Night Shift’s presentation may have ended abruptly due to the sudden tribalistic revolt, but the two nymphs had taken the first steps to becoming friends. Plus, Cheerilee ended up dismissing both nymphs back to their seats meaning Skittle Pop was spared having to present in front of the class, which counted as a win! Happy as a bug under a warm blanket, the two nymphs made their way back to their respective seats, already forgetting the unintentional chaos caused by a single statement.
Cheerilee couldn’t let out an exasperated breath fast enough when the two nymphs were seated, and mumbling something to herself as she pointed at the table in front of her, and then the table behind Skittle Pop’s group.
“Group 2, and Group 4. Which one would you like to present first for your table?” She asked, trying not to sound too irritable after having her perfect record finally broken during one of her favorite lessons. When no creature jumped at the opportunity to present, she chose for them. “Lily Pad, and Slice Bread, you’re up.”
The two foals did what every child not wanting to be called would do, and that was looking to their group for help before looking at their teacher, who nodded they hadn’t misheard her. When none of the class came to their aid, but instead watched them expectantly did the two foals give in, and grab their paper. Cheerilee was beaming as they made their way to the front of the class without any additional complaints, and if their presentation went off well enough hoped it would encourage the rest of her students to follow their example.
The blue coated unicorn filly trotted up with her head tilted down to use her ginger red mane as a shield to hide behind, while her partner for this presentation followed in her wake. His white mane was too short to hide behind, yet his unassuming brown coat wouldn’t draw the eyes of their classmates. The two foals came to a stop just in front of their teacher with their papers floating just behind them-Cheerilee nodded her approval and motioned for them to spin around.
“Class! Let us try this again, and give these two a nice round of applause for our next presenters: Lily Pad, and Slice Bread!”
The class of misfits struggled at first to find the energy to clap at first, but that changed with another stern look.
“Wonderful! Now, which of our two speakers would like to go first?” Cheerilee asked with a returning cheerfulness as the class revolt was swiftly forgotten. Her smiling muzzle shifted between the two unsure foals as they looked at each other trying to figure out who would go first- the young colt eventually stepped forward.
“Hello. I’m Slice Bread.” He timidly blurted out as the eyes of the class fell upon him, and he silently thanked Twilight they weren’t making fun of him. “For my report, I chose Silver Standard.”
He adjusted his posture as he’d practiced the night before with Pound Cake’s help, made one pass of the room with his eyes before turning to the piece of paper in his hooves.
“Silver Standard is an earth filly with an earth mother, and unicorn father. Silver is 5 years old and likes spending time with her dad who works for a large guild. He sells all sorts of neat things, and lets Silver take pictures of them for their magazine. Silver’s mother helps with the pictures by making copies to put into her own book. Silver has three bestest friends, and they all go to the same school.”
Slice Bread concluded his surprisingly well constructed ‘report’ about Silver Standard, and eventually had his ears hit with Cheerilee’s ecstatic clapping which prompted the rest of the class to follow suit. Feeling two parts relieved the presentation was over, and one part anxious to return to his seat, the colt had to fight the urge to bolt back to his table.
He did, and remained next to the red maned filly he’d seen several times in Sugarcube Corner-always studying. It was only by offering her his free cupcake he learned her name, if only under the pretense to ‘open a tab’ with the bakery. Since that day, Slice had done his best to befriend the filly even if it’s taken several months to have a conversation longer then yes, and no.
Yet, the normally shy unicorn studying away at the corner table wasn’t here today. The Lily Pad standing next to him looked as confident as Night Shift had been only minutes before, and using only a little of her magic adjusted her glasses frame to be perfectly centered on her muzzle. The changes were immediately distinct as the somewhat shy filly that would be too worried about making a mess of crumbs at her table stood there looking proud, and that left the colt wondering if he had mistaken the Lily Pad next to him for another filly.
“I’m ready to present my findings, teacher! “ Lily Pad nearly shouted as her eagerness to do well in school, and show off her findings to the widest spectrum of creatures she could.
“Very well. Class! Let us give Lily Pad a quick round of applause to show our support.” With the approving nod from Cheerilee, the class once more followed her instructions, and once the last bit of clapping died off did the filly start.
“Hello classmates! I am Lily Pad, and for my assignment I chose Latherwing.”
“IT LEATHERWING! I AM NOT A BAR OF SOAP, BUT THE NIGHT ITSELF!” The class turned toward her group to see the lone batpony colt in the class sitting with his forelegs crossed. Thankfully, this was the only distraction as the children already learned who was in charge of their classroom, and turned back around to see what their teacher would say and do.
“Next time, please raise your hoof. But Leatherwing is correct, because lathering is what you do when washing your hooves, or claws with soap and water.” Cheerilee pointed out the difference and reason for the outburst before motioning for the filly to continue.
“LEATHERWING is a thestral from the Spooky Hollows region of Equestria, where his parents ,a pegasus and an earth pony originally met. Leatherwing is 5 years of age despite his older appearance…” To the children closest to the batpony, they would have heard a harsh ‘huff’. “...and is really a gentlecolt.”
That got the class muttering as the bat colt sunk further into his desk trying to hide behind his wings. To see the young colt in public, many would be taken back by his very outspoken appearance of bridle chains, and dark colors of makeup, which might have been used to help reduce the glare of the sun. His appearance didn’t particularly scream socialite.
Lily Pad continued with her presentation without any further interruptions which led to the incredible revelation that the brooding colt really enjoyed playing in the sunlight. Little oddities like this became the norm throughout the rest of the presentations, and as Cheerilee hoped it appeared her student’s perception of their fellow classmates had changed. Even after permitting them to set their desks back to the way it’d been before, she found several of the students had switched seats to be closer to their previous group members.
She smiled as motioned for her class to look towards the front towards the projector.
“We started off the project a little rough, but overall I would declare it a success. The purpose of this entire exercise wasn’t for a grade, but to help encourage you to approach your classmates. To talk to them, and learn that they aren’t another body in a seat, but a child just like you with their own friends, and feelings. Minus a few points from the book, its entire purpose was to help new changelings learn some social edict, and manners to better adapt to pony society. Subsequent versions and releases have been altered to better reflect our current societal changes, yet the core concepts remain the same: “Don’t judge others by their exterior forms, and genuine connections make the strongest binding.”
“Now, turn your attention to the projector and I’ll give you a brief idea of the next book before dismissing class for the day.”
Cheerilee waved her hoof over the crystal projector and the lights automatically dimmed in preparation for its use. The screen lit up to display a picture of a newer copy of the “How to Pony” series which could be determined by the professional cover art and newly added volume number of 14. The cover’s style seemed more reminiscence of the traditional art of in the very late stages of Celesita’s reign, but with the added colorful flare that had gained popularity during Princess Twilight’s first decade; unlike the first several books that prominently featured ponies of all tribes, the later ones like this one gradually incorporated a wider range of creatures.
“ ‘How to Pony: Learning to accept Yourself- Flaws and All’ will be the next book of our brief journey into this famed series. A newer book in every sense. The cover art being the first in the series to feature a Kiren, Seapony, Diamond Dog, and to be considered the start of the growing style becoming synonymous with the ideal that encompasses Princess Twilight’s very reign. We’ll talk more about this book in depth tomorrow where we’ll end class with an assignment, but not tonight.”
It took a moment for their teachers' ramblings to come to an end before the understanding of ‘no homework’ finally settled into their minds.
“REALLY!?”
“YES!!!”
“Thank YOU!”
There were other forms of expressing their happiness like a griffon screech or a young pup’s attempt at howling this time wasn’t forced to stop as Cheerilee said nothing but let them express their happiness for a moment longer. After a couple more minutes of listening to them did she finally make an effort to quell the noise for one final announcement before dismissing them early.
“While you don’t have a written assignment tonight, I do want to encourage each and everyone of you to remember what was said today, and apply it to your life outside of this classroom. I’m not suggesting you make friends with every creature in the world, but just understand to not judge a book by its cover. Class dismissed.”