Arrival 3: Impressions
Being dragged into the orphanage's backyard was not exactly a pleasant experience for Midnight. In his excited rush Dandelion didn't really pay any mind to many small chairs or thrown all over the day room toys and books. One time he almost slipped on a piece of paper.
It was surprising how those innocent items turned into dangerous traps in a situation like that.
“Wait, hold up Dandel-argh!” As it turned out pony’s fetlocks could serve the same role as human’s shins, finding obstructive pieces of furniture. In this case it was a small, wooden chest full of wooden building blocks. Midnight’s accidental kick send the content all over the floor.
Before Midnight had the chance to even say something more, he and Dandelion burst outside into the backyard. The doors that the young earth pony pushed open, smacked against the brick wall.
“Hey all! Look who's finally here, this is Midnight Blackmane.” As the light brown coated colt called out he pulled his white companion with him to the grassy back yard, down two steps from a small porch.
And just like that the human turned pony found himself staring at five other colts and two fillies, if he was not mistaken. He shuffled awkwardly from hoof to hoof as the other young ponies stared back and a look to his left made him sigh internally. There, on Dandelion’s muzzle was a large, satisfied grin. “Well then, here we go…”
“Hi, I’m Midnight.” This was going to either go very well or terribly wrong. However he hoped for the former as even his - now former - human family sometimes told him how childish he could be. “Well as the saying goes, men never grow up. Only their toys become pricier.”
Finally after what to Midnight felt like eternity an older unicorn filly with sandy colored coat, wavy, powder blue, long mane with some darker highlights in it walked towards him and extended her hoof. Two others came along with her.
“I’m Summer Dew and those two are Silvertongue and Cherry Blossom. We’re the oldest here with me being fourteen. Silver here is my age, and Cherry is a year younger.” As the older filly talked with somewhat bossy tone, Midnight glanced over at her friends.
Silvertongue was a colt and also a unicorn. His coat was an off white color with his mane being dark blond, what was a bit surprising was that it was fairly long and tied with a black ribbon into a low ponytail that hung at his right side. He stood almost painfully straight with somewhat cold muzzle expression, trying to look like a noble and in Midnight’s opinion almost succeeding.
Cherry Blossom on the other hoof was an earth pony filly, with a light red coat and delicate pink mane that was cut short, with a few longer strands left at her fringe. She also looked quite annoyed and amused at the same time, but surprisingly not at him but at her friends.
“Also because we are the oldest, we kind of feel responsible for you. So what I say goes and as long as there will be no problems with that we’re good. Ok, Midnight?” Summer Dew’s tone and look that she gave him, that he saw a few times in his previous school life, really left little to his imagination or choice for that matter.
Trying to fake a pleasant and attentive expression he bumped hoofs with her. “Great… So I just have to tolerate her for two more years. Just great…”
“Sure.” Was all that Midnight said, as he was quite certain that if he said anything more it would come out too forced to not be noticed.
As awkward as this first exchange was it was like a signal and soon enough after a few more hoof bumps the white unicorn colt was trying to remember another four names, while he sat under one of the few trees that were growing in the backyard.
His eyes followed the earth pony twins, Rumble and Bumble playing tag with Dandelion, who was only a year younger than them. Both colts’ coats were slate gray while their manes were cream colored. The only distinguishing feature they had was that Rumble’s eyes were an unnerving steel blue, while Bumble had pale green eyes.
The three of them run past a table with benches on which sat another two older earth pony colts. Both were leaning over books and notebooks writing in them from time to time. They were both twelve, and had some test tomorrow at school for which they were revising under Celestia’s afternoon sun.
The one with deep blue coat and pearl colored, wild mane was called Orion. Across from him sat Brass Bit, who had a dark brown coat and a brass colored mane. Two things he learned from them was that firstly, they were both twelve and secondly, they were apparently top of their class. They even told him that if he had any difficulties he could come and ask them for help with homework. “As if that will ever happen…”
Overall meeting the rest of the orphanage’s wards was a short and lively affair, so much so that he didn’t even pay too much attention to their cutie marks. Well, now that he watched Dandelion and his two other friends running everywhere it was clear that the younger trio were all blank flanks.
When he once more focused on Brass Bit, he saw that a stack of golden bits was his cutie mark. He couldn't see Orion’s but he was quite sure that it was astronomy themed.
The eldest trio was nowhere to be seen as they went inside the building almost immediately after welcoming him.
Midnight’s musings were interrupted when a silent cry of pain and then a stream of apologies reached him from under another tree he could see to his left, closer to the overgrown by plants wall that surrounded the backyard.
What he saw made him narrow his eyes in thought. Rumble or Bumble, from that far away it was impossible to tell, had run into another young pony. A pony that had not come to say “Hi” to him.
Intrigued he waited until the now moody trio got closer to him, apparently that little accident was enough to get them to stop playing tag. He observed how Dandelion smacked the guilty looking twin upside the head and whispered something to him.
“Hey, Dandelion who is it over there?” Midnight asked when the trio moved close enough to hear him without having to shout.
“That’s our little Loonymoon.” Rumble said with a silly smile, which earned him a glare from his brother and another smack from Dandelion.
“Loonymoon?” The white unicorn colt asked while looking in the direction of the other tree.
“That’s not her name, it’s Lulamoon.” Dandelion said and as he said that, something stirred in Midnight’s memory. “Although she’s quiet, a loner and I’ve seen her cry a few times so that’s not healthy… I think.”
“Just say that’s she’s a bit crazy. She talks about herself in a funny way.” Rumble said with an expression and tone as if he delivered the ultimate argument to back up his statement. Then he made a tough looking pose while his lips trembled and he sniffled, probably trying to imitate crying. “Trixie doesn't want your help. She is a strong filly!”
It took all of Midnight’s self control not to gasp and show his shock, when Rumble spoke with high pitched voice. Then another thought came. “Something is really wrong here…”
“So how old is she anyway?” Midnight asked trying to not let his strained emotions be heard in his voice.
“Close to six, she has her birthday in two months. It was November, right?” Bumble asked, speaking slowly with a thoughtful expression.
“Yeah, so if you have birthday earlier you’re older. Are you Midnight?” Dandelion butted in.
“4th January, if you have to know.” It was an unnerving blessing, as Midnight called it in his mind, that the calendar of Equestria so closely mirrored Earth’s one so far. When few hours ago he sat in Mrs. Rose’s office and needed to tell them his birthday date he just prayed for the date to have some meaning here. He almost fainted with relief when Mrs. Rose just nodded and filled the proper space on the document after he said it.
“Cool. Say… Would you want to play hide and seek with us?” It was Dandelion again, but both brothers perked up hearing that question.
“Nah, I’ll pass. I’m tired after that trip around the city.”
“Next time then.” Dandelion said and the trio of earth ponies left in the direction of Orion and Brass Bit.
Meanwhile Midnight sat there under the shade of a tree for a few more minutes deep in thoughts, before he stood up and slowly began walking towards the lonely filly.
“Hello. I’m Midnight Blackmane.” The once human said as he sat down a hoof length from the somber looking blue filly. One gaze was enough of a confirmation for him, the colors matched. Here on his left, laid young Trixie Lulamoon. She was a bit skinnier than him and he was of average build for his current body’s age.
Midnight kind of hoped for a quick answer, but the silence began stretching. However it was not an awkward silence, it just was. In his former life he was more introvert than anything, so he had no problems with this silent company, that Trixie was turning out to be.
She laid there, staring at the leaves moving gently on the wind. He caught her looking at him and then she would quickly avert her gaze. It turned into a bit of a game until she frowned and began staring at him and he just stared back.
She blinked first.
“Heh, you lost.” Midnight said blinking rapidly to get rid of the stinging in his eyes.
“Hmph, Trixie will just have to win next time.” She said with a cute pout and returned to gazing at the leaves.
Having nothing better to do the white unicorn colt shrugged and laid back against the tree trunk, gazing into the sky.
“You’re the new colt, right?” After another few minutes of silence, Trixie’s silent voice reached his ears.
“Yup.” It was tempting to just say more, ask more… “But that would probably be a mistake.”
The following silence was interrupted by a ringing of a bell and a shout.
“Dinner.”
Midnight rolled to his right and saw Mrs. Rose with a small bell by her hooves standing at the porch. He stood up rather lazily and began walking toward the orphanage. It was kind of surprising to find Trixie walking by his side, but he smiled nonetheless.
The dinner turned out to be nothing special, a simple tomato soup with carrots and corn but it was well spiced. However learning to use his hooves to hold things on the fly was anything but simple in Midnight’s opinion. The hardest part was accepting that it was at all possible.
Luckily the dining room had more than enough tables for him to share his only with Trixi, who just raised one eyebrow at his first few unsuccessful attempts. After that it was easier and easier until by the end of meal it was mostly natural.
When he was finished, Midnight hopped down from the chair and was almost immediately intercepted by the younger trio of earth ponies.
“So, you’re going to play with us now?”
Midnight sighed at Rumble’s question, before he snorted with amusement.
“Ok, why not.” He was feeling full of energy again anyway. The unicorn colt made to follow the other three, when he stopped after two steps tuning his head around to look at Trixie. “You want to join?”
“Trixie will play.” The blue unicorn filly finally said as a small smile crept onto her muzzle.
When the duo caught up to the other three earth ponies in the backyard, they formed a loose circle to discuss the rules of their hide and seek game.
Midnight frowned slightly when he saw Rumble making funny faces behind Trixie’s back. What was a bit more puzzling to him, was that even Dandelion looked a bit unsure about addition of the filly to their play group. “She had to say ‘no’ to them more than a few times for them to act this way…”
When it came to choosing who will seek first Midnight volunteered and no pony was protesting. So when he turned around to face a tree, closed his eyes and began counting backwards from ten all he heard was sound of hooves as his new found friends scrambled in search of their hiding spots.
It was a beginning of a game that lasted until the sun began to set and by that time, Midnight become acquainted with almost every nook and cranny of the orphanage. Even Trixie was smiling by the time Mrs. Rose told them to get back inside.
As the five of them walked upstairs to their rooms with high spirits, Midnight couldn’t help but roll his eyes at Rumble who took it upon himself to imitate how the blue filly walked. Head held high and a haughty expression on her muzzle, tempered with a wide smile.
It turned out it was surprisingly tricky to find Trixie every... single... time. One time Midnight just surrendered and sat down with a pout under the starting tree. In the end he figured her out, but it was not really that much of a help. She moved, unlike the rest of them. Midnight just didn’t feel confident enough to try and be sneaky, while the three other colts tried to make it sound as if she was cheating the few times they had trouble finding her.
In the end however all five of them had a good time and all were smiling.
When Midnight and Dandelion finally got to their room the first thing the once human noticed were the saddlebags and a small pile of books that laid on his bed. When he jumped onto the bed he found a small note on top of the pile.
Those are yours now, treat them well.
I’ll check on you at 7:00 in the morning.
School starts at 8:00.
Another small wonder Midnight was grateful for was that Equestria used a language known to him. Midnight was curious enough, that he started to page through the books he received.
“Really Mid? You’re going to be a bookworm like Orion and Brass Bit?” The light brown earth pony asked from his bed.
“Well, I’m a few weeks behind. I’ll see what I can read up.” The white unicorn colt said as he got comfortable on his bed, not even looking away from the book in his hooves. To be honest he was just curious what he could learn from the books about this world, that the show didn’t show.
Within the next few hours, before Mrs. Rose came knocking and telling them to go wash their teeth and go to sleep, Midnight managed to browse through half of his new books which turned out to be a tad bit disappointing. They were all just basic course books, no grand mysteries or world changing information could be found.
So at around nine in the evening, with a last glance through the window at the moon bearing a familiar dark mark on its surface, Midnight fell asleep.
The next morning was a bit hectic as everypony packed their saddlebags, ate a light breakfast of oats with raisins and then rushed back upstairs to brush their teeth. Only then would Mrs. Rose allow them to get going. They went out as a group since they were all signed up in the same school, just down the road.
Canterlot Elementary No. 2, turned out to be a modestly sized, two story building with two wings, made out of white bricks and marble with a red roof. Well trimmed hedges separated the school grounds from the rest of the city. In the center of the small courtyard between the two wings an aged, massive oak that rivaled the buildings in high was growing, providing shadow for the majority of the paved courtyard. And the place was already filled with fillies and colts of different ages.
“Now then, Midnight. You’re going with Trixie as you have been signed up for the same class as her.” Summer Dew said before going towards the left wing, with other older ponies of their group.
“Come on, Midnight. Mrs. Clear Note doesn't like when we’re late.” Trixie said with a bit of a bossy tone as she trotted past Dandelion and the twins towards the right wing.
“See ya later.” The trio said before getting out of earshot.
Midnight trotted behind Trixie, through the main doors and up the staircase, then they went right and ended up entering classroom one or so the plaque on the doors said.
The classroom was spacious, with five two seat desk arranged in a semicircle before a teacher's desk and a blackboard. As in the orphanage the walls were mostly dominated by boards with colorful hoof made posters, drawings and some other lecturing aids. The back wall was dominated by cabinets and bookshelves.
Trixie lead him to a desk that was nearest to the window and saying silent ‘Hello’ to the three other fillies they passed, that were already seated and had their books pulled out.
The two of them just finished pulling out their own books after when the rest of the class filled in followed by a cream coated unicorn mare with mint colored curly mane. Her cutie mark were two musical notes.
“Good morning class.” Her voice was soft and clear and Midnight wondered why she choose to become a teacher instead of a singer.
“Good morning Ms. Note.” A chorus of young voices answered.
What followed was a normal roll call. With the small exception that some of the other fillies and colts were looking at him curiously or just simply staring.
“Midnight Blackmane?” At hearing his name he almost jumped, before raising his hoof.
“Here.”
“Well class, Midnight Blackmane will be your newest classmate. Give him a warm welcome at the recess, but for now I want to check your homework.” With that said the teacher began moving along the desks and grading homework, before beginning a lesson that promised to bore Midnight out of his mind.
At the end of the school day Ms. Note asked him to stay behind.
“As a unicorn I have to ask you, did Mrs. Rose told you about the magical exams at the end of each semester? I gave the explanation to my class at the beginning of the school year, but do you know about them?” Ms. Note asked as she sat behind her desk looking at him intently.
“No, Ms. Note.” Midnight shook his head and Ms. Note sighed.
“Mrs. Rose has a big heart but sometimes she is a bit absentminded.” It was said with a fond exasperation. “Those exams allow the Local Arcane Department to measure your magical growth, you will have to take them until you’re sixteen. Also keep in mind that later on some mages from the Magic Guild, the Royal Guard or other important institutes choose to sit on those exams, searching for apprentices.” Ms. Note paused as she searched through one of her drawers and levitated towards him a slip of paper with his timetable. “Notice that every other week on Sunday there is special classes for unicorns focused on magic only. Do you have any questions about those exams or those extra classes?”
Midnight stood there digesting the information given to him, looking at his timetable. Finally he folded it and stuffed it into his saddlebags.
“Not really, no. Thank you Ms. Note.”
“Alright then, off you go Midnight you have a lot of homework to do.” Ms. Note said with a smile.
“Goodbye.” The white unicorn left the classroom, speeding up as he surprisingly saw Trixie waiting for him at the staircase.
“And so one life ends, another begins…” Midnight couldn't help but smile at that thought, as both young unicorns went outside to join their friends and return to the orphanage.
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Woot new chapter right off! Liked your intro to the orphans, can't wait to see alittle bit of magic. Looks like Trixie's made a new friend :p and we now have some timeline.
Just wanted to say "imma hold this one close"
Some timeline, but this guys going to have some problems overall though...no sign of actual magic use yet.
6392012 All in due time. Right now I'm out of town and away from my PC until the end of september, relaxing on my late vacation. One thing I can say right now is that the next chapter will have magic in it... quite possibly a lot of it.
6392105
Not JUST because hes in Canterlot I bet
So Trixie is there, this will be interesting.
And he managed to find the one place in Equestria where there are more males than females!
Nice work.
6781825
A pleasant surprise indeed