Sunset was unimpressed.
Sure, the school looked a bit larger than the buildings in Canterlot and was certainly bigger than some Town Halls she's visited alongside Princess Celestia in the past, but growing up in a literal castle, as well as being a student at the most proficient school in Equestria meant she already saw the largest buildings in the country, so this was fairly unimpressive to her.
Though she must admit, the interior looked a lot blander. Since unicorns can just magically hold their books, there was no need for lockers and more space for interior decorations. In CSGU, there were potted plants and nice little decorations on the walls, alongside lavish murals and nice trinkets from the castle, while here there were just...lockers. There were some motivational posters here or there, and a bit of school pride decoration, but other than that it was bland rows of lockers. *My magic kindergarten had more decor.*
Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and her were some of the last people to enter the building since they were one of the last people to be dropped off at school. As they followed the stream of adolescent teenagers, the three of them kept gushing about the year they had ahead. In the waning hours of summer, she had learned a lot about the pecking order of the grade, so she had some inputs about the popular kids in the school. The beauty of Rarity, the charm of Flash...
The mystique around Tia.
It seems, fortunate for Tia's case, being friends with the most connected girl in the grade, as well as the supposed cousin of the principals themselves earns quite a reputation in the grade. From what she can hear in the teenagers ahead of them, there were already rumors about this supposed 'mystery' girl in the grade who moved from overseas. *If by overseas you mean across dimensions.*
Of course, that wasn't the only rumors running circles around the halls, as it seemed her own up-and-coming story has gained some traction. An amnesiac, who somehow became friends with one of the hottest girls in the grade, as well as the team captain herself? Fate decided to give her a good hand once in her life it seemed.
The three of them passed through a large set of double oak doors, into a newly furnished auditorium. The place looked like it came out of an Art Deco magazine, with smooth lampshades, and clear-cut patterns across the walls that acted as placeholders for smooth, white lamps. The chairs were much smoother and plush than the chairs in the classrooms, though they weren't as soft as the ones in Canterlot Castle. They almost reminded Sunset of ergonomic chairs that she's seen in the administrative buildings. As they made their way down into the third section, Sunset saw a flash of white and rainbow hair in her peripheral vision. She looked back just in time to see Tia and Rarity, and for a minute the two of them made eye contact before she was dragged away by Rainbow Dash into the row.
Sunset and Rainbow didn't care much for the speech. It was a standard introduction speech for newcomers, and she and Rainbow have already heard it moving from the lower schools into the higher ones. As Principal Celestia began, the two of them just kept talking about the other cliques in the school. *If I'm going to live here for the next two years, I may as well get acquainted with all of the people here.*
"...And behind us is Micro Chips and his friends," Rainbow said, throwing a thumb over her shoulder and pointing to three boys, all reading the Physics textbook, "They're basically the nerds, though they prefer the term 'Youth Researchers'. "
"So, basically nerds who excel in English class?" Sunset joked, poking her head out again to see Micro Chips still reading the textbook, though he seemed to notice her and gave her a sideways glance.
"Yeah, basically." Then, as Rainbow pointed to another group, they saw that students began standing up and making their way to the front of the auditorium. "Hey Shy," Rainbow said, poking her pink-haired friend in the shoulder, "What's going on?"
"O-Oh," Fluttershy stuttered, "They're calling up kids now for their schedules. They just called kids with the last name A-E."
"Oh, that's me!" Rainbow called out, before jumping over Fluttershy's legs and sprinting down the staircase. When they heard Rainbow yelp when she ran into another student, Fluttershy and Sunset giggled.
"So, I don't suppose you know anyone else in the grade, do you?" Sunset asked, leaning towards Fluttershy.
"I mean, no, not really, why?" Fluttershy tilted her head. With Rainbow Dash being called up, the two of them could converse more clearly now.
"Well, I want to try and make friends with everyone before they search up who I am," Sunset admitted, "Easier to explain it to a friend instead of to a stranger."
"Oh, that's understandable." Fluttershy said, peering over to look at the rest of the auditorium, "Unfortunately, I don't usually hang out with other people, it's always been just me and Rainbow together."
"Well then," Sunset said, "Let's try and fix that this year. You need new friends, I need new friends, it's a win-win!"
"Well, I guess I can't argue with tha-"
"Now calling up last names M-S!" Vice-Principal Luna called, cutting off Fluttershy. The both of them shrugged, before going up and getting their schedules. The both of them made their way to Miss Cheerilee.
"Sunset Shimmer, I presume?" Miss Cheerilee said, raising an eyebrow.
"Um, yeah, that's me," Sunset said, a bit unnerved by the tone of the teacher.
"Yeah, I heard about you. An amnesiac, correct?" Cheerilee said, writing something on a paper, before handing Sunset her packet.
"Yep. that's about it." Sunset replied.
"Look, the school system over at Fillydephia gave us your transcript. I understand you may have lost your memory, but if you pull any of that stuff you did in the past, I will not hesitate to reprimand you." Cheerilee said with some disdain.
"Oh! Are you suggesting that I may try and go back to my delinquent ways?" Sunset said in a mock shocked voice.
"Just...don't pull any of that stuff you did and we'll have no quarrels here, understand?"
"Crystal, ma'am."
"Alright, will Fluttershy Rose come to the table now?" Miss Cheerilee said, waving off Sunset and calling Fluttershy to the table.
As Sunset made her way to her row, she saw Rainbow Dash with a look of annoyance on her face, "What's the matter, Rainbow?" She asked.
"It's my mom," Rainbow grumbled, handing her schedule to Sunset, "She signed me up for a bunch of high-level classes, like Chemistry II and Advancing Physics. She wants me to 'branch out more', and not stay at the bottom of the grade."
"Huh, take it you're not a fan of studying?' Sunset said, looking over Rainbows classes.
"Yeah. I plan on graduating out of here with a soccer or baseball scholarship, but if I flunk these classes, I may not get it."
"Well, it seems you and I have some of the same classes here," Sunset noticed, showing Rainbow her schedule, and finding all of the high-level classes lined up with hers. "I can help you study for them if you need."
"I appreciate the help Sunset," Rainbow Dash smiled.
When Fluttershy sat down with her schedule, the three of them compared classes to find they all had some classes together and began gossiping about the other students. Before they could continue their conversation, an explosion occurred on the other side of the auditorium.
*Fweet!*
A party horn sounded off on the other side, and the three of them, alongside the rest of the grade looked up to find Tia near the explosion site. She had a party hat on, with a small cake placed down in front of her. She and Rarity, as well as some of their friends, had confetti inside their hair. A bright banner was hung behind Tia, with the words 'Welcome to CHS!' written in a bright font. It also had Tia's cutie mark emblazoned on the ends of the banner.
Silence dominated the air surrounding the girls before Rarity spoke up.
"Pinkie Pie! That was uncalled for!"
"Sorry!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, "I was just walking down the stairs when I saw the new girl and since it was a new girl I didn't know her and because I didn't know her I had to throw a welcome party so I went into the office found her file and began trying to find everything I needed about her then I went into the kitchen and spent a few minutes baking a cake while heading into the art room and making this HHUUGGEE banner then I finished took the cake set it all up only to realize that there was another newbie here and since I needed to throw a party for them I had to go all the way back into the office and find the new-new girls file to read it found what she liked and did everything AGAIN but while I was setting up the new-new girls party I tripped and set off the new girl's party by accident!" She smiled with a large toothy grin, somehow unfazed by that long rant she did, and yes, without a single breath or pause in between.
It took a while for everyone to process what Pinkie said, before Tia had a twinkle in her eyes, and spoke to Pinkie, "Miss Pinkie, it seems you forgot the celebration for the other new student!" She said in a mock voice.
"Oh yeah! I forgot!" Pinkie exclaimed, and before Sunset could do anything or call her out...
*Fweet!*