//------------------------------// // 11 - School Days // Story: Soaring on Little Wings // by tom117z //------------------------------// Cloudsdale, Sky Dance Kindergarten That building looked oppressively large. Sure, the otherwise bright white structure had various smiley faces and other kid-friendly motifs painted on that it should have been the most welcoming place in the world, but it was nevertheless daunting for the young filly. The Sky Dance Kindergarten. Presumably founded by someone named Sky Dance. The day had seemed so far off, and yet there Little Wing was. She was officially starting her first day at school, or at least kindergarten. She was pretty sure it was easy compared to school later on, but this was once area where she couldn’t speak from experience, never having attended such a place previously. That alone added a bit of excitement into the mix. If they had gone out of their way to deny her the experience then it couldn’t be all that bad, at least in Little Wing’s mind. Plus, she truly wanted to learn. At the same time, however, she had no idea what to expect and where to even begin. Thus her shy stature and act of scuffing one hoof along the floor was in great contrast to Misty Gust, who was prancing on the spot with the stupidest grin Little Wing had ever seen plastered into her face. “We’re here, we’re actually here!” she squeed, prancing away. “Can you believe it, Little Wing? Can you? Can you!?” “…Yes. I’m looking at it,” she deadpanned in return. Misty stopped in her tracks and tilted her head at Little Wing. “Huh? Is something wrong?” Caught, Little Wing attempted to plaster an all-too-fake smile onto her muzzle. “No! Nothing at all! It’s the first day of school, with a bunch of kids I don’t know and a teacher who may not even think I’m worth the-” “Little Wing,” the voice of Windy Whistles interrupted her rant as she and Bow Hothoof approached alongside Misty’s own parents. “Now what is all this about?” There went the small blue hoof scuffing the ground again. “N-nothing…” Windy gave her daughter a soft, but knowing look. One that told the filly that she was not that easily fooled, probably because she’d gone through all the tricks with a previous child. Little Wing couldn’t meet her mother’s gaze. “It’s nothing, OK? I don’t wanna talk about it…” Windy Whistles sighed, proceeding to outstretch a wing and pull her little filly in for a gentle wing hug. “Are you nervous about school?” Little Wing was silent for a moment, but then gave a slow nod. “A little…” “Is there any particular reason why?” Windy asked. “Do you know?” Little Wing gaze silence in reply. “You do know you can talk to me, right?” Windy asked. “About anything at all.” Little Wing looked at the floor. “What if things are really really bad? What if I can’t learn anything, or nopony likes me…” “Little Wing, you have no reason to think that,” Windy stated, nuzzling the top of Little Wing’s head. “You’re going to learn lots of things, and make lots of new friends. Your sister did, and so will you.” “Rainbow Dash doesn’t get nervous about anything though…” Windy Whistles shook her head. “Not true.” Little Wing looked up at her mother with a perplexed expression. “Huh?” “Dashie would never admit it, but I could tell she was just as nervous as you on her first day. She just hid it behind a brave face, like she has always done.” “…What did she do?” “She just went in and did her best,” Windy replied. “That’s all anypony can ever ask of you.” “Really?” Her mother nodded. “Really.” Little Wing looked towards the building in question, which for some reason seemed a little less threatening that it had done before. She then looked over to the cutie marks of some of the passing ponies, before looking up at her mother again with a new glint in her eyes. “Will I get my cutie mark!?” Windy Whistles laughed. “I’m sure you will… in your own time.” “It’s just about time,” Bow stated from behind the two. “We should get inside, don’t want to be late for the first day.” That sprung Little Wing into gear, she wanted to make something of a good first impression after all. So with that in mind, she ran from under her mother’s protecting wing and got into step next to Misty Gust. With their respective parents in tow, the two fillies began to move into the building itself alongside several other families. The interior had a carpeted floor that was quite reminiscent of Rainbow Dash’s mane, and alongside that it had light blue painted walls which in turn had various drawings made by the attending children pinned up on various notice boards. Directly opposite the front entrance sat a standard looking wooden reception desk, an aged pegasus mare sitting behind it ticking off a register as each family approached. Beside each name she read off the classroom each child would be placed in, as well as the teacher who would be teaching them. “Bright Feather, Classroom Two, Mr Bright Spark,” the receptionist read out uniformly. Little Wing and Misty Gust had entered the line by that point, they and their families awaiting their turn. The line was moving at a steady rate, with fillies and colts being ushered into their assigned classrooms while saying goodbye to their then departing parents. “Sky Trail, Classroom Four, Mrs Starry Diamond.” The line got that little bit closer. Before long there was only one more family in front of them, the receptionist adjusting her glasses as she examined the sheet of paper in front of her. “I hope we get into the same classroom…” Misty muttered. “I wouldn’t worry, dear,” Violet Rain reassured her daughter. “They take these things into consideration.” “Especially when we call ahead,” Bow added in a mutter. The family in front of them got the classroom and teacher assigned to their child, and so it was Little Wing next up. “Name,” the receptionist bluntly said as the three stood before the desk. “Her name is Little Wing,” Windy replied. “I’m Windy Whistles, my husband is Bow Hothoof.” The receptionist hummed, picking up the paper and examining it again. “Little Wing… Windy Whistles… Bow Hothoof… Yes, here we are.” “So where is she going to be?” Bow asked. “I’m getting to that,” the mare stated. “Let’s see… Little Wing, Classroom Two, Mr Bright Spark.” “Thank you,” Windy said to the mare. “Come on Little Wing.” “But what about Misty?” Little Wing enquired. “Misty?” the receptionist asked in turn. “Here,” Violet Rain spoke up, pushing her husband and daughter forwards. “Misty Gust, Violet Rain, Wild Ace.” The receptionist hummed again as she looked back towards her paper, a routine long engrained no doubt. “Yes, here you are. Misty Gust, Classroom Two, Mr Bright Spark.” Both fillies were able to breathe a sigh of relief, and then gave each other bright grins of delight. “Thank you,” Windy repeated. “We can find our way.” “A building this small, I’d be worried if you somehow got yourself lost,” the receptionist deadpanned. “We only have five classrooms.” “Yes, well… thanks again.” It did indeed only take a few moments to find their designated classroom in the hallway beyond the reception area. There was a door either side of the desk, each one leading to a corridor with two doors on the left of the left side of the building, and on the right wall on the right side of the building. There was then a sixty degree turn at the end of the corridor where another stretch of corridor linked the other two up, another door existing on the back wall leading to the fifth classroom. There were some doors facing the inside walls of the corridors, but they all seemed to lead to a storage cupboard and teacher officers. Classroom two was located in the door to the left when facing the reception desk, and after that was the second door to the left, further signified by the fact that both the classroom number and the teacher’s name were plastered onto the door. “Well, that was painless enough,” Bow Hothoof remarked. “But I think we leave them here.” “You have to leave?” Little Wing asked. “You know we do, sweetie,” Windy Whistles pointed out. “We’d only get in the way. Don’t worry, we’ll be here to pick you up when it’s time to go home.” Misty said goodbye to her own parents as Little Wing did hers, and then with a few proud tears in their eyes the four older ponies exited the corridor and left the two fillies alone. With the two of them by themselves, all they did was turn and look at the doorway. “…So, we going in?” Misty asked. “I think so. Do we knock?” “It would be polite,” Misty agreed. “Ok. Go on then.” “Why me?” “Why not?” “But why not you?” “I don’t want to break the door.” “How would you even do that?” Little Wing shrugged. “I don’t know. I just don’t want to get in trouble.” “But… what if I break the door?” And then the door opened without help from either of the fillies. “Ah, I thought I had heard voices out here,” stated the stallion who had appeared. “Don’t be shy, it’s an exciting new day with so much to learn!” Both fillies gawped at the stallion, not quite knowing what to think. Sure, he seemed like a pegasus. That is if his wings didn’t seem so… bat-like. That combined with the glowing yellow eyes with a slit shaped pupil staring down at them. Aside from that the pony had a grey coat, a blue mane with an even lighter blue tuft to one side and a cutie mark depicting a sparking lightbulb on his flank. “Uh…” they said in unison. The stallion smirked in amusement, glancing at his wings knowingly. “Come inside, we’ll consider this your first lesson.” He stepped aside, gesturing for the two children to enter the classroom and pick a seat of their choice. They did so after a moment of processing, taking a good look around at their new environment. There were at least a dozen other colts and fillies sitting around the room at various tables, one of theme even had bat wings akin to the stallion who had greeted them. Misty Gust pointed to a couple of free spaces at a table already containing two other fillies and a colt. Realising that the whole class was waiting on them, Little Wing quickly followed her friend to the unoccupied seats and sat down on them. “Ah, now that our stragglers have arrived,” the stallion spoke up again, checking a list to ensure his entire class was present. “I believe that class can begin. First off, my name is Mr Bright Spark. I’ll be your teacher for the next year, at which point you will all move on to a higher form of education. Should you have any questions for me at any point, fell free to raise your hoof so I can see you.” Misty Gust’s hoof immediately shot up. Bright Spark nodded. “Yes, it’s Misty Gust I believe? What is your question?” “Are you a pegasus?” she asked innocently. A few of the other children laughed, causing Misty, and Little Wing by association, to blush a little. Others did not however, likely just as curious as to the answer. Bright Spark chuckled. “Yes, my little pony, I am a pegasus. In a sense at least. Specifically, I am a sub-species of pegasus some might call a bat-pony. However, we’re actually called thestrals.” “Oh, okay…” “Any more questions?” Bright Spark asked, receiving no reply. “No? Alright then.” The thestral placed his list down onto his teacher’s desk and leaned against it, giving the class a friendly smile, though he did inadvertently reveal his fangs in the process. That was enough to peak Little Wing’s own curiosity, her hoof shooting up. Bright Spark raised an eyebrow. “Yes, Little Wing?” “Mr bat-pony thestral sir,” Little Wing called out, much to her teacher’s amusement. “What are the fangs for?” Bright Spark sighed, inwardly cursing the curiosity of children. “Ah, right. Well, just like all other teeth they are for eating.” “But we don’t have fangs…” “That’s because only thestrals tend to eat meat as well as fruit and vegetables,” Bright Spark explained. “Really?” Little Wing questioned. Sure she had never eaten meat since her adoption, but she had never really thought about it until that point. “I’ve eaten meat.” The whole class turned to look at Little Wing, Bright Spark himself giving her a slight frown. “Little Wing, are you sure about that? Non-thestrals can’t usually digest meat, not very well anyway.” “O-oh…” Little Wing stuttered, her brain catching up with what she had said. “I think I must have been dreaming.” “She dreams about eating ponies,” the colt at the table remarked with a snicker. “What a freak.” Little Wing sank where she sat, but was startled back up again by the teacher’s shout. “Hey! There shall be no mean or cruel comments like that in my classroom, understood Silver Breeze?” Silver Breeze grumbled. True to his name his coat was silvery in colour, contrasting with his black mane and blue eyes. “Yes sir…” “Good, now that’s out of the way…” Bright Spark continued. “Since it’s our first day together we’ll start off nice and easy. First we’ll go around the class and introduce ourselves, and then I’ll go over what I expect of you in the classroom. After that, a little bit of fun and games may be in order.” Faces around the classroom brightened at the mention of games, including Little Wing’s. The rest of the day went exactly as planned by Mr Bright Spark. And then at the end of the day both Little Wing and Misty Gust were picked up by their parents, who all noticed their visible good moods. Despite it all, however, Little Wing kept thinking back on one event that caused a slight blemish on an otherwise good day. That colt, Silver Breeze, and his snide remark. She hoped there wouldn’t be more of that in the days to come.