Morning came and I still woke up before the sun. Al did too. We headed outside for morning exercises, starting with a jog. Being in a little colt body made it feel like I went twice the distance with short legs. I could feel the magical weight clothing was still on me, but could not see them. The next thing we did were stretches as the sun was beginning to rise. We finished and I headed to take a shower before school. Al went and made breakfast. When I came out of my bathroom, I could smell the wonderful aroma of bacon. Curse that Poison Joke. If I ever see that plant, it is toast.

I came downstairs and saw Al made eggs and pancakes. His plate also had bacon. He was enjoying eating the meat right in front of me. "I see you are liking the meat." I said.

"You know it." Al said.

"While I am off at school, you are going to do some more of the mind calming exercises. This time, on that." I pointed outside to the back yard. Al looked to see what I was pointing at. I then Earth Jutsu created a nail bed made of stone.

Al turned around and said, "You have to be joking. How can I keep calm with those spikes poking at me."

"That is the POINT. Being able to stay calm in stressful situations. I am off to school. Have fun."

I finished my breakfast and quickly left before Al could make a comeback remark. Just as I was out the door, I slammed into something. I rolled with it until I was stopped by the front yard fence. After shaking the daze away, I saw I ran into Pinkie Pie.

"Pinkie, what are you doing here?" I asked.

"Silly, I am going to walk you to school. Miss. Cheerilee is going to be expecting that." Pinkie said.

"Huh. I did not think of that."

"You can't always be a smarty pants all the time. Enjoy this time and have fun."

"I smiled at the idea of having fun. "You are right, Pinkie. I should not look at this as an illness. More of a vacation from myself. Now I just need for Twilight to not pester me with learning Unicorn magic this week."

"You do not worry about Twilight. Your cousin Pinkie Pie can keep her occupied. Oh, here is your saddle bag with your school supplies."

"Thanks Pinkie."

As we were walking through town, toward the school, I noticed Pinkie's tail began to twitch. She quickly held me back as a flower pot fell right in front of me. We both looked up and saw a pony sticking their head out their window.

"Sorry." The pony said.

"It's alright."Pinkie Pie said.

We continued on towards school. As we walked, I asked Pinkie, "How did you know that was going to happen?"

"My tail was twitching and that means my Pinkie sense was telling me something was about to fall." Pinkie said.

"Huh, I normally get a gut feeling something is off. Or I am hungry."

"I get stomach growls too! Do you have Blaze sense? Does your body do other things to try and tell you something?"

"Not that I am aware of. Oh! There is the school. Bye Pinkie! See you later." I said as I started to run to the school. I looked back and saw Pinkie Pie was waving. I stopped and waved back. She then turned and began to skips back into town. I continued on to the school. Let's see was these kids are learning. I will try not to be an egghead, much.

As I was getting close, I could see the other kids heading to the school from different locations. I then spotted Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. They had two fillies in front of them. If I had to guess, they are Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. That tacky tiara gives her away. I could barely hear the conversation, but I knew the basic of it. Diamond Tiara was calling them several things, including blank flanks. Those two fillies turned away and started to laugh as they continued on to school. Laugh about this. I performed an Earth jutsu so two small rocks would come up right in front of their fore hooves. The result was they tripped and landed on their faces. Diamond Tiara's tiara went flying into the nearby woods. Those two quickly got up and ran to get it. The CMC were just laughing and continued on toward school.

I followed them in a few feet back. I walked up to Miss. Cheerilee and said, "Good morning Miss. Cheerilee."

"Good morning Rocky. I will be starting class soon. I will introduce you and then you can tell everypony something about yourself. In the mean time, how you go and take the empty seat in the back." Miss. Cheerilee said.

"Thank you again for allowing me to take your class while my parents are in Canterlot taking care of some business."

"You're most welcome."

I headed to the back and took my seat. A few minutes later. Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara came walking in. Their perfect manes now had tiny sticks and leaves coming out of it. Diamond Tiara's Tiara had some mud on it. The way it looked is as if they tried to clean it before coming in. All the kids were laughing. I was joining in the laughter too.

"Girls! What happened? Why are you two covered in dirt?" Miss. Cheerilee asked.

"We tripped over a rock and my tiara flew into the woods. I had to get it and Silver Spoon helped me look for it." Diamond Tiara said.

"Well I am glad you found it. Now go take your seats. You can get cleaned up at recess. We have a lot to cover today." They headed to their desks and sat down. Miss. Cheerilee moved to the front of the class. "Alright class, we have a new student that will be joining us for a while. Say hello to Rocky. Would you like to come up to the front and tell us about yourself?"

I stood up and headed to the front. I turned around and said, "Hello everypony. My name is Rocky. I live in Dodge Junction working on my family's rock farm. I am staying here in Ponyville while my parents are taking care of some business in Canterlot. The reason why I am staying here is my 2nd cousin lives here. Do you all know Pinkie Pie?"

"We do!" The three Cutie Mark Cruisades said at the same time. The other kids just nodded their heads.

"Yea, well I am not as bonkers as she. I do like her as a cousin, it is just some of her stories don't make any sense. Well, as you can see, I have yet to get my cutie mark. I can feel it has to do with something with rocks. I have just have not found it yet."

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were quietly laughing between themselves as I walked between them. I then heard Diamond Tiara whisper behind my back, "Blank Flank." I stomped my back right hoof a little harder as I continued to walk. I channeled some ki into that hit and the result was Diamond Tiara chair broke apart. The class was now laughing at her again. She was looking around at who caused it. I was the closest pony, but I did not look back as finished heading to my desk.

"Alright class, settle down. Diamond Tiara, I will get a spare chair out of storage at recess. For now you will have to stand or sit on the floor. Alright class, take out your notebooks. We are going to work on our math skills." Miss. Cheerilee said.

A couple ponies groan at the subject. I liked math, it was one subject I did not have a problem with. I looked and saw Diamond Tiara whispering to Silver Spoon. Silver Spoon then passed her chair over to Diamond Tiara. Miss. Cheerilee just got done writing a few equations onto the blackboard.

"Ok class, where we left off, we were working on our multiplication tables. Let's continue on with the multiplications of 7. What is 7 x 3?"

The class says, "21."

"Very good. 7 x 5?"

"35."

"Correct. 7 x 9?"

"63."

"You all have been practicing. Soon you will be able to solve problems like 13 x 456."

"5,928." I said.

"Excuse me?" Miss. Cheerilee asked me directly.

"I think that is the answer. 13 x 456. Yea, it is 5,928."

Miss. Cheerilee walks to her desk and works the problem out. She looked up and said, "That is correct."

Snips said, "Wow. How were you able to do that?"

"Growing up on a rock farm, there is not much to do. So I counted rocks and got good with math."

"It looks like you won't have a trouble with keeping up. Now let's continue."

The class continued with the math lesson and I followed along. After an hour, we finished and moved onto history. I was able to keep up from the reading I did while at the Twilight's library. Once the history lesson was done, Miss. Cheerilee told us it was time for recess. The class cheered and ran out the door. I followed right behind them.

Once outside, I looked around to see what everypony was playing. Snips and Snails were chasing each other. Several fillies and colts were playing on the jungle gym. Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara were doing their best to clean themselves up with a hose. It was funny to watch them as the hose whipped around like a snake. Then, a pony tapped me on my shoulder. I turned around and saw it was Apple Bloom. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were standing behind her.

"Hi there Rocky. My name is Apple Bloom. This is Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo." Apple Bloom said while pointing to her friends. "So you are from Dodge Junction? That is a mighty far to travel."

"Hello. Yea the train ride was rather long. I had to come as my folks did not want me to stay by myself for over a week. They say I am not a big pony to stay by myself. Luckily, my cousin accepted the offer to watch me while they continued on to Canterlot. I would be just as bored there as I would be at home."

"What are your parents doing in Canterlot?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Who knows? Probably some business deal."

"More than likely going to sell the farm as there is no profit in plain old rocks." Diamond Tiara said.

"You mean like those cheap knock offs in your fake crown?" I replied.

"HAY! These are real diamonds! My daddy gave me this crown and I got my cutie mark shortly after. What do you know about gems?"

"Gems are rocks and my family grows them. I can tell the difference from real and fake ones."

"Maybe your family grows fake ones and sells them as real."

"I can prove it." I take the top gem off her Tiara.

"GIVE THAT BACK!"

"I will, let me just explain. A diamond is one of the strongest minerals known. The only thing that can break a diamond, besides a dragon's mouth, is another diamond. If this is real, I should not be able to break it with my hoof." Before she could stop me, I began to swing my hoof down that held the diamond. I concentrated my chakra on that hoof to mimic diamond hardness. When the hoof and diamond hit the ground, the gem shattered into several pieces.

Diamond Tiara started to tear up. She shouted, "You BASTARD! You ruined my TIARA!" She then lunges at me, trying to tackle me.

I step out of the way. Before she could attack again, I said, "Wait! I would have not done that if I could not fix this. I can get an actual diamond to go up there. Watch."

She and the other ponies watched. I stomped my fore hooves against the ground. I had channeled an Earth jutsu to pull a diamond out from the ground. A small piece came out. I then manipulated it to make it look like the other one and placed it back on Diamond Tiara's tiara. No pony would be able to tell the difference.

Diamond Tiara took it off so she could closely inspect it. Silver Spoon joined in the inspection. Once they were satisfied, the tiara went back onto Diamond Tiara's head. They walked away and both said, "See you later, Blank Flanks!" I then heard Diamond Tiara say at a low voice, "and freak."

After I just fixed your stupid tiara, you call me a freak? You SPOILED, LITTLE, BRAT! I stomped my hooves again to have rocks come up again to trip them. They did and now realized I was the one who tripped them this morning.

They got up and headed back to me. Diamond Tiara stood in front of my face as she said, "You know what? I think I know the real reason why you are here while your parents are in Canterlot. They are looking for a place to dump their little FREAK of a son and never see him again."

I know my back story was fake, but just that word, freak, really aggravates me. I acted on impulse and emotion after she said it. In a quick movement, I punched Diamond Tiara in the face. She fell to the ground a few feet away. I walked up to her while still angry. She was still awake as she was covering the spot I hit her. I said, "Now see here, one thing I despise is ponies picking on others. I can tolerate 'Blank Flank' once in a while. Just one word I will never accept a pony to call another, a freak. You are wrong about why my parents are in Canterlot. Now prepare yourself for a thrash that you deserve."

Before I threw another punch, a pony shouted, "ROCKY! STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!" I turned to see who said that. It was Miss. Cheerilee and she looked angry. I stepped away from Diamond Tiara. When Miss. Cheerilee was next to us, she said, "Now, explain yourself!"

"Well, Diamond Tiara came over and was saying some mean things about my family's farm. I decided to play a small trick and told her the diamonds in her tiara were fakes. They are real, but I wanted to prove they weren't. You see, I have a rare ability some Earth ponies are born with. I can control rocks and things like that. I was able to shatter that diamond, pull one from the ground and form it back into the one I destroyed. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon walked away and called us Blank Flanks. That did not aggravate me as what Diamond Tiara said in a low voice. She said Freak also. I used my ability to trip them so I could confront her." At this point, I started to tear up and get angry again. "She then said why she thinks my parents were in Canterlot, so they can find a place to leave a freak like me with and never see them again. I just lost it and punch her. The rest was a blur as I was enraged."

"Is this all true?" She asked the other ponies that were there. They all nodded. "Well, I don't atone for what Diamond Tiara called you, but that does not give you the right to hit here. I am sorry, but I have to give you detention and will have a talk with Pinkie Pie about this. Now you two, say sorry to each other."

"I'm sorry for hitting you and saying your tiara was a fake." I said.

"Um, I'm sorry for calling you a freak." Diamond Tiara said.

"Alright, now let's all go inside. I have some magical lotion that will take that bruise away." Miss. Cheerilee said.

We all headed inside. Diamond Tiara got the lotion applied and the bruise went away. I stayed quiet and paid attention to the class I best as I could. Lucky, Miss. Cheerilee did not call on me. I looked outside and noticed Pinkie was near the school. Her nose itched few a few seconds before she ran for cover under the horseshoe slide. A minute later, a swarm of bees flew by and went to town on a bush at the edge of the school grounds. I just looked back to what Miss. Cheerilee was covering.

Lunch time came and all the kids headed outside to have their lunch. I did not bring one on the account I did not know if I had too. I looked in my saddle bag and saw Pinkie Pie did pack me one, nothing but sweets though. I was not that very hungry though.

My mind was recalling the recess events. Even here, I cannot control my anger when I am called that name. The problem now is I am very powerful that I could have easily hurt the pony. Thinking back to my school days, when I was first called a freak, was only because I was smart and advanced several grades. How can I help it with how quickly I could learn things. That should not make me a freak. I continue to debate in my mind until a pony placed their hoof on my shoulder. I looked up and saw it was Miss. Cheerilee

"Rocky, how come you didn't eat your lunch?" Miss. Cheerilee asked.

"Not that very hungry." I said as I return my head back down looking at my desk.

"Why is that?"

"This is not the first time I was called, that name. I had a similar incident."

"Do you want to talk about it? We are the only one in the school. Everypony else is having their lunch outside."

"I guess. It started at the last school I went to. I am actually smarter than I looked. So I got advanced in the learning. The other ponies did not like it I was smarter. So I was beginning to be called a freak. I did my best to ignore it and just focused on my studies. I thought while I was here, I could avoid being called that. Guess I was wrong. I am sorry for hitting Diamond Tiara. It was just she broke my last nerve when when she also talked about my parents." I began to tear up again.

"Shh. It is ok. I have known she likes to talk like she is better than anypony. I will have a talk with her. Seeing she probably still feels that hit you gave her, I think it will sink in this time to not pick on other ponies because they are different. Now come on and eat your lunch. You are still growing and need to have a good meal."

"I will need to tell that to my cousin as she packed nothing but sweets for my lunch." I showed the lunch in my saddle bag.

Miss. Cheerilee smirked a bit, but quickly regain herself. "Yes, well, Pinkie Pie does pretty much eats nothing but sweets. I hope you will be able to get some healthy food in you while you stay with her."

I nodded. Miss. Cheerilee headed out to call the other kids back in. They came back in and class began again. I was feeling better after the chat with Miss. Cheerilee. I think she should know that it is actually me after helping me. It only seems fair. Once class ended and the other kids left, I made my way to Miss. Cheerilee's desk.

"Yes Rocky? You need something?" Miss. Cheerilee asked.

"I think you deserve to know the real truth. My name is not Rocky. It is Swift Blaze. Poison Joke turned me into a colt pony and I am stuck like this until Zecora can make the cure for it." I said.

"If you really are Blaze, tell me what you said when you talk about your cutie mark."

"My cutie mark is a symbol called the yin and yang symbol. What it stands for is the belief I have for balance and that can be anything. Want me to continue?"

"I just can't believe that plant pulled this kind of joke on you. I saw what it did to Twilight and her friends. I think this tops it. So, was everything you said about when you were young, was that fake too?"

"No it wasn't. I was called a freak in my school days. Being so smart and advancing in grades, the other kids did not like it. The problem is I did nothing to stop the bullying and name calling. I just ignored them and focused on my studies. I did make friends that were into the same things I was. That did help while growing up. I guess stuck a kid again and being called a freak brought back all those memories that I could not control my actions. I will make sure I won't harm any of the kids ever again."

"I believe you will honor that. Just like you said, being a kid again brought up some bad memories. Now then, you are still going to have to stay here for an hour for hitting Diamond Tiara. After that, you can go home. I will let you explain what happen to Pinkie. Don't worry about your secret. I won't tell anypony or your classmates. I am going to finish grading these assignments while you return to your desk and make use of this hour. Maybe even take care of your homework assignments."

"I will do that. Thank you Miss. Cheerilee for understanding."

I returned to my desk and worked on the homework. It did not take me long as this was elementary school level stuff. Once done, I just sat quietly did some reading about Equestria history, the only book that would spike my interest. Once the hour was up, I said goodbye to Miss. Cheerilee and headed home.

Along the way home, I saw Pinkie Pie was skipping through town. She saw me and headed in my direction. "Hi Rocky! How was school today?" She asked.

"Um, it did not go the way I thought it would." I replied in a low voice.

Pinkie stopped skipping and walked normally beside me. "What happened?"

I began to tell her about everything that happened and what I told Miss. Cheerilee about my child past. Pinkie's hair was starting to deflate a little while I talked about my past. Once I was done, Pinkie stopped me and pulled me into a hug. I embraced it as it felt good. She whispered into my ear, "Oh Blaze, I never like it when one of my friends is sad. I am sorry again to have given you that laced cupcake. I never knew you had a tough childhood and had to relive it again."

"It is ok Pinkie. There is no way you could have known what that plant would have done. Nor about my childhood past. Having you all my friends and letting me share is helping me by not sealing the emotions back up."

Pinkie pulled away from the hug and looked at me. "I know what can cheer both of us up. Let's go to Sugarcube Corner and have some Blaze's Chocolate Drops. I know you like them."

"How about we have these." I opened my saddle bag to reveal the uneaten lunch Pinkie packed me.

"You did not eat your lunch!"

"Pinkie! This is not what a growing colt needs. Fruits and veggies are good for a proper lunch. A small sweet is ok to have too, but the entire lunch can't be desert items."

"I only packed what I normally have for lunch."

"Pinkie, you have a lot to learn when you are taking care of children. Let's get some real food as I am starving." My stomach growls with the mention of food. We both laugh and smile after that.

Pinkie Pie's hair returns to normal. We headed to a café and had a proper meal. I ate a normal amount for a colt to eat, but I was still very hungry. We ate the sweets that were in my lunch as Pinkie walked me back to my house. I said goodbye to her and reminded her I need a proper lunch for tomorrow. Not heavy on sweets. She replied with her usual OK response and began to skips back to Ponyville.

Once inside, I headed to the back yard to see if Al was working on his calm mind training. I find him still on the spikes, snoring. Huh, I did not expect him to actually sleep. Time to wake him up. I Earth jutsu the spikes away and he fell to the ground, hard.

"OW! What the hell Blaze! You did not have to wake me up like that." Al said.

"Well I did not expect you to actually fall asleep on the spikes." I said.

"Yea, I actually slept on something like this when I was in hell. Yours was very comfortable."

"I guess that mind calming while in pain was useless."

"No, it did work. I was able to calm my mind while feeling the pokes. Just a little too good and fell asleep. You think I can I have a spike bed in my room?"

I just facehoof myself. Of course he would be used to pain. He was in hell. Need to change my strategy. "I will think about it. For now, it's dinner time and I AM STARVING." My stomach growls yet again.

"You are always hungry. Did you not get lunch?"

"Pinkie Pie packed me a lunch with nothing but sweets. Plus I was not in the mood to eat."

"That is a first. Why not?"

I began to tell him about what happened. Al laughed when I got to the part of hitting Diamond Tiara. I just glared at him till he stopped. When I explained why I did that and everything else I told Miss. Cheerilee, he came down and gave me a hug.

"Dude, I never knew your school life was also tough. I am beginning to think my time in hell was not as bad." Al said.

"I might of thought I was in hell while at school, you actually were there. Your torment is worse than mine. But look at it this way, I will be joining you in the anger management exercises." I said. My stomach growls again to remind me how hungry I am.

Al broke the hug and said, "Let's subdue that beast you call a stomach with a big dinner."

"Let's go before I go carnivore."

We both laugh as we headed to the kitchen. I did my best to help out while I was still in my colt form. Al had the steak again and I had a platter of roasted veggies with fresh fruit on the side. We ate dinner and cleaned up the dishes. We both headed to bed after washing up. As I was falling asleep, I began to think about what happened today. I really though I had my anger under control since my last outburst in the EverFree Forest. I do hope tomorrow will be better.