Later that day, I found myself having lunch outside of the school in the courtyard, enjoying some of the air that was blowing around town presently. I had made myself a hay and daffodile sandwich and was enjoying that, spotting Eclipsa in the distance. I waved to her and watched as she bounced happily over towards me.

"Hey, Astral!" She beamed. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, Eclipsa," I answered, blushing slightly, "how has your day gone so far?"

"It's been amazing!" Eclipsa said, waving to somepony behind us. "I have somepony I'd like you to meet!"

"Oh?" I muttered.

Eclipsa nodded. "I think you'll like her, I really, really, really do!"

Eclipsa kept waving at the pony to join us. I turned around and tried looking for them as well, but couldn't really tell who Eclipsa was waving at. Eventually, Eclipsa groaned and excused herself momentarily, going towards the pony she was trying to bring over to us. I spun back around and continued to eat my sandwich, savoring the taste very much.

The weather was beautiful today and warm as well. I figured that Ponyville would be similar in weather to Whineysota, but so far was proven wrong. Taking another bite of the sandwich, I sighed contently, feeling much better after the events that happened this morning between myself and Cobalt.

"Surprise!" Eclipsa giggled, popping up in front of me.

Surprised by the sudden sound, I coughed on my bite a bit, swallowing it before it became something more. I saw Eclipsa in front of me with another creature. They looked like a pony, but they had these weird horn things coming from the top of their head. She appeared to be bored, similar to Cobalt from earlier.

"Astral," Eclipsa began, "I'd like for you to meet one of my friends from Professor Dash's Loyalty class, Willow. Willow, this is Astral Flare, my roommate."

"Hey there, Willow," I politely said.

Willow glared back at me, her eyes beginning to glow. Eclipsa noticed this and patted Willow on her back, trying to calm her down.

"Now, now, Willow," she chuckled, "there's a time and place for that, and that's almost never! You know it's impolite to change form in the middle of a conversation."

"Change form?" I repeated, looking back towards Willow. "I don't think I understand. How could you change form?"

Willow cocked an eyebrow and sighed, "I'm guessing you've never met a kirin before, haven't you?"

"Kee-ren?" I questioned, unsure if I was pronouncing it right.

"Close enough," Willow stated, rolling her eyes slightly. They began to dim as she glanced towards Eclipsa again, "You wanna tell her?"

"You can, silly!" Eclipsa responded, nudging Willow in the process.

"Fine," Willow acknowledged, turning back to me, "kirin are notorious for their short tempers. Make us mad and we turn into a nirik, which are really strong creatures driven by anger mostly."

"So I'm guessing that we shouldn't make you mad then," I noticed.

"You wouldn't like me when I'm angry," Willow insisted, flashing her eyes briefly again.

"Nope!" Eclipsa laughed, bouncing playfully once more.

"Astral!" Somepony shouted.

I turned around and noticed Summer Lily coming closer. I felt happy to know that she was also attending this semester as well, inviting her to come over. I let Willow and Eclipsa know that Summer was a pony I had met on my way to Ponyville, smiling as she approached us.

"I didn't know you were coming here too," Summer smiled, "why didn't you tell me while we were on the train?"

"I thought you would have judged me otherwise," I admitted, "I didn't want to feel that kind of judgement."

"I think friendship is really the reason we're all here," Summer replied. She looked between Eclipsa and WIllow and then back to me, "Who are your friends?"

"Oh," I chuckled, "where are my manners? Summer, this is Eclipsa, my roommate, and Willow, a kirin I just met and Eclipsa's longtime friend!" I glanced back towards Eclipsa and Willow, "This is Summer Lily."

"A pleasure to meet you two," Summer stated.

"Awesome!" Eclipsa beamed again, hugging Summer tightly. "I absolutely love your manestyle! I love that cute, little flower too! What is that?"

"It's an orchid," Summer explained, "my grandmother gave that to me."

"Pretty!" Eclipsa complimented.

Willow rolled her eyes a bit again, glancing at Eclipsa in the process before looking elsewhere. I asked Summer what classes she had in the afternoon and we began to compare schedules.

I smiled happily, "Awesome, looks like we have Honesty with Professor Applejack together after this."

Eclipsa beamed delightfully, "Really? You two have that class next as well?"

I nodded, "Yeah, you do too?"

Eclipsa showed me her schedule, "Duh! I'll be in that class with you two, too! Hehe, two too...tutu. That's funny!"

I rolled my eyes playfully, "Hilarious, Eclipsa."

Just then, the warning bell rang. We all looked towards each other and knew that, with the bell sounding, there was only five minutes before the next classes were set to begin. I finished up my sandwich and walked with Summer and Eclipsa towards Honesty next, saying goodbye to Willow as she went elsewhere.


"Howdy, y'all! Ah'm Applejack, and Ah'll be teachin' this here class."

I smiled as I sat in the middle of the room, next to Eclipsa and Summer. I felt happier knowing that there were close ponies sharing a class with me this time, close by my standards, given the time that had passed. I saw Doppel, from the Generosity class, sitting in front of me, and decided to attempt to form a friendship with him after class.

"Ah usually like comparin' lots of stuff with my countryisms," Applejack admitted, "but Ah don't think y'all would wanna hear them right now. Instead, lemme get to know y'all, and what better way to do that than a hootenanny."

A pony to the left raised their hoof, "What's a 'hootenanny,' Professor Applejack?"

Applejack chuckled, "Please, Applejack'll do jus' fine, sugar cube. Feels weird havin' y'all call me Professor. An', to answ'r yer question, a hootenanny is simply a little party. Ah invited Pinkie Pie to help make things go smoothly, since she's free durin' this time period." She walked over towards the door and opened it up, revealing Pinkie Pie to us.

"Hey there, Applejack!" Pinkie Pie giggled.

"Thanks again for helpin', Pinkie," Applejack smiled.

"No problem!" Pinkie Pie replied, shooting a cannon off in the room.

The cannon decorated the room in a flash with streamers, balloons, and a cake. I was stunned at how quickly the room scenery had changed, looking over towards Summer with an astonished look. She too held an expression of surprise as she gazed back towards me, wondering how the room changed so quickly with a small cannon.

"Alright, y'all," Applejack continued, "enjoy yourselves. Ah'll be goin' 'round the room shortly, gettin' to know y'all jus' a bit more."

As the room began to get a little bit more livelier, Eclipsa, Summer, and myself all rose from our seats and gathered around. I motioned towards Doppel, who was still in his seat with a piece of paper, appearing to work on something else. Eclipsa noticed and raised an eyebrow.

"You wanna introduce ourselves to him?" Summer asked.

"I know what it feels like to be lonely like that," I admitted, "and it's not fun."

"You're right, Astral," Eclipsa nodded, "let's go over and say hi to him. I can give him a cupcake and brighten up his day! Maybe he's just too shy and needs somepony to make the first move."

I hesitated a bit, feeling something stop me from moving with Eclipsa and Summer. I knew that making friends was really what this school was about, but something inside of me told me that something was off about Doppel, as if there were more to him than what meets the eye. Eclipsa noticed my hesitation and rested one of her wings on my back.

"Everything okay, Astral?" She asked me.

I blinked a couple of times, finding solace with Eclipsa's wing on my back. I blushed slightly, then nodded a bit, but did not provide an answer in response. Eclipsa noticed my silence and smiled.

"It's gonna be okay," she told me, "you have us by your side. We'll be with you every step of the way."

"No need to worry," smiled Summer.

That made me feel a little bit better as I started moving towards Doppel now with Eclipsa and Summer. Eclipsa led Summer and myself to the three desks around Doppel and sat in them, facing him in the process. Doppel seemed surprised that there were others sitting around him, so he looked up and glanced between the three of us.

"Hey there!" Eclipsa started, giving Doppel a cupcake.

Doppel looked at it, then at Eclipsa, and took the cupcake, placing it on his desk. He nodded in response, which Eclipsa took as his way of saying thank you. Summer gave Doppel a flower and smiled politely at him.

"This is an alstroemeria," Summer said, "it's a flower that represents friendship."

Doppel smiled a little bit and nodded again. I felt a bit better, knowing that this plan was beginning to work.

"It's Doppel," I spoke up, "right?"

He nodded, then scratched his chin. He opened his mouth up, and mouthed something to me, but I couldn't quite make it out.

"What was that?" I asked.

Doppel blushed, then shook his head a bit. He looked into my eyes and nodded once more, "Sorry…I'm just a reserved, umm…pony…"

I understood what he meant by that, "I am too, trust me."

Eclipsa cutely smiled, "I figured we could get to know you a little bit and stuff."

I spotted his cutie mark, "What's that?"

He looked back to it and blushed a bit, "It's supposed to be sticks and stones. I-I'm good with art with them."

"That's neat!" Eclipsa admitted. "An artist is very cool."

"Art is like flowers," Summer added, "and they're both very beautiful."

Doppel smiled a little bit more, "Glad to know someone sees it that way."

"You're very dedicated to studying," I noticed, "aren't you, Doppel?"

He nodded slowly, "To be fair, studying new things helps keep my mind off of…stuff."

Eclipsa tilted her head slightly, "What kind of-?"

"Howdy, y'all," Applejack smiled.

We all turned our attention towards Applejack and responded happily to her, "Hello, Applejack."

"How are y'all doin'?" She continued.

"We're doing fine, Applejack," Eclipsa giggled.

"Glad tah hear," Applejack said, "how're y'all enjoyin' the School of Friendship?"

"It's a wonderful school," Summer answered, "it's helped out so much so far, and it's only the first day."

"Yeah," Applejack chuckled, "Twi sure knows how tah run a school."

"I'm sure our studies are going to be incredible with all of you," I insisted, "you all are such experts in the subject."

"We sure been through lots as a group," admitted Applejack, "in case y'all haven't had her class yet, Twi'll go over plenty of adventures we been on in her class."

"Thank you, Applejack," Doppel stated.

"Anytime, y'all," she responded, "if y'all ever need anythin' throughout the semester, mah door's always open."

"Thank you," We all acknowledged, watching Applejack move on to the next group of students.

We continued talking over with Doppel until it was time to leave the class, smiling and enjoying ourselves with him.


That night, I was laying on my bed and studying the stars in Ponyville's night sky. I felt happier doing what I liked doing for the first time in a while and was mapping out a bunch of constellations on a map in front of me. The light was off, with the only light coming from the aura on my horn. It was very quiet as well, but the quiet nature was disrupted when Eclipsa came back inside.

"Hey, Astral!" She beamed, "There's a huge party going on in the courtyard to celebrate the first day of the semester! You wanna go and check it out?"

I looked back up at the sky and groaned a bit, "Not now, Eclipsa, I'm busy mapping out stars in the sky right now."

"Oh, come on, Astral!" Eclipsa insisted, flying up to meet my eyes. "Those stars will be there forever, but this party will be gone come morning."

I cocked an eyebrow a bit, "Technically, Eclipsa, stars don't last forever. They have their own life cycles like we do."

"Come on, Astral," Eclipsa repeated, "I know it's gonna be super duper fun! Professor Pinkie was the one who set it all up!"

I thought about the hootenanny that we had earlier in Applejack's class, then looked over towards the picture of Mom and myself, remembering why I came to this school in the first place. Mom would want me to go, so, pushing away the map, I turned to Eclipsa and nodded at her.

"Okay, Eclipsa," I told her, "I'll check it out." I thought the next part silently, For you and for Mom.

Eclipsa squeed impressively, "Awesome! I know you won't regret this decision! Come on!"

Eclipsa grabbed me, then dragged me off of the bed to the party.


When we were in the courtyard, I saw a bunch of creatures around, enjoying themselves. I turned a little bit and noticed that Cobalt was approaching us slowly. Eclipsa smirked, then nudged me slightly.

"Is that somepony you have a crush on?" She teased.

"W-What?" I objected. "N-No!"

"Then why are you staring at him?" She giggled.

"I-It's nothing," I answered, blushing a bit.

Cobalt came over and smiled slightly, "Hey, Astral. Cool party, huh?"

I nodded slowly, "Mhmm…" I turned to Eclipsa and smirked, "Cobalt, allow me to introduce you to my roommate Eclipsa. She told me she likes you a bit."

Eclipsa blushed slightly, as did Cobalt.

"She did?"

"W-Well," Eclipsa stammered, "I do like your scarf. I-It looks cool."

Cobalt's blush disappeared almost immediately after that. "Oh, why thank you, Eclipsa. I think your wings look impressive."

I smiled as the three of us conversed a little bit longer. I was actually happy that Eclipsa dragged me out of my room to this party and, honestly, I could see myself giving this a semester and seeing how things went down. It makes it better to know that I'm not being judged completely here, so…

It feels like a home away from home…