[Ponyville] Class Is In Session (Open to Ponyville Fillies and Colts)

[Boss_Hoss1]

Snails quietly chuckled behind a hoof at Sweetie Bell actually responding to the request on teaching that flaming breakfast to him.

He whispered "Yeh, not this morning, and 'specially not in class. Thanks a lot Sweetie Bell! We'll find a safe time ta do that."

The orangy foal looked over and frowned at Diamond Tiara's glaring at the new filly. He motioned a sign for "Coool!" at Haywire for the bunny ears and sticking up for Twilight.

He then whispered to Snips "Whats with DT t'day? You'd think she wuz a griffon with an attitude like that..."

Snails softly clopped his hooves on his desk in applause for Twilight and Rosehip.

(OOC; edited to correct what Quicklime pointed out)

[QuickLime]

(actually she hasn't sat down yet..)

[SteelEagle]

It was always nice to hear about the new ponies and their stories. Rosehip sounded like a fine little filly and had a cheery attitude to boot, something that was often lacking in new ponies. Then the fact she wore a bow hit her and she knew they were destined to be terribly awesome friends. Definitely somepony she wanted to get to know more! Then there was the ongoing drama with Haywire and Diamond Tiara, who seemed to be having a small tiff of their own. You could tell because Diamond Tiara only looked happy when she was about too be mean or was talking about herself and she wasn't talking about herself just yet. That meant she was about to be mean and as much as Apple Bloom would have liked to say Haywire was in a good position, she wasn't a habitual liar.

Of course with every passing moment the time for Scootaloo to reveal her, err, report came near. Sweetie, as usual, seemed a bit uneasy at the idea but they were the Cutie Mark Crusaders and by Celestia's everflowing mane they worked together! Apple Bloom would go up first- her report was not only done, but she had the wonderful ability to stall everypony by trying to start a side conversation with Cheerilee. It would be wonderfully exciting to see it all come together just in time for Scootaloo to fix her report. She might need a lot of time to do that- a quick glance at what she had revealed that even a farm filly could hardly understand it. Maybe pegasi spelled all the words in the world differently; who was she to judge?

"Cutie Mark Crusader Stallers, Go!" Apple Bloom whispered at such a low ebb that it may as well have been her just mouthing it as she leaned towards her friends. After a second, she pulled back to her desk and brought out the little folder with her book report. It was chaotic, but there was a certain amnount of logic to be found within the chaos. It was Apple Bloom logic and Apple Bloom logic was the best logic of all the logic.

"Naww Miss Cheerilee, Ah think," She began before taking the folder in mouth, "itsth thime thor 'ook the-pots," Apple Bloom said as she cheerily got up and made her way to the front of the class, turning around with a smile. Then she 'forgot' to take the folder out of her mouth and started speaking, hoping to get maybe ten or twenty seconds in before Cheerilee asked her to remove it from her mouth. What would a stalling cutie mark look like?

"Ah thed thath "Tha Grithon, tha Unicorthn, ath tha Clothet" thor fa' 'ook the-pots. 'Ere's mah thellin' on it..." She began before blathering on in unintelligible gibberish.

[brianblackberry]

Awkward silence - not uncommon, not a surprise. Cheerilee had suspected it would happen, but she still needed to ask if anypony in class had a question for Rosehip. Foals were foals, though, and none of them wanted to draw unnecessary classroom attention to themselves by asking some silly question that got them laughed at, or some rude question that got them in trouble. Cheerilee had to end the uncomfortable pause quickly, "Thank you, Rosehip! You may take your seat now."

Cheerilee turned her attention back to the rest of the class and smiled, "We have a really fun, interactive project today that I know you all will have a great and creative time doing! It's a surprise! First, though, its time for the oral book reports. As you all know, the report was on a book that you found personally inspiring; I can't wait to hear what wonderful books excite you! Applebloom, why don't you come on up since you asked to go first."

The cerise colored mare watched as Applebloom trotted up, folder in mouth, and started to talk incoherently. Cheerilee's eye rose in suspicion, was Abby trying to be funny in front of the class, some dare she had with her friends? "Applebloom ..." Cheerilee's voice was flat before she reached over and pulled the report from the foal's mouth and set it on the desk, "no goofing around, please. Give your report to the class, you don't want to delay that fun project we have later!"

[Lux]

Guiding Light, so transfixed in his own preparation of his book report did not see the drama involved between Diamond Tiara and Haywire. In reality he didn't care much about anything happening involving Diamond Tiara who always seemed to have her mane in knot. He remembered when he was the target of her bullying due to his magic ability. Fortunately, or actullly, the pony redirected her teasing to other clasmates.

Light then saw Apple Bloom with a folder in her mouth, reading her report. Didn't she know that no pony could understand her... unless she was trying to stall for somepony, maybe one of her friends. He began to envision himself standing up there desparately trying to get the words out. All the students and ms. Cheerilee would be staring at him. then the stares would become snickers and the snickers laughing. And all due to his shyness which has been his undoing for years. He needed to focus, and the best way was to close his eyes and focus on the things he liked: his family, his friends, his magical ability, and the possibility of a future life with a special somepony. He felt the weight of his potential failure leave him, replaced by confidence.

[Mojo]

Haywire snorted at the veiled threat of her tiara wearing classmate. The rust colored filly was no stranger to classroom drama since she could produce more than her share all by herself. Her main concern was for the new filly in class, Twilight Shine. Haywire didn't want her first day of school to end in bullying, so the blonde blank flank needed to be alert for any of Diamond Tiara's antics. Putting that issue aside for the moment, Haywire was relieved that she wasn't called upon to give her non existant book report yet. She hoped that time would run out in class before Cheerilee could call upon her. One more day, that's all she needed, one more day to at least READ the assigned book she had. Haywire watched with great anxiety as the student book reports continued.

[SonicRainboomGirl]

Scootaloo was grateful, incredibly grateful. Although, she sincerely hoped none of them got a Cutie Mark in stalling. But just that in itself made Scootaloo awfully curious. She imagined what she would do if she discovered her special talent to be stalling. What would that even look like on a flank? How would she explain that to people? What kind of career would that ensue? Was stalling ever useful in real society, or just for covering a pony's tracks? After a few seconds of pondering, Scootaloo decided to try and draw a stalling Cutie Mark.

A crude, slowed-down clock was what resulted after a few seconds of scratching away with thick, uneven lines. It was awfully fitting, and she certainly didn't want it on her flank. Had she ever seen anypony with an UGLY Cutie Mark? While Scootaloo was never a big fan of Fluttershy's Cutie Mark (it was so girly!), she couldn't think of a Cutie Mark that was necessarily ugly. What good news! But what someponie's special talent was being ugly? Would they still HAVE a Cutie Mark? A really disgusting, horrifying Cutie Mark? If that was the case, what were they good for? Scootaloo's head hurt. She couldn't wait to get her Cutie Mark! She hoped it was really cool looking. Flames, or something.

But, wait, WHAT WAS SHE DOING!? SHE HAD AN ESSAY TO WRITE!

Panicked, distracted, and procrastinating despite the urgency of her situation, Scootaloo got straight back to work. Hopefully Apple Bloom wouldn't notice the quick clock sketch on her paper. Maybe her special talent was getting distracted easily...

[SteelEagle]

Apple Bloom gave a sheepish and embarassed grin as Cheerilee caught on pretty quickly to her little game. She was a quick one that teacher, but Apple Bloom wasn't about to drop the act just yet. She could perhaps power out another sentence or two.

"Ah'm sorry Mith-" She said before rolling her eyes and removing the folder from her mouth, laughing as she did so, "MISS Cheerilee. Ah was just so plum excited ta come on up here and share this book report with y'all. Ah just forget all about that silly ol' folder! Isn't it silly? It sure is!" She offered witrh a forced chuckle, bringing the papers out and clearing her throat.

"Ah just finished, "Tha Griffon, Tha Unicorn, and Tha Closet" and Ah must say that Ah had a blast readin' it. Y'all should too, it's a nice lil' read," She began on script, but stalling demanded some off the cuff, unscripted moments as well. "Not mah favorite of the series though, gotta say "Tha Voyage of Tha Twilight Treader" is mah favorite, mostly cuz Ah don't get read much that's like In-A-Rammian," Off the cuff time was over, returning to script.

"But neverthaless, its a dandy read. Some foals- none of'em have their Cutie Marks, which makes'm super relatable!- during tha time of tha uprising of Nightmare Moon are stayin' at thar family's house when they stumble upon some enchanted closet. Well, thay go on in and meet the White Unicorn and she turns out ta be an evil Queen of a land covered in snow," The cuff was now off, "The writer loved his historical stuff, ya know? The whole thing seemed like a pretty blatant nod ta tha time of tha three tribes and tha Windigos, what with the hundred year winter and such," her off-cuffing sensibilities were satisfied, back to the script.

"So there's all these lil' misadventures with the cast, Edmount, Lucky, until finally thay run into a couple of beavers who tell'm that thar was a griffon who ruled the land in peace," her brows furrowed as the cuff was now officially off, "When Ah first started readin' the series, Applejack was a bit put off that tha big figure of the whole thing is some griffon. She hadn't read the book- not this one, anyway, she said she used ta have some mighty fine picture books layin' about but lost them recently- and didn't think that Ah should read it. She thought it'd be 'bout some evil Griffon, obviously tha work of Discord or some such. Mah sister can be an awfully silly pony sometimes, Ah tell you what. Ah disagreed wit' her but Ah always did wonder why a pegasus would write a book 'bout a griffon. Didja know that a long time ago, the griffons beat Commander Hurricane an' tha Pegasi started to make tha Griffons out ta be these mythological perfect creatures? How silly is that! Ah guess this author musta been a big fan of those stories, 'cause tha Griffon-King they meet named Antlan is a real stand-up stallion. Or hawk? Eagle? Raptor? Oh wait, tear-see-lion...tiercelion. Yeah, that's it!" The cuff was firmly back on.

"Anyhoof, thay find this real king o' the land of Neeeeighrnia named Antlan and they hel'im try an' stop tha White Unicorn, who has enchanted Edmount using Turkey. Thar's this big'ol battle and Antlan sacrifices 'imself ta save Edmount and then comes back from tha dead, provin' himself tha savior and ruler of Neeeeighrnia. Good stallions win, bad stallions lose, sorta basic story. Ah enjoyed it 'cause its written real good and its a nice plot to bury your face inta," Just then, the cuff left, "Though I gotta say that tha series sorta loses me at tha end with, "The Last Roundup". It's a nice 'nough story but Ah just find anythin involving Pinto and 'is Allegory of the Caves to just be some sillyness that not even Ah can stand!" She laughed at the end under the assumption that anypony know what the hay she was talking about. She fished through her folder and brought out the book, holding it up.

"It's written bah Bree S. Lopis, who writes lotsa cool books y'all should read. And that's mah book report, Ah guess. Any questions?" She offered out as she put the book away, hoping to draw away more time for Scootaloo to assemble something coherent.

[Lux]

Guiding Light sat and watched as Apple Bloom finaklly gave her speech on her book. Clearly her act of trying to talk with a folder in her mouth was a way to stall for something, most likely a friend. He remembered reading that book before, The Griffon, the Unicorn, and the Closet. It was hard to keep track of what he read and what he didn't. His mind was like a library with everything he read or learned.

He admired even envied the fact that Apple Bloom was such a good speaker. If he could have twenty percent of her charisma and confidence he'd be as happy as a book worm in a library! He longed for the day that he could learn from her how to be confident, because what he was doing was obviously not working.

He instincly raised his hoodf at the request of Apple Bloom offering questions. It was partly for him to learn more, but it was also a way to cut any awkward silence if no pony wanted to ask any other questions.

"Um... Apple Bloom... what did you think about the part where Edmount betrayed Atlan and his brother and sisters for the White Queen. Did you think it was easy for the siblings to take him back?"

[brianblackberry]

Cheerilee looked down to Apple Bloom with a flat expression, giving a forced chuckle at the explanation with the folder. She wasn’t sure what the Apple filly was really up to, but it just seemed to be wasting time. Still, as long as she gave the report, Cheerilee would say no more on the subject.

Feelings of Nostalgia filled Cheerilee as she listened to the book report. The Griffon, The Unicorn, and The Closet was a classic - a book she had read herself more than a few times as a filly, getting lost in that mysterious otherworldly realm and dreaming of such adventures for herself. Now that she thought about it, she was sure she still had her original book back home; she would have to make some time to read it once again. As Applebloom gave her report, it was apparent she enjoyed the adventure story as well, even though she would regularly go off tangent, as if to pad her report. Cheerilee wrote down her thoughts to that respect as she graded Applebloom’s oral report skills.

Cheerilee was about to write in the final grade of a “C” and call up Snails, the only other student who actually volunteered, when Applebloom asked if anypony had any questions, which actually caught Cheerilee a little off guard. Usually when one of the students had to do an oral report, they wanted to get back to their seat as soon as they were done, not wanting to prolong their awkward presentation any longer than absolutely necessary. Still, she didn’t expect anypony in class to ask, and thus was pleasantly surprised when Guiding Light asked one. Maybe the grade she planned to give Applebloom was a bit premature.

[QuickLime]

Silver Spoon was not paying attention to anything going on right now, she was busy organizing her desk for her report. Sitting neatly she had a file that had her type writer written book report on “ The Swan Princess” About a pony princess turned into a swan by a evil unicorn and who could only be herself again when the light of the full moon reflected off the lake! It had love, and action, and a great ending! The book had always been Silver Spoons favorite story ever since she was a little filly, and part of her was glad she was going to get to read it to the class. Now If only AppleBloom would sit down and stop talking!

She really was finding herself to become fond of AppleBloom! But the Filly talked for hours on end and sometimes it sounded like she didn’t actually SAY anything…

RoseHip was disappointed that nopony asked her a single question but just shrugged it off and went to sit at her desk, pencil in hoof she started to write a quick book report. Writing was a fun past time for RoseHip and she had no issue churning out a quick three page paper on her favorite book “Harry Totter and the Brass DoorKnob” about a Unicorn that went to a special school for learning extreme magic, and a brass doorknob that when touched granted the wielder immortality! And he had to keep the brass door knob away from the evil Lord SnakeFace!

She giggled quietly at that before moving to raise a hoof, not for AppleBloom but for Miss Cheerilee “Excuse me Miss Cheerilee? Do I get to do my report too? I know I’m new but I was able to write one none the less” Plus it was more public speaking and RoseHip LOVED standing up in front of others and reading.

[SteelEagle]

Apple Bloom as a public speaker lacked several essential qualities, the most important of which was sticking to a script. The book report she had written was in no way longer or short than the others and it was, for who had written it and the care put into it, a good piece. Not something Cheerilee would remember, but a solid Bee. Apple Bloom knew her Bee face. She also knew her Cee face, Aye face, and the Dee and Eff face. She had many faces and Apple Bloom had seen them mixed with disappointment, frustration, regret, excitement, joy, and happiness. She had many faces and Apple Bloom could see that the Cee face was on. A little sad, but passing was passing- she wasn't no smart pony and had no ambition to be anything more. Sometimes she thought Cheerilee was extra hard on her, but what could you expect? Apple Bloom was just a dumb farm filly.

Guiding Light asked an earnest question, and she was happy to hear that there was a fellow fan amongst the crowd. Well, she supposed this was the crowd if there was one who would have a special affinity for the work, but she was still happy to see it. Who knew Guiding Light liked to read? All he liked to do as far as Apple Bloom was concerned was be timid and throw his hoof far down his throat at all times around her. Colts- they liked to read and were silly. Luna confound them, they drived her to cider.

"Thay found it pretty easy ta forgive Edmount, an' that's cause' a major theme o' the book is compassion. Thay love thar family even when the brother is all sorts of bad for a bit, an' thay forgive him 'cause they know he was under tha spell of an enchanted turkey. This shows compassion an'...what's that word Ah wrote down....empathy? Yeah, empathy sounds right, Ah reckon. Antlan also forgave him an' since the whole dang book is really just a metaphor for how great them old, noble griffons were ''ccordin to pegasi myth and such, once he did it thay all fell in line right quick. Anypony else?" Apple Bloom offered, hoping to field a thousand questions so Scootaloo could figure out how to spell a few words right in time for her ribbing.

[Lux]

Guiding light nodded, pleased with her response. Apple Bloom seemed a little surprised that the colt liked reading. He guessed that really the only thing she knew for certain about him was that he was shy. That wasn't really a good thing to base one's life on. He was more than that. But at least he helped her with her project.

Then Light returned to the task at hoof: hi book report. He knew there was a pony after Apple Bloom that was going to read, but after that it ws fair game as to who went next. He might be going first or last. One thing was for certain: he was going to give his report today. He just had to wait and see when.

[Mojo]

Haywire wasn't really paying much attention to AppleBloom's presentation because she was doing her usual daydreaming in class. As she was imagining herself as a grown up Pony Princess living in Canterlot, the rust colored filly's daydream ended and she was now back in 'reality.' Hearing a question to AppleBloom raised and answered instantly gave the blonde blank flank an idea.

"Hay! If'n ol' AppleBloom keeps answerin' questions, that's gonna eat up more time!" Haywire thought as she instantly hoisted a front hoof in the air.

"I gotta question fer ya, AppleBloom. If'n that thar Edmount feller were a tree, what kinda tree would he be?"

[SteelEagle]

Apple Bloom loved a good distraction and stalling was something she craved at this moment in time. However, there was a certain feel you had to have for it as all your work and planning could be cast aside if the teacher caught on and put a stop to the foolishness. The first fact made Apple Bloom admire Haywire's silly, inane question that would normally inspire in her a discussion of apple trees. The second fact made her acutely aware that the question was so silly that Cheerilee would shut the whole operation down. Still, it was so out of left field that all she could initially was laugh. And then giggle and snort. Finally, she shook her head free of its own web of joy and smiled.

"Ah, that's a silly question right thar, Hay. Ah'm not sure Ah have tha right answer but 'ccordin to tha pictures, he's a right cutie so Ah'd say maybe a poplar," Apple Bloom answered confidently, being more familiar with trees than she was colts she considered it an accurate choice, "Anypony else have any real questions ta ask?"

It wasn't that she was truly desiring an avalanche of questions to slam into her and drive her to new heights of literary criticism. She just wanted to stall until the very last second possible had been spent and it was up to Scootaloo and the chicken Pegasus alone to pull herself out of her own, lazy-self inflicted hole. There was a limit to how many fables and stories she could tell in a day and she was at her upper limit of one already.

[brianblackberry]

Cheerilee nodded to the first question - Guiding Light was obviously a fan as well, and Applebloom's answer as pleasantly well thought out. She'd certainly learned something from the book.

"Please don't interrupt someone else's presentation," she told Rosehip, "wait until we're between presentations," and she settled in to listen. She sighed, though, at Haywire's question. It seemed the red filly was determined to be both class prankster and class clown. "I think that is enough questions," she sighed, frowning at Haywire. "You may take your seat, Applebloom, and thank you for your report." Cheerilee looked down at her grading paper and wrote "C+".

"Now, Rosehip, if you wish to give a report, you certainly may." Cheerilee gave an encouraging smile - it was always nice to see a student so enthusiastic. "You may go after Snails; come on up Snails." Cheerilee was pretty curious what the lanky goldenrod colt's report would be - he was generally a class clown, as well.

Remember folks, this thread is all about the foals, so feel free and go nuts interacting, Cheerilee purpose in this thread is to simply guide it along and give structure, she is really a background character to you all here.

[BaconofChaos]

“Twilight SHINE? More like Twilight WHINE”

Diamond Tiara supressed a titter at this. She held a hoof in front of her mouth so Cheerilee would see her smirking. "Hee hee! Good one Silver Spoon!" she whispered. she'd have to remember that for later.

“Ooh another loser that wears a bow”

"I know, right? Gotta get some real head wear." replied Diamond, turning her head to let the light glint off her tiara.

Diamond listened to Apple Bloom's book report without much interest. Apple Bloom's voice was so grating, and she went off on so many tangents that the pink filly just couldn't follow. Not that she cared. A pony under the spell of a magic turkey? What is this garbage?

Instead of listening she busied herself with going over her own book report. "I so just want to get this over with." she whispered to Silver Spoon. "I want to see what Miss Cherrilee's surprise is."

OOC:

"...and its a nice plot to bury your face inta,"

I'm sorry, but I love out-of-context quotes. XD

[hinata2000100]

Twilight looked over at Diamond Tiara and was blinded by the glint off of her... well, diamond tiara. She had no idea how a simple tiara could blind her, but it did. Maybe the sun was too bright or something. She rubbed her eyes, but that didn't seem to help. She looked around, making it very evident that she was blind at the moment. To add even more evidence, she started to feel around with her hooves to find anything familiar, but couldn't feel anything. She deduced from this that she was just randomly flailing her hooves in the air, and quickly set them on her desk, blushing and waiting for her sight to come back, as the whiteness she saw currently was getting a bit redundant.

[SonicRainboomGirl]

Scootaloo was finished! Sure, the report was messy, sure it was hard to read, sure it was short and way too fast: but it was done! Now all she needed was some help, help from her classmates. She turned around, waving her report with a crinkle of paper and flash of white. She'd have to appear confident, more confident than she really was. That way Miss Cheerilee would never know!

"Hey! PSST. Can I get some help here! Can you all ask me like ten bajillion questions please?"

[Boss_Hoss1]

Snails gulped as he suddenly realized Appebloom was done and made to sit down.

He knew he had to go through with being next to allay Miz Cheeriliee's suspicions about any attempt to learn pyrotechnics from Sweetie Belle.

He got up with his report and the book in his mouth and trotted up front. he propped the book up on the chalk shelf of the blackboard so all the other foals could see it

Snails cleared his throat and looked at the class "Mah report is on th' book ah read; "Daring Do's Beginner Science Series, Number 9; Beneficial Bugs of Equestria, By Elegant Butterfly."

He picked the book up and held it high in his hooves "This book teaches that while many bugs and spiders are destructive or even dangerous, many are beneficial ta farming."

Snails flipped the book open to a page showing bees "Bees are th' best example. They buzz from flower to flower, pollinatin' as they go while they gather nectar fer honey. Applebloom's family wouldnt' have any apples without bees, an' the honey shop wouldnt' have anythin' ta sell. Bees are Awesome!"

He looked around "Is there any questions 'afore Ah go on?"

[Bramble Rose]

Sweetie Belle was all ready to ask Apple Bloom a question, but Miss Cheerilee stopped the questions before she could get anywhere with it. She frowned and pouted a bit at her desk, till Scootaloo said she was good to go. She smiled with relief and gave a quick nod to Scootaloo, then turned her attention back up to Snails.

Bees ... Honey! They hadn't tried that for cutie marks, yet! Cutie Mark Crusader honey farmers! How hard could that be? She pulled out a sheet of paper and wrote down 'honey farmer' quickly, then raised her hoof and waved it. "Ooo! Ooo! Ooo! What other helpful bugs are there? Are ladybugs helpful? Or butterflies?" Who knew that an assignment like this might be fuel for more crusading?

[SteelEagle]

Apple Bloom sat down relatively quickly, dejected to a degree. She knew she had done poorly, but if she had saved Scootaloo, then being a dumb little country type would suit her well enough. She wore that skin well enough.

Being an orchard filly, Apple Bloom had an idea as what type of bugs were helpful where and in what way. it was untrue that all she did all day and night was deal with apples, even if that was what some of her friends may have said to tease her. They had a trifling small amount of honey and what he said was correct- without bees pollinating, there would be no apples for her sell. Well, for Applejack to collect and sell but that was a small matter. The point was that bees were awesome and after you had been stung by them a few hundred times like she had, you grew to love them. She was somewhat impressed that Snails of all ponies had the gumption to read all about the wild, wild world of orchard insects(whatever the book was really about didn't matter as much as the fact that they were helpful to the orchard folks). maybe she'd have to make him into a proper orchard pony.

Then there was Scootaloo who seemingly had built up an obscene amount of confidence considering what Apple Bloom had seen previously. If she had somehow managed to get her work from looking like a pile of manure to anything about that then she would be mightily impressed. But she wasn't confident enough if she was to be honest that Scootaloo had that in her- she hoped that Scoots did, wished for it hard, but you could wish that a frog was a kitten all you wanted and you'd still have that frog. And Scootaloo was nothing if not a frog. More importantly, Apple Bloom was ambushed from multiple angles with the desire for questions. Mistakes were bound to happen.

"How fast does Rainbow Dash flah?" Apple Bloom asked Snails earnestly, letting it settle for a second before she shook her head and gave an embarrassed smile, highly flustered.

"Oh, err, sorry. Ah meant whatcha book say 'bout them rascal butterflies? Darn thin's and caterpillars nearly took out tha whole orchard recently," She asked Scootaloo, before facehoofing and allowing her head to hit the desk.

"Ah'm just not talkin'."

[Mojo]

Haywire once again found 'opportunity' to extend the class period time and decided to jump right on it, lifting a front hoof and waving it in the air.

"OH! OH! OH!" the rust colored filly shouted out, "how big do Monarch butterflies git and do they make good pets?"

At least THIS time little Haywire came up with a question that's actually on the subject matter. She had heard rumors about Fluttershy having huge butterflies at her cottage for pets, so this question DID have some credibility to it.

[Lux]

Guiding Light felt satisfied that he had done his part to delay things for a few minutes with his question. He felt like he needed to help Apple Bloom with whatever plan was going on. As a secondary motive, he wanted to get to know the filly more. Conversations with her were tough due to his shyness and her constantly being with her Crusader friends. Every little bit of information helped.

Light then saw Scootaloo turn around and desperately ask for somepony to ask questions. Light gave her a little nod, agreeing to help her. Although he wasn't really close to Scootaloo, he felt that he could help out a friend of a friend and a fellow classmate.

Just as Snails completed his book report and was being bombarded by questions, Light noticed that crawkling on the floor was perhaps the biggest, fuzziest spider he had ever seen. It must have climbed through an open window or door. But it was slowly making its way up to the front of class!

"Um... Snails? Is that a good spider or a bad spider crawling towards you?"

[SonicRainboomGirl]

Scootaloo was grateful that so many ponies were willing to help her out. She couldn't believe she was so liked! On second thought, Scootaloo had no problem believing that so many ponies liked her. After all, she was incredibly awesome and cool. Sure, she didn't know what her very special talent was: but that was just a temporary thing!

Guiding Light soon seemed to notice something that made him kind of distressed. Well, Scootaloo couldn't really tell by the tone of his voice. She wasn't great with social cues.

"A spider? Where?"

Scootaloo asked, excitedly. She liked spiders! Sure, sometimes they were really annoying. Their webs were sticky and they looked kind of creepy in the dark. But they were just so funny! They had eight legs. EIGHT. That was twice the amount of legs a pony had! Scootaloo always liked to imagine spiders going to the shoe store and trying on EIGHT PAIRS OF SHOES.

The very thought made the little orange pegasus start cracking up. She rarely wore shoes to begin with, only at fancy events. Hooves were good enough. But if spiders wore shoes, how would they tie their laces? Make webs? They might get tangled up while spinning!

Jumping out of her chair, Scootaloo saw the spider and ran for it. He was HUGE, probably the biggest spider she'd ever seen! She picked the fuzzy little guy up and held him, looking him over. Clean. She lifted him high above her head so the entire class could see.

"Everybody stand back! I've got him!"

Scootaloo began to show him around to ponies, but when she heard a filly scream because of him she jumped straight in the air, startled. How could you be AFRAID of such a funny little guy? He even had eyes, an overabundance of eyes. And they were really cute! Nonetheless, Scootaloo soon noticed that the spider was gone from her hooves and had transferred straight into Silver Spoon's hair. The following scream was not kind to the filly's ears.