Teaching Twilight

>You give a long, drawn out sigh and swing open your locker after surviving another day at Canterlot High School.
>You're Anonymous, an average everyday High School student just trying to get your diploma so you can live the rest of your life with at least 1 accomplishment you can be proud of.
>Average doesn't really perfectly describe you however. You've got one thing going for you, and it's your smarts. While not the smartest student in the school, you consistently held a spot in the top 20 students for all your years here so far.
>And luckily you being smart didn't mean you were one of those nerds without friends either. In fact you could say you were at least acquaintances with pretty much everyone in the school.
>You did have some people though that you would refer to as close friends, mainly a few kids from the different Science and Math based clubs
>Oh, and that group of girls who defeated Magical demons multiple times and basically saved the school and the entire world. Twice.
>It's confusing even to your mind how you managed to befriend those girls. All you did was reply to them whenever they would come up to you, either with questions on current subjects you were learning or general small talk, and they eventually started asking you to hang out with them.
>You always thought that was the type of mushy garbage that only happened in movies, but apparently not being a dick really does help in making real friends.
>Right now however, you don't have time to be worrying about friends. The biggest thing on your mind is getting out of here as soon as possible so you could skip town for a couple of days.
>Why? Well listen to this little story.
>You being friendly with everyone didn't really start until 6 months ago, when the first "Event", as Principal Celestia calls it, happened.
>It was the Fall Formal, when Sunset Shimmer tried to become some power crazy demon who was going to take over the multiverse or something.
>Thanks to some mystery girl you never caught the name of, Sunset was stopped and actually began to turn over a new leaf in her life.
>Before that "Event", you never really put yourself out there towards others, like any typical nerd would.
>However after that incident at the Formal, everyone in school became a lot friendlier with each other. And some even became friendly with you. And you reciprocated that friendship because hey, nobody wants to be the friendless loser in High School right?
>You know, the type of person who is more content staying in a small cramped room by themselves just working on whatever research they're doing, and barely making any conversations with any of the hundreds of people they see everyday for like 4 years of their lives?
>Yeesh, that sounds like a god awful way to live.
>However, that's not the entire reason you want to skip town. Remember there was a second "Event" that happened at this school?
>It happened pretty much 3 months after the first incident. These 3 girls who called themselves the Dazzlings basically showed up, turned your school's musical showcase into a goddamn Battle of the Bands, complete with sabotage, and tried to mind control everyone in the school in order to gain power and adoration.
>Never mind the fact that nobody in school had ever seen any of these girls for the first 3 months of school, or that these girls just happened to convince Principal Celestia to change the months long planned Musical Showcase to a Music Battle in the span of 2 hours - nobody bothered to pay any attention to those facts. They just went along with it.
>Granted, those magical girls told you that hearing the Dazzlings' singing was brain washing the students and killing their reasonable thought processes, but you weren't aware of this at the time as you had never heard their singing.
>During the entire week the Musical Showcase/Battle of the Bands happened, you brought headphones to school in order to listen to audio books during classes.
>Not that you had a problem with the Music, in fact there were points where you'd turn off the books and listen to a little yourself, however you wanted peace and quiet in order to keep studying. The obvious answer was to block out the music.
>And it wasn't like you were going to participate anyway seeing as you've never played an instrument before.
>But anyway, in the end that same girl returned to help the others defeat the Dazzlings, this time you managed to catch a few glimpses of her, but still never a name.
>But from what you saw, she didn't look too bad. Her purple hair with pink streaks and pretty face did get you slightly interested to learn more, however she left as soon as she came just like the first time.
>And that's the explanation of the second "Event".
>So, if anyone's wondering why you plan on skipping town for the next couple of days, it's because you're pretty sure another "Event" is going to happen here at school.
>It's been exactly 3 months since the Dazzlings tried to take over the school, and guess what else?
>There's another School hosted event happening tomorrow. This time, the quadrennial school Olympics, The Friendship Games.
>You swear that the principal is planning these "Events" to happen and she's the mastermind of all this crazy magic mumbo jumbo, but the incidents have had a more positive result than negative, in your life at least. You should thank her should you find out you're right.
>Anyway, the Friendship Games are something you can gladly afford to miss, considering the main attraction of it is sports based and the only academic sections have way better qualified students for them.
>Seriously, from what you've read about the Games, it seems like the Sports portion is the only thing that matters when it comes to giving a final score.
>Possibly the best part about skipping this event though is the fact you won't have to deal with the Crystal Prep students.
>Crystal Prep is the school that your's faces off against in the Friendship Games.
>They're also the school that's won every single Friendship Games event since the whole thing began.
>It makes sense since Crystal Prep is one of those Fancy Pants private Academy-like schools where all the rich parents send their kids because they don't want them associating with "lower class peasants"
>At least that's what your mom always told you.
>And they're fancy pants down to the fact that all the students are forced to wear uniforms - imagine telling Rarity that everyone is forced to wear the same outfit now, she'd likely blow a fuse.
>So naturally the students there are going to be a lot smarter and more athletically gifted than the average student who goes to a public school like Canterlot High.
>And yeah, maybe it feels a little bad to have your school lose every single Games and be expected to lose this next one, but in the end did you really care about it?
>The winning school just gets a pat on the back and some bragging rights, so what? Crystal Prep is all the way out in the city anyway so it's not like any students would come here to boast about victory.
>If they did you'd call them retarded for wasting that much time and gas to get here.
>So all in all, you're ready to leave this place for a couple of days to avoid any shenanigans that may occur during the event.
>You hear a bus outside and think it's probably the Crystal Prep kids arriving for introductions and getting to know the school, as Celestia told you all they'd be arriving late in the day. But after school seems a little dumb.
>You just keep packing up everything you'll need for the coming days. Laptop, books, writing utensils and other things you can use for classwork
>You already told all your teachers you won't be here for the next 2 days, telling them it's just a family gathering you can't get out of. They gladly gave you all the work you'll need so you won't fall behind.
>You can likely get it all done tonight and then you have the next 2 days all to yourself to do whatever the hell you want. Which you aren't sure what it is exactly that you want to do. But you'll likely figure something out, you always find an answer somewhere.
>As you're finishing up with your packing and are about to close your locker, you hear footsteps.
>Must just be the Crystal Prep kids walking around the school, you think.
>These footsteps are getting awfully close to you though, but you don't feel like giving anyone any attention right now. You just want to leave and experience some freedom for once in this school life.
>Okay, the footsteps stop, right next to you. Out of your peripheral vision you can see someone standing there, but you don't feel like turning to greet them, or talk.
>What the actual fuck, are you going to get hazed by the new students in your own school or something?
>You fiddle around with your locker and pretend to look busy hoping they'll see that and get the message and leave you alone.
>When suddenly, you hear this mystery person speak, and you know they're speaking to you, because they're practically inches away from your ear.
"Oh, excuse me sir. You're awfully close, do you think you could scooch over so I can get by?"
>~
>"Ugh, look out behind you, Sugar. It's Twilight Sperg-le out from her cave"
>You hear this from behind you as you're walking through the hallways of Crystal Prep
>It's nothing out of the ordinary for you. Even though you never wanted to hurt anyone's feelings, or never even done anything to make people dislike you, they went out of their way to do it anyway
>You wish life was like the movies for nerds like yourself, where just staying quiet and blending in would lead to everyone simply ignoring you, but that's not how life works
>Doesn't help that everyone knows who you are because you've been the smartest student in the entire school every year since you've entered it
>Crystal Prep was talked up to be an extremely difficult private school to attend, however with how easy you found all the work, and by seeing some of the students they let into the school, you'd always think twice about that statement
>Your parents knew though that going here would be great for future schooling opportunities, like finally being able to get into Everton University, only the best college in the entire country and only accepts the best of the best
>That, and your brother Shining went here for it's reputation in sports and some games or whatever, so it was an easy decision since you got to see him everyday
>Oh, you really wish you could be back in your private room continuing your research for your Everton entry paper, but you've been called out into the open by Principal Cinch
>Oh, you didn't do anything wrong did you? To be getting called down to the Principal's office is one thing in any normal school, but getting called to Principal Cinch is a whole other circle of hell
>Oh no, did she finally find out about Spike!? Did Cadence tell her?
>No, no she wouldn't do that. The Cadence you know that used to babysit wouldn't snitch you out like that.
>Plus, she loved Spike and would even bring treats for him in your Lab.
>So know you're just wondering if you actually did do something horribly wrong
>Maybe... oh no
>Don't say you're being replaced from the number 1 student spot!
>Oh no, that's practically the one thing that will guarantee your spot in Everton!
>Oh please please please don't be that...
>As you send your mind even further down into panic, you approach the door to Principal Cinch's office
>As you open it, you peek inside and notice the only light in the room is the light from the hallway entering through the door you opened
>You see Cadence to your right and give her a little wave, and she gives you a warm smile back
>That eases your thoughts a bit. If Cadence didn't look worried, and she likely already knew the reason you were called down, then everything should be fine right?
>Unless of course you really REALLY messed up and she came here to comfort you before you're forced to leave Crystal Prep forever!
>Oh you're not doing your mind and emotional state any favors right now
>You slowly walk up to the chair in front of Principal Cinch's desk and hear the door close behind you
>You look back and see Shining was behind the door waiting for you
>You give your best smile in your nerve wracked state and wave to him, and he replies with a hearty grin and a thumbs up
>Maybe this isn't something bad after all
>Unless he's here with Cadence for the exact same reason
>You can feel yourself nearing the edge of losing control of all your emotions, you want to just break down and cry on the floor because you know something bad is going to happen, you just know it
>You did something that made the Principal hate you and she's going to kick you out of school and you'll never see your big brother again and you'll never see your favorite babysitter again and you'll never be able to get into Everton and -
>You just walked into the back of the chair you were approaching.
>You're a complete mess right now
>Maybe, maybe try that thing Cadence taught you?
>Yeah, yeah that always calmed you down!
>You held your hand close to your face and took in a deep breath, and slowly exhaled while pushing your arm away from you
>Just like that, you felt a lot better already
>Maybe not better enough to be scared of expulsion, but better enough to not break down crying on the floor in front of 2 of the most important people in your life and the one controlling your future
>You pull out the chair in front of you and slowly sit down, Principal Cinch still hasn't turned around at all during this
>As you pull your chair closer to the desk, the chair on the opposite side of it finally starts to turn
>This is it. She's finally going to tell you what you did wrong. She's finally going to tell you that you showed so much promise but threw it all away. She's going to tell you to get out of her school, to never come back, and that any chance you had at entering Everton is gone now.
>You can feel the floodgates breaking. You can feel yourself physically shaking. It's not cold, but you're shivering out of pure fear
>Tears start to well up in your eyes behind your glasses, slowly painting them and making it difficult to see
>You hear yourself sniffling and your lip is quivering
>You're so desperately trying to hold on to that last shred of dignity you have, to not completely break down in front of her
>You always thought you could be serious in a situation like this, you could hide your emotions and take the bad news without showing how you really feel
>The reality couldn't be any further from that, though.