Sixteen years later…

Arceus sat sadly on her bed in her quaint and cozy room, cradling her best friend. Her mom, Fluttershy, had too many animals to count, but one in specific had always been there to cuddle with her when she’d been in dark places. That was Mew, Arceus’s cat. Nopony else had wanted her because she was hairless, but Arceus thought she was just as cute as any other cat, and she could certainly relate to being unwanted because she was different. Plus, in Arceus’s opinion, Mew’s light pink-tinted skin and big blue eyes were just as cute as any fury cat.

There was a knock on the door. Her mother came in and looked around Arceus’s room.

In one corner was a bookshelf with three tiers. The top tier held books and manuals by Headmare Starlight and Assistant Headstallion Sunburst, all written specifically for Arceus. Some held ideas on what to do when she felt like she would lose control, while others held rules on all the things that she should and shouldn’t do.

The middle tier held all sorts of good luck charms. Some were from Princess Twilight, backed by research she’d done on supernatural magic, but most of them were just political signs of support from powerful ponies who wanted to publicly support Arceus. It was fancy ponies’ way of showing her where they stood in the debate about her. Since she was quite a controversial subject, the good luck charms told Arceus and her parents which ponies were with them, and which were against them.

And the bottom tier held potions created by various ponies. Some of the more notable ponies included Princess Twilight, Headmare Starlight and Assistant Headstallion Sunburst, Prince Blueblood’s wife Princess Moondancer, the recently passed Starswirl The Bearded, and Dr. Hooves. They were for a large assortment of purposes, such as teleporting to an empty patch of land, creating a powerful forcefield, healing severe injuries, and too many other things to remember.

Arceus’s bed was on the opposite side of the room, and it was similarly unpersonalized. She’d at least gotten to pick out the actual bed herself, but the sheets and blankets were sewn by magic experts and imbued with magical protection spells. Her bedside table too was taken over by things that didn’t particularly interest her. It was covered in letters. Some were from owners of land she’d demolished, some were letters of encouragement and support, and some had just come in the mail with the good luck charms.

The only things in her room that gave any hint to her personality were the walls. They were covered in drawings that she’d made. They were drawings of random things, but most of them were inspired by the animals she’d grown up with, and at the corner of each picture was the name of the drawing, and Arceus’s signature.

There was one that was based on a mouse that her mother had been taking care of for a while. The poor guy had been very sick, but that hadn’t taken away from his limitless energy, or his resentment towards enclosed spaces. The picture looked like that mouse, but yellow, and with a lightning bolt shaped tail to represent his ridiculous amount of energy. She’d named that one ‘Pikachu’ and it was one of her favorites. Technically it was her second favorite, after the one she’d drawn of a version of Mew that had a longer tail and could fly or become invisible at will.

There were so many drawings that you could hardly see the walls themselves, but Arceus loved it. It might be a random hobby, but seeing her creations reminded her that she was a pony with talents and emotions, not just an experiment like so many ponies had treated her.

Worry about being treated like an experiment was precisely the reason that she was sad at the moment.

“Sweetie, you might want to start packing. We should leave for The School of Friendship in a little over an hour if we don’t want to be late,” her mother suggested lightly. Arceus smiled mischievously.

“Being late is fine with me.” Arceus had gotten her father’s sense of humor, but it didn’t work as well for her since she didn’t have the right kind of magic to create literal versions of all her sarcasm and puns.

At Arceus’s statement, her mother gave her The Stare.

“Sorry Mom. I’m just not very excited,” Arceus said. Her mother’s eyes softened.

“I understand honey, but you don’t need to be nervous! You already go to The School of Friendship every week for The Releasing. Is this really so different?”

The Releasing was something Arceus had been doing every week since she’d been three years old. It involved going to Headmare Starlight’s office and trying to learn how to control her power. Arceus’s parents-along with many other ponies-believed that releasing small bits of her power over a large amount of time would make her power go away. When Arceus asked anypony why they thought that, all they’d say was ‘The only way to free your child from the clutches of her curse, is to release the magic and not hold back, but not in our universe’. The problem was that no one would tell Arceus who had said that or why everypony was so sure that it was right. It just sounded like a bunch of crap to her. She wasn’t even sure that information was right, because The Releasing never really seemed to do its job. She learned to release more explosions that were small, rather than one large explosion, but the power she used never left for good like ponies said it would. By the time the next Releasing would come around, her power would be back, and coursing through her even more than the week before. But, at least The Releasing prevented explosions due to loss of control. She hadn’t had one of those in years.

“Yes! It’s completely different! For The Releasing, I just go there, get it over with, and come back home. This time I’m going there for an extended period of time, to be surrounded by ponies that I could hurt by accident! Everypony will probably be terrified of me!”

Just then, Arceus felt it. She felt the power inside her bubbling to the surface. Immediately, she tensed up and tried to think about something else. She managed to keep the explosion in, as she usually did. It was infuriating! It seemed that every time she let out her emotions, whether they were anger, worry, or even excitement, her powers would try to be let out with them. Luckily, Arceus’s mom didn’t notice this close encounter with danger. It had happened so many times that Arceus had no trouble hiding it.

Her mother gave her a sad and pitying look.

“Oh sweetheart. They have no reason to be afraid of you. You’ve always been a remarkably strong girl. You would never hurt anyone.”

“But what if I lose control and get angry or scared?” Arceus asked quietly.

“You won’t. And don’t forget, Headmare Starlight will be there if you need her.”

“Oh, goodie,” Arceus said, rolling her eyes. Her mother gave her a weary look.

“Arceus, we’ve been over this. Starlight might have been a bit… Well, evil in the past, but she hasn’t been that way for more than two decades. There’s no reason to be nervous around her.”

“I know. I know,” Arceus responded. But the truth was, she didn’t know. Headmare Starlight didn’t seem diabolical or anything, but her obsession with magic had always striked Arceus as a bit creepy.

“Can I at least take Mew?” Arceus asked hopefully.

“You know pets aren’t allowed at the friendship school,” her mom said. Arceus raised an eyebrow.

“Didn’t you smuggle a cat with you when you went to school? And a bunny and a bird?”

“Well yes, but… That doesn’t…” Her mother sighed, relenting.

“Oh alright. As long as she doesn’t cause any trouble, you can bring Mew.”

Arceus’s face brightened instantly, and she hugged her little hairless friend, who purred happily in return. Arceus’s mother smiled at them, then looked at the clock.

“Oh my. Now you really ought to get packing.”

The Friendship School stood just a few hundred yards away from Arceus and her parents. The sunlight reflected off of the shiny material that the school was made of and glistened across the large moat. Though Arceus had been there more times than she could count, she knew that this time, it was very different. This time, she would be staying there all year, without the comfort of the cottage she’d grown up in to look forward to going home to. This time, she’d have to actually talk to the ponies that wandered through the halls. This time, she’d be one of them. Arceus gulped visibly.

“Remind me how this works again,” Arceus squeaked nervously.

“Don’t be nervous pumpkin. It’s simple. We just go in for a few minutes to sign you in with Headmare Starlight, and you spend the day meeting with your new teachers and classmates. Then classes start tomorrow,” Arceus’s mom said. It didn’t do much to help Arceus’s nerves. Her father layed a comforting claw on her shoulder.

“There’s nothing to worry about. Orientation Day will be a piece of cake,” he said with an evil grin. Arceus looked over to see that her father had in fact transformed The School of Friendship into a giant piece of chocolate cake with a bright red cherry on top, the moat having been turned into a river of frosting. Arceus knew the truth about her father’s magic, and she rolled her eyes at the illusion and classic pun, but it did make her smile, which was what her father had been hoping for.

After her father had poofed the palace back to normal, they continued on towards it, until the inevitable moment when they were standing just outside the front doors.

“Are you ready?” her mother asked. Arceus took a moment to prepare herself. No matter what, she could not create an explosion when she walked in, so she had to be ready for any outcome.

“Yes.”

Then, they opened the doors and walked into the foyer.

Author's Note

Thanks for reading! By the way, if you read "Prince Blueblood's wife Princess Moondancer" and thought 'What's up with that?' make sure to check out my short story called The Truth Spell. It's a comedic romance between Blueblood and Moondancer that takes place in the same universe as this story. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!