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// 11 - New Friend 
// Story: If Twilight Was a Pegasus 
// by Cxcd 
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“Twilight, dear, could you please go pick a partner?” The teacher asked, no, begged her with an impatient yet forced smile on her muzzle.
The classroom was positively bustling with activity, much to Twilight’s dismay. There was, unfortunately, a group project today, and that meant Twilight was forced to find a partner. Usually, she would simply wait around until everypony got their own partner, and that would leave Twilight completely alone as the classroom was composed of an uneven number of fillies and colts.
Except for today, Missus Bright had finally found a way to force Twilight to work with a partner. There was a new student today, bringing the uneven number of kids up to an even number. Which meant, as much as Twilight hated it, she was going to get a partner.
“I don’t want to. I’m tired.” Twilight said as she looked across the teacher’s desk, her eyes popping just barely above the surface of the oak desk. Missus Bright’s smile faltered, if only for a second, as she took in a deep breath.
“I’m sorry, Twilight, but your parent’s and I are concerned for you.” Missus Bright said, her smile not yet faltering. “And we wouldn’t want to watch you fall behind, now, do we?” Twilight rolled her eyes, to which finally, Missus Bright’s smile broke into a frown. “If you don’t find a partner, I’m going to assign you one.”
Twilight gave a glare, along with a frown, but it did little to sway the teacher one way or the other. Twilight let out a groan, turning around, and slowly inching her way through the center isle with an unbothered and bored look on her face, although internally, she was angry. She wasn’t lying, either. She was tired.
The class of foals were annoying. All foals were annoying. They were loud, messy, aggressive… pretty much anything bad could be applied to the little rats that inhabited this school.
As she trotted towards the back of the classroom, scanning the rows for kids to work with, she noted that every kid had a partner already. Nopony really paid her much attention, only giving her a quick side-eye before turning back to their partner. Which was great for her, as when she came to the back of the classroom, she had a realization.
Somepony must be sick today.
That even number of kids must’ve went to being an uneven number once more, which let her have a day off of exactly zero interruptions. She stopped at the back wall of the classroom, right next to the door, and turned back with a smile.
Without wasting a single moment, Twilight let out a large yawn, trotting to the play corner. She idly nudged and kicked a few stray puzzles and board games out of the way as she found the most comfortable, and only, beanbag.
She jumped up and let her wings flap in the air, giving her as much boost as she possibly could without taking off. With a thump, she spread her body as far as it could go on the beanbag, her wings stretching out and completely relaxing. Her smile still present, and her body melting, she closed her eyes.
By a complete stroke of luck, she didn’t have a partner.
Partners were dumb, anyways. At the end of the day, partners would get side-tracked and end up dumping their entire workload onto her. That was the way it always works, and that’s the way it will always work until the end of time. And what was the value in doing team projects, anyways? Learning how to name bits of a skeleton? Oh- better yet, naming the parts of a horn? That was fun, right? For a Pegasus like herself? She found immense value in naming bits of parts she would never get to use.
That was dumb. Adults are dumb for assigning garbage assignments like that. Actually- Parents were dumb, too. Always trying to get involved in Twilight’s life. Wanting to send her to Flight Camp. Things that Twilight very obviously was against, but that didn’t seem to matter in their eyes. What mattered was getting rid of her.
‘All I’m saying is that it might be a good idea to get you out of the house!’
That’s what they were trying to do. Now that Cadence was gone, it was painfully apparent that Twilight didn’t belong. Didn’t the tribes unite like, a million years ago? Wasn’t there an entire story told during Hearth’s Warming dedicated around why separation was a bad idea?
“A-hem.”
Unfortunately, her welling in self-despair was unfortunately interrupted. Twilight let out a groan and raised her head, meeting the slightly irate eyes of Missus Bright, standing over the beanbag like a skyscraper. Twilight raised her eyebrows and rested her head onto the plush surface, watching as Missus Bright let out an almost defeated sigh.
“What do you think you’re doing?” She asked with a harsh frown. “I could’ve sworn I told you to get a partner.”
“All the partners are gone.” Twilight said dismissively, blinking slowly. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to take a much needed nap-”
“The new student doesn’t have a partner.” The teacher said bluntly. Twilight found herself feeling surprised as she raised her head, looking back at the rows and rows of tables. She was very sure she checked every table, right? She looked around the classroom in confusion.
“Where?” She asked.
“Right over there.” Missus Bright pointed a hoof, back at the opposite corner of the classroom. Right across from the play corner, where Twilight resided, was the book corner. There was three bookshelves that made up a small alcove, along with a single red beanbag. That beanbag was taken up by a large book that blocked most of the reader’s body. The only thing Twilight could make out was the tip of her horn, and all four of her cream colored hooves sticking out.
Twilight looked back at the teacher.
“Do I reeeallly have to?”
“Yes.” Missus Bright said in a tone that told Twilight there was no room for argument. Twilight let out another groan, and sloppily stood up from her blue beanbag, hopping down. The teacher watched as Twilight gripped the handle of the blue beanbag with her teeth, and began sulking towards the other corner.
The filly, still hiding behind her book, made no indication that she even realized Twilight had approached. Twilight let the beanbag relax from her mouth, making a thump onto the floor. Once again, the most the filly reacted was turning the page.
Twilight frowned at being ignored, although felt a little comfort in the fact that she didn’t have to talk to this obvious social recluse.
Without another motion, Twilight leapt with all of the elegance of a sumo wrestler directly onto the blue beanbag.
Somehow, the filly actually hadn’t noticed her up until now, letting out a yipe as the sudden body of Twilight landed next to her. Twilight buried her face into the blue beanbag.
“Do whatever.” Twilight mumbled into the plush, giving her hoof a small wave. “I don’t care. I’ll just finish the group project at home, or something.”
There was silence in the book corner, only interrupted as a shout or a scream of a foal from the tables echoed out through the area. Silence that was beautiful, and felt great, and just for a moment, Twilight was sure she felt herself fall into a microsleep, or something of that nature. Just a moment where everything vanished, and she was able to properly feel gone.
“Are you sleeping because you’re a Pegasus?”
Unfortunately, just like Missus Bright had interrupted her thirty seconds ago, so had this filly, too. Slowly, very slowly, Twilight raised her head and looked up at the filly. She had set her book down to the side, and was now staring at Twilight with her beady eyes. She was a cream colored Unicorn, her mane red with two violet stripes going down the middle. She wore thick framed black glasses and a gray sweater.
“Are you wearing glasses because you’re blind?” Twilight scoffed.
“Well, yeah.” The filly responded, apparently unoffended at her words. She also wasn’t put off by Twilight’s words, either, as she leaned forwards, getting closer to Twilight. “I’ve never seen a Pegasus up close before! Can I touch your wings?”
Twilight immediately snapped her wings shut, and turned her body so she was sitting up and staring at this pony head-on.
“No. No, you cannot.”
“Oh, by the way, my name is Moondancer!” She said, extending her hoof out for a bump. Twilight frowned. “Me and my family used to live in the castle, but my dad was fired, or something, so we had to move down here.”
“Ah.” Twilight sighed. “So you’re sheltered?”
“Well, I mean-” Moondancer let her hoof fall.
“Makes sense.” Twilight sighed. “If there isn’t any Pegasi in Canterlot, then there really isn’t any Pegasi in the castle.” Moondancer shifted her head to the side, and raised her eyebrow.
“But there was.” She said. “Some of the guards are Pegasi. But my Mom never let me get too close to them.” Once more, Moondancer’s eyes drifted to her wings, and Twilight felt strangely exposed as the filly’s curiosity peaked. “Your wings are very pretty.”
“T-Thanks? I guess?” Twilight felt a blush rise to her cheeks. “And you have a very pretty… horn.”
“Thanks!” Moondancer said, crossing her eyes and looking up. “It’s all natural! I’ve never gotten my horn sharpened before- Mom says I’m too young for that- but I think it came out really nice!”
“Right.” Twilight cleared her throat. “Well, my name is Twilight Sparkle.” This time, Twilight was the one to raise her hoof, and Moondancer gladly bumped it. “What was it you were saying about me being sleepy because I’m a Pegasus?”
“Oh! Oh, right!” Moondancer laid down on her red beanbag, as Twilight followed suit on her blue beanbag. “Yeah, I’ve never really seen a Pegasus up close before, so I read a lot about you guys in the royal library.” Suddenly, Moondancer straightened her neck, and she almost looked as if she was reading something far away as she began rattling off in a melodramatic, nearly robotic voice. “Pegasi need more sleep than any of the other tribes due to their increased metabolism. Along with other factors such as having a thicker coat, which requires more energy to maintain, as well as their increased healing ability.”
“Wow.” Twilight blinked. “I… didn’t know that.” Twilight raised her hoof into her vision and used her other hoof to slowly caress her fur. “I… don’t think I have a thicker coat, though. I think I have a normal coat.”
“Oh, right. No, the thicker coat only comes in after puberty.”
“I really feel like that’s something I should’ve known about.” Twilight mumbled with confusion.
“How many naps do you take in a day?” The filly asked. Twilight paused and looked up, mentally counting in her head.
“Uh…” She swallowed. “Three? Four, at most?” She felt strangely called out. “Uh- what was the group project we were supposed to work on? I… kinda wasn’t listening.”
“That’s okay!” Moondancer said. Her horn ignited, and Twilight watched as she plucked a large paper from the ground next to her, along with an entire box of markers. She flattened the paper on the ground in front of the beanbags, and splayed the markers onto the paper. “We’re supposed to be making a map of Equestria.” Twilight watched as Moondancer hopped down from the beanbag and laid onto the floor, picking up a purple marker. “I can work on the higher districts, like Canterlot, and you can work on… Uh…”
“How about I work on the Moon district?” Twilight said, already picking up a red marker with the tip of her wing.
“Well…” Moondancer hummed. “That’s a lot of area. I’m not against it, but…”
“Trust me, I’ve read more than enough.”
“Have you?” She asked, apparently not convinced. Twilight gave one of her first smiles of the afternoon, and planted the marker onto the paper. Moondancer gave her a strange look, but eventually shrugged and began working on Canterlot. “So… what are you doing in Canterlot?” Moondancer asked, trying to begin small talk.
“Born here.” Twilight responded, following her memory with the tracing of a not-yet-drawn river as a border. “I live with my Mom and Dad.”
“That’s cool. I wish I could come over some time.” Moondancer sighed. “I would love to see what a cloud house looks like up close.”
“What?” Twilight asked, breaking for a moment to shoot a confused glance at Moondancer. “No-no-no. I’m not- we don’t live in a cloud house. As a matter of fact, my whole family is Unicorns. I’m the only Pegasus, now.”
“Oh, I’m sorry!” Moondancer said, stopping her drawing and covering her mouth with a hoof. “Are you… if you don’t mind me asking, are you adopted?” She quickly reached her hoof across the paper to rest on Twilight’s. “I mean- if it’s not too painful to talk about-”
“I’m not!” Twilight yanked her hoof away. “I’m not. It’s just a one in a million chance that I was born a Pegasus. Trust me, if you saw me next to my Mom and Dad, you’d believe me when I say I am not adopted.” Twilight sighed out, placing down the marker. “I think I’m done with the Moon district.”
“Are you?” Moondancer glanced to her side of the paper. “I’m not done with my-” Her eyes quickly did a double-take, and finally fully focused on her drawing. “Woah! You did that all by memory?!”
“Yeah.” Twilight found a familiar blushing feeling rising in her cheeks. “I mean, like I said, I used to read a lot. I haven’t in a while, though. I kinda fell out of it after… uh, yeah.”
“Ohmygosh, did you have a favorite book?” Moondancer asked excitedly. “Mine has to be Magical Artifacts Volume 2 by Mistify!” Twilight hummed as she tapped her chin, thinking back to when she read. After all, it wasn’t that long ago, but she hadn’t ever really sat down to consider what book was her favorite before.
“Well… I think it would have to be…” She grunted. “Uhh, Application of Crystal Electronics? By Gyro?”
“Ooh, I’ve read that one!” Moondancer said with exubriation. “That’s the one where they explore the possibility of tele-communicating with energy, right?” She clapped her hooves together. “I just thought it was so interesting! Nothing that spells can’t do, of course, but in a theoretical magic-devoid-apocalypse, it could be a reliable alternative to spells!”
“I was thinking more about it as if Unicorns vanished. Or never existed.” Twilight said. Moondancer gave her a sharp look. “I mean, if spells weren’t there to fix every little issue, then how would we do things we take for granted? How would we communicate over long distances? How would we move heavy objects? How would we move the sun and moon?”
“Huh.” Moondancer tapped her chin. “That was not something I’ve thought of before…”
Both the fillies jumped when the class bell overhead let out a shrill ring. In a flurry of movements that could cause a small tornado, the class emptied nearly instantly, leaving behind what any reasonable pony could call a terrible mess. The two fillies looked at the rows of deserted desks, before looking back at each other.
“Guess we didn’t finish this today, huh?” Twilight asked awkwardly, rubbing the back of her mane.
“I guess not.” Moondancer sighed, standing up and stretching like a cat. “You’re not like any of the other foals I’ve met. You’re… mature, I think.”
“I could say the same about you.” Twilight said, standing up and mimicking Moondancer’s stretch, almost one to one. “I’ve not met many foals who I can actually tolerate. And… sorry for, uh, being kinda rude earlier? I didn’t mean to brush you off… or call you blind.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Moondancer said while she rolled the paper up into a scroll, and plonking it into her nearby saddlebags. “I’ll work on this at home, and we can come back tomorrow to-” Suddenly, memories of a school far away flashed in front of her vision. The memory of her parents, and the idea that she might be sent away.
“Or!” Twilight suddenly interrupted. “Or- I know this is kinda soon, but would you like to come over today?” Twilight asked, almost trying to hide behind her mane. “I know that, uh, we haven’t really talked much, but…?” Moondancer looked surprised, but smiled none the less.
“Sure! We’d have to stop by my house and ask my parents, first, but I would be down!”
“Yes!” Twilight shouted, fears slowly slipping off of her wings.
I’ll show my parents that I can make friends! Then, they won’t have to send me away!
“Come on! Your place, first, right?” She asked. Moondancer nodded, and together, they walked out of the classroom. Missus Bright watched from her desk with a smile on her face. She whispered, nearly inaudible to anypony not two feet in front of her, a silent nailed it.