Marshmallow Dreams

by Halira

Chapter 44: Why We Do Strange Things

English literature was not a much more productive first day of class than Calculus One was. The professor showed up on time, though, and the class didn't dismiss early. The professor spent almost the entire class discussing how great a writer James Joyce was, and I had a feeling that at the end of the year, there would be an extensive essay question on the final exam about the said author. The professor barely got to cover expectations or hand out the syllabus because of how focused he was on reciting the gospel of James Joyce.

Unfortunately, I was going to be required to bring my textbook to class every day, and they took the term English lit to refer to anything initially written in English. I also was required to read an entire assigned book and write a report on it every other week. Reading a book and writing an essay within two weeks regularly might not be a big deal if this were the only class by itself, but add in daily homework from calculus, and whatever the other classes assigned, it could become a burden.

Maggie and I said our goodbyes after class since I wasn't taking Intro to Graphic Design and she wasn't taking Intro to Architecture.

I had to pass by several paintings of various famous people from Riverview. I passed by Sunset Blessing, who didn't look nearly so judgemental at this point. I also passed by one of Wild Growth depicted with an outline of wings and a horn done in what I assumed was the artist's depiction of magical energy. That wasn't the first time I had seen that depiction. It was popular to fantasize that Wild Growth could have been an alicorn based on what happened during the Cataclysm. I'd even heard a nickname for her— The Alicorn that Wasn't. I wondered how she felt about people saying that.

I was one of the first to enter the classroom for Intro to Architecture. I took a seat near the front and settled in as other students began filing in. I did notice I was the only winged pony in class, which backed what Nightscape said. Everyone else in the class was either a human, earth pony, or unicorn. Well, almost everyone, there was also one crystal pony stallion. The professor, a human man, was there on time. He arrived with enough time to unload the syllabi from his briefcase, and he sat at the desk checking his watch every minute or so, even though there was a clock on the wall.

Right when it struck eleven, he stood up and stepped in front of his desk. "I believe it is time to start. I'm Doctor Damian Morris. I'm going to say this upfront, after today tardiness will not be accepted in this class. You will be expected to arrive on time or not arrive at all. If you have a legitimate reason you will be tardy, I expect you to contact me before class is to begin and let me know. If you fail to do so, I will not acknowledge you as present on the attendance roster, even if you are there for forty-nine minutes and fifty-nine seconds out of the fifty minutes. I expect all of you are aspiring architects, and I expect you to treat class attendance as seriously as possible."

So no hanging around after English lit each day to talk to Maggie. Hopefully, that class wouldn't run over at all.

He clasped his hands together low in front of himself. "This is an introductory course. In it, you will be introduced to all the main aspects of a career in architecture. Your future courses, if you advance, will go more in-depth with each of these aspects, in addition to some others."

He walked over to the whiteboard behind him and grabbed a dry erase marker, and began writing as he spoke. "The main aspects we will cover are drafting, urban planning, preservation, building codes, environmental impact, and design." He wrote each aspect out, then turned to face the class again. "There will be other subjects covered, but these will be our main focus. We will not get incredibly in-depth about each, but by the time you finish this course, you should have a good idea what to expect when you begin studying each in further depth."

He picked up the stack of syllabi and began counting out enough for each row of desks and passing them out. "I am passing out your syllabus. I do grade with A, B, C, D, and F. However, if you wish to advance to future courses in this department, you must pass this class with at least a B. If you fail to make a B, you may retake the course one time for a better grade, or you can reconsider your career options and change your major. I hope you all make A's and B's, but every semester some don't. I won't call any of you out, but there are some students here I saw last semester."

Okay, so my entire future depended on how I did in this particular class. No pressure.

He finished passing out the papers, and I passed my stack backward with my mouth to the student behind me before sitting back correctly in my chair.

"It is not my intention to make things harder than they need to be," Doctor Morris continued. "The grading policy is a department policy, but one I support. If you don't exit this class with a good enough understanding of the material, you will only struggle and fail at the coming courses in the department. Advancing you when you aren't ready is setting you up to fail. If you are borderline near the end of the semester, there will be extra credit available to demonstrate you truly understand concepts that you might have struggled with earlier in the semester. If your grade has no chance of being improved by at least a grade level with the final and extra credit, you are exempt from taking the final. Everyone who takes the final and passes it will get at least a C, regardless of how low your grade was before that point."

A unicorn stallion sitting next to me raised a hoof. "Can you clarify that?"

Doctor Morris nodded. "If you are making an A in this class going into the final, you don't have to take it. If you are on track for a low B or low C, you don't have to take it. If you have a higher B or C grade, or a D or F, you must take the final. I am not giving a final to people who it can only hurt. If there is a chance it can help your grade, you must take it. I will let each of you know a week before finals if you need to take it."

Having one less final to study for was a good incentive to do everything I could to make an A in the class up to that point. Being in a position where I had needed to take it sounded incredibly stressful. It sounded like some students that were on track for a B might deliberately sink their grades slightly near the end just to make themselves still on track for a B, but not where they would need the final. I couldn't see myself doing that, but I could see others doing it.

Doctor Morris then proceeded to discuss his achievements. I thought it was interesting he was one of the architects who helped design our school. He had also done the city hospital design, which was one of the few buildings near the center of town that had survived the Cataclysm intact. That second one seemed like a good credential that he knew how to make a sturdy building. I didn't know if I liked him or not. He sounded stern, but also made it clear he didn't want to waste anyone's time—including ours. He was listed as my advisor, so I had no choice but to get used to him.

In the last part of the class, he pulled out some pictures of various buildings that graduates of the college had helped design. My guess was for it to be an encouragement, but even though a few of them did look pretty or high class, none of them had the wow factor I wanted to design.

Oh, and I would have to bring my textbook to class each time. That was two out of three classes so far—three if I missed a homework assignment in calculus.

Lunchtime couldn't come soon enough, and as soon as class let out, I was out the door, moving as quick as my chubby legs could carry me to the cafeteria. Food was an excellent motivator for me, and I made fantastic time to the cafeteria. I saw Sunflower and Meadow hurrying out of the building as I came in, which must have meant they had classes around noon and ate lunch earlier. They were in such a rush I barely got to say hi before they were gone.

Inside, the number of students was sparse. Just those who didn't have any classes scheduled at the moment, but that wouldn't last long at all. I was quick enough to beat the coming crowd, but they were coming, and I wanted to have my food and get a table before they arrived.

My lunch wasn't fancy—a sunflower sandwich, some mashed potatoes and gravy, some baby carrots, and a mug of orange juice. The sandwich made me mirthfully wonder if my bathroommate considered eating it an act of cannibalism. I was disappointed to see that the ice cream machine was down. That meant I had no dessert available.

I made it to a table, one much cleaner than this morning, and sat down with no trips, slips, or falls. That might be because I had fewer people to dodge and was paying attention this time, but it was something to be positive about. The two little mishaps back at the dorms had been my only ones so far on the day, and I hoped to keep it that way. There weren’t many classes left, just Art History, and the day would be mine.

"I wonder if Sunflower eating one of those sandwiches counts as cannibalism. What do you think?" I heard from beside me.

I looked over and saw Julie taking a seat next to me. I gave her a big grin and giggle. "I was thinking the same thing."

"Great minds think alike," Julie replied. She took a sip of her orange juice through a straw and smiled at me back. "How is the first day of class treating you?"

I shrugged. "Nothing spectacular so far, but nothing terrible either, other than I didn't know I wouldn't need all my books on the first day."

"Oh, I forgot to tell you that," she said with a blush. "Let me correct that. Guess what? You don't need your books on the first day."

"Thanks for the advice," I said with a chuckle. "How has your first day gone?"

"Prototypical," she answered. "Flight team has class early, an hour before all the other classes start. It's just a conditioning class, really. I get elective credits for doing workouts I would have already been doing anyway, so no complaints about that. Then I moved from that to my Spanish class, and then into The Psychology of Clouds."

"Do clouds have a lot of deep thoughts?" I asked, as straight-faced as I could manage.

"They seem like they contemplate some high-level stuff, but it is mostly all just fluff and vapor," she replied with just as straight a face.

"I made cloud friends in my dreams when I was younger," I recounted. "I gave them top hats because everyone looks smarter and more spiffy with a top hat. You should give clouds top hats."

"I don't think that would work out too well," she chuckled. She then frowned. "I did have one downer thing happen today. Lántián told us she is out yet another sitter. That's a real drag on the team. We need her in top shape, but her kid keeps her away from practice. She didn't miss class, but that's only because her Drizzle is in school weekday mornings and early afternoons. We have practices every weekend, and that's when she has a hard time finding a reliable sitter. If she keeps missing practice, we'll have to replace her. I'd hate for that to happen; she helped me out a lot last year when I was trying to get my bearings."

That sounded like an opportunity for me to help Lántián out. If I could help her out, maybe she wouldn't be as hostile to me. "I wouldn't mind foalsitting for her on weekends. I doubt she could pay much, but a little income is better than no income."

"That would help the flight team out a lot," Julie enthusiastically replied. "I don't know her phone number, but I know her address, and she already seems to know you. She should be at home, taking care of Drizzle tonight, if you want to go check this evening."

That would cut into my time with Maggie, but I could do something with her and then go visit Lántián. "I'll do that."

As if summoned, I saw Maggie walk into the cafeteria, and I waved at her. She waved back but hurried to get in line while it was still short.

"We need to do some initiation things with you and Sunflower over the weekend still," Julie said after finishing off a bite of food.

Oh dear, there was still a threat of hazing. "What kind of things?" I asked.

"Nothing too bad," Julie assured me. "Nightscape has a bunch of scary movies that she makes us watch. We also need to take Sunflower to get her traditional Skytree eighteenth birthday initiation. I figured since you're from around here, you've already done it, but you still need to come along."

I scrunched up my nose. "Yeah, I did it. I guess I can bring some extra deodorant and stuff for right after. I never understood why everyone in town goes there on their eighteenth birthday."

She blinked and looked at me, incredulously. "I thought you'd know. Before the Cataclysm, Riverview was divided into districts—old crazy Sunset Blessing made a big deal about a place for everything and everything in its place. The entertainment district was one of those districts, and it became mildly famous for its large number of hookah bars. After the city was mostly leveled during the Cataclysm, only a few districts didn't get any significant damage. Those were the industrial district, the entertainment district, and the old towns."

"That doesn't answer the question," I replied.

"I'm getting there," she answered. "The people that didn't leave would spend lots of time in the entertainment district and sing songs about how the Bastion has fallen, but the Skytree still stands while in the hookah bars. Since then, it has become a tradition for all the adults in town to go there at least once and sing the lyrics of The Skytree Still Stands while smoking the hookah. It's a right of passage."

"It's a really stinky tradition, and it makes me cough," I said warily.

She shrugged. "Hey, there was smoke from burning trees and buildings everywhere for days after the Cataclysm. Consider it getting to relive what those of us who were here went through—without worrying as we did about whether a building or flaming chunk of a giant tree is going to collapse on you at any moment."

One of my ears flattened as I looked at her. "The trees were on fire for days after? I thought they put them out with weather teams."

"They were mostly out, but a lot of them were still smoldering," Julie explained. "You can't set that much wood on fire and not have some still burning long after. Even the wood that was reduced to char was still dangerous. Back then, there were many more trees than those four out by the monument, and a lot of them were in bad shape. Their burnt-up branches would break off—and many of them weren't tiny little twigs; they were big. They could fall and just crush any person or car unlucky enough to be in the wrong place."

I gulped. I was used to smacking into trees but wasn't used to trees making an effort to smack me.

It also occurred to me that people tended to assign new meanings to things over time. The four trees that made up the monument were an inspiration to everyone now, but it seemed like they were something to be terrified of in the immediate days after the Cataclysm. The same could be said of the old hookah bars. Before the Cataclysm, they were a diversion, but they became a symbol of pride and gratitude to have survived in the time after. Even what people thought of when they thought of people changed, as was the case of Sunset Blessing. I wondered what ways people might think of things in the future that I would find strange. Would everyone be toasting prune juice in remembrance of the Great Plum War sometime a hundred years from now?

Whatever I might feel strange, things like the hookahs meant a great deal to some people. I could tell that it meant a great deal to Julie. For her, this wasn't some random stupid thing people did, it was something done in remembrance of when the world seemed to be ending, but despite that, life continued. It didn't matter if I felt as strongly about it. It was something small I could do to say I respected her and what she endured.

"I wasn't here for the Cataclysm," I finally said. "My family moved here after the rebuilding efforts were at least halfway done. I always thought about how that particular day must have been frightening, but never realized or considered it wasn't over after that one day. I'm sorry I didn't understand where the traditions come from, but I'll show them more respect in the future."

Julie gave me a sad look. "They wouldn't even let us dig through the wreckage of our home because it was too dangerous. We lost everything. I had some ferrets that I didn't have time to take with me when we ran, and I'll never know if they survived. I want to think they did, unlikely as that is. All my stuffed animals from when I was a small foal, pictures, all the stuff my parents saved from when we were humans, all of it was gone in a blink of an eye, but we survived, and Skytree still stands."

I raised my mug of orange juice. "Skytree still stands."

Comments

[Kek lel]

Right when it struck eleven, he stood up and walked in front of his desk. "I believe it is time to start. I'm Doctor Damian Morris. I'm going to say this upfront, after today, tardiness will not be accepted in this class. You will be expected to arrive on time or not arrive at all. If you have a legitimate reason you will be tardy, I expect you to contact me before class is to begin and let me know. If you fail to do so, I will not acknowledge you as present on the attendance roster, even if you are there for forty-nine minutes and fifty-nine seconds out of the fifty minutes. I expect all of you are aspiring architects, and I expect you to treat class attendance as seriously as possible."

My god really?

[Da Fennec]

Having experienced a tree falling on my car as I was driving I can relate to how scary that is. Huge tree small car front drivers side tire ended up parallel to the road but did';t break a window

[Chrome Masquerade]

"Do clouds have a lot of deep thoughts?" I asked, as straight-faced as I could manage.

"They seem like they contemplate some high-level stuff, but it is mostly all just fluff and vapor," she replied with just as straight a face.