Orientation

The thick stone walls of the fortress that was Canterlot Palace had seen much in the countless years since their construction. They had survived two rebellions, six sieges, an invasion, The Great Calamity, and a swarm of plundering dragons. Even so, the storied stones were no match for the excitement of the several thousand first year students who crowded the pyramid steps of the outdoor amphitheater.

The entirety of the marble colossus seemed to be alive, so heavy were the reverberations running through the stone as the voices of excited youth overflowed from the open air theatre at deafening levels. Row upon row of bright eyed students lined the stadium seating, pairs yelling over each other in attempts to carry on conversation, speculation, or introductions. The noise and excitement of the crowd seemed to spread like wildfire, anticipation mounting as they waited for orientation to begin and the dean to take the stage, and it seemed like no one was immune to the wash of adrenaline surging through the crowd. Well, almost no one.

About fifteen rows up from dead center sat a solitary grimace; or rather a solitary girl wearing a grimace across her otherwise pretty face. She puffed her lower lip out, trying to blow her violet and rose bangs out of her eyes; this was ridiculous, while she was all for formality and protocol, there was nothing that Twilight Sparkle hated more than crowds. Especially loud crowds. The lavender-skinned magician pulled the purple blazer of her uniform tighter around her, almost as if she was trying to disappear into herself so that she wouldn't have to endure the crowd any longer. But while that proved impossible even for her, it did save her the awkwardness of rubbing elbows with her loud neighbors.

It wasn't until the setting sun touched the tip of the marble wall of the amphitheater behind her signaling the beginning of the proceedings, did she finally relax. Or at lease let go of a fraction of her tension. A hush fell over the crowd in ripples, silence spreading through the crowd as the moon crested over the stage. The rapid shift startled the girl, as what had only a matter of seconds ago been a rowdy crowd full of excitement and noise, was now a veritable statue garden. Hardly a twitch could be seen in the crowd as they stared with bated breaths, eyes fixed on the figure slowly stepping into the stage's solitary spotlight.

Even the girl's own breath seemed to catch in her throat as soon as that first satin-clad leg passed into the beam of light. Inch by tantalizing inch, the figure seemed to appear, time seeming to slow down to accommodate her entry. When she had stepped fully into the light, the figure stopped to smile at the crowd for a moment, giving Twilight ample time to burn her visage into her mind, not that it was unfamiliar to her already. A rich gown of black satin lay draped across her slender figure, clasped only over the left shoulder, the gown pooped generously around her chest, the white skin of her exposed shoulder contrasting beautifully with the rich fabric. Bright pink eyes and a sculpted face peered out from behind long locks of pale rainbow hair that obscured her left eye from view. Hanging around her neck from a golden chain was a bright orange gem which had been carved into the shape of a stylized sun, the flickering light reflecting from the stone moving her appearance past merely stunning and into the very definition of divine.

She looked out over the assembled crowd for another long moment before she began to speak; and when she did, it was in a clear and powerful voice, soft words gripping her audience in a tender yet absolute embrace. "I personally welcome you all, and congratulate you for making it this far." Her voice rang out pure, a voice worthy of the diarch which it belonged to. "You are the best and brightest of the new generation, the next sorcerers, philosophers, knights, politicians, and leaders of Equestria." She paused to look out across the crowd once more, her gaze seeming to meet that of each assembled student; a feeling that sent a shiver through Twilight's spine as she felt their eyes meet for the briefest of moments. "Each and every one of you has earned your place here, and as such, I am deeply honored to have each and every one of you sitting before me tonight." She said, flashing the crowd a soft smile.

"Now, before anything else, I would like to start off by reiterating our rules and policies here..." The princess went on, but Twilight had stopped listening. It wasn't that she was trying to be rude, or even that she had been distracted for that matter, no, she simply had heard this speech before; in fact, up until just a month ago, she herself had been the princesses's personal pupil. The memory still brought a blush to her cheeks whenever she thought about it, the day that her beloved mentor had told her that she would no longer be allowed to learn directly under her.

It wasn't that she had failed Celestia as a student, no, far from it. It was because she did well, too well, that she had been dismissed. According to her former mentor her grades were remarkable, but her studies had completely done away with the possibility that she would make any friends, or any meaningful relationships... Or even passing acquaintances. And so, 'for her own good', Twilight Sparkle had been relocated from the privacy of her mentor's tutelage, and transplanted into the student body of the Royal Academy of Magic. She was still allowed a weekly tutoring session with her old mentor, but even that included the caveat that she needed to bring a 'friend'.

Twilight sighed, shaking herself mentally as she forced herself to stop dwelling on things she couldn't change and focus on the rest of the speech. "Now, with all that being said, I think it is about time that I gave you all your rooming assignments and let you get some rest. I understand some of you traveled quite a ways to get here today." Her smile was met with applause and a light spattering of cheers from the audience.

"Very well." She laughed softly, the radiant noise drifting from her pink lips as she placed a hand on her hip. "Okay, so this is how room arrangements work here at the RAM, you will all be separated into groups of five to share a suite of rooms, but since these rooms are co-ed," This was met with another round of cheers. The princess simply gave the crowd a stern but knowing smile and continued. "Since these rooms are co-ed, each group will be living with a fourth year student to ensure that the population of each suite hopefully wont exceed six." Her tone was light, but the look in her eyes was dead serious. "So no funny business."

A series of excited murmurs ran through the crowd before she spoke again. "I am going to read your groups off by name. When you hear your name called, please find the fourth year assigned to your suite and follow him or her to your rooms, your bags will be waiting for you there." She smiles, waiting for the information to sink in before she began to read from her list. "Vinyl Scratch..."

Almost half the amphitheater had been emptied out before the princess had called Twilight's name. Accompanying her through the palace's corridors towards their new suites were her new group members. Walking quietly next to her was a rather shy boy named Poet Laureate; his alabaster skin contrasted sharply with his obsidian black hair which dipped down just past his ears, a pair of downy white wings protruded from his back, the tips of the opalescent primary feathers tinted the same deep black as his hair. He had been silent for virtually the entire walk so far, but his eyes were kind, and if the quill protruding from the pocket of his uniform blazer was any indication, the two of them would get along just fine.

On her other side was a girl who she was less certain about. Perfect violet curls rested upon the perfect pearly skin of her face, light reflecting from her perfectly customized jacket. Twilight didn't exactly know if bedazzling one's uniform was allowed, but after spending the first ten minutes of the walk listing to the girl, who she now knew was named Rarity Diamond, do nothing but complain about how plain the school uniforms were... She decided not to press the issue. She seemed nice enough... Perhaps a bit eccentric, but if she were going to have to spend the next year living with her, she would have to get used to it.

Truth be told she had been almost a little happy when she found out she had been paired to these to, they both seemed composed, responsible, and open to reason. Then she met the other two first years she would be living with, and it was a match made somewhere south of heaven. Running out ahead of their older guide, had to be the two happiest people Twilight had seen in her entire life. Other than the fact that one of them had pink puffy hair and blue eyes, and the other had longer violet and orange streaked hair and amethyst eyes, the two of them were nearly identical. Matching bubblegum pink skin, matching jaw-breaking grins, and matching mile-a-minute mouths. She didn't know who the most talkative student in the school was, but she was almost a hundred percent certain that it would end up being a tie between Pinkie Pie and Sunset Bliss.

Twilight let out a small groan as their combined laughter continued to drift down the hall towards them, reminding her of all the studying she would miss because of it. Her reaction elicited a small grin from Poet, who flashed her an apologetic smile, obviously thinking the same thing. She smiled back at him, feeling a slight flutter in her chest. 'Hey, he's kinda cute...' She thinks, mentally shaking the thought away with a nervous laugh. A light pink tinted the girl's cheeks prompting the boy to respond with a shy laugh of his own.

Their guide turned back to look at them just in time to catch the end of the exchange. He didn't say anything, rather he just chuckled to himself and flashed the, each a wink. Twilight blushed harder at this, holding in another nervous chuckle as they caught up to their more giggly room mates. Their guide, who was a tell fourth year named Winter Glory walked slightly ahead of them towards a large wooden door at the end of the hall, his black and red streaked hair flowing softly after him, the wind trailing from his broad form shifting the bright red and white feathers of his wings.

Winter stopped before the door, spinning around to look at the rest of the group, hands on his hips as he met each of their gazes in turn. "Alright everyone," he places an open palm on the door. "Welcome to your first night at the Academy." He pushes the door open with a warm smile on his face. As Twilight stepped foreword to enter her new home for the year, an uneasy feeling taking over her for the smallest fraction of an instant. It was similar to deja vu, except rather than just feeling like she had done this before, she felt that whatever it was she was doing, it wasn't happening how it was supposed to...

Author's Note

Well guys, I hope you liked the second chapter, I'm sorry the first chapters are so short, but don't worry, they're going to pick up towards the middle. Now, I have a brief update for the future of the Author's Notes, as well as thanking you and reminding you to give feedback and requests, this is also where I am going to be giving a log introducting you to the new relevent characters.

*Twilight Sparkle: Unicorn
-Class-Magician
-First Year

*Poet Laureate: Pegasus
-Class-Magic Swordsman
-First Year

*Rarity Diamond: Unicorn
-Class-Magician
-First Year

*Pinkie Pie: Earth Pony
-Class-[Data Corrupted]
-First Year

*Sunset Bliss: [Data Corrupted]
-Class-Sorceress
-First Year

*Winter Glory: [Data Corrupted]
-Class-Divine Swordsman
-Fourth Year