HighTail University Pt. 04

Part 4: Brass Tacks

By Firefly

Morning came late for Lily the following day. Serrah as usual was up and about long before Lily even opened her eyes. Though today was Friday and she knew Serrah wouldn't be home until late in the day as most of her classes fell on Friday. Which to Lily sucked. She couldn't imagine having the most classes on the day before the weekend. Climbing out of bed, Lily would make short work of her morning routine, dressing in the school uniform and heading out the door. The first stop was the student-run cafe for a cup of coffee and then to Professor Barnes's office to have a chat and see what could be worked out.

Admittedly Lily was a bit nervous. What happened today really could make or break her education. But it was more likely she was simply overthinking things as she tended to. Turning her brain off was not her strongest suit. It never had been. Overthinking was practically a life skill for her at this point. If life were a video game, that skill would be at 99 while everything else trailed way behind.

Humming a bit as she made her way along the halls, she'd slip into the cafeteria where the cafe was located. The cafeteria was fairly massive with a buffet-style breakfast, lunch, and dinner put on each day as well as a student-run restaurant you could order meals at. The room was laid out with circular tables dotted about and a set of washrooms at the opposite end to the buffet. The most curious feature however wasn't the futuristic holograms flitting about above your head going through many of the school's most recent events and coming schedule, it was the large glass wall backed by a bright green meadow that was fenced in. The wall was fitted with several dozen open slots which led to cut-out trays on the outside, trays which rested in individual what looked like horse stalls lined up side-by-side.

This was most often where the full-time ponies tended to eat, as those who had chosen to pursue a hooved career had a very strictly controlled diet. They lived and breathed their lifestyle and more often than not, took their lunch in specialized trays and forms that made it easier to eat without the use of hands. For other ponies, however, they often untacked and hung their equipment on one of the many specialized racks to the right of the windows. Each rack was labeled with a nameplate bearing the Student's name, Pony name, and was often decorated to reflect their personality.

Today there was only a single lone pony in any of the given stalls, lapping at the remnants of what looked like banana pudding in their tray on the other side of the glass. While it looked like a solid pane, the glass of the stall could be toggled to open like a window allowing interaction between the ponies and any in the lunch room. The pony in question looked up, sparing a casual glance at Lily as she walked over to the not-so-busy student cafe tucked in the corner nearby before going back to its meal.

Lily yawned a bit as she stepped into the cafe. It was a play on a Japanese maid cafe except instead of girls in maid outfits, they wore student uniforms as well as pony ears and tails which varied in color and design between each person. Lily thought it was a cute design and considered it separate from the whole 'pony' thing as the school's mascot WAS a pony after all. She raised a hand, waving gently to the only worker in the cafe at the current moment. A redhead blowing bubbles with her chewing gum as she stirred a cup of tea endlessly behind the counter.

"Good morning Lily." The girl said in a distinctly Scottish accent without looking up from the book she was reading.

"Morning Olivia. How was the rush?" Lily asked, moving up to the counter and leaning on it.

"Not as bad as usual actually. A lot of students are already off on their holidays so it was busier on the pony side of things more than on the student side. Which is nice because I swear every single pony has more patience than the entire student body collectively." Olivia said with a slight giggle.

"Well, hard to not be patient when you're tethered in a stall..."

Olivia chuckled, "Good point. Your usual?"

"Please and thank you, although with a shot of espresso today, please. I need a bit of an extra kick today."

"Big conversation today huh?" Olivia asked as she went about preparing Lily's usual order of a large 2 milk, and 2 honey. But today preparing a shot of espresso to go in it.

Lily narrowed her eyes but then chuckled, "Right. I keep forgetting you're in my physics class. For a minute I was about to get rather upset with Serrah for having such a big mouth..."

"Well, she DOES have a big mouth. But this time, it didn't come from her." Olivia smiled as she mixed the coffee and slid it across the counter to Lily, "Anything I can help with?" Olivia offered after a moment.

"I don't think so. Not unless you can make all my previous assignments be on time magically..." Lily said, reaching out with her student bracelet which Olivia tapped with a small machine that flashed green after a moment.

"I'm afraid I'm not quite that talented. But if you need anything, just say so Lils!"

Lily nodded, "I will. Now off to Professor Barnes's office. Wish me luck!"

"I wish you luck!" Olivia responded quickly, followed by a giggle.

Lily smiled and headed out of the cafeteria, letting her mind wander a bit. She still hadn't come up with a plan of attack beyond begging for another chance. Something she was pretty sure Professor Barnes wasn't going to hand out so easily. But then, some of her best work had been without prethinking it too much. So perhaps that could be to her benefit.

~Or not...~ She told herself quietly as she moved out of the cafeteria and began the short walk across campus to Professor Barnes's office. She'd checked his schedule when she'd woken up to make sure he didn't have a class and that she wasn't interrupting by showing up in the middle of one of his lectures. Luckily he seemed to have a fairly empty Friday which was good for the late-rising Lily.

Professor Barnes's office was separate from his lecture hall. Two doors down the hall in a small cluster of staff offices. She knocked on his door, which held a vintage poster of an old biker bar in the south end of town. It didn't take long for him to answer. He was dressed in his usual aesthetic, although he'd swapped his piercings out for silver piercings today instead of gold. He lifted his arm, glancing at his watch, an outdated piece of technology but a reliable one, "Earlier than I anticipated. That's a good start. Make yourself comfortable Miss McKinsey." He said, motioning her into the well-furnished office and the plush-looking armchair sitting across from him at his desk which he quickly settled back into.

Unlike most staff offices, Professor Barnes's office was very devoid of modern tech. No holoscreens, no AllScape window screens, not even a holophone. It was very bare-bones, with a brick of a desktop computer tucked along one side of his desk, hooked to a pair of old 4K monitors along with a physical mouse and keyboard. The office itself was decorated with a fair amount of vintage memorabilia and in a way, it was kind of nice, like stepping out of time and into the old.

Lily settled into the armchair, surprised at the rather curious red material it was wrapped in. She ran her fingers along it as she sat down. It was not a material she was familiar with and as if Professor Barnes could read her expression he spoke, "Velvet if you were curious. A manufactured material from well...long before you were born."

"Never heard of it."

"You wouldn't have, it's an antique. Older than I am even. Do be careful to not stress the material too much." He folded his hands in front of him on his desk and looked at her with his piercing blue eyes for a long moment, "Now, let's get down to brass tacks, shall we?"

Lily nodded.

"So, what do you propose moving forward?"

Lily drew in a deep breath and took a minute to gather her thoughts before she spoke, "Well. First off, I wanted to apolo..."

"I'll stop you right there. I told you before, that I am out of patience for apologies. Give me action. What are you going to change moving forward to convince me not to flunk you out tomorrow?"

"Well...I...I'll put in extra effort to make sure I get my assignments in on time. I tend to overthink them and so it generally takes me longer to complete them. So I'll try to be more concise and to-the-point so that they get submitted on time."

Professor Barnes folded his hands in his lap and leaned back, "It's funny, this is one of the few times I'd encourage a student to do worse, in order to succeed. I can't say anything bad about your quality. Your assignments are well detailed, researched properly, and genuinely a joy to read. But you keep failing to make deadlines, I think if you rein yourself in a little, you could find a good balance between those brains of yours, and adhering to the school policies. That's a good start, but you've made these promises before, what makes this any different?" He asked the last bit with a small tilt of his head.

"Well...I don't know really."

"Nor do I. And because of that, I'm not willing to offer you a way to make up that credit and avoid failing just on that promise alone. I told you before that you need to find something to be passionate about, some alternative activity to re-ignite that spark of yours." He leaned back, scooping up a pamphlet from a shelf and sliding it across the table to her. It was the extracurricular activity and club list for the year.

"There is more to life than just learning. There's a lot more to education than just attending classes. You're not just here for that. You're here to discover yourself in a way and I think if you commit to something new, it could help get you on the right track." He offered this with a smile.

It made sense he would be encouraging her to join an extracurricular, he was, after all, the head of the department that handled all the extracurricular activities as well as the head of the event committee. She picked up the pamphlet flipping through it idly and noting that many of the activities had been crossed out with a sharpie. Everything except the more physical-based clubs were crossed off.

"Why are these..."

"Crossed off? Because I'm not letting you off so easily Miss McKinsey, I want you to join one of the more physical clubs. Your physical health is just as important as your mental health. You get enough mental stimulation in class, you need a way to break free from that once in a while. That's the deal I'm prepared to offer you today. In exchange for time spent at any extracurricular, I will provide extra credit as well as nudge a few of your assignments that were slightly too late, into being on time which will boost your grades a significant amount. As an aside, this deal will also extend to your other professors as I've arranged."

"Why would you do that much for me?" She asked suddenly, caught off guard by the significant act of kindness.

"Because Miss McKinsey, some of us do truly care about the success of our students and the future they carry on their shoulders. You're brilliant in many ways and I think with the right push you can do amazing things. Plus, Miss Hawthorne has a lot to say about your state of mind and is ready to support you fully no matter what choice you make."

"Hawthorne...Serrah." Lily wrinkled her nose a bit, "What all did she tell you?" She asked a bit sharply.

Professor Barnes held up his hands peacefully, "Easy there. Nothing major, just that she was worried about you is all. She spent a good hour in my office begging me to find a way to give you another chance. You don't come by friends like that very often in life so I suggest you thank her."

Lily blushed softly.

Professor Barnes smiled at her, "Now, anything on that list that catches your eye?" He asked curiously.

"I...I'm not sure." She stammered.

"I figured as much. Good thing I've cleared your schedule for the day and have arranged a first-hand tour of several of the major clubs today." He said with a slight grin.

"Wait...what?"

"You heard me. You're getting the new student treatment today. I've set you up with one of the senior guides who will be taking you through several of the clubs. By the end of the day, I expect a decision or a consideration. Do we have a deal?" He extended a hand to her, a genuine smile on his face.

"Deal." Lily said with a nod.

They shook hands before Professor Barnes stood up, "Consider today the first step of the rest of your life Miss McKinsey. I expect great things from you. Now let's get your guide here..." He said this, pulling out a holophone from his pocket.

"Thank you, Professor Barnes."

"You're quite welcome." He said, dialing a number on his phone.

Lily stifled a chuckle suddenly, "And here I'd expected you to pull out an old touchscreen phone."

"Hey, I'm not THAT outdated." He said with a chuckle as the call went through.

Lily settled back into her chair and let out a small sigh. Today had gone a lot better than she'd expected. Who knew what the future would hold?