//------------------------------//
// Chapter 9: Back to School 
// Story: Classroom Changeling 
// by Someguy458 
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I stood outside the door to my first class of the day — Algebra — and gathered up my nerves. What would happen when I walked in? So much was possible, I couldn't even begin to comprehend what might be the most likely scenario.

'This must be how Lily feels every day,' I realized, a pang of sympathy for her ringing in my head.

Eventually, I took a deep breath, and stepped in before my brain could refuse.

The classroom was oddly quiet; hardly anyone was talking, and even those who were did so at a whisper. From my vantage point, I could see about half the class. Most of them were still human, but there was an Earth Pony and a Griffon sitting at their desks, and the teacher was a substitute today, implying something happened to Ms. Una.

The sub looked at me and sighed in exasperated concern. "Another one? Crikey..."

With the teacher having addressed me, all eyes in the classroom turned to face me. I withered at their gazes, but pushed past and got to my desk.

The sub checked the seating chart. "So you're Mr. Hummel, I take it?"

I nodded slowly. "Y-yes, sir..."

He gave me a reassuring smile. "I'm Mr. Xanthe."





The rest of class went relatively smoothly, with the non-humans only getting a few uncomfortable looks from certain individuals. Mr. Xanthe, to his credit, was trying his hardest to be accommodating, even offering at one point to help the Earth Pony write.

The next class, Language Arts, was much the same; a Thestral (not Osmond) and another Changeling were among the students there, and the teacher, Mrs. Haris, showed us sympathy. Same with my English class.

Then I entered Biology.

All eyes were immediately upon me, yesterday's events still fresh on their minds. Among the students were a Hippogriff, a Pegasus, and another Changeling.

But this Changeling was staring at me as though it wanted to rip my throat out.

So understandably, I was immediately nervous.

Mr. Adler looked up from his computer, seeing me standing in the doorway, and immediately stood up. "Rove, is that you?"

I nodded, not taking my eyes off of the hostile Changeling.

"I'd like to speak to you during lunch, if that's alright with you," Mr. Adler continued. He then turned to the other Changeling and said, "And you too, Mr. Johannes."

But the other Changeling shook his head, "No thanks, Mr. Adler. I've got business to take care of."

I didn't like that tone of voice.





Class itself wasn't much different. We continued our natural selection unit from where we left off yesterday, then he passed out worksheets based on the lesson. It took a bit to get my magic to cooperate, but I managed to pick up my pencil and shakily worked.

Eventually, the bell rang for lunch, and everyone except for me began to shuffle out.

But as the other Changeling passed me, I could've sworn I heard him mutter under his breath, "You'll pay for this..."

I blinked, then went to look at him, but he was already lost in the crowd.

That wasn't ominous at all...

Once the room was cleared, Mr. Adler stood up and began to approach me, a small stack of paper in hand. It was honestly rather disconcerting, seeing him silently walking towards me at a height far above my own.

Then he sat down in the chair in front of me and asked, "So... How are you, uh, holding up?"

I shrugged. "I dunno; I'm not as upset as I was, but I'm still really unsure about everything, especially after seeing that others are transforming, too."

He nodded in understanding. A moment of awkward silence then passed.

Then he continued, "I, uh, did a little research last night, and I found some interesting things."

I perked up a little. "Like what?"

Wordlessly, he set the papers in his hand down onto my desk. I gave them a cursory glance, but froze almost immediately as two words caught my attention.

Rove Beetles.

Are you serious?

"Wha— My name is a fucking pun now!?" I cried out.

Mr. Adler nodded, stifling back some chuckles.

I sat there for a moment, absorbing this.

Then I started to laugh.

It was light at first, and heavily distorted by my new body's vocal effects. But it gradually built up as it truly set in just how ironic this was. My name is related to bugs, and I became a Changeling? Fucking priceless.

And then I started chirping.

I wasn't even trying; my wings just rubbed together on their own, producing a noise not unlike a katydid. Of course, as soon as I realized this was happening, I made a concerted effort to stop out of embarrassment.

But then Mr. Adler started to laugh at my chirping. And then my laughter redoubled, chirping and all.

I guess that, even when life seems to be screwing you left and right, it'll still throw you some amusement.





Once our laughter subsided, we spent the lunch period going over his research into insect-related things. Topics such as wing care and usage, body structure, and pheromones were discussed and tested, providing rather interesting results. With Mr. Adler's help, I made substantial headway into flying (namely, being able to move both my wings simultaneously), we speculated about the purpose of the holes in my legs (our working theory involves aerodynamics and dimorphism), and I even donated a sample of my 'mane' for him to study.

By the time the bell rang again, I was eager to learn more on my own.





The rest of the school day went relatively smoothly. I got a few looks from some people, I gave sympathetic smiles to other non-humans, and at one point, a classmate actually transformed during class (she turned into a Seapony and nearly suffocated, but thankfully, there was a sink in the room), but otherwise, I'm happy to say that most of it was—

*Ring! Ring!*

I blinked, looking back at the pocket of my backpack that held my phone. With a bit of careful fiddling, I was able to use my magic to retrieve it, and used the soft part of my hoof (the frog, I think it's called?) to answer it. "Hello?"

My mom's voice returned: "Rove, it happened to Bea."

Oh, fuck.