Where did you come from?

by Jeweled Pen

Chapter 15: First day of school

Cheerilee took a deep breath. She could do this. She would do this. It was going to go bad on so, so, so many levels. But she would do this. She looked back at her little escort. Claw, who was in the front and looking so excited to be here. Val, who was shooting daggers at Claw with his eyes. And Silverbelle, who was trying, and failing, to make herself so small she'd disappear.

Three new foals. At least one of them was well behaved. Rarity owed her big for this. She looked ahead towards the school building. Already the school yard was filled with colts and fillies playing little games. Most looked up and waved at her as she passed, a few stopping to gawk at the strange procession following her.

She walked inside and led the three through the halls, towards her office near her class. She took a deep breath as she stopped outside it. “Okay, children. Come along, I need to explain the rules before anything else.” She pushed the door open and stepped inside.

Her office was small, with a few decorations, the majority of them being pictures of old classes and students. And one signed picture of the Ponytones. She walked over to the desk and sat down, motioning the three to sit down on a long, padded bench. They sat down.

“Okay then. This is... probably the most interesting group of new students I've received in a long while,” she said as she looked over at the three. “One from another time, one from another dimension and one from another country.” She looked to Silverbelle first and gave a small smile. “You'll only be with us for a short while so I just want you to relax and take it easy, okay? If you have any questions, feel free to ask Sweetie. I've already talked with her and she'll be more than willing to help you if you need it.”

“O-okay,” the little unicorn mumbled, her eyes never leaving the ground.

The teacher then took another deep breath and looked to Claw. “Now, Claw. I don't know how things are in the future, but--”

“You're my teacher,” he said happily.

She paused and stared. Well, at least that kind of counted as job security. Sorta. Maybe. She supposed the fact he didn't recognize Val must have meant the little colt eventually found a new home. That was a relief. “Well... I suppose that's good. You know the rules and think you'll be able to follow along?”

“Mmm hmm!” he said happily, nodding so fast he made the chair shake. “No problems!”

She then turned to Val. Now came the real trouble. “Val.”

“What?” he asked innocently. “I didn't do anything!”

“You tried to sneak Nibbler along. You pretended he was your cutie mark. You don't even know what a cutie mark is and you tried pretending.”

“H-how was I supposed to know they were supposed to be flat?” He refused to meet her eyes.

“I need you to behave. No threatening anypony, no picking fights. No bleeping. No casting spells. Can you please, please do this for me?”

He gave a nod. “Really, I can! I'll be super good, won't cause any problems.” He gave an innocent smile. The kind she'd expect to see on Discord. She barely managed to resist face desking.

“Of course you will. You'll also be sitting in the front of the class with Claw. I'll be keeping a close eye on both of you. So please, Val. Behave.”

“Why are you picking me out? He's just as bad!” he pointed a hoof at Claw accusingly.

“He hasn't threatened to destroy all of us and rule with an iron hoof.”

“I said iron fist!”

“Same thing.”

He crossed his hooves and pouted. She sighed. “You're also from another dimension, so I know all this will probably be the hardest for you. I know you have a lot of difficulty not lashing out violently when you're upset, but please. I need you to try to control yourself. You're not in any danger and if there's anything you don't understand, just feel free to ask me. But please, no threats or violence. Can you try that for me?”

He sighed and gave a nod, still pouting. She smiled and gave another nod. “Good. Now, I'll introduce all of you to the class once the bell rings. Does anypony need anything before we start?”

There was a shake of heads and she leaned back in her chair. Hopefully the day would end without any bloody noses. She cringed. “Remember, no magic, Val.”

He gave an exasperated sigh, but nodded. After a few minutes the bell rang and she got to her hooves. “Okay then, everypony follow me.” She waited for the second bell before heading down the hall towards the class. By the time she arrived, all of the children had sat down and were now waiting for her. She opened her mouth to speak.

“Ummm, Cheerilee?” Val asked.

She sighed. “Yes?” It was going to be one of those days.

“If you're ponies and stand on four legs, why does all of your furniture seem to be designed for sitting with your top legs out?”

“So we can use our front hooves to draw. Now, class,” she said firmly as she trotted in front. “Today we have a special treat. Three exchange students. They'll all be with us for at least a short time.” She smiled as she saw the cutie mark crusaders already lifting their hooves to wave at the three. Well, at least they had friends. “This is Claw, Val and Silverbelle. Please make sure to treat them with the same kindness and respect you would any new pony to Ponyville.”

There was a few waves and she quickly motioned forward. “Claw, Val, take the seats in front. Silverbelle, you can sit by Sweetie Belle.” The three walked off and then she moved towards the chalk board. “Okay. Today we'll be starting with basic addition. Now...”

She soon found herself in her groove, relaxing as no chaos or trouble started. She occasionally glanced back at the children, but they all seemed to be doing well. Sweetie and Silverbelle occasionally whispered to each other, but she couldn't imagine the latter was doing anything other than asking for help. Claw seemed... attentive. As full of energy as the little colt had been when she saw him, she was amazed at his ability to sit still. He was trying to hard and doing a marvelous job.

Val, on the other hoof, looked bored. But he seemed to be following along. She'd expected fire balls or wanton destruction. Instead he seemed to be paying attention and not causing any real problems. Even through his boredom. Maybe she had been a bit too paranoid after all.

She looked between the many smiling ponies and then turned back around, getting to work. Everything was going smoothly as she went about the lesson. Soon, they moved onto reading and she handed out all the books. “Now, today we'll be continuing the story of Mareygold. We're only a few chapters in, but can anypony remind us of where we left off?”

She looked around at the raised hooves before finally pointing at a small pink earth pony filly. “Yes, Diamond?”

“Well, she just got her cutie mark and it had nothing to do with what her family did for a living,” the little filly said proudly.

Cheerilee nodded. “Very good. Now, can anypony tell me why during the period this book takes place in, that was bad?”

Diamond gulped and raised a hoof. “The... castes?”

Cheerilee nodded. “Very good. During the time of this book, Equestria operated on a very heavy caste system. Whatever your family did, you did. Very few ponies were able to do tasks outside of their families line. Now, Mareygold's family were unicorns known for making very, very pretty types of flower displays, often for members of nobility. Mareygold, unfortunately, was talented in making illusions, not setting up flowers. Yes?” She pointed towards a small little brown earth pony. “Button?”

“Why couldn't she just try to find a new job, then?”

“Times were different, then. When a pony discovered her special talent, she often had to find a way to adapt it to whatever her job already was. Ponies weren't allowed to do jobs outside of what their families did. Fortunately, the princesses removed this system many, many centuries ago and now ponies are free to select whichever job they wish that supports their talent, rather than the other way around.” She paused and then smiled. “In fact, there is a very heavy debate going on about cutie marks now. If everypony remembers our recent elections?”

There were a few nods. “Well, at the end of them three ponies from this class achieved their cutie marks. Three ponies getting cutie marks at the same time is extremely rare, even two is something only heard of once a decade, normally. The fact they were all almost the same is even rarer. Something that has only happened a very few select times in all of Equestrian known history.” The ponies were watching her with wide eyes now. Not that she was surprised. Cutie marks always had a lot of attention. Even Val seemed to be following along, or trying.

“In the field of cutie marks there are two current views on how they are created. Namely, some ponies believe that it is what we do, the decisions we make and what we're associated with that ultimately determines what our cutie mark is. That if we try, we can even change what our cutie mark will eventually become. There are others who claim that our cutie marks are a representative of who we are and determined by that. That our actions aren't what determine our cutie marks, that our actions are determined by our cutie marks. There is actually plenty of information supporting both theories.”

“Namely, due to some magic, ponies have switched or gained new cutie marks and as such, gained the powers that the cutie mark represented. However, this was usually caused through dark magic or other means and is not always considered a good representation. On the other hoof, we have the cutie mark crusaders.” She motioned towards them. “There are very few who would argue that their cutie marks don't represent them, in fact the shield is a part of the very symbol of their club. There are some who would argue that the symbol was made by them because of their destiny, while others would argue that they would have gained whatever symbol they had used for their club as their cutie mark.”

There were a few nods and confused looks, but most seemed fascinated by the information. “The only thing both sides agree on, however, is that a cutie mark is a very important part of any ponies existence. Without it, a pony would feel lost and confused, like they lost a part of who they are. Going against ones cutie mark has led to many ponies being hurt, sick or even worse. Unfortunately, not all ponies see it that way and there are more than a few stories of ponies who decided to try and force their children to act a certain way, despite their talents. This... rarely ends well. Mareygold's story is just one of many like that.”

A little white hoof went up and she motioned towards it. “Yes, Pipsqueak?”

He gulped. “If she could do illusions so well, why didn't she just make illusion flowers? They'd still be pretty, right?”

The teacher gave a nod. “Perfect, exactly. In fact, she tries that very thing. We'll be reading a few chapters today and we should make it through that very portion. Would you like to start us off today?”

He gulped and lowered his head to the book. “O-okay. The... earth pony... awoke with...”

She smiled as she watched him. She could remember when the tiny colt had first joined her class, he could barely spell anything, now he was spelling words left and right. But, then again, he was class president now. She imagined he received all kinds of things to read. Not that there was a lot of work for the job, but there was still some reading involved. He still had a little trouble with some of the words, but she was quick to step in and aid him as he went.

After he went through a page, she switched to another one of the children, motioning with a hoof. One by one she let each child have a chance to read. Some of them could have read the entire book by themselves with ease, while others needed help with every other word. She made a mental note to send some supplemental work home with Snails.

To her delight, even Claw raised his hoof for a chance. Despite her worries, he was able to read it without any problems. She gave future her a mental pat on the back. He did have a few problems with pronunciations, but she imagined it had more to do with his tongue than lack of reading ability. Before long everypony, aside from Val and Silverbelle, had read.

“Very good, class. We'll stop there. Now, what did everypony learn?”

“Aren't they going to read?” Diamond asked, pointing towards Val and Silverbelle. The former didn't even seem to notice, his head buried in the book and staring at the words in confusion, while the latter eeped and lowered her head as far as it could go, hiding in her seat.

“No, they'll be fine, now--”

“Can't they read?” she asked, sounding a little concerned.

“If they don't wish to join in on their first day, they don't have to. Now, onto the question at hoof. What did everypony learn about this? Yes, Button?”

“Well... when she tried to use illusions, they worked really well,” Button said softly. “But they didn't last long and the fake flowers disappeared. She got in a lot of trouble then.”

Cheerilee nodded. “Exactly. Her talents were in illusions, but what had she been using them for, before? Yes, Snips?”

A little green unicorn colt looked up. “Well, she only did them for stories and stuff before. Things that didn't last long.”

“Exactly. While there are ponies who can make illusions that last hours, days, weeks or sometimes even months, that is a different type of spell than the kind she'd been practicing. She was able to make wondrous flowers the likes of which nopony had seen, but they didn't last long enough and nopony wanted fake flowers that disappeared after a few seconds. Her family was very upset about this and tried to teach her how to properly make and shape the flowers herself, but her talent and heart just wasn't in it. Then what happened? Yes, Snails?”

“She... ran away and cried,” a very tall orange unicorn colt said. “Because she was sad.”

“Exactly. Trying to force a pony to be something they're not does nothing but harm in the end. She had the ability to make the flowers they wanted, but her methods were different, using illusions. Had they encouraged them, it would have been possible for her to learn how to make them last longer. Instead, they tried to force her to learn their methods. Unfortunately, trying to force a pony to have a special talent of your choosing does not work. Now, it's almost recess. But first, take out your art supplies and let's do a bit of coloring before hoof. Val, Claw, Silverbelle? Would you three follow me outside for a moment?”

Slowly the three climbed out of their chairs and followed her out of the room. She closed the door behind her, counted to ten, opened it to shoo away the ponies who tried to sneak up and listen, before closing it again. She then looked back. “Okay, then. Let's go one by one. Silverbelle? Are you having any trouble keeping up? I noticed you had to talk with Sweetie a lot. Is everything okay?”

The little filly gave a quick nod. “Y-yes! Is much good! Equestrian not like Prance, letters different. Learning now, sorry. Much sorry,” the filly said, her head lowered and huddled up.

Cheerilee smiled and shook her head. “Nonsense, child. You're from another country. Nopony could possibly expect you to learn our language and learn to write it so quickly.” She gently patted the filly on the head, getting a small smile from her. “I know there are plenty of similarities between the two, but I know the differences must make it difficult. Have I been speaking too fast for you?”

“No!” the filly said quickly. “Cousin Sweetie been helping much all time. Much easy with help.”

“Good, good. If you do require any help, do not hesitate to ask.” She then turned to Val. “Now, Val, I wish to talk with you. Are you having any troubles?”

He blinked, then quickly shook his head. “Of course not, no!” He puffed up his chest and pounded it once. “I'm a drow, I don't need help with anything!”

She smiled. “I know. But if you're not able to read--”

The color left his face and he shook his head. “Of course I can read! All the little ponies in there can read, of course I can!” He stomped a hoof.

She gave a little nod. “Then you know all the letters, right?”

“Yes, of course! I have known them forever!” He paused and then looked towards the door. “Though... I... am surprised that you use the same letters we do. I thought pony letters would be more... big and clunky. Not so curved and precise.”

“Curved and precise?”

“Well... yes. Like drow letters. I figured without fingers, you'd all use more... clumsy letters. With lots of spaces and shapes and things like that.”

She frowned. “I... see. Equestrian manuscript does do that. So all three ponies can learn it.” She glanced towards the door. “Val, when we get back in, I want you to try doing something for me, okay?”

He nodded slowly. She then looked towards Claw. “Now, how are you keeping up?”

“Just like in old school! Never done this book, is good.”

She nodded. Well, at least one of them wouldn't have trouble keeping up. “Okay, let's go back inside and get back to drawing.” She led them inside and sat Val down. She grabbed a pencil and dropped it in front of him with a smile, along with a piece of paper. “Now, I want you to draw a random letter from your language, okay?”

He looked down at the pencil, then up at her. “How?”

“Just pick it up and draw it. Don't worry, I'll be here the whole time.”

He sighed and tried picking it up in his hoof. It refused to be picked up, moving around along the table, rolling and twirling around his hoof no matter how he tried to grab it. He finally tried using both hooves, struggling to grip it in both hooves. It worked for a few seconds, before shooting out of his grip and flying into the air. Cheerilee deftly caught it in her mouth and dropped it back on the desk.

“Use your mouth, dear,” she said.

“What? NO!” he said firmly, stomping his front hooves down on the desk. “I am not some... some kind of horse! I am a drow! A noble of the elf families! We use our hands, our thumbs! We do not... we do not write with our mouths!”

She sighed. A number of the children were now looking up and staring at them, but she waved a hoof and they quickly looked away. “Now, dear. Please. Just grip it like an earth pony. You hold the pencil firmly between your lips and teeth, then use your tongue and movements of your head to write. Like I do, remember?”

“I don't wanna,” he grumbled.

“It's the only way you can write it. Please?”

He sighed, gave another dark grumble, but slowly leaned down to pick up the pen in his mouth. He then leaned forward and started drawing on the paper as best he could. She let out a soft gasp as she watched him work. Now, his movements were slow and a bit clunky, but the letter he was drawing was like nothing she'd ever seen before. It looked more like some kind of art than a letter. The soft, gentle curves and the twirls. She didn't think she could ever forget it. After a few seconds he pulled back and revealed it to her fully.

It was an Equestrian F. She blinked a few more times, cocking her head to the side. “That's not... that's... That's not what you drew,” she said softly, staring at it.

“What? Yeah it is!” he pointed at it. “That's exactly what I drew!”

“Val, it--” The bell went off, making her cringe. She took a deep breath and waited for the class to run out for recess.

None of them moved, all watching her and Val. She motioned towards the door. “Everypony, please go enjoy your recess. I'll be out in a few minutes.” She then looked down at Val. “Hold on a second. We need to talk.”

Once the class left, she put a new piece of paper down in front of him. “Val, please. I want you to write that same letter a second time, okay?”

He looked between her and the paper, before rolling his eyes. “Really? I just did it, though! Why do I have to do it again?”

“Val, please? For me?”

He grumbled darkly a few more times, before leaning forward and writing. She followed his movements precisely, watching him work. This time there were no curves, no swirls. It was just an Equestrian F. Just like any other pony would write. She stared, her mouth open. “Are... are you sure that's how it's written in your home?”

“Yes! It's just like... this...”

“But didn't you say the letters in your language were... more curved and flowery? With twirls and precision?”

He nodded, staring at the blocky letter designed in a way so even earth ponies would have no problem writing it. She flipped the paper over and then took the pen in her mouth, drawing the same letter she'd seen him make. All the twirls and curves along with it. When she pulled back it wasn't a perfect example, but it was as close as she could get it. After all, she'd only seen the image once and only for a few seconds. “Look at that. Doesn't that look more like something from your home?”

Now he looked scared. “Y-yes,” he said softly. “It looks... I-I think. It looks just like the letters. But... but but...” He flipped it over and pointed at the Equestrian F. “But this is what I learned! This is what my tutors taught me! THIS THIS THIS! All the other letters are curved, but this one is all blocky! I remember I remember I--” She silenced him with a hug, gently holding him close.

“Shhhhh, shhhhh dear. It's okay. You're okay. It's magic, remember? Just magic. I'm going to get Princess Twilight to come down here and have a look at you, okay? Maybe she can find out what's going on. Okay? You're safe though. I promise. Completely safe. Completely and utterly safe, nothing is going to happen to you.”

“B-but... but it's just like... just like the words. I don't think that's my letter. That's not a drow letter, is it? It's a... it's a pony one, isn't it?”

“It's going to be okay, Val,” she said before letting him go and sliding down to look him in the eye. “It's all going to be okay. I promise. Nothing bad is going to happen to you. Do you believe me?”

He stared for a few moments before nodding. “Y-yes.”

“Good. Now, I want you to go outside and have some fun with the other children, okay? I'm going to go find one of the assistants and have them go get the princess. Okay?”

He nodded and slowly slid out of his seat. She noticed he was doing that better, too. She hadn't thought about it before, but he was smooth about it, now. As if he'd been getting in and out of chairs for years. With hooves and all. Even his walking was faster and he could open doors. But he couldn't grip things, at least not yet. Was he changing? How much was he changing? Before he left the room he gave one last frightened look towards the desk, before trotting outside.

She took a deep breath and looked at the papers. She scooped both up and trotted out of the room, in pursuit of the nearest assistant. She found one and set the pony off, just in time to hear a scream from outside. Her ears perked and she turned, galloping out the door.

Diamond was across the playground, running and screaming. The top of her mane and tiara had a tiny little flame on them. “Diamond!” the teacher yelled, galloping forward. “VAL!”

Comments

[Hillbe]

Was it DTs birthday?

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