Veil of Shadows

Chapters

Prologue: Destroyer Of Worlds.
Chapter 1: No Pony Is An Island
Chapter 2: Amassing headaches
Entrey No.1
Chapter 4: With friends like these

Prologue: Destroyer Of Worlds.

“I’ll save her.” Everstone muttered to himself. His magic swiftly flipped through the pages of The Tome that laid before him. A distant but distinct and urgent tip-tap, tip-tapping began to echo deep in the hallways above like the sound of a distant train racing through a tunnel. Hoof steps, he thought to himself causing his heart to race faster at this realization. He quickly brought his hoof to his forehead; pulling up his stringy, poorly kept mane out of his face. His window was closing fast and if he didn't act now he'd never be able to save her. His mind fell back to images of the alabaster coat and silky white mane. Her wintery blue iris consumed his mind as he recalled her features. The memory subsided his growing anxiety of the present for just a moment. Soon the grief that ate away at his heart like a starving mongrel would be slain and she would return. Soon she'd be back at his side, and this nightmare would be over. A wry smile crept across his muzzle at the thought.

Tip-Tap, Tip- tap! The sounds crescendo into a deafening roar in Everstone’s mind; snapping him out of his blissful daze. The fowl noise was seemingly all encompassing like a raging river. Its very existence threatened to drown out the very memory of the pony that meant all of the Equestria to Everstone. Enraged at this invasion, this purging of his mind, he doubled his efforts. He refused to come so far, only to be stopped so close by shortsighted traitors.

“I lost you once, I wont lose you again!” He cried out as he desperately started The Spell. Tears of frustration intermixed with ones of joy as the pages began swiftly flipping themselves. Information and magic began to transfer from book to mind; unknowable knowledge made known, lost magic rediscovered by a sole unicorn.

TIP-TAP TIP-TAP! The sound crashed into the room like a raging tsunami as three creatures raced down the stairs into The School’s basement. Two changelings and a pegasus stopped as they witnessed the events that they were too late to stop from unraveling.

Everstone’s breathing spiked as the spell finished. As his last tear hit the stone below pain briefly shot through his body like an electric jolt. Stopping in the core of his sanctuary, his mind. The pain festered there and grew like a sickly cancer. Soon his whole mind burned with that same cancer. The rest of his body began to fall to a wicked numbness as the magic from his body was driven out and replaced with something ancient and malevolent. Leaving the only sensation in his body, that of the dark magic now coursing through his mind.

That magic was a force of incompressible power, thrust into the vessel of the young unicorn. Everstone tried desperately to stumble back from The Tome that was causing his suffering. But it was a fool's errand, as no power in all of Equestria could save him from what he inflicted upon himself. What he had unleashed. When he realized he could no longer move, he instead tried to cry out in pain to relieve some of his agony. But all that escaped his muzzle was a faint, pitifully, whimper. The weight of his transgressions began to weigh him down; forcing him to kneel to The Tome as if it were some altar of sacrifice. But no matter what he might give it, the Tome would be unsatisfied with anything less than Everstone's very being.

The air around Everstone’s horn blazed with a purple-reddish infernal gleam causing the air to flare up and circle around him like a raging tornado. For a brief moment the wicked magic went still, like the gentle calm before the storm. Then with all the force and pain of a hurricane the magic began to violently thrash about; wavering like a wildfire sprouting magical, eldritch, tendrils. Then as quickly as the tendrils formed they lashed out at the space around it like agitated snakes. Attempting to grasp at the air around it like a newborn infant; grasping and kicking the air.

Nothing seemed to be safe from their wrath. The few rats rummaging through the basement were the first to be struck dead. Followed soon after by the small lingering insects of the room. Both were swiftly executed without hesitation, and slaughtered indiscriminately. The most horrifying fact was neither of those things however; instead the most horrifying thing was that the tendrils seemingly drained the life force of the creatures. Like starving leeches they hungrily drained the creatures dry of life and magic, leaving only withered husk in their wake. The Rats' corpses looked as if they were aged 100s of years past what they should have been; while the insects’ were reduced to mere ash.

During those same split seconds, Everstone’s vision flicked in and out as the world caused his mind to spin with a static motionlessness and the still ground shook his hooves like an earthquake. Soon after, his pain began to spread from his mind and horn and into the rest of his body. The numbness being replaced by throbbing agony. His teeth were the first to be afflicted by the magic causing them to rot, fallout, or in most cases both. Next was his once elegant navy blue coat and silvery mane and tail deteriorated into an unhealthy and decrypted hues of grey. However like his teeth, most of it simply just outright fell off in an attempt to escape the poison now coursing through his veins. After only but a few seconds, he was largely left with only exposed and decaying flesh. Which had become ghoulish and wrinkled in appearance which only highlighted his muscles degenerating into nothingness; leaving him frail and malnourished in appearance. His argent eyes that were once overflowing with life slowly faded away to little more than two ghastly white orbs of sorrow. As the change progressed, any remaining identifiable features were lost. Leaving a hollow undead corpse that only shared Everstone's former figure. As the changes finished the air permeated with the smell of decay and blight that radiated from the corpse. He let out an ungodlily cry of pain as he tried to look at the monster he was becoming; the movement causing the flesh to grotesquely squelch in protests.

Soon thereafter, Everstone, the corpse, the monster began to stagger forward like a grey muzzled stallion on the brink of death. Yet unlike such a stallion, this thing knew not the bitter taste of death nor did it truly know the sweet sensation of life anymore. Instead, it was something new, something between the great chasm that divides the dead from the living. A chasm that was never meant to be walked by any creature. A chasm so great and vast not even the most powerful creatures of the time could even dream of closing it. Yet, this creature did, as it had ascended past the point of understanding, of reality even. What this creature was defied explanation. For the first time in the history of Equestria a being not of the living stumbled amongst the waking world. While it shared the appearance of a unicorn no creature in their right mind would call it of pony kind. What hobbled forward would have been thought impossible if not for the fact it stood here in defiance of such limited, mortal notions.

Its defiance was not limited to the ponies’ limited understanding of the world either. As the world around the corpse seemed to groan in protest, struggling to erase it from reality. But it remained unfazed by the shackles of nature. It was free now, free from its prison. This would not go unnoticed however; as to play such a dangerous game with nature has grave consequences on the fragile fabric of reality itself. Time around the creature sped towards stillness. Seconds lost meaning as years became irrelevant. Light embraced darkness. The shadows of the room exploded with celestial light. Space shrunk to proportions larger than infinity. Time useless, space indistinguishable, light and dark interchangeable. Reality had lost all significance in the presence of the beast. If not for the beast’s inherently fowl nature, some might have considered the effects of the beast godly.

As Everstone gained his bearings once more he slumped forward. The body then began bloating before swiftly deflating like a balloon. The motion was some crude parody of breath. Yet like everything else about it, this too was little more than a façade, a habit. As this creature had no need for such Equestrian characteristics. It was simply carried over from when it was still truly Everstone. But this unnerving mimicry of breath revealed what lay below the surface. With every depression of the body, a line of long bony ribs could be made out underneath the thin grey flesh; weakly constricted by the flesh that pushed down on them. Strains of rogue blood vessels, now without a purpose, convulsed haphazardly with no rhyme or reason. There was also the matter of the noise made by each of its breaths. The noise was just as unpleasant to the ears as its appearance was to the eyes. Each wheeze sounded was that of a smoker well past their prime; gasping for every breath like it were their last. Every wheeze also carried with it the consequence of a suffocating smell of death. Leaving any creature unfortunate enough to breathe it nauseated.

Amidst the horror, the trio of creatures helplessly watched in terror at Everstone's change. To them it was like a train crash in slow motion; their eyes fixated on Everstone’s degradation into an unrecognizable creature. Unable to be torn away no matter how hard they may try. Fear piercing their very souls; keeping them frozen in place as they were forced to watch as Everstone was mangled into the fowl beast before them.
Everstone's undead corpse began to twitch and stagger once more in a demonic mimicry of life. No pony even dared to gasp for breath until a second cry escaped the beast’s throat; snapping two of the creatures out of their stupor.

Lilly, the youngest of the remaining trio, remained fixated on him however. Her body trembled in a mix of sorrow and fear. Her hooves wobbled weakly below her, indecisive if to flee or to stay and watch. Her sunset pink chiton began to raise on end and her azure blue eyes flooded with tears. At the same time her muzzle fumbled open trying, in vain, to let out a cry of distress or anything to try and cope with the abomination in front of her. Yet her muzzle simply hinged open in fearful aw, before closing once more. Her mind raced to try and process what she was witnessing. She couldn't believe it, she refused to believe it. And yet, reality insisted the truth in front of her. So reality went to war with logic itself; her mind the battlefield of the conflict. Her mind nearly shattered in a maelstrom of incomprehensible babble as the two raged on. Logic dictating this could not be real, while all of reality proved to her that it very much was. Yet as she began to sink into the quagmire of insanity, Oleander called out to her. The words were a life preserver in the infinite seas of insanity. They were real and tangible, unlike the awful visage that shambled in front of her.

"Lilly," Oleander called out again, “we need to go! It's not safe here!" The steel grey mare stood atop the staircase, leading back up to the School of Friendship's, with leo. The two's eyes frantically darted between Lilly and Everstone waiting for which would make the first move. Lilly hesitated for just the briefest moment to examine once more what became of Everstone, hoping that she was somehow mistaken. Hoping that maybe her senses were playing a twisted trick on her. She was not mistaken.

"Lilly! Now!" Oleander ordered as the room itself started to become ensnared by the same fowl magic that consumed Everstone. Lilly's heart raced as her eyes darted back to her fellow creatures. She ran faster than she ever had in her whole life driven by pure primal desire to survive and fueled by raw adrenaline. She desperately made her way to the escape to safety.

The corpse of Everstone's eyes drooped in anguish as it let out a torrmented wail of agony. Though it was not of pain, least not in the physical sense. Those pains vanished with the initial surge of magic and transformation. This pain was one of heartache and grief. A pain that could only be known by those who've both lost everything and everyone. But the grief would swiftly turn to rage as Lilly began to flee. This rage only made the tendrils' efforts double; becoming more erratic as the creature's enigmatic emotions flared.

But such monsters are not born into the world. They are created and this very creature was created so long ago. Only now rearing its face in Celestia’s light two years after its inception. But to understand what creates such a monster one must first understand its grief. Grief that originates three years ago.

Author's Note

Firstly, Id like to thank ~~Anon3mous1~~ Greenhorne, ~~AlexW~~ Boopy Doopy , Melodiac, Xzeron2000 and a couple dozen other friends who didn't wish to be listed (you know who you are) for helping me edit this train wreck of a post.
secondly expect this to be a biweekly upload interchanging with my other fic What you Need . Chapter 2 of this shall be posted on June twentieth of 2020.
Finally thank you dear reader.

Chapter 1: No Pony Is An Island

The sun’s golden and warm rays slipped between the sporadic, milky white, cloud coverage and down onto the School of friendship. Casting the school in a brilliant golden yellow hue that was in sharp contrast to the crystalline blue sky that surrounded it. Making it a beacon not just in the metaphorical sense, but in the literal too; as the light's reflection made the majestic structure visible for miles around. It was quite the eye-catching beacon too, as its majestic glow brought in a tidal wave of students. Their giddy smiles were plastered across their faces and their excitement encapsulated their very being. Their passion and excitement was an all consuming fire that was unable to be doused. To them it was as if they were in a pleasant and distant dream. So far from the worries and problems of the world. So close to the promises and hopes of tomorrow.

If not for a few of the faculty directing the students, they'd have likely toppled over one another, in their rush of excitement, just to get in. But fortunately for every creature involved, things went as smooth as silk and everycreature managed to make it through the regal front gates without issue. Though still a disorganized mess, even with the aid of staff, every creature was still happy just to have arrived. Even if it meant standing cramped in shoulder to shoulder rows.

Happy faces were greeted in kind with new unfamiliar ones. The excitement of one student fueled excitement in another. Formal introductions had yet to even begin and yet creatures large and small already knew their four year stay would be fantastic beyond compare. But as the sun began to wane and make room for it’s nocturnal counterpart, the sky transformed into a velvety lavender. With the vanishing of the sun beneath the horizon, so to did the tidal wave of students vanish to their rooms. Now all that remained was the trickle of students who yet to receive their supplies. Near the back of that stream of students stood a navy blue unicorn.

Everstone, disgruntled and in line, slouched forward letting out a huff of tepid air in disapproval. As a result of the juvenile tantrum, he netted himself with a face full of mane. The backlash, causing his cheeks to turn a embarrassed, rosy pink as his horn lit with the cool and familiar tingle of magic. Then like a breeze, his blue aura swiftly combed his salt grazed mane back up; meticulously placing each strand where he had wanted it. Every individual hair was treated with the utmost, attentive, care as they were gently put into neat and uniform rows across his head. The whole process took several minutes of work and yet despite his great care, a few strands remained dislodged in defiance. However, having noticed he was next in line he was forced to quickly tuck what few strands remained behind his ears instead of in their proper place.

Everstone made his way up to the small wooden desk which was littered with sheets of paper and half opened scrolls. In the center a lone placard weighing down the mess, read “Headmare Starlight Glimmer'' in large gilded letters. It just so happened that the same Starlight Glimmer sat behind that desk; while she did look a little more worse for wear than usual, she was still unmistakably Starlight. Everstone’s eyes darted between face and placard as if the name would remind him of the face he was looking at. But, it didn't. Which was to be expected, as they never did. Everstone and names simply did not mix.

In fact, Ponies and Everstone in general didn't mix. Mostly due to Everston’s aversion to social contact as a whole. Typically social interactions just left him clueless on how to respond. It was for this reason Everstone preferred the arcane arts; to him they were both structured and predictable. But most importantly they didn’t require a lengthy and exhausting conversation. Ponies on the other hoof, were all far too, “chaotic”, and, “disorderly”, for his liking. Tip-tap. It was for these reasons he disapproved of being sent to this school. Tip-tap. Friendship, and all the interacting that entailed, were simply too far out of his comfort zone. Magic was a silent companion that went along with however Everstone poked or prodded it. Ponies however, talked, replied and expected a reply in return. They also became upset if a wrong answer were given to them. All of these problems were compounded by the fact he had no way of accurately predicting what answers he needed to give to avoid said outcome. Yet despite this dread brought by other ponies, his mother forced him to come all the same. Tip-tap.

There it was again, the sound that drilled its way into Everstones skull, making him cringe with discomfort. The sound was like a foal smashing the wrong end of a key at the end of a divine melody, just to spite the listener. It was both unplesnet and distracting from the piece as a whole. With great reluctance Everstone blinked as he wormed his way out of his mind to investigate the source of the disturbance. Only to realize it was Ms.Starlight tapping the table; trying to get his attention, with a rather concerned look on her face.

Though banging would have been a more apt description of Starlight's last attempt. The Stallion had zoned out when shed had asked for his name. At first she thought it simply due to his nerves. But after she repeatedly tried asking his name with no answer or reaction, she became worried. She then attempted trying to snap him out of his stupor, repeatedly, yet he remained locked in his own fantasy. Starlight thought for a moment that something terrible had overtaken the stallion. However, her fears were put at ease when the stallion finally snapped out of it on her last attempt. A surprised and sheepish expression spread across his face as he seemingly realized what he had done. After taking a moment to gain his bearings he flashed her an embarrassed smile as a token form of apology. To which starlight accepted with an amused smile.

“It’s okay,” starlight assured him “What's your name?” she asked as her purple eyes began to scan her piles of paperwork; quill encased in her magic grip. Though in her peripheral vision she could she the stallion shift in place, as if unsure how to answer.

“Oh, it's uh, Everstone ma’am.” The stallion answered as he watched her work. His gaze rapidly darted from name to name on starlights plethora of papers. The search took Starlight several seconds flipping through a dozen pages before finally stumbling across his name.

“Ah! here we are! Everstone, unicorn... born and raised in Starport...age sixteen.. Mother Jackpot, father..” she bit her lip and stopped as she saw the black ink across the paperwork. She quickly glanced up at the stallion in worry. But If he was upset,he didn't show it, or she at least didn't notice. Starlight let out a mental sigh of relief; happy that mentioning him didn’t stir a negative reaction. She then took a moment to collect her own thoughts before continuing her brief confirmation check.

“Is all of this correct?” she glanced back up at him with an inquisitive look.

“It is.” Everstone confirmed with a slight nod.

“Great! Then you'll need to take these!” Starlight levitated a stack of textbooks, a welcome bag and a room key with an elegant inscription of “Floor: four room: six” marked on its side in ink. The key itself was of peculiar make. While it in shape looked like any ordinary house key, the key itself was made of the same crystalline material that made up the castle. The rest of the items were mundane and uninspired, especially compared to the unique key. Worst of all none of the books were on magic, aside from the magic granted by friendship, but rather what builds and makes a strong friendship; intermixed with a few student guides. in total there were ten of the books he'd received most of which looked to be nearly a thousand pages long. Finally the welcome bag contained a glossy apple that looked as if they'd been picked that morning. As well as a dozen quills and parches with one journal. While admittedly the apple did catch his eyes, and his stomach, for a few long moments it was the journal that he found himself staring at the longest. A casual flip through it revealed the page's contents to be blank; he began to speak up to ask if the journal was for personal or academic use, but stopped himself as Headmare Starlight continued. He'd simply figure it out later.

“Meet back here at nine for the introduction assembly and dinner! don't be late either but most importantly meet your roommates!” She instructed, trying to urge him to move on, so he could attend to the next student.

Evertsone held back the urge to roll his eyes. He knew Headmare and the school meant well but, it didn't change the fact that all of this was the last thing he had wanted to do. In either case he was ready to get to the isolation of his own room and recharge anyway. He’d need the time to recover before going into a room full of strangers for Twilight knows how long. Up until then Everstone had managed to largely ignore the fact he'd been surrounded by other creatures. But this assembly was a nauseating reminder of the fact. His head began to ache; causing the items in his magic grip to falter briefly. Fortunately, The Headmaster caught them before they hit the floor and levitated them back over to Everstone. He secured them in his magical aurora once more, thanking her with an apologetic nod.

“Yes ma’am” Everstone compiled before quickly slinking away into the crowd. He carried the supplies with his magic a foot above his head, as to ensure they didn't bump into any creature on his way out. It took a few minutes of uncomfortably crawling through bodies before he was finally in the clear. But once he was he let out a breath of air, relieved to be finally alone. From the looks of it not too far from the dorm rooms either. A tired simple crossed Everstones face as his magic began to rest them inside his saddle bags.

The weight of the textbooks alone was an encumbrance for sure, but it was manageable. At least that's what Everstone believed until he reached the stairs. Suddenly his body ached with the exhaustion of lumbering these bricks about. Surely they could not have expected a pony to carry these things, to the top of the school. Everstone did a double take to make sure he was seeing things correctly, only to become truly irked when he realized he was. Up till this point the school was more of an uncomfortable inconvenience, but not unmanageable. Seeing this however simply pushed him stress over the edge. Full blown irritation swept his body like raging fire. He began shifting uncomfortably; letting out a groan of annoyance as though it might relieve some of his pent up frustration. It did not however. He lightly tossed his saddle bag to the side as he stared up at the mountainous stairs.

“We’re students not Sisyphus!” Everstone bemoaned to himself as his head fell back in annoyance.

“Better start climbing.” He sighed as he begrudgingly looked to his personal mountain. After a moment longer of gripping he picked up his things and began his ascent up the stairs. But as his fore hooves hit the fourth step a snow white earth mare stopped him.

"You know there are mail boxes that are enchanted to send things to your desired destination. Its how I got my things there." The mare gave him a faint but friendly smile. Everstone gave an embarrassed nod of gratitude. But internally he mentally scolded himself for making a scene in public.

"If I may ask, " Everstone began, "How did you know-" he was cut off as the mare started to answer before he could finish.

"Page twelve of the student handbook." She answered with a slight giggle.

"I-uh, oh, thanks" Everstone rubbed the back of his head as he looked around for said mailboxes. It took a moment of searching but he found the small, red, rectangular box built into the wall. It looked more akin to an abstract, piece of art rather than a mailbox. But, the sign above insisted this was indeed the correct place. So he awkwardly beagin stuffing his saddle bags in place. Yet after a few moments of waiting nothing came of it. A small scowl formed across his lips.

Everstone began to think to himself that this was some elaborate prank, at which he was to play the fool. He took a moment to take a sharp inhale and subdue his growing annoyance. After collecting his thoughts he turned with a displeased look at the mare who was now covering her muzzle, and doing her best, to suppress a growing laughter. Everstone’s brow twitched before furrowing into a distinct “V” shape. He then opened his mouth to tell the mare off, but the mare beat him to it.

"You have to give it a room number as well. For instance if I wanted it to go to mine. I'd pack my things and say 'floor: three room three, please.’ " the mare informed as she swept back her mane with an effortless flick of the hoof.

He was the fool, but not at the hooves of the mare. Rather at his own hooves. While normally this would only feed into his frustration, the mare's innocent and calm disposition caused only a slight chuckle to escape his throat instead. Everstone was unsure what about the situation caused him to laugh, but he wanted to end the interaction before he made a worse fool of himself. So he didn’t dwell on it, instead he cleared his throat and turned back to the magical mailbox.

“Um, floor four room six” As Evertsone spoke his bags were encapsulated in an emerald green blaze. Yet instead of incinerating to ashes, the objects seemingly vanished with the fire as a breeze scattered the flames. Everstone’s eyes briefly widened in surprise at the efficiency of the enchantment. He was intrigued, so much so, he decided to investigate the enigmatic enchantment. Internally, part of him squirm like a foal at the chance to examine a proper enchantment, as back in Starport most things were done by hoof. Meaning most of his interactions with magic were self experiment or the town library.

His horn began to faintly illuminate as his magic reached out to the box. The box in turn answered back by giving Evertsone’s horn a small reverb. The energy continued out across the school; interviewing and interconnecting with every room teacher, student and classroom alike. It was like an ant's nest with dozens of small pulses traveling in between the links. To Everstone the pulses seemed to be mail being sent to and from; traveling at incomprehensible speeds around the school. Though their speeds made it hard to know for sure. In fact if not for the small buzz he got from each passing one he probably wouldn't even have noticed their existence. It was like a whole new world to him. One of actual
It was mesmerizing to explore and study as one link led to dozens more and that one even more before reconnecting to an old set. While it was not the most cutting edge or flashy magic compared to what he'd read of, it was by far some of the most intricate. He could have spent hours examining each path way and mapping it and still not have even scratched the surface. But before he could study the web further the mare shook his fore leg.

“Are you alright?” The mare inquired worriedly. Her head slowly titling to the right as her eyes did a quick look over.

“You zoned out there.” She informed.

“Yes, I'm quite alright. I was just, curious, about... This.” He answered as he waved his hoof in the general direction of the mailbox. His horn's glow now vanishing; taking with it the familiar tingle of magic and causing Everstone to lift that same hoof and rub it.

“Care to share with the class?” The mare inquired; watching his magic dissipate into the surrounding air.

“It's kind of hard to explain and might take a while.” He replied hoping to deter their conversation from continuing.

“Well I got time.” The mare smiled as she sat down. Everstone’s hoof lowered to his face as he gave a reluctant nod. Despite wanting nothing more than to go to his room the mare’s request kept him captivated there. His head simply complied with a nod before a further thought could be given. Yet despite the involuntary response, the mare’s pure smile and placid demeanor, kept his temper subdued.

“Well how much do you know about magic?” Everstone asked as he slowly reclined back as well.

“Unicorn magic?” She shot him a confused look. To which Everstone shook his head.

“No Unicorn magic is just regular magic. That ‘unicorn magic’ is all around us; it is more common than air and more free flowing than water. This omnipresent force interconnects everything. Plants, ponies, animals, you name it and it's tied together by magic. In turn this allows the world to work in harmonious tandem with one another. Most creatures can only use what magic they are given. Whereas creatures like unicorns possess the ability to gather and manipulate magic with our horns. While this is theoretically possible for any creature to manipulate magic in its raw form, it's too diluted and weak to meaningfully manipulate. Which is why creatures without horns are forced to use a 'focus' of some kind if they want to do the same thing. Typically a crystal will work best for this; as it's a singular point capable of holding a large enough pool of magic to do something meaningful with. In the case of a unicorn, as alluded to earlier, our channel is our horn. However, this means a unicorn’s ability to cast and use spells, the refined form of magic, is limited by our own innate pools of magic. Each pool is not only unique in size but as well as its capability. This is why unicorns are only capable of spells unique to themselves. In fact in my studies, I've come to believe no creature even manipulates magic in the same way either; as magic reacts differently depending who's pulling its strings. This is why, and keep in mind this part is speculation, unicorns spells are limited to their cutie marks. As they are only capable of manipulating strands of magic close enough to their own being. As anything else requires too large a pool of magic for them to be able to use. Making magic deeply personal to each unicorn.“ Everstone explained like a giddy child explaining his crude drawing. While he normally disliked talking to other ponies, the joy of explaining his ideas, to a willing audience no less, outweighed the fatigue that normally came with conversation. Furthermore, the mare's amusement left him oddly reinvigorated and at ease as he talked.

“So what's your ‘deeply personal magic’ then ?” The mare pointed to the purple flame located on his flank.

“Fires?” she guessed with a small snicker.

“Magic actually,” he corrected, “ Truth be told I would have preferred the princess’ royal school for gifted unicorns. But, my mother refused to help foot the bits if I didn't learn to be more ‘sociable’ first; so here we are.” The mare’s grin only grew at this answer.

“You seem sociable enough to me.” she teased as she teasingly mimicked his cavalier tone and stiff, up tight posture. Everstone felt his cheeks become warm once more as he was flushed with embarrassment. Though admittedly she and his mother, he supposed, were right. He could do with a bit of socializing, at the very least so he stopped acting a fool in public spaces.

“Yes, I suppose you're right,” he admitted with a sigh,” I could do better.” He gave her an awkward but genuine smile.

“Winter Frost.” The mare finally introduced. Her hoof outreached as she arose back onto her hooves.

“Everstone.” He greeted back as he shook her hoof. His body slowly relaxed as they shook on it.

“While we’re getting introductions out of the way, you haven't told me what your cutie marks for.” Everstone pointed out as he glanced to the blue megaphone across her own flank.

“You know it's rude to stare at a mare's flank.” Winter quipped; her laughter returning but not from her joke but rather Everstone’s quick flick of his head in embarrassment. His eyes going from flank to wall in a heartbeat.

“Yes, I know but really what is it?” he insisted, trying to ignore her teasing. Winter seemed to ponder the question for a long moment, much longer than Everstone would have liked. He mentally prepared himself for another joke at his expense; so he prepared to leave as he'd become fed up with the friendly ribbing. But to his surprise winter didn't reply back with another joke.

“Tell you what, let's sit together at the assembly and I'll tell you after.” She offered. Everstone’s heart nearly skipped a beat as he had to do a double take to make sure he heard correctly. He wasn't looking forward to the assembly, but at least with a familiar face to sit next to, it might have been bearable. Furthermore the mare seemed nice enough, if not a bit bubbly, so he agreed.

“Great!” she beamed, “Meet outside the assembly hall at eight thirty? so as to find one another before the crowd arrives?” Everstone agreed to the plan as they went their ways. As he climbed the stairs a smile came to his muzzle on his own.

Maybe it wouldn't be that bad here, he thought to himself.

Chapter 2: Amassing headaches

Everstone’s heart stopped as he entered his room. Well it didn't, but he wished it had, as death would have been a better alternative than the calamity that laid before him. Two small but soft and lavishly maintained bunk-beds laid before him. Each perfectly tucked and fluffed with a flawless green sheeting coating the bed, carrying with it an inviting, white, pillow laying just atop that.

"One, two, three, four...two...four...four. Of course it's four!” He exclaimed in frustration as he threw his hooves up. He gave an agonized groan as if just the thought of sharing a room caused physical pain. He just wanted someplace to be left alone and it seemed not even his room would be the bastion he had hoped for. His head slowly rested itself on his hoof as he collected his thoughts. After a few minutes of thought, Everstone scolded himself for not releasing this was the case ahead of time. Not only was it the nature of the school, but there were simply too many students for each to get their own room.

With that he let out a long pent up breath of air as he calmed down. He reasoned he could simply ask to be left to his own devices and hope his roommates respected the request or even find some other safe haven. His first though was the janitorial closet, as it was his first choice when he was a foal in school. No pony ever checked there and once he had the routines of janitors down, he could know when it was safe to retreat to its' safety. His second thought was the restrooms, though creatures often frequented those and he was more likely to be found, it did mean less trouble if he did get caught however.

In either case he was too tired from his trip here to develop the idea further. So his body began stumbling towards the right set of beds. His hooves then weakly pulled him onto the bed with the satchels of supplies he'd shipped up a few minutes earlier. Thankfully the bed was as soft as it looked, he'd imagined it to be akin to a cloud but seeing as he was a unicorn, he couldn't say. Then as soon as his head met the pillow he was out; Everstone’s mind retreating to the refuge of the solitude of sleep.

Outside in the hallways Lilly buzzed happily next to her twin brother as they approached their dorm room. Her sunset orange chitin glittering from the hallway candles; her face frozen in a perpetual grin of elation.

“Oh it's finally happened Leo!” She exclaimed to her olive green twin brother, for the 1000th time today. Her wings fluttered at a breakneck speed from excitement. Leo simply smiled back and shook his head at his sister's excitement.

“Come on, you have to say something!” She insisted with a slight frown as her head turned to stare at him. To which Leo gave an indifferent shrug. Lilly began to speak once more before stopping as Leo's magic jerked the door open; revealing a new. sleeping. navel blue unicorn, roommate. If Lilly had eyelids she was sure they would have widened in surprise at their new friend; as he hadn't been there when he left. Lilly let out a soft squeal of excitement to which the pony on the bed let out an annoyed groan.

“I'm trying to sleep!” The blue and silver unicorn complained as he levitated one of the bags to cover his face; to block out her voice. Though admittedly even the dozen textbooks inside would have done little to stop Lilly’s naturally loud voice from getting through.

“Um sorry, We thought you were a no show, so we didn't expect anycreature to be in here.” Lilly explained looking to her brother for support, but all he gave was a nod which earned him a slightly annoyed glance from Lilly.

“You know he can't hear you nod.” Lilly pointed out to which Leo simply shrugged once more. Lilly gave a sigh before turning back up to the unicorn’s bed.

“Whatever, sorry for waking you up again. Anyway, I’m Lilly and this is my twin brother Leo.” Lilly introduced as her giddy smile returned. The unicorn said nothing to which both Lilly and Leo shifted back as they sensed the stallions growing annoyance. But after a long moment of tense silence the stallion’s annoyance subsided as he rolled onto his back and sat up. His hoof rubbed his groggy sand bagged eyes.

“Everstone.” He reluctantly introduced with a yawn. This eased some of the two changelings' nerves; they stepped back towards Everstone. Lilly gave Everstone a warm inviting smile before stepping to her own bed to retrieve her own supplies for the assembly.

“Did Oleander, pegasus, mare, a steel grey coat, long azure blue mane and two blue eyes pass through while we were out?” Lilly asked as she searched through her things. Though she stopped briefly as she felt the stallions uneasiness grow. She didn't need to be able to sense emotions to tell he was uncomfortable; his constant shifting in bed was more than enough proof of his growing discomfort. So she asked a second question.

“Are you okay?” She went back to digging through her things; waiting on his reply. Normally she was great at reading ponies with or without the ability to detect emotion, but so far this one was an enigma. Annoyed one moment, and then anxious the next. Lilly wondered if maybe he had seen Oleander and she'd done something stupid, which admittedly Oleander seemed to be the kind of mare to do something dumb in Lilly’s mind.

Everstone watched the bugs stare at him with a confused glance and while he was pleased he said nothing the second one was unfortunately far more talkative. He weighed his options for a long few moments. If he answered he hadn’t, the mare would likely just ask some other question. He could tell them to bug off but he knew that wouldn't be the ‘socially acceptable’ option which went against his mother’s wishes. He also wasn't a fan of explaining that talking just made him anxious either, as it would inevitably lead to teasing in his mind. Alternatively, he could lie and say he did. In which she might ask where she went and then send the two after a ghost chase. Then again they were changelings and he wasn't entirely sure if they could sense the creature's lies. After weighing his options once more, he bit the bullet and just told the truth. Ultimately when they did mock him it could provide an excuse to get away from them and into a more isolated room.

“No, I haven't. Now, no offense but I'm not particularly a fan of...Conversing with others. So if it's the same with you I'm going to go back to sleep until the Assembly.” he explained laying back down, waiting for the inevitable ‘why don't you like talking’ followed by a list of jokes at his expense. After all he was a pony, the walking stereotype of being friendly and nice to every creature you meet, but to his surprise those weren't the words that escaped the mare’s lips.

“Oh, that's fine but just so you know the assembly is in ten minuets,” She informed him. Suddenly, as if he were lit ablaze Everstone jumped out of bed.; causing the female changeling to jump in surprise. But before she could say anything a loud smack echoed through the room as Everstone plummeted over the edge and crashed into the ground. The two changelings looked in shock; examining over him with concern.
His face hurt as muzzle met floor, but better than his horn he supposed. With a determined groan his hooves pushed the ground away from his face, or maybe pushed his face away from the floor? It was hard to tell due to his head spinning in a mix of grogginess and pain. Everstone winced as he went to feel his aching muzzle, but he had no time to whine over his pain; so Everstone shook his head and quickly made his way towards the door. The two changelings asked if he was alright but he ignored them as he raced out.

His pace picked up to a gallop as he clumsily made his way through the crowd of creatures. Day zero and he overslept, that was a new one at least, he thought to himself. He just hoped that the white mare hadn't given up on him yet. As he made his way outside the auditorium he was faced with a problem he hadn't expected. A torrent of faces on dozens of creatures filled the doorways. His eyes scanned through the ocean of faces for the familiar white coat, but there was just too much for him to make her out. His hooves ran through disheveled mane in frustration. Admittedly sitting with a stranger wouldn't be much worse, but the mare was right when she said this would be easier with a familiar face nonetheless. There was also the fact he'd promised to meet here and he was a stallion of his word if nothing else, but as a voice inside called for the last of the lingering students outside to come in. Everstone was forced to reluctantly make his way in. He had hoped to spot her on his way in though he'd be disappointed. Everstone shook his head somberly, he wanted to look for the mare longer to salvage his name but one of the staff stopped him; directed him to his seat. So Everstone complied and walked inside towards one of the open spaces. It was of some relief at least, this meant he wouldn't have to deal with the mare again, even if it did make him look like a stallion who couldn't keep a simple promise.
Inside was a large circular room, with a raised platform in the middle surrounded by dozens of bleachers. A few lights from above focused onto the central platform where a tannish mare with a curly black mane took center stage, looking around at the crowd. She straightened out some index cards before clearing her throat as the last of the students took their seats.

“Greeting every creature! Today is a very special day, your special day,” she began with a grin,” the day you'll make the most important things in your life for the foreseeable future, friends! Friends that will help raise you out of the ruts of your life and raise you to your greatest achievements. Together you all will make the future of Equestria, and all the world, shine brighter than any star in the night sky. But to get there rules must be established.” The audience groaned at the mare’s transition.

“I know, I know you want to hear about your time here, but rules are important as they’ll help every creature here shine and develop healthy long lasting friendships. Now the first and most importantly you all are expected to at least try and make one friend while you're here. I know for some of you that's hard, but do try. By the end of the year you will all have a paper to write on the things you've come to learn from other creatures in your attempts to branch out. These lessons can be anything truthfully so long as a real effort is made to try and learn from one another. As friendships can only be taught so much, since every connection is so unique. For that reason you must make an attempt on your own to learn through each special interaction. By cultivating each new friend in a unique way you will all also learn more about yourself and how to become a better creature,” The mare explained causing Everstone’s mind to nearly exploded. This was the last thing he wanted. Everstone could deal with being in the presence of other creatures but to actually open up to them, just for them to hurt him, terrified him. He searched for solutions as the mare went on, but came up with none. He couldn't simply lie, as it would probably be pretty obvious he was friendless by the end of the year. No this actually forced him make friends, and he hated the school for this unorthodox torture.

Most of the meeting was an uncomfortable blur of small talk and confined seating for Everstone as his mind was still stuck on the fact he'd have to make friends. He could vaguely make out Something about class times here, another about important rules there but over all he stopped paying attention after the first rule. He wanted to bang his head into his hooves till he woke up from this nightmare but that would cause too much of a scene so he instead opted to try and figure a way out of the conundrum. Then it hit him, he could ‘make friends’ at least in one of the more literal definitions of friend. He simply has to help some pony, all be it frequently, then they'd be on ‘good terms’ with them, thus meeting the official criteria for friends; never having to actually get close. Now it was only a matter of who, his mind went through candidates till he remembered the white mare. Suddenly dread hit him once more like a train.

“The universe must hate me.” Everstone whined into his hooves. First he gets stuck here then he has to go and make friends and most likely with one he had already blown that option with. He triple checked over all the creatures he'd met, which really only boiled down to three. The Changelings, one of which didn't talk at all, while nice would make it hard to tell if they were on good terms, then there was his sister who was way too cheery for his liking, and finally the white mare. While he did briefly consider a random creature to be possible, the thought of actually trying to start a conversation made his head spin. No, the snow white mare would have to do. He let out another long groan as he realized the mare was his best option. If they were to be on ‘good terms’ then he's sure bailing on her request to meet him was a bad start. Now he was going to have to apologize on top of that.

Everstone knew worrying was pointless and moronic. He didn't even know the mare, he couldn't even remember her name for that matter. Then again he never did, but that was beside the point. The mare may as well have been a stranger he owed nothing to. Meaning he could simply just start over with some other creature yet all the same he wouldn't have to awkwardly introduce himself, plus there was the guilt gnawing away at his chest from inadvertently lying. It was like an infection that consumed his very being; corrupting everything till it was all gone. The feeling forced Everstone to let out a huff of air and cross his hooves against his chest.

“Guess I best find the mare, and at least give her an apology.” He muttered to himself. He supposed if he was going to be stuck here making friends, he may as well try and not start off on the wrong hoof with one who was already an easy enough option. Unfortunately, the crowd was still an indistinguishable mass of faces and bodies. The bottlenecks forming at doors didn't help either. He knew this meant he'd have to ask around for the mare, which made his skin crawl.
He was about to simply declare the effort not worth it and ignore his guilt before he recalled their conversation. She said she gave her room and floor as an example for the mailbox. Well he hoped she did, as if three, three was just an example then it would be an awkward conversation with a confused stranger. While the possibility of the conversation with another stranger was unappealing he figured I'd be better than asking dozens of strangers to be "friends" with instead. With that thought in mind he examined his exits for the best one, but all of them were cramped.

In frustration he rammed his hoof into his face. Teleportation was a possibility, but Everstone had far from mastered that spell and the last thing he wanted was to find himself suffocating in a wall, or worse in the middle of some pony. So he simply sat and waited for his chance to leave. The wait took nearly twenty minutes of watching a dozen creatures, at the same time, try to fit them sleeves through a few five foot doors. The site was more than a bit aggravating, their inefficiency was so abhorent Everstone couldn't even consider it comedic. It was yet another display of the chaotic nature of creatures, in Everstone’s mind. He reasoned If they simply would form a line, everycreature could have been out forever ago. As that would have been substantially quicker than the train wreck that laid before him.

Thankfully Everstone only had to wait another few moments before he was liberated from the assembly hall. The outside hallways had largely been cleared by now with only a few creatures still talking amongst themselves remaining. Everstone did a double take to make sure the mare wasn't around before making his way to floor three, room three.

As Everstone made his way through the halls he felt his body become restless and tired. Every step felt like his hooves were being filled with rocks. At first it was no more than a light irritation, but as he made his way closer the weight became heavier. Every small movement a battle and every step a war. By the time he made it to the third floor he was exhausted mentality and physically. Everstone wasn't sure what was wrong with him. He didn't like talking to ponies that much was true, but the dread to talk had never been like this. Normally his anxiety was but a pale of water compared to this ocean of angst he felt. After further thought he concluded it maybe it was because of his pride; for apologizing to something so trivial, but deep inside, he knew that wasn't right. No this was caused by something else. Whatever it was, was hard to define, like an amorphous shadow that crept at the back of his mind. When he had thought he caught it, it would seemingly escape his grasp. Or rather it was more like he'd let it go, like he truly didn't want to know what this reason was. But, his time to think over his reasons drew to a close as he encroached upon the door to the mare’s room.

As he came within meet feet of the door his weight seemed to triple, and it took everything he had to will his hoof forward. His hoof that rose to knock felt like the weight of Equestria rested upon it. The weight tried to drag it down, but with the last of his energy, his hoof struck wood. The world froze as the allusive shadow coiled around his very heart; bringing with anxiety far worse than anything he'd felt walking here. If his body hadn't felt so heavy and weak he’d have just left right then and there. The coil around his heart tightened like a constrictor; his heart nearly about to pop.

Then like a flash of light time around him started up again as a confused, sandy yellow, earth stallion opened the door. The anxiety that had been threatening to strangle him vanished with the reveal of the stallion.

“Mare, snow white? Blue megaphone cutie mark?” Everstone’s tongue fumbled about in his mouth as he attempted to get even those words out. The world may have caught up to him but his brain hadn't; as it still was lagging behind trying to process everything that had happened. The yellow stallions head softly cocking to the side in palpable confusion.

“Winter Frost?” The stallion asked.

“That one!.” Everstone managed to blurt out. The stallion slowly turned his head back inside his room looking around.

“Hey uh Frost, you got a visitor," He called out into the room behind him, "An antsy, blue, unicorn. Do ya know’em?” Everstone winced at the comment, while he couldn't blame the stallion, the description was no less insulting and upsetting. But as the yellow stallion’s question ended, Winter frost rounded the corner; eyes wedding in surprise as she saw Everstone.

“Oh Everstone! I didn't expect you to show up. Thought I ran you off.” she explained with a nervous chuckle. As the chuckle subsided her face softening to an apologetic smile.

“Sorry I kinda just,” he paused and twirled his hoof as he looked for the word, “overslept.” He admitted sheepishly. To which Winter’s smile grew to a wide grin and the stallion who brought the two together awkwardly shuffled out of the way and back into their room. After collecting herself Frost stepped out, as to not disturb the rest of her roommates.

“I’m sorry, I thought my constant teasing may have scared you off. But you just seemed so uncomfortable I wasn't sure how to break the ice. So I just started making jokes. Sorry they should have been as targeted towards you as they were.” She elaborated with a warm hearted smile’ rubbing her left forehoof guiltily. Everstone softly smiled at the apology; assuring she was fine.

“Guess we both had some apologizing to do.” She noted as her hoof moved from her leg to the back of her head. She sat in silence searching for the words to say. A way to properly express the way she had felt. But to Everstone, an apology wasn't needed, her remorse was good enough for him to forgive her. So the two stood in awkward silence for what felt like an eternity before Frost finally spoke up again.

“So was there a reason you came, other than to apologize I mean?” her voice trailed off as her gaze wandered to aimlessly across the hallway.

“Well, you still didn’t explain your cutie mark.” He answered. Though that was just an excuse so he didn't look like he was doing that exact thing.

“Oh well not to snub you, but curfew is in a few minutes and we do have the first day of class tomorrow. So maybe tomorrow after classes? Provided you don't oversleep on that too. Sorry, I know I shouldn't have, but I couldn't help myself.” she teased with another apologetic, toothy, smile. Everstone simply shook his head at the jab but nevertheless agreed.

“That will do. Will Meeting here again be adequate?” Everstone proposed. Though the mare shook her head he was taken aback as. For a brief moment panic flickered in the back of his eyes as he became stiff with fear. Fearful he had done something wrong. Though his worries were melted away as Frost spoke up again.

“Between you and me, I'm not a fan of my roommates, So why not yours? plus I’d love to meet somecreature else, assuming I don't somehow already know them or have a class with them.” Winter gave him a wide eyed, hopeful look. Her icy blue eyes wordlessly pleading him to agree. Everstone hesitated before he reluctantly agreed; provided he wouldn't have to do much talking. Winter nodded in agreement at their plan, double checking to make sure she had his room.

“Alright, Everstone I'll see you tomorrow then.” She waved him off with a small yawn. Exhaustion finally managed to chip past her otherwise calm and happy demeanor. Everstone returned her goodbye, seeing as she was becoming too tired to continue. Having bided her a farewell he made his way back to his own room.

By the time Everstone arrived outside his dorm’s door the lights in the hallways were being put out; leaving only the gentle illumination of the nocturnal, celestial bodies, beaming in through the windows. It was a grandiose sight watching as gentle cooler hues glean off the school's crystalline floor. A sight that wasn't nearly as noticeable in the schools normally, bright and crowded hallways. It was also silent, tranquilly so; allowing Everstone to finally hear his own thoughts. But not wishing to break curfew by way of loitering he stepped inside. The room, like the outside, was dimly illuminated in hues of blue but carried with it the sound of snoring roommates.

Everstone rubbed his forehead in annoyance at their snores, unfortunately he'd have to live with it. But as he looked around the room, he noticed only two of the beds were filled. The Changelings’ beds to be specific, as the mare they had mentioned was still absent. While odd, Everstone lacked the interest to investigate further. His eyes then drifted from his bunkmates' beds to his own. Though after his afternoon nap, he wasn't quite tired enough to pass out yet.

Everstone mentality groaned at this realization. Worse of all He had nothing to preoccupy himself till sleep finally came for him. Magic practice was off the table due to his two sleeping roommates. Studying his textbooks was a possibility, but would be largely pointless as he had no idea where to start. Though as he thought to his text book he did recall the journal he had been provided.

Writing in it could be cathartic, he reasoned. But Everstone wasn't exactly looking for a place to confess all of his thoughts; only for some snooping creature to pry into them. But having said that, it was one day and wouldn't be particularly tragic if some creature read it. A gross invasion of privacy sure, but not life ending. There was also the fact his roommates didn't strike him as the type to do something like that. Well the changelings anyway, this just meant he'd have to keep the journal close at hoof till he met the last one. Then there was also the matter of the end of the year paper he'd have to write. If he documented his thoughts, it would make the paper easier, he reasoned.

Everstone weighed his options for another few moments before deciding to go ahead and write, at least for now. He climbed back into his bed; pulling out the small, brown and featureless journal to write his night away.

Entrey No.1

So, I guess this is where I’m suppose to keep my thoughts? It's odd, but I guess it's kind of nice having something to ~~talk to~~ write to. At least better than some other creature I mean. You don't talk back, and can store my ideas. So definitely better than the alternative. But I think you need a name if I'm going to write to you. But what does one name a book: vex? no ~~thats dumb~~. Okay It took a while, but I think I have one now, "J". Anyway I thought I'd hate it here, but so far it's at least not as terrible as I thought. Aside from the making friends part, but don't get me wrong J, I’m still not thrilled by any stretch of the imagination. Most creatures thankfully just kinda of ignore me though, so its not as stressful as I thought. so score one for me?

Anyway, when mom told me I “have to go to The School of Friendship” I lost it, and regrettably said some things I shouldn't have. Make a note for me J to send Mom an apology letter. She seemed heartbroken when I left, more so than usual, and I can't stand the thought of her sad old face anymore. ~~I mean at first I could because of my spite for sending me here, but~~ now I feel like I'm drowning in my own guilt. It wasn't her fault and she doesn't deserve that kinda guilt.

Sorry, I needed time to gather my thoughts there J, I promise I'll stop with my breaks. But I'm off topic so back to the topic at hoof. She insisted that I needed “to socialize”, because “I was scaring off our neighbors foals.” But the demons had it coming! I was minding my own business, studying a group of birds to see if shifts in magical fields caused them to migrate differently. But mid study they threw a frisbee at my head; asking “you wanna play cranky?” Of course I yelled them off, that bucking hurt! I don't care if it was plastic or not, that thing had a wallop to it. Left a bruise too. Okay maybe threatening to banish them to the moon was a bit much, but it's not like I could have. So their fear was 100% on them for not realizing that!

So when mom brought up that my outburst was the final straw and said I “needed to learn how to deal with ponies at least.” Which thankfully means I don't have to make friends but it doesn't mean I'll have to ideal with their ~~dumb annoying~~ "unique" personalities. For instance The first pony I met on arrival was the head mare, Sunlight Glamer who while being nice enough still made me look like an idiot. Because she was too absent minded to mention the school's mail system. She gave me a mountain of dumb books on friendship; shipped me off to my room, not explaining I could simply use the schools’ mail system to do so. So when I make my way to the stairs a sweet, but bit pushy, mare named: ~~Autumn Summer~~ Winter ~~snow~~ Frost, watched me and starts losing it. Because I was about to crawl up that incline like a fool. It wasn't normally laughter, either. This was like a full on classical play, villain about to win kind of laughter at my stupidity for not knowing.

Thinking back on it, this was probably only made worse by the fact I didn't just teleport my things to my room especially having a “cutie mark in magic” and all. Ughh why'd I tell her, I must look like the most incompetent stallion in Equestria. (To be fair J I have to be familiar with the location I'm teleporting to, to do so. speaking of which make another note for me J: memorize room, so I don't have to use the schools mail system ~~so i can redeem myself somewhat in front of her~~ scratch that last part, that would probably make things worse J, so just keep the first part) On top of that, I kinda blew her off by accident for an arranged meeting at the assembly. I overslept like an idiot, so far I think that's a solid 0 in the ~~good pony~~ (friend?) column. On the bright side I managed to find her afterwards and apologize. She forgave me and agreed to give me another chance. So all in all, socialization is going great, I write that with sarcasm J.

Other possible candidates for friends are my roommates, only two of which I've met, two changelings. But the third has been missing, so don't know what their problem is. The orange changeling informed me they were at the school today, so I don't know what happened to them.

None of this is even discussing the train wreck of an assembly. No ~~pony~~ creature really seemed to pay attention, myself included admittedly. All of them were too busy trying to see how uncomfortably close they could get to another creature. Have none of them heard about personal space? I don't know maybe personal space is a pony thing. But I swear they were close enough to the point I could feel their breath down my back. It was the most uncomfortable I think I've ever been, and I’ve had to do public speeches. Which let me tell you J is not an easy feat. All those eyes staring up at you, silently judging every little thing you do. Anyway, those creatures were way to close. One even stepped on my tail half way through, causing me to hold back a pained yelp. ~~Bucker~~ didn’t even say sorry! Wish I saw his face. I'd show him what for.

Oh I got to go J, looks like it's waking up my roommates. I'll get back to you when I can, promise.

Chapter 4: With friends like these

The morning sun came with the gentleness of a new born foal's coat. Carrying a reinvigorating warmth to all the creatures under its gentle light. This would however still not be enough to please the dozens of tired students it awoken.

Most of the creatures inside The School's hallways looked like they'd been run through the ringer. Feathers and fur stuck up, manes laid unkept and eyes rested with large bags under them. The hallway was full of the echoes of the students; it was a chain reaction, as one yawn caused the next and so on.

Most the students were doomed to the same fate of groggy annoyance as the sun announced a new day. Lilly, however, was an exception to this rule; much to Everstone's annoyance. The changeling awoke with the energy of an Olympic sprinter and all the grace of once. She radiated with a ready to go, joyful aura that could, unfortunately, not be contained.

She started humming without a care in the world. While it wasn't awful it was more than enough to rub Everstone the wrong way. Much like the rest of his day, he liked his mornings quite, preferably silent if possible. He began turning his head to request the changeling to stop only to stop upon realizing their fourth roommate had made her way in.

Everstone scratches his head wondering where the mare steel grey mare had come from. As he'd been up well past midnight writing in his journal and hadn't seen the mare come in. Speaking of the journal, the dozen or so pages he tore out for redrafts still need to be thrown out. She still looked like she was out cold implying it must have been wee hours of the morning. Which raised the question once more, what was she doing?

He thought for a moment to awaken, took the mare and asked but the female changeling beat him to it. In the blink of an eye the bug skipped her way across the room and shook the mares wings; careful not to ruffle her feathers. The egasus let out a soft groan of annoyance or maybe it was rather resignation like she knew she wouldn't win a fight with the bug's attempts to awaken her. Everstone couldn't tell, in either case the pegasus slowly arose like a lumbering giant; brushing her azure mane out of her face, revealing a set of soft, rosemary blue eyes.

"I'm up, I'm up." The mare insisted groggily; rubbing her forehead with the flat end of her hoof. While the mare was certainly up, she didn't look at it. Her eyelids hug half open as if they'd close at any moment. Her body swayed side to side; nearly tearing over and falling back into the bed once more with each sway.

"Come on Ollie, we got class in an hour." Lilly chimed happily, as if unaware of the pegasus' discomfort.

"Don't call me that." The pegasus protested with a loud groan. Her eyes finally opened to shoot Lilly a death glare; To which Lilly just smiled.

"I know. But it got you up didn't it?" Lilly pointed out as she turned around and started humming again. Oleander's face shifted to annoyance then after a moment of contemplation amusement. Oleander let outsoft chuckle and nodded.

"Yea guess you're right, but seriously don't call me that. Use my actual name" oleander insisted.

"Will do Oleander." Lilly agreed before stopping; her eyes widening as if she'd forgotten something important.

"Oh right. Oleander, Everstone. Everstone, Oleander" Lilly introduced stepping to the side so their eyes could meet. Oleander just gave Everstone a nod of acknowledgment. Everstone hesitated for a moment, unsure of how to reply before finally settling on an uneasy.

"Hey." He managed to choke out; to which Oleander shot him an odd look. Oleander began to open her mouth but before she could ask, or Everstone defended himself Lilly interjected on his behalf.

"He's not a very social pony." Lilly explained as she looked back to Oleander. After a moment of looking him over curiously at that small revelation Oleander shrugged.

"Alright. Where's your brother?" Oleander finally asked; her muzzle widening to let out an inaudible yawn.

-"Oh, Leo? I think he went to go visit the music hall before class. Though I'm not entirely sure, he was leaving by the time I got up." She answered with a shrug.

"Anyway!" Oleander began as she stretched her legs and wings out; nearly hitting Lilly in the process, "Which class do we have first?"

"I believe we start with the history of elements of harmony first." Lilly said, though she seemed unsure in her answer; having to rub her chin as she searched through her memories.

"You two share a class?" Everstone interjected; finally finding the words to ask.

"Oh all dorm rooms share classes. So we can see each other more frequently and build friendships. Didn't you read the school guide book?" Lilly's brow rose into a small arch intermixed with a perplexed face. To which Everstone winced, after the mailbox incident he knew he should have but he still hadn't. The book was nearly the size of two of his legs put together and most of it, from his understanding, was how not to be a bad friend. So he hadn't bothered to read it.

His diffident look did earn him an amused chuckle from oleander however. To which Everstone simply rolled his eyes and crawled out of bed; making sure to get his two hind hooves on the floor before hopping off the ladder.

"I'm with you on that one Everstone. Can't stand books. Well nonfiction anyway. " Oleander commented as her chuckle died off. The two's conversation continued, though it was little more than background noise to Everstone now as he worked on fixing his own mane. Though as he drifted back off to his own thoughts he realized she still had yet to give an answer for where she ran off to.

“Say, um Oleander where were you last night?” he Interrupted as he turned his head back to face him. Oleander’s face grew to a wide grin at the question; a flicker of mischievous glinting in the back of her eyes.

“Why you asking?” She asked back, her grin now stretching ear to ear.

“Well you were out past curfew, well past midnight for that matter.” He answered as he shot her an expected look.

“Are you really sure you want to know?” She asked again, still grinning like a mad pony. However Everstone didn't answer this time; instead giving her an annoyed glance of the eyes. Oleander simply laughed at the reaction.

“There we are, the reaction I was looking for,” she snickered, “but I'm only pulling your leg. It wasn't anything major. I was out playing poker with a few of the other students.” Everstone studied her with a look of disbelief, but she seemed genuine in her answer so he began to drop the issue.

“You know gambling's against school policy!” Lilly shrieked in abject terror; as if she'd just found out she was just told she had a terminal illness.

“Chill sunshine,” Oleander waved her hoof in the air as if to disburse Lilly's worry, “ I’m aware. Which is why we didn't do it on school grounds. So no harm done.” she smiled proudly at her supposed loophole.

“That's not how that works!” Lilly began but was promptly cut off by the growl of Oleander’s stomach rumbling. At first Everstone mistook the noise for a train before noticing Oleander’s sheepish smile.

“Discuss it over breakfast?” Oleander offered nonchalantly to which Lilly scowled.

“Fine...consider yourself lucky I don't tell the staff!” Lilly scolded as Oleander anxiously chuckled.

“What are friends for?” she asked nervously. Lilly rolled her eyes at the comment before turning to Everstone; giving him a silent look that asked if he wished to join them. Everstone shuffled in place as his lips rolled about, unable to settle on an answer. After a few moments he began to open his mouth to decline her offer but Oleander wrapped a wing around him and interjected.

-Sure he does, look at him, he's thin as a skeleton!” She exclaimed as she started to drag him out of the room. More so to escape being alone with Lilly’s disapproving glare than anything else. Everstone tried to squirm free, but Oleander’s grip was surprisingly fierce; much more so than one might expect from her light frame. As Oleander continued to drag him out he tried to protest the breakfast idea, but like his squirms it did little to stop Oleander.

It took several minutes for the trio to arrive on account of Everstone’s protesting but they arrived nonetheless. Everstone, wishing to avoid making a fool of himself, settled down as they approached. Oleander let out a relieved sigh and shot him a thankful smile, but only received an unamused scowl instead. Oleander released Everstone from their grasp as she began walking in. Everstone’s eyes followed her momentarily before observing the cafeteria for the first time.

The cafeteria was about as packed as the assembly hall, however its larger area and spaced out seats helped make it feel more spacious. Its dozens of windows let the sunlight come in, amplifying the already lively atmosphere. Most creatures, while tired, seemed genuinely happy and excited for their day. Each lost in conversation with their own budding social circles.

“Nothing Like a room full of fresh joy and love to get you going in the morning.” Lilly commented as she took in a deep breath. To which Oleander shot her an unsure gaze and Evertsone winced. Everstone was aware changelings fed on emotions but actually hearing it be confirmed by one was something else.

“It might as well be a changelings coffee. It's not like I’m taking any creature's love, I'm simply taking in the excess no creature is using!” Lilly added defensively as she saw the two’s reactions. Oleander’s inquisitive look morphed into a one that was more so amused at the changeling's sudden panic. While Everstone tried to block out Lilly's comment from his mind.

“Don't worry, I wont tell no pony if you drop my gambling game.” Oleander promised with a cheeky smile. Lilly stopped in stupefied silence for a moment as she looked at Oleander with an expression between perplexed and annoyed.

“I wasn't- That's not how that- I wasn't even going to comment- Ughh! Fine whatever.” Lilly gave in as she drove her face into her hoof. Oleander fluttered into the air with a victorious grin that stretched ear to ear, as if she had just won the lottery.

Everstone Shook his head as he watched the two. While their bickering was comparable to two foals, it did allow for Everstone to relax a bit. As more time bickering amongst themselves meant the more time he could spend gathering his thoughts. His attention then shifted from them and onto the cafeteria’s menu. The menu itself was about what Everstone expected. A blend of familiar and exotic, however some of his fellow creature’s diets still made his stomach uneasy.

“Grilled fish.” Everstone muttered between gags. In Everstone’s mind, any creature that took another life of another was repugnant at best. Even if such creatures claimed to do so in survival it didn't make their habits anymore palatable. As the thoughts of meat went through Everstone’s head, his stomach began convulsing uneasily in response.

Everstone’s discomfort grabbed the two mares' attention. Both dropping their quarrel to examine the stallion’s green face. The mares shared a look of worry before setting Everstone against a wall to rest.

“Are you okay?” Lilly asked; bring her face down to meet his. Everstone answered with a shake of his head.

“Well, mind telling us what's wrong then?” Lilly continued, but only received pointing in response. She didn't need to look to know he was pointing at the menu overhead. After looking at him for a long moment, she let out a pent up breath of relief now intermixed with slight annoyance.

"It's not that bad. You're just being over dramatic." She chided. Everstone frowned at the comment, but another churn of his stomach caused him to remain silent.

"Look, even Oleander is fine." Lilly continued. Not that Everstone noticed, he was preoccupied with trying to calm the maelstrom forming in his stomach.

Lilly and oleander spent the next several minutes trying to get Evertsone to calm down. Unfortunately the bell for class interrupted their efforts; forcing them to push Everstone to his feet. He thanked them with a sickly nod as he stumbled his way to the door. While his physical disgust had started to subside his mental and emotional discomfort lingered in the back of his mind. He tried to shake the lingering thoughts from his head but couldn't; worse yet he could feel Lilly’s judgment. She put on a caring demeanor but he could read it in her eyes that she was at the very least disappointed. The silent condemnation only made his state worse. He felt a pang of guilt; even though Lilly didn’t eat meat, he figured his reaction probably upset her. He wanted to just vanish and avoid her looks, however he could barely walk straight right now and so he was forced to rest between the two’s support.

"Can't believe I missed breakfast for this..." Oleander griped only to bite her lip as Lilly glared her down for the comment.

"I mean erm, always glad to help a friend." Oleander amended with a timid, apologetic smile. The mange was already done however, as Everstone shot them both an apologetic look.

He felt horrible in a matter of seconds he managed to already botch his whole reason for being here. He knew making friends was a ship wreck waiting to happen, he just didn't expect he'd do it so quickly. On Top of that he did so over things they couldn't even help.

It's going to be a long day he thought to himself.

Author's Note

I apologize for this chapter being both late and shorter than I intended. Unfortunately my work life has been erratic to say the least. So my two stories are unfortunately largely on the backburner. I still plan to try and get them out on a biweekly schedule however chapters will probably start to be shorter on account that my original ideas are having to be broken down to meet the dead line. For instance, this chapter was originally suppose to encapsulate the whole day, but I've ultimately deicide to cut it short to compensate and keep these post on a biweekly update schedule.

Post edit, this book is on hiatus till further notice. I would love to return to it, but as of now life is hectic and on top of feeling unfulfilled with other chapters I would like to focus time on one story at a time.