//------------------------------// // Fog on the Brain and a Letter // Story: Beyond Blind Eyes // by Lunaric //------------------------------// "C'mon, sleepyhead, let's go check out what the school sent." Cotton was leading Aqua to the main room. She had left the letter and her stuff in the main room. "Yeah, yeah..." Aqua stood up on the bed and stretched. "I'm coming, I'm coming." She hopped off the bed and stood there as she yawned. Cotton watched from the door. "Are you sure you're not a cat? 'Cause, you seem to act like one." "Oh, now that'd be nice." Another yawn from the filly, before she put on a smile. "Getting to just lay around all day, be fat, and still look cool? I'll take it!" Cotton laughed. "True, but then you wouldn't be able to use magic anymore." "Darn. True, true, that is a big drawback... Alright, let's go read that letter and see what the school has in store..." Aqua yawned one last time before following the mare out the door and towards the common room. Aqua's messy mane and tail dragged behind her on the wood floors as she thought to herself. "Did you read the letter already or nah?" "Haven't even opened it yet. It isn't my letter." "Makes sense... Who do you think will be my tutor? Know anyone from the school?" "One of my old friends went there, but they're not really a scholar, so I doubt it." "Ah. Hmm..." Aqua looked down in thought and Cotton, it looked like she wanted to say more but stopped herself. "At least we know what school sent the letter, hm?" Cotton said with a smile. Aqua giggled. "True, true." The both of them entered the common room and started heading towards 'their' corner, as the other orphans had deemed it. Cotton headed towards her bags, while Aqua shuffled awkwardly. Cotton stopped and looked at the filly. "Are you okay, Aqua?" "Yeah, just trying to find one of the training balls. I coulda' sworn I left them here." Cotton briefly scanned the area but couldn't find them. "Sorry I don't see them, but we can look for them after we read the letter, okay?" digging back in, she found the letter. Aqua sighed. "Alright. Well, let's see what the letter says. I can't exactly read it, so you're gonna have to open it." Cotton reached back inside her bag and pulled out a letter opener before carefully opening the letter. No reason to damage what's inside by accident. Inside the letter were two pieces of paper and a small card. A brief look confirmed the card as Aqua's new student identification. "Inside looks to be two letters and your I.D. card... For the year that just ended." "Nice. What's the card look like?" Aqua nudged Cotton's side. "It has a picture of you on the left, and general information, though it seems to be lacking your name and cutie mark," not that you have one yet... Cotton almost said the last part out loud. "To be fair, my current name, Aqua, is really just a nickname, so it makes sense... Also, how did they get a photo of me? Don't remember ever getting my picture taken. Did they take it while I was asleep or something? Feels like a serious invasion of privacy. And what's a cutie mark?" The mare looked down at Aqua. "I don't know. They could have made one magically? It looks a little different than you... We can ask the tutor or the counsellor later. And a cutie mark is a small image that appears on your side when you find out your special talent. I'm..." Cotton hesitated, wondering how to continue. "Sort of surprised that you've never heard of a cutie mark before." Aqua hummed to herself briefly before replying. "I... I haven't really mentioned it because I don't like to talk about it, but I'll just mention I don't really remember anything. I've been told I was found of the doorstep of this orphanage, but I... I don't know, it's weird." The filly looked down and tapped the floor in front of her. "I... yeah, it's weird..." To Cotton, it looked like Aqua wanted to continue, but couldn't or wouldn't. Cotton leaned down to nuzzle Aqua. "I understand... If you ever want to talk about it, we can." She wrapped the little one in a wing hug before turning back to the letter. "Maybe later..." Aqua grabbed the wing wrapped around her and pulled it tighter while she brushed one of the feathers with her hoof. "I'm sort of excited and sort of hesitant about the whole school thing... It's going to be interesting learning all this new magic, but I hope they teach more than just magic..." Aqua cracked a small smile and giggled to herself. "If they don't then the other kids are going to be so stupid." Cotton chuckled. "Well, I'm sure they'll teach you other things than just magic, but it's going to be interesting nevertheless..." Cotton looked back down at the letter and while reading, found the name of the soon-to-be tutor. "Found the name of the tutor. Apparently, their name is Raven Inkwell..." Her eyebrows furrowed. "Hm. Never heard their name before..." "Nice name, though." "True."