Venus Transcendent

Hardly a day went by without Seamus being reminded of his specific disposition to mares his age. On one hoof he kept his nature under wraps and rather out of the way, not making his rather embarrassing secret known. But being a prince and an alicorn, his personality and life was put under intense watch every day. Some ponies noticed his secret, others didn't. Some didn't take kindly to his preferences, others couldn't care less. Some, like AppleJack, didn't like him very much. She kept herself muted, only muttering her occasional angry comment to her family or friends, who would just shake their heads and continue what they were doing.

But sadly a few family members couldn't just walk away from AJ when she complained about Seamus, like a little filly named Apple Bloom. She couldn't just ignore her sister; they worked in the orchard together, making it impossible to shrug off. Most of AppleBloom's days were filled with collecting the apples her sister missed, but on downtime the topic did occasionally come up, and when it did the filly tried her best to steer her sibling away from the subject.

The mare didn't like to talk about him, but her long-winded rants about Seamus were undoubtedly the most vulgar things she dared say around her little Sister. The worst part was the Apple Bloom had to sit through them all, sighing and nodding along as her sister made barely concealed insults aimed towards one of her best friends. It had been a year and ever since the alicorn had returned to Ponyville AppleJack's insults were becoming more vivid than ever.

So when Seamus walked into class one day with Sweetie Belle, cracking jokes about how lazy pegasi are at Scootaloo's expense, the farmhand nearly fainted. Her sister had told her to not go near the alicorn or talk to him, so she shrank down into her chair as far as she could, pretending to be invisible. She didn't want to disobey her sister's direct orders.

"Hey 'Bloom!" Seamus called, smiling. "What's up with you? You look whiter than a sheet."

The filly weighed her friends to her family, and the decision was obvious. She didn't like her sister; forbidding her to see one of her best friends was a very low blow in the filly's book. So without even the slightest amount of shame she disregarded orders and gave Seamus a big smile. It wasn't that she wanted to disobey her sister, it was just that, for once, her older sibling was wrong.

"Sea!" She leapt up and gave him a hug. "I haven't seen y'all in this half'a forever! How'v you been?"

"Good, I guess. Almost died a few times, one time I almost did it myself, was colt-napped, had my horn sawed off, a few other things that you probably don't want to hear. But now I'm fine and here to stay here in Ponyville."

"Really?!" Scootaloo jumped in front of him. "I thought you were just here to visit like last time!"

"Um, no, I'm here to stay until the end of the week, I'm always busy on weekends. I have to go to the castle and Luna has to teach me all this boring stuff about politics and  running Equestria and being an alicorn. Twilight already has me study magic, so school here is just adding to the pile."

Meanwhile, a very jealous rich filly glared at Seamus from across the classroom. Silver Spoon, the most royally eloquent pony in the classroom stared hatefully at the alicorn, furious at being shown up. It was nothing that he'd done to her or even that he had even done anything at all, he was simply the only other pony in the room with more class than her. As an alicorn Prince he held much more status. He didn't know it, but that really chafed at Silver Spoon.

"Can you believe him?" She whispered to Diamond Tiara. "He just things he's so amazing, with his wings and his horn all-.... are you listening to me?"

Diamond Tiara was busy drowning in Seamus' amethyst eyes, a bit of drool dripping onto the desk. Silver Spoon rolled her eyes and pushed her friend's jaw shut. She'd thought her friend would get over her massive crush. She had been wrong, as usual.

"Hello?" She waved an impatient hoof in front the other filly, who snapped out of her trance.

"Wha? Oh, were you saying something? I was, er, busy."

"Can you believe that pony?! He just stands there looking all shy and delicate and everypony just flocks to him like he's more important than me! Me?! Can you believe that?"

"I actually think he's charming." Tiara sighed, resting her head on her hoof.

"But still! He's such an attention hog. I bet he looks himself in the mirror and complements his own mane."

"I thought you do that?"

"Shut it! That's different!"

By now the rest of the class was heading in, and many eyes were being turned towards the alicorn. A few were so fascinated that they poked him to make sure he wasn't a figment of their imagination. Some asked questions nonstop and others just gawked in awe. Seamus wanted to sink into the floor or disappear; he'd never liked being stared at, and all the ponies gathered around him in a circle, eyes wide as saucers with some trying to ask him twenty questions at once, was making him want to leave before class even started.

After a few more minutes of this one specific pony broke through, a colt about the size of Seamus, an Earth pony with an accent not so dissimilar to the alicorn's own.

"Hello sir!" The colt saluted, smiling. "My name is Pip!"

The Cutie Mark Crusaders groaned. Pip was like their biggest fan; he stalked them and wanted nothing more than to join their group, but no matter what the Cockney earth pony did they wouldn't let him into their group. The reason: He was younger, his voice did get rather old, and he was a colt. So far, every member of their group had been their age and female, save Seamus, and he was let in for rather obvious reasons.

"Hello, Pip." The alicorn smiled. "I see you're not from around here either."

"Nah, I'm from Trottingham! The most beautiful city this side of the world! This place took some getting used to but now I have loads of friends and I fit right in! I'm sure you will too eventually!"

Seamus gave the crowd around him a look. "Sorry, but I don't think I'll ever fit in. Alicorns don't blend well...."

Cheerilee came into class with a smile on her face. The whole class took a seat within a second. Seamus was left standing in the middle of the room, looking awkward and out of place. As if he wasn't enough already. He fumbled about looking for a seat while Cheerille watched him bumble around like the floor was slicked with oil. He finally gained his footing and took a seat next to Apple Bloom and Pip, who gave him a nod. Diamond Tiara was still doe-eyed across the room. The Teacher had been on the job for a few years, and she noticed everything that went on in her classroom, especially how her students reacted to a new face.

"I do believe that we have a new student among us." She announced, gesturing to the alicorn who was trying his best to look inconspicuous.

If all eyes weren't already on Seamus, they were now. He put his book down and gave the class a meek smile, hiding his flustered expression from them all with his long mane. Diamond Tiara swooned in her desk at how adorable he looked when embarrassed.

"And your name is?" Cheerillee asked.

The alicorn sighed; he just wanted to get this over with.

"Seamus." He muttered.

"You aren't from around here, are you?"

The alicorn looked at her and thought of how little they all knew, especially what was sitting in their classroom, what he had been through and what he thought every day of his life, then smiled at the pure irony. the contrast between how they saw him and how a pony like Rainbow Dash saw him brought a grin to pass his scarred face.

"No, no I'm not."