New Beginnings Part I: Welcome to Canterlot High
She knew what she was planning to do was foalish, but one of the fuels of stupidity was anger. Anger can lead a mother saying something she didn’t mean. Anger can lead a daughter saying something she did mean. Anger can lead two ponies walking away with hurt feelings.
Anger can lead ponies to make terrible decisions, like in Luster Dawn’s case.
The student of Equestria’s friendship princess sighed for the seventh time in the past hour. She knew there was no turning back, she knew the risks, but she was curious and hurt. Not a really good combination to have during decision making. She shook her head once again before checking her list.
“Bags? Check.”
“Bits? Check.”
“Book about interdimensional apes? Check.”
“Journal?” She turned to the tome resting on her desk, encased it in her cyan glow before turning back to her notebook. “Check.”
She sighed, trying to quell her rapidly beating heart as she reviewed what she was about to do. With a determined nod, she marched out of the crystalline room and into the hallways. Luster knew what she was planning could land her into a whole heap of trouble but replaying the previous conversation in her head fought the doubts threatening to stop her.
The Castle Dorm of Friendship’s hallways were quiet. The students were no doubt sound asleep, after the vigorous work out Coach Smolder had them do, making it easier for Luster to tiptoe around though a tiny protest was made by her tired limbs, yet she ignored it.
Now standing by a glowing door and with the knowledge that it was sealed by security enchantments heavily linked to one alicorn and one irksome parent as far as she knew, Luster Dawn took a deep breath before letting her horn glow.
“Easy,” she murmured as she worked with her mind’s eye around the runic circles. “Take a left, then another. Up, up, down, up.” A bead of sweat ran down her forehead as the mechanism’s patterns sped up. “Down, down, left, right, up, left, right, right, no, left! Left, right, up, down-
Click!
The satisfying sound brought immense relief to the unicorn as she slumped forward, nearly drained before she shook her head to recover. Doors lightly creaking once she entered, she was greeted with the sight of a library. There were rows upon rows of books that seemed to be shelved for years yet still look to be in pristine condition. A small crystal chandelier hung in the ceiling, glittering with specks of light.
And in the center of the room, was The Mirror.
Luster gulped before putting one hoof in front of the other and trotted forward. Her magic closed the doors behind her with a light thud, the sound gently echoing across the empty room.
“So, it’s true,” she had to say out loud, nearly breathless at the sight. She didn’t want to believe that The Mirror was really housed inside the dorm she was staying at. Shouldn’t something so precious be locked up in some place closer to the princess? Or at least, somewhere a student with high magical skills can’t access it?
Luster, regardless, continued to stare in awe.
Truly, when she encountered an odd vibrating journal in her mentor’s desk the time she was early to submit her week’s assignment, her curiosity overpowered her memory that it was her mentor’s property in the first place but while warning bells of possible banishment and dungeon time were present, it did nothing to stop the void that was her love for knowledge.
The moment Princess Twilight arrived in her office to find her personal student already near the end of the journal, the purple alicorn had to giggle at the enchanted trance that Luster had fallen in and while the fun did die the moment her student practically begged her forgiveness at being a snoop, all the forgiving and kind ruler did was let Luster off with a warning before proceeding to include a hundred page report about what she learned in the journal alongside giving the pupil reading material about ‘Humans’ that the alicorn had wrote in her private documents’ section.
Luster was no doubt over the moon when she was spared from punishment and even given more work to do (What? She just really loved work) and once she had submitted those too the next day, she couldn’t get the idea of a magic mirror portal existing in the first place, let alone stationed right here in the Castle of Friendship, out of her mind.
A place unlike yet still similar to hers and filled with different kinds of magic that didn’t follow the basics and fundamental rules of Equestria. It was practically a paradise for the curious types like her.
It was also the perfect place to run away from overprotective mothers.
At the thought of her mother, Luster had to frown and glare behind her shoulder before shaking her head to regain focus. She couldn’t do anything about it now. She turned to look at the mirror. With all she had read about it, she knew at this time it was open and she didn't need any enchanted book to use it.
Raising her hoof, she tested the mirror’s surface, feeling the ripple of unfamiliar magical energy, and then pushed through further.
She fought not to scream as her foreleg disappeared before calming herself. With a determined expression, she pushed her entire body in until she disappeared. The mirror flashed before ending with nothing but a flicker.
Luster continued to scream even if she hit the ground a few minutes ago. Her readings about the experiences of crossing didn’t do it justice in the real deal as Luster wanted to hurl, shout, and sleep at the same time before fighting the urge to do two of the following.
She eventually quieted down when her momentary thoughts of regret were soon replaced again by the feelings of teenage stubbornness as well as satisfaction at pulling off her plan.
Sudden ringing in front of her took her by surprise and she jumped before stumbling back when unfamiliar limbs failed to help her stand. She groaned in annoyance, planting her closed fists on the cobblestone floor. What was it again, hands?
She was supposed to stand on her hind legs, but that was silly. Still, she tried giving it a go before she promptly fell back on her flank. She winced, rubbing the area but then she noticed something as well. Looking up, she gaped at the size of the building that she finally took the time to notice. It was like the buildings in Manehatten when she and her family went to visit for vacation.
“Is this really, Canterlot High?” Luster murmured, eyes shining in wonder. “I’m here. I’m really here.” She grinned, standing up before falling back down again yet the smile on her face remained. “Hah! Take that mom. ‘Dangerous place’? Psh, it’s just a school.” She tried again to stand up, this time succeeding in being on all-fours. “’Not ready’.” She blew a raspberry, chuckling as she neared the doors. “Who says I’m not ready? This is a piece of cake!”
Slam!
“Ow!” Luster squeaked before stumbling backwards. She rubbed at her head before gazing at the closed doors. “What, oh right. No horn.” She winced before looking at her transformed hoof. She wiggled her ‘fingers’ then pulled at the handle.
It wouldn’t budge.
Luster tried pushing it next, to no avail.
“Yeah, it has a tendency to get stuck like that,” an unfamiliar voice said behind her. The girl jumped before whirling around to face a pair of legs. Her head moved upward until she was now looking up at a friendly looking face.
The ‘colt’ (boy, Luster mentally corrected) with perfectly combed purple hair with a red streak, and clad in a pair of blue jeans, purple turtleneck, and white shoes stood before the former unicorn.
He then walked forward and gave the door a light kick. It opened with a small whine from its unoiled hinges before he looked down at the odd girl on fours. “Uh, are you…”
Luster literally saw how his eyes widened in acknowledgement. She didn’t know she would be discovered so soon!
Before the former unicorn had time to bolt, she was suddenly pulled up to her unsteady feet by a pair of amber hands and inside the foyer of the building. She stumbled and wobbled while the boy circled around her with focused intensity.
“Hey,” she shouted when he poked and prodded, slapping away the pencil that he was using to poke and prod her with. He only stared with focus intensity before smiling widely and writing down on his notepad. “You can’t just-
“Oh, but I can,” he interjected, getting up close to her personal space. “See, you’re not really a human, are you?” He smirked when she froze. He stepped closer, tapping the pink girl’s nose with the eraser head. “You are not protected by the laws of this land. Laws that can protect you from say…experimental observation.” He tittered with a tilt of his head that many would have found cute if his scariness wasn’t emphasized by his intense stare. “An outsider at best and a trespasser at worst.” He stated in a matter-of-fact tone yet there was no hint of aggression, just cold neutrality.
Luster flinched as the previously friendly features of the boy melted in favor of highlighting the gleam in his amethyst eyes. Oh, how Luster was familiar with that kind of gleam.
It was the same on her mentor’s whenever she reminisced about her adventures. It was the same as her parents’ whenever they talked about plans that they could do for the school. Sometimes that gleam was also present in her gaze whenever she got caught up by the workload she had for the day, if what her friends said was true anyway.
All in all, it terrified the former unicorn and she was about to run back to the portal if not for the arrival of another voice saying, “Knock it off, King.”
The boy, King, tore his gaze away from the new specimen he stumbled upon to glare at the newcomer. Luster, for her part, didn’t know which one was worst.
The newcomer was clad in a pair of dark pants. His black jacket with torn sleeves made him look intimidating along with his wild windswept hair. Luster managed to note, was also purple with a red streak. His red sneakers made light thuds as he marched over to the two and to the girl’s shock, took hold of the first boy’s turtleneck and pulled him away from Luster.
“Hey, no need to be so violent, Knight.” Pocketing his notebook and pencil, he smirked at the boy that bore his face. Yet as his was smirking, the other was scowling. He turned his gaze back to his new interesting subject to study. “I am simply just greeting our otherworldly visitor.”
Knight, as King called him, raised a brow before looking at the scared girl. “So, she’s from mom’s-
“Exactly,” King stated, greatly elated as he circled to the side to get closer. “Just need a few hair samples, maybe blood too since I don’t get much opportunity to study- ack!”
Luster gaped, unused to the show of violence. It was rare amongst her kind to find somepony laying a hoof on another, let alone on somepony who was seemingly family, yet here was one willingly slapping another’s face.
“Knight, what was that for!?” King shouted, tears in his eyes as he raised a hand to his cheek.
Bored eyes glanced at him, unimpressed, before he crossed his arms. “We don’t treat guests as test subjects, King.” Cold amethysts pierced teary ones. “Get to class.”
“And miss out on this opportunity?” Luster winced at his tone, choosing now to hide behind this ‘Knight’ boy in favor of the one most likely to dissect her like a frog. “Mom already wouldn’t let me perform tests on her anymore, so I still have an unfinished project!” King stomped his converse on the ground.
Whatever previous ideas Luster had of him being somewhat decent was gone as he now resembled a foal having a tantrum to her. Not that this new one was any better, as the student of the princess felt like this one was more dangerous. And how did they know about her world?
Wait, they said their mother…was their mother Sunset Shimmer?
While Luster was busy looking amazed with her discovery, King petulantly stomped his foot again and scowled. “I’m not going to class and you can’t make me. I’m staying here.”
At Knight’s bored declaration of “Okay then.” was said, Luster suddenly found herself being hoisted over the boy’s shoulder as her carrier took off in a run that left the other boy surprised before giving chase.
“What are you doing?!” Luster screamed, waving her hands as they passed by straggling students who took a moment to stare in amusement rather than confusion.
It seemed they were already used to this kind of thing as few of the girls giggled and stated “Woo! Go Knight!” while others laughed “Another King prank struck!” The boy who took hold of her paid them no mind yet there were low chuckles coming out of him that Luster heard. It wasn’t…entirely unpleasant to the princess’s protégé’s ears yet nice chuckles from her new kidnapper shouldn’t be the priority of Luster’s thoughts right now.
Once they lost the other boy through entering a new room filled with instruments and posters of bands that Luster was semi-familiar with thanks to her mother’s influence, Knight panted before gently placing the girl down. He then surprised her with an apologetic look.
“Sorry about the sudden firefighter routine but it was the only way to lose him.” He was still panting but another chuckle escaped him as he turned to the doors. “He’ll give up five minutes in the chase, I mean I did run to the other end of the school and I know he’s not even bothering to keep up with our mom’s exercise routine.”
“You’re Sunset Shimmer’s son?!” Luster blurted out, now that she wasn’t in the threat of being dissected. She couldn’t help it if it wasn’t the appropriate thing to say given her situation, but her priorities laid elsewhere.
Specifically, in the place where she was talking to the son of an Equestrian legend!
A true scholar and avid fan of the Princesses would be familiar with her mentor’s predecessor and she really loved the mystery surrounding the ‘Fallen Student of the Sun’ and enjoyed the theories that surrounded the disappearance and scarce mentions in documents.
And now she had the potential to find out the truth! Squee!
“Did you just squee?” Knight asked, raising a brow.
Luster Dawn, getting down from her intellectual and scholastic high, blushed when she noticed the other’s expression. “Uh, yes, ahem.” She coughed into her closed fist. “Uh, forget you heard that. Anyways, are you really Sunset Shimmer’s son?”
“One of her sons, yeah.” Knight ran a hand to his hair with pursed lips before jutting a thumb by the doors. “The other one’s the mad scientist planning to make you his test monkey.”
Luster grimaced. “Yeah, I figured as much now.” She then shook her head and clasped her closed fists together in front of her. “But you must have a lot of information about your mother. Tell me, was she really a criminal or is she now pardoned? Why didn’t she go back? Why did she leave? Does she still consider herself a unicorn or a human now? What’s she like when she was younger? And did she-
An amber finger was placed on Luster’s lips as the girl’s eyes crossed at the digit before scrunching her brow in annoyance at the other. She backed away with a huff. “Rude.”
“So’s badgering someone about another’s personal information.”
Luster opened her mouth to argue before Knight cut her off by adding, “and coming to this world unannounced without at least giving a name.”
Crossing her arms, the girl glared before saying, “Luster Dawn.”
He nodded. “Sunlight Knight, but Knight for short.”
“And the other one?”
“Sunlight King.” He then chuckled when he saw her look. “Yes, they’re odd first names, but our mothers told us it was our Aunt Pinkie’s idea and I think she managed to convince our parents to go with it. She’s really persuasive, I heard.”
The name struck the student. “Pinkie, as in, Pinkie Pie?”
“Yep, and as much I’d like to ask how you know (but to be honest, I don’t) you need to get back to your home world.”
“What? But I just got here!” She scrunched her brows, inwardly panicking. After all the planning she put into this, she wasn’t about to back out now!
Knight scoffed. “Without permission, I bet.” He then rolled his eyes before crossing his arms at her pouting. “Don’t look at me like that. If you were really allowed to be here, you would have an escort, or the other princess who look like mother would have contacted mom about you.”
Luster Dawn placed her fists on her hips, an action instinctual even in a foreign body, to show her displeasure. “And how did you two know exactly I’m from Equestria?” All of a sudden, a notebook was shoved in front of her. “Hey!”
“Read.”
Annoyance now at eighty percent, she begrudgingly complied yet the notebook fell as she tried to flip it open. “Um,” her sheepish look made the boy sigh as he helped her.
He raised his hand and stretched out his fingers. “Like a dragon’s claws. See?”
Luster mimicked the motions and once she got the hang of it, she flipped the notebook open. “Thanks,” she mumbled but she couldn’t stifle her frustration at the other. The least he could do was not act like this was a heavy burden to him.
The title of the page read, “What To Do In Case A Pony From The Other World Decided To Pass Through A Mirror Due To Some Emotional Problem Or Mommy Issues.” along with a picture of a sad looking amber pony with a red mane staring down on a somewhat familiar cutie mark of an eight-rayed sun.
“That’s a…that’s a really specific title,” Luster had to comment as she stared at the parchment.
Knight gave a careless shrug. “Eh, I just filed it under the ‘Mom’s Quirks’ cabinet.” His expression turned serious though. “Anyways, now that we escaped my mad scientist of a brother, there’s no other good reason on why you should stay.”
The girl who was still flipping over the notes whirled around. “What if I told you I’m on a mission to study this world?” She waved a hand to him with a winning smile. “You could be my research partner,” she sing-songed but it fell flat when he just stared, unimpressed.
Luster decided to try a different approach. “Look, barring the near event of being a domestic cavy, this place has so much to offer!” She grinned and struck out a hand to the sky through the window. “I mean look at it! Back home, pegasi control the weather and my mentor raises the sun and moon but here?” She squealed as dark clouds started up, pouring rain. “It’s like…it has magic of its own!”
Knight turned to the direction of the girl’s joy, seeing the weather as raindrops pitter-pattered against the glass. “Yeah, but if you really wanted to study this place you had to have permission from a higher authority. I honestly don’t know if you’re telling me the actual truth too so the least I can do, without getting in trouble, is to take you back to magical pony land.”
He started tugging at her hand, but Luster slipped free with a heavy sigh. “Fine, you want the truth?” Her clenched fists shook in annoyance as her eyes narrowed. “I came here to escape my overbearing mother who told me I couldn’t handle this new world. That I’m too young! She literally grounded me from studying the lessons provided by my mentor and she even got the princess to agree.”
Knight narrowed his eyes. “So, you decided to rebel like a child, proving your mother’s point.”
“If she’s always going to treat me like one why not act like it!” Luster huffed, panting from the shouting before she steeled her gaze. “Have you ever had to fight tooth and nail for something you want so much, something that shouldn’t have to be earned but still you have to jump a lot of hoops just for a smidge of it in your grasp?”
She waved a hand, drawing a complicated rune in her finger. “I have always been interested in magic, to learn and see how it works and do a lot of good with it. She didn’t support me. I had to sneak inside multiple libraries and smuggle in books about basic spells and after showing what I can do, she just returned the books after scolding me!”
Luster crossed her arms, looking down now with a sad gleam. “I know it might not seem like a big deal to you, but you are not me. I want this, I worked and worked until I managed to convince my aunt to put me in the Princess’s school. I aced my entrance exam on the first try and all I got from my mother was a sigh before she relented and even then, she had never been my number one supporter.”
“So please, Knight,” here the desperation in Luster’s voice was obvious, “please, don’t send me away now when I’m this close.”
The purple haired human remained looking at her with an unreadable gleam. He still had his arms crossed too but when he looked to the side in quiet contemplation, he ran an amber hand to his face with a longsuffering sigh. “Why me?” he asked the heavens, staring up with a burdened expression.
Luster quelled the tiny spark of annoyance. Honestly, the nerve of this guy! After bearing what would have been her heart and soul, all this seemed to make him more inconvenienced. “If you’re just going to be like that, I’d rather go find King. Even though he’ll most likely perform a lot of unethical and nonconsensual tests on me, at least he didn’t treat me like I’m not worth anything!”
“Hey, I didn’t say anything like that,” Knight defended, “you don’t know King. I wouldn’t even leave my worst enemy to his clutches.”
“Why are you making him out to be this evil scientist?” Luster had to ask. Though the initial impression should have clued her in, she thought that the least she could do was give him a second chance. First impressions aren’t always everything.
Knight sighed. “He’s a chill guy, don’t get me wrong, he just tends to take things too far, and don’t change the subject. I’m still working out my thoughts about you.” He then raised an amused brow. “And don’t look so offended for someone who’s trying to manipulate me through emotions.”
Luster Dawn’s eyes widened. “H-How-
“There’s some measure of truth in your words, no doubt about that, but you know what you were doing.”
Here, the girl finally teared up. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I didn’t – I mean, It’s my last-
“Save it.” He raised a hand, stopping her yet there was now a sincere smile on his face. Luster Dawn fought to beg further but she didn’t know what else to say. It was an underhanded tactic, she could admit, but what else could she do? Still, she hated how naturally she tried to do it, let alone, justify it.
“It’s an inborn skill,” Knight commented. “Mother side?”
Luster mutely nodded, still ashamed.
“Don’t,” the boy stated when he saw her look, “mine’s gotta be worst from the stories my aunts told me.”
“I highly doubt that,” the girl muttered, with a frown. “Some ponies still had a lot to say about my mom.”
Knight shrugged, deciding not to go into it anymore. “I think the important thing is,” he placed a gentle hand on the downcast girl’s shoulder, “that you felt guilty and I think that shows you still have a conscience on you.” He paused before teasing a bit, “though you might have to use it a lot now to make up for the stunt you pulled.” Knight smiled when the girl lightly giggled.
He turned to the window, the dark clouds now looming over with the promise of a heavy downpour. Was he really going to do it? Oh, his mothers are going to kill him.
“Fine,” he began, new hesitation in his voice. “You could get sick walking back to the statue anyway.” He now had to back away from the girl’s sudden proximity as her eyes were shining with delight and excitement like the one’s on his friend on Cupcake Day.
He scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Yes, you heard me. I guess you can hang out with me and the gang for a while. You can stay for, say, a day or two?”
Luster Dawn enthusiastically nodded. She couldn’t contain her excitement. She pulled the boy into a hug. “Thank you thank you thank you thank you!”
Here he grimaced but welcomed the embrace. “Don’t mention it, but it will be harder for you to escape my brother’s clutches now.”
At that, Luster’s grin wavered before she shook her head and waved her closed fist. “I think I can handle him.” She then looked up at him, eyes lightly shining with unshed tears. “Really, I mean it Knight. Thank you.”
Knight shrugged, grinning. “It has been a while since anything exciting comes in here anyways so it’s only a matter of time.” He then gestured to the doors, bowing at the waist with a mischievous smirk.
“Welcome to Canterlot High, Luster Dawn.”