Not What She Seems

My life seems to be one long series of disappointments. From the beginning I could tell something was wrong, I could never quite put my finger on it. There just seemed to be something wrong, and every time I would ask my parents they would either send me to my room or ignore me until I left on my own.

Everyone else would look at me like I was crazy whenever I asked them. They were willing to humor me at first, thinking it was just a phase I was going through. But eventually, even they started to ignore me.

I just kept asking the same question over and over again with no answer. Wanting to know what lay beneath the mask that had been forced on me. To see who I really was, not who everyone thinks I am supposed to be.

Midnight Dusk is my name, but I'm not even sure about that anymore. I used to believe that was my name but I'm not sure of anything anymore. My train of thought was interrupted by a loud beeping noise assaulting my ears.

Without opening my eyes I reached my hand towards the source of the offending noise. After what seemed like an hour of groping around my hand finally touched the top of the still beeping alarm clock. I slammed my hand down onto the snooze button before slowly opening my eyes to the familiar sight of my messy bedroom. I laid still for a few minutes to take in the familiar surroundings before slowly sitting up, pulling the covers off of myself.

Swinging my legs over the side of the bed, I stood up and started making my way to my bathroom. Stopping at my dresser to get some clean clothes. Without even thinking, I turned on the lights and immediately went to the shower. Turning on the water without even thinking and pulling of my pajamas I stepped under the warm spray of the shower. As the water washed over my body, I let my mind wander.

Today is the day she thought New life at a new school, where no one knows me.

Maybe this is a good thing, maybe I could actually make some friends here. Celestia knows I couldn't make any at my last school after what happened. I'm just lucky I have a chance to start over. However, I have this nagging feeling that something big is going to happen. I'm not sure of the when, the where, the how, or even the who. Call it an instinct or even a gut feeling, I just know it's coming. Whether it be good or bad remains to be seen, although knowing my luck it will most likely be the latter.

It is only when the hot water seems to be running out that I turn the off the spray and step out of the shower. I grab the nearest towel to dry myself with and then wrap it around myself. As I'm going through my regular morning routine of brushing my teeth I absentmindedly gaze at my reflection in the mirror. My mane was dark blue with small streaks of light pink here and there and it reached down to about mid-back. My ears covered in the slightly lighter shade of blue as my face. My face itself was rather ordinary in my opinion. Maybe my face was a little more delicate than most others, and my horn was slightly longer and thinner than the other unicorns I've met. Then there were my wide, expressive magenta eyes. There were the only part of my face that really felt right to me. Everything else, besides my slightly more delicate than most features, seemed wrong to me somehow. Like it wasn't really my face at all.

I shook my head to clear those depressing thoughts before they became to much. I had learned a long time ago that lingering on them for too long lead to dark places that were very difficult to come back from. For Celestia's sake, I am still trying to crawl out of the last dark hole my thoughts had taken me too. Before I could do anything else however I heard a voice from downstairs telling me that if I didn't get moving I would be late for school.

Rushing through the rest of my routine, I hurriedly pulled on my usual outfit consisting off a white button up shirt and a blue pleated skirt. I then ran downstairs to the kitchen to grab some last minute breakfast before grabbing my bag from by the door and taking off down the street. I was most of the way to the school when it occurred to me that I forgot to grab my lunch off of the counter.

Well I thought This day is already off to a bad start.

I only stopped running when the school building came into sight. From the few students loitering in front of the school I assumed I had made it only a few minutes before the first bell. Stopping for a moment to catch my breath I tried to remember what my mother told me to do last night. If I remember correctly she told me to stop by the Principal's office first to meet with the Principal so she could escort me to my classroom.

After spending a few moments catching my breath, I started walking towards the front entrance of the school. The entrance hall was rather large and very impressive. As with most buildings in Canterlot, it was made entirely out of pristine white marble. The floor, the walls, and even the ceiling were polished to perfection. There were quite a few portraits of rather important looking ponies lined up along the far wall, each with their own plaque underneath with their name and title carved into them. Along the wall to my immediate left was a trophy case which, to me at least, seemed to house almost every trophy or award possible. To the right looked to be the entrance to the school's Library. There were hallways branching off in just about every direction with signs overheard stating which classes were in that direction. After taking everything in I spotted a sign which directed to the Main Office, which was adjacent to the Library.

Walking through even this small crowd of other ponies towards the office was rather nerve-wracking for me. I have never done well in crowds, be they big or small, and now certainly wasn't an exception. Logically I knew that there was very little chance that they would even spare me even a passing glance. I still felt like every pair of eyes was looking at me, judging me, sizing me up and deciding what type of pony I as before I could even speak my mind. Not that I would anyways. I was always content to just remain silent and just observe my surroundings because I believed that anything I said probably wouldn't mean much to anybody else.

After only a few moments, which seemed like hours to me, I reached to the front office. As I walked in I noticed the secretary was busy scribbling away on one of many papers on her desk. It seemed to me that she was quite preoccupied at the moment so I took a seat in one of the few chairs lined up along the wall anxiously awaiting for the chance to catch the older mare's attention.

It wasn't until after the first bell rang that the secretary looked up from her paperwork and noticed me sitting there quietly. She had a look of surprise for a moment before she put on a polite smile.

"Hello there miss," she said in a kind voice "If I'm not mistaken the bell just rang, shouldn't you be heading to your first class?"

I was a little taken aback by the question and her kind tone of voice, I assumed she would be upset that I hadn't spoken up sooner. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before answering.

"No miss," I said in my soft voice "I'm new here and I was told to come here to meet the Principal."

A look of understanding crossed her face as she said "Principal Matrix did mention to me that a new student was starting today. I remember because I thought it was unusual for a student that young to be accepted into this school."

At those last words I felt my face go red from embarrassment. My voice seemed to get even quieter when I replied "My last school recommended that I come here," and even quieter I added "Especially after what happened."

Despite how quietly I spoke she seemed to be able to hear my last words quite clearly. Which made her ask "What do you mean 'after what happened'?"

I suddenly started panicking wondering what to say to her that wouldn't come across as being rude. I averted my gaze and tried to look anywhere but at the mare while my hands played with the hem of my skirt. My reaction to her question must have made her rein in her curiosity because she quickly said "I'm sorry I asked, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

Something about her tone of voice made me think she was being very sincere which made fell bad about clamming up when she was just asking an innocent question so I finally said "It's okay ... I just ... lost control of my magic once and ..." I couldn't say anymore because the memory of it still haunted me even after all this time.

She seemed to understand that it was a touchy subject and decided to drop it, but not before filing the information away in her mind. Then she gasped and said "I completely forgot to introduce myself, my name is Ivory Scroll but you can just call me Ms. Ivory." Then Ms. Ivory asked "What's your name miss?"

I was more comfortable speaking now that the conversation was in familiar ground "My name is Midnight Dusk, but I prefer to be called Midnight."

"Nice to meet you Midnight, and welcome to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. Unfortunately, Principal Matrix isn't in at the moment so I guess I'll be the one to show you to your classroom today."

The fact that it was Ms. Ivory who was going to show me around actually made me feel a little better. There was just something about her that set me at ease, which doesn't happen very often. It may seem a little fast to trust someone, but my instincts about someone were usually right. I don't know why or how, I've just always been able to read people very well. It's one of my very few skills and the one I liked best.

"Oh, um, alright. Thank you Ms. Ivory." I said softly. My voice was still very quiet but it was a little louder this time. I even gave her a small smile to show my appreciation. The first smile I've had all day, and probably the only one I would give all day.

She looked back down at her desk and started shuffling some papers around before finding the one she was looking for. I guessed it was my student information including the classroom I was assigned to.

"When Principal Matrix said you were young I assumed you were 14 or 15, not 12. Well, that just makes you more interesting that you were assigned to the advanced classes."

"I didn't know it was that impressive ...  I just took the test and then they sent me a letter saying I as accepted." I said quietly while I went back to playing with the hem of my skirt. Ms. Ivory seemed to have figured out that was my way of saying ' I'm too embarrassed to talk about it right now.' For that I was extremely grateful because she dropped the subject immediately and moved on to something else.

"According to your file your first class is Advanced Magical Theory in room 305 in the Starswirl Wing of the school. If you follow me I'll take you there."

We exited the Main Office and walked past the Library and turned left down a hallway, according to the plaque on the wall this was the Starswirl Wing. Along the way Ms. Ivory kept a running commentary about the school and its history. I zoned out during some parts of the conversation and only paid attention when she pointed out some special part of the school. I mostly focused on remembering where we were going and trying to create a mental map of the school so I can find my way around later.

We had just started up a winding set of staircases that I heard her say "Principal Matrix arranged for you to have a fellow classmate of yours to be your personal guide."

As she said this she stopped outside of a classroom door and knocked. Curious about what she just said I asked "A tutor, why do I need to be assigned a guide?"

Then she turned to me and said "To make sure you know your way around the school of course. Since you are starting late in the year you missed Orientation, which is when the teachers take the time to show new students around the school. However, since you weren't here we had to ask another student to do so, the Principal has assigned one of your classmates since you both have the exact same schedules."

I thought that over for a moment and agreed that it as probably for the best, it would be unfair for her professors for them to take time out of their busy day to show just one student around the school. "Ok, um, where should I meet her?" I asked timidly.

"She is actually in all the same classes as you are. She has agreed to meet you after your first class and show you around and make sure you don't get lost. She'll be easy to recognize, just look for the filly with her head buried in a book."

The last part confused me, That doesn't seem like much to go on, maybe I should have asked what she actually looks like.

Before I could ask that however, the door opened and someone poked their head out. He was an odd stallion, with a mane that seemed to defy gravity and stuck out all over the place. His mane was completely gray from age while his red coat was a stark contrast to his mane. The tweed suit he wore looked a quite old and very well used with patches sown where his elbows would be. His tie was quite loose around his neck as if he spent quite a bit of time tugging at his collar. His face had an expression of curiosity when he looked at Ms. Ivory, then when he looked down at me his expression changed from one of surprise to one of understanding.

"Good Morning Ms. Ivory, I see your here with our new student. I'm a bit surprised to see you here, I was expecting Matrix to be escorting her here." His voice was quite cheerful. I assume that he is a general jovial stallion and not at all like the strict professor I was expecting to meet.

"Good Morning to you too Professor Neighstein. Principal Matrix was called up to the castle on urgent business and he won't be back until later today, and he told me to show Midnight Dusk here to her first class."

"Well alright then," then he turned to look at me "Nice to meet you Miss Dusk , as you've already heard my name is Professor Neighstein and I'll be teaching your Advanced Magical Theory class."

I averted my eyes from his and said very softly "Nice to meet you too Professor." He seemed like a nice enough stallion, even if he did look a little funny.

"I can take it from here Ms. Ivory, I'm assuming that you've already told her about her guide so I'll introduce her to the class and you can get back to the office."

Ms. Ivory nodded to him and turned and walked back the way we came, and Professor Neighstein led me into the classroom. The entire class was looking at the two of us as we walked to the front of the class.

"Alright class, I have a short announcement to make. We have a new student joining our class today, she's a little shy so be nice to her. Everybody I would like you to meet Midnight Dusk. I want you all to make her feel welcome," turning to me he said "Why don't you take the empty desk near the back and we'll get started." I thanked him and then walked to the back of the room and set my bag down by the desk. There was already a text book sitting on the desk when I arrived so I opened it to the pages the Professor was writing on the board. As it was my first day here Professor Neighstein decided to go easy on me and paired each of the students up to review the assigned pages. I decided on introducing myself to my partner before getting to work.

She was a Lavender unicorn mare with a purple mane which had to pinkish streaks running parallel right down the middle of her mane. She also had deep violet eyes which matched her mane perfectly, and was wearing a grey sweater vest with a white button down shirt underneath and a pleated purple skirt with a starburst surrounded by six stars embroidered near the bottom. It was difficult to get her attention as her muzzle was already buried in the textbook, but when she looked over at me I cleared my throat and said "M-My name's        M-Midnight Dusk, w-what's yours?"

She seemed to be rather annoyed at being interrupted, and it din't seem like she would answer me at first she didn't seem to want to answer me but eventually she turned to me and introduced herself.

"My name's Twilight Sparkle."