Orientation
“These are the Awkward steps. You can see where they get their name from.” Chevonne said as she started down the oddly shaped staircase.
They were definitely different than any stairs the pony had seen before. They were twice as long and half as tall. The humans walking down either took two steps for each or took extra-long strides. As Stormy headed down, he felt the stairs deserved their name. It would have been much easier to just glide down the red brick staircase which lasted two flights, almost tripping himself up as he miss stepped, his gait just off.
The pegasus spread his wings to catch himself. Thankfully there were no people next to him to hit, although a group of girls behind him giggled. He tucked his wings back in, giving them a slight ruffle to better lay against his body. It would definitely be easier to glide down. He looked to his right, at the sheer wall at the top of which he saw table and chairs, a place it would have been even easier to glide down from.
At the body of the stairs, the path split right and left, it was hard to see past the curve. Chevonne led them to the right, a road separating the two sides. On the left sat trees and a fence, next to them on the right sat another red brick building with large glass windows. The path had a slow decline and curved to the left.
They passed the building Chevonne called Sproul Commons. The left was Drake Stadium; he recognized it when they got to a corner. They had to stop at a light to cross the street even though the path continued forward, they were turning left. As he waited for the light to change, he recognized the path in front of him as the path he came up from the bus and the one behind him as the path he traveled to get to his room the previous night.
The light changed, even though it seemed pointless as no cars traveled down the road. Once across, the field came back into view. The path back down the steep incline was just as bad as before, but happier without all the rolling bags in front of him. That was until someone went speeding past him on some sort of board, using gravity to pull him down the slope; it was a standard thing for pegasi to do to pick up speed. But the speed the human went; he covered the entirety of the slope in mere seconds and was gone out of sight around another curve.
No one seemed to pay attention to the speeding human, maybe that was standard behavior, it was faster than walking, maybe even as fast as flying. Or maybe there are so many of them they don’t even pay attention to each other. He had no idea where that thought came from but it made sense. He didn’t even realize others around him were talking.
“How have you never read that series?” Suzanne asked incredulously.
“It has never seen interesting. A wizard detective? Really?” Edward responded skeptically. “And what sort of magical McGuffins does he use? A silver talisman? A sword imbued with the power of God?”
“So you have read it!” Suzanne enthused.
Edward quirked a single eyebrow. “No.”
Stormy had no clue what they were talking about and went back to watching the crowd, they had already made it to Ackerman, He recognized it from the day before, the large building made of bland concrete with rust red lines. The building looked dirty seeing it from the front without the ivy along the side. He had missed the large double story window connecting the second and third floors. To the right were a set of stairs leading to the second floor while in front lay another large set of doors with a sign above reading “UCLA Store.”
“You can come here to but UCLA clothing or other school supplies. Inside is also a small market and bookstore for non-class related reading. But, today we are going up to the Grand Ballroom on the fourth floor.” Chevonne informed. “Past this building you have Bruin Walk which takes you to campus; you will see that later though.”
“And we’re walking.” Chevonne laughed, thinking it was hilarious as she led the way up the stairs.
There were people sitting on the stairs, either talking or with small computers on their laps, and one person was just talking to his computer. It was all taken as standard by the people around them.
Stormy though it was odd, but he had seen ponies sit in the grass to read or talk. He had no idea why concrete would be more pleasant. Maybe because they don’t have grass. He pondered, he hadn’t seen much green, let alone grass.
Chevonne led the small group through the glass doors and into the second floor.
Stormy was taken aback by the inside. He had to stop and double check the inside. The floor was made of highly polished white linoleum, clean white walls and bright lights that felt more natural and a light rust colored ceiling.
“This floor has the school bookstore as well as various eateries and ATMs.”
Stormy saw several machines along the side with a screen and number pad; a human was just stepping away from it stuffing some money into his pocket. But where did the money come from. Surely they can’t just get free money. Maybe it works like the bruin card? The pegasus moved those thoughts to the back for later. He needed to see what else was around here.
To the left was a place called Tsunami offered sushi and noodles. Stormy felt saliva as his mouth watered. Cucumber rolls ran through his mind. Next to that, and not as interesting, was a place offering graduation supplies, and beyond that was a Blood and Platelet Center.
“If you want to donate blood to help accident victims, like someone from a car accident or other surgeries, you can come here. They also offer rewards throughout the year for donating.” Chevonne informed, Stormy felt uncomfortable, remembering the surprise of the blood test at the entrance to Earth.
Next to the platelet center was something call “University Credit Union” but to the Equestrian it looked just like a standard bank, but he had one of those back in Canterlot.
Their guide then pointed them to a set of stairs in the ground across from the platelet center. “That leads to the first floor of Ackerman, and the door to the left of that leads to the textbook store.” The stairway was surrounded by a polished silver railing; these stairs were four feet wide turning ninety degrees halfway down and looked to be made of sandstone as did the bookstore he could see across the open chasm of the winding stairs. Between the two sides of the hallway were sofas and chairs in a rectangle facing each other.
They reached the end of the hallway where it split into a four way intersection. “To the left we have the restroom and an exit out to Bruin Walk. On the right are some fast food and coffee shops as well as an arcade and Game-On with game systems for people to play freely, as well a lounge with news or sports playing on the TVs.”
There are a lot of diners around here. Why do humans need so many places to get food? The pegasus wondered. Do humans always have to be within feet of food?
They crossed the intersection, very few humans were milling about. The corridor ended with a small window that said “Information” and to the right was a “United States Postal Service.” Across the hall were an elevator and a flight of stairs.
“If you have any questions come here and they can help.” Chevonne offered. “We will use the stairs to leave the elevator for people who need it. That can be a problem here. Just need to go up two flights to reach the grand ballroom.” Orange hair bouncing along her shoulders as she climbed.
Stormy followed behind the four humans; wings starting to itch from being stagnant. These stairs were closer together, and the pegasus saw the heel of Edwards feet hanging off the steps as he walked. On the landing for the third floor their NSA advised them on even more dining options.
“This entire floor is dining. Chinese, pizza, salad, candy, boba. The newest restaurant is Wolfgang Puck Express and is the only place on campus to get alcohol.” She turned back to look at her group. “Once you are old enough at least.”
After another flight of stairs they exited onto the fourth floor. It wasn’t as bright as the second floor, or as clean, or as large. The space had another set of stairs in the middle of it which explained why the stairway they were in ended at this floor. What looked like several offices took up the path to their left whereas the right had a single door labeled “Grand Ballroom.” And it had a standard wooden door on hinges with a small window to look into the room.
Stormy had been surprised to see so few humans, with the traffic the previous floors had and the amount of living space this place seemed to have, he expected more people. That issue was put to rest when Chevonne open up the doors for them.
The room was huge. The ceiling was tall enough to play hoofball, at least thirty feet high. The room itself was a hundred feet wide and at least three hundred feet deep. The floor was covered with chairs facing a large stage at the front. There were five sets of seats; the first three at the front and the other two at the back with aisles separating the five. Most of these seats were filled. There had to be at least a thousand humans sitting in the ballroom.
Chevonne led them forward. “Our section is up here.”
Stormy’s wings fluttered of their own accord. Walls of flesh, with not a pony in sight. By this time he would settle for a griffon or maybe a diamond dog. There were only two doors, one at the back and one next to the stage; he could make a run for it though.
The smell didn’t help, it wasn’t just musk either, but the perfumes and other odors human bodies exuded, of meat, spoiled milk, and a dozen others. It signified this as so much of an alien world.
“Ok, right this way, ladies first.”
There were five empty seats near the middle of the first sets of seats with Suzanne and Katherine taking the first two followed by Edward, Stormy and then Chevonne.
Stormy was happy he was at least near the aisle. He looked past his group at the next two people in his row. The first had truly unique, long light brown hair thick woven together to look like rope under a blue and white hoofmade beanie, something very few wore back home where they preferred earmuffs. He wore a lavender button up shirt unbuttoned down to his stomach and tucked into the same type of pants the two girls were wearing. He had one leg resting on the other allowing Stormy to see white shoes without socks where he could see the human’s ankle.
Next to him was…
The pegasus’ mind froze. It was the second pony he had seen since coming to Earth. A pegasus mare with rose pink hair and iridescent white fur. She caught him looking and he stared at her orchid eyes, and the glimpse of a smile. She was other worldly. Not in an attractive way, but her presence, she cast a serene feeling just by looking at him.
Stormy turned back around and noticed the same onyx colored unicorn he saw while picking up his welcome packet. To the left of her was an earth, this one a dirt brown stallion with a hunter green mane, he seemed wholly attentive to the stage, uncaring for those around him.
Stormy just sat, he couldn’t figure out how ponies fit into this whole situation. Why were they clumped up here and now?
While calmer, the pony still felt nervous, there were so many voices and conversations going on around him, he couldn’t pick out the voice of any person. He was looking at the stage when a man came out wearing a suit similar to Edward’s, and skin the color of wet sand.
“My name is Ellis Maitland, Dean of students here at UCLA, and I would like to welcome all of you to the class of 2019.” He enthused. His voice was controlled, a smile plastered his face. “And I know what you are thinking. You are waiting for someone to realize they made a mistake and you don’t belong here.”
A few heads around the room nodded.
“And you are wrong.” He continued. “Everyone here earned their place. We have two faculty members read over every application and both have to agree that you have what it takes to be a bruin.”
“Or that they make enough to get accepted.” The guy with the rope haired muttered, just loud enough to be heard by everyone in the general area.
“We are one of the most applied to universities in the country, admitting only twenty percent of those who apply as freshmen with over eighty thousand applications a year.” Maitland continued.
“It’s amazing what you can do just by having a famous name. Make it exclusive so your name means more and brand it to make it worth something.” The heckler kept up.
“Can you please be silent?” Edward asked. “Some of us are trying to listen.”
“Just making sure you don’t get fleeced man. Sorry for trying to help.”
“We have a campus population of 39,000 students from around the world with one of the most diverse campuses in the world; with a graduation rate of ninety-three percent, beaten only by UC Berkeley.”
“We also have one of the most comprehensive hospitals in the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. It is ranked in the top five hospitals in the country, and is labeled as the best in the west. You are among the best in the world. UCLA has taught Nobel laureates, a co-founder of Blizzard, something most of you are probably familiar with.”
“It really is amazing what charging for an education can get you.” The male voice came from the pony’s left.
“This is a public university, with most of the people here on financial aid dipshit.” Edward hissed, moving past Kat. “Do you even know they get their money from research?”
“Yeah, because they own everything people discover here.” It was the male with ropey hair.
“Which they never would have discovered, if UCLA didn’t provide the facilities.”
“Boys, boys.” Suzanne interrupted. “Why don’t you just pull them out and measure already.”
Both men moved back from what looked like shock.
The back of Edward’s head moved up. “Is that an offer?”
The heckler moved back in silence, beyond him the white pegasus donned a grin while still looking forward.
What is wrong with these people?
***
“And remember that the quarter system does in ten weeks what other colleges do in eighteen.” The woman with purple hair finished, after having gone over student expectations, office hours, and suggestions for succeeding. “And with that, we will take a break for lunch. When we come back, Mr. Jones will discuss general education and we will have a presentation by campus PD.”
The room slowly began to empty with everyone rushing the door they entered through. The throng of people made the pony nervous again; it was a forest of moving omnivorous trees. It didn’t matter what his mind said, he senses replied differently. His wings threatened to spring out, slamming into the others in his group.
You are representing every pony here and you can’t even take a single step outside your comfort zone! A familiar voice yelled at him.
Stormy hugged his wings tight against his body. He could do this.
After what seemed like forever the line moved enough for their small band of students to make their way to the third floor.
By this time the pony’s body was howling for food; he hadn’t eaten anything since that doughnut, and the assault of the fragrant food odors was tantalizing; he could barely even smell the meat in there. The sound was even worse than before, like everyone was yelling just to be heard.
“Okay everyone, get your food and we’ll meet out the front doors to eat outside. And don’t worry, every place here has something vegetarian.” Chevonne headed off to the opposite side of the floor, hidden by a wall.
Stormy stood in the first line he came to, it was food and that was what mattered.
Edward got in line behind him with the other two heading elsewhere into the giant room.
The pegasus took a better look at his surroundings. The sign above him stated “Panda Express” with the most ostentatious lights the little pony could imagine. Behind him was a circular establishment, “Greenhouse” that seemed to have a small line, but he didn’t feel like getting out of line, even if he didn’t know the food.
Beyond that was a sea of tables, the imagery only helped by the blue carpet padded chairs, food standing out against the grey tables. The ceiling was exposed with vents sticking out, held up by blue pylons. One restaurant across the way was covered by wood while the other had similar lighting to the one he was at. The nicest thing was how every exterior wall had floor to ceiling windows.
The service was speedy and within minutes Stormy was at the front of the line.
“What would you like?” The worker asked.
Stormy stretched up to see above the counter. Almost everything had meat though. Honey walnut shrimp, broccoli beef, and it just went on. A little broccoli sign next to certain items identified what was vegetarian. “Chow mein and stir-fry veggies please.”
The worker spooned them from a large metal container into a smaller white plastic looking thing and passed it towards the cashier.
“What would you like to drink?” The middle aged guy at the register asked, her skin a dark tan.
“Just water please.” Even the bravest of ponies could only try too many new things at once. “Unless you have apple cider.” Stormy offered.
“One water it is.” She pressed a few keys on the register. “That will be seven thirty seven please.”
Stormy reached inside his saddlebags and pulled out a ten, handing it over. Within moments he received his change, a bottle of water and his plastic container. The pegasus studied the bottle for a moment before shoving it in his saddlebag, grabbed the food with his muzzle with a slightly perturbed look from the guy and walked out.
Stormy headed back the way he came, to see the doors next to the stairs. Upon exiting he saw Chevonne to his left waiving at him and headed over. The wall they were against went up to at least the height of the ballroom and was featureless, just a mass of sand colored bricks vertically placed.
There were five chairs around a square table, the girls were there all there. Sue and Kim had pizza, it was something familiar from Equestria, but with slices of pungent meat, while Chevonne had a plate of layered pasta with a red sauce. Edward was right behind him with his own bowl and sat.
Stormy reached up to set his container down then climbed into the chair. Opening the container, it was split down the middle with one food on either side. But the smell was all oil and salt. Reaching down he picked up a piece of carrot with his lips and slowly chewed. It was oily, mushy, lacking in any flavor other than oil. The zucchini and broccoli weren’t much better.
He looked up to see the group looking at him, he assumed it was the sour expression for such bad food. “I thought UCLA was supposed to have some of the best school food in the country?”
“That may not be saying much.” Suzanne chuckled.
“That’s only for the dining halls, these are chain restaurants from around the country.” The guide corrected.
Stormy then tried the chow mien, which appeared to mean noodles made like their vegetables; bland and salty. The taste reminded him of that mystery packet that had come with his sushi at the airport. He took another bite and looked up to see Katherine staring.
The lady in pink looked at him and pointed to her chin.
Stormy took the hint, moving his tongue past his bottom lip, he encountered a rogue noodle and dragged it into his mouth.
“Not to be rude, but do all ponies eat like that?” There was a grimace to Kat’s face as she spoke.
“He does not have a trapeziometacarpal joint. A thumb basically.” Edward chimed in, between bites of some brown curled item. “What do you expect?”
“Well, I can use my hooves, but they have attracted quite a bit of dirt.” Have I made some huge error?
“It’s fine. Most people just aren’t used to seeing someone eat quite like that.” Chevonne said around a forced smile. “We are used to either eating with our hands or a knife and fork.”
“Bwahahaha!” Suzanne crashed backwards in her chair. “Lighten up. It shouldn’t offend your delicate sensibilities.” Her cheeks practically shone. “For all you know the way you eat may disturb him.”
Chevonne went back to her pasta, quiet and head turned down.
“Sorry.” Kat lowered her head.
“Let us just forget this incident?” Edward suggested, cheeks slightly rosy. “Although Stormy, you would have a natural advantage in a pie eating contest.”
Stormy went back to his food, feeling a little better. Without knowing why, the pegasus decided to slurp an extra-long noodle eliciting a snicker from the guy at his right and another bout of raucous laughter from the girl to his left.
The rest of the meal was rather quiet with a conversation starting again between the three, friends he decided to call them.
More friend than what he had back home. Eventually, the conversation picked back up talking about the weirdest food anyone had eaten. The main contenders seemed to be between durian and rocky mountain oysters.
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I declare that this Fic has the most confusing titles EVER! Firsly, "NSA", I thought would be about just that... NSA. And here I think, "Orientation," would be about him discovering himself and stuff!
Que horror!
4856511
Huh. I knew exactly what to expect when I saw "Orientation"... but then that may be because I have brothers who are about to go off to university.
Going to a big school must be quite an experience.
4856511 I will have to work on that I guess. Hmmm. What to pick for the next chapter title, General Education or Crime and Punishment?
So many good names to choose from.
4857562 That is one word for it. But it was quite hard to grasp the sheer size, or how much there is to do. Or how freakin' large LA really is. Though to be honest it really isn't that much different from my JC (junior/community college). Or maybe I should go with the cryptic: "It can be."
4858071
My college was tiny, less than 2,500 students. Kent County where it was located has only 15,000 residents, the same number as in 1790 during the first US census.
A very interesting story so far, I cannot wait to read more
4858533 Thank you very much.
I always like to hear comments or ideas, or just stories from people.
4858169 ok. Yeah, very different. (lived in a place with 3000 resident at one point). But in California even a place with 150,000 is considered medium size at best. Outside of being constantly surrounded it feels the same as anyplace else
4858869
The strange thing to me was how big, physically UCLA sounds. There wasn't a building taller than three floors at my school. I think you also misunderstood me, I didn't say 150,000 but 15,000.
4859423 No, I understood. Its a comment on what is considered large differs by state.
4858071 On that subject... Make him a coltcuddler!
4860381
Ah
4860835 Sorry, believe he already stated he's into mares. However, there may be other characters who are. OK, there is at least one.
4862631 H-He can be bisexual?
Yeah this had updates.
Man it seems Stormy Skies is a little introverted until the end of this chapter.
Thought it is funny to see his take on things
Good luck and I hope every thing works out for you.
Keep writing and good luck.
I once had an overripe sample of durian. It was terrible, and so was my reaction to it. At least dumpsters and trash don't smell as bad to me now. I was also the one who cut the durian. It's a once in a lifetime experience for me, because I have no intention of doing it again.
Also speaking of durian, here's a character who uses a giant interdimensional one as armor.
fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2014/018/b/8/kamen_rider_bravo_durian_arms_by_blakehunter-d72o3xj.jpg
4864086 Nnnope
4866395 I would call him more passive. Introverts feel drained by being around others. But its also a defining characteristic he has too work through, so it will keep popping back up.
And thanks.
4888572 Durian is terrible. That's why it is so much fun to pass out dried durian or durian candy in the dorms for people (no smell, all the taste).
Except for one person who saw it as a challenge and at the whole thing while seeing how many other people they could make gag. 
That armor works because the smell repels everything.
4890212 The armor also works because it's spiky as tartarus (even the suit without the armor has a bunch of spikes), you get two swords called the Durinoko (one group subbed them as Durisaws, which fits because of their shape and the chainsaw-like sound they make on impact. They can also combine), and the one wearing it served in a military, where he got a crazy number of medals.
You should have been to my orientation. D:
SSU was a lot of fun.
Rocky mountain oysters are awful, no question about that
. However, durians are awful smelling, yet they taste like heaven.
Seemed
Buy
That
Was
Thickly
His
Chick or a dude?
O-week at Rice University has a theme every year. The theme for my year was "Dynamic DuO-Week". Each group was represented by a pair of fictional characters that formed a duo in their story/movie/show. My group was Rocky & Bullwinkle.
One day of O-week at Rice is "MacGuffin". They don't tell you anything about it at all, but there are paper signs everywhere telling you MacGuffin is "coming". As it turns out, MacGuffin is essentially a field day with a bunch of different games, but it starts super early with an airhorn and megaphone-assisted wake-up call, after purposefully keeping all the new students up late the previous night.
My group was kept awake with a Rocky & Bullwinkle marathon. Which was awesome!
Of course, me being essentially nocturnal, I refused to get up for MacGuffin. I had my team coordinators pounding on my door so hard, the paint started coming off, at which point they realized the damage they would have to inflict on school property in order to get me out of bed would get them into too much trouble.
I didn't go to wow week or orientation so I completely missed out on that experience. While I had my share of bad food, luckily my dining plan worked more like a debit card so I ate at other places on campus a lot. I did get really tired of chic filet and subway though.
Ah yes, orientation week.
In other words: meeting at 11 in the park and drinking piss warm beer.
Someone make sure that bliZZard entertainment havent paid him to write that
Oh, also, Warcraft is da best