Unforeseen Consequences - Chapter 21


                                            >It’d be a lie to say that you expected to begin your first day at school by being hoofcuffed and dragged to the principal’s office by Moonlight.

                                            >Judging by the stares of each foal in the school’s hallways you certainly gave everyone one heck of a first impression, and not exactly the good kind. Frickin’ Moonlight.

                                            >Sure, not everything sucked. The school in itself was what you’d expect from a fancy, rich ponies’ place. The hallways’ wooden walls, perfectly contrasted with the warm colors of the many lockers resting against them.

                                            >As expected, you saw many boards with all sorts of bulletins and notes pinned on them, as well as a plethora of trophy cases. Of course, Celestia wouldn’t hold back in bragging about the seemingly many accolades her school has gotten.

                                            >Judging by the classrooms, or at least the ones that weren’t locked by some big, fancy wooden door, Celestia really invested a lot of bits in giving students a top notch place to study.

                                            >The principal’s office, as it turned out, wasn’t just an office. It was an entire fancy lobby, with a couple of young mares sitting at mahogany desks and a whole lot of bookshelves with thick binders in them.

                                            >There were two doors, one at the far-end of lobby which felt more like it belonged to the castle and had some masterfully crafted golden letters on it that read “PRINCIPAL”.

                                            >At the left side there was a much more humble wooden door, placed between two windows covered by louvers. This one had a little sign that read “VICE-PRINCIPAL” and it’s where Moonlight took you.


                                            >After knocking on the door, the two of you were greeted by a mare. Her pale blue coat, white mane, and stern yet wise blue eyes accentuated her many years.

                                            >Moonlight and the old mare exchanged a polite salute, with the later asking the former if you were, “The applicant foal”. Moonlight simply replied with a yes, then she removed the hoofcuffs from you and left, but not before wishing you good luck and reminding you to behave.

                                            >So now you were sitting at a chair inside an unimpressive office. Just a small desk with a busted reclining chair, a couple of bookshelves, and a lot of diplomas and photos of ponies hanging on the walls.

                                            >The old mare sat at the desk and started sorting a whole lot of papers in complete silence. You on the other hand looked at the name plate on the desk and chuckled.

                                            “Professor Bill Neigh, huh? Don’t wanna sound rude, but I didn’t expect a mare like you to have a name like that.”

                                            >The mare rolled her eyes and sighed in annoyance before continuing sorting the papers, “It’s because that’s not my name. I’m Professor Sunny Hill, and please be quiet while I…”

                                            “So you’re telling me your office has the wrong name plate? Or did we hijack the guy’s place? Because if it’s the latter, lemme tell you: Frickin’ weird you can do that at top tier schools like this”

                                            >Sunny Hill sighed again and shook her head, before placing the last papers in a folder, “The vice-president had to leave to attend an urgent matter.” She then subtly smiled and muttered to herself in a sarcastic tone, “I’m sure that the news of Captain Moonlight coming here had nothing to do with it.”


                                            “Were you supposed to be talking to yourself? Because I could hear it all the way here. Heck, I’m sure those ladies outside heard it too. Oh! And no offense, but if the vice-principal ain’t here, why we don’t go with the principal?”

                                            >She narrowed her eyes in quite the mean way and looked at a paper sheet, “Mr. Resonance, isn’t? Our principal is too busy ruling our beautiful kingdom to deal with a little ruffian like yourself. So you’ll have to deal with me.”

                                            “Hey, wait a minute! What the heck was that ruffian…?”

                                            >Sunny Hill cut you off by handling you a bunch of paper sheets grappled together, a pencil and an erasure to you, “The time for talking is over, Mr. Resonance. This is your basic knowledge exam, you’ll find the answer sheet on the reverse. As petition from the principal, it only contains topics related to math, physics, chemistry, grammar and critical thinking. Subjects such as equestrian history and culture won’t be in the exam.  Any score below 80 will be considered failing. You have exactly two hours to complete the exam. Good luck, Mr. Resonance.”

                                            >You furiously glared at the mare. However, you decided to not say anything. Luna and Celestia must surely knew about your little stunt by now. No point in disappointing them even more.

                                            >Besides, it’s not like that mare was even paying attention to you. Just like any dirty rich pony, she simply wrote stuff on some papers and occasionally took a glance at a golden pocket watch hanging from her neck.


                                            >You let out a tired sigh and decided to focus on the exam. That’s the least you could do to not embarrass Celestia even more.

                                            >The exam itself was stupidly easy, mind numbingly so. In fact, you did a couple of double checks just to be sure that the questions weren’t rigged.

                                            >It was really frustrating to think on how you used to get paid for stuff like this, and now you were doing it for absolutely free. You really didn’t want to deal with this for longer than necessary.

                                            >You took the pencil with your mouth and filled the answer sheet as you did the third and final read of the exam. Who the heck wrote this, man?

                                            >You spat the pencil on the desk and slid both the exam and the answer sheet back to Sunny Hill. Then, you quickly jumped out of the chair and walked to the door.

                                            “Here you go. Exam’s complete. Have a nice day, Billy Hill.”

                                            >Sunny Hill looked at her pocket watch and raised an eyebrow, “I made myself clear in stating that the time limit was two hours. Is there a particular reason why you decided to submit the exam in 28 minutes, Mr. Resonance?”

                                            “Because I finished it, why else? Don’t see a good reason to waste time, y’know?”

                                            >She shook her head and placed the both the exam answer sheet inside a blue folder, “I hope for that you are a magnificent magic user, Mr. Resonance. Otherwise your audit classes will be the last ones you take in this school.”

                                            “Why? Are you gonna make me fail that exam because I’m a ruffian or whatever?”


                                            >Sunny Hill stood up from the desk, plastered a sticker on your chest and finally opened the door, “No, you’re indeed a ruffian, but that fact has absolutely no bearing in the results. Your temporary classroom will be 5-1. Please, follow me.”

                                            >You walked alongside Sunny Hill through the now empty hallways and went inside an actually colorful and super well equipped classroom. There, you were greeted with two surprises.

                                            >The entire class was made up of fillies. They all were sitting in groups at round tables, and for some reason you cannot explain, all of them looked at you in a particular way that made you feel incredibly uncomfortable.

                                            >Seriously, what the heck was their deal? While some whispered something to their friends, none of them took their eyes off of you.

                                            >Probably the worst came in the form of two fillies winking at you. What the heck did that even mean? Were they gonna beat you up or something?

                                            >To make things worse, frickin’ Cherrywood was in this class too. However, and unlike the rest of her classmates, she was sitting completely alone at the table in the back of the classroom.

                                            >Sunny Hill cleared her throat, making everyone go silent, “This colt here is Resonance. He will be joining us until the recess bell rings. I expect all of you to be in your best behavior.”

                                            >She then glanced to you and pointed at Cherrywood’s table, “Mr. Resonance, please take a seat at that table. I must remind you that you’re only an audit student, so be quiet and don’t disturb my students.”


                                            >There was an audible “aww” completed by the angry mutterings from the other fillies. You ignored all of that and made a beeline towards the table.

                                            >There, you placed your saddlebag underneath the chair and rested your head on the table. The class started not even a minute after.

                                            >If you didn’t have enough boredom and tedium with the exam, this class was all about stuff you already knew. After a couple minutes, you turned to Cherrywood and whispered.

                                            “Why the heck I can’t get rid of you, man?”

                                            >Cherrywood growled and opened a book. Then, she whispered back, “I was going to say the same thing! Why won’t you leave me alone?!”

                                            “Hey! I ain’t the one who had the idea to sit here! That geezer did! By the way, is she the only teacher for this classroom?”

                                            >Pretending to pay attention to the class, she nodded and replied, “Yup! And she’s as bad as it seems. So shut up before you get me in trouble! I don’t want to get extra homework because of your dumb yapping!”

                                            “Why do you worry, fluff-brain? It’s just basic math, anyone can do it! And if you get extra work, then who cares? I know a great and cheap way to make that trouble go away.”

                                            >Cherrywood frowned and turned a page of her book, “I’d rather eat a snail than paying you! Now shut your dumb mouth before…!”

                                            >Sunny Hill cleared her throat and narrowed her eyes at her, “Ms. Cherrywood! Considering how little attention you’re paying, I suppose you won’t have any problem in solving the problems in the chalkboard!”

                                            >Cherrywood stood up from her seat and shot you a murderous glare at you, “I hate you!” Then, she flew to the chalkboard and picked a piece of chalk with her mouth.


                                            >That’s all she did, really. Cherrywood was clueless about what to do, and the fact that she had everyone’s eyes on her, didn’t do really do any favors either.

                                            >It was true that you couldn’t stand Cherrywood one single bit, but you got her in this problem, and those frickin’ girls giggling at her actually annoyed you to no end.

                                            >You couldn’t just yell the answers to Cherrywood, so you rested your head on your hooves to cover your mouth and whispered as quietly as possible.

                                            “Hey, fluff-brain! I know you can hear me! I’ve an idea to make these lame suckers shut up. Don’t turn around, or it’s gonna look fishy. Just twitch your right ear if you can hear me.”

                                            >She actually responded with a subtle rotation of her ear. Luckily, and despite her vigilant gaze, Sunny Hill didn’t noticed a thing.

                                            “For the record, I frickin’ hate you too, but the answers from top-to-bottom are: 2.3, 1/24, 34, 2.4, and 7.6 all in that order, and free of charge. The process of the first one is…”

                                            >After a couple minutes, Cherrywood correctly solved each problem. Sunny Hill simply gave her the order to get back to her seat and kept her mouth shut.

                                            >Oddly enough, the way in which Cherrywood triumphantly smiled at her classmates made you feel actually very good. Enough to not bother her for the rest of the boring class.

                                            >Finally, the frickin’ bell ringed after what felt hours of boring agony. You immediately jumped out of your seat, slid the saddlebag onto your back and readied to get out of the classroom before any of these fillies could talk to you.


                                            >However, Sunny Hill stopped you right on the frickin’ spot by throwing an announcement, “Attention class! Due to certain circumstances, Mrs. River Dance will act as your teacher for the remainder of the day. Mr. Resonance, I want to have a word with you. The rest, you know well how I feel about eavesdropping, so lease go out and enjoy your recess. I’ll be seeing you tomorrow. That is all.”

                                            >Every filly, except for Cherrywood, was visibly disappointed by Sunny Hill’s orders. However, and despite their clear curiosity in you, they indeed exited the classroom in a quick, yet orderly manner.

                                            >Once the place was empty, you rolled your eyes and begrudgingly walked to Sunny Hill’s desk. There, you noticed the blue folder containing your exam on the desk.

                                            “Lemme guess, this is about my exam, isn’t?”

                                            >Sunny Hill nodded, “More or less, I wanted to remind you that once recess is over, you shall go straight to the annex building for the second part of your admission exam. You’ll be graded by myself and a couple other heads of the school’s council.”

                                            “What about our super cool principal? Still too busy calling the shots to deal with a… how did you call me again?”

                                            >She sighed and slightly narrowed her eyes, “A ruffian, which is the exactly the type of pony who would make fun of our majesty. Going back to the topic at hoof, I assume that you know how your admission will be determined.”


                                            “Yeah, I think it was in the pamphlet. Pass the two exams and I’m in, fail and I get my flank kicked. Simple stuff.”

                                            >Sunny Hill slowly shook her head and took out the answer sheet from the folder, “Close, but not entirely correct. You only need one exam to be accepted. Fail both, which is the most likely case, and you’ll be deemed as a non-worthy candidate. That’s all I wanted to say. You can go now, Mr. Resonance. It was a non-pleasure to meet you.”

                                            “Whoa! That was a sick pep talk, Billy Hill! Really touched my heartstrings there! I’ve a little problem with it, though: I ain’t gonna fail, and you can bet everything you owe on that. See you after recess.”

                                            >You angrily walked out of the classroom and closed the door. Surprising to see the hallways so empty, but it ain’t like you wanted to deal with those fillies.

                                            >The only pony besides you was Cherrywood. She was leaning against a locker, her face displayed a weird mix of both annoyance and boredom. Since you lost the bet against her mom, you had to hang out with her. It frickin’ sucked.

                                            “Listen, fluff-brain; I’m really not feeling like making friends. Please tell me you know a place away from everyone else.”

                                            >Cherrywood walked to you and shrugged, “Yeah, it’s where I go every day. I’ll show you the way, dumb lord! And be fast! A lot of airheads in my class want to talk with you, and I rather eat glass than to hear their dumb yapping.”

                                            “Trust me, we’re on the same boat, fluff-brain.”

                                            >Without anything else to say, you followed her into the honestly amazing courtyard. Seriously, this place had everything a foal could want. Hoofball courts, playgrounds, green areas, lunch tables and even drinking fountains!


                                            >Curiously, you saw not only the entry to the towers that you saw earlier, but also a bunch of extra buildings that were impossible to see from the street.

                                            >The entire courtyard was stacked with at least a couple hundred foals. Interesting how most of them were organized in clearly distinct groups. Was this an Equestria thing?

                                            >As you continued to follow Cherrywood through the courtyard, you something poking your ribs. You angrily turned around and saw a pale blue pegasus colt, wearing a pair of dumb sunglasses.

                                            >Before you could tell him to get lost, the colt started speaking with a clearly fake hoarse voice, “Hey, new kid. Word says that you escaped from a max security prison. Is that true?”

                                            “That’s one heck of a guess. Kinda wrong, though. I escaped from an orphanage guarded by armed patrols. Why? Do you’ve a problem with that?”

                                            >The colt adjusted his glasses and for a moment, replied with a fairly high-pitches voice, “Whoa! That’s so cool! How did you…! I-I mean.” He cleared his throat, “The foals of the other block will keep our eyes on you, new kid. Can’t let…”

                                            >You putted your goggles on and tapped the colt’s chest. Not too hard, just enough to make him retreat a couple steps.

                                            “Listen, man; I ain’t gonna blow my chances to get into this school in some schoolyard fight. If you and your friends wanna dance, tell them we can pick some alleyway after classes. I’ll bash your teeth in then and there!”


                                            >The colt frantically shook his head and front hooves, “What?! Y-You got it wrong, sir! I-I’m not looking for trouble! I just wanted to…!”

                                            >In one swift motion Cherrywood grabbed the colt, and pulled him closer to her, “*HISSS* NOPONY CARES! Get out of here before I get you in a world of pain!”

                                            >It worked wonders, the colt immediately galloped away, leaving only his sunglasses behind. You turned to Cherrywood and smiled to her.

                                            “Thanks, fluff-brain.”

                                            >Cherrywood shrugged and rolled her eyes, “For what? This is what I always do when anypony gets on my nerves. Just like you’re doing, dumb lord! Now shut up and keep walking!”

                                            >You let out a sigh and followed her to the far end of the courtyard. There, the both of you took a seat at a little lunch table under an old tree located at.

                                            >After whipping out a few leaf litter, you placed your saddlebag to a side and took out the lunch box that Celestia prepared for you.

                                            >Inside you found a delicious looking hay sandwich, a flask containing orange juice, a chocolate muffin and a small note that read, “Hope you are liking the school. Do your best! Love –Mom”

                                            >Mom, huh? Should you start calling Luna and Celestia like that or was it too darn soon? How could you determine the appropriate time, though? It’s not like you remembered how long it took you to call Eris your sister.

                                            >You stood silent and went deep into thought, occasionally taking a bite out of your sandwich, or drinking a bit of the orange juice. That is, until a pebble hit your face.

                                            “Ouch! What the heck, man!”


                                            >The culprit was of course, Cherrywood. She was frowning at you while holding a big red apple in her hoof, “Hey, dumb lord! Stop spacing out! I was asking you something.”

                                            “Go hug a cactus, man! But what do you want?”

                                            >Much to your amazement, she stuffed the entire frickin’ apple inside her mouth and crushed it like it was made out of paper. That was frickin’ awesome, man!

                                            >Cherrywood started to much the apple bits as she talked, “So, what did you think of the basic knowledge exam? Pretty hard, isn’t? Let me tell you, nopony in this school has gotten more than an 85… except for Royal Blood. I think she got like 88 or something, but she’s Ms. Perfect so it doesn’t count. I got like 81 or 82, or something like that. Barely made it in!”

                                            “Y’know, you really didn’t need to throw me a frickin’ rock for that! Anyway, I’ve got two answers for the price of one: First, I ain’t got a clue what the heck you talking about. That exam was the easiest thing I’ve done in forever.”

                                            >Cherrywood gulped the remainder of the apple down, and raised an eyebrow, “If you’re trying to look cool then stop it! It’s not working. Nopony in the history of forever has ever said that about the “Celestia’s exam”. My mom says that some ponies go to hospitals because of it!”

                                            “Believe me or not, I don’t care one bit, fluff-brain. I know what I saw and it was super easy. Know what I care about, though? The way you ate that frickin’ apple, man! It’s the most metal thing I’ve seen since I got to Equestria!”


                                            >She narrowed her eyes, and cautiously replied “What the hay does that mean? Are you making fun of me?!”

                                            “You need to get out more, fluff-brain! It’s an absolutely awesome thing! A solid nine on my scale. For reference, your radar ears are a legit ten. Tell me, fluff-brain; what’s the hardest thing you can crush with those fangs?”

                                            >Cherrywood was genuinely surprised by your answer. So much that she started to speak in a more relaxed, yet still squeaky voice, “A raw potato, I think. Dunno, my mom always tells me to not overdo it. You’re weird, dumb lord. Still hate you, but at least you aren’t making fun of me.”

                                            “I mean; I hate you too, but why the heck would I make fun of that? What’s awesome is awesome. Simple as that. Uh… don’t wanna sound weird, but can I ask you a question?”

                                            >Cherrywood munched a couple of grapes and shrugged, “Meh, why not? At least you aren’t going to call me a freak like those numb nuts over there.”

                                            “Okay, so… I’m not supposed to tell anyone who my parents are, but you know already, and they said that’s fine because you’re a special case. I wanna know why’s that. Is it like some perk you get for being the captain’s daughter?”

                                            >Cherrywood raised an eyebrow and tilted her head in confusion, “You mean, Princess Luna and my mom haven’t told you?”

                                            “Nope! That’s why I’m asking.”

                                            >She let out a sigh and scratched the back of her head, “Geez, mom! Thanks for leaving all the boring stuff to me! Okay! It’s a bit complicated but I’m…”

                                            >Cherrywood got cut off by an unfamiliar, and quite snobbish voice, “Excuse me! Are you Resonance?”


                                            >You turned around to see a unicorn filly standing in front of the lunch table. Her coat was as white as a cloud, perfect blue eyes, her golden mane was perfectly stylized with these curlers that flowed into her shoulders. In other words, she was absolutely beautiful.

                                            >Too bad about her attitude, though. She kept staring at you same way that rich ponies did back at the slums: With pure disgust and disdain. Needless to say, you already hated her guts.

                                            >The filly raised her chin in a snobbish fashion and said, “I asked a question! Are you Resonance or not?” She then turned her gaze to the Cherrywood and said with a much more amicable tone, “Hey, Cherrywood.”

                                            >Kinda surprising to see Cherrywood responding with a coy, “Hey, Royal Blood.”

                                            >Man, even her name screamed how dirty rich she surely was. You narrowed your eyes and jumped out of your seat.

                                            “I’m Resonance, alright. Do you have any problem with that? Because I ain’t the type of pony you want to mess with.”

                                            >Royal Blood turned her head away and flickered one of her curlers at you, “Hmph! Typical response from a typical thug. How boring!” She then rolled her eyes in a snobbish fashion, “Ms. Sunny Hill sent me. She wants to see you at the principal’s office. So follow me, and please don’t say anything. I don’t want to waste my brain cells hearing how tough you are or about a worthless fight you had.”

                                            >You turned to Cherrywood, who simply shrugged back. Then, you took your saddlebag and walked past Royal Blood, but not before subtly pushing her with your body.

                                            “Alright, what are we waiting for?! Lead the way, Royal Flush! And don’t worry, I ain’t planning on making friends with a fancy-schmancy pony like you.”

                                            >Royal Blood glanced at Cherrywood one last time, “Hmph! See you soon, Cherrywood.” Then, she pushed you to a side and walked in direction to the school’s main building.


                                            >Cherrywood sighed in annoyance, and dropped her head on the table, “You’ve seriously no idea how much I can’t stand her.”

                                            >You let out a heartedly laugh and galloped away to catch up with Royal Blood. Luckily, she didn’t say a single word all the way to the principal’s office.

                                            >Not to you at least, or to other foals for that matter. Only times when words came out from Royal Blood’s mouth was to coldly greet any adult pony who passed by.

                                            >It became so frickin’ aggravating, that you felt incredibly blessed after reaching the large lobby, and seeing Sunny Hill waiting in front of the principal’s door.

                                            >Royal Blood called for the old more with her turbo snobbish attitude, “Mrs. Sunny Hill? I brought this pony like you asked. If you excuse me, I have better things to do than to waste time with a common thug.”

                                            >Sunny Hill frantically nodded. Geez, man! She was so pale and trembled so badly, that it was a wonder she hadn’t collapsed, “O-Of course, Ms. Royal. Y-You can go now. T-Thank you for everything. O-Oh! And don’t forget that we’ll be waiting for you at the annex building!"

                                            >Royal Blood raised her chin and flickered one of her curlers, before she walked to the lobby’s exit, “Hmph! It’s a waste of my time, but I’ll be there. Can’t allow a lowly thug to get in this school so easily. Good afternoon.”

                                            >Man, thank the heavens that frickin’ filly was gone! She said some interesting things, though. Like her going to be part of your magic exam in some way. Wonder how that’ll work?

                                            >However, you’d deal with that later. Right now the objective was to make Sunny Hill get back on her senses. Seriously, she was starting to worry you.


                                            “Hey, Billy Hill? You called for me, right? Why don’t go to the vice-pres.’ office? And maybe get a doctor too.”

                                            >Sunny Hill looked at you with wide open eyes and slowly shook her head, “N-Not this time, Mr. Resonance. T-The principal herself wants to have a private discussion with you about.”

                                            “Well, that’s one heck of a surprise! Because I remember you saying that she was too busy managing Equestria to bother with a pony like me! What made her change her mind?”

                                            >She placed her shaky hoof on your shoulder, “T-The results of your exam, of course! They are…! Well, you’ll see for yourself in a moment, Mr. Resonance. We can’t kept her majesty waiting.”

                                            >Sunny Hill gulped and knocked on the imposing doors. A couple of seconds later, you heard Celestia’s voice coming from the other side, “Come in, please!”

                                            >The doors were engulfed in a golden aura before opening on their own, revealing a quite spacious and elegant office. Man, Celestia really liked to spend a lot! Cool place, though. Very comfy.

                                            >You could see your reflection in the polished mahogany floor, while diplomas, photos, and a couple of shelves holding incredibly thick books neatly covered most of the walls.

                                            >At the center of everything was Celestia sitting at a simple, yet dignified wooden desk with both the sun and the moon were masterfully craved into it.

                                            >Celestia greeted both of you with a smile. One completely devoid of her usual smugness, “Oh, Mrs. Sunny Hill, there you are! You have my thanks in bringing the little Resonance here. Please accept my sincere apologizes for any trouble I made you go through.”


                                            >Sunny Hill quickly bowed to Celestia and nervously replied, “It was no problem at all, your majesty! I-I was simply doing my job.” She then stood up and without turning her back, walked out of the office “I’ll take my leave now, and please don’t hesitate in asking for anything you may need.”

                                            >Celestia courteously shook her head and replied in a polite tone, “Thanks for your consideration, Mrs. Sunny Hill. I truly appreciate it, but it won’t be necessary. We’ll be seeing each other again for the magic exam. Please take some rest in the meantime. Resonance, would you be so kind in taking a seat?”

                                            >Something that you had noticed this past week was how utterly different both Luna and Celestia behaved with anyone who wasn’t you.

                                            >Celestia in particular adopted this plastic personality that annoyed you to no end. So once the doors were closed and locked, you decided to do the same.

                                            “It will be my absolute pleasure! However, I must remark that I’m not worthy of your presence. Oh, your magnificent solar majesty!”

                                            >After doing an overly exaggerated bow, you sat on one of the chairs. Then, you crossed your forelegs and shot a little glare at her.

                                            >In a spectacular display of magic, Celestia casted a rippling golden barrier around the office’s perimeter, “Alright, nopony can hear us now. Hey there, my little tiger! Mom has some amazing news for you!”

                                            >Your only responses were to keep glaring at her, as well as a small growl.

                                            >Slightly confused by your actions, Celestia raised an eyebrow, “What? What did I do?”

                                            “C’mon! I ain’t blind, y’know? Why the heck do you always act weird when there’s someone else around? I frickin’ hate it!”


                                            >Celestia let out a heavy sigh and slapped her face, “Listen, I don’t like it any more than you do! Seriously, every single time I have to… Ugh! Let’s save this for other time, alright? Right now we’re celebrating!”

                                            “Oh, man! I thought I was gonna get mad scolded for what happened this morning! I have a perfectly reasonable explanation for that by the way!”

                                            >She teleported to your side and hugged you like a filly would do with a teddy bear, “Oh, you are definitely in big trouble! No question about that! But that’s for when we get to the castle! This is way more important! I mean, of course I knew you were good! But never expected that my adorable genius would… what’s that expression you always say when you’re impressed beyond any meassurement?”

                                            >While you tried to push her away a bit at first, you ended up completely giving up to her warmth and cuddling in her chest.

                                            “I think you’re looking for blown my frickin’ mind. So, uh… what’s all this about?

                                            >Celestia laid on her back and gently put you on top of her chest. Then, she smiled widely, this time genuinely, and tapped your muzzle, “Your exam’s results, of course! You passed it with flying colors!”

                                            “Oh, that’s… cool, I guess. What’s the score? Eighty something?”

                                            >She playfully chuckled and caressed your mane, “Pssh! Yeah, right! Like that would put Sunny Hill on the verge of a stroke! No, you got a perfect score! And that, my dear son, is simply mental exploding!”

                                            “Mind blowing. Is mind blowing, and it ain’t like I’m complaining about not getting chewed out, but why the heck is that a big deal? The stupid exam was the easiest thing ever. Whoever made that exam either scammed you, or is the dumbest pony this side of the galaxy.”


                                            >Clearly offended by your words, Celestia put on a fake and scary grin, “How curious you feel like that about the exam I wrote with my own hooves. Seriously, it’s reassuring to know that my dear son thinks that MY exam is dumb.”

                                            >Oh, man! You really screwed up this time! Better change the frickin’ subject before you get kicked through a window.

                                            “That’s… that’s cool! So, uh… I’m good now? I made it into the school?”

                                            >Celestia looked at you with unamused eyes and let out a sarcastic chuckle, “Oh, no! I’m sure the school’s council will never allow one of the only two foals in the school’s 700 years history to get a perfect score to ever join the student body. No, sir! Not in a million years! Oh, by the way; did I tell you that it was ME who designed the exam?”

                                            “Alright, I get it already! It was a frickin’ stupid question! And I still say the exam was super easy, but I didn’t want to hurt your feelings. I’m sorry, really. I just… say stupid stuff sometimes.”

                                            >She let out a small sigh and tapped your muzzle, “You and me both, my little darling! I was just being silly! Yes, you’re technically accepted, but that doesn’t mean you are exempt from the magic exam.” Her eyes then opened wide in panic as she put you on the floor, “Which starts in five minutes! AAAAH! We don’t have any time to lose!”

                                            “But what the heck am I supposed to do? It ain’t like magic is my strong point!”

                                            >Celestia quickly stood up and used her magic to groom both her mane and tail, “I know! I was supposed to teach you a couple of quick spells during this time but I got carried away!” She then started to frantically walk in circles around the office, “Oh think, think think! What can we do! Aha! I know!”


                                            >With a triumphant smile drawn on her face, Celestia grabbed you by the shoulders, “Alright, Resonance! Here’s the plan: You’re going to gather as much magic as possible in your horn, then you’ll let me do the talk. Got it?! Good! Now let’s go!”

                                            “You gotta be kidding me! How the heck am I gonna do that? You told me to not try any magic this past week, remember? You even made up a lame song for that!”

                                            >Celestia walked to the doors and replied, “First of all, every single one of my songs are fantastic, and don’t you ever forget that! Secondly, remember what you did with the shelf? It’s the same principle: Simply focus on channeling every ounce of energy into your horn and you’re golden. Now hurry! I don't want my son to be disqualified by default!”

                                            “But…!”

                                            >You couldn’t say anything else. Celestia slapped her forehead and fired up her horn, “Why am I so worried? Silly me, I can just teleport us both!”

                                            “Oh, c’mon! You know how much I frickin’ hate…!”

                                            >You tried to reason with her, even get the heck away from that office. However, she held you in place with her magic and in less of the blink of an eye, you were no longer in Celestia’s office.

                                            >Of course, you were also feeling like your guts had been turned upside-down. Frickin’ teleportation, man! It’s even worse than taking a bus in the slums.

                                            >After shaking your head to regain your senses, you quickly realized that you were standing at the center stage of a quite large and very fancy auditorium. Celestia, Sunny Hill, and couple of very stiff looking unicorns were sitting at the top seats.


                                            >Your attention was brought to a simple table standing a few meters away from you. For some reason, there were two identical sets of tea pottery laying on opposite sides of the table. What kind of weird exam was this?

                                            >One of those stiff ponies cleared his throat quite loudly. He was coldly reviewing a bunch of papers levitating in front of him, “Applicant #2674. Name: Resonance. Place of origin: Shimmer Town’s orphanage located at 123 miles south of the Badlands’ border. Current caretakers: It says nopony. Care to elaborate?”

                                            “Well, man; I dunno if you know this, but there’s something called…!”

                                            >Celestia quickly bucked in. Her face and voice displayed nothing but seriousness, “Ah, yes! I can answer that question, Mr. Neigh. He’s currently staying at “Canterlot’s port hotel” and paid for his admission opportunity by modest fund he earned due to his academic prowess.”

                                            >The stiff pony adjusted his glasses and levitated the papers underneath his seat, “Not the place I’d have chosen, but I understand the… erm, applicant’s situation. We will commence the second and final admission exam now. Royal Blood, would you be so kind as to show the applicant what he needs to do?”

                                            >Before you could say or do anything, you were pushed to a side by a very annoyed Royal Blood. Where the heck did she come from, and how long has she been here were two questions that you couldn’t explain.

                                            >Royal Blood snobbishly raised her chin and said for everyone in the auditorium to hear, “Hmph! Pay attention because I don’t repeat myself for nopony! First, you apply a heating spell on the teapot.”


                                            >Her horn lighted up as a blue aura engulfed the teapot on the right side of the table. Moments later, hot steam was shot from its spout. Royal Blood then nodded to herself, “Once that’s finished, you must use a levitation spell to pour the tea into each cup without spilling a single drop.”

                                            >Royal Blood used her magic to do exactly what she said, “Alright! I’m done with this. If you have any questions then save them for yourself, because I don’t care!” Then, she really turned around and walked off the stage to sit beside Celestia.

                                            >Celestia extended her wing and covered Royal Blood with it. Weirdly enough, you actually felt jealous about that gesture. However, you covered it up by rolling your eyes and turning at the stiff unicorns.

                                            “And you expect me to do all of that?”

                                            >This time, it was Sunny Hill who spoke, and for the looks of her face and firmness in her voice, she was feeling way better now, “You’re correct, Mr. Resonance; that’s what this exam is all about. You can begin now and good luck.”

                                            >You looked at the table, and then at Celestia. She made a quick and subtle motion to point at her horn. Only pony who seemingly noticed it was Royal Blood who simply raised an eyebrow.

                                            >Frickin’ Royal Blood was quitly snuggling on Celestia. Whatever, man! With a shrug, you turned your attention back at the table, let out a sigh and put your goggles on.

                                            “Let’s get this over with!”


                                            >Alright, no need to get nervous! Celestia said you didn’t have to do any spell. Just gather all the magic possible into your horn, so that’s what you were gonna do! You closed your eyes, and took a deep breath to clear off your mind.

                                            >Nothing happened for the first couple minutes. You could hear the council ponies murmuring among themselves. You needed to try harder and stop thinking about Royal Blood getting Celestia’s attention, gosh darn it!

                                            >Small sparks could be felt in your horn. Still not enough. The murmurs grew louder and more impatient. Celestia tried to calm them down. Royal Blood objected that it was a waste of time. Gotta show that spoiled filthy rich pony what you’re made of.

                                            >After five more minutes of continuous sparks, all your senses were shut-off. Only thing you could feel was a flow of potent electricity running through your body. This must be your magic. Time for the show to begin!

                                            >The way in which you gathered your magic is weird to explain, almost impossible. It’s like trying to describe how moving a part of your body feels like. It just comes off as something natural.

                                            >That’s how magic feels like, or at least how it felt at first. You really didn’t why or when, but at some point, you simply lost all control of it. You started to panic.

                                            >As more and more magic went into your horn, you started to feel pain, like your head was being split open. The worst part is that it only kept increasing in an exponential manner. Panic became pure primal fear.


                                            >Finally, you felt something other than the endless magic running through your body. It was warm, almost unbearably so. You didn’t complain, though. Whatever it was, it made the magic to stop.

                                            >It didn’t took long until you could hear again. It wasn’t pretty, not at all. You heard screams, something crumbling. What was going on? Why did it feel like you were standing close to a bonfire?

                                            >The answer didn’t come immediately after you were able to open your eyes. Everything you saw was too blurry and spinning uncontrollably. It took a couple minutes to make heads and tails of anything.

                                            >You quickly realized that Celestia was holding you in her hooves. What the heck happened to her? She was sweating and panting heavily, parts of her white snow coat were now as dark as a piece of coal, and you could swear that even for a fraction of a second, the tip of her long, rippling mane was on fire.

                                            >Even more confusing was the state of the auditorium. It was like a bomb fell off in this place. Everything was burnt, dilapidated or crushed. Heck, the stage you were standing on moment ago, was now nothing but a giant crater.

                                            >Thankfully, you didn’t have to worry about the other ponies. They were inside a golden magical bubble. All of them were pale as ghost and looking at you with fear in their eyes. A scary thought popped into your mind: Did you do all of this?

                                            >Royal Blood was the flagrant exception. There was no fear in her, just a bunch of curiosity mixed with what felt like indignation.

                                            “Please don’t be mad. I didn’t mean any of this!”


                                            >Despite everything, Celestia was still smiling at you. She looked relieved, “Oh, thank goodness you are alright! I was worried for a moment there!” She then leaned closer to whisper into your ear, “Why would I be mad? This is all my fault, so don’t worry about anything. Just keep quiet while mom handles everything, alright?”

                                            >After levitating you to her back, Celestia turned to the council and spoke in a very cold yet professional tone, “This officially ends the second admission exam. As always, I’d like to hear your final verdict on the applicant before I offer my own.”

                                            >The unicorn who was reviewing your papers a moment ago stood up first. He slammed his hooves on the floor and yelled, “Is it even necessary?! That stray colt destroyed our precious auditorium! He’s a liability and an absolute disgrace for our prestigious institution!”

                                            >The other members of the council nodded in complete agreement. All, except for Sunny Hill who cleared her throat and politely replied, “I completely disagree with you, Bill. Yes, we suffered the loss of our auditorium, but…”

                                            >She was cut off by the stallion, who kept flailing his front hooves and yelling, “But what, Sunny?! Are you blind?! Didn’t you see how that stray colt gathered enough magic to blow up three entire blocks?! Even if you are okay with admitting that kind of danger into our school, he still failed the magic exam! I say there’s nothing to argue here!”

                                            >Again, the rest of the council eagerly supported the motion. Sunny Hill frowned at the stallion before smacking him in the head, “Grow a spine, Bill Neigh! The same goes to the rest of this council! The only disgrace for this school is you rejecting a pony who clearly has much more magic than any of us combined! And don’t bring me the protocols, Bill! The colt passed the basic knowledge exam!”


                                            >Sunny Hill of all ponies was defending you? Now that was one heck of a surprise. Too bad Bill Neigh still wanted to argue, “So what?! I-I mean, are we going to risk our students for what…? An 81 or 82 in the written exam?!”

                                            >Celestia answered this time. Even when she kept her professional attitude, you could see deep anger behind her eyes, “If you allow me to a clarification, he got a perfect score.”

                                            >The entire student gasped in shock. Celestia subtly smirked and continued, “If you choose to not believe me, then I’ll be more than pleased to show his exam to this council. In the meantime, I must remind everypony here that the only other student who ever got that grade was none other than Twilight Sparkle herself. Even more, every member of this council was present during her own magic exam, and I hope you all remember how it went.”

                                            >Bill Neight gulped and passed a shaky hoof over her head, “I-I don’t like to remember that day… b-but what do you suggest we do, your majesty? T-That stray destroyed…!”

                                            >He was shut up by another smack from Sunny Hill. Then, she shot him a murderous glare, “Oh, shut up already, Bill! Twilight Sparkle wasn’t far behind from this and we still admitted her! It’d be stupid and unfair to not do the same for this colt. Not to say, we already know what to do in a situation like this. Am I correct, your majesty?”

                                            >Celestia nodded, “That’s correct. Considering the applicant passed the basic knowledge exam with a historical record, I see no reason to not accept his admission for the regular courses. I’ll take personal care of his magical education. Furthermore, he’ll be banned from casting magic at the school’s grounds. Is everypony in agreement with my terms?”

                                            “Meh, sounds good to me.”


                                            >The entire council nodded, even if a bit reluctantly. The only complain came from Royal Blood, who stood up from her seat and started yelling, “Wait, so that thug is going to be your student and not me?! What kind of trashy terms are those?! I’m the star student of this school! I’m the one who’s supposed to be Princess Celestia’s student!”

                                            >Sunny Hill placed a hoof on her shoulder and calmly replied, “Ms. Royal, nopony here is doubting about your tremendous talent. It’s simply that Mr. Resonance absolutely needs…!”

                                            >Royal Blood cut her off by walking to the exit. Before leaving, she shot you a glare, “Don’t you dare thinking this is over yet, you hear?! I’ll show you who is the best or my name’s not Royal Blood!”

                                            >You snuggled a bit into Celestia’s neck before giving her a smirk and a fake salute.

                                            “Then you better start looking into that name’s change, man! Because you’re frickin’ crazy if you think I’m just gonna roll over and let you walk all over me!”

                                            >Royal Blood snobbishly raised her chin and turned her back on you, “Hmph! THUG!” She then stomped out of the auditorium.

                                            >After that, Celestia disbanded the meeting and each council quickly left. Once you were alone with her, she let out a sigh and gently caressed your cheek, “Well, that was a bit more difficult than expected, I’m glad everything worked out in the end. Too bad about Royal Blood, I really wanted you to be friends.”

                                            “Pfft! Really? That filly can go hug a cactus for all I care!”


                                            >She giggled and rolled her eyes, “I really need to write that one down! Can’t wait to get to the castle and have a nice shower, though.”

                                            “Y’know, I’m kinda mind blow that you ain’t freaking out or anything. I mean, ain’t you mad that I blew up your fancy auditorium?”

                                            >Celestia shrugged, “Not really, this gave me the perfect excuse for that remodeling I wanted to do. Luna’s going to have to kiss that totem or whatever she wanted goodbye, but she owes me a fair deal of bits anyway.”

                                            “Oh… alright. So that means I ain’t in trouble for what happened this morning then?”

                                            >She messed your mane a bit and smirked, “Oh, no! You’re not getting out of this one, mister! Luna already chewed out Captain Moonlight pretty hard and you’re next in line. That said, the scolding can come after some cake and tea. We’ve to celebrate this occasion after all!”

                                            “Dang it! I thought I was gonna get out of this one! Cake sounds frickin’ awesome, though; and, uh… who’s this Twilight Sparkle? You and Sunny Hill made her sound like some really big shot.”

                                            >Celestia extended her wings and lighted up her horn, “A very special pony that you’ll meet soon enough. This weekend, actually. That’s all you’re going to get today. I like keeping my surprises, life for example the teleport I’m about to cast.”

                                            “Oh, c’mon! Can’t we walk there, or you could just fly us, or…!”

                                            >In less of the blink of an eyes, you were at the entrance hall of Canterlot Castle. First thing you did, was to jump out of Celestia’s back and puke your guts out at the nearest plantpot.