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// Arrival 
// Story: Sharp and Flat (First Attempt At Writing) 
// by thisnameisironic 
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	The Canterlot School for Gifted Unicorns was a very busy, very active place. It seems surprising, since this academy was a private school that only allowed the most magic-proficient unicorns to learn and live here. It was like a college, but only for ponies of the unicorn variety (as if that fact wasn’t obvious enough). It was the wealthiest school in Equestria, though, oddly enough, attending didn’t cost a single bit. Instead, a private audition was held to see how proficient the unicorn under judging really was. The most famous opportunity about this certain academy was that it was the only school to allow you to learn under (and possibly befriend) Princess Celestia herself.

Of course, like any other school in Equestria, it had its summer breaks (at least, for ponies who aren’t eggheads). While the two week break for Hearth Warming’s Eve was the only other major break throughout the school year, many of the students volunteered to work for the celebration instead.
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It was the beginning of June. Two weeks ago, the students of the CSGU (as the school will be referred to) finished their final tests and are now off for summer break. Now, however, the previously deserted campus was now seen with ponies of all races, from the young who have yet to get their cutie mark to teens hitting their senior year of high school. Pegasi, earth ponies, and unicorns from areas as rural as Ponyville to big time like Manehatten.

The occasion? It was CSGU’s annual Future Musician’s Camp. Due to the request by the school’s music department 23 years beforehand, the month-long tradition became the not only the most renowned music camp under Celestian rule, but also the most renowned of any. Several famous musicians of all kinds have made guest appearances to either perform or mentor, including the famous cellist Octavia, her complete opposite known as Vinyl Scratch (or DJ PON-3, for those who prefer that name instead), and even Lyra the…well, lyrist.

Separated to opposite ends of campus, there were two sections the camp was composed of: the ponies who loved to sing and the ponies that would rather play their hearts out on an instrument. Because of the massive variety of the latter, that section was divided between band and orchestral instrumentalists, similar to the division played out in the more wealthy schools. The vocal section was also divided between classical and show choirs if the turnout was big enough, but otherwise it was a mix of both. Of course, all ponies were separated by age as well, usually between grades 3-6, 7-9, and 10-12.

Colts and fillies alike rushed onto to campus along with their parents in glee, a mix of excitement and, for familiar campers, meeting with long-distance friends. The registration booth was hard at work getting campers signed in to their respective sections and dorms. Surprisingly, there was a lack of chaos and anarchy during this process. As registration usually started during mid-afternoon, and because of the surplus of ponies that often took part, they usually didn’t end until about seven in the evening.

There were two ponies, brother and sister, that stood out from the others. Perhaps it was because the older sister, a unicorn, was dragging her younger brother by his tail with her magic.

“I change my mind, Deb! I can’t do this! I just wanna go home again!” the white, blue-eyed colt whined. He showed a face of panic in a way that told that he was going to regret his decision. All his sister did was sigh.

“I already told you, everything is going to be fine,” Debtone, or Deb as she was usually referred to, replied matter-of-factly. “You’re going to find some new friends here and have a fun experience. You’re making things worse than they really are.”

Her crimson eyes stared back at her brother, who jumped in response. She giggled at his reaction and turned her eyes back toward the commons, where registration was held. While she loved her brother dearly, her impish personality couldn’t help but tease the timid pony. She sometimes joked with her brother that she was a vampire because of the hue of her eyes. And because she inherited them from her mother, she often teased with him about that too.

The colt tried to fly away but his sister’s grasp was too firm. His only result was a faceplant to the ground.

“You’re only hurting yourself right now, Treble,” she said in a calming yet unusually serious voice. “Dad already left and Mom’s getting her dorm room ready. You aren’t escaping now.”

It was times like these where I wish I would’ve brought my plastic fangs with me, she thought with a smile.

The colt, Treble, decided to finally give up and walk with his sister. He was originally excited to go to the camp. Debtone, a student at CSGU as of the previous year, had already gone to this camp for 3 years and sounded interesting to him.

However, it wasn’t until they arrived on campus that she told him that he would most likely have a roommate. That set him off. He’s had bad experiences with other ponies, and being shy and easily scared didn’t help matters.

His sister gave him a friendly yet apologetic look.

“Better? Mom already signed us up ahead of time, so we only have to get our dorm keys and away we go,” said an enthusiastic Debtone.

“I wish we were just back in Trottingham,” Treble replied. His eyes were focused on the ground and nothing more.

Deb, being a couple years older than him, understood what he was feeling…somewhat. She looked back at her first year of coming here. She was excited and optimistic when she got there, but the moment she locked her door for lights out, she started having second thoughts. Her mom wasn’t acting as camp counselor there that year like she had done in the past. For the first time in her life, she felt lonely.

Then there was Treble. He seemed to be in a worse shape for this than she was back then. At least she was able to make friends easily the few days after. He was always shy and timid. It didn’t help matters of how she teased her brother, but whenever he tried to be social, whatever he would say or do would just come out as awkward. Being a blank flank wouldn’t help him make any friends, either. He wouldn’t last two days, let alone a month. Out of pity, she began to regret bringing him along. This was a pretty cruel thing for a Big Sister Best Friend Forever to do…

The siblings arrived in front of one of the registration booths. Deb cleared her voice to catch the attention of a pink mare. No, the entire pony was in shades of pink. Her puffy pink mane and tail, with a bubblegum-colored coat and a cutie mark consisting of…balloons? This pony definitely wasn’t here last year.

“Um, excuse me, my brother and I are here for our-“

“Ooh! Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie! I only made an appearance in this fanfic because there were already two OCs! And a good fanfic needs more recognizable characters from the show!” Pinkie exclaimed in glee, much to Deb’s confusion. It was enough for Treble to hide behind one of his sister’s hind legs.

“What are you talking about?” Deb asked in a tone that sounded like she was talking to an insane pony.

“Don’t you know? Right now, we’re in a fanfiction about a music camp and the two main characters are OCs! There are already going to be plenty of OCs in this fic, so we’re going to need more show characters so the author can actually make this somewhat readable! Oh! You’re Vinyl’s kids, aren’t you?”

Deb was taken aback by the sudden change of topic. Now she felt uncomfortable. She didn’t like having the terms “Vinyl” and “kids” going together. But Pinkie was right: Treble and her were Vinyl’s kids. After her relationship with Octavia, unfortunately, didn’t work out, they still became best friends. Heck, Octavia an aunt now! But when Vinyl met a stallion interested in classical rock and singing, they hooked up…funny, how they barely shared anything in common.

“Yes…now can we have our dorm keys?” asked Deb with an impatient look on her face. She was wanting to keep her mother’s identity a secret, but nopony else seemed to notice what Pinkie said. Still, just to make sure.

“Okie dokie lokie!” the hyperactive mare said. She gave two sets of keys, one for each room, to Debtone.

Finally, Deb thought. I hope I don’t have to meet that pony again. She really gives me the creeps.

It didn’t take a professional to know that that was what Treble was thinking as well.
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After a bit of a walk down campus, the siblings finally arrived at the dorm Treble was staying in. The building itself showed of old age, yet still looked up to date as far as technology went. A keycard scanner that would’ve normally been used during the school year was turned off, allowing the doors to open for anypony. It was only able to lock with a key supplied by the dorm counselor.

When Deb opened up the door to Treble’s dorm room, he latched on to her foreleg, getting ready to burst into tears.

“I can’t do this! I don’t want to leave you!” the scared colt cried. He looked up to Deb’s face, only seeing a smile. He wasn't sure if he should be cheered up or not by it.

“Everything will be alright,” she reassured him. “See? Mom already unpacked for you.”

Indeed, everything that Treble brought with him was unpacked in a semi-organized fashion. His swimsuit was on a dresser folded neatly, sitting next to his pair of shades (sunglasses with blue-tinted lens) and his music player. His sleeping bag and Wonderbolts pillow was resting on his bed, along with what probably caught his attention the most: a stuffed yellow and green dragon.

“Mr. Fangs!” he exclaimed in utter joy. He jumped onto the bed and hugged his stuffed animal. Debtone just looked and reminisced when she was Treble’s age. She still missed her old stuffed panda at times. Since she lost it during a trip to her mom’s concert, she still had bad dreams about what could’ve happened to the animal.

Deb cleared her throat to grab her innocent brother’s attention again. Then she sat down on the bed Treble was laying on. She knew she had to make her brother comfortable here somehow. Mr. Fangs was only an escape from the real world. His imagination was still going strong. So she came up with a story that she had heard that her father’s sister would tell him.

“Listen, there was a filly, a pegasus named Fluttershy,” Deb began. Treble’s eyes widened. His sister would tell this story after he had a nightmare, and it always boosted his spirits and calmed him down to go back to sleep again. He would always tell himself to stay awake for the whole story, but to no avail. He swore this time that he definitely would.

“She was a pony like you. Shy and timid. She made a living by taking care of animals, and had 5 friends who would always look out for her.”

As Deb continued the story, her brother was noticeably getting drowsy. After finishing the story that ended up as a summary for Friendship is Magic’s episode of Dragonshy, Treble was fully asleep. It was 9 at night when she noticed, and lights out wouldn't be until 11.

“I’ll be here for you,” Deb said to her brother with a caring smile on her face as she heard an audible snore. “I always will.”

And with that, she left his room to go to her own. She had some friends to meet up with, anyway. Tomorrow would be Treble’s first day at any camp, ever. She prayed to Faust that it would go well, both for herself and for her brother.