Keep Your Tail Off the Battlefield

[Cadpig]

(ooc: September 5th. Open to all.)

Fighting... Cadpig didn't see the point in all of it. Wasn't the whole point of school to try and make peace instead of war? Or was it learning? Either way, the runty dalmatian was going to have nothing to do with the fights being held that day. Instead, the blue-eyed girl was going to keep her nose firmly in a book and get some studying done. At present, she was reading her philosophy book and her tail was wagging back and forth in a rather pleased manner. Ah... The ways of Socrates were just so fascinating. Cadpig knew she could have started at the beginning, but her book had fallen open to a chapter about the Socratic teachings and she'd just gone from there. The man evidently didn't catch a break from anyone in life, either, because she had just gotten to the point in reading of his history where it discussed the trials he endured.

"All this trouble over some philosophy," Cadpig said as she shook her head. She took that moment to look up from what she was reading and glanced around. So far, it looked as though she was the only one present. It wasn't that she particularly minded, but Cadpig would have liked a little bit of company. At the very least, she wouldn't have minded having someone to bounce ideas off of. After all, what point was there in learning something new if she didn't have anyone to discuss it with? A soft sigh escaped Cadpig and soon she was returning to her reading.

Oh well, she thought. Maybe someone will come along and you'll get to talk to them.

She hoped that was the case, anyway. The last thing she wanted was to be entirely on her own in the library. It was nice being away from the sea of spots that was her family, but still...

It was right as Cadpig was thinking about this very thing that her ears twitched a little bit. She swore she heard someone approaching. With that hope in mind, Cadpig lifted her head back up again and looked delightedly at the approaching figure. Maybe they'd want to sit with her!

"Hey! If you're looking for a place to sit, there's space over here," she invited.

[Deleted]

While the whole idea of a 'school was all new to Morri, he knew all about teachers and learning. Even if he'd been rambunctious as a pup. And still was, for that matter. It was just too bad he couldn't understand the things called books, and what was in them. He supposed they were similar to the pictures scraped into the ground other Crater Hounds used to write messages. But, so far, none of the teachers here had offered to teach him how to understand the marks in the books.

And since he couldn't understand the map he'd been given, he'd set out to explore,blue tie draped around his neck like a scarf. Of all the clothes he'd been given, it was the only thing that really fit his awkward frame. But he'd given up trying to make it work like it did for everyone else. He paused just outside a doorway, gazing inside a room filled with more books. Seven eyes gazed about, blinking at random, as Morri gazed about, overlooking the small dog already present. At least, until she spoke, inviting him in. Maybe she wouldn't have been so quick to offer if she'd taken a moment to look first.

"Um...thank you," Morri rumbled, walking hesitantly into the library, eying the small dog warily. Four eyes kept an eye on the small dog as the other four regarded the chairs doubtfully. He was more than tall enough to see the top of the table even if he sat on the floor. And since he doubted he'd fit on a chair very well, it might be better not to try. He hardly needed the extra height, after all.

That was if the small, spotted dog didn't object to his presence. He just hoped she wouldn't scream, or run away. He was a 'Hellhound' after all. And while the other dog he'd had as a teacher for a while hadn't been bothered by him, after an initial moment of staring, it was still an exception to the norm.

[Cadpig]

Nope. Cadpig wasn't the least bit deterred by Morri's appearance. After having to deal with being kidnapped by Cruella, she felt like she could deal with just about anything. She didn't know who he was right off, but that hardly mattered. That was what name tags were for! She'd just... Have to see about where she put the things. Maybe they were in her bag? Hard to say, really. Cadpig would just have to see how things went with or without the name tags.

"Hello," Cadpig greeted after waving her paw in the air a bit. "I'm Cadpig. My, you're certainly a... Big guy, aren't you? I don't think I've seen anyone quite like you before..."

She wanted to ask his name, but her statements seemed just fine on their own now that she thought about it. So, the blue-eyed gal was going to wait and see just how Morri reacted to her. That was all she really could do.

[Butters]

Butters was holding a piece of lined paper in front of his face.  The blond boy had his book-bag slung over one shoulder as he was anticipating putting it down soon to load it with books - as soon as he found said books anyway.  Butters had a list of recommended reading from several of his classes, so during a free period he headed down to the library to check out a few of his books.  There was an uncomfortable look on his face.  He was not looking foreword to a heavier bag to carry.  On the flip side, a few of the book titles interested him.  He blindly wandered one of the isles, reading his list.

"Golly, these sure are some weird s-sounding books," Butters said to himself as he trotted along, "Then again, all the teachers are pretty strange."

The boy frowned and glanced behind his shoulder, paranoid.

"I-I swear I saw Satan in one of the classrooms earlier.  What a spooky place, huh?"

Butters didn't really have anyone to talk to yet, so he was content to just mumble to himself.  As he was rounding the corner, he read one of the book titles aloud to himself in a confused tone.

"'Beginner's Guide to Nighttime Stalking; How to T-track and Kill Your Victims Without Leaving Evidence'."

The boy finally looked up as he entered one of the isles.  Almost immediately, Butters froze.  Just a few feet ahead of him, on one of the seats, what a big scary monster!  He shivered for a moment before the paper slipped out of his hand.  After a few seconds of being paralyzed, Butters let out a frightened yelp and ran back behind the corner.

"Aaahhhh!!"

[Deleted]

Morri breathed a sigh of relief, then wagged his tail as he padded closer, happy to see he wasn't going to have any problems from the small dog. He had never been a fan of fighting. And, despite his appetite, he wasn't even that keen on hunting when he didn't have to. Surama and Hafmar were the pack hunters. He grinned, glad to hear she had a name he could pronounce without any difficulty.

"I'm Morri," he said, pausing beside the table she was sitting at. "I've always been tall. Most Crater Hounds are shorter. And, well, most live in the Crater," he said, shrugging a bit. He gazed down at the books for a moment before picking one up, unknowingly looking at it upside down. "You can understand what's in these things?" he asked, gazing at Cadpig with three eyes while four looked over the book.

He had begun trying to ease himself into a chair when a loud shout nearby made him whip his head around, and he lost his balance, stumbling backwards and bringing the chair crashing down as he fell, book still grasped in his paw. "What was that all about?" he rumbled from the floor, blinking in confusion.

[Cadpig]

"Morri. Got it! I'll get you set up with a name tag just as soon as I find where I put them," Cadpig said. The sight of the large creature holding the book upside down was amusing to the little dalmatian, and she giggled a bit at the question. Of course she understood what was in them! She'd spent ages reading when she was back in London, mostly because Roger left his books scattered about while trying to get things ready for the upcoming move, so she was well versed in them. A nod followed soon after. She could tell this was going to be an interesting interaction.

"Sure I can! You're just holding it the wrong way. Flip it around, and then you can embrace your inner scholar," Cadpig told him. It wasn't hard to realize that someone else was present, too. The fact that she'd heard a scream was enough to make that much obvious. Cadpig looked in Butters's direction and blinked once. Was he freaking out because of Morri? Well, she couldn't have that. Not at all.

"Excuse me. This is a library, and I think we all would appreciate it if you didn't have your freak out right here. Morri may be big, but I bet deep down that he wouldn't hurt a fly. Right?" Cadpig asked. Being the pacifist that she was, Cadpig liked trying to see the good in people. Psychoanalyzing was fun, too, though. All she had to do was dig deep down and try to figure out what made people tick.

[Rainbow Dash]

Rainbow walks into the Library. She didn't know anything about school libraries. But, she was on a mission today. She wasn't looking for just any book. Oh, no she was hoping to find a Daring Do book here. One that she hadn't read 900 billion times before at least. She was having no luck whatsoever. She looks over at a dog and a huge dog/wolf type creature. Rainbow smiles and walks over to the two. "Excuse me, do you think you can help me? I am looking for any book really that features a character by the name of "Daring DO" . She is only the most awesomest, most greatest, most best hero in the whole world of Equestria. Now, I haven't really been able to find any of her books here, maybe you two could help by pointing me in the right direction, to where her books might be. Do, you think maybe you can help me"? Rainbow asked using the best "Library voice" she could even while talking about her favorite fictional character of all time.

[Two-Tone]

Another Dalmatian wandered into the library, already things were going so quickly after she had arrived at the school. After seeing the coliseum and learning she had to fight made Two-Tone a bit uneasy about it. She wasn't a fighter, heck she wasn't even one of those dog breeds that were used for fighting. She stopped when she saw a blonde haired boy and a huge creature and gulped, was this normal here? Two-Tone was unsure what to say or do before she heard a familiar voice, her tail wagged when she recognized it. "Cadpig? Is that you? Or maybe I'm imagining things, then again I might be homesick and imagining things. Or am I?" Two-Tone asked before trailing off, it was something she was known for since she was indecisive even back home.

[Cadpig]

"No, you're not delusional," Cadpig said, briefly acknowledging her sister. Talking with Two-Tone would have to wait, though. Rainbow Dash's inquiry about where to find a book had gotten the runty dalmatian's attention, and she was all too keen on trying to help. After all, what good would she have been if she didn't try to tell this... Winged horse where the books were? Cadpig leaped from her seat, carefully avoiding stepping on her overly long navy blue tie, and onto the table so that she might better address Rainbow. If she were so inclined, she would have gotten on Rainbow's head. This time, though, she didn't feel like really crossing any personal space bubbles.

"Any books beginning with 'D' might be over there," Cadpig answered. She pointed a tiny paw to a set of bookshelves nearby and her tail started to wag back and forth a bit. The prospect of this particular situation delighted her for one reason or another. Who even cared that she'd lost track of studying philosophy entirely? Helping someone was just fine by her standards.

"Tell you what. You give me a ride on your head, and I'll help you get your book. Deal?"

[Two-Tone]

Two-Tone turned to face her younger sister, before she could say anything else she noticed the Pegasus she was talking to, wait..Pegasus?? Now that was unusual even for her. She sat down and decided to wait for Cadpig to finish as she looked down at her uniform. "Gotta admit, the outfits are nice." She said with a wag of her tail before she turned her attention back to Cadpig and the Pegasus she was chatting to. Now she wondered if magical creatures were the normal here, if so then who knows what else she might see or run into here.

"Hey Cadpig, I wonder if we're the only ones of our family here? Though I doubt it, then again there could be more than just us unless we're the only ones that were accepted." Two-Tone began to speak to her younger sibling before drifting off.

[Lucky]

Lucky tugged irritably at the collar of his shirt, grunting as he walked down the hallway outside. Whose bright idea was it to make the DOGS wear uniforms? They weren't freakin human!! And Lucky was already annoyed with his uniform. Back in the dorm room, faced with the impossible task of even putting the stupid things on, Lucky had simply stared in dumbfounded disbelief, maw hanging open so long one of his roommates had told him so and promptly made him shut his mouth. It had taken him forever to get into the white button-up shirt by himself; he must have wriggled around for an eternity before his front paws finally went through the sleeves, and then they were way too long. With some work on his part, he'd managed to push them up on his paws and they bunched far more than was really attractive on his short athletic legs.

Then had come the real pain in the neck: the tie. The pup's red tie was drooping loosely around his neck in a tiny knot that looked dreadful, but it was the best he could get it to look and at this point was royally past caring. He didn't even bother with the pants. He might get in trouble but again, Lucky was past caring at this point. It was a stupid idea for animals to wear clothes and a REALLY stupid idea to make the boys wear ties. He hated it. He'd seen other pups go by from other Circles wearing their clothes in proper order and had seethed at them in pure annoyance. How DARE they wear their clothes properly and make him look bad. It made him even more irate to see them prance about like they were the cream of the crop. Especially that little pomeranian-looking dog, she must think she was so PERFECT looking and while he admitted she WAS pretty (without the weird human outfit) it just royally ticked him off that she managed to look so good in human clothes.

Lucky was so absorbed in his thoughts that at first he walked right by the library door. Only when he'd walked on a few feet did it really register to the pup's brain the blotches of white and black he'd seen out of the corner of his eye and he stopped, ears pricked. Then he backtracked a few steps and then irritably sat down next to the doorway to scratch at the abominable shirt, accidentally rucking it up his ribcage. A quick shake of the head making his black ears flop and then he walked in, trying to look casual and well, cool, despite the clothes making him look neither.

His eyes fell first on the enormous multi-eyed creature sitting by a table and at first the pup simply stared, open mouthed for a second, then a smile spread across his muzzle and his tail wagged. "Cool!! Hi there!" Looking past him, for the first time, Lucky noticed his sister sitting on the table with a big book. He was surprised, not by the book but by her being there. He hadn't been aware she'd gotten a letter? "Cadpig! What are you doing here?" Another shape caught his eye and he noticed Two-tone sitting on the floor nearby. Briefly, his heart fluttered and his smile spread wider and his tail wagged.

"Hi Two-tone! When did you get here?" Honestly, Two-tone had been the first to get a letter and Lucky had been pretty jealous. He'd been happy to get a letter so he could come here too and.. well, he was kind of hoping at some point today they might get to spend some time together.

[Two-Tone]

Two-Tone still focused on Cadpig and Rainbow Dash didn't see Lucky enter till she heard his voice, she felt a warm feeling come over her as she heard him say her name. She turned to face Lucky as her tail wagged "Hey Lucky, I just got here. Wait you got accepted here too? Well I kinda had a feeling more than just Cadpig and myself got accepted, then again what if all 101 of us got accepted?" Two-Tone wondered as she faced Lucky now focused solely on him. "That outfit does look nice on you Lucky." Two-Tone decided to compliment Lucky on his outfit, then again she didn't mind dressing up in different outfits back home inside the attic where there were a lot of trunks full of old clothes.

[Lucky]

She had to be kidding, right? Lucky thought he looked like a train wreck and a half, and for a moment his face was a mess of confusion with one brow furrowed and the other raised higher than the other. His jaw hung open like an unhinged gate. Then he thought better of it and closed his mouth, deciding to plop his haunches on the ground where he was. "Uhhh...thanks?"

To be honest, he'd have rather run into Two-tone on a day where he didn't look so darn scruffy and horrible. It was embarrassing to say the least and Lucky didn't care in the least for looking uncool in front of a pretty girl. Nervously he averted his gaze from Two-tone, waiting for Cadpig to answer him. He supposed she was busy psychoanalyzing the monster or something or she would've noticed him.

[Cadpig]

"Lucky?"

Cadpig turned her attention away from Rainbow Dash and, as soon as she did, saw her brother in the area. The fact that he was wearing red accessories while Two-Tone had light blue gave away the situation they were in rather quickly. The three siblings had been put into different circles. This wasn't a problem, at least for the moment, but it was likely to cause trouble later down the line. Oh well; for the present moment that wouldn't have bothered Cadpig at all. She could cope with the fact that a small number of her many siblings were there, too. After all, she probably wasn't the only one who had gotten a letter.

"I've been here for a few days now," Cadpig answered. She shrugged momentarily and took a moment to adjust her tie. In spite of her attempt to prevent it from getting messed up, she had noticed that it could use adjusting anyway. One thing she did find surprising was the fact that Lucky was even there at all. Cadpig would have thought that her brother would be too in to watching Thunderbolt back home to even care about coming to a school. Again, it wasn't a major issue. Just something the scholarly little dalmatian thought a bit odd.

"I'd have thought you'd be back home watching TV. But hey, good on you for wanting to broaden your educational horizons, my brother," she said. Her tail was whipping back and forth beneath her skirt at the mere thought of it. Given Lucky's general personality, though, she did have to imagine that he wouldn't be all that into the classes. Oh well... She could dream, couldn't she?

[Elijah]

Elijah walked by Cadpig, Lucky and Two-Tone, he looked and saw all three of them. "Lucky? Two-Tone? Cadpig?" He asked in surprise as he walked up to them, he did find Patch, one day in one of the dorms but seeing Lucky, Two-Tone and Cadpig here gave him hope that maybe Jewel, Dipstick, Wizzer and Rolly was here too. "I remember you guys getting letters from the Academy, but that was the last time I saw you three, didn't see you after that." He sat down and looked at Cadpig, Lucky and Two-Tone. "So, how are things going with you guys?" He asked them.