Room Maresby TJWChaptersThe FreshmareFirst ImpressionsSpike: The 'Non Students'La CouturièreMagical Theory 101Performance Magic 101Spike: Who Else But Quackmire?The Athlete'Sparkle' - part 1 The Freshmare"OH MY GOSH I'M SOOOOO EXCITED RIGHT NOW!" Twilight stood at the mouth of the large steel-built gate that allowed entrance to the next stage of her educational life, Canterlot College for Gifted Unicorns, or CCGU. The other Sparkles were right behind her, surrounded by the many suitcases filled with 'essentials' that Twilight felt she needed to get the most out of her time here. "Oh man, my little sis is all grown up and off to college, I can hardly believe it, I'm so proud of you Twily!" Shining pulled Twilight in for a strong embrace, burying his head in her neck to hide the liquid pride coming from his eyes "We're all proud of you Twilight," her parents were next to join the hug, "make sure you write to us all about it, at least once a week!" "I will, I promise" Twilight assured, "wow, it seems like just yesterday since Shining here joined the royal guard academy, now I'm off too, I know this must be hard for you mum and dad" "Oh we'll be fine! As long as you write to us and come to visit us on the holidays, you will visit right?" Her parents here side by side, almost giving puppy dog eyes at Twilight. "I promise, but as for now, I think I have to go, goodbye everypony" Twilight waited for one more group hug with the family before trotting down the path, the cart containing all her stuff being pulled along in her magic, "Hey! Don't forget about me!" A muffled voice could be heard behind Twilight, she turned around to see one of her bags unzipping, and a small purple dragon came tumbling out. "I'd never forget about you Spike, you forget that I hatched you at a school for magic, you can't think I wouldn't want to bring you back to one." Twilight spoke with a soft tone and invited the small dragon over. Spike hopped up onto Twilight's back, a slightly more comfortable form of transportation and the two continued on towards the large administration building at the end of their path. From looking around, the campus grounds were very well kept, along with other students who seemed to be friendly and inviting Looking up at the building, Spike was practically bouncing with shear excitement at the prospect of what lay ahead, that feeling of anticipation for new experiences, "this is gonna be so much fun Twilight! I can already imagine all the fun stuff we're gonna be doing!" "Sure Spike, but remember I told you that the main building is for unicorns only, so you'll have to stay in the separate dorm there with the animals" "I'M NOT AN ANIMAL TWILIGHT!" Spike clearly infuriated by the unexpected insult that Twilight had subconsciously issued Upon realising her mistake, she halted immediately, hastily trying to elaborate on her statement, "Wait, that's not what I meant Spike! I didn't say YOU were an animal! I just meant that it's the rules of the school, believe me I want more than ever to have you stay with me! However this is the College for gifted UNICORNS, so any non unicorns aren't aloud to be within the main school. Also it just so happens that the non students that stay in this dorm are usually either animals that belong to the students, or students' companions and friends, like you. I did tell you all this earlier!" Spike's mood cooled, although he didn't exactly like it, this did seem to be fair, "yeah, yeah I remember! It still sucks though, I mean there's no way anypony else in this dorm is gonna be as awesome as I am!" He stated, in an all too serious tone, "but I guess I can still try to make friends". "That's the spirit Spike, now come on, let's get signed in" The receptionist skimmed through the long list of names on the clipboard help up within her magic, while Twilight and Spike stood patiently. "Ah, Twilight Sparkle, here you are. You room is already prepared, number 666 and your room mate moved in earlier today," she shifted her vision down towards Spike, giving a fairly condescending smirk towards the dragon that one would give to a small puppy, then returned her view towards Twilight, "I'm sorry, but non students are not allowed..." "Yes, we know" Twilight interrupted, "Don't we Spike?" Spike kicked the ground, clearly not yet fully satisfied by the justification of this rule, grumbling under his breath, "yeah, sure, whatever." The receptionist gave the dragon one more cheerful yet undermining grin, before diving behind her desk. When she rose back up, she was levitating a thick metallic key in her magic, with a large label which had printed on it the number 666. "I'll have somepony escort your cute little friend here to the non student dorm, then I'll bring up your luggage. As for you Twilight, feel free to head up to your room whenever you're ready dear". Twilight grasped the key in her mouth, a peculiar action for most unicorns, then placed it into one of the pouches in her saddle bag, "thank you so much for your help, Miss..." "Mrs Fondlesworth, I have a husband. Anyway enjoy your stay here Miss Sparkle". "Oh I'm sure I will! Goodbye Spike, see you soon!" Twilight gleefully hopped away from the desk and headed the grand staircase leading to her dorm. Twilight breezed down the corridor, examining each and every room number as she passed, "664...665...666. Aha, he we go!" She sat at the door, feeling a strange mix of ecstasy and anxiety, which accumulated deep within her stomach. She hesitated at the door, mentally building herself up. "Come on Twilight, be friendly, remember, first impressions are EVERYTHING!" Placing the key into the lock, she swung the door open to be presented with a mixed image. On one half of the room, it was completely empty, nothing but a bed and a side table which had been vacated for her arrival. On the other half, a large collection of various different items that made Twilight feel as if a large scale production was about to take place here, such as smoke bombs, fireworks and streamers. Then, centre of the room sat her room mate, perched in front of the generically shaped window and gazing out at the campus. She was a light blue unicorn with a white mane and a cutiemark of a wand and crescent moon. The unicorn was lost in her thoughts, completely unaware of Twilight's prescence. Twilight carefully approached the unicorn and lightly tapped her on the shoulder, "ahem... I'm your nee room mate, err... my name is Twilight Sparkle, and who are you?" The unicorn twitched slightly, before turning around to meet Twilight's eyes. An eery grin crept across her face which made Twilight feel uncomfortable, "ha, it seems you have the privilege of sharing a room with the likes of I, the Great, and Powerful, Trixie!" Author's Note To anyone who is reading this for the second time, this is a resubmission due to a large number of changes I made to avoid any confusion with regards to Spike. First ImpressionsThe two sat on their beds on opposing sides of the room in silence, making extra efforts not to make eye contact with each other. Twilight was still waiting on her luggage to be delivered to the room, just some sort of event to make the atmosphere of the room slightly less excruciatingly awkward. Even if somepony else was in the room to start up a conversation, to ease the pain, she would be grateful. She wished that Spike could be with her right now, maybe she could have just spoken to him and left Trixie to play with her smoke bombs, but in the end it made sense that a non unicorn wasn't aloud in the school for unicorns, so really she couldn't get too upset about it. No, this wasn't the right attitude here, it was up to her to be the conversation starter, to break the ice, then maybe there would be a chance that these two could become friends. "So, errr, Trixie?" "That's the great and powerful Trixie to you!" "Right. Of course. Soooo, what brings you to CCGU?", Twilight felt a bead of sweat drip down her forehead, it seemed she'd actually managed to make things even more awkward somehow. Trixie just stared blankly at the stiff and uncomfortable purple unicorn, this situation was noticeably less painful for herself, indicating that most, if not all of her conversations usually played out like this. "Well if you must know, I'm here to major in performance magic, as you might have been able to tell from all my possessions here. Though classes are nothing but a formality for the likes of Trixie, I'm already the most powerful unicorn in Equestria! If you were even half the level that Trixie is at, then you might understand the futility of learning when you are already the best." Twilight thought it best to disregard the second part of Trixie's answer and expand on the first, she feigned enthusiasm for her next question, "wow, performance magic sounds really interesting! So, what's your minor?" "Performance magic" replied Trixie bluntly Twilight questioned whether she had asked the question right, or if Trixie may have misheard her, "wait, what? Your major AND minor is performance magic? Why? How?" "Because Trixie says so! That's why and how! You're going to need to learn, Twilight Sprinkle, that whatever Trixie says, goes!" Trixie's advanced ego was really starting play at Twilight's nerves, she needed to be able to take her down a notch, and the opportunity for this just presented itself nicely, "well, Great and Powerful Trixie, if you're already the 'best' at performance magic, then why is it your major AND minor? That would surely suggest that you needed extra classes for this subject right?" Trixie's eyes shot open, this was the first time that Trixie displayed that she did actually have feelings. This was not long lived however, as Trixie's expression soon returned to the self indulgent grin she'd maintained all morning, "oh, I'm sorry Tewlight Snorkle, was Trixie not clear earlier? Allow me to elaborate so somepony of your intellectual level may be able to understand. Like Trixie said, this stage of her education is meaningless, nothing but a formality. Therefore, naturally Trixie would choose a subject twice that she can easily breeze through as quickly and effortlessly as possible. Am I getting through to you now Sparklight Twikle?" A heavy red blush formulated on Twilight's cheek, she'd just been served. Hard. Despite the aggravation that Trixie's ego caused, Twilight couldn't deny that the blue unicorn was expert when it came to justifying her claims. Though Trixie was raining down insults on her, Twilight was certain that at least some sort of communication between them was still better than none at all, but she needed to keep it going, as she truly believed there was a way she could really bond with Trixie. "Well, I guess that's fair enough", she admitted to the gloating magician, "anyway I'm here to study magical theory as my major and..." "Yeah, sure that's not my concern Twibite, I'm afraid you're starting to bore Trixie here" Trixie carelessly interrupted, reclining into a laying postion on her bed and picking up a smoke bomb to examine. Twilight was seething with rage at Trixie's plain rudeness, but she had to keep going, "ok Trixie... what do YOU want to talk about then?" She uttered through gritted teeth Trixie thought to herself for a second, "I don't know, whatever..." now fully turning her back on Twilight to fiddle with some far more fascinating fireworks. Twilight couldn't fight it anymore and she let her anger explode out of her to be directed at Trixie. She stormed across the room and with her magic, forcefully turned the dismissive unicorn back to face her, "Listen Trixie! I'm really making an effort here to make friends with you and all you do is throw it in my face! I don't know how much better you think you are than me, but I'll have you know I was personally selected by princess Celestia herself to study magic at a really young age! Now if you don't start being a bit more welcoming to me I'm really gonna..." KNOCK KNOCK Mrs Fondlesworth wheeled in the entirety of Twilight's bags, completely oblivious to the large confrontation taking place, "hello Twilight, here is all your luggage as promised. I hoped you two are getting along here!" "We sure are" Trixie replied gleefully, "we're getting on like bags on fire!" "That's great to hear, well, see you fillies later" the receptionist trotted out room the room, leaving the two frozen in position with fake smiles on their face. Trixie inspected the newly delivered items, before turning back to Twilight with the same eery grin on her face from when she first met her, "You know what, Twispite Narkle? You're right, Trixie hasn't been all too friendly with you since you arrived, but allow Trixie to make it up to you" Twilight was suspicious, but accepting, "well, fine. What do you have in mind Trixie?" "How about Trixie shows you a new magic trick she's been working on?" Twilight was still skeptical, but couldn't resist a fine display of magic. She moved back to allow Trixie some space, "sure Trixie, is it a good trick?" Trixie laughed to herself, now levitating a large bunch of fireworks in her magic, "definitely, you're going to love it!" "AN INDOOR FIRE, A BROKEN WINDOW, DAMAGED SCHOOL PROPERTY AND A LARGE SCALE FIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF A CORRIDOR, ALL ON YOUR FIRST DAY! WHAT HAVE YOU GOT TO SAY FOR YOURSELVES?" Principal Aura Beam here, positioned behind her desk while scolding the purple and blue unicorn that stood ashamed infront of her. Twilight had to explain the situation before she got falsely accused of something she didn't do, "It wasn't my fault! I was nothing but friendly to her when I arrived and she treated me like dirt! Then to add injury to insult, she goes and uses her fireworks to blow up all of my luggage! It's all gone! Why would anypony do that to me?" Aura Beam sat still and considered Twilight's words, "That's an interesting story, but I think I want to hear Trixie's side of it now", Trixie stood to attention, over emphasising her body language and portraying an image of helplessness, "oh principal, it was awful! I only offered to show her a magic trick, then out of nowhere she struck me to the floor and started hitting me! Then she picked up one of her bags and threw it out the window. I didn't know what hit me, but she started up some sort of crazy spell and... and then she summoned up Cthulu the old one from the ground to come and destroy school property...and...and then she decided to blow up her own luggage! She was crazy! I'm pretty sure she even had rabies coming out of her mouth at one point!" Twilight stared at Trixie, mouth and eyes agape, before turning back to the principal. Aura Beam, still with the same stern expression that she had after Twilight's story, inspected both of the unicorns closely. "Well I'm afraid I can't quite tell which of those stories is actually the truth", "ARE YOU BUCKING KIDDING ME?" Twilight screamed in utter disbelief Trixie swept on the chance to take advantage of Twilight's momentary lapse in composure. "You see principal? She swore! She's pure evil! I mean what sort of low life, disgusting, pathetic excuse for a pony uses language like that?" "Ok both of you shut the BUCK up!" Aura asserted, "both of you are to do community service in the school for at least two months! You're lucky not to be expelled for this!" Twilight stepped forward, her head held low and her tail between her legs, "I'm really sorry principal, I promise this will never happen again, just as soon as I change rooms I'll fit right in. Aura grinned, "oh is that right? You think community service is your only punishment for such a big offense. There's a reason I didn't kick you out, because it's not a bad enough punishment for you two! The best way to make you sorry for this is to keep you paired together in the room!" "WHAT?" "WHAT?" It was Trixie's turn to speak up, "but principal, she's a mad mare! If you keep us together there's no telling it won't happen again!" "Well you better make sure it doesn't" Aura insisted "or you're both gonna pay for all the damages you make! Now get out!" The two slowly turned and made their way out of the office, making shifty looks at each other in the process. "Looks like we're stuck together now, Twiliter Spakkle!" Trixie groaned Twilight sighed, "why do I feel that room 666 is going to be the room from hell?" Author's Note Trixie has best imagination. Spike chapter up next. Spike: The 'Non Students'"Soooo, how many ponies are staying in this dorm then? Are there any other dragons here?" Spike questioned, walking alongside the receptionist towards the slightly less lavish looking building along their path, by comparison with the main school itself anyway. "Yes of course! You're bound to meet plenty of friends here... err others just like yourself!" Mrs Fondlesworth replied. She spoke with the same soft yet undermining tone that he encountered with her before separating from Twilight, however he couldn't quite help but notice that distinct hesitation at the centre of her answer; a hesitation that increased Spike's skepticism, but he decided to dismiss it. As they proceeded down the walkway, every so often Spike noticed Fondlesworth direct a number of discrete and empathetic glances in his direction; this caused a gradual feeling of anxiety and self consciousness to arise inside the dragon's core and he began to fear the concept of something she didn't wish to tell him. Nearing the dormitory itself, the receptionist stopped, about 50 feet or so away from the building's door. Spike, still entranced in his private thoughts, couldn't anticipate the sudden cease of movement, so awkwardly came crashing into the back end of the older mare. She looked down at the bewildered and somewhat embarrassed dragon, "well... I think you can find your way from here right? Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go and deliver your purple friend's bags". Spike's internal worries augmented largely, solidifying any previous theories that she was guarding a secret from him. It was now apparent that the mare wanted to distance herself from him, but he couldn't quite place his claw on the reason yet. "Wait, you're leaving me? Aren't you going to show me around the dorm? Or even to my room or something?" Fondlesworth, already starting to back away, was looking noticeably desperate to initiate some sort of escape, "No, err... I'm sure you'll be fine. I don't think we'll see each other again since I'm based in the main building, so, enjoy your stay here and I know you're going to make lots of new friends with other ponies or dragons. Ok bye!" The mare hastily spun in place and trotted away at a faster than average speed. Her trotting speed was directly proportional to the distance from Spike, getting faster as she got further, seemingly to evade suspicion from the baby dragon but in fact doing the opposite. Many things were running through Spike's mind while staring up at the dorm, such as why Fondlesworth was in such a hurry to bail on him just now, especially considering she offered to escort him herself despite previously saying that she would have somepony else do it. Also, what was so bad about his place that she couldn't personally be around him to take him in there herself? Either way, Spike was usually a 'glass half full' kind of guy so concluded that seeing as there was no turning back here, he should just face it head on and see where things take him from there. Taking deep breaths, he turned the handle, then swung open the door. The scene when entering the main hall was a low blow to say the least, the sight of this striking his soul even harder than the smell hit his nostrils. He felt as though a dark void inside of him just sucked up his guts, and that his heart now weighed three times heavier. Where he stood, he was visually greeted by a mix and matched rabble of various different animals scurried amongst themselves, ranging from snakes to falcons, cats to geese or mice to rabbits. Spike made his way through the crowd of animals, searching for his own kind anywhere to no avail. The animals were so fixated on chasing each other, they barely registered the dragon calling for attention; though even if they did, none of them could talk to be able to respond to him. The ambient light in the hall made Spike feel as if he had time travelled to night time from the fresh day's sky outside. After scouring through the group two more times, the sensation of hopelessness overwhelmed the young dragon and he fell to the floor; this was a similar feelling to one you experience when you temporarily lose your parents at a young age. His head fell into his arms, his eyes welling up as he commenced crying, knowing he would be isolated here for a long time. Sure enough, he was told there would be animals here, but he was also told he would be able to make friends, however there were no ponies, and certainly no other dragons anywhere to be seen. "I guess they told YOU the same thing they told us, eh kid?" Spike shot back up, wiping the tears from his eyes as he despised being caught crying in public. This raspy crackling voice was audible enough to be heard, but due to the noise produced from the riot of tussling animals, he couldn't quite locate where it came from. Once again, Spike fought his way through the crowd, calling out for the identity of this voice. "Look over here kid! We're in the corner" This time the voice was far more distinguished and Spike turned his head to face the proximity of the sound though the only thing he saw in the corner was a duck, positioned next to a fairly larger dog. The duck had fairly dull white feathers with beady eyes and a dark grey natural collar around his neck. The most notable feature about the duck however was two bulges situated just below its beak, as if it had a double chin growing there. As for the dog, it was a brown bull terrier with white fur starting from its neck and stemming down to its lower belly. This couldn't be right, Spike questioned whether he was really in the right area, though this was confirmed when the duck opened its beak to speak again, "Yep, this is us. Now I'd suggest you get over here before that mob consumes you!" Spike did as the duck said and headed over to join them, a bit cautious but mostly relieved that he wasn't alone here. "H-hey guys?" Spike said like an awkward stallion asking out a mare, "I - I'm Spike" The duck barely noted the shyness from the dragon as he introduced himself, "good to meet you kid, the names Bill, Bill Quackmire. And this right here is my friend, Butch." Gesturing to the dog next to him "S'up?" Butch delivered in a gruff deep tone. Quackmire continued, "so you're here in the same circumstances as us then kid? They tell you it's for the 'non students' and that 'we'll meet plenty of others our own kind'. Well look around you kid, do you see any other ducks or dogs in that rabble? And I'm sure there aren't any dragons here either!" Due to the nature of the crowd, Spike had taken as definite that there were ducks and dogs in there, but after second inspection, he realised that Quackmire was being truthful. "You see kid? They lied to us! They did the outside up all pretty, but when you're inside it's nothing more than a barnyard! When I first arrived, I was the same as you, and the only voice I heard in this hall was Butch" "S'up?" The dog interjected "So we started conversing and became friends quickly. Now you're here kid so you have a choice, be friends with us and we'll stick together, or stay here on your own?" Spike considered Quackmire's offer, it was a no-brainer really, of course Spike wanted to make friends, it would help him to find some bright side to his current problem. He nervously offered out his claw, "sure guys, I'd love to be your friend!" Quackmire gleefully engaged in this weird claw-wing shake, visibly excited about the new member of his friend roster. Spike also was clearly happier about the arrangement, "thanks guys, this really helps me out! I am a bit wary though, I mean a talking duck AND a talking dog together?" Quackmire faked offence, "woah there Spike! Don't get carried away! I know I'M a bit creeped out by a talking DRAGON! And I'm sure Butch here would have a few choice words on the matter as well!" "S'up?" Spike had to be careful, he didn't want to lose the friends he'd just made, "I'm sorry! You're right guys. I just have one thing to ask of you though; seeing as my 'escort' ran away, and you guys are my friends now, would you mind showing me where my bedroom is?" Butch and Quackmire glanced at eachother, then burst into a fit of laughter before the duck put a sympathetic wing on Spike's shoulder "Haha! A bedroom, kid? You'd be lucky if the windows even worked properly in this place!" La CouturièreThe last night had certainly been a gruesome one for Twilight, primarily due to the now broken window in her room letting in numerous large gusts of chillingly cold wind that struck her down to the bones as she tried to get some sleep. Trixie's welcoming fireworks display yesterday had burnt every one of Twilight's possessions to a crisp except the clothes on her back... so in other words, it burnt EVERYTHING. She reflected on this momentarily but repressed it in the end, this was not a good time to bring down her mood again. She strolled down the campus pathway, accompanied by Spike and his new friend Bill Quackmire, taking in the different sights and sounds the College and its inhabitants had to offer. All of the anticipation filled wonder she'd experienced when she'd first arrived had been obliterated thanks to a certain blue mare, but on the other hand, there were other new students around for her to make friends with, and that's exactly what she planned to do at the fresh mares and stallions event being held in the school's main hall. "...so anyway, the place is a dump! Although at least I was able to meet some nice guys like Bill here, then made friends pretty quickly" Spike explained to a despondent Twilight, who just remembered the young dragon was recounting his story of the night before to her. She considered his statement, "well, I guess I have the complete opposite situation to you then, Spike. My room is... or at least WAS perfect, but my roommate however was far from perfect! I was so nice to her and she goes and blows up all my stuff! Then to top it off, I get punished for it as well. So we're still living together" "So what's the punishment?" "That IS the punishment, Spike" Twilight scorned, "and now this year is gonna be hell for me because I'm stuck in a room with this evil incarnate!" Spike hated to see Twilight get herself worked up like this, she'd always been there for him when he was down, so part of him felt it was right to try and return the favour, "I'm sorry Twilight, but you can't give up now, it's only been one night after all. I'm sure your roommate has her reasons for acting like this, if you could resolve these then I know you'll be able to become friends!" Twilight appreciated Spike's concern for her wellbeing, but saw no hope in his idea, "normally Spike, you'd be right. This would be the way to quell disputes between two normal ponies... but Trixie is no normal pony. I just can't see a way to get through to her!" Spike was starting to share the unicorn's sadness, he had to try something else so pulled Quackmire over to the side of the path, just out of Twilight's earshot. "Help me out here dude! She's getting really upset about this. Can't you say something that might cheer her up a bit?" Quackmire rubbed the strange double chin under his beak with his wing, before an idea hit him. "Don't worry kid, I know just what to say when a mare is sad about something, I'm a master at these things, just leave it to me". Quackmire returned to Twilight, closely followed by Spike. "Ahem, Twilight? I know things seem bad now, but just remember; there's a good chance this is probably all YOUR fault" Spike facepalmed, then pushed the duck out of the way to make up for the 'master's' error, "what he meant to say... was that there's nothing you can do about it now, and you should try to forget about it!" Twilight looked back at them, then an awkward smile came across her face, "Don't let my problems worry you guys, and I'm well aware my main focus is to make friends at this event, I'll be fine!" Spike and Quackmire shared a satisfied nod and hurried along with Twilight as they approached the main building, where the 'no non students' rule had seemed to have been relaxed for the occasion. As they paced along, another idea came to Quackmire, "y'know Twilight, it'd be good if you did manage to make friends with Trixie, friendship is a powerful thing, almost like magic. Yeah, the 'magic of friendship', you might just find this magic will come in very useful to you later in life if you use it right" Twilight stopped, turning around to face the duck with a genuine tone of interest in her expression, "wow! Now you mention it! That could actually... be the STUPIDEST I have EVER heard in my ENTIRE life!" Stood outside the grand doors of the main hall, Twilight prepared herself a mental checklist of the best strategy to accumulate some friends with the most efficiency; of course the dependant variable was to not run into Trixie. She looked down to her left, to receive an encouraging gesture onwards from Spike and his duck acquaintance. There was one last factor that was nagging Twilight; she was one of the fair few unicorns in the school who could be considered a 'gifted unicorn', a perculiar observation considering the school's name. This meant that it was actually her abilities with magic that landed her a place at the CCGU rather than daddy's bank account, the latter being the normal for the vast majority of the school's students. This fact gave a sense of anxiety for Twilight rather than pride; her classmates' eccentric backgrounds made her feel as though she might be a bit low brow for them, therefore making the task to find friends that much harder. Her worries were swiftly eradicated upon opening the door, where she was greeted by dark, dingy nightclub scene with its occupants formed as a compacted mob violently jumping up and down. They seemed to be based around a flashing DJ table with a white, blue maned, sunglasses wearing unicorn at the helm, manipulating this complex device. The oversized, powerful speakers emitted a varied collection of wubs and beats that noticeably sounded like a flushing toilet, construction work and a dumpster rolling down 5 flights of stairs all mixed into one noise. The strangest part was that the mob actually seemed to be enjoying this horse crap! Twilight was frozen, seriously considering a transfer to another college. Any signs that this was a main hall for a prestigious establishment was very effectively hidden. "This is just awful! How can I be subjected to such chaos and a bucking mob as soon as I enter a room?" Spike just glared at her, clearly she hadn't really been listening to the story of his first day after all. "Well if every new pony is in this hall, you might as well start looking for the ones with similar interests I guess" "In the mob?" She snapped, "they'll eat me alive!" Her eyes surveyed the walls on the outskirts of the room, looking for any signs of 'non mob' life. "There!" She spotted another pony at the far side of the hall, then started to make her way over there. As the distance between them reduced, Twilight was able to identify more of the unicorn's features. She was a white unicorn with rich blue eyes and light blue eyeliner on the lids. Her dark purple mane was weaved into a long ponytail with two thick strands of hair drooped down each side of her face. Despite her looks, it was her dress that really took Twilight's attention; stitched to perfection and colours that really complimented her mane and make up, with what must have been her cutiemark labelled on the side, three diamonds. Twilight realised that she was now alone, turning back to see Spike and Quackmire had stopped ubruptly several feet back. They were both locked in a fixated stare focused on the stunning white unicorn, lasting several awkward seconds until Quackmire broke the silence, "she is GORGEOUS! That is sure one marshmallow I'd like to roast if you know what I mean, hehe QUACKIDDY QUACKIDDY!" Spike's trance ended a soon as he heard Quackmire's statement, "Quackiddy quackiddy? Dude... please just don't EVER do that again!" Spike paused for a moment, then burst into laughter when he eventually understood what Quackmire meant, then the two ran to catch up with Twilight. Now within speaking distance, which was very close considering the background noise, Twilight found that she wasn't the one who had to make the introduction this time, as the white unicorn spoke up, seeming somewhat relieved to see her, "I take it this ear sore is as audibly offensive to you as it is to me darling?" "I'll say! I can barely hear myself think in this place! I'm Twilight Sparkle by the way" replied Twilight, offering a warm smile The unicorn inspected Twilight, before reciprocating the smile, "it's a pleasure to meet you Twilight. I do just have one question though, why aren't you fully attired for this event?" Twilight, admired the dress, then turned to find out that even in their rabid insanity, the dancing lunatics were actually clothed. "Well funny story... my roommate kind of blew up all my clothes" uttered Twilight through cheeks blushing with embarrassment. "That's terrible!" Gasped the unicorn Twilight again gazed at her acquaintance's dress, "well at least your dress looks great" she sighed, "where'd you get it from?" The unicorn chuckled to herself, "oh this old thing? It's just something I made myself before I came out here, nothing special. It's just that dress making is a bit of a hobby of mine. Wait, I've got an idea! How about I make you a new dress?" Twilight felt uncomfortable, "That's really generous, but I couldn't ask you..." "It's no trouble at all!" She interrupted, "it's my pleasure! In fact I was going to bring another dress with me here, but with how full my luggage was, it was just too big for me to fit in!" "Quackiddy!" Twilight grinned wide, half at the generous offer she'd received, and half at the fact she was really making progress with this young mare to making friends. "That's really nice of you! Say, what are you studying here?" "Magical theory" she replied, "I don't think I'm very good at it though" Twilight nearly exploded into a loud cheer, but restrained this to avoid humiliation, "That's great! I'm studying the same thing!" The unicorn outstretched her hoof to meet in a hearty hoof shake, "then I guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other this year then" she gleamed, "do you want to leave this place? I find it much easier to get to know somepony when I can hear myself talk" As they made their way to the exit, something very obvious came to Twilight that she'd forgotten, "oh! Silly me! I forgot to ask your name" "The name is Rarity darling" Magical Theory 101All of the remaining repressed anger was forced to the back of Twilight's mind as she organised the notebooks and writing utensils in front of her in the usual orderly and methodical fashion. She appreciated the college's generous donation of equipment for her needs greatly; she had originally brought her own tools, however of course these were no longer of any use in their burnt ash form. It was finally here, the day of her first lesson. The excitement factor didn't stem from the idea of learning something new, because after years of intense learning from the princess, she felt as thought she already knew everything there was to know about the subject; no, Twilight's anticipation revolved around being back in a classroom environment, surrounded by other ponies who have the same educational interests as her. This was nothing short of heaven for Twilight and she refused to let her mood get dampened by a certain light blue unicorn. She'd also made sure to factor in an extra few minutes to pay a small visit to Spike and his friends before she had to get to class, which left her precisely two minutes to exit the room and head down. She carefully levitated the books into the also donated saddlebag, then made a break for the door. "Off so soon, Twilight Sprekklah?" Leered Trixie, laying atop her bed, clearly having watched Twilight through the whole process. "Oh come on! That one didn't sound anything like my name! How would you like it if I kept doing that to you... err... Brixie!" "Good one..." "WHAT DO YOU WANT TRIXIE?" screamed Twilight, slightly humiliated after her own poor excuse of a comeback. "Oh nothing much, just wanted to make sure the school had officially made you their charity case after you carelessly burned your things" sneered Trixie, grinning to herself. Twilight started to approach the self indulgent unicorn, "I can't comprehend whether you're just fabricating the truth, or if your ego is so drastically augmented that you actually believe what you're saying!" "Oooh, looks like Dorklight Spawcul swallowed a dictionary!" "Forget swallowing one, I'll shove one up your ass if you don't shut the buck up!" Twilight's sudden shift in language had actually managed to silence Trixie for the first time since they met, and she intended to take full advantage of this, "now you listen to me! I know you think that trick you pulled of burning my stuff was an act of dominance, but let me tell you, it wasn't! In no way are you at all superior to me! And you know what else? I WILL get you back! I don't care how long it takes... I will have revenge". Trixie just managed to regain her composure, back to the level where she could display her false overconfidence again, "oh no... I'm shaking. I'd like to see you try Twilight Spark... errr I mean, Twinloyte Squakkle!" Twilight was already slowly backing to the doorway, maintaining solid eye contact with the twitchy unicorn, "when you least expect it Trixie... when you LEAST EXPECT IT..." Slamming the door on her way out. The force of the slam sent a strong tension down Trixie's spine. "So, how did your morning go Twilight?" Asked Spike, briskly pacing alongside the trotting unicorn, closely followed by Butch and Quackmire. "Pretty well, let's just say I managed to put Trixie in her place!" Twilight forcibly chuckling to herself, "That's great Twilight! Do you think this means that she'll start to treat you with more respect now?" Twilight's grin faded as she thought this over, "well I... err... no" she let out a heavy sigh, "I guess there really is nothing I can do to change her, it's hopeless!" Spike swiftly pulled his duck friend to the side, out of Twilight's earshot, "dude, she looks like she's becoming depressed again, help me out here, Bill!" Quackmire once again rubbed the chin under his beak, deep in though, "leave it to me kid, I'm a master at this sort of thing!" He then increased his pace to catch up with the slumped Twilight. "Ok Twilight here's how it is... violence is ALWAYS the answer! You're gonna need to start another fight with her, but this one has to be even wilder, cause more damage and have even more Cthulus than the last one!" "The last one had NO Cthulus in it!" Objected Twilight. "Oh really... that's not what Trixie said." Replied the well meaning duck. "AND YOU BELIEVED HER?" Spike rushed in to bail Quackmire out and away from the raging unicorn, before scolding the duck himself. "Dude seriously! Why do I even ask you for advice?". So for the second time, Spike had to atone for Bill's error, "look Twilight, just try and forget about her and just concentrate on the positives of your day. For instance, in your next class, you get to see, the wonderful and dreeeeeaamy... err I mean, you get to see your new friend, Rarity again." Twilight's tone remained the same, "even that is a worry for me now" "Why would that be a worry for you." "When she first told me she was studying the same subject as me, she said she didn't think she was very good at it" "And?" Twilight placed a condescending hoof on Spike's shoulder, "Spike, you have a lot to learn about young mares, when they say they're bad at something, this actually means they are amazing at it. It stops us from seeming too braggy! I try to stay humble all the time as you could probably tell right?" "Yeah... sure" Twilight rose back up, took in several deep breaths, then strode forward, "She'll probably outshine even me! I bet that when I walk into that lecture hall, Rarity will be at the top of the class, she'll be the one answering every question with ease!" "Pffft, that's an easy one darling! It's clearly a well pressed garment made from woven, imported, Saddle Arabian silk, touched off with double stitched patterning and frilly lining to support the neck and forehooves" boasted Rarity, reclining back in her seat. "No Rarity... the answer is 'thirteen'!" Croaked the rather exasperated professor, followed by a roar of laughter from the other students. Rarity's cheeks blushed as she sunk into her chair. She leaned over to Twilight, the only pony except the teacher not mocking her, "I was close though, right Twilight?" Twilight's hoof hit her forehead, "sure Rarity... the answer to the question 'how many founding members were involved with the original ministry of magical theory over one thousand years ago?' was obviously an item of clothing". Rarity hurriedly skimmed through the untouched textbook on her desk, trying to quickly seek out the chapter on this matter, "oh you're right. I guess I knew that one really, but, I can't think about anything except fashion at the moment; I was up nearly all night working on that set of outfits I promised for you!" "All night? Outfits?" Twilight's earlier prediction of Rarity's advanced ability in the subject had been irradicated, "I thought you were only making me one outfit?" Rarity placed her hoof on Twilight's shoulder, a similar condescending action that Twilight gave Spike earlier, "Oh come now, we all know a lady can't have just ONE outfit in her life!" "Rarity, that's very generous, but there's no way I can let you do all that work for me, especially if it's at the detriment of your own studies". Every second that goes by only makes Twilight wish that this was the pony she shared a room with, the contrast in character between her and Trixie was too much to believe. One made new possessions for her, the other destroyed all the ones she already had. "You don't understand Twilight, I love dressmaking! This isn't work for me, it can't be work when you enjoy it!". Rarity's proximity to Twilight was so close now that they were almost sharing seats. "But what about your education Rarity?" "I know, it's a shame but... wait! I have an idea! You know nearly everything about Magical theory right?" It was Twilight's turn to blush, time for her to exercise her humble side she spoke of earlier, "well I wouldn't say EVERYTHING, but, well I guess I actually would say everything!", this was an exercise she struggled with. "Good, then since I'm making outfits for you, I was wondering if you could maybe help me out with my studies?" "YES!" Twilight was immediately hushed by the professor having openly disrupted the class with her outburst. Having been a student under Celestia for most of her life, she'd never experienced how it was to be the teacher before. "I'd love to, Rarity! It'll also give us the chance to spend more time together". Rarity finally retreated back out of Twilight's personal space, "That's wonderful! Thank you so much!" Twilight leaned over to snatch Rarity's textbook from her, taking it well out of her reach. "Ok, but before I can start teaching, I just need to ask a few questions so I can get a rough understanding of your knowledge" "Great idea, let's hear it" "Alright I'll start with an easy one; 'what were the steps of each of the original models of magical theory first devised by the ministry? Starting with the first preconception of the founders and finishing with Starswirl's most up to date model' ". Rarity hunched forward, flopping over the desk giving a casual expression, "oh please darling, you could at least try and challenge me... it has something to do with hemming fabric right?" Twilight's mood fell flat, which was only matched by her body language, " we have a lot of work to do..." Performance Magic 101"Oh no... I'm shaking. I'd like to see you try Twilight Spark... errr I mean, Twinloyte Squakkle!" Twilight was already slowly backing to the doorway, maintaining solid eye contact with the twitchy unicorn, "when you least expect it Trixie... when you LEAST EXPECT IT..." Slamming the door on her way out. The force of the slam sent a strong tension down Trixie's spine. Trixie sat motionless, staring blankly at the door, mentally reviewing the recent events. As the stiffness in her back subsided, her thoughts became a lot clearer, could it be that her dominance over Twilight was truly as weak as she had just claimed? She scanned the area around her, noting the bountiful stock of possessions she had by her bed, before viewing the emptiness of Twilight's side. If the purple unicorn was indeed planning a revenge strategy, then perhaps blowing up all her luggage on the first day was not such a great move. After all, Trixie definitely couldn't afford to have her own belongings destroyed, what good is a performance magician without her tricks and equipment? No, Trixie's real reason for having done this to Twilight far outweighed any consequences it could bring; all she could do now was remain vigilant to any tricks that Twilight may pull, but above all she must never show any sign of weakness in front of her room mate, she knew she would have to always maintain her overconfident facade in order to attain true dominance. Having lost track of time, Trixie realised she now had only ten minutes to prepare her bag and make it to her first class, Performance Magic. This was an introductory lesson, in which every student would have to put on a short five minute show to demonstrate their skills, so Trixie carefully selected which of her items she'd need as she devised her performance, stuffed them into her wagon, then headed out. The Performance Magic classroom' s layout was not as a standard lecture hall, but rather an open space focused in on a large stage, allowing more freedom for the students to practice their routines. For this lesson, a row of chairs were positioned for the students to sit while they waited for their turn, along with a main table for the two professors to lean on as they made notes on each performance. There weren't too many other students here; judging by the building's location, which was the furthest one from the college's primary admin building, it was clear to see that performance magic was not the most popular subject at the CCGU, in fact even for most of the students who were here, this was only their minor. One by one, each pony was called up to perfom, and with each one, more and more of Trixie's ego was refuelled, sniggering quietly as each student put on a rather substandard show, the low grade tricks were what one would expect from a foal's birthday clown. The first just spent five minutes attempting to mould some balloon animals, making it questionable how they even managed to get into the school in the first place. The second played a simple 'guess the card' game with the professors, successfully managing to select the right card on the 52nd attempt. The third was slightly more ambitious, after some preparation time, tried to be shot out of a cannon to land straight into a glass of water. Needless to say nothing went wrong with that. Once the penultimate performer had exited the stage, the dormant bodies of the professors, slumped over the table, once again reanimated as they rose up to stretch their stiff limbs. The hundred page notebook they brought to write about the routines had barely filled a third of a page for all eight of the nine students. The scolding hot burning from the coffee hitting their tongues as they gulped it down provided a stronger feeling for them than any of the shows did. "I can't take any more of this!" Whimpered professor Greenleaf, "the turd I left in the toilet this morning had more of a 'wow factor' than any of these ponies!" "Pull yourself together! We just have one more to go! Somepony called Trixie. Let's just get it out of the way and then we can go blaze one up in the library to help ease the pain!", Professor Sparkup rose from his chair to adress the audience, "Ok great... those performances were top notch! Now to finish us off, please could Trixie take the stage". "Well it's about time! But I guess you have to save the best until last!". Once everything had been set up, Trixie donned her hat and cape, ready to start. "For those who don't know, I am the great and powerful Trixie! With my selection of equipment, along with my extraordinary magical capabilities; I will put on a show, the likes you have never..." "Would you just bucking start already!" Screamed Greenleaf, "you're already a minute in and all you've done is kiss your own flank! I'm getting antsy over here!" "Very well..." Trixie flourished her cape and pulled her hat up to wipe a streaming drop of sweat from her brow, "Let the show begin!". Instantaneously, her horn illuminated, causing two fireworks to fire into the air, exploding just before hitting the ceiling and leaving a dazzling array of assorted sparks and colours, fully captivating the audience's attention. Using the element of misdirection for her advantage, Trixie propelled a number of smoke bombs towards the preoccupied ponies, creating an oblique cloud of smoke to temporarily blind them. Creeping through the smoke, Trixie now created the illusion of teleportation as she appeared behind the two professors. She removed her hat and pulled out a deck of cards, prompting Greenleaf to select one without showing her. There was no falsified overconfidence with Trixie here, she really was as good as she said she was and was working the audience like a dream. Once the card had been hidden by Greenleaf, she summoned a long twirl of ribbon over, which enveloped her entire body then transported her back to the stage while wrapped around her. Trixie's horn glowed brighter to unveil the climax; a final flurry of fireworks took to the air, erupting into a blanket of sparks that poured down over the show pony, who throw one solitary smoke bomb into the audience. A small burst of light cracked out the bomb, followed by a slow stream of magic which started to form a shape, the shape of the 6 of diamonds, Greenleaf's selected card. Trixie had well earned the standing ovation she was receiving from both the students and the professors. When it eventually died down, Sparkup was the first to verbalise his amazement, "young mare, that was incredible! With talent like that, you'll be working every show in Las Pegasus in no time!" Trixie nodded off this compliment, having expected it from the start. "Yes, that's what most ponies tell me" Sparkup continued, "All we need to see now is one final trick to close the performance, then you're well on your way to stardom," Trixie grinned, "That's easy, watch this" ............ "ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR BUCKING MIND?" whelped Greenleaf, "he's going to need hospitalisation now thanks to you!" "Trixie is not to blame here!" Protested the blue unicorn, "what did he expect would happen when he opened my 'Can O'Bombs' brand can of bombs?" "Why would a can of bombs even be part of your routine?" Just as Greenleaf asked this, the bell alerted for the end of period. Trixie was already starting to make her way out of the hall, "WHERE DO YOU THINK YOUR'E GOING TRIXIE? What are you going to do about this mess?" Trixie paused in the doorway, "That's not Trixie's problem now, see you next lesson." Then lazily strolled out of the hall. As Trixie made her way down the corridor, an ominous sounding voice echoed its way towards her, stopping her in her tracks, "that was a nice little trick you pulled back there". Trixie scanned around rapidly, from what she could see, she was the only one there, "who said that? Show yourself to Trixie!" The voice seemed to get closer, "you're a very talented pony, Trixie. I think the two of us would get along just fine, if you're willing to be friends." Trixie was unmoved, "why would Trixie want to be friends with the likes of you?" Finally the voice revealed itself, a pony stepped out of the shadows, she had a creamy orange coat with a fiery mane, "because from what I understand, you too have a distaste of a certain purple unicorn we know, albeit for a different reason than I do. My name is Sunset Shimmer". Trixie was confused but also intrigued, "oh really? What's your reason then?" Sunset knew she was starting to get through to Trixie, "Like her, I was also Celestia's personal student. I had a year under one on one tuition with the princess, my skills were growing and I was learning at a far accelerated pace. Up until SHE arrived. From that point onwards all of Celestia's attention was aimed at Twilight... and I was thrown aside. So I left the castle, trying to find my own education sources. That's why I'm here, in fact I'm really in two schools at the moment; the first school is this one, the CCGU and the other school is actually located in another univ... actually don't worry about the other one. The point is, Trixie, that our interests run parallel. I won't ask you your reasons for hating her, all I want to know is if you are willing to help me". Trixie thought it over, Sunset certainly made a good case, "well what did you have in mind then?" "She ruined the one thing that was special to me! So it's only fair that the favour is returned. I say we work together to ultimately destroy Twilight's education, ruining her time at college and therefore putting her through the same suffering as us!" "Trixie can do that just fine on her own!" Sunset was practically pleading at this point, "but together we can do more than 'just fine', we can really do some damage if we combine our efforts! I don't know what she did to you but don't you want to see her pay for it? The important thing is that we continue to act natural around her, if she catches on to us then she'll nark us out; we'll just wait for the opportunities to arise, then pounce on them. So... what do you say?" Trixie's trademark eery grin worked it's way across her face, much to Sunset's liking, "when do we start?". Spike: Who Else But Quackmire?Author's Note This is a Quackmire chapter... you know what to expect. Spike: Who Else But Quackmire? "YOU THINK YOU CAN DO THIS TO ME? I let your scrawny ass off last time, but now? I'm gonna beat you 'til you can't feel feelings anymore! Once is a misunderstanding, but twice... then it becomes a matter of principle!" The large muscle bound canine forcing the entirety of its weight onto the vulnerable neck of his victim. Despite his aggressor's far larger and more intimidating frame, Quackmire somehow managed to retain his nerve, through the air which was quickly exiting his lungs. "Principle? I don't need a lecture on principle from an animal that goes around sniffing butthole all day and chasing its tail! Maybe if you had a bit more class like me, we wouldn't be in this mess!" "You? Class?" The canine eased a slight bit of tension off the duck, "you're an abomination! I could kill you right here and now, and the world would throw me a parade!" "Listen Baxter, these things can happen to the best of us!" Justified Quackmire. To Bill's relief, the door creaked open, followed by the entrance of Spike and Butch, deep in conversation, (as deep a conversation one could possibly have with Butch anyway). At this instance, the fuming Baxter relinquished his attack, taking several steps back. "What is going on in here?" Screamed the dragon, rushing over to the scene, closely tailed by Butch who positioned himself between his friend and the other growling dog. Spike held out a helping claw to aid Quackmire in returning to an upright position. "Ha! I thought you were a MALE dog Baxter, but all it takes is Butch here to turn you into a BITCH!" Laughed the duck as he feigned victory. "The next time I see you Bill, you're dead, you hear me? DEAD!" Baxter cautiously made his way out of the room, keeping a firm view on the beefier dog, ready to make a run for it at the first sign of movement from Butch. Baxter knew his place with Butch, learning this lesson after the last encounter with Quackmire, in which Butch truly dominated him while defending the duck. Once Baxter had fully vacated the area, Spike's attention was fully directed at Bill, "What happened there? Why was he attacking you like that?" Bill waved a dismissive wing at the dragon as he made his way out of the corner, "Oh don't worry kid, Baxter just seems to think I had an affair with his girlfriend". "Really? Why would he think that?" "Well... because I DID... twice actually" Spike exhaled deeply, "you know, Bill, not a day goes by where I don't wonder how you haven't got yourself killed yet". Quackmire grinned as he reflected on all the past incidents that he barely made it out of in one piece, "I guess it's just one of the perks of being friends with Butch. He always knows how to 'negotiate' when I'm in trouble and get me out of there." "S'up?" Bill turned his back on his friends, the deep throbbing, pounding his neck becoming too unbearable to leave untreated so massaged each side with his ruffled wings, completely undetectable to anyone else. Though the silence in the room was established enough to hear a heart beat, Baxter's words still resonated in his head loudly, as if his presence was still felt. "You know, I've gotten into a lot of trouble in my time, made a lot of enemies... but none of them are like Baxter. He's the most aggressive, violent and unreasonable guy you'll ever meet!" Spike struggled to feel empathy toward's Quackmire's predicament, reading through his performance as if it were an open book, "Yeah... he wants to hurt you after you try and steal his girlfriend... he's so unreasonable." Bill reeled back, over emphatically gesticulating to fake being appalled at Spike's blunt sarcasm, "Steal? Please! All I did was give the dog a bone! You can't blame a duck for diversifying!" "Errm... what's that supposed to mean?" A large bubble of air caught in Quackmire's windpipe to stop any further speech. He'd forgotten he was speaking to a BABY dragon here, but was addressing him like a group of thugs down at the local quackhouse. He swallowed the air as his mind changed to use more universally friendly language. "Well, what happened was: I saw her alone... and we had a 'special' hug... and then we had a nice meal... and then we went to her bed for a fun sleepover... and then I NAILED her! Oh bucking hell I can't control it!" Spike, who was on a completely different wavelength, decided to move the conversation forward before his friend had a meltdown. "So what are you gonna do now? You can't spend the rest of your life hiding from him, and Butch won't always be around to save you". Spike's sobering words hit Quackmire like a direct strike to the chest. He was so absorbed by past incidents, he was paying no regard to what lay in the not too distant future. He began to pace the floor, the anxiety dripping from his image as heavily as the sweat dripping from his head. " Oh my Celestia! You're right! I've given myself a bucking death sentence! Wait! I know what I need to do here. Just leave it to me, I'm a master at this sort of thing". "No! Please don't even say that anymore!" The dragon insisted, " You have a terrible judgement, then end up doing the exact OPPOSITE to the right thing to do!" "What? I was just going to suggest that we head over to his room and I'll try to talk things through with him, to verbally reach an understanding". Spike was impressed, this was not the response he'd come to expect from Bill, "Wow! I have to admit that's actually a good idea. Hang on... HE has a room? I thought we didn't have rooms?" "No, we don't have any designated bedrooms in the building, but that didn't stop Baxter and his gang from ' occupying ' one of the leisure areas for themselves. It's not exactly fair, but to be honest it's not my main concern at the moment. Now let's go, it's just down the hall". The crudely written sign 'Baxter's zone' signified that they had reached their destination. Even through the thick walls, the trio could hear the uncontrolled chaos that must have been taking place inside, forming doubts of whether verbal negotiation was really the best strategy. Bill approached the door before turning back to his companions, "listen, I know this is risky, but this is the mature way to handle this situation and things can't get any worse than they are now, it's my only option. Wish me luck guys". The duck cautiously disappeared behind the door, making extra effort to maintain stealth to slip past most of Baxter's goons. A solid 10 minutes had passed without a sight or sound of Quackmire, in fact the general atmosphere of the room seemed unchanged by his arrival, at least that's what Spike and Butch could tell from their position outside. The growing concern between them almost made them want to burst into the room, but Spike knew that doing this could harm any progress towards peace that Bill could be making in there. "He's been in there a while now, surely if Baxter is as unreasonable as Quackmire said, negotiations wouldn't have lasted as long as they have, right?" "S'up?" "Yeah, I guess you're right, I really shouldn't worry too much". "S'up?" "You might have a point there, Butch. I think I judged Bill too early, and now I'm starting to see a new side to him". "S'up?" "This is really showing him in a different light, I'm so glad to see that he's handling this in a mature and sensible manner". "WE GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE! IT BUCKING HAPPENED AGAIN! RUN!" The frantic duck came bursting through the door, streaming down the corridor before waiting for a reply. Spike and Butch shared a puzzled look before chasing after him. The three charged down the hall, despite the looming sound of running and barking behind them, none of them dared to stop and turn around. Once Spike had caught up to Quackmire, the questioning started while maintaining the same pace. "WHAT HAPPENED IN THERE? What did you say to him?" Quackmire made it obvious he was trying to avoid eye contact with the dragon, "Well... I didn't say anything. Baxter wasn't there" claimed the heavily panting duck. "So why are we being chased?" "When I saw that Baxter wasn't there, I thought the best thing to do was leave". Spike was clearly unconvinced, "That doesn't explain why his gang is after us!" "OK! OK! As I was on my way out, in the corner of my eye, I saw HER" Spike contemplated Bill's words for a second, "Her?... YOU CANNOT BE BUCKING SERIOUS!" Spike always felt a sense of guilt when he swore, due to his youthful innocence, therefore it was clear of the level of anger he was now at. "You don't understand kid! Baxter wasn't there, it was the perfect opportunity!" "Well if Baxter wasn't there, where IS he?" *SMACK* Quackmire's escape was abruptly terminated as he came crashing into the rigid Baxter blocking his path. As Butch turned back to try and rescue the pinned duck, he was intercepted by two of Baxter's henchdogs, wrestling him to the ground and subsequently immobilising him. Spike was handled with slightly more care, but was still forced to the floor, disallowing him from finding help for his friends. "Three. Bucking. Times!" Baxter clapped his paws together, signalling the remainder of his gang to circle around him and his prey, preventing any further escape. "This ends now". "It's not what you think Baxter!" Bill pleaded, "I can explain!" "After all that has happened before, you think you can just waltz into MY room, steal MY food and drink, then use it to get with MY girlfriend for the THIRD bucking time? NOT UP IN HERE!" It was a sorry sight to see the wimpering duck, on his knees and grovelling so pathetically. "Come on Baxter, you know how it is! You don't get the FINE unless you WINE and DINE!" Baxter had to restrain himself from prematurely snapping the neck of Bill, with the whole of his crew around, he had to display self control and dominance. "Here's what's gonna happen duck! I'm not going to kill you... YET. That would be too easy, and I have something else in mind for that. That doesn't mean I can't hurt you now though, and that's exactly what I plan to do. Me and you are gonna fight it out, right here in front of all our friends. No running, no escape, no Butch saving your ass!" Quackmire was overwhelmed by the uproar of cheers urging their leader into battle. He really had no way out this one, both his fight AND flight relfexes had abandoned him as neither of those options could possibly result in a positive outcome. He just had to accept that all his past mistakes had caught up with him, and that he would just have to sit back and accept the consequences. No, he couldn't just give up, display weakness and inferiority in front of everyone here. He felt something ignite inside him, a powerful will to stand to aggression, to fight back against his attacker and to win, or at the very least to go down in a blaze of glory. This feeling ran through every inch of his body and he could sense an increase of strength and power in his muscles. He couldn't lose, he refused to lose. He stood up, with a more firm and open stance, openly inviting the oncoming fight. This stark change in image was noted by Baxter, along with every member of the surrounding crowd. "OK Baxter. You want a fight? You got a fight! I'm tired of running from you, so I'm putting a stop to it. It's time to go hard or go home! It's time to grow some stones and break some bones! It's time to nut up or shut up! It's time to..." *SMACK* Quackmire's valiant speech was brought to a halt, as a strong paw lashed across his face and sent him toppling back down to the ground. The power of the hit was felt by even the crowd, who flinched in horror as the connection was made. All of Quackmire's self confidence was short lived and had completely vanished as he lay writhing on the ground. Baxter slowly stepped towards his fallen opponent, the fate of this face off was sealed and he intended to enjoy every moment of it before he truly beat up the duck. "So Bill, now you know. When you disrespect the likes of ME, this is what happens. It doesn't get worse than this, and it will be witnessed by us all. I would love to see you try and mock me now, to use your normal crap to fake dominance in the poor position you find yourself in!" He strected out his legs, making sure he would be able to use them with maximum effectiveness. "So... are you ready to get your ass pounded?" Quackmire turned his head, to meet the dog in firm eye contact, "That's funny Baxter... I asked your girlfriend the SAME QUESTION last night..." The AthleteTwilight sat accompanied by Rarity, Quackmire and Spike at their socially allocated bench during the lunch hour, tactically positioned far away from what Rarity would describe as 'the riff raff'. The cafteria's food was a fair way above average quality for what one would expect for such a thing, due to the college's hefty tuition fees, so the group had no trouble tucking into the delicacies that lay in front of them. The first half of Twilight's day proved to be challenging at best, between balancing her own studies with helping Rarity with hers and dodging Trixie, this hour of momentary rest was made even more valuable for her. Rarity made sure that both the interior and exterior of her mouth were clear of debris before she spoke, "It sure is generous of the staff to provide us with meals each day, normally students have to arrange their own food at college". Twilight seemed unimpressed, keeping her lifeless gaze on her empty plate, "True, but normally students don't have to practically sell their souls in fees to get into the place". She thought it best to keep quiet that she had been exempt from this pricing, thanks to being Celestia's recommendation and all. Spike had become used to noticing when Twilight was hiding her inner troubles, certain tells in her facial expression gave her right away, "What is it now, Twilight? Did you lose your 'Fifty Shades of Neigh' novel again?" "No, no, thank Celestia I managed to find it this morning... Err I mean... What 'Fifty Shades of Neigh' novel?!" sqeaked Twilight, blushing profusely. "Well what's the problem then? Are you struggling with your studies?" She turned to Spike, slightly offended at his suggestion that SHE could ever have problems with her studies, "No it's not my schoolwork. I'm starting to feel my reputation with the College is crumbling, all day I've been noticing dark glares I've received from the teachers and I don't know why". "Maybe... it might be because you nearly levelled an entire wing of the building... on your first day?" Rarity interjected as carefully as possible. Twilight's head slumped into her hooves, wondering how she could have forgotten about such a prominent event. Spike edged closer to wrap his arm around Twilight, "Cheer up Twilight! I'm sure there are lots of ways for you to assert yourself in the school, perhaps you could try doing some sort of extra-curricular activity?" Twilight headbutted Spike as she flew back up to her upright posture, her mood thoroughly revitalised. "Spike, you're a genius! That's exactly what I need to do! But what should it be? Science club? Debate team? The Epic Society of Ultimate Chess Legendaries?" "What about athletics?" questioned Quackmire eagerly, "You could sign up for the athletics competition taking place tomorrow!" His suggestion was only met by stern glares from the other three. Twilight softly giggled to herself, "You know, I'll forgive you for that because you don't know me very well. I'm here for my superior brain power, physical exercise isn't exactly MY thing, so there's not a chance in Tartarus that I would subject myself to athetics!" "I think the winner gets extra credit" "Where do I sign up?" Quackmire reflected back on the numerous sign up sheets he'd seen throughout the day, trying to remember the details, "I believe the competition is open to any student who feels they have some sort of athletic prowess, which looking around the place would suggest there won't be too many, and you select one event to compete in with the winner of each one achieving extra credit." "That's brilliant!" gleamed the now joyful purple unicorn, "Extra credit is just what I need to rebuild my relationship with the CCGU! If they see that I'm a student who is willing to go above and beyond to excel during my time here, then they should realise that I'm not just some violent trouble maker!" The other three members of the conversation shifted their eyes awkwardly, before Rarity was subconsciously nominated to be the one to rain down on Twilight's parade. "Um, Twilight? How do you actually plan on... well... winning?" This was the second time that Twilight had overlooked something so abundantly obvious, scrambling through improvised thoughts to give an answer to make it seem as though she had actually thought it through. "Well... I guess I have some books on sport that I could examine?" Quackmire promptly climbed onto the table, walked over to the stuttering unicorn and slapped her across the face with a considerable amount of his force, which didn't actually cause Twilight too much pain due to Bill's scrawny physique. "I cannot believe what I am hearing! This is an ATHLETICS competition! Where the physically adept meet in the stadium to prove their dominance... and you want to prepare for that with BOOKS?... I wipe my ASS with books... literally... our dorm doesn't really provide us with toilet paper so we have to use what we can. But I digress! If you want any chance of coming out on top in your event, you're gonna need to train! Train... hard and long... quackiddy". "We'll train you, Twilight!" Spike added excitedly, "All three of us will" "I'm afraid I must exclude myself from that proposition" informed Rarity, slowly removing herself from the table, "I too haven't the faintest clue about sports... and besides... I have to start work on that five page essay on 'Sporadic Magical Combustion' that YOU so generously set for me as practise, Twilight". "Oh, no problem Rarity, you're welcome!" grinned Twilight "Haha, kiss my bucking flank" mumbled Rarity through gritted teeth as she made her way out the cafeteria. "Don't mind if I do!" called Quackmire, the only one within earshot of her hushed statement. Twilight used her magic to levitate the empty dishes into one neat stack, as she gestured her two volunteered coaches towards the exit. "Alright everypony, let's hit the track!" With the exception of two mares, positioned unintrusively in the stands, the CCGU athletics stadium was currently uninhabited, leaving all of its facilities open and available for Twilight and her crack team of personal coaches, consisting of Spike and Quackmire. Having just come from her lunch break meal, Twilight's stomach felt full and heavy and as much as she'd have liked to, she couldn't use this as an excuse for the diabolical performance that her training session had entailed. The mortified duck and dragon could only watch on in despair as their trainee tripped, stumbled and collapsed in each and every event she attempted, with each failure narrowing any prospect of extra credit she hoped for. In the 100m dash, the uncoordinated unicorn's time was so disgraceful, that an average pony could have beaten her time even if they were standing still. In the high jump, her leap was so pathetic, that an onlooker would assume it was more likely she was playing limbo than actually trying to get over the bar. In the javelin, her throw was so weak, that her distance had to be measured in minus figures. It was clear at this point that neither speed or strength were going to be anything but a problem in the competition, so this clearly was not the right approach. With sweat dripping and the threat of indigestion looming, Twilight headed over to Spike and Quackmire as a solution to this dilemma had to be formed. They had to think of an event that would allow Twilight to use as much brain as she would muscle. Then it hit her, "The 1000m gallop!" she bounded up and down as the words left her lips, trotting circles around her companions, "It's so obvious! Although I can't handle all out pace, I'm sure I'd be able to handle a slower run. Then I would be able to ration out my overall stamina to ensure I maintain a constant speed throughout the race!" The three shared a nod of agreement as they strolled off to the track designated for long distance running for their last few minutes of training they could squeeze in before having to head back to their dorms. They were so engaged in this new idea that they paid no regard to the two mares sat in the stands. The two mares that had witnessed every one of Twilight's athletic blunders. The two mares being Trixie and Sunset Shimmer. Wiping a tear from her eye and catching her breath from the intense laughter, she turned her attention over to Trixie, wearing a now sinister expression on her face. "The 1000m gallop eh? I think my brilliant mind has just hatched an idea to make this situation even funnier! But I'll need your help with it" Trixie rubbed her chin quizzically, "Trixie doesn't quite understand, but likes where you are going with this. What do you need?" "I don't suppose you have any industrial grade bear tranquilisers do you?" "Pfft, obviously! Trixie would never leave home without them!" "Great!" grinned Sunset, "Meet me tomorrow at the side of the track with the goods, then we'll take it from there. Twilight is in for more of a shock than she could ever expect!" It was the day of the competition. An atmosphere of excitement flooded the stadium as all the CCGU's students with free study periods filled the stands as they observed the various sporting events being played out in front of them. The intensity and pressure of her upcoming event was taking a serious toll on Twilight as she stood at the side of the track, waiting for the dreaded announcement for the start of her race to arrive. Her morning was straining enough on its own, due to the various muscular aches and pains she woke up with from the previous day's training session. Despite her anxiety, she took comfort in the thought that she had already planned it all out, everything from starting intensity to overall pacing had been calculated, all that was left to do now was to participate in the race itself. Sure enough, that time had come: *Could all competitors of the mares' 1000m gallop please make their way to the starting area* She took a strong inhalation through her nostrils, then headed over to the requested start point. Upon arrival, she took the opportunity to evaluate her competition, who were all gathered around a large energy drink dispenser, taking it in turns to use it for some pre-race refreshment. Twilight considered whether to join them and capitalise on the chance for an extra boost of energy, but rejected it, mentally concluding 'Naa, I can't stand that stuff. I'll stick to water'. After a very short briefing, the racers took their positions at the starting line. As Twilight stared down at her hooves, a surge of self confidence filled her chest before spreading to her head. While double and triple checking her calculations for the race, the thought that she could come out on top after two and a half laps of the track was more and more feasible. She very well COULD win this. No, she WAS going to win this! *All racers at your mark. Get set. GO!* Twilight kept her head down and lunged forward, focused only on her hooves and maintaining the amount of speed she had allocated for herself at this point in the race. Thinking back to her session the day before, she was doing well, really well, she was truly on her way to beating her personal best, this was a huge spell of encouragement for her. Still with her head held low, she breezed her way around the first lap, another confidence booster to help her on her way to victory. Everything was going great. Too great. Something didn't seem right here, in her fixation of her own performance, she hadn't noticed the lack of presence of the other racers, where were they? For the first time in the race, she looked up ahead of her, which met her with a crushing disappointment of an answer to her question. The other mares were a fair way down the track, having left her in the dust a while ago. This couldn't be happening, how could they have edged away from her so much? Perhaps the energy drink she had dismissed was giving them the advantage over her? She was about half way through the second lap as she watched the racers complete this lap and gallop into their last 200 metres of the race. She had to try harder, she couldn't let the prize of extra credit slip out of her hooves. There was a chance she could pull it back, maybe if she pushed herself. She finished the second lap as the other racers darted into their last 100 metres. It would take nothing short of a miracle to win now, she watched as the leading mare executed her final sprint, fast closing in on the end. It was over. THUD The mare stumbled and fell to the ground, tumbling along the track and stopping just inches of the finishing line. The same fate was brought upon the unicorn in second place, then third. Gradually, one by one, each competitor collapsed to the ground, fast asleep and ending their run of the race. Each competitor... except Twilight. The exhausted purple unicorn was both delighted and stunned by what was happening around her, but chose not to question it and push for the finish regardless. As she pulled into the final stretch, it was evident that the other racers were not waking up any time soon. Once the shocked gasps from the crowd had subsided, they were replaced by a roar of cheers and applause for Twilight, which filled her soul with delight and pride of her oncoming victory, even if was slightly undeserved. Meanwhile, Trixie and Sunset were sat at the far side of the track as Twilight crossed the finishing line. They were left mouth agape, arguing between themselves and wondering how their 'flawless' plan had backfired so heavily, producing the exact OPPOSITE result to the one they were expecting. Twilight came to a gradual halt, drowning in the positive feedback from the crowd and the guarantee of extra credit. Spike, Quackmire and Rarity rushed towards the panting victor and embraced her in a strong hug. Spike was overflowing with pride at their unexpected success, "That was amazing Twilight! Maybe a bit lucky... but I'm sure you could have pulled it back even if that didn't happen!" Rarity released Twilight from her grip, turning to the dormant racers who were being carried off the track, "Speaking of which... what do you think it was that caused this to happen to them, Twilight?" Twilight thought this over, reflecting on any posible solutions she could, "I'm not sure? Perhaps they all had a bad reaction to something that was put in the energy drink?" 'Sparkle' - part 1 'Sparkle' - part 1 The solitary pony strolled down the vacant hallway, barely illuminated by the faulty lighting system within this poorly maintained section of the college. The only source of light potruding from the tip of the male unicorn's horn. Most would shy away from being the test subject of a new substance, however having aleady experienced the mindblowing effects of the pill, any awareness of the dangers of partaking in this act had long since evaporated. As he approached the end of the hallway, his legs grew heavy as he filled with both anticipation and anxiety at the prospect of sampling one final hit before the product was to become available to every student in the CCGU. He came to an abrupt halt, clopping his hooves together in a rehearsed rhythm, a signal received by an ominous dark figure who appeared out of the shadows and squared up to the unicorn. She scanned him thoroughly before returning to firm eye contact, "Did you come alone?" The voice almost unrecognisable apart from the indication this was a mare's voice. "Come on! Surely you can trust me by now, right Sparkle?" The stallion questioned casually before his tone became more serious, "So... as we agreed, you'll get me my full scholarship? For everything I've done for you". The cloaked mare turned away, making for a large saddlebag that had been tossed to the side. "Your aid has indeed been most valuable in the production process. Thanks to you, the profit from this endeavour will be quite large; therefore I intend to fulfill my end of the deal". "Well yeah... that's good to hear" The mare had found the desired item from her bags, then returned to her aquaintance. "Before you leave, surely you'd like to bless our business by taking a pre-release day pill?" Without hesitation, the stallion snatched the small packaging from the mare's magical grip, a sly grin plastered on his face, "I was hoping you'd say that!" He tore open the pack and swiftly swallowed the drug, awaiting the kick to overtake him. Several moments later, the buzz took effect, though it was not as he'd expected. A strong fizzing emerged in his stomach, followed by blurred vision and weak limbs. Burning in his lungs prompted small amounts of blood to be coughed up into his limp hooves. "This isn't... What is this?" he choked as his head began spinning. Bewildered as to what was happening, with the last of his energy he turned back to the mare, who stood over him with a cold gaze. Slipping out of consciousness, the mare's last words delivered in an emotionless tone revealed to him her true intentions from the start; "No loose ends..." ---------- 1 Week Later ---------- [Principal Aura Beam's office -- 10:04 am] The older mare paced back and forward behind her desk, not once releasing her fierce stare on the confused purple unicorn opposite her. The stern expression she wore indicated to Twilight the her visit today would certainly not be to commend her ever prosperous studies, or even her recent sporting success. The tense principal eventually came to rest in her seat, tidying a loose stack of papers that had been quietly bugging Twilight since she'd entered the office. Using her magic to adjust her glasses, she returned her attention to the matter at hoof. "You know it's quite interesting, Twilight. I'd never have taken you as the type to break the rules". Twilight remained silent, her scattered mind scimming through her recent memories, trying to dig up any possible action she'd taken that could have reflected badly on her in any way. Aura continued; "And after a week of business, I suppose you thought you were going to get away with it too?" She grinned, "Not up in here!" Despite her increasingly tight chest, the trembling unicorn managed to squeeze out some form of response, "What... what are you talking about?" Aura's expression was unchanged, clearly not buying into what she assumed was a sad attempt from Twilight to deny responsibility. "Drugs Twilight, you know? The ones you've been selling, the ones that have been circulating around for the last week, the ones that put one of our students in an indefinite coma. Those drugs". Twilight's fear was swiftly displaced by a cool relief; she knew she hadn't broken any rules, she'd simply been falsely accused of doing so. All she'd have to do is clear her name and return to her near perfect student reputation. "Well I'd heard rumours of some sort of illegal substance going around. But you're right, I'm not a rule breaker; how could you even think I could have anything to do with this?" "I'm glad you asked" The smug principal threw forward the top sheet of the stack of papers to present them to Twilight. "You're clever Twilight, i'll give you that, but you'd have to get up pretty early to get one passed me!" "Meaning?" "You did well to cover up your identity with a little codename. Although it took me several hours to figure out, I managed to trace it back to you" Twilight looked down at the sheet she'd been given and turned it over. There was an image of a dark, cloaked mare, with a photo of Twilight's head crudely stuck where the figure's would be. The title of the sheet was what truly left Twilight in shock, which read; 'Prime suspect, codename - Sparkle'. "SPARKLE? The codename is bucking SPARKLE?" "That's right" Twilight's rage boiled, she was preparing to unleash a lengthy rant about the logical flaws in such a choice, though opted to regain her composure and collect her thoughts. "Let me ask you something. Let's just pretend for a second that I am the dealer. Do you really think that I would for a codename, choose my ACTUAL name?" Aura rubbed her brow, starting to doubt her superb detective work. "Maybe. Maybe you wanted to hide in plain sight?" "Oh? Then let me ask you another question" Twilight peeled off the photograph of her head from the image with ease and turned it to face the principal. "Does THIS pony, dressed all in black, standing in a dark hallway and covering their face with a hood seem like the type of pony to hide in PLAIN SIGHT?" Aura submitted, "Ok Twilight, perhaps you have a point. Then I suppose you know who the actual dealer is?" Twilight slumped back slightly, "Well... err... not exactly" Aura's self pride returned, "Not exactly? Then I guess you'd better go and find out then" "But, isn't that your job?" "No Twilight! My job is to run this school! That's what a principal does. Your job is to investigate this case!" She stood up and trotted around the desk to meet Twilight, signalling her to the door. "You'd better hurry with it too; until you manage to clear your name, you're on double community service!" "How is that fair?" Aura was practically pushing her out the door by this point, "It's how it works; Guilty until proven innocent!" "Wait, that's not..." This time it was Twilight's turn to submit, her head dropped as she made her way out. "Fine, i'll do my best. Before I go, it might help if I knew what I was looking for. What's this drug called?" "I believe they're calling it 'Twilight' " The purple unicorn sighed deeply. "Of course they are..." [CCGU Main Square - 10:42 am] The college grounds were peaceful, various friendship groups sat circled in patches of shade, each one with stacks of text books filling the centre and clearly taking advantage of the pleasant weather to take their studying sessions outside. The overall atmosphere of the college was tranquil to say the least, it was hard to imagine there was a drug epidemic hitting the place. The warm air was relieving Twilight of her previous tension, though she would have to remain focused if she was to ever solve this case. "Why would somepony do this? Drugs are terrible things! They ruin lives!" Rarity was walking several paces behind Twilight, seeming somewhat uninterested. "Yes... how terrible it is for somepony to have a little fun once in a while..." Twilight snapped back around, causing Rarity to come crashing into her. "Rarity, this is serious! Whoever is doing this is using MY name! I'm being framed for this!" Rarity was now more sympathetic towards her friend, "Oh, I see. That is quite bad" The purple detective's eyes narrowed, "Rarity... Have you taken these drugs before?" Her eyes remained locked on the ground in front of her. "Errrm, perhaps. But only one time!" "That's... That's... Great!" Twilight gleamed, much to Rarity's amazement, "If you've used them before, surely you can tell me where you got them from, or who sold them to you?" "Yeah, I'm afraid I can't remember that sort of information, darling. Short term memory loss, I believe it must be one of the side effects of the pill" "Of course! That must be how the dealer has remained a secret the whole time! Darn! Now I have no idea where to start" Rarity placed a comforting hoof around Twilight, pulling her in close. "Look darling, I'm really concerned for you here! I shall help you in this investigation as best I can!" "Wow! That'd be great Rarity! I'd love to have you... Wait, no. This is my problem, I shouldn't drag you into it". The white unicorn pulled her in closer, though trying to mask her desperation. "No I really don't mind, Twilight!" Twilight used her magic to remove Rarity's arm from her, offering a reassuring smile. "No really, it's fine. I'll just get Spike to help me. Besides, I'm sure you have other things to do. What about those seven extra practise essays I set for you?" She hissed through gritted teeth, "Gee, I forgot... Thanks Twilight" "Well I'll see you around, Rarity. I better get started then" She began making her way down the path, though was closely followed by her friend, "Start where? Do you have any suspects?" "Well we know this mare is using my name, so it would have to be somepony who knows me. But who would already have so much of an unjustified grudge against me that they would try so hard to destroy my reputation... oh, of course..." "Of course? Are you talking about..." "TRIXIE!"
The Freshmare"OH MY GOSH I'M SOOOOO EXCITED RIGHT NOW!" Twilight stood at the mouth of the large steel-built gate that allowed entrance to the next stage of her educational life, Canterlot College for Gifted Unicorns, or CCGU. The other Sparkles were right behind her, surrounded by the many suitcases filled with 'essentials' that Twilight felt she needed to get the most out of her time here. "Oh man, my little sis is all grown up and off to college, I can hardly believe it, I'm so proud of you Twily!" Shining pulled Twilight in for a strong embrace, burying his head in her neck to hide the liquid pride coming from his eyes "We're all proud of you Twilight," her parents were next to join the hug, "make sure you write to us all about it, at least once a week!" "I will, I promise" Twilight assured, "wow, it seems like just yesterday since Shining here joined the royal guard academy, now I'm off too, I know this must be hard for you mum and dad" "Oh we'll be fine! As long as you write to us and come to visit us on the holidays, you will visit right?" Her parents here side by side, almost giving puppy dog eyes at Twilight. "I promise, but as for now, I think I have to go, goodbye everypony" Twilight waited for one more group hug with the family before trotting down the path, the cart containing all her stuff being pulled along in her magic, "Hey! Don't forget about me!" A muffled voice could be heard behind Twilight, she turned around to see one of her bags unzipping, and a small purple dragon came tumbling out. "I'd never forget about you Spike, you forget that I hatched you at a school for magic, you can't think I wouldn't want to bring you back to one." Twilight spoke with a soft tone and invited the small dragon over. Spike hopped up onto Twilight's back, a slightly more comfortable form of transportation and the two continued on towards the large administration building at the end of their path. From looking around, the campus grounds were very well kept, along with other students who seemed to be friendly and inviting Looking up at the building, Spike was practically bouncing with shear excitement at the prospect of what lay ahead, that feeling of anticipation for new experiences, "this is gonna be so much fun Twilight! I can already imagine all the fun stuff we're gonna be doing!" "Sure Spike, but remember I told you that the main building is for unicorns only, so you'll have to stay in the separate dorm there with the animals" "I'M NOT AN ANIMAL TWILIGHT!" Spike clearly infuriated by the unexpected insult that Twilight had subconsciously issued Upon realising her mistake, she halted immediately, hastily trying to elaborate on her statement, "Wait, that's not what I meant Spike! I didn't say YOU were an animal! I just meant that it's the rules of the school, believe me I want more than ever to have you stay with me! However this is the College for gifted UNICORNS, so any non unicorns aren't aloud to be within the main school. Also it just so happens that the non students that stay in this dorm are usually either animals that belong to the students, or students' companions and friends, like you. I did tell you all this earlier!" Spike's mood cooled, although he didn't exactly like it, this did seem to be fair, "yeah, yeah I remember! It still sucks though, I mean there's no way anypony else in this dorm is gonna be as awesome as I am!" He stated, in an all too serious tone, "but I guess I can still try to make friends". "That's the spirit Spike, now come on, let's get signed in" The receptionist skimmed through the long list of names on the clipboard help up within her magic, while Twilight and Spike stood patiently. "Ah, Twilight Sparkle, here you are. You room is already prepared, number 666 and your room mate moved in earlier today," she shifted her vision down towards Spike, giving a fairly condescending smirk towards the dragon that one would give to a small puppy, then returned her view towards Twilight, "I'm sorry, but non students are not allowed..." "Yes, we know" Twilight interrupted, "Don't we Spike?" Spike kicked the ground, clearly not yet fully satisfied by the justification of this rule, grumbling under his breath, "yeah, sure, whatever." The receptionist gave the dragon one more cheerful yet undermining grin, before diving behind her desk. When she rose back up, she was levitating a thick metallic key in her magic, with a large label which had printed on it the number 666. "I'll have somepony escort your cute little friend here to the non student dorm, then I'll bring up your luggage. As for you Twilight, feel free to head up to your room whenever you're ready dear". Twilight grasped the key in her mouth, a peculiar action for most unicorns, then placed it into one of the pouches in her saddle bag, "thank you so much for your help, Miss..." "Mrs Fondlesworth, I have a husband. Anyway enjoy your stay here Miss Sparkle". "Oh I'm sure I will! Goodbye Spike, see you soon!" Twilight gleefully hopped away from the desk and headed the grand staircase leading to her dorm. Twilight breezed down the corridor, examining each and every room number as she passed, "664...665...666. Aha, he we go!" She sat at the door, feeling a strange mix of ecstasy and anxiety, which accumulated deep within her stomach. She hesitated at the door, mentally building herself up. "Come on Twilight, be friendly, remember, first impressions are EVERYTHING!" Placing the key into the lock, she swung the door open to be presented with a mixed image. On one half of the room, it was completely empty, nothing but a bed and a side table which had been vacated for her arrival. On the other half, a large collection of various different items that made Twilight feel as if a large scale production was about to take place here, such as smoke bombs, fireworks and streamers. Then, centre of the room sat her room mate, perched in front of the generically shaped window and gazing out at the campus. She was a light blue unicorn with a white mane and a cutiemark of a wand and crescent moon. The unicorn was lost in her thoughts, completely unaware of Twilight's prescence. Twilight carefully approached the unicorn and lightly tapped her on the shoulder, "ahem... I'm your nee room mate, err... my name is Twilight Sparkle, and who are you?" The unicorn twitched slightly, before turning around to meet Twilight's eyes. An eery grin crept across her face which made Twilight feel uncomfortable, "ha, it seems you have the privilege of sharing a room with the likes of I, the Great, and Powerful, Trixie!" Author's Note To anyone who is reading this for the second time, this is a resubmission due to a large number of changes I made to avoid any confusion with regards to Spike.
First ImpressionsThe two sat on their beds on opposing sides of the room in silence, making extra efforts not to make eye contact with each other. Twilight was still waiting on her luggage to be delivered to the room, just some sort of event to make the atmosphere of the room slightly less excruciatingly awkward. Even if somepony else was in the room to start up a conversation, to ease the pain, she would be grateful. She wished that Spike could be with her right now, maybe she could have just spoken to him and left Trixie to play with her smoke bombs, but in the end it made sense that a non unicorn wasn't aloud in the school for unicorns, so really she couldn't get too upset about it. No, this wasn't the right attitude here, it was up to her to be the conversation starter, to break the ice, then maybe there would be a chance that these two could become friends. "So, errr, Trixie?" "That's the great and powerful Trixie to you!" "Right. Of course. Soooo, what brings you to CCGU?", Twilight felt a bead of sweat drip down her forehead, it seemed she'd actually managed to make things even more awkward somehow. Trixie just stared blankly at the stiff and uncomfortable purple unicorn, this situation was noticeably less painful for herself, indicating that most, if not all of her conversations usually played out like this. "Well if you must know, I'm here to major in performance magic, as you might have been able to tell from all my possessions here. Though classes are nothing but a formality for the likes of Trixie, I'm already the most powerful unicorn in Equestria! If you were even half the level that Trixie is at, then you might understand the futility of learning when you are already the best." Twilight thought it best to disregard the second part of Trixie's answer and expand on the first, she feigned enthusiasm for her next question, "wow, performance magic sounds really interesting! So, what's your minor?" "Performance magic" replied Trixie bluntly Twilight questioned whether she had asked the question right, or if Trixie may have misheard her, "wait, what? Your major AND minor is performance magic? Why? How?" "Because Trixie says so! That's why and how! You're going to need to learn, Twilight Sprinkle, that whatever Trixie says, goes!" Trixie's advanced ego was really starting play at Twilight's nerves, she needed to be able to take her down a notch, and the opportunity for this just presented itself nicely, "well, Great and Powerful Trixie, if you're already the 'best' at performance magic, then why is it your major AND minor? That would surely suggest that you needed extra classes for this subject right?" Trixie's eyes shot open, this was the first time that Trixie displayed that she did actually have feelings. This was not long lived however, as Trixie's expression soon returned to the self indulgent grin she'd maintained all morning, "oh, I'm sorry Tewlight Snorkle, was Trixie not clear earlier? Allow me to elaborate so somepony of your intellectual level may be able to understand. Like Trixie said, this stage of her education is meaningless, nothing but a formality. Therefore, naturally Trixie would choose a subject twice that she can easily breeze through as quickly and effortlessly as possible. Am I getting through to you now Sparklight Twikle?" A heavy red blush formulated on Twilight's cheek, she'd just been served. Hard. Despite the aggravation that Trixie's ego caused, Twilight couldn't deny that the blue unicorn was expert when it came to justifying her claims. Though Trixie was raining down insults on her, Twilight was certain that at least some sort of communication between them was still better than none at all, but she needed to keep it going, as she truly believed there was a way she could really bond with Trixie. "Well, I guess that's fair enough", she admitted to the gloating magician, "anyway I'm here to study magical theory as my major and..." "Yeah, sure that's not my concern Twibite, I'm afraid you're starting to bore Trixie here" Trixie carelessly interrupted, reclining into a laying postion on her bed and picking up a smoke bomb to examine. Twilight was seething with rage at Trixie's plain rudeness, but she had to keep going, "ok Trixie... what do YOU want to talk about then?" She uttered through gritted teeth Trixie thought to herself for a second, "I don't know, whatever..." now fully turning her back on Twilight to fiddle with some far more fascinating fireworks. Twilight couldn't fight it anymore and she let her anger explode out of her to be directed at Trixie. She stormed across the room and with her magic, forcefully turned the dismissive unicorn back to face her, "Listen Trixie! I'm really making an effort here to make friends with you and all you do is throw it in my face! I don't know how much better you think you are than me, but I'll have you know I was personally selected by princess Celestia herself to study magic at a really young age! Now if you don't start being a bit more welcoming to me I'm really gonna..." KNOCK KNOCK Mrs Fondlesworth wheeled in the entirety of Twilight's bags, completely oblivious to the large confrontation taking place, "hello Twilight, here is all your luggage as promised. I hoped you two are getting along here!" "We sure are" Trixie replied gleefully, "we're getting on like bags on fire!" "That's great to hear, well, see you fillies later" the receptionist trotted out room the room, leaving the two frozen in position with fake smiles on their face. Trixie inspected the newly delivered items, before turning back to Twilight with the same eery grin on her face from when she first met her, "You know what, Twispite Narkle? You're right, Trixie hasn't been all too friendly with you since you arrived, but allow Trixie to make it up to you" Twilight was suspicious, but accepting, "well, fine. What do you have in mind Trixie?" "How about Trixie shows you a new magic trick she's been working on?" Twilight was still skeptical, but couldn't resist a fine display of magic. She moved back to allow Trixie some space, "sure Trixie, is it a good trick?" Trixie laughed to herself, now levitating a large bunch of fireworks in her magic, "definitely, you're going to love it!" "AN INDOOR FIRE, A BROKEN WINDOW, DAMAGED SCHOOL PROPERTY AND A LARGE SCALE FIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF A CORRIDOR, ALL ON YOUR FIRST DAY! WHAT HAVE YOU GOT TO SAY FOR YOURSELVES?" Principal Aura Beam here, positioned behind her desk while scolding the purple and blue unicorn that stood ashamed infront of her. Twilight had to explain the situation before she got falsely accused of something she didn't do, "It wasn't my fault! I was nothing but friendly to her when I arrived and she treated me like dirt! Then to add injury to insult, she goes and uses her fireworks to blow up all of my luggage! It's all gone! Why would anypony do that to me?" Aura Beam sat still and considered Twilight's words, "That's an interesting story, but I think I want to hear Trixie's side of it now", Trixie stood to attention, over emphasising her body language and portraying an image of helplessness, "oh principal, it was awful! I only offered to show her a magic trick, then out of nowhere she struck me to the floor and started hitting me! Then she picked up one of her bags and threw it out the window. I didn't know what hit me, but she started up some sort of crazy spell and... and then she summoned up Cthulu the old one from the ground to come and destroy school property...and...and then she decided to blow up her own luggage! She was crazy! I'm pretty sure she even had rabies coming out of her mouth at one point!" Twilight stared at Trixie, mouth and eyes agape, before turning back to the principal. Aura Beam, still with the same stern expression that she had after Twilight's story, inspected both of the unicorns closely. "Well I'm afraid I can't quite tell which of those stories is actually the truth", "ARE YOU BUCKING KIDDING ME?" Twilight screamed in utter disbelief Trixie swept on the chance to take advantage of Twilight's momentary lapse in composure. "You see principal? She swore! She's pure evil! I mean what sort of low life, disgusting, pathetic excuse for a pony uses language like that?" "Ok both of you shut the BUCK up!" Aura asserted, "both of you are to do community service in the school for at least two months! You're lucky not to be expelled for this!" Twilight stepped forward, her head held low and her tail between her legs, "I'm really sorry principal, I promise this will never happen again, just as soon as I change rooms I'll fit right in. Aura grinned, "oh is that right? You think community service is your only punishment for such a big offense. There's a reason I didn't kick you out, because it's not a bad enough punishment for you two! The best way to make you sorry for this is to keep you paired together in the room!" "WHAT?" "WHAT?" It was Trixie's turn to speak up, "but principal, she's a mad mare! If you keep us together there's no telling it won't happen again!" "Well you better make sure it doesn't" Aura insisted "or you're both gonna pay for all the damages you make! Now get out!" The two slowly turned and made their way out of the office, making shifty looks at each other in the process. "Looks like we're stuck together now, Twiliter Spakkle!" Trixie groaned Twilight sighed, "why do I feel that room 666 is going to be the room from hell?" Author's Note Trixie has best imagination. Spike chapter up next.
Spike: The 'Non Students'"Soooo, how many ponies are staying in this dorm then? Are there any other dragons here?" Spike questioned, walking alongside the receptionist towards the slightly less lavish looking building along their path, by comparison with the main school itself anyway. "Yes of course! You're bound to meet plenty of friends here... err others just like yourself!" Mrs Fondlesworth replied. She spoke with the same soft yet undermining tone that he encountered with her before separating from Twilight, however he couldn't quite help but notice that distinct hesitation at the centre of her answer; a hesitation that increased Spike's skepticism, but he decided to dismiss it. As they proceeded down the walkway, every so often Spike noticed Fondlesworth direct a number of discrete and empathetic glances in his direction; this caused a gradual feeling of anxiety and self consciousness to arise inside the dragon's core and he began to fear the concept of something she didn't wish to tell him. Nearing the dormitory itself, the receptionist stopped, about 50 feet or so away from the building's door. Spike, still entranced in his private thoughts, couldn't anticipate the sudden cease of movement, so awkwardly came crashing into the back end of the older mare. She looked down at the bewildered and somewhat embarrassed dragon, "well... I think you can find your way from here right? Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go and deliver your purple friend's bags". Spike's internal worries augmented largely, solidifying any previous theories that she was guarding a secret from him. It was now apparent that the mare wanted to distance herself from him, but he couldn't quite place his claw on the reason yet. "Wait, you're leaving me? Aren't you going to show me around the dorm? Or even to my room or something?" Fondlesworth, already starting to back away, was looking noticeably desperate to initiate some sort of escape, "No, err... I'm sure you'll be fine. I don't think we'll see each other again since I'm based in the main building, so, enjoy your stay here and I know you're going to make lots of new friends with other ponies or dragons. Ok bye!" The mare hastily spun in place and trotted away at a faster than average speed. Her trotting speed was directly proportional to the distance from Spike, getting faster as she got further, seemingly to evade suspicion from the baby dragon but in fact doing the opposite. Many things were running through Spike's mind while staring up at the dorm, such as why Fondlesworth was in such a hurry to bail on him just now, especially considering she offered to escort him herself despite previously saying that she would have somepony else do it. Also, what was so bad about his place that she couldn't personally be around him to take him in there herself? Either way, Spike was usually a 'glass half full' kind of guy so concluded that seeing as there was no turning back here, he should just face it head on and see where things take him from there. Taking deep breaths, he turned the handle, then swung open the door. The scene when entering the main hall was a low blow to say the least, the sight of this striking his soul even harder than the smell hit his nostrils. He felt as though a dark void inside of him just sucked up his guts, and that his heart now weighed three times heavier. Where he stood, he was visually greeted by a mix and matched rabble of various different animals scurried amongst themselves, ranging from snakes to falcons, cats to geese or mice to rabbits. Spike made his way through the crowd of animals, searching for his own kind anywhere to no avail. The animals were so fixated on chasing each other, they barely registered the dragon calling for attention; though even if they did, none of them could talk to be able to respond to him. The ambient light in the hall made Spike feel as if he had time travelled to night time from the fresh day's sky outside. After scouring through the group two more times, the sensation of hopelessness overwhelmed the young dragon and he fell to the floor; this was a similar feelling to one you experience when you temporarily lose your parents at a young age. His head fell into his arms, his eyes welling up as he commenced crying, knowing he would be isolated here for a long time. Sure enough, he was told there would be animals here, but he was also told he would be able to make friends, however there were no ponies, and certainly no other dragons anywhere to be seen. "I guess they told YOU the same thing they told us, eh kid?" Spike shot back up, wiping the tears from his eyes as he despised being caught crying in public. This raspy crackling voice was audible enough to be heard, but due to the noise produced from the riot of tussling animals, he couldn't quite locate where it came from. Once again, Spike fought his way through the crowd, calling out for the identity of this voice. "Look over here kid! We're in the corner" This time the voice was far more distinguished and Spike turned his head to face the proximity of the sound though the only thing he saw in the corner was a duck, positioned next to a fairly larger dog. The duck had fairly dull white feathers with beady eyes and a dark grey natural collar around his neck. The most notable feature about the duck however was two bulges situated just below its beak, as if it had a double chin growing there. As for the dog, it was a brown bull terrier with white fur starting from its neck and stemming down to its lower belly. This couldn't be right, Spike questioned whether he was really in the right area, though this was confirmed when the duck opened its beak to speak again, "Yep, this is us. Now I'd suggest you get over here before that mob consumes you!" Spike did as the duck said and headed over to join them, a bit cautious but mostly relieved that he wasn't alone here. "H-hey guys?" Spike said like an awkward stallion asking out a mare, "I - I'm Spike" The duck barely noted the shyness from the dragon as he introduced himself, "good to meet you kid, the names Bill, Bill Quackmire. And this right here is my friend, Butch." Gesturing to the dog next to him "S'up?" Butch delivered in a gruff deep tone. Quackmire continued, "so you're here in the same circumstances as us then kid? They tell you it's for the 'non students' and that 'we'll meet plenty of others our own kind'. Well look around you kid, do you see any other ducks or dogs in that rabble? And I'm sure there aren't any dragons here either!" Due to the nature of the crowd, Spike had taken as definite that there were ducks and dogs in there, but after second inspection, he realised that Quackmire was being truthful. "You see kid? They lied to us! They did the outside up all pretty, but when you're inside it's nothing more than a barnyard! When I first arrived, I was the same as you, and the only voice I heard in this hall was Butch" "S'up?" The dog interjected "So we started conversing and became friends quickly. Now you're here kid so you have a choice, be friends with us and we'll stick together, or stay here on your own?" Spike considered Quackmire's offer, it was a no-brainer really, of course Spike wanted to make friends, it would help him to find some bright side to his current problem. He nervously offered out his claw, "sure guys, I'd love to be your friend!" Quackmire gleefully engaged in this weird claw-wing shake, visibly excited about the new member of his friend roster. Spike also was clearly happier about the arrangement, "thanks guys, this really helps me out! I am a bit wary though, I mean a talking duck AND a talking dog together?" Quackmire faked offence, "woah there Spike! Don't get carried away! I know I'M a bit creeped out by a talking DRAGON! And I'm sure Butch here would have a few choice words on the matter as well!" "S'up?" Spike had to be careful, he didn't want to lose the friends he'd just made, "I'm sorry! You're right guys. I just have one thing to ask of you though; seeing as my 'escort' ran away, and you guys are my friends now, would you mind showing me where my bedroom is?" Butch and Quackmire glanced at eachother, then burst into a fit of laughter before the duck put a sympathetic wing on Spike's shoulder "Haha! A bedroom, kid? You'd be lucky if the windows even worked properly in this place!"
La CouturièreThe last night had certainly been a gruesome one for Twilight, primarily due to the now broken window in her room letting in numerous large gusts of chillingly cold wind that struck her down to the bones as she tried to get some sleep. Trixie's welcoming fireworks display yesterday had burnt every one of Twilight's possessions to a crisp except the clothes on her back... so in other words, it burnt EVERYTHING. She reflected on this momentarily but repressed it in the end, this was not a good time to bring down her mood again. She strolled down the campus pathway, accompanied by Spike and his new friend Bill Quackmire, taking in the different sights and sounds the College and its inhabitants had to offer. All of the anticipation filled wonder she'd experienced when she'd first arrived had been obliterated thanks to a certain blue mare, but on the other hand, there were other new students around for her to make friends with, and that's exactly what she planned to do at the fresh mares and stallions event being held in the school's main hall. "...so anyway, the place is a dump! Although at least I was able to meet some nice guys like Bill here, then made friends pretty quickly" Spike explained to a despondent Twilight, who just remembered the young dragon was recounting his story of the night before to her. She considered his statement, "well, I guess I have the complete opposite situation to you then, Spike. My room is... or at least WAS perfect, but my roommate however was far from perfect! I was so nice to her and she goes and blows up all my stuff! Then to top it off, I get punished for it as well. So we're still living together" "So what's the punishment?" "That IS the punishment, Spike" Twilight scorned, "and now this year is gonna be hell for me because I'm stuck in a room with this evil incarnate!" Spike hated to see Twilight get herself worked up like this, she'd always been there for him when he was down, so part of him felt it was right to try and return the favour, "I'm sorry Twilight, but you can't give up now, it's only been one night after all. I'm sure your roommate has her reasons for acting like this, if you could resolve these then I know you'll be able to become friends!" Twilight appreciated Spike's concern for her wellbeing, but saw no hope in his idea, "normally Spike, you'd be right. This would be the way to quell disputes between two normal ponies... but Trixie is no normal pony. I just can't see a way to get through to her!" Spike was starting to share the unicorn's sadness, he had to try something else so pulled Quackmire over to the side of the path, just out of Twilight's earshot. "Help me out here dude! She's getting really upset about this. Can't you say something that might cheer her up a bit?" Quackmire rubbed the strange double chin under his beak with his wing, before an idea hit him. "Don't worry kid, I know just what to say when a mare is sad about something, I'm a master at these things, just leave it to me". Quackmire returned to Twilight, closely followed by Spike. "Ahem, Twilight? I know things seem bad now, but just remember; there's a good chance this is probably all YOUR fault" Spike facepalmed, then pushed the duck out of the way to make up for the 'master's' error, "what he meant to say... was that there's nothing you can do about it now, and you should try to forget about it!" Twilight looked back at them, then an awkward smile came across her face, "Don't let my problems worry you guys, and I'm well aware my main focus is to make friends at this event, I'll be fine!" Spike and Quackmire shared a satisfied nod and hurried along with Twilight as they approached the main building, where the 'no non students' rule had seemed to have been relaxed for the occasion. As they paced along, another idea came to Quackmire, "y'know Twilight, it'd be good if you did manage to make friends with Trixie, friendship is a powerful thing, almost like magic. Yeah, the 'magic of friendship', you might just find this magic will come in very useful to you later in life if you use it right" Twilight stopped, turning around to face the duck with a genuine tone of interest in her expression, "wow! Now you mention it! That could actually... be the STUPIDEST I have EVER heard in my ENTIRE life!" Stood outside the grand doors of the main hall, Twilight prepared herself a mental checklist of the best strategy to accumulate some friends with the most efficiency; of course the dependant variable was to not run into Trixie. She looked down to her left, to receive an encouraging gesture onwards from Spike and his duck acquaintance. There was one last factor that was nagging Twilight; she was one of the fair few unicorns in the school who could be considered a 'gifted unicorn', a perculiar observation considering the school's name. This meant that it was actually her abilities with magic that landed her a place at the CCGU rather than daddy's bank account, the latter being the normal for the vast majority of the school's students. This fact gave a sense of anxiety for Twilight rather than pride; her classmates' eccentric backgrounds made her feel as though she might be a bit low brow for them, therefore making the task to find friends that much harder. Her worries were swiftly eradicated upon opening the door, where she was greeted by dark, dingy nightclub scene with its occupants formed as a compacted mob violently jumping up and down. They seemed to be based around a flashing DJ table with a white, blue maned, sunglasses wearing unicorn at the helm, manipulating this complex device. The oversized, powerful speakers emitted a varied collection of wubs and beats that noticeably sounded like a flushing toilet, construction work and a dumpster rolling down 5 flights of stairs all mixed into one noise. The strangest part was that the mob actually seemed to be enjoying this horse crap! Twilight was frozen, seriously considering a transfer to another college. Any signs that this was a main hall for a prestigious establishment was very effectively hidden. "This is just awful! How can I be subjected to such chaos and a bucking mob as soon as I enter a room?" Spike just glared at her, clearly she hadn't really been listening to the story of his first day after all. "Well if every new pony is in this hall, you might as well start looking for the ones with similar interests I guess" "In the mob?" She snapped, "they'll eat me alive!" Her eyes surveyed the walls on the outskirts of the room, looking for any signs of 'non mob' life. "There!" She spotted another pony at the far side of the hall, then started to make her way over there. As the distance between them reduced, Twilight was able to identify more of the unicorn's features. She was a white unicorn with rich blue eyes and light blue eyeliner on the lids. Her dark purple mane was weaved into a long ponytail with two thick strands of hair drooped down each side of her face. Despite her looks, it was her dress that really took Twilight's attention; stitched to perfection and colours that really complimented her mane and make up, with what must have been her cutiemark labelled on the side, three diamonds. Twilight realised that she was now alone, turning back to see Spike and Quackmire had stopped ubruptly several feet back. They were both locked in a fixated stare focused on the stunning white unicorn, lasting several awkward seconds until Quackmire broke the silence, "she is GORGEOUS! That is sure one marshmallow I'd like to roast if you know what I mean, hehe QUACKIDDY QUACKIDDY!" Spike's trance ended a soon as he heard Quackmire's statement, "Quackiddy quackiddy? Dude... please just don't EVER do that again!" Spike paused for a moment, then burst into laughter when he eventually understood what Quackmire meant, then the two ran to catch up with Twilight. Now within speaking distance, which was very close considering the background noise, Twilight found that she wasn't the one who had to make the introduction this time, as the white unicorn spoke up, seeming somewhat relieved to see her, "I take it this ear sore is as audibly offensive to you as it is to me darling?" "I'll say! I can barely hear myself think in this place! I'm Twilight Sparkle by the way" replied Twilight, offering a warm smile The unicorn inspected Twilight, before reciprocating the smile, "it's a pleasure to meet you Twilight. I do just have one question though, why aren't you fully attired for this event?" Twilight, admired the dress, then turned to find out that even in their rabid insanity, the dancing lunatics were actually clothed. "Well funny story... my roommate kind of blew up all my clothes" uttered Twilight through cheeks blushing with embarrassment. "That's terrible!" Gasped the unicorn Twilight again gazed at her acquaintance's dress, "well at least your dress looks great" she sighed, "where'd you get it from?" The unicorn chuckled to herself, "oh this old thing? It's just something I made myself before I came out here, nothing special. It's just that dress making is a bit of a hobby of mine. Wait, I've got an idea! How about I make you a new dress?" Twilight felt uncomfortable, "That's really generous, but I couldn't ask you..." "It's no trouble at all!" She interrupted, "it's my pleasure! In fact I was going to bring another dress with me here, but with how full my luggage was, it was just too big for me to fit in!" "Quackiddy!" Twilight grinned wide, half at the generous offer she'd received, and half at the fact she was really making progress with this young mare to making friends. "That's really nice of you! Say, what are you studying here?" "Magical theory" she replied, "I don't think I'm very good at it though" Twilight nearly exploded into a loud cheer, but restrained this to avoid humiliation, "That's great! I'm studying the same thing!" The unicorn outstretched her hoof to meet in a hearty hoof shake, "then I guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other this year then" she gleamed, "do you want to leave this place? I find it much easier to get to know somepony when I can hear myself talk" As they made their way to the exit, something very obvious came to Twilight that she'd forgotten, "oh! Silly me! I forgot to ask your name" "The name is Rarity darling"
Magical Theory 101All of the remaining repressed anger was forced to the back of Twilight's mind as she organised the notebooks and writing utensils in front of her in the usual orderly and methodical fashion. She appreciated the college's generous donation of equipment for her needs greatly; she had originally brought her own tools, however of course these were no longer of any use in their burnt ash form. It was finally here, the day of her first lesson. The excitement factor didn't stem from the idea of learning something new, because after years of intense learning from the princess, she felt as thought she already knew everything there was to know about the subject; no, Twilight's anticipation revolved around being back in a classroom environment, surrounded by other ponies who have the same educational interests as her. This was nothing short of heaven for Twilight and she refused to let her mood get dampened by a certain light blue unicorn. She'd also made sure to factor in an extra few minutes to pay a small visit to Spike and his friends before she had to get to class, which left her precisely two minutes to exit the room and head down. She carefully levitated the books into the also donated saddlebag, then made a break for the door. "Off so soon, Twilight Sprekklah?" Leered Trixie, laying atop her bed, clearly having watched Twilight through the whole process. "Oh come on! That one didn't sound anything like my name! How would you like it if I kept doing that to you... err... Brixie!" "Good one..." "WHAT DO YOU WANT TRIXIE?" screamed Twilight, slightly humiliated after her own poor excuse of a comeback. "Oh nothing much, just wanted to make sure the school had officially made you their charity case after you carelessly burned your things" sneered Trixie, grinning to herself. Twilight started to approach the self indulgent unicorn, "I can't comprehend whether you're just fabricating the truth, or if your ego is so drastically augmented that you actually believe what you're saying!" "Oooh, looks like Dorklight Spawcul swallowed a dictionary!" "Forget swallowing one, I'll shove one up your ass if you don't shut the buck up!" Twilight's sudden shift in language had actually managed to silence Trixie for the first time since they met, and she intended to take full advantage of this, "now you listen to me! I know you think that trick you pulled of burning my stuff was an act of dominance, but let me tell you, it wasn't! In no way are you at all superior to me! And you know what else? I WILL get you back! I don't care how long it takes... I will have revenge". Trixie just managed to regain her composure, back to the level where she could display her false overconfidence again, "oh no... I'm shaking. I'd like to see you try Twilight Spark... errr I mean, Twinloyte Squakkle!" Twilight was already slowly backing to the doorway, maintaining solid eye contact with the twitchy unicorn, "when you least expect it Trixie... when you LEAST EXPECT IT..." Slamming the door on her way out. The force of the slam sent a strong tension down Trixie's spine. "So, how did your morning go Twilight?" Asked Spike, briskly pacing alongside the trotting unicorn, closely followed by Butch and Quackmire. "Pretty well, let's just say I managed to put Trixie in her place!" Twilight forcibly chuckling to herself, "That's great Twilight! Do you think this means that she'll start to treat you with more respect now?" Twilight's grin faded as she thought this over, "well I... err... no" she let out a heavy sigh, "I guess there really is nothing I can do to change her, it's hopeless!" Spike swiftly pulled his duck friend to the side, out of Twilight's earshot, "dude, she looks like she's becoming depressed again, help me out here, Bill!" Quackmire once again rubbed the chin under his beak, deep in though, "leave it to me kid, I'm a master at this sort of thing!" He then increased his pace to catch up with the slumped Twilight. "Ok Twilight here's how it is... violence is ALWAYS the answer! You're gonna need to start another fight with her, but this one has to be even wilder, cause more damage and have even more Cthulus than the last one!" "The last one had NO Cthulus in it!" Objected Twilight. "Oh really... that's not what Trixie said." Replied the well meaning duck. "AND YOU BELIEVED HER?" Spike rushed in to bail Quackmire out and away from the raging unicorn, before scolding the duck himself. "Dude seriously! Why do I even ask you for advice?". So for the second time, Spike had to atone for Bill's error, "look Twilight, just try and forget about her and just concentrate on the positives of your day. For instance, in your next class, you get to see, the wonderful and dreeeeeaamy... err I mean, you get to see your new friend, Rarity again." Twilight's tone remained the same, "even that is a worry for me now" "Why would that be a worry for you." "When she first told me she was studying the same subject as me, she said she didn't think she was very good at it" "And?" Twilight placed a condescending hoof on Spike's shoulder, "Spike, you have a lot to learn about young mares, when they say they're bad at something, this actually means they are amazing at it. It stops us from seeming too braggy! I try to stay humble all the time as you could probably tell right?" "Yeah... sure" Twilight rose back up, took in several deep breaths, then strode forward, "She'll probably outshine even me! I bet that when I walk into that lecture hall, Rarity will be at the top of the class, she'll be the one answering every question with ease!" "Pffft, that's an easy one darling! It's clearly a well pressed garment made from woven, imported, Saddle Arabian silk, touched off with double stitched patterning and frilly lining to support the neck and forehooves" boasted Rarity, reclining back in her seat. "No Rarity... the answer is 'thirteen'!" Croaked the rather exasperated professor, followed by a roar of laughter from the other students. Rarity's cheeks blushed as she sunk into her chair. She leaned over to Twilight, the only pony except the teacher not mocking her, "I was close though, right Twilight?" Twilight's hoof hit her forehead, "sure Rarity... the answer to the question 'how many founding members were involved with the original ministry of magical theory over one thousand years ago?' was obviously an item of clothing". Rarity hurriedly skimmed through the untouched textbook on her desk, trying to quickly seek out the chapter on this matter, "oh you're right. I guess I knew that one really, but, I can't think about anything except fashion at the moment; I was up nearly all night working on that set of outfits I promised for you!" "All night? Outfits?" Twilight's earlier prediction of Rarity's advanced ability in the subject had been irradicated, "I thought you were only making me one outfit?" Rarity placed her hoof on Twilight's shoulder, a similar condescending action that Twilight gave Spike earlier, "Oh come now, we all know a lady can't have just ONE outfit in her life!" "Rarity, that's very generous, but there's no way I can let you do all that work for me, especially if it's at the detriment of your own studies". Every second that goes by only makes Twilight wish that this was the pony she shared a room with, the contrast in character between her and Trixie was too much to believe. One made new possessions for her, the other destroyed all the ones she already had. "You don't understand Twilight, I love dressmaking! This isn't work for me, it can't be work when you enjoy it!". Rarity's proximity to Twilight was so close now that they were almost sharing seats. "But what about your education Rarity?" "I know, it's a shame but... wait! I have an idea! You know nearly everything about Magical theory right?" It was Twilight's turn to blush, time for her to exercise her humble side she spoke of earlier, "well I wouldn't say EVERYTHING, but, well I guess I actually would say everything!", this was an exercise she struggled with. "Good, then since I'm making outfits for you, I was wondering if you could maybe help me out with my studies?" "YES!" Twilight was immediately hushed by the professor having openly disrupted the class with her outburst. Having been a student under Celestia for most of her life, she'd never experienced how it was to be the teacher before. "I'd love to, Rarity! It'll also give us the chance to spend more time together". Rarity finally retreated back out of Twilight's personal space, "That's wonderful! Thank you so much!" Twilight leaned over to snatch Rarity's textbook from her, taking it well out of her reach. "Ok, but before I can start teaching, I just need to ask a few questions so I can get a rough understanding of your knowledge" "Great idea, let's hear it" "Alright I'll start with an easy one; 'what were the steps of each of the original models of magical theory first devised by the ministry? Starting with the first preconception of the founders and finishing with Starswirl's most up to date model' ". Rarity hunched forward, flopping over the desk giving a casual expression, "oh please darling, you could at least try and challenge me... it has something to do with hemming fabric right?" Twilight's mood fell flat, which was only matched by her body language, " we have a lot of work to do..."
Performance Magic 101"Oh no... I'm shaking. I'd like to see you try Twilight Spark... errr I mean, Twinloyte Squakkle!" Twilight was already slowly backing to the doorway, maintaining solid eye contact with the twitchy unicorn, "when you least expect it Trixie... when you LEAST EXPECT IT..." Slamming the door on her way out. The force of the slam sent a strong tension down Trixie's spine. Trixie sat motionless, staring blankly at the door, mentally reviewing the recent events. As the stiffness in her back subsided, her thoughts became a lot clearer, could it be that her dominance over Twilight was truly as weak as she had just claimed? She scanned the area around her, noting the bountiful stock of possessions she had by her bed, before viewing the emptiness of Twilight's side. If the purple unicorn was indeed planning a revenge strategy, then perhaps blowing up all her luggage on the first day was not such a great move. After all, Trixie definitely couldn't afford to have her own belongings destroyed, what good is a performance magician without her tricks and equipment? No, Trixie's real reason for having done this to Twilight far outweighed any consequences it could bring; all she could do now was remain vigilant to any tricks that Twilight may pull, but above all she must never show any sign of weakness in front of her room mate, she knew she would have to always maintain her overconfident facade in order to attain true dominance. Having lost track of time, Trixie realised she now had only ten minutes to prepare her bag and make it to her first class, Performance Magic. This was an introductory lesson, in which every student would have to put on a short five minute show to demonstrate their skills, so Trixie carefully selected which of her items she'd need as she devised her performance, stuffed them into her wagon, then headed out. The Performance Magic classroom' s layout was not as a standard lecture hall, but rather an open space focused in on a large stage, allowing more freedom for the students to practice their routines. For this lesson, a row of chairs were positioned for the students to sit while they waited for their turn, along with a main table for the two professors to lean on as they made notes on each performance. There weren't too many other students here; judging by the building's location, which was the furthest one from the college's primary admin building, it was clear to see that performance magic was not the most popular subject at the CCGU, in fact even for most of the students who were here, this was only their minor. One by one, each pony was called up to perfom, and with each one, more and more of Trixie's ego was refuelled, sniggering quietly as each student put on a rather substandard show, the low grade tricks were what one would expect from a foal's birthday clown. The first just spent five minutes attempting to mould some balloon animals, making it questionable how they even managed to get into the school in the first place. The second played a simple 'guess the card' game with the professors, successfully managing to select the right card on the 52nd attempt. The third was slightly more ambitious, after some preparation time, tried to be shot out of a cannon to land straight into a glass of water. Needless to say nothing went wrong with that. Once the penultimate performer had exited the stage, the dormant bodies of the professors, slumped over the table, once again reanimated as they rose up to stretch their stiff limbs. The hundred page notebook they brought to write about the routines had barely filled a third of a page for all eight of the nine students. The scolding hot burning from the coffee hitting their tongues as they gulped it down provided a stronger feeling for them than any of the shows did. "I can't take any more of this!" Whimpered professor Greenleaf, "the turd I left in the toilet this morning had more of a 'wow factor' than any of these ponies!" "Pull yourself together! We just have one more to go! Somepony called Trixie. Let's just get it out of the way and then we can go blaze one up in the library to help ease the pain!", Professor Sparkup rose from his chair to adress the audience, "Ok great... those performances were top notch! Now to finish us off, please could Trixie take the stage". "Well it's about time! But I guess you have to save the best until last!". Once everything had been set up, Trixie donned her hat and cape, ready to start. "For those who don't know, I am the great and powerful Trixie! With my selection of equipment, along with my extraordinary magical capabilities; I will put on a show, the likes you have never..." "Would you just bucking start already!" Screamed Greenleaf, "you're already a minute in and all you've done is kiss your own flank! I'm getting antsy over here!" "Very well..." Trixie flourished her cape and pulled her hat up to wipe a streaming drop of sweat from her brow, "Let the show begin!". Instantaneously, her horn illuminated, causing two fireworks to fire into the air, exploding just before hitting the ceiling and leaving a dazzling array of assorted sparks and colours, fully captivating the audience's attention. Using the element of misdirection for her advantage, Trixie propelled a number of smoke bombs towards the preoccupied ponies, creating an oblique cloud of smoke to temporarily blind them. Creeping through the smoke, Trixie now created the illusion of teleportation as she appeared behind the two professors. She removed her hat and pulled out a deck of cards, prompting Greenleaf to select one without showing her. There was no falsified overconfidence with Trixie here, she really was as good as she said she was and was working the audience like a dream. Once the card had been hidden by Greenleaf, she summoned a long twirl of ribbon over, which enveloped her entire body then transported her back to the stage while wrapped around her. Trixie's horn glowed brighter to unveil the climax; a final flurry of fireworks took to the air, erupting into a blanket of sparks that poured down over the show pony, who throw one solitary smoke bomb into the audience. A small burst of light cracked out the bomb, followed by a slow stream of magic which started to form a shape, the shape of the 6 of diamonds, Greenleaf's selected card. Trixie had well earned the standing ovation she was receiving from both the students and the professors. When it eventually died down, Sparkup was the first to verbalise his amazement, "young mare, that was incredible! With talent like that, you'll be working every show in Las Pegasus in no time!" Trixie nodded off this compliment, having expected it from the start. "Yes, that's what most ponies tell me" Sparkup continued, "All we need to see now is one final trick to close the performance, then you're well on your way to stardom," Trixie grinned, "That's easy, watch this" ............ "ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR BUCKING MIND?" whelped Greenleaf, "he's going to need hospitalisation now thanks to you!" "Trixie is not to blame here!" Protested the blue unicorn, "what did he expect would happen when he opened my 'Can O'Bombs' brand can of bombs?" "Why would a can of bombs even be part of your routine?" Just as Greenleaf asked this, the bell alerted for the end of period. Trixie was already starting to make her way out of the hall, "WHERE DO YOU THINK YOUR'E GOING TRIXIE? What are you going to do about this mess?" Trixie paused in the doorway, "That's not Trixie's problem now, see you next lesson." Then lazily strolled out of the hall. As Trixie made her way down the corridor, an ominous sounding voice echoed its way towards her, stopping her in her tracks, "that was a nice little trick you pulled back there". Trixie scanned around rapidly, from what she could see, she was the only one there, "who said that? Show yourself to Trixie!" The voice seemed to get closer, "you're a very talented pony, Trixie. I think the two of us would get along just fine, if you're willing to be friends." Trixie was unmoved, "why would Trixie want to be friends with the likes of you?" Finally the voice revealed itself, a pony stepped out of the shadows, she had a creamy orange coat with a fiery mane, "because from what I understand, you too have a distaste of a certain purple unicorn we know, albeit for a different reason than I do. My name is Sunset Shimmer". Trixie was confused but also intrigued, "oh really? What's your reason then?" Sunset knew she was starting to get through to Trixie, "Like her, I was also Celestia's personal student. I had a year under one on one tuition with the princess, my skills were growing and I was learning at a far accelerated pace. Up until SHE arrived. From that point onwards all of Celestia's attention was aimed at Twilight... and I was thrown aside. So I left the castle, trying to find my own education sources. That's why I'm here, in fact I'm really in two schools at the moment; the first school is this one, the CCGU and the other school is actually located in another univ... actually don't worry about the other one. The point is, Trixie, that our interests run parallel. I won't ask you your reasons for hating her, all I want to know is if you are willing to help me". Trixie thought it over, Sunset certainly made a good case, "well what did you have in mind then?" "She ruined the one thing that was special to me! So it's only fair that the favour is returned. I say we work together to ultimately destroy Twilight's education, ruining her time at college and therefore putting her through the same suffering as us!" "Trixie can do that just fine on her own!" Sunset was practically pleading at this point, "but together we can do more than 'just fine', we can really do some damage if we combine our efforts! I don't know what she did to you but don't you want to see her pay for it? The important thing is that we continue to act natural around her, if she catches on to us then she'll nark us out; we'll just wait for the opportunities to arise, then pounce on them. So... what do you say?" Trixie's trademark eery grin worked it's way across her face, much to Sunset's liking, "when do we start?".
Spike: Who Else But Quackmire?Author's Note This is a Quackmire chapter... you know what to expect. Spike: Who Else But Quackmire? "YOU THINK YOU CAN DO THIS TO ME? I let your scrawny ass off last time, but now? I'm gonna beat you 'til you can't feel feelings anymore! Once is a misunderstanding, but twice... then it becomes a matter of principle!" The large muscle bound canine forcing the entirety of its weight onto the vulnerable neck of his victim. Despite his aggressor's far larger and more intimidating frame, Quackmire somehow managed to retain his nerve, through the air which was quickly exiting his lungs. "Principle? I don't need a lecture on principle from an animal that goes around sniffing butthole all day and chasing its tail! Maybe if you had a bit more class like me, we wouldn't be in this mess!" "You? Class?" The canine eased a slight bit of tension off the duck, "you're an abomination! I could kill you right here and now, and the world would throw me a parade!" "Listen Baxter, these things can happen to the best of us!" Justified Quackmire. To Bill's relief, the door creaked open, followed by the entrance of Spike and Butch, deep in conversation, (as deep a conversation one could possibly have with Butch anyway). At this instance, the fuming Baxter relinquished his attack, taking several steps back. "What is going on in here?" Screamed the dragon, rushing over to the scene, closely tailed by Butch who positioned himself between his friend and the other growling dog. Spike held out a helping claw to aid Quackmire in returning to an upright position. "Ha! I thought you were a MALE dog Baxter, but all it takes is Butch here to turn you into a BITCH!" Laughed the duck as he feigned victory. "The next time I see you Bill, you're dead, you hear me? DEAD!" Baxter cautiously made his way out of the room, keeping a firm view on the beefier dog, ready to make a run for it at the first sign of movement from Butch. Baxter knew his place with Butch, learning this lesson after the last encounter with Quackmire, in which Butch truly dominated him while defending the duck. Once Baxter had fully vacated the area, Spike's attention was fully directed at Bill, "What happened there? Why was he attacking you like that?" Bill waved a dismissive wing at the dragon as he made his way out of the corner, "Oh don't worry kid, Baxter just seems to think I had an affair with his girlfriend". "Really? Why would he think that?" "Well... because I DID... twice actually" Spike exhaled deeply, "you know, Bill, not a day goes by where I don't wonder how you haven't got yourself killed yet". Quackmire grinned as he reflected on all the past incidents that he barely made it out of in one piece, "I guess it's just one of the perks of being friends with Butch. He always knows how to 'negotiate' when I'm in trouble and get me out of there." "S'up?" Bill turned his back on his friends, the deep throbbing, pounding his neck becoming too unbearable to leave untreated so massaged each side with his ruffled wings, completely undetectable to anyone else. Though the silence in the room was established enough to hear a heart beat, Baxter's words still resonated in his head loudly, as if his presence was still felt. "You know, I've gotten into a lot of trouble in my time, made a lot of enemies... but none of them are like Baxter. He's the most aggressive, violent and unreasonable guy you'll ever meet!" Spike struggled to feel empathy toward's Quackmire's predicament, reading through his performance as if it were an open book, "Yeah... he wants to hurt you after you try and steal his girlfriend... he's so unreasonable." Bill reeled back, over emphatically gesticulating to fake being appalled at Spike's blunt sarcasm, "Steal? Please! All I did was give the dog a bone! You can't blame a duck for diversifying!" "Errm... what's that supposed to mean?" A large bubble of air caught in Quackmire's windpipe to stop any further speech. He'd forgotten he was speaking to a BABY dragon here, but was addressing him like a group of thugs down at the local quackhouse. He swallowed the air as his mind changed to use more universally friendly language. "Well, what happened was: I saw her alone... and we had a 'special' hug... and then we had a nice meal... and then we went to her bed for a fun sleepover... and then I NAILED her! Oh bucking hell I can't control it!" Spike, who was on a completely different wavelength, decided to move the conversation forward before his friend had a meltdown. "So what are you gonna do now? You can't spend the rest of your life hiding from him, and Butch won't always be around to save you". Spike's sobering words hit Quackmire like a direct strike to the chest. He was so absorbed by past incidents, he was paying no regard to what lay in the not too distant future. He began to pace the floor, the anxiety dripping from his image as heavily as the sweat dripping from his head. " Oh my Celestia! You're right! I've given myself a bucking death sentence! Wait! I know what I need to do here. Just leave it to me, I'm a master at this sort of thing". "No! Please don't even say that anymore!" The dragon insisted, " You have a terrible judgement, then end up doing the exact OPPOSITE to the right thing to do!" "What? I was just going to suggest that we head over to his room and I'll try to talk things through with him, to verbally reach an understanding". Spike was impressed, this was not the response he'd come to expect from Bill, "Wow! I have to admit that's actually a good idea. Hang on... HE has a room? I thought we didn't have rooms?" "No, we don't have any designated bedrooms in the building, but that didn't stop Baxter and his gang from ' occupying ' one of the leisure areas for themselves. It's not exactly fair, but to be honest it's not my main concern at the moment. Now let's go, it's just down the hall". The crudely written sign 'Baxter's zone' signified that they had reached their destination. Even through the thick walls, the trio could hear the uncontrolled chaos that must have been taking place inside, forming doubts of whether verbal negotiation was really the best strategy. Bill approached the door before turning back to his companions, "listen, I know this is risky, but this is the mature way to handle this situation and things can't get any worse than they are now, it's my only option. Wish me luck guys". The duck cautiously disappeared behind the door, making extra effort to maintain stealth to slip past most of Baxter's goons. A solid 10 minutes had passed without a sight or sound of Quackmire, in fact the general atmosphere of the room seemed unchanged by his arrival, at least that's what Spike and Butch could tell from their position outside. The growing concern between them almost made them want to burst into the room, but Spike knew that doing this could harm any progress towards peace that Bill could be making in there. "He's been in there a while now, surely if Baxter is as unreasonable as Quackmire said, negotiations wouldn't have lasted as long as they have, right?" "S'up?" "Yeah, I guess you're right, I really shouldn't worry too much". "S'up?" "You might have a point there, Butch. I think I judged Bill too early, and now I'm starting to see a new side to him". "S'up?" "This is really showing him in a different light, I'm so glad to see that he's handling this in a mature and sensible manner". "WE GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE! IT BUCKING HAPPENED AGAIN! RUN!" The frantic duck came bursting through the door, streaming down the corridor before waiting for a reply. Spike and Butch shared a puzzled look before chasing after him. The three charged down the hall, despite the looming sound of running and barking behind them, none of them dared to stop and turn around. Once Spike had caught up to Quackmire, the questioning started while maintaining the same pace. "WHAT HAPPENED IN THERE? What did you say to him?" Quackmire made it obvious he was trying to avoid eye contact with the dragon, "Well... I didn't say anything. Baxter wasn't there" claimed the heavily panting duck. "So why are we being chased?" "When I saw that Baxter wasn't there, I thought the best thing to do was leave". Spike was clearly unconvinced, "That doesn't explain why his gang is after us!" "OK! OK! As I was on my way out, in the corner of my eye, I saw HER" Spike contemplated Bill's words for a second, "Her?... YOU CANNOT BE BUCKING SERIOUS!" Spike always felt a sense of guilt when he swore, due to his youthful innocence, therefore it was clear of the level of anger he was now at. "You don't understand kid! Baxter wasn't there, it was the perfect opportunity!" "Well if Baxter wasn't there, where IS he?" *SMACK* Quackmire's escape was abruptly terminated as he came crashing into the rigid Baxter blocking his path. As Butch turned back to try and rescue the pinned duck, he was intercepted by two of Baxter's henchdogs, wrestling him to the ground and subsequently immobilising him. Spike was handled with slightly more care, but was still forced to the floor, disallowing him from finding help for his friends. "Three. Bucking. Times!" Baxter clapped his paws together, signalling the remainder of his gang to circle around him and his prey, preventing any further escape. "This ends now". "It's not what you think Baxter!" Bill pleaded, "I can explain!" "After all that has happened before, you think you can just waltz into MY room, steal MY food and drink, then use it to get with MY girlfriend for the THIRD bucking time? NOT UP IN HERE!" It was a sorry sight to see the wimpering duck, on his knees and grovelling so pathetically. "Come on Baxter, you know how it is! You don't get the FINE unless you WINE and DINE!" Baxter had to restrain himself from prematurely snapping the neck of Bill, with the whole of his crew around, he had to display self control and dominance. "Here's what's gonna happen duck! I'm not going to kill you... YET. That would be too easy, and I have something else in mind for that. That doesn't mean I can't hurt you now though, and that's exactly what I plan to do. Me and you are gonna fight it out, right here in front of all our friends. No running, no escape, no Butch saving your ass!" Quackmire was overwhelmed by the uproar of cheers urging their leader into battle. He really had no way out this one, both his fight AND flight relfexes had abandoned him as neither of those options could possibly result in a positive outcome. He just had to accept that all his past mistakes had caught up with him, and that he would just have to sit back and accept the consequences. No, he couldn't just give up, display weakness and inferiority in front of everyone here. He felt something ignite inside him, a powerful will to stand to aggression, to fight back against his attacker and to win, or at the very least to go down in a blaze of glory. This feeling ran through every inch of his body and he could sense an increase of strength and power in his muscles. He couldn't lose, he refused to lose. He stood up, with a more firm and open stance, openly inviting the oncoming fight. This stark change in image was noted by Baxter, along with every member of the surrounding crowd. "OK Baxter. You want a fight? You got a fight! I'm tired of running from you, so I'm putting a stop to it. It's time to go hard or go home! It's time to grow some stones and break some bones! It's time to nut up or shut up! It's time to..." *SMACK* Quackmire's valiant speech was brought to a halt, as a strong paw lashed across his face and sent him toppling back down to the ground. The power of the hit was felt by even the crowd, who flinched in horror as the connection was made. All of Quackmire's self confidence was short lived and had completely vanished as he lay writhing on the ground. Baxter slowly stepped towards his fallen opponent, the fate of this face off was sealed and he intended to enjoy every moment of it before he truly beat up the duck. "So Bill, now you know. When you disrespect the likes of ME, this is what happens. It doesn't get worse than this, and it will be witnessed by us all. I would love to see you try and mock me now, to use your normal crap to fake dominance in the poor position you find yourself in!" He strected out his legs, making sure he would be able to use them with maximum effectiveness. "So... are you ready to get your ass pounded?" Quackmire turned his head, to meet the dog in firm eye contact, "That's funny Baxter... I asked your girlfriend the SAME QUESTION last night..."
The AthleteTwilight sat accompanied by Rarity, Quackmire and Spike at their socially allocated bench during the lunch hour, tactically positioned far away from what Rarity would describe as 'the riff raff'. The cafteria's food was a fair way above average quality for what one would expect for such a thing, due to the college's hefty tuition fees, so the group had no trouble tucking into the delicacies that lay in front of them. The first half of Twilight's day proved to be challenging at best, between balancing her own studies with helping Rarity with hers and dodging Trixie, this hour of momentary rest was made even more valuable for her. Rarity made sure that both the interior and exterior of her mouth were clear of debris before she spoke, "It sure is generous of the staff to provide us with meals each day, normally students have to arrange their own food at college". Twilight seemed unimpressed, keeping her lifeless gaze on her empty plate, "True, but normally students don't have to practically sell their souls in fees to get into the place". She thought it best to keep quiet that she had been exempt from this pricing, thanks to being Celestia's recommendation and all. Spike had become used to noticing when Twilight was hiding her inner troubles, certain tells in her facial expression gave her right away, "What is it now, Twilight? Did you lose your 'Fifty Shades of Neigh' novel again?" "No, no, thank Celestia I managed to find it this morning... Err I mean... What 'Fifty Shades of Neigh' novel?!" sqeaked Twilight, blushing profusely. "Well what's the problem then? Are you struggling with your studies?" She turned to Spike, slightly offended at his suggestion that SHE could ever have problems with her studies, "No it's not my schoolwork. I'm starting to feel my reputation with the College is crumbling, all day I've been noticing dark glares I've received from the teachers and I don't know why". "Maybe... it might be because you nearly levelled an entire wing of the building... on your first day?" Rarity interjected as carefully as possible. Twilight's head slumped into her hooves, wondering how she could have forgotten about such a prominent event. Spike edged closer to wrap his arm around Twilight, "Cheer up Twilight! I'm sure there are lots of ways for you to assert yourself in the school, perhaps you could try doing some sort of extra-curricular activity?" Twilight headbutted Spike as she flew back up to her upright posture, her mood thoroughly revitalised. "Spike, you're a genius! That's exactly what I need to do! But what should it be? Science club? Debate team? The Epic Society of Ultimate Chess Legendaries?" "What about athletics?" questioned Quackmire eagerly, "You could sign up for the athletics competition taking place tomorrow!" His suggestion was only met by stern glares from the other three. Twilight softly giggled to herself, "You know, I'll forgive you for that because you don't know me very well. I'm here for my superior brain power, physical exercise isn't exactly MY thing, so there's not a chance in Tartarus that I would subject myself to athetics!" "I think the winner gets extra credit" "Where do I sign up?" Quackmire reflected back on the numerous sign up sheets he'd seen throughout the day, trying to remember the details, "I believe the competition is open to any student who feels they have some sort of athletic prowess, which looking around the place would suggest there won't be too many, and you select one event to compete in with the winner of each one achieving extra credit." "That's brilliant!" gleamed the now joyful purple unicorn, "Extra credit is just what I need to rebuild my relationship with the CCGU! If they see that I'm a student who is willing to go above and beyond to excel during my time here, then they should realise that I'm not just some violent trouble maker!" The other three members of the conversation shifted their eyes awkwardly, before Rarity was subconsciously nominated to be the one to rain down on Twilight's parade. "Um, Twilight? How do you actually plan on... well... winning?" This was the second time that Twilight had overlooked something so abundantly obvious, scrambling through improvised thoughts to give an answer to make it seem as though she had actually thought it through. "Well... I guess I have some books on sport that I could examine?" Quackmire promptly climbed onto the table, walked over to the stuttering unicorn and slapped her across the face with a considerable amount of his force, which didn't actually cause Twilight too much pain due to Bill's scrawny physique. "I cannot believe what I am hearing! This is an ATHLETICS competition! Where the physically adept meet in the stadium to prove their dominance... and you want to prepare for that with BOOKS?... I wipe my ASS with books... literally... our dorm doesn't really provide us with toilet paper so we have to use what we can. But I digress! If you want any chance of coming out on top in your event, you're gonna need to train! Train... hard and long... quackiddy". "We'll train you, Twilight!" Spike added excitedly, "All three of us will" "I'm afraid I must exclude myself from that proposition" informed Rarity, slowly removing herself from the table, "I too haven't the faintest clue about sports... and besides... I have to start work on that five page essay on 'Sporadic Magical Combustion' that YOU so generously set for me as practise, Twilight". "Oh, no problem Rarity, you're welcome!" grinned Twilight "Haha, kiss my bucking flank" mumbled Rarity through gritted teeth as she made her way out the cafeteria. "Don't mind if I do!" called Quackmire, the only one within earshot of her hushed statement. Twilight used her magic to levitate the empty dishes into one neat stack, as she gestured her two volunteered coaches towards the exit. "Alright everypony, let's hit the track!" With the exception of two mares, positioned unintrusively in the stands, the CCGU athletics stadium was currently uninhabited, leaving all of its facilities open and available for Twilight and her crack team of personal coaches, consisting of Spike and Quackmire. Having just come from her lunch break meal, Twilight's stomach felt full and heavy and as much as she'd have liked to, she couldn't use this as an excuse for the diabolical performance that her training session had entailed. The mortified duck and dragon could only watch on in despair as their trainee tripped, stumbled and collapsed in each and every event she attempted, with each failure narrowing any prospect of extra credit she hoped for. In the 100m dash, the uncoordinated unicorn's time was so disgraceful, that an average pony could have beaten her time even if they were standing still. In the high jump, her leap was so pathetic, that an onlooker would assume it was more likely she was playing limbo than actually trying to get over the bar. In the javelin, her throw was so weak, that her distance had to be measured in minus figures. It was clear at this point that neither speed or strength were going to be anything but a problem in the competition, so this clearly was not the right approach. With sweat dripping and the threat of indigestion looming, Twilight headed over to Spike and Quackmire as a solution to this dilemma had to be formed. They had to think of an event that would allow Twilight to use as much brain as she would muscle. Then it hit her, "The 1000m gallop!" she bounded up and down as the words left her lips, trotting circles around her companions, "It's so obvious! Although I can't handle all out pace, I'm sure I'd be able to handle a slower run. Then I would be able to ration out my overall stamina to ensure I maintain a constant speed throughout the race!" The three shared a nod of agreement as they strolled off to the track designated for long distance running for their last few minutes of training they could squeeze in before having to head back to their dorms. They were so engaged in this new idea that they paid no regard to the two mares sat in the stands. The two mares that had witnessed every one of Twilight's athletic blunders. The two mares being Trixie and Sunset Shimmer. Wiping a tear from her eye and catching her breath from the intense laughter, she turned her attention over to Trixie, wearing a now sinister expression on her face. "The 1000m gallop eh? I think my brilliant mind has just hatched an idea to make this situation even funnier! But I'll need your help with it" Trixie rubbed her chin quizzically, "Trixie doesn't quite understand, but likes where you are going with this. What do you need?" "I don't suppose you have any industrial grade bear tranquilisers do you?" "Pfft, obviously! Trixie would never leave home without them!" "Great!" grinned Sunset, "Meet me tomorrow at the side of the track with the goods, then we'll take it from there. Twilight is in for more of a shock than she could ever expect!" It was the day of the competition. An atmosphere of excitement flooded the stadium as all the CCGU's students with free study periods filled the stands as they observed the various sporting events being played out in front of them. The intensity and pressure of her upcoming event was taking a serious toll on Twilight as she stood at the side of the track, waiting for the dreaded announcement for the start of her race to arrive. Her morning was straining enough on its own, due to the various muscular aches and pains she woke up with from the previous day's training session. Despite her anxiety, she took comfort in the thought that she had already planned it all out, everything from starting intensity to overall pacing had been calculated, all that was left to do now was to participate in the race itself. Sure enough, that time had come: *Could all competitors of the mares' 1000m gallop please make their way to the starting area* She took a strong inhalation through her nostrils, then headed over to the requested start point. Upon arrival, she took the opportunity to evaluate her competition, who were all gathered around a large energy drink dispenser, taking it in turns to use it for some pre-race refreshment. Twilight considered whether to join them and capitalise on the chance for an extra boost of energy, but rejected it, mentally concluding 'Naa, I can't stand that stuff. I'll stick to water'. After a very short briefing, the racers took their positions at the starting line. As Twilight stared down at her hooves, a surge of self confidence filled her chest before spreading to her head. While double and triple checking her calculations for the race, the thought that she could come out on top after two and a half laps of the track was more and more feasible. She very well COULD win this. No, she WAS going to win this! *All racers at your mark. Get set. GO!* Twilight kept her head down and lunged forward, focused only on her hooves and maintaining the amount of speed she had allocated for herself at this point in the race. Thinking back to her session the day before, she was doing well, really well, she was truly on her way to beating her personal best, this was a huge spell of encouragement for her. Still with her head held low, she breezed her way around the first lap, another confidence booster to help her on her way to victory. Everything was going great. Too great. Something didn't seem right here, in her fixation of her own performance, she hadn't noticed the lack of presence of the other racers, where were they? For the first time in the race, she looked up ahead of her, which met her with a crushing disappointment of an answer to her question. The other mares were a fair way down the track, having left her in the dust a while ago. This couldn't be happening, how could they have edged away from her so much? Perhaps the energy drink she had dismissed was giving them the advantage over her? She was about half way through the second lap as she watched the racers complete this lap and gallop into their last 200 metres of the race. She had to try harder, she couldn't let the prize of extra credit slip out of her hooves. There was a chance she could pull it back, maybe if she pushed herself. She finished the second lap as the other racers darted into their last 100 metres. It would take nothing short of a miracle to win now, she watched as the leading mare executed her final sprint, fast closing in on the end. It was over. THUD The mare stumbled and fell to the ground, tumbling along the track and stopping just inches of the finishing line. The same fate was brought upon the unicorn in second place, then third. Gradually, one by one, each competitor collapsed to the ground, fast asleep and ending their run of the race. Each competitor... except Twilight. The exhausted purple unicorn was both delighted and stunned by what was happening around her, but chose not to question it and push for the finish regardless. As she pulled into the final stretch, it was evident that the other racers were not waking up any time soon. Once the shocked gasps from the crowd had subsided, they were replaced by a roar of cheers and applause for Twilight, which filled her soul with delight and pride of her oncoming victory, even if was slightly undeserved. Meanwhile, Trixie and Sunset were sat at the far side of the track as Twilight crossed the finishing line. They were left mouth agape, arguing between themselves and wondering how their 'flawless' plan had backfired so heavily, producing the exact OPPOSITE result to the one they were expecting. Twilight came to a gradual halt, drowning in the positive feedback from the crowd and the guarantee of extra credit. Spike, Quackmire and Rarity rushed towards the panting victor and embraced her in a strong hug. Spike was overflowing with pride at their unexpected success, "That was amazing Twilight! Maybe a bit lucky... but I'm sure you could have pulled it back even if that didn't happen!" Rarity released Twilight from her grip, turning to the dormant racers who were being carried off the track, "Speaking of which... what do you think it was that caused this to happen to them, Twilight?" Twilight thought this over, reflecting on any posible solutions she could, "I'm not sure? Perhaps they all had a bad reaction to something that was put in the energy drink?"
'Sparkle' - part 1 'Sparkle' - part 1 The solitary pony strolled down the vacant hallway, barely illuminated by the faulty lighting system within this poorly maintained section of the college. The only source of light potruding from the tip of the male unicorn's horn. Most would shy away from being the test subject of a new substance, however having aleady experienced the mindblowing effects of the pill, any awareness of the dangers of partaking in this act had long since evaporated. As he approached the end of the hallway, his legs grew heavy as he filled with both anticipation and anxiety at the prospect of sampling one final hit before the product was to become available to every student in the CCGU. He came to an abrupt halt, clopping his hooves together in a rehearsed rhythm, a signal received by an ominous dark figure who appeared out of the shadows and squared up to the unicorn. She scanned him thoroughly before returning to firm eye contact, "Did you come alone?" The voice almost unrecognisable apart from the indication this was a mare's voice. "Come on! Surely you can trust me by now, right Sparkle?" The stallion questioned casually before his tone became more serious, "So... as we agreed, you'll get me my full scholarship? For everything I've done for you". The cloaked mare turned away, making for a large saddlebag that had been tossed to the side. "Your aid has indeed been most valuable in the production process. Thanks to you, the profit from this endeavour will be quite large; therefore I intend to fulfill my end of the deal". "Well yeah... that's good to hear" The mare had found the desired item from her bags, then returned to her aquaintance. "Before you leave, surely you'd like to bless our business by taking a pre-release day pill?" Without hesitation, the stallion snatched the small packaging from the mare's magical grip, a sly grin plastered on his face, "I was hoping you'd say that!" He tore open the pack and swiftly swallowed the drug, awaiting the kick to overtake him. Several moments later, the buzz took effect, though it was not as he'd expected. A strong fizzing emerged in his stomach, followed by blurred vision and weak limbs. Burning in his lungs prompted small amounts of blood to be coughed up into his limp hooves. "This isn't... What is this?" he choked as his head began spinning. Bewildered as to what was happening, with the last of his energy he turned back to the mare, who stood over him with a cold gaze. Slipping out of consciousness, the mare's last words delivered in an emotionless tone revealed to him her true intentions from the start; "No loose ends..." ---------- 1 Week Later ---------- [Principal Aura Beam's office -- 10:04 am] The older mare paced back and forward behind her desk, not once releasing her fierce stare on the confused purple unicorn opposite her. The stern expression she wore indicated to Twilight the her visit today would certainly not be to commend her ever prosperous studies, or even her recent sporting success. The tense principal eventually came to rest in her seat, tidying a loose stack of papers that had been quietly bugging Twilight since she'd entered the office. Using her magic to adjust her glasses, she returned her attention to the matter at hoof. "You know it's quite interesting, Twilight. I'd never have taken you as the type to break the rules". Twilight remained silent, her scattered mind scimming through her recent memories, trying to dig up any possible action she'd taken that could have reflected badly on her in any way. Aura continued; "And after a week of business, I suppose you thought you were going to get away with it too?" She grinned, "Not up in here!" Despite her increasingly tight chest, the trembling unicorn managed to squeeze out some form of response, "What... what are you talking about?" Aura's expression was unchanged, clearly not buying into what she assumed was a sad attempt from Twilight to deny responsibility. "Drugs Twilight, you know? The ones you've been selling, the ones that have been circulating around for the last week, the ones that put one of our students in an indefinite coma. Those drugs". Twilight's fear was swiftly displaced by a cool relief; she knew she hadn't broken any rules, she'd simply been falsely accused of doing so. All she'd have to do is clear her name and return to her near perfect student reputation. "Well I'd heard rumours of some sort of illegal substance going around. But you're right, I'm not a rule breaker; how could you even think I could have anything to do with this?" "I'm glad you asked" The smug principal threw forward the top sheet of the stack of papers to present them to Twilight. "You're clever Twilight, i'll give you that, but you'd have to get up pretty early to get one passed me!" "Meaning?" "You did well to cover up your identity with a little codename. Although it took me several hours to figure out, I managed to trace it back to you" Twilight looked down at the sheet she'd been given and turned it over. There was an image of a dark, cloaked mare, with a photo of Twilight's head crudely stuck where the figure's would be. The title of the sheet was what truly left Twilight in shock, which read; 'Prime suspect, codename - Sparkle'. "SPARKLE? The codename is bucking SPARKLE?" "That's right" Twilight's rage boiled, she was preparing to unleash a lengthy rant about the logical flaws in such a choice, though opted to regain her composure and collect her thoughts. "Let me ask you something. Let's just pretend for a second that I am the dealer. Do you really think that I would for a codename, choose my ACTUAL name?" Aura rubbed her brow, starting to doubt her superb detective work. "Maybe. Maybe you wanted to hide in plain sight?" "Oh? Then let me ask you another question" Twilight peeled off the photograph of her head from the image with ease and turned it to face the principal. "Does THIS pony, dressed all in black, standing in a dark hallway and covering their face with a hood seem like the type of pony to hide in PLAIN SIGHT?" Aura submitted, "Ok Twilight, perhaps you have a point. Then I suppose you know who the actual dealer is?" Twilight slumped back slightly, "Well... err... not exactly" Aura's self pride returned, "Not exactly? Then I guess you'd better go and find out then" "But, isn't that your job?" "No Twilight! My job is to run this school! That's what a principal does. Your job is to investigate this case!" She stood up and trotted around the desk to meet Twilight, signalling her to the door. "You'd better hurry with it too; until you manage to clear your name, you're on double community service!" "How is that fair?" Aura was practically pushing her out the door by this point, "It's how it works; Guilty until proven innocent!" "Wait, that's not..." This time it was Twilight's turn to submit, her head dropped as she made her way out. "Fine, i'll do my best. Before I go, it might help if I knew what I was looking for. What's this drug called?" "I believe they're calling it 'Twilight' " The purple unicorn sighed deeply. "Of course they are..." [CCGU Main Square - 10:42 am] The college grounds were peaceful, various friendship groups sat circled in patches of shade, each one with stacks of text books filling the centre and clearly taking advantage of the pleasant weather to take their studying sessions outside. The overall atmosphere of the college was tranquil to say the least, it was hard to imagine there was a drug epidemic hitting the place. The warm air was relieving Twilight of her previous tension, though she would have to remain focused if she was to ever solve this case. "Why would somepony do this? Drugs are terrible things! They ruin lives!" Rarity was walking several paces behind Twilight, seeming somewhat uninterested. "Yes... how terrible it is for somepony to have a little fun once in a while..." Twilight snapped back around, causing Rarity to come crashing into her. "Rarity, this is serious! Whoever is doing this is using MY name! I'm being framed for this!" Rarity was now more sympathetic towards her friend, "Oh, I see. That is quite bad" The purple detective's eyes narrowed, "Rarity... Have you taken these drugs before?" Her eyes remained locked on the ground in front of her. "Errrm, perhaps. But only one time!" "That's... That's... Great!" Twilight gleamed, much to Rarity's amazement, "If you've used them before, surely you can tell me where you got them from, or who sold them to you?" "Yeah, I'm afraid I can't remember that sort of information, darling. Short term memory loss, I believe it must be one of the side effects of the pill" "Of course! That must be how the dealer has remained a secret the whole time! Darn! Now I have no idea where to start" Rarity placed a comforting hoof around Twilight, pulling her in close. "Look darling, I'm really concerned for you here! I shall help you in this investigation as best I can!" "Wow! That'd be great Rarity! I'd love to have you... Wait, no. This is my problem, I shouldn't drag you into it". The white unicorn pulled her in closer, though trying to mask her desperation. "No I really don't mind, Twilight!" Twilight used her magic to remove Rarity's arm from her, offering a reassuring smile. "No really, it's fine. I'll just get Spike to help me. Besides, I'm sure you have other things to do. What about those seven extra practise essays I set for you?" She hissed through gritted teeth, "Gee, I forgot... Thanks Twilight" "Well I'll see you around, Rarity. I better get started then" She began making her way down the path, though was closely followed by her friend, "Start where? Do you have any suspects?" "Well we know this mare is using my name, so it would have to be somepony who knows me. But who would already have so much of an unjustified grudge against me that they would try so hard to destroy my reputation... oh, of course..." "Of course? Are you talking about..." "TRIXIE!"
