Homework is for Home

The baby blue filly swung her bags under her desk, pulling out a novel. She scanned the classroom and smiled to herself—she was the first one in the room, again. The filly flipped open her book, her purple eyes tracing the page, deep in thought. As she read, more foals began to file into the classroom, taking their seats, soft chatter starting to fill the room. A yellow filly with a white mane slumped into the chair next to her, pulling out the previous night’s assignment.

“Hey, Sparky,” Dream Charmer said, nudging her with a hoof. “Did you get the answer to number four on the homework?” She sighed and wordlessly shoved her worksheet into her friend’s hooves. “Thanks!”

“Good morning, class!” Ms. Quill stepped into the classroom, wearing her usual tacky green shawl and toting a large bag. “Please pass up your homework to the front of the room.”

Papers shuffled as the young mare stepped to the front of the class; Spark tore her eyes away from the book and neatly slid it under her desk. After they finished the usual morning preparations - going over the homework and writing the day’s schedule on the chalkboard at the front of the room - the students pulled out their math textbooks and began to work on the complex multiplication problems written on the page.

“A basic understanding of mathematics is always important when studying magic,” Ms. Quill told the students, writing a long equation on the board. Sparky quickly finished the problems and read the practice sheet they were supposed to work on when finished. The questions were almost exactly like the ones she had just completed, however, so her mind soon wandered.

“I wonder what Shiny is doing right now?” She thought to herself, her eyes glazed. “I hope he got those books from the library like I asked. I can’t wait to start reading Harry Trotter! I hope it’s as good as everyone says...”

According to the schedule, math was first, followed by common spells, reading, then science. They had just finished long division, and they were now working on large multiplication. Common spells included learning to levitate and conjure small items, like a pencil or a small piece of cloth, and reading was simply learning to read, understand, and correctly pronounce spells. Science was mainly potion brewing, and they had been studying potions since the beginning of the school year; how to make them, different ingredients and what they did. Though the topic started out with the students watching Ms. Quill attentively, it had gradually turned into the equivalent of math class - boring the students to sleep. The lessons were very redundant, potions are not commonly used, and for many potions there are equivalent spells. The only time ponies used potions was often in Marefrican rituals done by zebras, but Ms. Quill was still required to teach it.

Sparky, and a handful of other classmates, watched Ms. Quill as she stood at the front of the classroom, waving a short stick at the chalkboard and giving a lecture on levitation spells. As she spoke, Sparky hastily jotted down information in a spiral notebook, while Dream Charmer idly doodled on a worksheet, and Emerald Crown and Moon Dancer passed notes and chatted in hushed voices at the front of the class. Sparky, looking up at the chalkboard, couldn’t help but notice, and her mind was quickly drawn away from the teacher. Frustrated, she shot her hoof into the air.

“Yes?” Ms. Quill looked pointedly at the filly.

“Emerald and Moon are passing notes!”

The two fillies looked up, hearing their name, and shot an angry look back at Sparky.

“Thanks a lot, Spark.”

Ms. Quill confiscated the note, reprimanded the two fillies and continued with the lesson. Sparky beamed at them and focused her attention back on her notebook.

As the students finished reading a few example enchantments, Ms. Quill stepped to the front of the room and used her magic to pull a table to the front of the class. She levitated her bag over and began to place on the table assorted jars and bottles holding multicolored liquids, glimmering jewels, a box of parasprite wings, different plants, and something that closely resembled hay casserole. The students looked at the array of materials laid out on the table; all of them the class had read about, but barely any had they seen in person. Sparky, her focus on the textbook fading, knew what they were instantly: potion ingredients. After months of studying, they would finally have the opportunity to make their own. As the bell signified the end of reading class, the students were all watching the teacher with rapt attention, their spell books long-gone.

“You have all shown admirable ability to identify different potions and their ingredients,” Ms. Quill started, satisfied with the students’ interest, “so today I have provided the supplies to make one of two different potions. One will color any material, which is fairly difficult, and the other will make any material grow, which is easier. The instructions for each are on papers on the table. Be very careful and follow the directions exactly. You will be working with a partner of your choice. When you finish, you can read or finish tonight’s math assignment. Any questions?” A filly from the back row raised her hand. “Yes, Emerald?”

“Uh, will the color potion, like, stain fur?”

“Usually, yes, but today we are making a much weaker potion, so it shouldn’t affect you at all. Okay, class! Get to work!”

“Which one do you wanna try?” Dream Charmer said, pushing her and Spark’s desks together.

“Let’s do the color one. I already tried the growing one, and it’s too simple. We should do something exciting!”

“Ugh... fine, but let’s make it quick. I want to get our homework done.”

The pair shoved their way through the mass of fillies and colts gathered around the table holding the ingredients. They quickly grabbed the needed supplies, trying as hard as they could not to spill anything with the mass of pushing and shoving students. As they sat back onto the desk, they found Spark had been correct when she said it would be exciting. They had gone over this potion multiple times, but they had never imagined making it, and reading the instructions was so much easier than completing them.

1. Crush dried parasprite wings in mortar and pestle

2. Pour three measures of the crushed material into small bowl

3. Add four teaspoons of zap apple juice to bowl

4. Stir 17 times clockwise—mixture should turn bright yellow

5. Pour through strainer into large bowl

6. Stir slowly clockwise while adding poison joke leaves until mixture is pale lavender

7. Heat on hot plate until hissing-approx. 76 seconds-while stirring quickly

8. Pour into vials and let cool

“Okay, you crush up the wings, and I’ll pour in the apple juice,” Dream Charmer said, pulling bowls and spoons out of their pile of supplies.

“But you need to add the wings first!”

“Oh, Sparky, it doesn’t matter. Hurry up with those wings.”

By the time Sparky was satisfied with the fine powder, Dream Charmer had added the zap apple jam and was already stirring. Spark started to object, but Dream shushed her.

As they strained the thick goop, Dream began to stir again and Sparky had to quickly force the rest through the strainer so she could add the leaves.

“Dream, it should be yellow.”

“It is yellow, Sparky.”

“You’re supposed to stir clockwise.”

“Are you sure? Okay.”

“I’ll get the hot plate.” Grumbling, Spark shuffled back to the table, picking up one of the metal dishes in her mouth. When she got back, Dream was pacing impatiently, sniffing the magenta potion and making faces.

“Hm... is it supposed to smell like cotton candy?”

“I dunno. It doesn’t say anything about the smell in the instructions... but I think you were supposed to stir it longer. It isn’t pale lavender.”

“Eh, whatever. It’ll be fine.”

As the yellow pony stirred the potion as fast as she could, it began to bubble and slop over the edges, making sizzling noises on the marble desk surface. Foals around them began to notice and pushed their chairs away, wary of the growing concoction.

“Oh no! Here, Sparky, you stir it, I’ll get some towels.” Dream Charmer dashed off, leaving a wide-eyed filly stirring the potion with extreme caution. It began to rise until it was spilling over the edge of the desk, dripping onto the floor, and the scared pony scrambled onto her chair to keep it off her fur. Ms. Quill soon noticed the mess and scurried over, pulling her shawl over her face and noticing something Spark didn’t see.

“Oh, no no no, you’ll want to get out of this area and I’ll get the custodi—”

Boom! An explosion of bright purple covered the elderly mare and the young filly with a thick grime. Ms. Quill removed the article of clothing from her muzzle, and quickly levitated a soft towel to the filly. Although her shawl protected her, Sparky received the full blow. She wiped off the goo as fast as she could, scrubbing it out of her hair and eyes.

When she had cleaned off as much as she could of the potion, Twilight Sparkle tentatively opened her violet eyes to a staring Dream Charmer. The small explosion hadn’t gone unnoticed, and the rest of the students were also looking at the pair with wide eyes and gaping mouths.

“What are you all staring at?”

“Sparky, your coat!” Dream Charmer stepped forward, pointing a shaky hoof at the unicorn. She rushed over to the mirror above the sink and pointed at the lavender unicorn with purple eyes in the reflection.

“What... I don’t understand...”

“You somehow managed to make the complete potion and not the weaker one I had written down. To original potion is very explosive and you don’t put it on the burner as long, so the heat must have set it off.” Ms. Quill carefully told the shaking filly. “It won’t hurt you at all, just change your color.”

Twilight stared at her reflection a while, inspecting her now dark purple mane with a pink stripe instead of white with a navy blue stripe. Her fur, a deep lavender instead of the soft sky blue. Would she ever be able to change her fur color back? Yes, she answered herself, recalling information she had read in a textbook. It’s like a stain, but if I bleach my coat, I might be able to get it out... What would she do? She must have failed the assignment. She was never really good at potions, last semester she had only gotten an A-. What if she failed Magic Kindergarten because she failed potions? She would surely have to go to a summer potions class. No—full summer school, for all classes! Her teacher was probably mad that she ruined her favorite shawl - she did wear it every day. Twilight took deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. There was still a month until next marking period, she could turn in lots of extra credit. Maybe she could do the potion over, and make it so well that she would only get a D for the whole year. Twilight didn’t realize that she had said this all aloud.

“Sparky, you won’t fail. You even look pretty! So what, you fail one assignment.” Her friend was grinning, trying to cheer her up, but failing.

“One assignment? This was the most important assignment of all year! I’ll get held back! But not just one year... I’ll be held back until you’re in college! What if I never graduate Magic Kindergarten because of this? What if I never get into college because you messed up the most important potion ever!?” Twilight paused, breathing heavily. “What if my brother hates me because he hates purple? What if I get sent to the corner for the rest of my life because my mom always hated when I got dirt on my coat? Dirt is nothing compared to purple! Look at me!” She irritatedly motioned a hoof towards herself. “I’m purple! Not even a pretty shade of purple! What will I do?! This is all your fault, Dream!”

“Twilight, come on, you’re overreacting.”

“No, it is my fault! I should have told you to be careful! What if we both get held back because of me?”

“Twilight, calm down!” Dream put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. She had begun to talk louder, and now the entire class was not only watching and snickering at the unicorn’s misfortune, but also yelling insults at her outrageous predictions for one messed up assignment.

“Hey Twilight Sparkle! Or should I say, Twilight Purple!”

“Heh heh, maybe your Cutie Mark will be an F!”

“See you next year... or not!”

Twilight cowered against their insults, trying not to cry.

“Hey! That’s not very nice!” Dream Charmer shouted back to the smirking foals. “Just ignore them, Sparky.”

“I can’t! Because everything they’re saying is true!”

“No it isn’t, Twilight. Come on, think of the bright side! Isn’t purple your favorite color?”

“Pink.”

“Oh. Well, close. At least you aren’t orange! Don’t you hate orange?”

“Wow, thanks, Dream.”

“Sorry! Okay, well... you can probably get into college! I mean, so what if you fail one class... Wait!”

“I knew it! So I will fail!”

“No! That’s not what I meant! Look, Twi, it’s my fault! I should’ve listened to you!”

“Dream, stop trying to make me feel better. It’s my fault and you know it!”

“‘Scuse me, girls,” a burly gray stallion said, pulling a cart filled with assorted cleaning supplies. In their argument, the two fillies hadn’t noticed the janitor enter the room to clean up their mess. He took out a mop and began to scrub the floor, mumbling under his breath.

“Should have stayed home today, students and their dumb messes...”

“What was that?” Dream Charmer asked, sidling out of the stallion’s way.

“Nothing! Nothing at all.”

“Dream! Stop changing the subject!” Twilight snapped angrily at her friend, stomping a hoof.

“I wasn’t! Anyway, why would Shining Armor hate you? I don’t hate you.”

“Because he’s my brother! He hates purple! And now I don’t look anything like my parents, or him!”

“Girls, there’s no need to fight,” Ms. Quill interrupted, stepping over and writing something on a clipboard. “You two have made an excellent potion! Neither of you will be losing any points for this assignment. Why don’t you take your seats when Mr. Goldberg is finished sanitizing them, and read or finish your homework?”

“Thanks, Ms. Q!” Dream Charmer grinned happily, finally able to finish her long-awaited homework.

“Thanks,” Twilight grumbled. She whispered to Dream, “She’s just saying that so the rest of the class will stop making fun of me.” The yellow filly rolled her eyes.

When the grouchy custodian was done cleaning their desks and they could sit down, Twilight pulled out her book and Dream Charmer worked on her homework. Somehow the potion made its way under Twilight’s desk and had coated her bags and her novel. She slid a hoof across the cover and smeared away the purple mess. The once-silver cover embellished with maroon letters was now purple, the letters a matching shade so they could not be read. Twilight flipped open the moist pages to a chapter covered in magenta splotches. She sighed, trying to decipher the words on the ruined page.

At least it wasn’t orange.