The Final Yearby Sylpheed DashstepChaptersA Strange New TownIron GymProblems Come in ThreesA Strange New Town"But Aiiiideeeeennnn I don't want to," I whined, trying to pull away from the grip on my tail. "I'm not going to school and there's nothing you can do to ma-" I was cut off as Aiden gave an especially hard tug on my tail, making me lose a few feet of ground. I struggled for a few more seconds but ultimately sat down and asked, "You're not going to let me get out of this, are you." In reply I felt him ruffle my dark blue mane as if to say 'no way kiddo.' "Fine, I'll go to school," I muttered, "I don't see why exactly I have to though." I wandered into the grey school building and began to wander the halls as I tried to find the main office. After about thirty minutes of wandering I finally decided to admit that we were lost and I was forced to ask where the main office was. I knocked on four doors, not receiving an answer until I knocked on the fourth door, a stallion yanking open the door a few seconds after I knocked. We stood there for a few seconds as we studied each other and I took note that he had a dark brown mane with a lighter shade of brown for his fur. His eyes were bright blue and he had an hourglass as a cutie mark. "You're a new student here," he said, not so much a question as it was a statement. "How'd you know," I asked, a bit shocked that he'd figured that out so fast. "You'll find out," he said, not even attempting to answer my question. "Quick, what grade are you in!?" "I'm...a senior," I said, Just a little put off by his erratic behavior. "Perfect," he said, "I'll get ready right away." And with that the door was shut in my face. After a few moments of stunned silence I turned to go but stopped as the door opened and the stallion poked his head out and said; "The office is just down this hall and to the right, you'll know when you get there." And then he was gone again. "I really hope that I won't have him as a teacher," I muttered as I continued to the office. Aiden's notepad and quill floated from my saddlebags and on it he wrote 'You and me both kid.' I laughed and took the right that would lead me to where I needed to go. "Am I right to assume that this is the main office," I asked sarcastically as I walked up to the main desk. "What gave it away," the attendant behind the desk asked with a slight smirk on her snout. I looked around at all the signs labeling this area as the main office and I shrugged as I said, "Eh, it's just a hunch." I snapped my attention back to the mare behind the desk and took in her appearance in only a few moments. She had gray fur accompanied by a blonde mane and hazel eyes. "Go on in Trebble, Ms. Scootaloo is waiting," she said, snapping me out of my examination. "She's..." I started but trailed off as my brain cut in with Just go with it. "Okay, thanks Ms..." I trailed off until I caught sight of the name plate on her desk, "Ms. Hooves." "No problem," she said as I moved to the door marked 'Prinicpal.' I never did fully understand why they called them principals. In all of my experience, they were just annoying pricks who did what they could to get you suspended, including extra work and (in my case at least) keeping me after school to work out problems that I had absolutely no problem with. I opened the door nonetheless walked in, my hooves clicking on the chess board style marble floor. An orange mare sat behind the desk, looking up past her auburn mane as I entered the room, her purple eyes gleaming. "Ah, hello Trebble," she said. "Please, just call me Trebb, everybody does," I replied as I slowly inched closer. Something about this whole situation didn't sit right with me and until I got some reason for how they knew I would be here I was going to be on high alert. No need to be too friendly and fall into a trap. "Oh, yes, your parents did mention that you would prefer that," she mused. And there it was. I visibly relaxed at the mention of my 'parents'. Even though they'd died when I was a foal they had precautions set in place so I could continue my life. I honestly don't know how they set it up, or how anypony remembered whatever vows they'd taken way back then, but in every town that I visited there was always some force acting as my guardian. It honestly confused me to no end, but made it easy to move to a new town whenever things got a little too hairy where I was staying. Now things were starting to make a bit more sense. "Since we're talking about preferred titles," she added, "you can just call me Scootaloo, it gets a bit tiring with all the formalities around here." "Well, it's a school," I retorted, "this is probably one of the most formal places in Equestria...minus the student body that is." "Okay, you've made your point," she joked, "now if you wouldn't mind filling out this form for your classes, I'd be much obliged." I nodded and she pulled out a form with a list of classes on it as well as a pen. "Just circle all of the extra curricular classes that you'd like to take, we've already got your core classes filed in for the year, so you have..." she seemed to get a bit lost in thought for a minute before saying, "five. You can choose five classes off of that list, so make them count." I began choosing the classes that I'd wanted and I passed the form back to Scootaloo ten minutes later. "Hm, interesting selection," she said. "Alright, that was pretty much all you had to do, although there is one last thing that I have to give you," she added, pulling out a package from under the desk. "Your parents left this with me for you. I don't entirely know why, but here you go. Oh and your schedule should be at where you're staying as soon as it's done." I took the package and tucked it under my wing, the green feathers being disturbed a little from their positions as I settled it against my side, that was fine though, I could preen myself later. I got up and made my way towards the door, flashing Scootaloo one last smile before exiting the room. I made it about twenty feet from the building before curiosity overcame me and I opened the package. Inside of it was a letter and a map, nothing too important although the letter caught my eye almost immediately with the colors on it. Okay, I'd really like to be formal with you right now Trebb but right now me and Eli are dealing with something big and I can't spend much time writing this letter. Long story short me and Eli have someo-somepony that we have to go rescue in the Whitetail Woods. We'll be gone for an indefinite period of time and as such we've acquired a new guardian for you in our absense. Just follow the trail marked on the map and you'll arrive where we've arranged for you to stay. I know this is a bit different than normal, but trust us, this is for the best. ~Josh "Well this is certainly new," I muttered as I looked at the map once more, only faintly noticing the path drawn on it. "This looks like it was drawn years ago," I said to Aiden's as I started moving down the street. About an hour later I found myself at a tree. I stared up at it for a few minutes before finally noticing the door that was right in front of me. I knocked on the door and a few seconds later the door was pulled open, a purple claw shooting out and dragging me into the darkness of the tree. "Suprise," a solitary voice shouted, the light flickering on a moment after the shout finished. My eyes were greeted by balloons floating around accompanied by streamers and a banner that read 'Welcome to Ponyville Trebb!' My eyes drifted across the room and took in the sight of the party before landing on the figure beside me. From the looks of him, he was a dragon, and from his tall and lean body I figured he was a teenager. His main scales were purple while the secondary ones were a shade of light green, including his fins, and his spines were a shade of dark green, the same shade as his eyes. "You like it," he asked. "You...threw a party for me," I asked, a bit stunned. "Well yeah, I had a friend once who threw one for everybody new in town...but she's gone now, so I do it to keep her memory alive," he said, a sad look appearing in his eyes. "You know, the way you talk gives me the impression that you're old," I joked, "but you can't possibly be older than twenty...hell, no more than 18!" He gave a small laugh and moved over to to couch and said, "well kid, you'd be surprised. I'm nearly 200 years old." I had made a move to sit down across from the dragon but stopped suddenly as he aid that. "You're shitting me?" "Nope." "What? I mean how? No creature can live that long and still be so young." "Hold on a minute." He scrambled across the library, looking for something while muttering to himself about recategorizing. My thoughts had begun to drift towards what tomorrow would be like but we're interrupted by a book dropping into my lap. "Found it," he announced. "Thanks for the forwarding," I muttered, "hopefully I won't go sterile. So what exactly is...The Life and Times of a Dragon?" "Read it and you'll understand how I'm able to live so long," he replied, heading for the stairs. "Your room is the first on the right. You can stay up as late as you want but I wouldn't advise that with your first day of school tomorrow." "Okay," I said, turning to the book. One thought made me turn around and call out to him, "What do I call you?" "The name's Spike," he replied, heading up the rest of the stairs and going into his room. I cracked open the book and began to read from the first page. A dragon is an age old creature, mainly bipedal until adulthood, that generally lives around the age of 2,000 to 2,500 years old, not counting the years that the dragon must be incubated in an egg. The baby usually spends at least 10 to 15 years in the egg, but the absolute earliest it can hatch without being considered early is 7 yea- "Oh sweet Luna," I muttered, "this is gonna be a long night Aiden." I gave an audible sigh of relief as I turned the last page of the book, having spent the past five hours reading. Written on it were two simple lines. Penned by Spike. In memory of Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie. "Huh, why are those names so familiar," I wondered aloud. "I recognize them too," Aiden wrote. "Research it?" "Nahh, why research it when I could just ask...Spike," I trailed off as I took notice that nothing in the room had been touched since I'd arrived. The cake was still in its covering and all of the games were still as they had been set up. "Damn...do you think Spike will think we don't appreciate him if we don't at least play some of this stuff?" "I dunno," Aiden offered, "he seemed to leave on his own accord." "Well I'm going to go and get him," I said, getting up off the couch. "Do you even know where his room is," he asked. "No clue," I replied as I moved up the stairs. "I mean there can't be too many roo-" I stopped as I reached to top of the stairs, counting out eight rooms total, four on the left and four on the right. I motioned for Aiden to check the left side and I began to check on the right, hesitantly opening the doors one by one. After I got to the third door I felt Aiden give my tail a tug and I turned around, spotting a shaft of light coming from one of the doors on the left. I moved over to it and nosed it open, freezing up as I noticed Spike's tear stained cheeks and the picture held in his claw. "Oh, sorry," I mumbled, backing out the door, "I'll just go." "No, wait," he said, setting the picture down, "what did you want?" "I just wanted to ask if you wanted to play some of the games or get some cake," I said. "You...actually want to try some of the stuff...with me?" "Well you did take the time to set all that up for us to enjoy, right? So why not?" "...most ponies don't usually want to hang out with me, after all, who wants to be friends with a dragon." I thought of Aiden and a small smile came to my lips and I said, "Dude, that's just wrong." "Yeah, I know, but I don't really want to step on anypony's hooves." "Come on downstairs with me man, play some games, have some cake, I'd enjoy the company." The dragon was hiding his face in his claws now and I saw a few tears leak down his face before he looked up at me with a smile on his face. "Thanks." I nodded and smiled to him, turning to exit the room, almost stopping as I caught sight of the picture, a group of six mares along with Spike, but continued on and only thought I'll ask him later Iron Gym"Okay, so your first class is gym with Iron Will. Just a tip, don't call him that. Even in town Will has everpony call him Mr. Will, no matter who are," Spike said. "Even the princesses," I asked as we went over my schedule late into the night, the map set beside us as he pointed out the rooms and explained what I should do. "He's insane, not suicidal," Spike replied, giving me a smirk. That plus the lean body he had almost made me forget that he was two hundred years old. "Right, so I think we've done enough tonight," I said, standing up to stretch. "We still need to go over your schedule kid," he replied, arching an eyebrow. "Oh please. I can handle my first day of school." "So you don't need any of my help?" "Nah, I've got this." "Okay." He said it so suddenly and with such a smug tone that I immediately knew something was wrong, but we were both too far into this game of pride now to back out and ask/offer for the things not being said. "Hmm, 7:34. Seems he plans to sleep through his first day at Seventh Element High," a voice said, marelike and harmonic. "I wouldn't doubt it, seeing as how him and Spike were up until after midnight last night," another voice said, this one the voice of a stallion and gruff and dismissive. I started to wake up, the voices having roused my consciousness, but even as I woke up, the voices continued, seemingly oblivious to me. "I know how you're feeling, but he's his own stallion now," the mare said as I started to get to my hooves, my eyes still too blurry to get a glance at them. "Fuck that, he's still our-" The voice of the stallion was cut off as a coldness tackled me, my many years with the entity granting me the knowledge that it was Aiden. My vision slowly cleared and I realized that the stallion and the mare had disappeared, and if it wasn't for Aiden laying on top of me I probably would have dropped it off as a dream. He wouldn't have tackled me for no reason, if not to distract me or stop me from hearing something wrong. "Aiden, what the hell," I asked, rolling over and getting up. A clock floated over into my vision and I caught sight of the time, a small "Shit," escaping my throat as I took it in. I was about to be late. I quickly scrambled up, counting off the minutes to 7:55 as I rushed to get ready. 7:36; Throw some toast in the toaster. 7:37; Brush my teeth. 7:38; Look for my bag that'd gone missing. 7:45; Spot the bag hanging by the front door instead of where I'd left it. 7:46; Run out the front door with the toast in my mouth and start flying frantically towards the school. I might have made it, if not for the cart that suddenly appeared in my path, not even giving me enough time to try and curl above it as I slammed face first into the side of it. I struggled to get to my hooves and felt another pair wrap around me, lifting me and half carry, half drag me to the school as stars danced in my head. "Nice job," I heard a mare say, my mind making the connection that it was the pony carrying me. "You've gone and made us both late for school." "You could just leave me," I managed, trying to get my hooves to keep my weight and failing again. "Nahh, it'd look better for me if I walk in with a new student on my arm," she said, the humor apparent in her voice. "You have a point, I just hope that Mr. Will'll allow me to get in late," I said. "You have Mr. Will too," she asked, "that's great!" I looked up at her features, taking in the sight of a mare with white fur, a red mane, and pale blue eyes. I also took notice of her wings and I felt something in me click, giving me power to get my hooves under me and stop leaning on her as much. "We'd better hurry," I said, "we're gonna be late." "Puh-lease," she said, laughing a bit, "me, late? I'd like to see that happen." For some reason, the nonchalant way she was acting only fueled whatever source was giving me strength, allowing me to pick myself off of her entirely and take a few steps on my own. "You can be late if you want," I said, taking a few more unsteady steps and wondering if I had a concussion before continuing my statement, "but I don't plan on being kicked out on day one." I took off at a lopsided gallop after that, my steps faltering every few times they landed, but not before I heard her say, "Nopony ever listens," with a laugh. I ignored it and hurried down the road, my steps becoming more sure with each hooffall, and soon reached the school with thirty seconds to spare. I hurried in, recalling the map of the school, and hurried to the gym as fast as I could. I threw open the doors just as the late bell rang and shouted, "I'M NOT LATE," being thrown flat on my back as a rubber ball hit me square in the snout. My vision trippled and a minotaur's face appeared in my sight, three of them spinning around for a few seconds before he noticed I was okay, his worried look disappearing and a smug look taking its place. "And that, students, is why you're not late to my class," he said, "understood?" There were a few murmurs from the class I assumed was behind him and he turned back to me, saying, "Now, ten laps around the gym." "What for," I asked, sitting up and rubbing my head, thankful that the tripple vision had disappeared. "Five for being late to class, and the other five for not catching that ball," he said. "Well you'd better get another ready because ther-" I began, pausing as I spotted the mare at the front of the group of students. "Nevermind," I groaned, getting up and using my wings to float around the edge of the gym. "No wings," Will called out to me in a sing-song voice that let me know he was enjoying this too much. I closed my wings and continued on around the gym, listening in on as he said, "Now the rest of you get into groups. There are enough students here for everyone to be in pairs of two, so get it accomplished." I took a few moments to examine the rest of the class and took notice of the thing that the stallion I had met yesterday was talking about. These ponies were all wearing clothes. All except that mare who had helped me. By the time I had completed my eighth lap everpony was in a group other than the mare, leaving me to give a sigh and sit beside her after I finished my laps. "Okay, now that Mr. Late is done-" he began, stopping as I interrupted. "It's Trebb," I said. "What," he asked, narrowing his eyes at me. "My name is Trebb, not Mr. Late," I replied, knowing exactly what I was getting myself into. "Okay then Trebb," he said, "since you've so graciously set yourself up as tribute, how about we show the class what we're doing today." "And what would that be," I asked. "Dodgeball." I shrugged and began to get up, stopping as Will he'd out a blue hand, stopping me in my tracks. "Trust me, you'll want someone to catch you." He picked up a ball after I'd settled down again and turned, getting ready to throw the ball. He threw the ball as hard as he could and I instantly knew that I wouldn't live to see tomorrow, no matter what I did, the ball was traveling too fast and had too much force behind it. So I did what any sane pony in my situation would've done. I closed my eyes, held out my hooves and hoped for the best. After about thirty seconds of not being turned to paste on a dodgeball I cracked my eyes open, surprise dawning on my face as I caught sight of the ball in my hooves. After another second of silence I finally figured out what had happened, silently thanking Aiden for helping me out. I looked back up at Will, giving a small smile at the look of surprise on his face, and tossed the ball back to him. "Alright, that's what you do if there's a ball coming towards you," he said, straightening his blue tie. "Now before I continue explaining the rules to you foals, I'll come around and do attendance." As he started going around with his clipboard the mare next to me said, "I saw that." I felt a small jolt of fear surface and I asked, "Saw what?" She squinted at me and said, "There's something weird about you, and I plan to find out what it is." Right, I thought to myself, first day of school and I've already got a stalker. "Okay then," I said, smiling as I thought up a counter to her observations, "you tell me how you got here before me and I'll tell you how I caught the ball. Secret for a secret, right?" "Well I dare say, you don't even know my-" "Name," Will interrupted her, giving me a curious look out if the corner of his eyes. "Roseluck," she said, ignoring the smile that broke out on my face. Will nodded and walked to the next group, not bothering to ask my name. "So, Roseluck," I said, rolling the name around on my tongue. "Interesting." "As if Trebb is any better. What kind of name even is that," she asked. "It's the name of a great and powerful DJ," I said defensively. "Oh great, another DJ, just what we needed," she said, "as if Vinyl wasn't enough." "Wait, Vinyl," I asked, "as in-" "Vinyl Scratch, yes. Her and Octav-" Will 's voice cut in from the back of the gym, forcing us to turn to him as he said, "Alright class, today, as you can see from these dodgeballs, we're going to be playing dodgeball. Oh, and you're stuck with your partner for the rest of the year, so I hope you picked somepony you won't have to strangle. If you feel like you're going to kill somepony, follow your urges. Now then, onto the rules." He looked around at the class, taking in the smiles of the kids and awaiting looks. "Each group will be handed a rope and it's going to be your job to find some way to tie yourselves together. For Pegasi there shall be a special rule. If two Pegasi are in the same group then they shall have to tie together the base of their wings. For any other group you'll just have to tie together your tails if nothing else." "Yeah, cause that's fair," I muttered, giving Rose a small smile. She returned it and said, "Don't worry, he does this every year." "You've had him as a teacher before," I asked as a rope was passed to us. "Yeah, but he never remembers any of his students," she replied, lining us up so my left wing was pressed against her right one. "That seems kinda mean," I said as she tied the bases together. "Eh, the students get used to it. There were only like two, maybe three ponies who've ever made him remember them," she said as we both flexed our wings, trying to get used to the feeling. I don't know what it was about that moment, but things seemed perfect for just one moment. For a brief moment, our wings seemed to fit together, as if they were cut in half and sewn onto different bodies, and apparently she noticed it too, from the look she gave me but the moment was broken as her wing slipped suddenly, breaking the wholeness. We both looked at each other, wondering if what we had felt was real or just a figment of our imaginations, but we were broken out of it by Will 's voice shouting. "READY, SET, GO," he shouted, tipping over an entire basket of dodgeballs. "You ready," Rose asked me. "You know it," I replied, scrambling up quickly. "How can you be that rubbish at dodgeball," Rose asked as I held an ice pack to my eye on one of the examination tables in the nurse's office. "Well excuuuse me for not having a ton of time to play it," I replied, wincing a bit as I pressed the ice deeper into my flesh. "Everypony knows how to play dodgeball, it's a foals game. I still can't believe that we were the first ones out," she groaned, nursing the slightly bruised cheek she was now sporting. "Don't blame me," I muttered as the nurse walked in, her light pink mane slightly frazzled from overworking more likely than not. "Hey, you okay Heart," Rose asked, apparently noticing what I had. "Yeah," the nurse replied, "just a bit overloaded with forms. What about you Rose, and who's your cute friend over there?" I almost choked when she said that, but managed not to and managed to limit it to a wary smile instead. "That's Trebb, he's an idiot," Rose replied, "Trebb, this is Heart Stroke, the school nurse." "And the mare after your very heart," Heart added. That time I did choke, my breathing catching in my throat a second and forcing me to cough a few times to restart my lung functions. "S-sorry," I said as I noticed the combined look they were giving me, "I'm just not used to mares admitting to...that." "Wait, you think I...oh, nononono," Rose said, "it's only her, this heart is meant for stallions alone. And not mares, no matter how many times she tries to get me to change my mind." "I don't mean to pry, but doesn't that go just a bit past your code of conduct," I asked. "Well it's not like I've tried to do anything I'm not allowed, and besides, as of today, it's no longer against the law," Heart said with a smile and a cute little giggle. It took me a second to process what she'd said and I turned to Rose after I had and asked, "Today's your birthday?" "Yes," she said, lowering her eyes, "I don't like too many ponies knowing though." "What, that's stupid," I said. "Isn't it though," Heart said, wrapping Rose in a hug, "it's okay though, she still enjoys the parties I throw her." "No," Rose corrected her, "I don't, and especially not last year's." "What happened last year," I asked. Heart opened her mouth to respond but Rose stuck her hoof in her mouth silencing her and glaring at me as she said, "Nothing happened." "Okay," I replied. Feeling a bit of hostile tension, I decided to steer the conversation in a new direction. "Don't you have to fill out something explaining how we got hurt," I asked Heart. Rose took her hoof out of Heart's mouth and she replied, "Yes, I do, so why don't you get started explaining how you ended up with a black eye and how she ended up with a bruised cheek." The balls spilled out across the floor and I scrambled up to get my hooves on one, pulling Rose up with me. What I hadn't noticed was the ball that Will had used for the demonstration had rolled and one of my hooves was now landing where it was, throwing my balance off and making me fall to the ground. My eye slammed on a ball that had rolled over and as Rose fell with me, a ball that had been heading her way that she had intended to catch slammed into her cheek. Will apparently caught sight of the entire thing and shouted, "You two are out, Trebb, go get that eye checked out, I know that's not going to end well." "And that's exactly how it happened," I finished. "Yes, we lost because this idiot couldn't pay attention," Rose said. "It's not that bad dear," Heart said, wrapping a light gray hoof around Rose's shoulders. "It is though," Rose cried out, "I'm stuck with him for the rest of the year." I took that comment pretty hard, even if it was from her...in fact, because it was coming from her made it sting all the more for some reason. After a few seconds of dwelling on it, I figured out why. This was perhaps one of the closest things to a friend I would ever make in this town. I didn't have clothes and I didn't plan on ever getting any, leaving me bound as a social outcast indefinitely. And then here was this mare, the only one closest to my current setting, and she was saying that she'd rather be stuck with anyone other than me. "I'm just going to go," I said, getting off the examination table and setting down the ice pack. "It was nice meeting you," I said to Heart as I picked up my bags and exited the room. I decided to find my next class and I took my schedule out, scanning it until I saw A-2. English with Sweetie Belle. Room 113. I put the schedule away and continued onwards, finding the room easily and waiting outside it for the bell to ring, thinking about my day so far. I had woken up to two strange voices, made a potential friend, made an ass of myself in front of the class, and then lost said potential friend. It was going to be a long day. Problems Come in ThreesThe bell rang after a few minutes and after about thirty seconds of nopony coming out I tentatively pushed the door open and walked in, finding the room empty and the lights off. I moved into the room, searching for the light switch but only found the wall. I slid along the wall and eventually hit something, only a few hoof steps away from the door, but it definitely wasn't the light switch. There was a bright flash and suddenly I was upside down, hanging by magical threads attached to the ceiling. Somebody came in and flipped the light on using magic and I started to flail around to get the market's attention. "Hey, quick, get me out of this shit before a teacher comes," I said. "Excuse me but what did you just say," she asked, her pale eyes landing on me, one of them partially hidden by her mane, a mix of a pale pink and light purple. "I said get me the hell out of this," I repeated. "I'll get you something alright," she said, moving over to the desk in the corner of the room. "Wait, what? You're joking right," I said, giving her an incredulous look. "You're not a fucking teacher. Now seriously get me down from here. She wasn't a teacher, was she? She was simply too...young. There was no possible way that she was a teacher, and yet seen was grabbing the referral pad and writing out a referral. "Now I can only assume you're Trebb seeming as how you're not one of my regular students, I'm right, aren't I," she asked. "Yes," I admitted, hanging my head in defeat. And then Rose entered the room. Her eyes landed on me and she came to a complete stop, simply staring at me. "Trebb, what in the world have you gotten yourself into," she asked. "I don't know," I admitted, "but could you please tell whoever this is to get me the help down." Rose shifted her gaze from me to the mare at the desk, her eyes widening. "Trebb, stop." "Why, you can't seriously be in on this joke," I argued. "Trebb, that's Ms. Belle," she said. "Wait you mean..." Sweetie Belle walked over to me and lifted the referral up in front of my face. "Head over to Scootaloo's office." "I kinda can't," I argued, feeling a blush creeping up my face as more students walked into the room. "Oh, right," she said, her horn flaring and the magic holding me up cutting off and effectively dropping me into the floor with the threads still wrapped around my wings, hooves, and body. "Thanks," I muttered, taking the note in my mouth and walking out the door, feeling the stares of the students in the room on my back. I started down the hallway, the late bell ringing as I got to the end of the hall, taking a right and heading for the main hall. I arrived at Derpy's desk and sat the note on it, giving a small with as she gave a few small 'tsk's' and gave me a disappointed stare. "Well Ms. Scootaloo is out right now so you'll just have to wait in one of the chairs by her door," she told me. I gave a sigh and walked down to her office, sitting down in one of the chairs and waiting. After a while I heard hoof-steps coming and I sat up, looking down the hall to see Heart heading my way. She stopped in front of me and gave me a surprised look. "Well, is it a normal occurrence to get kicked out of class for you," she asked. "Not really," I assured her, sinking lower in the chair I was in, feeling like an idiot. "What happened?" "I cursed in front of a teacher unwittingly." "Ms. Belle?" "Yeah, how did you know?" She gave a me a small smile as though she was about to let me in on a secret and sat in the chair next to me. "Don't worry, you're not the only one who's done that. You shouldn't get in too much trouble." "She looks so young." "Yeah, we know. Out of the three of them she looks the youngest." "What do you mean 'out of the three of them'?" "You'll probably find out from Scootaloo." I looked at the door and gave a small nod. We lapsed into silence until she broke it. "Don't worry about earlier okay, it's just Rose being Rose...She really does appreciate you talking to her you know." "Could have fooled me." "You want to know a little secret? I was actually surprised to see her walk in with you." "Why?" "Well because she honestly doesn't let many ponies close so in order for her to actually walk with you she must actually like you for some strange reason." "I wouldn't know why." I thought back to all that had happened this morning and finally came up with an answer. "She finds me interesting." "So you're different. That's good, different is fun...Trebb, can you make me a promise?" "Huh? We just met less than an hour ago and you want me to promise you something?" "It's just a small thing okay? Don't give up on her." I was silent for about a minute before nodding my head. Scootaloo finally came walking down the hall after that and gave an exasperated sigh when her eyes landed on me. Heart gave me a small smile before getting up and heading back to her office. "What happened," Scootaloo asked as she unlocked the door to her office. I explained to her exactly what happened and she shook her head. "I didn't know it was her," I argued. "I know," she said, "I honestly don't blame you and I keep telling her to take that trap down but she never listens. As a result I'm not going to write you up." I gave a small 'yes' and began to get up until her voice interrupted my action. "I can't let you go back to class though." "What am I going to do then," I asked, sitting back down. "Spend some time with me I guess," she replied. I gave a small sigh and said, "No offence but I'd rather not spend time with some mare who's old enough to be my mother." "Great grandmother actually," she corrected me. "What," I asked, my curiosity piqued. "It's a long story." "We have an entire bell." She was silent for a few seconds before saying, "You know Trebb, I can tell this is going to be an interesting year with you here." "Are you trying to change the subject," I asked. "Maybe." "Why not just tell me?" "Because I don't know if you'll believe me." "Believe me, I have an open mind." I was thinking of Aiden as I said this and suddenly became aware that I hadn't felt him since that incident in the gym. I came to the conclusion he was still charging his power. "Okay, if you say so...it all started in Ponyville back in 2023. A new stallion had shown up in town, a rather cute Zebra. I was the first to meet him..." I settled back to hear this story that lead to my principal being about 200 years old.
A Strange New Town"But Aiiiideeeeennnn I don't want to," I whined, trying to pull away from the grip on my tail. "I'm not going to school and there's nothing you can do to ma-" I was cut off as Aiden gave an especially hard tug on my tail, making me lose a few feet of ground. I struggled for a few more seconds but ultimately sat down and asked, "You're not going to let me get out of this, are you." In reply I felt him ruffle my dark blue mane as if to say 'no way kiddo.' "Fine, I'll go to school," I muttered, "I don't see why exactly I have to though." I wandered into the grey school building and began to wander the halls as I tried to find the main office. After about thirty minutes of wandering I finally decided to admit that we were lost and I was forced to ask where the main office was. I knocked on four doors, not receiving an answer until I knocked on the fourth door, a stallion yanking open the door a few seconds after I knocked. We stood there for a few seconds as we studied each other and I took note that he had a dark brown mane with a lighter shade of brown for his fur. His eyes were bright blue and he had an hourglass as a cutie mark. "You're a new student here," he said, not so much a question as it was a statement. "How'd you know," I asked, a bit shocked that he'd figured that out so fast. "You'll find out," he said, not even attempting to answer my question. "Quick, what grade are you in!?" "I'm...a senior," I said, Just a little put off by his erratic behavior. "Perfect," he said, "I'll get ready right away." And with that the door was shut in my face. After a few moments of stunned silence I turned to go but stopped as the door opened and the stallion poked his head out and said; "The office is just down this hall and to the right, you'll know when you get there." And then he was gone again. "I really hope that I won't have him as a teacher," I muttered as I continued to the office. Aiden's notepad and quill floated from my saddlebags and on it he wrote 'You and me both kid.' I laughed and took the right that would lead me to where I needed to go. "Am I right to assume that this is the main office," I asked sarcastically as I walked up to the main desk. "What gave it away," the attendant behind the desk asked with a slight smirk on her snout. I looked around at all the signs labeling this area as the main office and I shrugged as I said, "Eh, it's just a hunch." I snapped my attention back to the mare behind the desk and took in her appearance in only a few moments. She had gray fur accompanied by a blonde mane and hazel eyes. "Go on in Trebble, Ms. Scootaloo is waiting," she said, snapping me out of my examination. "She's..." I started but trailed off as my brain cut in with Just go with it. "Okay, thanks Ms..." I trailed off until I caught sight of the name plate on her desk, "Ms. Hooves." "No problem," she said as I moved to the door marked 'Prinicpal.' I never did fully understand why they called them principals. In all of my experience, they were just annoying pricks who did what they could to get you suspended, including extra work and (in my case at least) keeping me after school to work out problems that I had absolutely no problem with. I opened the door nonetheless walked in, my hooves clicking on the chess board style marble floor. An orange mare sat behind the desk, looking up past her auburn mane as I entered the room, her purple eyes gleaming. "Ah, hello Trebble," she said. "Please, just call me Trebb, everybody does," I replied as I slowly inched closer. Something about this whole situation didn't sit right with me and until I got some reason for how they knew I would be here I was going to be on high alert. No need to be too friendly and fall into a trap. "Oh, yes, your parents did mention that you would prefer that," she mused. And there it was. I visibly relaxed at the mention of my 'parents'. Even though they'd died when I was a foal they had precautions set in place so I could continue my life. I honestly don't know how they set it up, or how anypony remembered whatever vows they'd taken way back then, but in every town that I visited there was always some force acting as my guardian. It honestly confused me to no end, but made it easy to move to a new town whenever things got a little too hairy where I was staying. Now things were starting to make a bit more sense. "Since we're talking about preferred titles," she added, "you can just call me Scootaloo, it gets a bit tiring with all the formalities around here." "Well, it's a school," I retorted, "this is probably one of the most formal places in Equestria...minus the student body that is." "Okay, you've made your point," she joked, "now if you wouldn't mind filling out this form for your classes, I'd be much obliged." I nodded and she pulled out a form with a list of classes on it as well as a pen. "Just circle all of the extra curricular classes that you'd like to take, we've already got your core classes filed in for the year, so you have..." she seemed to get a bit lost in thought for a minute before saying, "five. You can choose five classes off of that list, so make them count." I began choosing the classes that I'd wanted and I passed the form back to Scootaloo ten minutes later. "Hm, interesting selection," she said. "Alright, that was pretty much all you had to do, although there is one last thing that I have to give you," she added, pulling out a package from under the desk. "Your parents left this with me for you. I don't entirely know why, but here you go. Oh and your schedule should be at where you're staying as soon as it's done." I took the package and tucked it under my wing, the green feathers being disturbed a little from their positions as I settled it against my side, that was fine though, I could preen myself later. I got up and made my way towards the door, flashing Scootaloo one last smile before exiting the room. I made it about twenty feet from the building before curiosity overcame me and I opened the package. Inside of it was a letter and a map, nothing too important although the letter caught my eye almost immediately with the colors on it. Okay, I'd really like to be formal with you right now Trebb but right now me and Eli are dealing with something big and I can't spend much time writing this letter. Long story short me and Eli have someo-somepony that we have to go rescue in the Whitetail Woods. We'll be gone for an indefinite period of time and as such we've acquired a new guardian for you in our absense. Just follow the trail marked on the map and you'll arrive where we've arranged for you to stay. I know this is a bit different than normal, but trust us, this is for the best. ~Josh "Well this is certainly new," I muttered as I looked at the map once more, only faintly noticing the path drawn on it. "This looks like it was drawn years ago," I said to Aiden's as I started moving down the street. About an hour later I found myself at a tree. I stared up at it for a few minutes before finally noticing the door that was right in front of me. I knocked on the door and a few seconds later the door was pulled open, a purple claw shooting out and dragging me into the darkness of the tree. "Suprise," a solitary voice shouted, the light flickering on a moment after the shout finished. My eyes were greeted by balloons floating around accompanied by streamers and a banner that read 'Welcome to Ponyville Trebb!' My eyes drifted across the room and took in the sight of the party before landing on the figure beside me. From the looks of him, he was a dragon, and from his tall and lean body I figured he was a teenager. His main scales were purple while the secondary ones were a shade of light green, including his fins, and his spines were a shade of dark green, the same shade as his eyes. "You like it," he asked. "You...threw a party for me," I asked, a bit stunned. "Well yeah, I had a friend once who threw one for everybody new in town...but she's gone now, so I do it to keep her memory alive," he said, a sad look appearing in his eyes. "You know, the way you talk gives me the impression that you're old," I joked, "but you can't possibly be older than twenty...hell, no more than 18!" He gave a small laugh and moved over to to couch and said, "well kid, you'd be surprised. I'm nearly 200 years old." I had made a move to sit down across from the dragon but stopped suddenly as he aid that. "You're shitting me?" "Nope." "What? I mean how? No creature can live that long and still be so young." "Hold on a minute." He scrambled across the library, looking for something while muttering to himself about recategorizing. My thoughts had begun to drift towards what tomorrow would be like but we're interrupted by a book dropping into my lap. "Found it," he announced. "Thanks for the forwarding," I muttered, "hopefully I won't go sterile. So what exactly is...The Life and Times of a Dragon?" "Read it and you'll understand how I'm able to live so long," he replied, heading for the stairs. "Your room is the first on the right. You can stay up as late as you want but I wouldn't advise that with your first day of school tomorrow." "Okay," I said, turning to the book. One thought made me turn around and call out to him, "What do I call you?" "The name's Spike," he replied, heading up the rest of the stairs and going into his room. I cracked open the book and began to read from the first page. A dragon is an age old creature, mainly bipedal until adulthood, that generally lives around the age of 2,000 to 2,500 years old, not counting the years that the dragon must be incubated in an egg. The baby usually spends at least 10 to 15 years in the egg, but the absolute earliest it can hatch without being considered early is 7 yea- "Oh sweet Luna," I muttered, "this is gonna be a long night Aiden." I gave an audible sigh of relief as I turned the last page of the book, having spent the past five hours reading. Written on it were two simple lines. Penned by Spike. In memory of Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie. "Huh, why are those names so familiar," I wondered aloud. "I recognize them too," Aiden wrote. "Research it?" "Nahh, why research it when I could just ask...Spike," I trailed off as I took notice that nothing in the room had been touched since I'd arrived. The cake was still in its covering and all of the games were still as they had been set up. "Damn...do you think Spike will think we don't appreciate him if we don't at least play some of this stuff?" "I dunno," Aiden offered, "he seemed to leave on his own accord." "Well I'm going to go and get him," I said, getting up off the couch. "Do you even know where his room is," he asked. "No clue," I replied as I moved up the stairs. "I mean there can't be too many roo-" I stopped as I reached to top of the stairs, counting out eight rooms total, four on the left and four on the right. I motioned for Aiden to check the left side and I began to check on the right, hesitantly opening the doors one by one. After I got to the third door I felt Aiden give my tail a tug and I turned around, spotting a shaft of light coming from one of the doors on the left. I moved over to it and nosed it open, freezing up as I noticed Spike's tear stained cheeks and the picture held in his claw. "Oh, sorry," I mumbled, backing out the door, "I'll just go." "No, wait," he said, setting the picture down, "what did you want?" "I just wanted to ask if you wanted to play some of the games or get some cake," I said. "You...actually want to try some of the stuff...with me?" "Well you did take the time to set all that up for us to enjoy, right? So why not?" "...most ponies don't usually want to hang out with me, after all, who wants to be friends with a dragon." I thought of Aiden and a small smile came to my lips and I said, "Dude, that's just wrong." "Yeah, I know, but I don't really want to step on anypony's hooves." "Come on downstairs with me man, play some games, have some cake, I'd enjoy the company." The dragon was hiding his face in his claws now and I saw a few tears leak down his face before he looked up at me with a smile on his face. "Thanks." I nodded and smiled to him, turning to exit the room, almost stopping as I caught sight of the picture, a group of six mares along with Spike, but continued on and only thought I'll ask him later
Iron Gym"Okay, so your first class is gym with Iron Will. Just a tip, don't call him that. Even in town Will has everpony call him Mr. Will, no matter who are," Spike said. "Even the princesses," I asked as we went over my schedule late into the night, the map set beside us as he pointed out the rooms and explained what I should do. "He's insane, not suicidal," Spike replied, giving me a smirk. That plus the lean body he had almost made me forget that he was two hundred years old. "Right, so I think we've done enough tonight," I said, standing up to stretch. "We still need to go over your schedule kid," he replied, arching an eyebrow. "Oh please. I can handle my first day of school." "So you don't need any of my help?" "Nah, I've got this." "Okay." He said it so suddenly and with such a smug tone that I immediately knew something was wrong, but we were both too far into this game of pride now to back out and ask/offer for the things not being said. "Hmm, 7:34. Seems he plans to sleep through his first day at Seventh Element High," a voice said, marelike and harmonic. "I wouldn't doubt it, seeing as how him and Spike were up until after midnight last night," another voice said, this one the voice of a stallion and gruff and dismissive. I started to wake up, the voices having roused my consciousness, but even as I woke up, the voices continued, seemingly oblivious to me. "I know how you're feeling, but he's his own stallion now," the mare said as I started to get to my hooves, my eyes still too blurry to get a glance at them. "Fuck that, he's still our-" The voice of the stallion was cut off as a coldness tackled me, my many years with the entity granting me the knowledge that it was Aiden. My vision slowly cleared and I realized that the stallion and the mare had disappeared, and if it wasn't for Aiden laying on top of me I probably would have dropped it off as a dream. He wouldn't have tackled me for no reason, if not to distract me or stop me from hearing something wrong. "Aiden, what the hell," I asked, rolling over and getting up. A clock floated over into my vision and I caught sight of the time, a small "Shit," escaping my throat as I took it in. I was about to be late. I quickly scrambled up, counting off the minutes to 7:55 as I rushed to get ready. 7:36; Throw some toast in the toaster. 7:37; Brush my teeth. 7:38; Look for my bag that'd gone missing. 7:45; Spot the bag hanging by the front door instead of where I'd left it. 7:46; Run out the front door with the toast in my mouth and start flying frantically towards the school. I might have made it, if not for the cart that suddenly appeared in my path, not even giving me enough time to try and curl above it as I slammed face first into the side of it. I struggled to get to my hooves and felt another pair wrap around me, lifting me and half carry, half drag me to the school as stars danced in my head. "Nice job," I heard a mare say, my mind making the connection that it was the pony carrying me. "You've gone and made us both late for school." "You could just leave me," I managed, trying to get my hooves to keep my weight and failing again. "Nahh, it'd look better for me if I walk in with a new student on my arm," she said, the humor apparent in her voice. "You have a point, I just hope that Mr. Will'll allow me to get in late," I said. "You have Mr. Will too," she asked, "that's great!" I looked up at her features, taking in the sight of a mare with white fur, a red mane, and pale blue eyes. I also took notice of her wings and I felt something in me click, giving me power to get my hooves under me and stop leaning on her as much. "We'd better hurry," I said, "we're gonna be late." "Puh-lease," she said, laughing a bit, "me, late? I'd like to see that happen." For some reason, the nonchalant way she was acting only fueled whatever source was giving me strength, allowing me to pick myself off of her entirely and take a few steps on my own. "You can be late if you want," I said, taking a few more unsteady steps and wondering if I had a concussion before continuing my statement, "but I don't plan on being kicked out on day one." I took off at a lopsided gallop after that, my steps faltering every few times they landed, but not before I heard her say, "Nopony ever listens," with a laugh. I ignored it and hurried down the road, my steps becoming more sure with each hooffall, and soon reached the school with thirty seconds to spare. I hurried in, recalling the map of the school, and hurried to the gym as fast as I could. I threw open the doors just as the late bell rang and shouted, "I'M NOT LATE," being thrown flat on my back as a rubber ball hit me square in the snout. My vision trippled and a minotaur's face appeared in my sight, three of them spinning around for a few seconds before he noticed I was okay, his worried look disappearing and a smug look taking its place. "And that, students, is why you're not late to my class," he said, "understood?" There were a few murmurs from the class I assumed was behind him and he turned back to me, saying, "Now, ten laps around the gym." "What for," I asked, sitting up and rubbing my head, thankful that the tripple vision had disappeared. "Five for being late to class, and the other five for not catching that ball," he said. "Well you'd better get another ready because ther-" I began, pausing as I spotted the mare at the front of the group of students. "Nevermind," I groaned, getting up and using my wings to float around the edge of the gym. "No wings," Will called out to me in a sing-song voice that let me know he was enjoying this too much. I closed my wings and continued on around the gym, listening in on as he said, "Now the rest of you get into groups. There are enough students here for everyone to be in pairs of two, so get it accomplished." I took a few moments to examine the rest of the class and took notice of the thing that the stallion I had met yesterday was talking about. These ponies were all wearing clothes. All except that mare who had helped me. By the time I had completed my eighth lap everpony was in a group other than the mare, leaving me to give a sigh and sit beside her after I finished my laps. "Okay, now that Mr. Late is done-" he began, stopping as I interrupted. "It's Trebb," I said. "What," he asked, narrowing his eyes at me. "My name is Trebb, not Mr. Late," I replied, knowing exactly what I was getting myself into. "Okay then Trebb," he said, "since you've so graciously set yourself up as tribute, how about we show the class what we're doing today." "And what would that be," I asked. "Dodgeball." I shrugged and began to get up, stopping as Will he'd out a blue hand, stopping me in my tracks. "Trust me, you'll want someone to catch you." He picked up a ball after I'd settled down again and turned, getting ready to throw the ball. He threw the ball as hard as he could and I instantly knew that I wouldn't live to see tomorrow, no matter what I did, the ball was traveling too fast and had too much force behind it. So I did what any sane pony in my situation would've done. I closed my eyes, held out my hooves and hoped for the best. After about thirty seconds of not being turned to paste on a dodgeball I cracked my eyes open, surprise dawning on my face as I caught sight of the ball in my hooves. After another second of silence I finally figured out what had happened, silently thanking Aiden for helping me out. I looked back up at Will, giving a small smile at the look of surprise on his face, and tossed the ball back to him. "Alright, that's what you do if there's a ball coming towards you," he said, straightening his blue tie. "Now before I continue explaining the rules to you foals, I'll come around and do attendance." As he started going around with his clipboard the mare next to me said, "I saw that." I felt a small jolt of fear surface and I asked, "Saw what?" She squinted at me and said, "There's something weird about you, and I plan to find out what it is." Right, I thought to myself, first day of school and I've already got a stalker. "Okay then," I said, smiling as I thought up a counter to her observations, "you tell me how you got here before me and I'll tell you how I caught the ball. Secret for a secret, right?" "Well I dare say, you don't even know my-" "Name," Will interrupted her, giving me a curious look out if the corner of his eyes. "Roseluck," she said, ignoring the smile that broke out on my face. Will nodded and walked to the next group, not bothering to ask my name. "So, Roseluck," I said, rolling the name around on my tongue. "Interesting." "As if Trebb is any better. What kind of name even is that," she asked. "It's the name of a great and powerful DJ," I said defensively. "Oh great, another DJ, just what we needed," she said, "as if Vinyl wasn't enough." "Wait, Vinyl," I asked, "as in-" "Vinyl Scratch, yes. Her and Octav-" Will 's voice cut in from the back of the gym, forcing us to turn to him as he said, "Alright class, today, as you can see from these dodgeballs, we're going to be playing dodgeball. Oh, and you're stuck with your partner for the rest of the year, so I hope you picked somepony you won't have to strangle. If you feel like you're going to kill somepony, follow your urges. Now then, onto the rules." He looked around at the class, taking in the smiles of the kids and awaiting looks. "Each group will be handed a rope and it's going to be your job to find some way to tie yourselves together. For Pegasi there shall be a special rule. If two Pegasi are in the same group then they shall have to tie together the base of their wings. For any other group you'll just have to tie together your tails if nothing else." "Yeah, cause that's fair," I muttered, giving Rose a small smile. She returned it and said, "Don't worry, he does this every year." "You've had him as a teacher before," I asked as a rope was passed to us. "Yeah, but he never remembers any of his students," she replied, lining us up so my left wing was pressed against her right one. "That seems kinda mean," I said as she tied the bases together. "Eh, the students get used to it. There were only like two, maybe three ponies who've ever made him remember them," she said as we both flexed our wings, trying to get used to the feeling. I don't know what it was about that moment, but things seemed perfect for just one moment. For a brief moment, our wings seemed to fit together, as if they were cut in half and sewn onto different bodies, and apparently she noticed it too, from the look she gave me but the moment was broken as her wing slipped suddenly, breaking the wholeness. We both looked at each other, wondering if what we had felt was real or just a figment of our imaginations, but we were broken out of it by Will 's voice shouting. "READY, SET, GO," he shouted, tipping over an entire basket of dodgeballs. "You ready," Rose asked me. "You know it," I replied, scrambling up quickly. "How can you be that rubbish at dodgeball," Rose asked as I held an ice pack to my eye on one of the examination tables in the nurse's office. "Well excuuuse me for not having a ton of time to play it," I replied, wincing a bit as I pressed the ice deeper into my flesh. "Everypony knows how to play dodgeball, it's a foals game. I still can't believe that we were the first ones out," she groaned, nursing the slightly bruised cheek she was now sporting. "Don't blame me," I muttered as the nurse walked in, her light pink mane slightly frazzled from overworking more likely than not. "Hey, you okay Heart," Rose asked, apparently noticing what I had. "Yeah," the nurse replied, "just a bit overloaded with forms. What about you Rose, and who's your cute friend over there?" I almost choked when she said that, but managed not to and managed to limit it to a wary smile instead. "That's Trebb, he's an idiot," Rose replied, "Trebb, this is Heart Stroke, the school nurse." "And the mare after your very heart," Heart added. That time I did choke, my breathing catching in my throat a second and forcing me to cough a few times to restart my lung functions. "S-sorry," I said as I noticed the combined look they were giving me, "I'm just not used to mares admitting to...that." "Wait, you think I...oh, nononono," Rose said, "it's only her, this heart is meant for stallions alone. And not mares, no matter how many times she tries to get me to change my mind." "I don't mean to pry, but doesn't that go just a bit past your code of conduct," I asked. "Well it's not like I've tried to do anything I'm not allowed, and besides, as of today, it's no longer against the law," Heart said with a smile and a cute little giggle. It took me a second to process what she'd said and I turned to Rose after I had and asked, "Today's your birthday?" "Yes," she said, lowering her eyes, "I don't like too many ponies knowing though." "What, that's stupid," I said. "Isn't it though," Heart said, wrapping Rose in a hug, "it's okay though, she still enjoys the parties I throw her." "No," Rose corrected her, "I don't, and especially not last year's." "What happened last year," I asked. Heart opened her mouth to respond but Rose stuck her hoof in her mouth silencing her and glaring at me as she said, "Nothing happened." "Okay," I replied. Feeling a bit of hostile tension, I decided to steer the conversation in a new direction. "Don't you have to fill out something explaining how we got hurt," I asked Heart. Rose took her hoof out of Heart's mouth and she replied, "Yes, I do, so why don't you get started explaining how you ended up with a black eye and how she ended up with a bruised cheek." The balls spilled out across the floor and I scrambled up to get my hooves on one, pulling Rose up with me. What I hadn't noticed was the ball that Will had used for the demonstration had rolled and one of my hooves was now landing where it was, throwing my balance off and making me fall to the ground. My eye slammed on a ball that had rolled over and as Rose fell with me, a ball that had been heading her way that she had intended to catch slammed into her cheek. Will apparently caught sight of the entire thing and shouted, "You two are out, Trebb, go get that eye checked out, I know that's not going to end well." "And that's exactly how it happened," I finished. "Yes, we lost because this idiot couldn't pay attention," Rose said. "It's not that bad dear," Heart said, wrapping a light gray hoof around Rose's shoulders. "It is though," Rose cried out, "I'm stuck with him for the rest of the year." I took that comment pretty hard, even if it was from her...in fact, because it was coming from her made it sting all the more for some reason. After a few seconds of dwelling on it, I figured out why. This was perhaps one of the closest things to a friend I would ever make in this town. I didn't have clothes and I didn't plan on ever getting any, leaving me bound as a social outcast indefinitely. And then here was this mare, the only one closest to my current setting, and she was saying that she'd rather be stuck with anyone other than me. "I'm just going to go," I said, getting off the examination table and setting down the ice pack. "It was nice meeting you," I said to Heart as I picked up my bags and exited the room. I decided to find my next class and I took my schedule out, scanning it until I saw A-2. English with Sweetie Belle. Room 113. I put the schedule away and continued onwards, finding the room easily and waiting outside it for the bell to ring, thinking about my day so far. I had woken up to two strange voices, made a potential friend, made an ass of myself in front of the class, and then lost said potential friend. It was going to be a long day.
Problems Come in ThreesThe bell rang after a few minutes and after about thirty seconds of nopony coming out I tentatively pushed the door open and walked in, finding the room empty and the lights off. I moved into the room, searching for the light switch but only found the wall. I slid along the wall and eventually hit something, only a few hoof steps away from the door, but it definitely wasn't the light switch. There was a bright flash and suddenly I was upside down, hanging by magical threads attached to the ceiling. Somebody came in and flipped the light on using magic and I started to flail around to get the market's attention. "Hey, quick, get me out of this shit before a teacher comes," I said. "Excuse me but what did you just say," she asked, her pale eyes landing on me, one of them partially hidden by her mane, a mix of a pale pink and light purple. "I said get me the hell out of this," I repeated. "I'll get you something alright," she said, moving over to the desk in the corner of the room. "Wait, what? You're joking right," I said, giving her an incredulous look. "You're not a fucking teacher. Now seriously get me down from here. She wasn't a teacher, was she? She was simply too...young. There was no possible way that she was a teacher, and yet seen was grabbing the referral pad and writing out a referral. "Now I can only assume you're Trebb seeming as how you're not one of my regular students, I'm right, aren't I," she asked. "Yes," I admitted, hanging my head in defeat. And then Rose entered the room. Her eyes landed on me and she came to a complete stop, simply staring at me. "Trebb, what in the world have you gotten yourself into," she asked. "I don't know," I admitted, "but could you please tell whoever this is to get me the help down." Rose shifted her gaze from me to the mare at the desk, her eyes widening. "Trebb, stop." "Why, you can't seriously be in on this joke," I argued. "Trebb, that's Ms. Belle," she said. "Wait you mean..." Sweetie Belle walked over to me and lifted the referral up in front of my face. "Head over to Scootaloo's office." "I kinda can't," I argued, feeling a blush creeping up my face as more students walked into the room. "Oh, right," she said, her horn flaring and the magic holding me up cutting off and effectively dropping me into the floor with the threads still wrapped around my wings, hooves, and body. "Thanks," I muttered, taking the note in my mouth and walking out the door, feeling the stares of the students in the room on my back. I started down the hallway, the late bell ringing as I got to the end of the hall, taking a right and heading for the main hall. I arrived at Derpy's desk and sat the note on it, giving a small with as she gave a few small 'tsk's' and gave me a disappointed stare. "Well Ms. Scootaloo is out right now so you'll just have to wait in one of the chairs by her door," she told me. I gave a sigh and walked down to her office, sitting down in one of the chairs and waiting. After a while I heard hoof-steps coming and I sat up, looking down the hall to see Heart heading my way. She stopped in front of me and gave me a surprised look. "Well, is it a normal occurrence to get kicked out of class for you," she asked. "Not really," I assured her, sinking lower in the chair I was in, feeling like an idiot. "What happened?" "I cursed in front of a teacher unwittingly." "Ms. Belle?" "Yeah, how did you know?" She gave a me a small smile as though she was about to let me in on a secret and sat in the chair next to me. "Don't worry, you're not the only one who's done that. You shouldn't get in too much trouble." "She looks so young." "Yeah, we know. Out of the three of them she looks the youngest." "What do you mean 'out of the three of them'?" "You'll probably find out from Scootaloo." I looked at the door and gave a small nod. We lapsed into silence until she broke it. "Don't worry about earlier okay, it's just Rose being Rose...She really does appreciate you talking to her you know." "Could have fooled me." "You want to know a little secret? I was actually surprised to see her walk in with you." "Why?" "Well because she honestly doesn't let many ponies close so in order for her to actually walk with you she must actually like you for some strange reason." "I wouldn't know why." I thought back to all that had happened this morning and finally came up with an answer. "She finds me interesting." "So you're different. That's good, different is fun...Trebb, can you make me a promise?" "Huh? We just met less than an hour ago and you want me to promise you something?" "It's just a small thing okay? Don't give up on her." I was silent for about a minute before nodding my head. Scootaloo finally came walking down the hall after that and gave an exasperated sigh when her eyes landed on me. Heart gave me a small smile before getting up and heading back to her office. "What happened," Scootaloo asked as she unlocked the door to her office. I explained to her exactly what happened and she shook her head. "I didn't know it was her," I argued. "I know," she said, "I honestly don't blame you and I keep telling her to take that trap down but she never listens. As a result I'm not going to write you up." I gave a small 'yes' and began to get up until her voice interrupted my action. "I can't let you go back to class though." "What am I going to do then," I asked, sitting back down. "Spend some time with me I guess," she replied. I gave a small sigh and said, "No offence but I'd rather not spend time with some mare who's old enough to be my mother." "Great grandmother actually," she corrected me. "What," I asked, my curiosity piqued. "It's a long story." "We have an entire bell." She was silent for a few seconds before saying, "You know Trebb, I can tell this is going to be an interesting year with you here." "Are you trying to change the subject," I asked. "Maybe." "Why not just tell me?" "Because I don't know if you'll believe me." "Believe me, I have an open mind." I was thinking of Aiden as I said this and suddenly became aware that I hadn't felt him since that incident in the gym. I came to the conclusion he was still charging his power. "Okay, if you say so...it all started in Ponyville back in 2023. A new stallion had shown up in town, a rather cute Zebra. I was the first to meet him..." I settled back to hear this story that lead to my principal being about 200 years old.
