The halls of Canterlot High were packed with students. Mostly they were focused around their own lockers, but some were starting to gravitate towards their homerooms. As Luna walked along the hall, she spotted brilliant white, and her memory brought the name to mind immediately. "Vinyl Scratch?" The girl seemed to ignore her, and was still just gliding her way through the crowd. Luna narrowed her eyes and gave chase.
Vinyl didn't notice anything around her, but was aware of everything. The beat guided her, the beat dove her, and when people were in her way it told her how to twist to avoid them, until a hand landed on her shoulder. Reaching her hands up, she plucked out her earbuds and turned. Tilting her head up, she realized it was Vice-Principal Luna who had caught up with her.
"Vinyl?" The girl nodded to Luna. Her fast memory brought back the traits of the young woman before her. Shy almost to a fault, it was only music that let her come out of her shell. Luna glanced down, and grinned—Vinyl's name was on her role. "What are you listening to?"
The frozen shock melted, and Vinyl looked down at the earbuds in her hands. "S-Something I mixed." She looked up as Luna reached out for the earbuds and lifted them up to her own ears. She stared in a mix of terror and shock as the Vice-Principal of the school listened to her music.
Luna closed her eyes as the music blew away her awareness of the school around her. She felt her foot start to tap, and her head begin to nod, and before she got too lost in the music she pulled the buds out. New respect filled her, and she smiled wide. "That is amazing."
When Vinyl's earbuds were passed back to her, she couldn't help but smiling. "Th-Thanks. You need to listen to it all to really get the full experience. Every five bars I—"
"You change your tempo from three-four to five-four, I heard." Luna pointed ahead, her height letting her see over the students. "What are you using to make it? I have an old Boog, and a D-sixty four." Every step, and every word, let Luna see the girl at her side blossom.
"I used a Boog, too. Last year's model, but I also have a Jumppad, and an old school DJ table." Vinyl flicked her glasses up and looked at Luna at just the right moment for Luna to be turning into Vinyl's own homeroom. She blinked and felt confusion settle over her.
"I need some new gear. Would you like to come and help me shop for something to get me started?" Luna walked casually to the desk at the front of the room, turned the chair around and pushed it behind the desk. Sitting on the edge of the wooden surface, she saw Vinyl on the verge of shutting up again. "I used to do a lot of mixing, but I guess the world got in my way for a while. Some friends reminded me about my music and—and I need to make something."
Hearing Luna speak about music as if it were something to be let out, rather than just created, meshed with Vinyl's own feelings. She struggled at the normal withdrawal she felt creeping up, and shoved it away. "S-Sure. After school?" She couldn't help but blush.
"The best time for it. I don't think Principal Celestia would be happy if we both played hooky." Luna winked at Vinyl, and at that exact moment the school bell rang, and a torrent of bodies flooded into the room.
Rainbow Dash settled beside Fluttershy and Applejack. She couldn't help feeling good—great in fact—despite the fact she had woken up naked on her couch. That Thunderbolt was curled up on top of her, keeping her warm, had been confusing too. She remembered nothing of the night after she passed out in bed, but one thing she did remember well was what she had studied. Despite waking up a little compromised, she felt fantastic, bouncy, and she could remember everything she had studied.
"So why do you think we have Vice-Principal Luna instead of Mrs. Harshwhinny?" Fluttershy settled into place, wiggling her hips a little to get comfortable.
"Ah got no idea. Maybe she got the same flu Rainbow had?" Applejack pulled out her phone and started tapping the screen rapidly.
Hrshwhny not here. Luna takin class
A moment after she hit send, Applejack's phone buzzed with the replies from her friends. Pinkie Pie's made her giggle a touch. "The others think we should ask her for a music lesson instead of geography."
"That'd be awesome. You saw her shredding up hardcore, right? I mean, I am pretty amazing, but I haven't seen anyone move their fingers that fast before." Rainbow Dash pushed away all the problems and confusion about how she had started the day, and threw herself into the conversation.
"It's-It's a shame she is a teacher. She could have been in our band." Even with her friends, such a huge thing caused Fluttershy to want to hide, but she couldn't use her notebook. At that moment, her hand was scrawling lyrics for the music she had already come up with, and it made her excited to be able to let herself just go with it.
"I said, Applejack?" Luna had to lean over the three girls, looking directly at Applejack. "Sorry to bother your little party, but are you here?" Sarcasm was thick in her tone.
"Yes Miss Luna." Applejack sat up straight and tucked her phone into a pocket of her jeans. She waited until Luna walked away before she could even breathe again.
The roll-call progressed, and everyone kept quiet rather than incur Luna's wrath. One thing caught Luna's attention, however, and that was Derpy Hooves. Something seemed different about the girl, but not having regular interactions with her, Luna couldn't pin it down.
Derpy knew just what was different about herself. Her new corset gripped around her midsection, and lifted her breasts up to better effect than any of her bras could. Her plain shirt over the top of it kept everything hidden, but it couldn't hide the distinct curves it gave her. What she had discovered was, it gave her extra confidence. Derpy realized that she could look amazing, and that boosted her mood.
"As you are probably wondering, Mrs. Harshwhinny is sick today. I will be taking her classes until we can arrange a substitute or she returns." Luna looked at the stack of papers in the envelope. "Some of you have me for Geography next, and Mrs. Harshwhinny had a test for you."
The groan from the students in the class who had geography made Luna half grin. "Some of you, as well, are going to be performing at the football game next weekend." Her attention focused on Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy, but then she looked to Vinyl. "And I am sure they are going to need someone to help with the equipment."
At the mention of music equipment, Vinyl's thoughts latched on to the words Luna was saying, and she turned to the three members of the Rainbooms and gave them a thumbs-up.
The bell sounded, and Luna followed the students out, the roll and the tests under her arm. Striding quickly, she ended up surrounded by other teachers doing the same. "Good morning everyone."
Cheerilee, her mood always bright, practically bounced along beside the vice-principal. "Good morning Luna. You look extra cheerful today." When they reached the offices of the principal and vice-principal, each turned a different way.
"Do you ever wake up and just—just feel really alive? Like the previous days had been a dream—wait! Not a dream. Dreams feel like this to me. I just…" Luna set her role down on her sister's desk. Entering all the rolls was usually her job, but with her teaching she figured her sister would have to handle it. Everyone else quickly realized their mistake in heading to Luna's own office, and they ended up with a nice stack of folders.
"I did once." Cheerilee, for just a moment, closed her eyes and remembered. "I was in high school—at CHS in fact—and our teacher had a fall. She was old, and needed to go and be checked in the hospital. Principal Potts was short on teachers, and she randomly chose me to keep everyone busy for the rest of the class."
Luna could practically feel the love for teaching rolling off Cheerilee. Stopping to listen, Luna figured her students wouldn't panic too much at her being a little late.
"I didn't just keep them busy. It was shocking afterwards, but at the time I felt more complete than ever before." Practically buzzing in place, Cheerilee's already bright smile grew tenfold. "I knew what I wanted to do with my life."
"I think mine might be music." Luna felt like a traitor. "I want to create, Cheerilee. I woke up today and realized I need to get the music in me out."
"You could teach music. Maybe ask Celestia for a demotion?" Cheerilee started to walk again, and kept her voice low. "We seem to have a lot of students this year who would have jumped at a music course, and I think there will be more next year too."
It was Cheerilee's turn to halt to stand beside Luna. Staring off into space, Luna felt the music inside her speed up, and she realized she might just be able to combine her own personal love with her love of teaching. She reached out as quick as a shot and wrapped Cheerilee up in a hug. "Thank you."
"L-L-Luna!" Cheerilee couldn't protest too much, there was a lot of emotion racing between the two of them, and in Luna she realized she had a kindred spirit. "I'm glad I could help."
"Still teaching. Thank you, Cheerilee." Luna let go to give her coworker some space. "I have Mrs. Harshwhinny's geography class today, and they have a test to do. I might work on a proposal for a music class."
Her spirits high, Luna strode confidently to her waiting class while her mind was already turning over ideas. Walking into the room, she began to close the door behind her when Vinyl ducked through it. "Good morning, students. I am sure you have all heard by now that Mrs. Harshwhinny is out with the flu, but fear not, I have your test papers right here!
"Please put your bags, books, and anything but writing materials on the floor beside you." Luna pulled the sheets of paper from the manila sleeve, and glanced at them briefly. A chill of terror ran through her, and she remembered geography tests from her own days in school. Walking around, she set one page in front of each student, until they all had them. "You may start now."
Rainbow Dash looked down at the page and felt her cram session burning at the fore. Covering her mouth with one hand to stop a laugh, she started writing furiously. There were few times in Rainbow's life that she had remembered anything so clearly, and she struggled not to giggle as she reached the halfway point.
Beside Rainbow Dash, Rarity couldn't help but sneak looks at her friend. Something about the self-assured jock of a girl, bending herself to Rarity's will, tickled all kinds of good places. Stop, Rarity thought, test first and then think naughty things. Attacking the test, she was pleased to see that everything on the page had been covered in class.
"Done!" Rainbow Dash had to cover her mouth with one hand to stop from giggling. She didn't just remember the answers for the test, she remembered the words verbatim. Holding a hand up, she saw Luna's eyebrow rise nearly half an inch.
"Bring it up here." Looking at Rainbow, Luna could tell she was super excited about something, and hoped it was just the gig her band had coming up. "I find it strange, Rainbow Dash, that you of all people would finish the test by—by the fifteen-minute mark."
"I actually finished five minutes ago, I was getting bored just sitting there." Rainbow, with a flourish, set her paper before Luna. Twisting her head a little, she looked back at Rarity, seeing the other girl's face registering surprise. "You could say I had a lot of incentive to do well. I studied really hard."
A glance was all Luna needed. She could tell the paper was at least three-quarters right, and only a few of the more esoteric questions were beyond her own immediate knowledge. Reaching for the folder, Luna pulled out the red-marked sheet that had the answers on it.
Rainbow Dash gulped, Harshwhinny never graded their papers on the spot, and she doubted herself. She watched the vice-principal scan through her paper and, one after another, ticks were applied. Rainbow's heart beat faster with each tick, and when Luna got all the way to the bottom and ticked the last one, Rainbow Jumped into the air. "Woo!"
"Quiet, please, Rainbow Dash." The look of surprise was genuine, and Luna had done her job as well as could be expected; she doubted there was any way the girl could have cheated. "Go to lunch early. You have earned it."