Schooling for ponies is considered by most to be quite practical after high school. All general schooling is complete by that point, and many students are free to dive straight into their lives and careers. Some go into apprenticeships based on their cutie mark, others start producing wares, and then there are those who choose to continue their education in one of the many specialization schools that the country has to offer. One such school is that of the Canterlot Magic Academy.

While not quite as illustrious as the more commonly known Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, Canterlot Magic Academy or CMA is where those with magic-based interests come to learn and refine their knowledge and abilities. All branches of magic are freely studied and encouraged here. There are even courses not magic-based that are taught here with a sort of emphasis on how magic could be applied to them or just teaching them from a magical point of view.

The fall semester begins in a few days, and as such, the amount of traffic in and out of the facilities has increased dramatically as both first years and returning students settle in for what will encompass a good portion of the following months.

Even among this crowd, a white unicorn stands in relative comfort, smiling warmly at every pony who passed by. She re-adjusts her small, electric-blue backpack as she saunters her way down the road. Her golden mane cascades down her back, hiding the knot of her teal crop top and stopping just a few inches above her matching pleated miniskirt. She pauses and pulls out a piece of paper, turning and flipping it for a few moments in confusion.

She reaches out and grabs the arm of a passing stallion, smiling warmly at him. "Hey, stud. I need help." She holds the sheet up for him, pouting cutely. "Could you, like, show me where this place is? I'd really appra... appro... be thankful!"

The stallion is a unicorn, as are most ponies who attend this school given it's major areas of study, and adjusts his square glasses as he looks at the paper, and perhaps the chest behind it for a moment. He points in towards the campus. "You'll want to go straight down the main road, turn right after you pass the library then it'll be across the plaza where you see the statue of Spell Weaver." He looks back to her with a not-quite-innocent smile. "Anything else you want to ask me?"

"Just one." She tilts her head to one side, frowning a bit. "Who's Spell Weaver?"

His smile falters a bit, but he explains nonetheless. "One of the unicorns responsible for many of today's spells, considered just below the tier of Starswirl the Bearded. You know... tended to wear purple robes, often pictured with fire in one hand and ice in another when they have pictures of her in history books... any of this ringing any bells?"

"Not really, but she sounds amazing!" She beams before gesturing to him. "You know a lot about history, don't you?"

"Well, yes, but I would think every student knew about her.." He smiles widely again after a moment. "Maybe I could walk you to your dorm and there I could tell you more about... history?"

"That would be great!" She giggles, rocking on her heels. "Lead the way?"

He smiles. "Of course. Follow me." He begins walking along the path he spoke of.

She hurries to catch up, her hoofs clacking against the road before she finds her footing. She walks right behind him, watching the scenery as they pass. Every so often she would point at a building and ask what it was, and he would give her an answer.

They eventually reach the statue he spoke of, and it is exactly as one might think. A unicorn mare stands on a plinth, in one hand holding a book she is reading out of and her other hand outstretched, as if about to perform magic. Her regal-looking robes cover all but her tail, had, and hands. The stallion leads the mare into the desired building, turning to her as they enter it. "Now, which room did you say was yours?"

"It's 219!" She giggles before pausing and glancing around, wide-eyed. "Does that mean there's a huge number of rooms in here? How do they all fit?"

He shakes his head at her as they head for the stairwell. "There aren't 219 rooms, I doubt they have more than 20 or 30 per floor. They just write it like that so that you know which floor you're on, like you're on the second floor." They walk a little more until they reach her door. "And here we are, easy. So, want to start on that history lesson?"

With a bounce in her step, she moves forward and opens her door. She then turns to him, playfully wagging a finger. "Later!" She enters her room and starts to close it, winking teasingly. "See you, cutie." With that, she shuts the door, leaving the stallion alone in the hallway.

He blinks at the closed door. After a moment he sighs and shakes his head, thoughts of the bouncy mare and her, judging by how she reacted to the air conditioning, bra-less chest dancing in his mind. "Waste of time..." With that said, he wanders off, leaving the mare to herself.

On the other side of the door, the unicorn lets out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. I was afraid I wouldn't get away from that lecherous fool." She stretches, groaning quietly. "I hate this disguise. Not because I don't have any brassieres that fit." She takes off her heart-shaped locket, placing it carefully on a dresser by the bathroom door, turning and starting to unpack. "No, Angel is such an idiot she even annoys me." She glances at the necklace, frowning deeply. "Did you get that, Flick?"

"Of course I did." The rather smug voice emanates from the silver trinket, given a metallic edge by the device. "I don't see what the problem is. Angel is your most successful disguise yet - and that's saying something, considering your mother!"

She scoffs, rolling her eyes. "Get over her. She's gone, and you should stop comparing me to her. Besides," she places her hands on her chest, scowling, "you only like Angel for her body."

"Maybe." There's a slight pause, and then it continues, shifting to a tone of concern. "Hey, why aren't you concerned with us being heard? You do have neighbors, after all."

"Not a chance." She waves a hand dismissively as she sits on the bare bed. "The rooms are soundproofed... and my encounter with Shooting Star should tell you why."

"Is that his name?" The skepticism is clear in the voice, even with the distortion. "How can you be sure?"

"Because he had it written on his backpack. I saw it when he shifted its weight." She rolls her eyes. "You really need to stop questioning me and let me unpack." She pauses to wait for a response, but gets none. She smirks, picking up the jewelry and pushing the center of it. "Good."

The day proceeds, and a little later finds Angel sitting in the waiting room of the main office for the school's Illusion Magic program. Having already had a brief chat with the receptionist, the mare is left with nothing but her own thought, her backpack, and the out-of-date magazines on the table next to her uncomfortable chair.

She glances around, a happy smile on her lips despite the thoughts going through her head. Why can't they keep their magazines up to date? I can't learn anything from these I haven't learned before... but maybe that's the point. She opens her bag, pulling a fashion magazine out and flipping through it. I'm glad I bought my own.

A few more minutes pass before one of the adjacent doors opens up and a light blue unicorn mare pokes her head out, calling to the room at large. "Angelic Grace?"

"Here!" She jumps to her hooves, beaming brightly. She grabs her bag and rushes forward, stopping in front of the door. "Are you ready for me?"

The mare nods, motioning for the student to come in."Yes, have a seat please." The older unicorn, whose name is revealed to be Proper Planning by the small name plate on her desk, has an average sized file on her desk with the younger mare's name on it. She flips it open to the first page as she smiles. "So, Miss Grace, what did you need help with today?"

"Oh, that's easy!" She sits herself on the arm of the offered chair and pulls out a course book from her bag, holding it out to her. "I need to sign up for classes! Can you recu... requi... tell me some good ones?"

Taking the offered book, Planning responds. "Of course, though I should warn you ahead of time, signing up for classes a handful a days before they start is not what we usually recommend. You may find that some classes you want are full." She consults the file. "Now lets see what classes you have from high school. In the meantime, it says here that your desired degree was a basic Illusionary Magic one. Is that still correct?"

"Yep!" She giggles, placing her folded hands on her crossed legs. "I might go for a higher level after, though. I like illusions!"

"That will certainly help..." Her voice trails off as she sees the student's academic records. "As will these grades... school certainly doesn't seem to be a problem for you. You could probably get into any of the appropriate classes you want to." She starts flipping to the Illusion section of the course catalog. "Did you have any courses that you were particularly interested in? Even if they aren't directly related to your degree?"

She smiles, gesturing with a hand. "Well, I'd like to have a minor in xenobiology or foreign culture. You see," she pouts cutely, crossing her arms, "I like knowing about other species, but it's hard to find anything in public libraries."

"Well, if schooling is good for nothing else, it sates curiosity. We do have quite a few courses like that, as the magic of other species is just as much of a field as any other. Let me just make a note of your official minor declaration..." She scribbles a moment with a quill as her magic continues flipping through the catalog until it comes to the desired page. "Here we are, the Illusion branch. The options for your first year are a bit limited, but they do an excellent job of exposing you to many different areas so that you can gather some ideas on what you want to pursue more specifically." She idly taps a crystal on her desk which flashes once before another unicorn peeks through the door.

"Yes ma'am?" The lite pink unicorn in the doorway asks.

Planning addresses her simply. "Quick Sort, can you fetch me the rosters for the first year Illusion classes as well as the second year General Xenobiology class?"

"Of course, ma'am." Just as quickly as she appeared, the pink mare darts out.

"Alright Miss Grace," Planning begins, "Why don't you take a look at some of these and tell me which ones look good to you?" She taps a few with a hoof. "The Basics of Illusion class and it's accompanying lab are required, but other than that and your Xenobiology class, you do have some options for the remaining few."

"Thank you, but..." Angel frowns, tilting her head in confusion. "...why a second year Xenobiology class?"

The blue mare smiles. "Well Miss Grace, to be completely candid, it's because you don't need the first year. Half of that course is a general review of things learned in high school and the rest is only the first bits of Zebra biology, with a small bit of their culture thrown in as well. Your grades clearly show that you don't need a refresher on a class you got a perfect score in, and the second part is covered quickly in the second year class as well as going more in depth there. You qualify to simply skip the first year's course, unless you don't want to, of course."

"No, that's fine." She smiles, waving a hand. "I think I'll take the second year course." She picks up the book, looking over her options. "I think that I should take a physical education course, since I don't want to get out of shape. Maybe yoga. And-" She pauses, blinking in surprise. She turns the book around, pointing at a specific requirement. "Why is there an elemental magic course in here, Miss Planning?"

"Hmm?" She looks down at the course. "Oh, that. Well, that's another one of our... not exactly general courses, but more of one that can be applied to almost all areas of magic. Some students of up taking it to study more into the effects or applications of the naturally found magics. It's one of those optional ones."

"I see." Angel frowns, considering the elemental course for a moment. "Would you suggest I take it, or another one?"

"That would be up to you, dear." She points to the number of hours the elemental course is. "As you can see, it's not as many hours as the Xenobiology or Basics of Illusion course, so technically you could take that and whatever physical education course you're considering. Of course, beyond that, you might want to consider things like Extra curricular groups, jobs, and homework before you go adding more classes that take up your day."

She nods, tapping her chin a moment. "I think I'll take those two - yoga and elemental magic." She smiles, nodding to the older unicorn. "I'll see what I can do about everything else later. Thank you for your help!"

"Not a problem." The door opens and Quick Sort pops in, setting down the course rosters before backing out again. Planning smiles. "She always has excellent timing. Here, why don't you look at these and pick which of the times all fit in your schedule how you like them. Just fill them out on here." She slides a form toward Angel.

Angel smiles back and takes the form, writing out her schedule. It takes a few moments, but she eventually gets everything figured out and places it on the desk. "The classes fit on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Does that work?"

"As long as it works for you, that's what matters. Some students prefer Fridays off, but in the end, it's up to you." She taps the crystal on her desk again, Quick Sort popping in a moment later as she levitates the rosters and form over to her. "Kindly get these filed back for me, would you, dear?" With a smile and nod, Sort is back out of the office as Planning turns back to Angel. "So, did you have anything else you needed help with?"

"Yes, actually." She tilts her head to the side, frowning in confusion. "Where are the buildings for my classes?"

"That should be on your official schedule, which I'm sure Sort will have ready for you when you leave. Did you need a map too?" She starts opening a few of her desk drawers. "I think I have some lying around..."

The white unicorn bounces in her seat as she waits for the mare to find the map. Her bright blue eyes wander around the room, taking in the degrees and pictures on the walls, as well as a motivational poster of a kitten on a clothesline. She giggles, seeing the words written on it. "Hang in there. I get it!"

Planning mutters, half buried in a drawer. "Yes, that one always seems to be popular... ahah!" A folded pamphlet of paper zips upward encased in her magic. "Found one! Here you go." The paper levitates over and drops to the desk in front of the student.

She picks it up, holding it up right in front of her face. "Cute! It's got a little bear on it!"

"Umm, actually that's a pony silhouette..." The blue mare straightens herself up again. "Alright then. Anything else?"

"Not at the moment!" She tucks the pamphlet into her bag and stands up, taking the mare's hand in both of her own and shaking it heartily. "Thank you for your help, Miss Planning!"

The counselor has to steady herself a moment from the shaking before smiling back at Angel. "Anytime, Miss Grace. Be sure to come back if you ever need any more help. Good luck with your time here!"

"Thanks!" She waves as she exits, giggling happily. "Have a nice day!"

The older mare waves as her door shuts and the student walks back into the waiting area. The familiar pink form of Quick Sort stands right behind the counter and perks up as soon as she spots Angel, zipping over with a small slip of paper in her magic. "Here you are, Miss. One schedule."

The white unicorn takes the paper, her smile still on her lips. "Thank you!" She glances down at the schedule, staring blankly for a few seconds before turning to her, tilting her head to one side as she points at an acronym. "What does this mean?"

Quick Sort peeks at the paper a moment before replying. "Oh, that's the Star Swirl the Bearded building. We shorten it to that because it's way too long to write out when you have to refer to it so often."

She nods, looking at the page once more. "Are all of my classes in that one?"

The office mare shakes her head. "No, just your Illusion class and the lab. Everything else is in different buildings."

"Oh." She puts the list into her pocket, smiling kindly at her. "Thank you for your help, Miss Sort."

"Not a problem! That's why I'm here!" She spies one of the crystals on her desk lighting up. "Whoops, duty calls. Have a nice day!" She darts off down the hall.

Angel blinks, looking down the hall where the older mare vanished. She shrugs and turn to the door, pulling out a small container from the side of her backpack. "Let's go see where my classes are..."

Exiting the building, Angel unfolds the map and starts perusing it to find out where all her classes are. She picks the Illusion class first, seeing as how she can get two class locations at once, and sets off. Strolling along the path, she rounds a corner and stops as she is hailed by a yellow mare with orange mane waving to her and calling. "Excuse me, can I have a moment of your time?"

She smiles warmly, tilting her head to one side. "Yes? May I help you?"

She holds out one sheet of a stack of identical papers that she holds under her arm. "I just wanted to give you this and let you know that we've started open recruitment for writers and editors of the school newspaper! We really need to fill in all the gaps left by the graduates, so we're testing anypony who is willing to try! Just come to the room listed if you're interested!"

Angel blinks, taking the flyer in minor confusion. "Um, okay? Do I have to study for the test?"

"Umm..." The pamphlet mare stops for a moment, the change from the usual routine of 'accept pamphlet, keep walking' broken by a question. "Maybe? I mean, we aren't telling you what the test is, so... not sure if you can study for it..."

She stares at her for a second, the gears in her head visibly turning. "...so it's a pop quiz?"

"Erm... yeah... something like that..." The mare giggles nervously before she spots another pony and walks over, hailing them as well. "Excuse me!"

She shrugs, tucking her paper into her backpack. "I guess it's a good way to find out about this place..." She turns and continues down the road, glancing around. "Now, which one's the Starswirl the Bearded building?"

As she walks, the sound of another pony calling reaches her ears, though this one seems to be directed at all ponies nearby and not just her. A stallion with what appears to be a megaphone cutie mark is shouting to all around as two mares with him run a booth with flyers. "Join the campus beautification club! Help us keep our school lovely in all ways! We plant flowers, clean litter, and seal cracks! Join us and help our school!"

She stops at this, utterly confused. "...beautification club?" She turns away, muttering to herself. "I thought the school took care of stuff like that..."

She walks even more, passing a few more ponies with pamphlets, though not close enough to get some herself. As she enters another plaza, the form of a familiar light blue stallion with square glasses walks toward her, his eyes widening, then zipping upwards to look at her face as he waves. "Hey!"

"Oh, hey, stud!" She giggles, skipping forward and grabbing his hand. "What are you doing here?"

He blinks, surprised, but pleased at her reaction to him. "Just checking things out- clubs, I mean. It's Club Day and all of them are out recruiting all over campus."

A look of realization crosses her face. "So that's what's going on!" She turns around, looking at the ponies she passed earlier. "I guess I should've known, with all of that stuff back there..."

"Yeah... it's a bit annoying when they stop you too much, but it's not too bad..." His voice dies down as the wind does the opposite, offering the smallest glimpse of blue underneath the mare's skirt.

"Eep!" She tries her best to pull the edges of her skirt back down, blushing slightly. "Wow, did some pegasus decide to act pervy, or something?" She glances around, trying to spot the culprit. "That wasn't very nice, if-" She stops as she sees the stallion, tilting her head in concern. "Hey, are you alright? You seem, um... dazed."

Star shakes his head and clears his throat. "No, no, just... lost in thought." He straightens up and smiles at her. "Are you finding your way around alright, or do you need me to show you around again?"

"Actually, I could use some help." She glances at her schedule and points at one of them. "Could you show me where this is?"

"Oh, yoga class huh?" His smiles widens a bit. "Yeah, I could show you there..." He points down one of the paths. "It's actually right down there. Would you like to walk ahead?"

She blinks blankly, clearly confused. "But... aren't you supposed to show me the way?"

"Well yeah..." The stallion thinks quickly. "But I thought maybe you'd want to see if you could spot it and I would tell you if we went too far."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense." She smiles, turning and heading off down the path, a subtle sway in her steps as she does so.

Of course, Star subtly, or at least what he thinks is subtly, enjoys his now splendid view of Angel, though he doesn't get any more lucky gusts of wind. Still, he contents himself with her tail and hips as they walk, keeping in mind what he is actually supposed to be doing, though so he is not caught. He looks up at the appropriately gym-like building as they come up to it.

Yet Angel keeps walking, continuing down the path as if to head towards the building past it. She appears oblivious to his thoughts and actions, not to mention the building on her right.

True to his word, Star speaks up, stepping forward and putting a hand on Angel's shoulder. "Umm, careful, you're about to walk straight past it."

She stops, quickly turning to see the building. "Oh!" She smiles brightly, hugging him from the side. "Thank you! Though I have to ask..." She gestures to the building that's now behind her. "What building is that one?"

He tilts his head to look around her, studying the building a moment before replying. "That would be the... combat spell practice building actually. It's all heavily protected and sectioned off so actually no student can get in unless they rent out one of the rooms for their use and are provided with the enchantment to get in past the barriers."

"Why is it so guarded?" She turns to look at the dome-shaped building, brow furrowed slightly in confusion.

"Safety. Don't want any students getting hurt if they accidentally walk in on somepony practicing a new combat spell." He shrugs. "Aside from the barriers though, there's not really much in there aside from some durable training dummies. Other than that the rooms are bare and boring."

"Oh." She nods, heading towards the gym. "So, which room is my class in, again?" She pushes open the door and sees a bare hallway stretching out to the sides, dotted by doors every few yards. "...this is rather... bland..."

"The room should be on your schedule," Star replies as he follows, sparing a few glances downward, "And yeah, some buildings don't do much with their halls, but they generally get brightened up by all sorts of posters and stuff throughout the semester."

"On my schedule..." She frowns slightly, reaching for the side pocket of her backpack once more. As she pulls her hand back out, the object within slips from her grasp. With a panicked gasp, she falls to her hands and knees, trying to pick up the clear object as it clatters across the floor. However, every desperate attempt to grab it causes her fingers to knock them even further away. "No, come back!"

Star shifts uncomfortably as he watches her crawl along, her skirt really not doing one of his gender any favors. After a moment he comments. "You could just use magic..."

She pauses, blinking blankly as she leans up to sit on her hooves. "...oh. I forgot." She giggles and her horn lights up a soft blue, the object soon being enveloped with the same aura as it's brought to her. She quickly holds it up to her eyes and puts it back in her bag, softly sighing. "Room 320. That's where my class is." She stands up and brushes the back of her skirt off before turning to him, smiling softly. "Ready to go find it?"

He smiles and nods, though doesn't make a move yet to adjust from his slightly hunched over position with his hand in his pocket. "Lead the way. It's on the third floor."

A short time later and the two are back outside the building, having been up to the desired unlocked and empty room. Of course, upon seeing it, Angel merely bounced away, much to the stallion's disappointment. As he regards the mare again, Star starts to suspect that she is simply a gigantic tease with no real chance of anything beyond that, so, he decides to act. "Hey, glad I could help you out and all, but I have some things I need to do. Think you can find the rest by yourself?"

"Hopefully!" She smiles brightly at him and pulls him into a brief hug. "Thank you for your help, stud! Maybe we'll see each other again?"

He coughs awkwardly, her not helping to make it less awkward for him to walk around. "Right... maybe..." He turns around quickly, waving a hand over his shoulder as he walks away.

She watches him leave, muttering to herself as soon as he's out of earshot. "...did I overdo it?"

"Yes."

She rolls her eyes, frowning at the voice coming from her necklace. "I didn't ask you, Flick."

"Then why say it out loud?" The smug tone of his voice makes the mare's hands clench in annoyance. "Besides, Angel is smokin' hot! Who wouldn't want to bone her?"

She groans, rubbing the bridge of her muzzle with two fingers. "And that's exactly why I didn't want to be her. I don't take pride in bedding as many ponies as possible." She turns pulling out her map and quickly circling three buildings on it with a marker. "But no, you and Luster said it was the best choice I had."

"Well it is." He pauses as the sound of paper rustling fills the air, not wanting to have his voice drowned out. "The other two choices you presented were a brown earth pony and a pink pegasus. Those two couldn't go there without being noticed."

"Says you." She caps her marker and looks at the map, smiling at her handiwork. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go check out my xenobiology class." She hurries off down the road, not even giving him a chance to respond.

Of course, as luck may have it, the building for Xenobiology is on almost the complete opposite side of the campus from the yoga class. A long walk such as this leaves a student open for many approaching club recruiters, and said recruiters have been trained well to spot every detail of such an opportunity.

The one that spots Angel as her next target is a very perky mare of a dandelion yellow coat and white mane, almost the exact reverse of her prey's color palette. Her green eyes meet Angel's blue ones as she strides over confidently. She beams as she stops in front of the student, exclaiming proudly to her. "You, you're perfect!"

She stops in her tracks, smiling slightly with her brow furrowed. "Um... thanks?" She taps her chin, trying to figure out what she meant by that. "...may I help you?"

"Yes, actually." The perky mare nods, putting an arm around Angel's shoulders. "We want you for our squad. Not him, not her," she points to a stallion and mare passing them, "you." she points at Angel.

The white mare blinks, unsure. "Squad? What squad?"

The mare starts walking Angel off her intended path and over to a booth run by three more mares, each in the same matching uniform. "The cheerleading squad!"

She tilts her head, considering the booth for a moment as she's led there. "Cheerleading, huh..."