//------------------------------//
// Chapter 7, part 3: A little unexpected 
// Story: When life gives you EXP 
// by FanOfSun 
//------------------------------//

Sooner, it turned out that students weren't able to create what they wanted. First of all, all those sketches they made were impossible to create. Not even with the help of Rarity. Second of all...Like it was stated before, there wasn't enough materials. Rarity decided not to torture pure students, and let them go.

While walking past still sleeping Ferum, Sandbar woke him up "Hey! You alive here?"

Ferum quickly raised his head and clipped with his eyes chaotically "Eh? Who?" he looked at Sandbar "Did I miss something?"

Ponny shook his head "Nope. The lesson is over, let's go"

Ferum looked at his clothes "And uh...Do I take those with me?"

Rarity started to take care of the mess that students made. She turned around and hummed "Well, you could either leave them here for me to care or take them"

Ferum thought about it "Well uh...Could you please look after them then? If it's not a burden for you of course"

Rarity smiled "My pleasure! Now, hurry up. You don't have much time before lesson starts"

Sandbar nodde "And that's true, come on dude!" he hurried out of the classroom.

Ferum nodded to Rarity before leaving "Thanks!" dragon then followed Sandbar as fast as he could.

Unicorn hummed as she looked at clothes "Hm..."





Ferum caught up with Sandbar "So, what is next on the list?"

They were the only ones in the hallway. Others seemed to spread across the castle for the break.

Sandbar hummed "Well, next up we have Ms Fluttershy's class. And after that, we have uh...Ms Dash's class, if I'm correct"

Ferum nodded "Alright then" they continued going forward.

Sandbar was ahead "So...I'm just curious"

Ferum raised his eyebrow "Hm, what is that?"

Sandbar turned his head "Did you always look like...This?"

Ferum clipped with his eyes "..what?"

'Wait wait wait WAIT! He couldn't just reveal me, right? I think I didn't show myself or act suspicious...Either way, it looks serious. Still, I can't freak out just yet. He-'

Loud voice in his head roared "Would you SHUT UP ALREADY?! I'm trying to focus!"

Ferum quieted his inner storm 'Yeah...I better stay calm...For now'

Sandbar chuckled "Well, you look like the character from the comics I'm reading right now. I thought maybe...You did some stuff to turn yourself?"

Ferum was silent for a moment "Well, no!" he then stopped "Wait..So, you are telling me that there is a fictional character that looks exactly like I do?"

Sandbar nodded "Yup! Exactly like you!"

Ferum clipped with his eyes "Uh huh...Alright..." he then had a question "Wait, why didn't anyone mention it then?"

Sandbar shrugged "Well it was kinda awkward...And still is" he then put hoof behind his head "I just got...Way too curious, sorry"

Ferum waved it off "Naw dude, this is fine"

And so, they continued to talk about different stuff. Weird, but nocreture appeared before them while they were walking. Sooner, they approached the door to a Fluttershy's classroom.

Sandbar stopped "Well, there is still time left. Wanna do something else?" he turned around.

Ferum shook his head and leaned onto the wall "Nope. I will just wait here for the lesson to start"

Sandbar nodded "Alright then, Imma go and grab something for snack. See ya soon!" he waved with his hoof and left.

And so, Ferum was left in the hallway alone.





Twilight annd Starlight were in the library. They were looking through some books based on mind spells.

Starlight putt another book away "Remind me, why are we doing it again?"

Twilight didn't avert her eyes from the book "Because..." she suddenly stopped ready and seemingly turned nervous "Well...I wanted to uh...Practise?" she sweated a bit.

Starlight raised her eyebrow "So why did you call me then?"

Twilight turned to her "Well uh...You know! It was a long time since we did something like this together!" she smiled and closed her eyes.

Starlight kept looking at her suspiciously "Uh huh..." she then closed all books and calmly said "Spill the beans Twilight, what is going on"

Alicorn sighed and openned her eyes "Alright...But please, promise tto keep it a secret"

Starlight smirked and put hoof on her chest "Promise with my name and horn"

Twilight glanced towards the library door and approached Starlight.





Fluttershy was walking through the hallways of the castle. She had saddlebags on her back, with some items for today lesson. She was humming a calm melody.

'I wonder, who this new student might be'

She heard a 'POP' behind her annd quickly turned around "Eep!"

It was Starlight. She seemed a bit stressed "Fluttershy, can I ask you a favor?" she looked straight into her eyes.

Fluttershy clipped with her eyes and nodded with confusion "S-Sure thing Starlight.."

Unicorn sighed "Good. You know that there is a new student, right?"

Fluttershy nodded again "Y-yes...Why?"

Starlight broke their eye contact "Well, Twilight wanted to fill some papers and needed him to ask questions. Is it ok if he skips your lesson?"

Fluttershy clipped with her eyes "Oh..Well, yes, sure" 

Starlight exhaled "Thanks Shy"

Pegasus tilted her head "Why are you...So stressed?"

Starlight waved with her hoof and chuckled "Oh it's nothing! Just uh...You know how those duties can exhaust!" she smiled and turned around 

Fluttershy looked as unicorn trotted away and hummed "Maybe she could join Rarity on her trip in spa..."

Fluttershy memorized that she wanted to prepare for the lesson and hurried through the hallways. She decided to think about it later.





Ferum stood in the middle of a hallway. He was thinking about going back to Sombra, when purple flash near to him caught dragon off guard. He gasped and fell on his back.

Ferum hissed "Ouch.." he looked up and noticed Twilight. She looked...Rather concerned "Oh uh...Morning?"

Alicorn clipped with her eyes and facehoofed "Oh Celestia...Sorry for startling you Ferum" 

Dragon stood up and dusted himself off "Yeah it's fine. Did you need something?"

Twilight nodded "In fact, I do. I need to make sure that Sombra.." she put hoof on her mouth "I-I mean, to fill documents and-"

Ferum looked at her blankly "Sombra already heard that" he then looked up.

Sombra's voice echoed through his mind "Totally understandable"

Ferum looked back at Twilight "He says he is OK with it"

Twilight looked awkward "Oh...He is?" as Ferum nodded, she exhaled "Phew...So that means I don't have to use any mind splitting spells"

Dragon sweated at it "Hey! That was rude!"

Twilight huffed "Well, I will do anything to protect my students! But since you two seem to...Get along, I promise not to use anything...Questionable"

Ferum exhaled "Alright, that's good to hear" he then looked at Twilight "So, let's go then"

And so they did.





Starlight was already in the library. She was a bit nervous.

'What if it turns out that he is unstable...We don't even know how stronng his magic resistance is,, if Sombra takes over his mind' She was walking side to side 'Well, even if this dragon CAN hold Sombra...What will we do next? Doesn't matter how strong his spirit is, Sombra will tire him down, untill he is in critical state'

Starlight groaned ad put hoof to her forehead. Suddenly, doors of library opened, revealing Twilight along with Ferum.

Dragon looked around the library "Wow, it actually looks MUCH better when it's not dark!" he sstarted to circle in place for a better view.

Twilight huffed proudly "Of course it does! After all, I personally choose all those books!"

Ferum's eyes widened "Excuse me, WHAT!?"

Twilight wanted to add something, when Starlight got her attention "You can brag AFTER we check him"

Alicorn smiled shyly and coughed in her hoof "So uhm...Ferum"

Dragon distracted from the books and looked back at Twilight "Yes?"

Headmare pointed at the table with several chairs around it "Please, take a seat"

Ferum nodded and did what was ordered "Alright, so, what do I have to do now?"

Starlight sat i front of him "Nothing much, you will have to answer simple questions...And make sure that you talked about it with Sombra"

Ferum and Sombra got a bit surprised "What?"

Twilight sat near to the Starlight "Exactly. We want to hear answer from both of you"

Ferum clipped with his eyes as he averted them. 

'What do you think, Sombrero?'

Sombra groaned "What the hell did you just call me?!"

'What, that's a pretty good nickname!' dragon slightly smirked.

Twilight and Starlight looked at each other confused.

Few moments later, Ferum looked back at them "Well, sure thing. I mean, I'm kinda interested in his answers as well"

Starlight nodded "Good, but before we start.." Her horn lit up "Do you mind if I put a spell on you?"

Ferum narrowed his eyes "The one that will warn you if I'm telling a lie?"

Starlight clipped with her eyes but shook her head "Well, in fact, yes" 

Ferum shrugged "Eh, I'm fine with it..." he made a but annoyed face "Well, Sombra is kinda upset about it, but he accepts his fate"

Starlight sighed "Well then, it might sting a little" light on her horn launched towards Ferum's head.

Surface of his head immediately became hard. Dragon closed one of eyes and put arm to his elbow "Geez!" the scales dissapeared.

Starlight got surprised "Uh...Did you just block my spell?"

Ferum looked at her "I dunno. It kinda happened, I can't control it" he shook his head.

Twilight looked at Starlight "Perhaps his instincts are way too sharp" she then looked back at the dragon "So is his resistance...It seems that his scales nullified the effect"

Starlight hummed "Weird...What about we-" she suddenly launched another spell at Ferum.

Dragon fell back from the impact, but scales saved him again this time "WHAT THE!?" he hissed and put arm on his back.

Sombra growled inside of him "IS SHE MAD!? I WILL KILL HER!"

Twilight quickly stood up and ran to him "Ferum?! Are you alright?" she stopped near to lying Ferum and helped him to stand up. After he nodded, holding his head, she glared at the unicorn "Starlight...WHAT! WAS! THAT!?"

Unicornn gulped as she backed away "W-well I thought that maybe it w-would work if I casted the spell unexpectedly an-"

Twilight cut her off "If I didn't know you well enough, I would tie you up, disable your magic-" with each word, she continued to get closer "-and send you to the dungeons for AT LEAST 2 months!" alicorn cornered poor unicorn.

Ferum wass silent, while Sombra whistled "You know? I like her this way"

Starlight looked at the enraged princess with caution "Twilight, you DO know that I would never hurt any creature intentendly!" she pressed herself against the wall.

Twilight narrowed her eyes and sighed "Sorry for that, I just...Could you warn me next time?" she stood back from the unicorn and started to walk towards the dragon.

Starlight dusted herself off "Well, yeah, I should have at least given you a sign" she followed the princess.

Twilight stopped before a dragon "Still...I'm pretty sure that this spell should have worked. It had quite the strength"

Ferum snorted "I could tell.."

Starlight locked her eyes on dragon's head "Well...Guess we will have to find another solution"

Alicorn rolled her eyes in thoughts "OR, we could trust him!" she smiled at the dragon "I'm pretty sure Ferum wouldn't lie to us"

Sombra smirked at it "Right, there is NO WAY that he could try to cover anything from you, Twilight Sparkle"

Ferum quietly snarled 'Oh please, shut up...'

Starlight looked at Twilight "What if he CAN'T say the truth..."

Twilight's eyes widened "Wait...Are you saying..."

Ferum coughed in his fist "Why can't you call Ms AppleJack?"

Starlight and Twilight looked at the dragon "Oh"





Meanwhile, Fluttershy's class...

The class was ready to start the lesson. Today's topic was about the animals that could use camouflage. Most of the class was listening to fluttershy, some even were writing notes. 

But Sandbar defenetly wasn't listening. He was trying to find Ferum around the class. Sandbar was glancing around the classroom.

Gallus, with head leaned on his talons, noticed it "Is something wrong? You've been like that since class started" he then smirked slyly "Trying to find a better look on Yo-?"

Sandbar, red as tomato, stuffed his hooves in the Gallus's beak "Q-Quieter!" he whispered it.

Griffin clipped his eyes and pulled hoof away "Geez, I was joking!" he the put his smirk back on "Unless..."

Sandbar rolled his eyes and sat back "Yeah yeah...Whatever" he then glanced towards Fluttershy. She was showing some pictures and explaining something "I just wonder where Ferum is"

Gallus raised his eyebrow "Wasn't he with you or something?"

Sandbar nodded "Yep, he was. I decided to go and eat something and left him there" he motioned his head towards the door.

Gallus snorted "Eh, he is probably doing...Uh..." he really started thinking about it "Well, now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure he is not the one to skip classes"

Sandbar raised his hoof "Exactly! I bet there is some stuff going on around h-"

Fluttershy smiled at him "Yes Sandbar, do you know the answer?"

He slowly put his hoof down and looked at the Gallus...Who slowly started to hide his head under  the desk. Sandbar sweated a bit and chuckled "Oh uhm...What was the question again?"

Smolder looked at it and giggled "Well well well...Look who got in trouble now huh?" 

Ocellus was finishing with taking notes "You do understand that it's not very good to laugh at your friends mistakes, right"

Smolder rolled her eyes "Yeah yeah...Right" she then looked at her notes...Blank sheets actually "..So, what's up with that magic around the newbie?"

Ocellus put the pencil away "Well, it wasn't magic in a way you know it. It was like...He has an oven inside him, and the heat barely goes through his scales"

Smolder snorted "Yeah, oven...I think he has a block of ice inside instead" she then looked around "Where is he by the way?"

Ocellus tilted her head "Hm?" she looked through the class...And didn't find him as well "That's...Bizzare"

Smolder smiled as she leaned on her fist "Didn't know he was the trouble type" 

Ocellus looked down at her notes "I'm pretty sure he has...An excuse" 

Fluttershy shook her head "No Sandbar, that's not correct. Though good try, better luck next time!"

Sandbar exhaled as he plumped back down on his chair "Phew..." he then angrily looked at the griffin.

Gallus shrugged "What? How did you expect me to help you?"

Fluttershy came back to her table, on which stood a chameleon. She whispered something and it changed it's color.

Fluttershy continued "So, most of the animals that can camouflage tend to get away from the predators eyesight. They do it in order to get some time to blend in with the surroundings" she then turned around "They then stand still, not to make any sounds. After the animal feels safe, it will quickly move elsewhere, to avoid contact with the predator"

Chameleon changed back and nodded to Fluttershy. It the jumped ito a bag on the floor and seemed to go to sleep.

Sandbar was writing everething down. He didn't want to nail this up again. Gallus though, was simply sitting and tapping on the desc with his talon.

Fluttershy raised her hoof "However, if predator is the one with camouflage, they will set up an ambush.." she pulled out two figures. One was a red triangle, second was a green square. Fluttershy started to move the second one forward,, seemingly with worrying expression "The predator will...A-Ambush and then.." she shook and sniffed "Oh...Poor thing..."

All students in the class started to sooth her. It was kinda a usual thing when they were talking about preys and predators.

Smolder raised her eyebrow "Why do I think that I saw that somewhere?"





Ferum huffed as he raised his eyes "NO, not me, nor Sombra are interested in turning ponies into slaves..."

AppleJack was really looking up while staggering on a chair "Truth" she then stopped and looked at the alicorn "Twi, Ah think they are safe 'n clear" 

Twilight wrote the answer on her GIANT paper scroll "AppleJack, we can't be too careful when it comess to Sombra"

AppleJack shrugged "Ah mean, they didn't lie or anythin'. Sure, Sombra is one of the most dangerous 'n devious villians we ever fought.."

"I am?"

AppleJack continued "But Ah'm pretty sure he is fine. Ah mean, if Discord was able ta reform, why Sombra can't?"

Starlight came inside, with silver tray in her magic aura "Tea is here!" she put it on the table, revealing four cups of tea and a tea pot.

Ferum took one cup and inhaled the tea scent "Ah...Thanks"

Twilight silently took the cup with her magic, while AppleJack gulped the whole thing down.

Starlight looked at the earth pony with surprised expression "Woah, that was...Unexpected"

AppleJack put the cup back on the tray "What d'ya mean?"

Starlight glanced towards Ferum who was gently blowing on his drink "I mean, even the dragon over here is cautious"

Ferum looked up "Well, let's say that burnt tongue is not fun"

Twilight nearly choked on her tea. She started to caugh rapidly. AppleJack quickly put her hoof at the alicorn's back "Whoa, easy there Twi!"

Ferum put his cup down and got confused "Uh...Is something wrong?" he looked at Starlight. She was looking at him really surprised...And confused too.

Twilight exhaled and looked at the dragon "You got BURNT?!"

Ferum chuckled and looked at her like she was a filly and asked an obvious question "Well, of course I did. Everyone does after all! Even if you are a dragon, your insides are still vulnurable"

Everypony in the room silently looked at him, bemused.

Sombra cleared his throat "Dragons...Don't get burnt from inside"

Ferum nearly facepalmed '..shimata...'

Twilight changed looks with Starlight and AppleJack "Alright, I think that Sombra is safe"

Unicorn snorted "Well, would you look at THAT?"

Twilight then looked at the dragon "Now, would you mind telling us a little bit about yourself?"

Starlight cotinued "You know, to make your life here a bit easier"

The trio looked at him with their eyes. Well, Twilight and Starlight stared, while AppleJack leaed back in her chair.

Ferum nervously brought a cup to his mouth and sipped some tea "Oh wow! What a great tea!"

"Seriously Vlad...SERIOUSLY?"

'Hey, I'm doing my best!'

Starlight smiled "I know, just a perfect one to have a coversation, right?"

Ferum averted his eyes "Right..." he quickly thought about a plan...And came up with one.





"Sombra, I need your help"

Unicorn stoped what he was doing "Huh?" he looked up into nowhere in particular "What do you mean?"

"The thing I just said. I want to give them a bait to swallow and let me go"

Sombra smirked "Well, and why should I do it?"

"I know that what I'm doing is weird and stupid, but I want it to be this way for sometime.." his voice became pleadig "Sombra, only you can help me right now...Please?"

Unicorn did't expect human to ask him like this. He though that Vlad would threaten to destroy him, or torture. But THAT? Sure, Sombra kew that he wasn't a bad guy, but still...

Sombra huffed "Fine, but you owe me one"

Voice became happier "Thanks man!"

Sombra rolled his eyes "Yeah whatever...What is the plan?"





Ferum was watching into nowhere for a while now. His eyes were blank, and his pose didn't change at all.

AppleJack leaned towards her friend "Twi, Ah think we broke fella down"

Twilight nervously shifted in her place "I think so...Maybe he had a traumatic experience in his past and doesn't want to talk about it?" she covered her face with hooves "URGH! I should have thought about that!"

Starlight poked Ferum in his side "I'm pretty sure he is just thinking about the topic" she then walked around him "No seriously, he is a dream of any artist"

A high pitched voice called from the bookshelves "Ah gnow, light?"

Everypony looked towards the source. It was Pinkie. She was laying on top of the bookshelf, holding a canvas with her hooves just in front of her. Pinkie had a pencil in her mouth, which she used to draw something.

She then looked from behind the canvas at Ferum  "Staglight, gould u muve a bit left?"

Unicorn awkwardly clipped with her eyes and stepped aside "Sure.."

Pinkie smiled at it and started to draw again.

Twilight looked back at the dragon "Well, what do we do now?" she rested her head on the table.

Starlight examined him "Hm...I heard dragons have sensitive wings"

Twilight didn't look up "So what is your plan?"

Starlight shrugged "Tug his wings to wake him up?"

AppleJack cringed "Ah don' think dis 's good idea. Last time Ah acciden'tlly pulled Dash's wings, she really felt it"

Twilight quickly shook her head "Starlight, we know not that much about him. Besides, that would be just rude!"

Starlight giggled "Oh please, I won't do it. I'm pretty sure he will wake up sooner or later" she then glanced towards his sweater "...But if he won't..."

Twilight narrowed her eyes "Starlight...Don't"

Ferum suddenly clipped with his eyes and shook his head "Phew! Sorry, I kinda zoned out here!"

Starlight looked at him and smirked "I won't" she used her magic to pick up the cups and a tea pot.

Ferum became confused "Huh?" he looked as she went out of the library and turned towards others "What did she mean?" he then looked up "Oh, hello Ms Pinkie"

Pony happily answered "Hiya!"

Twilight exhaled "Nothing to worry about" she then sat back up "I have to apologize though. I should have noticed that you didn't want to talk about yourself earlier"

Ferum raised his eyebrow "Eh?"

Twilight continued "I put a pressure on you and didn't even see it. I'm not sure if.."

Ferum put a hand to his face, while alicorn kept talking 'God...Do they always act like this when apologizing?'

"Mostly"

Ferum coughed in his fist. Twilight stopped in the middle of her sentence and looked at him "Look, it's all fine. Besides, I do have something to show"

Twilight's eyes sparked a bit "Oh! Even show?"

AppleJack stretched a bit "Well, Ah think yer good without meh ther' " she jumped off the chair and trotted towards the exit "See both of ya 'round"

And so, Ferum and Twilight were left alone in the library. Awkward silence filled the room.

Ferum hummed "So uh...Do I show it or..."

Twilight clipped her eyes and shook her head "Oh, yes sure. Go ahead!"

Ferum closed his eyes. After sitting like that for a few seconds, he opened them again...Though this time, there were purple waves coming out of his eyes. 

Before Twilight managed to send a spell (which was ready quite fast), Ferum quickly waved with his hand "WHOA WHOA WHOA Calm down! I'm in control!" his voice wasn't distorted, nor he was acting suspicious.

Twilight narrowed her eyes, but her horn stopped glowing "..Could you at least warn me next time? We don't want any...Uncontrollable panic"

Ferum nodded "Yeah..." he then noticed that Twilight's body was glowing a little bit.

Twilight exhaled "So, what did you want to show exactly? I hope it's not something...Dark, right?"

Ferum snorted "Well, no! Besides, I can't use magic as dragon! This thing is uh...Sombra's!"

Twilight then memorized something "..are you sure about that?"

Ferum looked calm "Well, yeah?" but actually, he was tense 'Why did she ask this all of the sudden?..I mean, yeah, we kind of showed her a trick. But...I didn't use magic while I was in the human form, right?'

Sombra didn't answer. 

Twilight mumbled to herself "Maybe she misunderstood something.." she then looked back at Ferum "Well then, you are free to go! Sorry for taking too much of your time"

Ferum chuckled "Oh well, it's not a big deal. Besides, I didn't miss mich, right?"

Twilight looked at the clocks "Well, in fact, you skipped Fluttershy's lesson and you are about to miss Rainbow Dash's lesson too" 

Ferum clipped his eyes "..oh?" he then quickly turned around "Oh well, can't keep anyo- creature waiting!" he moved towards the exit, but the stopped before exiting "Where do I go, by the way?"

Twilight giggled "Well, you just need to..."





Meanwhile...

Rainbow Dash sternly looked at the Gallus "Now, mind telling me what is THIS-" she raised her hoof with a whoopee cushion in it "-doing on MY chair?"

Gallus gulped a bit "Well uhm..." he looked around in hopes to find Sandbar...And didn't succeed.

Rainbow looked at griffin for a second and then smirked "..because you almost got me. Impressive!"

Gallus exhaled, defeated "I thought it would work if I changed cushions on the chair"

Rainbow raised her head "Well, it's not enough to take ME!" she then huffed and dropped a cushion onto his table "But, I gotta teach you guys something today so...Get ready I guess"

The door to the classroom opened. Everycreature  looked at it a bit confused. There stood Ferum, huffing.

Dragon shook his head "Did I...Phew! Am I late?"

Rainbow clipped her eyes "Uh well...No?" 

'Wait, wasn't Twilight supposed to do something with him? Or is he fine already?'

Ferum exhaled "Alright, and sorry for barging in like that" he quietly and swiftly moved to the only free chair in the classroom and sat on it, looking down and avoiding glances.

Rainbow Dash looked at him for the last time and cleared her throat "Anyway...What about we all go and train for today?"

In a moment, the whole classroom erupted in cheers.





Some time later, school gym

All students were exercising. Anyone who had wings was flying. Those who didn't, were on the ground doing push ups, squads and etc. Rainbow Dash was scanning the room, making sure that no creature is slacking off. Obviously, her gaze was attached to fliers. As extreme as she was, but Dash couldn't allow any students to get injured. Finally, she looked down at those who were exercising on the ground. Rainbow was about to turn back to the 'fliers', when she noticed Ferum.

'Wait, isn't he supposed to be flying with others?' She hummed and flew down to him.

Meanwhile, Ferum was sweating hard. Not only because of a sweater and fur, but also that fact that he always had low amount of stamina. He decided to reast a bit and huffed "Damn.."

Sandbar approached him. He didn't look as bad "You good there?"

Ferum strained his back and groaned "Yeah...I just didn't exercise in a while" he then looked up at the fliers "Geez...Gallus and Smolder are insane!"

They were competing with each other. Speed, agility, maneuvers...They looked really strong and powerful like that.

Sandbar smirked "I know right?" he then looked at Silverstream and Ocellus "But don't forget about others"

Ocellus and Silverstream on the other hand were elegant. Not extremely fast, but their movements  were careful, beautiful and flexible.

Ferum chuckled "I would fly like they do if I could"

Sandbar processed this for a few seconds "..If you...Wait, you can't fly?"

Another shocked voice called from behind "YOU CAN'T FLY?!"

Everybody stopped exercising and looked at them confused. Even though Ferum expected Rainbow Dash (thanks to his upgrades) but he wasn't prepared for her to shout. 

Dragon covered his ears and turned around "Of course I can't..." he then pointed at his sweater "I'm wearing this for a reason"

Rainbow Dash clipped her eyes "Well uh...Did you at least try to fly?"

Ferum raised his finger "To be honest...No"

Sandbar shook his head "Wait, so you are saying that you can't fly because you never tried?"

Ferum shrugged "Well, if I could move my wings, I would have certainly tried!"

Rainbow Dash's  eyes widened "Wait, you can't feel your wings?" she couldn't imagine life with wings but without flight.

Ferum shook his head "Well, no, I can feel them" he then glanced at his back "I just can't move them..."

Rainbow narrowed her eyes "Are you really sure about that?"





Ocellus, Silverstream, Gallus and Smolder were sitting on the bench further away. They heard the shouting, and decided to take a little break, while watching them.

Silverstream giggled "No seriously, did you see Ms. Dash's face? It was hilarious!"

Smolder snorted "I know right?"

They weren't really surprised since they knew about Ferum's 'weakness'.

Ocellus drank some water and exhaled "You know, maybe he could go to spa or...At least visit a doctor"

Gallus nodded "I'm sure not into all that hospital thingy...But I would defenetly ask a local doc about my wings if they were acting weird"

Silverstream put a talon to her beak "I'm actually interested in what he is hiding..."

Ocellus looked at her a bit confused "What do you mean?"

Smolder sceptically raised her eyebrow "A dragon that is wearing clothes, and glasses, can't fly or breath fire...And FLUFFY. Don't you find ANYTHING mysterious about him?"

Gallus shrugged "I dunno, in my opinion, he tries to look badass...Taking away his flufiness of course. He looks like an oversized plushie" 

Ocellus giggled at the 'plushie' part "Well, sure, he has a...Weird appearance. But I think that he is not hiding anything big"

Silverstream nodded "Yeah, I think I'm exaggerating" she then smiled "I mean, it's not like he is doing something bad or using dark magic, right?"





Some minutes later...

The lesson was over, just like the school day. Satisfied sighs, grins and talking were heard all around the school. 

Ferum was walking through the corridor. After Rainbow Dash offered him to go to the doctor or spa (for some reason), he denied. One of the reasons why he did so, was the scar. It was going through his back as well. Second...He didn't want to.

Dragon was about to exit school, when Sandbar caught up with him "Hey man, want to hang out with me and the guys?"

Ferum turned around and hummed "Well, sorry, but I had some other plans"

Sandbar sighed "Daw...Well, alright then!" They then continued to walk "What are you up to anyway?"

Ferum stretched a bit "I just wanted to meet up with one of my ..Acquaintances. Maybe go on a walk. You know, just stuff"

Sandbar slowed down "Wait, you have friends here?" he raised his eyebrow.

Ferum nodded "Yep, one of the reason I came in the Ponyville actually"

Sandbar stopped "Oh uh...Alright then. See ya"

Ferum waved at him "See you too!"

And so, he walked away from school. The town was alive. Ponies were walking around, chatting and doing their stuff. Some of them glanced at the dragon, but it was only out of curiosity. While Vlad was indeed enjoying this small stroll, he had another plan. 

And it included meeting up with Lyra and introducing her to the Sombra...Who was kind of quiet for a while now.