A School Between Two Worlds

It was a sunny day at Canterlot High School, one of the most prestigious schools in the capital. Days like this must be Celestia’s favorites, the school’s peculiar principal. For many, a woman who attracts the eyes of the men like a magnet. For few others, the personification of the sun, ruler of heaven and earth, as well as the harbinger of dawn. The Princess of the Ponykind. Regent of all that is and all that will be. And, in front of her divine presence, was a boy drowning in his own sweat. Just because someone told him planes were the fastest transportation method.

Today was the day he would be transferred to this school. Her school. What happened?

Late the first day.

Still, Principal Celestia greeted him with a warm smile. Her porcelain teeth, as white as her skin, and her purple eyes reflected on his owns appeased the swarm of butterflies in the boy’s belly. But none of them could be compared with the elegance of her shining hair made of the pastel rainbow of colors of the dawn. She wore a yellow jacket with a purple undershirt that matched her eyes.

A golden collar decorated with an amethyst was wrapped around her smooth neck and, on her jacket, she had a sun-shaped brooch.

Celestia took out some documents from her oak desk. “Name: Holylight ‘Lily’ Amori Ray. Third year… Everything is in order. Please sign here.”

Lily walked to her desk. His unkempt, blue-and-pink hair, was glued to his forehead and his golden eyes quivered in a mixture of excitement and nervousness – his heart was at thousand beats per hour. He wore a white shirt, two-colored pants; white on the legs and black on the rest of the cloth, and black-and-white shoes.

On his hands were a pair of black-and-white gauntlets with a symbol on the back of the hand: a crystal heart sheltered by two lilies, his Cutie Mark.

“Perfect, you are officially a student of Canterlot High School now, Holylight Ray.” Celestia joined her fingertips, her eyes stopped on the mole on top of his lips. “And that gives me the right of punishing you. So, if you want to go home today, you have to make at least one more friend.”

Lily couldn’t avoid lifting an eyebrow. “Friend, you said?”

“Your academic life will be wonderful if you share it with others. Here you will find a lot of students to befriend with. Plus, the school will hold a dance next week, it would be a shame if you couldn’t get a dance partner.”

This was, by far, the strangest punishment he had ever had. “Okay, I’ll try to make some friends.”

“That’s the spirit! Before you go, can you show me that ring, please?”

Beads of sweat formed on Lily’s forehead as he brought his shaking hand closer to her.

A smile plastered on Celestia’s face. “My brooch and your ring have the same design!” She showed Lily her brooch. “See? But this is the first time I see a ring with a chain attached to it.”

“R-really? These are the latest in fashion in Las Pegasus. People there have one on each finger.”

Three were the pieces of silver jewelry Lily wore. A sun ring with a chain that ran up his arm to his neck and wrapped around it, from which a pendant shaped like a snowflake between three laces dangled, and a stud shaped like a crescent moon on his left ear. These three symbols were the Cutie Marks of three of the old rulers of Equestria: Celestia, Luna and Amore. No wonder she could spot it so easily.

“We have finished for today. Take the rest of the day to familiarize yourself with the school. I want you here tomorrow at first hour. Do not be late again, okay?”

“Promise. Thank you for all, Principal Celestia.”

Lily hurried outside of the office before she could spot more things that could complicate his stay in this special school. When he closed the door, Lily felt a chill that ran down his spine. It was silly to think the principal of Canterlot High School and the princess of Equestria would be the same woman… or mare. However, this school is the point where both worlds merge; anything is possible.

And now that he has finished all of his business here, it was time to get to the real work. Anti-magic work with a gargoyle king.

An ocean of green lockers filled Lily’s sight. Only the repetitive sound of his shoes against the marble floor accompanied him through the hallway he wandered. It was lunchtime and there was not a single student around.

A poster next to a vending machine caught his attention. It had an autumnal design and the image of a silver crown. It reminded the students to vote for the girl they wanted to be the next Fall Formal Princess at the event to be held in October, 9.

The lamp behind him exploded releasing a shower of sparks that scorched the floor.

Lily jumped away. “The fuck!?”

A horde of bugs wrapped in a mini electric field came out of the hole in the roof. Their buzzing merged with the screechy sound of electricity. In three seconds the whole hallway was plagued. They hovered around the static they produced, ignoring Lily.

A blue light sprouted from Lily’s pendant. It traveled all the way to the ring, making his left arm feel numb. The light grew until a bubble formed around his body. Lily walked slowly between them. Sparks were being dragged to his shield, making him see like a human tesla ball.

What the heck are these Equestrian creatures doing here? he thought.

Lily turned on a corner and found a hallway covered by vines and rosebuds. Thorns of the size of brooms absorbed the electricity like antennas.

There were two girls trapped in the vines. One had golden eyes, green skin and mint hair. The other one had cream skin, blue eyes and black-and-pink hair. Both wearing matching, blue dresses and skirts. Their eyes were wide open, lifeless. The vines around both of them drained from their bodies the energy that made them glow.

Lily pressed a hand on the vines. As soon as the magic made contact with it, they tightened around the girls.

A screech echoed all over the hallway. All the rosebuds opened at the same time and shot Lily a gooey, green liquid. In a second, the whole shield was covered by the goo. The light of Lily’s chain grew stronger and exploded in an outburst of energy that illuminated the entire hallway.

Lily fell on his knees, panting. There was no trace of the bugs nor the vines, and the two girls were walking away from Lily, so fresh that they looked like if they just had come out of a spa.

Lily couldn’t believe it. He stood up as he rubbed his wrist. “What was… that?”

“Stop in the name of fashion!” shouted a girl as she ran to Lily.

The girl put her hands on her knees as she panted uncontrollably. The purple bag she brought with her fell from her arm. She had a bright, white skin, blue eyes and a curly, purple hair that sweat had glued to her face. She wore a pale, blue shirt, a purple skirt with the image of tree diamonds, and purple knee-high boots with a diamond on the top.

Two diamonds dangled from her ears. If her face wasn’t so red and if she breathed with her jaw closed, she would look kinda pretty. But why was she running, Lily hasn’t moved from his place... right?

She took one last breath and re-stabilized herself. “Please, you have to tell me where you got that outfit.”

Lily flinched. “M-my clothes?”

The girl passed a hand where the white and black of his pants merged, causing the colors to move like if they were liquids. “I’ve never seen a fabric like this before. It’s soft and comfortable… and it seems alive.”

Lily stepped back from her curious hands before she realized that the clothes do were alive. It sounds weird, but that’s how the ponies of Marapore make clothes. And the fabric of Lily’s was made with things so rare that they ranged from a rainbow fin of a mermare to fur from Princess Luna and Princess Celestia’s Cutie Marks.

Lily was about to speak when she interrupted him.

“I got it!” The girl took out a notebook and pen from her bag and wrote something on it. “Voilà! I know what to do now: opposite polarities. Made two opposite colors clash and merge at the same time will be a delightful challenge for moi!”

She took a black belt with a silver buckle shaped like a fleur-de-lis from the bag. “Here, for you.”

“A belt? I can’t accept that.”

But the girl was already buckling it. “Yes you can! What you cannot is walk around without one.” She leaned back and gave him a head to toe look. “Yes, it looks good.”

“Geez, I don’t know what to say... Thank you very much. My name is Holylight Ray, Lily for short. Nice to meet you…”

“Rarity, my pleasure.” Rarity leaned closer to him and gave him two kisses. “I would love to spend some time with you, but I have to leave now that my muses are here. Ta-ta.” She left with a broad smile as she wrote on her notebook.

Lily looked at Rarity as she walked and realized that now were students walking all around the hallways while a few minutes ago everything was deserted. He took out his phone to check the time.

“Damn it, not yet.”

His orders were to meet the king here at one o’clock. Lily was alone until that time. He thought there was only a bit of magic gone astray in this school, but this was too much. Lily turned around, facing a glass door that led to the library. He noticed one of his shoes was untied, so he bent down and tied it up. When Lily stood up, a pair of twinkling, baby-blue eyes filled his whole field of vision.

“I’ve never seen you before,” said a girl so close to him that their noses touched.

This girl had pink skin and a darker, pink hair so much puffy that was almost irresistible to use it as a pillow, and with a blue-and-yellow ribbon on it to make it even cuter. She wore a white shirt with a golden horseshoe, yellow mini-skirt with blue stripes and the image of three balloons – one yellow and two blue –, yellow thigh-high socks, and blue slippers.

“I’m new here.”

The girl gasped. “A new guy!?” She grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. “That’s so exciting! I’m Pinkie Pie, what’s your name?”

Struggling for balance, Lily tried to speak. “I’m–”

“I’ll call you Lily.” She hugged him with all her strength. “And now we’re best friends!”

Lily had no choice but to give her a big hug that allowed his nose smell the strong scent of chocolate and cinnamon around her. “Best friends?”

“Of course! Everyone is my best friend… except for some girls that aren’t my best friends anymore, but that doesn’t matter.” Pinkie grabbed Lily’s cheeks and pulled his face against hers. “I have to leave now. Miss Raven asked me– NO! She told me– NO! She gave me the mission of organizing the Fall Formal Party. ‘Oh, but that’s easy for a party planner like you, Pinkie Pie,’ you think. And you think well, royal paladin, but last year a girl named Pinkie Pie organized the best Fall Formal Party this school has ever had. If I can’t surpass her, that will be the end of my party thrower career forever… Know what I mean?”

“No…”

Pinkie bounced beside him as she giggled. “I like you, Lily. See ya around.”

“That girl should go easy with coffee,” said Lily twirling a pink lock of his hair.

Lily opened the library door, letting the smell of the books invade his nose. The school library was so big that a herd of elephants could live in here. On the center of the room, was a round table with several computers and a wooden horse head that Lily could swear it looked at him when he came in.

There were four persons inside: three girls sitting at a computer and the librarian, who was arranging some books on a bookshelf.

A book on a table caught his attention; a green book titled: “The Garden of Your Dreams”. It was going home with him today! At the instant his hand made contact with the hard cover, a chill traveled through his arm to his chest, making his heart miss a beat. Then, he saw something that made his heart go to his throat: the girls around him vanished in a pile of sand.

The earth started to shake.

A black goo flowed from the floor, growing bigger at each second that passed. Lily shoes glued to the goo. A pillar of black crystal rose from the ground below him.

Lily tried to yank his legs out of the pillar, but they didn’t move a centimeter. A second pillar emerged from the glass ceiling.

His chain absorbed the pendant’s magic and passed it to his hand. Lily clenched his fist and warped to the second floor with a glow. Both pillars clashed with a blare that calmed the earthquake.

A black glow enveloped some of the bookshelves and made them slide toward Lily, dropping books everywhere. Lily dodged them rolling to his left.

“Dark magic!?”

A dark haze engulfed a blue book on the floor. It opened as a mass of darkness came out from it. A monster that barely fit in the room came out from the darkness. The creature had a long manta body with two gigantic, fin-like wings covered with purple scales, hawk’s piercing eyes and a beak sharp as a knife. It was an Aquastrian Manta Hawk.

Its eyes locked on Lily. The hawk rushed to him faster than a bullet.

Lily warped away before the impact, leaving behind four huge chains that wrapped around the hawk and pulled it against the crystal column.

Some meters away from it, Lily made the glow of his hand become stronger. The light materialized in a blue orb with two rings orbiting around. Lily threw it to the hawk. The orb grew bigger as it got closer to its target.

The orb impacted with an explosion that destroyed half column and evaporated the beast. The shockwave went to Lily as it carried away all the bookshelves. He lifted a barrier that kept him safe from arm.

“Oh! Fight magic with magic. Clever,” said Pinkie Pie jumping on her place.

“Pinkie Pie!?”

“Trapped in the darkness in your first day, eh? That’s what I call a very bad luck. Come I’ll show you the exit.” Pinkie Pie bounced away. “What are you waiting for?”

Lily decided to follow her, but always with his magic ready. Pinkie took him to the smashed crystal column. Once they were in front of the column, they heard a whooshing that made the turn around.

“Holly molly!” shouted Pinkie.

A tsunami! A tsunami came in their direction, sweeping in everything that crossed its pass. The marine fury was about to swallow them. Lily grabbed Pinkie and teleported behind the tsunami. Using a levitation spell, both stood floating in the air. Pieces of wood floated below them in the ocean of splinters and pages the library became. The walls and roof blackened as storm clouds surrounded them.

“We are flying!”

“Calm down,” said Lily.

They both descended to a floating piece of wood and looked at the column. It was good as new.

Pinkie shrugged. “Well, there goes our exit.”

Lily prepared another orb and throw it to the pillar, making it explode.

“Nice! Let’s hurry.” Pinkie took out a paddle from her hair and set course to the pillar.

Lily looked at her with his arms crossed. “What are you doing here?”

“Preventing the school from being swallowed by the darkness. We have to be solidary, you know?”

Lily groaned. “Unreal...”

When they reached the pillar, Pinkie took a shining bubble from her hair and threw it to the pillar. The water turned into a dark nebula that covered everything. A stream of shadows ran toward them. In a second, there was nothing more than darkness. Lily felt as he floated in the sea. Even if he couldn’t see her, he could hear Pinkie’s giggles next to him.

Lily felt the ground once again below his feet and took a step forward, bumping into something. His eyes regained visibility, and widened as soon as they did: he was on the first floor and everything was like when he came in. But there was no trace of Pinkie Pie and he noticed he had something in his hand: a green book titled “The Garden of Your Dreams”.