According to Mom, today is a very important day. She said that Skyla and I are starting something called “school” today. She also said that she’ll be gone for a while, but that she’ll be back, kind of like how dad often left the house, but came back every time. She was also wearing gold things.
After breakfast was finished, Skyla and I walked with her to a place that looked really nice and new. A large crowd was gathered in front of it, but we did not join them. Instead, we went around them to an area behind some walls. Mom nodded to somepony and they went out and faced the crowd.
“Mares and gentlestallions, I’m glad you could all make it out here today” the mare said. “Today is a very important day for the Crystal Empire, as the Pristine Pearl all-grade school is the first modern school built here. All grades from Kindergarten to tenth will be taught here, along with a wide variety of classes. As the principal of this school, I look forward to seeing all the colts and fillies here succeed and learn skills they will use throughout their life. And now, the honor is mine to introduce not only Princess Cadence, but also her foals Inova and Skyla.”
The mare bowed and left as mom walked out to where the mare was, and there was much stomping in the crowd. She guided Skyla and me along with her wings, and we faced the crowd. For some reason, I was kind of nervous. I looked behind me and saw two doors with a large ribbon across them.
“Thank you, Principal Polished Apple. Everypony, I am honored not only to open this school, but also to have my fillies, Inova and Skyla, enrolled here” Mom said. “I’m certain many of you have places to be, so I’ll make this short. Everypony in grades four through ten, you will have half an hour in your respective commons before you have to be at your first class. Just follow the signs upstairs. Everypony with foals from kindergarten to third grade, I will personally show you the way to your respective areas. Finally, it is my hope that all of our foals, regardless of heritage, treat each other well. With that said, I hereby open the Pristine Pearl all-grade school.”
I saw mom float up a large pair of scissors and cut the ribbon on the doors, followed by more stomping sounds. Skyla and I were guided to a spot in a hall, where we sat down with Mom. Lots of ponies moved through the area. Some of them gathered around us while others didn’t. Among those who did gather around us were other ponies that were about my size.
After a few minutes, mom stood up and started walking. Skyla and I, along with the ponies that had gathered, followed her. Some of them went in a different direction than we were. We wound up in a huge room with lots of things in it. More things than I could name. I began wandering around, curious as to what all was there.
I was climbing on something when a voice called out “Colts and fillies, come here please.” I looked around and quickly saw the source: a green mare with a shiny purple mane and tail. I didn’t see mom around, but I wasn’t bothered by that. I made my way over and sat down next to her, as lots of others similar to me did. Skyla sat next to me too, but she looked kind of distressed. Everypony was sitting between two other ponies.
“Hello everypony” the green mare said. She was a shiny pony. “I'm Ms. Tina, and I’ll be your teacher. Before we do anything, let’s learn everypony’s names. How about you go first?” She pointed a forehoof at me. “What’s you name?”
“Inova” I said.
“Hello, Inova. Everypony, say ‘hi’ to Inova” Ms. Tina said.
“Hi Inova” everypony said, except for Skyla and the teacher, who didn’t seem to mind.
“And who's that next to you?” Ms. Tina said, looking at my sister.
“Um, I’m Skyla” She said.
"Hello, Skyla. Everypony, say 'hi' to Skyla."
"Hi, Skyla" everypony said, including me.
Everypony else introduced themselves the same way.
"Alright everypony. Let's start learning the alphabet, then we'll play for a bit" Ms. Tina said. She picked something up with her mouth and quickly drew something on the wall. Once she was done, she moved to the side.
"This is an A, everypony. It's the first letter of the alphabet. Repeat after me. A."
We all said "A" at the same time. It seemed pretty easy for me.
After some time on A, Ms. Tina drew a B on the wall. Once again, it was quite easy for me. We went through the whole alphabet like that. It was all pretty easy for me, although some of us did have some problems.
"Alright everypony" Ms. Tina said. "Let's play for a bit. Please don't leave the room~" I watched everypony leave the area and go around the vast room, playing with toys and each other. I was happy just to move to another spot on the floor and look at the alphabet on the wall. Each letter was distinct and clear. I don't know why it fascinated me though.
I was brought back to the world when Ms. Tina said "Everypony! Back to the circle, please!" I looked around a bit before going back to where I originally sat.
Once everypony was gathered around, Ms. Tina spoke again. "We're going to practice writing some letters now." She then erased the alphabet on the wall and rewrote the A. "Who wants to go first?"
Almost immediately, everypony ran up to her to try writing it. I didn't, as I had my ears folded against my head to keep out some of the sound everypony else was making. I also scooted away from everypony a bit before simply just walking a distance away.
It was only after Ms. Tina got everypony quieted down and taking turns writing A's on the wall that she noticed I wasn't up there with everypony else. It didn't take her long to find me, and after making sure things were going well, she walked over to me, laying down in front of me. "Why are you over here, Inova?"
"It was too loud" I said.
"Oh. I see" Ms. Tina looked around a bit, spending a bit longer looking at everypony who was writing A's. "Take a seat here" -Ms. Tina guided me to a nearby table- "and I'll be right back." She went back to everypony else and got them writing B's before getting something from her desk and coming back to mine, putting paper and a marker on it.
"Can you write an A, Inova?" Ms. Tina pulled the cap off the marker and held it out for me. I took it in my mouth and made an A on the paper. It did not look as nice as Ms. Tina's, but it was clearly still an A. "That's good. Can you write a B?" She traced out the shape of the B with a hoof. I followed it as best I could.
With every letter Ms. Tina taught us how to write, she would check on me to see how I was doing. After we finished O (which I wrote three times for some reason), a bell rang out, surprising everypony. Ms. Tina was quick to calm us down. "Calm down, everypony, calm down. It's lunchtime, so please sit at a table like Inova is."
After looking at me, everypony moved around to various other tables around the room. Skyla sat at my table, straight across from me. Ms. Tina took the marker and papers off the table shortly afterwards. We were only waiting for a couple of minutes before a unicorn came in, pushing a cart with boxes on it. One of the boxes was covered in an orange glow before being set down next to Ms. Tina. As the unicorn left with the cart, Ms. Tina opened the box. "Okay everypony. I'll hoof out your lunches. Wait until everypony has one before you start eating. Who wants theirs first?"
Skyla practically shot straight up in the air, she was so excited. Other ponies simply held a hoof up. I didn't though. After calming everypony down, Ms. Tina began hoofing out smaller boxes that looked different from the one they came out of. When she didn't get the first one, Skyla pouted. We did get our lunches pretty quickly though, and Skyla almost immediately went to open hers before Ms. Tina stopped her and reminded her to wait for everypony else to have theirs too before starting. The boxes we got were black, oval, and sounded like they were made of wood.
Eventually, everypony did have a lunch, including Ms. Tina, who was sitting at her desk with her own lunch. "Alright everypony, go ahead and start eating."
Skyla practically tore the lid off of hers before stuffing her muzzle into the food. I looked at the food and saw things I liked, so I started eating too, though more slowly than Skyla. Everypony was eating more slowly than Skyla.
I wasn't even halfway done with my lunch when I heard a familiar whining sound from across the table. Skyla had finished her food and looked sad. I ignored her as I ate, although I did wrap my forehooves around my lunch container to keep her from getting at it. I did not want to share my food.
I managed to finish all of my food, but I was still a little hungry. I knew that I wouldn't be getting any extra food, since Skyla already asked about it and nearly threw a fit.
Once everyone was done and Ms. Tina wrote something down, we were all guided outside for recess. I looked at everything. There was a large thing made of wood, rope, and metal that could be climbed on. It was in a huge area covered with bright, smooth wood pieces. Smaller things were also set up around the area, and it all looked kind of fun, but I wasn't done exploring.
Not far from the big thing was a big hole filled with sparkling sand. Just past the sand was a big metal thing with more of the smooth wood under it and some bigger pieces hanging on it. I chose to go over and sit on one of the bigger pieces, which wasn't easy since it moved around when I pushed it even just a little bit. I did get on it eventually, but I noticed it still moved around a bit. I wrapped my forehooves around the metal it was hanging on and felt quite a bit safer.
I decided to just sit there. I found out that moving my body in certain ways made me move forwards and backwards, and so I had fun with that. I also found out that not moving slowed me down. I just watched everypony playing around. Skyla was having lots of fun playing with other ponies on and around the large thing.
After a while, Ms. Tina called us back inside, saying that we were going to finish the alphabet. While everypony was going back to the first area, Ms. Tina pulled me aside.
"Inova, if you want to, you can go back to the table you were at before" Ms. Tina said.
"Okay" was my reply. I made my way back to the table I was sitting at and sat down at it again. Ms. Tina quickly put the paper and marker I had before back in front of me. Soon, we were back to the alphabet, reciting what we went through earlier before working on P. Ms. Tina wrote the letter on the wall, I would write it on my paper while everypony else wrote it on the wall. After checking my letter, she would go back and write another.
After we did Z, Ms. Tina said it was nap time. She also said we could play quietly in the room if we wanted to. I chose to take a nap, and made my way over to an alcove with a soft floor. I grabbed a pillow, found a comfortable spot, lay down on my belly, and set my head on the pillow. I felt somepony put their head on my back; a quick glance showed it to be Skyla, who appeared to already be asleep. I set my head back down and let myself doze off. I felt more ponies gather around us and fall asleep. I could swear I heard a click of some kind before I was fully asleep.
I woke up to somepony gently nuzzling my face. Somepony much bigger than me, and kind of familiar too.
"Inova, Skyla, it's time to go home” said a voice that sounded a lot like mom’s. I opened my eyes and saw that, indeed, it was her. I could feel her nuzzling Skyla's head on my back. I could also feel Skyla not moving from or on my back. I noticed that most of the ponies that had fallen asleep next to me were gone. I did hear hooves nearby though, along with sounds of ponies having fun.
After a few minutes of mom nuzzling Skyla, and Skyla not reacting, I decided to move. I stood up and Skyla simply slid off of me, her head hitting the soft floor, and not waking up.
"Inova, Skyla, how about we get some ice cream on the way home?" mom asked us. I said "yes" while Skyla bolted awake, and began nodding really fast.
"Alright you two. Come along" mom turned to leave, and Skyla and I followed her after stretching our legs and wings. Ice cream was waiting for us, after all.