Xanterlot University

by Neonz

Chapter 6

After an hour-long lecture introducing the basics of her astronomy course, Twilight found herself in front of a telescope preparing for a pop quiz to test her prior knowledge. First year students were not ordinarily allowed to take astronomy, but Twilight had completed the prerequisites during high school in order to take it first year. She had her schedule for four years organized, and this was the only way she could think of to fit in everything she wanted to take. She had astronomy only on Mondays, from seven to ten p.m.

She tried not to let the older students intimidate her as they went right to work taking the star chart they had been given and filling in measurements and distances. Twilight worked quickly, alternating swiftly between the telescope and paper.

Twilight finished well before most of the other students, which gave her a bit of free time to stargaze. The night sky was clear and beautiful, and the stars twinkled clearly through the magnified lens of the telescope. Twilight had never used such a high-quality telescope before, and was in awe.

Eventually, her mind drifted beyond the mysterious stars and planets in front of her eyes to the many other questions she had gathered in her first few days at Xanterlot: the dreams with the white mare – Princess Celestia, she reminded herself – were still nagging at the back of her mind. What was the significance of them reappearing so suddenly?

When she much, much younger, Twilight had similar dreams, though there was far less talking involved. When she was sad (or more often, lonely,) the beautiful winged mare would comfort her in her sleep. As Twilight grew and learned to become independent, the dreams changed accordingly. Her focus in her studies seemed to have earned her the nickname “faithful student”. The dreams became less and less frequent, until Twilight thought they had disappeared altogether. Until, of course, the last two nights. Twilight couldn’t shake the feeling of sincerity that the dreams presented.

Sometimes she would have other dreams where she was again a little purple pony, but Princess Celestia was not present. When she was a child, she would dream that she had unicorn parents and an older brother. She would dream that they loved and cared deeply about her. Once, she dreamt that they were mourning for her.

The images were hard to shake from her mind, and by the time her astronomy professor had dismissed the class, she was starting to question her own resolution that they were nothing more than ordinary dreams.

…

For the third time, Twilight found herself in the huge room, but Princess Celestia was not present. Twilight looked around for her when a voice came from behind her.

“Hiya, Twilight!”

Twilight whipped around and came face-to-face with a short, purple, and strangely adorable bipedal lizard with green spikes running down his back. Twilight took an automatic step backwards, but as strange and unfamiliar as he was, something told her that he wasn’t a threat… though it was probably just because he was grinning a huge, genuine smile at her.

“My name’s Spike!” he said, his clawed hands clasped together politely. “I know we’ve never met before, but I’ve heard about you from Princess Celestia.”

Twilight hesitated. “It’s… it’s a pleasure to meet you, Spike,” she finally settled on saying. “What… um... exactly…?” She wasn’t sure how to word this question, but Spike seemed to have an answer prepared.

“I’m a dragon,” he said proudly, and blew a small amount of fire from his mouth for emphasis.

Twilight eyed him skeptically. “I’ve always imagined dragons as being a bit… well, larger.”

Spike folded his arms and gave her an annoyed look. “I’m a baby dragon, okay?”

Twilight giggled. “Alright, Spike.” Something else was nagging in her mind, and she decided she might as well voice it. “Where’s Princess Celestia?”

“I’m here, my faithful student.” Celestia’s voice rang across the room. Twilight whirled in circles trying to pinpoint her voice, but couldn’t find a source anywhere.

“Um, where exactly is ‘here’?” Twilight asked.

“The princess is using her magic to project me here, all the way from Canterlot!” Spike exclaimed excitedly.

Twilight stared at him. That name sounded familiar… “Where is Canterlot, then?”

“Spike,” Princess Celestia’s voice boomed, effectively stopping him from speaking. “That is enough for today, I think.” Spike quieted.

“Twilight,” Celestia continued, “it’s important for us to keep in contact, but in your present state, communicating with you takes a lot of effort. If I’m going to be able to prepare you and then get you here, I’ll need every ounce of my strength.”

Twilight was still completely lost, but Princess Celestia continued on. “That is where Spike comes in.” Spike puffed his chest out proudly. “You see, Spike has magic of his own that provides very easy communication, even between worlds.”

Twilight shook her head. “I don’t understand what you mean.”

Princess Celestia gave a light laugh. “You will. Though perhaps not right now. I will send Spike over as soon as I can.”

“Send him over?” Twilight exclaimed, completely lost.

“For now though, Spike,” Celestia said. “I’m going to have to call you back. It’s time for Twilight to wake up.”

Spike nodded and waved to Twilight, who was still looking bewildered.

“Twilight, my faithful student… you’ll soon understand. I promise.”

“Wait!” Twilight called, but the room faded to black, and a loud beeping filled her ears.

Twilight opened her eyes, then sat up in bed and turned her alarm clock off. She sat still for a moment, trying to take in what she had just experienced. It wasn’t logical that these dreams were something more, but on the other hand, it was just as illogical that they were being so consistent. And they were so… vivid. Twilight made a mental note to do more research on dreams.

“Twilight?” Fluttershy’s soft voice asked. Twilight glanced over to see her roommate concealed under her covers except for her exhausted-looking eyes and tangled hair.

“Oh, good morning, Fluttershy.” Twilight flashed her a smile, stood up, and stretched.

Fluttershy watched her with a confused expression. “Um, I thought your first class was chemistry with me?”

“It is.” Twilight went to her desk and shuffled through some papers to make sure.

Fluttershy hesitated. “You… you know that’s at eleven, right?”

“That’s right.” Twilight turned her attention to trying to find her shower supplies in the closet.

Fluttershy paused for several moments, as if deciding whether or not she should say anything. She opened her mouth, closed it, then finally said, “It’s six in the morning.”

Twilight nodded, not understanding why Fluttershy seemed so confused. “Yes, it is,” she said, glancing quizzically at the other girl.

Fluttershy hesitated again, then seemed to give up. She rolled over and buried her head under the covers.

By the time Fluttershy had awoken for the second time and went off to complete her morning rituals, Twilight had moved on to surfing the internet for information on dreams:

The Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud, who developed the discipline of psychoanalysis, wrote extensively about dream theories and interpretations. He explained dreams as manifestations of our deepest desires and anxieties, often relating to repressed childhood memories or obsessions.

Twilight thought for a few moments. She had to admit that she didn’t have the best of childhoods. Was that all it was? She was reliving her repressed memories? …That somehow took the form of horses and dragons?

Twilight groaned and closed her computer. She couldn’t explain any of it, and that bothered her. She was always able to solve problems using logic, so why was this any different? She knew that winged unicorns didn’t exist, that dragons didn’t exist, and above all, that magic certainly didn’t exist.

Fluttershy walked back into the room and eyed Twilight worriedly. “Is something wrong?” she asked, immediately picking up on Twilight’s frustration.

Twilight sighed. “It’s just I’ve been having weird dreams ever since I got here, and it’s like… well, it’s hard to explain,” Twilight finished lamely.

Fluttershy stood very still. “Oh,” she said in a tone that was, if possible, even quieter than usual. She frowned. “I’m glad it’s not just me…”

“You’ve been having dreams too?” Twilight asked, perhaps a bit too excitedly for the tense atmosphere of the room. “Maybe there’s a connection!” At this stage, Twilight was willing to cling to any explanation.

Fluttershy shook her head. “I-I doubt it…” Fluttershy turned her gaze towards the window, which caused her hair to hide her face. “It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?”

Twilight looked at the light streaming through the window, a bit taken aback by the topic change. “I-I guess so, but–”

“We should probably get going.” Fluttershy turned back to Twilight with a small smile. “We’ll need to eat now unless we want to be late.”

As Fluttershy started packing up her bags, Twilight hesitated before doing the same. ‘Was I just interrupted… By Fluttershy?!’

...

Twilight and Fluttershy met Rainbow Dash and Applejack at breakfast. Rarity and Pinkie Pie both had slightly earlier classes, so they weren’t with them. Twilight delved into her breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and bacon, but soon realized she and Fluttershy had intruded on an argument.

“Ah really don’t get what you see in that boy, Rainbow,” Applejack said, waving her spoon accusingly in the direction of the girl with the rainbow-tipped hair. “Ah can tell he and his friends ain’t nothin’ but trouble.”

Rainbow, who had already finished eating, crossed her arms defiantly. “Listen, they’re cool, okay? You don’t even know them! And besides, I don’t like him like that.”

Applejack scoffed. “Well, that’s good, ‘cause he was flirtin’ with anyone in a skirt Saturday.”

“Who are you talking about?” Twilight asked curiously.

Applejack gave a slight nod sideways. “Table far right, an’ at the end.”

Twilight followed her directions, and spotted a group of boys eating breakfast. She recognized two of them as the boys who helped her move in on the first day: Will and Garrett.

“You know them?” Twilight asked Applejack, who nodded.

“Met ‘em same night Ah met Dash, here. Seemed to like watchin’ her stumble around. They were mighty amused when she attempted tah introduce herself to me, anyways.” She gave Rainbow Dash a hard look. “Apparently Ah know them better than you do.”

“You do not!” Rainbow interjected, glaring. “You’ve never actually hung out with them before, have you?”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Ah’d had more than enough ah them after they tried tah drug me.”

“Alcohol isn’t a drug!”

“Technically, Rainbow, it is,” Twilight stated, causing Rainbow Dash to back off a bit.

“Alright, well, they were just trying to get you to have some fun.” Rainbow insisted. “They didn’t mean anything by it.”

“Yeah,” Applejack said sarcastically, “Yeh keep tellin’ yerself that. An’ I was havin’ fun without drinkin’, thank you very much.”

Rainbow Dash held her glare for a few more moments, then dropped it and stared at the table.

Applejack sighed. “Ah’m real sorry if Ah was harsh, but Ah’m just bein’ honest, Rainbow.”

“It’s cool…” Rainbow Dash replied, glancing back up. “I still think you’re judging too quickly though.”

Applejack gave a small smile of amusement, and looked towards Twilight. “What do you think, Twi? An’ Fluttershy?” She asked, making sure not to forget the quieter girl.

Twilight noted the nickname Applejack had given her with a small smile before she replied. “I’m not sure…” she said honestly. “I guess they seemed nice enough, but I dunno.” Twilight shrugged. Truthfully, there was something about them that made her wary, but she already knew that was just because they were big partiers, while she much preferred a good book to a huge social gathering.

“I don’t know them all that well.” Fluttershy said quietly. Her expression seemed uncertain.

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Well, you’ll see, Applejack. We have class with some of them next.” Rainbow smirked.

“What do you have?” Twilight asked curiously as Applejack shot Rainbow Dash another look.

“Something like gym, I think.” Rainbow Dash looked at her schedule. “It’s called ‘physically active living’. Applejack’s only taking it for an elective, but I’m taking it because it’s required,” she said smugly, as if this gave her a leg up in the course.

Applejack grinned. “We’ll see just exactly what you can do, short stuff.”

“Bring it!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, her eyes shining with anticipation.

As the two quite literally raced off to their class, Twilight and Fluttershy headed off to chemistry. Twilight was hoping that it would be just as dull of a first class as the rest of them had been; perhaps she could use the time to her advantage to do more research.

Author's Note:

Sorry for taking so long... these past two months have been absolutely crazy. Hopefully I'll be able to work on this with better consistency now...

Thanks Lhmac for editing, as always! :)

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[Admiral Q Ponyform]

2476844 I'm betting four legs and a tail