Chapter 5: Getting the Grades Up

Aaron and Smolder came home from school on a Friday in late October. Smolder was exhausted from all the cheering she did that day.

"Boy, that was tiring," Smolder said. "I need to take a quick shower and head straight for bed."

"Hang on, Smolder," Marissa said. "We need to talk about your grades."

"If this is about my paper on the War of 1812, I keep telling Mrs. Byrne that she really needs to move onto a new subject," Smolder said.

"It's not that," Marissa said. "Although, she does need to retire soon."

"I tried asking her when she would consider retiring," Aaron said. "But she says that she wouldn't be retiring anytime soon. I then asked how old she was, but all she said was that age is but a number."

"Well, we might still be young looking when we reach her age," Smolder said.

"Not until I heard from Dang that she was as old as the first people to walk the Earth," Aaron said. "Meaning she's about 2 or 3 millions years old."

"What?!" Smolder asked. "She's that old?! She's older than Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Opaline, and all the Dragon Lords... combined. Along with Ragnarok."

"Anyway, I've seen your report card," Marissa said. She then brought out two printed sheets that had Aaron and Smolder's grades. "Aaron's grades are great, but yours... needs some work."

Aaron and Smolder had checked their grades. Aaron's grades were very passable in school. Health: A-. Science: B+. PE: B. Wood Shop: A+. Spanish: B+. English: A. Math: A+. History: A-. Computer Typing: A+. Art: A-. Smolder, on the other hand, wasn't as good as Aaron was. Health: C-. Science: C. PE: A+. Home Economics: B+. Spanish: D+. English: C+. Math: C. History: B-. Computer Typing: A-. Art: B-.

"Yikes," Smolder said. "I'm not doing well."

"I know you've been wanting to adjust here, and you want to spend as much time with Aaron, but I'm afraid you need to get your grades up," Marissa said. "Mostly in Spanish."

"I've been trying my best," Smolder said. "Ocellus is helping out with that." She then sighed. "I just... need to find a way to pass those classes."

"Midterms are coming up, soon," Aaron said. "If you can pass those classes with flying colors, you'll be able to get passing grades. We just need to figure out how."

Just then, the door to Smolder's part of the house opened and out came Ocellus. She then saw them and asked, "Rough day?"

"Pretty much," Smolder said. "And, I'm barely passing." Ocellus then took a look at Smolder's grades and gave a deadpanned expression.

"Wow," Ocellus said. "You really need to pass these classes. Especially Spanish. Dios Mio."

"I know, I know," Smolder said. "I just... really need to find a way to pass all these."

"Yes, you do," Ocellus said. She then got an idea and gave a smirk. "Meet me tomorrow in Ponyville. And hand me your Health, Spanish and Math books."

"Why?" Smolder asked.

"Just do it," Ocellus said. Smolder sighed and then she went into her part of the house to get the books Ocellus asked her to get.

The next day, Aaron and Smolder arrived in Ponyville, both of them as dragons. Aaron and Smolder saw ponies enjoying their days. Aaron was looking around hoping that Lyra wouldn't ambush him.

"Still trying to keep an eye out for Lyra?" Smolder asked.

"She's obsessed with humans, and you know that," Aaron said. "She could be anywhere."

"Well, she's not here today," came the voice of Bon Bon. Aaron and Smolder looked towards an outdoor restaurant and saw her sitting at a table by the fence. "She's visiting family up in Canterlot, so you're good."

"Thanks, Sweet..." Aaron was about to say before ~~Sweetie Drops~~, sorry, Bon Bon, gave him a glare. "I mean... Bon Bon." Bon Bon smiled and nodded. "Anyway, have you seen Ocellus today?"

"Nope," Bon Bon said. "Try the school." Aaron nodded.

"Let's go," Aaron said. Then he and Smolder took off into the air and flew towards the School of Friendship.

At the School of Friendship, Ocellus was waiting for the arrival of Aaron and Smolder in the courtyard. She then saw them coming in and smiled. Aaron and Smolder landed in the courtyard.

"About time you two got here," Ocellus said, walking up to them. "I was starting to worry you would've bailed on that."

"Meh, you'd think I would've done that to ya?" Smolder asked.

"Marissa said if she didn't come, she'd want me to post fliers of her in her tea party dress all over Ponyville," Aaron said. That made Ocellus laugh like she did when Smolder admitted to her that she liked tea parties.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," Smolder said. "Let's just get this over with."

"The first thing you have to do is go into the catacombs," Ocellus said.

"The Tree of Harmony is helping out?" Aaron asked.

"That's right," Ocellus said. "She'll be giving trials on Smolder to pass midterms."

Smolder sighed and said, "Whatever." Smolder then walked over to a grate that leads to the catacombs underneath the school and opened it up. Smolder then jumped down into it. Then it got covered in crystal roots climbing up and out of the open grate.

"Guess the tree doesn't want anyone interfering," Aaron said.

"You got that right, Aaron," came Twilight's voice from the catacombs. Aaron and Ocellus both knew that it was the Spirit of the Tree of Harmony that was talking.

In the catacombs, Smolder was walking down them, looking for something.

Smolder then sighed and said, "Alright, I don't have time for this. Just tell me what to do so I can pass my classes." Then there was a flash of light, making Smolder cover her eyes. When the flash dimmed down, Smolder uncovered her eyes, seeing the Spirit of the Tree of Harmony standing there with a smile.

"Oh, goodie," Smolder said. "Look, what do I have to do to pass midterms back on Earth?"

"You're constantly eager, Smolder," the Spirit said. "For you to be able to get your grades back up, you're gonna have to find a way to pass the tests in a way you're most comfortable with. So, in a way, you're gonna have to go through a series of tests that apply to your strengths."

"Like?" Smolder asked, crossing her arms.

"You're just gonna have to see for yourself," the Spirit said, motioning a hoof towards three cave entrances. The cave on the left had the word "Health" over it. The middle cave had the word "Spanish" over it. And the right cave had the word "Math" over it. "These caves will lead you to a series of tests that will test your mind through physical tests."

"Testing me both physically and mentally?" Smolder asked. She then thought about it. "I did hear that some people pass tests through different ways. Like in that Kevin James movie, Here Comes the Boom."

"Exactly," the Spirit said. "So, let's get started." Then a spinning prize wheel came up, with a up to 24 choices on them, but eight of each choice had the same word, choosing which category for Smolder to start with. "Spin to decide which test you have to start with."

"What is this? A test or a game show?" Smolder asked as she was walking towards the wheel. She then spun it. It spun multiple times. But then it started slowing down. The needle clicked as it was hitting each rod on the wheel. Then the wheel stopped and the needle stopped on Spanish. "Oh, goodie..." Smolder said, deadpanned. She then walked towards the "Spanish" cave and went through it.

When Smolder got on the other end of the cave, there was an aerial obstacle course. Smolder looked around and saw she was in an area similar to Cloudsdale.

"Huh," Smolder said. "Cloudsdale. Never thought my Spanish trial would be here."

"You got that right, dragon!" came a voice. Smolder looked up and saw the Wonderbolts above her. Or at least spiritual copies of the Wonderbolts.

"Okay, looks like we've got some training to do," Smolder said. "So, what do I have to do to pass this test?"

"You're gonna have to go through the obstacle course," "Spitfire" said. "You see, there are a hundred different Spanish sentences, and each sentence has three rings of translations. You have to fly through the ring with the right translation to move onto the next one. Guess the wrong one, and..." She then smirked. "You'll see."

Smolder sighed and said, "Let's get this over with." Smolder then flew towards the start of the obstacle course. She then got into position. Then "Misty Fly" came up with a green flag and got ready to wave it. "She" waved it and Smolder started the course.

Smolder flew towards the first set of rings and saw the words over the three rings. The words over the three rings were "Aquí viene el sol." And there were three translations. The ring on the left had the words "Don't Stare at the Sun" on a sheet of paper over the ring. The ring in the middle had the words "Here Comes the Sun". And the ring on the right had the words "Battle for the Sun".

"Okay, this is interesting," Smolder said, looking at the three rings and the Spanish sentence. "Let's see." She then started thinking. "Sol... that means sun. 'Aquí'..." Smolder then started thinking. She then started thinking. "Aquí... Aquí. That's... here." She then got the answer. She then flew through the ring that says "Here Comes the Sun" and she went right through it with no consequence. Smolder looked back at the three rings and saw that the other side of the rings had cast iron walls on the other side of the mistranslated walls. "Ooh... that would've hurt if I went through the wrong ones."

Then "Soarin'" came up to her and said, "Yeah, we went with Cast Iron walls because they're the only thing resistant to fire. Also, a good call on remembering what the word for Sun was."

"Yeah, the sun is basically a big ball of fire," Smolder said. "Time to move onto the next one." She then flew towards the next one."

In another cave, Smolder came out of a cave from atop a mountain in the Dragon Lands, and not the one from G5.

"Looks like this test has an illusion of Home Sweet Home," Smolder said. She then tried taking in a whiff, but it wasn't the same scent of what she was expecting. "All but the scent. No smog smell."

"Sorry, but we were in a rush," came a voice. Smolder looked behind her and saw an illusion of Dragon Lord Ember behind her.

"So, the Dragon Lands are here to help me learn math, huh?" Smolder asked.

"That's right," "Ember" said. "And for you to do this, you're gonna have to do some... lava surfing!"

"Oh, sweet!" Smolder said. She then saw a stone surfboard and went over to grab it. "Let me guess, there are gateways that have a series of answers to certain math questions?"

"Equations, but yes," "Ember" said. "You have to reach the bottom of the mountain to move onto the next subject. Here's how it goes. If you pass through the right gateway, you move onto the next one. But if you don't, you'll be sent back to the start of the platform where the equation you tried to answer is."

"Meh, might as well do the math first before going down the slope," Smolder said. She then checked the equation to see what it was. The first equation was 5x-2+6=4x+4-2. Smolder then started thinking about the answer. She then started figuring out the equation. She wrote it down. She then looked down the slope. Then she grabbed the stone surfboard and surfed down the slope. At the bottom of the slope, there were three gateways with blue flaming numbers over each gateway. The one on the left had the number 2, the one in the middle had the number 0, and the one on the right had the number -2.

Smolder got a determined expression and headed for the one on the right. She pass through it and there was a dinging noise. Smolder then looked up and saw the illusion of Dragon Lord Ember giving a thumbs up.

"Yes," Smolder said. She then headed for the next equation.

Smolder then came out of the Health cave covered in sand. She was swiping the sand off of her arms, annoyed that she had it everywhere.

"Oh, man, Aaron was right," Smolder said. "Sand gets everywhere on your person. I'm gonna need a..." Just then, she was drenched in water. When the drenching stopped, there was no sign of sand on her.

"Clean scrub?" the Spirit of the Tree of Harmony asked.

Smolder then looked down at her body, seeing not only was the sand off of her, but she was also dry as well. She then asked, "How did that happen?"

"You'd be surprise how many things magic can do," the Spirit said. "Anyway, you should get going. It's almost five o'clock back in Orlando."

"Right," Smolder said. "Good thing I had lunch in the Math trial. I better head out of here." She then headed down one path in the catacomb while the Spirit gave her a deadpanned expression.

"The way you came in is the other way," the Spirit deadpanned.

Smolder then came back down that one path, saying, "I knew that." She then headed down the other path, heading out of there.

Midterms came in Orlando. Aaron and Smolder came home that day after the football game with Liam. They went in and saw Marissa at the dining room table, and she had a sheet of paper face down in front of her.

"Oh, boy," Smolder said. "My grades."

"Let's hope you did well," Aaron said. Smolder gulped and walked towards the table. She sat down next to Marissa. Marissa then gave Smolder an unamused expression. But then that expression turned into a smirk. She then flipped the paper over and showed Smolder's grades. Health: B+. Science: B-. PE: A+. Home Economics: B+. Spanish: A-. English: B-. Math: B. History: B+. Computer Typing: A. And Art: B+.

"You reached about a B average in your classes," Marissa said. "Not bad, Smolder."

"Whew," Smolder said, sighing in relief. "Good, because some of the wrong answers I got when studying for those tests hurt. A lot. Literally, I banged my head on Cast Iron walls and got sand down my throat. I felt like breathing glass instead of fire."

"Where'd the Tree send you?" Aaron asked.

"For Spanish, Cloudsdale," Smolder said. "For Math, the Dragon Lands. Of this time."

"I still can't believe you two and your friends ended up in the next generation of My Little Pony," Marissa said. "And came home with Cutie Marks on your hips."

"At least they're not on our human forms," Aaron said. "And where was your Health trial? Mount Aris?"

"Nope," Smolder said. "Maretime Bay. It read Ocellus's mind and got the details of the beach from her head." She then thought about something. "And I'm pretty sure I saw Allura in that trial."

"Who's Allura?" Marissa asked.

"Right, she hasn't made an appearance yet," Smolder said. "She doesn't appear in the media until Make Your Mark Chapter 6 comes out on Netflix."

"So, Aunt Marissa," Aaron said. "What's for dinner?" Just then, the doorbell rang. Liam went over to the door and saw a pizza guy standing there holding pizza.

"Order for Marissa Blazer," the pizza delivery man said.

"I'll take that," Liam said, taking the boxes of pizza. Marissa then came up to the door and signed the receipt the Pizza guy had.

"Thank you," the pizza guy said before leaving.

"Okay, kids," Marissa said. "Dinner time."

"Whoa, whoa," Aaron said. "That's a lot of pizza. Why would you get all that unless..." He then gave a deadpanned expression. "Our friends are behind me, aren't they?" Behind Aaron was the rest of the Young 6.

"Surprise!" Gallus said, making Aaron turn around.

"Gallus?" Aaron asked. "I thought you were a royal guard in Canterlot. Why are you here?"

"What?" Gallus asked. "Can't I visit some friends of mine over here?" He then chuckled. "Plus, Princess Twilight made another portal to here from my new quarters."

"Really?" Aaron asked. "Where's the other portal?"

Gallus headed for the hall closet and opened up the door, revealing another portal there, and the book that Aaron had was there. Gallus then said, "I had to get permission from both your aunt and Princess Twilight for the portal to be here."

"Good thing I was here to sort out laundry when your book started vibrating," Marissa said, making Gallus nod. "So, who's hungry?"

"Yona starving!" Yona said as Aaron, the Young 6, Marissa and Liam headed for the table to get ready to eat.

Author's Note

Looks like Smolder had trouble with her grades, but luckily, she made a comeback. With a little help from Ocellus and the Tree of Harmony. And also, they're gonna get ready for Marissa and Liam's big day. Hopefully, things will be okay when they head on over to Chicago. See you all next time.