The next day started a bit earlier than the previous, although in the same way, with the three of us walking towards the one-room schoolhouse where I’d be going each day. I wasn’t particularly excited about it. I didn’t really like kids that much, and I couldn’t stand school, hence my dropping out. Still, I guessed it would be better than sitting and doing nothing all day like I had been, and knew that there were, including the teacher, four adults who wanted me to go, so I decided to try to look at it as “getting the full experience” in Equestria. Besides, they’d be taking a field trip to Canterlot in a few weeks, and I didn't want to miss out on that.
We made our way over and walked into the building, being greeted by Miss Leap, and I quickly noticed that I was the first one there.
“You’re quite early,” she told me. “Most of the other students aren’t going to start showing up for ten or fifteen more minutes."
"I told you," Thundertail commented, looking at Herbal Essence.
"But that’s fine, because it means we can use right now to plan out how today’s going to go for you.”
She explained that the class was typically broken up into three sections: math, reading, and science/history, and that there'd be a break in between each section. I also learned that, while her class started at the same time each day, there wasn't a set time for how long each section of class would last, or how long the day as a whole was. Once she felt she was done teaching, we were released.
"How will we know when to pick him up then?" Herbal Essence asked.
"Well, the rest of the students walk themselves home, but I can walk Leo home if you'd like. Your house is actually on my way."
"If it's no trouble, that'd be perfect."
"You're lucky, Leo," Thundertail told me. "When I was in school, we had to leave at the same time every day, no matter what."
"I can relate to that," I thought.
With that thought, the other students started to make their way into the room, and Herbal Essence and Thundertail saw themselves out. I watched as Miss Leap greeted each one that came in for a few minutes, before, after what I assumed to be the last student came in, she turned everyone's attention to me.
"Fillies and colts," she announced, "we have a new student in class today, who some of you may have met yesterday." She then turned to me, asking, "Would you like to introduce yourself?"
I let out a small cough. "Um, I'm Leo," I said quietly.
"Where are you from, Leo?"
I knew that the main reason I was here was because Doctor Spark wanted me to make friends, so I decided to try something unexpected. "An alternate universe," I answered, putting on a tiny smile.
She smiled back at that, and it got a few chuckles, which was what I was hoping for. "And how old are you?"
"Twenty."
A few more laughs came from it, and the teacher looked genuinely happy with my responses. I personally enjoyed the unknown truthfulness behind what I said for my introduction. "Well, in any case, Leo, this is our class, and we'll all do our part to make you feel welcome here. Right, class?"
"Yes, Miss Leap," a dozen or so mouths said.
"Now, does anypony remember where we left off yesterday for math?"
Where I used to live, you had to be sixteen to drop out of school, and seventeen to drop out without your parents' permission. I remember eagerly waiting for the day I could drop out, not wanting to have to suffer through my second year of the tenth, my parents begging me to just keep going. "You were near the top of your class just two years ago. You don't have to throw everything away. You can still fix the mess you've made for yourself." Of course, my predictable response was "I don't care" and "If you want me to keep going to school, you'll make me go to rehab." However, I told them that knowing that, where I lived, I couldn't be forced to go to rehab after turning sixteen, so there was really nothing they could do at that point unless they got a court order, which would have been quite difficult for them to get. And so, the day I turned seventeen, I signed my notice that I was dropping out, and left feeling excited that I would never have to go to school ever again.
And now, just over three years later, I was sitting in class once again with a bunch of six and seven year olds.
Even though I was in first grade, and I already knew everything she was explaining, math to start off the day was awful, and I found myself putting my chin on the desk, my mind wandering away from her. I started to think about that other Leo. What was he doing now? The genie said he put him in my five-year-old body, but was he five right now, or already twenty like I was when I left? Either way, he was probably in school right now with me, whether in kindergarten or college, instead of being completely pathetic like I was. I don't think he was actively seeking out trouble like I did.
I remembered that the genie said he was going to dehydrate and die if he was still here. I almost wanted to say I was the reason he was better off now, but I knew better. Mandy was the reason he was better off. I knew that, like me, even if her parents wanted her to, she didn't have to go to rehab. Her parents couldn't force her to go. But she did anyway, giving me the DVDs that inevitably got me here. She changed at least two lives, maybe even three if she herself got better. She would have loved being here, probably even more than me.
"Leo? Can you answer this question for us?"
Miss Leap called on me several times before the first break, clearly trying to keep me engaged, and, even in my first day of school in three years, I found myself struggling to keep myself focused on her. It probably didn't help that I didn't actually have to focus on her to find the answers to her questions.
"Well, I think that's enough for now. How about we try something new and I send the worksheet home with you?"
"Yay. Homework," I silently thought, though I knew she did that mostly to accommodate my inability to write as of yet.
"How about we take a quick break?"
I watched as the class quickly got up from their seats and ran out the door, debating on whether I should join them. However, I ultimately decided to stay put. There were three breaks, and she'd probably let us go outside for all of them. Besides, I really wanted to try using my magic to write. I figured I could skip going outside this time.
"How are you enjoying our class so far, Leo?" Miss Leap suddenly asked with a smile as she made her way up to me.
"I don't know," I told her honestly. "I don't really like school."
I saw her give me a weird expression at that, like she was upset at that suggestion, but kept an awkward smile on her face. "Oh, I'm sure this school will be better than wherever you went before."
Doctor Spark clearly told her about me, as well as about this colt being homeschooled. She hadn't explicitly told me that this colt was homeschooled, but it was very heavily implied by her, and all but confirmed by the teacher. I actually felt a little bad for her having to know about what we went through.
"I don't like math," I clarified.
She kept the smile on her face, although I saw her expression changing to worry. I actually had to take a second to think about what kind of implication she was getting from what I said. I was an abused colt who was homeschooled who didn't like math but was, for my age, very good at it. Her thought process probably was that Blue Mist told me to get better or be abused. It was a very weird conclusion to come to, and an overreaction on her part, especially since there was a much more reasonable conclusion for my not liking the subject.
"It's boring," I told her, which is what she should have concluded.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she apologized, and put a hoof on my shoulder. “What’s your favorite subject?” I resisted my urge to say none of them, opting instead to answer with history, since I was interested in learning what happened since Twilight became ruler. “Well, since you’re new, how about we do that next?”
I shrugged. “Okay,” I told her, feeling a little embarrassed.
“For now though, why don’t you go outside and play?”
“I’m fine. Um, can I get a pencil and paper to practice my magic?”
“You’ll have plenty of time to practice that later,” she said to me kindly. “Why don’t you go play outside for now?”
I sighed, realizing that she wasn’t going to be taking no for an answer, and hobbled my way out the door, the mare following behind me. I stepped out and stood to see most of them playing some game, and a couple of them, a pair of colts, standing alone watching them. They hadn’t even looked my way, but I immediately got a Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon impression from them.
“Go on,” Miss Leap told me, nudging me forward.
I reluctantly made my way forward, opting to lay down in the grass in front of the group and watch them rather than join in. Although it wasn't long before a few of them came up and offered to let me join on their game.
"We're sorry we said you were no fun yesterday," one of them told me. "You can play with us if you want."
"I'm fine," I explained, not really in the mood to try and entertain them. Besides that, Miss Leap probably put them up to it. "Maybe later."
"Why would you want to play with him anyway?" a voice said behind me. I turned around to see the two colts who were standing alone now directly behind me. It seemed like the bully vibe I got from them was accurate. "He's just a dumb five-year-old."
"I can't argue with that," I thought.
"Miss Leap said we have to be nice to him anyway."
"Thanks for saying you're trying to be nice because you were told to," I thought, "and also that you think I'm just a dumb five-year-old, too." That was part of the reason why I didn't really like kids. They didn't understand what they were supposed to keep to themselves and how to avoid unnecessary implications. A common occurrence in my old body whenever I went to buy food was being told by kids that I was dirty and smelly. While I was no better than them at talking to people, and despite me not actually caring that I was dirty and smelly, I still didn't want to hear it from them.
"So what? He's just trying to be a teacher's pet," the bully said. "I bet he's not even really hurt."
That was an interesting way to say he was curious, but I decided to indulge him.
"Do you want to see it?" I asked.
"What?"
"Do you want to see what's under my bandage?"
He looked at me, unsure. "Uh, only to prove that you're not lying."
"Okay. Let me ask if I can."
Miss Leap naturally had questions when I asked her. "They're not pressuring you, are they?" she asked me with concern. I shook my head, and she bit her lip, looking like she wanted to tell me no. "Well… only if you're comfortable."
"I'm fine with showing them. But I'll need help wrapping it back up."
Cheery Leap cringed away as the rest of the fillies and colts looked at Leo's wound in awe. She seriously considered not letting him show them but was afraid to deny him what he wanted. Not only that, but she didn’t think it would look quite so bad. However, seeing his injury, she honestly had trouble believing the colt could do that to himself.
“Wow…” one of the foals said. “How did that happen?”
“A timberwolf,” Leo lied. “I was almost caught by one.”
“You were caught by a timberwolf?” somepony else asked, amazed.
“Almost caught,” he corrected them, a tiny smile creeping onto his face.
“Tell us how!”
“He can tell you all about it later,” Cheery Leap interrupted, hating to see what Leo had done to himself. “For now, why don’t we get back inside and start on our history lesson?”
With a bit of disappointment from her students, she led the class back into the room after helping Leo get bandaged back up to start on history.
She noticed quite a change in his demeanor while she talked, and didn’t know if it was from the new subject or his brief time outside, but appreciated it. He seemed more engaged in what she was saying now, and had many questions to ask, mainly about events since Celestia’s and Luna’s retirement. While she had gone over that previously in the year, she was happy to answer them for him, and loved to see the genuine excitement and interest he had in what she told the class. As well, he had more of a willingness to go outside during this break, wanting to tell the class his “story” about the timberwolf. He even came up with a clever lie about how it did something to his magic, using it as his excuse for why he couldn’t use it properly. And although he once again lay in the grass watching them play after he finished, he seemed much happier now than he was earlier in the morning, and, if what Doctor Spark said was true, happier than he’d been in a long time. She found herself glad she let him show them his injury.
Although, she did notice a bit more frustration from him when they started working on writing. She provided him a shorter pencil that he could pick up more easily, but he had neither the force to push it to the paper hard enough to effectively write nor the control to make much more than light squiggly lines. Eventually, however, just before he started to get upset, she showed him how to use his mouth to write like most of the rest of the class, which he was able to get the hang of a lot more quickly. Still, every so often, he’d once again try to write using his magic.
With the end of the writing portion of her lesson, the class was over for the day, and she found herself walking Leo back to his home. The two were mostly silent during the trip, though not because the colt was upset. In fact, despite his lack of excitement to begin the day, he was quite happy with how it turned out, which the teacher took grateful notice of. Cheery Leap’s class had not been anywhere near how he expected it to be, and he almost found himself looking forward to the fact that he’d be going back the next day.