First Day
Everyone knows that the first day of school is everything. It’s a coin flip between things going right and things going horribly wrong for the rest of the year. So when the first day of school at Ponyville Elementary started, I had to make sure everything was right.
“Mom, you promise you won’t walk us into school this time?” I asked as we walked towards the big red building at the other side of town.
Mom clicked her tongue at me. “Honestly, Pound. I don’t see what’s the big deal. Many colts and fillies walk in with their parents.”
“It’s just well…” I began to say.
“It’s embarrassing!” said my sister, Pumpkin. “You always fuss with our mane and kiss us in front of everyone!”
“Well, I don’t see how that’s embarrassing at all,” said Mom.
We stopped a short distance away from the school’s doors. There were other foals running inside.
“Okay, you two, have fun at school,” she said before planting a kiss on our cheeks. “Your dad will pick you up after school.”
I wiped the spot she kissed with a hoof, while Pumpkin did the same. I really, really hoped no one saw. My eyes widened at the sound of a couple of colts laughing. When I looked in their direction, I saw them laughing and making kissy faces. I wanted to tell them that it was some crazy mare who's been stalking me and Pumpkin for a while now. Perhaps an escaped patient from a mental hospital who saw us as her own kids. I swear, I don't know her!
But who was I kidding? My life at school was over before it even began.
I slunked away into the school before any of the name-calling could begin.
From a first glance, a pony wouldn't think the school could hold one large class of colts and fillies. Actually, it holds five small classes. Dad said that Ponyville started off as a small town, which was why the school was built so small. I'm also willing to bet that the town is so small in the first place is because of the Everfree Forest being so close. Nothing says “Keep away” better than a den of monsters.
The inside of our classroom was a mass chaos of ponies talking over each other and laughing about their summer vacation. Pumpkin and I stood in the center of it all.
“Who do you think our teacher is?” Pumpkin asked beside me.
“Why don’t you ask the pony who’s writing his name on the board?” I said.
Our teacher, a stallion younger than Dad and wearing a tie around his neck, was writing his name on the board in neat cursive. He fixed the pair of glasses on his nose and cleared his throat. “Alright, students, settle down and take your seats,” he said.
When the noise died down and everyone had taken their seat, he continued. “My name is Mr. Gold Star, and I will be teaching you all this year. I’m sure you’ve all had a wonderful summer break, and I bet you’re all excited that school finally started,” he said, smiling.
Some of us chuckled. The rest of us groaned.
He continued anyway. “Now, would anyone like to share what they did over summer?” he asked the class.
“Oh! Oh! Me! Pick me!” someone shouted behind me. When I turned around, I was met with the strange sight of a pink filly waving her hooves frantically and flapping her wings, like a stranded pony trying to signal a passing ship for help. Though with a voice as loud as hers, she could get anyone’s attention without the extra flare of her flinging hooves. Her wavy mane bounced with every movement.
“Well then, introduce yourself to the class and tell us what you did over summer,” he said.
The pegasus sat down in her seat. “My name is Windy Weather, and my family and I just moved here from Fillydelphia!" she said, smiling. She had a missing front tooth.
I’ve never been to Fillydelphia. I imagine Fillydelphia is one of those big city places, like Manehattan. My family hardly goes anywhere outside of Ponyville. Correction: Pumpkin and I hardly go anywhere outside Ponyville. Sometimes Mom and Dad do catering at nearby cities, and Pinkie Pie always babysits us when they do. So anyway, I imagined a pony from Fillydelphia would have some kind of city accent or something.
"Well, welcome to Ponyville, Windy Weather," said Mr. Gold Star.
After a few more volunteers, he took attendance for the rest of the class, calling our names one by one. The first thing we started in class was math. He gave everyone a sheet of paper filled with math problems. Nothing hard. He also walked around the room to help those who had a trouble. While working on my own problems, there was a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to face Windy.
“Hey. Pound Cake, right?” she asked me.
“Uh, yeah?” I said.
She brought a hoof towards me. “Hi, it’s nice to meet you."
I bumped her hoof with mine. “Nice to meet you too.” Looking down, I noticed she hasn’t done a single problem on her paper, but she went on with the conversation.
“So how long have you been in Ponyville,” she asked.
I raised a brow. “All my life?” I didn't mean for it to come out as a question, but why ask a question like that?
“Figures. You don’t look like the kind of pony that travels around much. Not that that’s a bad thing,” she said.
I wonder what she meant by that. Actually, what did she mean by that? Was it my wings? I'm not great at flying yet, but I heard that not flying often enough causes them to stop growing. I thought they looked kind of small when I looked in the mirror! But Mom wouldn't believe me.
I wanted to tell Windy that Mom and Dad were once acrobats and that we were once a famous group of traveling performers called The Darings. Daredevil performers involving tightropes, flaming hoops, and a shark tank. The only problem to this story was the chance she'd see Mom and Dad working at Sugarcube Corner and start asking questions.
"Yeah, well,” I began, “it's because of my mom and dad. They're bakers, so we don't get the chance to travel often. But my family makes stuff for the princesses all the time.” Well, it's true.
Windy actually looked surprised. "Oh, cool. I'm just taking a wild guess here, but I'm guessing you're related to Pumpkin Cake," she said, pointing Pumpkin, who was doodling next to her answers. Looking at her paper, I hoped Mr. Gold Star likes dinosaurs because Pumpkin's paper is just covered with drawings of them. If she was already done, then Windy and I were really getting far behind in our work.
"Yeah, she's my sister," I said, glancing at my unfinished work. "Look I gotta get back to work." To make it clear that she should get started too, I tapped her paper with a hoof, giving it a few glances.
She didn't take the hint. "So you're a pegasus, huh? Did you know that pegasi control the weather? You probably already do. They do that in Fillydelphia too. But Ponyville is a small town so maybe you guys do things differently. After all, it's next to the Everfree Forest and..."
This filly was going to give me a headache. She talked as much as Pinkie, and she talks a lot. Pinkie used to put me and Pumpkin to sleep just talking when we were little, and after we woke up, we would get a craving for oatmeal of all things. But right now, Windy was just distracting.
When it was time to hand in our work, I only had a quarter left to finish. Windy, surprisingly, managed to finish every problem. When asked how, she said, "I only had to do a quarter of the problems."
This was going to be a long day...
~~~~~~~
School was looking much better as soon as we started arts and craft. We got to use actual paint and paintbrushes, not the watercolor one with the flimsy brushes. Instead of just learning about some old stallion and his artwork, we got to paint like him instead. Mr. Gold Star gave each of us a fruit to draw and told us not to eat them, though one colt was a little slow on the uptake.
Before I even got to start, there was a tickling feeling between my wings. I looked back and saw Windy whistling to herself. I went back to work on painting the apple in front of me. But then there was the annoying tickle at my back.
I could already tell where this was going. I tried to ignore it, but it didn't stop. Looking behind, I saw Windy with a brush in her mouth and the biggest smile I have ever seen.
"What?" she asked innocently.
"Oh, I'm sure you know what. Now cut it out," I said.
Picking up my paintbrush, I picked up where I left off. There was a sharp pain in my left wing, and I let out a yelp, accidentally bumping the desk and causing a jar of red paint to spill all over my painting and on my coat. I whipped my head around to the only pony that could be responsible for this.
Sitting there with one of my feathers in her mouth was Windy. Her eyes were wide. The whole class was staring at us, as if everyone had decided to drop what they were doing to watch us, like a roadside carriage accident.
"Pound, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean..."
Before I could explode and really let her know how I felt, Mr. Gold Star trotted up to my desk. "Oh dear, Pound. Just go on and wash yourself up in the restroom. Don't worry about the mess."
A heavy sigh left my mouth, along with most of my anger. "Okay..." I said. I trotted towards the door, but not before sending one last glare at Windy. She withered under my gaze.
I think the third worst thing to get on your fur is paint, right below bubblegum and glue. If any pony were to pass by the colt’s restroom right now, they’d hear me grumbling to myself as I scrub the paint off me with wet paper towels.
When I got back, the mess had been cleaned, and I was given a new sheet of paper to paint on. As soon as I sat down, there was a tapping on my shoulder. I immediately flinched knowing who it was.
"Pound, I'm really, really sorry," Windy said from over my shoulder. "You see, I saw this feather and..."
"Stop," I said. "Don't talk to me. Don't touch me. We're not friends, okay? So stop trying to act like we are."
I heard Windy slide back in her seat. Half an hour later, she hasn't said a word since, with the only sound being a few sniffles. From the corner of my eye, I saw Pumpkin looking at me, but I ignored her and focused on my drawing. It’s not like it was my fault. She shouldn’t have been pulling on my feathers like that anyway.
~~~~~~~
The rest of class went by without a peep from Windy. It felt strangely quiet, even during Mr. Gold Star's lectures, and I found myself bored out of my mind. When the bell signaled lunch time, everyone ran out the class as soon as Mr. Gold Star gave the okay. My thoughts were distracted, replaying the events with Windy in my head. Why did it feel like I was the bad guy in this?
"What's the matter, Pound?" asked a light blue filly.
I looked up from my sandwich that I had been eating. "Nothing. Just thinking, Carol." I took a bite out of my sandwich. Even my favorite PB&J sandwich didn't make me feel better.
Carol, along with her younger sister, Rhyme, sat next to me and Pumpkin by the tree we always hung out next to. Rhyme was a little filly who was the color of apricot and currently had her face in a cup of pudding that was packed in her lunch. She and Carol were two earth ponies about a few years younger than Pumpkin and me, but we still got to see them during lunch and recess at school. Their family owns a musical instrument shop across from us.
"Oh, Pound's just mad at a girl in our class after he spilled paint on himself," Pumpkin said.
"Is she your special somepony?" Carol asked.
I choked on my sandwich mid-bite, sending me into a coughing fit that sprayed crumbs everywhere.
"What? No! Where did that even come from?" I brushed the crumbs off my coat. “She just sits next to me and talks to me a lot… about stuff.”
The little grin on Carol’s face grew wider into a look I knew very well and would like to be far away from. "Ooh, you like her!" she teased.
"I do not!" I shouted back.
"Like her! Like her!" screamed Rhyme. She had a habit of copying whatever her sister says and does and then laughing like crazy.
"I don't like her!" My face felt hot. This is what I get for having only fillies for friends.
“I’m kind of worried about Windy,” Pumpkin said. The earth pony siblings’ laughing and teasing quieted down for which I silently thanked Pumpkin.
Across the playground, we saw Windy. She sat alone in the corner of the yard away from all the other colts and fillies. No one approached her or even talked to her. It wasn’t until we heard a passing group of fillies that we knew why.
“Hey, did you hear about what happened in Mr. Gold Star’s class?”
“I heard she and Pound were fighting about something.”
“Why would she pick on Pound like that?”
So that explained it. Ponyville Elementary was known for gossips that spread like wildfire ever since the Gabby Gums incident years ago. It’s become a schoolyard tale that’s been passed down and exaggerated for years. Despite the outcome of that, I guess ponies just like to talk. As soon as news hits one pair of ears, it’ll hit an entire school grade in minutes and the entire school by lunch. I wouldn’t have minded if it wasn’t about me.
A pair of lanky colts walked up to us. “Hey Pound! Is it true you got beat up by a girl?” asked one of the colts.
My hoof met my face. “No!”
Pumpkin stepped between us. “Hey, get lost!" she shouted. "Or you'll be the next ones to be beat by a girl!” She sent a withering glare at the two colts.
“Sorry! We were just asking,” the other colt replied. They started backing away from Pumpkin. “We’ve got a thing to do...over there. So...yeah.” The two colts made a hasty retreat.
Pumpkin chuckled to herself. “Yeah, I thought so. Weenies...”
Pumpkin can be tough when she needs to. “Thanks for that,” I said to her.
“What? Oh, yeah, sure. Whatever,” she said, trying to brush it off as if it was nothing.
I gave another look towards Windy. She looked all sad and bored playing with a blade of grass. "What do we do about her?" I asked.
"Maybe you should kiss her to make her feel better! My daddy is always happy when my mommy kisses him," Carol said.
To add her own bit to the conversation, Rhyme shouted, "Kiss! Kiss!"
I shook my head. "Pass!" There was no way I'd ever be caught kissing another filly in the playground in broad daylight. That's like a year of being put in the notoriously metaphorical “Tree” with her.
Pumpkin smacked me in the shoulder. "Hey, featherbrain! This is your fault, remember? The least you could do is say sorry."
I rubbed my sore shoulder. "My fault?!"
She glared back. "Yeah! Now get off your sorry butt and apologize to her or else I'm telling Mom you made a filly cry."
"Alright, alright! Sheesh, no need to get drastic."
I started walking towards Windy, trying to come up with some half-hearted words of apology. I stopped halfway and turned to look at the others. Do I really have to?
Carol and Pumpkin shooed me with a wave of their hooves. Rhyme wasn't really paying attention and was busy staring at a ladybug flying around.
I sighed.
Just when I was only a hop, skip, and a jump away from the girl, two fillies came up to her. A pink unicorn came strutting with a mane that can only be described by Rarity as "fabulous." She, along with a white unicorn with an expensive-looking necklace, are known as the "Terrible Two”. The "Dastardly Duo”. They're best known as Stella and Starstruck, rich fillies born from rich families who came to Ponyville, looking to be even richer. Not only are they rich, but they've also got their cutie marks: a bejeweled brush and a ring of stars.
"Heeey Windy," greeted Stella, the fabulous one. She held a fake smile and looked like a chimera ready to pounce its prey.
"H-hello. Who are you?" Windy asked.
"Stella. And this is Starstruck," she answered. The two fillies began circling around Windy like sharks in a tank. “So, you’re the new filly in town.” Her eyes looked over Windy before stopping on her bare flank. Her smile grew.
"That means you've gotta listen to us, got it?" said Starstruck.
"Why do I have listen to you two?" Windy asked.
"Because!" Stella butted in. "You're just a good-for-nothing Blank Flank." The two unicorns laughed as Windy tried to hide her cutie mark-less flank from view with her tail. “There’s nothing special about you. You’re just a boring, plain—”
“Not to mention, talentless,” Starstruck added.
“Blank Flank!” they both shouted, cackling together.
Windy was getting eaten alive out there. Although, I could just walk away and let her handle it and avoid embarrassment altogether… But I can't, and it’s not because Pumpkin will tattle on Mom. Sometimes I hate doing the right thing.
I ran between Windy and Stella.
"What do you want, Blank Flank?" Stella sneered at me. “Come to save your fillyfriend?”
My mind went blank having to switch gears from apologizing to Windy to defending her from bullies. "What’s my problem? What's your problem?” Heads turned in our direction, getting the attention of most of the playground. At the first sounds of a fight, ponies want to get front row seats.
“I don't have a problem as long as she knows her place. Same goes for you, Bare Bottom.”
My ears flattened against my head, but I pushed through. “All you do is make fun of every pony who doesn’t have a cutie mark, but there are lots of other ponies in Equestria who don’t have one. Not just me or Windy or anypony else in school. Soon, we’ll get our own cutie marks, and then what are you going to do? While we’ve moved on, you'll still be laughing at little kids for not having a cutie mark. So why don't you grow up already?”
Stella glanced around at all the eyes watching. Her face reddened as she took on a flustered look. Her jaw clenched. “S-so what? Big talk coming from the class dork. I'll still be richer than you and your dumb fillyfriend!”
I turned away from them, ending our conversation. “Come on, Windy. Let's go.”
Before anyone else can get a word in, I was already pushing Windy to where the others were and away from those two. Behind me, I hardly caught the few words that Stella and Starstruck said about me.
As we walked back, I let out a large breath. “I can't believe I just did that.” My face was burning with embarrassment, and I can't believe she called Windy my…ugh!
When we got back, Carol, Rhyme, and Pumpkin were also looking at us strangely. Well, more specifically me. It most likely had something to do with me hurriedly pushing Windy from behind towards the gang. I guess it was about time I apologized. But Windy beat me to it.
"I'm sorry, Pound. I'm sorry I pulled out one of your feathers and got paint to spill all over you," she said, trying to avoid looking me in the eye. "You had this broken feather sticking out and wanted to help. I wouldn’t blame you if you're still mad at me."
I rubbed the back of my neck. "Listen, Windy. If it makes you feel any better, I'm not mad at you anymore, despite what everyone else says."
Her eyes met mine. "Well, thanks for helping out back there with those two. But you kind of embarrassed me in front of everyone in school."
"I guess I did," I said, leaving a heavy sigh. "So now we're even."
She smiled, showing me that little gap in her front teeth where a tooth should have been. "I guess so."
The sound of someone clearing her throat reminded me of our audience. "Oh, right. Windy, you know Pumpkin. These two are Carol and Rhyme."
"Hello," said Carol.
"Hello! Hello!" Rhyme echoed, bouncing up to Windy.
Windy giggled, bumping hooves with them. "Nice to meet you."
"So now that that's done," I said, "anyone want to play a game of tag?"
"Not it!" Pumpkin shouted, running ahead of us.
"Not it!" everyone else shouted, leaving me and Windy in the dust.
I turned to Windy. "First day of school in a new town and you've already made new friends," I said.
"Yeah. But you know, you were my first friend today," she said, leaning towards me.
She’s so close I can see her freckles.
"Now, eat my dust!" She kicked off with a flap of her wings, sending her speeding towards the others.
As I was about to give chase, a small colt with a notepad showed up next to me. "Hey Pound. I'm Big Scoop, working as the newest member of Ponyville Elementary's newspaper club. Are the rumors true that Windy is now your special somepony?"
I nearly tripped over my own hooves. "What! No! Get out of here!"
The colt left, no doubt trying to find another source for his juicy story. It’s still amazing how fast gossip travels.
Why do I have the feeling Carol’s going to make this worse for me?
A glance towards the group of fillies showed Carol talking excitedly about something while Windy shook her head and blushed.
I took off towards the fillies. They ran when they saw me, beginning our game. In the midst of all the laughter, I thought about all the things that went wrong today.
The first day had been rough for me. It could have been worse. But, hey, at least I made someone's first day just a little better. After all, the first day of school is the beginning of everything.