Two very interesting days have passed since the Grand Galloping Gala and now Rumble and I are waiting right in front of a building, I never expected to see from the inside. What makes it even more scary isn’t the fact that it will be like the first day of school again, no it’s the pony standing next to us, who decided to accompany us on our first day of magic kindergarten. At least it draws all the attention away from us while everypony is still trying to figure out just what Princess Celestia is doing here.
I am nervously looking around, watching all the other foals arrive, hoping that today doesn’t end in a disaster. Not like yesterday when I lost control of my magic while visiting the barracks of the Royal Guard and turned the armor of every single pony present into a bright pink.
The worst part is that they are unsure if they can reverse this at all and Princess Celestia is adamant about not commissioning new armour for them, only cause something little like a colour change.
After a long time that feels like an eternity, but in reality was close to only ten minutes a pale yellow unicorn mare with a purple mane and tail steps out of the building and ushers everypony inside. Rumble and I went inside with most of the foals, but I see the teacher hesitating when Princess Celestia approaches her.
We quickly find our seats in the back of the class, but we have to wait once more for a few minutes until the mare comes in, directly followed by the Princess herself. “Good morning everypony.” She greets everypony which are quickly followed by a chorus of greetings in return, through which we learn that our teacher is named Banana Fluff.
“Now, I am sure that everypony has already noticed that we have two new students in class, which will be here for the rest of the week.” She waits for a moment to let the news sink in, before she orders Rumble and me up front, so that we can introduce ourself to the rest of the class.
Rumble is quick about it and manages to dodge any question by passing the torch along to me. “Hi, I am Bright Spark.” I introduce myself to the class since Princess Celestia wants to keep the whole punishment thing a secret and a name like my real one would raise far too many questions.
“Now, do you have any questions for our new students?” She asks only for the entire class to raise their hooves. “How about you start Red June.” She says while pointing to a Red colt with a light green mane.
“Why are you only here for a week?”
“Our parents didn’t want us to stay alone at home, when they aren’t so they asked some pony to look after us.” I tell everypony, bending the truth as much as possible without outright lying.
“Are you not from Canterlot?” A filly called Pink Diamond asks next, which I answer truthfully that both of us are from Ponyville. The final one is another colt that to noponies surprises asks if we are staying with Princess Celestia and if that is why she is here.
Unsure how to answer this I look to Princess Celestia for support, who gladly answers this question. “Rumble and Bright Spark are indeed staying at the castle and since I have nothing better to do today, I thought it would be an interesting change from my routine to see how a day in classes goes here.”
Miss Banana Fluff takes a look at the class and even if there are still many hooves raised, she doesn’t call out another pony, instead she finally saves me. “I know you all have still many questions and that Rumble and Bright Spark are eager to answer them, but we really should start with our lessons.”
The disappointed groans from the class don’t come as a surprise when we make our way back to the desks at which we sat earlier, but I already have a feeling what we will do most time of recess. At least this isn’t a problem for now and instead I try to focus at the lesson.
Most of the other foals aren’t happy when the teacher decides to go over the basics of magic control and focus again, but all the complaints are silenced when she explains that we hadn’t been able to go to magic kindergarten before and we really need that knowledge.
Princess Celestia had tried to teach us in the last two days and Rumble easily picked up on her lessons, but for some reason it doesn’t work for me. I know she is a good teacher as her progress with Rumble shows, but whatever we tried, I made no progress and am still unable to make my horn glow. the best result I was able to produce had only been a few sparks from my horn, which is how we came up with that name.
The time till recess pass incredibly fast and when the break begins, I am still unable to do anything, while Rumble is already levitating stuff around. It almost seems like magic comes second nature to him, while my body resists it entirely. I almost get the feeling that my body tries to rid himself of this kind of magic.
Recess turns out to be as expected with us being crowded by everypony and bombarded with questions and the break is almost over when the storm of questions finally ends and we are able to convince the others for a short match of tag.
“Can I instead practice my magic a bit more?” I ask the surprised teacher, after she announced that the next lesson would be math. She gives me permission to do so, but only after asking me a few easy questions, which I all answer correctly without any problems.
“Why is it okay for her to skip math, when all of us have to do it. Why can’t we just do something fun like her?” A Colt with the name Annuity asks upset.
“Annuity, we all have to do the things we don’t like or aren’t good at to get better. Don’t you think it fair for her to give her the chance to get better at something she struggles with, so we can all do the more fun stuff faster as a group, than holding her back by forcing her to do something she is already very good at?”
“No, that she is too dumb to do magic isn’t an excuse for her to skip math. If she is too stupid for that, maybe she should practice more at home.”
“Isn’t than the same true for you. Maybe you should spend more time practicing your math at home, instead of layzying around all day.” Another filly replies before the teacher is able to say anything to defuse the situation.
His argument that I am bad at magic may be true, but this doesn’t give him the right to be so mean about it. Now upset about his behaviour and with a strong urge to prove him wrong, I focus stronger on my horn and my magic then ever before, in an attempt to bring my horn to glow.
“”Very good Bright Spark.” I hear miss Banana Fluff say after some time over the sound of an argument that started, when I manage to light my horn for the first time. I look around, searching for her and the smile she gives me would be all I care about at the moment, if not for Annuity making one more stupid comment.
“I bet that stupid filly just pretended to be unable to use magic, so she can skip out on math.” With me being distracted by him and me slowing getting tired from this exercise, it doesn’t come as a surprise that I lose control over my magic. What comes as surprise however is that not like expected the glow around my horn just stop and instead I have another magical surge. I hear an panicked scream, which is quickly followed by the entire class breaking out into uncontrolled laughter, before I lose concussion.
“Miss Citrus Blush, would you please come inside for a moment.” I ask the mother of one of the foals which has been involved in today's incident during the math lessons, trying to figure out how to explain what has happened today.
With a worried look on her face, the mare follows me inside, where the other affected ponies and their respective guardians are already waiting. As soon as she spots the special guest of the day she falls into a quick bow.
“Rise my little pony, there is no need for this today.” The white alicorn replise in her gentle voice, causing her to relax slightly before she raises again. I give her a few seconds to calm down from that unexpected surprise before the three of us take a seat.
Both ponies listen closely as I recount today’s events and I managed to recount everything what happened without any interruptions. “So, where are the two fillies and what is going to happen now?”
“They are currently in the castles infirmary. While it looks like Annuity is fine, I took the liberty to let doctor Horsenpfeffer give her a check up, just to be sure. Bright Spark is currently unconscious and it will probably take some time for her to wake up.”
“While Rumble will still be coming to your classes, I think it’s for the best that I train Bright Spark myself. Annuity will also be my guest until we found a way to turn him back into a colt.”
“You don’t need to hurry with that Princess.” Annuity’s mother replies to not only my surprise, but also to Princess Celestia’s. “If I understood you correctly miss Banana Fluff, it was basically Annuity’s action that cause Bright Spark to surge by making so much fun of fillies. I think it would do her some good to spend a while as a filly so she learns that only because they are fillies, that is no excuse to make fun of them.”
“I can understand your reasoning miss Citrus Blush, but please keep in mind that the longer we wait, the harder it becomes to reverse the transformation.”
“I will Princess, but would it be okay if I can go to see my daughter now?”
“Miss Banana Fluff is there anything else to discus?”
“No Princess, you two can take your leave now.” I reply after a moment of thought, we say our goodbyes before the two mares do exactly this. I stay back for a few more minutes and drink some of the calmatives, which are hidden in my desk, before I close the school for the day and start my way home, silently praying that tomorrow will be a better day.
After a short walk back to the castle and some very interesting questions I had to ask, we arrive at the castles infirmary. A quick search later, we find doctor Horsenpfeffer in his office, where he is currently talking to one of the nurses. patiently, we wait for him to wrap up his conversation, before we announce our presence. “Ah Princess, I was wondering when you would show up.” He greets me immediately before turning his attention to the mare accompanying me. “And you must be the mother of the second foal miss?”
“Banana Fluff and yes I am Annuity’s mother. Would it be possible for me to see her now?” The mare in question asks slightly worried, before he leads us to the foal in question.
The four of us have a short conversation in which doctor Horsenpfeffer tells us that Annuity is fine so far, if you ignore the obvious. As he learns about the plans Banana Fluff has for her daughter, he reminds her why this isn’t a good idea and warns that the transformation could become irreversible, should they wait to long.
“Do you also have a feeling that we won’t see them again?” Doctor Horsenpfeffer asks me, shortly after the two ponies left.
“You could be right about that. The foal doesn’t seem very upset about her sexchange anymore. And she seemed happy, as her mother informed her about her punishment.” I inform him about what I think, slightly unsure if I can agree with that kind of punishment. Maybe I should just visit them in two or three weeks, to make sure that everything is fine.
“How bad is it?” I want to know from doctor Horsenpfeffer when we arrive at Bright Spark’s bed, worried if it is worse than I think. True, at first it look just like a case of magical exhaustion, but you can never be too careful when it is about a ponies health.
“A medium case of m.e.. Two days of bedrest and she should be fine again.” He replies much to my relief, proving my worries to be unnecessary.