Once we were all done and I had my schedule in hand, I didn't have to go far to look for Starlight Glimmer. In fact, the young woman was waiting for me outside the dean's office. The moment I stepped out the door, I was greeted by the sight of her leaning up against a locker reading a thin book of some sort. Based on the way that the 'cover' seemed to be on the wrong side, and the way there was an anime girl on it, it was probably what this world called a manga.

To Love-Ru, huh? Wonder what it's about.

Hearing the door open, the purple-haired girl snapped the book shut and slipped it into the bag she had with her. "Oh, hey! Are you ready for the grand tour?" she asked with a charming smile. Without anyone else around, she seemed a little less timid. Honestly, if she had a bit more confidence in herself, she'd probably be quite the charismatic person.

As I tapped out my answer, I wondered what the difference between this Starlight and the one in the photo was. The young woman standing in front of me looks wary, like she's ready to remove herself from any situation if she so much as thinks that something's going to happen. At the same time, I could see her watching me as I typed. "Sure. Here's my schedule." With that said, I held out a sheet of paper printed out. "You don't really need to give me a full debrief on the premises; just showing me my assigned classrooms, the gymnasium, the library, anywhere forbidden to student use, and where to find Twilight should the need arise ought to be fine." I started writing out mention of the exploratory wanderlust of pegasi before I remembered that I'm not a pony and this wasn't Equestria.

Her reaction was not what I expected, seeming to become a bit more downcast with each word. She thinks I don't want to be around her, was the realisation I came to. That was hardly an ideal outcome; not only was she taking time out of her free period to gimme a hand, but she helped give me a voice. I frantically tapped out a response. "Not that I don't appreciate what you're doing for me here, or what you've already done; I just like to explore places at my own pace is all. Call it wanderlust."

A thoughtful look crossed her face as she started to lead me down the hall. "Is that because you used to live on the streets?" she probed, curiosity in her voice as she gauged my reaction. When I simply smiled and then used my free hand to give her the so-so gesture, she continued. "You're probably used to doing things yourself and not relying on others, right?" She paused in front of a display case showing off countless trophies for something called the Friendship Games. "It's not the same, but I can kind of relate. My Dad travels for work a lot and Mom works full-time, so I've pretty much had to take care of myself since middle school."

I shrugged and typed out a response. "Something like that. My memories are a bit of a mess, and before I woke up in Canterlot there was just a lot of... I guess you could call it nonsense. I have no idea how I got this scar, or why I have no larynx. I'm not even sure who my mother was. When you don't know who you can trust and can't speak up for yourself, you get used to being the only person looking out for your best interests." Then again, I also have been used to being an adult for too long.

That line of conversation died out, and we got underway. As we went, she finally explained why she kept watching me as I typed. Apparently, there was an entire function of the app that I wasn't using. Evidently she forgot to put in the documentation she gave Twilight, but there were a pair of what she called radial menus that I could access by tapping and holding either bottom corner of the app. One came with a bunch of pre-programmed phrases, like hello, yes, no, goodbye, and spaces for a few more to be programmed in.

The other had a few phrases I'd used multiple times. "Sun and stars!" was probably gonna see a lot of use. A lot of ponies used phrases like "Sweet Celestia!" as an expression of astonishment, jubilation, or awe and it was a given that I'd get weird looks if I regularly used the name of the rival school's principal in some deific exclamation. Better I use something slightly less blasphemous that I grew up hearing, no? Other than that, the only phrases to populate the wheel were "I'm sorry," and "I apologise."

As she showed me around the building, I silently contemplated what other things to manually prepare for quick access. "My name is Eventide Construct," seemed like an easy choice, as well as an explanation for using a tablet for speaking. "I have no vocal cords, so this was the easiest way for me to communicate." Unfortunately, I felt like I might have to have more conversations like the one I had with Mr. Willow, so it might be worth programming in "Can I get that in writing, preferably signed, dated, and on a letterhead?"

Upon reaching the gymnasium, I saw students in their exercise clothes—Oh yes, my PT attire will fit right in here—being run through several callisthenic exercises, or running laps around the perimeter of the gym. It seemed less like what I'd read about online, and more like boot camp all over again. Where are the kids playing an assigned sport for the period? The dodging of balls?

Upon casting a questioning look in Starlight's direction, she explained. "It's a Friendship Games year, so Coach Rider's giving everyone in the school the military treatment," she said, looking slightly less than enthused. "He does this every Tuesday and Thursday right up until the games so that no matter who is chosen, everyone's in 'peak physical condition'."

Crystal Prep has never lost that competition in the history of the event, I recalled as I began typing. "Piss poor odds for the Wondercolts, from the sound of it." For a while longer I watched the man lead the students with military precision, and a bit of recognition hit me. Rider... has blue skin, golden eyes, and greying green hair, wears a white scarf... Now that's ironic. A retired Wonderbolt's counterpart is training Shadowbolts to destroy the CHS Wondercolts in a competition. "Coach Rider was in the service, wasn't he?" I asked as she led me away from the gym.

She nodded, not really looking at me. "Yeah, he was a member of the US Navy's flight demonstration squadron for years," Starlight explained, pausing by the door to an office near the gym, not far from the locker rooms. In a framed photo by the nameplate stating Wind Rider, there was the picture of a man in a flight suit, holding a helmet under one arm as he stood before an aircraft of some sort. I wasn't quite sure as I hadn't taken any time to research military technology since coming here, and even then, I was more interested in these 'guns' I kept seeing. "Now he gives military-minded students career advice to get into Officer Candidate School when he's not teaching a class."

If I was interested in joining the service again in this life, I might have actually been interested in talking to him. It didn't take her much time to show me the rest of the places I needed to go. She even pointed out an unassuming door that could very well have been a janitor's closet for all I knew. No, that was apparently a lab space that Cinch afforded to Twilight to do a bunch of her independent study work. Evidently, Twilight was in, because when Starlight tapped on the door with a simple one pause four pattern, to which there was a response of two knocks on a surface somewhere inside the room. Shortly after, there was a chime from Starlight's bag, and there was a text notification with the message, "Arm deep in delicate electronics. Come back later," on her phone when she took it out.

Rather than leading me back to Cadance's office, however, she led me to a door that was at the back wall of the building, if I was keeping track of our position right. A plate beside the door stated that it was the archery club. From her bag, she produced a set of keys, and let us in without a word.

My first impression was that it was a small gymnasium, but it was markedly colder in here. It wasn't until I looked up that I realised that this was some sort of open-air space. The area closest to the door was all covered, where there were... lanes for lack of a better term set up at the very edge. At the far edge of the area open to the sky, there were several familiar looking targets laid out with a dirt backstop behind them. The opening over the turfed section between us and the targets was, upon closer inspection, some sort of retractable roof.

"This is where you can usually find me after school most days." She gestured at the large space, as though it was something she was personally proud of. "Not bad, huh?" she asked rhetorically, as she made her way over to a locked cabinet. She opened it and grabbed a fancy bow and a couple of practice arrows. "Only the best for Crystal Prep. Top of the line bows, carbon arrows, even a dedicated shooting range. It's the best!"

I simply watched as she made her way over to one of the lanes, following behind and observing her. "It's just a shame that I can't compete in the Tri-Cross Relay in this year's Friendship games," she said, nocking one of her arrows. I watched as she took aim, slowing her breath and then drawing back the string. Once she stilled herself completely, she let the arrow fly. The arrow soared true, sinking a bullseye in the target 32 yards away.

"Why not?"

Starlight pointed over to a picture, showing her and several other students in strange outfits matching the school colours, holding up a trophy. "The Friendship Games is a 'friendly' competition," she remarked with a laugh. "Sending pros who went to the nationals—and won—last spring isn't 'fair'. Anyone in the club can compete in the Games, but the school team is off limits." Looking back to me, she held out the bow. "You ever shot before?"

I shook my head and tapped out, "No. I've seen it done once or twice but never had the opportunity."

Stepping up to where she stood, I accepted the bow and one of the arrows without another word. Rather than immediately nocking the arrow, I gave it a quick twirl in order to gauge its aerodynamic profile and paid close attention to the sound it made as it cut through the air. At the same time, I felt the way the air flowed in the room. Even without my feathers or my pegasus magic, I was still quite good at reading the air.

Satisfied, I nocked the arrow and drew back. It wasn't nearly as easy as she made it look, either. The bowstring put up a huge amount of resistance. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see her watching me with interest, and perhaps a bit of mirth in her eye. My arms trembled as I attempted to steady myself and line up the shot. Just as I observed her doing it, I released the arrow as I exhaled.

Unlike her shot, my arrow grazed the outer-most ring, carving a tiny divot out of the target's edge at the four-thirty position before sinking into the dirt backstop. Starlight let out a whistle as she took the bow back. "Not bad for a first attempt." With a chuckle, she carried the bow back to the cabinet, swapping it out for another, and another arrow. "That strain you probably felt was the draw weight of the bow I gave you. I normally use a fifty pound draw weight because Dad is convinced I've got what it takes to go global, if not to the Olympics."

When she returned to me, she passed both the arrow and bow over. "Try this one," she said with a smile. "This one's a thirty pound draw, so you should have an easier time. If you grazed the target on your first shot, I bet you can at least score a hit with a more appropriate bow."

I accepted her challenge without a word. This time, however, as I took up my position at the firing line, she sidled up behind me and put her hands on me. It took effort to not flinch, because the first thing to cross my mind was that I was about to be molested; Starlight had asked Twilight if I was hot that time, after all. But instead of touching upon my hocks or chest, the taller girl's hands gently forced minor adjustments in my posture as she wordlessly guided me. One of her feet nudged mine, adjusting my stance, and then just like that, she slid out of my personal space.

"Remember to adjust for gravity," she instructed, still pretty close behind me. "Don't worry about trying for a bullseye right now. You get better at compensating for the wind with practice."

I aimed for the exact same position as before. Mentally, I drew an arc through the air to where the first arrow impacted. Using that as a comparison, I raised where I was aiming slightly, and then angled left a bit. I stilled my body, and once more breathed out as I loosed the arrow. This time, instead of grazing the edge, the arrow bit into the second ring from the centre at the six o'clock position. Much more satisfying.

"Nice!" cried out with a gentle applause. After a quick glance at a wall clock, she retrieved the bow from my hands and took off down the range to fetch the three arrows. "I hope you'll join the archery club. You seem like a natural, and even though archery itself is a standard requirement here, very few outside the team show any real talent for it. In fact, the only club member who isn't on the archery team this year is Sour Sweet."

"Does showing me all this and trying to win me over have anything to do with the Friendship Games, perchance?" I asked with a smile as she started locking up the range. It sorta struck me as odd that she'd give me a crash course without even knowing if I was interested, but with the knowledge that it was something I'd have to get used to either way, it made a bit more sense. Still, it felt a bit off.

Much to my surprise, she looked a bit guilty as she locked the door behind us. "Eheh, maybe," she admitted as we started off through the hallway toward Cadance's office. That guilt quickly turned to red-cheeked embarrassment. "The truth is that the way Cinch picks the team for the Friendship Games isn't as random as some might think; skating, motocross, and archery club members got preferential treatment last time, and I figured if you were interested in joining us, Crystal Prep will have the Tri-Cross Relay fully locked down, rather than leaving it to chance." With a bit of a laugh she added, "Twilight would probably panic."

Since I knew that I wouldn't be starting my first day until Monday, I decided I'd use the next three days to relax and prepare myself. That wasn't just about preparing myself for all the time I'd be spending around new people, either. No, I needed to start making plans, both long and short term. With the right work ethic, I'd probably have myself a lot of free time, and I wanted to give some thought as to how I'd apply it.

First and foremost, I needed to give some consideration to volunteer hours. Even if it would be another two school years until I graduated, Crystal Preparatory Academy still had a requirement of volunteer hours from students. It'd be better to get that planned out now, so that I could start sooner rather than later. I wonder if Twilight's got all her hours done already, or if she's just waiting to do it all in her senior year.

Volunteering at the soup kitchen seemed like a pretty good choice. Ms. Cadance could probably get me an in with the ones running it, and I'm pretty sure it's on a bus route. Mrs. Velvet mentioned something about getting me a bus pass as well, so it's not like I wouldn't be able to get out there. Plus, if I got out there enough, I could potentially cross paths with that girl I saw before—the one those girls thought I looked like. Admittedly, I was a bit curious about her.

I was seated on the sofa in the family's living room, just lost in thought. Twilight was still at school—or was in transit—while Mr. Light was still at work at Canterlot University, where he taught astronomy. There was some kind of stew—as well as a meatless portion for me—simmering on the stove, filling the air with the smell of cumin, peppers, garlic, and oregano. All the while, Mrs. Velvet was at work in her office here in the home. Not exactly sure what sort of work she does. Back in Equestria, 'work from home' usually meant the pony was an author, or an editor of some sort.

All the while, Spike was sitting on the floor right in front of me, staring me in the eye. Normally, that sort of thing would have me panicking. Dogs were a predator species, and the pony/prey part of my brain screamed that prolonged eye contact with such a species was a threat or challenge—that he would snap at any moment and try to savage me. Except, I somehow knew on an instinctual level that the little guy didn't mean any sort of harm. If anything, I was almost certain that he wanted something. Maybe it had to do with the unique evolutionary relationship humans and dogs had.

I clicked my tongue at him twice before pointing at the front door, and then raising an eyebrow at him. You wanna go for a walk, Spike? Much to my amusement, he looked at my finger and then in the direction I was pointing, before finally looking back at me. When he spun on the spot once and then barked before darting off into the kitchen, where his leash hung, I felt my face crease with a smile. You're a clever little bugger, aren't you?

Dogs weren't something I had a lot of exposure to when Cantata and I were growing up. She was petrified of the strays in our slum, and I wasn't all that enthused to be around them either. How could anypony want to be around such noisy aggressive animals? As a result, I had no real frame of reference for how smart he was in comparison to others. Judging by the fact that he managed to somehow pull his leash down and carry it over to the front door, he was definitely on the high end of intelligence.

Do you think he actually understands my intent? Or is he projecting his own doggy desires onto my own body-language and inferring what I wanna do?

I got up from my spot on the sofa, and made my way over to the stairs. Spike was sitting by the door, wagging his tail as he stared at me. Gimme a minute to change, I thought at him as I tugged at the collar of the borrowed blouse. Somehow, it almost seemed like he was rolling his eyes at me, so I just smirked. Don't you look at me in that tone of voice.

Darting up the stairs and into my room, I quickly changed into a sports bra and my running clothes. My notepad and pen, which I'd left on the bedside table, quickly went into my track jacket's pocket, alongside my goggles. Before I left my bedside, I removed some of the pages that sounded crazy and slipped them into the drawer. On my way back through the hall, I paused by the door to Velvet's office. I should definitely tell her where I'm going.

I rapped on the door, and waited for an answer. "Come in!" With permission granted, I pushed open the door and watched Mrs. Velvet swivel her office chair around. "What's up, Eventide?"

I'm taking Spike for a walk.

There was a smile on her face as she read my message. "You're going to spoil him," she remarked as she glanced at the clock. "Twilight and Nighty should be home soon, so don't be gone for too long. Dinner will be ready not long after." I nodded and started pulling the door closed. She could barely be heard murmuring, "I wonder if she can get Twilight that active," as the door clicked shut.

I returned to the bottom of the stairs and began pulling on my running shoes. Spike wasted no time at all depositing the leash on the floor in front of me, so I went ahead and clipped it to his collar. Finally, I stood out and led the purple ball of fluff out the door. As he led me down the driveway toward the sidewalk, I felt something within my chest that almost felt unfamiliar to me. It took some time for me to analyse it, but I came to the conclusion for what it was fairly quickly; it was genuine hope for my future.

Author's Note

Evie's making friends, and she's almost ready for her first day of school! We're not moving straight into "Welcome to Crystal Prep Academy – Pt. 2" immediately, mind you. No, Eventide's going on a bit of an unwanted adventure, but at least she finally gets to meet Shining Armour! That's a good thing, right?