Unbreakable

Starlight Glimmer had just moved from Canterlot to a place called “Sire’s Hollow.” Sire’s Hollow was a small village with very few buildings. Starlight decided to explore her new home while her dad unpacked all the boxes. There was a fruit shop that just opened near their house. I guess I’m not the only new one in this town. Starlight decided to look inside. There were lots of fruits, but she asked the cashier to get her peaches. As she sat down, she decided to observe some fillies and foals outside; maybe she could get to know them better and have friends before she started attending school tomorrow.

Unfortunately, every filly she saw came in groups. She wanted to spend time with someone who didn’t have a friend. That way, no one would steal attention from each other. She wanted everyone to be fair. She sighed and finished her peach. Then she walked home, alone.

Starlight opened the door. “There you are, Pumpkie Wumpkin!” Firelight turned to his daughter. “Did you meet anypony?”

“Ugh! At least don't say Pumpkie Wumpkin in public!” Starlight grunted.

“Of course, cutie pie. Now did you meet anypony new?” He asked.

Starlight rolled her eyes. “Yes.”

“Ooh!” Firelight cheered. “What was her name?”

“Peach Blossom,” she quietly answered. What she didn’t tell her dad was that Peach Blossom was a welcoming cashier who gave her a few apples and peaches to take home. “Can I go to bed? I want enough sleep before my first day of school.”

“Without dinner?” He asked. “Won’t you be hungry? Have a snack, at least.”

Starlight took an apple up to her room and closed the door behind her. “If only Peach Blossom was a filly, I’d be able to make friends with her.” She took a bite of her apple and smiled. Apples were her new favorite fruit. She threw out the apple core and tucked herself in.

Starlight walked into her classroom. She stayed by the door, even when the teacher called everyone to their seats. She then looked straight at Starlight. “Welcome! You must be Starlight Glimmer,” she greeted. Starlight nodded. “My name is Ms. Bloom.” Ms. Bloom walked over to her desk and wrote something down on a piece of paper. “Everypony, please welcome Starlight Glimmer to our class. Starlight, would you like to tell us about yourself?”

“No, thank you,” Starlight replied. “Where should I find my desk?” she asked.

Ms. Bloom pointed to an empty desk next to a little foal who was reading. “You’ll be sitting next to Sunburst, in the back. He’s pretty nice. Sunburst, please raise your hoof so Starlight knows where to sit.”

Starlight walked over to her desk and sat down her bookbag. Ms. Bloom gave everypony a test, since it was Friday, test day. She said Starlight could pick a book to read while the others tested. Starlight grabbed a beginner’s book about spells. She tried to do the levitation spell, the simplest one, but failed. She always had trouble doing even the simplest of spells.

While attempting a simple light spell, she caught a glimpse of her deskmate looking at her book. She noticed he was done with the test, so she motioned for him to follow her over to the book corner, where they could whisper without disturbing the others. “Can you cast these spells?” She asked him.

“Yeah, they’re hard at first, but they get easier as you familiarize yourself with the concepts.” He walked Starlight through a levitation spell.

Starlight didn’t know what to think. Did she really want Sunburn’s help? She obviously wanted to learn magic, but she wasn’t so sure about letting him do everything. Starlight turned her attention back to the lesson. She tried hard to lift the book off of the ground, and it worked! Three seconds was a great improvement!

“I can’t believe you can do the spell!” she whisper-shouts. Sunburst smiles.

As a one-room school, the schoolponies ate lunch in the classroom. “Ms. Bloom?” Starlight asks. “Can I eat outside?”

Ms. Bloom nods. “Of course, dear. If you want, you can eat out every day, unless the weather’s bad.”

“Thank you!” She says, and rushes outside. Most ponies ate lunch and then got onto the playground. Starlight sat down on a picnic table and opened her lunch bag. A turkey sandwich with mustard, which she immediately put back, and an apple. She lifted the apple with her magic and brought it close enough to her mouth to bite. Maybe she was getting the hang of her magic, after all.

She looked through the window and saw Sunbird, or whatever his name was, eating his lunch. She wanted to thank him, but Starlight didn't feel like talking. She decided to draw him a card instead.

Once everypony burst outside, Starlight gave her card to her first friend, feeling suddenly shy. Sunburst looked at the card with a drawing of a unicorn horn. He turned the card over and saw the word “Thank you for your friendliness” written on it in sloppy hornwriting.

“Thank you!” he said.

Starlight noticed he didn’t say anything else. It was her lucky day. Conversations weren’t her thing, and neither were they Sunburst’s.

Starlight chose a seat in the back of the carriage. She set down her bookbag and flipped through the pages of the magic book with her new magic. She didn’t even notice that Sunburst sat down next to her until he got off and tripped over her bookbag. She helped him get up and waved goodbye to him.

Starlight packed up and got off at the next stop. A few other ponies got off too. There were three foals, and an older girl. Starlight just tried avoiding them, but one of the foals tripped her, and then the girl pushed her. Starlight looked at her scratched hooves and ran away, but it was no use. They had cornered her. She cowered in fear until she realized they weren’t coming any closer. She was protected by a force-field. Her force field. She walked home, using the force field to stay safe from the bullies until she was inside, where her dad could see if anypony tried to hurt her.

“You’re home, sugar plum!” Firelight exclaimed. “How was your first day? Did you learn anything?”

Starlight rolled her eyes. She learned that some ponies are good, and other ponies are bad. “It was good,” she answered, walking off to the bathroom, being careful so that her dad wouldn’t see her hooves. She could deal with the bleeding herself. After she washed her hooves and bandaged them, she snuck into her room.

She laid down on her bed and stared at the glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling. 5 stars, representing each of her feelings: proud, scared, excited, anxious, and unknowing. The last one was challenging her.