//------------------------------// // Chapter 10: Miss Sunshine // Story: Big Brother Sandbar // by HenBasket //------------------------------// Berry smiled as she worked on her friend’s mane and tail, getting them to the pristine curls the pegasus loved to have. Cozy smiled too as she talked about what she was looking forward to doing. Berry listened to Cozy as she tied the ribbons in her mane and tail, giving her a hug as she finished.  “Thanks Fizzy,” Cozy smiled, returning the hug with a squee. “You’re a good friend and I wouldn’t give you up for all the magic in Equestria.” The pink unicorn giggled at Cozy’s statement, giving her forehead a rub. “Have a good day in class, Cozy. See you at lunch?” “See you at lunch,” Cozy said, grabbing her saddlebag and walking down the hall towards the school.  Cozy opened the door to her classroom and walked inside. The bright colors of the room and furniture welcomed her as she took her saddlebag to her cubby and hung it up. She took out her notebook and walked to her desk and sat down, opening it. The filly pulled out her favorite pencil and smiled as she opened her notebook to where she left off and wrote the date. Looking at the clock, Cozy saw she had about ten minutes before class so she got up from her seat and grabbed a Daring Do book from her bag. She walked over to a beanbag in the corner of the classroom and flopped into it, opening her book and reading it.  Cozy’s teacher walked over to her and smiled. “Good morning, Cozy. How are you today?”  “Good morning Miss Sunshine, I’m doing good.” Cozy replied, looking up from her book.  The yellow earth pony slightly frowned and sat down next to Cozy. “I heard you got into a fight with Fizzy last night?” Her voice was gentle but firm, enough to pressure the filly into answering. “Yeah, I did… But, we made up.” Cozy said, smiling a bit. “Oh, I didn’t hear that,” Miss Sunshine smiled. “Was it this morning?” Cozy nodded, closing her book. “Yeah, during breakfast.”  “Who’d you eat with?” “With Sandbar.” Cozy said, fidgeting with her hooves. “Cozy,” her teacher pressed, noticing Cozy’s nervous habit. “What happened during breakfast?” “Nothing, I just ate with Sandbar and made up with Fizzy” “Cozy, I can tell you’re hiding something,” Miss Sunshine sighed. Throughout the many months of Cozy’s enrollment in her class, Miss Sunshine had been able to pick up many non-verbal cues the pegasus had. Cozy was a difficult case, yes there were other students Miss Sunshine had, but Cozy had deep underlying problems caused by her parents and brother dying in a severe thunderstorm and the abuse she endured at the orphanage that caused her to be emotionally unstable and to not always make the right choices. It was a difficult job, but Miss Sunshine enjoyed it, like Cheerilee her talent was helping and teaching younger ponies so that they could become a functioning part of society. “Please don’t make me ask Starlight, Cozy,” the teacher asked with her gentle but firm voice.  Cozy looked up and muttered. “I ate on the floor.” “Cozy, we talked about this. When you don’t eat at the tables, it makes ponies think less of you. Yes it’s wrong, and maybe they’re not doing it intentionally, but it puts a target on your back and makes it harder to make friends. I know you want to get better at making friends, but it’s a continuous effort.” “I know, I just wasn’t thinking…” Cozy sighed, with a slight frown.  Smiling, Miss Sunshine lifted Cozy’s chin with her hoof. “That’s a start. But even for ponies who make friends as easily as Professor Pinkie, it’s easier said than done. You’re not a bad pony for having difficulty making friends, and it’s not your fault either. Now, almost everypony’s here and it’s just about nine o’clock. Why don’t you put your book away and take your seat?” Cozy nodded getting up from the beanbag and walked over to her cubby, put her book away and made her way to her seat. She was one of eight students in her class, not that it mattered to her, the class was more her speed and helped her make friends — even if only a few.  “Good morning class,” Miss Sunshine smiled , walking to the front of the classroom. “How was everyone’s break?” The class gave a positive response.  “That’s excellent! Now, to start off today, I want you all to write about something you did with a friend over break and share it with the class. Okay?” Cozy immediately got to work writing, knowing exactly what she wanted to write about.She was going to write about how she became friends with Sandbar. While writing about the morning after the storm, she felt Miss Sunshine looking over her shoulder reading what she had written so far. Cozy looked up to her teacher. “That’s sweet,” Miss Sunshine said, ruffling the filly’s mane. “I’m really proud of you for making a new friend, Cozy. Especially one that cares about you. Now go on, finish up.” Cozy nodded and went back to writing about Sandbar comforting her through her breakdown at breakfast. She wasn’t even thinking at this point, she was just writing what came to mind and didn’t even notice that she called him a brother a couple times. Eventually, she noticed that she was the only one left writing. Blushing, she quickly finished up and set her pencil down, looking to the front of the classroom to show that she was done writing and ready to share with the class. “Is everybody finished?” Miss Sunshine asked, seeing Cozy look up. The students nodded, prompting their teacher to then ask, “Okay, so who would like to go first?” Cozy wanted to go first, but remembering she had gone first many times before, she decided to let someone else go first. Looking around, she saw nobody else was volunteering. Eventually, Miss Sunshine started calling on students herself, knowing by the look in Cozy’s eyes that she was letting others go first.  Eventually, it was Cozy’s turn to read what she wrote for the class. Standing up, she took her notebook to the front of the classroom and began reading about how Sandbar had helped her through the thunderstorm and been there for her during her meltdown at breakfast both days. She finished off stating that she was happy to have him as a friend and that he made her feel safe.  “Thanks for sharing that with us, Cozy,” Miss Sunshine smiled. “Okay class, it’s 10:30. You know what that means, it’s snack time!” Cozy made her way back to her seat and put her notebook back in her desk, making room for the snacks as Miss Sunshine passed around graham crackers and juice boxes. Sipping on her juice box Cozy thought about Sandbar and Fizzy, the two ponies she considered to be her closest friends.  Miss Sunshine smiled, she was proud of Cozy for putting herself out there and making a new friend, one who cared for her at that. The earth pony opened a notebook and wrote in it about Cozy’s progress. Looking at the filly eating her snack, Miss Sunshine knew Cozy was always going to have trouble making friends but was definitely better at it than she was at the beginning of the school year when she failed her test on purpose just to try and help the Cutie Mark Crusaders get into the school. Helping Cozy was a group effort, but they couldn’t have done it without the filly putting in as much work as she did as well.