With a grateful sigh, Daisy slid the last file into the packet.

Tomorrow she would send off Orion's application with a hired mail pegasus. His acceptance was already guaranteed by an acquaintance at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, but formalities needed to be met.

Silent Scritch had been more than happy to work with her in the short time frame she had in order to get him in. The stallion had even exclaimed how nice it would be to sign up a colt. Too few had been entered into enrollment this year.

She chuckled ruefully. Orion was unlike any colt she had ever met, and she was unsure whether the academy would be prepared for somepony quite like him. While his scores showed academic brilliance it was his personality and the way he interacted with everypony around him that really stuck with her. Cordial despite his crass introduction in purposely causing fear amongst the current little residents of her orphanage, he had made no attempt to antagonize anypony further for the most part. Other than one incident of butting heads with Golden Trot, he purposely avoided any attempt to make any connections with the rest of the foals in her care. He just kept to himself, and avoided all unnecessary contact with the others.

Though Screaming, Celestia bless her little heart, was giving it her all to befriend him despite the walls he had erected.

The few times she had caught them together he would have this bemused expression on his face as she excitedly gushed about whatever held her interest at that particular moment. Being five years older than him the roles seem to have reversed somehow, Orion being the patient older sibling and Screaming being the excitable filly, chick in this case, wanting to do everything with the older brother. It was rather cute, and she hoped the little hen to-be would break him of his shell.

It did help that he was unusually tall for a pony of his age; he was only an inch or two shy of her own height.

She felt bad for the young griffon. She had been here since she was six. A victim of the border riots between Griffonia and Equestria seven years ago. The trauma had caused her to forget much of her life, the little she had lived before then. But there was a bright point. A pair of griffons had been making inquiries of her lately. That had yet to meet, but the correspondence was encouraging if nothing else.

Putting the packet in the out box to remind her for tomorrow's delivery, Daisy's hip bumped a letter that had come almost a week later than expected.

Cloudy had, unfortunately, run into trouble. Major trouble.

This mare, this Backwater, had certainly made her ire known. She was more trouble than Daisy had been led to believe when her friend had first mentioned the mare. She had always been more hyperbolic than anypony else, but she had been proven unfortunately correct.

The moment her friend had stepped hoof off of the train back in Manehattan, she had been arrested, searched, and detained for almost a week. The letter hadn't even come from her but rather a relative of Azure Dream's, mostly as a warning.

As of right now, both of their licenses have been suspended, as they waited for a review of their actions. It was anypony's guess as to what would come next, but the message did indicate that all would eventually be well.

Their lawyer was Azure's cousin, the same one who had sent that letter. She sounded quite confident.

The fact that there was a letter on her desk from the CFP that she had yet to open made her stomach sink. True that the CFP had no authority to command anypony of anything here in Canterlot, it still made her uneasy to know that they knew exactly where he had been taken.

She pushed the unopened letter around on her desk and wondered what the consequences would be if she just ignored it. Again, they certainly had no power here, but she worried about the trouble they could make with the connections they did possess in the city. Among the noble class especially.

She was happy that whatever they tried wouldn't be direct. As much of a bit pincher that Mr. White was, it meant the stallion would also not wish to pay entry fee to an organization that charged a pretty bit, not to mention the yearly tribute she had heard was levied against richer members.

No, she had no fear for the loss of the orphanage's sole source of funds.

She decided to ignore the letter for the moment. As another had caught her eye. More of a scroll rather than the more popular closed envelope designs that had taken the country by storm the last ten or so years.

It was an official answer to her request for an audience for the Sun Court itself. The wax seal had already been snapped the moment it came in that morning, the contents making her smile widely. Not only was she getting her appointment with Day Court, but it was scheduled for that afternoon. Her hope had been met, she would be able to pose her request to the Sun Princess herself.

Looking at the clock adorning the wall of her dark paneled office, she gave a start. It was already half past eleven. Not much time to get ready and be on her way.

Fortunately, a guard had already been dispatched from one of the nearest local stations, placed around the city to watch over the foals while she was away. She was down there now in the playroom with them now, no doubt regaling the little ones with hopefully very censored stories from life in the guard.

She really wished Mr. White would allow funding for another Directress, or even at least an assistant to help manage the orphanage when she needed to be away. She shook her head, dark green mane bun wobbling, as she made her way to get ready to leave.

It was intimidating to say the least.

The Royal Court of the Sun was a massive oblong rectangle shaped room of white and gold, with massive drapes of purple cloth suspended from the ceiling, they were drawn back by anchors on the walls and barely missed the floor. The long cloth had ornate golden needle work of intricate patterns with archaic patterns. Only the Royal Throne room was bigger, and supposedly done in much the same way.

The chamber itself had an audience box on the left side, so that ponies that wanted to sit in on any judgment made, usually the old or socially bored, could spectate without having to stand.

On the right was a similar box for the nobles themselves, only they had the option of raising objections or support of their own should a case touch on a personal interest of their own. She could see her patron sitting near the rear of the box, deep in conversation with a mare she did not know. Fortunately for Daisy, he had not noticed her.

Behind both sections, sitting between those drapes, were rows of spaced windows of beautiful stained glass depicting the early history of Equestria. They casted the most beautiful colors that she had ever seen as the sun shone behind them.

On a raised dais of white marble and gold trim sat the Throne of Judgment.

Gilded in gold, a purple cushion made the hard ornate chair comfortable looking. And upon that cushion sat Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria, mover of the Heavens herself.

She was all of white, soft and warm; her large wings shifted occasionally as she listened to a petitioner ahead of her. Her spiral patterned horn graced with a gold chain delicately held in place by a pair of thin bands of gold, swayed with each movement as she nodded along. The thoughtful and compassionate smile she bore made an already beautiful face glow with the love and warmth she was known for.

Daisy was not one to compare herself to others, but the Princess was leagues ahead of any mare she had ever seen.

The robe the Alicorn wore was white as well, to match her fur, belted and gilded heavily in gold with purple gemstones embedded inside spoke of the wealth and power of her nation.

And she was about to speak to her.

The butterflies in her private garden at her family's home could not match the size that existed in her stomach currently. Beating hard for all they were worth.

"Mrs. Evergarden?" The voice of somepony startled her out of her own thoughts, her hand on her throat, she looked around till she spotted the speaker standing only a few paces from her.

A tan, almost black, earth pony mare stood to her left, a modern day navy blue business suit, black horn rimmed glasses, and a clipboard her only adornments had spoken to her.

"Umm….yes?" She responded. Worried she had done something wrong, she fidgeted with her ledger.

"It is your turn, Mrs. Evergarden." She was stern in her reply, but not unkind. She gestured forward.

In her musings, she had not realized that the Princess was waiting on her now. She nearly jumped in her haste to stand before the Throne. She heard somepony lightly laughing to her right. She fought down the blush that blossomed on her face, and staunchly refused to acknowledge the pony that had practically mocked her.

Power. It radiated off the immortal before her. Causing her tongue to stick to the roof of her mouth.

Princess Celestia waited for a moment, a thoughtful frown pulling down those beautiful lips. Then she smiled.

"This must be your first time meeting me in pony I assume?" She chuckled lightly. "Be at ease, Mrs. Evergarden. I will not bite." She playfully added, and despite herself, Daisy laughed.

Then tried to strangle the sound, it coming out like the last croak of an old bullfrog.

More laughter, this time from multiple sources. She blushed harder.

One of those sources was the Princess, but it seemed not directed in a mean way toward her.

"Thank you my little pony. The day has been long and I did need a laugh to break up the monotony, I hope you don't take it personally. Shall we get to your request?" A quick nod is all Daisy trusted herself with at the moment. She could not even think! "Miss Write? You have her request on hand?"

"Yes, your Highness." The same earth pony mare from before shifted a few papers around a desk that the directress had not noticed before, black mane bobbing around in a tight bun similar to her own. Pulling open a folder she nodded to herself and presented it to the monarch.

A warm golden light sprouted about the file, and it slowly lifted from her hands to drift the Princesses's own. Minutes passed as she perused through what the folder contained.

"Ah I remember now, this is about funding for your orphanage." There was a sharp scrape from the right, but nothing more. "Miss Inkwell did you include….ah here it is…."

A frown began to crease her features. "This shouldn't be right. Why is your orphanage operating at three times the reduced cost?" She asked sternly.

Daisy was at a complete loss for words. She had not been aware she was running on a deficit!

"I….I-I don't know, your highness." She tried not to squeak when the Princess fixed her with a look. Finding courage she didn't know she had spoken on quickly, "I have only ever made use of the funding I had received. In truth had I not taken on one more foal this year I would have not made the request so urgent…"

Truth was she needed more funding despite taking Orion into her care, but she had been honest when she made her claims. Lying to her here and now was unthinkable.

"And the fact that you are so understaffed? There should be another cook and an additional assistant to help care for the foals at the very least." Her voice had yet to change.

Sweat began to drip down Daisy's back.

"Oh Faust preserve my soul! I didn't know!"

She had no answer, and was too terrified to speak. This was supposed to be a simple request. Now she had realized the mire she had fallen into only too late. Princess Celestia's stare lasted for a few more seconds, magenta eyes glittering. Then that gaze swung toward the noble box.

"Mr. White." She might as well have shouted despite the quiet tone it was spoken in. Plants could be heard growing in that silence. Daisy had managed to turn around despite her fear to see the middle aged white stallion in the latest nobileeze fashion looking for all the world like he was trying to sneak away. The Princess either affected not to notice, or just didn't care. She caught his eyes.

"According to current records, you made over thirteen million bits last year on just the export of wine from your vineyard alone. That's thirteen million, after the cost of upkeep and taxes. Care to tell me why you cannot afford to keep one," the Princess filled that number with heavy scorn, "orphanage fully funded?"

By that time the stallion, Mr. White himself, who Daisy had been hoping wasn't going to be here, had turned around with a look like the colt caught with his hand in the cookie jar, she had managed to lose what little hope she had that her employer would not find out about this.

Funds from the crown were usually anonymous when given out.

He would no doubt cease all funding after this public embarrassment. She would lose her job, the poor foals would be cast out of their home.

"I'm so sorry…." She lamented. The poor mare had not meant to cause this much trouble. Just a little extra to help with the pinch.

"- as you can see your highness, the cost of running such a place is just within my means. If not for other troubles of a more financial drain I would be more than capable of fully funding my orphanage."

She had not realized that her benefactor was already attempting to salvage the situation, maybe she could help.

Turning around to open her mouth the words died upon her lips. Princess Celestia wore a very dark look on her face. Her normal free flowing warm pastel colored mane now stirred in an agitated manner.

Was it darker somehow?

"Do ponies often forget how old I am?" Her tone was conversational. The thunderhead that had become her visage, was not.

"I-i-i'm sorry, your highness?" Mr. White spoke up if only just. Dread leaden his voice.

"You are not the first pony, nor noble for that matter, that has used an orphanage as a charitable donation for their taxes." She flipped through a few pages in the file. "Last year, you claimed to have donated three million bits to the orphanage. But the recorded cost of operation shows maybe only three hundred thousand had been spent. Where did the other two million seven hundred thousand go, my little pony?"

Daisy's mind was in a whirl. Three million bits?! In the fifteen years she had operated the small foals-home she had never seen that much gold. She had never seen that much money all at, ever!

What small amount she charged when adoptions went through successfully had been the only extra spending she had ever received. She turned that into purchasing extra supplies for the little ones.

To find out there was more money being claimed going into her facility than was actually there stirred more than a little heat of anger in her breast. She found herself glaring at the increasingly fidgeting noble.

"I….uh...that is...umm…" A hand was raised, silencing him.

"I am very disappointed in you Mr. White. I hereby decree, as per article eight section six, is that the right code Miss Inkwell?" A quick nod from her secretary. "Good, as to the article mentioned under Asset Acquisitions, I strip you of the land and title of White's Orphanarium."

The now former owner cringed, his fellow nobles avoiding his searching eyes. Help was not coming from them.

"You will also be reimbursing the last ten years of your claims to said property in the amount of…" she skimmed over the file briefly, "no less than thirty million."

"But that'll ruin me!" He screeched. Princess Celestia merely arched an eyebrow. He jerked as if struck and added a belated, "your Highness. I apologize for my outburst, but you must understand me, I just don't have that kind...of coin...lying around…" He wilted under the monarch's glare, sounding much like Daisy had when she had tried to stop laughing earlier.

"Your vineyard is worth forty-six million bits. Sell that." He merely goggled at her. His face went from white to a blue tint, it looked like he was suffocating.

Turning from Mr. White, the monarch smiled kindly down at Daisy.

"Mrs. Evergarden. The management of the orphanage's day-to-day will remain with you. The fact that you have managed to keep the establishment going with such limited financial support is a testament to your capabilities and resourcefulness. I can think of no better pony to continue that than you. The throne will also take over funding, so that your foals-home does not suffer for the lack of bits as well. Three million a year should be a good start."

"Princess!" One of her secretaries hissed out. "Do you not think it would be prudent to let city administration manage that? The coffers can only handle so much strain as it is!"

"Relax, Lucky, by the time we actually have to start giving out the bits we will have paid off one project or another. It'll take ten or more years for Mrs. Evergarden here to go through the thirty million bits that Mr. White will be generously donating."

A shrewd look crossed the earth pony's face.

"That is true, your highness. Not to mention in ten years tax increases on the nobility will likely have increased to cover that amount by then." She gave a small smile. "I apologize for doubting you, my Princess. I should have known you had already thought this through."

"It is quite alright, my little pony." The Princess tapped her chin in thought. "In truth, I will be unable to focus on managing this site, so…perhaps putting it in the capable hands of the castle's administration. Mrs. Splurge should do nicely. What do you think?"

Daisy barely heard the ensuing conversation between monarch and scribe. The only thing that passed through her mind was the thought of thirty million bits being at her disposal. She couldn't even fathom that amount of coin.

But as her mind turned over the possibilities, repairs started to list themselves in her head, renovations to outdated bathrooms and the kitchen area. To actually be able to afford help! Her knees shook at the thought. The fantasy of having a garden in the unused courtyard in the back of the complex where she could teach the foals how to grow their own plants was quickly becoming a reality that had only been a daydream.

The Princess's gentle voice broke her from the image of her and the foals carefully managing the garden, smiles all around.

She wiped the silly grin from her face.

"Uh, yes…yes, your Highness?" She squeaked.

"I want to thank you for being brave enough to come to me with this issue today. That took a lot of courage. I am very proud of you, my little pony." Her warm smile lit up the room like the sun's rays lit up the world.

"I….in all….in all honesty, I had not known...well any of this." She stumbled through. How does one carry a conversation with somepony like Her? "I was just hoping for a small donation to get through the school year." It was true, she had only gone for a small donation, hoping to make things a little easier.

"Sometimes, the best intentions can get rewarded with the best outcome. As for your boon…" Her horn burst into life once more, and a heavy bag of bits suddenly floated before Daisy. "Take this, I will collect reimbursement for it later from Mr. White."

Clasping the cloth bag to her breast she bowed low. "Thank you, your Highness." She said, reverence in her voice.

Princess Celestia merely smiled and nodded her head to her. The audience was over, and she had gotten way more out of it then she had ever thought possible.

"Miss Write will send you details within a week on some requests I would like to be done for the little ones. While I cannot personally take your orphanage as a personal institution, I can and will assure you that help will be yours, and a more permanent solution will be found once I've managed to untangle the budget for the coming fiscal year." To the matron's surprise, that sounded very weary.

Daisy could understand that, but could only smile and bow again.

"Oh, and you will have to come up with a new name as well. You cannot call it "White's Orphanarium" anymore I would think."

Her face began to hurt from smiling so much.

Orion sighed contently. Perched inside the window frame on the fourth floor, he was fairly comfortable in his pillowed seating.

He felt as if he had settled in well enough. The foals largely left him alone, which was to the good in his opinion. No need to have them bothering him whenever it struck them to annoy the new guy.

Well there was a hiccup to that, one that seemed to ignore all the warning signs. Screaming Rush reminded him a lot of Lazy Rain. The filly that often followed him about back in Manehattan's Orphanarium. But whereas she merely followed him around, Screaming made it her mission to talk to him as much as possible.

Orion recognized what she was trying to do very quickly, and for the most part he went along with it. Oh he never let her drag him to the local park like she wanted, or anywhere really. But when she found him he would regale her with stories of his time in Stalliongrad and living on the streets. He kept to himself the icky details that may give her nightmares. But otherwise he would seclude himself once she was satisfied, or bored, and had left.

Staying aloof actually seemed to be building a legend of himself amongst the others, some stopping to stare as he passed. He wasn't so certain if that was a good thing as of yet.

Most of the time when not dragged away to some doctor's appointment, or dentist, he could usually be found in the library on the fourth floor. Save for a supply closet and two stairways, one of which was a much smaller and less used servants stairwell, the room of books galore took up the entirety of that floor.

It was the biggest library he had been in, ever. Not even back on earth, in which he avoided the school library in pursuit of fun, had he seen a place of knowledge so large for a building so small.

He had the internet for his little projects and curiosities. And porn. God he missed proper porn. Still, there hadn't been a real reason for him to visit a library of any kind.

But now, reading was all that was available to him, and to his surprise he found himself enjoying it.

He delved into everything.

History annoyed the ever loving shit out of him. It was the most censored happy-go-lucky nonsense he had ever read. Even China wouldn't censor to such a childish degree. And boy oh boy was it censored. With the bright lovey-dovey word play it was easy to tell the truth from the lie.

He laughed derisively at the story of Hearths Warming. According to the lore, ponies' negative feelings had drawn a species known as Wendigos that ravaged the northern lands in an endless winter to them. Only through the power of love, forgiveness, and coming together were the beasts eventually driven away.

Utter garbage.

This kind of drivel seemed to plague the history books in general.

However as he read, there was one name or a pair of names in this case, that kept cropping up in history. Celestia and Luna. Powerful ponies known as Alicorns, they moved the very sun and moon, keeping the balance of life in equilibrium in the world.

He would have called it nonsense too, and did, except that there was a Princess Celestia currently sitting, in rule, not too far away from where he now called home. The claim that she was immortal and over a thousand years old had to be complete horseshit. More likely it was a bloodline that carried the name across generations. But the history books were quite insistent on there being only one Celestia.

He didn't know what to make of that.

No one knew what happened to the other, Princess Luna. She seemed to have just vanished one day nearly two thousand years ago near enough. If they were long lived, maybe she was older and died.

There were other legends as well, and for whatever reason they were found in history books, almost as if they too, were based entirely in fact. Why were legends being treated as history? Was his own world's past works written similarly before the modern era?

There were also the more nasty tales chronicled as fact as well. One being a Nightmare Moon. That one had been very bad news and had threatened to cast the entirety of the world in eternal darkness. Maybe the reason for the legend's addition to history was because it was said that her very prison, that Celestia herself had locked her into, was the moon itself.

The fact that he could see craters in the form of a unicorn on that surface was not lost on him. He hadn't really noticed till he had arrived in Stalliongrad, and it had been a mild curiosity at best as to how it got like that.

Learning that there was no society on the planet capable of making the journey to the lonely satellite left a small pit of worry in his guts. One that grew as he poured more and more as he looked through the "history" of these people.

If that legend was true, even to a tiny degree, how true were the others that had a place in these peoples history? There was a lot he had dismissed as fantasy that he was unsure of now.

He put that line of thinking aside, hoping to never have to pick it up again. It did not matter, it wasn't going to affect him in his lifetime he was sure.

Math had been a surprise. A big one.

These ponies' understanding of calculus, geometry, hell even statics, was scary advanced. He wouldn't admit it to any of the little fuckers but he had been struggling for a while till the cobwebs of his past came off and he started to remember his lessons when still human, and still he learned things he had never been taught.

They even had flight mechanics, and not just for the airships that lumbered through the skies, but for the pegasi themselves.

He had even heard rumors of one, a filly if it was to be believed, had flown so fast that her passing created a rainbow and a loud booming sound. The rainbow effect was likely water vapor sliding around on the boom cone, the idea it might actually be a sonic boom left him stunned. If true, a child had broken the sound barrier.

A fuckin' kid!

How powerful were these sky rats?!

He had decided then and there never to piss one off without a plan that was for damn sure.

Their science was another story, it wasn't that developed despite their advanced knowledge of mathematics. Many things that could be described as physics were instead chalked up to a function of magic. They had the formulas to understand gravity, but they didn't recognize it as anything other than a magical force in nature.

Magic of course, encompassed all. And was likely the reason for such advanced mathematics. Their spellwork relied heavily on formulaic algorithms.

From the day he learned what the big boner in the middle of his forehead was actually for, he had done everything he could to learn as much as possible. Which wasn't much at the beginning other than picking things up and putting them down.

It had been frustrating.

When he had gotten to Equestria, and the city of Manehattan, he had learned a little more. But with that knowledge came a realization, even if they had no idea what true physics may be they still had to calculate nearly everything.

Temperature, altitude, in some cases location and weather as well, all have to be carefully mapped out within their heads.

It was weird, for lack of a better word. When constructing a spell, he could feel the skeins, like different vibrations, flowing into the different matrices needed in order to get the desired result, math dictating strength and direction of the flows.

He was immensely disappointed when he figured out that you couldn't punch someone with levitation. Oh you could throw whatever you wanted, but the spell would not operate in a weaponized manner outside of that.

At the moment he only knew the most rudimentary of spells, spells that most foals learn growing up at home, so at least he wouldn't be seen as strange.

He did have a couple of offensive spells. The fireball that he used to light the fire by the creek, and "Vi" or Force. The spell ended up projecting the color of his magic, and when used it shot a non-explosive arrow at the target, originally pushing anything he targeted back. With a little refinement, he had begun to put very narrow holes in the wall that had sat behind the hedge back in the Manehattan orphanage. He had an idea to make it more useful, but had yet to work out the kinks.

However, there was something that nagged at him, telling him it was wrong somehow. Anytime he tried to cast it at any range significantly far it would fuzz then dissolve after reaching ten or so feet. It wasn't his first inkling that there might be something wrong with him either, just a more glaring one. The spell was meant to travel twenty yards before losing efficacy.

When he slowed down the process, he found the distance portion of the matrix acting exactly as it should. Which meant the sudden failure should have been impossible. He could not figure out why it did that. But it wasn't just Force that did it. All of the spells he tried and put at distance from him started to do that.

He hoped going to this school specifically for unicorns would break him of whatever was affecting his casting. Maybe there was something he was missing and not factoring in. Or he had stunted himself in some way.

Soft pounding up the stairs alerted him, as the ears on top of his head focused in on the sound he smiled slightly. Screaming had come to bug him once more.

Oh well, he could use a break, his head was starting to hurt from his ruminations. He smiled, stretching as he wondered what inane thing she would bug him with today.

Bursting into the library at almost a dead run, the young griffon came skidding to a halt before him, breathing hard. Must have come running up all the way from the ground floor if she was that desperate for oxygen.

"Easy there, feathers. This is a library, not a gymnasium." He chuckled at the flat look he received. "What's up, buttercup?"

"Mrs. Evergarden is back from Day Court!" Her voice was usually rather pleasant, a musical bird-like quality that seemed to be a staple of her species if what he had picked up from others he had overheard could be considered normal. Today, it sounded much too akin to a bird squawk, kind of…screechy and he wished it would stop immediately.

"Sounds exciting. I'm sure it's a huge deal that you just had to run up four flights of stairs just to tell me." He said dryly.

She could have flown, but none of the windows were open and griffons weren't made for hovering, built heavy and nearly silent flying. A pegasus could, in fact, hover. It was kinda cool to watch.

"She wants us all downstairs. She said she had an important announcement, she looked really happy for some reason." She had not picked up on his snark.

That was a change, he had caught Mrs. Evergarden leaving when he was sneaking a cup of coffee from the kitchen. She had looked pensive, and more than a little nervous. Whatever had been bothering the matron must have been resolved.

"Well it must be something good. Let me put these away." His horn lit up and he began to put books three away at a time. He was rather proud of himself. A year ago he struggled to put two away at the same time.

Screaming watched enviously.

"Wish I could do that." He chuckled.

"And I wish I could fly."

That got her to blink in confusion at him. "Really?"

"Are you kidding? To be able to get to anywhere you want to be with just the beat of wings would be friggin' amazing." He smiled. He was trying to make her feel better about her own abilities, but he really would like to fly unaided one day. Maybe the first personal aircraft? He'd have to write that one down.

Putting the last book away he got up and wobbled. Maybe he wasn't quite ready for three books at a time just yet.

Shaking his head a bit to get his balance back, he gestured to the door. "Come on, let's go see if they finally recognized me as Pope."

He laughed at the confused look she gave him.

In the large receiving room on the ground floor, everyone was gathered. For such a small group they certainly made enough noise. Sounded like a circus.

At the door he and Screaming separated, mostly because he was wasn't one for small talk. He was already leaning against a wall not saying much of anything. She settled in with her friend, Storming Wing.

There was a bad influence if he had ever seen it. The only other person in this place not as put off by his more carnivorous habits. She had the habit of getting the griffon into trouble that could be easily avoided. Mostly just ill thought out pranks.

The blue maned filly gave him a mischievous grin.

"Great, she has something planned for me."

But before he could contemplate his retaliation, Mrs. Evergarden rushed into the room. Screaming was right, she was in an excitable mood. She practically vibrated with excess energy across the floor, her normal mane bun was an absolute mess.

"Everypony here?" He wanted to chime in that not everyone was a pony, but he was sure it would fall on deaf ears. "Good! Good." She walked in front of the large bay windows facing out at Lancet Street, a grin threatening to rip her face apart. "I have some very exciting news to share, my little ponies! As some of you know, I went to Day Court today. What you might not know is that I went to get more bits for the orphanage."

"Well that explains her original nervousness." He thought.

"During that session, it was discovered that some things were wrong with our original funding. Yes, Dew?"

A little all green filly had stuck her hand into the air in that excitable ramrod straight way kids did when they really wanted to know something.

"What does funding mean?" Her voice squeaked out.

"Oh for the love of God!" She was five, and he understood that not everyone had the same education, but he barely restrained himself from yelling at the poor girl. She was attending a private school after all, she should have learned something by now.

"It means bits for our home little one." Mrs. Evergarden had the patience of a saint. She continued on.

"Because of that revelation Mr. White, our patron has given up his rights over us and the orphanage."

Orion could read between the lines. A grin cracked his lips. Ol' Whitey got busted, of what he could guess. Normally that would be a bad thing, but judging by her disposition, something really good had come out of it.

"However, we did pick up an even better sponsor than before." She bit her lip, and in that moment she looked like one of the kids she cared for. "Princess Celestia has become this orphanage's patron!"

She squealed, the kids squealed. All God's children squealed. He thought he might be deaf. Hell, even Golden Trot, Douche Canoe himself, was squealing like a stuck pig.

Orion on the other hand didn't know how to feel about it. There was certainly more than a little anxiety to be certain. Being that close to power was not something you took lightly, even if all it was was only funding. And considering his last run in with real authority, he wasn't enthusiastic about a repeat of that at all. He didn't count those folks back in Stalliongrad, they had been rescuers, terrible ones, but rescuers nonetheless.

After a minute of the impromptu swine concert, Mrs. Evergarden had managed to get the group under control.

"Now, that means some very big changes will be coming. New ponies to help me will start working here, and we will be getting some much needed repairs done on the building itself. Also, it was advised to me by Princess Celestia herself that we come up with a new name for our home." She smiled, delight in her eyes.

With Mr. White no longer in the picture, that made a lot of sense. Already a clamor of voices spoke up shouting ideas with Celestia's name being prominent in most.

Orion thought for a moment before raising his hand. He didn't want to, but he thought it prudent to keep the monarch's name off the building as much as possible.

Once more the Directress got the mob of voices to quiet down, and noticed him.

"Yes, Orion?"

Dropping his hand he cleared his throat, "If I could suggest, how about "Evergarden's Home for Wayward Foals"."

The mare thought for a moment. Surprisingly none of the others had voiced opposition to it yet. Though Golden was looking like he wanted to.

"Why, my name specifically?" She finally asked.

"Crap, do I have to point it out?"

"Well, as far as I know, you've been managing this orphanage for years under Mr. White's employ. You have managed to keep this place running under some of the worst working conditions I know. Even Manehattan's orphanage had more than just Miss Sapphire running the place."

Which was true. There were two cooks and even a janitor that helped maintain the place though he rarely saw them.

He continued.

"Besides, I'm quite certain the Princess has her name attached to enough institutions in this city," which was also true, even in Manehattan there were at least three coffee houses with her name alone. "So why not name the place after someone who has worked so hard to keep it together."

What he did not mention was that if Celestia's name was not attached to the place, there would be less attention from elements in society that was better to be ignored by. Most people had short memories and would likely forget that she had basically confiscated the place from a noble. Despite the guess he was certain that he was right, and the noble would not forget, but odds were he would be too scared to move against royalty in any way.

"That's actually a good idea!" Pipped up Screaming. Not really a surprise considering how hard she was working at becoming his friend. She would likely back him up if he declared the sun should be known as Piss Ball. Well, maybe not that.

Soon there were others that assented to the idea. Mostly the older foals, the younger ones only stared off into space. One was digging for gold. Yuck.

"Okay, well let's put it to a vote, all in favor of Orion's suggestion raise your hand."

Golden Trot and Storming Wing were the only ones not to raise their hands. The former likely did so out of his distaste for him, and the latter was just as likely to just be difficult for the sake of it.

Mrs. Evergarden smiled sheepishly, a blush forming on her face and in her ears from the way they twitched nervously.

"Well, I-I-I suppose we have a new name. Thank you, Orion." He kept his face smooth, but inside he wanted to sag in relief. The kids were all yammering excitedly about how the new sign would look. Screaming was beaming and frowning at Storming in turns.

Douche supreme just looked constipated.

A series of rapid knocks silenced the room. With a gesture of her hand and a quick word to remain where they were, Mrs. Evergarden went to see who it was.

From where he sat, he could just see her looking through the peephole and giving a small jump before quickly opening the door. Two guards stepped through the door.

These did not look like the typical city guard he had seen before, those were clad in regular steel and white cloth and unpainted.

These, both mares, bore lacquered white armor in gold and purple trim. The breastplates had the symbol of the Equestrian Royalty etched into them. These were Royal Guards.

"Oh, Jesus Christ." He really hoped the Princess hadn't decided to survey her new acquisition personally.

In stepped a brown, almost black earth pony mare in a gray business suit. A yellow cloth at her throat.

"I am here on Princess Celestia's behalf. She would have liked to have come herself, but she is hosting a delegation from Prance and could not make the time."

"Oh thank you God! Thank you, thank you!" He was not religious in the slightest, that had been his grandparents schtick, but he was thinking he might end up finding faith if this turmoil in his life continued.

"I-I hadn't thought she would come here!" Mrs. Evergarden squeaked.

"Her Highness did imply you would be getting instructions in about a week, but after some deliberation with her staff she thought it best to start as soon as possible with the next few weeks being too busy for her."

"Oh, I see. Well we, the foals really, have already suggested and voted on a new name for the orphanage." The Directress replied.

"Truly?" Shuffling around in her satchel, the mare produced an ink bottle and quill. A scroll appeared in one of the guards hands. "If you would be so kind as to give me the name, this will go far in getting the appropriate paperwork together that much sooner."

"Oh, um "Evergarden's Home for Wayward Foals"." They pair had started to drift toward the receiving room. Orion's ears stayed locked onto them.

"So much for the slow bureaucracy of government."

He was rather surprised by how swiftly the Princess had moved once she had taken a course of action.

"That's a wonderful name, her Highness will be happy to hear that." Her voice dropped an octave, and he only barely heard; "Between you and I, Princess Celestia has grown tired of ponies asking for her name on every establishment. She will be happy to learn of this."

"I suppose Orion was likely thinking the same thing!" Mrs. Evergarden replied happily.

"No you idiot, don't say my name!!" The less known about him the better. And anyone in power knowing who he was is very bad news.

"Orion? Who is that?" The mare inquired.

"Orion Falls, he's the newest addition to the orphanage, as he arrived only just this month. He made the name suggestion. Oh he is right over there."

She pointed dead at him. Right fucking at him. He could only imagine what his face looked like as he tried to pretend he wasn't paying attention to anything.

"Why did I even open my mouth? What the fuck is wrong with me?! I'm not paying attention, I know nothing, just another brat amongst many." His hopes to be ignored were dashed. The mare had come right up to him. "God damnit."

She leaned down before him, adopting a look that most adults did when wanting to praise a child.

"Well hello there little one!" She spoke cheerfully. "My name is Lucky Write! That was a very good name you came up with!" She reached into a pocket and pulled a wrapped piece of candy out. Presenting it to him she asked sweetly, "Would you like one?"

He recoiled, to surprised by the offer and unable to stop the look of disgust on his face, or the words that he oh so wished he had not said.

"Fuck no! Y'all make your candy way too sweet! That shit hurts my teeth!" He clamped his hand over his mouth, eyes bulging.

For the mare, Lucky's part, she too recoiled. But in shock and maybe a little disgust.

"Orion!" Evergarden screeched.

He spent the rest of the day in his room. Couldn't blame no one but himself for this one.

"Why in the fuck did I say that?!" It had been a thought that had repeated constantly in his head.

It was like someone else had spoken through him and he was just along for the ride. But it had been his thoughts.

A knock pulled his attention to the door of his room. Mrs. Evergarden stately walked in, a hard flushed look to her features.

"I can't believe you said that!" She snapped.

"I can't believe I said it either." He responded morosely. He felt seven kinds of moron. "That is exactly how you pull attention to yourself. Idiot."

"I should have just taken the candy and handed it to another kid later when she left. It was fucking stupid. I'm sorry."

Something grabbed his ear and he stood on tippy hooves as Mrs. Evergarden bodily dragged him from his bedroom to the bathroom down the hall.

"Is she really thinking that she will…" A bar of soap lifted from the bathroom counter in her magic. "Oh no you don't!"

Before the bar reached him he snatched it out of the air and stuck it in his own mouth, crunched down, chewed and then spit all over the floor.

Her hand leapt from his ear in surprise. Eyes very wide.

"You want me to stop swearing, you ask. Miss S already tried this. I will not put up with this shit from anyone else. Do we understand each other?" He spoke hotly. So much for keeping his temper in check. He may look like a kid to her, and if not for where he came from he might have said he wasn't. But as he was essentially an alien he wasn't about to put his ass on the line like that.

But he was not about to put up with this treatment. He never understood why anyone thought they would get results this way.

Sure maybe a weak willed kid would cave easily enough, but he had seen some react even worse then he had now.

Her mouth worked, but no sound came from her lips. Her eyes fairly bulged now.

"Look, I'll make you….not a promise because the future is uncertain, and I won't make myself a liar like that. But a commitment to try at the very least."

He held up a finger.

"First and foremost, I will not look for or start a fight. I'm not looking to have the spotlight on me more than I have to. However, that does not mean I'm gonna be some bitch and let anyone that wants to beat on me, do so. So whoever throws the first punch is going to get broken I can promise you that.”

His second finger flipped up. She had stopped gaping at him.

"Second, I will not go out of my way to verbally attack anyone. Even if they deserve it. I cannot promise I won't curse and swear in frustration, but I will do my best to keep it here and in private."

His third and final finger rose.

"I will do my best not to besmirch," he grinned at that, "the name of this orphanage, or you, in any way. I will likely not be a model citizen if you couldn't tell that already, but I will be respectful and maintain some semblance of decorum and civility." This was good, he was setting rules for himself. He needed to, and he needed someone else to hold it over him. Otherwise he would eventually get in real trouble.

He lowered his hand and waited.

She was no longer glaring, instead a thoughtful look adorned her face.

"She told me…that you couldn't be treated like the other foals. I keep being reminded how true that is." She frowned. "But that isn't good enough. You have-"

"That is all you're gonna get." He said firmly. "Anyone who makes a promise is an idiot. The future is not written in stone, and there may come a time where I have to break one of those. I can say with as much certainty as I can have, I will not break them lightly."

They looked at each other for a long time. Finally Mrs. Evergarden's shoulders slumped.

"I'm really not going to get you to budge on this am I?" He shook his head, smiling to take the sting away from it.

He was starting to see why many kids fought back when being punished. At least those back on earth. These ponies just took whatever nonsense was foisted upon them whether they wanted to or not. Very rarely did one fight back or even complain.

"Fine." She sighed heavily. "But please, stick to those as best you can. Please?"

His smile morphed into an impish grin. "Of course, it's not like I'm a ticking time-bomb after all."

Making his way around her he got just past the door when he heard her call out; "What, by Faust's name, is a "time bomb"?"

His laughter was her only answer.

He looked himself over in the tall standing mirror that had been placed in his room. His mirror.

He had bought it with a stipend that everyone in the orphanage was now receiving. A new development with their new sponsor.

Apparently when Miss Write had arrived, and after he had embarrassed the whole of the orphanage quite thoroughly, she had announced to Mrs. Evergarden that Princess Celestia had wanted the foals to have an allowance.

Two hundred bits for each foal. Every single month! He had seen families in Stalliongrad make due with less.

He wasn't really all that shocked, at least not by the allowance itself. It was the amount that was something else entirely.

In truth he shouldn't have access to his, he was below the age of ten which was the cut off for kids being able to buy what they want. According to the rules that had been laid out by Miss Write.

But after a heart to heart with Mrs. Evergarden, they had worked out that he would make requests, and she would decide whether it was something he needed, or could have.

The mirror was one such purchase she had approved.

On his desk behind him were extra notebooks, quills, and ink bottles. All purchased with the bits he had been allowed.

He also now had a gym membership.

He had spotted the gymnasium when he was being dragged about by Miss Sapphire the day after they had arrived. Right before she went to a tea and crumpets cafe, taking him with her of course. He got to watch her drool over a stallion that worked there for the better part of an hour before they left.

But the gym, Iron Wills Gymnasium, had reminded him of his weak and feeble unicorn body, and also, the body he had when he was still a man. Skinny with a growing beer gut.

Talking Mrs. Evergarden around to that had been a chore. But eventually he had given her the idea that if he was sweating his ass off in there, he wouldn't be causing trouble here. She had caved to that.

The place wasn't even charging that much.

That still left him with some hundred odd bits, but he didn't really need anything else. Maybe he would save it up and then throw it into some type of investment when he was old enough. He could play with that idea later. Make more money on government cash. Sounded like a swell idea to him. Besides, he had no clue how much it would cost him to patent any of his ideas.

He frowned.

Orion had stripped to his underwear to look himself over. Scrawny didn't cover it. He looked like a twig with legs.

He hadn't really looked at himself more than to brush his mane out of his eyes, so in a lot of ways, he was seeing himself for the very first time.

He looked goofy as hell, the head was almost too big for the body. Something would have to be done about it. He was going to need more protein, or he was destined to look like a bobble-head. Maybe he could talk her into letting some of his bits go into more than just fish for himself. Maybe some plants that had protein heavy seeds. He'd have to do research on it.

Still, he didn't like his look at all.

Sighing to himself, he dressed again, in the bedclothes he had pulled off before. He would just have to be patient. He would not fall into the old habits of immediate satisfaction. It served him nothing to do so now and was one of the reasons that led to his incarceration to begin with.

Once dressed, he walked over to where his coat pegs were and checked the satchel he had sitting there ready for tomorrow.

Tomorrow was the very first day of school. New school. He was nervous as hell.

Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns was said to be one of the best, if not the top, schools of the country. They catered to all ages, from Pre-K to college itself. He himself would be attending their primary classes.

His nervousness came from the fact that he had no idea what to expect, and was not sure if he would stack up to kids that had been using magic since the day they were born.

He'd likely get kicked for not knowing that much despite his efforts, but that didn't really bother him. It was the idea that he might lose out on improving. The spells that should work, weren't. His mind not being able to not factor in certain concepts made it difficult for those spells to even form, much less function like they should.

That and the fact that back in Manehattan, there were no classes specifically for magic. How far behind was he? How much work would it take to catch up?.

Ink, quills, notebooks. Everything seemed to be there. As it was the last six times he had checked this evening.

"Stop it. It's just school, and if the school in Manehattan was any indication, you'll likely be ahead of the curve." But was he going to be? It was a subject he didn't know was possible to learn before arriving.

Drifting to the bed he laid down, eyes wandering, they found themselves on the uniform he would be wearing tomorrow. He hated sweater vests.

Black slacks, purple vest and a white dress undershirt would become his life, Monday to Friday. He was a true fucking nerd now.

"God damnit." Flicking the light off with a small application of his magic he rolled over. Tomorrow was sure to be a long ass day.

He missed being able to sleep naked.

The rock trembled violently in a black and gold magic field. He really wanted to nail that wagon driver right in the dome.

"Bitch almost fuckin' hit me!"

He had been doing fairly well getting from the orphanage to school. He had been lucky his residence was so close to a tram station.

Despite the press of people he managed to find a comfortable place to sit, wedged between a wall and an overweight unicorn mare who kept giving him pudgy winks.

"Lady. I'm eight."

At his stop, which was halfway around the city and closer than he liked to the castle, he got off quickly, barely avoiding being trampled.

As he got to the street below the station, he got his first look at his new school.

He was not rich enough to be attending a school like this.

It looked like someone had modernized Roman architecture. It damn near looked like the Whitehouse.

Massive fluted columns supported a slightly larger flat roof that just overhung the building's edges. Windows stood in regular intervals between the pillars, he could see individual floors through them, and everything was gilded in gold. A golden dome capped with a weather vane looking statue dominated the top.

White. Brick, everything. All white. It was blinding in the morning sun. He shielded his eyes from the glare and gave back one of his own.

It was then as he tried to cross the street that he had almost gotten run over. The driver, a mare, laughing.

He dropped the stone with angry mutterings. He had promised to behave. And Mrs. Evergarden would hold him to it.

Looking both ways, and trying to shield his eyes from the sun, he darted across the street and through the large iron wrought gates.

Breathing heavily, and thanking whatever deity was listening for his gym membership, he looked around.

"Now there is supposed to be a Mr. Shower to greet me. Sure hope for his sake his first name isn't Golden. That would be...very unfortunate."

Part of his morning had gone to Mrs. Evergarden making sure he had everything. She was even more anal than he had been the night before.

"Your lunch is packed?" Nod. "Do you have your school supplies?" Another, slower nod with a touch of exasperation. "Bits for your tram fare?"

He had his lunch, his money, his school supplies, and underwear sitting properly. Everything.

"Yes mooommm I have everything I need." That earned him a swat on the head and a chuckle.

"Everypony knows where they are going by now. But you're new and I don't want you to forget anything." She smiled.

"Wait! Everypony knows? What about Screaming! She must be so lost. Oh woe is she for she is lost and has no idea where to go!" Another swat.

"She knows too. Honestly, I don't know why you have such a problem with using proper vernacular. They have been the method of including everypony for thousands of years."

"And they are exclusive as hell. Whoever had made them up should have their head dunked in salt. Speciest bastard!"

The sneeze had taken her completely by surprise.

The stallion before her, Marbled Stone, blinked as a thin spray of mucus had appeared on his muzzle.

"Oh my goodness! Ambassador, I am so, so sorry!" Summoning a handkerchief she levitated the cloth to him. Face flushed with embarrassment.

The Saddle Arabian representative merely chuckled as he took the proffered fabric and began dabbing at his face. She waved for somepony to bring something more substantial for cleaning.

"Perhaps you've caught a cold, your Highness." He mused.

"Oh this story will spread. Me, sneezing on a delegate! Where did that even come from?!"

"Ambassador Stone, I haven't had a cold in over eight hundred years, and that had been under extraordinary circumstances." She sniffed and rubbed her nose with another handkerchief.

Where had that sneeze come from?

In front of a broad short staircase stood a group of young ponies and one loan adult. A massive water fountain three or four yards across stood between him and the group. Water spewed from horse people with fish tails in an elegant jet.

"That must be them."

To the right of the lone adult stood five kids.

Kids, no they were foals that nomenclature was one he needed to accept, that looked like they belonged there. Noses slightly up, annoyed looks on their faces as if they would rather not be there and had been forced to attend.

The other group, toward the stallion's left, was still looking around in awe and wonder. He wondered if he had held the same look a moment ago.

One, the only colt in either group, was picking his nose. He was really getting in there too.

Ew.

"Please let "gold miner" not be my lab partner for any class! Oh God, he ate it! Gross!" He gagged.

Sure enough the disgusting little troll had pulled his finger back with a huge booger at the end, and stuck it right in his mouth. A delighted look upon his face.

Orion shuddered and focused on the adult in desperation.

As he came closer he had to do a double take. The stallion. A tall skinny pony, was the ugliest horse person he had ever seen.

Nothing was going right for this guy. His muzzle was long, and the nose seemed to curve upwards as if he had gotten the mother of all uppercuts. His lips didn't quite cover his teeth.

His eyes seemed to be focused on him in disdain, but one was attempting to look in another direction, as if bored.

The mane made him think someone had tried to get creative with a weed wacker. At least it was combed.

"Name!" The abrupt noise that could barely be described as a voice broke him from his examination of the stallion. Sounded like he was gargling a mouth full of cock.

"Oh um, Orion Falls." He stood there awkwardly. Not knowing what else to say.

"Hmm," the pony looked into a ledger he hadn't noticed he was holding before, "ah yes, here you are. You were almost late Mr. Falls. I'd advise you to leave earlier if you're going to be this slow in getting to class."

"With a face like that you wanna be an asshole? I'm fifteen minutes early you fuckhead!" He kept his thoughts to himself. He had said he would try to be respectful and behave. He repeated the mantra as he joined the newbies.

Glancing over to the rest of what we're obviously also new arrivals, he spoke up. "Now that we are all here. I am Mr. Shower. I am the introductory councilor for the day but usually you will find me in the chemistry department. You five will be guided to your classes by the best students of last year's academics."

His gaze swept back and forth over them, a hard gaze.

"You will give them respect, and your undivided attention. They have your schedules, and will be with you for the next three to five days to make sure you understand where you are supposed to go. Is that clear?"

Everyone there nodded, except for Orion. He did not like this stallion. He would no longer get the honorific of Mr. in his name, at least in his head.

"Excellent."

He acted like someone who had watched the Harry Potter movies then told their friend about them. Then that friend tried to reenact scenes with Snape in them. Poorly.

"Bad Snape is bad."

"Lady Sparkle, if you and the others would kindly escort your charges according to schedule so we can all get about our day?"

A purple filly with a navy blue mane and two strips of pink and purple, stepped forward from the other group.

"Of course, Mr. Shower." She sounded as bored and annoyed as their councilor. At least her mouth didn't sound like she had a dick shoved into it.

"Then I leave you to it." He glanced back at the newbies. "Remember. Respect."

With that the stallion stormed off in an awkward hobble. Orion was beginning to strongly suspect inbreeding.

Twilight's group broke up to stand next to their assigned escorts.

The aforementioned filly stood next to him specifically. "Ah, crap."

"Today is a busy day, so do not dottle. We have a lot of ground to cover and I don't want to be kept waiting while you goggle and gawk at every new thing you see." Oh this was great. This was wonderful. Little Miss Doesn't-want-to-be-here already has a stick jammed so far up her ass she has become a sign for pain in the ass parking.

But he didn't say anything, the mantra again repeated in his skull. Plus, as satisfying as it would be to smack a bitch, he'd end up feeling bad about hitting a girl.

He tailed behind her, not really wanting to stay in her line of sight as he did exactly what she had said not to. Stared at everything.

What he hadn't noticed of the building before were thick vines crawling up the right side, carefully pruned to not block the windows. They had some amazing blue and purple flowers blooming off of them. A pair of gardener unicorns in matching overalls and shirts of white and purple were picking up the plant refuse with their magic.

Glancing around he noticed a lot of unicorns primarily using their magic. Even carrying their school supplies seemed to warrant the practice.

He was suddenly, and quite roughly, shoved forward. Turning around he saw no one.

"That's fuckin' weird…"

Facing back toward the school he noticed his warden looking at him, a glare painted on her face and her horn a light in a purple glow.

"Do. Not. Dottle." She hissed at him.

"Jesus girl, calm down! It's my first time here! Permit a man to stare a little. Damn." He was really thinking hard about hitting her with every loose stone in his vicinity.

It was clear she didn't want to be here, likely forced into the role but she could be less of a pain in the ass about it.

A curious, if rather sharp still, look came over her face.

"Jesus? Man? What is that? And don't swear! That is not allowed here." She finished that last with a bite.

"Holy shit! This bitch latches onto anything!"

"Just...slang that I picked up back in Stalliongrad." He quickly, and almost smoothly responded.

She fixed him with her now trademark stare. "I've read about Stalliongrad. Nothing I have read indicates the vernacular of the culture including those words." It was time for his own stare. Did she really think you could learn everything from a book? They had gotten to the doors.

"Have you been there?" She had the decency to blush, ears turning pink.

"N-no. But what does that have to do with it?" He smiled at her.

"Lesson one, oh Purple Warden. You're never going to learn everything by reading a book. Oh you can get a good idea of the culture and history, but if you don't immerse yourself into the place itself, you'll never know for sure if what you read is fact."

"How would you know?" Pink gone from her ears, she was back to smug.

"Because I lived there, ya dingus. Now come on, we are going to be late for class." He pushed past her leaving the gaping filly to catch up.

"Stupid bitch."

In truth he was kinda flabbergasted. He knew the ponies of this city were going to be stuck up assholes, but he had hoped to find the diamonds in the rough at the very least.

So far Mrs. Evergarden, and Screaming, were the only bright spots in the entire town.

What he really wanted to do was turn around, jab a finger in her throat and teach her manners. But he had to keep reminding himself that she was just a kid. They are only as polite as their parents taught them.

In her case, it seemed either not enough, or she had been having one really bad day.

Twilight started after the strange black colt in consternation. She had been rude. In the haze of her anger she had not seen anything but inconveniences. She was already having a bad day, starting with spilling an ink bottle all over her notes. When she had attempted to lift new ink from old, the spell couldn't differentiate between written and spilled and ended up pulling most but the beginning of the page up.

All those notes were wasted. It was a coincidence that her writing was so quick that she had barely managed to rewrite them out.

Once she arrived at school she had fixated it in her mind that she would be able to settle into class, and she would have a chance to redo those notes better than her hastily scrawled attempt.

Unfortunately, Principal Good Order had found her. She had been volunteered to help with School Introductions and Familiarization. A week long assignment that allowed a new student to get familiarized with the school grounds and how classes schedules functioned.

Usually the top academic students were chosen for this task. She was one of those. The very top.

"Where did he go!?" In her musings he had slipped away into the foals that surrounded them.

Channeling her magic as a wedge she pushed into the press and hoped she could catch him. He was certain to get lost in the large academy.

The bell had rung, and the halls were empty. Orion Falls was nowhere to be found.

She had failed.

In her very first official assignment from anypony, she had failed. She bit her lip hard, eyes screwed shut.

"What will the Princess say?!" In her mind she could see the Royal Court room, cast in red. Princess Celestia sat on her throne above her.

"Twilight, I am very disappointed in you. You cannot even handle one simple assignment. I don't know what I was thinking, taking you as my student."

Rising from her seat, wings cast wide. Her Teacher looked upon her, a stern face of judgment.

"I'm sorry, my little pony, but I'm afraid that you are not the student I am looking for."

"No no no no nononono-" she whispered fiercely to herself. She stood in the lone hallway, hands gripping her head.

A hand touched her elbow and she gave a jerk. Whirling around, she discovered a janitor had come up to her. Concern etched on her blue face.

"Are you okay, Lady Sparkle?"

Lady Sparkle. She had yet to get used to that. Since being chosen by the Princess as her personal student, she had been getting the noble treatment from everypony.

Her family had been well to do before her new position. But now there was a difference from anypony she crossed paths with. Even students.

All save one student, and he was missing.

"I am well." She said absently. She wasn't really. But she would not admit her failure to just anypony. She sighed, she would have to tell Mrs. Greenfield that her new student had given her the slip. "Thank you for your concern, but I must be going."

With polite murmurs of well wishes, the janitor turned away, and she made her way through the warren of halls.

Her destination was reached all too soon. She had this class last year, Equish class, and had fond memories of the teacher here. Memories that would now be tainted when she admitted to losing Orion.

Stepping in she was greeted with the familiar sight of the multi-leveled stair seating, with the desks and chairs built-in. And in the middle, toward the left hand side, sat Orion Falls with his eyes focused on a book before him.

She gaped incredulously at him. How had he gotten here without her?!

"Lady Sparkle! It's a pleasure to see you here again. But unless I am very much mistaken, you passed my class last year, young filly. Top of it too. What brings you here?"

Turning, and trying vainly to hide her shock, she addressed the slightly overweight mare. "I-I-I...I am O-Orion's…..I got distracted…." Which was true enough, she had gotten distracted that was for certain.

He was watching her now. A small cocky grin on his face. Her ears and face could only heat in embarrassment as she tried to come up for a reason for her to be there. She looked away from him back to Mrs. Greenfield, and she opened her mouth to stumble an answer.

"She's my escort." Her eyes locked back onto him. He waved his hand idly in the air. "Got me to the door and said something about needing the bathroom. I told her to go, I will just be in here."

"Oh, the SIF?" Twilight could only nod. "Ah, well I suppose that does make sense. She is this school's top student after all. You're very lucky to have her as a guide, Mr. Falls. Lady Sparkle? If you would?" Her orange furred hand gestures toward the seating.

She practically ran to take a seat next to the colt who had surprisingly rescued her from further embarrassment. She looked at him after she had settled, but his eyes were focused on the golden maned mare toward the front of the room. But there was still that smile on his face, if smaller.

"Well then, now that we are all here. I suppose introductions are in order. Many of you know who I am already, but for those new such as you Mr. Falls, I am Mrs. Golden Greenfield. I will be your Equish instructor for this year. In this class I hope to better your understanding of our language and its nuances. To say what, when, and how."

She had begun to write, in her familiar hand, her name and examples of what everypony would be learning.

"But first, I'd like everypony to introduce themselves. It would be good to know your classmates after all, since you will be spending many years together learning."

Turning around she pointed to a yellow filly in the front row. Twilight had already begun tuning out Mrs. Greenfield before she had even gotten to that point. Her eyes were covertly watching Orion.

He had gone back to the book. Muttering to himself.

She hadn't really looked at the pony before, but she realized he was tall. Taller than her, with longer than normal ears and a fiery red mane that this close also showed hints of brown. It was like looking at embers.

His black fur was brushed, if with a careless hand. Likely had woken up late, nopony wanted knots in their fur.

He had a pretty horn. Though the pattern seemed unusual. The grooves seemed to swirl in on themselves, almost twisting the eye. But she was sure if she ran her finger along it they would meet up properly.

She blushed lightly at the thought. Touching another pony's horn was an intimate gesture.

It was his eyes that gave her pause though. Gray like a foggy sky, they seemed so intense. Whenever he looked at something it held a forcefulness that could crack stone. It was little more than a glare.

Like everypony else he was wearing the school uniform. A standard that had been put into place by Principal Forgone, twenty years ago. It had been a way for the students and teachers to feel as one.

Though teachers wore a stole with a color that matched their profession of academics. In Mrs. Greenfield's case it was blue for language and literature.

His name being called pulled both of them from their distractions.

"Uh yeah?"

"An introduction is in order, Mr. Falls." She reminded him, a touch of irritation into her voice. She did not like being delayed no matter how kind she was.

"Oh shit, yeah. Sorry."

More than one voice gasped as he stood.

"What?"

A filly, Fancy Breeze, shot up to her hooves and pointed at him with an accusatory finger.

"You swore!"

He blinked at her, then laughed. "Well how about that. I suppose I fuckin' did at that. Amazing."

Bulging eyes likely mirrored her own. He had done it again, and spoke like a griffon on top of it!

"Mr. Falls!" Mrs Greenfield's voice cracked. "That language will not be tolerated."

He paused, grin falling from his face.

"Language is not only just the way we as a people communicate thoughts and ideas. It is an art in the same way music conveys emotion, it allows one to bare their soul for others to truly understand them."

He stood up.

"Society may claim certain words as taboo, but that does not make them right. For a people to limit what others may say, makes them look controlling. That is the path of Tyrants."

Where had that come from? She had never read that before.

"The limits of my language are the limits of my world. I will not be chained so." He stood defiant, gazing down at the class and instructor all.

Mrs. Greenfield blinked, a small smile on her face. "Lady Sparkle, you have some competition. If a bit rough. You are very much correct, though I have never heard those words spoken in that way before." The smile broadened. "I remember you now, or at least what my herd sister has said of you. Don't think you can use flowery words with me to try and skirt the rules."

He mouthed the words "herd sister" before blinking. "Oooohhh I get it. Sorry, I'm still getting used to the concept of herds and all that." He chuckled.

"How does he not know of herds?" This colt was getting stranger and stranger by the minute.

"Alright listen, I will give you, not a promise but something, like I gave Mrs. Evergarden. I will try my best not to cuss as much as possible. It will likely slip out, sorry in advance. But I will try, and don't say that's not good enough because it'll just have to be." He went to sit down before stopping. "Oh and don't do any silly punishments like making me write a thousand times; "I will not swear in class", or some nonsense like that. I won't do it. And we will both sit there till one of us falls apart." He grinned, "And I am way younger than you."

"I could just send you to the principal's office."

"You very well could," he nodded thoughtfully, "and get the exact same result. The way I figure it, you'll let me learn, or kick me out." He grimaced. "Which will suck all kinds of butt, see I can self censor, but that will only be a road bump for me."

"I see." She suddenly laughed, "Daisy was right. You do have an answer for everything. But she also said you were very keen on keeping your word once you made it." She smiled. "You, young stallion, are a challenge. We shall play this by ear."

He had challenged, and won. Well not a complete victory, but still. How?!

Sitting back down he just nodded. Not quite a smile on his face, but he had an air about him that said he was most certainly pleased with himself.

"Mr. Falls?" Maybe Mrs. Greenfield had come to her senses and would punish him for attempting to circumvent the rules.

"Yeah?" His mouth set.

"Introductions?" She smiled, mirth making her eyes twinkle.

And with that Twilight's hopes for order to return had been dashed. She glowered at the colt as he stood once more.

"Ah, shhhh…...shrooms. Sorry, forgot." He scooted around the irate purple filly and walked down to the front of the class like everypony else did before him.

"Okay, so. My name is Orion Falls. I recently arrived from Manehattan about two weeks ago, give or take a couple of days. But I'm originally from Stalliongrad." His voice dropped an octave and he sounded like he had a cold. "In Soviet Marussia, weather change you!" He chuckled to himself.

Everypony just gave him odd looks.

Still chuckling to himself, "Okay that might not have been as funny as it was in my head. As for me, I am an orphan. That's right, I'm a filthy parentless urchin. Fear me and my dirty nature of having no-" Mrs. Greenfield bopped him on the head with a rolled up paper. The class laughed and she shook her head at him with a smile.

How was he staying in their good graces? How was he breaking the rules and getting away with it? Why?!

"Wait, he's an orphan?"

"Jesus, tough crowd. But yes, I am actually an orphan. I lived a year on the streets of Stalliongrad avoiding the worst things I won't tell you about. I like to read, and I just got a gym membership so I will likely either love and or hate working out. That's it."

He bounded up the stairs and slid around Twilight to get back into his seat. A grimace on his face.

"He's an orphan. And he was on his own for so long..." She felt terrible, not only because of his life up to now, but also the way she had treated him. The fact that he was a colt only compounded the feeling.

Still, he shouldn't be allowed to get away with this degenerate behavior.

He looked over to her.

"That was fun, let's do that never again."

He was surely in hell.

Standing up in class, just to introduce himself, brought back awkward years of growing up and making an ass of himself on a daily basis.

He was always the loner in class by choice, but not because he was trying to be edgy. He just didn't know how to speak to others and had made few friends, it was only as he grew up and found the miracles of alcohol that he finally broke the issues that kept him bottled up.

He wasn't Mister Popular. But he wasn't the fun sucking vampire of the party either.

And he was most certainly not thinking of the fact in his very first hour, of the very first class, that he almost got himself suspended. What happened to keeping his word?

It had taken everything in him to keep his voice and face smooth as he laid out his case.

He had realized early on that he was likely to screw up when speaking. Orion's original plan was to wait till the end of class and approach each teacher, no matter how surly they may be, and not plead his case, but more warn them of what would likely happen.

But he had fucked that right the hell up almost immediately.

Right at the moment he opened his mouth he took the whole foot, hoof in this case, and crammed it so far down his throat it was sticking out between his ass cheeks.

He thought he did a great job and covered his mistake as best he could, but could not shake the feeling that Mrs. Greenfield was being far more amicable than any teacher he had met before her.

Even the ones back on earth that smoked pot and came in right at the bell would have tossed him out of their class at what he had done.

Perhaps, it was his elegant speech that he pulled purely from his ass that had saved him?

He shook his head and grinned as he had gathered up his books and writing implements, stuffing them into the satchel. No, he isn't that charming, likely a certain orphanage Directress had a hand in this. He'd have to buy her a Christm- Hearths Warming gift when he could.

After a couple of classes in which had not inserted anything anywhere, either verbally or literally, the lunch bell had rung and Warden Purple had guided him to the cafeteria.

She had been strangely subdued since Mrs. Greenfield's class. Studying him as if he was some type of critter on an examination table. It gave him the absolute creeps.

Ignoring her as best he could, which became easier once they had gotten to the dining hall, he got in line and just gazed about in awe.

If Hogwarts was a real place, and they hadn't bothered so much with the gothic look and dark colors, they would have been a match for here.

Thick heavy pale beams of wood stretched from one end of the wall to the other, with supporting beams at angles holding them up, silver and gold candelabras in ornate sunburst designs hanging from them.

The floor was done in patterns of white and purple tiles, like large stone slabs, with gold trimmings along the edges.

Benches and tables ran the length of the hall in the same pale wood as above. They looked seamless, as if each row was just one long table. It was only once he got a closer look, twitching aside a heavily embroidered linen tablecloth, that he saw that they were just cleverly interlocked together.

Impressive precision.

Across from where he stood in front of the doors, were four massive arched windows. Unlike the rest of the room, the windows seemed plain in comparison. Just large, with wood in a small grid pattern to support the glass.

But what really took the cake for him was the kitchen. Toward his left, at the long end of the cafeteria, were raised tables set up like a buffet.

Cooks and assistants bustled in and out of a pair of swinging doors, carrying large pans full of various foods to those tables, and returning with empty ones.

This beat anything the Manehattan school district could ever hoped to match. They had followed a pattern most American schools did, lunch ladies handing out tiny portions.

Getting to the buffet, his lips curled in a sneer as the very first item he encountered was hay. Seven different types of hay cut up nearly like they were french fries. They had been swapping those out the most he realized, as another cook replaced an empty metal bin in front of him.

He looked away, and spotted his Warden staring at him. Her head slightly cocked to one side. Again, creepy.

Once the line moved down, he found something more palatable for him.

Fruits, some of which he had never seen before, vegetables, and sprouts. None of it was cooked, but he supposed he should have expected so. He took some from each, including a bluish fruit that looked like a blueberry on steroids.

Another shifting of hooves brought him to the pasta line. Glorious pasta. He nearly rejoiced and praised the Lord when he lifted a lid and discovered Alfredo. Too bad there was no chicken, but there was broccoli, so that would do.

It was hard for him to not take more than a moderate amount. But he knew if he ate more he would likely be a vegetable for the rest of the day. Still, he promised himself to savor it.

There was a dessert table, confections and cakes disappearing as fast as they were refilled, and he promptly ignored it.

Fucking ponies and the diabetes inducing snacks they seemed to adore.

As they left the buffet, her in tow with her own tray of food, he looked for a place well away from others. He smiled and zipped to a spot with a view of the gardens. It was on the opposite end of the hall, and a good distance away from everyone else.

It was perfect.

Sitting down, Warden Purple followed suit to his left, he dug in and ignored the crunching as she did also. She of course had hay. Fuckin' horse people.

"Ahem." That was feminine. But not his shadow.

Turning around he was confronted by three unicorns. A male and two females to be precise. All three held their trays in their magic. The colt behind the two fillies was grinning.

"Yeah?" He was really hoping this wasn't gonna be one of those "this my seat" kinda deals.

"You are sitting in our spot." The filly in front spoke, a snide grin on her pink face.

"Christ on a cracker, really?!" He would not tolerate this. But how to go about it without starting a fight?

"Name?" He asked neutrally.

She blinked a couple times in surprise before responding with, "Buttercup Spray, a name of your better." She snarked.

Instead of replying he started lifting his own tray of food out of the way and looking under the cloth of the table, prompting Twilight to do the same in confusion as he looked about.

"What are you doing?" The other filly, green in fur and mane spoke up, imperious tone sounding a bit annoyed.

"Looking for your friend's name, of course." He couldn't help the small chuckles that wanted to bubble up.

It was ridiculous. His life really was some television show. Any moment he was going to find a camera and know he had been had.

"Why would you need to do that?" Pink spoke again. Now confused and definitely annoyed.

"Well to prove that what you said was true, aaaaannnddddd nope. Your name is not here. So you must be mistaken." He turned back, adopting a simpleton's smile. "Sometimes that happens."

The colt in the back was no longer grinning. "Do you not know who we are?!"

"Nope, and before you begin, I really don't care. You mean very little to me." Jaws satisfyingly dropped at that.

Warden Purple had yet to say anything. She watched biting her lip, but not in humor.

He decided he wouldn't let this drag on. He spoke over the three simultaneous sputtering.

"Listen, I get it. You're noble or at least close to it. I could care less for your titles, supposed wealth, or anything else you seem to think you have better than anyone else. I operate on the principle of "first come, first served". Meaning I got here first thus it is mine for the time I sit to the time I get. You want it, get here before me. I don't care, I can easily find a new place." He paused to let that sink in. The trio had stopped trying to talk over him. "Now, as you can see, there are plenty of places here, with the same view might I add, and I have no objections to you sitting here with us. But don't think you can bully me around with your status that you did nothing to earn. Okay?"

He had stood up, and towered over them. He hadn't realized how much shorter they all were then him.

They sped away to the other side of the cafeteria.

Turning around he raised an eyebrow at his escort. "And thanks for the back up, oh silent one."

"I've never seen a pony act like you." She said quietly. The staring was back, open now. Honestly, he had expected her to be outraged.

He sat back down and popped a cherry into his mouth. Her attitude had gone from imperious annoyance to attentive confusion. He supposed he couldn't blame her for that, he certainly didn't act like the typical demure colt or stallion. He dreaded what was to come at the end of the week.

Saturday he was signed up for an hour of Etiquette Class. Mrs. Evergarden was determined to see him as a proper gentle colt. He would not enjoy having to disappoint her.

"Yeah well, what can I say? I'm one of a kind." He began eating in earnest. That confrontation, however brief, wasted minutes on his lunch break. He was determined to slip in a good fifteen minute nap.

The filly had long since finished her own meal, and was now staring at her tray, a frown creasing her features.

"Oh boy, the ol' thinking machine is running."

As he was finishing up his meal, she turned to him.

"I have...been rude. I'm sorry. I...had a very bad start to my day, made worse for being volunteered for this assignment. It's not your fault, but I still blamed you for putting me behind in my studies."

"Wow, that is rather….big of her." He hadn't expected it. He had felt that she would have ended up spending the week with her attached to his ass like a painful wart. To see her head bow like that in shame almost made him feel bad.

He wiped his hand on his pants and stuck one out to her.

"How about we start again?" He asked. He wasn't about to ruin this for her. This was a moment of growth, and even he wasn't stupid enough to get in the way of that. Nor was he that much of a dick. Besides, it would be good to be on speaking terms with someone who was stuck following him around. Once the week was done, they would likely go their separate ways.

"I'd like that." She smiled and took his hand.

"Hello, my name is Orion Falls. Orphan extraordinaire. Master of foul language." That got a snort of laughter from her and he grinned.

"And my name is Twilight Sparkle. Personal student to Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria." He could see her wince.

For his part, he had stopped listening. Seeing, anything. Brain.exe stopped working.

"What?"

Twilight's face scrunched up. She was speaking, but he really wasn't paying attention.

How in the absolute hell did he get into this situation? Not only was his orphanage now owned by the ruler of an entire nation, but now he was being followed/escorted around by her personal student.

His life was a sitcom. Somewhere, somehow, big ugly aliens were watching and laughing their asses off. All three of them.

He noticed she had stopped running her mouth and had an anguished look on her face.

He thought very quickly.

"Well, that's…. something. My Warden is not only smart, but attached to royalty." He grinned as a thought occurred to him. "I can appreciate the hustle."

She blinked back owlishly. He could practically read her thoughts through her eyes.

"Warden? Hustle? What do you mean?" Gone was the pensive and confused look, instead was the beginnings of anger and embarrassment.

"Warden, as you are essentially my jailer and guard. And hustle, meaning you worked hard for your position and achieved something truly amazing. I can assume that it is rare for her to take a student?"

As he explained her face lightened, his question got a sparkle in her eyes.

"Oh yes! She hasn't had a student in twenty or so years!" She gushed.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Lady Sparkle." He grinned as she winced.

That was interesting.

"Likewise Mr. Falls." They shook hands.

Silence.

"Why are your teeth shaped like that?"

Oh boy, he was not going to get that nap.

Author's Note

By now, many of you have noticed the changes. I would hope.

In my original work, I felt I did a disservice to Celestia. I made her mean and cruel with no real benefit to the story other than a huge sign saying, THIS IS THE BAD GUY. It was short sighted.

For you long time readers, ya know what I am talking about.

I think I did a much better job this time around.

As always, gimme a comment so I know how well I am doing.

Thanks for reading!