Well that was by far the most unsettling speech Arceus had ever heard. Was it irrational to think that all the 'learning and experimentation' Headmare Starlight had mentioned had something to do with her?

Arceus couldn’t seem to calm her thoughts as she took her very full backpack to Ms. Scootaloo as instructed.

“Be careful with it please,” Arceus said as she handed it over. Mew was hiding inside, and although she had made sure to make it very comfortable for her, she still didn’t want her to be jostled around. Ms. Scootaloo raised one eyebrow.

“Not that there’s any particular reason. I just um… Like my blankets to stay folded,” Arceus covered, laughing a bit hysterically at herself.

Ms. Scootaloo’s look only got more suspicious.

“Uh huh,” Ms. Scootaloo said skeptically.

“Alright then! Looks like you’ve got it covered, so I guess I’ll just go over there now. Bye!”

There were definitely some drawbacks to living in a secluded cottage for sixteen years and only seeing the same ponies over and over. Clearly, Arceus still had a lot to learn about talking to ponies.

It was just so much easier being able to think through how every word would come across when writing a letter. When talking to somepony in real life, you barely had time to think through what you wanted to say. Arceus resigned herself to figure it out though. If she couldn’t even smuggle her cat into the school, she would have a lot of trouble making a life for herself here.

Speaking of making a life for herself here, there was still somepony she wanted to talk to.

Starcatcher was still with the classy ponies on the other side of the room. She was a little nervous to meet him in real life, but not as nervous as you might think. After all, she already knew him on paper. How different could he really be?

However, just before she was within speaking distance of him, she was interrupted yet again. This time, the kind-faced kirin she’d seen earlier had intentionally run over to her and blocked her path. She had a navy blue coat, a pure white mane, and icy blue eyes.

She had dragged her changeling friend with her, and she threw one of her front legs around his neck in a gesture of companionship, but Arceus could tell that it's true purpose was to keep him from running away.

He struggled lightly in her grip. It looked like he was trying to shrink into himself, but it didn't work very well since his color scheme of lime green with bright orange accents made him automatically stand out.

“Hi! You must be Arceus! I’ve heard so much about you,” the kirin said. Arceus looked down uncomfortably.

She wasn’t sure why anyone in their right mind would be excited to meet her after hearing about her. After all, most of the articles published about her had headlines like, ‘Hybrid Creature Destroys Fields All Across The Countryside,’ or ‘Arceus: Valuable Asset or Big Mistake.'

The changeling saw my expression and eyed the kirin angrily, then looked back to me.

“That’s not what she meant,” he said, seeming to read Arceus’s thoughts. Arceus looked up at him. It was almost like he knew her somehow, but Arceus was sure that she hadn’t met him before, so how could that have been? Recognition dawned on the kirin’s face.

“Oh no! I don’t even read those dumb articles. I’ve only heard good things,” she clarified.

“From where?” Arceus asked skeptically. The kirin smiled.

“Let’s just say that we have a mutual friend.”

That clearly made the changeling uncomfortable.

“I’m Winter Willow by the way, and this is my friend Xendar. And I do mean friend. We’re not together,” Winter Willow said.

“Um, okay. Nice to meet you,” Arceus said. Just then, Starcatcher turned around and saw Arceus, then walked over to her. His posse followed close behind.

He walked right up next to Xendar, unintentionally pushing him to the side a bit.

“Arceus. Good to finally meet you,” he said with obvious smugness in his voice. It was like he was trying to show off their relationship to his friends. Arceus wasn’t sure what that was all about, but he had once told her in a letter that he felt like he always needed to pretend to be somepony that he wasn’t in order to earn the respect and notice of ponies around him. Arceus could only assume that the ponies following him around were those ponies.

“Starcatcher! It’s so good to see you!” Arceus said excitedly. Arceus noticed that the classy ponies were looking at her and Starcatcher with raised brows. Starcatcher looked a bit worried. Wanting to avoid the other ponies' attention, she leaned a bit closer to him and spoke quietly.

“I don't mean to embarrass you. It’s just that after what you said in your last letter-”

“Can we talk in private?” Starcatcher interrupted. Arceus’s stomach suddenly filled with nerves.

“Sure,” Arceus said shyly.

“Excuse me for a moment,” he said to his posse. Then he started walking towards a nearby hallway, clearly expecting Arceus to follow him. After a moment of hesitation, she did.

He took a left turn, then right, then opened the second door on the left, leading Arceus into what appeared to be an empty classroom. Then, he turned to her.

They were close. Very close. She could smell his overpowering cologne and see his features up close. His coat was cream-colored, and his hair was royal blue with amethyst purple tips. His cutie mark was a rose, and his red eyes matched it perfectly.

He looked perfect, just as he had in her mind when she’d imagined a moment like this, with the two of them alone in a dark, secluded room. But now that it was actually happening, something felt wrong. She tried to blame it on the confused look in Starcatcher’s eyes, but she knew that wasn’t it. Starcatcher took a cautious step back.

“What exactly did I say to you in my last letter?” he said. Arceus was surprised and a little disappointed. He didn’t even remember? For some reason, she’d thought the letters had meant as much to him as they did to her.

“You said that you were nervous about meeting me here. And something about hoping I’d understand something important that you wanted to tell me. You said that I…” Arceus paused, blushing.

“You said that reading my letters made you feel special, and you didn’t want to lose that.”

Arceus still didn’t understand why he’d ever thought that he would lose her, but she expected that he had gotten her alone in order to answer that question. However, when she saw his expression, it only confused her even more. He looked extremely, undeniably angry. He took several deep breaths to calm himself before addressing her.

“I truly hope that my letters gave you an idea of the support that my family is willing to offer you. I’m sorry if I have ever implied other things. Though I am always here if you need me for a professional matter, when it comes to other matters, I’m-,” he paused as he looked her up and down with a slightly disgusted expression, “-not interested,” he finished.

Then he nodded his head once and left the room, shutting the door behind him. He didn’t even give Arceus the chance to yell at him, slap him, question him, or any of the hundred things that she felt like doing.

She felt her power clawing at her skin, hoping that this time, while she had no potions or force-fields to protect her, perhaps it could break free and destroy everything around her.

With much difficulty, she pushed it back into herself. It didn't matter how upset she was. She couldn’t give into it. She had destroyed an entire acre of land the last time she had, and she had been only ten years old at the time. It had felt great to get it all out of her system, but she knew that it wasn’t worth it, especially now.

She hadn’t told her parents, but she knew that her power had multiplied several times over since the last time she’d created an explosion. She could feel it growing within herself every day.

After slowly counting to ten to calm herself like she’d been taught, she left the room and headed back to the foyer.

That proved to be a problem though, because after aimlessly wandering through the school for a minute or two, she realized that she had no idea how to get back there.

"There you are! I couldn't find you," Headmare Starlight said from behind her. Arceus felt a shiver up her spine, but said nothing. She only turned around and stared at Headmare Starlight.

"I need you in my office immediately for class."

Arceus gulped.

"But classes don't start until tomorrow," Arceus said desperately.

"For you, they start now."

This was exactly what she'd been afraid of. Her parents weren't there to protect her anymore, and she felt utterly defenseless.

"No, I won't. I want to go to normal classes like everyone else," Arceus said, faking confidence in herself.

"I can see you aren't going to make this easy for yourself. What a shame."

"You can't make me! I won't let you! I… I'll unleash my power," Arceus threatened, her voice shuddering.

She had never threatened to unleash her powers before, and she knew Headmare Starlight would never believe such a threat.

Arceus frantically looked around, hoping to see somepony who would help her, but there was nopony around. Headmare Starlight smiled. It was a more genuine smile than any she'd shone today, and it was terrifying.

"That's what I'm hoping for."

Then, before Arceus could do anything, the headmare's horn lit up, and they were both teleported to her office.

Author's Note

Hi again! Thanks for reading this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it, and if you did, please leave a thumbs up! Also, feel free to comment with your thoughts, critiques, and theories.