Balance Class, Day 1 - Future Chapter Preview

“Wait! Yona here!” cried the young yak, entering the classroom just a few seconds after the bell had rung, and she headed over to stand in between two of her friends. “Yona apologize if it looked like she were late. Please don’t send Yona to Principal Twilight’s room, New Pony Professor.”

Stardust let out a small chuckle, and he shook his head. “Don’t worry, Yona, you weren’t late to class… now, back to what I was saying: I’m Professor Stardust, and my class will be about me teaching you all about balance ma -”

“Oh, I’m such a good balancer, Prof. Stardust!” interrupted Silverstream, waving her clawed hand up in the air, and a nearby smirking Gallus let out a chuckle. “I never fall off of anything!”

Before Stardust could correct the hippogriff’s misunderstanding, Yona looked over at Silverstream, and cried, “Yona much better at balancing than Silver Friend! Yona prove it right now!”

Then, just as it looked like she was about to climb onto the desk in front of her, Stardust quickly said, “Alright, hold on there for a second, there’s no need for you to do that… my class isn’t about actual balancing. It’s about balance magic.”

“Ohhhhhh….” said the rest of the students in understanding, but Yona blinked her eyes a few times while also tilting her head to the side.

“Yona a little confused, Prof. Stardust,” said the young yak. “Yona not understand what difference is between the two.”

Stardust waved his hoof to the side, and replied, “That’s perfectly fine and understandable. By balance, I don’t mean anything that has to do with keeping yourself straight or something involving gymnastics; balance magic is something that exists in everything and everyone. It’s channeling both positive and negative emotions, and when merging them together, it can enhance your strength and reflexes.”

“Is that why you, uh, have those small scars and whatnot over your face and body?” asked Smolder. “Come to think of it… you remind me of how some dragons look back home because they’re engaged in battles and stuff almost every day.”

Gallus’ eyes widened a bit after hearing that, and the young griffon asked, “Whoa, so did you help Principal Twilight and the others save Equestria, too, Prof. Stardust?”

To his slight disappointment, Stardust shook his head. “I’m not… a ‘hero of Equestria’ like the rest of your teachers… and I don’t mind admitting to you all that I’ve been in many situations that involve me using balance as a means of defense, as well as an attack method… but I’m not here to prepare you all for an epic battle of some kind. It’s to learn about balance itself, and to give you an example as to what our first lesson will be, I need-”

“Ooh, oooh, Yona want to be volunteer for balance example!” exclaimed the energetic yak, waving her raised hoof around in a circle, with a bright smile on her face.

Unfortunately, her excitement lowered a little bit as Stardust replied, “I very much appreciate your enthusiasm, Yona, but I had someone else in mind for this example.”

“... oh, okay,” said Yona, sheepishly lowering her hoof down, and then watched with curiousity alongside the other students as Stardust closed his eyes. “What is Pony Professor doing?”

“You will all see in a moment,” answered Stardust. “Now, then… Ocellus, was it?” Almost all of the students turned their attention over to the young cyan-colored Changeling, who nodded her head. “I want you to please transform into whatever you can think of: pony, pegasus, bear, anything.”

Um, okay, thought Ocellus, and she did as the teacher instructed.

“A deer.” said Stardust, which is what she had transformed into, and the students became surprised at his correct answer. “Now, in either your Changeling form or any kind of winged animal, fly to any part of the classroom.”

A few seconds later, the gold Earth Pony gave a small smile as he said, “You’re a cream-colored pegasus with a silver mane, flying against the ceiling in the upper right corner.”

“Whoa…” said the rest of the students, amazed at what just happened, and after Ocellus returned to her seat, Stardust finally opened his eyes, smiling a little more after seeing their expressions.

Oh, yeah, I’m definitely going to enjoy this.