"What do you mean 'I won't be able to handle the Witch Academy'?"
>You scrunch up.
"I'll be fine!"
>"Ri'skri kfro ni fiskesk!"
"So what if I don't have experience with dark magic? Neither do you!"
>Letuch stares at you, wide-eyed, offended by your statement.
>"Skri kfrl fiskesk!"
"Oh really? Well then, if you were good enough for it, then surely I will be too."
>Letuch slaps his wing on his muzzle, quietly screeching into it.
 
>You look around the dark alley around you.
>The day was still young; the pale white sunlight bounced around all metal surfaces, highlighting their imperfections in contrasting pitch black colours, with the rest of the light illuminating the walls of the houses around you.
>Your pet bat jumps onto your shoulder and sighs.
>"Skri ni eki firi."
"I know, Letuch, I know."
 
>You move out towards the main street.
 
>Your leg muscles start moving without hesitation.
>'Cause today's finally the day when you'll become a proper wizard.
>Or, well, begin learning how to be one.
 
>Step after step, the blinding light of the outside world is closing in on you.
>You take a deep breath before stepping out of the boundary of the little alley.
 
>Warm air envelops you; strong gusts of it hit you in the face, warming up your skin to a boiling temperature.
>Holy hell it's hot today.
>Speeding up your stride, you press on towards the Witch Academy at the end of the street.
 
>A huge, beautiful building in the centre of the city, dominating the view with its ivory towers and chiseled facades.
 
>Getting closer to it, you notice that there's less people around you.
>Letuch , hiding from the sun under his wings, also was looking around him in confusion.
>"Ri ni ersk?"
"I know, right? Where is everyone?"
 
>You look forward once again.
>And come to a full stop a yard before smashing into the gates with your nose.
 
>...
 
>Right.
>Now what are you supposed to do?
>You glance over at Letuch.
>He stares at you and sighs once again.
>He flaps his wings, floating up to just above your head.
>He takes a deep breath.
>"Kiki, rir'ikik irsk!"
>With a screech and a groan, the hinges move by themselves and open the huge metal gates.
>A strong gust of wind pushes you and Letuch into the now open courtyard.
"Amazing. Since when do you know how to get into here?"
>"Skri ki ikik'skesk."
 
>You already knew that.
>Thanks.
>Whatever.
 
>You wait for Letuch to land himself back onto your shoulder.
>You continue slowly moving through the empty courtyard.
>Past the fountain glistening in the sun rays, reflecting the entire visible spectrum right into your eyes, filling your view with coloured dots splattered all over it.
>You take a couple more steps, approaching the main entrance.
 
 
>20 feet tall great oak doors, looming above you, creaked in pain as soon as you stopped right in front of them.
>The slit inbetween widened bit by bit, opening up and showing you the interior hall.
 
>You notice Letuch change his usual cool expression into that of something you've never seen before.
>"Skri eki ersk?"
"Are you scared, Letuch?"
>Wow, the greatest bat mage of this century, the wisest specimen of his entire tribe, is humbled by a little Witch Academy.
>You feel far too smug right now.
 
>As you move on inside, he instantly flies off your shoulder and starts hovering a couple of inches above you again.
>Heh.
 
>Great big pillars of marble looked puny in comparison to the rest of the hall; a huge staircase leading up to a beautifully crafted upper level, the carved ornaments on the ceiling, it was breathtaking for you, a countryside boy, to behold.
>The windows on the facade let in just enough light to make the entire room shine--
 
>"Like it?"
 
>You almost jump at the sound of someone's voice.
>You turn your head in the direction it came from.
 
>A tall, old woman appears right in front of you.
>She looks you up and down with a scrunchy face.
>"So you want to enroll into our Academy, huh?"
>She gets closer, her dark blue eyes turning into slits, giving more space for her limp, pale skin.
>"You seem like fine enough material."
 
>You see something moving behind her head, fidgeting her hair bun.
>A bat wing reaches out of it.
>And then another.
 
>A noticeably old bat finally jumps out and stares first at you with visible disgust, and then at Letuch with surprise.
>"K-kiki."
>The old bat greets him, stuttering a bit, rather uncharacteristically.
>Well, it's not like you knew it anyway, you just assumed that it'd be--
>"Kiki, ri skri. Skri ni krik ri'skri ersk Skri Res."
 
>The woman is apparently just as surprised as you are.
>Not the same kind of surprise, though.
>It's more curiosity than anything.
 
>"Not many people are brave enough to choose a bat as their pet, you know."
"I know. This bat chose me, though."
>Letuch cartoonishly presses his forearms into his sides, still lingering in the air, with a smug grin on his face.
>"Kk, skri sekl An-nuun. Skri vel An-nuun resve fer."
"Yeah. I've always wanted to be a wizard, but didn't have the means to become one, so Letuch chose to train me."
>"He's trained in the arcane arts, is he?"
>"Kiskri!"
>"I see."
>The old bat rests on the woman's shoulder, trying not to stare at Letuch too much.
>"Well then, welcome. Welcome to the finest academy in Canterlot, and by extension, in the world."
>Well that wasn't so hard, was it?
>"I'll be your headmistress. You can call me Ysolda."
>That's a... Strange name to have.
>Hm.
 
>"And you're... Anon, right?"
"Uh, yes."
>"Is that your full name?"
>You wish.
"Um, yes."
>You can almost feel Letuch's stare pierce the back of your head.
>"Good. At least you're not one of those."
>Uh?
"What?"
>"You'll see."
>A small notebook appeared in her hands out of nowhere, and she started scribbling something in with a quill she pulled out of her hair.
>Was that there the entire time?
>Whatever.
 
>"Right. You're now in class 1-14. Have fun."
>With a puff of smoke and a blink, she disappears into thin air.
>Alright.
>Cool.
>Fine.
 
>Letuch snickers.
>"Hikse."
 
"Agreed."
>You feel the miniature claws clutch onto your shirt.
>"Kk."
"Now what?"
 
>"Kr hik?"
"Hm."
>You look around.
>There's really no other way, or anything interesting on the ground level, for that matter.
"Might as well get up to the first floor, then."
>"Kk."
 
>You creep along the main staircase, trying to make as little sound as possible.
>Your steps, resonating across the flat walls of the hall weren't making this an easy thing to do, though.
 
>Why is it so quiet here, anyway?
"What day is it today?"
>"Niske."
"Real helpful, Letuch."
>"Kreskri ni."
"Same."
 
>You get up to the first floor, after a seemingly unending set of stairs.
 
>A new hallway opened up to you; light, as if coming from nowhere, was jumping around the gold-trimmed plaques decorating the big row of doors to both the right and left of you.
>You guess you'll have to choose where to go now.
"Any ideas?"
>"Kr... Her?"
"You sure?"
>You look around again.
>A second passes.
>"Ni."
>For God's sake.
>"Ver."
 
"Alright."
>You turn to the right and move out.
 
>Passing one door after another, you read the plaques.
>3-8.
>2-12.
>4-26.
>1-14.
>2--
>Wait.
>Aren't you supposed to be in class 1-14?
>"Keiki. Ni skri irsk?"
"I think so."
 
>You inhale.
>Exhale.
>Inhale.
>Ex--
>The back of your head suddenly meets the back of Letuch's wing.
>"Kr!"
"Alright, alright."
>You grip the knob tightly.
 
>...
 
>Heh.
>Knob.
 
>Twist it.
>Turn it.
>Jerk it.
>Pull it.
>Push it.
 
>The door gives almost too easily, and you're thrust into the blinding light of the auditorium.
>The negative pressure inside pulls you in even harder with a constant stream of chilling air blasting in your back.
>You stumble, and only by miracle manage to catch yourself mid-fall.
>You raise your head.
 
>A hundred pairs of eyes centers on you in an instant.
>Even the lector, who looked like someone who'd care less if someone was late, was staring you down silently from behind the lectern.
"Um. Hi."
>"And you must be Anon."
>How'd they--
"Yeah, that's, uh, me."
>"Good. We've just started. Take a seat."
 
>You look around the long rows of seats, and notice only two things.
>First, the only free seats are next to those three nerdy looking girls in the first row.
>Well, everyone here kinda looks nerdy.
>Can't really complain, this is a witch school, after all.
 
>And speaking of females, you don't really see anyone except them.
>No male face has been caught by you in the couple of seconds that you've been awkwardly staring at everyone.
 
>Whatever.
>You'll figure that out later.
>Right now you'll have to get to your seat faster.
>You speedwalk towards the first row and slide on the bench until you're close enough to the person next to you.
 
>The wooden bench isn't the most comfotable, and maybe that's on purpose.
>Helps you concentrate.
>You pull a small notebook out of your shirt's pocket and pull a pen out of it.
>The lector continues, looking straight at you.
>"Welcome to the Canterlot Witch Academy, Anon. I hope you'll find whatever you were looking for here."
>Uh.
>Are you supposed to reply, nod, or...
>You'll just sit straight and won't move a muscle.
>Perfect.
 
>Well, this didn't last long.
>You suddenly feel two sets of claws grip your right shoulder, and flinch.
>Good job, Letuch.
>"Now that we're sure that the interruptions are over, let's continue."
>The professor turns your back to you to write something down on the blackboard.
 
>And then you feel it.
>Every inch of you feels it.
>Every bit of muscle, every cell, every atom.
 
>A hundred girls staring right at you from all sides.
>You sitting in the centre of the first row doesn't help, either.
>You slowly turn your head towards Letuch.
"You were right."
>"Kk."
 
>"Hey. Psst."
>You get tapped on your left shoulder by a small, sharp fingernail.
>It digs into your shirt, briefly scraping your skin.
>Your neck creaks and squeaks as it snaps to the opposite side.
 
>First you glance at the turquoise fingernail, and slowly follow the hand to the forearm, to the short sleeved shirt, to the fiery-red long curly hair with yellow strands, and the elegant neck, the faint smile, and the glasses pressed up right to the top of the bridge...
>"Hey."
>The soft, high-pitched whisper calls to you.
>"You're Anon, right?"
"Um. Yeah."
>Your quite bassy voice isn't really made for classroom whispering.
>You hear it reverberate along the walls and all the indents in them, attracting the attention of practically everyone.
 
>"Move closer, we'll get kicked out if we make too much noise."
>You think it over for a second.
>And hear hissing in your right ear.
>"Nikfr!"
 
>Buzzkill.
>You slide over closer to the fiery girl.
>Play it cool, Anon.
 
>You advance closer still, stopping only when you're almost touching her thigh with yours.
 
"What's up?"
>"Well, there's a new guy in our class, that's what."
>She bridges the gap between you.
>Your thigh presses into her soft flank through the thin skirt.
>Your avocado face turns into a beet.
 
>You glance over to the professor.
>He's still writing stuff down.
>"Don't worry about that, l could tell you the most important stuff he said after the class, if you want me to."
>Hm.
>Maybe.
"Yeah, uh, sure."
 
>"Great. Now, what brings you here?"
>Her soft jaw leaning on her hand, she looks ready to completely ignore whatever there is going on around her.
 
>Is she gonna interrogate you?
>You raise an eyebrow.
>She seems like the type.
>Huge teal eyes, the elegance and the arrogance mixing together to strike you right in the face, her condescending coming through even through whisper, and the smug smirk gave it away.
>She definitely was from some rich family of magic users, maybe even from Canterlot.
 
>You feel like this isn't gonna end well.
"Um. You know."
>You stare into the deepness of her eyes.
>For a couple of seconds.
>Couple more.
 
>Maybe ten more.
"Magic."
>The anticipation in her face dropped down like a brick on your head.
>It goes from "I'm mildly interested" to "Is this guy for real" in a second.
>"That's it?"
"Uh, well, no, but I can't really tell the whole story right now, can I?"
>"Ugh. I guess."
 
>She shifts her focus back to the professor.
>And so do you.