August 26, 2058
I sat down in my seat, barely able to contain my excitement. Bouncing in my seat, I got a few strange looks from the students near me, but I didn't care; I was here!
“Please, students, try to get seated quickly so we can begin orientation!” the white unicorn mare with the purple and pink mane standing in front of the other staff shouted while smiling. In the corner behind her, I spotted Professor Applebloom and had to stop myself from hopping in my seat even more than I already was.
“Wow, earth pony must be lost,” I heard someone nearby mutter. I decided to ignore it. There were always going to be people trying to put me down. The fact that Professor Applebloom was on staff here just confirmed that an earth pony could do magic, too!
The whole staff sat in two large rows of seats at the head of the auditorium. Most of them were unicorns, but, in addition to Applebloom, there was a pegasus, and sitting directly beside Celestia at the head of the seats were a pair of humans, a man and a woman. Magic was not just for unicorns.
“What's with the humans?” someone else near me whispered to their neighbor.
“Don’t know. Maybe it’s some ambassadors or something?” the neighbor replied.
Sitting next to Celestia indicated they were important, so ambassadors was a good guess. I still thought they had to be on staff, though. The man looked like some stereotyped wizard from the old movies with those robes and staff, maybe a Korean one, since he looked Asian. The woman was middle-aged, had short brown hair, and was definitely of northern European ancestry. She was dressed in a business suit, which made her look more like some company CEO than a mage. Neither of the humans were smiling
“Why are their non-unicorns on staff? What can I possibly learn from the likes of somepony like them?” some filly asked in a haughty tone.
“Dang it, there's always got ta be at least one of y'all in every class,” a colt said in an exasperated tone.
“What, pray tell, do you mean by saying that, you uncouth…yuck…rural pony?” the haughty filly shot back.
“Ya know what ah mean,” the colt replied. “There’s always some high-nosed rich pony that thinks they’re better than everypony else. Guess we found out who it is early on.”
GGGOOONNNGGG
I covered my ears with my hooves, and so did everyone else, including most of the teachers and the princess. The unicorn that had told us to take our seats now had a large gong and mallet floating in her magic beside her. She smiled and floated them over to a corner.
“There now,” the mare said in satisfaction. “Now that everypony has quieted down, let me be the first to welcome you to this school. I’m Professor Sweetie Belle. I cover a few different magic subjects, primarily more advanced topics that you won’t be dealing with in your first year, but I also teach music, writing, etiquette, and serve as a school guidance counselor. In addition, a few of us run a camp for young ponies during the summers and routinely help out with other colts and fillies. The thirty of you will hopefully be around each other for the next four years, provided no one flunks out. I hope everypony can make some great friends during that time, so let's not be so rude to one another.”
I had no intention of flunking out. I’d pushed myself in school to this point; I could keep pushing myself. From everything I'd heard, the Equestrian schools were much easier than schools back home, so failing seemed unlikely to anyone who made it this far.
Professor Sweetie Belle partially turned and pointed a leg at the princess. “I know you’re all eager for it, so let me introduce Princess Celestia and let her say a few words!”
There were hoovestomps and cheers as Princess Celestia stood up and spread her wings, even from the ponies that had been critical of the teachers earlier. The princess smiled and waited for the cheering to subside.
“My little ponies and foals visiting from Earth, founding this school has always been one of my proudest accomplishments, and it brings me joy to see that it continues to operate and shape minds so many centuries after I commissioned it. Today, you join a long line of students who have passed through these halls on their way to shaping our history. I do not doubt that I will be hearing much more about each of you in the coming years,” Celestia warmly greeted the class.
There were more cheers and stomps, and the princess waited for these to quiet before continuing.
“This year is going to be a little different than years past. It has been a while since we last overhauled our standards. This is not the first time we have made radical changes to how things are done in the school’s history, and it likely will not be the last,” Celestia informed us.
There was some quiet murmuring among the students at this. I assumed she was talking about the admittance of non-unicorns to the school. I hoped she didn’t point me out. I didn’t want to be put on the spot right away.
Celestia held up her wings higher, which seemed to quiet the whispers. “There are going to be a considerable number of changes. These were necessary because Equestria’s circumstances have changed since the heyday of this institution. I have tried in the past to limit how fast our society has advanced, fearing that rapid advancement could destabilize our society, but now we are faced with a massive influx of new ideas, technologies, and other pressures from beyond our borders. Earth is now starting to open magic schools of their own, and the Earthlings have constantly impressed me with what they can accomplish. In a few years, they will present something this school has never had to contend with: serious competition from other magic schools. Already, we are starting to have friendly competitions to display students' skills, and both worlds will be watching these competitions to see who has the best students. In order to stay the premier magic school…nay…to even stay relevant, we must adapt. Otherwise, we will be left behind. Equestria must return to being at the forefront of magical knowledge and capability.”
“I heard she’s really competitive. She gets really into it and hates to lose,” a student whispered.
“Didn’t you hear?” another student whispered. “We were beaten in the magic games last year, and she fired half the staff after that, and most of the rest retired out of shame!”
“Equestrian mages outclassed by Earthlings? This cannot be allowed to happen. The princess continues to prove her wisdom if she decided to clean house after such a humiliation,” the unicorn colt seated in front of me whispered haughtily. He was sitting beside the stuck-up filly who had been called out earlier.
“A few years ago, I brought in an outsider to suggest how to update our schools and keep us competitive, one of our greatest critics from Earth,” Celestia continued when it quieted down. “While she made plenty of recommendations, the previous administration of this school was stuck in their ways and refused to act on them. Now that the previous headmare has retired, I am appointing a new leader of this school who will make the changes that need to be made.”
Celestia turned and faced the robed human man on the other side of her. “Allow me to introduce your new headmaster and allow him to say a few words. Please give him your full attention.”
The entire audience was still and quiet with shock as Celestia sat down. Bringing humans on staff was one thing. Appointing a human to be headmaster was another. Did she have that little faith in her existing educators that this seemed the only solution?
The man slowly got to his feet. He stood there, staff in one hand, looking impassively at us all.
“I have reviewed all your files, and I can’t recall a single one of your names because not a single one of the files stood out to me as anything other than bland and uninspired. There is no pony of great power, no prodigy, no one to inspire confidence. I’m sure I could go down to the local orphanage and find half a dozen foals with more promise than the lot of you. You are everything wrong with the Equestrian education system. If this is the best Equestria has to offer, it is in a sad state indeed,” the man said in a dry, bored tone.
The teachers all gasped, apparently as shocked as me and the other students. We were so shocked that we couldn’t even gasp. I noticed two people didn’t look surprised: Celestia and the human woman. Celestia was the one who picked this guy out to lead, so she must have known this was coming. The lady probably agreed with him.
“Perhaps you can be a little nicer, Headmaster,” Celestia whispered loudly. “These are twelve to fourteen-year-old foals who need encouragement.”
The man rolled his eyes. “However, I’ve been told to try to look at the positives. What I said before means you have nothing but an opportunity to impress me. The bar is set very low to do that at this point, so it shouldn’t be that much of a struggle. It is my sincerest hope that every single one of you impresses me beyond my wildest expectations.” He smiled at the end, and it looked like smiling might have been painful for him, likely because he did it so little.
This new headmaster wasn’t making any friends with the students or teachers. I had a bad feeling about what kind of changes would be implemented.
“Now, we shall discuss how things will go this year,” the man said, standing stiffly. “The thirty of you will be divided into three smaller classes of ten each instead of maintaining a class of thirty. This allows smaller class sizes and your teachers to work with you more individually. The ten in your group shall all attend the same core classes together and room in the same area of the dorms together. You shall each get a personal advisor from among the faculty, and they shall give you additional instruction one-on-one. Every student shall receive a ranking each week from one to thirty. At the end of the year, unless I have been sufficiently impressed by more than twenty students, the ranks twenty through thirty will be sent home and told not to come back. Our teachers have better uses for their time than instructing students that aren’t going to accomplish anything.”
The unicorn colt raised a leg high. “Sir! What if everypony passes?”
The man scowled. “Passes? If you are part of the bottom third and fail to impress, you didn’t pass, regardless of your grades. Each grade level will have fewer students than the last. By the time you are ready to graduate, only five of you currently present will remain–unless a miracle happens and there are too many good students to let go.”
“I will not be sent home! My parents paid good money to get me into this school!” the haughty filly from earlier shouted.
The headmaster smirked. “Congratulations, you just became the first to hold the rank of number thirty.”
She turned red in the face. “I am-”
The headmaster waved dismissively at her. “I don’t care what your name is or who you are related to. It has ceased to make a difference. You declaring you earned any right to stay because of money gives me a low opinion of you. Whatever your parents might give the school pales compared to what Earth investors will give if we show our capability, so I don’t care if they get angry at your dismissal. You don’t want to be number thirty? Impress me. Show me that you aren’t just a spoiled filly who thinks having money makes you worth my time.”
He put his arm down and looked around, then pointed right at me. “You! You will be our starting rank one. Don’t introduce yourself or say anything; I'm not interested, but an earth pony getting into this school is at least showing some signs of being a hard worker…which is…something. I believe competition breeds results, so I am introducing an element of competition to our curriculum. Whoever is ranked number one at the end of the semester will receive a reward for their trouble: any single item for sale anywhere in the city that a minor can legally buy at the time of the final ranking for the year, regardless of price. If you want to waste the reward on a piece of candy, you can, or you could buy a unique artifact. If it is for sale in the city, and there’s no age restriction on its purchase, it is yours. Let’s see how long you hold onto your spot. Ranks can change based on grades, accomplishments, attendance, and by impressing me. While I won’t be teaching, I will be stepping into your classes from time to time to observe.”
At least a few other students were looking at me. It was the first day of class, and I already had a target on my head. I figured there would be, but it would be because I’m an earth pony or an Earthling, not because the headmaster directly put the target on my head. Other students were going to want that reward. I was tempted to not even try to be number one. What did I want that could be bought anyway? However, I was also determined to prove that I deserved to be here, and that meant doing the best I could. If I didn’t impress this guy, I could end up being sent home, and I couldn’t live with that.
He sat down. “My words may seem harsh, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want each and every one of you to succeed. While I admit to being demanding, I do not intend to be cruel. I honestly hope that you all impress me, and I have no reason to send any of you home; it would certainly make returning this institution to glory an easier task. However, I have a mandate to make this school the best magic school in existence, and I will not embrace mediocrity to spare your feelings. That would be a disservice to this institution and a disservice to you. Professor Sweetie Belle may now continue with the orientation.”
A filly raised her hoof. “Headmaster, sir! You didn’t tell us your name.”
He smirked again. “I’m the Headmaster; that’s all the name you need.”
Professor Sweetie Belle bolted up out of her seat and to the front of the professors, smiling broadly.
“That sounds like an excellent segue for me to start introducing the staff!” she said, so oozing with enthusiasm that it had to be forced. “I’ve already introduced myself, and you met the Headmaster. I don’t know his name either, and I don’t know anyone on staff who does, so don’t feel bad. Most of the staff is new, including me. So we will all be figuring this out together–including some of the policies our Headmaster just announced.”
She pointed to Applebloom. “Let’s get the non-unicorn introductions out of the way first since I’m sure you’re all wondering about them. This is my friend Professor Applebloom! She teaches alchemy, Botany, and a few other science courses. She may be an earth pony, but her alchemy is top-notch!”
“She’s also mah aunt,” the country-seeming unicorn colt whispered proudly. That was interesting. Maybe this colt knew some secret alchemy information through his aunt. He seemed nice enough that they might be able to be friends.
She pointed to the pegasus. “This is my friend Coach Scootaloo! She doesn’t teach any magic. She is going to be teaching nutrition, and she is in charge of your physical fitness courses. Being physically fit and eating right helps you with your magic, and she’s a great coach. She is also the assistant guidance counselor if I’m unavailable.”
Sweetie Belle pointed at the human lady. “This is Professor Newman. I’ve never actually seen her cast a spell, but she seems to know a lot about magic and can pick up whatever you might be doing wrong and tell you how to correct it. She will be teaching magic fundamentals and theory classes as well as magical literacy and terminology. She also teaches an advanced course on spell melding–that’s combining two or more spells into one to create a new effect, but it can be hazardous if you don’t know what you’re doing.”
“Moving on to the unicorns,” she continued, pointing to an older mare with glasses. “This is Professor Raven Inkwell. She is the only holdover from the previous faculty, but even before she was a faculty member, she had been an aide and advisor to the princess. She’ll be teaching several mathematics courses, as well as illusions.”
Sweetie Belle pointed at a pink unicorn. “This is Professor Luster Dawn. She’s the youngest professor on staff. She’ll be covering transmutation, teleportation, and combat magic.”
She pointed to an older stallion. “This is Professor Neighsay. He will teach the history of magic, Equestrian history, and all courses dealing with artifacts and relics.”
She pointed to the last unicorn. “And last but not least, this is Professor Glitter Drops! She’ll be teaching about elemental magic–that’s spells focused on fire, water, earth, wind, and light.”
“You forgot one,” Headmaster said sourly.
Sweetie Belle jumped. “Oh, yes! Not present is Professor Psychic Calm! He teaches about dream magic and serves as the school psychologist, which is different from just being a guidance counselor. If somepony has issues that are too much for me or Scootaloo to deal with, we refer them to him. He’s pretty old and tends to sleep most of the day and keep to himself, so you may not see him outside of class unless you get referred to him for counseling. You may not see him even then–he can be a little odd. You’ll likely see and meet our three groundskeepers when you are going around campus; one of them is a kirin, so don’t be shocked by that. We have a full-time librarian, and we also have three cooks. I try to help out in the kitchen when I can.”
“But they chase you out because they don’t want the school burning down,” Professor Scootaloo interjected.
Professor Sweetie Belle pouted. “I'm not that bad.”
“Yes, you are,” all the faculty said in chorus.
“In addition to being Headmaster, I’m the school doctor. I don’t want anyone coming to me with food poisoning or severe burns. Stay out of the kitchen; that’s an order,” Headmaster grumbled.
Princess Celestia stood again and smiled at Sweetie Belle. “Your cooking may need work, but you have many other excellent qualities. Thank you for doing an outstanding job introducing the faculty and welcoming the students.”
Professor Sweetie Belle bowed her head as she returned to her seat. “Thank you, Princess.”
Princess Celestia looked at the students. “As the Headmaster has explained, our standards are getting much more rigorous than they have been in the past. The magic games that I mentioned previously not only earn the school notoriety but also earn the school funding from investors. The schools on Earth are currently very popular with these investors, so they have been getting a lot more of their money. While I would like to expand and improve the facilities here, the Equestrian budget is not endless. We are holding the games here for the first time this year. First-year students will not compete in the games, but I expect you to be on your best behavior when they come. Most of the second and third-year students, and some fourth-year students, will be competing in the games in six months, and I hope you show them your full support.”
“I’ve already sent home all the riff-raff from the older classes that weren’t up to standard,” Headmaster said. “We have a much more focused group of students in the upper classes now.”
“Leaving us with a lot of angry parents screaming at us,” Professor Inkwell said in an exasperated tone. “And many of those students that remain are focused because they are terrified of being dismissed as well.”
“And because of that, I’m sure they’ll perform much better than that dismal last-place finish this school endured last year,” Headmaster said.
Last place? No wonder Princess Celestia had gotten mad enough that she decided to allow such drastic changes to the school.
“But we must remember that this is a school, and the focus is on education, not competition,” Princess Celestia continued. “With the exception of those specializing in combat magic, the fourth-years will abstain from the games to focus on their studies. While we do want to ensure every student gets a well-rounded education, each of you will be determining a specialization by the end of this school year. In addition to your other studies, you will do additional coursework in your specialization, and it is your specialization that you will compete in during the games.”
I already knew what mine was going to be: alchemy. I doubted I could even do any of those other types of magic as an earth pony.
Celestia spread her wings. “Now, if you would all step outside, we can start assigning who your classmates and dormmates will be, and you can start learning about each other and building friendships that I hope stay with you for the rest of your life.”
Everyone got up from their seats and start heading towards the exit. When I got out to the aisle, I hurried to meet up with the colt who said he was Applebloom’s nephew.
“Hi! I’m Turnip Jones,” I greeted.
He blinked and smiled as we continued walking together. “Hello. Good ta meet ya, Turnip. Ah’m Bright, Bright Pear, that is. Kinda cool haven’ an earth pony make it into the school. Mah ’brother will be might thrilled ta hear ‘bout it. He always told meh that earth ponies can’t get ta go to this school. Might happy to be wrong on that…or might not, seein’ as he’s too old ta go now. Excuse mah speech. Ah live on a farm.”
I chuckled. “It’s okay. I’m from a farm, too, out in Kansas.”
“Kansas? Where’s Kansas?” Bright asked as we reached the outside.
“Oh, it’s on Earth,” I said.
He stopped in his tracks. “Kansas is on Earth? Is it near New Yolk?”
“Uh, I think you mean New York. It’s in the same country, so, sorta,” I answered. “You interested in New York?”
He shook his head. “Nah, but mah aunts go ta Earth sometimes, and the portal is at that New York place, so they talk about it more than other places on Earth. They say it’s the biggest dang city they’ve ever seen. Is Kansas big?”
“Big and empty,” I answered. “Lots and lots of farms. Lots of people yelling at each other about water.”
“Why water?” he asked in confusion.
I shrugged. “Not enough of it. People are only allowed to use so much, and nobody is ever happy about how much they get to use. It limits how big of crops we can have, but they say if we use too much water, we’ll use it all up, and all the farms will fail. I’m not really into farming, so I don’t understand the details.”
“Yeah, ah ain’t in’ta farmin’ either,” Bright replied. “Mah whole family farms, side for my aunt Applebloom, and my sis, who went here. Ah want ta be like my big sis. Ah want to be a hero, like mah aunts. Ah’m goin’ to learn combat magic and join the royal guard like her. She’s an officer and does all kinda fancy magic ta fight monsters. Bam bam bam!”
“Oh, look, the dirt pony and the dirt pony with a horn are bonding! Isn’t that sweet?“
We both turned to see the snooty filly who was complaining that she deserved to be there because her parents paid good money for it.
I frowned but then smirked. “Oh, look. It’s Miss Thirtieth-place.”
She stomped. “I’m Prim Tape! Of the Canterlot Prims! My family has more money than your whole little dirt towns put together!”
“Yet not enough to buy some manners.”
We all looked up to see Professor Newman standing there, arms crossed, glaring down at us.
Prim backed away. “What I meant to say-”
“I would have you apologize for your behavior, Miss Prim, but apologies mean nothing if they are not sincere, so it would be pointless,” Professor Newman dryly said. “What I will do is remind you that the princess has little use for officials who sit around insulting their constituents. Your family holds a number of official positions in the government, does it not?”
Prim licked her lips. “It does.”
Professor Newman nodded. “Behavior like this often comes from a foal’s home. I wonder what the princess would think if she found officials in her government who spoke this way about the majority of her subjects. A simple investigation could uncover such information.”
Prim’s eyes went wide. “Please don’t.”
Professor Newman smiled. “Did I hear a please? Perhaps I was mistaken, and your parents did teach you some manners after all. I will withhold doing any investigation, but if I hear you using the term dirt pony again, there will be consequences. Do I make myself clear?”
Prim nodded in a hurry. “Yes, professor.”
Professor Newman turned her gaze to me next. “And you, Mister Jones, shall not insult anyone else’s ranking. Rankings can change quickly, and you could find yourself at the bottom after a few bad days, trying to work your way back up. Ponies may remember you mocking others’ rank when you need assistance, and that would not bode well. Do I make myself clear?”
I nodded just as fast as Prim had. “Yes, professor.”
Her eyes shifted to Bright. “As for you…I found no fault in anything you said or did, but that could be because you hadn’t had the opportunity before I intervened. Your aunt told me about your father. He thinks before he speaks. I advise you to always remember to do the same. It helps keep you out of trouble.”
He nodded. “Yes, professor.”
The professor turned and walked away. Prim stuck her tongue out at the professor’s backside.
“Stupid human, doesn't even have magic,” Prim muttered.
Professor Newman stopped and looked back. “Did I hear you say something, Miss Prim?”
Prim yelped and stepped back. “No! Nothing, professor.”
“Hurry and line up for your dorm assignments, then,” Professor Newman instructed.
I turned and looked up at the school building. Here I was, beginning the first year of my studies at Celestia’s School of Magic, and I intended to be one of the students who graduated. This was the beginning of my bright and glorious-
“Stop standing around gawking and follow instructions, Mister Jones.”
I jumped and hurried into place. “Yes, professor!”