It was another day at the School of Friendship, and Fluttershy was welcoming the students into class.

"Alright, is everyone here?" She asked, pulling out the student list. But she quickly realized that, not only was everyone there, but there were also a bunch of new names on the list. "It seems we have a bunch of new students! Let's see here... Green Hoof?"

"Prethent," He said with a lisp.

"Serene Meadow?"

"Yep," a periwinkle pony vacantly called back.

"Jumping Beans?"

A crimson and mahogany stallion clicked his tongue and straightened his hat.

"And finally... Dark Obsidian?!"

"Hello, Fluttershy," I said from my position in the back of the classroom.

"Twilight told me about how you convinced all of those ponies to annoy the Princesses."

"Eh, that was certainly a thing," I shrugged. "But don't worry; that was a one-time thing. I'm just doing this while my sister hires some movers."

"Okay...?" Fluttershy wanted to be suspicious, but a little voice in her head told her that she was being overly paranoid. So she turned back to the chalkboard and began to write out basic information about a type of spider.

"First, we'll learn about the Wheel Spider, scientific name Carparachne aureoflava. They're a nocturnal spider native to the area around Saddle Arabia."

The yellow mare brought out a terrarium filled halfway with sand, with a small burrow dug into it. Through the side of the case, the students could see a small white spider sleeping inside of a silk-lined burrow.

"This spider doesn't make a web, but instead digs into the ground and uses silk to keep a stable burrow."

Fluttershy gently whistled at the cage, and the spider woke up at the sound. It crawled out of its abode and let Fluttershy carefully pick it up and set it onto the desk. The students were enraptured (except for Serene Meadow, who was still uninterested.)

"This little guy has a really neat defense mechanism: when it feels in danger..." She set her hoof onto the desk, which was evidently a signal they'd agreed upon earlier.

I say this because the EXACT moment her hoof touched the desk, the spider began to rapidly cartwheel across the desk and back. The students were impressed, and I'll admit that I was, too.

"They can cartwheel at up to a meter per second, which comes in handy if trying to get away from fast predators."

The students gave a round of applause by stomping their forehooves on their desks.

Unfortunately, all of the stomping shook the area enough to throw the spider off balance, causing it to fall off of the table.

Luckily, Fluttershy was able to catch it before it hit the ground.

"Phew, that was close!" She sighed in relief.

"We're sorry, Fluttershy!" Silverstream apologized.

"No, it's okay! It was an accident, and no creature got hurt." Fluttershy set the spider back into the terrarium, where it crawled back into its best and fell asleep again. "Now, onto the next topic."

When she turned to write down something else on the board, a sharp whistle pierced through the classroom.

Everybody in he room turned and glared at the source, Jumping Beans.

Fluttershy's expression went from content to stern in an instant. "Jumping Beans, would you care to explain that whistle?"

His face somehow turned redder than his fur. He stammered, "W-was that out loud? Sorry, I just... Got a song stuck into my head."

"What song?" Fluttershy kept eye contact.

He blanked for a moment. "I-it was... The song... It's gone now..." He shrugged, flustered.

Fluttershy, instead of speaking further, cocked an eyebrow. In that moment, her expression could've given Applejack a run for her money.

Jumping Beans just shrunk back in his chair and tried to avoid eye contact.

The yellow Pegasus turned back to the board, and finished writing some simple information about another kind of spider.

"Alright, class! Now, it's time to learn about the King Baboon Spider. But as a warning: Do NOT attempt to find one in the wild, as they are almost always aggressive. The one I brought in today has been domesticated, but even he'll still bite if he feels threatened. Although it's not deadly, the venom WILL cause strong hallucinations, and the bite WILL hurt for some time afterward."

The rest of the class looked on with a mixture of intrigue and unease; I was just mildly interested.

Fluttershy pulled out another terrarium, this time with arid dirt and some exotic plants, between which hung a spider's web. Sat in the center of that web was a red tarantula-like spider, which was looking around the room as though it was unsure what to make of the strange creatures it was seeing.

"Luckily, this type of spider only lives in Saddle Arabia, just like the Wheel Spider. But still, it's better to know, just in case."

The students looked at the spider, several thoughts seemingly running through their heads. Even Serene Meadow was now paying attention.

Fluttershy, satisfied with seeing how intently focused the students were, set the terrarium back down beside the other one.

This sort of thing went on for the rest of the day, with spiders varying from Camel Spiders to the Giant Huntsman Spider. At one point, Green Hoof asked if we were going to learn about Aragog. That train of thought, however, was quickly abandoned when Fluttershy gave him an incredulous look.

Before we knew it, class was over. As I went to leave, I saw Fluttershy motion for Jumping Beans to meet her at her table.

"So, about that whistle?" Fluttershy asked him.

He began profusely blushing again. "Well, I didn't want to say it in front of the whole class, but... I think you're cute."

Fluttershy's eyes widened, then her expression stumbled between embarrassed and disconcerted.

"I... I don't know how I should feel about that..."

Jumping Beans quickly realized where her mind was headed and countered, "But not in THAT way! I just think that you look nice!"

Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief. "Good, I was worried for a second there. And not just because I have a boyfriend."

Jumping's face turned slightly disheartened at this revelation, but then he plastered on an awkward smile and said, "Well, congrats on that!"

Fluttershy thanked him for the compliments, then told him that next time, he should try and control his impulses. With that, she sent him on his way.

But I, having a nagging feeling in my mind, decided to catch up with him and talk.

"Jumping Beans!" I called after him.

He stopped and turned, then blushed when he saw me. "What, do you want to rub that incident in my face or something?"

"No, no!" I assured him. "I just couldn't help but overhear your conversation with Fluttershy.

Now, he was back to blushing profusely again. "Oh, Celestia, no! You heard that?!"

"Every word, " I nodded, "and I think you might have a thing for Fluttershy."

He shrank away again, and whimpered slightly.

"I know it must suck that you can't express your real feelings. But you need to accept that she's a teacher, and you're a student."

He sighed. "But nearly everything about her is just so cute! The way she smiles over the littler things, how she's passionate about her interests — even her voice! I wish I could just snuggle up with her, but I can't, and it's driving me nuts!"

"Then why'd you join the class?"

"Today was the first time I'd ever met her!"

"So you're saying it's love at first sight?"

He nodded.

I chuckled, "That's just puberty talking, man."

He looked up at me, a guy in his early twenties, and realized that I knew what I was talking about. He chuckled, then said, "I guess you're right."

"You'll find somebody eventually — heck, this world seems to make sure of that!"

"How will I know?"

"Well, for starters, if you can realistically picture having a life with them, then that's a pretty good sign."

He shuffled this thought about in his mind, letting it sink in like a melting ice cube. Finally, he said, "Yeah, that makes sense. Thank you."

"No problem." I nodded, then I headed off to my house to finish packing.

(THE END?)