A change of worlds

School, ain’t it a bitch. I’ve been back to school for like half a day and already got detention, go me.

“Thorn Row are you listening?” No, not in the slightest.

“Yes, of course Cheerilee.” I hope she didn’t pick up the sarcasm.

“Good,” Really, she didn’t, cool. “So what was I saying?” Maybe not. But I have a way of dealing with this.

“Oh listening to you? Well in that case. No.” It doesn’t get you out of trouble, but it makes it enjoyable.

“I was saying, that I know coming to a new school can be scary,” Not as scary as coming to Equestria. “But I hope I can make the transition easier for you.”

“By giving me detention?” Seems logical.

“Yes. I want to talk to you about what happened today in class,”

“What? But he asked me for the answer, I didn’t copy him!” God dam I’ve been back in school barely half a day and I’ve resorted to whining like a fucking five year old.

“And you gave him the answer, and that is just as bad.” Oh, bullshit is it.

“What the kid asked a question, it would be rude to not answer. Wouldn’t it?” I noticed her recoil a bit from that, but her front help up.

“You’re right, it would normally be rude,” Knew I was right. “But, in this case it would have been better to leave Rumble to answer his own question,” Tell me about, if I hadn’t I wouldn’t be here getting lectured by you. “Rumble has had problems with algebra, I would like him to develop with it better, but if he is getting told the answer it will not help him. Do you understand?”

“Yes Cheerilee.” I only said that so I could move this along, I’m not submitting. I’M NOT!

“That’s also ‘Miss Cheerilee’ to you.” I forgot she doesn’t have a man-stallion in her life, and I’m not calling them a ‘special somepony’ sound so cheesy. “Now since you spent the whole of that class asleep,” So someone did notice. “I want you to answer all these questions before break is over.” She said starting to walk up to the students desks to collecting the work in to, grade I’d imagine.

Looking down at ‘my desk’, feels weird even thinking that, I haven’t had a desk since I left school, I found that the paper and pencil were still there, how does this even work? How did they do it in the show? Twilight used magic.

Focusing all of my thoughts on lifting the pencil in to the air, I ended up just giving the pencil a death glare.

“Are you alright dear? Are you stuck?” Yes, but not with a question. How else did they do it? Spike, he wrote most of the letters to Celestia, but he ain’t here, Bam. Think how else do they do it? I was just in a class filled with ponies without magic writing, why did I not pay attention? Wait I did Rumble, the asshole, wrote with his... Mouth. Shit.

This is going to be fun, and by fun I mean a pain the in ass, lowering my head to pick the pencil with my mouth, this can’t be sanitary, I opened my mouth pick up the pencil, but instead I just nudged it with my chin, by accident, and it rolled away moving to try again, I knocked it again and again it rolled away, I moved for a third try but knocked it again, and again, and again.

“God dam, why can’t I just get this thing in my mouth!” Immediately after the words left my lips my brain screamed its protest, a bit too late.

“Um, dear are you sure you’re alright?” Cheerilee’s voice came thick. Oh god ‘came thick’, my brain went from brony mode to school mode to pervert mode. Why brain, why!? Cheerilee’s voice was laced with confusion and concern. Better.

“Yes.” I shoot back instantly, trying to pretend like nothing happened. Ok using my mouth to write is now out of the picture, let’s just try using my hooves. Straightening the pencil I placed one hoof on each side and clamped them shut on the pencil, lifting my hoof up the pencil joined. Ha victory!

Now the hard part, writing, holding my hooves over the desk, the tip of the pencil was hovering just over the paper, lowering the pencil slowly it made contact with the paper, slowly I dragged the pencil across the paper and the inevitable happened, the pencil snapped.

“Oh, go fuck your couch! You piece of shit!” I lose my temper rather quick at the best of times, and this is far from a good time for me.

“Dear, you don’t sound alright.” Cheerilee was now sat at her desk at the front of the class reading through the class’s work.

“I can’t write.” With hooves I added in my head.

“Can’t you just use your magic?” she asked raising an eye brow and tilting her head.

“Um, no I can’t. Can I just answer these orally?” Ha Oral! “Shut up brain.” I mumbled under my breath so Cheerilee didn’t think I was crazy... Crazier.

“Why can’t you use your magic, bear?” I’ve been letting it slide for awhile hoping it would stop but it hasn’t.

“No love, I never learned.” I’m going to have to use this to make her stop aren’t I?

“Oh, I’m sorry. Yes of course you can do this orally.” Ha Ora-

“Shut up brain, I need you in school mode to answer these.” I mumbled under my breath, but I think Cheerilee still heard me, she was just staring at me. “Is something wrong?” I asked, trying to make her out as the weirdo.

“I’m a little shocked your peasants never taught you to use magic, that all.”

“My mom wasn’t a unicorn.” She wasn’t even a pony.

“What about your dad?”

“I hope that asshole is dead in a ditch somewhere.” I whispered to myself.

“Sorry what was that?” Cheerilee ask leaning a bit closer.

“I never had one. I’d rather not talk about it.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” A ping of sadness shot across her face.

“Don’t be, I’m not.”

“Well, um, how about you answer question one.” Cheerilee was quickly changing the subject, thankfully, my ‘dad’ was a very touchy subject.

Looking at the board, the questions were all still there and the answer to question one was easy enough, it didn’t take me long to figure it out.

“7.” I said flatly.

“Good, how about-“

“3x.” I interrupted her, this was going to take forever answering like this. “The answer for three is -3.” Just answer them all then skive the rest of the day. “Five is 18.”

“Um, dear you missed number four.” Stop with the dear bullshit, please.

“Just check Rumble’s answer. Six is 24.” These are pretty fucking easy, to be honest I thought I would never need this shit in my life, but here we are, so remember kid’s pay attention in school. You never know when you might wake up in Equestria as a changeling, who is disguised as a ten year old colt trying to get through a day of school. Oh yeah, and don’t do drugs and drink responsibly and other shit like that.

“Well it very obvious that you know how to be basic algebra.”

“Basic!? That’s basic?” Seriously that ain’t basic.

“Well no,” Good. “It’s a bit more advanced, but I’m trying to get the rest to learn some higher level stuff, so when we move on to the more basic equations they will be easier for them to learn.” Makes a bit of sense I suppose.

“And is it working?” I think I know the answer to this, if Rumble is anything to go by.

“No, only Dinky seems to be the only one understanding any of this.” Wait Dinky. Dinky, Dinky? Daughter of Derpy, Dinky? Really? She is understanding this? Maybe Derpy is smarter than we give her credit for and teaching her, or Dinky is just the smart one of the family. “And you I suppose, but I didn’t teach you.”

“So why are you teaching it to them still?”

“I’m hoping it will just click.”

“Trust me love, this don’t just ‘click’ it hard and you’ll have to start at the beginning and work them up to this.” I’m giving a teacher advice on teaching. The only teaching experience I have was teaching people is how to properly down a pint in one go.

“I think you’re right, I should just start with the more basic stuff.” Letting a sigh of defeat leave her lips Cheerilee turned to face the black board a picked up a chalk eraser in her mouth and started erasing the questions from the board. “Ah-hust-hith...”

“Cheerilee did your mother never tell you not to talk with your mouth full?”

Dropping the eraser on to her desk she looked up at me. “Sorry, I was saying I just wished somepony could answer number twenty-one. It was the goal for the day.”

Look at the board number twenty-one was still intact and readable. Can’t be too hard, can it? ‘(2x-3y4)3(x3 + y)0 / (4xy-2)3’ Doable, but that’s for me, for the rest I could see the problem.

“Hang on.” I can get this.

“You don’t have to answer that.” Cheerilee mumbled, picking the eraser in her mouth and stepped closer to the black board.

“AH NO!” I screamed flailing my hooves in Cheerilees general direction, without taking my eyes off the question. “I almost got this.” Cheerilee stop almost immediately in shock at been shouted at, I’d imagine, but I’ve still got to answer this question. I felt like I’ve crushed Cheerilee’s sprit a bit, she isn’t smiling any more, I need to fix this.

“Really dear, you don’t need to answer this.”

“Maybe not ‘need’ to, but I want to.” And I did, Cheerilee is one of my more favourite ponies and it was kind a downer seeing her like this, and knowing it was my fault. I can have a heart sometimes, just don’t get use to it. “The answer is...” Cheerilee turned to look at the board wide eyed at the fact I have the answer, then back at me, then back to the board, then back to me, I’m a horse. (Sorry couldn’t resist.) “The answer is (1/8)(y18 / x12).” I think.

“How did you? Not even Dinky could answer that without writing down the working out. How did you do that all in your head?”

“I didn’t sit through higher math for nothin’.”

“Higher? What is higher?” Oh god dam! I was just starting to be a good changeling.

“It advanced math.” Please just take that as an answer and don’t press this.

“Oh ok,” Thank god, or would it be Celestia now? “Well why don’t you go out and play with the rest of the class.” Cheerilee still looked a bit deflated, but I think she was at least a little bit happier that someone answered the last question, but I don’t think it make much difference, she never taught me. Might just make things worse that her pupils were struggling, while someone else pupil could answer this all in his head.

“Umm ok.” Pushing my hooves against the desk an sliding my chair back with a Screech!, both me and Cheerilee cringed at the sound, me especially. Sliding of my chair, I started walking for the door, but stopped just a few feet away from it, and turned to look back at Cheerilee cleaning the board, with her forelegs leaning on the board, her hooves had a thin layer of chalk dust covering her pink fur with a tint of white. “Miss Cheerilee,” Turning her attention from the board to me her mouth was still holding eraser, he muzzle also had a thin layer of chalk on it, she looked kind of cute. “I’m sorry.”

Cheerilee dropped her forelegs to the floor, with a small cloud of white dust from each hoof, and placed the eraser back on her desk. “For what dear?”

“Well for, um, everything I suppose. I haven’t made the best first impression, not just telling Rumble the answer to some of the questions, but sleeping threw class and shouting at Rumble and well, I’m just sorry.” I wanted to look at Cheerilee while saying that but I couldn’t, I’ve done far worse things in the past that I couldn’t give a slightest dam about, but this, I don’t know, I felt shame, a rare felling for me, so instead of looking at her I just hung my head and stared at the floor, I must have blacked out to the world, because Cheerilee had managed to walk right up to me and I never noticed until two leg were wrapped around me and pulled me in to a hug.

“Well, in that case apology accepted. Just don’t do it again, dear.” This was nice, it was, leaning in to the hug. I could feel her fur against mine, with my head to her chest I could hear her heart beat and feel her chest rise and fall as she breathed, and there was something else, something in me, a ping, a spark... Love, not mine but hers, I could feel her love, it was faint but there, and I was now feeding of it. It was weird, really weird, I thought been hungry for love was weird but feeding on it was worse, a lot worse, it wasn’t bad, just weird, I can’t even describe it, so I’m not going to try, lazy me. Well the good news it, at least I found a love source, all be it a small one.

There we sat, me in her embrace, moments ticked by as this hug went on far too long, but during this hug I was feeding of her love, I’m scared if I let the hug end, will the flow of love end as well, but this was too uncomfortable to continue, I had to mention something, but what? Was Cheerilee having the same thought pattern? Is she finding this weird? I hope so, otherwise this is REALLY weird. I think I need an adult.

“So,” I started awkwardly. “Do you hug all your new pupils like this? Or is it just your favourite ones?” I asked looking up from Cheerilee’s chest with a cheeky grin.

Cheerilee loosened her grip on me, but did not break it. “Oh I don’t know.” She said returning my grin. “Maybe just the ones that annoy me.” She poked her tongue out at me before letting go of me entirely. “Go on. Go enjoy yourself, before class starts again. Its history, you might like it, and if what you say is true, about not knowing much of Equestrian history it might prove useful. Now get out of here.” Her previous attitude had returned, she was smiling and when she walked back to her desk there was a definite bounce in her step. It brought a smile to my face knowing I had something to do with it, also had something to do with disappearing, but I brought it back so all is good.

Turning around to face the door I pushed it open with a hoof to a playground full of running filly and colts, laughing, playing and talking, the whole class was here The CMC, Dinky, Pipsqueak, Featherweight, ‘Plastic’ Tiara, Silver Spoon, Rumble... Rumble.

“RUMBLE! GET OVER HERE! I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!!!”