Chapters Twilight's Days at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns
The time was eleven o'clock, one hour before midnight and the small, lavender coated; unicorn filly was lying in her bed. She couldn't sleep. Last Friday, she was accepted into Princess Celestia's school for gifted unicorns, as well as getting her cutie mark. Her little magic seizure, that normally caused her problems, actually helped her get into the school by catching the attention of Princess Celestia's herself! Although the Princess knew she was already very talented because of the seizure, seeing the little filly turn her two parents into cacti probably sealed the deal. The shocks on their faces were priceless.
She was asked to start her new school on Monday, which, nerve rattling for her, was the next morning. She had less than twelve hours before it all started. She fidgeted under her blankets, trying to get comfortable and finally fall into the relaxing pleasures of sleep. But she couldn't, it felt impossible. She couldn't take it anymore! It was three hours past her recommended bedtime for a young filly, according to the book that she found in Canterlot library. She screamed into her pillow, loudly. "Ugh!". A high pitched, young filly scream was produced from her.
Meanwhile, in the living room, the father of the young filly, Night Light, rested his newspaper down on his lap and looked up in confusion and curiosity. "Did you hear that, Hun?"
The mother, Twilight Velvet, rested her book down and looked up. She looked towards the bedroom that the moan had come from, also in confusion. Suddenly, the door slammed open and the small filly stormed out of the room, down the hall and into the living room. She appeared very grumpy and had small bags under her eyes.
"Mom! I can't sleep!" She moaned. "How come I can sleep every other night, but I can't tonight?" She asked.
"Well, Twilight, you do start your new school tomorrow. It's just your feelings rushing through you and your mind thinking about tomorrow. Every young filly like you gets these feelings." Twilight Velvet explained.
"It's weird, Mom. I happy and want to go to school, but I'm worried too. Why is that?" Twilight felt weird. She had never felt these two feelings together before, except a few days ago when she did her entry exam, but she never really understood it.
"Ugh... I hope this isn't going to take too long." Twilight Velvet murmured. She heard a faint chuckle from Night Light over at the other side of the room. "Right, um... Well, that's called 'mixed feelings'. You are excited about starting a new school tomorrow, but you're also nervous about it because you don't know what to expect there. As I said, perfectly normal." Twilight Velvet explained again.
"But what will it be like there?" Twilight asked for the third time.
Twilight Velvet could feel a tsunami of questions coming along. She couldn't be bothered with the possible hundreds of questions that were about to be asked. It was Monday tomorrow, the day of Tartarus. Being tired on Monday was pretty much the definition is misery. Even she was late for the time she wanted to go to bed, she was just glued to her book and didn't notice, and now that she was pulled away from it by the curiosity of her husband, she had a chance to go to bed, but then her daughter comes running, playing an extended version of twenty questions.
"Well... I wouldn't know, I didn't go to that school. But it is a school that Princess Celestia has made and organized herself. She also picked out and hired the best teachers in Canterlot to-"
"What about the ponies there?"
"I'm sure they'll be nice."
"Will it be hard?"
"It will be hard at first, but as long as get stuck in and keep focused, a bright filly like you could be the best of the class!"
"But what about everypony else? Will they be nice?"
Twilight Velvet gave up, confirmed by another moan. "Ugh! It's too late to be doing this!"
Night Light gave off another chuckle and stepped in. "Your mother is right, sweetheart. Going to a new school is very exciting, but it's also very nerve racking. But you shouldn't be nervous. Going to a school founded by Princess Celestia will be a blast. I'm sure you'll love it." Night Light smiled, filling her daughter with confidence. "Now, off to bed and try to get some sleep. Otherwise you'll be too tired to get out of bed and you'll be late for your first day at school and that will give you a bad impression. You don't want that, do you?"
The color from Twilight's face drained. Things could go wrong before they even started. Twilight shuck her head. "Oh, uh... No! Defiantly not! Ok, goodnight mom, goodnight dad!" Twilight sang, smiling as she walked back towards her bedroom.
Twilight passed a room to get to her bedroom. That room had a unicorn stallion with a white coat and blue mane with a cutie mark resembling a shield on his rump, peeping his head outside the doorway, sneakily so their parents couldn't see. "Don't worry little sis'. Tomorrow, before the school day starts, I'll ask the headmistress to place you in my form class so I can help you around the place. She'll do a small favor for me. She trusts me because I'm the head of school council. “Her brother, Shining Armor whispered.
"Thanks, BBBFF." Twilight whispered back before skipping back to her room happily and shutting the door, quietly. She jumped back into bed and pulled the covers back over her, put her in a comfortable position and rested her head on the star swirl the bearded themed pillow. By the time she fell asleep, it was midnight. Seven hours before she had to get back up to start a new adventure at the new school.
Twilight's Days at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns
Shining Armor got up early, like he said he would. He was more tired than normal as he got up an hour earlier than he normally would. He rolled out of bed with a grumble, stood on all fours and made his way out his bedroom door to the kitchen table for a quick breakfast.
Shining Armor made his way to the middle of the room where his mother sat, still reading the book. He sat down next to her, bags under his eyes with his head on the table. “Good morning…” He said, slowly, slurring his words.
Twilight Velvet lifted her head away from the book and looked at her Son. "Good morning, sweetie.” She glanced up at the clock. Seven o'clock. "You don't normally get up for school for another hour. Why are you up so early?" She asked.
"I said to Twilight I would go to school early to see Mrs. Sparks, our headmistress, to make a personal request about her putting Twilight in the same form class as me, just so I could help her out a bit." Shining Armor explained.
"Aww. You're such a good big brother." Twilight Velvet smiled while Shining Armor's cheeks went bright red. Twilight Velvet gave a slight chuckle at the sight of it. "Would you like something to eat before you leave?"
"Coffee, please. Milk and two sugars." Shining Armor replied.
"Ok. Don't tell Twilight that you've had coffee for breakfast. You know what she's like. Whatever you do, she wants to do. I can't imagine a coffee craving, hyperactive Twilight. She's already hyperactive for her age as it is." Twilight Velvet laughed. Shining Armor also smiled at the thought, it would be something to entertain him. Twilight Velvet served her Sons coffee and hers. She sat down and picked up the 'Canterlot Now' newspaper. "Well... I don't know what to say about this. Speechless, but yet again, disgraceful. Isn't Princess Celestia's school for gifted unicorns meant to be the best school in Equestria?" Twilight Velvet had a look of disapproval on her face as she passed the newspaper to her Son.
Shining Armor grasped the newspaper and looked at the headline on the first page. It read; 'P.C.S.G.U MAGICAL ARTS TEACHER BLAMED FOR MAGIC ACCIDENT!'. Shining armor was extremely surprised. Normally the teachers there were very reliable and professional. Nothing like this has ever happened before. He was interested and decided to read the rest of the article. It read;
On Friday, the 14th of October, a drunken Magical Arts teacher abandoned the teaching plans for his fifth lesson period with his final year students. The plan was to learn the shape changing spell, but the drunken teacher decided it would be a good idea to teach them about the harming spells by doing a one on one with teacher and student. The teacher identified as Mr. Guinness, a green Unicorn with a golden mane with a beer bottle as a cutie mark, who is now being labeled as an alcoholic, took his first student as an example and cast a very powerful harming spell on the student’s leg. The headmistress, Mrs. Magic Sparks, was told and the authorities were immediately informed about the incident. A Canterlot Royal Hospital carriage arrived to pick up the harmed student in five minutes with two Royal Guards arriving with it. The student was taken into the custody of the hospital with his parents and the teacher was arrested. Doctors of the hospital say that the student is lucky to be alive after being harmed by a spell as powerful as that. Action will be taken on Monday the 17th of October at the headmistress’s office of Princess Celestia's school for gifted unicorns as a punishment will be decided. More of the story will be printed on the 18th of October.
Twilight Velvet read the article with Shining Armor. She was gob smacked when she read the entire thing. "Wow... This was unexpected. But come on! Mr. Guinness? He was bound to be an alcoholic, it's in the name!"
Shining Armor pulled his head up from the newspaper. "Mom, whatever you do, do not show this to Twilight. You know how much she loves to read and if she reads this... Well... It isn't going to fill her with confidence. Honestly, it isn't filling me with confidence either. I'm already worrying about Twilight making new friends. I'm the only friend she's ever had, she doesn't care for friends, and she can't confine herself to books all her life." He explained.
"Hmm... You're right. But you don't need to worry. This is a new start for her, let her do what she wants, she'll come out of her shell soon enough. All you need to do is show her the basics." Twilight Velvet explained with a heartwarming smile.
"Ok, yeah, thanks mom!" Shining Armor looked over at the clock. It read seven fifteen. "Right, well I'm off to school to ask Mrs. Sparks about Twilight. See you later today, Mom." He chugged down the rest of his coffee and headed to the door.
"Ok sweetie, goodbye, I love you!" Twilight Velvet said with a mothers smile.
"Mom!"
"What?"
"You know I don't like you saying that out loud. It's embarrassing." Shining Armor's cheeks went red as a rose.
"There's nopony around."
"It's still embarrassing."
"Ok, I'm sorry." Her Son continued approaching the door. Before he reached the handle, she spoke up again. "I love you!" She giggled with a mischievous expression. Shining Armor narrowed his eyes before leaving and shutting the door to head off to the school for gifted unicorns.
Forty-five minutes later...
Twilight felt a hoof slightly nudging her hind leg. She started to squirm in her covers, attempting to get away from the hoof offending her peace.
"Twilight..."
Twilight was trying not to notice the jabbing. She wanted to open her eyes, but she wanted to stay disguised as sleeping. She was trying to resist the urge to whack the hoof away from her, but that would blow her cover.
"Twilight... It's time to go to your new school. Remember what your father said, you don't want to be late on your first day."
That's when Twilight's eyes shot wide open. Her eyes adjusted to the sudden light attacking them. She realized the hoof that was disturbing her good night’s sleep was belonged to her mother. "What!?" She jumped out of bed and was beginning to panic.
Twilight Velvets eyes widened when she noticed the state of panic her daughter was in. "Hey, hey, hey! Twilight, calm down! It's only eight o'clock. School starts in one hour; you have forty-five minutes before we need to leave to get there on time." Twilight started to relax. "Now, let's spend that time getting some breakfast in you. Get you set for the day. Oh, and don't forget to feed Spike." She laughed at the quick change of emotions that her daughter went through.
Twilight crawled out of bed and looked at the small, newborn baby dragon in a basket. Hatching a baby dragon egg was the thing she needed to do to be accepted in the school. She did it, but things got out of hoof. Twilight picked up some food that was left on the shelf in her bedroom. The dragons eyes started to glow as soon as he saw the food. Twilight poured it into his bowl and then followed her mother into the kitchen and sat down next to the kitchen table.
"What would you like for breakfast, sweetie?" Twilight Velvet asked.
Twilight's face lit up and then changed to a mischievous expression. She knew how it worked. She knew that her mother was forgetful sometimes. She knew that Shining Armor had coffee in the morning when Twilight wasn't looking and she knew that Shining Armor and her mother always try to keep it a secret. She knew exactly what to say to get coffee. "What did Shining Armor have?" She asked, mischievous smile still on her face.
"He had coff..." Twilight Velvet realized her mistake. "Oh for Celestia's sake!"
"I want coffee and chocolate spread sandwiches!"
"So much for the secret..." Twilight Velvet whispered under her breath. She sighed. "Ugh... FINE!"
"Twilight!" Twilight Velvet shouted while she stood ready at the front door to leave to take Twilight to her new school. "Time to put the book down, we need to get going."
"I can't find my bookmark."
"Would you rather have a book that you can continue reading where you left off or an education?"
"Hard decision."
Twilight Velvet rolled her eyes and walked into Twilight's bedroom. She used her magic to separate Twilight's book from her. She then lifted her up and out the door with a levitation spell. "You are coming with me. You mustn't be late!"
"NO!" Twilight screamed. She used her magic to cancel her mothers. When Twilight was back on the ground, she used her magic again to lift Twilight Velvet off the floor and so Twilight was out of her reach. Anger started to spread across her face. "I will read the rest of the chapter in my BOOK!"
Twilight Velvet sighed. "The disadvantage of having a powerful, young unicorn filly." She mumbled quietly, but not quietly enough.
Twilight plucked two feathers out of her bed pillows with her magic and raised them to her mother’s height in the air. She had her devilish, mischievous smile on her face again. In a wicked, evil tone of voice, she said, "What was that, mommy?"
Twilight Velvet started to shake at the sight of the two feathers. Sweat was now coming off her brow. "N-nothing sweetie, heheh. Y-y-you keep reading your book." There were several seconds of silence before Twilight Velvet foolishly blurted something out. "It's because of the coffee that you're acting up, isn't it." Twilight didn't even lift her head. She just moved the feathers closer to her mother and started to tickle her. "N-no Twilight! HAHAHA! P-please, I'm s-s-sorry. Please stop! I b-beg you!"
Thirty minutes earlier...
The time was seven thirty in the morning and Shining Armor had left the house only fifteen minutes ago. Teachers were still not here and only some had just started to arrive. School didn't start for another hour and a half. Shining Armor was in the staff corridor where all the teachers’ offices were kept in one section of the school. All of their doors were open. He glanced at their faces when walking past their offices, making it look like he was minding his own business. They all looked like they were trying to listen to something; it explained why everypony was so quite. Then, suddenly a loud female voice came booming out of the headmistress’s office. Shining Armor now knew what they were listening too.
"WE ARE MEANT TO BE THE BEST SCHOOL IN EQUESTRIA! NOW BECAUSE OF YOUR FOOLISH STUNT, THIS STORY IS ALL OVER CANTERLOT, MAYBE ALL OVER EQUESTRIA!" Mrs. Sparks screamed at the very top of her voice.
"It was an accident! It wasn't my fault." said a familiar voice. It belonged to Mr Guinness and he sounded terrified. Honestly, she should be. Mrs. Sparks had the loudest voice Shining Armor had ever known.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT WASN'T YOUR FAULT?! YOU ADMITTED TO DRINKING TWENTY SHOTS OF APPLE CIDER VODKA! YOU THEN CAME TO YOUR PLACE OF WORK THE NEXT DAY FILLED WITH YOUNG PONIES AND CAST A HARMING SPELL ON AN UNSUSPECTING STUDENT!" She screamed again.
"Then it was his fault. He should have learned the protection spells over two years ago in this school."
"IT WAS UNSUSPECTED AND SHE DIDN'T EXPECT A TRUSTED TEACHER TO ATTACK HER AND ALMOST KILL HER! I'M DONE WITH YOU! BUCK YOU! YOU'RE FIRED!"
"What?!"
"YOU'RE REALLY QUESTIONING MY DECISION AFTER WHAT YOU DID TO THAT STUDENT?! OH, AND I KNOW YOU'RE COURT PUNISHMENTS! ENJOY YOU'RE TWO YEAR PRISON SENTENCE! AND WHEN YOU GET OUT, YOU BETTER HOPE THAT ANOTHER SCHOOL WILL HIRE YOU BECAUSE I'VE BEEN TOLD THAT YOU NEED TO RAISE MONEY BECAUSE YOU'VE BEEN ORDERED TO PAY THE HOSPITAL BILL AND YOU'VE BEEN SUED FOR FIFTY THOUSAND BITS!"
Mr. Guinness walked out of the office with the two Royal Guards escorting him with Mrs. Sparks behind him. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Shut it, bitch. At least the positive side of prison is that I don't need to hear all the shit that comes out of your bucking hole under your muzzle every weekday." He pulled out a liter bottle of vodka that was half empty and started chugging it.
"W-WHAT!? YOU ARE DRINKING VODKA EARLY IN THE MORNING... AND IN A SCHOOL?! I-I JUST CA-" Mrs. Sparks voice lowered to indoor volume, sounding like she had given up on Guinness. "You know what? Just go. Guards, please take him away." Her head lowered as the guards took Guinness away, looking like she was already sick of the day. She looked up again when she saw Shining Armor come into her line of sight. "Oh. Hello, Shining. What are you doing here so early? School doesn't start for another hour and a half." She clicked onto what just happened. "Ugh... How much of that did you hear?"
"Just the end and I think every other teacher here heard it too. I came in early because I wanted to see you to ask you something." Shining Armor replied.
"Ask away."
"You know my little sister, Twilight Sparkle, is coming in for her first day today, right?"
"Yes, I am the one who will be giving her a tour of the premises."
"I was wondering if you would put her in my form class. Just so I can help her since she's young and new."
"Yes, of course I will anything for a good student like you."
"I also came in early because it will give me a chance to catch up on my History lessons."
"Ah, yes, ok. You're such a good and caring pony, aren't you?" Mrs. Sparks said with a smile. Shining Armor's cheeks went bright red once again. Mrs. Sparks giggled at the scene. She walked back into her office while Shining Armor trotted over to History catch up lessons.
"Have you ever been tortured with tickling before? You know how it feels?" Twilight Velvet asked.
"No, but you looked like you were enjoying it." Twilight smiled.
Her mother frowned. "Just because I was laughing doesn't mean I was enjoying it. It felt like I had been punished by the demons in Tartarus. I will get you back for that young filly."
"May I remind you that I still have those two feathers in my saddle bag? I'll do it in public and embarrass you if I must." Twilight replied with her mischievous smile returning.
Twilight Velvet was going to say something back, but she remembered what happened last time she said something that annoyed her daughter. Twilight would do it, if she wanted to she would do it in public. Twilight Velvet closed her mouth, a wise move. She didn't want anypony to know that her young daughter was stronger at magic than her.
Twilight and her mother left their home at eight thirty and it took thirty minutes to walk to the new school. It was nine o'clock on the dot, right on time. They could see the school gates in the distance, Twilight started to get excited, left her mother and ran towards it. Twilight Velvet followed. Twilight ran through the school gates and now she was in the school premises for the first time. Her eyes glowed as she saw the white building in front of her. There was a bunch of steps leading up to the entrance of the sparkling structure with pillars leading up to the roof. There was a large tower with a gold helix travelling down it painted on. Students of the school happily walked in, going to their lessons.
Twilight Velvet finally caught up. "Twilight, I should never give you coffee again. You are way too fast for me when you're full of it."
Twilight gave a look to her mother that just screamed 'Don't you dare!'. She knew one word that would make her mother quiver in fear. "FEATHERS!"
A mid-aged mare wearing a black, certificated mares suit heard the conversation and decided to walk over, presuming those two ponies were there one's she was expecting. "Twilight Velvet? Twilight Sparkle?"
"Hello." Twilight Velvet gave a smile to the pony.
"Hi!" Twilight sang.
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Mrs. Magic Sparks, the headmistress of Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. It's nice to finally meet you. I was much excited to meet the Unicorn that caused the stories around school about the Unicorn filly who turned her parents into cacti." Mrs. Sparks giggled.
Twilight and her mother blushed. Twilight Velvet spoke up. "Great, nice to meet you too."
Mrs. Sparks looked down at Twilight. "Let me run you through what we're going to do today. There will be no lessons for you today. I bet your loving that."
"Actually, I was looking forward to leaning in this school. I love learning."
"Wow. That's a first." Mrs. Sparks was extremely surprised, no student had ever wanted to learn. "Anyway, instead I am taking you on a tour of the school and you're going to meet your teachers, so make a good first impression like you have with me. We will be doing that all day until twelve thirty. We will then have lunch and you can explore the play grounds and school fields and other student break facilities. Then, at one thirty, you will spend a few minutes with your form class and get to know them before they need to go back to their lessons. That will be when the tour ends and you will be able to go home. Did you get all of that?" she asked.
"Crystal clear." Twilight replied with a bright smile.
"Ok, great!" Mrs. Sparks turned to Twilight Velvet. "May I just ask, are you doing anything today? If not, you are welcome to join us in touring the school." she offered.
"Oh, um... Y-yes. Yes I would love too! Thank you."
Mrs. Sparks smiled. "Excellent! Let's get started immediately!" She turned and headed inside. She glanced back and saw Twilight and her mother still standing in the same spot. "Chop, chop!" she called.
They started moving, following Mrs. Sparks every step. First they arrived at the main reception of the school and grabbed a few leaflets for Twilight and her mother to read so they could learn a bit more about the school. They also picked up a map of the school; it was organized in sections and departments. Twilight got the privilege of choosing which department to go to out of the lessons she had on her time table which started tomorrow. Mrs. Sparks was the one to ask.
"So, Twilight, which department do you want to go to first? Which of your teachers would you like to meet? Remember, they can only be from your lessons that all first years have." Mrs. Sparks explained.
"What were they again? I forgot." Twilight asked with a blank face, she wasn't even listening to Mrs. Sparks, she was too caught up in the leaflet about the school, and it looked pretty damn good.
"Equestrian Language, Literature, Math, Science, Physical Education-"
"What?"
Mrs. Sparks rolled her eyes; she decided to dumb it down. "Most students refer to it as PE. The rest of your lessons are Citizenship and Magical Arts." she explained again. "Which we will need a new teacher for..." she whispered to herself quietly.
"Hmm. Hard to choose." Twilight thought about her decision carefully. "I think I'll leave the best till last and go with my least favorite lesson. I think I'll see the PE department first." Twilight smiled.
"Ok, we'll go to the PE department first." Mrs. Sparks returned the smile.
The PE department building was separate from the rest of the school; it was standing on its own with a huge field behind it for outdoor sports. It had a race track going round the edges of it, at least a perimeter of five-hundred yards. There was already a class on it running a lap; they were around the half-way point. They didn't enter the building because Mrs. Sparks new that all the PE teachers would be out and about, she leaded Twilight and her mother onto the field to find the PE teacher Twilight would have.
"Right, I need to find Mr. Shuttlecock, I think he's over there playing Badminton with his class." Mrs. Sparks said to herself.
"Who's Mr. Shuttlecock?" Twilight wondered.
"He's your PE teacher and please, don't laugh at the name. A lot of students do when they first hear his name." Mrs. Sparks sighed. She was expecting it. Twilight Velvet was motioning behind her daughter, secretly telling Mrs. Sparks to zip her mouth shut.
"What’s so funny about Shuttlecock?" Twilight asked. She wasn't laughing, but she was confused.
"Oh, good, you’re too young to understand." Mrs. Sparks smiled. She now knew that there was at least one pony in Equestria who didn't find the name funny. That also means she won her bet and now the assistant head of the school owed her ten bits. Twilight Velvet gave a sigh of relief when Twilight answered. That confirmed it; Twilight was way too young to know. The three started to walk over to Mr. Shuttlecock’s class.
Over at where the class was playing, Mr. Shuttlecock, a white, buff Pegasus with a black mane and a Badminton cutie mark, was teaching one of the struggling students a technique on how to play better. He was distracted on his long lecture with the student on Badminton because of two fillies sitting on the side line of the field. "Vinyl, Octavia! Get back to playing. Every lesson I see you two sitting on the side lines not taking part and being lazy!" He shouted at the top of his voice. He had a loud and deep voice. When he shouted, ponies could feel the vibrations of the ground beneath their hooves.
"But sir! This is boring. Can't Vinyl and I go to Music?" Octavia moaned.
"No, of course you can't! You get one PE lesson per week and I'm guessing it's the only time you two get fresh air in your lungs. Octavia, you are always inside playing your cello inside and Vinyl is always inside shaking the walls of her house down with her dub-step. How is that even classed as music anyway?" Mr. Shuttlecock snapped back.
"Hey!" Vinyl yelled. "At least I'm learning how to play a type of music and not leaning how to move on our legs, we learned that when we were two years of age. Is that why ya became a PE teacher so ya could always remind yourself?" That earned a snicker from Octavia.
"Watch your lip, young mare! Now, get back in the game." Vinyl and Octavia slowly trotted off back to their game that they seemed to hate so much. Mr. Shuttlecock saw Mrs. Sparks and two other ponies walking over to him. "Ah! Hello, Mrs. Sparks, and who are these two mares following you?"
"Hello, Mr. Shuttlecock. This young filly here is the one I was telling you about, Twilight Sparkle." Mrs. Sparks looked between the two. "She'll be joining your first year class. Is that them over there, being extremely unenthusiastic about their game?"
"Yes, and it's really starting to annoy me. They are young; they should be outside all of the time. Things would be much different if I said they could all attack each other. Anyway, it's nice to meet you, Twilight. I'm hoping you'll be the best of your class over there. In fact, all you'll need to do to become the best of this class is walk for at least a few minutes."
"Maybe. Do your PE classes include reading books?" Twilight asked. She'd been thinking about getting back to that book all day.
"No."
"Then no."
"Ugh... You gave me hope and then took it away. Why is everypony always inside these days? When I was a colt, everypony was always outside. The streets were infested by us, mares and stallions couldn't move."
"Sorry, I'm just more interested in reading."
"You don't need to be sorry. If you like something, do it. “Mr. Shuttlecock looked over at Vinyl and Octavia and shouted over. "But only on your free time and not in your only PE lesson!"
Twilight Velvet giggled at that, it also earned a smirk from Mrs. Sparks. "Right, well we better get going, we've got a lot more places in the school to visit."
"Right, well of you go. I need to get back to paying attention to my class again before one of the school morons try to bounce a Shuttlecock of some ponies head. Chances are it will be Pork Pie. You know what he's like." Mr. Shuttlecock laughed.
"It's unfortunate that I even know him at all. How did he even get in this school?" Mr. Shuttlecock and Mrs. Sparks gave each other a nod of agreement. Twilight Velvet, Mrs. Sparks and Twilight, turned round and headed for the field gates.
"I like Mr. Shuttlecock. Do you mom?" Twilight smiled. Her mother nodded.
Mrs. Sparks looked down at Twilight who was smiling and bobbing her head around. She was really enjoying herself. "Ok, Twilight. Again, it's your choice. What department do you want to visit next?"
Again, it took Twilight a while to decide. She remembered that she was keeping the best to last. "Hmm, I think we'll go to Citizenship next." Twilight Velvet smiled at her decision, her daughter noticed, but didn't know why. "Why are you smiling, mom?"
"I'm just happy that you choose to see citizenship." Twilight Velvet looked back up to explain to Mrs. Sparks. "The reason is because she doesn't know much about the real world. I think she spends too much time reading books. The only real world she knows is the one that she’s being taught from by the books she reads. I know in citizenship, you learn about politics and stuff like that, but she doesn't know much about socializing. I'm hoping in this school, she doesn't confine herself. I want her to make friends here. She doesn't seem to think friends are important, but I want to change that." Twilight was frowning at her mother’s answer.
"Don't worry about that, she'll make loads of friends here. Everypony here is very open to meeting new ponies." Mrs. Sparks smiled. She glanced over to Twilight and saw that she was unhappy. "Twilight, your mother is right. Foal your age should have a lot of friends to socialize with. Reading well for your age because your mind is at the perfect age to take everything in. But having friends is also good because you are not alone and it not only makes ponies smile, but it helps you develop as a mare yourself. Don't you agree with us?"
Twilight grumbled for a while, but in the end, accepted it. "Yeah, I guess so."
"Good, now come on. We need to get going otherwise we won't finish our tour on time. Follow me, I'll lead the way."
Mrs. Sparks walked towards one of the buildings that were connected to the rest of the school. Once they entered, they saw the interior. There were rows of classrooms on both sides of the corridor; there was a stair case at the bottom of it that lead up to the top floor. The ground floor had a huge sign on the wall in capital letters saying, "CITIZENSHIP". Each floor was assigned a lesson department.
"Right, we need to go to Mrs. Cheerilee's class. It's over here." Mrs. Sparks pointed her hoof over at the classroom, second to the end of the corridor.
They walked over and Mrs. Sparks knocked on the door. Twilight looked through the window on the door and saw a purple-pinkish pony with a pink frizzy mane quit talking to her class and move towards the door. She opened it with a loving smile. "Hello, Mrs. Sparks. How may I help you today? I'm currently teaching my second years about some involvement in the community."
"That's great. They seem to be enjoying it." Mrs. Sparks looked behind Cheerilee. Students laughing and working together. "Well, this filly here is Twilight Sparkle, the one I was telling you about. You know... the entry exam." Mrs. Sparks winked.
Cheerilee giggled. "Oh yeah her, I remember."
"Have you told ponies about what Twilight did to me and her father?!" Twilight Velvet eyes narrowed at the two teachers in front of her.
Mrs. Sparks was the first to admit it. "Yes. Sorry. It's because nopony had ever done that before, it was a good story to tell."
Cheerilee changed to topic back to Twilight. "Well Twilight, I'm Mrs. Cheeilee and it's lovely to meet you at last. I think you'll enjoy having me as your Citizenship teacher, all my students love learning about the real world."
"Your mane looks funny."
Twilight Velvet spoke up before Twilight said anything else. "Twilight! Don't be so rude."
"No, no. It's fine. Everypony as young as me wears their manes like this when they're at parties. I just haven't returned it to normal yet. I'm actually thinking about keeping it like this for a while since this new fashion is starting to come into the spotlight." Cheerilee smiled.
"Mrs Cheeilee here is our youngest teacher, she only left school about two years ago and then came to work here about a year ago." Mrs. Sparks explained. "Is that right?"
"Yes. Anyway, I need to get back to my class and finish off the lesson. Goodbye, Twilight." Cheerilee waved as she turned and trotted back into her classroom.
The tree started to walk off. "So, did you like her too, Twilight?" Mrs. Sparks asked.
"Yeah! She was great." Twilight thought about the rest of her subjects. "Can we go to the Science department now?"
"Sure."
The three left the building they were once in and entered another that was across the school yard and proceeded to go up a flight of stairs to reach the Science department. This floor was different. It had the same amount of rooms on each floor but instead of the corridor being plain wall, they had built in bookshelves, all filled with Science text books. Twilight's eyes glowed at the sight.
Twilight couldn't help it, she had to say it. "Books! I think I'm going to love this place" she gave of a big fillies squeal.
Mrs. Sparks smiled. "I bet you will." She turned her head and frowned so Twilight couldn't see her change in expression. "I'm not sure about your teacher though..." she said, quietly.
The three stood in front of a door with a sign drilled on it, it read 'Miss Charge's room'. Mrs. Sparks let off a sigh. "Well... here we go. Your Science teacher, Miss Positive Charge." The sign was new, recently put there.
"Mrs. Sparks, is Miss Charge a new teacher in this school?" Twilight asked by the curiosity of the new sign.
"No. She has worked here for about thirteen years."
"But the sign is new. I can tell."
"How's that, then?"
"Because you said Mrs. Cheeilee has only worked here for a year and her sign looks older than one year. How has she been working here for thirteen years and have a new sign?"
"Um... I shouldn't really say." Mrs. Sparks raised her hoof and knocked on the door.
A Unicorn with a black bow tie and coat answered the door. She had a grey fur coat and a mane darker shade of grey. She looked very depressed and so did the class behind her. They were all quiet, not saying a word, like they were sharing the mood with Mrs. Charge. Unlike all the other teachers when they saw Twilight and Mrs. Sparks, she didn't smile. It was like a wave of sadness and worry had washed over her.
She finally opened her mouth. "Um... hello Mrs. Sparks."
"Hello Miss Charge, how are you today?" Mrs. Sparked smiled. Everypony was happy and cheerful, but for some reason, not her.
"I'm fine for the moment. I'm happy to say that none of my classes have given me bother yet. I don't think I could handle one of these classes I have today. I think you know which one I'm talking about."
"Yeah, Pork Pie, he will give you Tartarus if he finds out you know what ."
"I know, he's an evil little brat. Sometimes I think he's the Son of Discord himself. What period do you have him?"
"Period five."
"I'll do you a favor. I'm not busy then, so I'll take him out of the class and put him somewhere else for a while. Save you the trouble. You don't deserve to get abused by a first year or by a student in any year for that matter."
Mrs. Charge cracked a small, almost invisible smile. "Thank you."
"Anyway, back to what we came to do. Miss Charge, this is Twilight Sparkle."
Miss Charge's emotions didn't change. Every teacher was happy to see Twilight. She was in a worse mood than she thought. Miss Charge looked down at Twilight, she didn't say much, she seemed confined to herself. Mrs. Sparks said that she shouldn't answer her question, so what was she hiding that's making her act this way. Not only that, but she seemed worried about a pony named Pork Pie. Who was he? Surprisingly, most questions Twilight wanted to ask were going towards a sad mare and an anonymous pony who being described as the Son of Discord, rather than the school, the whole reason she was here.
"Um... hello Twilight." Miss Charge looked back up to Mrs. Sparks. "I need to go back to my class. We're very busy." With no other words, she turned round, walked into the classroom and shut the door.
Twilight Velvet whispered to herself. "Well this wasn't expected."
Mrs. Sparks heard her. "I agree." She turned to Twilight Velvet and her daughter. "I apologize for Miss Charge. She's going through... rough times." There was a silence between the three, so Mrs. Sparks spoke up again. "Twilight, it seems that Miss Charge's mood had spread over to us as well. I think we should probably get going. Do you want to choose another department?"
"Math department next, please."
The mood had lightened on the way to Math. When they reached the department, it was decorated with numbers, sums, fractions, patterns and shapes. They were scattered across the wall of the corridor. Again, the corridor was the same basic shape but only some in the school were decorated. The trio arrived at a blue door with a circle window. Every door had a different color to it with a different shaped window peeping through. This department gave off more of a foalish appearance to it. The blue doors sign read 'Mr. Decagon's class'. Mrs. Sparks knocked on the door. It was opened almost immediately by a blue stallion with a light blue mane and a decagon for a cutie mark. He had a really big happy, cheesy smile on his face.
"Hey! Hiya Mrs. Sparks! How are you today?" Mr. Decagon was like the complete opposite of the teacher they had just witnessed. He was all bright and cheerful. Twilight loved him already.
Mrs. Sparks chuckled. "Hello, Mr. Decagon. I'm doing just fine." She looked behind Mr. Decagon and saw his class chatting away and laughing. "I can see your students are having fun once again."
"Oh, yes. I have a beautiful class of first years. I love them. It's their second week at the School for Gifted Unicorns and I'm already very fond of them. I also hear that a new filly will be joining their class. I think her name is Twilight Sparkle. I know a member of staff is taking her on a tour of the school this morning and I'm going to meet her. I've heard the stories of her entry exam, pretty funny." Mr. Decagon laughed again and Twilight Velvet rolled her eyes. "I bet she's a star."
"Well that's why I'm here. If you look beside me, you can see a small, Unicorn filly. This is Twilight Sparkle." Mrs. Sparks also had a big cheesy smile on her face just like Mr. Decagon's. She was excited to see his reaction.
Twilight wagged her tail and smiled, her eye's shining like the stars of the night sky. Judging by Mr. Decagon’s statement saying she's a star, she was expecting a nice warm welcome. There was nothing. His smile, gone and his face were now unemotional. Twilight stopped wagging her tail and her wide sparkling eyes, now filled with worry.
"Why was there a sudden change of emotion." Twilight thought. "Did I come off as too cute? Is that a thing? For me, it probably is."
His blank face, staring back at Twilight. It was starting to get creepy. Then he finally opened his mouth. "Oh. Dear. Celestia. You're ADORABLE!" He squealed like a filly younger than Twilight. "My heart is melting by the sight of you!" Twilight started to wag her tail again and her sparkling eyes returned.
Twilight wanted to take advantage of his behavior. He was obviously a loving pony. He seemed very friendly. "Hiya Mr. Pwease can I have a cookie?" Twilight exposed her puppy dog eyes.
"Oh, dear Celestia. The adorableness is too much, you're teeming with it."
Twilight Velvet interrupted. "Twilight, we'll get some cookies later."
Mr. Decagon, who was now trying to calm himself down, spoke again. "I always love new students. You seem like a lively one, judging by the entry exam story. I'm sure you'll do well in my class." He looked back up and saw a pony behind Mrs. Sparks. "Who are you, Ms.?"
"I'm Twilight Velvet, Twilight's mother."
"Ah, well it's nice to meet you too."
"We should get going, Mr. Decagon. We have a few more departments to visit and a few other places in the school grounds." Mrs. Sparks smiled.
Twilight started thinking again. "Mrs. Sparks seems to be cheerful around him. I like him."
The trio turned and trotted away. "Goodbye, Twilight. I can't wait to see you in my class." Mr Decagon chucked in an evil tone for what he was going to say next. "Oh, and goodbye Ms. Cactus." Twilight laughed a little.
"What did you say?!" Mr. Decagon didn't hear, he was already backing into his classroom. Twilight Velvet's eyes narrowed.
"Twilight, you know the drill. What department next?" Mrs. Sparks asked once again.
"Equestrian Language department, please." Twilight felt happier by the presents of Mr. Decagon. He made her feel giddy.
"Done."
The Equestrian Language corridor was like the science one. Bookshelves dedicated to textbooks and again the exact same design for the corridor. They stood in front of a brown door. The sign read, 'Miss Turner'. To Twilight Velvet, the entire department looked like the walls screamed boredom. Equestrian Language wasn't her interests. But to Twilight, it was linked very well with books. So there was no question of if she liked it or not. Mrs. Sparks began her routine of greeting Twilight's teachers. She raised her hoof and knocked on the door and it was opened by a very dark colored mare. There was no bright colors to her. She was an Earth pony with a black mane, a brown fur coat and a cutie mark resembling a block with the letters 'ABC' on it. She had raised brow.
"She doesn't seem very friendly." Twilight thought. "She looks very strict."
"Yes?" she said in a voice that would make younger fillies than Twilight cry in fear.
"Hello, Miss Turner. I see you're busy, so I will get on with it. This little filly here beside me is Twilight Sparkle. I think you've been informed about her?" Mrs. Sparks asked. The kindness that she gave off was gone. It changed when she faced her.
"Hmm, yes. I've heard of her. The trouble maker who turned her parents into cacti." Miss Turner turned to look at Twilight. "Young mare, there will be no silliness in my classroom."
"O-ok. I wasn't planning on causing any trouble anyway." Twilight was nervous. She didn't like how this new teacher had introduced herself at all.
"I'm just going to inform you, Miss Turner that was a complete accident. It was a magic seizure and Twilight could not control it, but it did get her into the school and from what I've seen from her, she will be a shining star in this school." Mrs. Sparks reply to her wasn't expected.
"She doesn't seem to like Miss Turner very much." Twilight thought.
"Oh... Sorry. My mistake." Miss Turner looked back down to Twilight. "It's nice to meet you Twilight. As long as you're not a trouble maker and you're willing to learn, we will get on just fine."
"Twilight, Miss Page Turner is one of our oldest teachers. She is very skilled at her job and will be your Equestrian Language teacher and your Literature teacher." Mrs. Sparks turned back to Miss Turner. "We're going now. I hope the rest of the lesson goes well." She quickly left the area, Twilight and her mother followed.
They were now in the middle of the school yard. Twilight was curious of what just happened back there. She decided to ask. "Mrs. Sparks?"
"Yes, Twilight?"
"I couldn't help but ask. But when she answered the door to Miss Turner, you didn't look very happy. I mean, not as happy as you have been all day. Why is that?"
"Ugh... Twilight, I'll be honest with you here. I don't like Miss Turner very much. She doesn't go by my beliefs that I've sunk into the school for the better. I want all teachers in P.C.S.G.U to not be too strict and not too generous. Miss Turner is very strict. I believe to punish the individual that causes trouble and not the whole class. Sometimes she doesn't go by that either. I also like the teachers to connect with the students. By this, I mean being humorous and entertain students during lessons so they learn more and sometimes, even put themselves in the students place. I want the school to follow the motto I came up. If the teachers do this, which almost all of them are, we can make this school even better. The motto is 'Aspire. Achieve. Enjoy.'."
"Wow. Deep. I saw those words below the sign when we arrived."
"Yes. Below the P.C.S.G.U sign, the motto is there. I made it the schools motto and not my personal one."
Twilight Velvet, the pony who remained quiet for most of the tour, finally spoke up again. "Well, Mrs. Sparks. From what you have explained and what I have seen. You have got to be the best headmistress I have ever met. I can see you have done wonders for this school."
"Thank you." Mrs. Sparks smiled and turned back to Twilight. "One more department to visit, Twilight and then we can move on to our facilities and entertainment areas for students. C'mon, let’s go to Magical Arts. I bet you've been waiting for this all day."
"Yeah, duh! I love learning magic. It's the best!"
"Glad to hear it."
The trio trotted over to a building next to the one that stands out the most. Next to the white and gold tower was a building with a huge sign on the front side saying 'Magical Arts'. This department wasn't a corridor; it had a whole building dedicated to it. Because the school's main subject was Magical Arts, it was to be expected that the department would get a different style. It would also be expected that all teachers in the building would be Unicorns.
They entered the building, it was also different. It was better furnished and was very fancy. It was kept like it was brand new, like it was built yesterday, unlike some places in the school, where some of the walls were starting to crumble. Mrs. Sparks, Twilight and her mother walked past a door where some caretakers were taking dumpsters in and out of the classroom, putting objects inside of it. The doors sign read 'Mr Guinness' and the classroom was being cleared out. Twilight was once again curious and wanted to ask, but disregarded it. Twilight just thought that the teacher was too old and decided to retire or leave on his own terms, little did she know. They stood in front of another door. Mrs. Sparks once again knocked on the door and it was opened by a mid-aged mare with a white coat and a bright yellow mane. She had a smile on her face. Finally, it was good to see a teacher that smiled again.
"Ah, Mrs. Sparks! Nice to see you again." She was happy, but also nervous.
"Hello." Mrs. Sparks turned to Twilight. "Twilight let me introduce you to Mrs. Sun Spot. She is a new teacher here at P.C.S.G.U and is very skilled. Judging by her interview, we were lucky she showed up. She is probably the most skilled Unicorn in this school now. Sh-"
"We'll see about that..." Twilight's eyes narrowed and her horn glowed, trying to look threatening. Mrs. Spot giggled a bit.
Mrs. Sparks couldn't help but give off a small laugh as well. "Yes. Well she has replaced Mr Guinness pretty quickly which was very lucky. She is your new Magical Arts teacher."
Mrs. Spot spoke up. "So, Twilight. You think you're more powerful than me? I was once Princess Celestia's personal student."
"I know I'm more powerful."
Mrs. Spot lit up her horn and the magic ran through Twilight and eventually to Twilight's horn. Twilight was again, curious. "What are you doing?" she asked.
"I'm scanning you, specifically, the magic inside you. You aren't quite as powerful as me, but you are one of the most powerful foals I have ever met."
"I didn't give you permission for you to use you're magic on me."
"As long as it doesn't harm you in any way, it's aloud." Twilight sat on her rump, folded her forelegs and went into a little mares grumble. "But anyway, that's my job. I make you better. More skilled than you are now and maybe one day, you could become Princess Celestia's new personal student. I bet you would love that. I think every Unicorn would love that."
"Well, duh! Who wouldn't love that?"
"I know. But anyway, Twilight, I'm sorry I have to cut this greeting short, but I really must get back to decorating my new classroom."
Mrs. Sparks opened her mouth again. "Alright then. Good luck with that. We'll get a move on."
"Goodbye, Mrs. Spot." Twilight yelled and waved her hoof.
Mrs. Spot moved towards her door. "Goodbye, Twilight. I await your presents in my classroom in one lesson and I hope we get to know each other more. Believe me when I say this, but you're something special."
Mrs. Sparks, Twilight and her mother walked out of the building. "And that was all of the departments that all of your lessons are in."
"Does this mean it's the end of the tour?" Twilight's eyes started to water. She loved this place and didn't want to wait until tomorrow. "But you said we will be here till after lunch."
"No, it is not the end. We still need to visit the other places in the school grounds that you have access to and may also enjoy during break or lunch times." Mrs. Sparks smiled again. "So, now onto the other places. Hang-out rooms and the library and so much more to entertain you when you're not learning in lessons. We can also stop by at one of the displays and pick up a school club leaflet if you want. Where do you want to start?"
"I guess I'm doing the best till last thing again. I chose the hang-out rooms." Twilight Velvet frowned at Twilight's answer. Mrs. Sparks saw.
"Let's get going." The three started moving. Mrs. Sparks walked alongside Twilight Velvet to ask her about her expressions. "Can I just ask you, why did you frown when Twilight said that she wanted the best till last and then chose the Hang-out rooms?"
"Remember what I said earlier? About her making friends. Well I want her to and she's not going to make any if she doesn't start hanging around ponies."
"Hmm. Yes, I agree."
"I'll have a word with her later on in the day. I can try and convince her to start hanging around some ponies in school and lay off the books for a while. They're not the most important things in the world, so I think she should spare some time to be social."
"That would be a good idea. When I said she would defiantly make friends here, I can't promise it unless she puts some effort in too. I'll try and help her along the way."
"Thank you." Twilight Velvet made an appreciative smile. That whole conversation went on without Twilight even hearing.
The trio entered the hang-out rooms. It was well looked after and looked like it was decorated by some fancy Canterlot designer. Mrs. Sparks guided Twilight and her mother around the room. Twilight Velvet looked impressed. She was happy with it and she hoped Twilight was too. Maybe the stylish look and the comfy sofas would convince her to use it all of the time. Especially that they allow books from the library to be used in here. But Twilight wasn't interested. It was very boring for her.
"Now Twilight," Mrs. Sparks began to explain the room. "This is the hang-out room. As you can see, it is fitted with quality sof-"
"BORING! Can we go somewhere else?" Twilight moaned.
"You wanted to see this place."
"Yeah, but I didn't want to spend too much time here."
"We've been here for less than two minutes."
"Yes. Two minutes is too long for a boring room."
"Well if you don't want to be here, then you can wait outside the room. I'm sure your mother is interested." Twilight walked slowly out the room.
"Yes, I would be very interested to hear" Twilight Velvet was still thinking about how to get her in there.
"Ok then. As you can see, it is fitted with the best quality sofas in Canterlot. We have spent a lot of bits for the comfort of our students. We even have a coffee maker in here for them."
Twilight turned back around as her eyes widened. "What did you say?"
"We have a coffee maker in the hang-out rooms."
Twilight located the coffee maker in the room. Once she found it, she ran over to it and made herself a coffee. Once it was done, she poured it into a paper cup and sipped it. She tasted it and her smile grew wider. She then gulped the whole cup down.
Twilight Velvet wasn't pleased by her daughter’s actions. "That's two full cups of coffee you've had today."
"Yeah."
"You're going to be really hyperactive tonight aren't you? I hope your father won’t be annoyed by this."
"Yeah." Twilight looked back over to Mrs. Sparks. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Sparks. I take back everything I said about this place. I love the hang-out rooms."
Twilight Velvet and Mrs. Sparks glanced at each other and both smiled simultaneously, amused by Twilight and her new developing coffee obsession.
Mrs. Sparks decided to continue. "Well, that's it for this room. Where do you want to go next?"
"The library. Was there any doubt? Also, can we pick up a leaflet for the after school clubs? I want to know more about those."
"Sure we can."
Mrs. Sparks picked up a leaflet for Twilight on the way to the library. When she told Twilight where the library was, she started to get excited. The library was the white and gold tower at the back of the school. She got even more excited when she found out how big the library was. Twelve floors of books, all waiting for her to read. When she smashed the doors down to get inside, the sight made her jaw drop. She had never been in a library this big or as well organized. Except for Canterlot library of course, but it was the best school library she had ever seen. She was just about to run in and grab the first book she saw when...
"Excuse me, young mare. Do you have a pass to be in here?" The stallion’s voice was already strict. He wasn't the most welcoming pony in the school. He had a grew fur coat and no hair on his head. His mane was absent. It wasn't a common style to see. He also had a cutie mark of a dusty old book and wore a mare of glassed on his muzzle.
"Um..." Twilight was nervous around him. She already disliked him.
"If you don't have a pass, the please leave! I don't have time to waste. I need to finish organizing these books."
Mrs. Sparks got there just in time. "Oh, don't worry Mr. Hardback. She's with us. She's a new student here."
"She's a bit late. School started two weeks ago and first years are already sorted out and in lessons."
"Yes, I know that. She was one of the ponies who were the last for the entry exams."
"Why are you organizing an entry exam in school terms? I thought you wanted the best for the students."
"I do. But this is the most popular school in Equestria for Unicorns. We also get lots of funding from the Equestrian government. We use it wisely and that is why we're the best. We also give our staff better paychecks. Even the school librarians, while other schools pay less and I bet those school librarians are not as stuck up as some that I know. Maybe we should replace our librarian for a more grateful one."
"Hmm. Y-yes. Ok, that's fine." He said.
"Twilight, this is Mr. Hardback. He is in charge of the school library."
"Oh." Twilight turned to him. "Hello, Mr. Hardback."
"Hello." That was it. No long cheerful greeting like she got most times. Just a simple 'hello' and was shoved out of the picture to finish what we were doing. Twilight had never met a more grumpy and miserable pony in her life.
"Uh-huh. We should get moving, Twilight." Mrs. Sparks gave Mr. Hardback a disapproving stare. She didn't like that teacher either. Honestly, neither did Twilight. At least Miss Turner changed her mood half way through her first encounter with Twilight.
Twilight looked at the map of the library. They trio moved deeper into it, Twilight Velvet and Mrs. Sparks walked, but for some reason, Twilight rushed. Twilight head was turning to see every inch of it. They moved from section to section, floor to floor. Going passed authors, each with parts of the library dedicated to them. Clover the clever, Star Swirl the bearded and many, many more. Twilight finally stopped running when she reached the top of the tower at the J K Yearling section. Mrs. Sparks and Twilight Velvet eventually caught up with her.
"Twilight, how can you run up that many flights of stairs?!" Twilight Velvet was shocked.
By the expression of Mrs. Sparks' face, she was shocked by the speeds of the little filly too. "Those speeds from a filly like you should be impossible. How can you possible do it?"
"Coffee."
Twilight Velvet didn't give her daughter an approving look. But she felt like Twilight was teasing her. "Seriously Twilight, why did you run all of the way up here?"
"A few ponies I know recommended these books to me. I thought I might take a peek at them. They're meant to be really interesting."
"What books?"
"The Daring Do series by J K Yearling."
"I've never heard of them."
"That's because you're old, Mom."
Twilight Velvet was quite for a minute. She thought to herself. "She daughter just called her old. Was it true? It couldn't be. In fact, at her age, she was still considered a young mare." She looked back to Twilight. "I'm twenty-nine! I'm not old."
"You look old for your age."
"No I don't."
"You have as many wrinkles as Miss Turner."
"That's a lie! Listen, young mare. If you don't zip your yappy muzzle up. I might just ground you until the day I die. Then you'll know how young I am and how I actually look good for my age."
"Won't be a long punishment."
"Hey! Don't push you're luck." Twilight started to roll on the floor, laughing. Her mother, totally not amused. "Just look for the book you want to look at."
Twilight walked over to the shelf where she assumed it should be located if the library really was that organised. She read the spines of the books that had their titles on them. Then she finally found it, the first Daring Do book of the series. "Looks like those ponies were right. This does look interesting just by looking at the cover. I am definitely reading this." She looked back over to Mrs. Sparks. "Mrs. Sparks, can I take this book out?"
"Sure, why not. I'll go sign it out for you."
"Thanks." Just then, the bell rang. "What was that for?"
"That was the bell for lunch. Time to get something to eat and take a look around the cafeteria."
"Good. I'm starving." Twilight Velvet was relieved by the word food.
"Don't worry, Mom. We'll get some food in ya. We don't want you to have no energy so you can't use those brittle, old legs of yours." Twilight had her mischievous smile on again.
"Stop it."
Twilight and her mother, along with Mrs. Sparks were a long way away from the cafeteria. They had to run to get there as early as they could. They had to run from the top of the tower, all the way down and across the yard into one part of the buildings she had never entered before. By the time they got there, the que for lunch was coming out of the cafeteria doors and growing.
Twilight's stomach grumbled. "Oh great! It'll take all lunch time to get some food now! I'll starve to death by then!"
Twilight Velvet rolled her eyes. "How do you think I feel? I didn't have any breakfast because I was trying to get you ready for your tour."
"But I'm more important."
"Oh yes, you are. Sorry I forgot, Princess ."
"I will be a Princess. You watch, I'll be a Princess one day and I'll never go hungry again. I will just stuff myself with food to last a life time when I'm a princess."
"You would stuff yourself?"
"Yep."
"But what about all the ponies around the rest of the world who don't have as much food as Equestria? As a Princess, you would have to choose to help them out."
"I will help them. They can have anything they want as long as I get my hay-fries."
Mrs. Sparks couldn't help but laugh at the conversation Twilight was having with her mother. But she had to step in before it got funnier and made her go into a laughing fit. "Twilight, dear. I think you're forgetting that I am a member of staff. The headmistress even. Because you two are with me, we can cut straight to the front of the line."
"Really? Being a teacher is awesome!"
"I'm guessing you want to be a teacher now, Twilight?"
"No. Still a Princess. I want unlimited about of hay-fries."
"Well, you can have potion of hay-fries instead, right now." Mrs. Sparks laughed at her own witty comment.
They moved deeper into the crowed of ponies demanding their food as if they were going to starve. At the back, near where they stood before, ponies seemed devastated that they arrived at that time. Honestly, Twilight would be devastated too if that happened to her. Some ponies even felt jealous that Twilight was with Mrs. Sparks and not them. It was all a bit overdramatic for a lunch queue. Twilight grabbed her tray and proceeded to the front of the queue. An old mare was standing on the other side of the counter. She was very greasy and wrinkly.
"What'd ya want?" she said in a miserable voice.
"Hay-fries."
The mare picked up a spatula, scooped up some hay-fries and dumped them on a plate and passed it over to Twilight's tray. "Move along." she said with the same tone of voice.
After all three of them were served, they found a table in the cafeteria and sat down. The first time of the day that Mrs. Sparks could have a normal conversation with Twilight to get to know more about her.
Mrs. Sparks took advantage of the moment. "So Twilight, I want to know more about you. What are your interests? From what I've seen and heard, you adore books. I also don't need to know what you think about magic, because of the stories I've heard about your entry exam. Quite an amusing tale, I must say."
"I love books. Books are awesome. We can learn a lot from them, but they can also entertain us. I like to think that books are the greatest weapons in the world."
"That sounds familiar. Is that from somewhere? A quote or something?" Mrs. Sparks shook her head and reminded herself to stay on the subject.
"With magic, I feel the same way. I think it's great, especially now that I know I'm more powerful than my Mom."
"Yes Mrs. Velvet, I'm curious, what did it feel like to be a cactus?"
Twilight shook her head. "No, no, no. That's not what I meant." Twilight pulled out two feathers from her saddle bag. "What I meant was-"
Twilight Velvet's cheeks started to glow bright red. "Twilight, please don't say anything about that."
"Why not?" Twilight resumed to her story. "What happened was my Mom wanted me to leave for school, but I wanted to finish a chapter of a book. When she tried to take the book away from her I-"
"Twilight! Please! I will double your allowance for a week."
"A month."
"Deal."
The table was quiet for a few minutes. Nopony knew what to say next. Twilight was happy with her doubled allowance. Twilight Velvet was relieved that her daughter didn't say anything about the little struggle she went through to get her to school and there was only one thing on Mrs. Sparks' mind.
"So how did it feel to become a cactus?"
"I'd rather not talk about it. It was unpleasant, that's all I'm going to say."
Sooner than expected, lunch was over and the bell had just rang for all students to go to registration at their form classes. Ponies were exiting the cafeteria and heading to their classrooms. There was only one more place to go. To see her form class.
Twilight stood in front of a door with another sign on it, it read, "Mr. Brush" and this stallion was Twilight's form teacher. Mrs. Sparks knocked on the door and it was opened in seconds. A stallion with a drawn back, green mane and a white fur coat stood in the door way. He looked down at Twilight and immediately smiled.
"You must be Twilight Sparkle."
"Yep."
"Good, good. Your brother, Shining Armor, has been telling us all about you thus far and the rest of the form class is excited to meet you and would also like to hear more, but from you instead. Come in, come in." He moved his hoof, motioning the three to come in.
Once they entered, Twilight was put on edge as she soon found out everypony was looking at her and that she was the center of attention. Twilight gave a nervous laugh and a small wave. Mr. Brush took the attention back when he started talking again.
"Right, let me introduce myself, Twilight. My name is Mr. Paint Brush. I am an Art teacher here at the school for gifted unicorns and also you’re form teacher." He raised his hoof and pointed. "And this is the rest of the class. Feel free to ask any questions, everypony. I'm sure Twilight won't mind."
Twilight Velvet saw Shining Armor sitting at one of the tables. She smiled and waved while he was hiding his face in his hooves like he was trying to send a message to his mother to stop. The class was a mixture of first years going up to final year students.
A white unicorn filly raised her hoof. It was the first student she saw in the school. If Twilight could remember correctly, her name was Vinyl Scratch. "I have a question. What are ya interests? Do ya like Music 'n' stuff?"
Twilight answered quickly. "No, not music. My interests are books and magic. I do find music entertaining though. I love how there are tons of different types, but I don’t like all types. What types of music to do you like?"
"I prefer dub step. It's awesome and with my mind which is equally awesome, I can create my own tracks. I don't wanna brag, but I'm pretty skillful with my beats. Do ya like dub step too?"
"No, if anything, I love classical way better. I normally play it when I'm reading because it's very soothing."
"I have a friend who would adore ya just 'cus ya said that. Her name is Octavia; I should introduce her to you some time."
"Great, I would love to meet her." Twilight Velvet smiled at her daughters answer. It was a sign she was finally opening up. She looked over to Mrs. Sparks who also smiled and then winked at her.
"Ok. Next question?" Mr. Brush asked.
Suddenly, a loud voice came from the back of the room. "ARE YOU SINGLE?"
"WHAT?!" Twilight screamed. She was in shock because of the unexpected question.
Mr. Brush wasn't happy with the question that the young colts question. "Pork Pie! Be quiet you mischievous little brat!" He turned back to Twilight. "Sorry about that. That was Pork Pie, the troublemaker of the class."
The school bell went and it was time for the students to go to their next lesson, but for Twilight, it was the end of the tour. Mrs. Sparks lead Twilight and her mother out of the classroom and to the exit of the school. As they were walking, Twilight had one question in her mind.
"Mrs. Sparks that pony, Vinyl Scratch said she was friends with a pony named Octavia. But I saw Octavia today, she's an earth pony. How did she get into this school?"
"This school isn't just for unicorns. You will see some Pegasus students and some earth pony students here. The reason is that if those ponies have very high scores in passed exams, they will be allowed into this school. Because they're not unicorns, their scores need to be higher to be accepted and they also can't do Magical Arts, but they're still allowed in. It's just that a school for unicorns will be more dedicated to unicorns."
"Ok, now I understand. I think that's a really good idea."
"All part of making the school equal."
They reached the school gates that Twilight had first arrived at early in the morning. It was now mid-day.
"Well, goodbye Twilight. I'll see you tomorrow when you start lessons."
"You will. I don't want to miss out now that I know what's here."
"And it was nice meeting you too, Mrs. Velvet."
"Same to you, goodbye."
Mrs. Sparks returned to the school while Twilight and her mother walked slowly back home, both happy with the results of that day out. The school was better than they both thought. Even though some teachers didn't seem like their selves and some were just grumpy, it was still better than the average school.
It was late at night; Twilight had about thirty minutes before she had to go to bed. She was sharing a chair with her mother while they both flickered through the leaflet they got off Mrs. Sparks about the clubs and activities at the school for gifted unicorns. She wasn't interested in all of the clubs around the school. Art club, not interesting. Catch-up lesson clubs, maybe when she was behind in her school work, but that would probably never happen for her. Magical Arts club and the reading club? Was there any doubt about the obvious answer? At that moment, Twilight's father walked through the door from his job at the Lunar Guard.
"Aww, look at that. Mother and daughter sitting together, smiling. How adorable! How was it today, Twilight?"
"Brilliant! Mom and I went with Mrs. Sparks to tour the school. I met all of my teachers who are going to be leading my lessons and I think I made a friend."
Night Light smiled and looked at his wife and mouthed, "Really? Already?” Twilight Velvet nodded with a smile. Night Light turned back to Twilight. "T-that's excellent, Twilight. Well done. Nice to see you opening up so soon. So, what do you think of the teachers?"
"Love them, most of them anyway. Mrs. Sparks is the headmistress and she is amazing. Mr. Shuttlecock seems nice too, he's my PE teacher. Mrs. Cheerilee is pretty nice too, she is my Citizenship teacher. Miss Charge was... I don't know how to describe her. I didn't see much of her, but she was really sad and it was like she didn't even want to be there at that moment. Something must be wrong with her. Mr. Decagon was a brilliant, bright teacher. He was smiling all the way through my first encounter with him. He is really nice. Then there was Miss Turner. She was really strict and wasn't very nice at first. She thought I was a trouble maker because of the story about my entry exam, but she soon opened up to me in the end. She is my Equestrian Language and Literature teacher. Then there was Mrs. Spot who is my Magical Arts teacher. She is a nice and skilled teacher; she was also once Princess Celestia's personal student. Then there was Mr. Brush who is an Art teacher, not mine but is my form teacher. Finally, there was Mr. Hardback. But I don't want to talk about him. He was the worst and he was really grumpy."
"Good. It sounds like you had fun."
"Oh, I did. I can't wait to go back tomorrow. I didn't learn anything today because of the tour, but it’ll be good when I finally get started."
"Glad you're looking forward to it." Night Light turned to Twilight Velvet. "Where is Shining Armor?"
"Doing his homework in his bedroom." Night Light gave an approving look. Twilight Velvet turned back to her daughter. "Twilight, do you want to go to bed now? You have a big day tomorrow. Your first lessons you will be taught in."
"Sure, can I read a chapter of my book before I go to sleep?"
"Yeah, just because you're going to bed early though." Twilight gave a big smile that revealed her teeth. "But don't keep yourself up until midnight just to read more. You need your sleep."
"Bu-"
"Don't deny you don't do that because we've heard you laugh at night."
"Fine." Twilight trotted over to her room and closed the door. She kept herself quiet and covered her muzzle when she was going to laugh once she decided to once again, read until midnight.
Author's Note
Next chapter will be out as soon as it's finished. By the way, for anyone who didn't work it out, P.C.S.G.U stands for Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns.
Twilight's Days at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns
It was Tuesday. Twilight's first day learning at the school for gifted unicorns. Twilight was looking really looking forward to that week. The days that were in her way to get to this moment felt like years and the closer she became to the moment, the slower they became. Shining Armor decided to leave home at a later time to walk with Twilight to the school. The both of them were talking about Shining Armor's experience in the school; he was one of the oldest students in the school. They were at the half way point of their journey to the school when Twilight's common Tsunami of questions hit Shining Armor.
"So, BBBFF. I want your opinion because all I've heard of the school came from ponies I only knew for one day, not even that. I do trust the teachers, but I want an opinion from somepony who I know I can trust to tell the truth of what they really think. How has your life at the school for gifted unicorns been since you started? Just put everything into one sentence." Twilight was desperate to know these things. She knew Shining Armor would never lie to her little sister... Or he would pay for his crimes.
"Uh... It's great! Teachers really help you the best they can, they keep things under control and the still give us a lot of freedom for us to do what we want. It's the best school I've ever been to."
"How long can you attend the school?"
"For five years. You can start when you’re eleven years of age, but you have to leave when you're sixteen."
"Why?"
"W-why? I-I don't know why. Probably because there wouldn't be much more to learn and because it's the law. You have to leave school when you're sixteen and then you have a choice to get on with your life and get a job or you can continue learning and go to College or University." Shining Armor knew her left something out. Something else could happen to a pony if they have good enough scores in their exams. "Oh, and one more thing. If you have good enough scores and if you're lucky enough, you can become Princess Celestia's personal student, but that is really rare."
"Tell me more about being Princess Celestia's personal student. Mrs. Spot said that she was once Princess Celestia's personal student."
"I don't know much about it, Twilight. If you have good enough scores in exams and if you're lucky enough, Princess Celestia herself will come to you and ask if you want to become her personal student and that's all I know."
"Oh, ok. It's okay if you don't know much. Anyway, back to what I was asking before I got distracted." Twilight thought back to try and revive her conversation with her brother. "Oh yeah, I remember now. So, you're older than me. How long do you have left in the school?"
"Twilight, you know how old I am. I'm fifteen years old. I have one year left in school and this is the biggest year that will affect my future the most. Twilight, the final year is why you should stick in all the way through. It is the hardest and the most important year."
"Don't worry; I'll be ready for it. Now, next question."
"Ugh!"
Twilight gave off a small laugh from her brother’s reaction. "Last question, I promise. What are other ponies like? Are they nice to you?"
"Well, most are. I don't have any problems with ponies in my year, put it's the ponies on the younger years that are evil little brats. For some reason, some ponies who are very small think they're the toughest things in the world and go round picking on the oldest. Pork Pie is a perfect example. If you don't know who he is, he is the one who asked if you were single yesterday. I find it weird."
"I agree, it's really weird." Twilight didn't really know what to say about that. A smaller and weaker pony trying to pick on an older and stronger one? Why was that? There was two reasons. Because he wants to act tough or he is generally just a silly filly.
Twilight and Shining Armor finally reached the school. They found their way over to their form classes. They entered the room and they both sat down in their seats. Twilight sat next to Vinyl Scratch and Shining Armor sat next to his friends who were also in their final year. When Shining Armor woke up today, the last thing he expected was to have the muscles in his mouth. He started chatting away with his friends while Twilight done the same with Vinyl. Vinyl was the one to break the silence immediately.
"Hey, nice to see ya again, Twi!"
Twilight smiled, she was surprised that a conversation had already started. "Uh... Hiya Vinyl. Nice to see you to. So what's going on now?"
"Not much, same thing as yesterday. Just gonna go to lessons after mornin' registration. But because you're new, I think you're gonna get ya time table this mornin'."
Mr. Brush butted in their conversation, carrying a single sheet of A4 paper with him. "Vinyl's right." Mr. Brush passed the sheet to Twilight. "This is you're weekly time table, don't lose it and put it in your saddle bag when you're not using it." Mr. Brush trotted back to his desk.
The timetable had five columns going down it for the days and six rows for the lessons. Twilight looked at Tuesday to see her lessons she would have today. "Brilliant! I have Magical Arts first!"
"Really? With who?" Vinyl looked at the time table and her eyes started to glow with joy. "With Mrs. Spot! Aww, sweet! You're in my class. Thank Celestia that I have a friend in there now. I'll ask if Mrs. Spot can pair us up."
"You have no friends in your classes?"
"No, I'm not a very popular pony in school. To be honest, my only friend is Octavia and we're only in two lessons together, music and PE. But now I can add ya to my list of friends. I've had many friends before, once I was popular, but I was accepted into this school and all of my other friends went to attend a different school. I was the only one who came here. But I don't think it's all that bad. This gives me a chance to start new. Rebuild my popularity."
"I'll let you in on a secret. My parents have always wanted me to open up and make friends because I was always inside reading books or studying. I have never had one friend. You are my first pony I have ever considered a friend."
"Wow, really?"
"Really."
Vinyl was silent. She didn't know what to say. Everypony she knew had at least one friend in her life. Vinyl was Octavia's first friend too. She was a very quiet pony and preferred to keep herself to herself until Vinyl came along. "Well... Uh... I'm glad that I was your first, Twi! Plus, if ya only have me as a friend at the moment, then you'll have another one on the way. I know you're in my PE class, so when PE comes along, I'll introduce Octavia to ya."
Twilight smiled at her reply, she knew that Vinyl didn't expect to hear what she said about herself, but she was happy to hear that she'll gain a new friend tomorrow. "Right, what do I have after Magical Arts?" Twilight looked down at the time table. "Ah, I have Math with Mr. Decago-" Twilight stopped mid-sentence when she was hit by a small, wet ball of paper. She looked up and saw Pork Pie holding a straw in his hoof, laughing hard with his friends. Twilight gave him a negative look and ignored him. She started to concentrate on remembering the lessons she had Tuesday morning and afternoon.
The school bell rang, indicating that it was the start of the school day and that all students needed to move to their first lesson. Twilight walked to Magical Arts with Vinyl, both chatting on their way to their classroom. As soon as they reached Mrs. Spot's room, they approached her before the lesson started.
"Mrs. Spot!"
Mrs. Spot turned to find the voice that shouted her name. She found the pony the voice was coming from and put a welcoming smile on her face. "Ah, Vinyl Scratch, pleasure to see you in my class again, please sit down and get ready for the lesson."
"I will, Mrs. Spot. But I wanna ask you a favor. Twilight Sparkle is new and she's in our lessons."
"Yes, Twilight Sparkle, I met her yesterday when she was touring the school. She seems like a lovely young filly like you." Twilight blushed at that comment.
"Thank you, Mrs. Spot, but I was wondering if you could place her seat next to me so she can be my partner when we're doing paired work. We've became friends in form."
"Sure, of course I can." Smiles grew on both of the young mare's faces. "Now, both of you sit in your seats and get ready for the lesson. Vinyl, lead Twilight to where she'll be sitting in her Magical Arts lessons."
Vinyl sat down next to a two pony table in the far right corner of the classroom. Twilight sat beside her. "Ya can tell that I don't really like doin' group work with ponies I don't know since I'm sitting here, can't ya Twi. I only like doin' group work with friends. Thank Celestia ya showed up." Twilight's only response was a smile.
Soon, everypony arrived at the Magical Arts lesson. Mrs. Spot closed her classroom door and greeted everypony. "Hello everypony! Now, this lesson we're going to continue with our basic spells like levitation. I know that most of you have mastered the levitation spell and for that, well done. But for the ponies who still haven't mastered it yet, we will go through it one more time."
Twilight was shocked. Is levitation really a basic spell? I mastered the levitation spell when I was five years old. That was six years ago! The only reason I learned it was because I wanted to get the cake from the top shelves and eat it without my mom knowing. Twilight thought. I wanted to learn something new and if we're starting from basic spells, this is going to be a huge repeat of what I've learned myself. Ugh! This is going to be a long and boring lesson. I can't wait until I learn something new.
The school bell went once again after Twilights second lesson. The bell indicated that it was break time and everypony could go out to the school yard or school field to meet up with their friends. Twilight stood in the center of the yard and looked at all of the exits of the buildings to try and find Vinyl. Vinyl emerged slowly behind everypony else who were taking their time to get out. As soon as she escaped the crowed, she spotted Twilight and ran over to her. "Hey Twi!"
"Hello Vinyl! I was just wondering why you couldn't introduce Octavia now?"
"Oh, she's had to go to the Music department for a meeting. She's gonna go to Manehatten in a few months with the school to perform in the Musical Artists Competition. It's where all the younger ponies who are good with music compete with each other. It happens every year and is advertised all around Equestria. This is her first time doin' it so it's really important for her."
"If this is for music, who don't you go?"
"It cost's money, a lot actually. My parents wouldn't be able to afford it. That's not the only problem stopping me; the competition is based around classical music. Octavia does classical, but I do dub step."
"Yes I know, you told me."
"I can introduce her to you at Lunch, earlier than PE. How about that?"
"I was planning to go to spend my time in the library at Lunch. I guess I have no choice but to meet her during PE. That's fine, I don't have a problem with tha-" Twilight was cut off by a fat yellow colt who was the school bully she recognized as Pork Pie.
He had a mischievous smile on his smug face. His two friends were behind him, not saying a word, like they didn't want any part of what Pork Pie was about to do. They were his cowardly sidekicks. "I swear, you two are always together when I see you. I bet you're lesbians!"
Vinyl immediately retaliated. "I'm surprised ya even have friends, Pork Pie. Are they really you're friends or did they get stuck in ya orbit?"
Pork Pie stopped arguing with Vinyl. Because of that remark, he knew that she wasn't going to lose. The cowardly pony moved into Twilight. He looked at Twilight's flank and came up with something to say. "Your cutie mark is stupid, sparklebutt."
"At least Vinyl and I have cutie marks."
Vinyl got involved at this point. "Maybe if ya would stop being such a douchebag, ya would be able to find ya special talent and get ya cutie mark."
Pork Pie was now desperate for something to say. "What if I get my cutie mark for being a douchebag and bullying you?"
Vinyl smiled. She came up with something to say as a comeback almost immediately. She was quite pleased with herself for coming up with in in such a small amount of time. "Then ya cutie mark will be a pony with his head up his own flank." This earned a loud, hard laugh from Twilight who was now tearing up at the remark.
Pork Pie realized what had just happened. He had just lost the argument of the situation he started. His face had a darker expression of anger and embarrassment, he had been humiliated. He turned around with his friends as quickly as he could and soon he was out of sight.
Vinyl spoke up again, pleased with the way the small, ridiculous and pointless situation had ended. "Heheh, he messed with the wrong lesbians ."
Twilight was confused. "Vinyl, we're not lesbians, are we?"
"No Twi, we're just friends. Don't ever listen to a word he says. He's a sad 'n' pathetic pony who needs a good hard slap."
It was Lunch time. Vinyl was hanging with Octavia somewhere else in the school while Twilight was just entering the library. She just stepped in and Mr. Hardback was already trying to get on nerves. She had just passed Mr. Hardback's desk when he opened his mouth. "Oi! New filly. Um... Twilight. Put these books away in their right places."
"I don't know where they go, Mr. Hardback."
Mr. Hardback started to get angry at this point and raised his voice a little. "Then find out, mare!"
"Excuse me, Mr. Hardback, but this is the students Lunch time, their free time." Twilight immediately recognized the voice that said that. She looked over and it was her BBBFF, Shining Armor. "It's also your job to put the books away, not her job."
"Who do you think you're talking to, colt? I am a member of staff of this school. A fully grown stallion, you are a colt."
"I am a colt who has more authority in this school than you. You are the librarian who does nothing special in this school. I am the head of the school council."
"I am still a member of staff and I will report you to Mrs. Sparks for your lack of respect for the ponies who work here to educate you."
"How have you helped educate any student in this school? If anything, I should report you for your abuse to students. What you say can be classed as abuse or bullying foals and about reporting me to Mrs. Sparks; do you really want to do that? Compared to your relationship with her and my relationship with her, whos side do you think she's going to be on?" Mr. Hardback said nothing. There was a long silence when Shining Armor was waiting for a reply. When he didn't get one, he continued with what he was doing. "Now then Twilight, if you follow me, I will help you find what you need." Twilight followed Shining Armor as he asked. Mr. Hardback left his desk to put the library books away.
Twilight and Shining Armor were none of the floors in the library. Twilight was shocked at her big brothers defensive performance. "Wow, BBBFF. I have never seen you that angry at somepony before."
"Yeah, well Mr. Hardback really drives my patience off a cliff."
"Do you really have more authority over him?"
"Yes, he is the librarian. He isn't an important staff member. I'm the head of the school council and I was the one who decided to hire a librarian to make the library better for the students. That's what the school council does! It's just a shame that we ended up with him."
"Are you really going to report him to Mrs. Sparks?"
"Yes! Of course I am. He doesn't just try to get you to do his job, he does it to almost everypony. It was just lucky I was there when you showed up. Anyway, Mrs. Sparks doesn't like him either. He is way too full of himself, but Mrs. Sparks will believe me. If she needs a student to do something, she'll come to me first. She trust's me completely."
"Okay."
"Anyway, what did you come into the library for?"
"I'm getting the next book in the Daring Do series. I've finished the first one."
"Y-You finished the first one? You only got it yesterday!"
"Yes but I read it yesterday in bed."
"Okay, fine. I'll get it for you." Shining Armor and Twilight ran to the top floor of the tower that held the school library. It was like running a marathon. "I don't know why they decided to put the Daring Do series on the top floor; it's a very popular series. Why not the lower floors?" Shining Armor grabbed the book with his telekinesis and passed it to Twilight. "Here, go take this to the librarian from Tartarus and he'll check the book out for you."
"Okay BBBFF!" Twilight ran down the library staircases as fast as she could, the faster she checked the book out, the longer amount of time she'll get to read the book before Lunch ends. She reached Mr. Hardbacks desk.
"Oi! No running!" he shouted.
Twilight rolled her eyes. "He's going to try and complain about every little thing I do." Twilight thought. She slowed herself down and placed the book on Mr. Hardback’s desk to check out.
He pulled the book towards him and looked at his book of records. It held what books which students took out of the library and when. "You can't take this book out."
"W-Why not?" Twilight was starting to get watery-eyed. Saying Twilight couldn't have a book would put her in a state of depression.
"You have already taken a book out. You took one out yesterday."
Shining Armor appeared at the bottom of the staircase, next to Mr. Hardbacks desk. "I know the rules of the library and I know that every trusted student is aloud to take up to three books out of the library at a time."
Mr. Hardback gave them both a black look and checked the book out. He passed it over to Twilight. "Here!" he said with a negative tone.
Twilight left the library, smiling because she got exactly what she wanted. Shining Armor followed shortly after whispering to Mr. Hardback. "You're making it worse for yourself." Shining caught up with Twilight and walked out with her.
The rest of the day was very quiet; there was no more commotion with Mr. Hardback or Pork Pie. The school day was over fast after Lunch and Twilight decided to walk home with Shining Armor. They started to discuss her Twilight's first day.
"So other than Mr. Hardback, how was your day?"
"Pretty good. I was hanging around Vinyl for most of the day. Some time in lessons and I spent Break with her." When Twilight said Break, it reminded her of the argument she and Vinyl had with Pork Pie. Twilight didn't want to tell Shining Armor in case he reacted badly, but decided to tell him but say it as positively as she could. "I um... Also had some trouble with Pork Pie."
"What? Why didn't you tell anyone?" his tone showed concern.
"I didn't think it was that much of a big deal. It was only an argument I had with him during Break. Vinyl was with me and we won the argument." Twilight explained.
"Well at least you won, but I'd still tell someone he's trying to aggravate you. I would tell mom and see what she says and if he does it again, report it to Mr. Brush. He'll sort it out, he's done it before."
"Ok, I will."
Twilight and Shining Armor finally reached their house. They walked in and their mother was sitting on her chair reading the first book of the Daring Do series that Twilight took from the school library yesterday. "Twilight, you should of recommended this book to me. I love it!"
"I didn't think you would like it. It's for the younger crowd. I have the second book of the series here with me after you finish that one if you want to keep reading."
"I might just do that. So how was your first day?"
"It was great! I was hanging out with that Vinyl Scratch that I met yesterday, she's going to introduce me to one of her friends tomorrow, so that is something to look forward to."
"Well that's good. Anything else?"
"Shining said I should tell you. You know that stupid colt who asked if I was single yesterday. Well he tried to aggravate me today. I was pulled into an argument that he started, but I won and Vinyl was there too."
"Well, I would stay away from him and if it gets any worse, report it to somepony."
"That's exactly what Shining said."
"That's because your brother is good at dealing with this stuff."
Another thing came to Shining Armor's mind. He had to tell Twilight. "Yeah, uh... Twilight come with me to my room, I need your help with something." Shining trotted into his bedroom and Twilight followed and closed the door. Shining sat on his bed. "Twilight, I wanted to talk to you privately because if i told you with Mom listening, things would easily go wrong. I don't want her in this conversation."
"Okay," Twilight was a little confused by her brother. "But what is this about?" she asked.
"Pork Pie tends to try and bully everypony in school even though he is one of the youngest ponies in the first year. He tries to annoy me, you and everypony else he can get his dirty, yellow hooves on. But I want to warn you of another pony who will most likely try to annoy you. Unlike Pork Pie, he is sneaky. He will try to bully you, but he's cowardly, when you react he'll tell someone to get you in trouble. His name is Telltale. Clue’s in the name. I want you to stay away from him, you'll know what he looks like soon no doubt because his name is always passed around and almost everypony hates him."
Surprisingly, Twilight took all of the speech in. "Ok, if he's in any of my lessons then his name will be called out the registration and I'll know who he is. I'll stay away, I promise."
"Thank you. It's just so you don't get in trouble because of him. Be careful." Twilight was about the leave the room. "Oh, and Twilight! Don't tell Mom. We don't want her getting worried."
"I know what she's like, Shining. Of course I won't."
It was Wednesday morning and Twilight was once again walking to school with Shining Armor. They were talking more about the school, but something was buzzing around in Twilight's head and she wanted to know what it was. She saw it when she was having the tour of the school and assumed that the teacher left the school to work elsewhere, but she didn't know that for sure. She decided to ask Shining Armor since he might know more about it than her.
"BBBFF, on my tour around the school on Monday, I saw a room that was being emptied and redecorated. The sign said 'Mr. Guinness' room'. Did that teacher leave or something to work somewhere else?"
"Ugh... That was in the news and I was hoping you wouldn't find out about that. I even asked Mom not to tell you about it in case it ruined your confidence with the school. Look, I'll tell the truth. The reason that the room was being emptied was because the teacher that occupied it was fired for being an alcoholic."
"Oh... I wasn't expecting that."
"Yeah I know, right? He came into the school the next morning after heavily drinking; he was obviously drunk and decided to teach students defensive spells. He done a harming spells on the student, expecting him to do the defensive spell, but he didn't and said student was injured. The doctor's say he was lucky to be alive."
"Wow. I-I don't know what to say about that. What's he doing now?"
"Time. He's doing time in prison. He'll never be hired in any school ever again."
The day was very quiet. Nothing interesting happened except learning sums and calculation methods in Math that Twilight already knew. Everything was normal for Twilight until period four, her PE lesson when she met up with Vinyl and was introduced to a grey mare with a black mane. Octavia was sitting in a corner of the school field, waiting for her opponent, Vinyl to return with a pony that she was told will be her new friend and her name was Twilight Sparkle. Not much information was given; put Octavia was always open about meeting new ponies. Twilight and Vinyl walked to PE together.
"So, you up for meetin' Tavi, Twi?"
"Yeah, I've been excited for this. It's weird, before I came to this school I was always so quiet and to myself, but suddenly I've opened up. Is there a reason for that?"
"Not that I know of. Anyway, Tavi should be at PE already. She is always the first to her lessons and is never late!" Twilight and Vinyl reached the gates to the school field and turned the corner to reveal the rest of the class playing tennis. Vinyl could barely make out Octavia sitting in the shade under a tree, waiting for her friend to return. Vinyl spotted her and shouted her name for her attention. "Hey! Tavi! We've arrived!" Twilight and Vinyl ran towards her while she slowly stood up on all fours.
"I'm glad you were back sooner than I thought, Vinyl. I was starting to get extremely bored siting there." She turned her head to see a lavender colored unicorn standing beside her best friend. "And you must be Twilight Sparkle. Vinyl hasn't told me much about you but I was still looking forward to meeting you anyway."
"I was the same when Vinyl said she was going to introduce me to you. It's nice to finally meet you."
"Wonderful to meet you too."
Now, it was Vinyl that was starting to get bored. "Right, I'm starting' to get bored like Tavi was a few minutes ago. I'll get the bats and balls and we'll have game of Tennis, yeah?"
Octavia rolled her eyes. "I'm not as enthusiastic about sport, but if you wish, let's have a game."
Twilight and Octavia moved onto the court, Octavia moved to the center and Twilight stood by the side as she didn't want to play. She decided to keep score for the two ponies. Vinyl threw a bat towards Octavia and she caught it, she didn't look ready and Vinyl had her eyes narrowed at her ready for the game. "standard Tennis rules apply." she shouted. Vinyl threw the ball into the air and when it was coming back down she whacked the ball with the bat at full force, sending it flying towards Octavia's side of the court.
"Ahhh!" she screamed in horror as the small, green ball of terror flew towards her. She ducked just before it could hit her in the center between her eyes. She rose back up to her original height. "Vinyl! What are you playing at?!"
"Tennis." She responded with a smirk, slowly growing on her face.
"Tennis?" She asked, her voice was still had a panicked tone to it. "Well can you play sensibly, please? You almost took my head off!"
"Sorry."
"How to get a small bit of payback?" Octavia thought. "Ah, I know! She'll hate this!" She had her own smirk on her face now. She turned to Twilight. "Twilight, may I have a point for Vinyl's dangerous behavior?"
"Sure, why not?" Twilight turned to Vinyl. "You have to admit, it was slightly funny, but dangerous. Bonus point to Octavia."
Vinyl's expression on her face soon changed. "What?! C'mon! That's so unfair!"
Octavia started to deliberately tease Vinyl at that point. "What the referee says, goes!" She stuck her tongue out at Vinyl.
Twilight saw Octavia's little tongue action and knew away to make the situation funnier and the bickering continue. "Bonus point to Vinyl because Octavia was deliberately teasing her opponent."
"What?!"
Vinyl repeated what Octavia said a few months ago, copying the grey ponies posh, Canterlot accent. " What the referee says, goes! "
Octavia turned to Twilight and started begging. "I should get a bonus point now because she's teasing me! Please, please, please!"
"'Cos ya started it!"
Twilight interrupted the little friendly argument the two were having. "That is true."
"Ugh!"
Twenty minutes later, the two mares finally stopped their bickering and decided to play properly. Balls were whizzing by and completely missing where they were aimed to go. Some of them didn't even hit the opponent’s side of the court and hit the side lines instead. In a short time, the game was over and Mr. Shuttlecock came over to the trio.
"No offence, mares, but you have got to be one of the worst Tennis player I've ever seen. You've batted the ball to each other at least a couple of hundred times and you've only managed to hit the court only a few times each. But practice makes perfect, so keep trying!" Mr. Shuttlecock blew his lisle, indication that it was the end of their PE lesson. He raised his voice to address the class. "Right everypony! Get your sport's equipment into the box and get to your next lesson."
Everypony did just that and slowly trotted over to the exit of the school field. Twilight, Vinyl and Octavia were the last to leave as they were to distracted by chatting away to each other. Twilight was then distracted from her chatting when she could just make out the shapes of three ponies in a corner hidden from view under the shadows of the school building looming over them. She realized that it was Pork Pie and his two cowardly sidekicks. Twilight decided to bring it to her friend’s attention.
"Hey, look over there." She said, pointing her hoof in Pork Pie's barely visible direction.
"Is that Pork Pie? He was supposed to be in our PE lesson. Now we know where he was." Vinyl said without any signs of emotion. She wasn't bothered by him, not until Octavia pointed something out.
Pork Pie and his two friends had two long sticks in their mouths, they had smoke coming out of the ends pointing away from them and the orangey light they were giving off was very clear in the dark area they were in.
"And is he smoking?!" Octavia gasped. "Smoking is only for bigger ponies like our parents. That's not aloud is it?"
Pork Pie spotted the three ponies looking over at him. His expression changed quickly as his face started to show worry, but then changed to anger and used it to scare the three off.
"He's seen us. Oh Buck! Run!" Vinyl stopped for a second and realized what she'd just said. "Oh dear Celestia! I said a curse word. It just slipped out! I'm sorry, please don't tell my mom!"
Twilight started to get worried as Pork Pie started to walk slowly towards the trio, still with his aggressive expression on his face. "It doesn't matter, we won't tell anyone! Just go!" Twilight, Vinyl and Octavia escaped to their next lessons and didn't see Pork Pie for the rest of the day.
Twilight soon stopped running once she reached her Citizenship class. Twilight was on her own, Vinyl and Octavia had run off to their Music lessons. Twilight trotted through the door of Mrs. Cheerilee's classroom and noticed only Mrs. Cheerilee was in the classroom and Twilight was the first student to arrive. Mrs. Cheerilee was on her desk, sorting some files into alphabetical order.
"Twilight! You're early." She said with a smile on her face.
"Really? Oh, probably because I ran." Twilight responded.
"Why did you run?"
Twilight was planning to tell her, but decided it was too long of a story and was irrelevant. "Uh, no reason. I don't know why I did, but I just felt like running." Twilight wanted to change the subject, she saw Mrs. Cheerilee's frizzy mane and chose the subject on that. "I see you've kept your frizzy pink mane."
"Yeah, I said I might keep it. I was planning to change it back to the style it used to be, but decided to keep it, get into today's fashion for mare's my age. Please, sit, the rest of the class should be arriving soon."
It wasn't long before the rest of the class arrived and took their seats, getting themselves ready for their Citizenship lesson. Mrs. Cheerilee was calling out the names of the ponies on the register. No names caught the attention of Twilight, except for one she heard before, her big brother mentioned it before.
"Telltale?" Mrs. Cheerilee called out.
It was him, Telltale. He was in Twilight's class. She looked around the class, wondering who would answer and check whose lips would move to their name called out.
"Here, Mrs. Cheerilee!" He replied.
Twilight didn't expect it, but the voice came from somewhere she didn't think it would be. It came from the same two-pony table she was on. Telltale was right next to her. How could she stay away from him like her brother said to do now? Mrs. Cheerilee finished the register and most of the lesson was quiet. Twilight didn't have much trouble with him... until the end of the lesson. Telltale was nudging Twilight and throwing small wet balls of paper towards her face, trying to be as annoying as possible. He was only doing it when Mrs. Cheerilee was looking the other way and Twilight was getting real sick of it. Twilight picked up a small bit of paper and threw it back at him, unfortunately for her, Mrs. Cheerilee saw.
"Twilight, I saw that! Do not do that again!" Mrs. Cheerilee said with a huge frown on her face. "I would expect better from someone like you."
Twilight responded immediately. "But Mrs. Cheerilee, he done it first and he’s been nudging me! I have the right to defend myself!"
Cheerilee sighed. "Look, if I see anypony in the class throwing something just once, I will give them a detention, Is that clear?" Twilight and Telltale nodded their simultaneously. "Good." Cheerilee turned her head back round to face the board and continued to write. Telltale had a huge smirk on his face. He rolled up yet another piece of paper put it in his mouth and spat it on Twilight. Twilight's eye twitched. She had enough; she reacted to Telltale's actions without thinking of the consequence that Mrs. Cheerilee would give her. Cheerilee turned around just before Twilight shoved the paper up Telltale's nose. "Right Twilight, I've had enough!"
"But he did it again!"
"I don't care at the moment, Twilight. You have a detention tonight."
Twilight's mouth was opening and closing repeatedly and her eyes wide open with shock. She spoke again when she realized what just happened. "W-what?!"
"You have a detention tonight. Do not miss it. Also your parents will be informed why you will be late home tonight too."
Twilight screamed. "ARR!" She ran out of the classroom, angrily. She didn't bother to stay in that room any longer.
Cheerilee shouted after Twilight. "Twilight! Please get back in this classroom!" There was no reply, just the sound of her hoof steps getting quieter and quieter as she moved further down the corridor. Telltale was laughing quietly at the situation he caused. Unfortunately for him, Cheerilee noticed. "And don't think you are getting off easily, Telltale. I know that you've had a history of deliberately getting ponies into trouble. This isn't over!"
The school day was over and Twilight had managed to get through her detention. It was half an hour of absolute, pure boredom. Twilight didn't walk home with Shining Armor as he was already home, the detention held her back. All because of that pony, Telltale, she was told off, was forced to sit down for a slow half an hour doing nothing and now she couldn't walk home with her brother because she was late out of school. Walking home with her brother was one of her favorite things to do since she started schooo at the school for gifted unicorns. No pony takes time away from her and her BBBFF. Whatever it takes, Telltale would pay, one way or another. Twilight finally arrived at her house; she walked through the door and closed it again. She walked into the living room to see her mother and father, sitting in their chairs, waiting for her. Shining Armor poked his head round the edge of his bedroom door to see what was going on.
Night Light placed his newspaper down on his lap. "So, young mare. You had a detention today, why?"
"First of all, it wasn't my fault. This colt kept teasing me over and over."
"If he was the one doing wrong, how did you get the detention?"
"Because Mrs. Cheerilee didn't see the colt tease me, she only saw me do it and that is why I got the detention."
At this point, Twilight Velvet stepped in. "And who was this colt who caused you to retaliate the way you did?"
"Telltale. For some reason he kept doing it when Mrs. Cheerilee wasn't looking and Mrs. Cheerilee only turned round when I was about to do something back." Twilight replied. Shining Armor looked at Twilight when she said that, he knew he would have to have a talk with her about it.
"Well, we have no reason to believe you and what you did for a retaliation could be classed as bullying-" Twilight Velvet was cut off by her daughter.
"If anything, he was bullying me since he did it first!"
"Do not interrupt me, young mare! Now, as I was saying, we have no reason to believe you, if he started it or not, how you retaliated is frowned apron. You know better than to sink down to their level. You're grounded for the rest of the week."
Night Light sat back down and grabbed his newspaper again to continue reading. "We're very disappointed in you, Twilight."
Twilight had tears in the corner in her eyes, she only had to blink once for them to over flow and run down her face. She kept her eyes closed, ran to her bedroom and slammed the door as hard as she could. She sat on her bed and cried. "I was all him, it was his fault. Why should I get the blame?" she asked herself quietly.
About an hour later, Shining Armor came out of his bedroom and walked across the hallway to Twilight's bedroom. Just as he reached the nob of the door, his father called him.
"I would leave her be Shining, she's having her moment to calm down. She's just been grounded."
"Dad, I know, that was about an hour ago. She's having a bit more than a moment." Shining said, coldly. He was very concerned. "I'm going in to talk to her. I heard everything, and I want to talk to her about the colt, Telltale. I spoke to her about him yesterday and I want to know what he did. Literally everything. I know how Telltale works and I can get to the bottom of this."
"If you want to, fine, but if she uses her magic against you for interrupting her, it'll be your own fault."
Shining Armor decided to take the risk. To cheer her sister up, he would risk anything, even himself. She opened the door, walked inside and closed it quickly. He turned from the wooden door and looked over to his little sister. He barely had time to duck when a cup was thrown just above his head by Twilight's telekinesis. Shining rose to his usual height. "Twilight, calm down! It's just me, your BBBFF!"
"I don't care! Go away!" Twilight still had tears over flowing her eyes after crying constantly for an hour, they were blood shot and screamed anger.
"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"
"Yes! GO! AWAY!" It was very rare that Twilight would not accept help from her brother.
Shining knew that he had no chance to make Twilight co-operate with him. Even through it was very rare that she wouldn't accept help, when Twilight was this upset and she said no, she meant it, but Shining knew why she was upset, he knew what happened and because of that, he wasn't giving her a choice. She was going to talk to him about it. "That is tough luck, you're talking to me about it, whether you like it or not." Shining moved closer and sat on Twilight's bed beside her. "SO, where do you want to start?"
Twilight started crying again, probably because she had to remember and go through the events of that day once more. She had probably already done it many times in the past ours. "I-I don't know where to start. It was so... so... So rage filling. I didn't even do anything wrong!"
"Twilight, to be honest, you kind of did do something wrong. Even through Telltale was the one who started the problem, you were the one who reacted physically. In most cases, both students would be punished and if you had just told Mrs. Cheerilee, you wouldn't have gotten in trouble, but in this case, because Mrs. Cheerilee only saw you do something wrong and not Telltale, because of that, you were the one to get in trouble."
"That's so unfair!"
"I know it's unfair but, unfortunately, that's just how it works, but I know that you don't deserve the punishment you've gotten, so don't worry, I'll get to the bottom of this. I'll ask Mrs. Cheerilee to get you and Telltale together in a room with her to talk things out and come to a solution. I'll probably be there too since Mrs. Cheerilee knows I've also had troubles with that colt."
"Good! Because I don't see why I should be in this much trouble."
"Trust me, I will." Shining left the room and was about to enter his own when his Father spoke to him.
"No injuries then?"
"No. I managed to calm her down a bit and put some confidence in her. She should at least stop crying." Shining proceeded to enter his room and spend the rest of the night there.
Thursday morning and Shining Armor was already at the school for gifted unicorns. He was only in early for one reason, to set up his plan to avenge Twilight's happiness that was temporarily taken away from her because of the sneaky cowardly colt. He entered the school at its main entrance, immediately crossed the yard and into the building on the other side that held Mrs. Cheerilee's classroom. He approached the door and looked through the small window that was built in it. Luckily, Mrs. Cheerilee was already in her classroom, no waiting around for Shiny! He knocked on the door and heard a quiet voice to reply to the sound allowing him entry.
"Come in!" Mrs. Cheerilee sang. "Ah, Shining Armor, what a pleasant surprise. What can I do for you?" she wondered.
"Hello Mrs. Cheerilee. I wanted to ask you something. I understand that yesterday you gave my little sister a detention for throwing something at Telltale. I wanted to ask if you would gather Telltale and Twilight together so you sit down with them, like a meeting to resolve their issues. I want to be there too because you know the troubles I've also had with him. Just when you have some free time."
Mrs. Cheerilee thought for a moment, it was true that Shining had problems with Telltale and that he had the same situation time to time a week ago. Telltale was new in the school and he was already causing mischief, Mrs. Cheerilee was the one to sort those problems out, so no pony knew him quite as well as Cheerilee did. She knew he was mischievous, sneaky and clever. Maybe Cheerilee missed something during the situation. Cheerilee had finally come to a decision. She stopped looking at the ground and faced Shining Armor again. "Yes, ok I will. I'll do it later today."
Shining wasn't expecting her to agree to it in such a short amount of time. Maybe he didn't need to come in that early after all. "Uh... Great! Brilliant! Thanks’ Mrs. Cheerilee. Shining closed the classroom door on his way out and started moving again. "Now that she's agreed to the meeting, time to ask a unicorn to join the meeting, somepony who can perform the spell I want to trick Telltale." Shining thought, "I know, Mrs. Sparks!" Shining made his way to the headmistress’s office on the other side of the school. He moved quickly and arrived outside the office at record time. He raised his hoof and knocked on the door. He waited a few seconds and then Mrs. Sparks opened the door, she was standing in the door way.
"Oh, hello Shining Armor, what do I owe the presents?"
"Hello Mrs. Sparks. I came to ask you if you could do me a favor."
Thursday morning registration was chaotic and nerve-racking for the entire form group. The Royal Guard were in school that day investigating a situation where three students were reported smoking some type of drug, supposedly normal tobacco, either way, still illegal for minors. Shining Armor was once again sitting next to his friends in the classroom while Twilight sat next to Vinyl again; the entire class was silent, only the fly in the room dared to make a sound. One of them was speaking in a very serious tone. Almost scary and it would of been terrifying for the one who was smoking, but Twilight knew exactly who it was.
"This is the second time the Royal Guard has had to come into this school and believe me, it is much unexpected. Princess Celestia and her group of ponies who decide who gets accepted into this school work together to pick the best and brightest students out of the bunch. I never thought we were ever going to be asked to come in here to solve a problem, let alone twice in less than a week. Now, I want to remind you that the pony who was spotted smoking, we don't know who he or she is, but they will face consequences. We're going through every form class in the school and nopony has seen anything. So with this form, maybe we'll have some luck! Any of you want to own up?" The entire class was silent. Nopony said a word. Twilight glanced over at Pork Pie; he had a drop of sweat slowly running down his face from his forehead. Twilight could get revenge on Pork Pie for being a bully and a sad little pony by telling the Royal Guard that it was Pork Pie. Pork Pie saw her looking and it was as if he read her mind and what she was about to do. He started making threatening faces and actions, trying to scare her away. When he did that, Twilight wasn't too sure. She didn't want to get into any trouble again. The Royal Guard spoke again. "No? Fine, we'll keep trying, but we will find the student eventually." With that, the two Royal Guards walked out of the classroom. Mr. Brush shut the door behind them.
"Now then class, it's almost less-" He was muted by another knock at the door. "Ugh! What is it now?" Mr. Brush opened the door once again revealing Cheerilee. "Hello, Mrs. Cheerilee."
"Hello, Mr. Brush." she said with a smile and a calming voice. "Can I take Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor? I need to speak to them."
"Of course you can." As soon as Mr. Brush said that, Shining Armor and Twilight looked at each other, stood up and followed Mrs. Cheerilee out the classroom. It wasn't a long journey to Mrs. Sparks’ office. It was only a few corridors away from Twilight's and Shining Armor's form class. The door was already open and all three wondered in with no trouble or waiting to get perdition to enter. Once they were in, they saw two chairs on the far side of a table. Mrs. Sparks was already sitting on one of them. On the other side, closest to Twilight and her brother, there were three chairs presumably for Twilight and Shining Armor since Telltale was already sitting in one of them. He saw Twilight and Shining Armor and gave them a evil look representing his hatred for the two.
Mrs. Sparks paid attention to the new comers. "Welcome to my office you two. Nice to see you again. Please, sit." she said. She would normally say something like that with a smile, but this time she said it with an unpleased face. Obviously, she didn't want or need to be here. Even though she did say to Shining Armor she would come, something more important had popped up, but a promise was a promise. "Now let's get this over with. I know I am supposed to deal with issues like this, but then the Royal Guard came into school saying that they had reports of seeing a student smoking! I would rather get this done as quickly as I can. I'm guessing you've all seen them coming into your form classes?" The three students nodded their heads while saying 'Yeah' simultaneously. "I thought so. Now, Mrs. Cheerilee will be asking the question since this situation occurred in her classroom at the time." Mrs. Sparks turned her head to her collogue. "Would you like to start this now?"
"Of course, Mrs. Sparks." She turned to Telltale. "Telltale, tell me, what was Twilight doing to you?" At this point, Mrs. Sparks lit up her horn.
"She threw bits of wet paper at me." Telltale simply replied.
Mrs. Sparks smiled at his response. "First answer not a lie." she thought.
Mrs. Cheerilee continued. "Was she the first one to do it.?"
"Yes. It was all her."
Mrs. Sparks read her horn again. "Second answer was a lie." she thought again.
"Have you caused trouble for Shining Armor before?"
"No. I wouldn't bother someone like him."
Mrs. Sparks didn't need to read her horn that time. "Even Cheerilee can work that one out and tell it was a lie without magic. She obviously knew he was lying because she was the one who resolved that situation too."
"And the last one, Telltale. Who was the first one out of you and Twilight to start aggravating each other? Did you start harassing her first or did she start harassing you first?"
"No. It was all Twilight, she was the first one to start all of the problems!"
Mrs. Sparks smiled; the results were in. "He is a filthy little fibber!"
Cheerilee turned back to Mrs. Sparks. "So, what are the results of the lie detecting test?"
Telltale’s eyes widened at Mrs. Cheerilee's question to the headmistress. "W-what?"
Mrs. Sparks smiled. "The results show that Telltale was a lying all the way through that test. He was the one who was provoking her, not vice versa."
"Well that makes it clear for me." Cheerilee looked over to Shining Armor. "Shining, thank you for bringing this to our attention." She then turned to Twilight. "Twilight, I am sorry that I blamed you and gave you a detention, I should have been more observant. I will make it up to you. You and your brother may go." Finally she turned to Telltale. "Telltale, for provoking a student and bullying her, you shall get a detention for tonight. You will also have one tomorrow night for lying three times."
Telltale said nothing; there was just extreme anger on his face. Twilight and Shining Armor left to go to lessons. On the way there, they had a little happy chat with each other. Twilight wasn't expecting what was about to come out of her brothers mouth. "You're welcome!" He smiled joyfully like a filly.
"For what? Why are you smiling with a wide grin on your face?" She asked in confusion. "That's something what Vinyl would do when bickering with Octavia."
"For getting revenge!"
"W-what?"
Shining Armor couldn't believe he had to explain it. It was pretty obvious and a bright filly like Twilight should have guessed immediately. "As you know, Telltale has caused me problems in the past too. You were punished because he was being a douche. I asked Mrs. Cheerilee to come to a meeting in Mrs. Sparks’ office and I asked Mrs. Sparks to be there and do a lie detecting spell so the truth was spat out. Everypony knew what the plan was except you and Telltale. Sweet, cheap and easy revenge!"
"Oh... Ooooh ... You're the best big brother I could ask for, you know that?"
"Ha-ha, yeah."
"So do you think he'll stop teasing me now?"
"Chances are he won't because for some reason he thinks he can still get away with that stuff, even though he has been caught. It confuses me why he thinks that, but I'll ask Mrs. Cheerilee to keep a special eye out during your Citizenship lessons." They stopped when they reached the Science department. "Okay Twilight, I have Science now so I'll see you later, in form maybe?"
"Yeah, later BBBFF!" With that, Shining Armor rushed up the stair case to his lesson and Twilight continued her journey to her own.
After the situation with Telltale was over and dealt with, Twilight was a lot happier now that a worry had been lifted from her back. Coincidentally, Twilight had Citizenship period two and Telltale didn't even glance at her. He must have seen her as a threat to him and his fake reputation of being a suck-up with the teachers and decided to stay away from her. Even if he was his normal self, trying to get ponies into trouble, being cowardly and everything else he does, it still didn't bother Twilight from then on, but there was still a little worry Twilight had. Shining Armor said that he would make a comeback and he'll do something else. Twilight needed to watch out and see if she can spot him doing anything that could prove her brother right like, planning something to get her back because she got revenge on him. If that was the way it worked with him, then most likely he was going to get back at Shining Armor too for planning the whole thing and also getting his revenge.
It was break, Twilight, Vinyl and Octavia met up in the middle of the yard. It was strange though, Vinyl and Octavia didn't calmly trot over to Twilight like they normally would, this time they ran towards her and they looked excited. "Twilight! Twilight! Twilight!" She yelled. "Is it true?" They said simultaneously.
Twilight was actually quite startled by her friends’ behavior. "I-Is what true?"
"That ya got Telltale into trouble?" Vinyl asked with a wide smile on her face.
"Yes, it is! What's the big deal about it? How did you find out?"
Octavia spoke up with a little chuckle. "It's Karma! His sneaky reputation is crumbling like a chocolate chip cookie!"
Vinyl explained what was going on. "The big deal is that everypony in the first year is now teasin' him about it, especially the ponies who got into trouble 'cause of him. They're teasing him because you and ya brother got revenge on him for getting ya into trouble and if you know Telltale, you'll know that it is very hard to do that! Ya brother already did it once! It's incredible! Some ponies are even calling you the predators of the school bullies."
"Who said that?"
"Those over-dramatic nerdy colts, but that's not important. The thing is people are going along with the name and not only that, but Pork Pie admitted that we three saw him smoking and he's coming to see us about it. I don't know what he's going to say, but still, ponies are sayin' ya could bring him down two. Imagine how popular ya would be if ya brought down the two most hated colts in the school."
"Hey you!" a voice shouted.
Octavia turned her head round to the source of the voice. "Oh great! Speak of the son of Tirek and he shall arrive."
"Oh, shut your mouth you small minded Canterlot snob to be. We already have enough of your type and I think you should leave." Pork Pie said angrily.
Octavia quickly snapped back with; "And thankfully there are not many hypocritical, pathetic and good for nothing bullies and criminals that you are in Equestria. Thank Celestia that Equestria is nicknamed 'The Great Society'! If there was a lot more like you, this place would turn into an animal barn very quickly."
Twilight stepped in to say something at this point. "Don't you think you should leave, Pork Pie, before we humiliate you again?"
"Zip it! You didn't humiliate me! I don't care what anypony says!"
"Ya seemed to care when ya stormed off 'bout it." Vinyl smiled with a grin, knowing she had cornered him in the argument. He had no other excuse to give to shoot her statement down.
Pork Pie was already getting very frustrated by the three mares. "I-I don't care about that, that's not why I'm here!" He lowered his voice almost to a whisper so only the tree mares could hear him. "I know you three saw me smoking yesterday." He turned his head to Twilight and pointed a hoof. "And I saw you eyeing me this morning while the Royal Guard was in the room. I know you were planning on telling them. Some ponies in the school are now paying attention to you three. Your brother has gotten Telltale down once and the second time this morning because of the help from you. I know you were going to bring me down before I threatened you and scared you off. I-" Pork Pie was cut off when Twilight started to speak over him.
"Yes, it's true you threatened me. No, you didn't scare me. Maybe you should try harder next time."
Pork Pie continued. "You will not bring me down. I could get arrested for smoking and my reputation in the school for being a bad-ass in this school will be ruined!"
Octavia laughed at Pork Pie's words. "No pony here think's you're a 'bad-ass'. Everypony hates you, only your two suck up so called friends still like you for some reason."
Pork Pie ignored her and still continued to speak to Twilight. "You've proven that you're not scared. Have you told anyone else?"
"No."
"Are you planning too?"
"Yes."
"Ok. What I'm about to do I rarely do. I get twenty bits allowance per week. I am willing to give you twenty-five percent of it per week to keep your mouth shut." Pork Pie lifted his hoof ready to shake. "Deal?"
"And if I refuse?"
Two of Pork Pie's friends appeared behind him. "Then we'll beat you up."
A huge battle in Twilight's mind had been created. If she didn't deal, she would be hurt, beaten up badly. She obviously didn't want that. But yet again, she did lose this week’s allowance because she was grounded, so it would be good to have it back and even more if she kept the secret for longer. Yet again, Twilight was trying to be a good filly and didn't want to lie to her parents. She didn't want to get into more trouble and not only that, but she should tell them royal guard because lying to a royal guard is a criminal offence! But yet again, she could buy all of the books she wanted out of the book store, even the ones she couldn’t afford because they were to expensive if she kept it up long enough. One thought came to her head that immediately made her mind up; she could use the money to but educational books to study every subject and ace her exams in the future! It was decided.
Twilight rushed back to reality, lifted her head and said the one word that needed to be said. "Deal." She said simply. Pork Pie gave Twilight the five bits he had in his hoof.
"Nice doing business with you."
At this point, Vinyl and Octavia looked at each other and smiled in a way two best friends would when they knew they had both came up with the same brilliant idea. Octavia give a slight nod as if to say 'Do it!'. Vinyl stepped forward, closer to Pork Pie with Octavia just behind her. "And what's in it for us?" Vinyl smirked. "Ya haven't made any offers with us, who says we'll keep our mouths shut? Pay up!" Vinyl knew she had him cornered once again. There was no way out of this for him, once again he was trapped and could only do one thing to get passed the situation...
...But he still tried to escape with his words. “Why should I? Plus, I only have fifteen bits a week now since I'm giving a quarter of it to Twilight."
"Yeah. What's the problem? Five for Twilight, five for me and five for Octavia which will leave ya with ya own quarter of ya allowance."
Pork Poe glared at Vinyl and accepted his only option. "Fine! Here!" He passed five bits over to Vinyl and Octavia that rested in his saddle bag. There were only five bits left over and now he'll only get five bits of his own allowance per week to spend him. He wasn't happy about it, but it was the only way to make sure no pony would blab.
Octavia smiled at the result of Vinyl's little speech and then spoke to Pork Pie. "You know, sharing is caring, and you obviously care about not being caught. Thank you for the bits."
Pork Pie's voice had more anger in it when he spoke. "Yeah, yeah, whatever!" With that he turned to walk away and soon was out of sight.
The three mares’ looked at each other and smiled, which soon turned into jumping around with a lot of happiness. Twilight couldn't not start asking questions to her friends. "So girls, what will you are spending your bits on?" Twilight asked, still with a joyful smile on her face. "I'll be spending mine on more books."
Octavia was the next to admit what she'll be trading in the bits for. "I'll put mine towards my trip to Manehatten for the M.A.C. or the Musical Artists Competition if you'd like to know."
Vinyl was the last to admit to what she'll be spending her bits on. "I'll probably spend mine on some more Vinyl records or maybe a new turn table if I save up enough." After Vinyl stopped talking, the school bell went off, letting the students know it was time to go to next lesson. "Later, fillies. I'm off." Quickly, their conversation ended and they all proceeded to their next lessons.
Twilight was in the middle of her Math class; her attention was completely focused on Mr. Decagon's chalk board. He was teaching his class about angles and degrees. Everypony else looked lost and it looked like the information was going in one ear and out the other. One colt even asked the same question three times before he finally understood an easy piece of work. But Twilight remembered every word and took in every piece of information; she knew exactly what Mr. Decagon was talking about. It was a very peaceful lesson as none of the bullies like Telltale or Pork Pie were in her class, but unfortunately, neither were any of her friends.
"So, remember class, Acute angles are small and are below ninety degrees. I personally remember it by 'cute' because small things are normally cute. Right Angles are always exactly ninety degrees. Obtuse angles are over ninety degrees and below one-hundred and eighty degrees, and for the angles that are over one-hundred and eighty degrees, well, we'll get onto that another day as that is a bit more advanced for you lot." He rubbed the board clean of the chalk, moved over to his desk and picked up a huge stack of papers. "Now, I want to go over your Math exam you did on Monday. I have marked them and now I want you to correct any mistakes you made that I've pointed out to you. When you learn from your mistakes, you will get a higher mark next time." He started to read the names on the papers and levitate them toward the students of who they belonged to. He walked over to Twilight's desk and placed the exam paper down. "Well done Twilight, sixty-nine out of seventy, an A star! Best in the class. I knew you would do well."
Twilight picked up the paper and saw her score; she smiled to herself because of her achievement. She was always talented at Math, in fact she was talented in most subjects except PE, she never liked exercising. She looked over to Mr. Decagon and smiled. "Thank you, Mr. Decagon!"
Mr. Decagon turned back round to face Twilight and gave a friendly smile in return. "Don't thank me, Twilight. Thank your brain of yours. Without it, you wouldn't have that score. Also these results will be sent in the main to your parents so they can look at your achievement."
The rest of the lesson was relaxing for Twilight, the corrections on the exam were the last thing the class did, but Twilight only needed to correct one small mistake and then she rested for the rest of the lesson. The school bell alerted the students that it was time for forth lesson. Everypony stood up, grabbed their coats and saddlebags and began to walk out of the door. "Good job, everypony! See you lot next lesson!" Twilight was the last out and she was just about to pass the doorway when Mr. Decagon called her back. "Twilight! Please come here for a moment!" Twilight did as she was told and stood in front of Mr Decagons desk. "Twilight, I have noticed you are doing exceedingly well in your Math classes. Have you considered joining any Math tournaments?"
"What are those?"
"They're where P.C.S.G.U goes to competitions to win something, may it be more money for the school to spend for the better or a trophy. Something for the schools use and in one way or another, your use as well. Our school goes to compete with other schools to win. Honestly, if you join, you could really help us and could become one of our best contestants?"
Twilight thought about it for a while. Wondering if she should join their team. She recapped her teacher’s words. 'They're where P.C.S.G.U goes to competitions to win something, may it be more money for the school to spend for the better or a trophy. Something for the schools use and in one way or another, your use as well.' She had made her decision as soon as she thought about those words. "Yes, I'll join."
"Great!" Mr. Decagon passed Twilight a card with Information on it. "If you would like to come to this room as it says on the card on Monday lunchtimes to meet your team mates and do some other stuff, that'll be great."
"Thank you, Mr. Decagon!" Twilight quickly rushed over to her next lesson before she was late by being caught up by Mr. Decagon. The rest of the day was quiet, it seemed to Twilight that when Shining Armor got revenge on him and everypony could see who he truly was, he had become harmless to her, but Shining did say he would return someday to start his entire line of sneaky tricks again and now that she'd made that deal with Pork Pie, he was pretty quiet too. No pony else in the school had any reason to bother her and no other pony would since she was feared by the troublemakers of the school. The only other problem was Mr. Hardback, but Twilight rarely saw him and according to Shining Armor and Mrs. Sparks, he's on his last legs. The rest of the day was peaceful. Equestrian Language and Literature were fun to Twilight as well as lunch with her two friends, although Science with Miss Charge was quite depressing, it always was. Twilight knew there was something wrong with her ever since she met her. One side of Twilight told her to leave her alone while another told her to do the old Telltale sneaky tricks and try and find out, but Twilight thought it would be best to keep her big muzzle out of other ponies business.
Twilight had just left the school grounds with Shining Armor. They were once again walking home with each other. Shining Armor was trying to create a big, joyful conversation to pass the time while they walked home together, but Twilight didn't want to participate in them for as long as she was grounded. She was only grumpy about going home when she was grounded because she had to spend all of her time in her bedroom. She was only aloud out for food, or if she needed to go somewhere or to go to the bathroom. The more she thought about being grounded, the more she thought about Telltale, but she had to let that go since she was the one who was victorious in the end. She was beginning to like school more than her home. At home she had to be in her room when she was grounded, but when she was at school, she didn't even think about it. She was having too much fun to. She loved learning, having fun with her friends and now that the two bullies who teased her and aggravated her had stopped, school seemed perfect. Not to mention her five bits per week from Pork Pie.
Twilight had reached her home quicker than she thought she would. Thinking must have distracted her from the time to care. When she walked through the door way of the entrance of the house, she didn't speak to anypony. She knew the drill. Get in and go to her bedroom and stay there until told to come out. She emptied her saddle bags and completed any sheets of homework that was assigned to her. She now knew she couldn't forget any homework assignments. As soon as they were done, she picked up one of her books and started reading, helping her make the rest of the day pass by like a gust of wind.
A few hours later, Night Light knocked on Twilight's bedroom door. "Time for dinner, Twilight!" said the muffled voice from the other side.
Twilight placed her book down on her bed with a bookmark in place. She hopped down from her bed and onto the floor; she proceeded to the door and opened it to see her father was still there. "We're having hay fries with applesauce, your favorite. Quickly get to the table before it gets cold." Twilight didn't say a word, obviously still upset about being grounded. His expression didn't change when hearing hay fries with applesauce which meant she must really be in a bad mood. She would normally jump around with a big smile around the table when hay fries and applesauce was announced, but not this time. Not even a smile. Twilight walked slowly towards the kitchen table and sat on a chair. She started to eat the meal as quickly as she could, she didn't want to be with anypony while at home, everything was dull to her when she was grounded, she couldn't do anything fun but read and that was only in her bedroom. She didn't say a word while eating the entire meal. While her family spoke to each other, Twilight kept silent. Once she was finished, she jumped down from the chair and wondered off back to her own room.
Twilight knew that soon, one of her parents or brother was going to ask her why she was being so quiet, even though it was obvious. Twilight Velvet was the one to ask first. "Twilight, why are you so... mute?" Twilight Velvet asked with a bit of concern. Did she really not know?
"I don't know." Twilight simply replied.
"Don't you want to spend some time with your family?" Night Light asked. "At least talk to us properly or have a conversation with us. You're always chatting away throughout a meal."
"No. I want to go into my room and finish reading my book." Twilight proceeded into her bedroom and closed the door behind her.
"Night Light, how long do you think she's going to be this way? She doesn't have to be in her room all of the time because she's grounded, but she needs to be taught a lesson to not retaliate and tell somepony." Twilight Velvet asked.
"Don't worry, Velvet. This will all blow over once she's no longer grounded. We'll have our old Twilight back soon." He responded with a smile.
It was Friday! The second best day of the week, just before Saturday. Twilight was already at the school after walking with Shining Armor. She was about to head in the direction of her form room when she was stopped by Shining Armor. "Hey little sis’, where are you going?"
"To our form class... It's where we always go in the mornings." Twilight replied, slightly confused.
"Oh yeah, I forgot. It's still your first week and you don't know. Today is Friday which means it's Pegasus assemblies."
"What are Pegasus assemblies?"
"Now that is one thing I can't be blamed for. You've been here all week and you don't even know your house group?" Shining Armor was baffled by Twilight not knowing. As she was the brightest filly he knew, he thought that she would have noticed the big 'Pegasus A' sign in their form room. "Ok, well let me explain it to you. There are four house groups in the school and each pupil is assigned to a group as well as a class in those house groups. The four house groups are Pegasus, Unicorn, Earth-Pony and Alicorn. Our house is Pegasus and our class is A, that explains the big 'Pegasus A' sign that is hanging on our form room wall. It's also a way to help the school identify students." Shining finished his explanation and moved back onto the subject of what was happening at the moment. "So yeah, its Pegasus assemblies now which means we need to go to the school hall."
"Ok, BBBFF!" Twilight sand happily and trusted her brother to know what he was doing. She also remembered the information her brother had just given her. "How could I have been in this school for almost a week and not have the slightest hint that she was in a house group and what did Shining mean by big 'Pegasus A' sign in the form room? I never saw one. Either that or I didn't notice it because I thought it was irrelevant."
Twilight and Shining Armor made it to the school hall. She passed the double doors leading to it and was about to sit on the chairs that were designated to Pegasus A when she saw Vinyl's face hidden by a pair of oversized purple shades while she waved her hoof vigorously, mouthing 'Sit over here!'. Twilight smiled and walks forward towards to a free chair that was next to Vinyl. "Hey Twi! Do ya have any idea of what this assembly is about?"
"Nope. I only just found out that we had these 'assemblies' on Friday mornings. In fact, I only found out we were in Pegasus house."
"We'll find out soon, Mrs. Sparks should appear soon to introduce Princess Celestia."
"Princess Celestia?!" Twilight was shocked that the Princess would come out of her busy schedule and royal duties just to host a school assembly.
"Yeah! She always hosts the assemblies for every house group. She's higher in staff than Mrs. Sparks. Princess Celestia picked her for headmistress herself 'cause Mrs. Sparks was very close to her. She was once a personal student of the Princess and that's why Mrs. Sparks is where she is today. Long story short, Princess Celestia is Mrs. Sparks’ boss and is higher in power than her, but what do ya expect? This is her school, she created it and she's a Princess."
Just after Vinyl stopped explaining, Mrs. Sparks trotted on the stage at the front of the hall with a joyful smile as always. "Hello Pegasus house!" she shouted, gaining their full attention.
A small grumble and a weak effort of a greeting came from the tired students mouths. "Hello..." they all said at once.
It wiped Mrs. Sparks' smile right of her face and she gave out a small sigh. She tried again. "I said...." She took in a deep breath and was ready to shout. "HELLO PEGASUS HOUSE!"
A greater reply came from the students. "Hello, Mrs. Sparks!" they shouted back, getting the memo that the headmistress wanted them to wake up and pay attention.
"I hate it when ponies do that." Vinyl grumbled under her breath. It made Twilight release a quiet chuckle because of her reaction caused by Mrs. Sparks.
Mrs. Sparks continued with her speech. "Now students, once again, I bet you're all wondering what this week’s assembly is about. Well as you all know, it’s the twenty-second of October today, unless you're so tired you forgot the date, and it's only nine more days until Nightmare Night." As soon as the words 'Nightmare Night' left the headmistresses mouth, everypony's smile grew wide as they knew what it meant, free candy! They were now paying full attention of what was going on around them. "So, with no further delay, I introduce to you once again as I do every week, Princess Celestia!" With that, the students started to clap their hooves together repeatedly and some even stood up to stomp their hooves on the ground.
Princess Celestia heard the clapping of hooves, the stomping of hooves on the ground and the cheers from the crowd. She revealed herself from the red curtain that was built on the stage. She proceeded to walk to the center and sit down; she raised her hoof and started to smile and wave. She waited until the crowds excitement had disappeared before she started talking, once it did, she took in a deep breath to make herself ready for her first lines she had rehearsed. "Good morning Pegasus house." She said with a soft and welcoming tone. "As Mrs. Sparks said, Nightmare Night is in nine days. I bet you'll all be in costume, knocking on every door in the city, singing the famous Nightmare Night rhyme and getting free candy. Unfortunately for you, there is no such thing as a free lunch. As you eat bucket loads of candy, there will be something in those buckets to attack your teeth, those are cavities. Now some of you will whine when I announce these ponies as I bet none of you like to see them, but still try to give them the best welcome to my school for gifted unicorns. I introduce you to the ponies from Canterlot Pony Dental Care."
Vinyl moaned like everypony else in the room. She obviously felt the same way as the entire house. "The enemies of every colt and filly that has ever lived. They always become more of a threat near Nightmare Night, they threaten everything candy stands for. I shall not let them take it away from me because they think the candy will decay my teeth and I'll be in pain. The pain is worth it just it for the sweet, sweet taste of chocolate zombie ponies that are always given out." For some reason Vinyl was describing her rant as some type of prologue from an action story.
"Don't you think you're being a bit over dramatic? They're dentists, they're only warning us about the dangers of eating candy too much." Twilight replied to Vinyl’s rant.
Vinyl turned her head to Twilight and opened her mouth wide. She raised her hoof towards her mouth, more specifically, a badly damaged tooth. "This is why I don't like dentists. When my tooth was almost destroyed by candy, they put me through a lot of pain just to save it, I think it would have been easier to let it fall out."
"But there is no reason to hate them; they're only trying to warn us of the dangers of eating to much candy and not brushing our teeth." Twilight whispered. She knew her had to be quieter, ponies were starting to look at her and she knew it was rude to talk during an assembly.
Vinyl forced Twilight's head closer to her mouth. "Oh, I'm sorry Twilight. I don't think ya saw it properly, here, have a closer look." She forced Twilight to look at the decayed tooth. "This is why I don't like dentists." Twilight was about to be sick, the decayed tooth looked disgusting and she was about to throw up. Octavia was right; Vinyl did lack manners a lot.
"Eww! Vinyl! Get that away from me!" She screamed. Se forced her head away from Vinyl’s mouth, when she looked up; she noticed everypony was looking at the two because of the sudden scream that came from Twilights mouth. It was so random which made it worse for Twilight and Vinyl. They both gave nervous laughs and tried to hide themselves.
The assembly was very boring, even for Twilight and she was always willing to learn about anything. She was the first one out of the hall; she checked her time table that was written on a sheet of paper that was given to her on Tuesday. It read that her first lesson was an Equestrian Language lesson. It also read that she not only had Equestrian Language first lesson, but also last lesson. She quickly rushed over to Miss Turner's classroom in case she missed anything as the assembly ran a few minutes in lessons. When she finally arrived, she looked through the small window built into the door. She saw many other students writing on sheets of paper. She knew it would be so awkward for her walking into a quiet and peaceful class, disturbing the silence. Everypony's eyes would be looking at her. Twilight was very vunruble to stage fright, but she sucked up her courage, opened the door and walked in.
She walked in and found her seat, she managed to disturb the silence as little as she could with almost no hassle, but it was also inevitable that Page Turner would obviously notice her entrance and question her. Instead of asking Twilight from half way across the room and putting her on edge, Page Turner decided to get up from her desk, walk over with a few sheets of paper with her and ask her in a less noticeable way. She walked up to Twilight and asked her so she didn't make it an awkward moment for Twilight. Another reason for doing so is to not disturb the concentration of the class.
"Twilight, why were you late to class?" She asked quietly, not in an aggressive or stricken way either.
"Oh, sorry Miss Turner. It was Pegasus house assemblies today and I had to go." Twilight explained quietly. She didn't want to be the only pony talking or making noise, she had already walked in late. She felt so embarrassed, but Miss Turner soon ended the discussion so she didn't have to for long.
"Well we're revising for our exam that we have last lesson later in the day." Miss Turner placed the sheets of paper in front of Twilight as well as a pencil for her to write with. "Just write down the key words and what you'd need to know for the letter you're going to write as the exam entry." Miss Turner explained. She soon pondered back to her desk and continued with her own work. Twilight looked at the board and what was written on it, she then looked back down at the paper and pencil. She knew exactly what to do and started to write down her own revision sheet for the exam that was slowly creeping towards her in the near future.
It was a quiet lesson, although, her Equestrian Language lessons always were, especially with Miss Turner who loved her classes to be quiet. Twilight started to speed through the task assigned to her. She had written more than she needed as she wrote many things that weren't included on the chalkboard, but also everything that was on the chalkboard. Miss Turner praised her for it and she smiled. She knew she was ready for the exam and there was no doubt about it. Unlike the rest of the students who just put their papers back in their books and left them there because they were so desperate to leave their most hated lesson that they didn't even care if they failed, Twilight took her's with her. She put it in her saddle bag and thought she would take another look at it before the exam to refresh her memory. She was the last one out of the classroom which turned out to be an advantage since the rest of the class all barged through the door like animals, injuring them instead of taking their time.
It was forth lesson, her PE lesson with Mr. Shuttlecock. This time they weren't playing Badminton or Tennis. They were indoors, swimming in the schools pool next to the PE department. Students were asked to bring their own towel on Friday's. It was a good thing she remembered unlike Vinyl, who had forgotten hers and was punished with a fifteen minute detention straight after the lesson which went into lunch. Because of her forgetfulness, she had to sit out at the side wall of the room, sulking while other ponies had fun with their friends. It was a free lesson the students were enjoying, which meant they weren't asked to do anything or no tasks had been set for students. When there was a free lesson when they were swimming, they weren't forced to do any form of strokes or swimming related exercise, they were even aloud to get some inflatable balls out into the pool which was a disadvantage to Vinyl as she was missing all of the fun. The one time they get a free lesson, Vinyl forgets her towel. Students didn't even have to play with the inflatable balls if they didn't want to and could sit and do nothing. This was an advantage to Vinyl as her two friends decided to stay in the corner of the pool where she was closest to keep her company.
"Why are ya sayin' here with me? Why don't ya go have fun?" Vinyl asked. She didn't feel comfortable having her two friends with her and missing out on the fun when it was her who forgot her own towel. "It's my fault. Sure, I'm not happy about forgetting it today, but it was still my fault and ya shouldn't hang around me when ya could be having a bit of fun."
Octavia objected to Vinyl's statement quickly. She knew Vinyl was making herself feel bad when missing out on the fun didn't bother her or Twilight. "We don't care, Vinyl. We'd rather keep you company than for you to be on your own."
"Yeah!" Twilight butted in. "We'd have much more fun talking to you, our friend, than playing with a plastic ball. It wouldn't be much fun if it was only me and Octavia. It would need to be all three of us so it would be as fun as possible."
Vinyl gave a weak, but thankful smile towards her two best friends. "Thanks’ guys, I really appreacia-" She was cut off by a familiar voice. Twilight, Vinyl and Octavia recognized it immediately and by the sound of his voice that got their attention, he had obviously already forgotten about their deals with him.
"You! Mare who looks like she got struck by lightning!" Pork Pie yelled while he floated in the pool with duck themed arm bands around his shoulders. "How do you feel as the only one sitting out and missing out on all of the fun?" He mocked.
"I don't care, honestly. I have my two homies right here." She answered with a bit of confusion. "What are you doing?"
"Making fun of you three as I normally would. It amuses me much more than it should." Pork Pie kept himself on track with the subject. "Hey! Don't try to change the subject! Anyway, only two? What's worse is that when you say two, you mean these two losers! Lonely and a loser? Mare, thought life."
"Ya can't say anythin' against me when you're wearin' those ducky armbands in the pool." Vinyl shot back, making Twilight and Octavia laugh while Vinyl herself gave of a mild chuckle while she still attempted to look unaffected by Pork Pie's words.
"Hey! They're the only ones the school had for me to borrow in lost and found. At least I'm in the pool and didn't forget my towel!"
"At least we can swim."
"I can swim! Just not in the deep end of the pool because my hooves don't touch the ground and I can't keep myself above water. That's why I'm wearing these."
"If ya can't go in the deep end of the pool without somethin' to keep ya up for support like armbands, it means ya cannot swim. Stop tryin' to make ponies believe ya can when ya obviously can't."
"Vinyl! If you don't zip your mouth shut I will get my friends to beat you up!"
"Ya friends wouldn't do that because they have standards and know to not hit a mare, and why would ya even try to get them to beat me up? Are ya to much of a little filly to do it yourself?" Vinyl turned to her saddle bag and pulled out a bit bag holding five bits inside. She waved it in Pork Pie's face. "Remember this? The deal ya made with us to not ruin ya so called bullying carrer? "
Pork Pie's smile soon turned into a blank face and then a worried face and then a nervous face. "Oh, yeah... Now I remember heheh! Y-You know I was joking, right?"
"Didn't sound like a joke, and by the way ya sound right now, ya don't wanna break the deal. So I'm willing to keep the deal going as long as ya give me five extra bits as an apology." Vinyl smiled, knowing that she had once again trapped him with no other resolution for him to take.
He had to do it if he wanted to stay in this school and be cool. He didn't think about it because he immediately knew his answer as soon as Vinyl spoke her words, but the tone in his voice that was worry was replaced with anger that Vinyl had once again won another of his childish arguments. "Ugh! Fine! I'll give them to you after the lesson." he floated away as fast as his little ducky armbands could take him before anything else backfired for him.
Beside him were three mares dying to laugh at the embarrassing display by Pork Pie and the great victory that was won with words by Vinyl Scratch. Octavia was the first to calm her down from the contagious case of the giggles that was caused by Pork Pie's failure. "Great job, Vinyl! That was brilliant! He thought he could be clever, but sadly failed because of his forgetfulness."
Twilight was the second to cure herself from the laugh attack. "I don't think you'll ever be able to even attempt to insult someone when you're wearing giant yellow duck themed armbands. That's not the only way you made him look like an idiot either! He lost more money. There will obviously be no pastries from Doughnut Joe's for him this week."
As soon as Twilight's words hit Vinyl's ears, an idea came to mind. "Speakin' of Doughnut Joe's, the pastries from there are his favorite. I should go buy somethin' from there and wave it in his face."
Octavia's expression soon changed from happy to a disapproval-looking face. "Vinyl, you can't do that. You can only do something to him if he does something to you first. Otherwise it counts as bullying. Don't sink to his level."
Vinyl wasn't really listening to Octavia. She only heard what she said, but not the point of why she said it. Sure, she got something out of Pork Pie's failed attempt at bullying, but she was still angry. "Take his armbands off while he's in the deep end of the pool and he'll sink deeper." Octavia's face turned into an even more disapproving look. She shook her head in disappointment of Vinyl's words and decided to forget what had just occurred.
It was the end of Twilight's last lesson, her Equestrian Language lesson. Exam papers that they had just completed were handed in to Miss Turner and everypony began to talk out of the classroom door with happy faces for two reasons. The pressure of their exam was over and it was the start of the weekend. Two full days of freedom for the students, all but one, Twilight. She was still grounded till the end of the week. It annoyed her alot since she normally goes out to the stores in the center of Canterlot on the weekends. She lost five bits because of the punishment, so she didn't have much, but she did have those five bits Pork Pie gave her, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was that she wasn't aloud to go into the center of the city when she was grounded. She'll unfortunately need to wait till next week. The best part about next weekend was that it was the start of half-term. A whole week off for her, plus the two days off before the official half-term week started, but the week off wasn't the best part either. The best part was on the final day of the half-term week, it would be Nightmare Night and it'll be a whole night of Twilight's second favorite thing in the whole world, just before books, candy!
Twilight was the last to give Miss Turner her exam paper. Miss Turner smiled. "From what I've heard, this filly is meant to be super smart and could become a second Mrs. Spot. Now it's time to see if what some ponies are saying is true." she thought. "Thank you, Twilight." she said with another smile. "I'll mark them all tonight as fast as I can and the results should come to your door tomorrow in the mail with the rest of the practice exam papers, if you've done any."
"Thank you, Miss Turner." Twilight trotted through the door feeling extremely confident about her upcoming results. She ran out of the building and through the school gates where she met up with Shining Armor, at the ready to walk home with his little sister. "Come on, slow coach!" she shouted towards Shining Armor expecting him to quickly catch up.
Shining had a smile on his face, but it was a weirder out smile with a bit of curiosity mixed in. "You seem happy."
"That's because I am. It's also because I am awesome at learning things and completing exam papers."
"I'm guessing you had an exam today?"
"Yep. Just finished it final lesson."
"How do you feel about it?"
"Fine. I feel fine. Nothing else I can say about it."
"How do you think you did? Do you think you got at least over ninety-five percent?"
"I'm offended that you're doubting that I got below an A-plus." Twilight and Shining Armor started to make their way home, constantly talking about the exam until about one third of the way there when Twilight wanted to change the subject all of a sudden. "BBBFF?"
"Yes, little sis?" Shining replied. He noticed the sudden silence in Twilight's voice before she started speaking. He had a feeling something was either wrong or she was curious about something. Maybe even both.
"Can I ask you a question?"
He knew it. At this point he wasn't sure if he should be worried or not. But then he remembered. When he grew older, he wanted to join the Royal Guard. If he wanted that to be his future, he would need to get passed the worry of a question as he would face much worse. "Yeah, of course you can! Why would you think you can't? I'm your big brother!"
"I few days ago, Pork Pie was talking about a few things when trying to tease me. He-" Twilight was cut off by Shining Armor whose tone had become more serious.
"What!?" He shouted. His anger was quickly growing and rushing through his veins. "How long has he being doing it?!"
"Shining! I thought you knew about him already! But that doesn't matter. He's stopped teasing me and my friends now."
"Why?"
"W-what?"
"Why did he stop? Pork Pie doesn't just stop."
"He did just stop." Twilight didn't want to tell Shining about the bribe to keep her mouth shut. She knew she should tell somepony what she saw Pork Pie doing, but she didn't want to ruin her chances of getting more books. Twilight formed her straightest face she could and made herself look confident so it was hard for her brother to realize she was trying to lie. "I swear he did."
Shining Armor's eyes narrowed for a moment. He could swear he saw a trickle of sweat run down Twilight's forehead. "Alright... I believe you." He kept the same impression on his face while still glancing at her so he could see if she gave any signs of lying when she thought he wasn't looking. "So what was your question?" he added.
"What has Pork Pie said or done to you? I know Mrs. Cheerilee said something about you having problems with him before, so what did he do?" Twilight asked. Once again, Twilight's curiosity got the best of her, but there wasn't any harm in her big brother sharing with his little sister.
Shining Armor began his speech about Pork Pie. He struggled to think where he could start. "Uh... Pork Pie is a pony who gets a kick out of humiliating other ponies and bullying them. I don't know why he does it. He's never done anything to me physically, he's too scared to do that, but has called me names like he does with everypony else. There's not much to say about it. Maybe he has Little-Pony Syndrome or something. You know, just doesn't like bigger ponies. It would make sense since he likes to attempt to bully older and bigger ponies who attend the school.
"In other words, Pork Pie thinks he's tough when he's not. Also, because he's small, he thinks no pony will hurt him. I wouldn't hurt him, but somepony might and we will all shake their hoof for it." Shining smiled. Twilight thought it was because he was thinking about Pork Pie getting an unexpected hoof across his face, which when she thought of it as well, she couldn't help but smile too. Shining decided to continue with his explanation. "For some reason a lot of the younger students seem to act tough and think they're clever when they're hurting some pony’s feelings when they're not and it makes them look like jerks! It annoys me to think about it! Luckily, because it's the week end, I don't need to think about any of those jerks for another few days."
"Good for you, thank you for telling me that, BBBFF." Twilight pulled Shining closer hugged him. "Thank you for sharing." At that moment, everything was peaceful until a white and electric blue colored and hyperactive pony jumped in front of them.
"HEY TWILIGHT!" She yelled at the top of her voice before giving the purple unicorn the widest grin ever. It was starting to look creepy.
"AH!" Twilight was in shock. She didn't know it was physically possible to appear in front of somepony that fast. She shook her head, blinked twice and took a deep breath, allowing her to calm down. "Oh. Hello Vinyl, do you mind not doing that again? It scared me a tiny bit."
"Sorry, I didn't know you were a foal scared of her own shadow." Vinyl let out a small giggle while Twilight's eye's narrowed, eyeing Vinyl. "Anyway Twilight, I was wondering if you wanted to come with me and Octavia tomorrow? We're going to Doughnut Joe's."
"Sorry Vinyl, I can't. I'm grounded because I reacted in a bad way when Telltale was teasing me. I can't do anything fun except for read." Twilight’s face flashed with anger for a small moment, but then returned to normal. It was like a leakage of emotion when thinking about Telltale. Because of him, she was missing a fun time with her friends. "I really wish I could go, but I can't. If I'm lucky, maybe my parents might let me off early."
"That's lame!" Vinyl pulled out a small piece of paper out of her saddle bag along with a pencil. She started writing something onto it. "Look, if you do get off your punishment early, come along and meets us at my house at mid-day exactly. We'll wait for you a bit longer in case you do get a chance to come. My address is; seventeen, Hoofington Avenue, in the quiet area of Canterlot." She passed the piece of paper over to Twilight who grabbed it with her magic and popped it into her saddle bag.
"You live in the quiet part of Canterlot? I bet the neighbors despise you since you're always on your turntable with your records, especially since you’re so bad at what you do." Twilight let off a small giggle, knowing she'd gotten back at Vinyl for her scared little foal comment.
Vinyl wasn't pleased with her comeback. She knew she had to say something so she could have the last word. Luckily for her, she knew exactly what to say. "Oh, and Twilight? If you decide to come, don't forget to bring some spare diapers. We all know how easily you get scared. We don't want you to make a mess, do we?"
Vinyl trotted away happily, laughing at her brilliant comeback while Twilight stood there, gob smacked by the unexpected joke-intended insult. Shining Armor was also dying to laugh, he tried to be a good big brother and help her in this situation, but soon enough, he also burst out laughing and decided to mock her, making the moment worse for his little sister. He said it loud enough so Vinyl could hear him so she could have another laugh about it. "Hey Twilight, how does she know you wear diapers?!" He heard Vinyl laugh again in the distance. Shining moved his hooves to cover his mouth, muffling the laughs. Twilight slowly turned her head with an evil glare. Shining's laughter soon faded into a worried and terrified look. "Oh boy!" With those words, he ran home as fast as he could to escape the monstrous anger building up in his little sibling.
"Get back here you!" She yelled as she galloped after him.
"Twilight?" Night Light asked through the door, knocking it with his hoof. "Twilight!" He started to shout through the solid wooden door, trying to get his daughter up. "Twilight? Wake up; we want to speak to you. It involves your scores from the exams you did this week at school."
It was an early Saturday morning. At those words, Twilight's eyes snapped open, wide. She jumped out of bed and ran to the bedroom door, opened it and rushed out. "Coming Daddy!" Twilight teleported herself into the kitchen where her mother and father sat. "Hi Mom! Hi Dad!" She cheered.
Twilight Velvet cracked a small chuckle. "My, my, my! You're very hyperactive today."
Twilight moved closer to the table, pulled out a chair and sat down on it. "Only because Dad said it had something to do with my exam scores."
"Oh yes, your exam scores!" Twilight Velvet pulled out a piece of paper that was concealed in an envelope. "We're very impressed by the scores. I see that all of the worries we had about you having a hard time fitting into the new school weren't needed. 'A+' in mathematics and an 'A' in in Equestrian Language."
"We're very proud of you, Twilight." Night Light gave a bright pleasing smile. "So, as a reward we've decided to let you off your punishment two days earlier. You're no longer grounded."
"Really?!" Twilight asked with a squeal.
"Yes. Now go have some fun, you deserve it!"
Twilight's Days at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns
(Bonus Chapter) Part 2.5: Sunday
It was mid-day, Saturday and Twilight was delighted to get out of her house to do fun activities with her friends or to just do something fun anyway. She'd never been grounded before and would always hate it, even taking her books away would be a less painful punishment as being grounded. Twilight was standing outside of a house in the quiet part of Canterlot. She looked at the sign at the corner of the avenue and the door number, she looked at the Address on the note that Vinyl had passed to her before the start of the weekend. It read, 'seventeen, Hoofington Avenue', it was the right place, the house of Vinyl Scratch.
Twilight approached the door step and pressed the doorbell with her hoof. The chime that it activated could be heard on the other side of the door, but everypony else in the street probably knows that it's not the loudest source of sound in the house. The door was opened and a white unicorn with his black mane tied back stood in its place. He was wearing a pair of big thick reading glasses, they were resting on his muzzle and he had a book hovering by his side, he was using his magic to keep it eye level. He was looking Twilight up and down like he was checking out her features.
He smiled like he recognized Twilight, though they'd never met before. "Let's see. A purple unicorn with a bluish mane and tail and a Starry cutie mark. You must be Twilight Sparkle." He kept his smile, waiting for Twilight's reaction, though what she felt at that moment was obvious by her face.
Twilight's face said it all. She was stunned by the words spoken by a unicorn that she'd never met. A stranger who recognized her just by her features before he even saw her before, but she also looked extremely spooked by him. "Uh... Hi... Um... How do you know me?"
Still smiling, the unicorn explained himself. "How do I know you? Oh, I don't, but I can recognize that you would be you. We were only expecting one purple unicorn was a bluish mane and a starry cutie mark to appear on our door step - depending on weather you'd still be grounded or not because of that annoying brat, Telltale." His smile grew even wider and soon turned into small giggles as Twilight's reactions visible on her face became stronger.
"W-WHAT?! How do you know me? Are you stalking me?" Twilight started to shake and slowly back away, expecting the strange pony to something that is so devastating that she started to remember the stories her mother told her about meeting strangers at night. If this stallion was planning something, Twilight may not be seen again...
"I'm sorry," the stallions smile turned upside down as he realized the fear he was pouring into his guest. "I didn't realize how freaked out you were becoming, please accept my apology." He said calmly. Twilight's fear soon started to disappear as he apologized and started to explain himself. "I know about you because of my daughter, Vinyl. She talks about you a lot and I don't know if you know this, but she really likes you. She's probably told us everything about you she knows." His smile returned as he started to laugh. "We-We could write a book or two on how much we know so far!"
Twilight started to feel stupid. It was so obvious that a friend would talk about you to their parents, but if Vinyl's father knew how much he said he did, then that's a lot and there is much more Vinyl could discover about her to turn the books into a series! She didn't just feel stupid, she felt... Strange, but also surprised. Twilight didn't think Vinyl liked her so much, she didn't even consider Vinyl thinking of her as a good friend.
"Anyway, enough with all the dilly-dally, I better introduce myself." He held his hoof out in front of Twilight ready to shake. "My name is Vinyl Cover, Vinyl's father."
Twilight done the same with her hoof as they met. "I'm Twilight Sparkle; it's a pleasure to meet one of my best friends' parents!"
"You better come in, Twilight, winter is just around the corner and it's becoming colder extremely quick. I don't want you going home with the common cold after visiting a friend’s house for the first time. It'll look bad for us both." Twilight stepped inside and she wiped her hooves on the mat. She smiled at Vinyl Cover and gave a small nod to say, 'Thank you.’ "Vinyl and Octavia are waiting for you in Vinyl's bedroom upstairs. The furthest door down the hall." He directed.
As Twilight was about to make her way up the stairs, she bumped into a mare with a well styled mane. Her mane was electric blue, like Vinyl's and had a grey coat. She was wearing big earmuffs covering her ears, it looked sound tight. Twilight decided to say hello to her, after all, it was her house. "Um... Hello! I'm Twilight Sparkle; it's a pleasure to meet you." The mare completely ignored Twilight like she didn't even exist. "Um, excuse me?"
Vinyl Cover walked over to Twilight. "Don't worry, Twilight, she can't hear you." A mischievous smile slowly grew on his face. "Oh how I love to mess with my wife at times. I'm surprised she's still willing to live with me. You might want to cover your ears." He gave a wink towards Twilight's direction and took a deep breath, filling his lungs with air. Twilight got the message and covered her ears with her hooves, pressing them down as hard as she could to block the sound out as much as she could.
"SWEETIE!"
The sudden yell startled the mare. "AH! What? What? What's wrong?" She took the earmuffs of her head and threw them to the side with her magic. She also dropped the book that she held eye level with her magic.
"Heheh!"
"Vinyl! Why would you do that? Again!? You know I don't like it!" The mare started to calm down and her breathing started to return to normal. "You're a funny stallion, you know that?"
Vinyl Cover gave a sigh and then a slight chuckle. "I did that again because you've just completely ignored out guest here." He raised his hoof and pointed in the direction of which Twilight was, leaning on the stair banister.
The mare looked over and discovered the purple filly leaning on the banister. "Goodness! I'm so sorry I didn't see or hear you. You must be Twilight Sparkle; my name is Paper Thin, the wife of Vinyl Cover and the mother of Vinyl Scratch. I was only wearing these because Vinyl was playing her foghorn music that is called 'dub step'."
"Honey, she stopped playing about forty minutes ago." Vinyl Cover laughed.
"Yes but even when she stops playing, there is a ringing sound that remains in our ears as well as our neighbors ears." Paper Thin argued.
"It's fine, Mrs. Thin." Twilight replied. "I understand. Dub step is a terrible music genre in my opinion."
"I think all three of us agree. My husband doesn't like it either. How did she even get into that music? We're so quiet, Vinyl Cover used to create classical and jazzy music, you know, soft kind of music and I write books. We had no links to dub step. How can a filly so loud come from parents who are so quiet. We spend an hour a day reading in silence to relax every day for Celestia's sake!"
"I know, it's very strange." Twilight looked up to the top of the stair case. "I must go up there, I don't want to keep Vinyl and Octavia waiting any longer. They're not even sure if I'm coming or not." She started to make her way up the stairs. "It was a pleasure to meet you both." She said with a smile as she disappeared to the upper floor.
"Ugh! I don't wanna wait any longer, Octi!" Vinyl said in a huff. "I can get you arrested for depriving me of Doughnut Joe's!"
Octavia smiled and shook her head. It was a sort of reaction that a friend would give you if you were being your old stupid self. "So, you're going to get the Royal Guard because according to you, I'm depriving you of Doughnut Joe's?" Vinyl looked at Octavia as if she was stupid because she'd just said the same thing. "I take that expression on your face as 'I've just said that.' so I'll take it as a yes. You do realize if I was depriving you of Doughnut Joe's, I would have to keep you in here so you wouldn't have been able to get the Royal Guard."
"Oh... Ah didn't think of that. Forget about all of the depriving stuff." Vinyl sighed. "Can we just go? I'm hungry and want food. I don't think she's gonna come so we may as well get a move on."
Octavia rolled her eyes. "Damn it Vinyl! How many times do I need to tell you? Doughnut Joe's is not real food, it's junk food, the thing that'll make you fat. If we were going to eat real food, the choice of establishment would've been my choice and we would be going to a real restaurant for a proper meal with a glass of Dandelion Burdock, not a glass of fattening milk with an overpriced dough ring."
Vinyl gave a cocky smile. She knew that Octavia would think she was trying to be clever. "If it's not food, then why is it called junk food ?"
"Oh Celestia, will you please just shut your mouth for one day without saying something were you try to be clev-"
"No, you shut up, I'm being serious! Listen! That's not my mothers or fathers voice speaking." Octavia ended her conversation or debate turning into an argument so that they could listen in on the new voice in the house. "Wait, what!? Oh they did not just say that!"
Meanwhile downstairs, Twilight was nearing her conversation with Vinyl's parents and was about to come upstairs to her friends to leave for Doughnut Joe's. "It's fine, Mrs. Thin." Twilight replied. "I understand. Dub step is a terrible music genre in my opinion."
Octavia eyes went wide. "Oh, no..."
"How dare she say that about the ultimate genre of music?"
"Sadly, it is becoming the ultimate genre of music! Twilight and your parents are right in my opinion, dub step sounds terrible, but everypony is entitled to their own opinion."
"And classical puts me to sleep." Vinyl started pacing around her bedroom. She seemed to be very effected by other ponies’ opinions who are not the same as hers, but yet again, who isn't these days? "I'll get her back for that clever little comment of hers!" She started thinking quickly before Twilight got upstairs to her bedroom. She needed something to plan that could be planned quickly. "I know! I'll hide behind the door and scare her as she comes in. It's unoriginal, but effective!"
Twilight buts her hoof down on the last step of the staircase, she's on the top floor of the house, she starts to make her way to Vinyl's room where it's suspiciously silent. Twilight stopped moving, looking in the room. Luckily for Vinyl, Twilight stopped where she had a perfect view of her between the door's hinges and the wall. "Great! Right in view! I should be able to scare her easily now. " She thought to herself. Vinyl moved away from her wall behind the door so Octavia was in view. Vinyl moved her hoof over her mouth as a hoof motion to 'shut up'. Twilight started to move slowly into the room and Vinyl moved back to her original spot, she started to count in her head. "One... Two... "
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING BEHIND THE DOOR?!" Twilight yelled.
"AHHH!" Vinyl started hyperventilating because of the unexpected shock as Twilight started rolling around of the floor laughing. "Why did ya do that?"
Twilight rolled her eyes and sighed. "Did you really think I didn't know you were about to do the same to me?" Vinyl was silent. "I saw you hiding behind the door through the gap between the door and the wall."
Vinyl stood where she was, still in the corner of the room behind the door, stunned by Twilight's answer. "Wow. That was a first... Ya really observant."
"I've got a question, Vinyl. It came to me as soon as I met you're parents. Your parents prefer more relaxing genres of music such as Classical. They also read in silence. So, how can you be raised by parents who are so quiet and yet you're so loud?"
"I honestly don't know why. Maybe it had somethin' to do when I was really young and I don't remember it." Vinyl started thinking about all of the memories she had about her parents. As far as she could remember her parents had always been quiet. "Nope, I don't ever remember my parents being loud and hyper."
"But your Dad is called Vinyl Cover."
"Yeah, but they don't just put Dub step on Vinyl, they put all sorts of genres like on them like Classical. He also creates covers for albums and stuff." Vinyl's judging face returned, looking at Twilight as if she was as stupid as Octavia. "C'mon Twilight, even if ya don't listen to music a lot because ya to tie in with ya books, ya should still know that Vinyl wasn't just created for dub step. It would be such a waste of materials."
"I didn't know you cared for the environment, Vinyl." Twilight said in a surprised tone. "I didn't think it was your sort of thing. I've never heard of a dub step enthusiast who likes to 'go green'."
"I-I'm not." Vinyl stuttered, obviously lying, gave away by the eye's moving dramatically left and right, looking like she was trying to get out of the conversation. "There are not many plants at the places I go anyway. None, at the parties and not at Doughnut Joe's. The only plants I see every day are the odd one's at school and the one's outside out house planted in the grassy part of the Terrace."
Octavia moaned impatiently. "Ugh! As much as I want to save our planet by listening to all of the 'Global Warming' chaos that's always floating around the media, causing ponies to go crazy with worry, Doughnut Joe's 'food' will be stale by the time Global Warming affects us." At this point, Twilight and Vinyl were both silent, their attention on Octavia. "We've been waiting to go for a while, so can we please just go?"
"Yeah, just wait until we've finished this environment debate." Vinyl turned her head back to look at Twilight. "Now, I'm not interested about the environment, dub step is to hardcore for that stuff."
Octavia interrupted “Vinyl, please can we just walk and talk? It'll save time."
"Yeah, in a minute, Octi." Vinyl turned back to the debate again. "I've heard most, if not, all dub step tracks and not once have I heard a track about tree life."
"VINYL!" Octavia screamed, she'd ran out of patients. Octavia didn't care if Doughnut Joe's wasn't real food anymore, she was starving. "I've did my waiting! Twelve minutes of it! Those minutes were long and slow as time normally is when you're starving! So if you don't leave right now, I'll drag you out by your constantly moving tongue!" Octavia turned to Twilight with the same glaring eyes. "That applies to you too, Sparklebutt!"
Twilight and Vinyl were speechless. They looked at each other with worry by the threat. Vinyl's smile was the first to return. "Twilight, do you think it's hot when Octavia gets angry? I do." Twilight started laughing at her comment. While Octavia pounced for Vinyl.
"DO NOT GO THERE! GO BACK TO THE ELECTRICAL SOCKET WHERE YOU CAME FROM!"
"AHH! Sorry Octavia!" Vinyl screamed as she bolted down the stairs and out of the front door.
"Yeah, sorry Octavia!" Twilight repeated as she followed Vinyl. Octavia chased after her two mischievous friends. Soon all three were finally on their way to Doughnut Joe's.
The three ponies arrived outside of Doughnut Joe's shortly after they were chased out of Vinyl's house by a psychotic earth pony. When they opened the glass door and wandered inside, Octavia and Vinyl were shocked to see how empty the establishment was on an early Saturday afternoon.
"Now this is strange." Vinyl said quietly, trying not to disturb the peace inside the Doughnut shops walls. "This place is normally thriving with ponies on a Saturday. Why isn't there anypony here?" She asked.
Twilight, who also whispered, gave the answer to Vinyl's curiosity. "They're probably at the castle, wishing Princess Mi Amore Cadenza a happy birthday." Twilight's eyes became wide with realization. "Oh, no! I should have gone if I'd remembered! How could I forget my foal sitter’s birthday?" Twilight's tone started to become sadder and sadder by the second. She felt bad for her mistake.
"Oh, Twi. I'm sure she doesn't mind that you forgot her birthday. Plus, if it's a celebration, it'll be goin' on for hours. You can still wish her happy birthday then." Vinyl started to think back on what Twilight said, and then she realized that she said something that was not said everyday by a filly. "Woah, woah, woah. Did you just say that you were foalsittered by a Princess?" The name didn't sound familiar to Vinyl. "Princess Mi Amore Cadenza? It doesn't ring any bells."
"Yeah, I was foalsittered by a Princess. It's not a big deal." Twilight then thought about Vinyl's words and she was right, not many fillies can say that they were foalsittered by a Princess. Vinyl didn't recognize the name and by the expression on Octavia's face, confused and curious to why she'd never heard the name of a living Princess, neither did she. Twilight decided to explain her. "Princess Mi Amore Cadenza is also referred to Princess Cadence for short. She isn't as famous as Princess Celestia as she doesn't take on as much of a role. Princess Cadence is the Princess of love and is super nice. I should know because I know her personally." Twilight bragged. "I think her name comes up in Sexual Education at some point." Vinyl and Octavia both snickered. "Oh grow up you two." Twilight laughed.
"Ok, ok!" Vinyl laughed as she calmed herself down. "Let’s just take our seats and get served." Vinyl moved towards the counter and rang the bell to request service. A loud grunt came from the other side of the room. In a seat next to the window, there was a yellow unicorn with a brown mane, it was Pork Pie. "Ah, I thought he'd be here." Vinyl mumbled so her friends didn't hear, but it wasn't quite enough as Octavia heard every word.
Octavia's face wasn't giving off a positive expression towards Vinyl. "No Vinyl. You didn't 'think' he was going to be here, you knew . You only dragged us here so we could mess with him. Don't you realize that you're going to make matters with him worse and we'll all get into trouble?"
"Yeah, but he can't do anythin' to us since we found his little secret of underage smoking." Vinyl whispered making sure that Pork Pie didn't hear.
"That doesn't mean we can just tease him, Vinyl. You're taking advantage of him." Twilight pointed out. She didn't think Vinyl could be as cruel as she was being. Twilight knew she and Pork Pie had bickered a lot, but she wasn't expecting Vinyl to scoop down to her level and start the bickering.
Vinyl hit the service bell one more time with her hoof. Joe walked out from behind the curtain that hid the kitchen. Joe looked the same as he did since Twilight could remember. Very scruffy, very greasy and very messy. "Yes, thank you. Thank you for making sure the bell works." He said in a rough voice. Joe opened his eyes so he could see clearly, forcing them open and trying not to dose off. "Oh! Hey Vinyl, it's just you and your friends. Uh... How are you?"
"How are we?!" Vinyl asked in a worried tone. "How are you ? Rough night again, huh?"
"Yeah, you know me well, Vinyl, but that's what happens when you become a number one customer, you become good friends with staff." Joe realized he was drifting from the conversation and shook his head to wake himself up to get himself back on track. "Yeah, I had a long night last night. I was asked to bake all of the goods for Princess Cadence's birthday party and the ponies who were attending."
"Yeah, that's the everyday life of Canterlot's best goods baker, but still worth the money right?" Vinyl asked, smiling. Joe nodded back. Vinyl decided to end their chat there since their friends would be waiting. "Anyway Joe," she put the bits on the counter. "Can I have SIX PINK GLAZED DOUGHNUTS PLEASE? TWO FOR ME AND EACH OF MY FRIENDS!" Vinyl shouted, making sure that Pork Pie could hear her. She was mocking him. Vinyl knew his favorite doughnut was pink glazed and she was buying them with his money.
Joe placed six pink glazed doughnuts on a tray and hoofed it over to Vinyl. "That'll be six bits please, Vinyl." He held his hoof out, patiently waiting to be paid.
Vinyl searched everywhere; she didn't have enough to pay the bill. "Uh, sorry Joe, I only have five. I guess I'll have t-"
"Calm yourself, Vinyl. Just give me the five bits and the sixth doughnut is on the house. You're a good customer and I'm not short on money." Joe smiled. Pleased with himself for helping a long known customer and friend.
"Oh wow! Thanks' Joe, you're a life saver." Vinyl picked up her tray with her magic and moved it to a table near by Pork Pie. Neither Twilight nor Octavia approve of Vinyl seating choice. "Come on then, silly fillies, sit down and dig in!" Twilight and Octavia looked at each other nervously. They knew that their time in Doughnut Joe's will only end badly. Vinyl took a big bite out of her first pink glazed doughnut, devouring almost half and shoving it down her thought without chewing or even tasting it. She ate like a pig. "HHMMMM! THESE PINK GLAZED DOUGHNUTS REALLY HIT THE SPOT, DON'T THEY FRIENDS?!"
Octavia was starting to lose her temper again, she seemed to get more and more stressed every time Vinyl tried or succeeded to get Pork Pie's attention. "Vinyl! For Celestia's sake! Will you stop that?" Octavia sighed before continuing talking. "If you don't want to get your cocky white head kicked of your body, I suggest you do so."
"Haha! Octavia, we've known him for a few weeks now and has threatened almost everypony in our class at least once. If he was going to do somethin' then he would have done it already." Vinyl laughed. "Plus, even when he gets his sidekicks to back him up, he still runs away when you threaten him back."
"Vinyl, if he doesn't do it, eventually I will. You're in one of those moods where you annoy friends and enemies."
"Ahem!" None of the three ponies had noticed that Pork Pie had moved from his seat just next to the window and was now standing behind Vinyl, towering over her as she was sitting down. The three ponies turned to face him. "I gave you my own bits to keep my secret a secret, not for you to taunt me. I'm still willing to keep our deal going, but I will get you three back for that. One way or another." Those were his final words as he stormed out of the establishment in an angry mood.
"Yeah," Vinyl laughed, harder than before. "Right!" Twilight and Octavia looked at each other again nervously. They were taking the problem seriously, unlike Vinyl. Vinyl had started something that would make her school life at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns a misery and she didn't know it.
