[Ponyville] Back To School [Ended]

[StrawberryBlossom]

Twist gave the yellow filly an exasperated look - one mean pony just left, do you feel you have to take his place? - but said nothing to her, instead smiling over at Sweetie Belle.

"You have a lot of fun with that, huh? Mind if I tag along now and then? Maybe I can... I dunno, help mark-check? And the more ponies thinking about what to try the better, right?" Back in the crowded classroom, she'd slipped back into trying to avoid 's' words to minimize her lisp. Sometimes it couldn't be avoided, though; she just hoped the inevitable sibilants didn't stand out too much. Twist looked over at Starlight and Grim with a smile, head tilting. "You two gonna go with them? Maybe later I can show you my new mixing trick... I think Those three already tried to get candy-making marks, but there are lot to try, and you guys can come too!"

She perked her ears at Purple's mention of hoofball and glanced over.

"I don't know the game, but I can learn!"

Of course, she had the misfortune to be one of the last to speak when Cheerilee called for order. She slid down behind her desk in embarrassment, barely registering the sullen filly's sudden enthusiasm.

[WillowWisp]

Grim had merely rolled his eyes when the grumpy foal shot her reply back to him. But she seemed to be sulking now because everypony was 'picking' on her. If she hadn't been rude than nopony would have said anything to her but he wasn't going to point that out.

In fact he was too shocked to say anything after Sweetie Belle thanked him. His cheeks went red, and his eyes were wide. Did she really just kiss his cheek? Even if it was just a little peck the foal was frozen in his seat. The little white Unicorn he found himself really smitten by just kissed him.

'Uh... yeah...' He just mumbled out a reply to nopony by the time words serviced. Cheerilee was already starting her lesson again and he hadn't notice.

He glanced with a rather goofy smile, to the map the teacher was using. Canterlot, Ponyville, the woods and forest were all being pointed out, but he didn't hear any of it. No, Grim was off in his own little world and the only place on that map was 'crush city'.

[Bramble Rose]

Sweetie Belle settled back behind her desk to chat some more with Scootaloo, happy to just relax and spend time with the nice ponies of the class. The mean ones weren't worth paying attention to ...

Purple Haze grinned eagerly as several ponies piped up enthusiastically for a game of paper hoof ball. "Here's th' low," she explains, "We push alla our desks together... then we kin tae pop th' ball on a bounce over somepony else's desk! If ye dinnae stop th' ball from gettin' past ye, then ye get a point, an' wit' five points, ye're outta th' game!"

She folded the triangle out so it was four triangles, joined at the center, and then lifted it between her hooves to blow into one end. It suddenly 'inflated' to a little paper ball, that she bounced lightly off her desk and caught lightly between her teeth, then dropped onto her hoof.

Sadly, that's when Miss Cheerilee came back. "Awwwww," she sighed, and flumped down, already back into her bored slump as she stared blankly at the board, tapping lightly at the little paper ball to make it roll up the slanted surface of her desk, then roll back down towards her. *tap* *rollup* *rolldown* *tap* *rollup* *rolldown* *tap* *rollup* *rolldown* *sigh*

[brianblackberry]

Sunrise worried as the teach, Miss Cheerlie, come back in to call the classroom to order. Here she was, standing away from any open desks! It was bad enough she had missed half the school day, and possibly worse, she caused the rest of it to be delayed! She certainly didn't want to cause any more trouble, especially with the extraordinary effort her mom, Martini Paradise, and the nice mare, Miss Tea Cozy, had gone through to get her here.

Sunrise quickly looked about, lightly scrpaing her forehoof over the floor in worry. Like, need a seat, need a seeeeeat! Unfortunately the only one that seemed available was right in the first row in the center, which was the last place she really wanted to sit, but what choice did she have? Sunrise sighed and sat down. Worry ran through her as she wondered what all the other little ponies around and behind her thought about her. Did she make any sort of impression? Was it a good one?

Watching Miss Cheerlie open up a map of Equestia, Sunrise just sat there and listened, though she perked up and listened a bit more attentively when she heard about the Evergreen Forest and how the lavender earth pony described it as dangerous. It only made Sunrise all the more curious about the place, and what it would be like to explore it. Listening to Miss Cheerlie move on to Canterlot and asking who lived there, she quickly heard that bratty foal in the back exclaim the answer. Sunrise just rolled her eyes and whispered to herself, "Like, everypony knows that too little Miss Smarty brat."

Looking back at the map, Sunrise worried nervously, looking over the whole wall of beautiful colors and little pictures, and the spidery words... silently, she tried to match the sounds to the letters as Miss Cheerilee told them what each one was. Sunrise slumped in her chair, really hoping she wouldn't be called at all ... this day was bad enough already. C'monnn ... I just like, need this day to end she thought to herself, glancing at the clock ... it'd only been a few minutes! She let out a silent groan and continued on trying to sound out the words to herself, just barely whispering them under her breath as she tried to keep up.

[MudBug]

When the teacher came in and berrated him for his defense, albeit gently, he sank down into his chair and pouted slightly at the sunny pony's teasing. He wasn't tiny. He was just...petite...that's all. That's what his aunt always said.

All the same, he rubbed his hooves together with a small pout before the lessons started up again, geography was great, he'd have to learn geography to know where to fly to in the future and he soon found his smile again as he sat there and watched miss Cheerilee talk about Equestria. Then the sunny pony spoke again.

She actually sounded eager about the princesses.

Which made him blink and peer at her for a moment in suprise before she silenced herself and he looked back to the front. Maybe she wasn't so bad, she could deffinately get excited and such...which was good!

[Skye]

Cheerilee went on about some of the other locations nearby, like the city of Manehattan, and Hoofington, as well as Cloudsdale, pointing out their locations each in turn on the map. The lesson took quite some time, nearly filling out the rest of the day, as school lessons were wont to do. She did her best to get all of the boring stuff out of the way as quickly as she could, as she knew the best way to keep little ponies interested was to get them excited about something different. Tomorrow would be different lessons...but she had saved the best part for last.

She missed most of the whispered talking amongst the students in her class, though she caught snippets here and there. As it wasn't terribly important and wasn't interrupting the class, though she gave Purple Haze a bit of a stern look and glanced at the paper football, when she'd turned around in mid-lesson.

"That finishes up our lessons for the day, but I have one last thing for you little ponies that you might be excited to know. This week, the Travelling Players will be in town, and I have enough tickets for all of you plus a parent if any of you want to go. The show will be Poneo and Fillyet. I've been told it's one of the best shows they've ever done, and I know you'll all just love it! And it ties in so nicely with the writing exercise I have planned, so I'd hope you all will join me!" she set a small stack of tickets on her desk, their yellow-and-fawn colored striping plainly evident. The Travelling Players (The closest thing to a movie that ever came to Ponyville) were rumored to be the greatest show travelling through Equestria. And they'd chosen to make a stopover in Ponyville on their way to Canterlot!

"This week, you will need to bring your pencil cases and some paper, as we'll be writing about parts of the story, and what you might be doing if you were a character in it. I do hope you consider thinking about getting a headstart on your homework tomorrow night. And afterwards, we'll all be going to Sugarcube Corner for an after-show party thoughtfully hosted by Mr. and Mrs. Cake! Doesn't that sound wonderful?"

She hoped that this would bring a smile and maybe a glimmer of excitement to her students. After the events of the day, and some of the somewhat dour looks on their faces, Cheerilee expected they could use something a little more positive. Celestia knew that she certainly did!

"One last thing! Tomorrow, we will also be doing show and tell. I want each of you to bring something or someone important to you to show to the rest of the class, and tell us all about them and what they mean to you. I expect all of you to participate! It doesn't have to be anything terribly personal, so don't be afraid if you have any secrets you don't wish to share, but I hope all of you will bring something exciting and interesting to share with us. Does anyone have any questions before I open the tickets?"

[StrawberryBlossom]

Twist dutifully listened to the geography lesson, occasionally perking her ears at the mention of places where she had family. It would be fun to go back to Manehatten! Maybe a school trip like Miss Cheerilee had suggested!

Like most of the foals, even Twist tuned out a bit when the teacher announced that lessons were over. Until, of course, the show was namedropped. Travelling Players! One of the things she hadn't gotten to do in Manehattan! And that play? This was going to be awesome! Even the connected assignment sounded great!

Twist popped from her seat, hoof waving in the air.

"I want to go!"

[blorgle]

Sunnydew hardly payed attention to Cherillee when she continued to talk about various other things. She continued on staring out of the window, ignoring all the others in the classroom. She knew she made a bad impression already so she didn't even care about what they thought anymore.

When Cherillee talked about the Traveling Players, she looked up at her. She tried to make it seem like she didn't care at all, but really she was interested in seeing the Players. But she wouldn't let anypony else know that she wanted to.

As for the show-and-tell, she rolled her eyes. She already knew what she would take, but she didn't care. She would bring either her gardening tools, or some sunflower seeds. But she wasn't going to bring anything, because show and tell was stupid. She wasn't sure if the other foals would even care about what she brought. She raised her hoof, "Miss Cherillee, do we have to bring something to show tomorrow?" She asked in an bored voice.

[Bramble Rose]

Sweetie Belle gasped softly as Miss Cheerilee announced the Travelling Players. "Is Poneo and Fillyet a musical?" she asked excitedly, forgetting to raise her hoof. She covered her muzzle and let out a soft gasp at her own audacity. "oops..." She raised her hoof, then, as if the whole class hadn't already heard her question.

She didn't even pay attention to Show and Tell - rather, she was eagerly awaiting the idea of watching a play. She *loved* plays! Oh, she hoped it was a musical! She bounced happily in her seat of soft hay.

Purple Haze didn't even notice the stern look, barely even looking at the map, her eyes glazing over as Miss Cheerilee went on about all the different places on the map. Gaaaawwwwd, this was taking forever!

With the news about the play, she groaned and dropped her face onto the raised surface of the desk, catching the ball. Some fancy-pants group of ponies in costumes talking all high-fallutin'... what a bore! Probably didn't even have any sports in it! And she'd have to write a whole paper on it? The whole point of a field trip was to get AWAY from homework and have fun! This wasn't fun!

But then she perked up, eyes bright. Show-and-tell? She lifted her hoof and waved it back and forth eagerly, not waiting to be called upon before she cried out, "Kin Oi bring some dishes t'eat fer show'n'tell? Oi'll make 'em t'night! Oh, Oi have a carrot casserole Oi'm tryin', an' Oi ken a good carrot stir-fry! Ooo! An Oi kin make a carrot bento! An' carrot cookies!" She bounced happily, eagerly, already planning out what she'd need to pick up on the way home tonight!

[WillowWisp]

A play? That didn't sound so bad. And even better it was a famous play by one of the best play writes ever written. Grim was happy for that. He was sure his cousin would come along too if he asked; even if she did like to spend the nights doing her research.

It was the part about writing that made him nervous though. He still hadn't gotten the chance to ask about using his spider. And what if he didn't get a chance? That meant that the next day in class he would just have to show up with him and hope it would be okay, otherwise he wouldn't be able to write at all. The other foals would probably laugh at him too. What pony didn't know how to write? He just couldn't get it though, no matter how he tried. Once he had a pencil in his mouth all he could get was scribbles, nothing even close to letters. Perhaps he could just hide Scribe in his desk and nopony would ever know.

At the mention of show and tell he smiled a little. He knew just what he would bring. It was perfect, something he held near and dear to his heart. Of course it wouldn't be as good without Wisp being part of it, but he was okay with that. He could still share the item. But it never hurt to ask if she could come as part of it.

'Um... can my cousin be part of my show and tell? What I want to bring is better with her being part of it...'

[MudBug]

The Travelling Players? That sounded so fun! A small smile beamed on his tiny face at the thought of seeing a play...and then an after party? At Sugar-Cube corner none the less! It made the little foal give out a soft whinny of excitement.

This was turning out to be a great day!

Especially when the show and tell was mentioned, he almost immediately knew what he'd be showing! His daddy's helmet!

Was there anything better?

His daddy had told him that he used to wear it all the time when he was Starlight's age...or...atleast a little bigger, he'd modified it to match the size of the foal's head and he thanked his father for that much. Oh his mind was reeling with so many ideas! He could tell them about his daddy's job and his mommy's job and how his daddy found his cutie mark in moving around the aurora borealis! This was gonna be so exciting!

And the fact they were going to get entertained AND have some treats at a party afterwards! He couldn't wait. In the back of his mind he hoped that his dear aunt wouldn't mind him snacking on sweets....hey...he'd forgotten his aunt. A small thoughtful frown went through him as he thought...

But despite that, he waved a hoof in the air excitably.

"I wanna go too! It's gonna be the bestest day ever!"

[brianblackberry]

Sunrise Beach had heard of the Traveling Players - they were famous after all, the most famous traveling stage show in Equestria - although she never seen any of their performances.  It always cost too many bits, and her mom Martini never had enough to splurge on such an event.

Sunrise didn't really mind, she was used to going without, but she was rather surprised that suddenly she could see this famous group without having to put down a single bit! How exciting!  This presented another dilemma, though - who could she take with?  She couldn't take her mom; she was all the way back at Roughrider Ridge, working.  Would her patron, Mrs. Cozy want to go?  It seemed unlikely, as she was so close to giving birth.  Sunrise didn't relish the idea of being the only foal without a parent or someone there with her.

Though what really worried her was what Ms. Cheerlie said next - that they would have to do some writing assignment about the play.  Sunrise fidgeted nervously. She wasn't good at writing ... swapping from school to school, she'd always found it hard to focus on her studies ... and she found spelling, punctuation, grammar, all those things so hard. She could draw out the letters with little effort, but that was about it.

Like, this is totally horsefeathers ... Wanna am I going to do? Like, I don't wanna look like some class dweeb who doesn't know how to write  Perhaps equally as worrisome was the idea of show and tell, what was she going to do there?  She didn't own anything cool or interesting really.  Then it dawned on her, Hey, like I know! I may not be, like, the fanciest foal in school, but I bet I'm totally the best athlete here!  I can like, talk about all the places I live while bouncing a ball continuously without dropping it, no, two balls at the same time!  She smiled, finally she had something she could be confident about, for the first time since she arrived.

[Skye]

Cheerilee took count of the number of hooves that raised in the air asking for tickets. It was a good thing she'd managed to get ahold of extras, there was no telling how many little ponies would be excited to go! "For those of you who don't want to go, there will be copies of the story in the Ponyville Library, if you ask Miss Twilight, but there may not be many so first come, first served. The school keeps a few copies on hand as well if you prefer to take one home with you for homework. If you've read it, then the show will be a treat when you get to see it! If you haven't, then the show will still be lots of fun, I hope for all of you little ponies."

She paused to take stock of all the faces around the schoolroom. She knew that this year, there was a variety of ages and skills, many of the little ponies were just starting school for the first time while others had been here for a while yet. "Those ponies who don't know how to read or write very well will recieve different instruction, as I know you're new to the whole experience. This way, we can keep our class together and learn the most while at the same time catching up on other long-forgotten lessons. Don't be shy, if you are afraid of the assignment, let me know! There will be plenty of time this week to practice and brush up. We have a lot of students of all ages this year, and I'm sure some of you have reached different points in your development." she nudged the tickets forward on the desk.

"Come on up and take your tickets! Two to a pony only, please. If we have any left, we can see what we may do with them, for any of you who have siblings or other family who may want to come with. I'd like this to be a family outing, and one that we will all enjoy! Form a line, that's right, any of you who will need the reading and writing lessons be sure to tell me so I can make a note." she had a piece of paper and a pencil out on her desk; incidentally near the one broken in half by Champ earlier. She looked at it wistfully for a moment, and made sure she pulled two tickets off the stack to place beneath it. Just in case.

Tomorrow would be a new day. And this week would be an exciting one. She hoped that the events of earlier today wouldn't repeat themselves, and that it was just a fluke that they'd had so much excitement on the first day!

Continued in: [Ponyville] Later This Week