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// 2 - Say Hello to the Professor 
// Story: Putting on a Silver Robe and Wizard Hat 
// by David Silver 
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Silver woke early the next day, eager and ready to go. He pranced into the shower and flicked the water on with a twist of a silvery hand before getting to washing. It was a curious thing, washing as a unicorn. He would stand largely still and let his silvery mental hands work the shampoo all over his form, only moving occasionally to expose more of himself to easier access. Celine arrived part way, sliding against him and starting to clean herself as well. The shower wasn't as large as the one back home, but they were comfortable enough together, and immobile, to make it work. The only awkward part came when she spread her wings wide and began to clean and preen them.

Preening wings was not a skill Silver had picked up yet, so he ducked out of the hot water to let her have the space needed to tend to her wings. Fast Change and Night Watch were seated on his bed, talking about something quietly. Silver shook out his body, sending water flying before he asked, "Good day, What's up?"

Night Watch looked over at Silver, "You're still wet, and we were just talking."

Silver grabbed a towel in his magic and began scrubbing himself down, "What about?"

Fast Change pointed up at a clock hanging on the wall, "You don't have time for chat. Class in five minutes."

Had he been in the shower that long? Silver tossed the towel aside and grabbed his saddlebags. After slipping them snugly into place and pulling the belt tight, he was out the door at a quick trot. Celine appeared halfway to class, wearing her much smaller bag. Silver bumped into her lightly, "You don't have to come with me."

"Don't have to, but want to," argued Celine. "Learning a few new spells couldn't hurt either."

Silver shook his head, "It's kind of odd how much respect is given to couples. I mean, I got into this school, not you, but they're letting you in just because we're together?"

Celine looked baffled, "They separate couples in your world? How awful. Even if I don't learn anything, I want to be there to support you." She leaned in and they shared a soft kiss in front of the class door before she nudged the door open with her magic.

Neither of them moved from that spot. Standing on two legs at the front of the classroom was one Lyra Heartstrings. She was smiling at the crowd of first-year students and had a light fuchsia glowing heart crystal in the shape of a wave. The color reminded Silver of Bon Bon's mane stripe. When the door opened, her yellow eyes moved towards it and spotted Silver and Celine. She gasped. "David! Come in here! Oh sweet Celestia, they didn't tell me you were attending!"

Her outburst shocked Silver from his paralysis and he walked into the room without the bounce of a trot, "Uh, hey Lyra. What are you doing here?"

Lyra swatted the blackboard, "Teaching an introduction class, obviously, which you're almost late for."

Silver nodded mutely as he slid into a seat, "I... get that, but when did you become a professor?"

Lyra's grin grew wider, "When Celestia heard what happened, she said 'You have a talent and should learn to use it responsibly'. She revised my punishment to learn and teach here, at this school. Isn't that great?!" She pointed up at her horn with a hoof, "No horn blocker for me."

Celine sat beside Silver, looking at Lyra guardedly, "And what of your marefriend, Sweetie Drops?"

Lyra's grin faltered, "Oh, uh, she didn't want to leave Ponyville and her shop..." Her grin returned as she swatted the board with a pointing stick held in her magic, "Alright class, let's get started!"

Lyra's name appeared on the board, "My name is Lyra Heartstrings. Like you all, I am also a student here, but I know enough to hold the introduction class, so you're stuck with me." She put out her tongue a moment, "I'll try to make this class fun and interesting, so don't be afraid of me. I want to help, so if you have a question, just ask!"

One mare in the back raised a hoof. Lyra pointed at her, "Yes?"

"When are we getting a real professor?" she asked in a bored tone.

Lyra's expression fell to a flat glare. "I'm professor enough to fail you and send you packing, so enough with that attitude." She brightened back into her usual smile, "Now I know you're all excited to learn crazy magic! I know I was! If you pay attention and study hard, you'll be able to do amazing things like this." Her horn flashed with an intricate pattern as her forelegs swelled with power. She grabbed the desk, shoving her hooves under its lip and lifting it off the ground easily for a moment before setting it back down. "Enhancement magic allows you to change and improve what's already there!" She gestured then to her hind legs, "You may have already noticed that I'm walking around oddly for a pony. A little magic can give us a bipedal stance once you learn how." 

She strode up along the chalkboard, practically strutting with her bipedal motion, "Before we go too far into examples, there are several schools of study. You will be expected to choose one before the end of this class." Marks appeared on the board, showing a pony with ridiculously bulky limbs, "The first is personal enhancement. You'll learn how to take your dials and crank them to eleven! Run faster, be stronger, tougher, better! You'll make earth ponies cry in their oats when they see you coming." Another drawing appeared, showing two ponies, one a unicorn, the other in a cast, "The second is projected enhancement. This field of study lets you fix things in other ponies. It's as close as pony magic gets to outright healing, and you could save or dramatically improve lives with it." Another drawing appeared with a crude sketch of an alicorn with a lizard tail, "The third school is polymorphing. Learn how to be anything. Why limit yourself to pony anatomy when you can borrow from the world's many species? And those are your choices."

Silver glanced around, then raised a hoof.

"Yes, David?" asked Lyra

"Uh, Silver," corrected Silver, "Silver Lining. You said four? Where's the fourth one?"

Lyra squinted, "Did I? You must be hearing things. Those are the three I know about." She made an upward gesture with her baton, "Everypony stand up. We need to do assessments. I know you all passed the test or you wouldn't be here, but that doesn't mean it's not important for me to know where you stand, magically."

The class soon filed to one side of the room and Lyra set out the weights he recalled from the basic magic aptitude test. "This is not a contest," she said, "I know you're tired of hearing ponies say that. Of course it's a contest, but it's not one you can win. You will not be sent home based on how you do with this, nor do you get to skip a grade if you do great. We just need to know where you stand." She started down the line, having ponies lift each weight in turn until they couldn't. The average felt higher. Silver guessed it was about three-and-a-half, instead of the three the grade school unicorns got.

Silver went through the first two effortlessly, then that third one was up. He remembered the hard time he had, but he had more experience now. Instead of trying to wedge fingers under the heavy weight, he wrapped his magic around it, then contracted it until it was beneath the weight entirely. He lifted it uniformly with a soft grunt, getting it a few inches from the ground cleanly before putting it down. Silver smiled with personal triumph at the marked improvement, and went to try the fourth weight. Ugh, how heavy was that? He couldn't get it to even tremble, and soon gave up on it. "Three," announced Lyra, "Not bad, next!" And on it went. Two ponies could dislodge the fifth weight. It was so heavy that it shook the ground when they released it and Lyra seemed very impressed.

Silver huffed quietly. Who cared about raw power with magic, when subtle control could win the day? Or so he thought to himself.

Lyra ushered the class back to their seats before she started going down the columns, "Magic symbols! Go!" Silver winced softly. He still hadn't gotten them all down, and it showed on his turn. Just rote memorizing them wasn't his style.

Silver fidgeted as Lyra was about to move on past him, "Lyra?"

Lyra looked at him, "Yes? Don't look sad! You'll get plenty of chance to get those down."

Silver bobbed his head, "I can do all the symbols, but I don't have them memorized. Can I show them with a reference sheet?"

Lyra tilted her head, "Never heard a pony ask that before. Sure, why not."

Silver drew out his big sheet of paper and unfurled it, getting a few titters from his classmates before he quickly cycled through the symbols. With the patterns in front of him, he could easily transition from one to the next smoothly, even as he kicked himself mentally on the ones he had forgotten.

Lyra clapped her forehooves, "Very good. I thought you were totally lying about being able to do them all." She moved on to the next student after making a mark by Silver's name that he hoped was a good one.

Silver saw magic gather at the end of his snout and he was pulled to face Celine. She smiled at him. He guessed she was being supportive and he smiled back at her, warming a little.

"Alright!" announced Lyra as she returned to the front, "Last part, practical displays. With a show of hooves, who here has already cast and knows a true spell?" Lyra raised her own hoof. About one-fifth of the class raised a hoof, including Celine and Silver.

"Yeah! That means we get to go down to the gym. Everypony follow me," said Lyra excitedly as she fell forward to all fours and trotted from the room.

The class was soon following her through the school's corridors, descending deeper down some stairs before they came on a vast room where some ponies appeared to already be practicing spells. One started expanding rapidly as they arrived. With the sound of a whoopie cushion, the pony deflated almost as quickly, then flopped over exhaustedly.

Lyra gestured over at the pony, "Don't be like her. Always know the limits to your reserves. Now then." She pointed at a unicorn near the back of the crowd with a small nub of a horn, "Show us what you got."

The mare trotted up to the front of the class, smiling nervously at everyone before she unleashed a simple spell of only a few symbols. A shrill whistle sounded from her horn as magic escaped. With concentration, she seemed to be able to control its pitch, playing a little song before she retreated back into the crowd. "Very musical," said Lyra, bobbing her head, then pointing at Celine, "Let's see yours."

Celine trotted up and looked thoughtful before she took a slow breath. Her horn buzzed and strobed with a complex string of symbols as the light in the room dimmed noticeably. In the darkness, stars appeared above everypony's head. Lyra clapped eagerly, "Very nice! I guess any mare that can get David has to be good."

Celine's magic faded instantly as she spread her wings, "His name is Silver Lining."

Lyra waved dismissively with a hoof, "You next!"

Eventually it was Silver's turn and he looked around before glancing back at Lyra, "The spell's a little dangerous." He pulled out his notes on the fireball, shaking the sheaf lightly, "But I have it down pretty good."

Lyra rolled her eyes, "Hit us with your best shot."

Silver nodded hesitantly before he pulled the paper up to his snout and read off the patterns quickly before repeating it with his horn. The heat began to wash over him as that lovely sphere of flame erupted form his horn and hovered a short distance over his head. He raised it a bit higher, not wanting it near himself or his classmates. Using his silvery hands, he held it like an exceptionally large basketball.

Lyra tilted her head at it, "A basic light spell, not bad. Nice flame effect."

Silver shook his head, "It's not a flame effect." He pointed at an unoccupied portion of the gym and brought the silver hand down on it, ball of fire first. A violent explosion was the result, flame escaping from the confines of the ball that held it and scorching the stone floor in a wide circle. Silver smiled, breathing heavily. "That takes a lot out of me, but, within my reach."

Lyra tilted her head, "You shouldn't cast that ever again."

Silver frowned, "Why? That's my first spell. I made it myself."

"Made it?!" exclaimed Lyra. She advanced on Silver and bit him on the ear, "You might be a friend, but that doesn't excuse lies, David." Silver opened his mouth to complain but Lyra's magic clamped his snout shut, "Not another word. We'll talk about this after class... Next!" she pointed to another pony, inviting them up to show their magic.