//------------------------------//
// 11. Playground Politics 
// Story: Clean the Slate 
// by Earth Galvanising 
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There comes a point in every undying, rebirthing God of Time's life where one must look back on themselves, and think; 'Am I really, seriously, absolutely going to be arguing with a pony, that isn't even a fraction of my total age thus far?'

Of course; the answer is yes.

Because that same pony may have just taken your seat. The seat that you had pointed out to yourself and thought, yeah, that's mine. Right at the back of the room, in the corner, because, to be honest, an undying, multi-life God of Time will likely have little use for what he or she may learn in the classroom.

And so, it is here we rejoin our long-suffering hero, Quantum, previously known as Bryan, and a multitude of other names and insults that he has carried through his lives, who is standing in front of a desk, an occupied desk, staring at the criminal responsible for stealing his self-claimed seat. The blue alicorn cleared his throat.

"You're in my seat," he says bluntly, not bothering with manners. A half-lidded, unimpressed gaze fixes the evil-doer's eyes, and the greatest rebuttal of Pony-kind spills from the antagonist's muzzle.

"Nu-uh, I saw it first, I sat in it first," the colt places a hoof on the desk, "It's my seat. Go find your own!"

Quantum dragged a hoof over his face. It was going to be a long education. Briefly, he considers simply levitating the beige colt out of the seat, but honestly, it's more trouble than it's worth.

With little more than a few muttered curses in Ancient Greek, the alicorn stomps away, and takes the seat on the opposite end of the room, still on the back row, just by the wall instead of the preferred window. Quantum grumbles internally, Why do I even need to go to school? Everypony who knows me knows that I've more or less covered the curriculum at this level.

Because where would be the fun in that, oh clueless ex-human-double of mine? Also, you need to interact with more ponies besides your parents, Cadence, Twilight and Tia, the voice of 'Ye-Olde-Quantum' echoes back in his mind. That was something new that had happened through the last six or so years. As the recollections of his previous lives got more and more frequent, Quantum found himself capable of a strong connection to the spirit of his original self in his head, and eventually, the two were able to converse mentally, rather than having to perform a Flow Stasis or a Trance.

I am interacting with others. I went to the market on my own the other day, you know, the 'Modern-Quantum' thought back. The voice in his head chuckled back.

Right, and you really didn't snap at everypony who whispered about your horn and wings, huh? Chances are, when you come of age and eventually remember your first life (AKA, me), Tia is gonna jump you with royalty, and you'll ascend to some sort of throne, meaning you're gonna need to up them social skills, Mr Grumpy! The all to cheery-voice of Quantum Snr taunts colt in his seat. The multi-blue alicorn's eye twitches.

And if I end up going into a Trance here? What then, Mister Has-Been? The classroom starts filling up a bit more, he noted in the pause between answers. He'd arrived early especially for that seat. A scowl affixes itself to his face.

You really weren't listening to Celestia when she talked your family through this school business, were you? An exasperated voice drifts through his mind.

No, Quantum smirks inwardly at his mental counter-part, But I will now.





Celestia sat on the armchair in the Herring Home's living room, facing the turned around sofa containing Bow, Hegese and the colt in question. It had been around seven-and-a-half years since the birth of Quantum, and the family had been putting off sending the stallion-in-a-colt's-body to school for as long as possible, out of fear that the young alicorn would be bullied simply for being an alicorn. Celestia had repressed a chuckle at that, because if the new Quantum was anything like the old one, then there was no way in Tartarus that he'd be the victim of bullying. But the family had put his education off long enough, and Celestia had decided to step in.

"So, how can you be certain that he won't be bullied at school, Princess? I'm not saying that the colts and fillies are going to have it out for my son, but we all know how the young can be around anything well... different," Hegese, trusted friend and advisor of the Throne, asked with slight worry. One of her forelegs was dangled around the shoulder of her son, while she tilted her head in curiosity of the princess.

"Yes, unfortunately, while I'd like to assume the best of all the colts and fillies at the Castle's school, I know that there will always be cases of unkindness towards one and other amongst the students. Kids will be kids, I suppose, but to avoid that," Celestia smiled serenely at the family, "It's simple. We make Quantum seem as normal as possible to his fellow pupils. We can use a bit of illusion magic to simply hide his wings and cutie mark, and he'll fit right in!"

'Or, we could just continue with the home-schooling thing. That worked fine. Why change it?' The mental-voice of Quantum drifted into Celestia's own mind, and she frowned inwardly.

No, Quantum, you need to integrate with our society. Like it or not, being an alicorn means that Fate has some sort of plan for you, and I can guarantee you that it won't be easy, but will more importantly require the trust of the Kingdom, she told him over their connection, In fact, I know that Fate has a plan for you, so you'll just have to suck it up, mister.

'As you've said. Several times, in fact, without elaboration of what I'm actually supposed to be doing later in life,' Celestia noted with a mild hint of satisfaction that the colt's eye twitched slightly at her reply, 'And how come I'm the only one who ever hears you talk like this? Everypony else sees and hears 'benevolent, always kind and calm Princess Celestia', while I get 'constantly egging you on, pleasure in your suffering, sadistic Celestia'. What did I do to deserve this?' 

Instead of replying, Celestia flashed a quick grin to the younger alicorn, before turning her attention back to the Herring parents, who seemed to have been discussing the possibility of Quantum's schooling. Eventually, it appeared the two had reached a common consensus, and both Hegese and Bow turned back towards the princess. Bow raised their collective thoughts.

"And, Princess, you're sure our son won't be found out?" The stallion, rightfully concerned (after all, alicorns really weren't that common), queried. Celestia offered a placating smile.

"Quite sure, Bow," The Sun Goddess assured, "In fact, the only reason Quantum would appear abnormal to the other students would be if he utilised his wings in front of the class, as it would break the illusion magic, or if he simply made a reputation for himself. But I'm sure he'd be as good as gold, wouldn't he?"





Benefits of being a Time Mage, Quantum thought with a grin, Perfect recall. It's like I can replay the whole event back in my head, with the finest details included! Ha, I love being me. In fact, when the colt had first discovered his perfect memory, he'd spent the following years reading as many books as possible, just to enjoy the feeling of remembering something with crystal clarity. It's oddly satisfying.

Quantum had underestimated the feeling of having his wings disguised. They felt as if they were tightly bound to his barrel, and that he'd lost feeling in them. Supposedly, in order to stop him from moving his wings instinctively, they'd had to block the magic running to his wings, essentially numbing them. The downside to blocking his magic flow, however, was that his horn felt like it was going to explode everytime he did a simple levitation magic. That being said, Quantum thought, All I have to do to break the illusion is to force my magic through the blocked path again. It's just a matter of making sure I don't use them passively, not actively.

During some of his home-schooled lessons, the Princess would occasionally drop by to help control his magic. He'd found earlier on that he'd end up overloading basic magics, which certainly wasn't helpful. In order to stop this, Celestia had taught Quantum how to regulate his internal flow of magic, so that he could direct precise amount to his horn so that spells no longer exploded in his face.

It hadn't been fun the first time; and he was determined to not let it happen again.

But, while his private homeschooling may have been beneficial for him intellectually, socially he was regressing. Quantum had acknowledged it, sure. The effects of only seeing the same ponies everyday certainly took its toll on his conversational skills, evident when he tried joking around too many of his parent's friends. Pshh, they couldn't take a joke, anways.

And so, that was why Quantum found himself in the very first year for Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns; given a scholarship, no less. The blue alicorn knew that Twilight had been offered the same deal, and wouldn't be surprised to see her go all the way through and end up as the Princess' Faithful Student. Seriously, he thought at his desk The rate at which Twilight picks up magic is absurd. I'm doing my best just to keep up with her, and she's always just that step ahead.

The School for Gifted Unicorns was about prestigious as they come; looked after by Celestia herself, only the most prodigious of prodigies made it into the school, and they took students from the age of eight, all the way to eighteen, and they were renown for producing stellar results year in, year out. While partly down to the pedigree of the students themselves, the fact that the school covered every detail, in every topic, in all syllabuses to an atomic level may also attribute to the intense learning environment of the school.

Of course, when you're a certain alicorn that has more or less memorised the first two years of education, then the intense environment is wasted, and you just end up feeling as though you're wasting your time; a feeling that Quantum was certain he'd be experiencing soon.

Taking a glance around the classroom, the multi-blue alicorn noted that more or less, every desk in the class had been taken up. He looked to the desk on his left, and grinned at the occupant. Madame Sparkle herself was seated, and looking rather nervous, as she watched the rest of the pupils meet and greet with one and other. Quantum, manoeuvring himself in his chair, turned to face the oblivious Twilight. He raised his forelegs above his head.

"Boo!"

With a incredibly high pitched 'eep!'. Twilight bolted upright and snapped her neck towards the source of her fright, and more annoyingly, the new source of greatly amused laughter. Grinding her teeth, Twilight prepared to give her disguised friend the greatest yelling in the history of the school, but was unfortunately interrupted by the entry of a more adult looking pony, and the hushing of the class. She gave a final glare, and Quantum grinned back in victory. They both turned towards the front.

"Good morning class! Welcome to Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns," The grey-coated, white mane unicorn mare addressed her new class, "My name is Ms Quill, and I am going to be your tutor for the next five years, before you go off to bigger and better things! So, how about we introduce ourselves, saying your name and something you like!" She smiled gently at the students before her, noting that the one the headmistress, or rather, the Princess herself had told the teaching staff only a week ago in a meeting, was sat in the back, biting back a grin. She inwardly noted that the filly beside him was trying equally as hard to keep a neutral face, but small ticks on her forehead throbbed. Ah, the unicorn teacher smiled, That'll be the source of the yelp I heard earlier.

"Greetings, everypony," a high-pitched nasally voice called out. The class truned towards a blonde-maned white-unicorn standing up near the front, turned towards the other pupils, "I am Prince Ingenio Blueblood, of the Noble Blueblood House," Quantum groaned. Of course, we're all in the same class, "And I am very much a fan of making friends. My father and I take very good care of our friends." The uppity-unicorn smiled sickly at the class, noting with satisfaction the number of awed whispers in the class. Sourly, however, he acknowledged the Sparkle filly was disinterested, and the Herring-Freak had his head in his forelegs on his desk. Blueblood scrunched his nose. "Now, if anyone wants to be my friend, then you would do well to meet me in the playground at break-time. Thank you," he smiled that sickly smile (how does a pony that young pull that damn grin off so well?!) once more, and sat himself down.

"That was, um," Ms Quill fumbled weakly for her words, "Very well spoken of you, Ingenio. Who would like to go next?" Quantum watched with mild interest as each unicorn stood to introduce themselves to the class. A few of them were already making eyes towards Blueblood, and others were starting to chat and make friends with one and other. Before he really knew it, Twilight was stood beside him and introducing herself.

"H-hello, My name is Twilight Sparkle," Quantum sighed as the class again was once again awed by another student from the four Royal Plaza houses, "I like learning and reading new things- wait, I mean reading and learning new things, and, libraries, and if you ever want to do some reading sometime, I'll be happy to join you!" The class murmured as she sat back down. Quantum noted with mild irritation that a few words like 'nerd' and 'geek' were being thrown around. You're at a school for the gifted, he mentally yelled, In some way, you're all nerds and geeks! The disguised alicorn waited for the class whispers to die down, before he stood and made his introduction.

"I'm Quantum Herring, yes, from the Royal Plaza houses," he cut off the whispers before they began, "And I really like that seat over there, but unfortunately, it was stolen from me. Also, I get headaches, a lot. Thanks," The blue pseudo-unicorn pointed at the window seat he was going to take at the start of the day, before looking back to the rest of the class. Finishing his introduction, he sat back down at his desk, and planted his head firmly back in his folded forelegs, ignoring the excited whispers in the class. Huh, the older voice in the alicorn's head spoke, Your social skills really do suck. You're going to need to work on them.

Fuck off.

The amused mental-chuckle drifted away from his immediate thought processes, and Quantum tilted his head so that he could see Ms Quill, whilst keeping his head placed on his forelegs.

"So, now that we've all introduced ourselves, I think it's time that I tell you what you'll be studying here," With a glow of her horn, Ms Quill opened a drawer at her desk, and pulled out a piece of chalk, coated in a light-grey aura. "Firstly, while I'm sure many of you heard about our curriculum while in the Nursery, we teach the basic core subjects of Literacy, Maths, History, Geography, Science, and of course, Magical Studies," She wrote all the names of the subjects on the board, whilst keeping her attention on the awe-inspired class. "Then, there's also Physical Education that you all have to take part in, to keep yourselves fit and healthy!" Ms Quill wrote 'Physical Education AKA PE' on the board, surrounded by tennis rackets, catching gloves, and a myriad of other sporting equipment. "Finally, as you get older, Magical Studies will split into different types. You can learn Transfiguration, Illusions, and all sorts of magic, here, at the Gifted School!"

Quantum looked next to him to see Twilight staring off dreamily into the distance. Her thirst for knowledge and new magic once again hitting him. He rolled his eyes, but smiled good naturedly.

"Now that we have that out the way, we have one hour left before break time," Ms Quill wiped the board clean, and smiled at her class, "First on the timetable is History, and what better place to begin than the start of the Kingdom of Equestria? So, would anypony know what event sparked the start of Equestria?" Quill looked around the room, some clueless faces, some in deep thought, one disinterested and a purple hoof beside it raised high into the air. "Yes, Twilight?"

"The Kingdom of Equestria started just after the Discord Cataclysm, Miss," Twilight explained, history books she'd read in the past coming to her mind, "Where two alicorns sealed the draconequus in a stone prison using the Elements of Harmony. Previously, Pony-kind had been divided into Earth Ponies, Unicorns and Pegasi. The Great Unification occurred on the day we now know as Heart's Warming, where the leaders of the three tribes came together and did away with the Windigo fiends and the snowstorm plaguing the land. The Kingdom nly became official, however, when the two alicorns that defeated Discord ascended to the throne," Twilight stopped, suddenly noting that everypony (barring the one next to her) was staring at her wide-eyed. Even Ms Quill looked impressed! Twilight blushed, and grinned sheepishly.

"Very good! That was a wonderful explanation, Twilight," Ms Quill congratulated, snapping out of her surprise, "Yes, the Kingdom of Equestria technically started upon the first Heart's Warming, as a result of an event we call The Great Unification. However, e only officially became a true nation after the Discord Cataclysm, where the two alicorns who defeated the fearsome beast ascended to the throne. Can anypony tell me the names of one of those alicorns?" To her satisfaction, a lot more hooves raised into the air this time. Ms Quill made her selection, "Yes, Beacon?" The yellow colt with orange and blue mane in the middle of the class smiled.

"Princess Celestia!" He called out, and Ms Quill smiled and nodded enthusiastically.

"That's right! Princess Celestia was one of the alicorns many, many years ago, that defeated the Dread Discord. Now, here's a trickier one, who can tell me the name of the other alicorn?" This time, there were a lot fewer hooves in the air, and a lot more faces of confusion. In fact, there was one hoof left in the air. A lavender one. Ms Quill sighed imperceptibly, she knew where this was going to go, and she just hoped that the young filly wouldn't be dissuaded by the other children. Plastering a smile, she answered the straining foreleg. "Yes, Twilight?"

"Princess Luna, the Princess of the Night!"

And so, Quantum listened to the lesson drone on for the next hour. Where Ms Quill would ask an easy question, and everypony would have an answer, but she'd follow it with a difficult question (for the majority, that is) where only Twilight would have an answer. Occasionally, he would hear some of his classmates groan when Twilight went to answer. It didn't often register with him, though. He was caught up in his thoughts, racking his brain (and his older counterpart) as to why the name 'Discord' rung such a sour tone with him. Do you know why?

...Yes.

Are you going to tell me?

...No.

Is it one of those things that I'll 'remember' when I'm older?

...Maybe.

God fucking damn it, he growled, Do you always have to be so cryptic? Why can't you just tell me everything now? Nopony else in the class took heed of his souring expression, but the disguised alicorn hid himself in his forelegs again, just to be safe.

We've been through this. There's no telling what might happen to you if you remember your lives in the wrong order. Trust me, we have to do it this way. I know, it's annoying. I want everything to be over and done with, just as much as you do. Quantum sighed, and dropped the subject with his internal-self. The multi-blue pseudo-unicorn sighed and slumped into a slouching position, the sounds of class droning in his head.





"And that," MS Quill paused, to hear the chime of the bell, "Is the end of the lesson. You now have break time! We'll finish our history lesson after you all come back from the playground. Dismissed." As she finished her sentence, the class emptied out faster than she could have thought, with a bleary-eyed Quantum Herring walking out of the class, yawning as he went. Ms Quill smiled amusedly, watching him go. Yes, she thought, I think this class is going to be very interesting indeed.

As Quantum trotted out of the classroom, and into the corridor leading to the playground, he wondered how all of his classmates managed to disappear as quickly as they did. He shrugged, Children and their energy. Surprised Twilight followed them out, though, maybe she's already got a group of friends. That'd be nice for her.

When he reached the playground, he found his conclusion was wrong. Very seriously wrong. The pseudo-unicorn was shocked, and rather appalled, to see Blueblood and a group of his 'friends' encroaching around Twilight. Still quite shocked, he listened into their words. One of the other unicorns spoke up first, surprisingly, not Blueblood.

"Hey, Twilight," the dusty brown unicorn colt said (Quantum couldn't remember his name) "Just who do you think you are, trying to show off like that?" He frowned at Twilight, who didn't quite understand what was going on.

"Excuse me? I was just answering the questions that Ms Quill was giving us. I wasn't showing off!" She defended, puffing out her chest in defiance. The unicorn colt replied, shoving her back.

"Uh, yes, yes you were! I bet you were just trying to show up Prince Blueblood," he gestured to the white unicorn in question, "Well it didn't work, Sparkle, the Prince is much smarter, and a lot cooler than you are!" He shouted, going to shove her again. Blueblood stopped him.

"Stop it, Duster," Ingenio said, looking at his hoof, "As long as she remembers her place, below me, then everything will be OK. You can do that, can't you Twilight?" The lavender unicorn, looking quite upset at this point, opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off the white unicorn, "Oh, and, don't bother telling Ms Quill about this. It'll just make things worse for yourself. Now be a good little pony, keep your trap shut, and don't bother me again. Understand?" Twilight made no reply, staring at the ground, trying to hold back her tears. "I said, understand, you freakish-nerd!" Blueblood went to shove the distraught unicorn, but a blue body stood in his way. He growled.

"What do you think you're doing, Ingenio?" Quantum looked at the unicorn, his stance showing disinterest, but his eyes flaring with righteous fury. "What, you upset that Twilight here is smarter than you? Or that she always will be?" The unicorn from before, Duster, fixed Quantum with a glare.

"Hey, watch what you're saying! This is Prince Blueblood, didn't you know? Or are you too dumb to remember that, you weird-maned freak!" Quantum narrowed his eyes at the offending unicorn. Really now? Just because my mane is a mix of a bunch of different colours, you've got to make fun of it? He growled, Tch. Kids. Before he could make his reply to Duster, however, Bleublood yanked the foreleg of his vocal lackey.

"Hey. We're going, Duster. Lets just leave Twilight and her pet alone," Ingenio, gathering up his small gang of followers, sauntered further into the playground, ignoring the two they left behind. Twilight fell to her haunches, eyes downcast.

Quantum noted, with no small amount of rage, the small drip-drop noises of tears falling from his best friend's face. He sat beside her, and slung a foreleg around her shoulders. She leant into him, ignoring the laughter, shouting and playful screaming coming from the rest of the yellow-paved playground.

"Why," she asked quietly, voice quivering, "Why did they say that about me?" She looked up at the disguised alicorn, aware of the circumstances behind his missing wings. Twilight's eyes brimmed with tears.

"Because, Twilight, colts and fillies can be some of the most cruel ponies on the planet. Give them something to latch onto, and they'll never let go," He rubbed her back soothingly, and Twilight fell into his one-legged embrace.

"D-do you think I'm a f-freakish-nerd?" She whispered quietly, stuttering on her words. Quantum clicked his tongue; Twilight Sparkle should not be crying on her first day at such a wonderful school. He shook his head, and cocked a grin at her.

"Nah, you're not a freakish-nerd. Just those chumps can't come to terms with the fact you're smarter than them, which, is fair. I've had years to get used to the feeling," She wiped her eyed and giggled, before smirking at him.

"Yeah, right. You have no idea how hard it is, holding myself back for you," To her reply, Quantum shot to his legs, and held a hoof to his chest in mock horror, his face mirroring such.

"Why, Ms Sparkle! I can't believe you'd trample on me like that! Oh, my heart, I think I'm fading, fading... fading..." He fell to the ground, too slowly to be considered physically real. She snorted at his antics, before gasping in realization.

"Hey, wait a minute, I never got you back for making me jump before class!" Narrowing her eyes at her now surprised friend, she stalked after him, eye twitching, and grin mischievous. Quantum rose to his hooves, and checked his foreleg, as if there were a watch there. He spoke with a monotonous tone.

"Oh, would you look at the time. I really must be going now," and with that, he bolted, galloping straight into the playground at highspee, Twilight hot on his hooves. They laughed together, as they both ran circles around the playground, smiles across their faces.

It felt good, to just let loose sometimes.





"They started school today, you know," A white alicorn sat in Canterlot Castle Gardens, facing the statue of a very old friend. Magic pulsed from the base of the statue, carrying with it a voice she'd been hearing more and more over the last few years.

"Oh, they did now, did they? I suppose it won't be long before we're all together again. How long will it take for him to remember everything?" Infinitus voice rung in her head, and Celestia smiled serenely. She'd been feeling calmer since Quantum's birth; perhaps regular interaction with him helped her relax, even if he wasn't the Quantum she remembered yet.

"Around fifteen years. It will likely seem much longer than that, though. By the time you're free, I expect Luna will already be with us again," She looked up into the sky, now covered by peaceful night, and the silhouette of a mare shadowing the moon. "I just hope we have time to prepare before Mind rears himself again. Maker knows I have a myriad of problems to deal with, already."

"You'll be fine, Tia," Infinitus reassured her, and Celestia calmed her mind further, "We'll be fine."