It wasn’t me, I swear it wasn’t. How could I have gotten the principal’s keys to the office? How could I have done graffiti art on the bulletin board? I’ve never owned a spray paint can in my life! Nevertheless, I got blamed for it and I was sent to the Principal’s replacement office (an empty classroom). That happened to me a lot, some jerk would break the rules or vandalize school property, and somehow I would get framed for it. I bet you anything I would get expelled… again.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a great student. And I get good grades most of the time. But I was always was the butt end of jokes, and they would usually get me into trouble. I kinda made a joke out of it, that I was somehow cursed by a supernatural being, doomed to be kicked out of every school I went to. But I knew that was impossible. Magic wasn’t real. Even if it was, what did I ever do to deserve it? I finally made it to the “office” door. I took a deep breath, and went in.
“Lucas Turner.”
“Yeah?”
“Please have a seat.”
I sat down. Principal Angus stared at me with his piercing eyes, shielded by his rectangle glasses. He had the best poker face, it was impossible to tell what he was thinking. If I hadn’t been able to pull away from his stare, I never would’ve seen my parents. I was taken aback.
“Mom? Dad? What are you doing here? Did I do something serious?” I asked. I knew the answer, and they did too. They nodded slowly. “Yes honey, it’s pretty serious,” Mom assured me. “I don’t know how much I can take anymore,” She started to cry, Dad hugged her trying to comfort her.
“I don’t know what the matter with you is!” My Dad exclaimed. Dad didn’t mean that. He loved me, and he knew the truth. But there was nothing he could do. There would always be phony evidence, and whenever he vouched for me he and Mom would fight.
Principal Angus pulled out a picture, “Care to explain, Mr. Turner?”
It was a picture of the graffiti art on the bulletin board. A picture of Underfell Sans holding a broken heart, suspended in mid-air. And with me doing a thumbs up to the camera. I told him the truth…
“I didn’t do it,”
He didn’t believe me, “The picture proves otherwise.”
I countered, “Oh come on Prince. A, (that stare again) I mean Principal Angus, I don’t have any spray paint, and that’s obviously been photo shopped! I would never deface school property!”
But just as I had a counter, he did too, “I seem to recall that you have a talent for art, better than anyone else in this school. Also, it comes to me that you are a fan boy, and that you like to play a game called Undertale. Not to mention it is you in the picture.”
It was an insult to me! Whoever made that art was sloppy at it, and was doing it in a hurry. And what he was referring to was a crappy AU of Undertale called Underfell. And I was photo shopped into the picture. That was the same thumbs up pose I performed at the Yu-Gi-Oh Tournament! Whoever framed me must’ve been good at stalking me, and he obviously wanted me gone. But when I tried to point my case, he stopped me.
“I’m not finished!” He snapped, “Anyway, I have a reliable source named Brian saying he saw you defacing my board.”
Now it made sense. Brian, he hated me since day one, and was always looking for an excuse to pick on me. Once, I was walking home and he and his gang chased me all the way to Lavergills Park. I had to wait for two hours before they finally gave up and went home. Yep, Brian was the hunter and I was the prey, and he finally caught me.
Principal Angus was ready, “Well, there is no way we can allow this ruffian to stay at our school. (Here it comes) Lucas Turner, I am afraid we will have to expel you.” (Called it.)
“However, there is one thing I could do for you…”
This shocked me. Every principal I was brought up to has never offered me something. Nothing important, at least.
I looked at him, “I’m listening.”
He continued, “There is another school in a town not far from here that we can transfer you to. Its name is Canterlot High School, and it is highly suggested by other parents like yours. They basically call it a castle of magic. The school welcomes any type of student into their program and never once have they expelled someone. I believe this school may be the right one for you, assuming your parents sign the transfer papers.”
A castle of magic? Sounded a lot like Hogwarts. I was getting a weird vibe off of this new school. It sounded too good to be true, and that means it probably wasn’t. Nevertheless, my parents were asking Principal Argus all the basics, how far of a move, when can I start, all that junk. So, they signed the papers, all they needed was my signature.
My parents felt my uncertainty, “It’s entirely up to you, you know” My Dad said, “If you don’t want to go here, we won’t force you.”
Maybe they wouldn’t, but other things would. If I didn’t go here, I could never go to college and get a well-paying job. So it was basically go to this school or spend a future on the streets. I had no choice, I signed the papers.
Welp that was it. I was officially a student at Canterlot High. I was now attending to this “Castle of Magic”.
We started the move the next day. It wasn’t hard, we didn’t have a lot to pack and it wasn’t a long drive to the place. But still, I felt weird. I shouldn’t feel weird, I kept thinking to myself. This meant no more Brian, no more false crimes, and no more anger. But I could never get that unsettling feeling off my stomach, almost as if going to this new school was a big mistake. But I signed a contract and we were officially moving.
In a few hours, we were at our new house. It wasn’t a bad looking house, it looked kinda friendly and inviting. But as a learned from constant bullying and relentless hours of playing video games, always keep your guard up. I didn’t know enough about this place to relax. For now, I must stay calm and vigilant.
I stretched out, “Well, we’re here. So let’s just get our stuff in the house and then- Woah!” I suddenly found myself on the ground, my head hurt. Someone must’ve run into me.
“Oh I’m sorry, are you ok? I was just so excited because you’re new here and I like meeting new people and blah blah blah…”
The person sounded like a little girl, and a hyper one at that. I could barely understand a thing she was saying, she was speaking so fast. I slowly got up to face the person who bumped me. It was a girl, but she definitely wasn’t little. She looked about my age and my height. It was so hard to believe that playful, toddler voice was coming from this teenager. That wasn’t the only thing weird about her. She had pink, fluffy hair that looked like cotton candy (smelled like it too). She also had pink skin, not like the sort of pink I see most people with, but her skin was very pink, was she sun burned? She was practically all pink except for her blue eyes, and three balloons on her dress. She was weird.
“Hello, I’m Pinkie Pie! I’m your new neighbor! What’s your name?”
She held out her hand. Pinkie Pie? That sounded like a nick name that parents give their baby kids, but she was not a baby kid. Besides, who would ever name their kid Pinkie Pie? This kid was weird and crazy! But despite that, she seemed friendly and nice, and she also gave me the urge to laugh. Fighting back the feeling, I took her hand and shook it, more like she shook me. When the shaking died down it was my turn to speak.
“Hello, I’m Lucas Turner. Nice to meet you.” (Was it nice to meet her, I didn’t know. But she accepted it, all the same)
She went to talk to my parents, and even presented them with a cake to celebrate our move and to welcome us into the neighborhood. She claimed that she made it, but if she did that would mean she is an incredible baker. I decided that the reason she was so hyper was because she ate too much candy. Suddenly, she turned to me again.
“Mrs. Turner, I have to go walk to school now. Would it be okay if Lucas came with me?” she asked.
Mom was excited, “Of course, I think it would be great for our boy to explore the town and make new friends.”
I wanted to say no. To say that I already had stuff on my plate, and that it was waaay to early for me to start school. But I knew that wasn’t true. School schedules can be pretty strict, and what was there to do when you first move? Besides, there was something about her that prevented me from saying no. My parents promised they would take care of the unpacking. So, I said yes. Once she calmed down from all the excitement she got by my answer, I got my backpack and we went for a walk.
Well, I was walking. Pinkie Pie was skipping and bouncing, singing to herself all the way. She sure was a strange one, but I guess that’s what made me want to laugh. But I still couldn’t accept the fact that that was her name. So for closure, I asked her.
“So Pinkie Pie, What’s your real name?”
She turned to me, “What do you mean?”
“Well, the name Pinkie Pie, it can’t be real. It’s not real, is it?”
“Nope, that’s my name! Though to be truthful, my full name is Pinkimena Diane Pie. But my friends just call me Pinkie.”
I definitely got closure, but not the kind I was hoping for. It helped to know that wasn’t her real name, but the name “Pinkimena” sounded just as ridiculous. I decided to just let the matter go for now. I didn’t want to offend her, and it was a bad idea to go around making enemies when I just got here. This was my chance for a better life, and I couldn’t screw it up.
We came across a few people on our walk to school, Pinkie seemed to know all of them, saying hi to them all the way.
"Hi Derpy"
"Hello Bon Bon"
"Sup' Lyra?"
"How's it going Mr. Sunburst?"
"Gosh, what weird names this town has.", I thought to myself. And judging by the looks of their faces, they weren't weirded out at all, which made it even more weird. A few people waved towards my direction, but I turned the other way. My constant targeting by bullies and betrayal from other students has made me shy. I wasn't like Pinkie, who could just be friendly like there was nothing to it. I had put a wall over my heart, and I wasn't about to take it down just yet.
I must have lost track of time as while I was pondering these thoughts, we had already made it to the school.
"Welp, we're here. Welcome to Canterlot High School!", Pinkie said.
Castle of Magic was right. It wasn't like Hogwarts like I pictured it, but it definitely looked magical, almost like there was something harmonic about the place. And in front of the school, there was a huge statue of a stallion on it's hind legs. Pinkie seemed to notice me staring at it.
"Do you like it? We just got it fixed after the latest, ahem, incident" ,She said with an uncertain look in her eyes.
I was about to ask her what kind of incident she was talking about, but she didn't look comfortable with talking about it. And I knew better than to start asking questions at this stage of the game. I'll ask her about it when we get to know each other a little better.
"Anyway, we should get going! Miss Cherrilee will kick our butts if we're late to class!",Pinkie screamed as she realized the bell was about to ring. I ran close behind her.
Miss Cheerilee? Like I said, weird names.