//------------------------------//
// Chapter 10: Hidden Curriculum 
// Story: Personas of Harmony 
// by EricStarstorm 
//------------------------------//

	Three days passed without incident. Despite the gravity of the two murders, Ponyville was indeed a strong town--while still remembering the victims, its atmosphere and mood were much less somber. It probably helped that Pinkie Pie had thrown a Moving On Because That's What They Would Want Party to lift the town's spirits. Not everyone was back to normal, of course, but for the most part, it was almost as if nothing had happened.

There was frantic knocking at Twilight's door. The second she heard it, she assumed the worst. She got up and walked over to answer. "Please don't tell me there was another murder...we'd have to start from scratch!"

Thoughts among these lines continued to plague Twilight as she opened the door to a panicked Cheerilee. "Oh, thank Celestia you're here!" she exclaimed.

"It's all right," Twilight said. "What happened?"

Cheerilee stopped for a moment, taking a few deep breaths. "I-I desperately need your help, your Highness!"

Twilight waited to hear what Cheerilee had to say. The flustered teacher took another deep breath.

"I-I got a letter from my mother today."

A few of Twilight's concerns were replaced by confusion. "Your...mother?"

"She lives in Fillydelphia, see. She demanded that I come and see her for the afternoon! She says she wants to ask me about the murders. I've been trying to get a teacher to substitute for me today, and--"

Twilight smiled, feeling immensely relieved. "And you want me to do it?"

Cheerilee nodded. "Can you?"

The prospect of teaching at Ponyville's elementary school had excited Twilight for a good while. She loved to help ponies learn, and she wasn't about to pass up this opportunity. "You should've come to me first. I'd love to sub for you!"

Cheerilee sighed with relief and began rummaging through her saddlebag. "I'm terribly sorry about the short notice, but I only got the letter this morning." She managed to pull a vanilla folder out and hand it to Twilight. "This is today's lesson plan. Feel free to keep this one--I make copies." She turned around to leave. "I've got to hurry along now. Thank you very much!"

"Don't worry about it! I'm just glad I can help."

Cheerilee galloped away to get to the train station. Twilight turned towards her clock to see how long she had. It read 7:57.

School started in three minutes.

Despite this, Twilight wasn't worried in the slightest. She looked over the lesson plan briefly, and when she was done, her horn glowed brightly. Within about a second, the world around her turned white for an instant, and she was suddenly in front of the schoolhouse. "I'm never gonna get tired of that," she said to herself.

Within seconds of Twilight's arrival, the schoolhouse's bell rang. Fillies and colts began to file into the building, and Twilight waited until they were all inside before entering herself. She closed the door behind her and took her place in front of the chalkboard.

"Good morning, everypony!" Twilight said cordially. "Miss Cheerilee asked me to be your substitute teacher today."

"Hi, Twilight!" yelled the extremely happy and energetic voice of a little white unicorn.

"Please don't talk out of turn, Sweetie Belle."

Sweetie Belle opened her mouth to speak, but stopped herself and settled for raising her hoof.

Twilight facetiously rolled her eyes. "Yes?"

"Hi again, Twilight!"

The class giggled.

"All right, all right. Settle down now." Twilight took the lesson plan and placed it on Cheerilee's desk. "You all have a multiplication test today."

There was a chorus of "Aaw"s from the young crowd.

"Sorry, but you have to take tests every now and then. Everything off your desks except for something to write with, please."





The class worked through the test much more quickly than Twilight had expected. Cheerilee apparently had similar expectations--she had written on the lesson plan to allot time for the test from the first bell to recess, but everyone had turned in their tests in only half the time. Whether this was due to guessing profusely or diligent study, Twilight couldn't say. She was debating moving onto the day's lesson so that the class would have time to start their homework in class, but before she could make a decision, a pale purple unicorn filly raised her hoof.

"Yes, Dinky?" Twilight asked.

Dinky seemed a bit concerned. "Um...Miss Twilight...what does it mean..." The filly cleared her throat. She seemed to have a hard time putting her thoughts to words. "What does it mean when somepony, um...dies?"

Twilight hadn't expected a question like that, and raised her eyebrows in surprise. She was equally surprised to see that the whole class had glued their eyes to hers. They all looked at her expectantly.

"Worried about the murders, huh?" Twilight asked. The students nodded collectively, and Twilight sighed. "Yeah, I guess that can't be helped. Death is...complicated. When somepony dies, it's like...going to sleep, except they never wake up. Their bodies stop working. It can happen for a number of reasons: old age, heart failure, disease...homicide." Twilight paused, expecting the children to be hesitant to hear more. Instead, they were listening to and taking in every word from her mouth. "A dead pony is gone forever. There's no point in trying to reach them...because there's nopony left to find anymore."

Scootaloo raised a hoof. "Miss Cheerilee told us that death is a natural part of life...does that mean we're all gonna die?"

"Not for a long time." Twilight smiled. "You're all young, and you have many wonderful years to look forward to."

The children did seem a bit worried now. Twilight wondered what she should say.

"Death isn't something you should be afraid of. Provided you stay healthy and safe, it will only happen to you after you've lived a long and fulfilling life."

A plump grey colt spoke up. "But if that's the case...why did Mr. Rich and Miss Lotus die?"

Twilight wasn't sure how to answer that, but the kids were still expecting a response. She sighed deeply. "You all have to understand that homicide is extremely rare in Equestria. Serial murder--which is what this is--is almost unheard of. But...there are still ponies out there that will hurt others. We don't know why they did it yet, but rest assured, nopony else is going to die because of it."

On hearing this, several of the children calmed down a little. A few were still worried, but Twilight knew that they would understand in time that they would be okay.

A familiar sensation of warmth spread through Twilight's body. If what Margaret had said was true, this was the sign of a new bond forming. Naturally, Twilight was a bit confused. How could an entire classroom be considered a single bond?

Trying to keep herself on task, Twilight decided to try and keep the conversation going. "Any more questions?" she asked. The class was silent.

Twilight had never been so relieved to hear a recess bell.





The rest of the school day went by rather smoothly. Recess had done wonders in calming the young ponies' nerves. Twilight was amazed at how well they had handled the explanation. It probably helped that the deaths themselves were no longer fresh in their minds. Meanwhile, the bell marking the end of the day had rung, and after the students left the schoolhouse, Twilight put the day's tests into Cheerilee's vanilla folder, figuring that she wouldn't mind if she received them pre-graded. As she was on her way home, however, she felt a gentle tug on her tail. She turned around to find three very familiar ponies.

"Hey, Twilight!" Apple Bloom said. She was smiling, but it looked a bit forced. "We were just wonderin'...I mean, it's not that we don't trust ya, but--"

Scootaloo interrupted. "How do you know that nopony else is going to die?"

Twilight turned around to face the three fillies. "Because," she said with a smile, "me and your sisters...we'll protect you. Pinkie and Fluttershy, too."

"But YOU guys could be in danger, too!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed. "We've thought about it for days, and we can't figure out who the killer's after!"

"C'mon, Sweetie Belle. Do you really think we're going to go down without a fight?"

"W-well...no, but..."

"Don't worry about it. You're all still kids, and you don't need to involve yourselves with this. Okay?"

The Crusaders nodded. Their expressions were still worried, but they were at least a little relieved.

"You should get home. Don't make your families worry."

"...Can you sub for Cheerilee again soon?" Scootaloo asked. "I mean, don't get me wrong. Cheerilee's great, but..."

"I don't really have any say on that matter." Twilight's gentle smile turned into a sly grin. "But...maybe if three little ponies asked her, I could come back sometime..."

The three fillies smiled brightly, and their irises filled up their entire eyes. Twilight was worried for a moment that she'd have a heart attack then and there.

"Either way, I'll see you again soon. I should go home myself now. Are you all right on your own?"

"Yes, Twilight," the three fillies chorused as their faces returned to the realm of physical possibility.

"Goodbye, then. Have a good day!"

Twilight turned and left, and the Crusaders waved until she was out of sight.





"They asked you what death means?" Spike asked, looking up from his book.

Twilight nodded as she sat down at her reading desk. "I'm not too surprised by it anymore. I'm willing to bet that this is the first time that most of them have been around death."

"Huh...well, it's a little sad that their parents didn't let them in on it."

"A lot of adults aren't comfortable with the topic themselves. It's a natural reaction as a parent to shelter children from unpleasant truths." Twilight finished grading the last math test. "The class did pretty well on the test today! Cheerilee will be glad to see this."

"Well, every cloud has a silver lining."

"Don't say it like that. Today was great! The kids took the explanation very well."

"Yeah, but you've wanted to sub for Cheerilee ever since we moved here. Isn't it a LITTLE depressing that you finally get the chance...and THIS is how it goes?"

There was a knock at the door before Twilight could respond. She got up to answer it, and when she opened the door, Cheerilee was there again. She also noticed that the sun had gone down hours ago, and the stars were out--she had no idea how late it had gotten.

"Hello again, Twilight!" Cheerilee said, smiling as per usual. "I'm very sorry to disturb you at this time of night."

"Think nothing of it," Twilight replied. "Oh, before I forget...I went ahead and graded those tests for you."

Cheerilee looked a bit surprised as Twilight lifted the stack of tests and floated them over to her. She took them and placed them in her saddlebag. "Thank you so much for your help today. You don't know how much I appreciate it!"

"It was no problem. Your class was a bunch of little angels for me today!"

"Wow, really? Heh, I can never seem to get some of the children to calm down. So how did the lesson go?"

Twilight's smile faded. She was a bit hesitant to answer that, but if she didn't tell Cheerilee, the students would. "Well...most of the day was normal, but Dinky asked about...what death really meant."

Cheerilee's expression fell. "Oh...well, what did you tell them?"

"The truth. I could tell that they needed to know, and most of them were no worse for wear when it was over."

"I suppose that's probably for the best. I tried to explain it to them myself--twice--but I've never been the best with words, believe it or not." Cheerilee smiled sadly. "You're going to have to stop doing me all these favors. How am I ever going to make them up to you?"

Twilight smiled herself. She then felt the now-familiar warmth of gaining another new bond. "Do you need anything else?" she asked.

"No...but next time I need a substitute teacher, I'll let you know." Cheerilee turned to leave. "Have a good night, your Highness."

As Cheerilee walked away, Twilight closed the door and turned to Spike. "Everything okay, Twilight?" he asked.

"Fine, fine. I'm getting a bit overwhelmed by all of these new bonds, though...moreso now that I know what they mean for my powers." Twilight thought for a moment. "I think I need to ask Igor something."

Just as Twilight finished talking, she heard that jingling bell sound again. A familiar blue door appeared right in front of her.

"I guess I'll wait here for you," Spike replied, yawning.

"I'll be back in a few minutes." Twilight entered the door, and after the blinding flash that she was now more than used to, she was in the Velvet Room.

"Welcome back," Igor said cordially. "What brings you here tonight?"

"I was wondering if you could answer a few new questions about what's happened over the past day or two," Twilight replied.

"What would you like to know?"

"Well, first of all...do all of my new bonds have Arcana associated with them?"

"Indeed they do. In fact, every person has at least one Arcana--and in rare cases, multiple--associated with them. Margaret keeps track of this."

Margaret opened her book. "Since the investigation began, you have made the following bonds: Diamond Tiara of the Hanged Man Arcana, Ruby of the Hierophant, Cheerilee of the Temperance, Siren of the Devil, Looking Glass of the Justice, Aloe of the Fortune, and the group of students, being the Fool."

"How can one bond encompass an entire class?" Twilight asked.

"While you did make a bond with the class itself, you did not associate with each child on a personal level. Therefore, the entire group was considered a single bond."

"What does the Fool Arcana mean? I remember that you mentioned it before."

"The Fool Arcana is commonly associated with innocence, inexperience, and new beginnings. It is the number zero--the void from which all things begin."

Twilight couldn't help but be curious. "What would happen if I asserted that bond with Merlin?"

"Actually...nothing whatsoever. The Fool has nothing to give."

"Speaking of," Igor interjected. "I notice that your currently asserted bond--Rarity--has gained a Persona."

"That's right, she did," Twilight replied.

"Because your bond with Rarity is already asserted, you do not have to assert it in order to gain magic akin to hers--that being the power of ice."

Igor waved a hand over the table, and a spectral Merlin appeared. He threw his arms up, causing a large block of ice to appear and immediately shatter. He then disappeared.

"That's convenient! I was a little worried I'd have to take it off and put it back on."

"In addition...unless you plan on changing your asserted bond, your Ice spells will be much more powerful," Margaret added. "This may come in handy during the trials ahead."

Igor chuckled. "Be aware--your time of relaxation will soon come to an end. As you know, you only have a few more days before the killer strikes again. It is imperative that you do not waver, no matter the circumstances."

Twilight's eyes narrowed. "I won't. I promised the class that nopony else was going to die, and I am not about to let them down."

"Your resolve is admirable. Perhaps you will surpass my expectations...it has been some time since that has happened." Igor nodded slowly. "I look forward to seeing what is at the end of your path. For now, however...it is time to say farewell."