Frowns All Around (1)

[In Ponyville...]

"Another boring day but then, there's nothing exciting about it ever. Oh look, it's a photo of my former pupil Ms. Sheila. She always had the nerve to sleep during my lectures. Now that I hear she's been made a teacher, I do hope she's not promoting any silliness. It's time for me to tackle the illusion of the smile once and for all," declared Derek before heading out. [In Pudgyville...]

"Good morning, students. Isn't it wonderful to be back in school? Now we'll start today's class with a new segment for English and that's not like how we're speaking but we're going to study things like plays but of course, only those where fat is involved," announced Ms. Sheila.

"Ms Sheila, there's someone outside our window," called Mocha.

"Hmmm, let me check, Mocha," replied Ms. Sheila before walking to the window.

"Who's that?" asked Marie.

"It's my former teacher Derek," realized Ms. Sheila.

"The boring pony?" questioned Truffle.

"Yes indeed, Truffle. What would he be doing here?" continued Ms. Sheila before Derek entered the classroom.

"Ms. Sheila, don't tell me you've continued to spread the illusion of happiness," began Derek.

"Illusion? You're wrong. Happiness isn't an illusion," protested Ms. Sheila.

"You don't know what I've been through. Over the years, I've learned that there's no such thing as actually being happy. It's just a way to hide the fact that you're sad all the time. The world as we know it is a despicable place and happiness has no place for it," remarked Derek.

"How could you think that? You can't get along with someone that isn't happy for even a little while," noted Mocha.

"Getting along is part of the illusion of happiness. In reality, there is no getting along. Everyone acts the same way, lonely and sad. There's no such thing as friendships either. We're all sad ponies and that's all we think about. There's no reason for fun. You've all been told there is but you were lied to. They wanted you to believe the world is a wonderful place to be but I've had to sit through countless lectures where ponies were always under some form of depression," explained Derek.

"You must've only seen the bad side of the world. It's not all like that," insisted Ms. Sheila.

"You wouldn't know because you were sleeping in my class," sneered Derek.

"You were literally the most boring teacher I've ever come across. You never even tried to make your classes interesting," added Ms. Sheila.

"Interesting is also part of the illusion of happiness. A lecture that is interesting and entertaining is a complete lie," said Derek.

"Then explain how we all get along," protested Galapeño.

"You don't. You just all want to believe you do because it makes you feel better," answered Derek.

"Derek, deep down, there's no way you could agree with what you're saying. It's not logical in any sense," reiterated Ms. Sheila.

"You're just not on my level of thinking and you never were. Clearly you're not fit to be a teacher here. I'm taking over this class," announced Derek.

"No you're not. You don't have the authority as you're not a teacher anymore. You retired 5 years ago," protested Ms. Sheila.

"Well I'm out of retirement because teaching has gone downhill since I left. I've seen it with my own eyes," declared Derek.

"Your eyes have deteriorated over time. I was there when you had surgery to fix them. Doctors couldn't entirely fix your eyes and ended up messing up your ability to see color. That's most likely why you don't see the joy in happiness. You were likely bitter as well because without the ability to see color, you were going to take a path to dullness and that appears to be what you've done. You never believed in this illusion of happiness all the time, you just literally couldn't see it," elaborated Ms. Sheila.

"As of right now, you're not in charge of this class. Pack your things and leave!" ordered Derek.

"I won't stand by and watch you corrupt my class. We're settling now!" declared Ms. Sheila.

To be continued...