Three years ago, a little, lavender unicorn had been trolleyed to the spidery, wrought-iron gates of the Celestial School of Spellcasting, laden with patchy suitcases and bulging satchels, a pair of thick, rectangular lenses balanced on the bridge of her snout. She had shouldered her cargo alone, grunting with the weight of it all, her spindly legs quaking as she made her way across the bustling courtyard, towards the cluster of white, stone towers that made up the most prestigious magic-school in Equestria. As she hobbled through the swarm of eager, chattering First Years and up the sprawling front steps, Twilight Sparkle mused for the thousandth time over how lucky she was to have been accepted.

The Entry Hall was a magnificent place, to say the least-- from the arcing, brightly tapestried walls to the gleaming flagstone that echoed with the excited shuffling of a hundred pairs of hooves as Twilight and the other newcomers spilled inside. The afternoon sun cascaded through the panoramic window overhead, warm light gushing into the hall and casting everything in comfy, amber hues. Twilight had shouldered her bags and licked her very dry lips, and felt incredibly fortunate, once again, simply to be here.

To this day, she remembered with perfect clarity how the enormous room, and all the frantic, babbling new students had fallen into deathly silence as the oaken doors on the far end of the hall swung open of their own accord, gilt handles shimmering with charm magic; and how the headmistress, draped in flowing, purple robes, her peaked hat jauntily riding her mass of exquisite, pink hair, had almost floated into view, her hooves barely tapping the flagstone as she made her way to the carved podium before her students. How she had greeted them both warmly and grandly, with a genuinely loving smile on her face that nearly coaxed tears into Twilight's eyes. How she had expressed her happiness and excitement for the upcoming year by tossing her hat in the air and bursting, gracefully, into song. This, naturally, had taken the newcomers a bit by surprise, but fortunately Celestia had chosen an old, very well-known song, and most everyone was able to join in by the second chorus.

Twilight had clutched her bags and hummed along, feeling luckier than ever.

That evening, however, things had taken a turn for the worse.

"Nice robe," the sky-blue unicorn sneered, scanning Twilight head-to-toe as she breezed past her into the dormitory. "Where'd you get it-- the back of your mom's closet?"

Twilight readjusted her glasses and tried to focus on locating her bed. The dormitory was currently a sea of bustling unicorns, all bobbing and weaving between rows of well-made bunk-beds, and she was hauling her many suitcases through the crowd with some difficulty.

"What is that smell?" The blue unicorn had clambered up into a bunk nearby. She appeared to have unpacked already, her books and neatly-folded clothing cluttering the crisp, ivory bedspread. "It's so musty... Trixie wonders how long it's been since they aired out these mattresses? Oh, wait... it's just Twilight's uniform." She grabbed a pilling, gray sweater from her stack of clothes and buried her snout in it protectively. "You sure you shook all the mothballs out of that old thing before you put it on, Twilight?"

Twilight could feel the heat rising to her cheeks, but she shouldered her cargo and continued inching through the crowd until she reached the bunk to which she'd been assigned-- #15.

Her heart sank into her gut. Her bunk was directly across the walkway from...

"Neighbors, are we?" the blue unicorn glowered down at her. "Well, if that's going to be the case, someone needs to go have a word with the headmistress about your uniform... Trixie doesn't think she can sleep so close to that musty smell."

Twilight gritted her teeth. She arranged her suitcases on the bedspread and began to unpack. She was intensely aware of her neighbor's fiery eyes watching her every move.

"Trixie can see you've come prepared... to read all day, every day. I mean, there are enough books in that one satchel alone to occupy you for an entire semester! And I don't believe any of those were on our curricular list for this quarter... not trying to run ahead of the class, are you, Twilight?" Trixie sneered, clearly enjoying the sight of the furious blush that was currently washing over the entirety of Twilight's face. "You probably think you're some kind of magical prodigy, don't you?"

"Will you just leave me alone?" Twilight said, her voice coming out high-pitched and strained as she bit back a swell of rage. "I'm trying to unpack."

Trixie narrowed her eyes. "Um, yeah. Trixie could see that. She also noticed you brought your own phials instead of trusting the school to provide you with sufficient ones. Are you too advanced for standard-quality phials or something?" She chuckled incredulously. "I guess that doesn't surprise me. What does surprise me is that your family could even afford sending you here... or buying you specialty materials... but couldn't afford to get you into a set of robes less than forty years old?"

"Leave me alone!" Twilight barked, whirling around to face Trixie. She was surprised to find herself near tears already; but she swallowed hard and concentrated on the blue unicorn's hateful sneer. "I mean it."

She had not noticed when the activity around them had thinned into anxious murmurs and shuffling of hooves. Twilight suddenly became aware that the rest of the students had turned to stare at her, eyes bugging, mouths open.

What are they looking at? she had wondered, before realizing with a start that her spiral horn had begun to glow with a soft, pulsating, lavender light. It was beginning to spark, threateningly, towards Trixie.

Trixie's sneer broadened. "Are you challenging the Great and Powerful Trixie to a duel, Twilight?"

"What? No!" Twilight stumbled backwards in surprise and horror, shaking her head frantically until the light fizzled out of her horn. She fell against the side of her bunk, gripping the wooden frame to steady herself. She was dizzy, cold sweat standing on her forehead. She could feel a hundred pairs of eyes still staring at her, and she felt completely and utterly naked.

"Hah." Trixie's expression relaxed into self-satisfaction... and just a little disappointment, as if she had been promised a trip to the park just before the sky had begun dumping sheets of rain. "Just as Trixie expected. All those 'extracurricular' books and specialty equipment you brought can't change what you are, Secondhand-Robes. You're still a poor, nearsighted, snot-nosed over-achiever who... well, just caught a lucky break."

Twilight's eyes were burning with heavy tears now. She kept her back to Trixie, her hands wandering to her flushed, clammy face, as if she could hide in them somehow.

"Look at you." Trixie gave a venomous chuckle. "You're not even wizard enough to take Trixie in a casual dorm-duel. Pathetic."

"That's enough!"

The crowd parted suddenly, First Years stumbling over each other to clear a path as a lanky, honey-yellow unicorn dressed in Second Year robes flew down the walkway, disregarding the younger students that caught the hard knob of her elbow as she pushed past them. Twilight looked up in time to see a deep, purple flush bloom across Trixie's face, her haughty expression shifting abruptly to one of borderline terror as the older girl came to a stop beside her bunk. Their eyes locked, and Twilight couldn't help but notice a little sweat beading on Trixie's brow.

"Not even a full day into your First Year and already starting trouble," the yellow unicorn said, eyes flashing up at the bully from behind a windblown, scarlet forelock. Her voice was deep and firm, her hooves planted like trees, her stance aggressive without being exactly threatening... not that this made her any less intimidating. "I suppose you know dueling isn't permitted outside the designated classroom, don't you?"

Trixie chuckled, crossing her arms stiffly in an attempt at nonchalance. Her plum-colored face and glistening brow rendered her efforts pointless. "I know that, Prefect Shimmer; you know that, the whole class knows that. And, in case you didn't see this part, I wasn't the one whose horn lit up."

Sunset Shimmer nodded without hesitation. "Oh, I know you weren't, Trixie. But I did hear one student declare that a glowing horn was a call to duel, and that student was not Twilight Sparkle."

Trixie's face drained itself of purple, taking on the murky, whiteish hue of dirty mopwater.

Sunset nodded. "Let's have no more harassment from you, or anyone else, shall we? And the headmistress won't have to hear about this little shenanigan."

Trixie suddenly became deeply invested in re-folding her many decorated tunics and refused to speak another word. The dormitory gently, tricklingly, went back to its initial hum of activity as the other students resumed settling in.

Twilight eased herself down onto her bed, ignoring the clutter of books, tunics, and clinking, glass phials that had tumbled out of her satchels during the commotion. Her horn still purred slightly, as if catching its breath, and she shuddered. This had never happened before...

"Hey,"

She glanced up, breaking through her fog of confusion, hurt, and worry to see Sunset Shimmer towering over her, an imposing figure, though her expression anchored her within the range of casual chat. She seemed to have shed her aggression like a raincoat or a pair of broken-in boots. She was now all reassuring smile and soft strength, and her turquoise eyes were warm and welcoming, and her robes wafted the faintest aroma of lilac detergent.

Twilight readjusted her glasses. "Oh... hi..."

"You all right there?" the prefect drew closer, and the scent of lilacs smoothed the air around Twilight's bed. Twilight swallowed and straightened her glasses again. It was a pleasant smell, like heathery springtime or evenings spent in the virile, wild gardens around her childhood home. The connection set a little bittersweet flare in Twilight's heart, though not bright or hot enough to completely distract her from Sunset's inviting gaze.

In fact, everything about her was inviting. Every lanky, windswept inch of her.

Twilight cleared her throat. "I... I'm fine. I don't know what happened, my horn-- "

"It's okay," Sunset waved a hand. "Trixie comes with a quite a reputation for trouble. It was bound to happen sooner or later... granted, I hadn't expected it this soon. But it wasn't your fault, Twilight-- I hope you know that."

Twilight looked up at her, nodding. She caught herself trying to explore the older unicorn's eyes, go deeper, uncover a little more of her soul. She blushed and pulled herself out, steam suddenly blossoming on her glasses. She removed them and wiped them hurriedly on the front of her robes, dropping her gaze and wondering if Sunset had seen her blush.

"Hey," Sunset settled herself on the bed next to Twilight. She drew a gentle arm around her trembling shoulders. "Is something else bothering you? Nobody got hurt; no harm done, right?"

Twilight sniffled and scrubbed her watery eyes with the back of her sleeve. "I know, it's not that ... well, maybe it is, a little." She sniffed again. "My allergies ... act up a lot when I'm stressed."

She sneezed, surprising both Sunset and herself. "Ugh ... sorry."

"No worries," Sunset chuckled. She pulled a folded, blue handkerchief out of her vest-pocket and handed it to Twilight. "Here you go. Don't worry: I just washed this, it's totally clean."

Twilight shyly pressed the handkerchief to her snout. It was soft, and smelled nice... like lilacs. Like Sunset.

"Thank you," Twilight said, and sneezed again, burying her snout in the soft, blue fabric.

Sunset smiled. "You'd better hold onto that one."

* * *

Twilight lay awake in her bed for some time that night, listening to the other young unicorns breathing in unison all around her. She had to stifle a giggle of amusement when she heard Trixie begin to snore like a grizzly in deep hibernation. And though her mind was still whirling with anticipation for tomorrow's discoveries and the beginning of her education at the Celestial School of Spellcasting, a small part of her thoughts kept wandering back to the prefect with the fiery hair who had come to her rescue. She thought of her welcoming smile, her eyes like smooth plains of turquoise basking under a sky warm with summer breezes. Her confident stride, the reassuring weight of her arm around Twilight's shoulders. Her smell that reminded Twilight of home.

After a moment's hesitation, Twilight reached into the pocket of her pajama-pants and took out the blue handkerchief. She pressed it gently to her face and allowed the scent of lilacs to lull her to sleep.

Author's Note

For more on this AU, I invite you to visit my tumblr blog: https://ask-the-wizard-ponies.tumblr.com/

Thanks for stopping by!