//------------------------------// // Chapter 24: The School of Friendship's Grand Opening (Part 2) // Story: Starlight Glimmer's First Student: A "Human"?! // by Clockwork2003 //------------------------------// Starlight: Hooray! The griffon delegation is here. I am really glad that the first of many nonpony species have decided to arrive at this auspicious event! I don’t really know any of these creatures that well, but one of the griffons seems to have some history with Rainbow Dash. The two of them are pummeling each other into the ground, while Twilight is trying to contain the insanity. “Why is Rainbow Crash here? I swore on Griffonstone that I would never see that birdbrain again!” The she-griffon says, continuing to wrestle with the avatar of loyalty. “I never asked to see you again, either, featherbags!” Dashie quickly retorts. The two creatures are still duking it out, and Twilight is restraining her friend. I was quite tempted to intervene on my own, but I saw some more familiar muzzles arrive. Lyra, Bon Bon, Mrs. Weiss, and Anastasia arrive, and they are a bit baffled at the feud occurring in front of them.  They were smart enough to keep quiet and made niceties with everypony else. It was mostly idle chit-chat, but I overheard Anastasia talking to Mrs. Weiss about her music session with Lyra. “This foal’s insanely talented, Mrs. Weiss. You should have heard her play this morning!” Lyra boasted to Noah’s mother. She chuckles at the thought of her pupil being a musical prodigy, before going to find my rider. So far, we have a nice crowd of creatures here. Everypony that I care about is present, and I am quite sure the Princesses will make a cameo appearance today, as well. Everything’s going perfectly! I couldn’t be more pleased. I quickly go over my address, while making some key footnotes. You’d think I’d be more careful with fragmented sentences and comma splicing, but apparently, I forget a lot when I am under duress. My speech looks rather solid, and I think it will be enjoyed by all. While I am quadruple checking my speech, I feel a gentle tap on my wing, and I turn my head to the side.  “Hey, my mom’s finally here. Did you catch up with her?” Noah asks me, sitting down next to me on the bench in front of the school. I nod my head. “I’ll get to speaking with her later. I have to give the opening speech for the school in just a few minutes. Do you want to ride me while I give the speech, or do you want to stay put?” I ask him, unsure of what the best method of presentation would be for today. Truth be told, I would prefer if Noah is glued to my back for the speech. I’ve become quite attached to him lately, and he was very soothing when I had my small panic attack last night. Noah holds my wing and rubs the lilac edge of it, sending a volt of relaxation across the entire wing, spreading into my back. “Whatever makes you happy, Starlight. I get very nervous about big events, too. I know how you feel. Maybe our soul fusion really helped with my empathy? I know how your magic exam went in Sire’s Hollow.” He says, laughing quietly to himself. “Not now, Noah. Not now. For buck’s sake, I am worried sick about screwing up this address, and Princess Twilight is going to be livid if I screw this up today!” I kindly rebuke him; shutting him up. I catch a quick glance of a few more nonpony creatures arriving while I am with Noah. I see a few reformed changelings, one she-dragon, and some kirin. Everycreature takes their seats in front of the school, and I am delighted at how many foals of different species are here! “Glimmy. Quick question.”  Noah asks, tapping my wing. “Go on?” I reply. “Where are the other human students? I see Anastasia my mom, and Rebecca but I don’t see any other people here. Does that seem odd to you?” He asks me, uncertain about the dedication humanity will show to this generous offer ponykind has given them. It’s a good thing that this query was within earshot of Twilight Sparkle! She quickly trots over here and smiles in front of both of us. “The humans are in the back row. You just can’t see them from your vantage point. The “United States” even sent an ambassador here! Isn’t that cool?!” Twilight says, nerding out at a human diplomat’s appearance in Ponyville. Noah smiles. “Yeah, that is kinda cool, indeed. Now: who’s giving the first speech? You, Celestia, or Starlight?” Noah asks. Twilight points to the snow-white alicorn at the confections booth, buying a cupcake for herself. “Celestia’s going to say a few words, and then Starlight and I will begin our speech. Want to hang out with Starlight, or do you want to sit in the audience?” Twilight asks him, repeating the question that I asked him just a few short moments ago. Noah gives me a look, and I quickly conjure my riding gear, equipping it quickly. “I’ll take that as a yes, you two lovecreatures. Just don’t kiss or anything. You’re still her student, Noah!” Twilight says, quickly flying over to her own teacher, presumably to debrief her on some other princess-y stuff. I feel a gentle tug, and my student is astride me. The greenish-gold bit feels warmer than usual, but that could just be me. I tend to get overheated when stressed or excited; sometimes a bit of both! Noah gently taps my sides, and I trot along the aisles of seats, looking for anypony/creature important. Rebecca is riding Trixie, making the same rounds as us, and the showmare’s rider is scrupulously collecting data for her Friendly employer. “You have no idea how much crap Twilight wants me to write down, Trixie.” I hear her say to her mare. “No kidding, Rebecca. Trixie is fully aware of Twilight’s idiosyncratic behaviors. Did she make you write a “list of lists?”. Rebecca nods, and Trixie chuckles. “Trixie pities her Great and Powerful Rider for enduring the Sparkle gauntlet. You’ll get used to it. Spike’s been rather lazy lately since you humans showed up. Twilight’s making you do his work. Poor girl…” That was a funny exchange, but I am not sure Noah was paying attention. He wouldn’t need to, anyway. Finally making our way to the back row, I see twenty-five human adolescents sitting in white foldout chairs. Twelve girls and thirteen boys. It would be slightly humorous if there were twelve and a half humans of each sex, but half a creature would be icky. Imagine all the guts and icky stuff hanging out. I’d probably throw up! All twenty-five pairs of eyes glance toward me, and a few of the students bow out of respect. “Good morning, Your Majesty!” One younger female says. She looks rather fidgety, and I am getting “Pinkie Pie” vibes from her. I wave to her, and she waves back. Another adolescent, this one a male, also waves to me.  I was expecting him to say something, but the young man didn’t speak a single word. Was he being rude, or is this one of his disabilities. I’ve seen deaf ponies before, and I know a bit of ESL (Equestrian Sign Language), but I am getting the feeling this fellow can hear. I am quite interested in this, and I trot towards him, sitting down on my hind legs in front of his seat. Noah dismounts me and gives me space to communicate with the young man. “Can you understand what I am saying?” I ask him. He nods. “So if you can understand what I am saying, why aren’t you speaking?” I ask, not out of prejudice or fear, but mere curiosity. The teenage female who greeted me politely taps me on the shoulder, thanks to her sitting next to him. “Shaun is nonverbal, Princess.” She tries to explain to me. Nonverbal?! What’s that? I hope it’s nothing serious; for all of our sakes! *** Noah Welcome to Special Ed, Princess of Justice. Things are going to get very interesting for you from here on out. My marefriend looks at me with confusion, and I don’t blame her. “Noah? Nonverbal? Is that bad? How can this human tell us what he wants or needs?” Starlight asks me, slightly afraid of this student. I don’t particularly remember what my mother does with her nonverbal students, but I know there is a way that she can communicate with them. I think she uses an app on her iPad? “I remember my mother telling me about kids like…Shaun, right?” I ask him. He nods. I am bad with names. It’s good that i remembered his. “Go on, Noah?” Starlight asks, as Celestia taps the microphone and begins her portion of the opening ceremony. We all stand up from our chairs out of respect, in reverence for the sun alicorn. Celestia gives a warm, genial smile, and begins to speak. “Good morning, everycreature! Some of you are quite acquainted with me already; even some nonponies! But we have some new visitors to my kingdom today.” Celestia says, casting a spell that illuminates all of the chairs the human students are sitting on. Everycreature else promptly looks at the alien students, and cheers for them. Aww, that’s sweet! Celestia calms the crowd down, and then continues with her address. “I’ll keep my part in this ceremony brief. Today is not my day. I just wanted to take the opportunity to welcome everycreature from outside Equestria to my kingdom, and I will do whatever I can as Princess to accommodate you. Now, without further ado, I would like to introduce two very special ponies.” Well, I know who she’s referring to. I grab Starlight’s reins in anticipation, and she turns her head back at me with a determined look. “I got this, stud. Don’t you worry.” “The first pony I’d like to introduce is my own personal pupil. Some of you are very well acquainted with her, and others might not even know who I am referring to. This mare has been an instrumental component of this monumental project, and without her, I’d wager there wouldn’t be a School of Friendship in the first place. Can I get a round of applause for Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship?” Celestia teleports away, and the crowd goes wild. Twilight gallops onto the stage, accompanied by her five friends. Starlight sighs, and whispers to me. “I’m not an Element Bearer. It’s fine. I have you, stud.” I appreciate the compliment, and I gently caress Starlight’s mane with affection. She shakes her mane and chuckles. “Not now, Noah. Please, not now. We have a speech to give!” She says, quite sternly. I quiet down, and Twilight and her friends do a silly musical number about Friendship. I’ve noticed during my stay here that most ponies have a penchant for music; especially at the most inopportune times. It’s very “campy” and reminds me of Broadway musicals. Not my cup of tea in particular, but I know plenty of people back home who’d love this. I’m glad that this was a brief interlude, and Twilight’s five friends depart from the stage and give her the floor. She takes a few deep deep breaths, clearly nervous about this address, and she glances at Celestia, who happens to be sitting in the front row, along with her sister. Finally composing herself adequately, she takes a final deep breath and begins to address the crowd. *** Twilight Sparkle I can’t say I am surprised, that’s for sure! So far, this opening ceremony has gone all according to plan. That’s good, right? What I am worried about is whether my speech’s delivery will go well. Will Equestria listen to what I have to say? Will the human visitors? So much is uncertain, and my anxiety is through the roof. Regardless, I have a responsibility as the Princess of Friendship to address the crowd, and I take my job very seriously. Here goes nothing! “Good morning, everycreature! Some of you already know me, so I won’t get into introductions again. If there’s one thing I don’t like, it’s repeating myself.” I say, quickly brushing off the often repetitive introductions that speeches have at the beginning. “Right. Onto the speech! Friendship is incredibly important, and in Equestria, it is the lifeblood of ponykind. Nopony here can survive without it, and I mean that literally! Friendship can be detected in a pony’s blood, and not having enough of it causes many different health complications! While I won’t get into that, because there are fillies, colts, and nonpony foals in the audience, what I will say is that my initiative will save lives!” This is 100% true. I didn’t tell the crowd about Anastasia, the little girl who had zero Friendship detectable in her body, but I did insinuate her condition’s problems. I am sure that my team understood the reference, so I am not too worried about this getting totally lost in translation.  “I went over why I established this school in previous addresses, so today, I just wanted to officially welcome everycreature to Ponyville’s own School of Friendship. I also wanted to briefly give the students a synopsis of the curriculum that they will be studying.” My horn flashes at the completion of this statement, and all of the Friendship students receive a compact, easy-to-read pamphlet, universally translated into the language of the reader. Some are in Ponish, some are in Griffish, etc. “To help me go over this curriculum, I would like to invite my student Starlight to the stage? Her rider can come too, if he wants!” I say, inviting those two onto the stage. Noah’s already riding atop Starlight, so he taps Starrlight’s barrel, and she quickly teleports onto the stage next to me. I guess it’s good that teleporting brings both of them to the stage! I’d think that having a passenger would mess up the teleportation spell, but I was mistaken! I have much to learn! Starlight trots up next to me, and Starlight quickly uses a spell to project three key subjects of my curriculum onto the sky. “Hi everycreature! Princess of Justice Starlight Glimmer here. I cast a quick spell to show you the three most important subjects that all of you will learn in this one-month intensive. Twilight?” She asks, giving me back the floor. It’s good that there are three main points. Having too much to remember could be daunting! “Alright. Here are the three points: 1): Empathy. Not only do you need to show more empathy for others, but your potential friends need to show that they are interested in you, too! Fluttershy will drive this point home during her empathy lessons, but I can also see the value in exhibiting this key Friendship trait.”  Fluttershy quickly claps her hooves together in affirmation at my emphasis on empathy, and a few others join in her applause. Onto the second point! “2): Trust. No relationship can survive, friendship or otherwise, without mutual trust. This isn’t just about not telling your usual little white lie, but it’s about being transparent with your friend if you are in a pickle. For example, if you are in need of a helping hoof, claw, or hand, you should tell your friend in confidence that something is wrong. Friends are supposed to aid each other when they are needed. Applejack and Rainbow Dash are both heavily proficient in the teaching of trust, due to their adherence to Loyalty and Honesty. I am sure they can elucidate these two concepts much better than I can.” Starlight nods her head, and adds “no trust, no Friendship. In my opinion, I think this is the most important concept that you all should learn!” I can see where she’s coming from. I know her personal history, so I see why she is adamant about trust. Anyway, there is still one more topic to cover, before I inaugurate the school itself. “3): Finally, the last key component of Friendship that this course will teach is listening. This one is more ambiguous than the others, so I’ll break it down for you all. You have to pay attention to what your friends are saying, and not just listen, but actively listen to them. This means that you always have to be paying attention when your friends are speaking, as they could be saying something quite important.” Starlight quickly deactivates the projection spell with the three key points, and she smiles. “I actually did these three quick lessons with Noah over here! He caught on quickly, and I think all of you can learn these valuable skills, as well!” Starlight pipes in, her rider smiling at the comment. “It’s true, everycreature! I learned a lot from Princess Starlight, and I think you will all learn so many important things.” Noah says, smiling and embracing the mare is riding. “Well, that’s a wrap! Those are the three most important things you all are going to learn about Friendship during your month-long period of study. In my opinion, these three traits will help foster and nourish friendships for the rest of your lives!” Now, for the fun part. I am going to officially open the School of Friendship for study, and it will be a lovely occasion! I can’t wait, and this will make Princess Celestia really proud; both of me and of Equestria itself! “Alrighty. Who’s ready to learn?” I ask the crowd, which breaks out into spontaneous applause, along with chants of “Twilight” and “Starlight”. I am touched, really, I am! I give the crowd a few more minutes to let out their excitement, and then Starlight and I shush the crowd gently. “Ready to open the school, Starlight?” I ask my fellow princess. She nods and smiles. “Can I help?” She asks me in return. I eagerly nod, signaling that she may, indeed, help me open the school officially. Starlight deactivates her projection spell, and the two of us trot in front of the schoolhouse and stare at the crimson ribbon blockading the front door. Starlight casts another spell, conjuring a giant pair of scissors. She telepathically hands the scissors to me, and we each envelop the scissors with our magic; controlling one blade each. “As the Princess of Justice…” “And as the Princess of Friendship…” We both sync our horns, so we could finish the royal proclamation in unison. This will be fun! I turn my head back, looking at Princess Celestia. She nods, and smiles, giving me a “you can do it, Twily!” look. If she thinks I can do it, I certainly can do it! Now in synchrony, we issue our royal proclamation to open the School of Friendship. “We hereby inaugurate the School of Friendship, and open the institution for study-.” “Actually, that’s not going to happen!” A voice booms, interrupting the two of us. This distraction causes Starlight’s magic to deactivate, dropping the giant scissors onto the grassy knoll we’re both standing on. My own magic deactivates, and the two of us turn around to see a grey unicorn stallion wearing regal clothing obstructing the crowd, bringing everycreature into a state of confusion. “What’s going on here?” Noah whispers into Starlight’s ear. She shrugs her front hooves, not sure how to answer this question. Even Trixie got up from her seat, her rider Rebecca next to her, emoting her frustration with this obstruction of Friendship! I need to deal with this pony right now, and swiftly! What would Celestia do in this situation? Starlight trots up to this unicorn, dragging her human rider along with her. She grunts angrily and lights up her horn. I hope she’s not going to zap this jerk! We don’t solve Friendship problems with violence. She should know this by now! “Hey, dingus! What the hay do you think you’re doing? I was about to open a School of Friendship with my teacher, and-” The bearded unicorn begins to laugh, and trots past my student, completely ignoring her. “Oh, you silly wannabe Princess. I’m Chancellor Neighsay, and I am here to inform the real Princess of Friendship that her school is unconstitutional!” The stallion trots up to me, and casts a spell, placing a giant lock pad onto the school, preventing anycreature from entering the building.  What? Unconstitutional? What kind of horseapples is this colt trying to sell everypony? Trixie gallops up to this guy, Rebecca astride her, and begins to scream! “TRIXIE CANNOT, AND WILL NOT LET YOU RUIN THIS DAY FOR HER! TRIXIE WANTS FOR EVERYCREATURE TO MAKE FRIENDS, AND-.” How the hay is this going to turn out? Does this Chancellor have any authority? Will he ruin the School for my neurodivergent students?