//------------------------------// // Chapter 12 - Apple Bloom // Story: The Green Angel // by LordOfCringe //------------------------------// Cereal clatters into the bowl as I pour it out of the box. It is a modest breakfast, but it will more than do for now. It was similar to what I had on the farm, though the milk was not as fresh. I’m just thankful that my new home even has such familiar food, in fact, many things were quite similar to my old world here. It had been two weeks since I had decided not to be Diamond Tiara’s enemy anymore. And in those two weeks, a lot had happened. For one thing, our journey to Albion ended and we were finally resettled into a district in the capital of Greater London, the new Lemonbrook Burrow. For two, me and my brother were assigned a small house near the local High School. It was much smaller than the farmhouse but it was quite comfortable. And for three, the local school year was about to begin. It was very convenient timing that my people arrived just in time for it. I think it will make the transition much easier. A new school. The very thought both excites and terrifies me as I take a bite of the cereal, taking in the much richer but less sweet flavour. My first day was today, it would be an interesting day, to say the least. A few minutes later, just as I was scooping up the last bite of my cereal, Big Mac came into the Kitchen. He was just about to get out the door himself to start a shift at his new job working the Docks on the Gates of Albion, the name for the massive orbital space station that encircles the planet. Big Mac approaches me with a smile on his face, the first real one I have seen on him in a long time. “You have a good first day now, I probably won’t be back until late so you’ll have to make dinner for yourself.” “I know, I know, I plan to. Don’t you worry about me.” “Somebody has to,” he leans in closer and lightly noogies the top of my head “Otherwise you might get into trouble...again,” I swat his hand away like a spider. We both chuckle. “I’ll be fine Big Mac, trust me. Now go get to your space station. Speaking of which, you’ll have to bring me up there one day!” He chuckles again at that, “One day Apple Bloom. I promise.” With that, he says his final goodbye and gets out the door leaving me alone in the house. The rounded walls of which still look all too strange to me. It was like most things in this new world I found myself in, all too familiar with a coating of the unknown. Like my new powers for example. I had known magic existed for over two years now, ever since the time Sunset Shimmer turned into a raging she-demon at that year’s Fall Formal. But the way my powers worked was clearly very different from how Equestrian Magic did. And for that reason, I didn’t dare experiment with it until I had my bearings here. I finish drinking the leftover milk in my cereal bowl and quickly wash it in the sink. I need to get ready for school. I get a simple lunch together, making a sandwich for myself along with an apple and some small carrots. I put that into my backpack along with my necessary school supplies and the letter I received from the school a few days ago detailing where to go and who to meet with when I got there for my first day. With all that done I take a deep breath, slip my backpack over my shoulder, and go on my way. The walk to the school is pretty uneventful, though I continue to marvel at the strange-looking rounded houses and buildings that seem to be the norm on Albion. And when I look at the sky I can’t help but stare in wonder at the massive Gates of Albion casting their shadow upon me from orbit. The massive space elevators to the station seem like small strings that hold it to the ground. My brother was probably in one of those right now. It makes me feel very small as the world I’m in gets bigger and bigger. But other than that the architecture of the street resembled a typical city suburb from home. There were no flying cars dancing through the sky and no casual holograms floating about. This was the future, but a different, more normal one than I ever anticipated. It was a nice day out too. I was apparently in this world’s version of England but there was no stereotypical rainstorm going on at the moment. The air was crisp and the sky was bright and cloudless. It was a perfect day to start school. It takes me all of ten minutes of navigating through the neighbourhood to get to my destination, Lemonbrook Highschool. And when I finally lay my eyes upon it I can’t help but let it finally sink in that I’m on another planet. The building looks nothing like any school building I’ve ever seen. Its tall circular appearance contrasts as much as the shining white walls do from Canterlot High’s look. And the small spires that line the roof make the building look almost like a crown. It looks kinda cool actually. With the building in view, I take off my backpack and find the letter the school had sent me and take it out, included upon it is a map of the school and directions to where I need to go to start my day. With that in hand, I put back on my backpack and cross one final street to get to the campus grounds, where already several students are milling about even though school doesn’t start for another hour or so. I nervously navigate my way around them, avoiding them for now. A couple of them see me anyway as I make my way close to the giant black wooden doors that are the school’s front entrance. They look at me curiously for a second before getting back to whatever conversation they were having before, content with my presence. Without any more second thoughts, I open the front doors and walk inside. The interior of the building is much more familiar looking to me. The walls are lined with lockers just like Canterlot, though upon closer inspection they appear larger and more electronic than the lockers I knew, which makes sense I suppose. I continue following the map through the straight halls, taking a few turns before coming to a larger open area the map labels as the Main Foyer. The letter said to meet my student guide here, and sure enough, lined up along one of the walls are several students holding large pieces of paper with their names upon them. These were apparently volunteer students that wanted to show us around and help us through our few days here. The dozen-odd kids from my world that were coming here are going to be broken up into small groups or pairs and be assigned to one of these students. It seemed like a sensible idea, it was similar to how new grade nines were oriented at Canterlot High. I scan the group for the name of my guide and after a moment I spy the name I was looking for, Shelbie Cured. The girl holding it is a petite looking blonde about the same height as me. She gives me a wide smile as I approach her. “Hello there, I can tell by your red hair and green skin that you must be Apple Bloom. And you’re the first one here. Which means,” she turns to one of the other guides with a mischievous grin on her face “You owe me five credits, Lucus.” “Dammit,” a dark-haired boy near us says in frustration before coughing up the apparently owed money. Sheltie turns back to me as I scratch the back of my head in embarrassment wondering just what I was getting myself into. “Uh, ya. That’s me,” I say slowly. “And I’m Shelbie..but you knew that already,” she folds up her sign and extends a hand towards me, which I reluctantly shake. She seemed to be quite the personality that’s for sure. “Nice to meet you,” I say, just trying to be polite. This was the first Britannic person my age that I’ve met, after all, I need to make a good impression. “Likewise. I only have one more assigned to me, hopefully, they’ll show up soon.” “Don’t tell me you have a bet about that too…” “I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t,” she says, completely serious. Unfortunately for her as several more of my fellow refugee students filed into the Foyer the other student assigned to us didn’t show. Shelbie was forced to give up her newly acquired credits because of this, much to her chagrin. Then about twenty minutes after I arrived, Diamond Tiara walked in. She scans the signs and spots Shelbie’s newly unfolded nametag and walks over to us. “Hi, my name is Diamond Tiara. I believe I was assigned to you?” she says to Shelbie. “Ah yes, you’re the other one,” she says happily. Of course, it had to be her, while we could somewhat get along now, we didn’t exactly love being around each other yet. Diamond, well, let’s just say she wasn’t exactly my favorite human. Oh well. “Come on,” Shelbie shouts, thrusting a triumphant fist into the air, “the school awaits!”