Author's Note

Wow, just wow. I never expected so many people to like this story. It's a MASSIVE improvement from my last story. Sorry about releasing this chapter so long after the first one, but I had a huge project to present last Tuesday. But now that winter break's here and the homework load has nearly disappeared, I should be able to pump out more of these babies before I have to get back to school. Now, to be honest, I'm a little sad that nobody understood the Inheritance Cycle references: Fiernen, Bright Scales. Oh well, the series is pretty old, so I doubt many people still read it anymore.

But enough of me, let's get on with the chapter!

Odd, that wasn't supposed to happen

The sun had yet to rise when Bright's alarm clock went off. He groaned and, without opening his eyes, reached out and hit the snooze button unnecessarily harshly. He immediately fell back to sleep. Five minutes later, it went off again. He groaned again, then cracked open his eyelids and turned off the alarm completely. He slowly sat up in his bed and rubbed his eyes, yawning.

This was one of his least favorite routines. While it was definitely necessary if he wanted to stay in shape, sometimes he wondered if waking up at 5 AM was really worth it.
With some effort, Bright managed to roll out of bed and stumble over to his closet. He pushed open the doors, revealing some training gear: Adjustable weights for his hooves, weighted exercise clothing, and two long, coiled lengths of red rope. At the end of one was a shining, metal spike. The other held two silver metal spheres within a sealed pouch.

Bright grabbed the second and hung it on a loop on his belt. This one he used for training because the spheres had much more weight to them than the spiked rope dart. The latter he used for demonstrations and sparring matches.

Without missing a beat, he quickly and quietly strapped on the training garments and weights. Bright closed the closet door and sneakily exited his room, making sure to shut the door behind him.

He stepped into the still-dark halls. He examined his surroundings and whispered to himself, "Alright then...now what path did Twilight take again?"

It took him some time, since he knew nothing about this building's layout by heart, but finally he found himself at the same entrance that he came in from yesterday.

The air was cool outside, so he inhaled deeply, savoring the rejuvenating effect.

"Alright then," he muttered. "Let's get started."

TWO HOURS, THIRTY-NINE MINUTES LATER...

Bright staggered through the door to his dorm, breathing very heavily and drenched in sweat. He stood there for a few minutes, then gathered the strength to quietly close the door. There, he drunkenly made his way to the bathroom and locked the door. He stripped down fully, set everything off to the side to air-dry, and stepped into the shower. Ten minutes passed until he stepped out of it. He was damp from the shower but his smile was one of content. He sighed in relief; that shower really did wonders in helping him recover.

As he wrapped a towel around his waist, a knock on the door surprised him. That's strange, he thought. If what I read on the schedule was right, then most of the students don't wake up until an hour from now.

Nevertheless, he answered it, though he prudently opened it a small amount.

It was Principal Celestia.

She was holding in her arms a cardboard box with what Bright could only guess was his school uniform. His suspicions were confirmed when Celestia handed it to him.

"Here's your uniform. Let me know if anything doesn't fit right." she said. He nodded in thanks, took them, and closed the door. He took a moment and peeked inside. Internally, he sighed. Oh, boy.

About an hour later, he was back in his bedroom, waiting for the others to wake up. He was wearing the school uniform that the principal had ordered for him: A red and yellow long-sleeved dress shirt, black pants, and a black blazer.

He had put on the outfit, and everything fit perfectly. Bright had to give Celestia some credit: she sure knew how to make good estimates on what sizes a pony wore.

His normal morning routine done, he had spent the last sixty minutes drawing a bunch of stick figures. He was using them as models for when he made details later on. He had just finished drawing out the basic outline of the characters and had started putting in the basic shapes when somepony knocked on his door.

Bright swiftly tucked the drawing into a drawings portfolio he made just for that purpose, then strode over and opened it up.

"Oh good morning, Twilight." he said brightly. She was dressed in her uniform as well.

"Morning Bright." she replied. "I see you've already gotten your uniform."

"Yup." He held out his arms. "So, what do you think?"

"You look great." she said.

"Thanks."

"Ready to go?" she asked.

"Almost; can you gimme a minute?." he requested.

"Ok. Just don't take too much time." she added. He chuckled. "I won't."

Twilight went back to the dormitory lobby where all of the other girls were waiting.

"So, he set?" Rainbow asked. Twilight shook her head. "No, he said he needed a minute."

Soon, Bright walked out of his room, shouldering his backpack. "I'm ready. Let's go."

"Come on, everypony. We don't wanna be late for class, right?" Sunset reminded them, and all eight of them hurried off to their first class.

When they got inside the school, Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna were waiting for them in the hall.

"Good morning, you all." Celestia brightly greeted.

"Good morning Principal Celestia." They all replied. "Good morning Vice-principal Luna."

The two older women turned to Bright. "Well, Mr, Scales, how is the school uniform working out for you so far?"

"It fits great, ma'am." he said.

"Good. Now then, off you go to your classes!" Celestia added, and they all hurried off.

The group quickly made it to their classroom. Bright's appearance didn't go unnoticed. By the contrary, the mares started smiling and waving at him.

"Oooh! Check out his outfit!"

"I know, he's even more adorable now."

Bright's face reddened and he kept his head low as he walked to his seat, though it wasn't helping to stem the flow of gossiping and staring at all. Throughout class, he saw many of them winking and flashing more smiles in his direction and generally flirting blatantly with him.

It's alright, Bright, he repeated to himself. Just ignore them...don't feel scared...

His gaze then drifted to stare at some of their rears. He shook his head.

...And stop doing that, you moron! he scolded himself.

Later on, it was Gym class. Bright received his gym uniform from the principal and was now changing into it outside of the locker room. But his mind was buzzing in restlessness; he could hardly believe that he was so close to a mares' locker room.

Calm yourself, pal. he thought. I know it's exciting and all, but peeking is NOT what you should be doing. I seriously doubt they'd forgive me for doing that.

When he was done changing, he went onto the track. An adult pegasus was already there. She sported hair spiked up and colored like fire, a silver whistle around her neck, and aviator sunglasses.

She noticed him walking over and smirked at him. "So you're that male student that Principal Celestia brought in." she said.

"Yes ma'am. My name's Bright Scales." he answered. "You the coach?"

She nodded. "Coach Spitfire." the gym instructor introduced.

"Pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise." She started inspecting his physique. "Hmmm...you look fit enough, but we'll see how well you do in my training." she commented.

"Really?" Bright said, surprised. "I always thought I looked like a stick figure."

Spitfire shrugged. "Not surprised. You've got the figure of a swimmer: deceptively thin, but packing a lot of energy and endurance."

Soon thereafter, the rest of the students had arrived. Coach Spitfire began their class with some laps around the track. Rainbow was at the front, while Bright found himself jogging slowly in the middle of the group, and all the while the coach kept yelling things like: "Come on, pick up the pace! Get all that lead outta your legs!"

Rainbow's pretty fast. Bright idly noted. But she can go faster than that, I can feel it. An idea popped into his mind. His mouth curled into a grin as he contemplated it. I guess I'll just have to pull it out myself.

With that, Bright picked up the pace, steadily getting faster and passing other mares as he did so. Soon, he was running right behind Rainbow. He'd slowed down to a steadier speed to conserve his energy.

"Hey Rainbow! Behind you!" Bright shouted excitedly. He couldn't stop himself; he just had so much adrenaline racing through his veins.

Rainbow swiveled her head and glanced behind her. She did a double-take when she realized who it was. Bright couldn't help but laugh a little at her. He waved jovially at her.

"How's it going?" he called out.

"Good!" she replied in kind. "You're pretty fast." Then she smirked.

"But not fast enough!" With that, Rainbow picked up the pace, and Bright copied her action, this time managing to get neck-and-neck with her. She glanced to her right and there he was, much to her surprise.

Huh, he sure wasn't kidding when he said he was fast, she thought. But I wonder...does he have the endurance to back it up?

Wow, she doesn't even look tired, he noticed. Then Rainbow picked up the pace, and Bright followed by her side. The two kept at it: Rainbow increasing the bar, and Bright quickly matching her speed. Both passed everypony else multiple times. And the whole time this was going on, Coach Spitfire watched them, utterly spellbound.

No one had ever come CLOSE to rivaling Rainbow Dash's speed, and this Bright Scales colt was easily going neck-and-neck with her. She was so shocked that she didn't notice how none of the other mares were running anymore.

Eventually, it became clear that the two were tiring out. Rainbow was panting through her mouth, while Bright was breathing faster through his nose. The former looked back at the latter, stunned. How the heck is he not stopping?? she wondered.

Bright looked back at her and their eyes met. He shocked her even more by flashing a smile. Then he did something that made her almost stumble to a stop:

He surged ahead and SPRINTED.

For a moment, she was shocked. Then her face became a mask of determination and she let loose a loud yell. She floored it and raced after Bright, sprinting forward with all her might. And slowly, ever so slowly, she came closer and closer...they were neck-and-neck again...there, she did it! She passed him!

Rainbow glanced over her shoulder to get a good look at his surprised face--

Her smug expression changed to one of confusion, and she slowed herself to a halt, then fully turned and looked around. Where did he go? Rainbow thought, panting very heavily. He was just there, I know he was!

She felt a hoof on her shoulder, and behind her stood Bright Scales.

He looked just as tired as she did, with his form hunched over in fatigue. But his face held a weak grin.

"Great job. I've never....raced somepony....so fast." he managed to pant out.

After she got over her initial shock, Rainbow turned to face him properly, then mirrored his smile and held out a sweaty hand.

"Thanks. You're not....so bad....yourself." she replied. Bright took her offered hoof, and they shook. But this time, they were shaking in mutual praise.

Their eyes locked once more, but now they held it. They would've stayed like that for much longer, but they were interrupted by a deafening squeal.

"OH MY CELESTIA! BRIGHT, THAT WAS AMAZING!!!" one mare screamed as she raced over to the duo. She wasn't alone; trailing behind her was practically the entire gym class...and they were heading straight for Rainbow and Bright.

Bright's pupils shrank to the size of pinpricks and his mouth fell open in fear at the fast-approaching mob. Hidden reserves of energy he never knew he had burst forth, sending more adrenaline pumping furiously through his body. The poor stallion scrambled upright, all traces of fatigue gone and replaced by utter terror. He turned tail and booked it as fast as he could in the opposite direction, trying to get away from the mob.

Twilight, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Sunset, Applejack, and Rarity were the only other ones who didn't join them. Instead, they watched the whole spectacle helplessly.

"We've got to do something!" Rarity exclaimed. She tried to follow them, but Applejack stopped her.

"Rarity, there's nothing we can do." she said. "Besides, it looks like he's got it handled."

"That's ridiculous! The poor dear's gonna get trampled if we don't do something!" she spat back as she struggled to get free.

"AJ's right, Rares." Twilight added. "Look at where he's running." She pointed.

They other five followed her finger back to Coach Spitfire's motionless figure. Realization dawned on Rarity.

He was heading for the coach. It seemed that he hoped the presence of him being chased by a mess of mares would snap her out of trance.

Thankfully, the coach blinked twice, then her shocked expression became one of anger. Without hesitation, she snatched up the whistle she had dropped and blew it, hard.

Everypony stopped in their tracks. Spitfire's face was tomato red, and she looked ready to get physical. She stomped past Bright and over to the now-terrified group of students.

"WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?!" she shrieked. All of the mares quailed in fear before Spitfire's furious gaze. "THAT IS NOT HOW YOU ALL ACT!"

"YOU'RE NOT A BUNCH OF DITZY HIGH SCHOOLERS! I EXPECTED MUCH MORE OUT OF YOU ALL THAN THIS!!" she continued.

Bright and the other seven watched the whole scene as Spitfire ranted on them for a while longer, then ordered the others to continue running without stopping 'til she said so.

The coach turned to the rest of the mares who were still on the track and motioned them over. When all seven of them were gathered around, her expression softened.

"So, did you all know that Mr. Scales would react like that?" she asked.

"Y-yes ma'am." Fluttershy replied quietly.

"He's agoraphobic, so he can't handle large-scale chaos directed at him like that." Twilight explained.

"I see. You all may go and shower yourselves off. You at least have the self-control to not freak out over everything." The coach glanced at Bright, who was still standing where he'd stopped. "You too, Bright. It wasn't your fault."

"But where do I shower, ma'am?" he asked. Spitfire inwardly sighed. She'd forgotten that he was a colt.

"Ok, do you know where the groundkeeper's shed is?"

He nodded an affirmative. "Well, you'll be showering in a stall near the shed."

He gave another nod, then jogged away. Spitfire looked back at the group of students that remained. Most of them had stopped running in favor of watching their conversation.

"Did I tell any of you to stop??" she demanded. "Keep going, you fillies!"

Meanwhile, Bright finally found the shower Coach Spitfire had told him to find.

Shower's little small, huh? he thought. Ah, well. It'll do.

He took a quick shower, then toweled himself dry and hurried to his locker before anyone could notice. There, he quickly changed back into his uniform and placed his gym clothes back in the locker. Then he strolled back into the building and waited until the seven mares had arrived.

"Took you all long enough." Bright said.

"Well, you can thank her for us taking so long." Applejack explained, gesturing to Rarity.

"Hey, am I not allowed to look my best after gym?" she inquired as she unconsciously ran a hoof through her mane.

Applejack rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever."

"So Bright, I'd like to ask you something." Rainbow said.

"I know what you're gonna ask," Bright interrupted her. "How did I get so fast?"

"Well, before class Coach Spitfire told me that I had the physique of a swimmer: thin but very strong." he explained. "Plus, I do all sorts of physical activities."

"I like to sing, which helps my lung capacity. I enjoy fencing, which aids in reflexes, aim, and hoof-eye coordination. My speed, endurance, and thin figure are probably from the fact that I DO swim a lot." he elaborated.

A sudden growling stopped him. Pinkie pressed a hand to her stomach.

"Eh-heh, sorry but gym always gets me hungry." she explained sheepishly.

"You're not one to complain, Pinkie. That race with Rainbow's made me famished." Bright agreed.

"Then let's go get some lunch." Sunset said, and the eight friends headed to the cafeteria.

When they arrived, it became obvious how widely news of Rainbow and Bright's little race had spread.

All conversations died down and plunged the whole room into silence. Everypony else turned to stare at the eight friends, more specifically, at Bright. The lone colt unconsciously shrank away, afraid of a re-do of what had happened during gym.

"What're y'all starin' at??" Applejack demanded. "There's nothing to see! Go back to your food!"

The cafeteria slowly regained some of its noise, but it was noticeably suppressed. The farm pony simply huffed in annoyance. "Come on, y'all." she sighed to her friends.

They all hurried to get their lunches, then trotted over to a deserted table. There, they ate in silence. Finally, Sunset shattered that barrier and asked Bright a question: "Sooo...erm, so when are you gonna show us that rope-dart of yours, Bright?"

Bright halted and lifted his gaze to look at the unicorn thoughtfully. "After school. I'll show you all after that tour."

He cracked a small smile. "You DO remember saying you'd do that, right?"

"Of course we did!" Twilight answered. "I'm the one who thought of it in the first place."

She suddenly looked up at something behind Bright and her expression immediately soured. Curious, the unicorn colt looked over his shoulder. Walking over to them was another unicorn. She had shoulder-length, snow-white hair and electric-blue skin.

"Why, hello there." she said. "You're the colt everypony's been talking about, yes?"

"Yes, I am." Bright said cautiously.

"I'm the Great and Powerful Trixie. But you can just call me Trixie."

Bright stared at her blankly. "Great and Powerful Trixie?" he repeated, curious. "That your stage name or something?"

She smiled slyly. "You could call it that. I'm a magician." Trixie said while puffing out her chest with pride.

"Oh...that's cool. Maybe you could show me some other time." he answered. He felt something strange stir within him when he talked with the blue unicorn. It certainly wasn't lust, he'd felt that before at his old school. It was...it was...

Ah, whatever. Not like it matters, really. Bright thought.

"Well I guess I'll see you later, Bright. See you later." Trixie suddenly said. With that, she turned around with a flourish and trotted away. She made sure that the cautious colt got an eyeful of her butt as she walked off. Bright just stood rooted where he was. His left lower eyelid was partially closed as he took an expression that just blared out, Dafuq?

He shrugged it off and walked back to the other seven. When he took a seat, however, he noticed that all of their gazes were fixated on Trixie's retreating form, their faces adorned with identical scowls.

Bright raised an eyebrow. "Ummm...what's with all the hateful looks?"

"Bright, you need to be careful when you're around Trixie." Sunset warned. Her reply only made Bright more confused.

"Why?"

Twilight turned and looked at him with a serious expression. "Bright, Trixie is notorious for seducing colts. It's been one of her favorite things to do."

"And now with you here, this is like a dream come true to her."

Bright suddenly understood what he was feeling earlier. It wasn't an emotion. Instead, Bright realized that it was suspicion. Suspicion that "The Great and Powerful Trixie" was hiding something.

Hmph, Great and Powerful...gimme a break, he thought.

"Alright alright, I'll be careful." he assured. That calmed the mares down considerably. As they ate, Bright noticed something else:

"You'd think that a lot more mares would be mobbing us about our race, Rainbow."

Rainbow looked around as well. "Yeah. Then again they might be waiting until after school, so let's all lay low for now."

Everypony nodded; they couldn't think of a better solution. The rest of lunch and the day passed in a blur for Bright, and soon the young colt was being led around the school by Sunset, Pinkie, Applejack, and Fluttershy.

The first place they went was back to the track field. There, a variety of different sports were currently in practice: Soccer, softball, pegasus racing, magical duels, and more. Bright looked up to watch the pegasi mares practice and was surprised to see Rainbow Dash at the head. She flawlessly performed a series of complex acrobatics, one after another.

The colt just stood still, staring in wonder at the twisting aerial dance. He blinked.

"Wow, just wow...Rainbow's amazing, isn't she?"

"That she is,. Makes sense, though, since her lifetime goal is to become a Wonderbolt." Sunset agreed. "Come on, we still have to show the rest of the school."

They arrived in the indoor pool. There, Bright saw the swimming team in action and he had to admit: They were good. But before he knew it, he found himself intensely analyzing their techniques--

"Hey, Bright!" Pinkie's voice shook him out of his daze. He blinked, then smiled at the pink Earth pony. "Yeah, I'm cool." he reassured. "I was just looking at the swimmers' techniques, and well...." He trailed off.

"Well what, sugahcube?" Applejack pressed.

Bright turned to stare at the swimming team, who had all stopped to listen to whatthe colt had to say. "Well...you're all taking breaths way too frequently. Try every seventh or ninth stroke or so."

Surprise rippled through the aquatic mares. They'd always thought they were fine in that area.

"Hey, foal. How are we supposed to do that?" One of the mares demanded.

Bright tilted his head. "That's simple. Try the 3579 exercise. It's an exercise that's 4 laps per set, where you breath every third stroke for the first lap, then every fifth stroke, and so on. 10 sets."

The colt continued. "This exercise teaches you how to control your breathing and strengthens your lung capacity. I'm not saying that every fifth stroke is bad, it's just that it's a good idea to aim higher than normal."

"Well, I'd better get going. See you all later!" With that, Sunset, Pinkie, Bright, Fluttershy, and Applejack departed. The others just floated there, still surprised at how professional the little freshcolt was.

"Wow Bright. Ah didn't know you knew so much about swimming." Applejack commented.

Bright chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "Heh heh, well my mother loved to swim herself. She taught me all sorts of tricks and exercises."

"Sounds like you have an awesome mother!" Pinkie proclaimed, unnecessarily loud.

Bright winced at her declaration, but then he smiled in affirmation. "Right. Now, can we please finish this tour? There's some things I would like to take care of."

The mares thought that was a good idea, so they hurried along. They quickly showed him the various classes, gymnasium, and library.

Their last part of their tour was the auditorium. Bright was caught off-guard by how huge it was. If he hadn't known where he was, he would've thought they'd just led him into a movie theater. On the stage, Bright saw Rarity working methodically on a costume.

"Rarity here designs and creates the outfits for all of the plays and productions that our school does." Sunset explained.

"Hey Rarity!" Pinkie called out.

The white unicorn looked up from her work when she heard somepony calling her name, and smiled when she saw that it was Bright and the others who were giving him that tour Twilight had suggested.

"Oh hello, girls and Bright. I was just reviewing some details for our upcoming talent show." she said.

Bright looked around at the vast array of dresses and outfits. "My goodness Rarity. Did you make ALL of these yourself??" he asked in surprise.

"Well...yes, darling. I did." Rarity confirmed sheepishly.

"Oh my Celestia, Rarity. You're incredible." he breathed in awe.

"W-Why t-t-thank you, B-Bright. T-That means a-a lot t-to me." she stammered as she blushed.

Then Bright remembered something that she had mentioned. "Did you say you're working on the outfits for the talent show?"

"Yes I did. Why, are you interested in it?"

"Yeah. Sounds like a good way to come out of my shell for once." Bright said.

The ponies said their goodbyes, with Rarity promising she'd meet up with them again once she finished on more costume, then headed outside.

"And there you have it, Bright. That concludes our tour of Canterlot University!" Pinkie enthusiastically proclaimed.

"Welcome aboard!"

Pinkie playfully hit Bright's shoulder, accidentally sending him falling in Fluttershy's direction.

He slammed into her, and the two fell to the ground. Thinking fast, Bright grabbed her sides and reversed positions so now he had his back to the ground instead of Fluttrershy. He squeezed his eyes shut as he waited for the impact.

They hit the grassy ground with a THUD.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry, Bright!" Pinkie exclaimed as she and Sunset rushed over to help them up. "Are you two--"

Pinkie never finished her sentence. Sunset's and her's jaws dropped at the scene before them.

Fluttershy and Bright were lying on the grass, Flutters on Bright. Their eyes were closed, Bright's arms wrapped around her back, and they were kissing deeply.

Huh? What's that soft thing that's on my lips? Bright thought in confusion. He cracked his eyelids open a hair, then they fully shot open when he saw Fluttershy kissing him. He made a strangled sound, and her eyes flew open too. When she realized their predicament, the two panicked and struggled to extricate themselves. Finally, they managed to scramble to their feet.

Fluttershy was beet-red in the face as she tried to stammer out an apology. "I-I-I'm so so sorry, Bright! I-I don't know what came over me! I-"

Bright shushed her with a raised hand. He was definitely embarrassed, but he struggled to hide it for her sake.

"It's alright." he calmly said.

"Umm, you two have got a little problem..." Pinkie prompted very quietly.

The colt and mare turned to look at the pink party pony, then followed her gaze. Both of their breaths caught as they saw everypony on the courtyard gawking at them.

"Fluttershy! Who did you think you are, putting the moves on Bright like that!" Trixie reprimanded Fluttershy.

Bright felt a small spike of anger flare up within himself. Who was she to be talking to Fluttershy like that?

But that anger was replaced with terror when a replay of gym class ensued; all of the mare students dropped everything they were doing and barreled towards him and Fluttershy. All he could see, however, was a single figure's silhouette sprinting closer, shrouded in darkness. It was massive, at least 8 feet tall and it emitted a high-pitched, mechanical scream. Only one thought flew through Bright's panicking mind: RUN.

"Come on!" Bright yelled and seized Fluttershy's hand with his own, then the duo sprinted for dear life while an angry mob of mares tore after them in hot pursuit.