//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Academy // by Terrasora //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle's room was, of course, meant for only one pony. It was the one mercy Princess Celestia had allowed her faithful student during her banishment from Canterlot Castle. As it stood, the room had only a bed, a desk and seat, and an empty bookshelf as furniture. A single window, currently obscured by a set of blinds provided a view of the Academy campus. If Twilight ever bothered to open those blinds and gaze out the window, she'd find that she had a clear view of the Sea; an open expanse of green grass separating the dorms from the rest of campus. There were, according to the pamphlet, a total of four dorms in the Academy; one for each of the current class years. In order of first year to final, it goes Star, Heart, Moon, and Sun. Each of the four dorms has, to borrow a word from the pamphlet, an "eccentric" design, growing in complexity as the students living in them gained experience. It was almost certain that magic, and very strong magic at that, was involved in their creation, to the point where the Academy had a dedicated rescue team for students who ventured into an unfamiliar dorm without the proper preparation. That being said, there was no set rule preventing students from coming and going from the dorms as they pleased and the Sun Rescue Team in particular always had its hooves full. However, none of this particularly mattered to Twilight Sparkle at the moment. She only knew it because the Academy's pamphlet was, in the loosest sense of the term, reading material, and Twilight Sparkle never turned down any reading material that found its way into her hooves. Her only immediate concern was the Star dorm; a large lilac building with an 8-pointed star emblazoned above the entrance. Twilight hardly paid took a second glance at the building, but Rarity gushed about it, going on and on about the flowers planted all around the outside, the 'modern' look the building had, its setbacks and cantilevers. Twilight humored her, nodding when appropriate, knowing full well that the dorm could have looked any way the Princess wanted it to. As far as she could tell, the dozens upon dozens of enchantments heaped on the Star dorm meant that the dorm changed its outward appearance daily. Whether or not it actually did that could be tested tomorrow, but it didn't seem outside the realm of possibility. The inside of the Star dorm was just as opulent; a rather plush lilac carpet coating the floor and leading up to a front desk, where a smiling pegasus mare asked their names and provided them with a room key and very specific instructions on getting to their rooms. Twilight and Rarity, as it turned out, had rather distant rooms. They said their goodbyes there in the lobby with Rarity drawing Twilight into a hug that just left both of them feeling awkward. And so Twilight climbed the stairs to her room, alone for the first time since arriving at Ponyville Station that very morning. It was, in Twilight's opinion, a very liberating sensation; she even allowed a smile at the way the stairs glowed different colors when she stepped on them. And once she did smile, she couldn't stop! There was such magic here! Less magic than in the Hall of Mirrors, but that simply meant that Twilight could actually breathe without experiencing a stabbing pain behind her eyes. The enchantments weaved together, one upon the other, rearranging the entire world as it suited the Academy and Twilight Sparkle, lonely and separated as she was, couldn't help but admire the way it all fit together. By the time Twilight had made it to her room, however, her smile had worn itself into a slight frown. She was acting childish and she knew it. Yes, she'd been sent away, but she hadn't been abandoned. Princess Celestia had made sure that Twilight's travels would go without a hitch, had probably been watching in some way the entire time. And there was Pen Umbra! If the stallion had not lied, then he'd probably be reporting to the Princess about her arrival at the first chance he had. Twilight even had the opportunity to make a friend before she'd so much as arrived at the Academy! Not that she'd taken that opportunity. Twilight's shoulders slumped as she unpacked her things, her luggage having found its own mysterious way to her room. She'd blown that. The one instruction Twilight had gotten from the Princess—Make friends—and she'd ignored it! She probably hadn't said more than twenty words to Rarity outside of her rant about magic back in the Hall of Mirrors. There went that chance. Twilight sighed, looking around the sparsely decorated room. The books she'd brought with her hadn't been enough to fill even half of the provided bookcase, and she hadn't brought much with her outside of her books. Just a dress in case of a formal event and a few other bits and bobs she'd gathered in a haze of anger and hurt. Princess Celestia had insisted that she pack light in her letter, but she'd probably expected a bit more than two hastily packed suitcases. Just another in the long list of mistakes made by Twilight Sparkle. A wave of exhaustion washed over Twilight; the accumulation of nights of poor sleep and the fact that she'd traveled so far in so little time. She practically collapsed onto her bed, her eyes closed before Twilight's head hit the pillow. It wasn't long until she was asleep. *** Twilight's head was throbbing and in pain, as if a giant claw were gripping it and trying to cave it in. It was pitch black here in _____. She couldn't see where she was going, but she could feel the solid ground beneath her hooves and the steady sound they produced as Twilight galloped towards—away—towards _____. The pressure only grew worse as she ran, as if the air itself were malevolent. She didn't know how much longer she could last. BAM Twilight bounced backwards, rubbing at her muzzle. It hurt—didn't hurt anymore. She'd run into something very solid. A wall. Yes, a wall. Or, at least, she hoped it was a wall. Twilight climbed to her hooves, turning to the right and running again, not intent on finding out whether it really was a wall or something far less friendly. She ran on and on for what seemed like miles. Her legs never failed her, carrying her faster than she'd ever gone before and she didn't feel the least bit tired. All the pain Twilight did feel was directed at her brain. The ever-present pressure and pain of something pushing and pushing until she could hear her blood pumping in her years, feel her heart beating behind her eyes. She shut her eyes tight to fight off the pain and found that they were already closed. BAM BAM BAM No pain this time, the sound had come from somewhere else, she didn't know where. BAM BAM BAM That sound again, louder this time, more clear. But there was another sound just behind it, a rattling, mettalic sound. BAM BAM BAM But there was something beneath that too, something that she could almost understand. Something that she should be able to under— "Hellooooo, is anypony home?" Twilight Sparkle woke with a start, breathing heavily as the pain in her head disappeared suddenly. She'd been dreaming. A nightmare. The kind she always had when she was feeling particularly stressed. That somehow didn't make it any easier. "Huh," came the voice from the other side of the door. "Could've sworn she'd already checked in. Must have missed her." A pause. "Well, might as well try one more time!" BAM BAM BAM Twilight sighed, dragging herself out of bed and straightening her mane with her magic. She opened the door. And crashed face-first into a pink and poofy mane. "You're here!" said the hair. "Well, I knew you were here, but I stood out here knocking and knocking and you didn't answer, so I didn't know if you were here and it's so good to see you!" She ended with a squeak, tightening the hug she had on Twilight. "Do I know you?" Twilight choked out, struggling against the vicegrip she was in. "Nope!" The mare tightened her hug further before springing away from Twilight and grinning. "My name's Pinkie Pie, what's yours?" Twilight rubbed at her neck, taking deep breaths and trying to regain her composure. "Twilight Sparkle." "It's great to meet you Twilight!" Pinkie reached into her mane, producing a covered basket. "I made you cupcakes!" Twilight eyed the basket. "Here you go!" Pinkie shoved the basket into Twilight's face, forcing her to take the basket in her magic or get cupcake all over her room's floor. "I know, I know, I totally should have thrown a party or something for everypony on our floor, but my room's a lot smaller than I thought it would be and the school doesn't let us have cannons." A pause. "What?" "I know! I was shocked too, but it's right there in the pamphlet! 'No cannons!' Crazy, right?" Twilight shifted her gaze to Pinkie Pie. "Crazy. Yes." "Well, it was really nice talking to you, Twilight, but I've gotta go give cupcakes to everyone else in Star! I'll see you later!" Pinkie had pulled Twilight into another hug before she'd finished speaking. A moment later and she was literally bouncing down the hallway. Twilight Sparkle stared after her, basket of cupcakes still floating in the air before her. She'd read about characters like these in the past. They were never her favorite characters, but they were amusing enough when they were within the pages of a book. But Twilight never thought that a pony like Pinkie Pie would actually exist. A chill went up Twilight's spin. Nothing good would come of this, she was sure. A grumble went through Twilight's stomach and the first snippets of the cupcakes' aroma reached her nose. Well, maybe one good thing. Twilight Sparkle turned around, shutting and locking the door behind her. She carried the basket over to her desk, uncovering three carefully decorated cupcakes, two made with blue frosting and one made with yellow. She then walked to her newly stocked bookcase for some light reading to go along with her snack. After a brief internal debate, Twilight drew out a thick leather tome titled Predictions and Prophecies, settled herself at her desk, took a bit of a cupcake, and began to read.