Chapter 2 Homework Bound

Ricktaki Mansion

Talzotl Ricktaki hopped off the train at Horse Coltingwood Station. His mansion was on top of the Hill of Strong, east of the station. It had been a month since school had started again, and it was his last year of high school. It had been three months since he had kidnapped the Element Bearers. Despite giving up half of his gained riches, he couldn’t help but feel smug, for he had to have been the first pony to defeat them.

For the first few weeks after his mother had been cured of her illness, Talzotl had been scared that Twilight would have the Royal Guards of Canterlot swoop in on him and lock him in the dungeons. When they never showed up, he concluded that they were never called upon.

Today his Social Studies class had been studying Dragon culture and one of Princess Ember’s advisors had shown up to teach them about their history. Some of Talzotl’s classmates had been excited that one of the dragon ruler’s emissaries had shown up to answer their questions, and others were apprehensive as the dragon was not a resident of Vanhoover like the local dragons. Dragons that weren’t a part of Equestria had quite a bad reputation. While the emissary looked tough, it turned out he was quite nice and was eager to answer the many questions that came his way.

Talzotl had trouble trotting up the hill as his saddle bags were filled to the brim with his school books and items he needed to complete his weekend homework assignments. However, as he was one of the smartest ponies in Equestria, he had no trouble completing them all. One day, he had completed a five page essay on the Founding of Equestria within two hours, when usually it would take half a day for the average pony to research and write the essay. However, Talzotl liked to read during his spare time and history was one of his favorite subjects.

Physical Education wasn’t his favorite subject. Many of the more fit ponies would often taunt him for his lack of muscle and slow galloping. Though he had no muscle, he was not fat and was slightly skinny as he would sometimes skip dinner so that he could keep up with his studies and schemes. However, he always ate a large lunch to make up for this.

He finally made it up the hill, and he saw the familiar ancient walls with the remote activated portcullis. He took the remote out of his saddle bag and pressed the open button. After entering and pressing the close button, he noticed a little brown owl staring at him with little black eyes. Talzotl raised his hoof and exclaimed, “Shoo!”. Rather than fly away, the owl raised it’s eyebrow and opened his orange beak to hoot at him, as if it was taunting him.

Deciding that it was not worth it, and concluding that the owl would have to fly away at some point, he entered the mansion, where he was greeted by his loving mother, Kimono. “How was school today, son?” she said as she wrapped her pinkish-purple hooves around him.
“Good as usual,” he responded. “We had a dragon visit us.”
“Did he try to eat you?” Kimono asked jokingly, and playing along, Talzotl shook his head.

Deciding to get his homework done now, he politely ended the conversation and went upstairs to the study he inherited from his father. Setting the homework down on his desk, he decided that he would work on the math first; he picked up his pencil with green hued magic, and began writing the answers to the equations. He remembered back in eighth grade when his class began studying advanced Algebra. He had studied it on his own when he was in sixth grade and was therefore able to pass the many Algebra tests, while his classmates were trying to grasp the subject. Although, there were a few other ponies who were near his level.

As soon as he finished his math, he began working on the History of the Dragon Kingdom essay. However, as he picked up the pencil, he noticed the owl he encountered earlier, perched on the windowsill. With a disgruntled sigh, he picked up the telephone on his desk and called a store that sold owl treats. He requested that they deliver it with a promise that he would pay them extra bits for it. Thirty minutes later, a worker from the store delivered the treats, and Talzotl managed to sneak them into the study without his mother knowing.

After creating a trail of owl treats that led to a wooden box propped up with a piece of wood that had a string tied to it, Talzotl opened the window and the owl eagerly began following the trail. Talzotl imagined the owl thinking Ooh! Piece of candy. He hid behind a bookshelf, held the string, and waited for the owl to get closer and closer to the box. However, after eating the second-to-last treat, it noticed the last one under the box and he flew up and saw Talzotl hiding; it raised it’s eyebrow as if to say, “Really? How dumb do you think I am?”
Talzotl would not give up. His essay would have to wait. He went to the bathroom and looked inside the medicine cabinet to look for sleeping pills. He found some, and after crushing them up, he mixed the powder with a cup of water. He returned to the study and pretended to sigh in defeat. “Alright owl. You win. Here is a peace offering.” He set the glass down on the desk and the thirsty owl flew down and chugged the water. After it was done, he flew around the room and to Talzotl’s amazement, it was getting slower and slower until he fell asleep. As it fell towards the floor, Talzotl caught him with his magic and put him in a cage.

Studying the owl, he noticed that it resembled an owl he saw when he broke into the Castle of Friendship. With smugness, he wrote a note and tied to to the owl’s leg and returned to his essay while he waited for it to wake up. To his annoyance however, he discovered that while the owl was drinking the water, it splattered some of the water onto the paper. Gritting his teeth, he took out a new piece of paper and began re-writing the essay.

However, before he was able to complete the first paragraph, he heard his mother call him. “Talzotl, there’s mail for you.” Talzotl bolted downstairs wondering who would send him mail. Sorting through the mail he noticed an envelope addressed to him. The stamp had the Royal Equestrian Seal, which he knew was only used by one of the two rulers. Opening the letter, he read the contents.

Dear Talzotl,

I request your presence at the

Royal Castle of Canterlot as there

is something I need from you.

I know you currently attend school, but I will

gladly vouch for you if you miss any

classes during the school week.

From,

Celestia, Princess of Equestria

Talzotl swore under his breath, as he believed that Celestia had set a trap for him. However, it quickly occurred to him that if she wanted him arrested for the kidnapping of the Element Bearers, she would’ve sent her Royal Guards to the mansion. Heading to the kitchen where Kimono was cooking dinner, he tapped her back to get her attention.
“What is it, dear?” she asked softly.
“The letter that was sent to me was an invitation to Celestia’s School For Gifted Unicorns and it seems they want to assess my skills as a unicorn.”
Kimono’s eyes went wide and she squeezed Talzotl causing him to not be able to breathe for a moment. “I’m so proud of you!” she exclaimed. “My son is going to be taught by the Princess herself!”
“Thanks mom,” Talzotl squeaked “But you’re crushing me. Room… getting… darker...”
“Sorry,” she sheepishly said and let him go. “When do you have to leave?”
“Probably tonight. It’s supposed to start tomorrow afternoon.”
“Well then, you better get packing.”

Talzotl rushed upstairs and packed a couple suits in his saddle bags that he felt he would need to wear in the presence of the Princesses. He felt guilty for lying to his mom, but he didn’t want to tell her that he was possibly going to be arrested for kidnapping. As he went to the front door, Kimono was waiting to say goodbye.
“Do you want me to pack a lunch for you?” she asked.
“There’s no need. I wouldn’t mind trying some of the food they have in Canterlot.”
“Okay.” Kimono hugged him while taking care not to squeeze him too hard this time. “Have a good time there.”
“I will.” Hopefully Talzotl finished in his head and he trotted outside where the sky was starting to turn dark.