Welcome to the Honorary Fillydelphia High!
Chapter 2: ...At a Surprising Realization...
Previous Chapter Next ChapterAnd so Rainbow Dash, Ditzy Doo, and you wait for hours as everypony gathers into the large courtyard. The moon rises high in sky and lets its majestic glow blanket the entire campus before the dean of the school makes his appearance to greet the freshmen ponies. A large stage is set up around the fountain at the center of the courtyard and everypony—new and old—gathers in front of it to await the induction ceremony. The moon is high enough in the sky for you to realize that it is nearly midnight before the dean finally appears on the large stage with a microphone and several other ponies at his side.
The ceremony is finally beginning, and your heart flutters as you realize that once this ends you will be an official student of Fillydelphia High. You are gathered in a group with at least a thousand other ponies who are also being inducted. One-thousand freshmen ponies that you’ve never met most of, all gathered together in the large courtyard, surrounded by older and more intelligent ponies.
The dean starts to speak as your thoughts snap back to the large stage. You can see in the bright moonlight that his brown coat is groomed professionally, and his slicked-back red mane tells you he is one who cares for appearances. He cheers into the mic, “Ladies and gentlecolts, it is with great honor that I welcome every last one of you here tonight for a very special ceremony! With each passing year, a new class of ponies enters these esteemed halls with the intention of gaining knowledge and preparing for the life ahead of them. Tonight, we welcome a new class of young ponies that are diverse in both style and intelligence.” He pauses here and allows the three younger ponies beside him to step forward. They take turns speaking into the mic.
The oldest of the three, a unicorn stallion with a white coat and yellow mane, says, “For the last three years I’ve taken part in this ceremony, and have seen everything this school has to offer. Only the best of the best make it here, so to each new freshman arriving to these hallowed grounds tonight, I salute you.” He steps away and bows to the crowd of ponies in front of him.
The youngest of the three, an earth pony mare with a red coat and silver mane, cheers, “This is my second year here at the school, and I am completely sincere when I say I hope your first year is anywhere near as amazing as mine was!” She claps her hooves and bows to the freshman ponies in the crowd.
The middle of the three, a unicorn mare with a blue coat and green mane, chuckles, “I’ve wandered this campus for two years now and I can safely say that if you ever get lost and need help finding someplace, don’t trust the upperclassmen!” She steps back and sends a glare at the older pony.
He responds by adding, “She’s completely right, everypony. Don’t trust us upperclassmen. We’re all jokers.”
The crowd of ponies bursts into laughter, though you don’t see why. Nothing about what just happened was funny, but you fake a laugh so you don’t seem like a poor sport. The dean steps back up to the mic and clears his throat. The crowd falls silent.
He claps his hooves and says, “Yes, very amusing. Now, in each class there is one pony that excels above the rest. Well, I would like to say there is only one pony… That pony is inducted at the beginning of their semester as a student representative in the Administration. The Administration makes the rules and maintains balance in our dear school.” He waves a hoof at the three ponies that spoke before.
The stallion steps forward again and takes a bow. He says, “My name is Charming Masquerade. I am the Senior Class Representative of the Administration. For my three years here I’ve been an Admin, and this year will be my fourth and last. I do hope I can help each and every pony here before I leave Fillydelphia High and move on to greener pastures. If there is ever anything you need help with, don’t hesitate to find me.” He takes a bow and steps back as the older ponies in the crowd cheer and go wild.
The older of the two mares steps forward and bows. She starts with a giggle, “The name’s Diamond Charmer, and I’m the Junior Class Representative.” Her giggle is replaced with a serious statement, “I’m happy to help anypony I can, so don’t hesitate to ask. If I think it’s important enough, I’ll gladly spare the time to lend a hoof.” She takes a bow as all of her junior classmates cheer, whereas a portion of the sophomores and seniors merely clap.
The younger mare takes the mic and says, “I’m Daisy Hooves, and I represent the Sophomore Class. I haven’t been here too long, and I don’t know everything about the school, but I’ll do my best to be the voice of the students!” She sets the mic back on its stand and takes a bow as nearly everypony goes wild.
You immediately size up all three of them. You find Charming to have an arrogant air about him, although you feel he is a studious and caring stallion. You decide he might be worth befriending in the long run. Your thoughts turn to Diamond, who reminds you of a happy-go-lucky party pony. You think she might be nice, but you feel she’s too overenthusiastic. Your mind wanders off to Daisy, who is still bowing as the crowd continues to cheer. You get the feeling she’s book smart and kind, and is genuinely willing to help somepony.
Just as you begin to wonder about how those three became Admins, the dean’s voice shreds through your thoughts and sends you back to the events at hoof. “My name is Obsidian Coronet, and I am the lead Administrator of this fine educational institute. As I said before, there is always one pony that stands above the rest in each class, and you have just met three. But now, it is time to induct the Freshman Class Representative…s.” His voice trails off as he silently whispers the ‘s’ at the end of ‘representatives.’ Your head perks up at the way his face twists in what appears to be regret.
The entire crowd of ponies bursts into confused chatter. It was a known fact that there was only ever one Admin from each class in the history of the school, so why did Obsidian add the ‘s’ at the end? The other three Admins share confused looks as the dean regains the attention of confused students.
He stammers, “This is an unprecedented event in the history of our fine institute, but our Freshman Class has not one, but two Admins joining us this year! Both of these excellent students scored an almost-perfect 2100 on the entrance exams, and both surpassed the Optional Literacy Exam expectations with scores of 78, the highest ever recorded by our board of admissions.” Everypony starts to mutter to one another as the dean seemingly brags how smart these two ponies are.
The fact that they scored identical points on both the entrance and optional exams sends alarms off in your mind. You think it either has to be rigged, or has to be a mistake. Despite your skeptical inner thoughts, you still manage to smile in curiosity at who the two extraordinarily genius ponies are.
Obsidian continues as the crowd calms down, “I would like to introduce you to the two Admins of the Freshman Class. I will call them up one at a time and let them say a few words before finishing the ceremony in the usual fashion. The first pony is a unicorn mare straight from the Canterlot School of Magic, and is a personal apprentice to Princess Celestia herself…”
The crowd jeers at the mention of the Princess’s student. Everypony immediately thinks she only got in because of her status with the ruler of the kingdom. You immediately cast such petty and jealous thoughts from your mind, knowing that an institute like this would never accept a student based solely on position. It is an esteemed school for a reason, after all.
“…Twilight Sparkle!” the dean finishes his previous statement. The crowd falls silent as a lavender unicorn with a mostly-purple mane steps forward regretfully from the crowd and a spotlight finds her. Obsidian waves a hoof, beckoning her to the stage. She sighs and slowly approaches it.
Upon reaching his side, the dean hands her the mic and asks her to say a few words. You can see in her eyes that she doesn’t want to be up there, essentially bragging to everypony how smart she is. She clears her throat and says, in a voice reminiscent of a shy filly, “It’s an honor to be here tonight with all of you. I hope I can live up to the title of…Admin…” Her voice trails off at the end, not wanting to rub it in.
Rainbow Dash nudges you in the side and scoffs, “Get a load of this, dude! How can a pony that smart be so shy? How can she hope to represent us if she can’t even talk in public?” Ditzy giggles at the statement and rests a hoof on the now-angry Pegasus’s shoulder.
You chuckle, “Oh well. She earned the spot, I guess. She must be a genius to get a 2100 on the entrance exam.” You both fall silent as the dean speaks again.
The crowd gets quiet as Obsidian speaks up once more. He laughs, “The second of the two Admins joining us tonight is a Pegasus stallion from the Cloudsdale Flight Camp...” Rainbow, Ditzy, and you all share excited looks. You’re amazed that somepony from Flight Camp is an Admin.
Your heart skips a beat as the dean finishes his sentence. Everypony’s eyes glue directly to you as the spotlight finds you in the crowd. Rainbow and Ditzy both lose their excited smiles and replace them with confused frowns. Suddenly, you go from being an equal friend to a superior Admin… You look around at the ponies in the crowd that eagerly await your advance toward the stage. For just an instant, you lose your sense of direction as your mind clouds up. How in Equestria did you, a slacker and prankster, score so high on the entrance exam?
You step forward with more confidence than Twilight, but you still find yourself doubting that you’re an actual Admin. You’re convinced that there had to be a mistake. Still, you push the doubts from your head and join Twilight at her side. Obsidian hands you the mic and you shove all the fog from your brain. You manage to say, “It’s an honor, really. I promise I’ll do my best to represent the students of the Freshman Class!” You lift the mic in the air with a hoof, a wide grin on your face. The confidence written on your face makes the crowd go wild, much more so than Twilight’s speech.
Your eyes scour the crowd and lock on to Ditzy and Rainbow, who are both cheering wildly for you. You think about how angry Rainbow had just been about the unicorn, and wonder if the cheering was just an act to hide her anger for you. You push the thoughts from your head as you realize Dash has never been the type to hide her feelings. If she has a problem, she’ll let somepony know immediately. You let out a relieved sigh as that thought fills your head.
The dean takes the mic from you and ushers you and the unicorn off to the side. He cheers into the mic, “So now you’ve met all five of our Admins! Over the course of this first week, we shall work on distributing your school-given materials and schedules, as well as sorting out any boarding problems you may have with whoever you’re roomed with. One week from today is when classes for this Fall Semester shall begin. Please, do make yourselves comfortable and get familiar with the campus over this next week!” He lifts his hooves in the air and everypony goes wild. The other three admins join you at your side and grin.
Charming chuckles, “Welcome to the herd, you two. You’ve just made a bunch of enemies.”
Daisy giggles, “Don’t scare them, you meanie! Everything will be perfectly fine, you two. Don’t listen to the seniors, remember?” She taps her head with her hoof, bringing back what Diamond had said earlier.
Diamond sighs, “Although you’re definitely not going to be the most welcome freshmen in the school, I wouldn’t worry about the regular students. It’s the UFABÉ and POCA radicals you need to keep an eye out for.” She places a hoof on your forehead as if you’re a young child, which sort of irks you.
You maintain a respectful tone as you snap, “Get your hoof off of my head, lady. Nopony treats me like a kid.” You jerk your head out from under her hoof as you notice her lack of honoring your command.
Charming gasps, “Oh man, not a good idea!” He covers his face with a hoof as he notices a slight twitch under Diamond’s eye.
The junior mare shouts through clenched teeth, “How dare you address me with such disrespect, you mule?!” Just as she goes to continue, you stomp your hoof down hard on the stage, causing the four ponies around you to flinch.
You scoff, “Time to get off your high horse there, lady. You may be older than me but that doesn’t give you the right to treat me like a kid. I’m not about to take crap from somepony I don’t even know.” You smile as your comment makes the mare back off. Twilight giggles as she sees the stunned expression on the other two Admins’ faces.
Daisy giggles, “Wow, you showed her…” She sees Diamond try to regain a more civilized expression through her anger.
Charming places a hoof on your shoulder and sighs, "Diamond’s not an enemy you want, man. She has a major pull with the UFABÉ. She can make your time here a living hell if you’re not careful."
You scoff, “What the hell is the UFABÉ?”
The other four Admins stare at you in disbelief. You look around to them in a confused manner, feeling the serious nature of their glares jab right into you. With a look of utter amazement, Diamond answers your question.
She laughs, “You’ll find out soon enough, kid. Both of you will. Now that you’re Admins, you won’t be able to avoid their attention…”
With that cryptic series of statements, the three older Admins shut up. The dean walks over to you and slaps a hoof on your back. He cheers, “Great message! You really got them going for you! Now, if you’d be so kind as to follow me, I’ll show you to where you’ll be staying as an Admin.”
Without waiting for a response, he starts a fast trot off of the stage and onto a small trail leading into the trees at the far end of the courtyard. Twilight and you walk side by side as you follow Obsidian to wherever he is taking you. The other three Admins bring up the rear, already knowing this path by heart. After minutes of walking, you come to a large building with a massive emblem on the front door. The emblem depicts a large pony with a horseshoe print crossing over it. The words ‘ADMINISTRATION BUILDING’ are etched underneath it.
You are ushered through the door by the dean, and you find yourself caught completely off guard by the décor. A fancy chandelier hangs from the ceiling of the foyer, marble floors clack as you step across, and solid oak doors and railing span the stairs and doorways. You’re taken aback by the sight of such an overly-decorated building. Twilight lets out an astounded ‘Ah’ as the beauty of the room fills her eyes.
Obsidian takes you and her by the hooves and essentially drags you up the stairs in the center of the foyer. You follow him all the way to the end of the eastern wing, where a large mahogany door sits and waits. He releases you both and shoves open the door, revealing a massive room with one large bed and several luxury cabinets and drawers dotted along the walls. On the far side of the room is a glass door leading out to a balcony view of the immediate area.
He shoves you both into the room, waves a hoof, and shuts the door as he leaves. You look around the room in amazement. Your eyes meet Twilight’s, and you can tell she’s thinking the same thing as you. There’s only supposed to be one Admin, so this room is built to house one pony. You would be sharing this room, a fact that makes you feel uneasy. You don’t like the thought of your stuff being within reach of a pony you don’t know.
But it wouldn’t be too bad, would it? You think about how quiet the mare seems to be, and decide it can’t be too horrible. At least it was a large room and had plenty of storage space for both of your belongings.
It won’t be that bad, right?
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