Twilight Sparkle looked around as she entered Ponyville Elementary to start her first day of class. Now that she was actually here, she was starting to feel more a mix of emotions. She was still excited about starting school again. There was some disappointment that she had no idea who her classmates would be (now that she was actually starting to have friends), but was hopeful she could make friends with some. The school -- being just a little red schoolhouse -- did not inspire the same sense of awe in her as she felt when she was going to Canterlot. At the same time, it looked so much like the small town schools she had seen in pictures and read about in stories, that there was a strange familiarity to it she found comforting.
Not related but mixed in it all was worry about her brother and his friends. The letter Princess Celestia had sent Shining this morning was a request to investigate the reports that a big dragon had moved into a mountain near Ponyville, which was why there was smoke in the sky when they were leaving.
A new burst of excitement surged through the little filly as she saw a pair of ponies that she recognized. Grinning, she ran up toward the pair, moving around the other ponies in her way. As she approached, a yellow coated unicorn with a bright orange mane, and a creamy white pegasus colt with a chocolate brown mane both turned to look at her. The yellow filly gave a small smile as the creamy colt just seemed confused.
"Pumpkin!" Twilight called out excited, "Pound! You're in this class too?"
"Yeah," Pumpkin answered. "Why wouldn't we be?"
"What are you doing here though?" Pound asked, causing the other two to look at him.
"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.
"...Well..." Pound shifted as he tried to figure out how to explain it. "You're supposed to be smart. Really smart. Like, grown up evil genius smart."
"'Evil genuis smart?'" Twilight repeated, tilting her head in confusion.
"He likes to read super hero comics," Pumpkin said as if that explained everything. In a way it did. Twilight had looked at some of Spike's comic books before. The really smart characters did have a tendency to want to rule the world. Twilight had no idea why. It sounded like a lot of work. Maybe she could ask Princess Celestia about that. Although maybe Princess Luna would be a better choice. After all, she did try to take over the world and cast it into eternal night. Luna would probably-
"Plus," Pound continued, bringing Twilight back to the conversation at hoof, "you were going to school in Canterlot before, right?"
"...Yes?" Twilight responded, uncertain where the colt was going with this.
"Well, I always figured that since you were so smart and went to school in Canterlot, that you would be finished with school. Or maybe in one of the classes for older ponies. Something like that."
"Aaaww." Twilight smiled, feeling her face heat up. As far as Twilight was concerned the idea that she was so smart she should have graduated already was the nicest thing that anypony had ever said to her. And to think, it was Pound of all ponies he said it. It was really starting to look like this was going to be the best school year ever for her.
"Alright class," an adult, feminine voice called out. "I know you're all excited, but it's time for class to begin. So hurry up and find a seat."
There were mumbles and grumbles as ponies separated and started sitting at desks. Twilight looked around until she found a seat that was empty she sort of liked.
"Excuse me," she asked the pony sitting in the next desk, "is this seat taken?"
The pony in the next seat, a pale blue unicorn with a silvery blue mane turned to look at Twilight. The filly's dark violet eyes narrowed as she glared, her lips twisting into a scowl. The look made Twilight uncomfortable. Her ears fell back as she gave a nervous smile to the glaring filly. The unhappy little unicorn let out a snort and turned away from Twilight, going back to the drawing she was working on.
Twilight stood there a moment, uncertain. She got the feeling that the blue filly did not like her. The idea of sitting next to an angry pony was not appealing. Seats were being taken quickly though, and she had already asked. Slowly she took her seat, giving the filly next to her one last look before paying attention to the front of the room.
Standing at the front of the class was a white coated pegasus with a rose-colored mane and tail. Her green eyes looked out at the students over the tops of her reading glasses. On the chalkboard was written "Miss Feather Bloom." The mare stood by the name and looked at the students as they settled down.
"I'm glad to see so many returning faces," she said. "We have two new students joining us this year. Trixie, Twilight, would you like to stand up and introduce yourselves?"
The blue unicorn beside Twilight stood up and cleared her throat.
"I am Trixie," she announce, rolling the r. "You should all remember that name and be honored. For some day, I will be a great and powerful magician, and you can all tell your foals that you knew me way back when." She gave a bow and sat back down.
"...Thank you, Trixie," Miss Feather Bloom said. "That was... entertaining, though not as informative as I would have liked. Twilight?"
Twilight gave a nod and stood up.
"My name is Twilight Sparkle," she stated. "I just moved to Ponyville from Canterlot with my brother Shining Armor, who was a student of Princess Celestia and is now the town librarian." She stopped, unsure what else to add.
"Thank you, Twilight," the teacher said. "You can back down now."
Twilight nodded and took her seat. Her gaze flicked back over to Trixie. When Trixie stood up to introduce herself, Twilight noticed that the other filly already had a cutie mark. Looking at it closer, Twilight could make it out for the most part. It looked kind of like a magic wand beside a glittering light blue magic field roughly in the shape of a crescent moon.
How did she get her cutie mark already? Twilight wondered.
"Now class," Miss Feather Bloom stated, "let's start the school year off with one of the classics. I want you all to..." she paused and grinned. "Write an essay."
There was a small collection of groans from a portion of the students.
"Get out your paper and pencils," the teacher continued. "I want each of you to write at least one paragraph talking about what you did during your summer vacation."
Twilight grabbed her pencil and a sheet of paper. This sounded like an easy enough task. She could probably have it done in ten minutes or so. Now, she just needed to figure out where to start.