//------------------------------// // New School // Story: A Pegasus Horn // by Ignimbrite //------------------------------// Apparently, the town was too small to have multiple schools for different grade levels, so Obsidian and his sister would both be attending the same one. This was going to take some getting used to. From what he'd heard, teachers in those situations just have different sets of assignments for each grade. He briefly wondered how much work the teacher had to go through because of that. Instead of wearing his pegasus-style saddlebags, Obsidian wore his father's old bags. After all, wings were much easier to hide than a horn, and if he played his cards right, he could pass for a regular unicorn. There was his parents' repeated suggestion of not hiding anything, but he still wasn't quite ready for that yet. As they approached, they saw several other kids playing around in the schoolyard. The bell rang out, and all the kids stopped playing and made their way inside. Obsidian and Feldspar joined in from the back. An earth pony stood in front of the class. She must have been Miss Cheerilee. "I see we have some new students here. Would you mind coming up and introducing yourselves?" Slowly, they walked up to the front of the class. Obsidian could feel them looking at him. Okay, just go up and introduce yourself, then sit back down. As he went up, the left half of the class stared into his green eye, and the other half stared into his blue one. He could hide his wings, but he couldn't hide his eyes. Maybe if he just went up quickly, they wouldn't notice. Feldspar went first. "Hi everyone! I'm Feldspar Stone from Manehatten. We just moved here. Dad works for the new newspaper office...". She continued describing her entire life story until Cheerilee reminded her that they had lessons to get to and another newcomer to introduce. "Hi... I'm... I'm Obsidian Crystal... also from Manehatten... ... I'm her older brother." "What happened to your eyes?" Mentally, Obsidian facehooved at his own failed optimism. I knew it. I knew they were going to ask. "It's... it's a genetic condition. I was born with them." He looked expectantly at Cheerilee, hoping she would allow him to sit back down. At her nod, he moved over to an empty seat and began taking out his school supplies. "You know, you don't have to leave your saddlebags on all day. That must be uncomfortable." He looked up at Cheerilee. "That's okay ma'am, I've gotten used to it. It makes it easier to keep everything organized." She gave him an odd look. "Well, if that's what helps you learn..." With that, she started the day's lesson. The class was actually going really well. He was understanding the material, nopony had teased him for being new, this was great! Of course, then came math class, when Obsidian heard the words no new kid ever wants to hear after their name is called. "Would you mind demonstrating this problem in front of the class?" Of course, like all the rest of the students, he knew it wasn't really a question. It was really a kindly worded order. So, with no other choice, he got up to demonstrate a math problem on the board. At least it was one he already knew. As he was walking to the front, somepony stuck a hoof out, causing him to trip and land on his face. Some of the other kids laughed. Obsidian, meanwhile, slowly stood back up, rubbing his nose. Involuntarily, his ears pricked up and his breathing quickened. The room had suddenly gone dead quiet. Looking forward, he saw his saddlebags lying on the ground in front of him. In front? But that could only mean... He slowly turned around. Everypony was staring at him. "You have WINGS?" "Can you fly?" "You're an alicorn?" "Are you related to the princesses?" Not again! It was the start of his old school all over again. Fortunately, before he could hide under the desk, Cheerilee was able to calm the class down. "Please, please, if everypony would be quiet, I'm sure that there's an explanation." Everyone stared at him, begging him with their eyes to explain. He sighed in defeat as he began, "Hi, everyone. My name is Obsidian Crystal,... and I'm a chimera." There was silence in the classroom until one filly raised a hoof. "But you don't look like a chimera at all." He shook his head. "No, I'm not a chimera like the monster. I'm a genetic chimera. It means I have two completely different sets of DNA instead of one set." A pegasus raised his hoof. "So you're not an alicorn then?" "No, I'm not an alicorn. Look, basically, before I was born, I had a twin brother, and we kinda fused together into a single pony. At least, that's how dad explained it. That's also why my eyes look like this. One of them is mine, and the other one is his." The whole class was silent. Not quite sure what else to do, Obsidian turned to the board, completed the problem, and sat back down, picking up his saddlebags along the way. He dropped them under his seat. There was no more point in wearing them. Fortunately, the bell rang shortly afterwards, signaling the start of lunch. Obsidian stepped outside and looked around for an empty space. Finding one near the swings, he sat down and pulled a sandwich out of his saddlebags. "Is anypony else sitting here?" He looked up to see a red filly standing next to him. "No, it's open." The filly sat down and pulled out her own lunch. "I'm Kind Face," she said, holding out a hoof. "Obsidian." He shook the hoof smiling. "So... why did you hide your wings?" Obsidian's ears dropped a little. "I got picked on a lot at my old school for having both traits. It's..." How am I supposed to word this? "It's complicated." Kind Face nodded. "I came in from Canterlot. It's a nice place, but when it seems like you're just about the only one of your kind around..." Obsidian nodded back. He knew the feeling, although he was surprised to hear that there would be so few earth ponies there. Then again, he had heard that the residents of Canterlot were mostly unicorns. After a few moments of silence, Kind Face spoke up again. "So, how much of you is you, and how much of you is your brother?" Obsidian picked his head up and looked at her. After a minute of trying to find the answer, he finally admitted, "I have no idea." Apple Bloom arrived back on the farm. "Hey little sis, how was school today?" "It was fun! We got some new classmates. One's a pegasus, and the other's a chimera." "That's nice." Applejack continued three steps before she stopped dead in her tracks, eyes wide... "What?!?"