//------------------------------// // 6. The Talk // Story: Magic Duel by Mail // by Lise //------------------------------// Twilight had already arrived? This was a disaster! What if she had spotted Trixie delivering the letter? What if she had followed her back to Noonlight's dorm? Noonlight really wished she could go home and warn her bunkmare of this development. Morning classes were starting and by the time they were over it might be too. There was only one thing left to do, and she wasn't going to like it. After the announcement students had fifteen minutes to get to their respective class. Instead, Noonlight went to the lavatory. Thankfully, it was still empty. Now came the moment of truth - she was going to perform a spell. Usually she would do this after considerable preparation. The calmer she was, the higher chance her spell would come out right. Sadly, this time she didn't have such luxury. Closing her eyes, she concentrated. A loud pop filled her ears. When Noonlight opened her eyes again she was someplace else. "Noon?!" an alarmed Trixie shouted. "Are you crazy?! What do you think you are doing teleporting here? What if..." "No time, Trix," Noonlight interrupted. "Twilight is in Canterlot." Deafening silence followed. Twilight being here changed everything. The sensible thing was to postpone the duel until the end of her visit. Yet that would provide a dangerous amount of information regarding them. Of all the master class students, Noonlight was the only one to openly attempt a double spell in class, and while the results were disastrous, ponies still talked about it. If Twilight suspected Starry Sun was part of the SGU, it was all over. "Do you think she knows?" Trixie asked the obvious question. "No. She might suspect, but if she knew she would have taken action." "Yes, she never could keep herself from rushing to a new book," Trixie agreed. "If she knew you were making all those spells she would probably be here already. In any event, what do we do?" "I don't know. Hide everything? We can't continue making the spells here." "Alright, I'll think of something." Trixie started gathering the notes from the desk. Books and scrolls started flying wildly through the the room. "I'll clean up here, you go back to class before somepony notices you're gone. And no more magic! You're in trouble as it is." A pop later Noonlight was back near the school. The place she had chosen was pretty secluded, and fortunately no pony saw her appear. That was the good news. The bad was that she was late, and for Endless Scroll's class to boot. Running as fast as she could, she nearly knocked over a few ponies in the hallways, caused a Royal Guard to eye her suspiciously, then almost bumped into professor Aether Magna. Fortunately for her, Magna's sight was horrible even with glasses on, so she wasn't able to tell what had happened. The atmosphere was quite lively in Endless' class as, so much so that Noonlight's arrival went unnoticed. Everypony was bombarding the professor with questions. Not used to such attention, he was attempting to explain matters best he could, but every time he started answering a question three more were asked. "What's going on?" Noonlight asked her nearest classmate. "There are Royal Guards in school," came the excited reply. The mare wasn't even bothering to whisper. "That means Princess Twilight must be visiting today." "Oh," Noonlight replied disappointed. Right now she was still thankful that she hadn't been caught casting spells to worry about the visit. "Please, class," Endless desperately tried to restore order. "The princess will not be visiting today, or any day this week. The guards are only here to ensure..." "Is there a threat to her life?" another asked. "Or to the school?" "What?" The professor blinked. "No, why would..." "I heard that changelings have been spotted in Manehattan, does that mean there is one here as well?" Another voice. "Do they want to ponynap the princess?" The whole situation was getting absurd. Noonlight felt genuine pity for Endless. Right now he seemed more like a scared stallion who wished he could run away, than a professor. A small part of her thought it served him right, the rest, however, pushed her to step in. Despite everything, Endless was a good stallion, and didn't deserve this. "Maybe the princess is already here," she said loudly, causing any talk to cease. All eyes turned in her direction, including a very surprised Endless. "Anypony could look her best when they know there is a visit approaching, only the best can behave properly all the time." It was a cheap trick, but it did the job. As absurd as the notion sounded, no pony wanted to risk making a fool of herself in front of the princess. The atmosphere quickly calmed down, allowing a much relieved Endless to continue his lesson. Today's topic was double negatives in spell composition - an obscure and, at first glance, useless practice that had died out centuries ago. It had become so theoretical that it wasn't even included on any tests. In short, it was the perfect thing to teach when one knew the students weren't paying attention. Slowly, but relentlessly, boredom crept in and by the end of the period everypony felt like a student should - utterly bored and wishing for it to be over. "And remember," Endless said, once the lesson had finished. "Running and discussing the visit on school grounds is highly discouraged. As Miss Light pointed out, there's always the possibility that the princess is among us." A combination of groans and laughter followed, as everypony eagerly put their books in their saddlebags. "Miss Bright," the professor said. "Could you remain a moment." Perfect. The last thing Noonlight needed right now. Sighing audibly, she sat back down and waited. The other students continued leaving the room. Princesses being the gossip topic of the day, all standard school rumours were mostly ignored. Finally only ponies two remained - Noonlight and Endless. "Err," he began hesitantly, pretending to look at his textbook. "Thank you." "It was nothing, sir," Noonlight said. Her exterior was calm, but deep inside there was a small voice yelling victoriously. Went to show she was not as helpless as he had pegged her to be. "I also wanted to apologize," he went on. "My behaviour..." This was quickly getting awkward again. "You don't have to, sir, it's perfectly..." "It's not perfectly alright!" he said loudly, followed by a short uncomfortable silence. "Academia has been my life ever since I could remember. I am told Celestia herself welcomed me to the school. That's what a photo hanging in my room claims anyway. Truth be told, I don't remember, nor do I remember anything outside these halls. Each year students would come - a few of them exceptional, most of them not. They would spend a few years and move on. The same over and over. Can you guess how many unicorns have ever come to my visiting hours?" "A dozen?" Noonlight ventured a guess. She really hoped she hadn't been the only one. The entire talk was making her feel uncomfortable. "Two," he sighed. "I don't have to tell you that theoretical disciplines aren't particularly liked outside of academic circles. When you shared your..." he paused to think of a suitable word, "...circumstances with me, it was the first time anypony asked for any real help." "I was afraid how the older professors might react," she admitted. "I know. Aether Magma would have kicked you out there and then," he shuddered as he said the name. "Even back then I knew I was taking advantage of the situation. But when we started our magic sessions, I thought... I hoped..." he sighed deeply. "Guess I just needed somepony to talk to. Other than the old goats and mares of the faculty." "Sir, I..." Noonlight didn't know what to say. She had been right about his behaviour, but also wrong. At the end of the day he was only a few years older than herself, and totally oblivious about real life. "I'd like our lessons to continue," he said quietly. "But I also don't want you to do something you don't like. So I leave the choice to you. I can take care of the Headmistress. And to be honest you don't need supervision for the standard spells." Sure, he was taking the easy way out. The decision would rest entirely on her. Still, Noonlight couldn't blame him. Hadn't it been for Trixie, she too would have remained a social wallflower. Seems like that crazy blue mare had rubbed off on her. "I don't know, Endless," she said. "I'm not mad at you, Celestia knows I'm not, but I still need to think things through. Everything is a bit complicated at the moment." "I understand," Endless smiled sadly. "I'm still glad we talked. It was getting weird staring at each other in class," he laughed nervously. "That's for sure." "Well, I guess you better get going, Miss Light. Your next class awaits." "Yes, Professor," she stood up and headed for the door. "Just one last thing," he said behind her. "Tomorrow. Third period." "What tomorrow?" Noonlight looked at him, puzzled. "I have no idea. But I would recommend being at your best." He started cleaning the blackboard for his next class. "As I said, there always is the possibility."