"Are you certain you are ready?" asked Trixie, looking over Silver Lining with obvious uncertainty.
Silver bobbed his head, "I have my cutie mark, and I have my confidence. I haven't memorized all the symbols, but that's not nearly as important. I'll learn them as I put them to work." He flashed a gentle smile at Trixie, "I'll make you proud."
Trixie reached out a hoof and pulled Silver close, "Too late. Trixie may be an expert on how to be proud. She will not stop you from chasing your dreams."
Rough took Silver next, squeezing him firmly, "I'll miss you around here."
Silver nuzzled into the chest of his adoptive father, "And I'll miss you, but it's not that far! I'll be able to come home to visit just about any time."
Celine, the smaller, younger version of Luna, sat patiently hovering a satchel full of things just behind her. Night Watch whistled shrilly from the door, "Time to go!" The lunar pegasus turned and stalked off, leaving the front door open.
Silver detached from Rough Draft with a wriggle and smiled up at the two of them, struggling not to cry. There was no good reason to cry, as far as he could tell, but the drops fell hot and hard despite his logic. "I'll visit, and write. I love you both so much."
Celine gave a smirk, "And now you have the entire house to yourself." Rough turned dark at her tone as Trixie snorted. Celine gently nudged Silver with her snout, "Let's go and leave your lovely parents to some peace."
They were soon outside, joining Night Watch. Night tilted her head at Silver, "What's with the water works? You're not even leaving Canterlot."
Silver shrugged softly, "I'm awful at goodbyes, sorry." He gathered himself up and wiped his face with a fetlock before starting ahead with the mares behind him.
Celine perked an ear, "You took leaving behind your human family pretty well."
Now it was Night's turn, one of her tufted ears perking up, "Human family?"
Celine colored as she realized she may have spoken poorly, "In his game."
Night shook her head, then advanced on Silver, "Tell me, now. What are you?"
Silver swiveled an ear at Night, then back at Celine, "Well... you seem to be a friend I'm not getting rid of."
Night smiled, "Not until Princess Luna says otherwise."
Silver nodded, "Well, alright, but this is going to sound crazy. So, I wasn't born a pony."
"Duh," said Night.
Silver started a little, "Why duh?"
Night rolled a hoof in the air, "You're clumsy enough that you'd need to have brain damage to otherwise explain it. You lack even basic understanding of little social rules that anypony should know by your age. You were cramming your magic lessons into one year where most colts would start learning a lot younger but get to the practical things about now. Do you need more reasons?"
Silver fidgeted a little as he walked, "Yes?"
Night frowned then and bumped Silver from the side, "You're testing me. Fine. That artifact, the one you call a computer. I did my research. Technology like that just doesn't exist, to say nothing of the other things I found in that desk. The 'key board' was obviously not meant for hooves. Were you a griffon? Minotaur maybe? Diamond dog? Something with fingers." Click, "Oh duh. You were a human! Celine just said that. Which means... Are you an alien? Did your dad get inspired to write Humanway from meeting you?"
Celine shook her head slowly, "Your power of observation is impressive enough. I'm surprised Luna chose somepony quite so alert."
Night tilted her head at Celine, "What's that supposed to mean? What did you want? Some ditzy mare that wouldn't question all the dangling questions that Silver leaves behind? As if." She poked Silver in the side, "I'm still watching you. I'm going to keep on digging."
Silver smiled a little awkwardly, "That is comforting, in a way."
Night looked startled at the reply, "Comforting?"
Silver bobbed his head as he started climbing up the stairs towards the school he would call home, "You care about me, a lot, even if I am awkward sometimes. Thanks."
The school had a sign engraved in the marble slab above the door, 'Academy of Transcendent Flesh'. Silver looked up at the large chiseled sign, "That's not creepy at all. Fair enough name for a school about enhancement magic though."
They passed a few other ponies on their way to the registration offices. Every pony they passed wore a clearly-displayed heart crystal, each with a different color shining from within. Many were heart-shaped, one was a cylinder. Silver's heart crystal was a lavender-glowing sphere, dangling from around his neck on a silver chain. The other ponies scarcely afforded the three a glance, except one. A stallion with full robes and a long pointy hat was that one. He wore a yellow pyramid stone.
He held up a hoof at them, "Colts don't belong here," he said in a smooth cultured tone, "I'm afraid you've gotten lost. I'll show you out."
Silver was too surprised to react before Celine advanced, her wings spreading wide. "My stallion has been accepted at this academy! He has every right to be here."
The stallion raised a shaggy brow, "Has he?" He leaned in, looking Silver in the eyes, "I'm certain we'll meet again then." He straightened and trotted past them without another word.
Night shrugged softly. "You are awfully young," she pointed out. "If you didn't have your cutie mark, I wouldn't believe you were ready either. Even then, I know plenty of ponies that stay in grade school with their mark for a while."
Silver shook his head, "Like you? You hardly look older than me."
Night huffed defensively and turned away, "What would you know? You don't know how a lunar pegasus ages anyway."
Silver tilted his head then, "I didn't mean anything bad. I think you're pretty amazing. If you're young like me, that just makes you more amazing." He trotted onwards to the office, leaving a lightly blushing Night Watch behind.
They entered the office to find a bored-looking secretary. She was an earth pony and she smiled at them as they entered. "You must be Silver Lining," she said, "We received your letter last week."
Celine tilted her head, "How did you know that?"
She shook her head, "How else do you think an earth pony gets work at a magic academy? I make it my job to know these things. I have Silver's schedule right here." She grabbed a sheaf of paper in her mouth and set it on the desk between them. "Good luck!"
Silver picked up the papers with his magic as he asked, "I don't pick any classes?"
The earth pony mare shook her head, "Not for the first term. It's an introductory class. After that you can pick a specialty and get more say about your schedule." She produced a key next and set it on the counter, "This is for the dorm." She glanced at Celine, then Night, and back at Silver, "Should I know something?"
Celine took a proud stance, "I am his first wife."
The mare blinked softly, "A herd? How odd, and so young too." She fetched another key, then pointed at Night, "And her?"
Night Watch saluted with a wing, "Here on assignment, ma'am. Royal business. I have to keep an eye on Silver."
She rose her brows together, "He's not in trouble, is he?"
Night shook her head, "The opposite, I think. He caught Princess Luna's eye. I can't say more than that."
A third key was produced shortly, "Well, enjoy your stay, and welcome, but don't push yourself. Every unicorn learns at their own pace, and it's not a contest. We lose so many bright young things trying to 'keep up'."
Silver grabbed the keys with a swipe of a silver hand and offered one to Celine and another to Night. "Have a nice day, and thanks!"
When they were back in the hallway, Night nudged Silver, "You have no intention of listening to her."
Silver tilted his head, "Wrong, for once. I went into burnout once, and it sucked. I don't plan on pushing that hard."
"He does learn," said Night with a sly grin.
They soon arrived at the dormitories, and found the number that matched their keys. They entered to an odd sight. A stallion was staring into a mirror. Well, the back-half of him was a stallion, the front half was a griffon, but where the two met was anything but stable. Bird and horse parts fought for dominance as he stared intently.
"Huh?" said Silver eloquently, which was enough to break the stallion's concentration. With a snap, the stallion became a unicorn entirely and he put a hoof to his head.
"Ugh! I almost had it!" cried the stallion, "Who are you?"
Silver entered, allowing the two mares to follow him. "Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt. They gave me this room."
He tilted his head at the lot of them, "All of you? Celestia above! I enjoyed having a room to myself." He shrugged softly, "Name's Fast Change. Nice to meet you."
"That wasn't that fast," said Night.
Fast Change huffed, "I'm still working on that one! It's really hard mastering spells that leave you without your horn."
Silver seemed to think about that, "I never tried... well, I never tried any changing spell, yet. My name's Silver Lining."
Fast Change approached Silver and the mares, but his eyes were on Silver, his flank in particular, "What's that mark supposed to mean? It looks like a bunch of scribbles."
Silver took this chance to look at Fast's mark in return, seeing a pony with a blanket tossed over them, with their front part blue and the rear part pink. "They're notes. I'm hoping to research magic itself a little, besides learning spells."
Fast tilted his head, "Magic itself? What are you, Twilight Sparkle? Starswirl? You got big hooves to fill, little colt."
Celine stepped in front of Silver, "He's a stallion now."
Fast glanced at her, then Silver, then back, "So, you his mare?"
"Yes," said Celine without hesitation.
Fast looked to Night, who answered without being asked, "No."
"Hey, anyone that can stroll in here with a mare on the first day is doing something right," decided Fast with a shrug. "Don't worry, colt, I'll take you under wing and show you around. You just keep it quiet at night, some of us need sleep." He waggled his brows at Night then, "Meanwhile, if you--"
"I'm not looking," said Night, adjusting her glasses, "And you're not my type. Just pretend I'm not here."
Silver approached Fast, looking him over. He had soft yellow fur with a lighter creamy underbelly running up to under his snout. He was lanky of build and clever in his eyes. He didn't seem like a bad pony. "Nice to meet you, Fast Change. How long have you been here, at this school?"
Fast flashed a smile, "Two years, specialty in polymorph. I've got all the pony tribes down pat." Suddenly Fast was a pegasus, wings spread wide, "And I live up to my name."
Silver tilted his head, "How does that work? I mean, no horn, no magic."
"Wrong," said Fast, "Everypony has magic, horns are just good at externalizing it. The spell's already cast, so all I have to do is unravel it, and poof." He was a unicorn again, wings rapidly melting into his body as his horn jut free of his head, "Unicorn again."
Night's attention was roused, "Does that mean other ponies could learn magic?"
"No," said Fast, who rapidly become a lunar pegasus, "But I'll go for a flight wi--"
"Not interested," stated Night flatly.
Fast returned to his usual self with a huff, "Mares. How'd you score this fine slice of alicorn loveliness?"
Silver blushed faintly, "I... kind of asked for her."
Fast raised a brow, "I've tried asking, that doesn't always work. You're a lucky colt."
"Stallion," said Celine with rising impatience, stomping the ground.
Fast waved a hoof, "He's a freshpony, I get to call him a colt. It's all in good fun. You know I'm just messing with you, right?"
Silver gave a light smile, "You're alright. Can you show me some magic?"
Fast shook his head, "No can do. It's against the rules to tutor freshponies. How you handle introductory class is a big deal. Some ponies get sent home, and they want to keep it fair. I could get kicked out if I did." He turned away as he began to change, becoming a... female unicorn? "But if you're looking for fun?"
Silver recoiled with confusion, "Gender magic? I thought that was, you know, basically impossible."
Fast shook her back end lightly, "Is it? I must be just that amazing." She trotted away from them and settled on her bed. "If you can figure it out, I'll give you a prize." She became a he again, "Extra points if you figure out which I even am."
Celine grabbed Silver by the ear and hauled him over to another bed. Silver squeaked, going with her to save his ear from further pain.
"Don't think about it," said Celine, staring at him coldly.
Silver looked confused, was he thinking about it? Of course he was. He sighed softly, "You're more than enough for me. I... don't even know which he/she is under all that." He softly nuzzled her and they exchanged a kiss. "I can't wait for tomorrow! This is going to be fun!"