Silver spent the rest of the week studying the book of the magic alphabet, getting school assignments done, and even finding a bit of time to be friendly with his clique, which Tumble now appeared to be a full member of. As Luna had promised, his computer was gone the next day, desk and all. She left his chair behind, to his bittersweet discovery. At least he'd have that uncomfortable chair, thank the heavens.

There was no time to worry about the computer. Any time he would have spent playing a game was instead time spent trying to get down the letters, which proved as frustrating as ever before. Ready or not, the first representative of an academy arrived at the school. The mare wore a cloak covered in constellations, and her hooves were perpetually on fire. Silver raised a brow at this, wondering if this was specifically to impress the students.

"Hello class," she said, standing at the front of the room. Miss Butter Scotch sat at her desk, surrendering her class to the academy mare. "It's nice to meet you all today. Since I am the first of the week, I will take some time to explain things to everypony, unicorn or not. Attending an academy is a wonderful experience for a unicorn, learning to use their magic beyond the basic intuitive tricks of illumination and force, to being able to do anything at all with enough skill." She lowered her head and her horn let loose a small ball of light that exploded into a glowing panorama of the city of Canterlot, floating in the air. "Teleportation, illusions, elemental control, and even lofty feats like shapeshifting are possible for those special unicorns with the drive and ability to reach for them." She suddenly vanished, replaced with a pop of blue energy, to appear several feet to the left in another sphere of blue.

"Power does not come free," she said in a warning tone. "Academy unicorns must study long and hard to learn true magic. They must study with all the passion that a pony feels towards their special talent, which is why most academy unicorns have a magic-related cutie mark." She turned to show off the cutie mark that was embroidered onto her robes, displaying an opened tome with a ball of fire coming out of it. "Are there questions?"

A pegasus raised a hoof. When he was called on, he asked, "Why aren't there pegasus academies or earth pony academies? We have magic too, right?"

The unicorn nodded her head, "A perfectly valid question. The answer is simple. Most pegasus and earth magic is unconscious. Nopony has discovered a language for their magic, so they are limited to what their cutie mark gives them, though it can be amazingly, wonderfully, powerful. Without a language, how can anypony call for magic that was not given to them?" She pointed at the pegasus, "Show us your cutie mark."

He did so, revealing a cloud with rain pouring freely. "There. You will find convincing clouds to release their precious water easier than most, but how can another pegasus learn from that? You can't switch cutie marks, so there is no pegasus academy." The pegasus settled back into his seat, not looking entirely satisfied with the answer, but not prying further. "Of course," said the instructor, "If some clever earth or pegasus pony wanted to be remembered through all history, they could discover the language of their magic. I would delight in seeing that, but I fear there may be no such thing. Any other questions?"

The rest of the questions were pretty tame, and soon enough she moved to go outside, "If the hopeful unicorns would follow me."

Those who had passed the light and weight test followed, which numbered only five, including Soft Blush and Silver Lining. She gathered them into a line and began by first having them all turn to the side and examine their cutie marks. Silver was the only one without one, and she frowned at him. "That is a mark against you, but not a fatal one. Even the Princess Twilight Sparkle was without a cutie mark when she first applied. What is your name?"

"Silver Lining," said Silver, "Ma'am."

Her frown deepened, "Son of Rough Draft, ward of Trixie Lulamoon?"

Silver blinked, "That's me."

She waved a hoof dismissively. "The academy has no use for such troublemakers."

It was like someone threw a bucket of ice water across his face. "What?"

She leaned forward with narrowed eyes, "Did I not speak clearly? You are not welcome. Begone."

Silver opened his mouth to protest, but could think of no good thing to say. Screaming at her certainly wouldn't improve his odds. "Sorry..." He walked stiffly back into the class room, to the judging eyes of his classmates as the test went on without him. He settled heavily in his seat and buried his face in his hooves. What if all the academies had already decided to blacklist him? Why did they insist on going after that crazy mare? Anger mixed with his frustration and he slammed a hoof down on his desk, then slumped, flopping over the desk. Butter Scotch glanced over at him, but opted to not call him out on his outburst and instead continue with the class.

When school was over, Silver moved to head directly home, but was intercepted by Soft Blush. "Oh, hey Soft... did you pass?"

Soft snorted softly, "But of course I did," she said as if it were obvious, "I declined. I'm not here to discuss that dull affair. I'm here to speak my support for you. That was simply dreadful the way they shut you out."

Another voice joined, Meadow Leaper, "That was so uncool."

Lily Jump joined in, "I just wanted to give you a hug! You looked so sad!"

Tumble snorted, "Want me to beat her up?"

Silver looked around. When had his friends all just... shown up? Oh god, was he losing his situational awareness? Maybe this was some kind of friendship magic. "Uh, thank you all." He gave a light smile, "I'm glad I have friends like you." He looked to Tumble, "No attacking ponies! She's a wizard even. You don't want to be turned inside-out."

Tumble grunted, but didn't argue. They all moved together on some unseen cue and Silver was embraced between all four of them. His worries retreated and a smile came to him. It really was nice having friends. He decided to share his worries, "What if they're all like that? I'll fail before I even get a chance to try. What if they let me, but quietly fail me anyway, no matter how good or bad I do?"

Lily Jump tilted her head, "Have you tried making up with Carrot Plate?"

Silver blinked. "But..." No, that was actually genius on some levels. He plopped down on his haunches. "I don't know if she'd even want to at this point. And she's... the one that attacked me."

Lily shrugged a little, "I dunno... It was just an idea. If she's not mad at you, her parents won't be mad at you, and then everypony else will calm down."

Meadow Leaper and Tumble seemed against the idea. Meadow shook his head, "You shouldn't have to apologize when you didn't even do anything wrong. They're being big, rich, brats."

Soft extended a hoof, "I'm afraid I simply must point out that this city is full of 'brats', and they stand side-by-side on any matter that involves the lower-born." She pointed at Silver, "You are a commoner. I don't say that as an insult, but you are, and they will ally against you without reservation."

Silver raised an ear, "I'm a squire of the court, does that help?"

All four stood still. Only their blinking eyes proved they were still alive.

"What?" asked Silver.

Meadow recovered first, "No way! You're too young. What would... No way!"

Soft glanced at Meadow and looked back at Silver, "I must agree with our friend. That is simply impossible. Whom do you serve?"

"Luna," said Silver. Warmth flowed through his body as he thought of her, bringing a strange sense of security and chasing away some of the despair.

Tumble laughed, "You are full of surprises, little colt. Why don't you get Luna to bust her chops then?"

Silver shook his head, "She tried..." A soft sigh escaped him and he rose to his hooves, "I should get home. Thanks everyone."

Waves were exchanged, and he continued on his way, though Tumble trailed behind. Silver looked over his shoulder, "If you're hoping to play games, we can't today."

Tumble raised a thick brow, "Why not? Too sad? It'll cheer you up."

Silver shook his head, "Luna took the computer to examine."

Tumble snorted, "Guess being a squire isn't all good. Want some company anyway?"

Silver smiled at Tumble, "Thanks... but I think I need some alone time." They parted ways and Silver Lining reached home without further incident.

Author's Notes:

A little shorter than my 2k goal, though I've been doing multiple chapters a day, that makes up for it, maybe? Not sure. It felt like a natural enough break-point.

Silver learned what happens when you get an elite family on your case, and it is not pretty.

Carrot Plate's parents have also been talking with the typos!