The Legend of Spectrum Skies

by ShadowStrike11

Chapter 5: Presenting. . .The Tour! (Part II)

Part Two

I rehearsed what I had learned so far over in my head. The main buildings, shaped like wings, topped with pegasus magic that created an effect of realistic wings only visible to true pegasi when they were positioned above that building in between the wings. How they managed to do that, it was pretty impressive. I hoped the rest of the Academy was just as amazing as what I had seen so far.

I followed Splash as he glided low over the left building. "This is the left wing, where you will be taking your classes as juniors." He pointed to the structure closest to the small building. "In there is the cafeteria, where you will be eating lunch in." He pointed to the one in the middle of the wing. "In there is the main classroom, where some of your classes will be taken." Finally he pointed to the largest one on the outside. "A finally, in there is another classroom, only it contains many elements which you will be experimenting with in some of your other classes. Just a heads up, make sure to watch your step when you enter that room. It tends to have the most accidents out of the three."

I nodded to show that I understood everything. This tour was just the beginning of a whole new experience at the Academy, and I was already excited and eager to learn. I literally couldn't wait to start exploring the whole place. And I mean literally, seeing as it hard to gain steady flight due to my wings being high on sugar (not that I feed them any sugar).

Splash led us over to the large building on the right. It was identical to the one we were going to take our classes in, only that it was symmetrical, just like a reflection of the left wing. "And this is the right wing, which you will enter after you have finished your studies as juniors."

At this point, Flare raised a hoof. Splash took notice of that and nodded for her to continue. Flare cleared her throat with a strange amount of importance and asked. "When do we complete our studies as juniors?"

"That's a good question," Splash tapped a his chin with a hoof thoughtfully. "It depends on how well you do in both academics and aerobatics. The average is two years as juniors and the next two as seniors before you graduate, but if you do exceptionally well, than we can promote you to seniors after one year. If that happens, you have a choice of either three years or two years as seniors."

Flare, Whirlwind, and I all stole a glance at each other. We were obviously all thinking the same thing; was it possible that we can all become seniors in just one year? If I were to answer that that question, I'd say yes. If they had my determination, then we were all sure to become some the youngest to ever become seniors in a year.

"Don't get your hopes up too high." Splash had apparently activated the ability read our minds and had decided to ruin the moment. "The junior years are the fun ones. Once you become a senior, you will wish you had remained a junior for a longer time," he chuckled. "Anyway, back to the tour."

He pointed at the small building in the middle. "That is the office. It is divided into two sections, one room for Principal Stormcloud, and one room for me. If you ever encounter an issue which the teachers might not be able to solve, you can always come to me. I answer mostly to the students while Principal Stormcloud answers to the parents."

I could most definitely agree. Splash seemed to be the friendly, laid-back type, which was perfect around kids, while Stormcloud was the stern, serious type, better for handling educational issues with parents.

Splash then pointed to the two stadium-like buildings suspended on clouds, connected by a thin waterfall. "Now, we are going to fly between those buildings, and as we fly, I want you to tell me what you think they are used for."

I observed the two buildings closely as I flew behind Splash. The lower one on the left looked a little more. . . closed, while the higher one on the right looked more open. "Um, I think the one on the right might be a stadium. . . and the one on the left looks like. . . - "

" - a gym?" Surprisingly, it was Whirlwind who finished for me. I see he hasn't completely lost his more talkative personality.

"You are both correct!" Splash announced gleefully, happy that we were able to guess correctly on first try. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get a chance to answer, too," he added when he noticed Flare's slightly crestfallen demeanor. She instantly brightened up at the thought of more opportunities.

"Anyway," Splash continued as he led us between the buildings. "The gym is will also be housing some of your classes, which will be on separate days than the ones inside the building. Occasionally, you will be allowed to play games during class, but since the gym isn't exactly built for games... ," he paused to turn to the stadium. "...you will have to hold all your games in the stadium. The stadium is also used for flight tests and performances, which apply to the seniors more than the juniors so you don't need to worry about it for now."

I suppressed a gulp. Games were fine for me, but flight tests and performances. . . I wasn't sure if I'd fare too well in those.

"Now we will visit the flight track," Splash told us as he took off and emerged on the other side of the buildings. I followed and my eyes widened at the sight before me.

Dang, the track was LONG! From afar, it already enveloped half the school's perimeter. But now that I was seeing it up close, it definitely was not going to be an easy flight. The hoops in middle of the width were a lot higher than I expected (not that I have problem with it).

"While the gym tests your strength and flexibility, the flight track exercises your speed and agility. The hoops are divided into three sections; easy, medium, and hard," Splash explained, as he motioned to the hoops on the right. "The ones on the right are the easy ones," - he pointed to the hoops in the middle - "the ones in the middle are medium," - finally, he pointed to the longest cluster on the left - "and the ones on the left are the hardest ones. Now what differences do you see between these three sections of hoops?"

Flare's hoof shot into the air as soon as she heard the question. Although I, too, knew the answer, I decided to restrain my hoof and let her have her turn. Splash pointed at her, permitting her to answer.

"The easy hoops are more spaced out and the height of the hoops don't differ too greatly, while the more challenging ones are clustered closer together and have a larger variety of heights," she stated confidently, happy that she got a chance to participate.

"Correct indeed!" Splash praised her answer. "The closer together the hoops are, the less time you'll have to react. I don't think you can see it from here, but there are a network of cloud rings surrounding the campus. We don't use them much for classes, but many students like to race through them during their free time."

Then, he turned and flew back through the buildings, with us following behind. "So that concludes the tour. If you have any questions, feel free to ask anytime," he concluded with a smile.

"Where do we go now?" asked Whirlwind. I can't blame him for asking - Splash did say 'feel free to ask anytime'.

"You're going to your first class in the left wing, specifically the classroom in the middle, where your teacher will introduce you to the class and give you the materials you will be needing for this school year," Splash answered as we ascended onto the cloud grounds right in front of the left wing. "So how do you think of the Academy so far?"

"Awesome!" Whirlwind blurted out immediately. Then, he closed his mouth and moved behind Flare, who had another speech of her own.

"It certainly was amazing, Vice-Principal," Flare announced formally. "Thank you for taking your time to entertain us with the tour. We look forward to our time at the Academy."

"It's looking pretty interesting, so far," I agreed in a much more casual manner. "Thanks for giving us the tour, Splash."

Whirlwind and Flare both stared when I accidentally called Splashing Flames by his nickname. I cursed my big mouth a million times to the moon, before trying to cover up my mistake. "Er, I mean, sir, Vice-Principal Splashing Flames."

Splash waved it aside like it was nothing. "Nah, it's fine. I wasn't the fancy, formal type anyway. Now hurry along, and I hope you enjoy class!" he sent us off with a smile.

Whirlwind and Flare trotted into the building, already conversing excitedly with each other. "What do you think of the Academy so far?" Flare inquired.

Whirlwind shrugged and answered. "I dunno yet, but I think he's a pretty cool guy."

I smiled to myself, about to join them, when I felt a tap on my back. Stopping, I turned to face Splash, who beckoned me outside. I followed him, trying not to sweat my eyes out. If I got in trouble on my very first day. . .

"Can I see your glasses?"

I blinked. Now THAT was completely out of the blue. Well, not completely, seeing as I had mentioned them in our earlier conversation, but it was still quite unexpected. I hesitantly slipped out my tattered glasses and held them out in my wing.

Splash scooped them off in his wing and looked at them closely. Then, his face broke into a warm smile. "I could get these fixed, if it's fine with you," he offered.

I blinked again. Him, the high-ranking vice-principal of the Academy, offering to fix a pair of glasses that belonged to me, a new junior student who was careless enough to get them broken?

"Um, it's alright, I was the one who got them broken, and I don't want to be a bother to you," I reclined, just barely managing not to stutter.

Now it was Splash's turn to blink. "Spectrum, you so-called broke these by doing a spectacular Sonic Rainboom. It's everything to be proud of. And don't you worry about being a bother. It never hurts to help somepony in need."

I just stood there with my mouth slightly agape, unsure of how to respond. Not wanting to find out how ridiculous I looked when I did that (in my opinion), I decided to let him have his way. "Oh, okay. Uh, thanks a lot." And then I ran out of words to say. Awk-ward.

"Hey, no problem," he reassured me. "I'll just get these fixed and return them to you tomorrow, first thing in the morning. And if you arrive at school before I do, you can wait outside my office. Alright?"

"Alright," I confirmed with a grin. Yep, he's definitely a nice guy.

"Now let's get you to class before your friends start getting suspicious," he ushered me into the building, then turned to leave. However, just as he left my line of sight. . .

"Wait!"

Spectrum, you IDIOT! My eyes widened in horror as the words escaped my mouth before I knew it. I desperately racked my brains for something to say. Something that wouldn't sound too ridiculous.

Splash zipped back in. "Yes?"

I took a deep breath. "Why are you being so nice to me?" Then, I tried to add more in case he took it the wrong way. "I mean, not that I don't appreciate your kindness. I'm just curious why."

Thankfully, he never took that bright, encouraging smile off his face. "Why not?" he replied with a wink before he zipped away.

I blinked for the third time, pondering what his 'very clear and detailed' answer meant. Then, I shrugged and marched into the building. Non-straight answers usually annoyed me, but I just couldn't be frustrated at Splash. After all, there wasn't really any reason NOT to be nice, right? I guessed that's what he meant with his 'very clear and detailed' answer. Maybe I did need to loosen up a little more.

Huh. Me, loosen up? Very likely indeed (lots of sarcasm there).

Just then, Whirlwind popped up right in front of my face with a very wide grin.

"Gah!" I recoiled, jumping a few steps backwards. The next moment, the theory that I do make the most ridiculous facial expressions was confirmed as Whirlwind burst out laughing. I flattened my brow and slapped him lightly across the face for the idiot he was. "What was that for?" I growled, fixing on him the deadliest death glare I could muster.

Unfortunately, death glares are ineffective when it comes to Whirlwind. "You should've seen the look on your face!" he cried between snorts of laughter. "Why didn't I bring a camera?"

Flare walked up from behind me and smirked. Yes, Flare can smirk. "I brought a camera," she announced. Then she switched to an unamused expression, just as Whirlwind started looking hopeful. "And no, Whirlwind, you not authorized to use it. I think poor Spectrum has suffered enough today."

"Hey!" I turned my glare onto Flare. "Where did the 'poor Spectrum' thing come from?"

"From my mind," Flare answered simply, for the first time today. "Anyway, what held you up? We were just about to enter class when we noticed that you were missing. We thought you might have gotten lost!"

"Nothing like that. Splash just offered to fix my glasses, since, you know, the Sonic Rainboom," I answered. The next moment, I wished I had put it in different words.

"Oooooh, getting special favors from the Vice-Principal, are you?" Whirlwind hovered upside-down in front of me. "How did you become vice-principal's pet so soon? Tell us your secrets!"

I shoved his head away. "No."

"My very accommodating friends and comrades, I think we should be getting to class soon," Flare reminded us with a sigh. "We should have shown up a long time ago, if I remember clearly."

My ears shot up in panic. Flare was right - we had been dropped off at least five minutes ago. Five minutes ago. This means that we were at least five minutes late. And if we ended up being five minutes late to our first day of class. . .

"HOLY CRAP, we're REALLY late!"

With that said, I shot down the hall with Flare and Whirlwind clinging on to me for dear life.

Cause if we were gonna be late, we might as well make it look heroic.

Comments

[Prism Shine]

This chapter was really funny overall. I'm looking forward to see more!

[Delphinus Shimmer]

I wonder why Splash winked at Spectrum

[harts fire]

I can see this story is going to get really super interesting and fast and if I am guessing right I am thinking this may be a long story with time.
Harts Fire