Infected With Your Magic

by Superbowl


A Walk in the Park

Winding Trail’s Forest Park was a favorite for momentary escapes from the roadside stench of exhaust fumes. It was not uncommon for people to travel halfway across the city to visit it.

Principal Cinch recently took to frequenting the park as well. Shortly after adding sweet pastries to her diet she’d realized that she would have to balance them out. These forty minute strolls gave her just that, as well as a good relaxing environment that was conducive to both clearing her head and focused thinking.

Cinch got out of her car near the park entrance. Thick, heavy clouds overhead reminded her to take her small black umbrella. After locking the car Cinch looked around for a moment and started walking.

Last monday, after classes were over, Cadenza had come to Cinch’s office wearing an uncharacteristic scowl. ”Principal Cinch,” the dean had said then, “you know that I seldom question your methods. I disagree with some of them, but I understand them. However, blackmailing Shining Armor by threatening to fire me behind my back is where I draw the line.”

The following talk had been short and relatively calm, but by the end of it Cadenza had remained displeased. In a display of almost uncharacteristic pettiness she had stopped aiding the principal with gauging the moods and concerns of the student body. It was not a part of the dean’s job, so Cinch was in no position to force her. She had to develop an alternate solution.

The one coming together in her head was not something Cinch appreciated having to do.

The evening had yet to get dark. All sorts of people walked around, many of them of high school age or close, probably trying to stretch out the last hours of the weekend.

The entrance drew near. The forest had two major ones, and today Cinch chose the botanical garden side. It was decidedly less popular among the youth than the amusement park-like area around the other entrance and that suited Cinch just fine. She could use the relaxing walk before having to engage with teenagers.

Cinch knew that some of her students had seen her in the park before. It would appear entirely natural, if she came across someone from Crystal Prep today, to exchange a few words. Certainly more natural, in a student’s eye, than their principal deliberately setting it up in order to fish for information.

None of them had ever known Cinch for subtlety.

Cinch passed the metal gate and the long defunct ticket booth. Perhaps they used to have entrance fees to this place, but that must’ve been before her time. She had definitely been taken here as a girl and she remembered the booth being just as abandoned back then. Why it hadn’t simply been removed was a mystery.

Despite the neglect, the botanical garden still retained an air of sophistication and elegance. The historic Joe Bringer Estate stood in the distance, with its white columns and chipped pale red paint, surrounded by weeping willows, blue spruces and various unidentifiable shrubs. In front of it was a pool that looked well-suited for quiet boat rides, were it only twenty times larger. It even had a small island with a lone willow tree growing on it but, sadly, not enough space for a gazebo of any kind.

Cinch circled the pond and walked towards a bridge over a small, gently flowing stream that sprouted from it. On the bridge she spotted several familiar people watching the water run.

It was two of her students, namely Sugarcoat and Royal Pin, and two girls Cinch recognized from the Friendship Games as CHS students. One of them, if her memory of her interdimensional journey was correct, must’ve been Rarity, though Cinch didn’t know the timid pink-haired girl’s name.

Not too long after Cinch had spotted the teenagers they noticed her too. Rarity and the unidentified girl quickly said something to Sugarcoat and Royal and scurried away around the pond. The latter pair continued to stand there, their elbows on the railing.

As Cinch approached, Royal Pin turned around to face her.

“Good evening, Principal.”

Sugarcoat grunted noncommittally.

These two students Cinch knew rather well.

Royal Pin seemed as if he’d been born a few centuries too late, and perhaps on the wrong continent entirely. Had a passion for history and literature, aspired to become an international diplomat, never failed to carry himself with dignity.

Sugarcoat hailed from a family of lawyers, and while she inherited all the seriousness that came with that, she was always unerringly straightforward and honest. She could definitely talk eye to eye with almost anyone and not flinch.

All in all, Cinch couldn’t have asked for a better pair of students for her first attempt. She could almost hear the horse version of Cadenza talk about “mingling with the subjects”.

“Were those girls from CHS?” Cinch asked. Sugarcoat curtly confirmed it. “They were quick to leave.”

Sugarcoat finally turned around to face Cinch. She crossed her arms. “You didn’t exactly leave the best impression on them during the games.”

Cinch made a point of raising her eyebrow very visibly. “What did they think I would do? They don’t attend Crystal Prep, so they can’t even think I would punish them for simply crossing my path, ridiculous as that belief would be either way.”

It was Sugarcoat’s turn to raise an eyebrow in an unspoken question.

“Unfortunately,“ Cinch sighed, “many freshmen at Crystal Prep take a while to stop thinking like children. Ideas like that are common.” Sugarcoat rolled her eyes.

Royal Pin spoke up. “If anything, they probably thought you would be displeased with us for associating with them. They didn’t wish to get us in trouble, as I took it.”

Cinch simply closed her eyes and shook her head. “Oh please. If I had any intention of punishing that, I would’ve done so right after the Friendship Games.”

“Well it’s not us that need to be told this, it’s them,” Sugarcoat said. “Although they can’t be blamed for assuming something like that, considering how you openly antagonized Canterlot High during the games.”

“Did I?” said Cinch, narrowing her eyes in thought. “Ah, you must mean my words during that… ‘welcoming party’, correct?”

Sugarcoat nodded.

“That speech did seem rather antagonistic, I must say”, Royal chimed in.

“That”—Cinch waved her hand—“was just to maintain the competitive spirit and motivation. I can’t expect my students to give the events their all if they like their rivals.”

“Ever heard of friendly competition?” asked Sugarcoat, crossing her arms. Royal Pin cast her a short glance.

Cinch furrowed her brow slightly. “The Friendship Games are not meant to be a friendly competition.”

“Could’ve fooled me, what with their name and all.”

“Miss Sugarcoat, the name means nothing. What’s important is what the games’ scores tell people about our school.” Cinch’s tone quickly evened out. “The name was Principal Celestia’s doing, by the way. I merely never bothered to protest it.” She locked her hands in front of her. “But be that as it may, you will all graduate before the next games, so it’s no concern of mine if you all become best friends now. The school rivalry won’t weaken for it.”

There was a brief pause as Cinch looked thoughtfully at the water behind the two teenagers. They didn’t have anything to say. Her gaze then returned to them.

“Moreover, should they give you any ideas for something you’d want to improve about Crystal Prep, don’t hesitate to relay those suggestions to Dean Cadance. I trust you not to ask for less homework or something similarly inane.” Cinch waved her hand. ”And spread this sentiment among your classmates, if you would.”

Royal Pin tapped his chin.

“Incidentally,” he said, “some students from Canterlot High are performing at the stage this evening. Sugarcoat and I were planning to see them. I know some of our classmates would be enthusiastic about an extended music program of some kind.”

“Ah yes, Principal Celestia was quite proud of the CHS music program. A good observation, Royal Pin. I’ll have the faculty consider whether we can implement something in that vein, provided we can confirm enough interest for it first.” Cinch put her hands behind her back and turned to look across the pond in the distance. “Well, don’t let me keep you from attending that performance.”


Cinch walked through a familiar clearing.

An old railroad ran atop a stretch of elevated ground along the far edge of the park, warehouses and other industrial structures behind it. Several bare flag poles stood in front, their purpose lost in time—Cinch had never seen any cloth waving on their tops, not even in her younger years.

Three thickly clothed figures emerged from the trees on other side. Visitors rarely came this deep into the forest, but it would have been nothing unusual had the three young girls not blocked her way forward.

“Can I help you?” Cinch said.

“As a matter of fact, yes you can,” replied the middle girl. A cloud of unkempt orange hair floated behind her, in stark contrast to the overcast greens around them.

“Indeed?” said Cinch, crossing her arms.

“You are Abacus Cinch, the headmistress of Crystal Prep Academy, correct?” asked the girl. The other two just stood to her sides, one looking glum and the other angry.

“Correct. And who would you happen to be?”

“Oh, you should know of us by now, Abacus.” The girl’s decision to address Cinch by her first name took the woman by surprise—there was only one person who’d ever done that, and she hadn’t seen him in a long time. “My name is Adagio Dazzle.”

“Ah, so you three must be our latest applicants,” Cinch said, immediately recognizing the name. She had somehow forgotten to formally decline those three applications last monday, probably because she had absentmindedly shoved them into a drawer during Shining Armor’s brief distraction.

“What did you three hope to accomplish by confronting me in the middle of the woods? Rather unconventional.”

“Well, you see,” Adagio said, “it has been a whole week and we still haven’t gotten our acceptance—”

“The processing of your applications took a little longer than normal,” Cinch said, putting her hands behind her back. “These are busy days for our school.”

An expectant grin started forming on Adagio’s face.

“You shall receive your denial notifications next week,” Cinch finished with a slight smirk of her own, so slight in fact that only Cinch herself knew it was even there.

The girl was stunned. She opened and closed her mouth a few times like a dying fish. Several seconds passed before she regained the ability to speak.

“What?! Denial? But we’re practically overqualified for your school! Even Sonata!” Adagio cried, gesturing to the glum-looking girl who in response gave her a slightly hurt look and lowered her eyes to the ground.

“That may be the case, but rest assured that you have been denied,” replied Cinch sternly.

“But why then?” Adagio waved her arms. “We—”

“Ugh, Adagio, can you sink any lower?” the angry girl, probably Aria Blaze, said. ”Prostrating yourself before this crone? Where’s your siren pride?”

“We’re not sirens anymore, Aria,” stated the glum one—Sonata—in a lifeless voice completely unfitting a teenage girl.

Adagio spun around and gestured the other two to keep quiet.

“Sirens?” Cinch said, crossing her arms again and raising an eyebrow for good measure. “Have you grown tired of luring sailors to their doom, then?”

Adagio slapped her forehead with a surprising amount of force. “That cursed nonsense again,” she mumbled. “No, never mind that!”

“Adagio, your plan has clearly failed. You’re not gonna change her mind!” Aria said as she came up to the girl in the middle. “She knows about magic anyway, might as well try telling the truth.”

“Fine,” Adagio sighed, “whatever.” She looked back at Cinch. “We know you’ve seen magic at work recently, Abacus, during a competition between your school and another. What exactly happened we could not find out, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that we’ve lived here for far longer than you could imagine, because we are not human.” The girl looked aside with a snarl. “Well, we used not to be human.”

“Fascinating, but why do you think I should care?” Cinch said. “I’m more than ready to put all that magical nonsense behind me.”

“Well, for one thing, we’ve picked up a lot of knowledge over the years. We would most certainly encounter no trouble at your school.” Adagio smirked. ”Would you not want a few extra star students?”

“Frankly, accepting you in the middle of the school year would be more trouble than it’s worth, even if what you say were true,” Cinch replied. “Especially since it sounds like you don’t actually need the education.” Cinch had a few guesses as to why the ‘girls’ might have set their sights on Crystal Prep, but she waited for them to reveal their intentions before jumping to assumptions.

“But education is not the only boon your school provides, Abacus,” Adagio said with another grin. “Now that we are faced with all the... necessities that come with a life without our old powers, a lot of formalities come up. Since we’re qualified for it and then some, we want the status that comes with finishing YOUR school.” Adagio put her hands on her hips, gaining a look of new confidence that suited her surprisingly well despite the messy hair. ”It will be a mutually beneficial relationship.”

“I just want to go back to Equestria…” whispered the downcast Sonata. Cinch elected not to show a reaction to that, but the utterance did confirm a suspicion of hers—and gave birth to several new ones. Such as the highly questionable sincerity of Adagio’s reasoning. There was something more there.

“Well, I’m sure there are other schools that should be enough for you,” she said. “For one, Canterlot High has gained reputation lately.” That, and they seemed to have a much more lax policy for enrolling ex-magical creatures.

“That… wouldn’t work,“ Adagio said. “We have a bit of a history with that place.”

“And just how much do you know about CHS?” Cinch probed. These three could be worth the bother after all.

“We know that some of their students have discovered a source of magic,” said Adagio. Aria rolled her eyes.

“She already knows about that, Adagio.”

“Indeed I do. But I am obviously unfamiliar with the details,” Cinch said. “Am I right to assume you three possess a deeper knowledge of magic?”

“Even though we can’t use it anymore, we can still detect it. We can lead you to the source.” Adagio grinned expectantly at Cinch, clearly having sensed an opening.

Cinch allowed for a deliberate pause before replying, even though she came to her decision quickly. These ‘girls’ didn’t have to know of Cinch’s true intentions right away, and neither did she need to know of theirs, but they could prove to be very useful to her. Of course, the only way to make them cooperate would be to have leverage over them... for example, the ability to expel them from Crystal Prep.

“Well, girls, or whatever you three are… I shall arrange an interview for you.” If she were to accept them, it would have to be done through Cadenza—to avoid any perceived connection between the ‘sirens’ and Cinch herself. “You will be notified on when to arrive. And do try not to embarrass yourselves.”

Cinch tapped her chin for a second.

“By the way, I suppose you would know this… Exactly how long is a ‘moon’ in your world’s terms?”


The skies started to clear, allowing patches of sunset to shine through.

Having left the three hopefuls back in the clearing and walked through the rest of the woods undisturbed, Cinch neared the other exit. The area around it was decidedly more populated than the rest of the park, despite the time. The snack kiosks were closed already, as was the carousel and most of the other attractions, but that didn’t stop teenagers from congregating around the benches and gazebos. Most of them stood around the stage to the side.

On stage, a girl in a tacky outfit was doing a magic show with a lively cello accompaniment by another, more tastefully dressed girl. While it was nothing impressive, it seemed well-planned and competently performed.

In the crowd Cinch’s eyes spotted Rarity and the other girl from earlier, applauding excitedly at the appropriate moments. Royal Pin and Sugarcoat were with them as well, the former offering subdued applause of his own.

To the side, another group was packing a set of musical equipment into a van. Cinch recognized the blue-haired boy that had somehow baked a loaf of bread instead of a cake back at the Friendship Games. He was talking to one of Cinch’s own Shadowbolts, Lemon Zest, who seemed very animated. They must have been talking about music.

Cinch turned back to the stage. Suddenly she heard another one of her students address her.

“Principal?” Indigo Zap approached, her head cocked to the side. “Don’t tell me you came here to watch them too!”

“No, I have not,” Cinch answered, not bothering to look at the girl. “I was merely walking by, but the performance drew my attention.”

“No kidding.” Indigo stared at the magician on the stage. “These Canterlot guys have a lot going for them.”

In her mind, Cinch smirked. Indigo Zap was one of the most competitive students she had known, with a near insatiable drive to assert her superiority. Or at least the superiority of any group she counted herself a part of. If this was not the ember to be fanned into a blazing spirit of one-upmanship, nothing was.

“Yes,” Cinch said, “it does seem that CHS offers a lot of extracurricular activities.”

The two were joined by Lemon Zest who had left the Canterlot High group to their packing. “I kinda wish we had our own band,” she said.

Cinch glanced at the music enthusiast. “Royal Pin has expressed the same sentiment to me earlier.”

The girl looked at her wide-eyed. “Royal?” She grinned. “Ha! He probably wants an orchestra or something! Classical only!”

“He simply mentioned that a number of Crystal Prep students would be interested in a music program,” said Cinch, still facing the stage.

“Lemon here’s longed for something like that since forever,” said Indigo Zap. “I didn’t even think schools did this sort of thing.”

“Some schools do,” said Cinch.

“Principal Cinch!” Lemon Zest looked at the woman with pleading eyes befitting a small child about to ask for candy. “Our school’s supposed to be the best, isn’t it?”

“I should hope so, yes.”

“Then how come we don’t do music?”

“She’s got a point, Principal,” said Indigo Zap. “Canterlot does much more than classes. Why doesn’t Crystal Prep have any of these things?” She crossed her arms. “We could totally do better than them.”

Cinch sighed. “Do you want a simple answer?” She finally turned to Indigo. “School is about education. We have always concentrated on that.”

“Wait, it’s not like we mean cutting back on classes to do it,” said Indigo, her hands raised. “But don’t tell me we don’t have a couple spare rooms and the money for some equipment!” She put her hands on her hips and smirked confidently. “We’ve got the people, we just need the resources!”

“I shall give this matter some consideration,” said Cinch, turning once more to the stage.

“Me, I’d love a chemistry lab or something,” continued Indigo. “They never let us do anything good in class.”

Lemon Zest chuckled. “Gotta live up to your mad scientist look, eh, Zap?”

“Yep.” Indigo answered with her own chuckle. “These goggles are versatile, I’ll have you know.” She stared at the performing duo. “I bet they don’t let them do cool experiments and stuff in Canterlot.”

“I suppose I could arrange a proper way for students to submit suggestions such as these,” said Cinch after a moment of thought. “If there is sufficient demand, something can be done.”

Lemon Zest fist-pumped. “Sweet!” She turned around to leave, but stopped. “Hey Trendy! How long have you been standing here?”

“Just came by, Lemon,” Trenderhoof answered her. Cinch hadn’t heard him approach, and apparently neither had Lemon Zest.

“That’s Trenderhoof?!” a female voice Cinch knew but just couldn’t place shouted from somewhere nearby. Everyone looked for the source of the scream, but it was impossible to discern in the crowd.

Lemon Zest giggled while Indigo Zap shrugged and turned to Trenderhoof. “So, how does it feel to have inspired this whole shindig, Trend?”

“Oh, yeah, it’s pretty great,” Trenderhoof said after regaining his composure. ”I never thought they could just organize something like this so quickly.”

Cinch turned to face the boy. “What do you mean?”

Before Trenderhoof could answer, Indigo threw an arm around his shoulders.

“Well, from what we heard,” she said, “the Canterlot guys read his post as well, and were so inspired by all the butt-kissing that they decided to show off!” The boy grumbled at her. “Relax, Trend, I’m just kidding. But you were laying it on pretty thick.”

Ignoring her, Trenderhoof looked at Cinch. “Principal Cinch, I wanted to say that I decided to accept your proposition.” He waved his arm across the crowd of mingling students. “I had my doubts, but seeing this... This is the first time something I’ve written has had such an effect! And I see now that I can do more.” The boy looked around himself. “Just from seeing all this, it’s obvious there’s a lot to write about in Canterlot High.”

“Excellent,” said Cinch. “You can start when you want. There are no deadlines.”

“Thank you,” said Trenderhoof. “I already have a few ideas.”

Indigo Zap chuckled and smacked Trenderhoof’s back. “Don't let it get to your head, Trendy.”


The performance neared its end. Cinch looked around, unsure if there was any point to staying here any longer. She had gotten enough information already, there was no reason to linger in the park.

Cinch saw the stetson-wearing girl that had helped Twilight during the archery event talking to Jet Set and Upper Crust, two more of this year’s Shadowbolts. That was unusual: they belonged to the two richest families represented in Crystal Prep and were always picky with their associates. The CHS girl, however, looked like she'd grown up on a farm.

Trenderhoof had walked away and was conversing with none other than Twilight and the fiery-haired girl that had stopped Twilight’s magical rampage (and was apparently an equine in disguise). Cinch was surprised to see Shining Armor with them. He looked entirely out of place.

Perhaps he’d really gotten it into his head that Twilight needed to be looked after.

There were many more groups of people talking to each other all around her, the Canterlot High students and Crystal Preppers mixing together as though they didn’t belong to rival schools.

Unnatural as it was, the sight did not bother Principal Cinch. After all, she would put a stop to it very soon. Cinch simply had to finish what Twilight had unknowingly started during the games—with or without the help of her three newest recruits.