Author's Note

okay, so i'm gonna say here that there are a lot of hints in this chapter that will be obvious to a lot of readers and that's the point, don't come at me XD we're slowly inserting magic into this story and it starts with this chapter. though you guys might have to suffer through four more chapters of Houses shit before we get into the story. trust me, the Houses are a big part of this story XD

i'll post chapters 6-19 all in one go so y'all don't have to wait to catch up. keep in mind, up 'till chapter 14 is Jan-Jul 2018 writing so please be easy on me 😅 idk if i have improved over the last few months of 2018 (and 2019) but we'll see i guess! hope you enjoy this!

4. Equestrian Biology & Magic

4. Equestrian Biology & Magic

SEPTEMBER 6TH – A TWO DAYS CLOSER TO THE party practically everyone was talking about. 9M met their homeroom teacher on the 3rd: Mr. Sky Beak. During their homeroom time today, they got to know their assistant HR teacher; Mr. Draconequus, or as he specifically liked to be called: Discord.

Flash said he was going to see her in homeroom. Which they did and Twilight was actually surprised with what happened. Perhaps it was the fear that their classmates in one of their Houses might've caught them being friendly and then do something. She didn't know what, but that was what she assumed. And nothing of the sort happened.

Talking to a boy after what seemed like forever was refreshing for Twilight; it gave her a new taste in her mouth. They both rambled on and both listened to each other. She could only think of certain others who she had this type of relationship with. And then again, there weren't many. With him, for example, she could speak about anything without having this dreaded sense of judgment following her. For one, she could relax.

"All right class, seit leise!"

Twilight blinked out of her trance and gazed up at the rich German accent. It was German, right? Discord slid into his seat and leaned his head on his hand. The rest of the students had sat themselves down before their Magic Biology teacher arrived and from all the expressions she found, they were either confused or glad.

"Wait, he's our Magic Biology teacher?" She blurted out in a whisper.

"Why yes, I am, Miss Sparkle!" She jolted in her seat when he answered, now in a regular Equestrian accent.

When she looked at him, he was standing, arms crossed. Discord wandered around his desk and then leaned against the front of it.

"So, you all thought you could sit wherever you want, hm?" He raised a brow and as if on cue, most of the students groaned.

Twilight was just shoved into her seat by Rainbow Dash, she didn't even know it was her before the girl's colorful ponytail hit her cheek lightly. She wasn't bothered about the seating plan as others were. Wasn't a seating plan a normal thing over here?

She shrugged as Discord told her to move a space up and only had to shift her stuff to the right. Once settled down and tidy again, she watched some of the other students argue, trying not to glance down at their ties/bows. Her eyes bounced to Discord who now sat on his desk with a packet of popcorn and she scrunched a brow. How long was he simply sitting there for?

Along with his, sort of, childish behavior, she took a look at his attire. Instead of a blazer, he wore a leather jacket in a dark-reddish-brown color with a white buttoned shirt underneath. That was the only item of clothing she found was strange, everything else seemed suitable.

Just as he threw the packet in the bin, he leapt from his seat towards the small crowd of quarreling teenagers and pulled them apart, finally. That was when she noticed Discord's gloves. White gloves. They weren't leather ones, the fabric from afar seemed too pristine. She curled her lip as she watched him take care of the issue in a minute and amble back to the front of the class.

"So, welcome to Magic Biology!" He threw his arms out and his warming smile immediately altered to a mischievous one. "Before you new kiddies ask..." he raised a hand and waved it at one of the students in the back. "Yes, Celestia and I are aware that Magic Biology is an oxymoron. But I'm sure the students from Middle School know how much I like stuff that. Besides, what fun is there in making sense?"

Twilight crossed her arms on the table and narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Anyway, I apologize in advance if I get any names wrong while taking this damn thing," – he gestured to his laptop – "I'll try my best but please excuse me. I definitely don't recognize a lot of faces in here so we'll see how this goes."

As she waited for her name, which was pretty far down the register, she took a quick glance over everyone on her desk. Coincidentally, she caught Flash, Ana, Rainbow, Pinkie, and Cheese opposite her on their large circular desk. Other than them, there were five other people that were new to her.

Two were Emerald and Ruby, one was Amethyst. The one who caught her attention was a navy-haired boy. She couldn't see him properly because he seemed to be staring at Rainbow. Cheese Sandwich shook his shoulder and the arm the guy rested his head on collapsed. When she got a better look at him, her eyes widened.

Wait. The heir to the Wonderbolts goes to this Academy? Since when?

Thinking about it again, it made sense. Rich, heir to a famous group of people. Besides, if. Flash Sentry was here, then, of course, Soarin Skies would be too.

As she let the register drone on behind her, eavesdropping allowed itself to enter her mind.

Cheese wiggled his eyebrows and signaled to the girl. Twilight stifled her laughs at the oblivious Ruby and then bit her lip to keep it in when she saw Soarin's expression.

He flushed red and stuttered, "dude, shut up."

I'm not saying anything though, Cheese mouthed.

"You idiot. I wasn't staring at her."

"Soarin?" Discord said. Soarin bit his tongue and jumped. Their teacher held his smirk and eyed the boy who innocently stared back, covering his mouth.

"Morning."

"Hm." His eyes returned to the screen and then looked up. Twilight Sparkle?"

"Good morning." The word was automatic for her. She felt his eyes bore into her head for a quick second before looking down.

Her eyes were on the, three now, boys misbehaving quietly. Flash flicked his finger at Soarin's knuckle and the latter gulped down a yelp. Flash gave him a knowing look and his eyes averted to Rainbow on his right.

"You fuckhead." He cursed loudly and Flash snorted when everyone stared at their table.

"What was that you said to Little Sentry here?" Discord shut his laptop and stepped behind Flash, his hand soon ruffling his hair. Flash scrunched his face, shook Discord's hand off and fixed his hair by himself. "Oh yeah, I forgot that you didn't like that."

"Nothing, Discord," Soarin grumbled but as soon as Discord walked away, he passed Flash the dirtiest look Twilight's ever seen, and it soon converted to a playful eye roll.

Many things popped up in Twilight's head. One of the main ones were: those three were the literal definition of bro-goals and it made her wonder why the boys in Crystal Prep weren't all nice to each other like these guys were. And the second was that these guys were in different houses.

How was the relationship between all the Houses easy to understand? Why did everyone see it as something simple when Twilight didn't? Sure, she wasn't an old CMA student but everyone said that she'll understand it like a snap of a finger.

Sure.

◇

Fifteen minutes into the lesson, excluding the late start, and though it seemed strange, everyone paid attention to Discord's lesson.

He was a pleasant teacher, he was interesting enough to have everyone intrigued by the way he taught. He found a way to lift the students' spirits – with a little help from the class clown, Pinkie Pie – when they were feeling bored. He was obnoxious, in a good way. He had a chaotic atmosphere around him that suited him well.

He later explained that Magic Biology related to how the magic worked in Equestrian and Crystalrian citizens' bodies, hence how it tied into biology. Despite being an oxymoron, it somewhat made sense. Discord also said most of the grading system of MB focused on waving a wand and less so on Biology. That explained why there were two Biology classes, not that Twilight minded.

In those fifteen minutes, there were times where Discord had to use magic to carry stuff around or hand sheets out. Plenty of students were mesmerized by how easy Discord made it look. His light yellow aura passed through his gloves flawlessly and looked like a slight glittery shield around his fingers.

One part of the lesson was group work. Since her table had an uneven amount of students on it, Discord asked Twilight to work with the two girls on either side of her. The first was blonde with vibrant green eyes and a cowgirl hat, while the other was light-rose-haired with shy cyan eyes. The former was a Ruby, the other an Emerald.

"All right, Discord. I can work with them." She assured him and returned his grin. When he passed one to the girl on Twi's left – Fluttershy, was it? – the paper slid off the table. She yelped and apologized to him.

Twilight leaned behind to get a better view. In her perspective, Fluttershy bent down to pick the sheet up.

However, Discord scooped it quicker than she did and stated, "It's all right, I've got it."

"N-no! I-I can get it!"

He stood up and gave her a warming and friendly smile. "It's hardly anything, Fluttershy." The minute he held it out for her to take, he took it back and gazed at the dirt and crumples. "Gosh darn it! Seriously, they need to clean the floors properly next time. Here, I'll give you a new one." He said.

The shy girl wanted to protest by the looks of it but couldn't when Discord already handed her a brand new sheet. She took it and glanced up; he was still smiling.

He told her if she needed any help, he's there to help. She nodded and focused on the sheet. As he ambled away back to his desk, she raised her head up again, slightly staring.

"Ooh!" A raspy voice – male – intervened.

Oh my gosh, Soarin. Twilight rolled her eyes.

He leaned in to whisper, "Flutters, do you have a crush on Discord?" Soarin chuckled and earned a blush from Shy. "You do, don't you?" The eagerness in his voice didn't make things better. Shy fiddled with her fingers and stared down at her lap. "So, what would their ship name be? FlutterCor—"

Flash slapped his shoulder. "Soarin, you're an idiot. Gosh." He said that is a somewhat amused but serious expression, one that Twilight couldn't even decipher. "Look, you're making her uncomfortable! Some best friend you are." Most students turned to the girl – who sank in her seat.

Flash got up from his seat and knelt down to bring her up. He managed to calm down Fluttershy's immense flustering. "Flutters, don't mind Dash's future boyfriend, he's being a dick because he can't bother to ask the girl he likes out." The last few words slipped out from his clenched teeth.

Dash furrowed her brows at Flash.

"Sentry, I swear to Celestia; if you bother me one more time, so help me—"

"I'm keeping my kidneys to myself, thank you." Flash held his hands in front of him defensively, slightly backing away in his chair. He and the rest of the table, including Twilight, sprung into laughter. Twilight's eyes dodged to where she spotted Discord enjoying the amusement from his desk. He snickered, coughed and told them to focus on their sheet.

Twilight clapped her hands together and faced her partners. They finished clipping the worksheet into their books and had their pen ready for the first question.

Three minutes passed and they had almost all the questions done. Just one more.

Applejack wasn't quite like Rainbow. She was more relaxed and less rough than Dash was. A lot more mature, yet she did somewhat fit the Ruby stereotype. Fluttershy, on the other hand, was what Twilight expected her to be; yet, most of that was because of her name and attitude. Without that, she would've predicted nothing close to that. The Shy part fit her personality exactly. She was timid, non-spoken and quiet as can be. She would either nod or shrug when they asked for her opinion.

Hm.

"All right. Question Five. What are three tasks that Good Magic generally cannot do but Black and/or Dark Magic can? And is there any evidence to prove this?" Twilight read out.

"Bring people back to life?" Applejack suggested; her western accent flooding into her words.

They scribbled it down and an idea slithered into Twi's head. As far as she knew, this action was dangerous. "Turning humans, like us, into angels?" Applejack and Fluttershy nodded and jotted it down, only to turn back to her, exchanging faces of surprise.

"Wait, it's actually possible to do that?" Applejack had her mouth hung open.

"As far as I am aware, yes. It's actually really savage and minacious. If I could recall back to the news, ten years ago, someone had that spell cast on them. Don't know if they are still alive or not because we were only four years at the time. Good Magic cannot cast it. I'm unsure about Black but definitely certain about Dark."

Flash lifted his head just a fraction.

She noticed he was looking and tapped on his writing wrist when he avoided eye contact. The area where the poked him was hard. Like something was under his blazer. She assumed it was a watch and jabbed his backhand.

"Hey, okay, I felt you, no need to do it so hard." Flash chucked and jerked his hand away from her.

"Did you hear our idea?"

"Uh, yeah? You were pretty loud."

"Did you write it down?"

Flash made a face and showed her his sheet. Twilight read it and lightly bit her tongue in embarrassment. He smirked and took back his paper. She kept her tongue back to keep her from acting like a child, though she felt like she had some leeway; fifteen-year-olds were children in some shape or form.

"Ooh! Good Magic cannot erase mental health issues! Good one, Sentry!" Applejack gave him a thumbs up stole the idea. Derpy gave a warning hey! and Flash frowned.

"Applejack! That's not fair, Twi said—"

He just had to call her Twi.

"—we can't steal her idea yet you do the same thing to us!" He whined and crossed his arms. Somehow, that action let hope soothe into her. She stuck her tongue out and held her sheet away from him.

He pulled the corner of his lip into his cheek and sulked. That face eventually broke her – which took five seconds to do so because sad babyfaces were Twilight's weakness and Flash Sentry was no less – and she glided her paper in his direction. "Go on, write it down."

His face lit up and he leaned in, eyes scanning then writing and repeat.

"So, where did you get that idea from, Flash? Can Black and/or Dark Magic do that?" Flutters asked finally. She actually spoke, and in a confident way, towards Flash.

"Dark Magic can't but Black Magic absolutely can. I haven't had personal experience of it but my uncle has."

"Your uncle... Blaze Sentry's younger brother, right?"

"Y-yeah. Basically!" He chuckled it off but there was a tinge of disappointment in his voice. "Anyway, let me just write the angels one down." He lightly seized Twilight's wrist and pulled it forward so he could see the top answer.

His blazer sleeve raised up his forearm and the "watch" that Twilight assumed was that dark blue gem bracelet she saw the other day.

While he was writing, Twilight noticed something and said, "Oh my gosh, your handwriting is neat! All the boys in my old school had such unreadable writing."

"Heh, thanks." He finished with the last word and handed his sheet to Derpy so she could copy it down.

Thirty seconds later, Discord brought the class’ attention again and right on time, Derpy slammed her pen down on the paper to dot her sentence.

Discord finished his roaming around the classroom and held his hands behind his back. "So, what do guys have for question one?" Gazing over all the students, he smirked when one was sniggering to his friend. "Feather Bangs! What do you have?"

The Sapphire jumped and laughed sheepishly when Discord picked on him. He scrambled for his paper and cleared his throat.

Flash scoffed quietly and muttered something under his breath.

What's up with those two? Aren't they in the same House?

A tap on her shoulder startled Twilight's insides but she shrugged the tickle off. She saw this coming and she wasn't getting distracted this time. Twilight just didn't know who it was.

"Pst! Psst! Pssst!"

"What is it?!—oh." Her question was a harsh whisper but, without delay, it turned back into a normal one. "Sorry. Pinkie Pie, that's your name?"

"Yeah! So, I was wondering. The birthday party on September 9th; did you hear about it?"

"The excitement for the party is literally all over CMA, so yes."

"Do you want to come? I can tell Flash that I invited you – not that he'd mind that you're coming."

Twilight glanced over at the teenager playing with his pen while listening to Discord. If it was his birthday, then definitely. He was an interesting person that brought Twilight out of her comfort no-friendship zone, she was sucked into his sweet and friendly aura.

But... the Houses. Over the course of the three days that went by, Starlight and Rainbow explained the mutual hatred between each of them, something Shining Armor refused to speak about other than vague responses. Like she thought before, those girls made the system seem too simple and easy to understand when it really wasn't

In those three days, she had seen many things that proved her point – even today. Soarin, Flash, and Cheese; Rainbow and Pinkie plus many more. And then, just now, there was Feather Bangs and Flash, suggesting rivalry. A rivalry in their House.

On top of that, the number of Amethyst-Sapphire arguments there had been, she didn't want her possible future friendship with Flash to be damaged because of that.

So denial it was.

"S-so sorry, Pinkie Pie. I c-can't. I have a lot of homework. Plus, I'm not really interested. Sorry..."

"O-oh. A-all right." Her bubbly appearance drooped down a bit.

A pang of regret stung Twilight's chest and she bit her lip. "I'm really sorry, Pinkie. Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine, Twilight!" The struggle Pinkie went through to bring back her happy high-pitched voice wasn't very subtle. "It's okay, there are some people who aren't interested in parties."

"Uh..." There was no need for guilt tripping because it already seared Twilight. "Did someone ask you to invite me?"

"No, not really. It's Flash's birthday and you guys already hit off as friends," – eh, not really, but okay – "even though you are in rival Houses. I kinda wanted to change up the unnecessary friendship-ban between Houses. I thought you two would become close but guess we don't need a party for that," said Pinkie, slipping back into her seat.

"Are you sure it's okay?"

"Y-yeah!"

"As long as you aren't upset, that's fine with me."

"I'm telling you, Twilight, I'm not upset! I'm fine, really." Pinkie grinned at her. Twilight returned the gesture, ignoring the rainstorm of guilt. And she hated the rain. Twilight turned her head to Discord just as he clicked his fingers and the whiteboard switched on.

The slide that was projected was incredibly eye-catching – there were different auras floating around the corners of the screen, intertwining with the others. The brighter auras seemed to represent the lighter magic, while the almost black auras were the darker magic. Though, assumptions were assumptions.

"We're moving on to different Magic types. We have the simple Good, Black and Dark Magic. But there are other powerful types of magic that may or may not fit into these categories." He snatched the remote from his desk and pressed a button. Different symbols appeared when he stated them, "those are Harmonic, Chaotic, Crystal, Shadow, Sirenic and Wolf Magic. There are many more, but these are the main powerful ones."

He pressed the button again to a different slide. "Crystal Magic; what category would this one fit in?" Discord leaned against his desk. "Sparkle?"

"Good Magic. At least, I think? It's done nothing but good so far so..."

"I mean, yeah! We've all lived with Crystal Magic all our lives, whether we refuse to believe it or not, so yes."

The next slide had another vibe to it, this one a little unsettling.

"Which of those seven types fit into the Dark and/or Black Magic category?" He picked a random student who had their hand up.

"Shadow, Sirenic..." Their mind wandered off with the last two and when they said it, it came out more like a question. "Chaotic, Harmonic and Wolf... Magic?"

"You are on the right track." Discord dropped the remote back on the table and crossed his arms. "Three of them are wrong. Chaotic, Harmonic and Wolf Magic are not the harmful Magic."

"They ain't Good Magic. So what are they if they ain't Evil Magic?" Applejack asked.

"Well, I was just about to ask that to you guys. Why doesn't Chaotic fit into a specific category?"

Some hands went up and Discord scanned the class. Twilight averted her eyes to a hand next to her, Fluttershy's hand. Her hand was in the middle like she wanted to answer but the feeling of saying something stupid flooded through her mind.

Well, isn't that relatable?

"Fluttershy?" Discord chose.

"O-oh! Uh..." She flushed red. He waited for her response, though nothing about his facial expressions spoke impatience. "Well... Chaotic Magic is both in a way...? You can use it for either good or bad." Fluttershy’s courage was building. "And what I mean by you is the people who were born with Chaotic Magic. You can't learn it, you have the knowledge of the spells and the magic in you. And like I said, you can either be good or bad and still use the magic. It's bang in the middle gray, like all the types of magic are."

Twilight fought to urge to face Fluttershy with a congratulatory smile. Emeralds could be smart.

She never liked stereotypes. But in a place and a society where generic categories are separated and were overlooked differently, it's hard not to collapse and go with the flow. It made things easier, that wasn't a lie, but it also complicated things, like society always did.

CMA’s policy followed society, hell, it was like society. What Twilight could see were complicated twists of friendships, secret relationships, and a clash in similar personalities. Was there something deeper to the rivalries and rules that Twilight didn't know about?

Discord gave a pleasing look. "I'm impressed, Fluttershy." Twilight, at long last, faced Shy with the same warm and encouraging face. "Ten points to Emerald."

How Harry Potter, Twilight's smile was small.

During an unpleasant sounding outburst of cheers and groans, more so the latter, she left less coming from her table. From what she could see, Applejack, Rainbow, Pinkie, Sunset Shimmer and Starlight didn't go with the crowd. Same with the three boys. Rarity barely clapped, her nail file in her fingers as she rolled her eyes.

Twilight couldn't get the thought out of her head. Other students were hostile towards each other, some didn't care, but these students were... different. Was that the best way to describe them?

"So, Harmonic Magic. After what happened with the General of Sun and Moon with that strong type of magic, it's safe for everyone to say that it's pure Evil, right?" Discord asked.

He slid his eyes along all the students, checking for any objections and he let out a light laugh.

"Wrong. Harmonic Magic, like Chaotic Magic, can be used for either good or bad. It can be controlled and get into the wrong hands. If used correctly, it can help save practically anybody. But used incorrectly... well, that's an entirely different disaster. Like Equestrian History explains oh so clearly."

He tapped a key and a few points appeared on the screen. "Jot down these few points about Dark Magic and I'll get onto Wolf Magic. I won't go too in-depth about it as myself and other teachers fairly know little to nothing about it." It didn't take long for everyone to finish. He went on a lecture about it – well, not really a lecture, more like explaining how it worked, its power and how it affected their biology.

When he immediately brought up the topic of Wolf Magic, Flash shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He wasn't sweating, he wasn't stressing. He was more tensed than anything. His facial expression was normal, listening intently to Discord.

And for that section of the lesson, while managing to listen to her teacher, she had her eyes glued onto that accessory on his wrist. The one Flash pulled his blazer over to supposedly hide.