//------------------------------// // 18 - For // Story: Just Roll With It // by sunnypack //------------------------------// Chapter 18: For After introducing myself as ‘Harmonica’ I made my way through the barrage of curious gazes to situate myself at my own assigned seating. I carefully sat down, trying to get my rebellious equine body to obey my commands. After much awkward shifting, I managed to get myself into a somewhat bearable condition and I waited for the teacher, her name was Ms. Sweetberry, to begin the class. “Okay class, we’re going to learn about basic magical theory-“ There was a chorus of groans around the class. “We know most of it already!” yelled a petulant voice from near the front. I cast my gaze forward and spotted a purple-streaked-with-white maned filly addressing the teacher. I leaned forward, interested in how this would play out. “Well then this should be easy for you," Sweetberry replied. “This will go very quickl-“ “Just skip ahead," the white coated filly piped up again. “My mother didn’t sign me up for this school to be taught the basics.” “If you do not wish to be a part of the class and you think you are wasting your time, you may leave," Sweetberry retorted sharply. She pointed a dark pink hoof at the door. “There’s the door, I’ll leave it up to you to explain to your parents why you didn’t want to attend class.” I winced. That was pretty harsh. The rest of the class stared intensely at the little foal as she suddenly was made aware of everypony’s gaze upon her. She shrunk in her seat. It looked like she was trying to blend into her chair as much as I was trying to blend into the wall earlier. Sweetberry levelled a calm but commanding gaze at the little filly. “Now, what do you want to do?” The filly turned panicked emerald eyes to her teacher and choked out. “I want to stay here," she replied in a small voice. Sweetberry nodded and resumed the class as if nothing had happened. For a pony with a yellow flower and a strawberry on her flank, the teacher could be quite scary. I made a mental note not to make too much of a fuss. I was here to learn anyway. “So, as I was saying, basic magical theory. The principles of Thaumakinetics was first discovered by Clov-“ “Psst," I heard from my left. I ignored the voice, trying hard to concentrate on the lecture. “-Was mainly responsible for developing the tri-response that we know today. You’re all clever foals so you should know most of this by now-“ “Psst," the voice beckoned again. Against my will, my ear flicked in annoyance but again I steadfastly ignored the hiss. Man this stuff was dense, are all unicorns that go to this school, this scarily smart? What does that make Luna and Celestia? Oh my gosh, Tempora told me they were way more advanced than me! But wait, I’m in the older class, how would Tempora expect me to catch up- Wait. Oh ha, ha. She was joking. That mare. Mother. Mom. Mommy. Okay, saying Mommy, even mentally, was weird. “PSST!” “What?!” I shot back, annoyed. I realised the class was silent and the teacher was glaring at me. I shot a look at the colt who had been trying to get my attention this whole time. He was innocently looking at me as if he hadn’t done a single thing. I glanced at the teacher who had a pretty annoyed look on her face. “I’m sorry," I blurted out quickly. “I didn’t get much sleep last night so I must have dozed off, please continue!” Sweetberry gave me a scrutinising look with her cobalt eyes as I sweated profusely in my seat. She eventually turned back to her lecture without giving me a response. I sighed in relief. “Psst," the voice said again but I wisely kept silent as I turned to glare at the grey coated colt. The diminutive unicorn cocked his head as he regarded me. He smiled. “I’m Runner," he whispered quietly. “Nice to meet ya, Harmonica.” I gave him a level look. “Thanks but I really should be listening to this lecture," I shot back quietly, eyeing Sweetberry in case she noticed my distracting conversation. I heard a small chuckle. “Okay, smartypants, listen to the breakdown then.” He kept quiet about for a while. I tuned back into the lecture. “-Magical feedback can be dangerous especially if you try to attempt something beyond even half your current resting mana reserve you should take care to note-“ Sweetberry’s lecture was once again cutoff by Runner. “So what’s the deal with your cutie mark? Where is it?” I stared at him. What was he talking about? I shrugged unhelpfully and turned back to the class. “I mean it’s funny how you don’t have one…” Runner trailed off as a shadow fell upon him. Sweetberry was glaring at Runner, having trotted from the front of the class to stand right in front of his desk. Runner shrank in his seat. “Don’t have one?” Sweetberry spoke icily. Runner stammered, lips quivering. “A-Ah u-uhm.” I decided to lend him a hand, err, hoof. “Sorry Ms. Sweetberry, Runner was lending me a quill, I seem to have misplaced mine," I covered as Runner gave me a grateful look from behind Sweetberry. He passed me a quill and ink pot from his desk and fished out another set for himself. “Y-Yes, M-Miss. I was helping him out, sorry for making such a fuss," he gabbed as he shoved the quill and at me. I took them from him using my hooves instinctually. I paused when I realised that the items were sticking to my hoof instead of falling off. Wow. Weird. Sweetberry gave a suspicious grunt but probably gave me slack again since I was new. “Okay, bring your own things next time, Harmonica and Runner don’t interrupt the class just to lend somepony a quill," she chastised as we both nodded emphatically. Sweetberry gave us one more sharp look before trotting back to the front of the class and resuming the lesson. Runner didn’t try talking to me for the rest of the lesson apart from a quick ‘thanks’ in appreciation for my role in saving his behind. I tuned into the lesson a little more intently. Runner sent me a confused look when I hadn’t used his lent quill and ink and I went for my pen instead but I smiled and didn’t give an explanation. I noticed that other ponies were using their mouths to write but I thought that was a little unhygienic. Despite my lack of proficiency with using things with my hoof, I thought it would be a lot worse with my mouth so I decided to use my hoof anyway. It was times like these that I missed my fingers. Well, fingers and being human in general. But it wasn’t so bad, I mean there was that time when those transmogrifiers were chasing my Dad and I across dimensions. I shuddered. I think I was an octopus at one point. After some note-taking and one of the most intense cramming sessions I’ve ever had the pleasure slash torture of being a part of, the class ended and we were let out for a short recess of about half an hour. I was caught between trying to make my hoof-writing legible, keeping what Sweetberry had said just moments ago, listening and digesting what she said straight after and looking at a reference guide that Tempora had given me to pay much mind to the time. Now that the class had ended, my brain expired and I just slumped on my desk, exhausted. If it was going to be like this the whole day I was going to explode. Magic was complicated, man. After the bell had rung, most the foals had emptied the classroom quite quickly, eager to mess around on the playground. Runner had stayed back, of course, because he had taken a liking to me and he trotted up to my desk with a wide, wide smile. A couple of other foals had also tagged along and soon my desk was surrounded by three cute little things. I would have greeted them properly but my head was still on the desk, in dead-mode. I saw vague blurs of yellow, red, green and blue. As I raised my weary head, they resolved themselves into two distinctive shapes. The one on the left was a teal-coated filly with sea-blue and aquamarine streaks running through her mane. Her flank sported a design that looked like sea waves, though it was difficult to see from this angle. The one on the right was a butter-yellow coated, red maned pony, also a filly. She had what looked like a couple of golden apples on her flank as well. Runner spoke up, interrupting my casual inspection. “Hey Harmonica, these are my two friends, Golden Gala-” the one on the right waved “-and Wavey Mumbler.“ The green-blue filly on the left dipped her head. I nodded giving them a smile. “So," I began, spreading my hooves out in front of me. “What’s up?” The three foals looked at each other before simultaneously looked at the ceiling. Runner gave me a confused look. “The ceiling?” he said uncertainly. I face-palmed, err, face-hooved. “Sorry," I apologised, giving a shake of my head. “I meant, what’s going on?” “Oh," Runner laughed. “Yeah, just wanted to say thank you for saving my flank back there in class. Also, just wanted to introduce you to my neighbours and friends.” I raised a pony eyebrow. “Okay, cool," I said, pushing back from my desk in order to scrabble out of my chair. The three foals looked at each other again. “I think the temperature is quite warm, actually," Golden spoke up and I resisted the urge to face-hoof. I should stop using the stuff I picked up in high school. Of course they wouldn’t know teenage slang. “Actually it’s more of a saying…” I started, but then trailed off, giving a shrug. “Ah well, it’s not important.” “Okay, that’s cool," I heard from my right and I whipped around to look at Wavey. She blushed and spoke in a shy tone. “Is that how you say it?” she asked me. “Yeah," I replied uncertainly. Wavey’s smile grew larger. “Cool," she said.