squinted at the text found upon the flat space before stuttering, “the… orange… cut… welks… into… the… bathroom… end… funds… two… people… standing… there… oll… alone…”

“Five spelling errors but nonetheless admirable…” the speaker loosened up yet remained firm as all eyes alongside the gangly brunette rested upon the former already, “remember, girls, the Ponish midterm is in a fortnight from now so it’s imperative that you take this matter seriously and study. It’s obviously clear that despite my best efforts we still have a long way to go, especially considering how many in class: make no mistake, the Equestrian tongue has been very hard to learn, even for those that had practiced it on paper and without; nevertheless, the whole purpose of PAL is to help you all succeed in building bridges with people in and out of the Polysphere. Conversely, the idea of speaking other languages would’ve been seen as unthinkable, let alone difficult the first time around; of course, this is nothing new as far as we can see with the other classes offered by this school amongst all others like it too: Castro, Prançaise, Iorian, Marisol, Germar, Hanson, and Neighponnaise – these foreign tongues served as a reminder of its inception. Here we have become firmly attached to their history with Equestria thanks to settlers traveling from across the very seas alone; even now, more individuals have come to this land in search of better opportunity, something many have related to ever since: the war that took place years ago has yet to break our collective spirits or traditions as far as the rest of the entire world’s aware of. At the very least, even more obscure languages are entering here by virtue of immigrants and explorers alike providing them: even our alliance with Yakyakistan has given us an opportunity to learn from, despite our differences between all of us; still, no one else, besides the Princesses alone, have been able to summon the courage in visiting its very populace but it can’t be helped. Recently, it’s still apparent the invasion by the Changeling forces and terrorism from dissenting factions has disrupted society; with that said, it’s nevertheless a completely separate issue for the reality remains is that many of you’d performed poorly so far: even though a few of you have bothered to take your responsibilities as students serious, even that alone is not enough as it is. Despite the results I’ve been presiding over, about one in five students who’ve attended Ponish, Additional Language passed: this hasn’t boded well in the slightest in every half a decade, even though we’d resumed operation two years after the war; still, I take my job seriously to ensure that everyone under my wing will be able to pass this class before the school year ends. Still, whether or not any of you succeed will be up to you and you alone, much like every choice presented up to this present day: even now, your presence in Equestria is evidence that you all share one commonality and with it, an opportunity to blend in more; in any case, I bid every single one of you all farewell and hope for the best, so with that in mind, class is now dismissed.”

“Bye, Miss Coldstream…!” the lone elder’s students said in unison, everyone setting off with a shared goal in mind overall.

Of course, Yona found herself being singled out within the aforementioned teacher’s sight as the latter spoke to the former with a violet knapsack before getting the chance, “miss Yona, do you have the time for a chat…?”

“I’m sorry but is there something wrong, Miss Coldstream: is this about last week’s spelling test…?” the gangly brunette replied to the lonely elder almost instantaneously, slightly standoffish yet so stable, “I just hope it won’t take too long considering I have someplace else to be…”

“Not at all, it’s just that I’ve been noticing how much progress you’ve made since your enrollment a few years ago; it must have been pretty tough when you’d first arrived in Equestria, alone and scared in a place far from home no less…” the titular teacher talked tenderly as Yona slowly trotted forward to the former all the same.

The gangly brunette wasted no time retorting anyway, “who said I was alone…? I have so many friends here, including ones from Yakyakistan like Hak and Yoon for example: before, I could never imagine others like me being interested into places like Equestria, let alone learning from what it has to offer here than there; now, what reason would I have to leave this place, if at all…? I may not have any connection as strong as theirs when it comes to them overall but their presence here alone has been enough to give me a reason as is to stay in Equestria all the same; besides, as far as I see it, they’re the only thing closest to a family that I have already and even then, I’m just a stranger to the rest of our people as I am to all of the Equestrian themselves.”

“Which is precisely why I’m suggesting that you should go with them both this weekend for a rather needful break, Yona…” the bald woman said to her student immediately even as the latter looked on with little care for the former whatsoever no less, “I understand your affinity with our homeland for the past couple of years and whatnot; are you sure that I can’t change your mind?”

“I’m sorry, Miss Coldstream, but rules are rules for a reason: if I’m gonna stay here, then I have to raise my grades and vacationing over to Yakyakistan would chew too much into my study time; after all, you’d just said that I’d made five mistakes reading that sentence earlier ago…” the eponymous occupant droned on reflexively altogether.

It didn’t take much for the hairless elder to speak to the gangly brunette in turn, “I can see that but this should be enough to help broaden your horizons and get you in touch with your roots; Hak and Yoon have been able to maintain their memory of said culture thanks to our alliance: they were able to write an essay of Yakyakistan’s history and how they came to be long ago…”

“That’s nice and all but I need to leave now; I have a test to study for that will take place after lunch and I intend to pass it…” the burgeoning student coughed out before leaving Miss Coldstream behind in the dust, leaving the latter truly and utterly alone, “I’m sorry but I have other things to look forward to; goodbye and good luck…”

“Yona, wait–––” the aforementioned listener’s teacher cried out briefly but to no avail, if at all; now, it was just her in an otherwise empty room.

The gangly brunette found herself in a hallway filled to the brim with other individuals, like and unlike her, walking throughout the very area with their own sense of directions unknown overall. At the very least, her emerald splashed orbs could see that the environment she was in was just as sterile as the room her elder and compeers alike were in much earlier, not that she even cares. Under no circumstance was Yona herself in any mood to comment on the variations, much less be captivated by them altogether as far as anyone was concerned about it overall so to speak of.

Gripping both straps of the violet backpack tightly, its owner, the gangly brunette, had looked around and cerebrated, “okay, you have about two hours until the big history test: all you got to do is find a few of your friends to help you study while eating lunch; besides, our fifth period teacher’s going to be showing us a movie but I won’t take interest in it…”

“Hey, Yona… over here…!” a masculine voice spoke out almost instantaneously, catching her undivided attention after both legs traveled further away from the classroom she was in earlier, “come sit with us; we’d saved you a seat…”

“Yoon…?” the titular traveler talked tersely.

Within seconds, the gangly brunette turned to find two people sitting at the table waving at her freely after making eye contact: the only commonalities between themselves was the dark skin tones shared with her and their goldenrod irises around pupils; of course, they, like many of them, had their very own differences, especially as far as the twosome were currently concerned. As much, one of the duo had silvery tresses, all dressed from head to toe in jet–black fabrics with some white accents sitting up straightaway with an otherwise blank stare upon the visage overall; the other, although possessing brown hair like her, had a much lighter shade, wearing a snow–white ensemble of a jacket and pants with a red ribbon alongside black shoes and a warm smile.

Already Yona was in a rush to join them both almost immediately as the lounger in black spoke to her, “hey, how did your PAL class go lately: did everything go fine and dandy…?”

“It’s so–so, Hak: I still have problems reading cursive lately, despite being so much closer; I don’t understand it sometimes…” the gangly brunette said to one of the eponymous males as she’d begun to take her seat nearby them both rather instantaneously, “what’s the point of using it if nobody else is going to write it, much less read it right…?”

“Preservation and personality: even though that everyone and anyone can write print, there are times where we need to understand the mindset of past writers, distant and otherwise; besides, computers crash, memory may be wiped, and writing is important, even in this day and age…” the male in black answered her, bereft of emotion.

Yona sighed tiresomely as Yoon slid her a red tray of food adjacently across the wooden table: although predominately leafy, she could see some steamed yams and a few muffins on there too; the scents alone were enough to keep both eyes widen as the former said to the latter at once, “how can a computer get into a traffic accident; they can’t be driven, right guys…?”

“Hak’s not referring to that kind of a crash; besides, I’m pretty sure you need some glasses if reading is too much for you…” the male in white replied cautiously as the gangly brunette slowly started picking up a plastic spoon from the same tray earlier, “we know some letters may look different to anyone who’s not in the know yet, but it’s not like they’re capable of changing.”

“But I’d look silly in them; it’s bad enough that I’d gone through my school years alone and awkward but this would be more ammunition for them to ruin my social life as is…” she’d snapped slightly before digging into the orange foodstuff gently, scooping it up into her mouth almost immediately.

Yoon wasted no time speaking to Yona instantaneously as she’d began to eat, “Yona, we’re all from Yakyakistan; failing that, we’re all good friends here: picking a fight with a native thereof is tantamount to suicide, with and without us. Besides, Equestria has sheltered us from the horrible aftereffects of war thanks to our alliance between the two countries therein: Yakyakistan’s raw strength has been more than enough of a deterrent in regards to directly attacking them outright so to speak; in your case, your inner strength alone would still be able to prevail, despite your anomalous deviations thereof no less.”

“That’s just it: I’m not that strong; no matter how much I try to diet and exercise, I can’t seem to catch up with either of you…” the gangly brunette retorted while the yams shrunk in both size and quantity, looking around at the steely environment briefly, “gym class was the netherworld years ago: sweated more than bulked up; I'm glad that I'd made it through after all this time…”

"You should consider yourself lucky that you're not in the Cadets like I am: all these exercises make gym feel like a cakewalk, especially considering a few teachers here and there; besides, my father wanted me to get stronger and Equestria needs strong soldiers too after what happened…" Hak laughed with their brighter counterpart joining in as well.

This had brought a smile to her face as she'd chuckled about, "I'm sure he would: what's a nation or family or even friends without strong people…? If anything, you would've been able to make the book of world records with all these muscles you've been bulking up; it would still explain how both Yakyakistan and Equestria look up to you after all these years: even I look up to you and I'm supposed to be the strongest."

"Don't count yourself out, Yona: it takes more than just muscles to make a great soldier in any army, much less by themselves…” Yoon said as the foodstuff in particular the aforementioned consumer was devouring was being reduced to mere morsels at once, “there’s perception, endurance, charisma, intelligence, agility, and luck; they’re what makes the people special…”

“Sounds like my classmates aren’t the only ones who play Badlands…” the male in black had purred about, earning a bemused look from the gangly brunette whom had stopped herself from continuing onward.

It didn’t take long for her to ask them both, “what’s Badlands…?”

“It’s an old game from a few decades ago, a postwar game to be accurate: I won’t spare you the details since it’s too distracting…” Hak answered Yona almost instantaneously, also taking a similar red tray of food from his brighter correspondent for himself, “besides, the real wars won’t even get into the books; people would simply either miss the point or start bigger wars in place.”

“I agree, it’s scary as it is that we’re living in this world; even in Equestria, it’s still not enough for others to go after them: too much ambition these days…” Yoon chimed back with restraint as it was finally his turn to eat as well, leaving no one else to start off alongside all three of them no less.

The gangly brunette stuttered, “Equestria…”

“Is there something troubling you now, Yona…?” the male in black asked her again, this time taking note of the plastic spoon dropping back into the surface area of the tray with little warning, “you were just having no problems eating those steamed yams that Yoon had cooked for us today…”

“It’s not the yams, it’s just me: I still have this headache going on and these pills haven’t done a thing for me since I’d taken them this morning; I’d thought they would be gone by lunchtime but it seems that I was wrong…” the titular talker told the two of them already, clutching her forehead briefly as her fingertips smoothed its ridges out at once.

Hak had his left hand gently hovering over the gangly brunette’s visage and commented on their collective observations at once, “you obviously don’t feel sick, much less warm; how long have you been taking these pills anyway…?”

“Since last weekend, I’ve been taking them at least once a day like they’d said on the box…” she’d answered the male in black, struggling to pick up the utensil with her left hand once again, “to be honest, I’ve been skipping some of those days because I can’t seem to read small text that well; as a matter of fact, I’m more or less afraid of taking more even if I’d wanted it to go away.”

“I see, well, in that case, I should take a look at your box of medicines afterschool: something tells me you’re going at this the wrong way for one reason or another…” the male in white sighed with concerned, earning himself a slight grimace from Yona alone in mere seconds alone so to speak of.

During this staredown, the gangly brunette spat out, “first I talk about my time in PAL class and now you’re implying I’m bad at counting too…?”

“Not at all, most medicines used allow you to take up to several per day, usually in four to six hour periods so to speak no less…” Yoon had replied, unperturbed by her otherwise mild frown as he’d remained bravely default in his own assessment all the while, “although unheard of, there have been cases of accidental overdoses especially before the war, even by mathematicians…”

“All the more reason not to treat them like candy; besides, I’d accepted the fact that I’m the slow one but even I’m not that stupid enough to try…” Yona said flatly, dropping her gaze away from either male as she’d returned her attention to the remaining food from before as far as they were all concerned nevertheless.

Needless to say, neither consumer whatsoever had dared to continue on as they’d all started to eat more quietly than ever before, unmoved by the ringing bell and their chattering peers in the background as their attention wasn’t directed at each other.