Servant of the Queen

After lunch was over, Silver Rose had found herself back in literature class with Ms. Post Script, but thankfully, today’s class wasn’t heavy on any poetry. It was mostly an introduction to each other and what they were going to learn this year.

Silver had spotted Sour Sweet and Sugarcoat sitting near the front, and like Indigo, the both of them had given her a few glances. She was sure now that Sunny had told them something. She hoped it wasn’t anything too incriminating. If word got out that they were vampires or anything, her mother might resort to… getting rid of them, which was something Silver hoped to avoid.

Other than them, Misty Shroud, one of Canvas’ bullies, was also in the class. Silver didn’t like the way she talked to Canvas, but for now, she had to lay low.

English passed by fast enough, and she was soon out and looking for her next class, which was physics. She found herself pretty good at any science related stuff, so she figured this would be easy too.

The physics classroom was located next to Mr. Beaker’s class and once she was inside, Silver was greeted by a waft of superiority and ambition. It was nothing like Principal Cinch’s, but it was still pretty bad tasting. Her teacher, Mrs. Fall Optimum, was quite the old bat, with glasses almost as big as her head, and the smell was coming directly from her. Silver knew instantly she wouldn’t enjoy this class very much.

“Welcome, you must be Silver Rose, our resident celebrity.” Her teacher stretched out a skinny old hand to her. “Welcome to physics. I am Mrs. Fall Optimum.”

“Hi, Mrs. Fall.” Silver shook the crone’s hand gently, afraid that it would snap off if she shook it too hard. “I do hope to learn a bunch.”

“Now that is what I like to hear.” Her teacher nodded. “You will find my teaching most adequate. I have five different awards for physics and chemistry, plus over fifty years of teaching.”

You don’t say.

She was probably the oldest human Silver had ever seen.

Giving her new teacher her best smile, Silver found her way over to a seat near the back. The physics lab was just like the chemistry one, with the tables having to be shared by two students. Silver didn’t know who she’ll get to sit next to, but she hoped it would be a familiar face at least.

She spotted some as they filed into the room, with some being Neon Lights, Sound Wave, and even Sunny Flare. Sunny flashed her a nervous look, then chose a seat further in front. Silver sighed. She really hoped this wasn’t going to be a problem.

Closer to the bell, Canvas Splash strolled into the room, her bag slung over one shoulder, with the bottom of it stained blue. It seems her friend had burst another tube of paint. Again.

She waved to her, and when Canvas saw her, she scurried over quickly, a smile on her face.

“Silver! I get to have class with you again!” She dropped her things by the table, with her bag making a splat sound on the floor. “I had a free period last uh, period, he he… I did some painting.”

“Yeah, I thought so.” Silver looked down at her friend’s bag. “No one else bothering you, I hope?”

Man, I’ve been hoping a lot lately.

Canvas shook her head, almost flinging her beret off her head. “I had Cold Forecast in class. She ignored me mostly, but she didn’t ruin my drawings. I really wonder what happened to her and Crystal Lullaby. They really haven’t nicked my stuff since.”

“Maybe they learnt the power of friendship?”

“You mean like those CHS girls?” Canvas set her things on the table and arranged them nicely. “That would be cool if we could fly around and blast magic, wouldn’t it? I wonder what Twilight’s doing now, over at CHS.”

“Yeah, me too…”

Silver thought about the bespectacled girl. She wondered just what she was working on now, over at CHS. Maybe another magical device. And then there was the other Twilight her aunt had been meeting. The time of the blood moon was drawing closer and that would mean it would finally be time to repair the sirens’ gems. That meant no more bad singing, and no more sex-crazed Adagio and squabbling Sonata and Aria. Hopefully.

There I go hoping again…

As with all her classes today, physics class started with icebreakers and an introduction to the class. Physics seemed like a pretty straightforward class. All she had to do was learn things like gravity and motion, which she already knew.

All the while, while class was going, Silver spotted Sunny looking back at her a few times, and every time they made eye contact, the mulberry haired girl would duck lower and flip back around. She could smell Sunny’s usual love and lust, and even a side of suspicion and doubt, but she couldn’t read her mind. Whatever Sunny was thinking about, she couldn’t know, but it couldn’t be anything good for her blending in.

There was a small cheer as the bell rang, releasing them from physics, and for Silver, releasing her from having to breathe in her new teacher’s prideful smell. It was nice to be out to get some fresh air, well, fresher air. Crystal Prep wasn’t the best place to have a great feast.

Canvas followed her out, sliding her bag over one shoulder. Silver’s eyes were continually drawn to the blue stain under it, but she didn’t know what to tell Canvas, so she let it be for now.

“What do you have next?” Canvas turned around to ask.

Silver pulled out her schedule and ran a finger down the list. “It says art.”

“Oooh, that’s my favorite!” Canvas exclaimed. “But I already had my advanced art class earlier, so I guess I won’t be joining you for this.”

Silver nodded, perfectly able to see why Canvas would be in advanced art. “Well, I’ll see you later then?”

“Sure!” Canvas beamed. “See you in a bit, Silver!”

She only had two classes with Canvas this year, which downed her mood a little, but she was glad she at least had some classes with her. Canvas might’ve been weird, but she was her friend.

Pushing the door open to her last class of the day, the smell of paint instantly filled Silver’s nose.

She had rarely been to the art room before. It was painted in white, and there were shelves of art supplies and other sundries stacked neatly against the wall. There were empty easels and what looked like a clothesline on a pulley system ringing the walls. There was no sign of the teacher.

“Guess I’ll just wait,” Silver said, sitting herself down at one of the tables. Each table was fitted to seat four, one on each side of the surface. There were tall cups filled with sharpened pencils in the middle of each table.

The door opened and Silver glanced aside to see who had come in. It was Fleur, her fellow fencing team member, and she looked as though Christmas had just come early.

“Good afternoon, Silver Rose,” Fleur said as she sat down across from Silver. “I’ve some great news.”

“Oh?” Silver smiled and leaned forward as more students trickled into the classroom. “What is it?”

Fleur trembled with delight for a moment, then leaned forward and said in a conspiratorial whisper, “I’ve been promoted!”

Silver’s eyebrows met. “I’m sorry, what?”

“I’m the new captain of the fencing team!” Fleur gushed. “Quillion graduated from CPA, and Mr. Fowl has appointed me as the next captain!” She clasped her hands against her pale cheek and grinned.

“Wow, that’s great!” Silver reciprocated, nodding happily. “But then you were always exceptional in the fencing team, so it makes sense Mr. Fowl would choose you.”

“Yes, you’re right!” She ran a hand through her pink hair. “I have been known to excel in what I do.”

You all do…

But she didn’t deny that Fleur was a skilled fencer. Even with her changeling powers, Fleur was still quite the formidable opponent, beating her at the sport just about every match. It was a wonder how good humans could get if they practiced hard enough.

Eventually the bell rang and the remainder of the class filed in, including Sugarcoat and Lemon Zest, who gave her a wave. Their teacher, Mrs. Artsy Fartsy, who was a plump blonde haired woman, strolled in behind the last kid and shut the door.

As with the other classes, art went by with them mostly playing icebreaker games and getting to know each other and going over the term’s curriculum. For icebreakers, Mrs. Artsy Fartsy handed out small canvases and asked each of them to paint something that represented their summer break experience.

Silver chose a narrow paintbrush and squirted some assorted paints onto a palette like she had seen her mother do. Her green paint splashed as it landed on the palette, with some getting onto Fleur’s sleeve, but she chose not to tell her. It would be better if she never found out about it. She dipped her brush in the blue paint and began to draw it over the canvas. Across the room, she could see Sugarcoat doing something with a pencil, and Lemon Zest painting with her fingers. She didn’t know what they had in mind, but then again, neither did she.

Two prominent things came to mind when she thought about her summer break. Home Run and Sunny Flare. Unfortunately, Home Run was Moonglade’s boyfriend, and the stuff she did with Sunny should never be replicated onto a canvas in a public space such as this, so she was stumped.

In the end she simply painted a view of the grounds, with the swimming pool. The water was always invitingly blue, and she had gone for a swim many times over the break.

When she was done, she sat back and marveled at her work, but when she was further back, she realized her house was slanted to the left and the right wall was much bigger than the left.

Fleur, on the other hand, had painted a lovely image of swirls and stars, which looked like a night sky of sorts, but Silver didn’t really know for sure.

“This is to represent that life doesn’t always go in the way you expect,” Fleur told her as she propped her canvas up on an easel. “Sometimes, even when things don’t go as planned, there are many moments that still shine brighter than any other.”

“Uh, yeah, sounds right,” Silver answered with a meek laugh. It was so abstract.

“What’s yours about? It looks like… Is it a bakery? Do you bake, Silver Rose?”

“O-Oh, no…” Silver blushed. “This is, uh, it’s a sw-swimming pool, ac-actually… I swam during sum-summer, s-so… yeah.”

“Right” Fleur said, squinting. “Yes, I suppose I do see it now. You might need to work on your perspective a bit, if you don’t mind me saying so.”

With just ten minutes to go until school was out for the day, the class was interrupted by the sound of Crystal Prep’s PA going off.

“Attention all students of Crystal Prep,” Dean Cadance’s voice announced. “Please converge in the gymnasium for a special announcement. Thank you.”

Looking at Fleur with confusion, Silver packed up her things and followed the stream of students who were headed to the gym. The general mood smelled conflicted, like eating a whole mouthful of different candies all at once. It wasn’t distinct enough to taste good, but it wasn’t the worst taste either.

The students of CPA piled into the gymnasium, where Principal Cinch and Dean Cadance were standing next to a microphone, with the former looking somewhat more sour than usual. Silver sniffed at the air, but there were too many other scents that were interfering with her reading of Cinch.

“What do you think this is about?” Silver heard someone ask.

“Dunno,” another student replied. “I hope it’s not more work…”

Once everyone had entered the gym and the doors had closed behind them, Dean Cadance tapped the mic to get everyone’s attention.

“Welcome everyone, to the end of the first day of the semester,” the dean said cheerfully. “I hope everyone’s day has been good so far!”

There were some mumblings of assent. Principal Cinch leaned over Cadance’s shoulder and whispered something.

“Well, anyway,” Cadance continued. “The reason I’ve gathered you all here is to announce a school event that will be coming up soon. Since Principal Celestia has reached out an arm in friendship to Crystal Prep Academy, we will be co-hosting an Eastern Fair with CHS in about a month. It will, we hope, strengthen the inter-school relationships and help to enrich both schools’ understandings of Eastern culture. This is counted towards your history and social studies credit, so we hope you will be as involved as we are!” The dean glanced back at Cinch, who was wearing a stoically neutral expression on her face. “Are there any questions?”

Trenderhoof raised his hand. “Will it be a school-only event, or can we invite people from outside to participate?”

“The event will be open to all,” the dean announced. “Any and all people will be welcomed. Think of this as an exhibition of sorts to the public.”

Another hand went up. “Will we get extra credit for doing more work?”

“Extra credit is being considered...” Dean Cadance nodded. “We will send the details to your homerooms by the end of the week. Anything else?”

One more hand shot up. “Do we get to dress up for this Eastern Fair?” It was Lemon Zest.

“Certainly!” Cadance beamed. “It’s not mandatory, but if you want to wear something that matches the overall setting and theme, then go right ahead.”

Sugarcoat was next to ask a question. “Why Eastern? What’s so special about them that we suddenly want to showcase all this?”

“Well, the four of us principals talked about it, and we feel that it would be more interesting to learn more about a different culture, as opposed to just having a showcase on our Canterlot history. Not many people know about the East, and this could be your chance to teach them about it, or learn more about it.”

This seemed to satisfy Sugarcoat. There did not seem to be any more questions, so Dean Cadance dismissed the students, just as the bell to signal the end of the school day rang.

The East, is it? Silver didn’t know a whole lot about the East, but she knew someone who did.

She bade farewell to her friends and went to the front of Crystal Prep, where that familiar black car was waiting.

“Good afternoon, sweetie,” Ivory Wings said once her niece was buckled in the back. “How was school?”

“School was okay, I suppose,” Silver said as the car began to move. “We mostly got to know each other again. Not a lot of homework.”

“That sounds nice,” Ivory said, running a yellow light. “What’s the status on that Sunny Flare girl?”

“Nothing,” Silver sighed. She poked the tips of her fingers together nervously. “I don’t know if she’s told the other Shadowbolts about the cafe thing.”

“Remember, she’s not even supposed to know if it was a dream or not, but I suppose this is quite the predicament. We haven’t had an incident like this in… in a very long time, sweetie.”

“Oh.”

They drove on in silence until they reached the Wings Estate, upon which Ivory stopped the car in front of the main doors and waited for Silver Rose to get out. However, she did not.

“Is something the matter, sweetie?” Ivory asked, looking in the rearview mirror.

Silver Rose shifted in her seat. “Um, my school and CHS is having an Eastern fair. I don’t know that much about the East, but I want to pull my weight… so, do you think you could teach me about the East? I mean, you have lived there, right?”

“You want me, to teach you about the East?” Ivory said with a wry smile. “I did play advisor to one of the emperors while I was there, so I think I can show you a thing or two. When is this event?”

“About a month?”

Ivory settled into her seat with a smug expression. “Then, yes. I think I can teach you. When do you want me to start?”