As Professor Sweetie Belle’s students settled into their seats for her class, one particular trio of young mares seemed much more interested in what was going on outside. The first of the group, seated nearest to the window, was a crimson earth-pony mare with a curly magenta mane named Apple Spice. While Apple Spice may have looked fairly unremarkable, her two friends were anything but. The mare to her immediate right, Filigree, looked to be a lavender-coated unicorn with a mane of deep purple ringlets. However even a casual glance would notice the purple spines leading from the back of Filigree’s neck down the length of her serpentine tail or the purple ear frills on the sides of her head. Comparatively, Moonlit Night, a slender alicorn with a purple coat so dark it almost looked black and a wavy purple mane sporting a pink and purple stripe, looked almost unremarkable by comparison.
“Let’s see, Aunt Applejack’s there, Filigree’s mom is there, Filigree’s dad is there,” Apple Spice counted out.
“Ooh, father’s back from the peace talks in Abyssinia?” Filigree said. “I suppose that means I’ll likely be heading up to Canterlot for the weekend, then. It’ll be nice to have the whole family together.”
“Mmhm,” Apple Spice replied as she continued to take stock of the group assembled outside. “Pinkie Pie’s there, Rainbow Dash’s there—”
“And I can see mom in the back from here,” Moonlit Night said. “What I want to know is if Fluttershy’s there. It sounds like she should be, from what it looks like mom’s got her whole Council of Friendship together.”
“Yep, she’s there,” Apple Spice confirmed. “You probably can’t see her from where you’re sitting, but she’s there.”
“So, the whole gang’s there, then,” Moonlit said as she leaned back in her chair. “Speaking of Fluttershy, where the hay is Eris? I haven’t seen her all day, and it’s kind of hard to miss her if she’s around.”
“Really, Eris didn’t tell you? Her father’s taking her to Onicon for the day,” Filigree said, causing Moonlit to bury her face in her hooves and groan.
“Onicon, isn’t that some big O&O convention?” Apple Spice asked, to which Moonlit Night nodded her head. “So, what’s so bad about that? I mean, cutting school to go to a convention isn’t exactly responsible, but responsibility isn’t exactly Discord’s strong suit. Or Eris’, for that matter.”
“That’s not the problem,” Moonlit said. “Do you remember the last time Eris went to one of these conventions? And then what happened at our next O&O session?”
Filigree shuddered. “Oh dear Celestia, that was the session with the giant, two-headed, flying sharks, wasn’t it?”
“Ladies, is there something you’d like to share with the rest of the class?” Professor Sweetie Belle pointedly asked, prompting all three mares to snap to attention.
“No ma’am,” Moonlit Night replied quickly. “Apple Spice was just mentioning that it appears Princess Twilight is visiting Ponyville along with the rest of the Council of Friendship.” The moment Moonlit Night mentioned her mother’s name, the entire classroom fell into chaos as everycreature present immediately rushed to the windows trying to get a look at the princess.
*********
It had taken Sweetie Belle several minutes to get everycreature back into their seats, and even longer to restore some semblance of order to her classroom. By that time, however, the class’ time was almost up, and an exasperated Sweetie Belle elected to simply let the class out early, while mentally making a note to apologize to Cheerilee on general principle.
“So, do either of you two have any idea what the hay Princess Twilight’s doing in Ponyville?” Apple Spice asked as the three friends looked for someplace to relax before their next class.
“I can’t say I’ve heard anything myself,” Filigree replied. “Then again, its entirely likely that Twilight simply never mentioned it to father before he left for Abyssinia.”
“Actually, I’m pretty sure I can guess why,” Moonlight Night replied. “Mom mentioned how she was starting to get a little concerned about one of her students last time we spoke. I’m willing to bet she’s dropping her off in Ponyville to get a crash course in ‘Friendship 101’.”
“Well, this sure as hay would be the place for that,” Apple Spice said. “We should probably keep an eye out for her so we can introduce ourselves. What’s her name, anyway?”
“Luster Dawn, I think,” Moonlit Night replied. “And besides keeping an eye out for her, we should probably get ready to deal with a villain attack or something. I’m willing to bet something’s going to happen once Luster Dawn gets settled in.”
“Whatever makes you say that?” Filigree asked.
Moonlit Night let out a sigh. “As dad would put it, basic pattern recognition.”