Sandbar was walking down the hall with Yona and Prince Blueblood. They stopped at their lockers and Blueblood glared over at where Tempest, Gallus, and Luna were standing. Tempest had her hood up again and was talking with them in a low voice.
“Those kids are trouble.” Blueblood murmured
“Oh, I’m gonna be late for Chemistry. Bye guys.” Luna said before she headed off.
“Bye.” Gallus said, waving his wing at the filly.
“Bye Lu.” Tempest said, before turning back to her locker.
“Come on Blue, give them a chance.” Sandbar said
“No offense Sandy-bear, but you’re too trusting.” Yona said. “Look, I know your mom fell in love with an ugly sea monster who turned out to be a king. But with my dad, the nasty griffon was just the nasty griffon. That boy's grandfather.” she pointed a hoof at Gallus.
“Well I think you’re wrong about them. I’ll see you later.” Sandbar turned and trotted to Gallus and Tempest, waving at them. “Hey guys!”
“Hey.” Gallus said, while Tempest gave a nod in his direction.
“So... how was your first day?”
“Super.” Tempest grunted, shutting her locker with a hoof. Sandbar noticed that Tempest had painted a lightning bolt design with the words Long Live The King under it.
“You know Tempest, you should think about taking those skills to art class.” Sandbar said “How does that sound?”
“Like you’re taking all the fun out of it.” Tempest replied, as Celestia walked by. She whimpered as she passed Tempest and Gallus. “Uh...I gotta go.” she turned and followed the alicorn.
“...Okay…” Sandbar and Gallus stood awkwardly for a minute, before Sandbar waved and headed off.
Tempest followed Celestia into the bathroom, where she cornered her. Celestia whipped around and stared at her, clearly afraid.
“Hey... it’s Celestia, right?” Tempest asked, and continued when she nodded. “That’s a nice name... very sunshiny.”
“Oh... thanks…” Celestia made to leave.
“Wait!” Tempest called, and she froze, looking back at Tempest. “Sorry. I was just hoping to... make a friend. But you probably have all the friends you need, huh?”
“Hardly.” Celestia said, wings ruffling.
“Really? Even with your mom being... well, the former Queen of Equestria? And Headmare? I mean, not to mention your... uh... personality…” Tempest winced “Note to self, get more information on the pony before you try influencing them. I don’t know how Phar does it.” she thought.
“Oh, I don’t know... I’d rather be pretty…” Celestia said. “You’ve got a great mane, I saw it earlier… I wish my mane looked like that... or like mom’s...”
“You know what, I think I have something for that…” Tempest’s horn glowed under the hood and she pulled out the spellbook. “Here it is. Let’s see… saw it earlier...”
Tempest flipped through the book, found the spell, then pulled back her hood slightly, igniting her horn.
“Cast this spell, victim unaware. Replacing the old, with magical hair.” Tempest muttered
Celestia’s head jerked backwards and when she straightened up, she looked into the bathroom mirror and gasped. Her mane and tail were now long and flowing, striped in blue, turquoise, light purple, and pink.
“Wow, you don’t even notice your... other features anymore.” Tempest said
“Woah…” Celestia turned “Any chance you could…” she opened a wing to show her blank flank.
“Oh... sorry. With... my horn…” Tempest reached to rub her forehead, near the jagged horn. “I can’t do really big spells. Not like your mom with that magical crown. I mean, one glint of the light off that thing and you could probably have whatever mark you want.”
“She doesn’t wear the crown anymore. She believes the real magic is in books. And not spellbooks...” Celestia glanced pointedly at the one still held aloft in Tempest’s magic. “Books with history and stuff.”
“You know... she used the magic of the crown to help Princess Platinum maintain control of the unicorn tribe once her father died. And Platinum was just a royal in need of help, not her daughter. Doesn’t she love you?”
“Well, yeah... but it’s... tough love. ‘Shine in your own way, inside and out. You don’t need others to tell you you’re beautiful.’ That sort of thing.” Celestia replied, frowning.
“That’s it!” Tempest said, and Celestia gave her a confused look. “That’s what you need to do. Just look like your heart is about to break, and go… ‘oh mother, I just don’t understand why you can’t make me beautiful too.’ See?”
“You really think it’ll work?”
“Well, that’s what Platinum did, practically, and your mom magicked the daylights out of her.” Tempest laughed softly. “And hey, if your mom does decide to break out the old crown... invite me. I’d love to see it.”
“If I can get her to do it, you’re there.” Celestia told her, then reached and hugged her before rushing out of the bathroom.
“Bye!” Tempest called after her. Once Celestia was gone, Tempest let the smile drop. “Ugh. As Phar would say, all that sweetness gave me a cavity.” she then promptly left the bathroom.
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Luna sat beside Snowdrop in Chemistry class, watching a handsome white unicorn colt gaze into the distance with a lost look on his face. He had a blonde mane, a cutie mark of a compass, and blue eyes. Snowdrop looked between them and rolled her eyes.
“Any chance he’s in line for a throne? Any throne?” Luna asked, twirling a bit of her midnight blue mane with her hooftip.
“Prince Blueblood.” Snowdrop supplied “He’s the grandson of Princess Platinum, heir to her throne, yes. Blue inherited the charm but... not a lot of there there. You know?”
“Seems like there’s something there to me…” Luna sighed, and the teacher cleared his throat.
“Luna. Perhaps this is a review for you. So tell me, what’s the average atomic weight of silver?”
“Atomic weight?” Luna asked, sitting up. “Well, um... not very much, it’s an atom, right?” she smiled nervously.
The teacher beckoned her to the board. Luna stood nervously, then reached into her bag and subtly pulled out her moon crystal. She tucked it under her wing as she walked over. She lifted the chalk in her magic and opened her wings, so that she could view the crystal.
“Let’s see... how would you find the average atomic weight of silver?” Luna asked, and the crystal provided. “That would be... 106.905 times .5200… plus 108.905 times .4800, which, Mr Matter, would give us… 107.9 amu.” Luna circled the answer.
“Amu?” Snowdrop whispered, looking down at her notes.
“Ah... I forgot, always a mistake to underestimate…” Mr Matter trailed off.
“A villain?” Luna supplied, tossing the chalk back to him while folding her wings. “Don’t make it again.” she then walked back to her chair.
As Luna passed by Blueblood’s seat, he slipped a scrap of paper to her. Luna accepted it and as she sat down, read it.
Meet me under the bleachers at the Blitzball field after school? It read. Luna looked up, smiling, and gave the watching Blueblood a deft nod. He smiled back and they gazed into each other’s eyes, while Snowdrop sighed and shook her head, going back to her notes.