After an hour of what seemed to be forever, all the students were released to their scheduled classes to meet with their teachers for the new school year. As I got up from my seat, I levitated my study satchel back onto me and made my way to the exit on the side of the gym with Olive following close behind me.
"So, who's your first period?" asked Olive, walking up closer to me.
"Hmm, I have Mr. Harpear," I replied sleepily. Sitting for an hour listening to the same thing each year proved to be rather boring.
"Okay, your second?"
"Mrs. Indygo."
"And your third?"
"Are you trying to see if we have the same schedule? Because I can just give you my copy."
Without waiting for her reply, I pulled out my schedule from my study satchel with my magic.
"Here you go, Olive." I levitated the paper to Olive while opening the exit door. "Hold on to it while I hold the door for everypony."
Olive took hold of it with her magic. "Thanks, Inkflow." She moved next to me as I held the door open for everypony to move out of the gym. "Sure thing."
Ponies pushed their way through the door rudely and a majority passed by me without a word of thanks. The rest – which wasn't much – expressed their gratitude when they noticed what I was doing; which gave me a sense of appreciation. From the looks of it, everypony was eager to get the first day over with. It got me irritated, mainly because barely anything changed since the last time I was here at school. As much as I also wanted the day to fly by, I wouldn't think it would be that hard to be nice to those around you.
Before everypony made it out of the gym, a stallion confronted me. "You know, you don't have to hold the door, right? Just use the rope to hold it in place." He gave me a smug look. "The rope is meant to hold the door for you so that you wouldn't have to waste your time doing so."
"Um, okay."
He motioned for me to let go of the door so that he could do his business. He then took the rope that was tied to a railing on the side and used its loop to wrap around the door handle so that nopony would need to 'waste their time' holding it. After doing so, he went back into the crowd of students. Only a hoofful of ponies had passed through the open exit after he finished putting the rope in place, and that was it.
I sighed. "Seriously?"
"Seriously what, Inkflow?" Olive handed my schedule back to me and looked into my eyes with concern. Then she took the rope out from the door handle to let the gym door close.
Clearly, I was peeved. "Did you see that stallion? He stopped me from holding the door just so that he could put a rope that barely made a difference!"
Olive gave me a worried look. "What's wrong with that?"
I was sure she understood what I was conveying; she was right next to me when it happened. But I could tell that she found something wrong with my reaction. "Olive, I was already willing to hold the door for everypony and yet I get patronized."
Olive chuckled, "Do you hear yourself right now? You're complaining in the morning because somepony denied you from being kind. I mean, I get it – that stallion's a jerk – but he's like that to a lot of ponies. I've seen him get mad at alumni for just visiting the school; so I understand what you're feeling right now. But don't let him ruin your first day of the new school year." As her eyes looked into mine, she gave me a smile of reassurance.
I blushed at her comment and gave an embarrassed chuckle. I had issues with this stallion many times before; he always hunted me down like a savage timber wolf whenever I came to school late – which was almost every single day during my previous school years. He always acted as if he was superior to almost everypony. I always saw the arrogance on his face when he talked with some of the teachers. Sadly, everypony always seemed to like him. I never understood why.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," I said. Olive had a point; it's not worth getting exasperated by somepony so contemptible. "Anyways, do we have the same schedule?"
"Surprisingly, yes, we have the same schedule this year. Isn't that cool?" Her eyes glowed with excitement as she continued her sweet smile.
I smile back at her. "Yeah, that is pretty cool. Let's go."
We made our way towards the hallway of classes, and gladness filled my heart knowing that my best – and only friend – will be by my side throughout this new chapter of my school life. I hoped nothing got in the way of it this time around. In the end, I was wrong.
~~~~~
After two hours of meeting with our scheduled teachers, we were given our lunch break. I headed out the front doors of the school and went towards the high school awning where I usually ate my lunch. It was an area located at the side of the school that had a few lined up picnic tables where students – mainly middle school and high school – usually hung out in the morning, lunchtime, and after school hours. Besides the high school awning, I had other choices. There was the cafeteria, which had a tendency to get wild and messy. Then there was also the elementary awning, but the school custodians decided to place up a sign to keep non-elementary school students from making a mess without cleaning up – like they usually do. What the sign read was: Upperclassmen are prohibited within this area during school hours (especially DURING lunchtime)! And unlike most ponies, I prefer to respect that sign, as well as every other sign found around the campus. Unless you wanted to go rogue, you could almost have eaten anywhere you please, but most of the areas that students ate in also had signs that restricted ponies from eating and drinking – which was ironic if you would ask me. Many ponies just forgot the signs existed and did the exact opposite of what it said. There was a complaint by a teacher once, but after that, it was never complained about again. To this day, I don't know if the school ever dealt with it accordingly.
Out of all my classes, I thought lunch was the toughest. Middle school and high school always had separate lunchtime, but on certain 'special' occasions, it was combined. Now having it combined wasn't the main issue for me, what really sucked was the fact that I'd have to endure one to two hours of social anxiety. This was not an enjoyable experience whatsoever. Just as I have a difficulty spending time with other ponies, sitting down alone was just as hard. I did this to avoid getting caught up in groups with equivocal character; specifically, because I wanted to prevent myself from being like them at the end of the day. I mean, I've experienced hanging out with different groups of ponies from my class on different occasions and had – somewhat – enjoyed their company. But I always came to a point when I realized that hanging out with them wasn't worth it after all. Even if I thought I was making progress with building friendships with them, I ended up standing corrected.
Of course, you're probably thinking that I could just be with Olive since she is my best friend and quite possibly my only true friend; but that was to say if I could even find her. The last time - and only time - I asked her about her whereabouts during lunch, she told me that she spent her time alone. She looked like she didn't want to talk to me about it and quickly ran off before I could get the location she regularly stayed at. Based on her reaction to my question, I assumed it was something she wanted to keep private for whatever reason. I did not want to annoy her by confronting her again given how uncomfortable she seemed towards it, so I tried to look for her myself, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't find her anywhere on the school grounds. I had no clue how she did it, but as her friend, I decided to respect her privacy. I only wished that she could have at least told me why she didn't want to eat with me.
I took my seat on the table in the middle of the awning, which was the usual spot I sat at almost every lunchtime. I looked around me thinking Olive followed me out of the classroom, but alas, I was wrong. I could have asked her to join me today for lunch, and I'm sure she would've followed me without question. Instead, I made the mistake of walking out of the classroom ahead of her, and by the time I got the bright idea to invite her to join me, she was already gone.
Even though I agreed with Olive this morning to ignore that stallion I couldn't help but still feel bothered by him, and as dumb as it may sound for me to already abhor school on the first day, I just couldn't stand the fact that I'm back – back to the same routine I've been following for so long. The first half of the day had proven that the school was still how it was last year and the year before that; and so on and so forth. From the students to the teachers, and even to the building itself! I thought maybe things won't be different this time around. Maybe this school year would just be as terrible as it was for me before – or worse.
I lifted my study satchel off and placed it on the top of the table. My magic opened it up and pulled out a somewhat-flattened sandwich wrapped with a napkin from inside. "Ugh, the first day of school and I get a flattened peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch. How wonderful," I said sarcastically, realizing my sandwich was in between my books.
I unwrapped the sandwich from its covering and took a big bite out of it. My eyes looked around and noticed other groups of ponies had filled up the empty tables. There was a bunch of middle school students who I was not familiar with on my left with a cliché group of athletic bad boys from my class on the table further down. On my right was another group of ponies from my class that I had an on and off 'friendship' with on occasion together with a few new students, and a small group of seniors on the table next to them.
I sighed. "Back to school indeed."
Before I took another bite out of my already half eaten sandwich, I was spooked rather unpleasantly.
"HEY, INKFLOW!"
My body flailed to the opposite direction the voice had come from. "WHOA, GREAT BALLS OF FIRE!"
Laughter burst out from my attacker, "Did I scare you, Inkflow?"
"You sure got me this time, Sky Flan." I slowly recovered from the unexpected presence of one of my classmates and looked down at my fallen sandwich on the ground. "You will be missed dearly, my beloved lunch," I whispered to myself sadly. I was not about to eat food that touched the ground, even if it was my own.
"I'm sorry, what?" Sky Flan asked, confused by my silly statement.
I realized that she was still speaking to me. "Sorry about that. Did you still need something?" I looked at her and saw that she was still smiling from her successful jump scare.
"Oh, yes. I actually came here to notify you that you're being called to the office." She hoof-bumped my shoulder.
My eyes widened in surprise as I looked into her own with skepticism. I was rarely called to the office, especially on the first day of school – which practically never happened before. "The office? Why do I need to go to the office? Did something happen?"
"No need to worry, Inkflow. I was told that the Princess just wants to have a word with you." She grinned.
"That's one way to alleviate a pony."
She giggled at my comment. "Well, you're not alone, Inkflow. Olive and a few others are there right now. I don't know why you're being called, but I'm sure it's nothing bad."
"I see, thanks, Sky Flan." – I picked up my fallen lunch with my hooves – "I'll go to the office after throwing away my sandwich."
"You're welcome Inkflow, sorry about making you drop your food." She looked at me sheepishly with a hoof behind her head.
"It's not a problem, Sky Flan, thank you." I smiled to assure her that I was not mad. Although, I felt sad that I only got to eat so much for lunch.
She smiled back and headed off to wherever she came from. I picked up my study satchel, walked over to the nearest trashcan, and gave my 'dead' sandwich a proper burial – no coffin included. Next stop was the Principal's office.
~~~~~
I entered the school office and proceeded to exactly where I was told to meet: the Principal's/Princess's room. "Hello, Princess Celestia." I took a bow before the royal pony as it was the respectful thing to do.
"Hello, Inkflow. No need for the formalities; I'm glad you can make it. We were about to start, please find a spot amongst them."
I fixed my posture and looked towards the hoofful of ponies gathered in front of her, each of them seemed nervous of what was about to occur. I looked at Olive – she looked back and smiled at me. I couldn't help but wonder how in the world Sky Flan found her during lunchtime as I made my way to stand next to her.
"I'm definite you are all confused as to why you have been summoned here, but I can assure you that it is not for any reason related to trouble. You've all been specially selected to be what I would like to refer to as my 'personal' students – each one of you shows characteristics and magical prowess worthy of a task I have in mind."
Princess Celestia glanced downward and paused for a brief moment, most likely she thought of what to say next. "What would that be?" One of the students in the room chimed in as if to rhetorically ask the Princess spill the beans quicker.
She looked directly at the student who had spoken and gave a soft smile. "I would like you all to participate in an important study that could determine the fate of Equestria. I have chosen you few for this mainly because I have seen great character and potential inside each one of you. I'd love to continue and give you more details on what this study is about, but I have to report back to the castle as soon as possible. So instead, you will have to speak to the great wizard of Canterlot: Starswirl the Bearded. He should give you the necessary information and possibly answer any questions you may have. But before I take my leave, I would like to have the opportunity to briefly speak with each of you individually."
Everypony murmured to each other as they made their way out the door. Once everypony got out, I looked at Olive and asked, "So Olive, what do you think this task will be about?"
"Well, considering that the Princess herself came here to tell us about this important study she has in mind for us, I'm sure it is something special."
"But isn't it rather odd to you? I've never heard about the Princess assigning students to special assignments throughout my whole lifetime being in this school."
Olive smiled. "You never know, Inkflow. She might have been doing similar things like this under the school's radar. But don't think about it too seriously, it's Princess Celestia. I'm sure she won't involve students in anything dangerous of the sorts."
"I hope you're right about that, Olive. If it is a dangerous assignment, it better be important enough to be worth risking our lives."
Olive giggled. "Even if it is life threatening, at least we'll get to be with each other every step of the way, right?"
I chuckled. "Yeah, sure thing." Olive's yellow eyes looked into mine, and my heartbeat pounded faster by the second.
Princess Celestia's introduction to this so-called 'important study' was so ambiguous that many thoughts started racing through my head: Are we going to be sent to some place far away from Canterlot? Is it even an actual study to begin with? What are the chances of me dying a horrible death? I don't want to die just yet; I'm not ready. There are still so many things I want to do, and I haven't even graduated from high school yet. If I do die, not many would realize it, would they? I'm sure Olive probably would...unless she would die along with me. Then there is my brother and my parents, but would the school even tell them about my death? If they don't, then I would end up being a missing pony that nopony will be able to find. However, there's a high chance that Olive is right; what the Princess is assigning us may not be perilous at all. But there is still a small chance that it could be – considering I live in a world where ponies can bend the laws of magic and nature as they please, and a variety of bizarre and different species of creatures exist throughout the Earth!
As I was dazed out thinking about the crazy things that could happen, I did not notice that Olive was still speaking to me. That was until she began to bring me back to my senses.
"Inkflow...INKFLOW." She was waving her hoof closely to my face and had a worried look on her own. "Are you okay? I was trying to joke around with you about how Princess Celestia might ask us to do something silly like discover whether or not the Earth is round or flat. But then you didn't respond to what I was saying and I was starting to worry that I said something that got you feeling anxious."
I shook my head, trying to get back to reality. "Sorry for making you concerned, Olive. You didn't get me feeling anxious or anything; in fact, I'm feeling something between nervous and excited. If only there was a word for that, am I right?" Her expression did not phase an inch, so I tried to continue, "I was just thinking about a bunch of silly possibilities, nothing serious. No need to worry about me." I smiled to try and reassure her, but it didn't work like how she does it to me.
She raised an eyebrow. "Okay then, Inkflow, but like I said earlier: please don't take it too seriously."
I looked around, and throughout our conversation nearly everypony that was with us had already been called and there was only three of us including Olive and I that did not speak to the Princess privately yet. I tried my best to listen in on the conversation that was currently taking place inside the Princess's office, but I could not hear a single sound from the room. I was thinking that the sound inside the room was being blocked out by the noise in the school office: the shuffling and crumpling of papers, the talking that was taking place between other ponies, and the sound of hooves clacking on the hard wooden floor.
The pony who was inside walked out and I heard the Princess call out for the next pony – who was right next to me – to enter. Once the door shut, I moved closer to Olive and whispered, "Hey, Olive."
"Yeah, Inkflow? Why are you whispering all of a sudden?" she whispered back.
"Were you able to hear the conversation between the Princess and the other students?"
"No, I couldn't hear anything, could you?"
The sounds in the school office were loud enough as it was that day and I could tell that nopony else was listening to what I was talking to Olive about earlier, so whispering seemed irrelevant at that point but I couldn't be too sure if somepony definitely heard our conversation.
So I continued to whisper to her, "Do you remember that magic that enhances hearing?"
"Yeah I do, are you going to try overhearing the conversation between the Princess and that pony in the room?"
"Yeah, I'm going to. Is that a bad idea?"
"Inkflow, I-"
Our conversation came to a close once the pony that was speaking to the Princess had finally finished his meeting. He came out of the room and walked passed us, seemingly ignoring our presence.
Following his leave, the Princess called out Olive's name from inside her office. "Olive Spring, please come in."
Olive stood up and gave me a small smile before she went inside. I could only assume that she was about to persuade me to not do it since it's common knowledge that listening in on another pony's conversation would be disrespectful and a dumb idea to do so – especially with one involving the Princess. As much as I do agree with her and appreciate her integrity, my curious mind could not wait any longer.
I looked around to see if anypony was looking at me to avoid the suspicion that I was doing something bad, which was ironic since snooping was bad. But nonetheless, everypony in the office was too busy to notice me. I quickly cast an enhanced hearing spell on myself, placed the side of my head directly on the door, and focused my ears into the room. Sadly, however, I could not hear anything coming from inside except for dead silence. I turned off my magic and wondered for a moment how my spell could not have worked until it came to my realization that the Princess was most likely wise enough to cast some type of magic that can block out unwanted ears from hearing the conversation. Obviously, she was powerful enough to even block out the spell I used.
Immediately after I stepped back from the door Olive walked out and looked my way. "It's your turn now."
Princess Celestia then called out my name from inside her office. "Inkflow Art, please come in."
Olive smiled at me and I asked, "Could you wait for me, Olive?"
"Of course I will, Inkflow. I'll wait." Olive continued her soft smile and took my seat after I stood up to walk inside.
I softly smiled back and replied, "Thank you."
~~~~~
I walked into the room and saw the princess sitting at her desk with an empty chair across from her.
"Please have a seat, Inkflow."
"Okay," I said as I placed down my study satchel and sat on the designated chair. I then looked around to see whether or not there was some sort of barrier surrounding the room – to confirm if she was currently using a spell. Surprisingly, I saw nothing, not even from her. From what I have learned in my studies, magic that cannot be seen by the naked eye is strong magic, as it cannot be easily detected and demands more power from the user to be cast. I was not mistaken that there was a spell being used – even if I could not see it – for the sound in the room seemed as if it couldn't escape the walls, glass window, and the door I entered through. Even if the room was insulated, the magic I used should have been able to ignore that minor detail. Other than that, the office outside was loud and normally the volume should be heard through the simple insulated material that the room was made out of – at least slightly. But no, there was nothing coming from outside the room as much as nothing could be heard from inside. I was astounded by it, as I've never been able to actually see magic like this in action – no pun intended.
"Okay, Inkflow, I have told you and the other students in this room that you have all been chosen, but I want to ask you first why you think I chose you."
My eyes stared at her for a bit. I was expecting that she would tell me something and that I would be the one to ask the questions. "Well, um, you did mention that we had characteristics and magical prowess that you find useful for your special task."
"Yes, I did say that. But do you know exactly what I was referring to?"
"No, ma'am. I don't."
Princess Celestia gave me a soft smile. "Inkflow, what do you think the study that I have in mind is going to be about?"
"I don't know what it could be Princess; I was thinking it's going to be about something dangerous and far away from home."
"Interesting, but no, nothing like that. The task that I have for you is to study a legendary magic called: The Elements of Harmony. I assure you that you will still be here in Canterlot safe and sound."
"The Elements of Harmony?" I raised one of my brows. "What's that?"
"The Elements of Harmony is a powerful magic that could possibly be the most powerful ever known to ponydom. It has been used to protect Equestria and has been with us for quite some time, but it is only now that I find it necessary to study more upon it. As it is clear that the times have been...changing."
My eyes widened in interest, as I – and possibly everypony else that I know – have never heard of the Elements of Harmony. "Why would you want students to take part in a study that involves the most powerful magic ever known to ponydom? I'm sure that should be a job for scholars like Starswirl the Bearded or ponies such as you, not ponies like me."
I then realized I had questioned the Princess's decision on choosing students to handle such a great task. I was thinking she was going to be upset, but she remained calm, still keeping her smile. "The Elements of Harmony is a fascinating kind of magic; something that Starswirl and I have not been able to understand unto now. But I have faith that minds as bright and young as your own will be able to unravel its mystery, and I have seen how you are, along with everypony else that was in this room. Magical prowess aside, you have characteristics that are a rare find nowadays. Don't doubt yourself, Inkflow; you have great potential in you."
My chest felt lighter after she said that; it was encouraging to hear her words. Me, have potential? Hearing the Princess say that to me personally was an honor and a blessing. At that moment, I expelled my nervousness, because I was certainly feeling completely excited and up for the task. But all of that was short lived. Comparing that to what I'm feeling now, I was a fool for thinking everything was going to be easy. "Thank you, Princess Celestia; hearing you say that means a lot. But where do I begin?"
"I would love to guide you myself, but I don't have the time as of the moment. In fact, I'll have to head back to the castle very soon. You will have to speak to Starswirl the Bearded as I have said; you can find him in the school's library. He is usually there keeping it intact and functional."
I smiled in reply. "Thank you, Princess Celestia." I stood up from my seat and lifted up my study satchel with my magic and took a bow. "I will do my best to fulfill your task."
Throughout the conversation, she kept her gentle smile even till now. "I'm sure you will, Inkflow. Please do keep it a secret between you and the other ponies that were here, I wouldn't want to have other ponies knowing about this assignment."
"I will, Princess Celestia." I fixed my posture and exited out the door.
~~~~~
"So what happened, Inkflow?" Olive smiled at me as I got out of the room.
"It went well, better than I had expected. She just asked me a question or two and told me more information about the assignment. She also told me to keep it a secret between everypony else who was assigned the task. What happened when you were in there?"
We walked out of the office and headed towards the high school awning, "She did the same thing for me; she asked what I thought she saw in me and what I thought was the task she was going to give. I told her that I did not know why she chose us and joked with her about the same thing I tried to joke with you."
"You mean about us studying whether the Earth is round or flat?" I looked at her with a grin.
"Yeah, that one!" – The two of us laughed – "She giggled about it, then told me that it's already been confirmed that the Earth is definitely round. But aside from that, she told me about something called the Elements of Harmony and that she wants us to study it along with those other ponies that were in there with us."
"You didn't ask her anything else?"
"Nope, she told us to go and talk to Starswirl the Bearded for questions, so that's what I'm going to do. But now that I think of it, I should have asked her where I could find him before I left." I looked at her and she was blushing with her head down as she smiled at me sheepishly. All I could do is smile back and shake my head to her silliness. If only she didn't take almost everything at face value, I thought to myself.
We got to the table that I was eating my lunch at earlier and I set my study satchel in front of me as I took my seat in the same spot I sat in. I looked around, and apparently, everypony else that was here at the high school awning moved on to be somewhere else. Olive sat in front of me setting down her own bag. "Did you want to go talk to Starswirl the Bearded once the bell rings?" she asked.
"How about we go after school? It would be better since we still have to go attend the rest of our scheduled classes."
"You're right, Inkflow. We still have the rest of the day to think about. But do you know where to find him?"
I smiled, as I did not make the mistake she had made. "Yeah, the Princess said we can find him in the school library."
"That's kind of odd." Olive looked at me confused. "I've never seen Starswirl the Bearded in the school library, nor anypony with a beard for that matter."
"Yeah, you're right, Olive. I've never seen him in the library either." I stretched my forelegs and yawned. "We'll just have to wait and see." As excited as I was for the secret assignment, coming back to school was exhausting. I placed my head down on the table, thinking about how this school year has gotten more interesting than I had expected.