The sun had only just started its leisurely stroll across the sky as Spike paced the room for the umpteenth time, struggling to muffle his footsteps. Twilight however, continued to snore away. Ohmygosh. Ohmygosh. Ohmygosh! Only one more hour! The little dragon thought to himself as he slinked to the mirror to check his scales for smudges or scuffs only to find they were just as clean as they had been two minutes ago.

Sighing, Spike plopped down on his bed and grabbed a schoolbook to distract himself; The History of Equestria, Volume 2. The crimson binding was cool to the touch, causing him to shift his grip and hold it in his claws as he leafed through it, admiring the vivid illustrations. A plump bird chattered noisily outside the window as a particular piece caught his attention; a husky, towering dragon looming over the buildings around it, broad wings casting shadows over terrified ponies.

Biting his lip, Spike glanced awkwardly over his shoulder half hoping a pair of wings would appear. Why don't I have wings? It's not fair. The question had been bothering him a lot more than usual recently. He remembered asking Twilight when he was little, to which she confidently replied that he 'had a different purpose than other dragons, along with something about him possibly being a rare, undiscovered breed. Spike rolled his eyes; Pretty useless breed. A birth defect was more like it.

Another snore from Twilight shook him out of his melancholy thoughts for a moment, as she rolled over in bed, smacking and fidgeting before falling back into the abyss of sleep. Spike smiled; she really was the best pony he knew. It couldn't hurt to wake her a little early could it?

Shutting the book, he got to his feet and ventured over to her sleeping place, prodding Twilight gently. "Twilight. Twiiiiiiliiiiiiight. Wake up!" Twilight blinked awake. "What? What's wrong?" She mumbled groggily, rubbing her eyes and finishing with an impressive yawn. "Twilight, school starts today! Come on!"

Outside the school building, Twilight smiled down at Spike as he rocked on his heels nervously. "Alright, goodbye! Have fun okay?" "Sure thing, Twi." The little dragon mumbled before hugging her tightly and mustering the courage to ask the question that had been bothering him. "Do you think the other ponies'll like me?"

Twilight was taken off guard by the question; he'd seemed so confident up to this point. "Of course they will! What makes you ask that?" He shrugged. "Just a little nervous, I guess." Various foals and fillies trotted past him to the school building, laughing and chatting busily. "Anyways, bye, Twi!" And Spike was off, cantering up the school path with the school bell tolling noisily. "Bye, Spike!" Twilight smiled, assuring herself he'd have a great time.

The little dragon streamed into the building with a few other ponies before standing near the wall and wondering which seat he ought to take. At least until Cheerilee's voice guided him gently; "Why don't you sit over there near Pipsqueak, Spike?" Spike smiled at her, thankful, and trotted over to the seat, arranging his books on his desk and sitting up straight. Pipsqueak was a slightly stubby pony, coat dotted with brown markings.

When Spike sat down, he piped up; "'Ello Spike! It's been a while since I last saw you!" He had a frankly adorable little British accent, something that would probably turn out to be an asset when he hit high school. "Oh, hi!" Spike replied, looking up from his books and grinning. "It has been a long time. How are you?"

"I've been brilliant thanks. Adjusting to Ponyville nicely I think; everypony here is so nice."

Spike nodded, not at all surprised by the comment; Ponyville was one of the nicest places he'd ever been. Then again, the only other place he'd really been was Canterlot and even then it was usually under siege by some sinister villain of the week.

A cheeky, smooth voice shook him out of his thoughts, challenging Spike openly. "So you're finally getting an education Spike?" He turned to see Diamond Tiara seated smugly in front of him, and felt his mouth go dry as he cast about for a proper response. She really was an intimidating filly, what with her downright meanness and then the fact that she was actually really attractive. It made for an awkward situation all round.

Luckily for Spike, Scootaloo walked into the row and sat on Spike's right, intervening. "Aw shut up Tiara. We all know you had to pull strings to even get into an actual school." She followed this up with a rather stupid-looking imitation of Diamond Tiara writing a paper, and then snickered, Spike suppressing a toothy grin while Pipsqueak laughed loudly.

"Alright everyone! Let's get started!" Cheerilee's voice called out, catching the students' attention and urging them away from the conversation. "First though, you've all probably noticed we have a new student Spike. Let's make him welcome alright?" All eyes fell to the little dragon, Diamond Tiara positively fuming. He forced a smile as the teacher continued speaking.

"Lucky for him, he's joined just in time for our history project! As most of you already know, I'll be arranging you into pairs. From there, you can both decide on a historical figure to do your project on," Cheerilee explained with a practiced grin. "I already have the groups arranged, so I'll just go ahead and read them out. Featherweight and Silverspoon, Diamond Tiara and Scootaloo, Spike and Pipsqueak…"

She continued on until everypony had a partner, although Spike wasn't really listening, busy watching Scootaloo repeatedly bang her head against her desk. He gave her a sympathetic look, feeling bad for her, especially after the exchange of less than five minutes ago. Why would anyone in their right mind pair up Scootaloo and Diamond Tiara? Surely Cheerilee knew they didn't get along?

'Oh well.' Spike propped his chin up on his elbow. At least I'm with Pipsqueak.

Author's Note

Hello, readers! Thank you for sticking with this story so far.

I don't usually tackle stories of this genre, so this is a bit new to me. If you've got any suggestions, please don't hesitate to contact me! :D

Thanks, Saani, for being my fantastic beta reader!