Renewal

Disclaimer: I do not own My Little Pony, nor am I profiting off this literary venture.

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Classes today had been different. Reading the associated material and following along when the teacher wrote on the white board at the front of the room added new depth to the experience.

It was still boring and tedious. He wasn't enjoying himself.

Really, he didn't secretly enjoy getting to be just like everybody else, getting the same experience from the same events. The glasses didn't factor into it in the slightest.

Honest.

Lunch was more interesting, which was saying something.

He was used to eating almost the same amount as everypony else and walking away gorged, satisfied in his gluttony.

Here not so much.

It wasn't even about the amount of food they offered, that was fine.

The aluminum tray in his hands was very nearly overloaded with foods, some he recognized and the rest he didn't. He took a step to the right of the door from the serving area and surveyed the cafeteria, looking for a seat.

He saw the two boys from Monday at a round table, though all of the seats were full. Another table had less than half its occupancy filled, at least physically. He could smell from here the self-importance and oppulance surrounding them.

He'd be crushed if he joined them, flattened beneath the combined ego that drove away peasants and seemed to inflate their presence.

So sitting with the rich children was a no go.

A familiar head of hair was sitting at the end of a rectangular table, alone save for a great red slumbering beast. He shrugged, jostling his drink slightly as he made his way over.

She looked up when he set his tray down, brushing her bangs from her eyes. It bothered him, more than he wanted to say, that he couldn't recognize the look in her violet orbs. He heard a claw scrap tile but from the corner of his eye he saw that her dog was merely dreaming.

"You don't need to sit here." He did so anyway. "I'm your tutor, that doesn't mean we're friends."

He pulled apart his burger, dropping the brown circle onto his tray as he filled it with the over-vinegar enriched salad.

"Everywhere else is full." He took a bite and grimaced. It tasted terrible. "I didn't think you'd mind."

"...You don't like hamburgers?" He paused for a moment before he finished chewing and swallowed.

"They taste alright but there's something with the texture. I don't like it." It was salty and delicious but it dissolved in his mouth and stuck to the sides of his gums, like some kind of grit and he could taste it for hours later. Whatever it was left him feeling on the edge of gagging until he drank enough of something to wash it off.

"Can... Can I have it then?" Her tray was nearly untouched, why would she want it? He shrugged anyway, motioning for her to go ahead while he took another bite.

She used a napkin to pick up the foul thing and leaned over, putting it in front of her dogs nose. Spike watched as Garble woke up from his nap at the smell of it. He licked it a few times before he tried to wedge his mouth around it, struggling to fit the too-wide chunk into his mouth.

"So what were you reading?" The book was open in front of her tray, but the few words he read from his perspective didn't give him any insight.

"It's, uh, it's a dissertation on the methods of hygiene used by the upper class during the reign of the Byzantine Empire." He knew most of those words!

"I don't know anything about this Byzantine Empire, but I bet the nobles used a lot of perfume." He recognized the fries he was given, but he could tell they weren't made of hay.

"I don't know, that's actually never mentioned here. The Byzantine Empire was descended from the Roman Empire, it carried over a lot of the methods used by them. Like bathing and various other methods of cleaning themselves. Slaves were still in use for much of the time frame referenced by the author." That soured Spike's mood in an instant. "Are you alright?"

"It's fine, Twilight. I just don't like the mention of slavery." It didn't remind him of Twilight, his Twilight, but the other ponies in Canterlot...

He'd been too young, it was so long ago but...

He refused to think about it.

"I'm... Sorry?" She had no idea what was on his mind. He wasn't going to tell her. "Oh, you're wearing glasses! I was so caught up in my book I hadn't noticed."

"Yeah. Wearing them feels really weird. I always just though I was clumsy, not blind." Alright, he hadn't been blind, but the comparison seemed apt.

"I know what you mean, my brother had no idea why I stopped playing catch with him. I didn't really know how to tell him or my parents that the ball was getting harder and harder for me to see." The ringing of a bell screamed through the air.

Ten minutes to get to class. Barely enough time.

"See you after school, Twilight!" He flashed her a grin as he turned around, rushing to drop off his tray.

"Oh... Yeah. See you then." Her voice was an unheard whisper among the roar of rushing students.

She bent low, ruffling the fur of the great red beast that lay at her heels.

"Come on Garble, I need to get to class." The dog stretched, getting up slowly on creaking joints. Once fully standing she continued scratching his ears while she waited for the line to drop off her lunch tray to dwindle. After nearly two minutes only the stragglers remained. A moment later she was out the door, her dog walking beside her.

"That was weird. I haven't talked to someone at lunch in... A while." The beast beside her huffed. "I know but... It was, it's kind of nice."