Project Stardust

by Starry Wisp


Chapter 4- School Time- Age 6 and 5 mo.

Stardust was eating her special breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream, a breakfast only devoured on special occasions, and this one was no exception. Today was Stardust’s first day of school, and she was insisting on wearing her “lucky tutu”, a beaded bracelet, her large pastel blue hair bow, and- well, she didn’t know what else yet, because she felt that the outfit was missing something. It wasn’t makeup, because after all, she is only 6. She was hoping that she would figure it out in time, though. All she wanted was to make a good first impression on her fellow classmates. She had calmed down a little bit, but still got a little hyper from time to time, like today.


Stardust hopped out of her chair, and ran into the living room, where she saw Moonflower and Proud Sky sitting on the couch, with a box in front of them on the coffee table. Stardust got on the couch, and sat next to Moonflower. “Hi, Mommy, hi Daddy,” Stardust said.


Moonflower glanced at the box and back at Stardust. “Aren’t you wondering what’s in this pretty box?” Moonflower asked.
“Yeah! Open it! :gasp: Is it for me?” Stardust asked.


“Think of it as a first day of school present. I thought you needed a little something extra for your first day.” Moonflower explained. She then grabbed it in her mouth by the bow, and dropped it in front of Stardust. The gift was in a small, cube, box, with white wrapping paper printed with doodle-hearts in pastel colors, and a pink ribbon wrapping around it, meeting at a neat bow on top. Stardust picked it up using her magic, carefully took off the bow, and tore into the paper. She took the lid off of the brown box, and dug through the pink tissue paper. Inside, was a black velvet jewelry box, like the kind engagement rings came in. She opened the case, and neatly inside, resting on a white satin pillow, was a intricately decorated pink heart locket. Stardust gasped in excitement, and in awe of the beauty of the necklace. The locket was encrusted with rhinestones, and covered in swirly patterning. The sterling silver had been nicely painted pink. Stardust opened the locket, where there was space to put two heart-shaped pictures.


“But that’s not all,” Moonflower explained. From behind her, she pulled out an envelope addressed to Stardust. Stardust opened the envelope, and inside was a heart-shaped picture of her, Moonflower, and Proud Sky; the perfect size to place in the locket. Stardust re-opened the locket box, and the locket, and gently placed the picture into the clamps to hold it in place. There was still room for one other picture, though.


“What am I supposed to put in the other side?” Stardust questioned.


“Whatever you’d like. You can put another picture, you can glue a special bead or button, or a tuft of fur from Bluey even, whatever you want. Or, you can wait until you make a friend, and maybe you can put a picture of them in there,” Proud Sky suggested.


“That’s a good idea! All of them are! I can put a tuft of Bluey in there, then put a picture of my new friend on top!” Stardust added as she took out the locket, and placed it around her neck.


“Oh! It’s time to go, Stardust!” Proud Sky said, as he stood up from the couch. Moonflower and Stardust quickly followed, and left the house.


Once they arrived at the school, there were already young unicorn fillies and colts, all dressed up with their colorful saddlebags, walking into the large, cement-block school. It was a light gray building, with a large sign in the front that read, “THE MINI-MARE’S SCHOOL FOR MAGIC AND SPELLS”


“If there are colts here too, why is it called Mini- mare’s school?” Stardust inquired.


“It was once a fillies only school, but later on, included both fillies and colts.” Moonflower explained.


The family soon approached the front entrance to the school, where there were young ponies passing through the doors. Stardust already had her paper that told her what teacher she had, and what number locker she had. There weren’t any locks of any sort, after all, these ponies were still young. Stardust gave each of her parents a great, big hug, and an “I love you” goodbye. Both ponies had started tearing up at the sight of her first day of school. They took a front-of-school-first-day-picture, gave one more hug, and Stardust entered the building. She trotted towards a big, wooden, tan door that read, “Ms. Stars”, with stars of many colors taped around on the door.


“Her name is just like mine! Ms. Stars, Stardust!” Stardust used her magic to open the door, and trotted until she saw a desk at the very front, not quite center, but one seat to the left of the center desk, which had a name tag taped over the top part of the desk. It read “Stardust Sky” in pretty hoofwriting, so that too made Stardust happy. She took off her saddlebag, and placed it under her chair, just like it stated on the whiteboard. There was a large, wooden desk off to Stardust’s left, and the door to her right. The room had just about finished filling with unicorn fillies and colts, and there was a grown mare rushing around the room, with a few sparkles here and there, as she perfected the ideal classroom. Stardust was rather excited, as everything seemed so perfect, and seemed to work out so well. Then, she heard a bell ring. Not like an average “ding” of a bell, like a more musical, almost electrical, happy, kind of a sound. Stardust considered it more of a higher pitched “mwrooooaaaaahhhhhhh” or even a “Meeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaahhhhhh” than a “ting-a-ring-ring-ring”. The students grew quieter, as they shuffled in their chairs to impress the teacher. A lavender-pink-magenta colored unicorn, trotted to the front of the room. She was pretty, with a mint-grass-green mane and tail, and a green apple with a pencil in front for a cutie mark. The colors all blended smoothly together.


“Hello, everypony! I’m Ms. Stars, and I am going to be your teacher this year! I am very approachable, and willing to help you at any time you need, just don’t hesitate to ask!” Ms. Stars said with a smile. She was very happy, and very kind; perfect for Stardust. Stardust raised her hoof.


“Yes?”


“My name’s Stardust, and you’re Ms. Stars, so our names are so similar!”


“Hi, Stardust, great to meet you! I noticed that too when I was writing out your name tags! Oh, that reminds me, can anypony tell me what’s especially special about Stardust here?”


The students looked at Stardust for a moment, and examined her. Then, many raised their hooves.


Ms. Stars pointed to a sky blue unicorn filly, with pastel green hair, and wide, green eyes. “Yes? What’s your name?”


“I’m Sunshine Fields, or Sunshine, or Sunny, or Sun, or- well you get the point! :giggle: She has tiny wings, AND a horn, which means she’s an alicorn! And she’s the tallest here. And she doesn’t have a cutie mark. Like me!” Sunshine talked very fast, and was obviously also excited for school.


“That’s right, Sunshine! Stardust is an alicorn, which means she has both wings like a pegasus, and a horn like a unicorn. She’s great with magic, but still is figuring out how to fly. One day though, I believe she will be flying in Cloudsdale with the pegasi!” Ms. Stars explained.


The class started chattering about how cool it was to have an alicorn in their class, as they all examined Stardust’s wings and horn. Even her mane was silkier, and more flowy compared to the other fillies. Her mane was also getting long, and started to get a curl to it at the end. Her parents always referred to her as a “diamond”.


“Okay, class! Time to go outside, and find your lockers! Your back-to-school purple paper should say what number locker you have, and can be easily opened with a typical door-movement spell. Does anypony not have their purple paper?” Ms. Stars asked the class. Three students raised their hooves; a colt who has his back hooves up on his desk, a smaller filly, with larger eyes, and a worried look on her face, and a discombobulated colt, who look exhausted, and not at all ready for school. Ms, Stars glares at the smirking colt with his hooves up.


“Get your hooves off the desk! And what’s your name?” Ms. Stars didn’t seem happy with him.


“Rusty Bolt. But I go by Bolt.” He was obviously trying to seem ‘cool’, but Stardust already didn’t like him. He was a tan-brown unicorn colt, with dark blue spiky hair, with darker brown streaks, and a yellow lightning bolt, with an actual bolt at the top for a cutie mark. He didn’t like it though, as it was just “a joke of his name”. He often shot lightning bolts at other ponies from his horn as a prank, but it was also a bit of a magical talent.


“Well, Bolt, can you please take your hooves off of the desk? You don’t want to get in trouble on your first day,” Ms. Stars sighs. “Anyway, I can get you your locker number, and the office can get you a new purple paper later.” Ms. Stars turns to the scared filly. “And what is your name, sweetie?”


“B-Bubblegum Rose…” The terrified unicorn filly had larger-than-average bright blue eyes, although she was slightly shorter than average, long, thick-but-smooth light pink hair, and a pastel blue body. Her cutie mark was a red rose within a bubble, showing her talent of making stronger bubbles; strong enough to hold ponies; with her magic. She also sent them as mail, and made it so they popped at their destination. “ W-We never got one in the mail…” By now, the unicorn had huddled into a ball in her seat, quivering.


“It’s okay, sweetie. I will give you your locker number, and the office can get you a new purple paper if you’d like.” Ms. Stars said with an alternately pleasant voice, showing how caring she is, but that she can be strict if need be. She then turned to the final colt who was missing his paper. He had messy, teal hair, with magenta streaks. His coat was a scruffly mid-spectrum shade of purple; not pastel, but also not dark. The perfect balance. Although that appeared to be the only balanced thing about him. He also was a blank-flank like Stardust, meaning that he had no cutie mark. He also had bags under his eyes, slightly bloodshot eyes, and some of his hair stuck up. He was clearly half asleep, and Stardust wasn’t sure whether to feel bad for him or not like him yet.


“How about you?” Ms. Stars asked. The colt was zoning into the corner of the room. She used her magic to flash a few sparkles in front of his face to interrupt his zoning. He blinked, and rubbed his eyes.


“I’m so sorry, Ms. Stars! I didn’t sleep well last night, and I only got 3 hours of sleep, and I lost my purple paper, because I put it on my coffee table and my dog, Potatoe-with-an-E-at-the-end ate it when I wasn’t looking, and-” He was cut off by Ms. Stars. He spoke very swiftly.


“Calm down, it’s okay. You haven’t even told me your name yet.” Ms. Stars also has a calm, gentle side to her, also great for Stardust.


“I’m Night Comet. Sorry if I talk fast sometimes, it just kinda happens when I’m nervous.” Night said, sweating from an adrenaline rush.


“Take a deep breath. Can you please repeat what you said slower, Night?”


Night took a deep breath, then slowly, and calmly said, “ I didn’t sleep well last night, and I only got 3 hours of sleep. I lost my purple paper because I left it on the coffee table, and my dog, Potatoe, spelled Potato with an ‘e’ at the end, managed to get to it, and eat it, when I wasn’t looking. My parents made me spend my own money on school supplies, and I ran out of money, so I don’t have any pencils or pens.” Night had started to tear up from sadness and pure exhaustion.


“I’m sorry.” He used his magic to grab a tissue, wiped his eyes, and looked up, large eyed, at Ms. Stars.


Stardust knew now to feel bad for the colt. And she did feel bad for him. She wanted to help.


Ms. Stars walked over to his desk, closer to the back of the room. “Your locker number is Locker 12. Do you want to go to the nurse to take a nap? I can catch you up later if you’d like.” She put her hoof over his shoulder.


“That’d be great, thanks.” He nodded his head, and by now, he was even blinking slowly. It became obvious that his brain was starting to shut off.


“Do you know where it is?” The colt shook his head.


“When you leave, turn left, down the hall, and to the right. You can’t miss it. And even if you get lost, the school is small, and somepony can help you. Let me write you a pass.” The colt gave a tired smile, as Ms. Stars walked to her desk, scribbled something on a notepad with her magic, and tore off the piece of paper. She gave it to the colt as he walked slowly up to the front of the room. Once he left the room, Ms. Stars continued with instruction.


“Okay, Bolt, your locker number is 17, and Bubblegum, you have 15. Now, everypony, let’s all go into the hallway, and put our saddlebags away, and if you have any locker decorations, now is the perfect time to put them up!” She opened the door, and the class of unicorns (and alicorn) ventured outside, looked at their papers, and found their lockers.


Stardust looked at hers. “Locker 14.” she said to herself, as she trotted to her new locker. The lockers were all navy blue, although some had paint chipping to reveal silver spots of metal underneath. Stardust’s looked perfectly painted, with a small plaque that read ‘41’ at the top of the door. She opened the locker, and placed her saddlebag on the hook. “Hmm…” she thought to herself as she thought that the gray-silver interior seemed too bland for her tastes. She magically created a string of lights, covered with magical fire-retardant glitter that shone in the light. She put up magical wallpaper that was light blue, with pink polka-dots. She also made one of those electric disco balls, and placed it at the very top. “Perfect.” she thought.


“Wow! Your locker looks so pretty! I wish I had locker decorations! You’re the alicorn, uh, Stardust, is it?” Bubblegum Rose asked. Her locker was directly right of Stardust’s.


“Yes, Bubblegum, right?”


“Yeah, but you can call me Bubbles, or Bubbly. That’s what my future friends will call me!” Bubblegum and Stardust giggled.


“What’s so funny, silly fillies?” The two turned around, and to Stardust’s left, was Sunshine Fields. She had locker 13.


“Bubblegum is just being funny. You’re Sun….-something, right? Sorry, bad with names!” Stardust giggled.


“Yeah, I’m Sunshine, but you can call me Sunny, or Sun, or-whatever!” Sunshine’s face lit up with excitement. “Ooh, coolio lockerio!” Sunshine hopped.


“Thanks.” Stardust closed her locker. Let’s go back inside,” The three fillies walked back into their new classroom, and sat in their seats. Sunshine sat to the far right in the front row. Bubblegum sat in the middle of the second row, Bolt was in the back of the far left row, and Night was in the back of Sunshine’s row. There were other students as well, such as Cloudy Bow, a blue filly with white, puffy hair, who sat behind Stardust, a darker purple filly with lime green wavy hair, named Royal Reef, and a white filly, with pale tan straight hair, named Cream Puff. Her fur was also slightly fluffier than the average pony.


“Okay, class! Now, it’s time for math! Let’s all count to ten, if you remember from preschool! One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten!” Ms. Stars seemed excited, but the students didn’t understand what was so exciting about counting to ten.


“Boring…” Bolt muttered under his breath.


“What was that, Bolt?” Ms. Stars asked.


“”Erm, I just said that math was… like… Exploring! Exploring new numbers!” Bolt said nervously.


“That’s what I thought. Okay, everypony! I am going to pass out paper, and you are going to draw whatever comes to your head! And if you’re not sure, draw what you are feeling, or something in the room.” Ms. Stars magically placed papers on everypony’s desks. Stardust took out her colored pencils, and drew a sun in the corner of the page, along with a rainbow, and herself underneath. She then proceeded to draw Sunshine and Bubblegum on either side of her, then Ms. Stars, and she drew Night from memory; frazzled hair and all. He had still not returned, after forty-five minutes. He was pretty exhausted, after all. He might sleep another five minutes, he might sleep for the whole day. Stardust was unsure. She drew grass, some trees, clouds, and a sky. She signed her name at the bottom, and presented it to Ms. Stars.


“I’m done, Ms. Stars!” Stardust used her magic to hold it up in front of Ms. Stars.


“Wow, Stardust, this is beautiful! You’ll get to take it home at the end of the day,” Ms. Stars joyfully responded.


Bolt was drawing a picture of Ms. Stars- drawn as an oval with stick legs, fangs, and angry eyes. He wrote, ‘Ms. Stars is Evil- more like Ms. Scars-for-life’ He folded it up, and threw it in the trash. Unfortunately for Bolt, Ms. Stars saw a paper being thrown in the trash, and she picked it up with her magic. She walked over to Bolt’s desk.


“Not liking your art? It can’t possibly be bad, all art in my opinion has potential!” Ms. Stars unfolded the paper, and when she saw it, she gasped. She immediately became mad.
“Hmm, trying to hide something, Rusty?”


“Don’t call me Rusty,” He was getting grumpy. “That’s not my name.” he muttered.


“It’s your full name, Bolt. If I use it, that means you’re in trouble. You know that, right? Do I have to call your parents on the first day of school, and tell them about your behavior?” Ms. Stars said sternly.


“No, Ms. Sca- I mean, Ms, Stars.”


“Good, but one more bad choice, or I will call home.” Like a flip of a coin, Ms. Stars happily trotted away to check on the other students. She trotted over to Bubblegum’s desk, where Bubblegum was drawing an adorable bunny. She seemed to have quite the talent for drawing. She seemed “in the zone” so Ms. Stars decided not to interrupt her. Sunshine was drawing Stardust’s pastel blue bow. It looked pretty good, considering it was drawn by a 5 year old.


“Okay, class! Time to put your drawings in your lockers to take them home! If you don’t want them, however, I will hang them up here, or keep them in my drawer if you’d like. Everyone can go to their lockers, Bolt, stay here, please.” The class rushed out with their papers in their auras or in their mouths. There were a few students who stayed behind, and formed a line at Ms. Stars’ desk. Ms. Stars placed the still-crumpled drawing from Bolt in her special drawer marked “Show to Parents”. She placed it in the folder that read, “Bolt, Rusty”, and it would remain there until Parent-Teacher Conferences. She turned around, and saw Cream Puff, the first filly in line. She held up a cute doodle of Ms. Stars in front of the board.


“I made it for you, Ms. Stars! Do you like it?” Cream Puff asked joyfully.


“It’s beautiful,” Ms. Stars was struggling with her name.


“Cream Puff!”


“Cream Puff! Yes! It’s beautiful, Cream Puff.” Ms. Stars placed the picture on her bulletin board next to her desk. Cream Puff trotted away to her seat, and Royal Reef trotted up, and presented her paper. On it, there was- well, it was blank, except for a single black dot in the center.
“You said to draw what came to our heads, and my head was empty. So I drew a dot. Is it good enough, Ms. Stars?” She asked.


“It’s- nice, but it needs something. What do you like, um…”


“Royal Reef, but you can call me Royal. I like caterpillars. And butterflies.” She hopped as if she were flying.


“Turn this dot into a caterpillar with butterfly wings, then report back to me!” Ms. Stars suggested.


“That’s great! Thanks, Ms. Stars!” Royal trotted away. It was almost lunch and recess, and the students re-entered the room. Night had still not returned after now an hour and a half.


“Alright, students! It’s almost lunch, so you can draw another picture or do whatever you want until the bell rings. Bolt- be mindful, please.” Suddenly, a less-frazzled Night Comet entered the room. He looked more put together, and more awake, now that he had rested.


“Sorry I took so long, Ms. Stars. I was tired.”


“It’s okay, Night. Everypony has those days. Take your seat, it’s almost lunch. The bell will ring any sec-” Ms. Stars got interrupted as the bell for lunch rang. The students rushed out of their seats.


“Hold on, students! If you brought a lunch, please get one from your locker, and head out to the playground. When you hear the whistle blow, meet me in a line, and I will walk you into the cafeteria. If you didn’t bring a lunch, that’s okay, you get to buy one in the cafeteria. Have fun!” The students continued out the door, except for Night, who stayed behind to talk to Ms. Stars.


“I don’t have any money with me for lunch. My parents didn’t pack me one, and I don’t even have a lunchbox. They didn’t give me money, either. I guess that wasn’t thought through very well by us.”


“Oh, Night, I’m sorry. Tell the cafeteria, they can give you something to eat for free. They’re really nice, and wouldn’t let anypony go without a lunch. I promise. Now go outside, have some fun!” Night nodded, and ran outside to join with the rest of the grade. Stardust was running up the stairs, across the jumpy bridge, up the ladder, around the spiral staircase, and down the long swirly slide. Even a ladder higher than the slide, was a lookout with a telescope, where Sunshine was. Bubblegum was swinging on the swing, using her magic to lift her higher as needed.


“Prince Night the Unicorn Colt is entering thy playground of playgroundiness! Princess Stardust! Come up here, while I greet your guest!” Sunshine stated, then climbed down the ladder, down the swirly slide, and over to Night.


“The Princess Stardust shall see you now, Prince Night!” Sunshine playfully said, as she curtsied to Night. Night was confused, but continued up the stairs to the slide tower.


“Night! You look better, how do you feel?” Stardust asked.


“I feel better, thanks Stardust. What’s Sunshine doin’?”
“I dunno. Bein’ Sunshine I guess. Wanna go down the slide?”


“Sure. Fillies first,” Night said as he gestured for her to go down. She slid down, and gave him a signal showing that it was clear for him to slide. Once he reached the bottom, the whistle blew, and the class lined up behind Ms. Stars. They followed her inside, and into a large, bustling room full of tables. Unicorns went into the lunch line with empty trays, and out with full trays of food. Stardust sat at a table with Bubblegum and Sunshine, who both packed lunches as well. About 5 minutes later, Night emerged from the lunch line with a sandwich and a bottle of water on his tray. He stopped, and looked around for a place to sit, which was hard when he didn’t really know anypony. Finally, Stardust shouted Night’s name, and gestured for him to sit with them at their table. He walked over, and sat down.


“Hi, Night. How are you doing? I’m sorry you had a bad dream. I really hate nightmares. By the way, Potatoe is a very cute name for a dog,” Bubblegum said softly.


“I’m okay, it’s fine. Everypony has bad dreams every once in awhile. I hate nightmares, too. Anyway, yeah, Potatoe is adorable, and he lives up to his name. He’s so lazy.” Night explains. The girls giggle at the thought of the loafy pup. Night smiled. What he thought was going to be the worst first day of school, soon became one of the best. He didn’t mind socializing with the girls, to him, anypony who he can get along with is enough to make him happy. And he got along great with them. Over the year, the team of Stardust Sky, Night Comet, Sunshine Fields, and Bubblegum Rose would be unstoppable.