Celestia's School
Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns was without question the most prestigious in all of Equestria. It would have to be, seeing as the headmare and most prominent teacher within those old halls was none other than Princess Celestia herself. The campus stood tall and proud just outside of Canterlot Castle’s walls, larger than all of its contemporaries in the city.
When Minuette had first started attending this school a few weeks ago, she had been more than a little intimidated. There had been so many ponies, and the buildings were just so large. She was a chirpy and friendly pony by nature, but so many of her new peers carried themselves with an air of superiority that made her feel lowly by comparison. Add onto that the near-labyrinthian layout of the school, and she had been lost for much of her first day, only ever barely blundering into the right classroom on time by pure luck.
But that had been then, and now was now. Minuette slipped through the crowd, easily threading between groups as her hooves carried her for her first class. Magic Fundamentals 1. It wasn’t long before she was inside and hunting down the room in question. She hummed a merry tune as she went, her eyes bouncing from number to number on the walls by each of the doors.
“Aha!” she quietly cheered as she came to hers and pushed it open with her magic. Most everypony was already at their seats, talking amongst themselves energetically while they awaited the arrival of the princess. Celestia herself taught this class, and that automatically made it the best class in the whole school, according to some of the students.
“Minuette!” a filly called out from the right, drawing Minuette’s eye. The filly was maybe a year older than her, at the very most. She had an almost-white pink coat with a vivid red mane and tail that she kept bound behind her head in a neat ponytail. On her flank was a cutie mark of a first aid kit. Fitting, seeing as her name was-
“First Aid!” Minuette greeted, cantering over, and enveloping the other unicorn in a bone-crushing hug. “You missed my birthday, you big silly!”
First Aid’s eyes widened. She pulled back to gape at Minuette like a deer in the headlights. “What?! You’re birthday was yesterday!?” she asked, alarmed.
Minuette giggled and nodded, taking her place in the desk next to First Aid’s. “Mhmm!”
“You never told me!” First Aid pouted, lightly shoving Minuette once she was seated. “I would have come to celebrate, and I woulda bought you a gift, too!”
Minuette shrugged, a sheepish grin on her face. “Eheh. I guess I forgot. Too excited…”
“Heh. That’s kind of a contradiction,” a Colt’s voice answered from behind her. Minuette jumped with a high-pitched squeak and spun in her seat to face the new arrival. He was around First Aid’s age, with a light blue coat and a dark gray mane and tail, the former styled into a bowl-cut. He smiled down at her before ruffling her mane with a hoof. “So excited by your birthday that you forgot to mention it? The logic train’s not really working there.”
Minuette lightly swatted his hoof away with a smirk. “Oh, hardy har!” she laughed sarcastically. “You know what I mean, Split End!”
Split shrugged and sat back down in his desk. The unicorn beside him, a more elegantly built colt with a pale yellow coat with a light brown mane and tail rolled his eyes. “Hah. I see why First hangs out with you so much. You’re a fun one to watch.”
First Aid rolled her eyes in response. “That, and she’s my friend, Bristle,” she reminded him.
Minuette clopped her hooves together a few times in response to that. “Mhmm! Yup!”
Bristle hummed with a nod. “So she is.”
Minuette blinked and tilted her head to one side. She opened her mouth to speak, but a subtle nudge from First drew her attention.
The filly smiled at her. “So, did you practice for the test?” she asked.
Minuette tilted her head the other way. “You mean study, right?” she asked, shifting in her seat.
“Well, yes, that,” First Aid replied with a slow nod. “But also practice.”
“This isn’t just a written test, you know,” Split End piped up, leaning forward in his seat to look at Minuette more directly. “It’s a practical one. Gotta show the teacher that we actually know how to use magic, not just talk about magic theory on some paper.”
Minuette blinked, her cheerful smile persisting. However, her ears slowly fell to rest flat against the sides of her head. “...Oh.”
First Aid’s eyes widened. “Wait, you didn’t know?! How did you not know?! You were here when Celestia told us about it!” she asked, stunned.
Bristle raised an eyebrow. “You weren’t slacking, were you?”
Minuette gulped, unable to stifle a nervous chuckle. “Eheh, uh, well… I may have been a little distracted… by my, um… birthday coming up…” she admitted, rubbing the back of her head. Somehow, she had just known that something hadn’t been right when she left class that day...
Split End frowned with a regretting grimace. “...And now I feel bad for making fun of that,” he admitted slowly.
First Aid shot him a sideways glance before giving Minuette a reassuring smile. “Well, uh… I’m sure you’ll do great! If you grasp the theory, I’m sure you can figure it out in no time! I’ll be cheering for you!”
That cheered Minuette up,. She perked up with a smile, her ears lifting to stand straight. “Right! Cheer extra loud, okay?”
“But we’re in school,” Bristle pointed out. “We’re not supposed to be disruptive.”
“Shushen!” Minuette snapped at him with a playful swat, eliciting a chuckle from the other unicorn.
First Aid rolled her eyes. “You know what I meant,” she said. “I’ll be cheering for you as loud as I can inside. I don’t wanna be too loud for real, though, because then I’ll distract you, and it’ll go bad. You have to focus to do good magic!”
Minuette beamed and gave a sharp nod. Unfortunately, any more chatter was summarily ground to a halt by the school bell ringing out through the classroom. The assembled students immediately quieted down as the door in the back swung open, admitting the tall, graceful form of Princess Celestia. For a moment, Minuette’s jaw dropped in awe, any small anxiety over the test forgotten in an instant.
She had seen the Princess up close several times now, yes, but it never ceased to amaze her just how majestic the ancient alicorn was. How her feathers never appeared even a tiny bit out of line, how her pastel rainbow mane flowed in an invisible breeze, how her face never once became tarnished with anger or impatience.
The worst emotion Minuette had ever seen on her face, in fact, was little more than mild annoyance or disappointment. But even those were enough to fill her with boundless shame when she beheld it, even when she was not the one who had incurred the princess’s quiet wrath. Her eyes carried a thousand years of practice behind them, and it showed in every single precise movement she made.
All of those things amazed Minuette and filled her with wonder. Well, all of those things, and the fact that Celestia was just really flippin’ tall. “Seriously, how did she get that big? Does she have a stretcher or something? Or is it something magical, like her mane?” Minuette wondered.
Alas, she would never know.
Celestia took her place at the front desk and lifted her head to speak to the whole room, a practiced, motherly smile on her face. “Good morning, my little ponies.”
“Good morning, Princess Celestia!” came the unanimously respectful answer.
Celestia’s smile grew, her eyes shimmering just slightly as she looked between all of her assembled students. “I hope you all slept well last night. This morning you will be taking your first magic test in this class.”
When a collection of affirmations answered her, she continued, pulling a stack of papers from her desk with her magic. “As this is your first test, and as many of you are still quite young, it will be very easy, and won’t count for much in your overall grade. That does not, however, give you license to ‘half-hoof’ it.”
“Blast,” Split End mumbled loud enough for the class to hear, eliciting a series of amused chortles from around the room.
Celestia shot him a small smile as she drew near. She delivered the test sheets to each student swiftly and efficiently, working her way through the crowd with effortless ease. Minuette watched her go with a small, thoughtful frown. Why did she do it like this? All of the other teachers in this school gave out sheets like this with their magic without leaving their desks.
Eventually, Celestia came to Minuette’s desk and deposited her sheet. Minuette smiled up at her, and for a moment, the two made eye contact. Minuette paused as she stared into Celestia’s deep violet eyes, suddenly feeling like she was being scrutinized from top to bottom.
And then Celestia smiled. Her eyes shined with surprising warmth, and Minuette couldn’t help but feel soothed by that look. It was a gentle, easy smile, one that promised that everything would be fine.
“If you have any questions or concerns,” Celestia went on to the whole class, despite keeping her gaze on Minuette for a second longer. “Now is the time to ask.”
Minuette’s mouth dropped open as the Princess passed her by. “Was… was that directed to me?” she thought to herself. The Princess had been speaking loud enough that she could only have been talking to the whole class, yet her eyes had never once left Minuette’s until she was done and had moved on.
Before Minuette had a chance to ponder it, the teacher had already moved on. Minuette watched her go before shrugging and looking back down to her test sheet, giving the listed questions a preliminary read through. It didn’t seem so bad, actually. The only part she was worried about was actually having to put her knowledge into practice in front of the whole class.
If she screwed it up...
As if sensing the small pearl of unease Minuette felt at that idea, First Aid leaned over to whisper an encouragement. “You got this!”
Minuette’s anxiety died down a bit from her friend’s support. She gave her a chirpy nod and grin. “Yeah, I do!”
Mercifully, the paper part of the test was short and, as Celestia said, easy. It was a single sheet, and there were only questions on one side, many of which were multiple choice. It didn’t take long at all for all of the sheets to be turned it, many of them at the same time. Minuette and First Aid were last, right behind Bristlestroke and Split Ends.
Celestia smiled and nodded as the last sheets were deposited, before rising to her hooves and speaking up. “Alright, I do believe that is everypony. It’s time for the second part of the test,” she announced to the class. “Everypony, please clear a space in the middle of the room. Try not to scratch the floor tiles with your desks if you can help it, the janitor will have a conniption.”
A few amused giggles went through the class, along with a few quietly uttered instances of “what’s a conniption?” Everypony went into motion, the room filling with a loud cacophony of desk legs scraping on tiled floors as foals moved everything aside, clearing a sizable space in the middle of the room.
Celestia looked it over for a moment before nodding in satisfaction. “Good. Now, everypony please clear out from the center. I will call on you by name one at a time, and test you individually,” she instructed, and the foals did as they were told, shuffling around to where there was space. Minuette was quick to work her way over and stand beside First Aid off to the side. First smiled at her. “So? How did you think you did?”
Minuette shrugged. “Paper? I think I did good,” she said before nodding forward as Celestia called forth the first student. “This part, though…”
First Aid patted her on the back. “You’ll be great! I know it!”
“Hey, shh,” a colt whispered to them. “Don’t be noisy.”
Minuette pouted at him but did not speak again.
“Twilight Sparkle, you’re first.”
Minuette blinked. “Twilight Sparkle?” she thought. She looked back to the cleared space to see a lavender unicorn stepping forth, her head held high. Her dark blue mane and tail were neatly combed, giving the impression that she was always in control of the situation. On her flank was a depiction of a starburst, surrounded by five smaller white sparkles.
This was Princess Celestia’s personal student, although what that really meant, Minuette didn’t know. The filly shared this class with the rest of them, and yet was claimed to be especially close to the monarch in the room. Maybe she just had some fancy extracurricular activities or something?
It didn’t matter just then. Celestia smiled down at Twilight before speaking loud enough for the rest of the class to hear. “For this test, I will ask you to create a simple orb of light in the air in front of you,” Celestia said with a soothing smile. “It does not need to be large or bright, merely present. Take your time, and do not overexert yourself. Ready?”
Twilight gave a sharp nod. “Ready, Princess!”
“Then begin,” Celestia said, taking a step back. She added with a sly wink. “Brighten up our day!”
Twilight grinned before lighting her horn with a pale purple light. A few seconds passed as her brow furrowed in concentration. The light on her horn grew brighter and brighter until the light leaped from her horn to hover in the air in front of her face. Minuette’s eyes widened as it flickered once and then solidified, just like that.
Twilight opened her eyes and smirked triumphantly at her creation. Celestia nodded with a flicker of pride in her eyes. “Very good, Twilight,” she said before nodding to one side. “Return to the others, please.”
Twilight nodded before turning and making her way back into the sea of foals. Minuette watched her go, her eyes wide and her jaw hanging open. “She made it look so easy! Well, okay, it’s super easy to adults and stuff, but she’s barely older than I am!”
Well, at least the ‘Celestia’s personal student’ title made sense, now. That filly was clearly loaded with potential.
“Next, Lemon Hearts, please step forward.”
Minuette turned her thoughts away from Twilight and watched as Celestia called foals forward to demonstrate their understanding of the spell. Not a single one of them nailed it so quickly like Twilight — who was now reading a book, Minuette noted. All of them faltered for a moment or took longer to create the light, and one or two outright failed to produce anything meaningful or substantial in spite of their best efforts.
Finally, at long last, the moment came. “Minuette, it’s your turn.”
Minuette locked up for a second. She glanced over at First Aid, the other filly giving her a reassuring smile and nod. Minuette took comfort from that, followed by a deep breath. She stepped forward until she was in front of the Princess, a cheerful and optimistic smile on her face.
Celestia nodded at her, her eyes soft and soothing. “Go on.”
Minuette nodded and closed her eyes, focusing on the spell. She called back to all of her studies and reading as her horn lit up with yellow light. A small needle of pain began to stab into the side of her skull from the strain, and she knew then and there that she really should have practiced more.
“Gently now, don’t hurt yourself,” Celestia said softly, her voice a soothing song that reached through the darkness to guide Minuette’s way. “Concentrate, but don’t obsess. Direct, but don’t dictate. Magic flows like water. It must be guided with intent and intelligence, not force or recklessness.”
Minuette did her best to follow that advice, she really did. For a moment, it began to pay off, as a tiny, flickering ball of light began to form in front of her. She cracked open an eye, hope soaring in her chest, and spurring her on.
Unfortunately, it could not last. Try as she might, she could not maintain a hold of the light with her magic as untrained as it was. For a moment, the pearl of light grew exponentially brighter. And then, with an almost deafening pop that reminded her of a light bulb, the light shattered. A sudden forced jerked her back from inside of her skull, starting at the base of her horn, that sent her sprawling to the ground with a cry of pain.
Celestia was at her side in a heartbeat, crouching down and looking her over for any signs of serious injury. “Minuette! Are you alright?!” she asked urgently.
Minuette nodded and cracked open an eye. Her head was thumping, and her horn was tingling something fierce. The closest way to describe it was if she shook up a bottle of really fizzy pop and then dunked her horn into it and was feeling the bubbles do their thing. She found her voice after a second, mumbling out an affirmative “Uh-huh.”
“Somepony wanna remind me why the daughter of a dentist is in this school?” a colt’s voice rang out from the crowd, lined with an edge of combined amusement and disdain.
Minuette’s eyes widened, her heart withering in her chest.
Celestia glared past her, and any laughs that echoed out from the colt’s remark died in an instant. “Watch your tongue,” she warned before gently helping Minuette to her hooves. “Do you think you can try again?”
Minuette grimaced. Once she was on her hooves, she lit her horn just to feel it out. The tingle of bubbles became pins and needles, making her shudder and drop the magic instinctively. She sighed and shook her head. “No. My horn’s all tingly. It kinda hurts, too...”
Celestia nodded and gave her a reassuring smile. “Good. Given how violently that spell discharged, it could have hurt a lot worse,” she said before lightly nudging Minuette back for the others. “Go ahead and rejoin your classmates. Rest your horn.”
Minuette nodded, sluggishly pulling herself back toward First Aid. She did her best to smile and find comfort in her friend’s returned gaze, but her efforts were hindered by the feeling of an entire classroom staring at her.
Her face slowly began to heat up with embarrassment, and she couldn’t get back into the crowd fast enough.
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She didn't objectively fail worse than others, but definitely the most memorable.
Kids can be excessively cruel, but at other times just the opposite. Here's to hoping her friends are of good quality.
Keep going! ;)
Bullies are the worst, but she isn’t terribly talented when it comes to magic, right?
Really curious how she end up being friends (sort of) with Twilight and the others.
This will turn out interesting. I like how Celestia is written.
10270819
Talented enough to make it into Celestia's school, at any rate.
Hey Twilight! Nice to see you in this story! Bye, I dou—
*finally notices Twilight tag on story*
Squee! My favorite is along for the ride as well!
10270863
She is far from being a part of the central cast, but she is relevant to a fair chunk of the story.
This could not be set up better for the next chapter to be a scene by scene remake of The Phantom of the Opera except with magic instead of music.
Slowly, gently, magic shows its splendor
Grasp it, sense it, tremulous and tender
Seeing is believing, but changelings are deceiving
Hard as lightning, soft as shaggy rug
Dare you trust the magic mirror bug?
10270877
I'll take what I can get.
10270939
I sang it out aloud and man it feels good.
I’m surprised that Celestia had Twilight go first. You would think she’s an experienced enough teacher to know that seeing a prodigy breeze through the spell would rattle some student’s confidence.
It's okay Minnie, mistakes are how we learn.
10270863
...y'know I never noticed that tag until just now.
Wonder how you intend for her to become friends with purple smart...that is if you’re following canon in that aspect. Interesting story so far, if sad.
10271274 I imagine it might be a one sided friendship, Minuette may think they're friends and Twilight may just see them as occasional accquaintances.
Intriguing.... She shattered the light. I wonder how that could be put into effect with other spells...
10270939
That's when it starts changing into you while you change into it.
I am thinking bug, the magic tutor.
She should focus on explosion magic.
Worked great for Megumin in "Konosuba"!
Foreshadowing her eventually popping the time barrier? Eventually getting stuck in her own time travel loop? ... Eh, maybe I'm thinking too hard about this.
Magic backlash sounds painful!
10271696
I approve of this tutor bug hypothesis.
Like this story, but I want more bug!
10272927
He shows up. This story is a bit of a slow burn, especially early on, so his presence will be minimal for a few more chapters.
10273347
I'll be patient
10271209
She’s probably just giving them an example to work towards.