A pony stood before a towering building that is surrounded by a brick wall which has a picket metal fence on top of it and a large gate that could easily have barred the entrance to the building. The pony, that has a pinkish coat and a gold-blond mane and tail, looks up. ‘I’m finally here. This is it, today is my first day at Canterlot Peak’s Academy. The most prestigious high school in all of Equestria and I’ll be going here.’ The pony gave a sigh and continued to look at the amazing building. The tall towers and complex connections of the buildings were amazing. The central tower stood high with a large clock near the top, it was made of a glistening metal that, in the sun light, shone like a wild fire. To the left and right were smaller towers that had similar construction styles to the main one, but were curved like a quarter of a circle at the top. They were made of magic enhanced bricks that were set in two different patterns. On the east tower was a decorative pattern of white bricks that looked like Celestia, on the west tower there was a pattern of black bricks that looked like Luna.
There was a building with a half dome shape off to the left of the main gates and the pony figured that must be the gym. To the right of the main building was what appeared to be a swimming area, like an indoor pool that was attached to the main school building. ‘Let’s get going. I don’t want to be late on my first day… but I still feel like I don’t really belong here. I mean sure, I have a very inquisitive mind that stays focused on things and catches details but am I really special enough to be going here… No! I have a skill on par with everyone else who will be going here, and so what if I got lucky and I was the one person out of my school of two thousand who got picked.’ The pony sighed again, ‘I just need to calm down.’
This pony was discovered by the recruiting agents at his middle school. He was, out of the two thousand students, the pony that showed the most promise, but there were others there who showed just about the same amount of promise, and in the end he was chosen at random. Perhaps it was for this reason they gave labeled his talent as a two worded talent.
“Super High School Level Lucky Inquisitor, Ha.” The pony said out loud, “I wish I had a simpler title. Oh well let’s just get going.” The pony stepped through the gates and then everything began to shake, but he couldn’t move. The sky seemed to become bleak and the world around him fuzzy and then nothing, just dark nothingness.
His eyes shot open and he found himself in a classroom. There was a note on the desk that he was at, it told him to go to the meeting hall. As he got up he started to think, ‘How did I get here? When did I get here? Where is here? I can’t stand around here thinking I bet everyone else is inside already.’ The pony opened the classroom door and headed out to look for the hall. When he got to the hall he found that there were fourteen other ponies. Unicorns, Pegasi and Earth ponies alike, all of them were sitting there. The ponies in the room were quietly talking among themselves.
The pony walked over to a small group of ponies who were talking. The group consisted of a Pegasus pony, an Earth pony and a Unicorn pony. The pony decided to strike up a conversation with the Unicorn, whose coat is light blue and whose mane and tail are an indigo color. “Hello there,” Rose said as the unicorn turned to face him.
“Rose? Is that you?” The unicorn asked as she looked into his eyes, her indigo eyes shining in the light of the room.
“Belle, what are you doing here?” Rose asked.
“I’m going to be a student here.” Belle said proudly a smile teasing her lips.
“So am I. What a coincidence. So I take it you’re a Super High School Idol huh?” Rose asked giving her a coy smile. She bopped Rose on the head.
“Of course I am. Duh,” Belle said as she hugged Rose. “It’s good to see you too. So what is your title?”
“Super High School Level Lucky Inquisitor,” Rose said as he hugged her. “Don’t think I forgot about your pessimism, though it is nice to see you smiling, even though it’s a false bravado.”
“As keen as ever I see. Well I’ll let you get to meeting the others.” Belle said as she let go of him.
“I guess we’ll be able to talk and catch up later.” Rose said as he let go of her. Rose headed over to the Pegasus and Earth pony who were talking.
The Pegasus, a mare with a lavender blue coat, and a jasmine mane and tail, turned to look at him, “Hey there cutie,” the Pegasus pony said to rose, “it’s nice to see another cute mare here.” Rose blinked in irritation while Belle giggled.
“Hate to break it to you but I’m not a mare,” Rose said a wry smile tugging at his lips, “Last time I checked I still had all my stallion parts.”
“Well then handsome, care to do a little dance with me?” The mare said as she rubbed up against Rose.
“No.”
The mare blinked at Rose before tilting her head, “What?”
“No. I do not want to “dance” with you.” Rose said, with a serious look across his face.
“What, do you not swing that way?”
“No, I am simply not interested in those kinds of things.” Rose said as he stepped away from the mare. The mare, which was leaning on Rose, fell over from having the pony she was leaning on disappear.
“If you’re not going to play with me, then at least introduce yourself.” The mare said as she got back up.
“Very well, I am Rose. Super High School Level Lucky Inquisitor.” Rose said as he looked at her, “and you?”
“My name is Cloud Kicker, Super High School Level Weather Pony,” Cloud Kicker said with a smirk.
“You forgot to mention that you could easily be SHSL Pervy Pony,” the Earth pony, a stallion with a yellowish tan coat and a white-ish yellow colored mane and tail, said as he finally spoke up. “Name’s Lemon Cake, SHSL Baker. By the way, if you ever get tired of saying ”Super High School Level etc.” then you can just use SHSL,” everypony knows that means.”
“It’s nice to meet you Lemon Cake. As have you undoubtedly heard, I am Rose.”
“Yes and it is nice to meet you too.” Lemon Cake said as he held out his hoof. Rose took Lemon Cakes hoof and shook it.
“Finally, somepony who respects the proper way of greeting a pony,” Rose said as he looked at Cloud Kicker, who flinched, “I think I should go introduce myself to the others.” Rose said his farewells and began to move towards another group, but before he got there he stopped to look at the hall they were in. There were wooden bleachers, with the usual yellowish brown color seats, that lined the sides of the halls as well as some that sat near the center of the hall. The windows were all covered in steel plates and there were a few banners hanging around the room. There was also a bonsai on the stage where the podium was. Rose noted how the banners were grey and purple, which weren’t the school’s normal colors, but moved on. He headed over to a group of six ponies, three Earth Ponies, two Unicorns and a Pegasus. When he arrived Rose noted that the Earth ponies were all talking among themselves and so were the unicorns, but the Pegasus was just sitting there listening to the others, occasionally giving his two bits on whatever they were talking about.
As Rose approached the group the Pegasus, a stallion with a blue coat and a light blue, fluffy, mane and tail, turned to Rose and greeted him, “Hello there pretty mare.”
Rose gave an annoyed sigh and looked at the Pegasus, “If it weren’t for the fact that I am not a mare I would slap you across the face for that comment.”
The stallion blinked a bit before replying, “Oh, sorry about that. Where are my manners, I am Star Hunter, SHSL Astronomer, and you would be?”
“Rose, SHSL Lucky Inquisitor,” Rose said as he offered his hoof to Star Hunter, who took it and shook it.
“So, you have two titles huh?”
“Yeah, I was the lucky one in my school to be chosen as talented enough to go here and my main talent is my inquisitive nature that leads me to seek out knowledge. For example, did you know that the more mass a star has the shorter its lifespan is?”
Star hunter chuckled, “No I didn’t, I study the constellations and their history, not the physical specifics of them.”
“Hmm… that is quite interesting, well it was nice to meet you,” Rose said his face in a stoic look on his face.
“Likewise,” Star Hunter said.
It was around this time when the others noticed Rose and so the introductions began again. A Unicorn mare with a pink coat and a purple mane and tail approached Rose. “Hello there,” she said as held out her hoof, “My name is Amethyst Star and I am a SHSL jeweler.”
“Nice to meet you,” Rose said as he shook her hoof, “SHSL Lucky Inquisitor.”
“Likewise,” she said with a smile.
The next pony to approach Rose was an Earth pony with a pink coat and al light blue mane and tail, “I am Aloe, SHSL Masseuse.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Rose said as he offered her a smile.
“Likewise,” she said as she stepped out of the way to let another Earth pony approach Rose. This Earth pony had a light red coat and an orange mane and tail.
“Name’s Bale, it’s nice to meet ya,” Bale said as she offered her hoof for Rose to shake.
Rose shook her hoof, “I’m Rose, SHSL Lucky Inquisitor. Say, what’s your talent?”
“SHSL Farmer. I can farm any kind of plant that produces food, though to be honest I don’t like to grow too many different kinds of fruits, and the Apple Family has to have their pride after all.”
“So you’re an apple family member huh, that’s quite interesting, seeing as your name doesn’t have apple in it.” Rose said his muzzle curling up into a smile, he was going to learn something interesting from this mare.
“Yeah, I know, I don’t have an apple in my name or the word apple in it either, but my mother named me this way because of my father’s family. They were known as the Bales, am Earth pony family that focused on farming things like hay and wheat, and all the things you can bundle up into bales. In fact the bale family is… I just realized that I never tell people this because they never understand, why did I tell you?”
Rose chuckled and gave her a smile, “I am an inquisitor, and a lucky one at that. Ponies will usually tell me things that they normally never tell other ponies, it’s just how my talent manifests, though I try not to get information that could be used to exploit them. I wouldn’t ever think about trying such a dirty thing as taking information that could be sued to blackmail them.”
“Well, at least you’re an honest pony.” She said before moving closer to Rose and whispering, “Not that I can say the same for every pony here.”
“I can understand that,” I say in a hushed whisper.
Bale backed away and acted like nothing had happened. A pony cleared their throat and Rose turned to face them. It was a unicorn with a white coat and a pinkish mane and tail, “I am Twinkleshine, Super High School Level Magician.”
“As you have undoubtedly heard by now, I am Rose, SHSL Lucky Inquisitor. It is a pleasure to meet you.”
“No, no, the pleasure is all mine,” the pony said as she extended her hoof.
Rose shook her hoof and asked, “If I may be so bold, what kind of magic do you specialize in?”
“Visual effects, illusions and pyrotechnics, but I’m not really good with pyrotechnics.”
“That’s cool, I bet you’re really good with those illusions.” Rose said as a grin crossed his face.
“I’m phenomenal with them, some ponies actually mistake them for being real.”
“I suppose that could be a bit awkward.”
“Yeah, it sure is, it is about as awkward as the spelling for the word awkward. Though it can be funny when a pony tries to interact with an illusion and doesn’t realize it’s actually an illusion until somepony point it out to them,” She said with a smile and a laugh.
“Well it was nice meeting you.” Rose replied and gave her a courteous nod. It was after this that the last Earth pony walked up to him, the Earth pony had a raspberry coat and a light amber mane.
“I am Lilly Valley, but you may call me Lilly. I am a Super High School Level Florist, one who has had her bouquets requested by the Princesses and has been recognized by them as being very elegant.” Lilly said, her voice haughty and prideful.
“It is nice to meet you miss, I am Rose, SHSL Lucky Inquisitor.”
“It is nice to meet you as well.” Lilly said with a smile.
The two chatted for a bit but soon Rose moved on from that group. Apparently Lilly had a proclivity for being snobby but she could be quite agreeable when talking about such things as flowers and fashion. As Rose walked away he noticed a unicorn who was sitting alone on one of the bleachers. When Rose approached the bleachers he could see the grainy patterns in the wood but they were wet with something that he couldn’t identify. Upon looking up at the mare it suddenly hit him. She was crying and what were on the bleachers were tears. Rose approached the mare, seeking to comfort her. “Hey are you okay?” Rose asked the mare. The mare, which had an aqua and light blue-ish grey mane and a light blue coat looked up.
“Hmm… oh, I suppose that I’m okay, it’s just that my brother he… he died recently but it had always been his dream to come here. I’m just a bit sad that I was the one who got to go here and he…”
“I see, well, if it makes you feel any better, you’re not the only one who has lost someone. I lost my great grandma recently.” Rose said in a soft voice as he wrapped a wing around her to comfort her. A few tears collected at the corner of his eyes and he wiped them away.
“It really hurts to loose somepony, especially when they were someone in your family.” Minuette said as tears cascades down her face. She wrapped her hooves around Rose and gave him a hug as she cried on his shoulder. Rose wrapped his hooves around her too and held her close. They sat there like that for a little while as both of them cried. Eventually they broke apart and Rose spoke up.
“I hope this helped, it’s tough to loose somepony you loved and... and it really feels better knowing that I’m not alone in this.”
“It helped, it really helped. Thank you, for helping me calm down.” She said as she wiped her eyes with her hoof. “By the way, my name is Minuette, my SHSL talent is organizing. I can organize anything into a perfect order to fit who ever I am helping.”
“Well, it’s nice to meet you, I’m Rose SHSL Lucky Inquisitor.” Rose said, introducing himself for the umpteenth time.
“Well it’s nice to meet you too Rose, though I must say, for a pony whose talent has to do with the inquisition you are quite kind.”
Rose gave a jovial laugh, “inquisitor as in someone who seeks knowledge not as in someone who extracts information from others, I’m use to that misconception so don’t worry about it.”
“Oh, sorry about that.” Minuette said an apologetic smile on her face, “and thank you for comforting me.”
“You’re welcome,” Rose said as he gave her a hug, “I’m just glad that you’re feeling better.”
It was after the hug ended that Minuette got up and headed over to the first group that Rose had talked with. Rose couldn’t help but to flinch when he saw Cloud Kicker get slapped by Minuette, obviously Cloud Kicker said something she shouldn’t have. Rose shook his head and headed off to the final group. The final group consisted of two Earth ponies, a Pegasus and a Unicorn. Rose immediately noticed that the unicorn had a white coat and gold-ish blond hair, violet eyes and shield surrounded by magic for a cutie mark. He went over to the Unicorn and struck up a conversation with him.
“Hello there, Miss…” The unicorn said as he turned towards Rose. The look in the unicorn’s eyes was a kind and caring one.
Rose gave a chuckle, “It’s mister, and I prefer to be addressed by just my name, which is Rose. Though I can’t help but like you. Of all of the ponies to mistake me for a mare you were the most polite.”
“Well, it is nice to meet you Rose. I am King’s Bishop.” The unicorn said with a bow.
“It’s nice to meet you. I take it your talent is being a guard, judging by the shield cutie mark and your posture.”
“That’s right, and your talent?” The unicorn said as he tilted his head.
“A lucky Inquisitor, the kind of pony who is lucky to have enough talent to go here and is probably the most curious pony you will ever meet.” Rose said, a smirk teasing at his muzzle.
“Hmm, I wonder. Just how lucky are you?” King asked, as he studied Rose carefully.
“Don’t bother, many have asked me that very question, and I always give the same answer. I have dodged death three times, I have gotten into every school that I wanted to go to, most of the time it was because I won a lottery and got in.” Rose said shaking his head. “Though seriously, don’t try to test my luck, it always comes back to bite who ever tries it. The last pony to try it ended up with a broken back because he was careless and dropped the anvil that he was going to use to test my luck on to his back.”
“Right… Well, if you ever feel like sharing that luck it would be nice. My sister wanted to come here, but she, well, she never did have enough talent to get here.” King’s Bishop said with a sigh, “Oh well, the past is the past. Anyway don’t let my keep you from getting to meet the others.”
Rose gave King’s Bishop a smile and a wave and headed over to the other three. As Rose approached the other three ponies they turned to him and smiled. The Pegasus, who had a fiery orange coat and a steely grey mane, was the first to speak, “Hello, my name is Arcon the Smith.” Arcon held out his hoof.
Rose took Arcon’s hoof and shook it, “My name is Rose, and it is nice to meet you.” A smile danced on Rose’s muzzle, “So, you’re a part of the legendary metal working family of Equestria, right?”
“I sure am. My SHSL is blacksmithing. What’s yours?” Arcon asked with a smile on his muzzle.
“Lucky Inquisitor, that’s my SHSL. It comes in handy, I study everything that I can and I can retain it quite well.”
“Say, if you are someone who studies a lot, how do you remember it all?” Arcon asked with a tilt of his head.
“My memory works like this, I read or learn something and then when I need it I will think about what I immediately know and then the rest fills in as I think about whatever it is that I am thinking about. It’s like, with every piece of information I retrieve, more pieces appear and soon my mind is a buzz with knowledge.”
“Your certainly seem to get excited over knowledge,” a light blue Earth Pony, with a cobalt mane and tail, said, “I am Noteworthy, SHSL Musician, and it’s nice to meet you.” Noteworthy offered Rose his hoof.
Rose shook Noteworthy’s hoof and smiled at Noteworthy, “It is nice to meet you too.”
It was then that the final pony in the group approached him. The pony was an Earth pony that had plum-pinkish colored coat and a light raspberry coat, “Hi, my name is Pinot Noir, and my SHSL is being a bartender.”
“A bartender, eh?” Rose asked, “Sorry if it seems a tad bit rude, but, aren’t you a little young to be a bartender?”
“That’s not rude at all, and yes it looks like I am a little young, but the bar that I worked at wasn’t really a “bar” but more of a place where ponies came to enjoy alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. I worked in the non-alcoholic section and ponies would often come there to enjoy a drink and think. I would often listen to their troubles and offer any advice that I could give.”
“That’s cool, well it is nice to meet you, Pinot Noir.” Rose said with a smile and a nod of his head.
“Likewise,” She said with a smile. It was just then when a creepy tune played through the room. It seemed to emanate from the stage and everyone turned towards it. It was then, as the tune hit its highest point that a strange figure popped out of the podium and landed on top of it.