The entire class left the schoolhouse for recess, while I stayed in my seat. Once all the other foals were gone, only Cheerilee and I remained. She just stared at me from the door, as if waiting for me. When I didn't move, she used her eyes to usher me out the door. Once she did that, and I didn't respond, she just kept her eyes locked on mine as her expression became more and more frustrated that I wasn't moving.
I wonder if she'd come after me if I just stayed in my seat. It only took a few moments before I found the answer to my question. She took one hard step towards me, and so I knew that one way or another, she'd be getting me out of this room.
So I decided to get up, but not before exerting a heavy sigh. When she saw me moving towards the door, her facial expression immediately diverted into a stream of happiness.
As soon as I took a step outside, I had the immediate urge to run. But, I looked over my shoulder to see Cheerilee looking at me as if she knew what I was planning. So, reluctantly, I decided that it would be better to try and escape when Cheerilee was not paying attention to me.
She led me over to the playground, which was a surprisingly big space. There was more grass and field than anything else. However, it did have a swing-set, some kind of tetherball pole and a jungle gym which most of the other foals were playing on.
When I finally entered the playground's premises, Cheerilee came out from behind me and crouched in my path. "I have to go and watch the other foals now, so I need you to be safe and have some fun, okay?"
"Okay" I responded.
"Make sure to try and make friends too" she said as she wandered away from me with a smile on her face.
She just left me. That was easier than I thought! Now, I can just get the hell out of here! I looked around the playground to see if anypony was watching me, and nopony was. But one lonely foal on the swings caught my attention. It's that colt, Shade, that sits in my row! He's looks absolutely miserable.
I probably have time to see what's up with him before I bail. So, I began to slowly trot over to him, but I quickly stopped myself when another, much bigger, colt approached him from behind. This colt was thicker than all of the foals and had light brown fur. In class, he sat on the right of the first row and didn't seem to pay much attention to Cheerilee.
Anyways, this colt was obviously going to the swings. Aww, that's nice. He's probably going to sit in the empty swing next to Shade.
The bigger colt made his way to the swings, but he didn't go on the empty one. Instead, he went right behind Shade. Aww, that's even nicer, he's gonna push him on the swing. That's when the bigger colt charged up and hit Shade as hard as he could off of the swing. Shade fell hard, face first into the grass. What the hell!
I immediately looked over to see if Cheerilee saw that, but she was helping another foal on the other side of the schoolyard and missed it. I then turned my attention back to the swings. Shade was still lying on the ground in front of the swing as the bigger colt was now standing right above him. Shade covered his face with his hooves as the bigger colt began stomping on him. Oh my god! What the hell is this! I thought these damn ponies were supposed to be all about friendship!
Nopony was doing anything and Cheerilee was too far to see what was happening. I can't just stand here and watch a small foal get repeatedly kicked in the head! I could feel the rage inside of me swelling so much that my eyes felt like they were about to burst into flames.
That's when I instinctively began sprinting as hard as I could towards the bigger one, and when I was only a couple feet away, I leaped into the air, charged back a hoof with all my rage and swung so hard that it knocked the bigger foal fell off balanced. He stumbled a couple feet backwards before losing his balance and falling down. I was still filled with rage afterwards and thought about going after that foal, but I realized that I needed to make sure Shade was okay.
I helped Shade up and watched as his hooves revealed a silent trail of tears leaving his bloodshot eyes. As soon as he saw me, he wrapped his hooves around me and hugged me harder than I've ever been hugged before. "Thank you!" he said, with emotions cracking through his voice.
I didn't say anything, but I comfortingly hugged him back. A few moments passed before a hoof lightly touched the back of my neck. I turned around to see Cheerilee staring at me with a face of pure anger, but also fear.
"W-W-WHAT HAPPENED HERE!" she yelled at me, pointing a hoof at the brown colt who now had stars circling his head.
I was about to respond to her, but then I noticed all the eyes on me. Every single foal had stopped playing, and was watching me, judging me. I couldn't even manage to utter any words to defend myself.
"You three are coming with me to class right now!" stated Cheerilee
She was not happy at all, and she made sure that we knew. She pointed a hoof towards the school, directing Shade and I to go wait inside while she helped up the colt that I'd hit.
On our way back to class, I kept trying to think of how everything got out of hand so quickly. How could a small colt in a world manifested by friendship beat up another foal? It just doesn't make any sense! Maybe this place is a lot different than I thought.
We arrived in the classroom and waited by Cheerilee's desk. I began to get cold sweats as I pondered what Cheerilee might do when she comes through that door.
She eventually arrived with the other colt who now had a lump on the side of his head.
"Would you like to explain what happened?" asked Cheerilee, staring right at me.
I tried to say something, but I was so scared of what she might do that I couldn't even speak. Fortunately though, Shade, who was standing next to me, saw me and spoke up. He told her everything, from being on the swings and being pushed off, to me socking the other colt in the face. Surprisingly, the brown colt didn't even try to retaliate. He seemed embarrassed that he got beat up by a filly.
Anyways, Cheerilee stood in front of all three of us and generated a deep sigh. First she looked at me, then the other two, and then back at me. "You need to apologize to Rider" she commanded me. Oh, so that colt is Rider, and why do I have to apologize to him! He hit Shade off the swings for no reason whatsoever! But, I could see Cheerilee was not in a mood for backtalk, so I grudgingly told Rider that I was sorry.
Then Cheerilee told Rider to apologize for pushing Shade. Shockingly, Rider was able to say he was sorry with true remorse in his voice. He seemed like he was actually disappointed in himself for what he did.
Afterwards, Cheerilee mentioned that she would still have to punish us, which reinstalled fear in me as to what it might be. "Shade, since you didn't do anything, you won't be punished. You can go back outside and enjoy the rest of your recess."
He happily left after saying bye to me, leaving Cheerilee, Rider and I. "I'm very disappointed in you both. You know that you shouldn't hurt other foals. So, after what has happened, you both will have to miss the rest of today's recess."
Wait, what! That's it?! I actually punched a colt unconscious and I only have to miss the rest of recess. I almost bursted out laughing, but I contained it when I gazed back at Cheerilee's stern look. I wanted to see if Rider had the same thought as me, but upon looking over, he looked like he was about to break down and start crying. This is weird.
"You'll both have to stay in your desks for the rest of recess while I go and take care of the others" said Cheerilee.
We both made our way to our seats and watched as Cheerilee left, making sure to lock the door behind her. Well, that went a lot better than I thought it would.
Rider and I did't say a word to each other for a couple minutes. But, he eventually turned around from his desk and faced me. I was expecting him to get really upset, but his face said otherwise. Strangely enough, he had a face of pure shame. "I-I'm sorry for what I did. I know it wasn't right and I'm really sorry! But, I think you knocked some sense into me so I'll leave the poor colt alone. Are we cool?" he asked.
I was pretty astounded at what he just said. I don't know if he said it out of fear or if he was truly sorry, but I do know that he'll leave poor Shade alone. That gave me enough reassurance that I hopefully did the right thing. "We're cool" I responded.
The classroom fell back into a deep silence once Rider turned back around. For the rest of the time, my brain wandered. At first, I thought about the past couple of days and what's happened, but my mind quickly eluded to thoughts of my family and friends.
Holy crap! How could I forget about my own parents?! They must be absolutely worried sick! I wonder what they would think if they saw me now. The thought sent a quick smirk onto my face.
Just then, a shower of memories of my family and friends flooded into my thoughts. The first baseball game I ever went to with my dad. Then there was the week-long camping trip that we took in the mountains. And there was even that one time when my best friend, Max, and I were seven, and we hid in one of those circular hangar racks at Nordstrom. My mom had to call security and they finally found us an hour later. She was absolutely furious, but we still somehow got ice cream afterwards. Oh I wish I could go back to those days. Well, I guess getting back to that world, or dimension, or whatever it is would be a better place to start, because if I can't get home, all that time would've been lost! All those people I loved and shared relationships with will all be gone, forever!
The thought of basically losing everything I've ever known sent my mind into a deep depression.
It's strange too, because ever since I've been here, I've acted a lot differently than usual. I've always been introverted and quiet, but I was never this emotional. I honestly don't know whether it's the fact that I'm not used to this place, if the ponies' emotions are rubbing off on me, or if being transformed into a young filly somehow changed my behavior. In any case, while I've been here, I haven't had control of my feelings. It seems that a lot of the time, I instinctively begin to do things that I know I would never actually do back on earth.
I need to figure out why I'm acting so much differently and how I could get home, but truthfully, I don't have any clue on how I could figure out either one of those things, especially while being trapped in a classroom. Once I get out of here though, I'll try and figure something out. But even if I do manage to find a way home, I might as well enjoy myself while I'm in this "friendly" little land. It's not everyday that you have the chance to live in Equestria!
My thoughts began to stall as the school's door flung open and the sound of foals' laughter quickly filled the room. Strangely enough, none of them acknowledged what had happened at recess, but they made sure to get to their seats once Cheerilee walked in.
As I watched them get to their desks, I felt a warm pair of hooves wrap around me from my left. It was Shade. He gave me a light hug before uttering another quiet "Thank you". Then, he quickly released me and made his way to his own desk. I could feel my face begin to flush bright pink.
Then, Cheerilee began to speak and the entire class snapped their attention to her. We began another lesson, but I was still too overwhelmed by what had happened at recess to really focus. First, I watched Rider beat up Shade. Then, I stepped in and actually sucker punched one of them. Afterwards, Cheerilee gave us the most minuscule punishment of all time. And now, I'm sitting in class as if nothing ever happened. How is that even possible?!
Whatever, I just hope Cheerilee doesn't say anything to Fluttershy or Rainbow when they come to get me. Speaking of which, when do I get out of here? Because I'm starting to get really really really bored. I already know all of this material and relearning it is killing me! But, I can't really do anything other than hunker down and wait until school's over.
So, I did my best to pretend like I was paying attention so Cheerilee wouldn't call on me. My eyes remained at the front of the room while my mind dozed off to other places. I began to think about everything that happened today. I remember waking up under Rainbow's wing, and I did feel a little embarrassed when Fluttershy came down, but I was more comforted than anything. I felt protected, as if I had someone here that cared and that I could count on.
Then, I started to recollect yesterday. I remember that I came so close to getting away from Fluttershy and Rainbow, and maybe if I had, I wouldn't have to be at school. I also remember that that day was the first time I was introduced to Rainbow, and technically Fluttershy because I was..... unconscious the day before.
As soon as I remembered being knocked out, my mind diverted into a stream of flashbacks. A still image of big, glowing red eyes piercing through my soul as I tried to figure out what the hell was going on. What the hell was that thing anyway?
Before I could try and ponder what that thing in the forest could have possibly been, the bell's ringing halted all of my thoughts. Yes, I can go home!
As I got up from my desk, like all the other foals, I could hear Cheerilee talking about the lesson plans for tomorrow. None of the foals really payed attention and it made me feel sorry for her. She seems so nice, but she doesn't get much respect from her students.
Once she finished, I made my way towards the door, and there, towering over me, were two of the widest grins I've ever seen, emitted from a pair of very familiar pegasi.