open First Day (Open, School of Friendship)

[Cubbage]

Valence Bond looked at the map frantically as he tried to find the classroom for what was supposed to be his second class of the day. He was still figuring out how ponies did this whole up-all-day-sleep-all-night thing. He'd missed orientation the day before sleeping in his dorm and now had slept through his first class. If he kept this up, he was going to get thrown out for sure. He needed to either create an elixir to keep himself awake, or find a way to invert his sleep schedule. The first seemed easier.

 

As he rounded a corner, he noticed some other ponies heading the same direction and decided to follow them. Maybe they were going to the same class as him!

[Blueblood]

 

A little bit behind the group of students, the unmistakeable form of Chipper demise could be seen, in an almost skipping kind of step, as if dancing to a tune only he could hear.  If Valence got closer, he might actually hear the unicorn colt humming it softly.  "La da da ta, la di da di da, la da da ta, la di da di da, La da da ta, la di da..."  His eyes didn't usually open all that wide, but he was pretty good at seeing nonetheless, and was able to detect the approach of his fellow-student.

"Hey-hi!  Class is almost in session, so Va-lence-a Go!  Nyahahahaha!"  Chipper's sense of humor certainly hadn't changed.

[Cubbage]

Valence jumped slightly at the sudden attention. There was something... off about this pony, he could tell. He also found it strange that the unicorn seemed to know his name without introduction. Nevertheless, he followed the group -- including the strange unicorn -- to his next class.

[Blueblood]

 

"Say..."  Chipper slowed his pace to trot alongside Valence.  "Didn't I see you at orientation?  There were a bunch of us there, all with grape expectations, nyahaha!"  If Valence had been there, he would have noticed that the unicorn had left his crows at home this time.  Probably had been told by the Archancellor that they were distractions in the classroom.

[Cubbage]

Valence should have known someone would have noticed his absence. He figured saying he had slept through it probably wouldn't make him sound very good, so he came up with a fib on the spot. "Oh yeah, I uh... Didn't get moved in in time. It's hard find trains that head all the way out of Equestria, and then the journey takes a couple days, so by the time I arrived and got settled, orientation was over hahaha" He laughed nervously at the end, hoping it would make him sound more relaxed. It didn't, of course, but it was a nice effort.

[Blueblood]

 

"Oh, so you're from *way* out of town!"  Chipper was unperturbed at Valence's remarks; you'd have to act pretty far out there for Chipper to even take notice of your quirks.  And even then, he was unlikely to to remonstrate with you for them.  After all, as far as being weird here went, Chipper was living in a glass longhouse from which it would be foolish to throw stones.  "Any caribou out that way?  Papa Halvard says some outlying clans settled on the border regions, he looked a little upset when he was talking about it, too."

[Cubbage]

Valence had heard stories of Caribou running thestrals out of settlements before, but his was lucky enough never to be disturbed by them. Some of his friends used to dress up as caribou for nightmare night and would always get annoyed looks from the adults of the community. He had figured they were bad news. But this unicorn, if Valence was unmistaken, had just addressed one as "papa". Was he raised by them? That would certainly account for his... eccentricities. "I heard there were caribou, but I never met one. We usually tried to avoid them and hoped they'd do the same to us," he said. He figured that was the best way to put it in order to avoid conflict. He didn't want to offend anypony.

[Blueblood]

 

"Well, it's kind of hard to blame ya.  They tend to get a little rowdy away from home, you really only see the tender moments in the longhouse.  So be sure to protect your tender parts outside it, nyahahaa!"  Valence bond would, fortunately or unfortunately, not escape his new 'friend' once they entered the classroom, as Chipper would take a seat right next to the thestral.  "Wonder what they got for us in class today..."

[Cubbage]

Chipper took his seat next to Valence, and Valence honestly didn't know how he felt about that. The rough-around-the-edges unicorn seemed friendly, but also extremely creepy. It would be a while before the areion felt comfortable in his company. He chuckled politely at Chipper's comment about keeping his "tender parts" (he could only guess what that meant) protected.

 

Once inside the classroom, Valence began extracting his notebook, inkwell, and pen from his bag. He dug around for his schedule to try to remember which class this would be (tiredness had a way of making him forget important things), but found he had not packed it in his rush to get out of the dorm this morning. "Good question," he replied to Chipper.

[Blueblood]

 

Chipper's own school supplies were, when seen, comparatively old-fashioned.  Parchment, not paper (a fact rather more disturbing the more one thought of it), and what looked to be a home-made pencil, carefully crafted from whittled wood wrapped around a stick of charcoal.  "I think was either 'Defense against the Dark Hearts' class, or else music.  I'd be happy either way.  I like singing, and I like throwing fire at the bad guys!"

[Cubbage]

Valence definitely thought Chipper's school supplies were... unfortunate, but he didn't say anything. As Chipper conjectured at which class they could be in, Valence made his decision as to which he preferred. "I hope it's not music. I'm not good at that, plus I don't think it was on my schedule. Defense Against the Dark Hearts sounds cool though. I don't know if I can throw fireballs, though..." he responded.

[Blueblood]

 

Unfortunately for Valence, this class turned out to be Music, sort of.  There wasn't any choral singing practice, but a guest lecture on why Equestrians would, from time to time, break into song in unison, without training or practice.  Apparently, the magic of friendship was metaphysically connected to music and song; it was no coincidence that it was called 'Harmony' after all!  This accounted for why Equestrians had born among them higher than average per-capita musicians, as well.

 

The upshot of it was, though, that music was not going to be an optional elective.  Learning to sing, and what's more, to sing together, would strengthen both their personal bonds and magical potential.  Chipper, was uncharacteristically silent and attentive during the whole lecture, but when class broke up for discussion, he turned excitedly to Valence.  "That was fascinating!  I'd always wondered about the song business myself; I like singing, but I could never get that whole chorus thing going.  I just needed more friends, that was all, and I can tap into that power!  Nyahaha, look out Bridleway!"

[Cubbage]

Valence struggled to stay awake through the lecture, but managed to survive without slipping off luckily. He had to admit, it was somewhat interesting. Though he'd never been caught up in an impromptu musical number himself, he'd been witness to several and had known several people who had participated in them without seemingly having knowledge of it until after it was over, and sometimes never coming to realize it. But of course, everything that was fascinating came at a cost... It was like a law of some kind. If you thought something was cool in school, it had to be dampened by something not cool, in this case, learning to sing and dance. If Equestrians naturally burst into song, though, why was that necessary?? Oh, whatever. Might as well accept the inevitable. Chipper did not seem annoyed in the least, however. He laughed in his... unsettling way as they left the classroom, and Valence couldn't think of anything to say. 

 

A quick stop by Valence's dorm allowed the two colts to compare schedules, and Valence was somewhat relieved to see they were very similar, though not exact. He figured that was best so that he'd have a familiar face in most classes, and a break from the unicorn every now and again just in case. Ponies were draining, especially when you were on the opposite sleep schedule your body was made for. "So I guess it's Defense Against the Dark Hearts next then?" Valence asked as the two walked down the hall.

[Blueblood]

 

Chipper's mind was still mostly on music as he left the classroom, humming along songs he'd learned from one of the few music records he'd been able to pick up, a promotional EP by a new band who shared the colt's general aesthetic of an upbeat touch of darkness:
"I know there's someone at the door,

They called for help of this I'm sure,

But do I want to say goodbye

To all the glowing eyes?"

 

Spoiler

 

 

As he softly sang, his head would bob like his corvid companions would, as if the backing music was playing through invisible headphones.  He continued to be lost in his own little world until reaching the door of his next class.  "Oooh, now this looks interesting!  Is this the one where we throw fireballs at the bad guys?  Best Defense is a good Offense, after all!"