School Days

I stared up at the imposing, white brick building in front of me. I had already experienced two years of High School back in my world, now I had two years of pony world High School to survive. I sighed, repositioned my backpack, and continued forwards, ignoring all the hateful stares and spiteful glances of the other students of this school. Walking inside, I glanced around, and just like outside, stares were sent my way. Some were curious, most were negative in one way or another.

I ignored these to the best of my ability, and focused on just getting to class. The first one was history, which I was told I wasn't going to be graded on, I just needed to attend and pay some amount of attention. This was a great relief, since I knew that I would have flunked otherwise. Sure, learning the history of another world would have been cool anyway, but at least now I don't have to worry about being graded on it.

As I walked, I opened a side pocket on my backpack, and pulled out a folded piece of parchment. Yeah, this place didn't have paper or pens. Nah, this world had parchment and inkwells with quills. Sometimes, it honestly felt like I stepped back to the medieval ages. Hmm, hey, I did have a few pens and pencils in my backpack still, maybe I could patent the design and sell it. I stop for a second in my walking, a grin coming to my face as I imagine revolutionizing their writing utensil industry. I shook the thought away, putting it in the back of my mind for later use.

Looking down at the parchment in my hands I unfold it and re-read its contents once more. "Alright, let's see, where's my first class supposed to… wait, there's no homeroom? Huh, guess I missed that during my first look over. Alright, so I just head straight to class then. Hmm… room 205. Got it, so second floor, that means stairs." I mumble to myself as I fold the parchment and place it back into the pocket of my backpack. Looking around, I look for any sign of stairs but see none.

I shrugged this off and continued to just look around, hoping to get lucky. I mean, it's not like there are not going to be any, right? Just a hole in the ceiling where a pegasus can fly up through or a unicorn teleporting up a floor… right? I shake this thought away and refocus on my task. As I turn the corner I suddenly hear a ruckus up ahead. Looking at the source, I see the cause of it. A tall, slender mare with a, I have to say, sexy mane and tail is getting quite a lot of attention. I sigh at this. 'Great, the popular girl.' I then look past the assembled group, and my gut drops further.

"And there's the stairs. Of course they are." I grumble as I make my way forwards. The closer I got to the group however, the quieter it got. I pick up on this immediately, and look down to see all the ponies looking at me. I even catch the eye of the pretty unicorn mare, with her looking at me in a mixture of awe and curiosity. I feel my face heat up, now that I'm consciously aware of the attention. I just give a small wave with a hand, before bolting forwards, jumping over ponies in my way instead of walking around them. Once out of the crowd, I quickly make my way up the stairs.

Fleur de lis: 3rd POV

Fleur watched as the bipedal creature made its way up the stairs with surprising speed and agility. She had been about to wave back to it with a smile of her own, but it had moved before she could so much as lift a hoof. "Ugh, I can't believe that thing was even allowed to stay in the city, much less allowed to attend a school." A colt said, a snear to his tone.

"I agree completely." Said a filly. Fleur sighed internally, knowing that, like mother or father, like daughter or son. All of them were from 'noble' families here in Canterlot. She knew that none of them even really liked her, they just wanted her as a trophy mare or something to wet their dicks. Well she had other plans. And the same could be said about that creature. She and her brother Fancy Pants had heard similar things about the unknown creature from their parents.

But, seeing as there was nothing in the law against creatures of another race being in Canterlot, nothing could be done. Especially if what he had said was to be believed. From what Fleur had heard, the creature was one of a kind, in the literal sense. If anypony were to do him any harm, then they could very well fall under the consequences of attacking not just an endangered species, but a species on the very brink of extinction. And seeing as not a scratch was on him that wasn't already there, most likely, then everypony knew this, or had an idea about it.

"I do not see the problem. He may look different, but I'm sure inside, he is a pony, just like any of us." Fleur said, a bit of a scowl on her face, which made the students crowding around her back up.

"Ugh, you can't be serious? Did you see that thing?"

"It's absolutely hideous with its lanky figure!"

"I heard that it eats meat, and may have even eaten a pony!" Came the responses.

"Is there any proof of that claim?" Fleur asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Of course not, it buried the bones, and drank all the blood. There isn't any proof cause there is no proof left!" Fleur just shook her head, and turned away, heading to her class. Sure, they wouldn't start for another 30 minutes, but she needed to get away from those ponies. As she made her way to her class however, her thoughts were consumed by the being that now went to the same school she went to.

POV:1st

I sat down on a cushion behind my selected desk, and shrugged off my backpack, before letting my face fall into the desk in front of me. "Great job dumbass, you made a fool of yourself in front of the popular kid on the first day." I grumbled into the desk. After a minute of just sitting there, I lifted my head up and sighed.

"Well, no use dwelling on it now." I reach into the very front pocket of the backpack, and take out my phone and wireless earbuds case. I take one out, and put it into my left ear. I leave the other one in the case and put it back. Taking my phone, I turn it on and begin browsing through my music. But the more I look, the more I realize I'll never get the chance to expand it ever again, and this leads to me becoming more and more melancholy.

No longer in a music mood, I instead look through some games that could be played offline. Selecting Stick War: Legacy, I begin a new save on Insane difficulty. I've lost count how many times I've beaten the game, doing different challenges each and every time. But now I was just going to freestyle it, cause I couldn't be bothered trying to make up a challenge to do. I was about to do the Swordwrath Counter level when I heard the hoof-steps of a pony coming into the room.

Looking at the time, I realize I've been playing for roughly 25 minutes now. Looking up, I'm struck dumb as I see a type of pony I've never seen before. The mare, at least, I very much hoped this was a mare, had a bubblegum pink fur coat, with a tri color mane and tail made up of dandelion gold, magenta, and some kind of purple. Her mane and tail both were tied back in ponytails, the sky blue ribbons each forming a little bow where they were tied. Each pony tail ended in a large curl, which just added to her already pretty looks. Her wings were also something to note, as they went from a pink to purple gradient.

And lastly, her cutie mark. It was a crystalline blue heart with gold accents underneath. Now, one would think since she has wings, that she's a pegasus, right? Wrong. She also had a horn. I heard that only one pony had such attributes, Princess Celestia. But, then, did that mean, this was her? No, I heard Celestia was hundreds, maybe even thousands of years old. There was no way this mare was her. But then, that begged the question, who was she? It didn't take long for our eyes to meet, and almost immediately, I shot my eyes back to my phone, my face heating up.

'Fuck, why did I stare at her! Now she's gonna tell everyone I'm some kind of creep!' I yell at myself internally.

"Hello?" I froze, and shot my head up. She had trotted up to my desk while I had mentally yelled at myself, a curious but friendly smile on her face.

"Uh, hi?" I responded awkwardly. I was a 16 year old with confusing feelings about girls, especially ones that were as pretty as the mare before me and the popular mare, sue me! However, she seemed to like my awkward response as she giggled soon after.

"It's nice to meet you, I'm Cadance. What's your name?" She asked, her friendly look holding. My nerves started to drain as I saw how relaxed she was.

"Thomas, but most just call me Tom." I raised my hand for a fist bump but stopped, unsure if ponies knew of this greeting. However, she seemed to understand the greeting and bumped her hoof against my fist.

"Well, it's nice to meet you Tom. I'm guessing you're the mysterious creature that has all the nobles up in a fuss?" I sighed, nodding.

"Yep, that's me, the damnable freak." Cadance, seeing my mood drop, frowns herself.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to bring up a sensitive topic. It's just… nopony has ever seen anything like you. I mean, you kinda resemble a minotaur, but just barely." I sigh, and shake my head.

"Nah, it's fine. Just something I'll have to get used to." I turn my phone off, and slip it into my pocket. Cadence eyed the phone, but didn't say anything about it. "Anyway, I'm not a minotaur, or anything like that. I'm a human. That's the name of my species." Cadence gave me a nod and a look of understanding.

"I see. Is there a reason why humans resemble minotaurs?" I just shrug at that.

"I might have a clue. But I honestly don't want to talk about genetics and multiverse theory at the moment." Cadence just gave me a glazed look as I heard her whisper something.

"Oh sweet Celestia, there's two of them now." I just sniggered at that.

"Know someone else that's pretty smart I'm guessing." Cadence sighed, then rubbed the sides of her head with her hooves.

"Oh you have no idea. She's only 8 years younger than me, but the things she talks about sometimes make me think I'm in a class that is for the seniors, or maybe college level." I let out a bark of a laugh at that.

"God damn, that must be one fuckin' smart kid then, holy shit." Cadence just nodded, a bit exasperated.

"You don't know the half of it." I just chuckled at her a bit more. My laughter seemed contagious at least and soon enough we were both chuckling. But it was soon cut short as the other students quickly began to pile into the classroom.

"Looks like class is starting, better take your seat." I said while I took out my earbud and placed it back in its case in my backpack. To my surprise, she sits right next to me, to my left to be precise. Soon everypony has taken their seats, and then the teacher walks in just as the late bell rings.

"Good morning students, I'm Dusty Scrolls." The teacher says. The teacher was a mare that I guessed was in her 50s, maybe younger. It was hard to tell, okay? They're ponies! She had a graying orange mane and tail with her coat being a light gray. Her cutie mark was, you guessed it, a scroll being dusted off. You know, this did make me wonder. I glanced at Cadence's cutie mark.

'Why does her name and cutie mark not match?' I quickly put the thought aside as I pay attention to the teacher once more.

"As many of you can tell, we have a new student. Mr… Jackson?" The teacher says, a bit confused as she looks at the class list. I raise my hand.

"Yeah, you got it right. Thomas Jackson. But please, I like to go by Tom. It's easier." The teacher nods as all the students peer back at me.

"I see. Well, it is nice to have you with us Tom. Alright everyone, today we'll be…"

Class went by pretty quickly for me. Though I could see several students dropping their heads as the class went on. Cadence followed along pretty well, sometimes helping me with stuff I didn't get. So far, I counted her as a pretty chill friend. After class, we sadly had to go our separate ways as we had different classes, but she promised to meet up with me for lunch.

I checked my schedule once more, and saw I had P.E. I groaned at the bain of all student's existence. Making my way there was pretty simple, and thankfully, since no one ever wore any clothes, I didn't have to change. The bad news, I didn't have to change, which meant I would be stuck in my sweaty clothes all day. Yeah, not fun.

To my surprise however, the popular mare I had seen earlier was also in the class. I didn't have much time to think about this though, as the accursed screech of a coach's whistle was blown. We all turned to see a blue stallion with a brown mane and tail with a ball being kicked as his cutie mark.

"Alright class, today we're going to do some routine things. A 15 minute jog around the gym, then some squats, curl ups, and after that, free time. Also, as many of you can see, we have a new student. Why don't you introduce yourself?"

"Uh, sure. Hey everyone, I'm Thomas Jackson, but y'all can just call me Tom. It's easier that way." They were some mumbled 'hellos' but I did get one actually nice greeting. And to my surprise, it was from the popular mare.

"It's nice to meet you Tom." She had said. I gave her a nod, then rejoined the class.

"Alright everyone. When I blow my whistle, I want you to start jogging. Ready? And…" The coach blew the whistle, and everyone started going. Immediately, I noticed something. Due to my much longer legs, I was able to outpace all of the other students. Not only that, during turns, I was able to keep my speed while turning while they had to slow down a bit. I grinned as I kept up my pace, feeling lots of eyes on me as I steadily pulled ahead of the others. That is, until some of the colts began trying to race me.

Of course, I wasn't one to take shit from anyone. So I simply began to run full tilt. After every step, I was off the ground for over half a second, and barely on the ground for that same amount of time before the foot was lifted. Even galloping as fast as they could, the colts had no hope of catching up to me with their much shorter legs. Not only that, I could take turns much tighter than they could.

I had come up to the rear of the group, and so I nimbly dodged and excused myself as I made my way through the jogging ponies.

Fleur de lis: 3rd Pov

Fleur watched as Thomas raced by her, outpacing every single pony by leagues. He was simply much too fast for the normal pony. Fleur thought she might have been able to at the very least match his pace if she was galloping her hardest. Having legs comparable to that of a full grown mare in terms of length was quite nice at her age.

However, due to her status, Fleur wasn't able to allow herself to race with the human colt. She could only watch as he went a full 3 minutes without tiring until he began to go at a steadier pace. He was noticeably sweating, but never went below the assigned task.

"Ugh, that freak, showing off how much better he is. Wonder if he'll still think he's so superior if we beat it out of him." Fleur instantly snapped her head to a pair of sweating and huffing colts. Of course, so exhausted, they didn't notice her staring at them.

"Yeah, that'd definitely put that freak in his place. Maybe we should try it after school." Fleur knew she should step in, and yet, she couldn't. She couldn't be seen even defending that creature or interacting with it, or else it would ruin her reputation. And reporting it to a teacher wouldn't be much better, as they would also thank her for informing them and would let everypony know of that.

She mentally bit her lip, and returned her gaze to Thomas. She could only hope he could hold his own in a fight. When the scheduled 15 minutes were up, Fleur still couldn't help but keep a concerned eye on the strange creature. Everything about him was so alien to her, to everypony really. His facial features were so small, so hard to read. The little things he had at the end of his forelegs, if they were even called forelegs.

And his horseshoes! They didn't look anything like the ones the princesses wore. They were made of tough fabrics, that much she could tell. But which ones, she didn't know. And that's not even mentioning the shape and how they bent when he had been running, like something was in the entirety of it, not just the opening.

Her curiosity was only kept at bay by her need to keep the serene grace everypony knew her for. The 15 minute jog was soon finished, and the next thing they had to do were the squats. This exercise was meant to help their legs muscles, but as she watched Thomas out of the corner of her eye, she saw him taking an odd stance. His legs turned a bit so his horseshoes were diagonal, and spaced evenly apart. As they all started doing squats, she saw how his legs bent, and how much lower he got than anypony else as he squatted.

She couldn't see the muscles in his legs move due to the clothing he wore, but with how deep and easy he made the squats seem with only two legs, she imagined they must have been pretty muscular. Fleur felt a light heat in her face as she thought about that. 'Dirty mare! Do not think of such things!' She mentally scolded herself.

The 3 minutes of squats came and went quickly, with all but Tom looking very exhausted already. The final one before free time was curl ups. Everypony sat in a line, with Tom at the end, and Fleur right in front of him. As they waited for their turn on the curl up bars, Tom spoke up in a whisper to her. "Hey, I just wanna say thanks, for that greeting that is. So far you've been the second pony to have been nice to me here."

Fleur turned and nodded at him, smiling. "You're quite welcome Thomas. And I'm sorry to hear your time here hasn't been better."

"So, where are you from? I can hear you've got an accent, but I can't quite place it." Tom asked, genuinely curious. Fleur could see that he had been tense at first, but as he talked with her he gradually relaxed.

"While I was born and raised here in Canterlot, my parents were born and raised in Prance. So I got my Prench accent from them." Fleur told him. She too was quite happy. Unlike all the other foals of nobles like the rest of the student body, Thomas seemed easy going and down to Gaia.

"Huh, cool. Back on my world we have a similar thing called France with people from there speaking French. Heh, now that I think about it, most of the places here are pony puns from most of the places on my world. Prance, France. Prench, French. See what I mean." Fleur nodded, giggling.

"Yes, I do. I must admit it is quite odd, but fascinating all the same." During this time the line continued to move with them along with it. Soon enough it was Fleur's turn. Fleur hooked her hooves over the bar, and began pulling herself up and going back down. She did 23 before falling back to the floor from exhaustion. Thomas, being the gentleman she figured he was, helped her down, helping her keep off her aching and wobbly front legs.

Her fur was a little mussed up from where he had placed his claw like appendages on her. But now it was his turn… or it would have been if the bar was higher. As it was, what was high up for a pony, wasn't for a human, as the bar was just below his chin. "Hey, uh, coach, this bar is a little… low."

"Hm, yeah, I can see that being a problem for you. Hmm… Here, let's do this." The coach used his magic to grab his hand, just to hold them above his head. Thomas nodd and turned his arms so the elbows were pointed out. As he did his curl ups, he would move his chin just above his hands before going back down. With this different method, he was able to move much more freely, especially since his arms looked much more maneuverable than pony forelegs.

If they tried doing it like he was, they'd dislocate something. Or at least so she thought they would. Fleur could see how his arms flexed, the muscles tensing each time he lifted himself, never touching the ground. 10… 20… However, at around the 25 mark, some of the other students came up to her and started to talk to her. She wasn't really listening, her focus still mainly on Thomas. He quickly hit 30. Thomas kept going until he reached 35, then opened his claw like appendages. However they were still grasped in the coach's magic, who was looking a bit tired.

"Ay yo, 35, new personal best. That's the crap I'm talking about right there." Thomas said, grinning as he then looked at the coach. "Alright, I'm done, you can let me go now." The coach nodded, the magic dissipating from Tom's hands.

"I gotta say Thomas, you're pretty athletic for somepony your age." The coach says, looking up at him. "Ever think about taking up a sport?" Thomas shakes his head at that.

"Naw, I've tried a few back where I'm from, but it never… clicked, you know? I just worked out some in my spare time. And I think the results speak for themselves."

"I'll say. You did good out there kid, keep it up." Thomas nods at the coach as he walks away. Thomas turns, expecting to find Fleur but sees she had been taken away by the others so she would have to talk to them.

1st Pov

"Well, there goes that option." I grumble to myself, having looked forward to speaking more with that admittedly beautiful mare. She had probably risked a lot just by talking to me. I sighed, knowing that was probably going to be the only time we'd talk. Sad, I was actually beginning to like her. No wonder she was the popular girl here. She had the looks, the personality, it was inevitable for her.

"And who am I kidding. It's not like she'd actually be interested in me… as a friend. Yeah, as a friend… God, I fucking hate these damnable teen hormones." I say to myself as I go over to my backpack and sit down. I take out my earbuds case and my phone. Putting one in, then putting the case back, I use my phone to look for a song to listen to. While the other stuff was good exercise, it wasn't everything.

The curl ups were good for upper body strength, but I figured some push ups would also do me some good. After selecting a song, I lay on the ground, in the standard push up position. As I start going, I can almost feel the eyes of the ponies going to me as I do my additional exercise. I tried my best to force them out of my mind, but the quiet of the gymnasium was louder than the music coming from the earbud that was against my left ear.

After completing 30 push ups, I stood back up, dusting my hands off, even though they felt surprisingly clean. I walk over to my backpack once more, and take out my phone, checking the time. If classes worked as they did in my last high school, I had four classes today, and four different ones tomorrow. This was my second class, before a thirty minute lunch. And seeing as the last class lasted about 90 minutes, I still had roughly 40 minutes left till lunch.

I sighed, and pulled out my earbud case, pulling out the other earbud and sticking it into my feed ear. Instead of listening to music, I went to Netflix to watch a movie. I had a few saved, but I didn't know how long the app would last before the app decided that being disconnected from the Netflix service provider or whatever made it so I could no longer access the app. It was a paid subscription after all. Sure, it was my mom's account, but I'm pretty sure it would stop working after being disconnected after a certain period of time.

I looked through the movies, frowning as I continued to feel eyes on me. I could feel my heart beating faster as my anger rose. I knew I needed to distract myself before I blew up, so I chose one at random. Seeing the title, I nodded. "Alright, that'll do." I whispered to myself as Zombieland started. The first one, that is. After a few minutes, I can see out of the peripheral of my vision a pearly white pair of hooves. Looking up as I paused the movie, I saw Fleur standing there.

She had a questioning look on her face, looking from me to my phone. "Thomas, what are you doing with that black box?" Fleur asked in that 'prench' accent that I couldn't help but love. I pat the spot next to me, gesturing for Fleur to sit down.

"Watching a movie, wanna watch it with me?" Fleur looked surprised, before nodding excitedly and sitting next to me. I was only about 13 minutes into the movie, but I figured it was best I rewind so she had the context. I skipped the first 30 seconds of logos, before I remembered that Fleur didn't have an earbud. Taking one out of my ear, I look at Fleur. "Hold still a sec." I say, moving my hand to cup one of her ears before carefully inserting the earbud. The ear flicked wildly as Fleur jerked her head back after the earbud was inserted.

"Au nom de Celestia, qu'est-ce que tu viens de me mettre dans l'oreille?! Est-il dangereux?!" (What in Celestia's name did you just put in my ear?! Is it dangerous?!) Fleur cried out, a hoof batting at her ear at the unfamiliar feeling of having something lodged in her ear while it flicked down, as if to wave away a pesky fly. I didn't know a lick of french, or 'prench' in this case, but I could take a guess.

"Relax, it's an earbud. It'll allow you to hear the movie." Fleur calmed down a bit, but still looked confused. I gestured to my phone, which currently had a black screen with a white triangle in the center. "Watch, and don't freak out, it'll be alright." Fleur still looked uncomfortable, but nodded. I was about to hit play when I stopped, then looked at her.

"Uh, quick question, how are you around graphic violence? You, things like blood and stuff?" Fleur looked at me horrified. "Right, okay, I should pick something else then." I say quickly exiting the movie and making a mental reminder to try and block her view of the R and M rated movies. PG13 and below stuff only… for now that is.

I then remember the comedian specials I had downloaded, and smirked. I filtered the other stuff out, and then began deciding which one we would watch. Picking Jeff Dunham; Unhinged in Hollywood, I smirk as I hold the phone so she can look too. After the segment with Walter had ended, I was trying to contain my laughter while Fleur was as red as could be while holding her hooves to her mouth. Yet I could also tell she was giggling a bit at the sheer ludicrousness of the show.

I pause it for us to take a few seconds to breathe, and to let Fleur cool down. "Oh my stars, they truly did not hold back with the jokes. You would never hear such crass language in Canterlot." Fleur said, fanning her red face with a hoof.

"Yeah, the rest is a bit more tame in that regard, but still absolutely crazy."

"I can imagine. This 'Jeff Dun-ham' is a comedic genius! Oh, never have I had to try so hard to hold back a genuine laugh." She said with a sigh, a smile ever present on her face. After a moment, a question popped into my mind.

"Hey, whatever happened to those dudes who took you away earlier to talk to you?" I asked the mare whose ears folded at the question.

"Ah, yes, them. Well…" I could see she was uncomfortable with the question, so I held my hands up placatingly.

"Hey, if you don't want to talk about it, then you don't have to. I get some stuff is private. 'Aight?" Fleur looked up at me, then nodded, a small smile on her face as she looked bashfully away from me.

"Merci Thomas." I nodded to her before looking at the time.

"Aw heck, we've only a few minutes left. We should start gettin' our stuff. Oh, uh, think I'll see you around lunch?" I asked a bit awkwardly. Fleur nodded, her smile becoming larger.

"Of course. I'd be disappointed if I didn't." Fleur said, nodding up at me with a smile as I started to put my things away.

"Cool, see ya around Fleur." I say, looking back at her and waving as I double check I have all my things before remembering Fleur still has my other earbuds. Turning, it only takes me a few steps to catch up to her. "Hey, wait! I forgot my earbud!" Fleur stopped, looking at me confused, before she notices the weight in her ear, small though it may be. Even though it had been in there for only a short time, she had already gotten accustomed to it and forgot the small device. Waited for me to come closer, and allowed me to take out the earbud.

As I held her head though, she did something that shocked me. She nuzzled her head into my head. "Mmm, you know, if you don't pass high school, I'd happily employ you." Fleur said, nuzzling my hand. I chuckle awkwardly, and remove my hand.

"Thanks for the offer, but… huh, actually, I might just take you up on that. I doubt anyone else would hire me. Anyway, see ya at lunch." I say, waving at her as I walk away. She waves back, a smile on her face that sends my heart racing. 'Fuck man, don't get a crush on the popular girl! She's probably trying to trick you or something like in those cheesy ass school movies!' I yell at myself internally, however, another very loud part was patting me on the back for getting the attention of who is probably the hottest chick in the school.

To pony standards, that is. As I put away the earbud, the bell rang, letting us know that class was out, and we had 5 minutes to make it to the cafeteria. Standing, I put my backpack on, and headed for the doors, a dumb smile on my face. 'Maybe this school year won't be so bad after all. Especially with ponies like Fleur and Cadence… shit, I still need guy friends. Though from the look of things, I'm pretty sure none of the male student body is at all interested in trying to make friends with me.'

I internally sigh at this, my shoulders slumping. 'Bah, who needs guy friends anyway? You already know enough to know what's what. You'll be fine! Sure, there are probably things that will require knowledge you won't possess, but that's way down the road.' I think to myself, trying to build my resolve. I nod, then continue to make my way to the cafeteria. When I get there, I look around to see which table will attract the least-

"Thomas! Over here!" I hear a familiar voice say. Turning, I see a pink hoof waving at me from a table near the edge of the cafeteria.

'That'll work.' I think to myself, heading over to the happy pink mare… who had a white unicorn stallion with a two toned blue mane and tail sitting next to her… very closely, next to her.