//------------------------------// // Academy Arrival // Story: Time and Masks // by Hopeful_Ink_Hoof //------------------------------// "Dinky," a voice said, "Wake up Dinky. We're here." A gentle shaking finally roused the sleeping filly. Blinking her yellow eyes, she looked around to find the source. Seeing Twilight Sparkle in front of her helped wake up her mind and remember where she was. The young unicorn had been awakened early by Carrot Top. The yellow mare had explained that Derpy was not feeling well and was not going to be able to see Dinky off. As such, it was Carrot Top helped finish with the packing and walk with Dinky to the train station. There were a few more good byes before getting on the train. Once moving, she had watched the scenery going by before falling asleep again. As the train came to a stop, she moved off the bench she had been laying on. The filly stretched out her body, letting out one last yawn as she worked the effects of sleep from her mind and body. She watched a while as some of the other ponies disembarked. As their turn came, Dinky quickly pulled her saddlebags back on and followed Twilight onto the walkway. As they got off, the filly's eyes went wide in awe as she looked around. Dinky had never been to Canterlot before. Everything looked so tall, and white. It must take a lot of time and energy to keep everything clean. Dinky continued to follow Twilight as they left the train station and headed further into the capital city. The filly pressed closer against the alicorn, continuing to look up as they went. Except for a few trips through time and space, Dinky had spent most of her life in Ponyville. There, only one or two buildings were taller than two stories, and most of them were spaced apart. Here, everything was taller and closer together. Combined with the side of cliff looming on one side, and the whole thing had the little filly feeling extremely claustrophobic. Twilight Sparkle strolled casually through Canterlot, enjoying the place. There was a twinge of nostalgia as she went. She loved her life in Ponyville, and all the friends she had made since moving there, but Canterlot had been her home for years. It had been where she grew up; first with her family, then as Celestia's student. It always made her feel a little homesick when she came to visit. The two continued to walk until they reached the gates of Celestia's Academy for Gifted Unicorns. The wrought iron gates were wide open, allowing the new student and former alumni to enter easily. Looking around, Dinky saw a lot of unicorns. They were in a variety of ages ranging from Dinky's age (if not younger) to Twilight's "I've never seen so many unicorns," the filly said as she looked around to see them all. "This is probably only a quarter of the student population," Twilight said. "Wow. Really?" "Yeah. Some who live in Canterlot tend to go home on the weekends, so they aren't here. There will also be older students just out and about the town. Some are probably in the library or the dorms, studying for classes. Not to mention there are always students in the cafeteria as long as it's open." "That's a lot of unicorns." "Not even including the faculty." "...Miss Twilight? This all looks really expensive. How can they afford all this if the classes are free for any unicorn?" Dinky's paced slowed down as she looked around more, considering all she saw. She was doubtful that even Diamond Tiara's father -- the richest pony the filly knew of -- could afford all this. "Well it's not actually free," Twilight explained. "Many of the students have to pay tuition for their classes every year. Celestia has tried to make it as cheap as she could, with tax cuts, funding, and fundraisers where alumni -- students who graduated like myself -- can make donations. Like you said, it's really expensive." Dinky's mind reeled with all the information she was being told. Her pace slowed down as she thought about all that she had been told. It almost felt like she was learning, and she had not even started her first class here yet. As she thought about the money, something clicked. "Wait a second." The filly narrowed her eyes at the older mare. "When you told me about the school, you said it wouldn't cost mama anything. Now you're saying it's expensive and twi... tooe..." She paused a moment, thinking of the word. "...tu...it..tion..." that sound about right to her "every year?" "Well there are also scholarships," the older mare continued, "Every year, a certain amount of money is given out to ponies so they can attend schools they normally couldn't afford. Not just for unicorns either. There are also scholarships for pegasi and even earth ponies. Anyway, among the ones available are those that are for anypony whose parents work a civil service job, like delivering mail, and there are also some for unicorns that have unusual or powerful magical talents. So between your unique ability and your mothers job, there were actually several that you could have gotten. Add to that a couple letters from Celestia's former student -- who it turns out is also a hero for Equestria and a princess -- and tuition will not be something you or Derpy will have to worry about." "I forgot you were a princess now." "So do I most of the time. I didn't even mention it when I was sending letters. It wasn't until some wrote back with 'Dear Princess Twilight' that I remembered. I kind of like not remembering though, and it's nice that nopony in Ponyville treats me any different than before." She smiled, omitting (and doing her best to forget) the fact that some actually did treat her different when she first came back. "What about other unicorns, like Ruby?" Dinky asked. "Are you going to do something like this for them too?" The quest made Twilight look at Dinky then look away. The little filly said nothing as she watched. She had seen the look on the purple pony's face before to recognize it for what it was: Twilight was giving serious consideration to the question before coming up with an answer. "I don't know if I could," the mare admitted. "Ruby's mom owns her own business, and she makes too much to qualify for certain ones. Unless Ruby has some unusual or powerful magic, I don't think she could get any scholarships." She let out a sigh. "I might have to start looking teaching classes for unicorns in Ponyville after all." The two turned quiet as they continued to walk, finally reaching the doors to the building. Twilight looked around, face scrunching as she tried to remember the layout of the school and the location of the administrator's office. Thinking she remembered, she turned and continued to walk. It was almost a relief when she found the door where she expected. Taking a step closer, she knocked. "Come in," a voice called out. Something about it sounded extremely familiar to Twilight Sparkle. It almost like someone she had known for years. She gave her head a shake, dismissing the idea. With a push of the handle, she opened the door and stepped inside, Dinky close behind. The two stopped at the sight in front of them. "Princess Celestia?" Twilight blurted out, blinking in confusion. "Surprise," the princess said in her calm voice. There was a twitch of her lips to curve slightly upward as she looked down at the two. After a moment, her horn began to glow with golden energy as she shut the door behind Twilight and Dinky. "Yes," Twilight managed to say, "Surprised. Very much so. I'm glad to see you, but I didn't expect to." "Now Twilight," Celestia stood up as she spoke to move around the desk, "did you honestly think that I would not want to meet the filly who caught the attention of one of my best students? More so with the description of what supposedly did." Reaching the pair, she lowered her head and smiled at the filly. "Hello. You must be Dinky Hooves." "Hello Miss Princess Celestia, ma'am." Dinky found herself tongue-tied. She had seen the Princess before, several times, but this was the first time she had ever actually met her so close face to face. "A nice attempt," the princess spoke, "but 'Princess Celestia' is formal enough. No need for additional titles." She straightened up looking down at the two. "Now the main reason for my visit is to actually see the capabilities of this filly's powers directly. As such, I have set up a small test." "Test?" Twilight squeaked, "But, we're not ready. We haven't done any studying. We...I.." "Twilight!" Celestia stated, "Calm yourself. You are not the one being tested, Dinky is. The result is not going to affect her position here. It is merely to see if she can perform the task and so that I can get a feel for her power myself. If your young friend is unable, she will simply go about her normal classes until her power manifests enough for us for the school to explore and understand it. If she is able, it will give us a better idea of what is required to help control and begin to master it." Twilight nodded as she listened, slowly taking deep breaths in through her nose and out through her mouth. She could feel Dinky looking at her in confusion and could not help but blush. Here she was a full grown adult, and even though she knew better, she still felt anxiety at the idea of taking a test. It could not be a very comforting sight for the young filly to watch someone suffer a panic attack like that. "Okay," the purple pony said, "Okay. I'm calm. I'm okay. Sorry about that." She looked from Dinky to the princess. "So what now?" "Do you think you are ready, Dinky?" Celestia asked. "I thinks so," the filly said with a shrug. "I mean I don't know what you want me to do and I can't control my magic yet, but I can try my best." "Very well." The princess gave a nod. "Brace yourselves. First, I'm going to take us to the classroom where the test is to take place." With that, her horn began to glow golden once more. The magic soon encompassed the three ponies as the world around them turned white. As the light faded, a different room began to become visible. Twilight looked around, taking it in a moment. "This is the same room where my test took place. This is where I had to hatch Spike's egg." And it was. The three of them were now in an lecture hall with elevated desks and chairs allowing students to look down at the front of the room where there were several chalkboards. Standing at the front of the class room was an elderly white unicorn beside a large hourglass. "Indeed it is," Celestia agreed. "Now Twilight, you and I shall take a seat near the back. Dinky, please make your way down to the front." Dinky gave a nod and did as she was asked while Celestia and Twilight moved to take their seats The two watched as the filly made her way to the front, turning to look at them curiously. "Now," the white alicorn explained, "when I give the order, the hourglass shall be turned over and the sand will begin to flow. All you will have to, my little pony, is to stop it." "You mean like I did with Diamond Tiara?" Dinky asked. "If it is possible," Celestia agreed, "but by any means so long as it is magical. Ready?" She smiled as she received a nod. "BEGIN!" With that, the elderly unicorn reached out and pushed on the hourglass with a hoof, turning it over. The sand began to flow, pouring through the narrow spout as it traveled from the top to the bottom. Dinky watched it for a moment, then closed her eyes. She tried to force the sand to stop, to make her magic flow out do as she had been told. But she could not feel any of the power flow through her horn. Squeezing her eyes tighter, the filly began to think about how she had felt at Diamond Tiara: the anger at her mother being made fun of; the frustration at feeling like being able to do nothing as she and her friend were teased. Most of all, she thought about how she just wanted it to stop. Stop it. Stop it! STOP IT! As Princess Celestia and Twilight Sparkle watched, a dark blue aura encompassed the horn of Dinky Hooves. The silence of the room was broken by sound of ticking, causing Twilight to look around the room curiously. The filly's magic aura grew larger, the energy encompassing the hourglass at the center of the lecture area. Before the alicorns' eyes, the flow of the sand slowed, then finally stopped. The two got up from their seats to move down. Twilight flew up from her spot and quickly landed in front of Dinky. Her gaze shifted back and forth between the hourglass and the filly. Celestia joined shortly, moving at a more relaxed pace. Looking down at the hourglass directly. "Dinky?" Twilight asked. "Dinky you can stop now. You did it." Reaching out, she placed a hoof on the little unicorn. At the touch, the filly started to relax. The glow of her horn faded before disappearing all together. She looked up at Twilight Sparkle, tears filling the unicorn's gold colored eyes. "What's the matter, child?" Celestia asked, looking at the teary eyed filly. "N... Nothing." Dinky sniffed and rubbed at her face. "I just... to do what you asked I thought about Diamond Tiara and how she treated me that day. I tried to get myself as mad as I was at her. I guess it worked." "Indeed it did." Celestia motioned to the hourglass. "Take a look." The two did so, their snouts practically pressing up against the glass. "Wow," Twilight whispered, "You can actually see some of the grains suspended in mid-air." "I did that?" Dinky asked, tilting her head as one ear flicked. "You did," the princess gave a nod. "Hopefully with training, you will be able to control your powers so that you can use them without forcing emotional torture on yourself." "I don't understand." Twilight turned to look up at Princess Celestia. "What did she do?" "In this case, I believe that the symbolism is also the literal." Twilight's eyes went wide. She turned from the princess, to the hourglass, to Dinky, and back. "You... you mean that she... she..." "Dinky stopped time," Celestia completed with a nod. "Yes. Your young friend froze time, both for the filly that angered her and for the hourglass." "But..." Twilight shook her head, "But that's IMPOSSIBLE!" "And yet," Celestia motioned at the hourglass once again, "you see the evidence before you with your very eyes." Twilight continued to alternate between looking at the other two and the frozen timer set before her. "Do you think that's what I did in Sugarcube Corner?" Dinky asked. "Did I get scared and stop time for the whole world?" "I don't believe so," the princess gave a shake of her head as she spoke. "I believe that you did the opposite, in fact. That when Pinkie Pie inadvertently startled you, you sped yourself up so fast that time seemed to stop." "Wow." Dinky dropped into a sitting position, letting the information sink in. "This is amazing," Twilight said. She turned to Princess Celestia. "How... how did you even think of this? I have never heard of anything like this before." "That is why I had to see it for myself." Celestia sat down and motioned Twilight closer. "There are tales that were considered ancient legends when I was no older than our dear Dinky. Tales of Alicorns, before the titles of Princesses were used, who had powers over the elements, over the season, over the weather. There was even a tale of one who had the powers over time and space." "What was her name?" Dinky asked. "The stories never said. She only ever identified herself as the protector of time and space and friend to all kind ponies everywhere." "Wow...." "So..." Twilight said contemplatively, "Dinky is supposedly using a magic so old, that it only existed in myth even thousands of years ago?" "Correct." Celestia gave a singular nod. "Had I not heard such stories growing up, I would never have considered it myself. Having seen things over my life, even before my rule over Equestria, it seemed like a possibility." "So can you help me learn to control this?" the filly asked, tilting her head as she continued to look at the princess. "I believe so." Celestia rubbed at her jaw for a moment. "Although, I also believe that you are closer to accurate than you intend. With such a rare and unique talent, I may have to take a direct and personal interest in your training and education." "What?" Dinky blinked in confusion. "You mean," Twilight shifted as she spoke, "You mean that you want Dinky to be your new protege?" "Indeed I do." Celestia gave the filly a gentle pat before turning her attention back to Twilight. "After all, my last one has done so well, that -- as I said when she ascended -- there is nothing more I could possibly teach her. As such, it is a perfect time to take on a new student of my own." Her gaze shifted as her mouth quirked into a slight smile. "Perhaps it would do you well to consider seeking a protege of your own as well, Princess Twilight Sparkle." Twilight's eye went wide before looking away. Her face turned bright red with embarrassment at the use of her title, one which she was still not used to. "...I'll take it into consideration..." The reaction got a chuckle from Celestia and Dinky.