Into the Unknown
Twilight fidgeted with a pen she had taken out of her pocket, twirling it around in her fingers as she sat in the large, leather chair. Her eyes were downcast, focusing on the spinning movement in her hands while a disapproving voice barked at a glowing orb from behind a much larger chair facing away from her.
"No, your grace, I did not receive any news of her impending arrival." She paused to allow for another voice from the orb, too distorted for Twilight to make out, to speak. "Yes, I understand, but you must understand that you put me here to supervise the gifted and maintain order here. Sending your star pupil here in the middle of a quarter will not help with that, at all." Another pause, "I realize she doesn't mean it, but that's besides the point." The response was much more frantic than the last, "Now, your grace, there's no need...... That's hardly.... I just think..... Alright. I'll... think of something. A pleasure, you grace."
A wave of a blue hand from behind the chair darkened the orb. With an audible kick, the chair swiveled and revealed an elderly elf in a form-fitting business suit. Her graying hair tied back in a bun to reveal her vibrant colored eyes, one a steel grey and the other a deep green. She leaned forward and set the orb on the large, oak desk in front of her. Resting her hands in a steeple on said desk, she looked over the glossy wood at the purple student before her, saying nothing.
The stare lasted for what seemed like minutes, making Twilight fidget even more. Finally, Twilight's pen got the better of her and it slipped from her hand mid twirl and landed a good ten feet to her left. Her eyes darted to the pen, then back at the disapproving eyes of the Headmistress.
The older woman finally moved, looking at a small stack of papers in front of her, "Miss..... Sparkle? That can't be your Legacy name..."
"I... don't have one, ma'am."
"Oh... My apologies. So, yes, Miss Sparkle will do just fine then." She looked up to see Twilight still looking down, her nervous hands wringing themselves to death. She sighed softly, "I'm sorry for the less than stellar introductions, Miss Sparkle. I had hoped to meet you at a later date when it was more appropriate, but fate has a funny way of dealing with things."
She got up smoothly, showing a grace that disguised her advanced age that her face seemed all too eager to betray.Twilight watched her slowly circle the table to stand to her right, hands behind her back and waited. Silence hung in the air as Twilight stared at her, wondering why she did so. Then it struck her, "Oh, I'm sorry!" She quickly got up and faced her, hands at her side and bowed.
"Good. Though, your response was slow, your form is good." She waited for Twilight to stand straight again, "My name is Headmistress Ironeye. I'll skip my official title, as you've probably heard it a few times by now and we don't have time for anything formal." She smirked at the last bit, "Formality doesn't seem to be the flavor of the day, however." She turned and began walking swiftly towards the door. "Come Miss Sparkle, we must make haste if we are to be through with this before the evening meal."
Twilight relaxed and moved to follow her, scooping up her hefty book bag.
"Leave that here, it'll be sent to your room along with your other supplies. It'll only slow you down at this point."
Twilight paused for a moment, uncertain, but slowly placed the bag down. She looked back up to see the Headmistress was already at the door, waiting. "Oh, sorry." She hurried after her.
Twilight's legs started to wobble with the effort it took to keep up with Ironeye. This place was huge! Much bigger than the outside would suggest at first glance. Twilight figured they'd walked several miles by now, just from showing her the different wings. Yet, the older woman kept the same, brisk pace she started the tour with. As they past by rooms, Twilight could see each was filled with classes in the middle of session and each room seemed to be filled to the brim with students.
"I never realized how big this school was, " she muttered to herself.
"Yes, and growing. We no longer simply teach magic to the capable, though most of our students do end up learning some form of it. We now have a wide variety of potential majors for our students to strive for, but our focus does remain on the study of various magical arts. I assume you will be aiming for the Eldritch Arts Doctorate?"
Twilight looked back at her guide, "How'd you know? It's not in my profile."
Ironeye chuckled softly, "I'm not the head of this place for nothing, Miss Sparkle. Plus the EAD is our crown jewel, so to speak. We are the only university to offer it and it is what our other magic majors are based off of. Not many achieve it, however. As it requires you to make a rather high contribution to the study of magic to even be considered for it. As you are the personal apprentice of our esteemed ruler, however, I wouldn't be surprised that you do achieve it."
Twilight blushed at the praise, "Th-thanks, ma'am."
She chuckled again, "Don't thank me, yet. I don't plan on going easy on you, either."
"Of course, ma'am."
They rounded a corner that opened up into a large hallway with a huge window on their right that spanned along the entire length. "And to your right, you'll see the main courtyard. It is free for anyone to use, though, with class in session, it is deserted at the moment."
Twilight gazed in amazement at the expanse of grass and shrubs that lay hidden by these walls. She slowed down to a stop when she noticed a lone figure in the middle of the field. The figure turned slowly, then stopped to switch direction as it moved forward, swinging what looked like a large stick in slow, but deliberate curves. The snow skinned woman twisted and lunged with the stick, causing her large, purple curls to bounce excitedly. Eventually Twilight realized that the stick had a large blade on one end and that the woman was performing a slow, yet graceful dance. "Who's that?" she blurted without thinking.
Ironeye stopped and looked back at Twilight briefly before following her gaze to the woman on the grass. "Oh. That is Acolyte Du Kont."
Twilight looked back at the Headmistress, "Acolyte?"
"Yes, it is a title you will earn once you start graduate work. When you eventually get there, anyways."
Twilight's curiosity wouldn't let her look away from the graceful power on display in front of her as the acolyte spun and sliced at imaginary foes, "What's she doing?"
"Her mid day exercises, if I remember correctly. She studies battle-forms to compliment her primary talents. Not exactly par for the course for graduates, but she, like you, has been anything but normal."
"What's her study focus?"
Ironeye raised an eyebrow, "She majored in Crystallography. After receiving her degree, however, she apply for a graduate program. She expressed a desire to continue her studies to eventually achieve Lithomancy."
Twilight was shocked, "Lithomancy? But that magic hasn't been seen for-"
"For several thousands years, I know. Not true Lithomancy, anyways. We would've have declined her application, if she had not shown us something remarkable, however. You see that polearm that she wields now? That didn't exist before she started her exercises and won't exist after she finishes. She has the ability to manipulate crystallin substances with her magic, including metals. Which, as you know, is an ability that is said to be the exclusive domain of the Lithomancers of old. If her research does pan out, it would be a strong candidate for the EAD."
Twilight stood breathless, not able to find words for what she was watching, just simply, "Wow."
"Yes, indeed. Now, Miss Sparkle, we must continue." Ironeye turned and walked off down the hall.
"Oh, yes. Of course, ma'am." Twilight turned to follow, but couldn't help but take a last look at the purple haired woman on the grass before she disappeared behind the wall.
Ironeye stopped outside a room marked 413, where she simply paused and waited for the lagging Twilight Sparkle. With thighs burning and her left knee threatening to give out, Twilight eventually comes to rest behind the Headmistress, doubling over with hands on knees to catch her breath.
"Well, Miss Sparkle. This concludes our tour for the day. Tomorrow we'll perform your entrance exams to see where you place, but I'm sure you're spent for the day." She turned and smirked at the doubled over girl, "Your roommate should be here as her classes end early. She'll answer any other questions you may have, I'm sure."
Twilight slowly caught her breath, she really wasn't used to all this vigorous exercise and her body really let her know. "W-wait.... Roommate? I wasn't aware-"
"Oh? Didn't Celestia tell you? All of our students bunk with one other. While yes, we could expand to allow for each student to have their own room or design for efficiency by rooming groups together, we found that we wanted to forge bonds between our students without allowing them to easily form cliques that caused trouble for the others. A one-on-one experience achieved the best results in our research." She paused, letting Twilight eventually stand up straight, "You're lucky to have a room at all, really. This is the only one to have a vacancy left. Also, Miss Téledar is one of our most... subdued students. I believe this interaction will benefit the both of you. Now, I must leave you, for the exams must be set up for tomorrow if you are to even hope to be able to catch up with the rest of the students here." She pulled out a key from her breast pocket and handed it to Twilight, "This is your key and your bags should have been dropped off while we toured the school."
Twilight grabbed the key and stared at it for a while, noting its various features. "And with that, I'll leave you to your day, Miss Sparkle." With that she spun on her heel and began walking away, just as brisk as before.
Twilight gulped, still registering that she was now alone and that she was about to meet another new person that she would have to live with. Anxiety took hold as Twilight imagined what kind of person this Téledar was. The name almost sounded like a command when Twilight repeated it to herself. Eventually, she mustered up the courage to shove the key into the lock and turn, opening the door with a shove.
Twilight stepped through the threshold only to be attacked by a fern. Or at least it felt like an attack as it caught her in the face with a branch and caused her to spin into a larger potted plant, this one a much more exotic tree fern, Twilight noted. The small tree stopped her momentum and allow her to gather her thoughts enough to look around the room. Everywhere she looked, she saw exotic plants and animals, all of them small except for the rather large stuffed bear in the corner. "What in the-"
Her thoughts paused as she noticed a soft humming sound coming from the opposite side of the room. A quick look in that direction revealed a rather tall and lanky angel with huge yellow wings bouncing around as she hummed a tune. The wings were folded up neatly on her back, but they covered everything except her feet, which were bare, and the top of her head, which was covered in light pink hair.
Twilight stood and watched her for a moment as she continued to hum and what sounded like pouring water into a fern in front of her before Twilight caught herself staring and shook her head. "Umm... Miss Téledar?" No response, "Excuse me!" she called out a little louder.
The angel paused and turned at the last call, revealing that she had earmuffs on, large fluffy pink ones, and only undergarments below that. The world seemed to pause as the two stared at each other for a few seconds until the angel looked down at herself and shrieked, dropping the pale of water to cover herself, a wing coming around to help with that matter. The animals all stopped and seemed to become much more intimidating as they converged slowly to defend their mistress. Along with covering herself, the angel ducked behind a potted plant, another very large fern.
Twilight jumped and stammered as more creatures seemed to get closer and closer, "Um, my name is Twilight Sparkle. I'm supposed to be your new roommate?" she said as she backed away into a corner, bumping into something large and furry. Large paws came down to rest on her shoulders as she looked up to see the face of the not-stuffed bear looking down at her and growl. Her heart rate peaked at the sudden realization she was probably about to be mauled to death now and her vision went dark as her body decided that was enough as she fainted.
A loud caw startled Twilight awake, swiftly followed by a weak voice saying, "Quiet, Buzzbeak! You'll wake up- oh!" Twilight slowly sat up, the mattress under her resisting her movements, making her strain a little to get her head up.
"Oh, I'm so sorry! I'm sure he didn't mean to wake you up, Buzzbeak is just excited to meet someone new, I'm sure." As if in response, a soft chirp from a bird sounded, "See? He's an excitable bird at times."
The tall angel leaned over Twilight, casting a shadow over her and making it somewhat difficult to see her. Twilight did note that she was wearing something now, a button-up shirt and vest combo with a skirt that reached down to her knees. Twilight remembered that this was the school uniform that she bought when planning on coming here, though it seemed that the angel had forgotten the pins that went along with it.
"He does seem that way, " she replied. "You must be Miss Téledar..."
The angel blushed a little at the name, "Oh, yes. You can call me Fluttershy, though."
"Fluttershy..." Twilight repeated back at her, feeling the word as she spoke it. "Um, I'm-"
"Twilight Sparkle. I did manage to hear it when you spoke, though I suppose that wasn't much of an introduction. Didn't think you'd be here so soon. Sometimes I forget how fast the Headmistress walks at times."
"Right? I thought my knee was going to give out and I'm surprised it didn't." Twilight rubbed her knee by habit upon mentioning it, though to her surprise her legs, and knee, felt great, as if she hadn't walked several miles of hallway at breakneck speeds. She rubbed the sides inquisitively, feeling for pain, "That's odd... My knee hasn't felt this good since..."
"Oh, that? Yeah I hope you don't mind, but when I was making sure you weren't hurt, I felt that you had a problem there so I fixed it, " she said, the last bit making her smile uneasily, as if she realized that she had trespassed.
"You felt it?" Twilight cocked an eyebrow at her new roommate.
"Yes...." she replied, much quieter. "Sorry if I-"
"No no. It's just... Unexpected. Thanks."
Fluttershy blushed slightly at the compliment and looked away, "I'm an empath so feeling your pain wasn't all that difficult. Also I'm studying healing magic here and fixing your knee was a rather simple thing since it was only a torn-"
"It's ok, Fluttershy. No need to fret over it, though it'll take some getting used to having a good knee again. Been a while since I fell." Then Twilight realized something, "Wait, you're an empath? I thought that only elves had that ability."
Again Fluttershy blushed, "Yeah, I'm the first angel to have it. Or at least the first in a while since they had no records of others."
"Must make living here difficult with all the other students, " Twilight muttered, remembering that elf empaths usually have to live in solitude.
"It's not too bad, the animals make coping much easier. I just have to focus on one of them to stop the feelings if they get too much."
"That.... makes sense. Heh, good thing I'm not really allergic to anything." They both shared a chuckle at that.
Fluttershy jumped slightly when a loud bell rang from outside, "Oh, the Evening Meal's about to start. I'll introduce you to everyone when we get back!" She gestured around the room at the various animals as she ran around gathering her things and then stood at the door waiting for Twilight, who got up, testing her legs and followed the tall angel out the door. "Be good, everyone!" She said as she closed the door behind her, only to open it slightly again as a small rabbit bound through the crack, "Oh, sorry, Angel." She scooped up the rabbit and placed it on one of her shoulders, where it seemed to know just how to balance.
"Angel?" Twilight asked.
"Oh, yes. Twilight, this is Angel. Angel, this is Twilight. Our new roommate." The rabbit looked at Twilight and then chirped angrily. "Angel! That wasn't nice, " she scolded the rabbit as it changed shoulders, away from Twilight. Fluttershy sighed, "Don't worry, he'll warm up to you eventually, I'm sure."
Twilight chuckled a little as they set off down the hall. Excited to see what came next at this place.