//------------------------------// // 06 // Story: Son of Man, Daughter of Pony // by Marvelous Cheshire //------------------------------// 5:58 am In the darkness of the bedroom, lit only by the small clock sitting on the nightstand, Melody hummed softly in her sleep as she tightened the grip on her pillow, a thin smile crossing her muzzle. Beneath the cover, her wings twitched happily as a peaceful sonata played out in her dreams. After a moment, Melody began to stir as she felt herself being pulled from her visions. With a sigh, her smiled grew as her sense returned to her, the soft touch of the sheets, the even rhythm of the metronome sitting on the other side of the room, and the sweet jasmine scent filling the room. These were the mornings Melody cherished, the peace of being able awaken slowly rather than- 6:00 am In an instant, Melody was pulled from the remnants of her slumber as the clock’s alarm activated, filling the previously silent room with it’s incessant beeping. Within seconds of it going off, the alarm was silenced as a hand cover in charcoal fur shot out from under the covers, landing on the off switch. After a moment, a pair of violet eyes appeared in the darkness, glaring at the clock. “Peor diez dólares que he gastado (Worst ten dollars I ever spent),” Melody muttered as she tore her gaze from the device, sitting up with a yawn. “Though I guess it’s my fault for choosing to take early morning classes.” With another yawn she threw off the covers and hopped out of bed, stretching her back till it gave a satisfying ‘pop’. After a moment Melody walked over and flicked on the lamp by the desk, blinking as sudden light filled her eyes. Once her sight had adjusted, Melody turned her attention to the door. Slowly, she opened it just enough enough for her to poke her head out, scanning the empty room before shrugging. “Guess she’s not much of a morning person either,” she whispered, backing into the room and carefully closing the door. Minutes later, the door reopened as she stepped out, carrying a bundle of clothes and a small bag as she made her way over to the bathroom door. As soon as the lock on the door clicked, she quickly set about removing her pajamas, tossing them in a small pile before grabbing the bag and making her way into the shower. Melody couldn’t help but give a relaxed sigh as turned the faucet, allowing a burst of hot water rain down onto her head. ”Might not be as relaxing as soaking in a tub, but it’s definitely far better than having to use public showers,” she mused humming faintly as she stepped out from under the shower head reached into the bag hanging on the wall and pulled out a bottle of fur shampoo. As she set about rubbing the gel into her coat, Melody closed her eyes and began humming a simple, light tune. Once that was finished, she stepped under the shower head, letting the water wash away the suds as her humming slowly died down, thoughts from the days before running through her mind. “Just how am I going to get Cass to try and be friendly towards me?” she whispered to herself, reaching back into the bag to grab a similar bottle, this time working the gel into her mane and tail. “Suppose the best choice would be to just be nice to her and hope she warms up over time. Trying to find out if we have anything in common might help as well. Though, might be easier to figure out if I knew why she hated what I am, doubt her dad would sign her up for the program if she was always like this...” She trailed off as the faint buzz of magic caught her attention. Turning around, Melody finally noticed the dim glow of the runes etched on the wall. Reaching over, Melody closed her eye and focused her sense on the runes as fingers came into contact with the wall. “...Sound dampening?” she wondered aloud, glancing around to see similar runes coating the other walls of stall. “Convenient I guess, since it means you don’t have to worry that much about waking up your roommate,” she mused, before giving a simple shrug and returning to her task. Once she finished rinsing the shampoo out, Melody lingered under the water for a moment, letting it wash away any stray patches of shampoo in on her body, before shutting the water off and stepping out of the shower. Once out of the stall, she grabbed her towel and quickly dried off her mane and tail, before setting about the irritating process of drying off her fur. “I don’t envy normal ponies that have to go through this, especially with their body structure,” she grunted, before adding, “...Except unicorns, but they get to avoid a lot of problems the rest of us have.” Once that was done, she retrieved the bag from the shower and pulled one last, black bottle and a two-sided brush. Sighing, Melody stretched one of her wings in front of her, pouring a small amount of the concoction from the bottle before slowly working it into her wing, the nerves in it relaxing as the mixture soaked into the skin. “Note to self: look into finding a mixture that doesn’t smell horrid,” she whispered. “At least the smell fades after a minute, don’t think I could stand having this around me all day.” With one wing down, she let it fold back before stretching the other out and repeating the process, her mind drifting back to the topic of her roommate. “Guess I’ll just have to go with waiting and hoping that being nice to her will make her change her attitude,” she muttered. “If I knew why she felt this way, I’d at least have an idea how to work with it.” Once she finished with her wings, she washed her hands before dropping the bottle back into the bag and grabbing the brush, working one side through her fur, removing any knots that had formed. Once that was done, she flipped the brush over and took to her mane and tail, cursing how troublesome it was to brush the latter. “Would be nice if there was a grooming group on campus,” she mused as she finished getting the last knot out of her tail. With that done, she the brush into the bag and quickly got dressed, looking over herself in the mirror before giving a satisfactory nod before gathering her things had heading back to her room. Once inside, she returned the bag to it’s spot before turning to the clock. 6:55 am “Still plenty of time before class starts.” Glancing around the room, Melody’s eyes landed on her copy of the school’s student handbook. “Guess that’s one way to pass the time.” With that, the grabbed her book and headed into the living room to relax. 7:15 am “Good morning,” Melody said without looking up from her book as she heard Cassandra’s door open, earning a simple grunt from her roommate as she made her way to the coffee pot sitting on the counter. “Sugar’s in the far left shelf, and there’s a bottle of cream in the fridge.” Cassandra glanced towards Melody with a glare, before gathering the items in question, pouring a small amount into her mug and taking a drink. Immediately an intense, bitter sensation hit her tastes buds, causing her her to rush over to the sink and spit the offending liquid from her mouth. “W-what the hell was that?” she shouted. “Coffee, at least according to the can it came in,” Melody answered taking a sip from her own mug. “Apparently a gift provided by the previous residents, though how anyone can stand something that strong is beyond me.” Cassandra frowned. “Then how can you justify drinking it?” “At least a third of what I’m drinking is cream and sugar,” Melody answered, taking another sip. “... Though even then, it’s only barely drinkable. It’s just the only caffeine we have at the moment.” Cassandra held her frown for a moment, before sighing and emptying her mug into the sink. “Fine, guess I’ll just have to hope a shower can help wake me up,” she growled under her breath, before heading towards the bathroom, closing the door with a little more force than was needed. Soon after, Melody’s ears perked up at the sound of knocking at the front door. Raising an eyebrow, Melody jumped up from the couch and strode towards the door. “Hello?” She said as she opened the door, only to find no one standing there. “Okay...” she drifted off as another knock caught her attention. Poking her head out, she saw a thestral mare walking down the hall, before stopping in the front of the dorm two doors down and pulling a sheet of paper out of her saddlebag, then placing it on the door and knocking before continuing down the hall. Blinking, Melody turned to find one such sheet stuck to the door beside her. Dear Student, We regret to inform you that due to an small error in the plumbing, water heaters for your floor have been temporarily shut off while maintenance fixes the problem. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, and assure you they will have everything fixed in less than an hour. Sincerely, Damien Richter and Sable Wind, representatives of Dorm Building One. “Oh shit!” Melody whispered as she snapped her head towards the bathroom. “Cass! Don’t turn on the shower, there’s no-” She was cut off by a sudden high pitched scream, forcing her to pin her ears back as she winced. “...Hot water...” Within seconds, Cassandra stepped out of the bathroom, a furious expression etched on her features. Melody flinched under the glare of her roommate. “Um...” She pointed to the note. “Seems the water heater’s been shut off.”