//------------------------------//
// The First Lesson in Harmony 
// Story: Crafty Cozy Glow 
// by Silvermyr 
//------------------------------//

So far so good, Cozy thought as she made her way to the first of her classes. Each and every numbskull in this school was eating right out of her hoof, including the stupid guidance councillor, and even Twilight herself. She had set up every piece exactly where she wanted it, now all she had to do was play her game right. One move after the next, slow and steady, and eventually…

No, she couldn't afford to think that far ahead just yet. She had to focus on the now, and right now she had plenty of moves she had to make. And the first one was to attend Trixie's class on the subject of kindness. Today's lesson was on humility. 

Heh… that was a stroke of genius! Cozy had found the lesson plans in Twilight's office when she went to help her get ready to leave, but Twilight had never actually assigned specific classes to specific teachers. However, just like Cozy had suspected, Starlight didn't know that! That meant Cozy got to pick who was teaching what class by letting Starlight think Twilight had already decided that. 

Now to see how well Trixie's lesson in humility was received. It was easy to mask her grin as just being excited for the lesson. She didn't even have to fake it; she was excited to see just how quickly this could go downhill.

She went inside the classroom alongside the rest of the students and took a seat at the very front. While she couldn't care less about this subject, she had an image to maintain. 

"WELCOME, STUDENTS, TO THE GREATEST, POWERFULEST LESSON OF YOUR LIVES!"

A cloud of lilac smoke appeared by the door followed by the sound of rapid hoofsteps, and a lot of coughing. When it cleared (or rather when it dispersed evenly through the room, leaving a bluish haze that smelled strongly of lavender), Trixie stood in her trademark cap and cape on the desk, though Cozy could only see her so well through the haze and tears left from her own coughing fit.

"Today, the Great and Powerful Trixie shall impart unto you the forbidden knowledge of…!" she picked out a note from inside the cape. "… humility? Huh, okay. It's not like there is anything Trixie can't do."

The changeling who sat by the desk next to Cozy raised her hoof. Her eyes were runny. Maybe she was allergic?

"Yes, whatever-your-name-was?" Trixie vaguely gestured towards Ocellus. 

"I'm Ocellus," Ocellus introduced herself and coughed a few more times. "Ehm… Miss Trixie, have you not actually… prepared for this lesson?" she asked. 

"Trixie just now got the lesson plan assigned to her," Trixie huffed. "But it matters not, for Trixie is well versed in the ways of the world and fully capable of handling this task… let's start with something simple… Oculus, what does 'Humility' mean to you?"

"Uhm… well… it means that you are aware of your own limitations and act accordingly-"

"Indeed," Trixie interrupted. "As such, the best way to ensure you always act with humility, is to not have any limitations!"

The entire class quieted, aside from a few scattered coughs. Trixie nodded confidently. "You see, if there is nothing you can't do, then you can't not be humble! Trixie herself is the living proof of this, for she is extraordinarily humble. She has even undertaken a humble and penitent tour all across Equestria once!" She brushed her hoof over her coat and then looked at her mirror image in it. "As such, for today's class, Trixie will tell you all about her incredible exploits, as Trixie herself is the only example of a pony who can do everything, and thus is always humble! It all started when Trixie was born. The account of that day varies, but ponies say it was a day of great enjoyment everywhere, when a double rainbow appeared in the sky, and a new star lit up in the night…"

And, while Trixie's lesson proceeded for another two hours, somehow Cozy had a hard time remembering anything after that point. In fact, when she went out of the classroom, she felt almost like she was waking up from a lavender-scented nap. 

It was an apt comparison also because just outside the door she nearly crashed into Sandbar, who was galloping down the hallway towards the faculty offices. "Hey, watch it! No running in the halls, somecreature could get hurt!"

Sandbar screeched to a halt. "Cozy, have you seen Starlight anywhere? Strawberry's honesty-class just started and it isn't going well."

"Golly," Cozy said. Yet again she had to congratulate herself on her acting skills. By his expression, he didn't suspect that she had planned exactly on that when assigning Strawberry Sunshine to Applejack's class. "I guess Starlight might still be in her office… But as student council president, I'd love to try and do something! What's the problem?"

"Well, you know how Professor Applejack has a tree in the middle of her classroom? We have our classes under it."

"Uh-huh," Cozy nodded. She rather liked Applejack's classes, since the tree provided some of the best snacks she had ever had free of charge if you answered Applejack's questions correctly. Cozy, naturally, always answered correctly. Honesty was an easy subject once you got the hang of it. Really, you just had to ask yourself what would be the smart thing to do or say in any given situation. Then the answer would be the exact opposite. "What of the tree?"

"Strawberry wanted us to chop it down! She said we should vote, and then she said that since apples are 'disgusting, vile, egregious spawns of Tartarus's deepest, rankest, most abominable pit', every pony who voted against obviously was not honest and would fail their class!"

"Oh… well, that's not good," Cozy put a hoof to her chin. "Okay, see if you can find Starlight! I'll go and talk to her now and see what I can do!"

"Okay, good luck!" He called back and took off again, this time at an oddly fast walk. 

"Guess I'll have to be late to Derpy's laughter class," Cozy said to herself. There was one class she hadn't really thought about how to sabotage- most likely the substitute teacher would be doing a fine job all on her own. In fact, Cozy not being present sounded like a much healthier option.  

As such, she made her way down to Applejack's classroom, where most of the class stood with saws and shovels in a tentative ring around the apple tree (it had a name, but Cozy had never bothered to remember it. Since it was an apple tree). Strawberry herself stood by the tree, holding a torch.

"Strawberry, can I have a word with you, please," Cozy said with a mature sort of tone. "It seems like there has been a small misunderstanding here…"

"Yes, and the misunderstanding  is that this disgusting weed has been allowed to live this long!" Strawberry glared at the apple tree and waved her torch towards it like she was trying to keep a wild animal at bay. 

"No, actually," Cozy said. "Oh, golly, Starlight must have given you the wrong lesson plan! You weren't supposed to be down here; I know how much you hate apples. You were supposed to teach generosity; honesty was supposed to be handled by Mayor Mare! 'Cause she's a politician!"

"Oh…" Strawberry balked slightly. "I figured it was strange to put me down here of all places… well then… perhaps you could help me clear things up with Mayor Mare?"

Cozy nodded. "Good idea! Maybe you could end this lesson early, and we'll get it all sorted out before the next class begins… and even if you don't like apples, I don't think it's a good idea to start a fire indoors, right?"

Strawberry felled her ears in displeasure, but extinguished her torch in a nearby barrel of water.

"Right. Class, you heard her! We'll finish early today. You can leave the saws and shovels though, just in case Mayor Mare wants to continue our righteous crusade!" announced Strawberry.

"Cozy!"

Taking a split second to allow herself a smirk before replacing it with her cutest smile, she turned to face a somewhat panicked Starlight Glimmer. "Don't worry, Headmare! I've cleared everything up here! It seems Miss Strawberry and Mayor Mare got their lesson plans mixed up. Think you could help them sort it out… I'm supposed to be at the laughter class now."

"Absolutely, Cozy!" Starlight said with relief. "Thank you for your help! I'll tell Derpy that you had an excuse to be late!"

"Thanks a lot, Headmare Glimmer!" Cozy waved before she took off to her class. 

Perfect. Starlight herself and Strawberry's class had both seen her effectively defuse a minor catastrophe, and she even got the class out of their lesson early with no extra homework!

Now that's how you make friends!