Other Content · 12:32am January 3rd
I do plan things out far ahead time, and do have a sequel story to this one in the works, although it is another sequel that could stand alone. Figured I would give a preview of what might be in that story.
I sat down in my seat, barely able to contain my excitement. I got a few strange looks from the students near me, but I didn't care I was here!
“Please, students, try to get seated quickly so we can begin orientation!” the white unicorn mare with the purple and pink mane standing in front of the other staff shouted while smiling. In the corner behind her I spotted Professor Apple Bloom and had to stop myself from hopping in my seat.
“Wow, earth pony must be lost,” I heard someone nearby mutter. I decided to ignore it. There were always going to be people trying to put me down. The fact that Professor Apple Bloom was on staff here just confirmed that an earth pony could do magic, too!
The whole staff sat in two large rows of seats at the head of the auditorium. Most of them were unicorns, but, in addition to Apple Bloom, there were two pegasi, a kirin, a crystal pony, and sitting directly beside Celestia at the head of the seats, was an Asian man in robes with a long crystal staff. Magic was not just for unicorns.
“What's with the human?” someone else near me whispered to their neighbor.
“Don’t know. Maybe it’s some ambassador or something?” the neighbor replied.
Sitting next to Celestia indicated he was important, so an ambassador was a good guess. The guy looked like some stereotyped wizard from the old movies with those robes and staff.
“Why are their non-unicorns on staff? What can I possibly learn from the likes of somepony like them?” some mare asked in a haughty tone.
“Dang it, there's always got to he at least one of y'all in every class,” a stallion said in an exasperated tone.
“What, pray tell, do you mean by saying that, you uncouth…yeck…rural pony?” the haughty mare shot back.
“Ya know what I mean,” the stallion replied. “There’s always some high-nosed rich pony that thinks they’re better than everypony else. Guess we found out who it is early on.”
GGGOOONNNGGG
I covered my ears with my hooves, and so did everyone else, including most of the teachers and the princess. The unicorn that had told us to take our seats now had a large gong and mallet floating in her magic beside her. She smiled and floated them over to a corner.
“There now,” the mare said in satisfaction. “Now that everypony has quieted down, let me be the first to welcome you to this school. I’m Professor Sweetie Belle. I cover a few different magic subjects, primarily more advanced topics that you won’t be dealing with in your first year, but I also teach music, writing, etiquette and serve as school guidance counselor. In addition, a few of us run a camp for young ponies during the summers and routinely help out with other colts and fillies. The thirty of you will be around each other for the next four years, provided no one flunks out. I hope everypony can make some great friends during that time, so let's not be so rude to one another.”
I had no intention of flunking out. I’d pushed myself in school to this point, I could keep pushing myself. From everything I'd heard, the Equestrian education system was much more relaxed than schools back home, so failing seemed unlikely to anyone who made it this far.
Professor Sweetie Belle partially turned and pointed a leg at the princess. “I know that you’re all eager for it, so let me introduce Princess Celestia and let her say a few words!”
There were hoovestomps abd cheers as Princess Celestia stood up and spread her wings, even from the ponies that had been critical of the teachers earlier. The princess smiled and waited for the cheering to subside.
“My little ponies, and ponies visiting from Earth, founding this school has always been one of my proudest accomplishments, and it brings me joy to see that it continues to operate and shape minds so many centuries after I commissioned it. Today, you join a long line of students who have passed through these halls on their way to shaping our history. I do not doubt that I will be hearing much more about each of you in the years to come,” Celestia warmly greeted the class.
There were more cheers and stomps and the princess waited for these to quiet before continuing.
“This year is going to be a little different than years past. This is not the first time we have made radical changes to how things are done in the school’s history, and it likely will not be the last,” Celestia informed us.
There was some quiet murmuring among the students at this. I assumed that she was talking about the admittance of non-unicorns to the school. I hoped she didn’t point me out. I didn’t want to be put on the spot right away.
Celestia held up her wings higher, which seemed to quiet the whispers. “There are going to be a considerable number of changes. These were necessary because Equestria’s circumstances have changed since they heyday of this institution. Earth is now starting to open magic schools of their own, and the Earthlings have constantly impressed me with what they can accomplish. In a few years, they will present something this school has never had to contend with: serious competition from other magic schools. Already, I am receiving offers from these schools to have friendly competitions to display students' skills, and both worlds will be watching when these competitions start to happen. In order to stay the premier magic school…nay…to even stay relevant, we must adapt. Otherwise, we will be left behind.”
“Equestrian mages outclassed by Earthlings? This cannot be allowed to happen. The princess continues to prove her wisdom,” the unicorn seated in front of me whispered haughtily. He was sitting beside the stuck-up mare who had been called out earlier.
Celestia looked at a red unicorn mare with a purple and yellow mane heavily streaked with gray and a nasty-looking scar on her shoulder and neck. My eyes bulged when I realized who I was looking at. It was Sunset Blessing! She was infamous back on Earth.
“A few years ago, I brought in Sunset Blessing to suggest how to update our schools and keep us competitive. She was one of the great mages of Earth, one who designed defensive spells that thwarted even Princess Twilight, and one of the biggest critics of our education system. While she made plenty of recommendations, the previous administration of this school was stuck in their ways and refused to act on them. Now that the previous headmare has retired, I am appointing a new leader of this school who will make the changes that need to be made.”
Wait…was the princess going to make Sunset Blessing the new headmare? I wasn’t sure if I should be scared. She was famous for having literally blown up a city because of her negligence.
Celestia turned and faced the robed human on the other side of her that ponies had been speculating about earlier. “Allow me to introduce your new Headmaster and allow him to say a few words. Please give him your full attention.”
The entire audience was still and quiet with shock as Celestia sat down, and the man slowly got to his feet. He stood there, staff in one hand, looking impassively at us all.
“I have reviewed all your files, and I can’t recall a single one of your names because not a single one of the files stood out to me as anything other than bland and uninspired. There is no pony of great power, no prodigy, no one to inspire confidence. I’m sure I could go down to the local orphanage and find half a dozen ponies with more promise than the lot of you. You are everything wrong with the Equestrian education system,” the man said in a dry, bored tone.
The teachers all gasped, apparently as shocked as me and the other students. We were so shocked that we couldn’t even gasp. I noticed there were two people who didn’t look surprised, Celestia and Sunset Blessing. They were the ones who picked this guy out to lead, so they must have known this was coming.
“However, I’ve been told to try to look at the positives. What I said before means you have nothing but an opportunity to impress me. The bar is set very low to do that at this point. I hope that before the school year is over that I’ll be impressed,” the man continued, smiling just a little bit.
This new headmaster wasn’t making any friends with the students or teachers. I had a bad feeling about what kind of changes would be implemented.
“Now, We shall discuss how things are going to go this year,” the man said, standing stiffly. “The thirty of you will be divided into three smaller classes of ten each instead of maintaining a class of thirty. This allows smaller class sizes and your teachers to work with you more individually. The ten in your group shall all attend the same core classes together and room in the same area of the dorms together. You shall each get a personal advisor from among the faculty, and they shall give you additional instruction one-on-one. Every student shall receive a ranking each week from one to thirty. At the end of the year, unless I have been impressed by more than twenty students, the ranks twenty through thirty will be sent home and told not to come back. Our teachers have better uses of their time than instructing students that aren’t going to accomplish anything.”
The unicorn stallion raised a leg high. “Sir! What if everyone in the student body passes?”
The man scowled. “Passes? If you are part of the bottom third and fail to impress, you didn’t pass, regardless of your grades.”
“I will not be sent home! My parents paid good money to get me into this school!” the haughty mare from earlier shouted.
The headmaster smirked. “Congratulations, you just became the first to hold the rank of number thirty.”
She turned red in the face. “I am-”
The headmaster waved dismissively at her. “I don’t care what your name is or who you are related to.” He put his arm down and looked around, then pointed right at me. “You! You will be our starting rank one. Don’t introduce yourself or say anything. I'm not interested, but an earth pony getting into this school is at least showing some signs of being a hard worker…which is at least something. I believe competition breeds results, so I am introducing an element of competition to our curriculum. Whoever is ranked one at the end of the semester will receive a reward for their trouble, any single item for sale anywhere in the city at the final ranking for the year, regardless of price. If you want to waste the reward on a piece of candy, you can, or you could buy a unique artifact or even a house. If it is for sale in the city, it is yours. Let’s see how long you hold onto that spot. Ranks can change based on your grades, accomplishments, attendance, and by impressing me in any way. While I won’t be teaching, I will be stepping into your classes from time to time to observe.”
At least a few other students were looking at me. It was the first day of class and I already had a target on my head. Other students were going to want that reward. I was tempted to not even try to be number one. What did I really want that could be bought anyway? However, I was also determined to prove that I deserved to be here, and that meant doing the best I could. If I didn’t impress this guy, I could end up being sent home, and I couldn’t live with that. I'd show this headmaster that Taproot Jones was worthy of being here.
Absurd foresight lol.