"Luna? What in the name of our lord and savior Morgan Freeman are you fucking doing?!" Adam hissed as he sat next to the disguised princess.
Ignoring his language, Luna smiled cheekily. "What, can't a princess transform into a little filly and attend school to keep an eye on a certain somepony?"
"Whatever." Adam gave up before he even tried to make sense. "This is so unprofessional," he concluded as he pressed his chin to his desk, listening to what the teacher has to say.
"Good morning everypony. For those of you who are new in my class, my name is Bright Link but you can call me Professor Link, and I welcome you to the academy for gifted unicorns."
Adam heard a few muffled groans from some of the students.
"Here he goes again," one of them complained.
"The academy for gifted unicorns-" Professor Link continued, "-was built by Star Swirl the Bearded to teach young unicorns how to hone their skills as magicians and learn the fine art of wizardry. Unicorns that showed great feats of magic usually come here. Now you must remember, this school is not for expert magic wielders, it's for unicorns with the potential to be great wizards, so don't feel like you're not meant to be here. Each and every one of you had shown what we like to call a 'magic surge'.
'Magic surge' is when a unicorn, either intentionally or otherwise, releases a tremendous amount of magic. When such an occurrence happens, the unicorn is usually sent here so he can learn how to control and make the most out of his magic. Unicorns can even find their affinity while learning. Now, are there any questions before we begin? Yes, you in the back."
Adam turned around and indeed, there was a little white filly with her hoof raised in the air. He guessed she was new as well.
"What's your affinity then?" she asked.
The teacher smiled proudly and puffed his chest just a little bit. "I'm a hydromancer, which means I have a natural affinity to water. There are other types of affinities such as Aeromancy, Geomancy, and Pyromancy, which, together with Hydromancy, forms the four basic elemental-type spells. Then there is Umbramancy, Photomancy, Necromancy and Technomancy, or void, light, death and tech magic, which consists of higher tiered spells.
"There are, of course, neutral spells that range in complexity and difficulty, such as levitation, teleportation and transfiguration. Today's lesson we'll learn how to levitate."
Professor Link opened a drawer on his desk and levitated a whole bunch of feathers. Each feather floated and then landed in front of each student.
"Now, to perform the levitation spell correctly one must have the object you want to levitate pictured in your mind. Take a deep breath and summon your magic. If you execute everything correctly, you should feel a building sensation at the tip of your horn. Then I want you to release your magic upon the feathers given to you and they should float in the air. By doing that you create a constant flow of magic from your horn to the feather, thus you are able to manipulate it across the room with ease. That is all, please begin."
The classroom had suddenly burst into life as students chatted among themselves and horns blazed with different colors. Some feathers did float, other merely vibrated in place, and some did not move at all. Adam stared at his own feather and cocked his head to the side.
"How the fuck am I supposed to do that!" he silently cursed.
He glanced to Luna's side, or more precisely, Luna's desk.
Which was bare.
"Hey, where's your feather?!"
"Up there," Luna answered, gesturing to the highest floating feather, encompassed in blue aura.
"Very good young miss," praised Professor Link. "What's your name young filly?"
"Diana."
"Hmm… what an odd name. Oh well."
"Diana? Really?" Adam deadpanned.
"Oh shush," chided Luna.
Adam rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the idle feather on his own desk.
"Hmm, what did the professor said? Picturing the feather in your mind or something?"
Adam closed his eyes and did just that. Picturing the feather in his mind.
He concentrated on the feather, he thought of the feather, he was the feather.
And then, he felt something. A building sensation. He concentrated even harder until…
He burped.
Every eye in the classroom was directed at him. A rain of feathers showered the class.
"Whoops, wrong kind of building sensation."
Adam ignored the stares and laughs and looked intently at his unmoving feather. The rest of the students resumed their practice.
"Psst… Adam… hey, listen, hey, hey listen, hey…" Luna whispered continuously.
"Luna, for the love of god, shut up!" Adam whispered back
Adam felt a hoof smack him on the back of his head.
"Oh! The fuck was that for!"
Another smack.
"You're not speaking to me like that, got it mister."
"It's kinda hard taking you seriously with that look and that voice," said Adam, still rubbing the sore spot on the back of his head.
"Oh… shoot, I don't get it," complained the white filly from behind Adam.
"You and me both," Adam agreed.
"How by imagining the feather you force it to float," she hissed, looking at the feather as if her glare alone would levitate it.
"I know, right?"
"By the way, what's your name?" the filly asked suddenly. All traces of irritation were gone as she looked curiously at Adam.
"Ahh… Adam. My name is Adam,"
"I'm Ginger," said the filly. Adam could not help but think it was pretty funny, considering her mane was bright orange with curls. What surprised him though were the freckles, he
did not know that ponies could have freckles, what with the fur and all. "So what's your story?"
"My… story?"
"Yeah." the filly nodded. "Your story. You know, the magic surge, what was it like for you? I heard there was a filly years ago that hatched a dragon's egg into a full grown dragon!"
Adam started to question Ginger's sanity.
"I don't remember…"
"What?!" Ginger exclaimed, somehow remaining quiet. "How can you not remember the most important event to every gifted unicorn?"
"Look… there are more important things in my life and I really can't be bothered with pesky fillies asking me how I got enrolled to this bloody school, so why don't we just get on with the lesson!" Adam's response was a bit harsher than he intended to be, but as long as it got the message across, he was fine with it.
He turned his head back to the feather, not even seeing if he hurt Ginger, and concentrated his magic. There was a building sensation at the very tip of Adam's horn. Adam could see it now, the feather was deep within his thoughts, but there was another thing there. It was Ginger, or more precisely, the conversation Adam had with her, and how upset he got at the end of it. He focused on the feather again as he pointed the horn at it and let loose.
A few things happened in that instance.
First, the feather morphed into a rock, which then sprouted wings. Then, said rock started flying around the classroom while students did their best to avoid getting hit by it. And finally, it hurled itself straight through a closed window, shattering the glass while simultaneously shouting, "Leerooooooooooooooooooy Jenkinsssssssssssssssss…"
The silence that followed was a testament to how ridiculous the entire ordeal was.
"Umm… Professor Link?" said Adam. Again, every eye in the classroom was focusing on him. "'Was that supposed to happen?"
"Way to go squirt," one of the student said as he walked past Adam on his way out of the classroom.
He was the fifth one by now. Other students congratulated Adam as well. Some older mares even ruffled his mane and said how adorable he was.
It. Was. Annoying.
Adam brushed away another mare's hoof that was stroking his mane and huffed in frustration as was about to exit the classroom as well.
"Adam? A word please," called Professor Link.
Adam mentally facehooved for his bad luck and turned around to see Professor Link with an unreadable expression.
Luna, still in disguised approached Adam and said to him, "I'll wait for you outside." Before leaving him.
Once the classroom was completely empty, Professor Link gestured Adam to sit on a chair next to his desk.
"So, why do you want to talk about?" Adam asked cautiously, after sitting down.
"Oh don't worry Adam." Professor Link smiled. "I wanted to personally congratulate on your achievement, despite having no relation with today's subject. You see Adam, you're not the regular run-of-the-mill gifted unicorn. You're something truly marvelous with the potential the likes I've seen only on rare occasions. I expect great things from you in the future."
Adam was not sure how to react. To have a teacher praise him sure was new. "Umm… thank you Professor?"
"You're welcome. Now before I send you on your merry way, here's a paper with the list of subject you'd be attending this year." Professor Link levitated a paper out of his drawer and gave it to Adam.
"As you can see, there are the mandatory subjects such as Mathematics, Physics, and History, but there are also subjects for you to choose from like Charms, Astronomy, Herbology, Potion making and Magical theory, and there are some of the more interesting ones like Enchanting, Summoning, Elemental studies, and Spell creating . Be mindful though, you can only choose three. The schedule is on the back of the paper."
Adam turned the paper and there was indeed a very detailed schedule.
"Thanks, I guess. But wait! Shouldn't I have to go through a sorting exam or something?"
Professor Link nodded. "Under regular circumstances, yes. But you're far from normal, now are you, Adam."
"I guess I am. Thanks Professor," Adam thanked truthfully.
"No problem, Adam. But I think you should go already. There are certain fillies that are probably waiting for you." Professor Link gestured towards the slightly opened door, where Luna and Ginger peered through, though they hid quickly behind the door once Adam looked.
"Okay, bye Professor Link," Adam called as he left.
"To you Too, Adam," Professor Link called back.
Adam finally left the classroom only to see filly Luna and Ginger waiting for him outside. Without saying a word, Adam walked away.
"Hey, wait up!" the two called together as they tried to catch up with Adam, though he wasn't making it any easier on the fillies as he doubled his pace.
"Maybe if I'll ignore them, they will disappear," Adam said to himself. He was not in the mood for talking right now, and the fact that Luna went this far to keep an eye on him was more than a little annoying. And Ginger? Ginger was annoying plain and simple.
Adam turned behind a corner and promptly bumped into the last ponies he wanted to see:
Gale Mist and friends.
"Oh, look who it is, if it isn't the pony of the hour himself," teased Gale Mist as he and his gang circled Adam like a pack of hungry sharks.
"Piss off, wanker! I've got more important things than to talk to a bunch of numpties such as you!"
"Oh yeah? Like what?" Gale Mist retorted.
"Like taking a piss, which in hindsight, is just like talking to you!"
"Ohh… we've got ourselves a foul mouth in our hooves. Or is it foal mouth!"
Adam physically cringed at the impossibly bad joke as the rest of the gang laughed. A crowd of ponies gathered in the hallway, though none dared to step forward. Adam could just about see Ginger among the crowd, looking as terrified as ever, and next to her, Luna. Only her expression was much more morbid.
Once Gale Mist did a full circle around Adam, he stopped and looked down at him. "Now what should I do to you." he pondered. "I can turn you into a toad and toss you into a lake. Or maybe I can just hang you from one of the chandeliers."
"Oh I know, I know!" called one of stallions around Adam, and judging by his simple way of speech, he was not the sharpest tool in the shed. "Maybe we can just beat him up.”
Yep, definitely not the sharpest tool in the shed.
"Or maybe," Adam offered. "I could just climb up to your ego and jump down to your collective IQ, if a bit overkill."
The crowd around Gale Mist started going 'ohhhh' and one brave stallion even shouted "Put some ice on that burn!"
Gale Mist looked around and scowled. He then focused on Adam and squinted his eyes at him. "You know what, I am sick of getting dumped on, and I am sick of you!"
He then proceeded to shove Adam.
It wasn't strong enough to trip Adam, but it sure as hell annoyed him.
"Buddy," Adam hissed in a dangerously low voice. "Don't shove me."
"Oh, really, why not?" Gale Mist then shoved him again. Adam, for his credit, closed his eyes and took a big breath before exhaling, opening his eyes, if only a little.
"Because whenever anyone shoves me more than twice, my mind goes blank and all I see is this white-hot flash of fury."
"When someone shoves you like this?" Gale Mist shoved Adam yet again.
Mistake.
"Principal Mustang! Principal Mustang!" called one of the staff members as he burst into Principal Mustang's office, breathing heavily. "Principal Mustang!"
"I'm right here you know!" Principal Mustang shot back angrily. "What is it!?"
"I… there's… in the hallways… students… fight… right now…"
"What? I did not understand a damn thing."
The heaving stallion took a few moments to collect himself before he started rambling again. "There's a fight in the hallways!"
"What! Why haven't you told me sooner!?" he shouted while rising from his office chair and following the pony through the hallways. Principal Mustang could already hear the commotion. Students shouting and laughing, some even shouted 'fight, fight, fight!'
Principal Mustang turned the corner and saw exactly what's happening…
Two dogs and two pigs were barking and squealing while a bruised Adam stood in the middle of the conflict with a light blue ferret hovering on front of him.
"Hey Gale Mist, why are you hitting yourself? Why are you hitting yourself? Why are you hitting yourself?" repeated Adam while smacking the ferret across the walls.
"What in the name of Celestia is going on!?" Principal Mustang bellowed.
Adam turned around quickly as he dropped the ferret to the ground.
"Is that a student!?" asked Principal Mustang, stunned.
"Take a guess," Adam answered, receiving some angry squeaks from the pesky rodent.
Principal Mustang's horn flared and the ferret, as well as the other animals, turned back into their ponies forms.
Once Gale Mist was back to his own body, he scowled and picked himself up. "My mother will hear about this!" he shouted.
"You can tell your mother whatever you want you fucking little shit stain!" Adam shot back, moving forward while Gale Mist and his gang ran off in fear. "I will fucking kill you if I see you again!"
"Adam that's enough!" Principal Mustang roared as he physically restrained Adam from chasing down Gale Mist. "I will not, and I repeat, will NOT allow this kind of behavior in MY school, you hear me! This institution was built with the blood and sweat of some of the greatest mind in pony history. I will not have its reputation tarnished by the likes of you! I don't care Celestia herself enrolled you here, when I'm done writing a letter to her you'll be lucky if you'll get into any school in this city!"
And with that said, Principal Mustang left.
"I can't believe I blew it." Adam smacked himself in the head. He sat on one of the stone benches outside, filly Luna and Ginger on either side of him.
"You need to control your anger, Adam. Otherwise it will consume you," berated Luna as she placed a band aid on one of the many wounds Adam had. She tried to help Adam once he started fighting with Gale Mist and his gang, she truly did. But she was being shoved by the many ponies that tried to get a better look, and she could not simply reveal herself, that would cause far too much trouble, though looking back on it, perhaps it was wrong of her not to reveal herself when a colt under her care got beaten up. Despite the fact that the fight turned laughably one-sided.
Adam winched, both because of the pain and the harshness of Luna's voice.
"Diana is right, Adam," Ginger agreed as she helped Luna wrap a bandage around Adam's head. "What you did there was cool, but very irresponsible. As unicorns we have responsibility. You can't just go around and pick fights at random."
"Look. I appreciate what you're trying to do here but that doesn't matter now. I fucked up big time." Adam smacked his forehead again. "I thought that maybe, this one time, I could set things straight. Try to return things as similar to how they used to. And what I do instead? Messing my one and only chance to have a normal life."
"Don't worry, Adam," said Luna, giving Adam a surprise hug. "Everything will be okay."
"Hey, no fair, I want a hug as well," cried Ginger as she hugged Adam from the other side. Adam felt his entire face go red and he wiggled himself out from the clutches of the two fillies.
"Thanks for the kind words guys, I really mean it this time. But some things just not meant to be. This is one of them."
Adam started walking off.
Ginger was about to follow Adam when a dark blue hoof stopped her, she looked up at Diana who looked back at her. "Don't, just give him time."
Reluctantly, Ginger nodded.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid," Adam cursed himself as he made his way back to the city. He felt ashamed, angry and sad all on equal measure.
He wanted to do it. He wanted to have as much normalcy as he could back on Earth. He wanted to be the new and improved Adam 2.0. But all he managed to do was to piss off a lot of ponies.
And worse of all, he would have to confront Celestia about this, and boy was he willing to do just about everything to avoid her disappointed look. He just knew she was going to be disappointed in him. He remembered how excited she looked when she told him she enrolled him to the academy, which only served to deepen his shame.
Why is that every time Adam tries to set things right, he always makes them worse?
Adam sighed as he saw the exit to the academy. This would be the last time he will see this school again.
Adam exited to the street and immediately felt something was wrong.
There was no one around...
"Umm… where's Tulip? She said she'll be right he-"
BONK
Adam felt a sharp pain in the back of his head as he fell to the cold, unforgiving ground beneath him. Just as he was about to pass out, he managed to hear one last thing.
"We've got him! Now let's collect the money from Prince Blueblood and get out of here…"