Tetris began to head over to his residence hall – Starswirl. Starswirl was the residence hall associated with the School of Magic. It was the oldest and first one established at Canterlot University. As every pony would know, Starswirl was named after Star Swirl the Bearded – an incredibly gifted unicorn who was considered to be one of the best magicians to have existed. Besides the legends, there was actually little known about the true character of Star Swirl the Bearded. Some had even doubted that Star Swirl ever existed and was simply a character created by Princess Celestia for purposes of building a powerful pro-princess folklore. Unlike Nightmare Moon, another myth the Canterlot royalty insisted was true, Tetris hoped that Star Swirl was a real pony. Star Swirl may have even known how to equip earth ponies and pegasi with unicorn magic. Tetris saw the crystal statue of Star Swirl the Bearded in the middle of the campus. Princess Celestia was the official founder of the University, but she insisted that the idea had been Star Swirl’s – something that he never saw realized due to being a mortal pony. Canterlot University was established more than 300 years after Star Swirl’s death.
Unicorns grew up worshipping and admiring Star Swirl and his powers. The unicorns back home at Belmont Stakes had a very active “Star Swirl the Bearded Fan Club”. It was a club that Tetris always wanted to join – but he felt weird doing so as an earth pony. Earth ponies typically saw Star Swirl as some boring historical figure they needed to know for school – as did the pegasi. Tetris was excited beyond belief. This was his chance to prove himself as a competent student of Magic.
Tetris finally arrived at the Starswirl Residence Hall. It was a gorgeous building – one that was a stone castle which was said to stay intact as long as Princess Celestia was alive. This was a common expression which indicated that something would last forever. Celestia was immortal and nothing could kill her. She was the supreme alicorn princess – and the only one who possessed the power of immortality.
Tetris put his hoof on the door handle and tried to open it. Funny, it wouldn’t open. He tried to pull on the handle with all of his strength. He felt his face warm up from all of the stress. Perhaps, there was a security code he needed which they didn’t tell him about. The door suddenly shook in quick successions and then opened up. Tetris turned around and saw two unicorn stallions: one was dark blue and the other had black and white stripes.
“Oh, there isn’t much security on those locks”, said the blue unicorn, “I was able to open it with the most elementary of spells.” The blue unicorn noticed Tetris and then said, “I think you are in the wrong residence hall, this is for the Magic School.”
“I am a student of Magic”, said Tetris slightly annoyed by the blue unicorn’s comment, “I don’t know if I will survive if I can’t even physically open the locks.”
“You are a non-unicorn after all”, said the blue unicorn with an air.
Tetris didn’t know what to say. He was just about ready to bolt into the residence hall.
“I know you”, piped the striped unicorn, “you’re the earth pony who did really well on that magic entrance examination.”
“Where did you find that out”, asked Tetris.
“It was big talk at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. Sapphire and I became best buddies over there.”
“Please”, said Sapphire, “any pony could get a high score on that exam. It takes a special kind of pony to actually perform magical spells though.”
“I guess you and I are both good-for-nothing slackers”, said the striped unicorn with a chuckle, “neither you nor I were perfect scorers.”
“I don’t need to memorize magic spells”, responded Sapphire, “I feel it inside my body and that is all I need to help me.”
“Hmmm”, said Tetris, “I think that explains why the door shook like that before opening.”
“I doubt it”, said Sapphire.
“Ho ho”, said the striped unicorn with a smirk, “I think earth pony boy has got you there. Pleased to meet you, my name is Ziggy. I think we’ll be good pals.”
“Pleased to meet you too, my name is Tetris.”
“Tetris”, said Sapphire with a sigh, “so, you’re my roommate?”
“Yeah”, said Tetris, “I guess we are roommates.”
“I don’t dislike your kind”, said Sapphire, “it’s just that.. what the hell are you doing in a Magic school?”
“It has always been an interesting hobby of mine”, responded Tetris.
“We should get going. Otherwise, orientation is going to start without us”, said Ziggy with a grin, “I want you to join us.”
“Ziggy”, said Sapphire rolling his eyes, “what will our peers think when they see us associating with the non-unicorn?”
“I think nobody is going to give a shit”, responded Ziggy, “only extremely traditional unicorn families think like that anymore.”
“It’s ponies like my father who are doing their damn best to ensure that our society doesn’t crumble because ponies don’t know their place”, shot back Sapphire, “I wonder, Tetris, do you even know who my father is?”
Tetris had to think about it. He knew about Canterlot politics and the different factions in the royal city. Celestia was the supreme ruler but she had a parliament under her which was intended to support the views of Canterlot. Tetris’ disadvantage was that he didn’t exactly take the time to study the children of those Canterlot politicians. He thought about the most reactionary politicians he had heard of – the ones who wanted things to return where the three races of ponies were essentially at constant war with one another. Tetris thought of a light blue unicorn who often spoke in Parliament with a haughty and regal air – giving long speeches on the superiority of unicorns over other ponies. Regal air? That was his name. Regal Air.
“I think I know your father”, said Tetris confidently, “I have heard him speak many times – Regal Air.”
“I am impressed”, said Sapphire sincerely, “are you from Canterlot?”
“Belmont Stakes.”
“That certainly explains a lot. Fine, Zigs, I permit Tetris to accompany us.”
“Excellent”, said Ziggy with a grin, “hey Tetris, do you mind if you sit in for our exams, heh heh.”
“How many bits?”
“My family has plenty of bits”, said Sapphire nonchalantly, “it shouldn’t be a problem at all.”
Tetris wasn’t particularly keen on helping his classmates cheat on exams – he hoped they were joking. Tetris needed to make friends in the Magic School, so it was best to just nod and agree for now.
The three of them headed over to the lobby. The lobby was where all the magic students would convene to begin orientation. They were greeted by a pink unicorn mare with an interesting cutie mark: it was a purple and white star with two glimmering streams. It was well-known that having anything resembling a star as a cutie mark indicated powerful magical abilities. Tetris wondered if that was true for the pink mare.
“Welcome to Canterlot University”, said the pink mare with a cheer, “I know you are going to enjoy your time here! I am Starlight Glimmer, the student body president of the Magic School. I have all of your materials here. Could you just give me your names?”
“Sapphire”
“Ziggy”
“Tetris”
“Oh, Sapphire and Ziggy”, exclaimed Starlight Glimmer, “I should have recognized you both! Graduates of Celestia’s school?”
“Yes we are”, said Sapphire, “we aren’t as high-profile as some others. I remember you my first two years at the school as the filly who did the morning announcements.”
Starlight Glimmer and said, “yes, that was me. I hoped I did an excellent job at it.”
“You sure did”, responded Sapphire with a not-so subtle wink, “always brightened my day.”
“You’re too sweet, Sapphire.”
“You’re too kind.”
Tetris didn’t get a good vibe from Starlight Glimmer at all. She seemed to be kind and friendly on the surface – but there was something fake about her – probably one of those ambitious cut-throat types who would stab anyone in the back to get ahead. Bon-Bon had a better bullshit detector and would have been able to spot Starlight’s true character right away – something told Tetris that neither Sapphire nor Ziggy were good at that sort of stuff.
“Ah, Tetris”, said Starlight Glimmer, “you are an interesting one indeed. Hopefully, you stick around unlike the last earth pony who entered our school.”
“The last earth pony?”
“My freshman year”, said Starlight Glimmer, “there was this total brainiac who enrolled – a gray mare with no personality – she absorbed information like a sponge but after a week, she decided to become a rockology major. I feel so bad. Rocks are so boring.”
Rockology? Some of the ponies from the rock farming communities could really get into that sort of stuff, maybe that mare was passionate about it.
“I hope to stick around longer.”
“The fact that you even bother to speak with me is a good sign”, responded Starlight, “that mare was so anti-social. I think her only friend was a rock in her pocket, so the major made sense. Good for me honestly. At the first day of class, she knew more about the history of magic than me. I might have not been #1 in my class freshman year, LOL!!”
“Congratulations on doing so well, Starlight Glimmer.”
“Thank you. I know you’re not a unicorn, but you can definitely excel in the Magic School. I am honored to be your mentor this year. Each freshman is assigned a mentor. I have looked through your files. It appears your intellectual aptitude matches that of mine – sure, you don’t have a horn apparatus to produce the magic, but I think I can find other ways to get you producing spells. I’m actually hoping to make that my thesis. Out of all the upperclassmen in the Magic School, I am definitely the best fit for you as mentor.”
“Thank you, I look forward to working with you too.”
Starlight Glimmer grinned and then said, “Here are all of the things you will need for your dorms. And oh Tetris, there is an ID card you can use to enter the residence hall. No need to worry about needing a pesky horn to get in. I know you all will enjoy Canterlot University so much!”
“So jealous”, said Sapphire, “you have Starlight Glimmer for a mentor. How the hell did that happen?”
“Dunno, maybe selections were done randomly.”
“Probably not”, said Ziggy, “they try to match ponies based on ability. At least, that’s what my sister told me. And they let the better students pick first, Starlight Glimmer probably got first choice – it was either Tetris or those two dork fillies we went to school with.”
“Heh heh”, responded Sapphire, “Starlight would have been better off with me than one of those two antisocial shut-outs.”
“Well”, said Ziggy, “Moondancer is nice. She’s just shy, but really friendly once you get to know her. Twilight Sparkle though. She just doesn’t like other ponies. She thinks she’s better than everypony else and lets you know it. Don’t tell Starlight this, but I like the pony who replaced her in the announcements better.”
“Oh, Minuette”, said Sapphire, “she was so low-class though – she’s at Canterlot University but going to pre-dental school instead of magic school.”
“Minuette was funnier and more down-to-earth. I dunno”, said Ziggy, “Starlight often sounded kind of fake to me – like she was pretending to be all bubbly and friendly but really detested us.”
“You’re just jealous because she probably would never sleep with your zebra ass.”
“Zebra”, asked Tetris.
“Oh yeah”, said Ziggy, “my dad is a zebra – so I’m technically a half unicorn.”
But the fact that Ziggy had a horn and could perform magic spells meant he was a unicorn and not a zebra, if two ponies of different races mated – the offspring either take on all the traits of one or another. For example, if Tetris were to raise a family with a unicorn mare – they could have a unicorn son and an earth pony daughter.
“Haha”, said Sapphire, “one of these days – you’ll admit to me that you can perform those crazy voodoo spells that I hear about.”
“My dad is from Fillydelphia, not Afillica. I dare you to ask him if he can do them next time you see him. Well, my room is on the fourth floor. You two have fun on the third floor.”
“Good meeting you, Ziggy”, said Tetris.
“We’re definitely going to hang out, you seem like a cool guy.”
Tetris and Sapphire headed up to Room #311 – this would be their freshman dorm room.
“Guessing you’re the only pony from Belmont Stakes in the Magic School”, said Sapphire.
“Yea, just me”, responded Tetris, “there are a couple of us at Canterlot too – even two unicorns who aren’t studying magic.”
“The Magic School is quite difficult to get into”, said Sapphire, “you can be admitted to Canterlot University but rejected by the Magic School, that’s what happened to that Minuette filly.”
“Good to know.”
“Stick with me and Ziggy and we’ll help you through this school – even though you’re not a unicorn.”
“Thank you. I’m glad to have such a good support system here.”
Tetris felt relieved that his roommate was actually starting to warm up to him – mostly thanks to Ziggy who seemed like a more tolerant pony.
The two stallions began to unpack their things. Tetris couldn’t help but to notice that Sapphire often handled objects in a clumsy manner when using his horn. It was funny but Tetris knew how to help his roommate become better at magic – the question was whether Sapphire would accept help from an earth pony in that regard.
Tetris heard his phone vibrate and saw the following message, “Hey bro – party tonight at Mu Alpha Gamma. You definitely want to go. There are gonna be a lot of people and a lot of booze. This is Ziggy by the way.”
Tetris responded with, “Awesome, I’ll be there.”
“Mu Alpha Gamma”, said Sapphire, “the most prestigious unicorn fraternity on campus – Ziggy makes friends very easily. We’ll definitely be partying it up tonight – oh yea. We’re in fucking college!”