A young woman hopped out of a taxi, pulling a huge shoulder bag with her before hurrying over to the trunk to retrieve more. She wore a purple ruffle t-shirt with black leggings and flats. Her hazel eyes shone as she witnessed the beautiful buildings and lush landscape of her new school for the first time. She brushed her dark, straight hair out of her face as she turned to pull out her two suitcases, both deep purple. The most important years of her life were about to unfold, and she didn’t want to miss a single moment.
“Ms. Sparkle?” the driver questioned as he caught up to her. “Are you certain you don’t want any help with those bags? It’s really no trouble.”
The girl shook her head, but smiled at his generosity. “I’m fine. And like I said, call me Twilight.” she said, pushing a couple of bills into his hands.
“Thank you, Twilight.” The man grinned. “I’d wish you luck, but I can tell you’re perfectly capable by your choice of university. Xanterlot is well known as the best around.”
Twilight smiled. “Thank you.” She pulled out a map from the bag around her shoulder, and squinted as she examined it. “To be honest, I never took the tour of this place… Do you know where “Kismet House” is?”
The driver looked surprised. “You got placed in Kismet? O-oh, yes, of course I know where that is…” The frown that appeared on his face was not lost on Twilight, who gave him an odd look. “I’m sorry,” he continued, looking over to examine the piece of paper Twilight held in her hands, “it’s that way; right here on your map.” He pointed down a path along the side of the campus, and tapped a building that seemed a bit far off from the others.
“Oh, okay, well thank you! I should really get going, then.” Twilight smiled and waved.
The driver did the same as she started down the path. “Good luck, Twilight Sparkle!”
…
Twilight sighed in relief as she dragged her luggage along; the driver didn’t once comment on her odd name, or the fact that her parents weren’t with her to see her off on her first day of university – things most everyone seemed to bring up.
Truth be told: Twilight had never met her parents. She was told by social services that she had appeared at the door of an orphanage as a two year old with nothing besides an identification card. She’d lived at that orphanage for many years, and was in and out of foster care for far longer. Despite being the smartest in her class, she’d never managed to convince a foster family to adopt her. Twilight kept focused on her studies, and had long since accepted being on her own. A full scholarship to the prestigious Xanterlot University was her reward.
Though as she came across an old, tired building with masses of graffiti scribbled across the side, she wasn’t sure she was impressed with her placement in residence. There was a small plaque on the side of the building that read: KISMET HOUSE. Named after Sir Lionel Kismet (1789 – 1852), one of the founders and scholars of Xanterlot. He encouraged students to “find their destiny, even if in a way they might not expect”.
Twilight turned away and twisted a fancy-looking door handle. The door creaked as it opened, and she noticed a few students set up behind a table.
“Good morning!” a young girl cheerfully greeted. She had curly red hair, and was smiling in Twilight’s direction. Two boys beside the girl raised their hands in greeting. One was a bit taller, with shorter hair. The second was an inch or two shorter, but had more muscles and was arguably better looking. “My name’s Marilyn, and I’m a resident assistant here, as well as the president for Kismet,” she continued, “Can I have your name and ID please? Then I can get Will and Garrett here to help you with your bags.” She gestured to each in turn as she named them, revealing the taller to be Will, and the shorter to be Garrett. “They’re on house council as well… Will’s in charge of finance, Garrett’s vice president.
Twilight approached, dragging her suitcases behind her. “Oh… that won’t be necessary. I can handle the bags on my own,” she insisted, though she was panting from the effort of carrying them. “And my name’s Twilight Sparkle.”
The two boys snickered and Marilyn raised an eyebrow. “Come again?”
“Twilight Sparkle,” she repeated, used to this treatment. She rummaged in her bag and pulled out a driver’s license.
Marilyn took the license and peered at it for a moment before handing it back. “Oh, um, of course, yes you’re right here, room 308. A basic double… your roommate isn’t here yet. Here’s your key.” She passed an old-looking brass key over. “I’m also the RA for 3rd floor, so I’m sure I’ll see you around.” She smiled at Twilight before looking towards Will and Garrett. “Boys?”
The two guys saluted and each picked up a suitcase before Twilight could protest. She was reduced to following, carrying just her shoulder bag up two flights of stairs. They continued down a hallway until they stopped at the room second from the end.
“Here we are, 308!” Garrett announced, gesturing unnecessarily to the door in front of Twilight. “Go on, open it! Kismet’s an old building, so we still use keys… the rest of the campus uses ID cards, but you’ll get used to it.”
Twilight nodded and pushed the old key into the equally old keyhole. The door clicked open.
The room wasn’t very big. It was just big enough for two identical beds, dressers, desks, and chairs, one set on either side of the room, with a bit of floor space left over in the middle.
Will and Garrett dragged Twilight’s bags inside, and dropped them on the bit of floor space she had. “Since you’re here first, you get to pick whichever side you want,” Will told her.
“Oh, okay,” Twilight said, surveying the room. She quickly picked the right side, simply because the desk on the left had a hole in it that she knew would drive her nuts. She started unpacking, believing that the boys would leave once she started doing so.
“So, what program are you enrolled in, Twilight?” Garrett asked.
Twilight sighed. “Astrophysics.”
Both boys exchanged impressed glances. “Wow, that’s sure surprising,” Will commented. “I’ve never heard of a first-year taking astrophysics before… don’t you have to take certain - ”
“I took the requirements online during high school in order to take it first year,” Twilight explained without looking up.
Will let out a low whistle. “Well damn, I’m only in third year business. I’m majoring in marketing,” he said.
Twilight only nodded.
“I’m in the rec program,” Garrett said.
Again, Twilight only nodded.
Garrett cleared his throat. “Speaking of which, I’m pretty sure your next-door neighbour is in rec too…”
Will stared at him in surprise. “Oh God, do you mean–?” Garrett nodded and Will burst into laughter.
Twilight looked up, a mixture of annoyance and confusion on her face. Finally fed up, she deliberately started unpacking her bras.
“I’m sorry, we should leave you be,” Will said quickly.
Twilight smirked, but he continued.
“Just a warning – I’m pretty sure the girl that lives next to you has been drinking quite a bit already today…”
Twilight finally hesitated and gave them her attention. “It’s only one in the afternoon…” Twilight didn’t drink herself, and wasn’t impressed to know her neighbours did differently.
Garrett laughed. “I’d be drunk too if I didn’t have to do all of this house council crap. It’s your first day of university! Live a little!” He winked at her, then both he and Will disappeared.
Twilight shook her head in disbelief. She closed her door, locked it for good measure, then continued unpacking. She was nearly finished when dubstep started blasting from the room beside hers. She tried her best to ignore it as she finished up.
Next on her list of things to do was to purchase textbooks, but a bigger part of her wanted to wait for her roommate to arrive. So long as she wasn’t like her next-door neighbour, Twilight was sure the other girl would be tolerable. Twilight rummaged through a stack of newly-unpacked papers until she found the sheet that identified her room information.
Quickly reading through it, Twilight learned that her roommate’s name was “Flutter Shy”. An unusual name… not that she could really talk.
There was a loud knock at the door. Twilight was excited for a moment; was that her roommate? She stood up and put her papers to the side. The knocking came again, this time more frantic and unrelenting.
Twilight wondered why she wouldn’t just use her key. She opened the door, and a tiny girl in a cyan hoodie nearly fell on top of her.
“Oh, goodness…” Twilight took a few steps backwards as the girl staggered into her room, grinning widely.
“Hiiii!” The girl drawled. Her dark hair was short and choppy, and the ends were highlighted all of the colours of the rainbow. She was clearly intoxicated, as she could barely stand.
Twilight quickly gestured for her to sit on her newly-made bed.
The girl did so, her brown eyes struggling to keep focused on Twilight. “I… I just wanted to say hi, cause we’re new neighbours.” She giggled. “Dunno if you can tell, but I’ve had a biiit too much – if ya know what I mean.” She made a drinking motion with her hand, though forgot to put her hand near her face when she did so.
Oh right. Her neighbour. “Oh, that’s… fine…” Twilight said, extending a hand towards her. “My name’s Twilight Sparkle.”
Much to her confusion, Twilight received a high-five instead of a handshake. “My name’s Rainbow… Rainbow Dash.” The girl smiled.
Twilight glanced at the girl’s hair. “Fitting name.”
Rainbow laughed. “It’s my legal name! The hair came later.” She winked. “By the wayyyy, I have a single next door, so if you ever want to sleep on my floor… you know… need to get away from the roommate or something…” Rainbow Dash snickered. “I don’t mind! Annnytime!” She attempted to illustrate this with a wave of her arm, and ended up falling over onto her side.
“That’s very… generous.” Twilight was starting to worry about how to get her out of her room.
“Well, anyways, I think it’s time to take some more shots!” Rainbow sat up suddenly, grinning. “You should come, Twilight! GAAARRRETTTT!!” she screeched. “COME TAKE SHOTS WITH ME AND TWILIGHT!”
Twilight shook her head, alarmed. “Oh, no, I’m gonna wait here for my roommate. I don’t want to be, uh, too out of it when she shows up, right?”
Rainbow nodded rapidly, wide-eyed. “Oh, that’s a good idea!” She clapped her hands together, then stood up, swaying a bit. “Just me then! I’m the best at taking shots, you know,” she said, her tone turning serious. “I bet I’m better than anyone in this entire residence!” she bragged, pointing a thumb towards her chest for emphasis. “This entire CAMPUS even! I can take them all in a row, too!”
“Too bad you have nowhere to put them all…” Twilight muttered, looking skeptically at the other girl’s tiny figure.
Rainbow giggled, then staggered out of the room. “GAAAARREETTT!”
Twilight closed the door after her, breathing a sigh of relief as she once again locked it. She could hear Garrett and Will outside her door saying something to Rainbow, though she couldn’t make it out.
Rainbow’s voice, on the other hand, carried loud and clear through the wooden door. “Oh, Twilight’s super-cool! You’ll love her! She thought she was better than me at taking shots… but I showed her… she didn’t even take ONE!” Rainbow replied triumphantly.
Twilight rolled her eyes and pulled out a book. She was about to start reading it, but her door gave an audible click as it was unlocked.