The Tale of the Two Horned Pony- Chapter 6

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For context, this story takes place at the beginning of the 8th season of Friendship is Magic. I am posting this story chapter by chapter, so stay tuned for updates. Other than that, I hope

that this years in the making story brings as much joy for you as it does for me!

 

Chapter 6- The School of Friendship

    The next three days in Ponyville came and went, and to the surprise of many of the residents, there were no attacks, no sudden magical outbursts, nothing to report in any way. DualCore stayed in his new home, despite having none of his belongings. He contemplated escaping to pack up his Everfree Forest hut, but he was not risking it. He was not allowed to leave Ponyville, so he sat in his home, wasting away in his bed. His neighbors were okay with this. The house was rooted far enough away from them that you’d have to go out of your way to visit, and the Two Horned Pony wouldn’t even leave for food or drinks. Several residents whose homes were lifted by the brambles were hoping he starved to death before the school had its first day. Others were keeping their young fillies away from the house, as though it was haunted by ghosts. DualCore had no idea where to begin. His first day was the next morning, and he was totally lost. 
    Late into the night, DualCore’s stomach was howling. Losing his powers also meant losing his ability to grow his own food. In the Everfree Forest, he had a way of growing his own fruits from above his hut. He used to live underground, but this allowed him to hide from the various predators. While he could use his powers to keep the wildlife at bay, he had to stay hidden in case anyone from Artax County found him. Now, here he lay- trapped in a new town, going to a new school, and completely unsure what would happen from here. One thing was certain- He needed to eat something, or he would collapse on his first day. 
    Several loud pops could be heard from downstairs moments after DualCore closed his eyes. At first he turned on his bed, ignoring the sounds. He stared at the ceiling as the moonlight hit the stained glass hypnotically. His gaze was interrupted by another loud pop. He shot up from his bed so hard a spring came loose. He was face to face with a letter floating in front of him. DualCore clutched his chest with his hoof, and read the letter… 

“Dear DualCore, 
    I apologize for interrupting you this late, but it’s come to my attention you have not eaten since we last met. I have decided to help you out. You have a big day ahead of you, and a long journey beyond that. Please don’t neglect your health. You will find that there are shops and restaurants across Ponyville. They will help you out too. 
    Sincerely, Princess Celestia” 

    DualCore was confused, but he hopped from his bed and rushed downstairs. Sure enough, there was a variety of fruits, flowers, and hay, all assembled at his table. His jaw dropped at the sight. He could barely process what he was looking at before he devoured several fat apples. There was no taste like it. DualCore was able to grow apples before, but they were always sour and small. These apples, on the other hand, were sweet, and roughly three times the size. He chowed down on a few of the dandelions, and he looked over at the letter Celestia sent him. The look of shock faded, and what remained was a faint smile. 

    By the next morning, ponies and non-ponies alike were getting ready, heading over to Twilight Sparkle’s School of Friendship. The sun had barely tipped above the town, the night sky was still fresh, and Ponyville was waking up, ready to begin the day… That is, everyone except for DualCore. He snored ferociously, tossing in his bed. He was covered from head to hoof in his thin blanket, his curtains blocking out the windows. The light hitting the stained glass made the room more vibrant, but it could not wake DualCore up. Nothing could prepare him for the day ahead, but for the time being, he was sound asleep, lost in his latest dream. 
    Across the outskirts, there was a pony approaching the house. She stomped in frustration. “They can’t do this!” She muttered to herself. “I never had any luck pulling straws! They set me up!” The sun rose higher still, and on the steps of DualCore’s house was Rarity. She had on her best dress for her first day of teaching, and her first impression of this house was one of sheer horror. The door had a broken window. The outer walls were cracked, and the roof had multiple blemishes. It had not been repaired from its entanglement in the brambles. “How could he live like this??” She asked herself in astonishment. She thought it could not get any worse until she peered inside. The walls were coated in thick dust. There were hoof prints that revealed the floors were coated too! Rarity let out a terrible shriek, and before she knew it, she was using her magic to pave a clear path to the stairs. 
    Rarity may have been able to dust off the path to DualCore’s room, but having to jump the gap on the second story further upset her. DualCore’s bedroom, in Rarity’s eyes, was a shell of its former self. The dust that coated the first story was here too. This house was untouched for decades, and yet, the first pony to move in, in her mind, was not bothered to clean it up? This was the final straw. “Alright! It’s time to wake up!” Shouted Rarity as she threw the curtains aside. The morning sky shined right at DualCore’s bed, but he was still asleep. Rarity huffed. “Wake up!!!” She bellowed. DualCore screwed his face, and began to open his eyes. Rarity eyed him like an angry hawk as he came to his senses, and he yelled sharply and flew back, falling off his bed with a crash, tangled in the moth eaten holes in his blanket. 
“What are you doing here?! What do you want?!” He asked with a short breath, panting as he tried to get on his hooves. “Ugh, the nerve of you…” She scoffed angrily. The realization on her face devolved into a scowl of pure disgust. “How… do you expect to come to school… looking like THIS?!” Rarity was so angry she was red in the face, whether from her blood pressure or from embarrassment, DualCore did not know, but before he could say anything she ranted on… 

“I cannot believe you! You had three days to prepare yourself for your first day in this new school, and what do I come to? A disgusting house you never cleaned and you look like you have not bathed in Luna knows how long! Oh, look how matted your fur is! Your hair is so coarse it could shatter my combs! You are absolutely FILTHY!” Rarity raved and rambled, and at the rate she was talking, it would be nightfall by the time she was done. DualCore’s mouth hung open, unable to let a word in. He tried to prepare his horns, but once again, his magic failed to work. He had gotten used to conjuring his way out of problems before, but now he was stuck. “When was the last time you ever took a bath?!” Rarity finished. She stood lividly, waiting for a response as DualCore tried to say something. “7 years… But seriously, have you ever tried-,” DualCore suddenly stopped as Rarity exploded into a conniption fit. “7 YEARS?!?” she cried with more disgust than before. “I will not have this!! You are getting a bath, and you will not come to this school until you do! I will tell Princess Celestia I am BUCKING APPLES before I teach such a foul colt such as you!!!!” 

Rarity yanked DualCore in the air with her magic. The blanket flew off of him as he flailed helplessly. “Heeey!!! What is this?!?” DualCore freaked out as Rarity dragged her out of the bedroom. In her haste, she unfortunately forgot to mind the gap, and both of them fell straight down to the hallway. The both of them landed on their faces, sore with pain as DualCore got back up. “So this is your game, huh? You’re trying to snuff me out?!” DualCore flared. He was so flustered by Rarity’s gaul that his voice cracked. “Have you ever tried to bathe in the Everfree Forest?! No magic could filter the muck from those lakes!” Maybe this point could have come across, but Rarity shot upright, squealing in despair. She was now covered in the same thick dust that coated the floors. The despair quickly turned to anger again, and DualCore went quiet. “I just washed too!! Ooh, you are going to pay for this!!” Rarity whipped out her magic, carrying DualCore again. He protested as hard as he could, but nothing could be done. Rarity turned the faucets on his bathtub, and the water shot out ice cold. It was not long before it became hot, but Rarity, nearing her breaking point, dropped DualCore in the water, splashing the whole bathroom. 
DualCore coughed and sputtered, yelling incoherently as Rarity lobbed a bar of soap at his face. “You will not leave this house until you are SPOTLESS! I am not going anywhere until you are done, AND YOU BETTER BE DONE QUICKLY!! I have to wash off too!” Rarity seethed as the dust on her body shook with her. She sat outside in the hallway, talking angrily to herself, and DualCore, now submerged in the water, sat there without a word left. Never before had he met anypony as dangerous to cross as her. He conceded, sitting in the tub all hot in the face, but he had no idea what to do with the soap. Artax County had baths, but they did not use anything like this. He sat in the water, staring at this bar of soap. Rarity, who was losing her patience, tried to calm down. “It’ll be okay, Rarity…” She mumbled. “You don’t want to age a whole month in one morning…” She sat outside the bathroom, but was stirred by DualCore. “...Could you help me out?” He muttered loudly. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with this…”
Rarity stormed in, but it was with a slightly softer tone that she asked, “What do you mean you don’t know how soap works…? Did you ever learn how to take a bath?” DualCore shook his head. “...I lived in the Everfree Forest for 7 years, and my hometown didn’t treat baths this way.” Rarity was exasperated, but she rolled her eyes. “You are such a cave-pony…” She picked up the soap with her magic, and began scrubbing DualCore violently. She ignored his yelps of pain and kept telling him to hold still as she was almost skinning him with the soap. Like a potato peeler, the layers of dirt were coming off, turning the water a dark, murky brown. Rarity scrubbed down every single nook and cranny, and while DualCore was feeling waves of pain from how hard she was scrubbing, by the time they were finished, she could see the difference. His fur was now a much brighter shade of red than before, and the soap made him shine in the light.
Rarity eyed DualCore over, and reluctantly sighed. “Fine, that will do. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to wash up again!” She closed the door in a hurry as she set up her own bath. Even with his magic, this was an energy he dared not to challenge. As much as she made him furious, All he could think of was she may have had a point. He looked over at the hallway mirror, and was stunned. He looked far more bright than before, but he still needed to brush his hair. After Rarity finished with her bath, she came out with a brush and finished off her hair. “Could I borrow your brush?” Asked DualCore calmly. He was still annoyed at Rarity’s nerve, but with a look that suggested she was buying a new brush afterwards, she gave it to him. 
    
The trip to the school was deceptively long, thought DualCore. They walked from his house all the way to the mountains, where this school was built. Rarity was scouting far ahead, not wanting to say a word as DualCore timidly walked along. They were taking a straight path, as though Rarity wanted this to end as soon as possible. DualCore may have been much cleaner than before, but the more he thought it over, the more he thought how much he realized he was not used to living in a place like this, and even though he wanted to explain this, Rarity ignored him. He kept to himself for half of the walk, until finally the two arrived at the School of Friendship. 
    DualCore expected a schoolhouse like the one in his old home town with a single classroom, but what he stared up at looked nothing at all like a school to him. “Are you sure this is the right place? This looks a little too nice to be a school… right?” DualCore asked nervously, looking around. The school did look nice. Better than nice. It was gorgeous! The walkway and steps were made of stone, and the school itself was surrounded by a thin pool of water, flowing onwards by the waterfalls that traveled around it. The entrance was revealed by splitting the center waterfall to each side. “Come on, you can sightsee after your classes…” Rarity huffed. After what happened, she did not want to look at DualCore again, but she continued. “You may wait in the entrance hall until further instructions… and don’t ever speak of what happened this morning!” She said quickly, walking into the school as she tried to catch up to her friends. DualCore followed, still unsure where his day was going to take him…
    
    The entrance hall was bustling with ponies, but also many other creatures. For a moment, DualCore was overwhelmed. Not even his hometown was this populated. He was not sure how to handle this first day, but after the fiasco he and Rarity were put through, he wanted to keep a low profile. The only thing that was not so bad was because there were so many ponies and non-ponies here, he was not the center of attention yet. Sure, there were some from Ponyville who stared at him, but it seemed that he did not have as big of a reputation here as he feared. However, he caught the attention of Twilight and her friends. Rainbow Dash still had another few days in her body cast, but she was able to remove the cast surrounding her head, allowing her to speak again. Fluttershy was reciting how she was going to introduce her class, but was cut off by the sight of DualCore. She had a plan in motion to handle him, and hardened. Trying to hide her distress, she looked back at her animal friends. Twilight Sparkle could not help but notice that DualCore looked brighter than before. The reason was apparent when Rarity whispered to her, “You owe me for the horrors I endured getting him here!” She did not have time to ask what happened yet, for she was supposed to greet the new students. Putting what Rarity told her to the back of her mind, she stepped up and brought everyone to attention. 

    “Welcome to the School of Friendship. I am your head mare, Twilight Sparkle. Please follow guidance counselor Starlight to sign in and get your class assignments, and then we can show you to your living quarters.” She announced cordially to the students. DualCore looked over at Starlight Glimmer, who was accompanied by Spike. “Living quarters? I already have a house…” He thought to himself, but he was already halfway in the line when he bumped into another pony by accident. “Agh, sorry about that.” He said hurriedly. “Nah, it’s fine. I’m Sandbar. Aren’t you the pony who did that to Rainbow Dash?” He alluded to Rainbow Dash’s injuries, which were so severe she had to roll around in a wheelchair. Several of the ponies were signing her body cast, one was drawing her cutie mark on the flank. DualCore flushed. “Y-yeah, I did that.” He said quietly. Sandbar took a step back, and he looked over at the line to Starlight Glimmer. “You will not be a pony anyone will want to mess with, that’s for sure…” He said back with a weak laugh. DualCore’s stomach dropped. 

    Starlight Glimmer was handing class assignments from pony to non-pony, and finally, it was DualCore’s turn. “Hello there, I was expecting you. Twilight Sparkle wanted me to give you this in addition to your usual assignments.” Starlight Glimmer was smiling at him, nearly unphased by DualCore, which took him aback. “Thanks… but I have no idea where to start from here, so do I start at signing in, or with living quarters?” Starlight laughed, but she caught her breath before replying, “You already have your living quarters arranged. However, since you are new to living in Ponyville, Princess Celestia and Twilight are making accommodations to make your time here easier.” “Oh, so I don’t have to worry about it?” Asked DualCore with a warmer tone. “Not as far as I know. Just enjoy your first day here!” Starlight moved on to the next pony in line as DualCore picked up his pamphlet from Spike, who upon looking at DualCore for the first time, handed his pamphlet and his additional assignments more hastily. “You know… you’re the second pony in Equestrian history to have 2 horns.” He said matter of factly, trying to be friendly. DualCore raised his eyebrow. “And who was the first?” He asked curiously. “Oh, just some pony Twilight read about…” Replied Spike, shrinking down a bit. 
    DualCore skimmed through the class assignments, as Twilight Sparkle announced once more to the students and their parents, “Thank you all so much for supporting the grand opening of our school! I hope you’ll join us for Friends and Family day to see the amazing progress your students are making.” Friends and Family day? What was that, DualCore thought? His family was still in Artax County, he doubted his parents would want to see him again, and he had no friends either. Twilight Sparkle was watching DualCore carefully, and she could tell he was not grasping everything so quickly. He stood alone amidst the groups of ponies and non-ponies, as though he felt out of place. She turned to her friends for a short meeting before classes began. 
    “So far, he has not caused any trouble… but keep your guards up just in case. Who is teaching his first class?” Twilight’s friends looked at each other, and Rarity shook her head. “Of course it has to be me… It was not enough that I had to baby him this morning!” Twilight felt sorry for asking, but the plan was laid out. Both for DualCore and the new school. “Everything will go according to plan.” Twilight insisted, taking out her massive EEA book. “As long as DualCore causes as little trouble as possible, we should be okay.” Unbeknownst of Twilight, he heard them. He knew from the start that he would have to face the same ponies he fought, but it was still awkward for him to imagine having to be taught by them as their student. In Artax, he remembered his teacher being like a gargoyle. Some of his classmates would spread jokes alluding to how old she was, such as one freckly earth pony who told his peers the Schoolhouse teacher settled there when Artax County was founded. These teachers had to be more or less around his own age. His time to think was cut short by the first morning bells. He followed the herd of ponies to the hallways. From there, he solemnly took his leave for his first class.
    
 

 

 

(No picture yet, but I will update this chapter's illustration later in the week)