My Equestrian Archives

Ch.5: Learning

The next morning opened with a beautiful sunrise. I awoke, squinting my eyes as I yawned. Making a mental note to ask Twilight for some curtains, I noticed a letter on my desk. Raising an eyebrow, I opened it:

Dear David,

Attached is your Citizenship Papers. Welcome to Equestria! I hope your time here is of peace and love.

-HRH Celestia

I smiled a bit sadly. "Man", I thought to myself. "It's been great here, but I miss my family". I shook away the tears. There was no use whimpering. I had a nice day ahead of me, and nothing would dour it.

A short time later, I headed downstairs, surprised to see Starlight awake. I could not help but laugh. She did what I did- watch the news. I sat down next to her, happy to see that the couch was huge. Good thing too- being tall and small couches are a poison to be avoided.

"Hi David!", Starlight smiled. "Want some coffee?". I quickly nodded, and went to get up, only for Starlight to light her horn and sit me down. "I'll get it!", she said heading into the kitchen. I shook my head. How could someone be so cheerful this early in the morning?

Turning my attention to the silver screen, I smiled. The news reporter, Horn Cronkite, was reporting on my arrival. Apparently, an overnight poll had said 85 percent of Equestria saw me as no threat. 65 percent said I could be trusted with their children. I grinned at seeing that, only to have my attention diverted to hoof steps.

Starlight had a cup of coffee in her magic. The cup was Blue, and had Donut Joe's inscribed on the side, along with the store's info. "Are their doughnut's good?", I asked as Starlight handed me the cup. She nodded, her ears perking then as she heard hoof steps coming downstairs. "The best!"

Twilight entered the room. Her mane was messy, and she had a frown on her face. "Starlight, come back to bed", she whined. Starlight looked at me, embarrassed. "Are you okay being alone?". I nodded. "The news, a cup of Joe... I'm good!"

Starlight smiled, to yelp suddenly as Twilight dragged her upstairs.

Within 4 hours, all 3 of us had showered and eaten breakfast. Spike had run out to Feed's, a breakfast fast food place in Ponyville. Twilight stood up afterwards, flashing me a smile.

"Did you get your citizenship papers?"

I nodded. "I did. I really should get a doctor's appointment scheduled. Know any good one's?"

Spike shot up his head from his Gem breakfast. "Dr. Hooves. He's really nice."

Twilight smiled and levitated the telephone over to me. "Wanna make the call, David?"

I thought on it and nodded. Within a few minutes, a checkup was made for 2 days from then at Noon.

Twilight then looked at the clock, which said 11:30. "David, we gotta go!", she exclaimed, pulling me out the door. Starlight and Spike laughed. Twilight's ADHD was at it again.

After about a minute, Twilight set me on the ground. "Sorry, we sure lost track of time", She commented. I just nodded. "We did. What time were we supposed to be there?"

"11:45", she said. Hearing that, I began to sprint, with Twilight running after me.

My watch said 11:42 as we, panting and sweaty, arrived at the Schoolhouse. We took a moment to catch our breaths, before walking in. Cherilee smiled, greeting us at the door.

"Hello! Oh dear, did you two forget?"

Twilight shook her head no. "I was sleeping too comfortably, and we had a late breakfast."

Cherilee chuckled. "What I would give to sleep in. Anyways, are you going to stay Princess Twilight?"

Twilight put a hoof to her chin, then shook her head no. "I have to go see a friend. Will you be okay, David?"

I smiled, hugging her, kneeling a bit to do so. "I'm sure."

And with that, a wonderful afternoon began.

Taking a moment to take a deep breath, I strode into the classroom, smiling. I did not have to bend or sit, as the ceiling was quite high above. I took a note of the class. 20 kids smiled back at me. 12 Ponies of varying forms, 3 Griffins, a Zebra, and 4 Changelings.

"Okay class", Cherilee smiled. "This here", she said pointing a hoof at me, "Is our new citizen David."

"Hi David", the class chorused-did one of the students mumble it?

"I will be in the teachers lounge class. Don't be afraid to holler if you need me", Cherilee said, before heading into the next room.

"So", I began," I think the best way to do this with be in Q and A format. Ask the questions, and I will answer."

One of the Changelings, named Azrael, raised a hoof. "Do they have electricity where you are from?"

I nodded. "Mhmm. It's been around for a long time. Over 100 years!"

A pony's hoof shot up, Diamond Tierra to be exact. "Is it true Applejack has a crush on you?"

I blushed. "Where did you hear that?"

"Equestria Daily", she beamed. "It's our nation's newspaper."

"Well, I would ask Apple Bloom if that's true."

Diamond turned to her and asked. Apple Bloom shook her head. "Besides, she's married to Rainbow Dash!"

The class laughed. After a few moments, Sweetie Belle's hoof shot up. "Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

I smiled, a nostalgic glint in my eye. "Yup. 2 brothers and one sister. I'm the oldest."

"Did they ever get on your nerves?", Twist asked.

"Oh, all the time", I responded. "But that's just what younger siblings do", I said, raising an eyebrow at Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. They giggled.

"Do humans have war?", Silver Spoon asked. I stopped shortly as Cherilee trotted in, handing me a water bottle, before leaving. I decided to take a drink before answering.

"Sadly yes. Humans have warred since their first breaths and always will. But you all have to remember something. Not every creature you will come across is bad. There are some good, and very good ones. My world is going through something called a Pandemic right now. So many have stepped up to help, so many nurses have worked long shifts to help", I sighed. "Don't worry, I made sure to be vaccinated before I left", I joked. The class smiled, some laughing.

Sweetie Belle then asked a question that made me freeze. "Do you think it was right of the Princesses and Discord to turn Cozy Glow to stone?"

I stopped. It was as if minutes passed. I had to answer this, but how? I knew some in that room had befriended Cozy. I decided to do it- spare no feelings.

"I think the Princesses were wrong. And Discord too. Yes, Cozy had a lot of power and did some things. Bad things. But does one lock a child in their room for a month for being bad? Or talk to them about what they were doing wrong?"

The class thought on that. "But she was friendly then became bad", Sweetie argued.

"I'm not saying I know why she was bad", I said, "But a child should never be treated like she was. I can only hope like Starlight Glimmer and Discord, that she is given a second chance."

Silver shot her hoof up. "What is the worst thing about having Autism?", she asked.

I took a drink of water then, giving me a moment to think. "Change. We get so used to being in our routines that anything new is a shock to the system. Last summer, where I lived, we had a tornado- "

"Were you guys, okay?!", Twist and Dinky asked in unison.

"We were", I smiled. "But an electrical pole near our house got destroyed. We had no power for 3 days. And it drove me mad"

"Okay class", Cherilee smiled, trotting back in. "Any quick questions for David before we get back to our math lesson?"

Everyone shook their heads. I smiled and promised to return someday. But it would not be the next day, as that was my first day at Surgarcube Corners…

A/N: Read and Review!