It all started as a normal day for Mint Letter. She woke up in the apartment she shared with her best friend and classmate Heart Dot. She ate her breakfast, oatmeal and a glass of milk, and she walked to school with Heart Dot checking her knowledge before the test on Equestrian and Crystal Empire history later that day.
It was when she came to her locker and started to take out her books that it happened. She met her, Daffodil Spark, a light orange earth pony mare with a golden mane, that later on would become her best friend.
The mare walked back and forth in front of the lockers, her hazel eyes slowly scanning the hallway.
Mint stuffed the last of her books into her pack and tapped the mare on the shoulder. "Um, can I help you with something?"
“Ah!” The mare exclaimed, a curtain of golden hair falling over one eye. The other one swung in every direction except in the one towards Mint's face. “I, um, I’m Daffodil Spark. I’m new here. I-I was just wondering if you could show me to class room number 23, where class 1a are having their lesson?”
“1a, you say?” Mint asked.
Looking down on the floor, Daffodil lowered her ears and nodded. “They gave me a map of the school, but I’m all turned around.” She shied away as a group of big, musculare stallions trotted by and shouted playful insults at each other. “ I, um, I didn’t want to bother anypony, but I don’t want to be late to my first lesson.”
“Looks like we are going to be classmates, then.” Mint Letter said matter of factely. “My name is Mint Letter. Follow me, and I'll show you the way.”
As Mint Letter started to walk down the hallway to the classroom, Daffodil Spark following her lead, Heart Dot walked up beside her.
“Who is she?” Heart Dot whispered.
“She is our new classmate, Daffodil Spark. ” Mint replied.
“Daffodil Spark? Isn’t Spark a unicorn name? You know, spark representing their magic ability?” Heart Dot asked.
“I don't know. maybe her parents just found the name fitting?” Mint said with a shrug. She’d thought the same thing, but didn’t really want to talk about it in front of the new filly.
"Everypony, we got a new filly here today who is going to be in your class. Say hi to Daffodil Spark!" Mr Read-a-Book happily introduced Daffodil to the class,who gave her a simultaneous "Hi Daffodil."
"There is an empty seat in the second row, behind Heart Dot, where you can sit, dear." He then told her, and she obliged, sitting down in the empty seat.
Soon enough, Mr. Read a Book had left the room to get some coffee, and Heart turned around so that she faced Daffodil Spark and said “My name is Heart Dot. So, where are you from?”
“N-nice to meet you, um, Heart Dot.” Daffodil said. “Well, I, um, I grew up in Appleloosa, but my mother is from Manehattan. Right now I live here with my friend Misty Moo...”
She was cut off by Mr Read a Book, who came back to the classroom.
"Daffodil Spark! Heart Dot! What do you think you're doing?" Mr. Read-A-Book said upon entering the classroom and seeing them talking. "I thought you two knew better than to talk during the lessons. I'm especially disappointed in you Daffodil, coming into my classroom and starting to talk at the first chance you're given!"
Both Daffodil and Heart quickly turned forward and read their books, not saying a word. Despite not wanting to get into anymore trouble, she glanced over at Daffodil. She was beet red and shifting uncomfterbely under the classes accusing glare. Heart really felt a sting of pain inside seeing this, wishing that she would've listened to Mint's advice and think a little more before talking.
Next lesson was biology with Mrs. Flower Season. In biology class, there were ponies from both class 1a and 1b because there were too few biology teachers at the school, and the school hadn’t been able to find any new ones that they could hire.
As soon as they came in to the room, Daffodil Spark walked over to the other side of the classroom and sat down next to a light grey pegasus mare with a black mane and tail that Mint Letter and Heart Dot hadn't noticed before, probably because of the mare’s plain appearance. She seemed like that kind of pony who didn’t want to be noticed.
Mint Letter and Heart Dot hesitated before sitting down next to Daffodil and the gray pegasus. Daffodil smiled at them when they sat down and then introduced the pegasus mare next to her as Misty Moon.
“Hmm... Misty Moon... I've heard that name before..” Heart Dot said.
“Well... umm...”
“She's been studying here for a while now!” Daffodil said before Misty had the time to say anything.
“Oh... Well, I haven't noticed you...” Heart Dot replied, noticing that it no longer was Daffodil who were the shy one, but Misty.
Mrs. Flower Season told the class to be quiet and open their books on page twenty-two before returning to the whiteboard. On the board, she started to explain the differences between pegasus, unicorn, and earth pony anatomy.
Mint Letter opened the book and gave the drawings of an earth pony, a unicorn and a pegasus anatomy a bored look. She had already learned that three lessons ago, but seeing as everypony in this classroom apparently was as dumb as their biology books, they kept repeating it, one lesson after an other. Giving up on even trying to listen to the teacher, she closed her book before scanning the classroom, looking at the other ponies in her class. Most of the ponies were listening to the teacher or looking down in the book with a confused expression. Like she said, dumb as their biology books.
Mint Letter sighed. How hard was it to understand that Earth ponies had thicker bones and stronger muscles in their legs instead of wings or horns, making them bigger and stronger than other pony types and better suited for farming?
“So, what does your cutie mark represent?”
It was Mint who written it down on a small note and pasted it over to Misty, pointing to her flank, which was covered by her hoodie. One look at Mints desk showed that she hadn't even bothered to open up the book.
“What does yours represent?” Misty wrote back, not wanting to answer the question asked by Mint.
“Mine is for spelling, writing, learning, that kind of stuff. How about yours? ” Mint answered, looking down at the letters and the book on her flank. Quickly after getting it, she had relized that it represented a million diffrent things, all at once, and she would probably never know how far her “special talent” reached.
“Wow, I never heard of a cutie mark that is so comprehensive!” Misty said, trying to move the focus of the conversation back to Mint’s cutie mark, but precisly when she was sliding the note across her desk and over to Mint, Mrs. Flower Season turned around to ask a question to the class.
“Girls!” Flower Season exclaimed, walking up to Misty and Mint. “Are you passing notes on the lesson?”
Misty and Mint didn’t answer, looking down on their desks.
“I don’t want to see any of this ever again, am I clear? And Mint Letter, open up your book, we’re having a lesson about pony anatomy here!” Flower Season said before walking back to the board and continuing the lesson.
Instead of following the teachers orders, Mint picked up the note Misty left on her desk and read it.
“Wow, I never heard of a cutie mark that is so comprehensive!”
Mint finished reading the note and looked over at Misty’s covered flank, taking pencil and papper with her magic, holding it under the table, quickly scribbling down a note to Misty Moon, and levatating it over to her seat.
“Well, I'm sure your special talent is impressive as well....”
Misty read the note, and she could feel Mints curious eyes on her, waiting to see her write an answere. She didn’t. Instead she looked down at the biology book on her desk, avoiding eye contact.
Next lesson was Equestrian and Crystal Empire History, and they were supposed to have a test. Mr. Dust gave them the papers, and Mint Letter couldn’t help but notice that Daffodil Spark didn't get one. Maybe she would do it later, since she was new and all? Noticing that Mint was looking at her, Daffodil looked up form her desk and gave her an encouraging smile. Answering the smile, mint looked down at her test paper and started to write down the answers.