Twilight and Rarity were, despite Twilight's worries, the first to reach Room 3-777. It was a relatively small classroom, a single blackboard dominating the front-most wall, a small platform and podium set up where it was easiest to see the professor. Seats, comfortable by classroom standards, filled the rest of the room, going up in tiers. Platinum 3-777 would have probably fit around 100 students at its maximum capacity.
"This is a nice room," Rarity remarked as they entered. "I wonder what they teach here. Do you think Professor Pen would know?"
"Most likely," Twilight answered. "I'd recommend asking him."
Rarity smiled despite herself. "Sage advice, Twilight."
"You asked."
Rarity laughed lightly, taking a seat at the front row of the classroom. "Well, then I suppose there's nothing for it but to wait until he arrives. Have you met any of the other seminar students?"
Twilight thought for a moment. "There were the two ponies checking in first-years during orientation. I think Professor Pen said they were part of the seminar. And there was somepony else he mentioned. Fluttershy, I think."
"Fluttershy?" Rarity asked in surprise. "I haven't seen her in a year. She used to live in Ponyville; I visited anytime I needed help with Opal."
"Opal?"
"My cat."
"Ah. I didn't know you have a cat."
"Yes, her name is Opalescence and she's such a dear. She's staying with my parents for now and they're absolutely delighted to have her." Rarity sighed wistfully. "It broke her little heart when I told her that Star didn't allow any pets."
Twilight knit her brow in confusion. "Your mom's heart?"
"No, Opal's!"
"What are you doing out here?" came a muffled voice from outside.
A pause.
Muffled laughter, then: "C'mon, Shy, you're a second-year now. You have to be an example! Like this!"
The door to the classroom burst opened. Rainbow Dash led the way inside, a cocksure grin on her face and saddlebags balanced on her back. Applejack followed, smiling lightly and equally laden. A third pony, whom Twilight correctly assumed to be Fluttershy, brought up the rear. Fluttershy gently closed the door behind her, glanced around the room, and promptly covered as much of her face as her mane could reach.
"Hey girls!" Rainbow Dash greeted, dumping her saddlebags on the first seat she reached. "I'm Rainbow Dash, second-year, and the lead student advisor for Pen's seminar." Her eyes met Rarity's. "Hey, Rarity! I didn't know you made it to the Academy."
Rarity nodded. "I would have greeted you earlier, but I didn't have the opprotunity. Twilight had to check me in as my luggage was a bit too heavy to carry upstairs."
Dash laughed. "'Course it was."
Applejack, relieved of her saddlebags, tipped her hat to the first-years. "Evenin' Rarity, Twilight. To officially introduce myself, I'm Applejack, second-year, and I'm lead student advisor for the seminar." She threw a glance at Rainbow Dash.
Dash stuck out her tongue.
"How's the Academy treating you?" Applejack asked, turning back towards the pair of first-years.
"Lovely," Rarity replied, "though I'm told that will change once classes begin."
"True enough," Applejack admitted with a chuckle. "But hey, you've gotta take the good with the bad." She looked around, eventually spotting Fluttershy awkwardly standing by the doorway. "You wanna come introduce yourself, Fluttershy?"
Fluttershy hesitated, her eyes widening slightly in some semblance of fear. She stepped forward nonetheless.
The door burst open once more, and a pink blur rushed into the room. "Oh my Celestia, everypony's already here!" Pinkie Pie said quickly. "I'm so so sooooo sorry for being late! There were all these booths selling cupcakes and cookies and I just had to stop by and see what was happening and then I lost track of time and before I knew it, I was late and—" She stopped, catching sight of the pegasus gasping for air beside her. "Oh, hi Fluttershy! I didn't see you there."
"It's alright Pinkie, the Professor isn't here yet," Applejack said. "Just, uh, sit down for now. Rainbow Dash and I brought some snacks for y'all to munch on while we wait."
"Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie said happily, hopping over to a seat.
"You wanna try that again, Fluttershy?" Applejack asked.
It took Fluttershy a few moments to compose herself, but she nodded, only slightly shaking as she began to introduce herself. "I'm Fluttershy," she muttered. "Second-year." Then, as if those four words had taken all of her energy, she escaped to a seat besides Rainbow Dash.
Dash lightly punched Shy's shoulder. "See, I told you practicing would help!"
Fluttershy nodded, smiling slightly as she rubbed her shoulder.
"Now," Applejack began, "normally I'd ask y'all to introduce yourselves too, but it looks to me like we're already pretty well-acquainted. Help yourselves to the snacks. Professor Pen likes running late, so we've probably got a good five minutes before we can start doing anything."
The door opened for a third time, revealing the thin frame of Pen Umbra. He'd traded his ill-fitting official jacket for a garish multi-colored tie and white collar. "Don't think I didn't hear that, Applejack. I'm as punctual as any other pony."
"Just tellin' it like it is, Professor."
Pen smiled, crossing over to the professor's platform and sitting on the hardwood. "I'm glad you're all here. Please, feel free to eat while I'm speaking."
"Way ahead of you!" Dash said, an empty wrapper already held in her hoof.
"This shouldn't take very long, I just wanted all of you to meet each other before classes started. I trust all of you sent in your letters before you got to campus?" Pen paused and, seeing nods from all minus Twilight, continued. "Good. You should be getting your schedule before the day is up. If you don't, come see me immediately. My office is in Starswirl 5-564; if I'm not there, then I'm teaching a class and you should check back in after an hour or so. If you forget, find one of these three in Heart and they'll be able to help you out; Celestia knows they've bothered me enough."
Pen Umbra smiled lightly at his own joke, cleared his throat lightly, and conjured up a glass of water. He sipped at it, then set it on the platform. "Now, what will we be doing in this advisory? Well, there's no set syllabus, it's more a way to get you all comfortable within the Academy. We'll meet once every week just to check in on each other and we'll go on a field trip every once in a while. You all came in through the Hall of Mirrors; we have access to just about every city in Equestria as long as I'm around to open up the Looking Glass."
"The Wonderbolts are in Cloudsdale in two weeks," said Rainbow Dash. "Just sayin'."
"We'll discuss the specifics later," Professor Pen promised. "For now, we're just going to talk."
***
The first seminar meeting lasted a little under an hour. Twilight got a small glimpes into the lives of the second-years. Applejack and Rainbow Dash had entered the Academy with the mutual goal of advancing their respective careers. Applejack was simultaneously networking with the professors, many of whom had connections throughout Equestria, and picking up farming techniques. The Academy, according to Rainbow Dash, was the best way to catch the Wonderbolts' attention as both Captain Spitfire and Lieutenant Soarin were recent graduates of the Academy and frequented the races and flight shows held by the Academy's students. Fluttershy was of much the same mindset, briefly muttering something about 'learning about animals' before turning bright red.
Professor Pen did not ask the first-years to share their reasons for choosing the Academy as, in his own words, "Mindsets tend to change very rapidly at the Academy. However, I expect an answer from everypony by the time the school year is up."
When the hour came to a close, everyone gathered their various wrappers and bottles and headed out of the classroom.
"I'm going to head back to the Carnival," Rarity said. "Would you like to join me, Twilight?"
"I actually have a few things I need to ask Professor Pen," Twilight responded. "It might take a while."
"Oh." Rarity seemed slightly taken aback by this. "Well, if you need me, you know where to find me."
"Can I join in, Rarity?" Pinkie Pie asked.
"Of course, I'd be glad for the company."
"Are you looking for any group in specific?" Applejack asked.
"Not necessarily. I'm just looking for a way to continue practicing my art and..." The conversation trailed off into the distance as the group of five turned a corner. Twilight watched them go and, when the coast was clear, turned around and reentered room 3-777.
Pen Umbra stood at the podium, a piece of parchment laid out in front of him and a quill floating in the air. He seemed surprise when Twilight reentered. "Did you forget something, Twilight?"
"I got your message."
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"'Stay after'. The keyword was detail; the L wasn't an L, it was the number one."
Professor Pen smiled. "Yes, my mathematics teachers hated that. Ah, well, too late to fix that now." He wrote something on the parchment, rolled it up, and vanished it quickly. "I wanted to talk to you in private."
"I gathered that. Was the cipher really necessary?"
"No it was not, but I wanted to make sure you were awake. Honestly, I'm surprised you bothered to learn ciphers."
Twilight shrugged in response. Boredom was a fantastic motivator.
Professor Pen stowed away the quill and inkwell. "No matter. I wanted to speak about you're rather... special circumstances regaring lessons. I've been in correspondence with Princess Celestia and we both agree that even the education provided at the Academy does not quite match up to private lessons with one of the single most powerful beings in Equestria."
Twilight felt a twinge in her chest. She nodded.
"With that in mind, we've decided to take an unorthodox method regarding your lessons. You're free to attend any class you wish to attend provided that you'd be able to blend in with the crowd, I just need to be informed of the class ahead of time. Is that okay with you?"
Twilight nodded again.
"Second decision: you'll be receiving private tutelage from me."
Twilight's face betrayed her surprise, her eyes widening slightly at the news. Pen Umbra laughed lightly at the sight. "I'm not exactly a Princess, but I am a very powerful caster in my own right, as I'm sure you're aware. I also have my own classes to teach, so I won't be able to devote every day to you, but I have agreed to teach you what I know. Fair enough?"
"Princess Celestia suggested this?"
"I propositioned it and she accepted."
Twilight bit the inside of her lower lip in thought. Then: "If it's what the Princess wants."
"Fantastic! I'm sure she'll be happy to hear that. I'm rather busy as it's the beginning of the semester, so we'll have to wait a few days before our first lesson. Give me, oh... three days. Yes, come to Starswirl 2-153 on Thursday. I'm teaching a sort of basic thaumatology class from 3:00-4:00pm, feel free to attend that, but make sure you're there by 4:00. Any questions?"
Twilight shook her head.
"You're free to go. I'll see you on Thursday. Oh, and Twilight? Do make sure you get out of your room every once in a while. I'm sure Star is fascinating to study, but there are far greater things on this campus. The Hall of Mirrors, perhaps? Moon is also interesting in its own right."
"I'll think about it."
Pen Umbra smiled. "Please do."
Twilight nodded her goodbye and walked towards the exit. As she reached out to open the door, however, she felt someone else open it from the outside, nearly crashing into another unicorn.
"Ah, Sunset," Professor Pen said from his place at the podium, "you're early. The mare you almost killed his Twilight Sparkle; she's a first-year in my seminar. Twilight, that's Sunset Shimmer; she's the current captain of the Swirl Team."
"Vice-captain," Sunset said, looking right past Twilight.
"Forgive me, vice-captain."
Sunset turned towards Twilight. "Nice to meet you," she said, as though it were an afterthought.
"Nice to meet you too," Twilight muttered in response.
"Sunset, did you bring the textbooks I asked for?"
Sunset Shimmer nodded, adjusting the saddlebags she wore. "I did."
"Thank you for that. And Twilight, I'll see you on Thursday."
Twilight nodded again, carefully stepping around Sunset Shimmer and out of Platinum 3-777.