The most irritating thing about this place was the clock on the wall. As with all such devices, it would let off the standard tick and tock sounds. But she was sure that this one was louder, made that way on purpose just to get to her. Starlight Glimmer, a pink unicorn with a distinct purple mane, sat quietly in a small classroom, glancing around at the sheer drab and lifeless colouring of the place. It was the kind of environment that promised either boredom or an early sleep. Regardless, she didn't want to be here, but then, nopony would. This was a place for bad ponies, she knew that, and thanks to her failed plan, that was what she was now branded as. Hence, why she was here, in this place, groaning loudly and hearing it echo around the rest of this empty classroom. Well, nearly empty. That thought caused her to turn to the left, seeing one of the only other occupants of this place. A blue unicorn, who was currently busy brushing her mane, utterly ignoring Starlight and her stares. She didn't know who this mare was, and she didn’t really care. All she wanted was to get out of here. But she knew that wasn't going to be happening anytime soon. Instead, her attention was drawn to the mare, who, at long last, finally noticed her and began to speak.

"New here?"

Starlight gave a grim nod, prompting the blue mare to continue.

"Trixie has been stuck here for months. One bad act and suddenly they think we're not good enough to roam free."

Under normal circumstances, Starlight would have questioned why this Trixie was referring to herself in the third person like that, but was stopped from doing so when the latter leaned in close and began to whisper.

"Just remember, when the teacher comes in, don't question his...well...you'll know it when you meet him."

Raising an eyebrow, Starlight stared at her companion, wondering what in Equestria she was talking about. Instead, she simply resorted to letting out a snort as she turned away from her, and it was here that she managed to catch sigh of the classroom's other user. And this one was quite a surprise to Starlight, as the new mare was, in fact, a pegasus, not a unicorn. Green in her fur and blonde in her name, this Pegasus was looking both bored and angry, and it did not take Starlight long to figure out why. Looking up, she saw that the Pegasus had what was undoubtedly an ice-cream cone stuck on her forehead, giving the appearance of a horn. She looked at this, unsure whether to laugh or just be confused at the sight of it. It was a look the other mare quickly noticed, as she began glaring angrily at Starlight, pointing a hoof to her own forehead before speaking.

"I did some things way back when, but the rules said "unicorns only", so they said I had to have this stupid thing on my head before I came in."

That was, without a doubt, the strangest loophole to a rule Starlight had ever come across, but rather than provoke her colleague, she instead kept quiet about it. However, it was here that all three of them looked up as they hear the distinct sound of the door of their classroom loudly creaking open. They looked on as an elderly unicorn stallion entered the room, clad in a dark blue coat and hat, the latter of which was adorned with bells. Aside from that, the most noteworthy thing about this guy was his massive and bright white beard, which was so long it actually trailed along the ground behind him. All three mares kept their eyes on him as he entered, closed the door behind him, and walked over to the desk at the head of the room, wherein he promptly sat down and cleared his throat. After looking at all three mares in-turn, he started to speak in a deep and gruff voice.

"Welcome all to the Reform School for Formerly-Evil Unicorns! Each of you are here to atone for your misdeeds in the past, and learn to become model citizens of Equestria."

Starlight looked to her left as she heard Trixie groan, banging her head against her table.

"Every day we get the same old speech!"

Looking away from her irritated companion, Starlight looked over to the elder stallion as he carried on.

"My name is Starswirl, and I will be your tutor for this evening."

Upon hearing that name, something clicked in Starlight's mind, and she, at last, spoke up.

"Starswirl? As in Starswirl the Bearded? But...I thought you were dead?"

Trixie's head snapped up in Starlight's direction, and she began frantically motioning to her in a manner that practically screamed out "you shouldn't have said that". At first, Starlight was confused at this reaction, but then all became clear as Starswirl cleared his throat yet again, preparing himself for what looked like a very long-winded speech.

"It is true. Long ago I was indeed within the grasp of death itself. Having lived a long life, experienced many things and battled many foes, my life came to an end. For centuries, I existed in the world beyond, the realms of magic."

For a brief moment, Starlight looked to her left, seeing Trixie bang her head repeatedly against her desk. I guess she's heard this a few times before, Starlight thought. Turning back to the stallion, she listened to him continue.

"But then, a new duty was presented before me. Princess Celestia, mare of the sun herself, came to me in that land beyond, and offered me a new purpose. To guide lost unicorns..."

Starswirl quickly glanced at the green mare before looking at the distance again.

"...and others, away from the path of darkness. Relishing such an opportunity, I accepted."

Sifting through the mass of what she'd just heard, Starlight considered that for a few moments before finally replying to it.

"So...you quit being dead?"

Starlight, in turn, also considered those words before giving a short nod.

"Yes. Yes I did. Anyway, the important thing is that I'm here and will be guiding you, Miss Glimmer. But first of all, we have a special guest speaker for the day."

The piqued the interest of all three mares, and they looked up to see the door of the classroom open up once more. Looking on with interest, they watched as yet another unicorn mare entered the room. A light orange in her fur and bearing a very unique red and yellow mane, she gave a somewhat nervous smile to the three of them as she entered, even waving a little. Starswirl smiled brightly at the mare as he approached her.

"Welcome to the school, Miss Shimmer! I must thank you for being able to arrive on such short notice. Princess Twilight speaks very highly of you!"

The new mare blushed at those words, but Trixie and Starlight, upon hearing Twilight's name, merely grimaced for as little before the former started speaking.

"Thank you, Mr Bearded. It's a pleasure to be here. Um...may I begin?"

The old stallion nodded enthusiastically before gesturing to the class, after which Sunset turned towards them and took a few deep breaths before speaking up.

"Hello. My name is Sunset Shimmer. I'm really excited to be able to speak here today."

Trixie and the green mare both rolled their eyes at that, but Sunset ignored them and continued.

"I was once a lot like all of you. I wanted to rise above everypony else, to take what I believed to be my rightful place. But...all that got me was misery and failure. But...when I failed...I realised something. Power and control weren't important. I found others who had been there all along, who could help me realise that there were things I could have that truly mattered. Friendship, love, acceptance. These things can be yours too, if you wish it."

There was a deathly silence over the group, that is, except for Starswirl, who was frantically clapping his hooves together in appreciation over what Sunset had just said.

"Bravo, Miss Shimmer, bravo! Why, if Princess Celestia could see you today, I know she'd be very proud of you."

That caused yet another blush from the young unicorn, as well as several other eye-rolls from the other mares. However, as Starswirl turned to face them, his cheerful demeanour changed and he looked upon them with far more stern and serious looks.

"Now then...I think what we should do now is go around the room and introduce ourselves better. Who we are and what we did. Miss Lulamoon? I believe you should go first."

Trixie let out a groan at that before sighing. Slowly, she got up from her chair before addressing the rest of the group.

"Hello, my name is Trixie. I was a travelling magician, bringing many fantastic spectacles to the ponies of villages, towns and cities alike. But then, one day..."

Her tone changed immediately as she began to speak in a more dramatic manner.

"...Trixie arrived in the quaint little village of Ponyville. And there, she met the mare who would forever serve as her greatest rival. Twilight Sparkle! That meddlesome unicorn humiliated Trixie in front of the whole town, forcing her to flee! After much toil and effort, Trixie returned, bearing an item of great power, the alicorn amulet. With it, Trixie succeeded in undoing Twilight, banishing her and assuming Trixie's rightful place as ruler of Ponyville!"

The blue mare let out a stereotypical laugh at that, much to the annoyance of Starswirl, who glared at her angrily. Noticing this, Trixie then coughed nervously before shrinking down a little.

"And...um...Trixie also learned a valuable lesson of humility and never exerting power over others and yadda yadda yadda. The end!"

Despite the rather rushed final description of her encounter with Twilight, Trixie got back into her chair, hoping Starswirl wouldn't keep staring at her like that In time, the old stallion did indeed look away from her, turning his attention to the green mare instead. Already getting the hint, she got up from her chair with a groan similar to Trixie's, before speaking up.

"My name is Lightning Dust, and I was once the best student at the Wonderbolt Academy! I did everything right, from training to setting new records. Everything was going my way! But then, those idiots at the Academy kicked me out, and why? All because one of my awesome stunts put a few ponies' lives at risk."

Much like with Trixie, Starswirl gave Lightning a hard look, and after a few moments, Lightning let out a sigh and added more to her speech.

"And...I guess I kinda went too far to impress others...I guess."

Despite the half-hearted attempt at humility, Lightning got back into her chair, after which Starswirl glanced over in Starlight's direction, clearly wanting her to go next. She didn't want to be a part of all this, but went ahead with it anyway.

"I am Starlight Glimmer. I was once the leader of a village way out on the borders of Equestria. Under my leadership, everypony there was happy and equal. Okay, so I kinda had to steal their cutie marks to do it, and yes I did sort of use forbidden magic along the way, but so what? I was doing good, bringing equality! Surely I can't be considered a bad guy for all that, right?"

Starswirl raised an eyebrow at that.

"You think not? You don't think that, regardless of your intentions, it was bad for you to force such evil onto others to get your way?"

Starlight didn't even give that thought a moment's notice before giving her answer.

"Nope. Not bad in the slightest."

Seeing the smug look on her face, Starswirl knew that she meant every word of that. It was also a point shared by the others apparently, as Trixie stood up to add her voice to the mix.

"Indeed! What harm ever came from somepony going a little bit further to get their way?"

Seeing an opportunity here, Starswirl gave a small mischievous smile, which, needless to say, rather unnerved the three mares, and even Sunset for that matter. All four of them watched as the old stallion slowly got up from his desk and turned around, facing the chalkboard behind him. Using his magic, he levitated the board up and moved it aside, and when he did, all of the mares widened their eyes with shock. For there, chained in a small chamber on the other side of the board, was the shadowy spirit of King Sombra, the fabled tyrant of the Crystal Empire, raging against his bonds at all of them.

"GRAAAGHH! CRYSTAAALS! SLAAAVES! DAAARKNESS! POOOWEEER! EVIIIL!!!"

Considering his point officially made, Starswirl promptly levitated the board back over Sombra's chamber, much to the annoyance of the spirit. Turning around, he looked upon the three mares, each of whom had been made quite a few shades paler after having witnessed that dark and tormented spirit. Clearing his throat a little, he spoke in a calm and collected manner.

"So...what will you be doing after you leave this school?"

Before a second had even passed, all three of the mares sat upright and spoke in unison.

"Pledge our lives to friendship, love and everything good, Mr Starswirl!"

Chuckling, the old stallion smiled at that.

"Happy to hear it."

It was here that he then turned to Sunset, who was still taken aback by what she'd witnessed.

"And thank you again, Miss Shimmer, it was a pleasure having you here."

Nervously, Sunset nodded before backing away from the stallion and making her way outside. After closing the door behind her, as well as taking a few moments to compose herself and get her thoughts together, only one thing was on her mind at this point.

"The side of friendship and good...no offense, but sometimes...you scary."