//------------------------------// // Prologue: "Who's Your New Friend, Applebloom?" // Story: "Where Will I Go?" // by gordobraveheart //------------------------------// The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and students have returned from their weekend vacation, returning to school so that they could all catch up and do their work, even if they are not to happy with it. Still, Cheerilee, the school teacher of Ponyville Elementary, always has a warm, kind smile to lift the spirits of both colts and fillies whenever they come to class tired or bored. She loves her job, and she cares for her students with the same amount of love as a mother would. So when she senses something amiss, she is usually the first pony in the school to settle things correctly, no matter how complicated the situation can be. "Alright class, I hope you've all had a wonderful weekend," Cheerilee said, smiling in front of all her students. In response, they all groaned, making Cheerilee chuckle. "Now don't be like that, I'm sure time will fly by if you don't even care about it." This made the class groan even louder. Cheerilee smiled, pulling out the attendance sheet and a pencil. "When I call out your name, please raise your hoof. The attendance is not in order, so please listen. Sweetie Belle?" "Here!" "Snips?" "Here!" "Snails?" "Here!" "Diamond Tiara and Silver spoon?" "Here!" They said in unison. "Scootaloo?" "Here!" "Applebloom?" "Here!" "Rumble-" "Um, Ms. Cheerilee?" Cheerilee looked up from her attendance sheet, looking around for who ever called her name. She then layed her eyes on Sweetie Belle, whose hoof was still in the air. Cheerilee smiled at her student, who in return, smiled back. "Yes, Sweetie Belle?" "I was wondering, if it would be okay if we could open up a window, it's a little hot in here." Though it was only 8:00 A.M, Cheerilee did notice how stuffy it was in her classroom, and said room being a small room, she decided that it would be best to open a window, for she knew the temperature will eventually rise. She smiled at Sweetie Belle, trotted over to a nearby window and opened it. "Is that better, everypony?" "Yes, Miss Cheerilee." The class said in unison. Cheerilee nodded, glad that her students were feeling quite comfortable in her class. She trotted back to her desk, opening the drawers that hid, her binder, filled with lesson plans, ideas for after school activities, and the usual homework assignments she gives to her students at the end of the day. "Lets see," She mumbled, trying to find the classes morning problems, usually involving Math, English Language Arts, and a reading question to challenge the students on their reading abilities. "They all have passed multiplication and division without any major problems, that's good. Maybe I can give them an early access to fractions and decimals, they are smart colts and fillies. Hmm...What if I-" Cheerilee suddenly felt a rush of cold air brush right through her. She shivered, surprised that a small gust of wind caused her to grow cold in not even a minute. She looked outside the opened window. "That's strange," She trotted over to the window, but stopped to look at her class. They were not shivering, they were just writing down their daily agenda without the slightest of notice of how cold it had suddenly gotten. She was confused, but Cheerilee decided not to question anything, she just continued her way to the opened window. When she arrived, she felt the sudden warmth of the sun, no wind, no cold temperature, nothing. Just the feeling of the sun, shining down into the class. "There's no wind. Not even the trees are swaying..." She mumbled to herself. Cheerilee backed away from the window, still confused and cold on the sudden temperature drop when she turned away from the sun. She looked down at her students. "Is anypony..,cold?" They all shook their heads. Cheerilee noticed that Rumble, a grey pegasus with a slick-backed spiky mane, had a look of worry on his face. "Is everything alright, Rumble?" Rumble, shook his head. "Yes, teacher. But, are you okay? We can see your breath, and you're shivering a little bit." Cheerilee was, again, surprised, She knew that when it reaches a certain temperature, breath can bee seen like a small, puff of smoke. Yet, she asked herself, if the class can see her breath, why can't she see theirs? "I'm fine, Rumble, but thank you for caring." Cheerilee said, trotting back to the front of the class. She figured that the temperature would rise later on, and she would feel warm instead of cold. Deciding to go along with it for the time being, she smiled at the class, trying to not let the cold in the way of her teaching. "Alright eveypony, open your books to page 225, today, we're going to be learning about fractions!" The students groaned loudly, but Cheerilee didn't mind. As long as the cold goes away, she could get through the day with ease. It did not leave. It is already 3:50 P.M, and the cold is still wrapped around Cheerilee, as if she was the only adult in the classroom to experience it. Throughout the whole day, she also noticed how much talking here students were doing. She kept hearing about how cold it felt, to her at least, and she could hear the children say something about a new friend Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo recently met. She kept hearing about how cool he is, as Scootaloo would say, and how he quickly he became friends with every colt and filly in town! At one point, Cheerilee could not believe her ears, it was almost as if this new friend is like another Pinkie Pie! But, Cheerilee had not yet seen this new pony, or even heard of him until just now. She looked at the clock, a bit happy that it was already 3:53 P.M. Just one more minute, and she could trot outside again, to feel the warmth of the sun beam down on her. And to watch the children trot to their parents, of course. "Ah'm telling you Diamond, we did find him at mah farm!" Cheerilee looked away from the clock, seeing all of her students gather around a desk. An empty desk. "Yea, and he can do cool tricks, like go through walls and stuff!" Cheerilee heard Scootaloo sound very excited, and even though she didn't like being nosy, Cheerilee couldn't help but to listen. "He doesn't remember his name though. All he remembers is his family...nothing else." Sweetie Belle sounded sad, but she piped up when she looked at Cheerilee. "Miss Cheerilee, could you come over here for a few minutes?" Cheerilee looked at the clock, sighing that it was only 3:57. She got up from her chair and trotted over to her students. Applebloom was smiling. "Miss Cheerilee, we would like ya to meet...um...our friend! We just met him yesterday." Normally, Cheerilee would be happy to see a new face in her classroom. There was just one problem. "Who's your new friend, Applebloom? I'm afraid I can't see him." She was baffled. First, it got cold only for her, then she noticed the class talk about this new friend. And now, they want her to meet this said friend, only for her to look at nothing but an empty desk. And feel even colder. Then, the bell rang, and everypony was startled. Everypony, but the new friend. The class, without warning ran outside of the school building, screaming happily that the day was over. Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Applebloom were still around the empty desk, this time with their school supplies strapped on to their backs. "Ready to go, mister?" Applebloom said, pulling out the chair, Cheerilee said nothing. She only observed the three, thinking that the quest for their cutie marks had brought their imagination to a whole new level. "Bye Miss Cheerilee!" Cheerilee was snapped out of her thinking, and brought back to reality. She looked at the C.M.C., smiling at them. "Goodbye girls, have a great day!" They all walked out the classroom, one by one, until Applebloom stood in the doorway. "Miss Cheerilee, Ah just wanna know...Can you really not see him?" "I'm sorry Applebloom, but I really can't. If I could, I would love to meet him." She noticed how Applebloom looked behind her, at Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. "Oh, okay. See ya tomorrow Miss Cheerilee!" She watched Applebloom trot away to her friends, and watched them leave. She trotted up to the door, wanting to close it. "I wonder why this new colt is-" Cheerilee did not even reach the door. She stood only a few feet away from it, stuck in fear and shock. She could not see it clearly, for it appeared and re-appeared, moving in place. It was tall, and she could not see it's body, nor its face, but only a smile. It closed the door quickly, but did not make a noise. It was gone. Cheerilee was still petrified, what she saw scared and confused her. She could not think of what it could be, she only knows one thing as soon as it left. The room was finally warm.