Turning Back the Clock

by FlufferNutters

New Faces, New Rules (edited)

The auditorium quiets down as two women in black suits come on stage, standing by the sides of the large screen in the center. The one on the left with long brown hair, glasses, and a bracelet on her right wrist. The one on the right has dirty blonde hair with an anklet on her left ankle. Both have a microphone in their hand as the one on the left puts it near her mouth.

“Welcome students of Canterlot High to a brand new school year, we would like to start off the year by introducing ourselves,” She greets while gesturing her hand to the other woman.

“I am Proper Upbringing and I am your principal.” Proper introduces.

The other woman puts the microphone in her hand near her mouth.

“And I am Prim Act, your new vice principal.” Prim introduces.

“Some of you are new, some are about to move on to the next step in their lives, we would like you all to make this year memorable.”

“With that said, we have a few new rules,”

Proper takes out a remote from her pocket and presses a button on it, causing a slide to appear on the screen.

“After a few incidents we have decided that students shouldn’t be left alone in the hallways,”

“So from now on you will be escorted to your classes by your homeroom teacher, which brings us to the next rule, though it is more of a reminder.”

Proper changes the slide again.

“We are enforcing the homeroom rule already in place, but with help from new staff for the position of Hall Monitor.” Proper explains.

Just then a light shines down on five men in blue polo shirts and tan slacks standing at attention next to Proper.

“Lastly,” Proper says before changing the slide.

“We will be changing the disciplinary system within the school by using methods of counseling and exercises than sitting in a classroom after school.” Prim explains.

The students start to murmur while Peanut Butter stares from the back, his breath baited as his hands come together by his face before resting his chin on top.

“Why this and why now?” He mutters to himself.

“We will be making changes to the school through out the year as well, but you don’t need to worry about that.” Proper mentions.

“We’ll end this to keep it short, so please go to your assigned homeroom teachers.” Prim instructs.

After the lights turn back on the students leave and form a line with their homeroom teachers in the hall, except for Peanut Butter who remains in the back.

Prim looks up and smirks and goes towards Peanut Butter. The area now empty of students.

“Well young man, you should be going to your homeroom teacher.” She instructs.

Peanut Butter glares at her, his eyes showing nothing but an internal inferno within. His nostrils flare and his breath heavy.

“You look familiar, have we met before?” Prim asks sarcastically.

“Perhaps.”

“Where?”

“Manehatten maybe.”

“Oh now I remember, you’re that punk that ruined our plans in Manehatten and caused trouble for us.”

“I’ll stop you like I did before.”

Prim gasps sarcastically.

“Oh whatever do you mean?”

“You know exactly what I mean Prim, I stopped you then like I will here.”

“You’re delusional, child.”

“Drop the act, you’re not fooling me.”

Prim groans.

“Fine you little punk, no you won’t, but I won’t say anything more than that, can’t spoil all the surprises this soon, can we?”

“I will still stand up and stop you, Prim.”

“You can try, but no one would believe you.”

“I’ll find a way.”

“Good luck with that, now off to your homeroom teacher.”

Peanut Butter gets up and grabs his bag before putting it on his shoulder. As he exits the aisle he glares at Prim. He jolts his chest forward at her, making her jump a bit.

“Made you flinch.” Peanut Butter whispers before going down the stairs.

“Have a good year.” She sarcastically acknowledges.

Peanut Butter rolls his eyes and leaves the auditorium and sees Luna at the door.

“So you’re a teacher now?” Peanut Butter asks.

“ So is Celestia, though in a different homeroom.”

“I still don’t like this.”

“I’m not a fan of this either, but we have no choice.”

They both walk down the hall towards the homeroom. The walk is quiet other than the sounds of their footsteps.

“Please, do me a favor and be careful.” Peanut Butter requests.

“If that makes you happy, I will.”

They reach the homeroom and enter. The room itself is plain with white walls, desks in a grid and the teacher’s desk near a corner next to the board. Students around the classroom chatting with each other before class starts.

Peanut Butter scans the room, moving his head and heads towards Sunset in a corner in the back with Rarity and Applejack.

“Hey Sunset,” He greets, though no response from any of them.

“Hello, earth to Sunset.”

Still no response.

He groans and pinches the bridge of his nose.

“Look, whatever I did to bother you, I’m sorry, between everything that’s going on, I’m a bit on edge right now.”

“That’s obvious, but you’re pushing us away because of it.”

“I don’t mean to, but I want to protect you guys.”

“We get that, but it’s not an excuse to be the way you have been.”

Applejack looks at him, tears welling up in her eyes.

“P.B., I’ll always be by yer side, but you shouldn’t be pushing me away.” Applejack admits.

Rarity looks up from where she sits.

“P.B., with the utmost respect, you’re crazy.” She informs Peanut Butter.

“I’m not crazy.”

“Yes you are P.B., nothing is going to happen.”

“Something will happen! I know it.”

“What will happen?”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”

“So how do you know something will happen if you don’t know?” Sunset asks.

“How do you know something won’t?”

“Come on girls, let’s go elsewhere.”

Applejack, Rarity, and Sunset get up and go to the opposite end of the room leaving Peanut Butter to himself and his own thoughts.

He goes towards the window and looks out it from the desk closest to it. He sighs heavily and rubs his forehead. His breathing goes heavy and slow. He breathes in deep through his nose and out through his mouth. He falls back from his chair as a gust of wind comes out of his mouth and goes across the classroom, knocking and pushing over desks.

The students look around to see what caused the wind, Peanut Butter gets up and looks around. He picks up the chair and desk and sits back down just as the bell rings.

“Alright class, line up and I’ll be dropping you off at your classes.” Luna announces.

Everyone lines up and they all leave the classroom with Peanut Butter in back.

The class walks through the halls as they pass other classes doing the same.

A minute later Peanut Butter goes into a classroom and sits down at a desk. He looks around and sees the room is identical to his homeroom. He looks around and sees no one he knows, unlike before, Sunset or one of her friends would be around. He starts bouncing his legs as Miss Harshwhinny enters the classroom.

“Hello class.” She greets.

“Hello Miss Harshwhinny.”

“Welcome to English four, this will be your last year and your toughest one yet, I expect professionalism from you all this year.”

The class nods, Peanut Butter watches from the back.

Just then Harshwhinny writes on the board. A few seconds later she steps back and what she wrote reads.

‘Stand tall as evil will run from the storm that grows within.’

“Where is this passage from?” Harshwhinny asks.

A female student raises her hand.

“It’s from The Philosophy of The Storm Sage’.”

“Very good Miss Well.”

As the class goes on Peanut Butter stays distant and mostly still.

The bell rings as students stay in their seats, just then Luna arrives and Peanut Butter gets up and walks towards her.

He leaves the classroom and follows her.

“How was class?” Luna asks.

“I zoned out for most of it, so I don’t know.”

“Is everything still bothering you?”

“Yeah, now my friends and Applejack hate me and are giving me the cold shoulder.”

“I see, give them some space and time, it’ll work out in the end.”

“If you say so, I’ll try.”

The rest of the morning goes by uneventfully as two more classes pass by. The students are lined up as Luna leads them to the cafeteria. They all enter to see the cafeteria was remodeled with new paint, better tables, booths along the walls, and a few television screens. They then line up at the counter to get their food and sit down moments later.

Rarity, Sunset, and Applejack sit at a booth at the far corner of the cafeteria with the others joining them while Peanut Butter sits at a booth next to them, he being behind Sunset. He pushes his food around while staring at it.

“What can I do to make this right?” He asks.

Sunset says nothing and neither do the other girls.

“That’s what I thought.”

He gets up and walks towards the doors, just as he does a loud boom of clanging of tables, chairs, food, trays, and students being tossed around as a massive gust of wind is felt behind him. He runs out and down the halls, hiding from hall monitors and making his way to a staircase behind a door. He lifts the door up slightly and turns the nob and goes up the stairs towards the roof.

He gets on the roof and sits on top of the small room where the doorway is and looks out towards the small town he’s called home. He sits in a meditative position as a warm breeze blows. He places his hands on his knees, palms down as he takes a deep breath, a stronger breeze comes from it.

A few minutes later an alarm rings as noise can be heard from below as it gets louder. Just then the door busts open and three of the hall monitors come out and spread out on the roof.

“He couldn’t have gone far!” One of the hall monitors shouts.

Just then one of them turns around and looks up.

“There he is!” Another one shouts as he points up.

“Alright kid, get down from there.”

Peanut Butter doesn’t respond.

“Enough games kid, cut the voodoo hippy stuff and get down.”

The third hall monitor climbs up and touches Peanut Butter and in the instant he does he is pushed off and away from him towards the edge of the roof.

“Go check on him, what was that?” A hall monitor asks.

The other one goes check on the hall monitor that was pushed back. Peanut Butter starts to have an emerald colored aura surround him just then his eyes open up, his right one glowing the same emerald green. He stands and looks down at them with a blank expression on his face. Just then he shakes his arms out in one motion as a powerful gust of wind blows all around him outward. It pushes the hall monitors back and makes the glass dome vibrate with screams being faintly heard inside. Just then more hall monitors and Luna arrive. Her eyes go wide as she starts to tremble slightly.

“Oh no.” She whispers.

“What is that?”

“All of you, run! I’ll stay and try to calm him.”

“What are you talking about?”

“If you are who he says you are, your presence alone will anger him more.”

The monitors leave as Luna looks at him.

“They’re gone P.B., it’s just us now, I know you’re upset about what’s going on, but throwing stuff and people around isn’t the way to do it.”

“I tried to make things right, but they just get worse, first no one believes me, now all my friends are giving me the cold shoulder, what am I supposed to do?”

“Nothing, you do nothing, you tried to make it right and they refused to take that offer, you can’t help those that don’t want it.”

Tears fall down his face as the aura starts to flicker.

“I’m so confused, it makes no sense.”

“The real world never makes sense, now come down from there, I’ll have Celestia take you home.”

Peanut Butter steps off and gently floats down and falls to his knees, the aura and glow in his eye dying out. Luna helps him up and takes him downstairs where Celestia spots them and rushes over.

“Can you take him home please?” Luna asks.

“Of course.”

She takes him from Luna and goes to her car and sets him in the back seat. Celestia gets in the driver’s seat and heads home.

When they reach home she helps him to his room and sits him up on the bed. Celestia pulls up a chair and sits down.

“Mind telling me what happened?” She asks.

Peanut Butter takes off his shoes and puts his knees to his chest.

“I tried to make things right, I was ignored, now mom tells me that I should do nothing, I’m so confused.”

“I see, does this have to do with Prim and Proper?”

“Yes, I know they are up to something, I don’t know what though.”

“I can’t say that I believe you, but if you are driven to find the truth, then I won’t stop you, I suggest some rest for you.”

“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.”

Celestia leaves the room as Peanut Butter lays down and falls asleep a couple minutes later.

It is early evening when Peanut Butter starts to stir from his sleep. He wakes up to muffled voices from downstairs. He quietly gets up and makes his way towards the edge of the stairs.

“Sunset, what you did today was reckless, giving your cousin the cold shoulder when he was trying to set things right.” Celestia scolds.

“He’s been pushing everyone away over his own paranoia.”

“That still doesn’t excuse you ignoring him when he was trying to seek forgiveness.”

“He needs to snap into reality that nothing is going to happen.”

“Look, just play along with it, it may go away in time.”

“And if it doesn’t?”

“We’ll figure that out if we get there.”

“Fine.”

Peanut Butter tries to get a better look when everyone’s heads turn.

“You forgot about the creaky step didn’t you?” Luna comments.

“Obviously.”

“How much did you hear?”

“Not sure, I heard from Celestia scolding Sunset to now.”

“So all of it?”

“I guess.”

“There’s also another issue too, his magic.” Sunset mentions.

Celestia does a double take between Sunset and Peanut Butter.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Luna interrupts.

“He cannot control his magic, that’s what caused the disaster in the cafeteria, his magic is somehow tied to the wind.” Sunset explains.

Celestia looks towards Luna.

“How do you know this?” Celestia asks.

“I saw it first hand earlier today, he was glowing a shade of green and that eye of his was glowing.”

Celestia places her thumb and index finger to her chin and closes her eyes. She then opens her eyes and looks at Luna.

“We either keep him home, risk taking him to school, or just let everything run its course.”

“Bring him to class, we can’t slip anything under the cracks anymore, but we keep an eye on him.”

“Fair enough.”

“Don’t I get a say in this?” Peanut Butter asks.

“No, now with that out of the way, Sunset knows what she has to do.”

Sunset goes to Peanut Butter and looks at him.

“I’m sorry for how I was acting.”

“Apology accepted.”

“Just like that?”

“Not quite, it really hurt that you did that, I’m supposed to trust you, how can I when you pull that?”

“I see your point.”

“Glad you do.”

Luna and Celestia smile.

“Now if we are all ready, dinner still needs to be made.” Celestia mentions.

“You two go upstairs, we’ll call you down.” Luna instructs.

Sunset and Peanut Butter go upstairs while Luna and Celestia go in the kitchen.

“It’s never a dull day with those two.” Celestia jokes.

“No it isn’t, but I’m worried about P.B. and the way he’s been acting.”

“What about it?”

“Well, I can’t explain it, but a part of me thinks he’s onto something.”

“What makes you say that?”

“While I was waiting for him, I stood by the doors for a bit and overheard something.”

“And that was?”

“Something about Manehatten, so I looked into it and found nothing except a school that was shut down after a deadly malfunction with the school’s modified boiler for its heat and a faulty AC unit.”

“Do you think there’s a connection?”

“Prim and Proper were heads of that school, but I’m not sure if P.B. was involved in that or not.”

“It’s best not to prod into it until we get more information.”

“Agreed.”

The rest of the night goes by quietly as after dinner, they all turn in for the night. Except for Peanut Butter. He sits outside his window, looking up at the moon.

“I will protect them, I must.” He whispers before sighing.