The school bell rang, and Nova Blaze sighed as he trotted through the hallway. "Class F... I was sure I did 'okay' on the test. I only skipped the essay questions." He sighed, eying Rainbow Dash as she trotted into the classroom. "At least there's some cute mares in class F." He smiled and went in, with Thunder Quill following right behind him.
"I swear I did not sign up for this." Thunder Quill groaned, his eyes moving around the classroom full of broken tables and dusty floor bags. "It feels like I'm in Saddle Arabia." he said, sitting down on one of the deflated cushions.
With the door open, several students on their way to class A stopped by and peeked in. "Thunder Quill?" Coalstone said, smiling and walking into the dusty classroom. Thunder Quill promptly covered his face with cushion. This cannot be happening. Coalstone cleared his throat and continued, towering over him slightly. "You're in Class F? Didn't you make 4.0 last year?" He said, before coughing.
"Yes." Thunder Quill said shakily, removing the cushion. "I can't help being sick on the day of the placement test." He said. "You better not stay in here too long... you'll catch a nasty cough from all the dust floating around..." He said, catching a clump of dust with his hoof.
"Yeah..." Coalstone said, coughing slightly. "I suppose you're right... I don't really know what to say at this point anyway. Other than good luck." He said smiling, offering his hoof.
"Okay thanks." Thunder Quill said calmly, extending his hoof which Coalstone nearly crushed within his tight grip. "Ow! Bones snapping! BONES SNAPPING!" He yelled painfully. Coalstone quickly released his grip.
"Sorry I sometimes forget that not many ponies can handle a handshake from me." Coalstone said apprehensively. "You being no exception. Hate to leave you like that, but I gotta go." He waved awkwardly and trotted along the hallways again, quickly leaving Thunder Quill's line of sight.
Thunder Quill sighed. "Already I feel like an idiot."
Nova Blaze just smiled and patted him on the back with his hoof. "You'll be fine, once you get your test scores up people will start to respect you again."
"As if." Rainbow Dash sighed, intruding on their conversation. "Everypony's already forgotten who I am since I ended up in this class."
Nova Blaze squinted at Rainbow Dash. "Now that you mention it, I do remember seeing you somewhere."
"You do?" Rainbow Dash said surprised.
"Yeah..." Nova Blaze said, scratching his head. "You work at the pastry shop right?"
Rainbow Dash facehoofed. "Um no..." She groaned angrily. "I'm the element of loyalty, saved Equestria about a thousand times."
Nova and Rainbow sat down, carefully eyeballing the teacher Mrs. Scales as she walked into the classroom.
"Ahem." She said, clearing her throat. "My name is Mrs..." She said, forcibly dragging a jagged piece of chalk across the chalkboard, applying pressure at such a force that it sounded like the dying squeals of a thousand pigs. "...Scales."
Everypony was noticeably uncomfortable except for Skye Mist, who shrugged and stared at the chalkboard, which now revealed the name "Mrs. Scales" as well as a lot of chalk dust.
"I know this classroom is not much to be desired, but I have already begun making improvements." She said, hiding an evil chuckle.
"Um... these lights are making me dizzy." Lunar Love said, raising her hoof.
"Don't worry dear, it's all for the best. All the improvements I will make are for the benefit of you and will help with focus, concentration, and the power of suggestion." Mrs. Scales said.
"What was that last one?" Lunar Love asked confused.
Mrs. Scales eyes shrank as she realized her mistake. "Oh, nothing. Keep in mind that class F's budget is dreadfully restricted and I will not be able to make all the necessary changes that I would like." She said, just as one of the light fixtures fell off of the ceiling.
She groaned in annoyance at the fallen light fixture. "I'm going to go get some tools, please study on your own while I'm gone." She murmured, leaving the classroom.
Nova Blaze smiled and turned to Lunar Love, who became startled in response. "Hi, I'm Nova Blaze." He said smiling.
"Lunar Love." She said, easing up slightly.
"Well, I'm glad there's two girls in this class instead of just one." Nova Blaze said happily.
Skye Mist walked over and glared at Nova Blaze. "Three girls actually."
"Hmm..." Nova Blaze said, eying Skye carefully. "Sorry, it was hard to tell with your voice, personality, and the fact that I couldn't get a good peek at your..."
"Don't you dare finish that sentence." Skye Mist snapped.
Nova Blaze backed off slowly and zipped his mouth closed with his hoof.
"Well... what about her?" Lunar Love asked, pointing to Mix-up.
Mix-up perked up in surprise. "Zis is ze mane and body of a étalon." He spat.
Thunder Quill rolled his eyes. "No need to be rude guys, what's your name big guy?"
"Mix-up." He said awkwardly. "And I also take offense to being called 'Ze Big Guy'"
Thunder Quill shrugged and opened up a textbook. "You know, you guys should really try studying if you want to win a summoner test war."
"Nah, all we really need to do is let you take a recovery test and lean on your nerdy scores." Rainbow Dash said arrogantly.
"Not if we want to beat class A." Thunder Quill said. "I Can't beat Twilight and the rest of A class by myself."
"What's the big deal?" Nova Blaze asked. "It's not like we can legitimately declare war on the first day of a new term anyway."
Rainbow Dash paused in thought. "Actually... it is possible. If we can get approval from a bunch of different teachers to fight in subjects that we're best at we could probably even beat class C." She continued. "Quick! What's your best subject?"
"Health and Phys Ed." Lunar Love said, smiling.
"Equine History." Skye Mist said, nodding.
"Prench, obviously." Mix-up said blankly. "I suck mad hard at ze English though."
"English, but my scores are all zero until I take a recovery test." Thunder Quill said.
Rainbow Dash looked at Nova Blaze curiously. "Well?"
"I don't have a best subject." Nova Blaze said awkwardly. Everypony facehoofed in response.
Rainbow Dash smiled. "It doesn't matter really... you see Nova Blaze is the village idiot, which means his avatar is unique."
"I think the term is probationary student..." Nova Blaze said timidly.
"His avatar can touch real life objects and inflict real pain upon the summoner." Rainbow Dash continued.
"I can feel my avatar's pain? That's messed up." Nova Blaze groaned.
"Still... if you use the objects to your advantage, you can block more attacks and inflict massage damage, despite your low offensive power in every subject." Rainbow Dash explained.
"So what happens when our avatar dies?" Lunar Love asked curiously.
"You get sent to a remedial class taught by Satan." Rainbow Dash said.
Thunder Quill raised an eyebrow. "Mrs Inkwell..."
Rainbow Dash groaned. "Well what class do we shoot for, E?"
"No way." Skye Mist said shaking her head. "Gearhead is in class E, I remember he had to leave during the placement test."
"Wow Gearhead is in class E? His scores are almost always up there with mine and Twilight's." Thunder Quill said nervously. "As soon as he takes a recovery test we'll have no chance."
"Hmm..." Rainbow Dash thought for a moment. "Class D then?" Everypony nodded in response. Rainbow Dash turned to Nova Blaze. "Alright village idiot, go declare war on class D."
"No way, I can't declare war on a higher ranked class. I'll get curdled like ham." Nova Blaze said anxiously.
"Curdled? Ham?" Mix-up wondered silently if he had learned the wrong definitions of those words.
"I don't think you can curdle ham, moron." Rainbow Dash snarked. "Don't worry, Class D's rep is Fluttershy, they won't be too violent."
"Okay, fine." Nova Blaze sighed, and headed off to Class D and declared war, where he was attacked by vicious wild animals. He limped back to class with various bruises and scars.
"I was attacked by wild animals." He growled.
"Huh... come to think of it I do remember Fluttershy wanting to get a class pet." Rainbow Dash said confused.
"I don't think hundreds of wild animals classifies as a class pet." Nova Blaze said angrily.
Rainbow shrugged. "I guess it's time then. Get ready for battle!" She yelled.
Everypony obeyed and moved out, getting ready to defend themselves.
"This war is ours!"