Seven Schools, Seven Heroes

Twilight had woken up in her dorm room and when she looked at the time, her eyes widened. She screamed, "I'm going to be late on my first day of class!" she ran through her room and quickly got in her tan and maroon robes, heading out after she got her spell book and wand. When she got to the Balance professor standing in front of Bartleby, the Grandfather Tree, she was panting, "I-I'm not late am I?"

The professor took out a pocket watch and said, "Well, you're actually thirty-two seconds early, so everything's fine."

Twilight sighed in relief, adjusting her glasses and putting her hair in place. "Sorry I was almost late, I overslept."

The Marleybonian professor smiled lightly and said, "Don't worry about it, you're not late, that's all that matters. Now, sit down with the rest of the students, if you please."

Twilight nodded and sat down on the cobblestone path with the other students.

The professor cleared his throat and introduced himself, "Good day students. To all our first-years, my name is Arthur Wethersfield. I am Ravenwood's Balance instructor. Now, all first years, please stand up form a single file line in front of me. I will be giving you your first spell card. You will be practicing with this spell card for the first part of class."

Twilight stood up and got in line for the spell cards. When she obtained her first spell card, she noticed it was a Scarab card. It was a simple card, but she knew it would be the first step on the road to becoming a master Sorcerer. She thanked her professor and sat back down.

Professor Wethersfield smiled at his students, "So, for today's lesson, first years will be studying with me. Second and above, you have your daily assignments, so off you go." The older students got up and left while the first years stayed seated. The professor continued, "Now, we'll be learning the basics of a wizard duel. These duels will likely become part of your daily life, what with all the undead roaming around. Now, I've set up sparring pairs. Your sparring partner will remain the same until the end of the year, so it would be best for you to get to know each other." He started reading the names of the partners, and eventually said, "Twilight Sparkle, you'll be paired with Starlight Glimmer."

A girl with purple and blue hair looked over to Twilight, "Nice to meet you Twilight. I think I'll enjoy sparring with you."

Twilight smiled and replied, "The feeling's mutual Starlight."

As Professor Wethersfield finished reading off the partners, he pulled out twenty decks of cards, one for each of the students, "Now, these decks are made specifically for Sorcerers, but they are for sparring in the arena, and only that. Students who use these decks outside the arena will be properly disciplined. I hope I don't have to go that far though, and I assume you all will understand the consequences of using your sparring deck outside the arena."

The first years made their way, led by their professor, to the Duel Arena. A unicorn greeted them, "Ah, Professor Wethersfield! I see you're bringing your class for their sparring duels. I'd be more than happy to help, but Professor Luna's class is in the arena right now."

Arthur sighed and said, "Well, first come first serve I suppose." he thought for a moment before sighing a second time, "I'd like you to learn how to duel in a practice area, the undead are still too dangerous for the first years. I suppose we'll just have to wait our turn. Diego, do you mind if we watch Professor Luna's class from the stands?"

The unicorn nodded, "Not a problem professor! Once Luna is done with her class's sparring lessons, you'll be next up for the arena."

Arthur smiled, "Thank you Diego. Alright, we'll be observing the Death school's sparring lessons, and afterwards, we will be sparring ourselves. Watch the Death students carefully, you may learn something from watching them spar."

As Twilight took a seat with Starlight in the stands, she saw Spike coming out into the arena. She smiled and cheered "Good luck Spike!"

Starlight looked at Twilight and asked, "Friend of yours?"

Twilight nodded, "Yeah, Spike's a good friend from back in Mooshu. He's originally from Dragonspyre though, he moved to Mooshu when he was young."

Starlight smiled, "Well, based on the way he's dueling, he's going to be a powerful Necromancer."

Twilight looked back to the arena and saw that Spike had summoned a Vampire to drain health from his sparring partner while getting himself back to full health. "Not bad, this is his first duel, even if it's just sparring, and he's doing great."

As Luna's class left the arena after their sparring, Professor Wethersfield cleared his throat, "Ok then, time for us to get started. For our first duel... Twilight and Starlight, you'll be sparring first."

The two wizards made their way to the arena and bowed in respect before starting their duel. Twilight drew cards from her sparring deck and thought. She played a Balance Blade on herself and then let Starlight make her move.

Starlight sighed as she looked at her starting hand. "Darn, all my spells can't be used right now. I pass."

Twilight drew another card from her deck, and looked at her feet. She saw she had gotten a Power Pip. That meant she had enough power to cast a third rank spell. She pulled a card out of her hand and turned it in her fingers, letting the picture face Starlight, "I summon a Locust Swarm! My Balance Blade spell increases the power of my spell by 25%!"

As Starlight groaned from the attack, she pulled another card from her deck. She looked at her pips, and she had enough to summon her new card, Scorpion. She did the same thing Twilight had done during her turn, "I summon Scorpion!"

Twilight winced from the Scorpion's attack, but before she could make her next turn, the bell chimed, meaning that time had expired for the duel. Professor Wethersfield smiled, "You both did great, but Twilight's health is higher, so she wins this duel. You learned the basics. You should get to your next class, you two are dismissed."

As Twilight and Starlight left the arena, they complemented each other on their dueling strategies, even though their battle was very short. When they went their separate ways, Twilight sighed happily, "First day was amazing, I got to duel like a real wizard, and Spike's duel was impressive too. I'll have to talk to him later about it after classes are over for the day."