//------------------------------// // Ch 4. Cultural Exchange // Story: My World, Our Life // by CEverw00d //------------------------------// Ch 4. Cultural Exchange I awoke to my alarm and quickly hit the snooze button. Then I gently nudged Star and whispered, “Star, it’s time to wake up. We need to get ready for school.” She opened her eyes slowly, then shut them and heaved a big yawn. She rubbed her eyes, then looked at me and smiled, “I had a dream about you. We were in Equestria with my brother. We were playing hide-and-seek. It was fun.” I rubbed her head gently, “Maybe we can do that someday, but today we’ve got important stuff to do. Remember?” She stretched and said, “Oh yeah, we’re going to school today! Are your kids nice?” I smiled and tickled her a little, “You’ll find out when you see them! Now come on, outta bed! I’ll get breakfast ready.” Despite her excitement, she rolled out of bed and made her way to the bathroom, drooping her head. Breakfast today was peanut butter on toast with two plums and some orange juice. We ate and I dressed in more “professional” clothing while looking at ways that Star could ride with me on my bike. I didn’t have a basket or anything on the back for her to sit on, so I wasn’t sure how this was going to work. I came up with an idea, it would be weird, but it would work, hopefully. I opened the door and checked the halls, nobody around. She came out of my room, then I closed and locked the door. We took the elevator down where she applied her invisibility spell before reaching the ground floor. It still amazed me how much I COULDN’T see her. We got to my bike. Normally I would just hang my bag over my shoulder, but this time I put the bag into an old backpack I had and loosened the straps. I told Star what I was planning and she understood. She would hold onto my back and stick her arms through the straps of the backpack, after that I would tighten the straps which would tighten her shoulders to mine and pull the whole backpack, as well as Star, tightly against my own back. It wasn’t the best or the safest plan, but I felt it might work. It certainly looked weird having the backpack floating in mid-air off my back. Once we were set, we took off. It was somewhat harder, I wasn’t used to the additional weight, but I managed to keep my balance and get us there. I unlocked and opened the classroom, it was some time before class would officially start and some kids were bound to be here early. Still, it gave us time to find a nice hiding spot for Star, it would be near a pile of poster boards and boxes which were sometimes used for project materials, or just arts and crafts. We stacked the boxes and posters so she would have a hole to look through and a way to get out in case she wanted to turn invisible and walk around the classroom. Time passed, the bell rang, she was in her hiding spot and I let the children in. I went about my lecture like I did almost every day. I try to keep a schedule present so the children know what to expect each day. Though, over the course of the day, children would report a flash of light from the box pile, feel someone breathing on them, or sometimes hear light footsteps. Of course, nobody saw what it was; some even thought there might be a ghost in the classroom. I almost wanted to say that there was one, but I try to practice honesty with my students. At the end of the day, all of the children had left and it was only Star and I left alone in the classroom. I knew the janitor would come later on, but we still had some time. Star came out of hiding, she seemed somewhat tired. She sat on the carpeted floor and looked at me while I graded papers. Without looking up I asked, “So? What did you think?” “They were nice,” she said. “They really like you and listen to you, and it seems like a lot of fun! Some of them were drawing while you were talking thought.” “Haha, I know, but creativity and keeping the mind going are important. They know that I know, but I go over everything multiple times so they can catch it.” “I wish I could be one of your students, it really looks like fun.” “Well, maybe you can’t be a student, but would you like to join the class?” “What do you mean?” “Maybe you could stop hiding. Maybe you could be my teaching assistant, or play with the kids during recess?” “But wouldn’t you get in trouble if they knew about me?” “They’re children. If they really wanted you to stay, then they would keep it a secret. And even if they told somebody, I don’t think any adult would take them seriously.” “That’s mean!” “I know, but it’s true. Humans are skeptical of silly things like that. They just think it’s a kid making up stories. We don’t have big, strange things here like you do. If you said you saw a dragon, the ponies might believe you and be on alert. If I told somebody I saw a dragon, they would say that I was crazy.” “That’s sad.” “It is, but as a human, I’m used to it. But still, how would you like to be the class secret? The kids will want to play with you and pet you and may hurt you on accident. You’ll still have to be invisible on the way here and back, though. What do you think?” “I…..guess…….” She looked around the room and thought about it, then turned back to me with an expression of determination, “Yeah, I wanna be a part of Charlie’s class!” I chuckled, “Well then Star, welcome to the class.” After I finished my grading, we biked back to my apartment and settled down for supper. She decided that she wanted to practice a new spell before going to bed, a teleportation spell. I was weary about a teleportation spell. What if the teleportation spell works like the invisibility spell and she only teleports part of herself? What if she winds up on another continent, or in the middle of the ocean? I shook my head; maybe the worst that could happen is that the spell simply fails. She set to practicing and, thankfully, the latter was true. The worst that can happen if the spell fails is that she simply doesn’t go anywhere and the magic is burned off. She seemed to be more worn out when trying this spell, it seemed harder for her to do. I had confidence, though, that she would conquer this spell just like she perfected her invisibility spell. When she was done practicing, we tucked ourselves into bed and went to sleep. She fell asleep almost immediately, tired from all the non-stop practice. I knew she would succeed, just as I knew that tomorrow would be a great day. The morning passed similar to yesterday, though instead of excitement, we were both feeling a bit nervous. It was what she wanted, though, and I’m sure the children would adore her. We got ready to go and left. My plan was to go through the lecture until lunchtime. After that, She would reveal herself, that way we got some lessons done and still would have time to introduce her. As such, the lessons were over, lunchtime started and the children went outside to eat with their friends. Stardust came out of her hiding spot and looked at me. We both exchanged nervous smiles and ate the lunch I brought for us. Lunch ended and the children came back in, got in their seats, continuing whatever conversations they were having at lunch. I stood in front of the class and said, “Settle down class, settle down. I have an announcement to make and I’d like it if you all gave your full attention.” The talking gradually reduced to a few whispers here and there, some chatter was fine. I continued, “I brought a friend with me today and I think she’ll be here every class day from now on. She’s a very special friend so you all have to keep her a secret. Don’t tell anybody, nobody in other classes, no other teachers, no parents, cousins, grandparents, don’t even tell your pets. Allow me to introduce my dear friend Stardust.” There was silence, Stardust didn’t come out. Maybe she didn’t hear me, or wasn’t paying attention. I went to look behind the pile of boxes and cardboard. She wasn’t there. I went to look behind my desk, not there either. I stood in front of the class to see if she might be hiding in the back of the class. Suddenly she appeared beside me and said, “Hello there!” She waved her hoof in the air. The children were shocked, some standing up in their chairs, some rubbing their eyes, almost all of them started talking. Most of them probably haven’t even seen a real horse, let alone a cartoon pony from another world. I settled the class down, told them to get in their seats and continued, “This is my dear friend Stardust. She’s special and if the adults were to know about her, they might want to take her away, then she can’t be in class anymore! So you have to keep it a secret, okay? Promise?” The class agreed, I heard a few “I Pinkie promise!” from a few girls. I looked down at Star and nodded. She moved forward a couple of steps and said, “Hello everypony…er….everybody. My name is Stardust! I’m a unicorn from the magical world of Equestria! My favorite food is cupcakes; I like reading and cooking, and I’m really happy to be here with Charlie!” The class got rowdy again. They were asking all kinds of questions, some were remarking about my name being Charlie. I called out, “Calm down class. She can’t answer questions if you’re all shouting at once. One question at a time! Raise your hands and you can ask your question when you’re called on.” Almost every student in the room raised their hands. Since Star was too short, I pointed to those who would ask questions, each child got one question. “When did you get here?” “Ohh I’ve been here since Wednesday, I’ve been living with Charlie. He’s really nice!” “Are you really a unicorn?” “Yup! Back in Equestria, there are tons more of us!” “Can you, like, do magic and stuffs!?” “I sure can, but only a little bit!” That said, she used her levitation spell to move some of the markers and erasers on the whiteboard and had them fly around the room. “How did you get here?” “I…..I…..” Stardust thought about this question, then fell silent. I hadn’t asked that question either, and I myself was curious. As she looked down and her eyes searched the floor for answers, I could tell that she truly didn’t know. I interjected, “She must’ve taken a space ship over here! We’ve got space ships, I bet ponies have space ships too!” Of course, I’m sure it was something more magical, but I had to give them some sort of answer and get their attention. I continued, “Now I’d like to say this: She will be with us only when I’m here, she’s going to stay in the classroom, she can’t go out to recess or lunchtime with you, but you can stay inside during lunch or recess and play with her. Be nice to her. Keep her a secret outside of this classroom.” I paused a moment to look over the class, it seems they understood. I said to them, “There’s a little more learning we have to do before class is over. The sooner we get done with that, the sooner I’ll let you all play with her, okay?” The class responded, “Okaaaaaay.” Naturally, I planned to give them some play time anyway, but I wanted to give them an idea of what class was going to be like with Star present. As I did the lesson, a simple math review, Star moved about the class. She weaved through the rows so that the students could see her and pet her as she passed. After she was done, she sat in the chair at my desk and watched me teach with a big smile on her face. I could tell she was pleased with how this all went. The lesson ended and I allowed the students to come over and talk to Stardust more, and many of them did so. Most of the boys stayed in their seats, talking to each other and looking at Stardust from afar. I was sure that some of them did want to go over and talk to her, but might seem girly for taking interest in a girl pony. The day ended and the children left, waving and calling out good-bye to Stardust. Once they were all out, I closed the door and sat in my chair, heaving a sigh. I looked at Star, who was sitting in one of the front-row seats and smiling. She said, “That was fun.” I nodded and replied, “Yeah, that went better than I thought it would. Some kids can be too excited.” “Is every day going to be like this?” “Only Monday through Friday, only if I’m not sick or absent that day, and only if you want to.” “It’s nice, and fun! I can’t wait to play with them at recess!” “I’m glad to hear that. Anyway, I have some grading to do, then we’ll head home. Okay?” “Okay!” While I quickly graded the papers, she wandered about the classroom, looking at a few of the toys and board games that could be brought out and played with, normally during rainy days. I finished my work and headed home with her on my back. I thought about how lucky I was to have her with me. I’ve had more fun with her these past few days than in the past few years. Now she was a part of my life, maybe permanently. I was both saddened and pleased with the idea. Saddened, that if she was here permanently, it meant that she would never go home. Pleased, that she might be with me and make my days brighter. Was that selfish of me? I don’t know what to hope for, but I know that we’re happy together, and that we’ll continue being happy for as long as we are together. We arrived back to my…no…our apartment. It wasn’t just mine, Stardust lives here too. She would be a part of my life, a part of our life, for many days to come. It’s not just about me anymore, it’s about us.