It was early in the morning, and a young man with faded green skin and hair as white as the clouds outside was getting ready for his first day at the renowned private school Crystal Prep Academy. Heavenly Quill looked at his reflection in his bathroom mirror; he straightened his tie, fixed his collar and buttoned his uniform up.
He looked at his reddish-purple uniform and he smiled. “Blazer is buttoned and freshly ironed, undershirt is neat and in order, tie is tied comfortably, slacks are smooth and the perfect dark blue, and most important, the shadowbolt logo is proudly displayed on your personalized book and quill pin……. I look perfect, but why am I so nervous?!” Quill said to himself as he rested his head against the mirror.
“Maybe it's those stupid rumors about the students there. I’m sure they can’t be that bad…. right?”
A masculine voice spoke from his bathroom door. “Son, you should stop talking to yourself and get ready to go. School starts in 2 hours and you know you like to be early.”
Quill jumped at the sudden voice and turned to see his father Cold Steel looking at him. Cold Steel was an older and more muscular version of his son with the same faded green skin and baby blue eyes.
Quill was about to tell his father to knock before he entered when his words registered in his mind. “T...Two hours!? The bus ride there is an hour, and I still need to get a tour of the place!” He ran past his dad, grabbed his backpack and hurried downstairs for the door. He didn’t notice that he forgot to brush his hair.
Standing at the door was a short, light blue skinned woman with the same white hair as Quill. This was Quill’s mother, Soft Breeze. She held her son still and fixed his long white hair, brushing it back and letting it fall down to his neck. “Sweetie, let me cut your hair! It's too long for a boy!”
“Mom I told you before, no one cares how long your hair is anymore!”
Soft Breeze sighed and held up a pair of glasses. The lenses were tinted black to hide his eyes. “I hate that you insist on wearing these, Quill. There's nothing wrong with your eyes!” she said, looking at his baby blue eyes which had no irises.
“Mom, I’m the new kid, I only got in the school by the skin of my teeth, and I’m probably the only kid that has to take the public bus there! I don’t need to give them any more material to make fun of!” He put the glasses on and headed out the door. “Bye mom, I love you!”
The door shut behind him and Soft Breeze sighed. “That boy needs to get some self-confidence.”
“No, he needs to get a better memory. He forgot his wallet with his lunch money.” Cold Steel said as he walked downstairs, holding up Quill’s wallet.
Quill waited at the bus stop, taking deep breaths to calm himself down. He pulled his bus pass out from his backpack and smiled. “I got you, I got my school supplies, and I got my…” He dug around in his pockets. He pulled out his iPod and headphones. He hit his head against the bus stop sign. “I forgot my wallet…...I forgot my wallet…..” He groaned and closed his eyes. “The bus is going to be here any minute now…. I guess I’m just not gonna eat today!” He sighed and opened his eyes. “This day can’t get any worse…..”
The bus pulled up to the stop and he looked to it. “At least it’s on time…” He walked onto the bus and showed his bus pass to the driver. He looked out at the seats, trying to find an empty one. His eyes widened a little when he spotted another person wearing the Crystal Prep uniform. It was a girl and she had pinkish skin with bright green and yellow hair. She wore the Crystal Prep girls uniform, a reddish purple blazer buttoned up and with Shadowbolts on the pockets, a dark purple bow tie , a white undershirt with the collar raised up a little, and a purple bladed skirt with small blue lines going down the frills. She wore dark purple knee socks and shoes with crystal hearts on the laces. She had headphones on and he could hear her music from the front of the bus. She seemed to be lost in the music, so she didn't notice him when he sheepishly sat next to her.
Lemon Zest had her eyes closed and she bobbed her head to her loud rock music. She felt something brush up against her arm, so she opened an eye and looked to the person sitting next to her. She was about to tell him to find somewhere else to sit when she saw his uniform was for Crystal Prep. She hung her headphones around her neck and she smirked. “Nice uniform. You the new kid Cinch was talking about?”
The kid jumped at the sound of her voice and Lemon Zest smirked as he stuttered out.
“Y.. yeah that’s me… My name is Heavenly Quill.”
Lemon Zest laughed. “You're the shy type, aren't you?”
The kid, Quill, looked down and nodded slowly. “Y..yep that's me.”
Lemon Zest smiled and took her headphones off, putting them over Quill’s head. “Tell you what, if ya like my music, I’ll be your friend.” She smirked. No one she knew liked the same kind of loud rock music she did. So her eyes widened when Quill started smiling and bobbing his head to the music.
Quill looked to Lemon Zest and he smiled. “I like it!”
She looked at him with a slight smile. “Well then, looks like we’re friends. I’m Lemon Zest.” She took her headphones back. “If you got your own headphone, I’ll let you listen with me.”
Quill looked to Lemon Zest and he smiled as he put his headphones on. She connected her iPod to them and they listened to music together on the bus ride to Crystal Prep. Neither of them noticed as the bus passed by Canterlot High and a group of guys hanging out around the front statue. Quill was instead looking at Lemon Zest and thinking that maybe the day wasn't going to be so bad after all.
The bus pulled out in front of Crystal Prep, and Zest led Quill off the bus. “So welcome to Crystal Prep Academy! Home of the Shadowbolts and the best athletes ever!”
Quill looked around at all of the different students heading towards the large shining school. He smiled as he looked up at its crystalline beauty. “S...so what are the people like here?”
“Everyone is looking out for themselves. You're not really worth much if you can’t get things done on your own. The only time you see any of us together is during school events, dances, sports stuff. We like to stick to ourselves.”
“D..doesn’t that get lonely after a while?”
“Lonely? Hell no. Boring, however, yeah. That's why I found a few people who can take my loud music and hang around them. If you're lucky they might let you join us. If you're not, well….Sugarcoat and Sour Sweet are probably gonna make you run off crying,” she said as she looked around for her “friends.”
Quill closed his eyes and he sighed. “This is what I get for being hopeful….” he said under his breath.
Zest looked back at him. “Oh yeah, I should probably take you to Principal Cinch. Usually that’s Sour Sweet’s job, but she's probably off with Sugarcoat in the land of denial.”
“W..What?”
“They try and play it like they don't like each other, but it's so obvious they want each other. You can tell just from the way they act around each other,” Zest said with a slight smirk. “I totally caught them making out behind the school last week. They made me swear not to tell anyone…. Oops, looks like I did. Oh well! You won’t tell anyone else, will ya music buddy?”
Quill just stood there dumbfounded with how mean spirited the girl in front of him was. “N.. no I won't tell anyone….”
Zest smiled. “Good, ‘cause if you did, I’d have to kill ya, and you're the only one around here who loves my music, so.. try not to get on my bad side, ok?”
Quill nodded slowly. “O..Ok Lemon Zest.”
She smiled and looked towards the doors of the school. “Oh look, there's Principal Cinch and Dean Cadance now. Looks like I don’t have to do anything!”
Quill looked ahead and saw the two women. One of them looked tall with light gray skin. Her hair was a mix of different shades of purple tied up in a bun with with a small curl in the front. She wore a dark blue blazer with a matching long dress skirt. She had purple stockings on along with high heels. Around her neck was a small pendant necklace. She reminded Quill of an old witch. The woman beside her looked much kinder. She had light pink skin and long purple, yellow and red hair ending in curls. She wore a lighter version of the blazer that the witchy woman wore. She also wore a long light blue dress with a gold necklace around her neck. It was the witchy-looking woman who spoke first.
“You are the new student, Heavenly Quill?” Her voice was rigid and cold.
Quill nodded quickly. “Y..yes ma’am!”
The woman looked down at him. “I am Principal Cinch. This is Dean Cadance. She will be showing you to my office while I have a talk with Lemon Zest. Is that understood?”
Quill nodded and followed Dean Cadance. She smiled down at him. “Welcome to Crystal Prep, Heavenly Quill.” Her voice was soft and kind. Quill smiled as he was led into the school.
Principal Cinch watched Dean Cadance and the new boy enter her school before turning to Lemon Zest. “I saw you speaking to him. Does it look like he’s worthy of staying here?”
Lemon Zest shrugged. “I dunno, we only talked for a few minutes before jamming out to my music! He’s the only other kid here who likes my stuff.”
Principal Cinch crossed her arms. “That’s not what I asked you, Ms. Zest. The only reason that boy is in my school is because Cadance allowed him in based on his test scores. Since you seem to be so close to him, you may have the honor of getting to know him and making sure he won't ruin my reputation. Understood?” she asked coldly as she looked down at her student.
Lemon Zest gulped and nodded. “Y..yes ma'am! The other shadows and I will find out all we can from him.”
Principal Cinch gave her a slight nod. “Good. I want a response by the end of the week. Today is Monday. You have five days, Ms. Zest. Do not disappoint me.” She turned and walked back to the doors of her school to meet up with Quill and give him his class schedule.
Lemon Zest sighed as she watched Principal Cinch head off into the school. She got out her phone and texted her friends. “Cinch wants us to cozy up to the new kid and see if he's useful or not. I say we put him through the Shadowbolt initiation. If he survives that, he might be worthwhile. What do you girls think?”
She received four replies within seconds of each other.
Sour Sweet: “Yeah it sounds fun! Fun to watch him fail.”
Sugarcoat: “Whoever he is, he won’t make it.
Indigo Zap: “Whoo! Another chance to mess with the Wonderdolts again!”
Sunny Flare: “Sounds wonderful darling.”
Lemon Zest smirked as she read her friends’ replies. “Quill, I hope you're ready. You're gonna go through hell!” She wore a sinister smile on her face, laughing as she walked into the school while listening to her deafeningly loud rock music.
In Principal Cinch’s office, Quill received his schedule and was sent off to his first class. He was scared of what Lemon Zest had told him, but he still had a little vain hope that things could get better. He had no idea how wrong he was as he read his first class.
“Archery? What kind of class is that?”