Inside the school, Ashford stared at the grade rankings on the classroom wall, lost in thought.
It was normal that his grades were the same as always—not particularly outstanding—but the ranking itself was abnormal.
Why was his ranking so high?
Aunt Cadence had clearly said that Ashford’s grades at Crystal Preparatory Academy were only lower-middle at best.
But at Canterlot High School, he was actually considered the “top student” type.
Originally, Shangguan Jingxing didn’t want to make friends with the students here; besides leaving things to fate, he also wanted to avoid unnecessary trouble.
One of the most important factors was the social divide based on academics.
After all, it would look strange no matter how you sliced it if someone at the bottom of the class befriended someone in the top rankings.
As it turned out, he came here thinking he was an underdog, only to end up as the frontrunner.
Who could he even complain to about this?
Watching the friends around him whispering to one another, Ashford felt that his path to making friends had become even more difficult, as he usually preferred to stay by himself.
He went to school alone, ate alone, did extracurricular activities alone, and would nap on his desk whenever he had nothing to do.
He had absolutely no social life.
People probably thought he was a weirdo, but he turned out to be a weird top student.
It was quite ridiculous; the academic atmosphere at Canterlot High School was truly strange.
He didn’t know how they did it, but despite the atmosphere not being very studious, they somehow managed to keep the students in a state of being ‘better than the worst, but worse than the best.’
Principal Celestia’s way of thinking was always something Ashford could never fathom.
During lunch, Ashford felt like more and more students were watching him; the feeling was very intense.
“Your name is Ashford, right?”
“Uh… hello. I remember you. You seem to be called… called… App… Apple…”
“Pinkie Pie.”
“Right, Pinkie Pie.”
Ashford looked at Pinkie Pie with a forced smile, not understanding why she had suddenly approached him.
“I’m here to apologize to you.”
“Huh? Apologize? For what?”
Ashford had thought Pinkie Pie wanted him to help her with tutoring or something, or perhaps needed a guy to help move some things, since he had learned recently that Pinkie Pie was a party planner. Find the original chapter at novelping . com.
But what he didn’t understand was why Pinkie Pie was suddenly apologizing.
From what he remembered, this was their first official interaction.
“Because you’re a new student, and I didn’t become friends with you right away. I’m so sorry that I haven’t noticed you from the time you enrolled until now.”
“Uh… it’s fine. I don’t usually socialize much, so it doesn’t matter. It’s not a big deal. I’m glad you’re willing to talk to me.”
Ashford wiped away non-existent cold sweat from his face, unsure of what to say next.
He felt that a girl like Pinkie Pie was a bit strange—she seemed impossibly enthusiastic.
“No! It is a big deal! I, Pinkie Pie, as the girl who loves making friends most in all of Canterlot High School, have sworn to be friends with everyone. It’s my duty to make sure every student has a smile on their face. When I planned my first party as a little girl and made my mom, dad, and my older and younger sisters all smile for the first time, I realized my life’s mission. My responsibility is to make the whole world smile, yet I’ve gone this long without becoming your friend. This is my failure, so please forgive me!”
Ashford watched Pinkie Pie rattle off a mountain of words and felt his head spinning a little.
“So… you noticed me because you saw my grades were ranked near the top of the school?”
“No, I noticed you because I saw an extra person on the grade list.”
“…Okay, I forgive you. It’s nice to be friends with you, Pinkie Pie.”
“That’s great! Then can I just call you Ashford from now on?”
“No problem, you can call me that. Actually, back in my home country, many people called me that.”
“Thanks! Here’s my contact info. If you ever need help with anything, remember to come find me!”
Pinkie Pie smiled, turned, and skipped away, leaving Ashford sitting on his chair, dazed and at a loss.
This Pinkie Pie is so strange.
She has a smile on her face from beginning to end.
Doesn’t she worry about having a leaf of lettuce stuck in her teeth?
After lunch, Shangguan Jingxing went alone to the statue at Canterlot High.
He really enjoyed these moments when everyone else was eating and no one was bothering him.
In this bright sunshine, amidst the scent of flowers and the singing of birds, drawing a portrait to pass the time was truly a wonderful thing.
Besides, he could get his art class homework done ahead of time.
As he drew, he wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but one side of the stone statue at Canterlot High began to ripple, and then a girl crawled out from inside it. New chapters come out on novelping dot com first.
A girl…
crawling out of a stone statue…
this isn’t journey to the west.
“Uh… hello?”
The girl raised her hand and gave a greeting.
It was hard to tell if it was awkwardness or something else.
Regardless, if Ashford were in that situation, he would be very embarrassed.
“…Hello.”
Shangguan Jingxing also waved his hand.
Then, the girl actually crawled away on all fours, fleeing the scene.
While Shangguan Jingxing was still standing there in a daze, the voice of the master magician Trixie echoed across the courtyard.
“Welcome, spectators, to witness the performance of the Great and Powerful Trixie! The magic I shall perform next is—the Wall Passing Technique! Ha!”
With a loud shout, Trixie slammed a smoke bomb onto the ground.
When the smoke cleared, it was revealed that Trixie was struggling, with half of her body stuck inside the wall.
“Don’t worry, spectators! This is but a minor mishap! Watch as I… immediately… pull… myself out! Yah! Come on! Out!”
Ashford watched Trixie struggle to crawl out of the wall, wondering where the “spectators” she mentioned were.
There was clearly no one around Trixie.
Well, you couldn’t say there were no spectators; Ashford counted as one.
First, there was Pinkie Pie, who always had a smile and loved making friends; then a strange girl who crawled on all fours; and finally, the magician Trixie, whose magic shows always failed yet who continued tirelessly.
The school here was strange, the teachers were strange, the principal was strange, and the students were even stranger.
“Trixie, perhaps you should go discuss the Wall Passing Technique with a girl who walks on all fours. She’s better at it than you.”
“Huh? A girl walking on all fours?”
Trixie thanked Ashford for his help while straightening her clothes, but then she was left bewildered by his words.
What did he mean by walking on all fours?