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// Meet The Mess (Part I) 
// Story: Baleston Days 
// by LordOfTape 
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	A bombard of trampling hooves echoed throughout the classroom as students began to leave. Ponies bumped and bustled against each other, trying to snake their way through the crowd to the door.  
An authoritative voice called out to the mass, “Now I want you all to have your short stories done and edited for the next class. I’ll accept nothing late.” 
The voice belonged to none other than Professor Bindings. The tall, tan-grey earth pony was a master of the Equestrian language and of course, a professor at Baleston University. He held his job in high regard, and was always putting in that extra effort to really leave an impression on his students. 
He watched intently on the slew of students leaving his classroom. Although it was a rather large class, 65 ponies, he could still pick out a few memorable personalities. He tried not to play favorites, but somehow these ponies had managed to work their way into his curriculum and even into his mind.
Yes, these were the students he was exceptionally proud of. First and foremost, Nom Nom the alicorn. By no means was he an exceptionally gifted student, nor was he of regal descent. Nom Nom was more accurately an intrepid scholar. Always reading, learning. If he could only get Nom to move his muzzle of out from the cosmology books long enough for him to learn some real Equestrian literature.
Versal was another bright one. He had an aptitude for poetry, but sadly his work ethic was equivalent to that of a tired honey badger. And Dreamweaver the day dreamer. She barely makes half of the classes; however she has the potential to do so well. A shame the two of them don’t try harder.
Lastly, a stallion by the name of Code Levol. A quiet one, that one. It’s nice to see his head always in book. It’s not so nice when you realize that he’s using it as a pillow. However lazy he might be, he has a good head on his shoulders. Not to mention his works. Bindings could not have hoped for a more enthused writer. 
Unfortunately, it was the end of the day’s class and everypony was headed off to where ever they might be needed. Bindings had done what he could for the day, and that was all he required. Satisfied with his work, the professor retreated to his desk. Opening an old, tattered book, Bindings sighed.
“Poetry: The Penwell Collection, a classic.”
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The thick, brown door slid shut, clicking the lock into place. A pair of blue wings flapped lazily, lifting their owner to the lofty bed above. Landing smoothly on the bed of clouds, the pegasus proceeded to cover his ears with headphones. Flicking his power button on mp3, the pegasus allowed himself to drift away into a zen-like trance.
Eyes closed and breath steady, the pegasus smiled. Nothing could ruin his chill time. Nothing at –
Knock Knock Knock!
The dark blue pegasus winced. He took in a deep breath and released it, calming himself. Surely it was somepony else’s door that was being knocked on. He didn’t have to worry about a –
Knock Knock Knock!
“Damn it.” He grunted.
The pegasus removed his headphone, laying them gently on his bed of clouds. After checking to make sure they stayed put, he went to the door.
“Levol, let me in. I’ve got my Cosmology lesson with Professor Orion in ten minutes and I need my notes.”
Code Levol unclicked the lock on the door, letting his friend outside in. The agitated door-knocker rushed into the room. A blur of white and black zipped around the corner of the room, searching valiantly for its notes. And just like that, it was gone.
“Don’t forget to pick up some food on your way back!” Levol yelled after the blur.
The blue pony sighed once more before closing the door. He had had a long day and only wanted to relax with his music. Was that really so much to ask?
A loud banging sound from the floor boards answered that. To anypony else, having your floor erupt into a drum solo for the drunk might be frightening, but Levol and his roommate were used to it. After all it meant one of three things; the green was in, the beer was in, or the girls were in.
Levol looked back to his bed of clouds hovering happily over the floor. The mp3 was still there. Glancing at the door then shifting back to his music player, Levol decided he may as well see what was going on downstairs.
The door slid shut once more, its lock clicking into place as always, but this time with the pegasus stallion on the outside. Levol casually trotted down the long hallway until he reached the stairwell. Not wanting to bother with spending the energy of flying, he decided to just walk down the short way to the first floor.
Levol knocked on the door to the room below, room 126 to be exact, and waited for an answer. Without a word, the lazy door cracked itself open, and a puff of smoke hit Levol square in the face.
Coughing, Levol walked in. “The heck man, it’s worse than a damn volcano in here.”
At the back of the room leaned up against the wall, sat a forest green earth pony. He had a flat black mane, just long enough for it to reach his eyes. Eyes which were currently a redish tan color and a little bit bloodshot. On his flank rested a microphone tied in with a paraph, topped off with a small patch of marijuana. Surrounding the stallion was a cloud of palpable smoke.
“Levoooooooooooooooooooool!” the ecstatic, green stallion called out. “Whazzup dude?”
This was Kushy Kallous. An anti-socialite from Las Pegasus, Kushy managed to get along well enough at Baleston University. He wasn’t too big on getting out to meet people, but made friends soon enough anyways. They were few and far between, but they were enough for Kushy.
“I’m guessing the taps were for green?” Levol chuckled.
“Nah dude, nah.” Kushy said, shaking his head. “It’s important this time.”
Levol raised an eyebrow, “If it’s so important, why are you still baked?”
Kushy stared deeply into Code Levol’s eyes, his face becoming more serious with each passing second. The blue stallion was becoming uneasy and tried shifting his gaze, only to be returned to his staring match.
Then, out of nowhere, Kushy burst into laughter. He was so happy that he fell over and began rolling on the floor laughing.
Still laughing, he managed to get out the sentence, “Zeko’s in it deep this time.”
Hearing Kushy’s roomate’s name, Levol perked his ears up. In need of more information, he grabbed the rolling green pony and held him in place.
“Kush, what do you mean?”
Letting out his residual chuckles, he replied “Kid went and signed himself up for the battle tomorrow night. You gotta snap him out of it. We both know he aint ready.”
“Celestia damn it.” Code Levol snapped under his breath. “Where is he?”
“Dunno bro.” he shrugged “Its dinner time aint it? I know I’m hungry.”
Levol began getting worried. Zeko wasn’t ready for the battles at the Backbeat. And knowing him, he’d probably get himself into more trouble than he’s worth. Levol knew that he had to convince the kid to stay out of it, for his own sake. 
The pegasus quickly trotted towards the door. Before leaving, he turned back to Kush, “Nom’ll be back from his private lesson soon. I told him to pick up dinner. Just knock when he gets back. If he brought any, he’ll send some down.”
Kushy’s perky voice shifted into a more derisive tone, “You know I don’t trust his teleportation. He’ll probably make me the pizza.”
Levol would have responded and told his friend not to worry, but he had already left to go and find Zeko before it was too late.