Twilight Sparkle smiled to herself, as she strode towards the schoolyard with her head held high; a new black and purple backpack hung on her shoulders, but- even weeks ater he transfer- she otherwise wearing her old Crystal Prep uniform.
The schoolyard before her, aside for the pedestal of the statue destroyed a week ago during the climax of the Friendship Games- which had been rapidly renovated- was criss-crossed by two concrete paths showing only minor signs of wear.
The population of the yard, at that hour of the day, was composed by four early bird students sitting on the grass or on the small steps of the entrance. They all were either reading or toying around with their phones, the only actual birds visible in the area begin crowds and pidgeons roosting over the windows' cornices and on the flagpoles.
Looks like I'm early today, Twilight Sparkle giggled to herself at the thought, still moving forward. I guess it's one of the perks of living closer to the school. Twilight then stopped to survey the area, to find a place to sit down while waiting for school to start. She identified the north-east corner of the two paths' crossroad to be a good place to stop and sit down.
She went there and sat down, with her knees close to her chest and placed the backpack close to her right side. She pulled out a book and, once she set it on her knees, opened it at the chapter she was studying about, one about nucleid acids, signaled by a pink hair clip on the first page of the chapter in question.
After reading a few pages on the subject at hand and a quick rattling off of several mathematical formulas, she interrupted her reading with a sigh and looked around her. She saw the schoolyard slowly filling up with students, who clustered in small groups as the small parking lot in front of the yard filled up with moped scooters, motorbikes and bicycles.
Inside a small crook of approaching students, Twilight spotted Applejack. She quickly set the book back in her backpack and got up. She then waved at Applejack, who waved back before she walked out of the crook and crossed the lawn towards Twilight.
“Good day Applejack!” Twilight said, once she was close enough to actually hear, while she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. Applejack took a step forward and gave a friendly pat on Twilight’s shoulder, which made her pitch forward.
“Howdy Twilight, how are you today?” she asked, as Twilight recovered from the pat and adjusted her glasses again.
“I feel really good today, thank you very much. And you, Applejack?” she said, bowing and smiling a little, trying her best to keep eye contact with her friend.
“I’m as good as ever!” Applejack said, as she hooked Twilight’s neck with her left arm, causing her to bow down. Twilight felt somewhat overwhelmed by the action, but not enough to ask Applejack to stop doing so.
After a lull in the conversation lasted a few moments, Applejack moved her arm away as she bent forward setting her left hand over her forehead like a sailor on a ship looking for land.
Twilight noticed this sudden change of stance and tried to follow Applejack’s gaze. She saw- inside the crowd of people- an unexpected as unpleasant surprise. It was a tall grey skinned boy wearing black trousers and a dark gray t-shirt with a huge thermometer printed on the front to walk in.
Twilight fixed her gaze on him, her knees shaking a little and her heart beating faster at this sight.
Is he… ? No, that’s not possible… please, tell me it isn’t him! Twilight said, as she took off her glasses and used her skirt to hastily wipe them clean. Applejack stood up again, showing confusion on her freckled face.
“Do ya see that Twilight? Am I really seeing what I think I’m seeing or am I going nuts?” Applejack asked, in a voice that betrayed disbelief, not that Twilight could blame her for that. Twilight put her glasses back on her nose.
What he’s doing here? Better yet, how he can be here? Twilight shook her head.
“You’re asking if I’m seeing a grey boy walking through the crowd towards us?” Twilight Sparkle asked.
“Yep,” Applejack stated dryly, and Twilight shook her head.
“Then I do.”
The guy was looked left and right with a concentrated frown. He then stopped at the scaffolding and set his hands on his hips.
“Man, I knew that I wasn’t much a morning person and all, but this is ridiculous,” he said, clearly to nobody in particular. His words only caused further puzzlement to Twilight Sparkle, who, however, didn’t dare to move forward and ask. Instead, Applejack walked up to him.
“Quicksilver, is that you?” Applejack asked.
He recoiled and moved his hands forward towards Applejack, almst stumblign on the statue's pedestal. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! How did you know my name?”
What? You once claimed you were famous around here, why are you surprised? Twilight thought, widening her eyes in surprise, before massaging her forehead with her left hand.
“Your face was all over the newspaper! Your case was all over the place, even had a minute of silence for ya!” Applejack said, before she held her temples and shook her head violently.
I don’t blame her. it’s all so… mind-boggling? Yeah, that may be the right word. Twilight thought, her curiosity bringing to move closer to Applejack and Quicksilver, to hear the conversation better and not miss any element of the ongoing conversation.
He tilted his head, his face wrinkled by a frown of confusion and concentration.
“I was on the newspapers? How’s that possible?” He asked, his tone of voice underlining irritation. “And, one minute of silence? But why?”
Applejack shrugged and grimaced. She clearly didn’t achieve any further understanding about the situation, Twilight could tell, and currently, she was just as clueless as her friend was.
“I dunno, they just said you went to a party outside town and then you got in a car crash 'cuz you passed with the red… that’s what the newspapers said, at least,” Applejack shrugged. “I mean, gotta trust the newspapers about somethin’, right?”
Twilight briefly snapped out of her bafflement androlled her eyes at Applejack’s statement. That depends on which newspapers you’re talking about, Applejack.
“Sooo… the principal has had a minute of silence for me, just because I was brought to hospital?” Philip said, as he moved his head back into place and scratched it. “That… doesn’t make much sense. Isn’t that kind of thing issued only when somebody dies or something?”
“Yeah! That’s why I don’t get it Aren’t you dead?”
Quicksilver froze, staring deeply into Applejack's eyes, mute as a dead fish, leaving behind a tenseful and awkard silence.
Twilight bit her lip, bracing herself for the worst that could come from him, sweating, biting her lip and slowly moving her arms crossed over her face. Please, let him be calm!
He then rose his left hand and opened his mouth, before rpaidly shutting it close.
"Pretty sure I'm alive..." Quicksilver said with a frown, massagin his chin. "But, then again, I could be wrong. Maybe it's just me not remember much of my past."
He's calm for now. Twilight thought, as she let out a deep and much-desired sigh of relief, wiping sweat off her eyebrow.
"Yer' telling me that you have amnesia? But ain't that caused by hits on the head?" Applejack grimaced briefly. Quicksilver started to fiddle around with his fingers and rapidly look around, after a recoil that rivaled the one of a big piece of artillery.
"Um... not exactly.. you see..." He said, as Applejack turned her ear towards him. "I just had s little procedure tha-"
Before he could finish that sentence the school bell rang, cutting him off. He immediately turned aroudn and rushed inside the school building, leaving applejack and Twilight behind.
"He acts mighty strange," Applejack muttered as she set off to walk inside. "then again, who wouldn't, if you were begin told you're actually dead."
That may be true, but it does not explain... pretty much anything about him right now, really. Twilight thought, massaging her chin as she remained still while people walked inside. Maybe he is a little bit drowsy and he will be back to his rather belligerant self later?
Twilight stopped her train of thought to look aroud her, noticing that everybody else had gone inside. She shrugged, fixing the bookbag on her shoulders, and then set herself off to walk inside the school.
“Last time, we spoke about Appiano III’s multiple attempts to marry his son, the future Jacopo IV, to Lawrence the Magnificent’s daughter, Lucretia, until Lawrence’s surrender and acceptance of the deal. Now we will start a hopefully much more interesting topic, Jacopo IV’s rise to the throne, politics and his unification of Central Italy, which will jump start the unification of the peninsula under Jacopo V ‘The Great’ and that will compose what is now the United Kingdom...”
Twilight Sparkle sighed, as she re-read the notes she had taken during the History Class back in her old school. Her History notes arrived well beyond the time- around a century o be precise- that the teacher, called Hero Dou Tus (more commonly called Mr. Dou Tus), was currently talking about. This left her without much to do but use her pencil to scribble on the blank spaces of her notebook- thusly giving to the teacher the impression she was actually listening to the lesson- and instead look around her, to check the class' situation.
Twilight could notice that most of her new classmates at her sides were taking notes- or pretending to do so at very least- about the subject. Turning her head around, Twilight could see that Rainbow Dash was slumped backwards,her mouth open and a little thread of drool hanging by her mouth, with her desk neighbour Pinkie Pie rapidly placing her pencil case and the books on her left, while staring at Bon Bon, who had set up the books likewise on her right.
Twilight suspected that the two were playing Battleships or a variation thereof. Well, I hope they know what they're doing there, or else they'll have a brusque wake-up call later this year. She turned around again and looked in front of her on the left, where she noticed the unusual sight of Quicksilver bent over the paper and writing furiously and frantically, something she had never seen him doing in all the time she had seen him.
Sure, I might have not paid too much attention to what people in Crystal Prep did, but I can't have forgot that he used to refuse to do anything related to schoolwork by his own will. Twilight thought, as she frowned of bafflement again. Guess that is another thing to add to the list of oddities I've met in him so far.
As the teacher sketched on the blackboard the Appiani-Medici's family tree, plus the reigning dates and the major deeds of each monarch from 1457 to 1517, Philip Silver quickly rose his hand up and frantically waved while making his desk quake with a rumble. Mr. Dou Tus turned around with a sharp movement and, while holding the piece of chalk up between his middle finger and his index, faced Philip Silvers, asking "What is the question you are so much in need to ask, Philip? Do you need to use the restroom 'real quick'?"
Philip Silver immediately lowered his arms for instead making him fiddle his hands furiously, clearly flustered and confused by something.
"N-no... I just wanted to know, what happened to the Holy Roman Empire, how did Appiano V managed to defeat the coalition between the Duchy of Milan, the Swiss Confederation and the Duchy of Savoy? And how he, and his successors, could've ruled on so many states used to have their own independence?" Quicksilver said, his voice expressing amazement, as if he had never heard of those events.
"From this question, it is clear that you haven't paid much attention to my lessons, Quicksilver. We have lost a month on talking about the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire due to the actions of Subotai and his successors, and talking about the various theories that have come up over the years about the Appiani's success both in war and peace, about the one we're going to follow and why. I suggest you to open up your books and study more often, instead of waiting for your coffee machine to make coffee or faking your death for go Tengri-knows-where." Mr. Dou Tus deadpanned, as he turned around again. Hearing this, Twilight bit her lower lip and squinted her eyes closed, as silence briefly befell the class.
That's a bad idea, a really, really bad idea! she thought, awaiting for Quicksilver to first bellow like a bull, then spring up and grab the teacher by the shirt's neck, threatening him with violence and insulting everything he could possibly insult about him.
But Quicksilver instead let out a little whimper and bowed his head. "Yes, but of course, teacher, I will do!" he said with a frantic tone that felt more belonging to her old self than to "her" Quicksilver. Twilight Sparkle stared at him, mouth ajar.
Did... he... uh, what? Twilight thought, still staring, as the teacher went back to his lesson, ignoring the fact that many of the students were still staring at him, which, in turn, made him somewhat curl up onto himself.
Now Twiligth added herself to the stares. Even if she was feeling somewhat bad for doing that, she could not help herself in that particular situation.
He isn't definitely the guy I used to know! Not anymore at least, Twilight thought, shuddering at the flashbacks of her interactions with him, most of them involving him either shouting or slapping her for extort a cheat sheet for whatever exam was coming up. but he has the same voice pitch, the same clothing style, the same skin, hair and eye colour, he is probably of the same exact weight and height, not to mention the same name, what are the odds of this happening? One in bilions, probably.
Twilight had suddenly an idea.
I know that magic is real, I've felt that on my skin. Perhaps the same force that turned me into a daemonic entity also brought him back to life? When recess comes, I must ask Sunset if such a thing is even possible. Twilight thought, turning her head around, looking at Sunser Shimmer sitting at the last desk on the right.
The bell rang, signaling the start of recess. Most of the students got up from their seats and started to walk around and form groups. Looking behind her, Twilight noticed that Sunset was already engaged in a conversation with Applejack, so she got up from her chair and went next to them, catchign glimpises of their conversation, one that Twilight could only guess begin about a reality show, and Twilight, not knowing the topic very well, stood by silently.
When there was a lull in the conversation Twilight lifted her index finger and hunched forward, saying "Um... hello?"
Applejack turned her head around, while susnet got up and also faced Twilight after doign a little bowing gesture.
"Hello there, Twilight, how are you doing during this fine, fine day?" Sunset Shimmer said, smilign a little towards Twilight, who responded with a tiny grin.
"I am fine, thank you very much, you?" Twilight asked.
"I'm good too!"
"Well, that is good," Twilight said, letting out a mumble before speaking up again and get to her point. "I have a question for you, one regarding Quicksilver."
Sunset's smile quickly faded, as Appleajack crossed her arms and huffed. "Lemme tell ya, that was a real awful move from his part. To pretend to be dead like a racoon... and what for anyway?"
"No, Applejack," Sunset Shimmer said somewhat seriously, massaging her chin. "That cannot be. I've seen his casket begin closed and his coffin buried, how he could've faked an entire funeral service without looking too phony, and, if he did spend for a full burial service, why he would go as far as that?"
"Yes, that's what I was thinking too." Twilight said with a quick nod, forcing herself to not join her hands and rub them together. "I have a theory about that, but, since you are the only one that has any kind of extensive experience with magic, I guessed it was better to ask to you."
Sunset turned her face towards Twilight and sat on the desk, crossing her legs as she did so.
"You think that magic could've revived him?" She asked. Twilight nodded with a hum, and Sunset Shimmer, in turn, hummed and massaged her chin, before making a closed-open palm gesture with her left hand. "I'm not sure, actually. On one hand, when I used to live in Equestria, bring living begin back from the dead was impossible. Sure, you could revive them for, what, four hours or five? But no way to fully resurrect a former living thing has been ever found."
Twilight leaned forward in interest, as Applejack took the French leave from the conversation.
"On the other ho- er, hand," Sunset continued. "When I first came here, one of the elements of Harmony turned me into a demon much like you back at the Friendship Games."
Twilight cringed a little and nodded with a sigh, while susnet kept speaking.
"That transformation is something that usually happened only in completley different circumnstances. Perhaps your device, once unleashed, managed to do that?" She said, before settign her hands in her lap. "The most obvious thing would be check if his grave has been opened and if he's emanating magical radiation or something like that."
"Yes, yes, that is ture." Twilight said, just as the bell rang again, signaling that the lessosn were starting again. Twilight congedated herself with a little bow, going back at her seat.
