What Mr. Solil said began, in Artifex’s mind, to play like a distant echo, even hours after he had spoken. Blood pumped throughout, like a vital drum to accompany the echoing beat of the words. Bump, bump, bump, it went; his steps followed the tune without question.

But he himself questioned the beat and its origin. The echo became a roar that resounded heavily in his head, rising without end, deafening the world and making him slow to respond. In kind, his shoulders tensed up, and his leg once again ached, and his wrists burned, and he kept seeing red peek out of the corner of his vision, and—

Artifex stopped his train of thought for but a moment. He had thought that he was in the gym; but now that he looked around, he saw that he was outside, in front of a trophy case, seemingly staring at his own reflection. Blinking, he glanced to the sides of him, then at an above clock. Gym had ended maybe two minutes ago. The students still were leaving.

“Artifex, if you need anything—anything at all; yes, I’m serious—please, let me know, alright?”

Why did that make him so uncomfortable? And why did he know that deep down, Mr. Solil knew something about? And why did that, of all things, worry Artifex?

So many questions. So few answers.

Artifex raised his head, brow furrowed. What did he need? Some answers, he supposed would be nice, but which question should he have answered? One of them? All of them? Could one even be answered? Could Mr. Solil even answer correctly?

More questions, Artifex… seriously?

The train started up again. But just as it began to pull out of the stagnated station, an outsider made it stall.

“Arty?”

Artifex made a small gasping sound and whipped his head behind, where he found Swift, Rainbow, and Soarin standing and watching him. Soarin, however, appeared confused, and looked to Rainbow.

“’Arty?’” the athlete repeated.

Rainbow shrugged. “Hey, it got his attention. Anyway…”

They walked over, and in turn Artifex fully turned to face them. His hands dove into his pockets like frightened animals, and he kept a stiff lower jaw.

He didn’t say anything, but the way he looked at them prompted them to speak up.

“Um, you were staring into space for a bit,” Swift said, rubbing the back of his head. “Were you looking at something in particular?”

Artifex glanced back behind him. “Not really,” he answered softly.

“You sure about that?” Swift leaned forward and looked past Artifex. “I kinda thought you were staring at one of those trophies.”

“One of mine,” Rainbow added with a smirk.

That caused Artifex to roll his eyes. He stopped when he saw Rainbow pointing. “There! I got him there!”

“What is this, a spectacle to watch?”

Rainbow seemingly ignored him. “See, Swift? You thought I couldn’t get to him like that!”

Both Artifex and Soarin wore confused looks, though the former appeared slightly more irritated. Swift looked back at Rainbow, shrugged, then gave Artifex an apologetic look.

Rainbow turned back to Artifex. “So… was it the trophies that you were looking at?” she asked.

“Why do you ask?”

“Just wondering, Arty.”

Artifex didn’t immediately answer. He turned back around, re-evaluating the trophy case, searching for a white lie he could make.

“Oh! I‘ve got it!” Rainbow exclaimed. She stomped forward, and ripped something off of the display. “You were looking at this!”

He barely glanced at it, but nodded. There was his excuse, front and center. Rainbow would hopefully buy it and leave him alone—

She tilted her head. “Wait, seriously? You're interested in this?”

“Yes, seriously,” he said. “Why wouldn't I be interested in the… ‘Fall Hallows’ Eve Event?’”

Even he was surprised. That event had slipped from his mind over the last several days.

“Ah,” said Soarin, causing the two of them to turn back around. “So you’re thinking about the dance, huh?”

“Yyes,” Artifex said, unintentionally drawing out the “y.”

“Probably about who you’re gonna bring?”

“Yea—huh?”

“Dude!” Rainbow exclaimed. “That’s what the Event is about! You get to bring a date and everything!”

Faster than he could think, he immediately responded, “Wow, Rainbow. Didn’t think you cared about dating.”

Her enthusiasm dried up, and she crossed her arms. “H-hey! Just because I’m an awesome person doesn’t mean I’m not a girl! I-I have crushes—had crushes, I mean!”

“Never mind that,” said Swift. “So? Who are you going to bring?”

Artifex raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t it a bit too early to choose?”

“Well, not really. Some people like to… what’s the word, ‘ascertain?’ Yeah, ascertain their chances and figure out who’s available as soon as they can. That way, they can prepare themselves for the actual dance with enough time on hand.”

“Plus,” Soarin said, “some girls take a long time to choose dresses.” He glanced at Rainbow. “Er, no offense.”

“Eh, it’s cool.” She shrugged. “Besides, it’s kinda true. Not for me, of course; I just go to Rarity and have her design a dress for me. But it has to be cool,” she quickly added.

Artifex kept his eyebrow raised. “But… I’m not a girl. I don’t need that extra time.”

“Maybe not for dress choosing,” Soarin replied, “but maybe for date choosing.”

“It’s not a date; it’s a dance.”

“Most dates start out like that!” Swift exclaimed.

“Yours did.”

“And so did Soul and Sunset’s!”

“Mmm.” Artifex looked at the poster that remained in Rainbow’s hand. “Still, it’s two weeks away. People can change their minds, their decisions, who they choose, what to wear. No point in planning ahead knowing that.”

“So, what, you think it’s better to ask on impulse?” Soarin asked.

“In some cases, yes.” Artifex looked back at them, shaking his head. “But then again, in some cases, no.” He searched for the best phrase to explain what he meant. “It’s up to the individual to decide when their ready.”

“Man, you can pull out something short and inspirational on the fly.” Soarin let out a whistle. “But… I guess that means you haven’t decided yet, have you?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Well, you at least have some time to decide.”

“If I decide at all.”

“You can’t just not show up,” Swift said. “The principals said that it’s pretty much mandatory.”

“I know that,” Artifex said. “I mean deciding if I go with anyone in particular.”

“Why wouldn’t you?” Soarin spread an arm. “I’m sure that there’s a lot of people in this school who would like to go with you!”

That’s not… Artifex paused, and then crossed his arms. “That’s not what I mean, Soarin.”

“Huh? Then what do you mean?”

He looked away, gazing down the long hallway. As full as it was, with all the students bustling out of their classes, heading for lunch, or another room, perhaps outside, who truly knew—as full as it really and truly was, he couldn’t help but think that it looked a little lonely, with its length stretching from end to end, with escape and entrance arriving from the same place.

The walls appeared to close in. The others didn’t notice.

He looked back at Soarin, feeling tired all of a sudden. His throat tensed, and his eyes lost their brilliance and gleam. All he could give was a hard, stubborn stare that acted as a barrier to his heart.

Soarin visibly became uncomfortable. “Um… you okay, dude? Was… was it something I said?”

Artifex stared for a few moments longer, before sighing. “No. It’s… it’s something else.”

It’s always something else.

They remained confused, and Artifex was much too tired to further explain his point. He shifted back on forth from his heels to his toes, hands placed behind him, and he refused to look at anyone directly. Another minute passed.

He grabbed his backpack, his journal, himself. “If that’s all, I’d best be going. Don’t want to be late to my next class.”

“Huh?” Rainbow asked. “Oh, right. Yeah. Uh… you’d better do that.”

“Right.”

He left them standing there without another word.

“Aw, damn it!” Rainbow smacked a locker. “Did he just leave us in the dust?”

“More like hanging in the hallway,” Swift said. “But it is kinda dusty.”

Rainbow shook her head. “Shoot. He and his attitude… well, at least we know one thing.”

“And that is?”

“That he hasn’t decided if he’s going yet, or if he’s going to try and fight his way to stay home.” She groaned loudly. “But that doesn’t really help us, does it?”

Soarin frowned. “You guys were definitely right; something is obviously up with Artifex. Any idea what?”

Rainbow and Swift filled him in on what they had each concluded, which was mostly nothing substantial. The athlete shook his head sadly. “Yeah. It figures it’d be hard to crack that coldness.”

“Coldness is right,” Rainbow scoffed. “I don’t think I’ve even seen him smile in a month!”

Soarin shifted uncomfortably on his feet. “Well, I’m not sure there’s much I can do, other than just… be there for him. We don’t know each other that well in the first place, so…”

“That’s okay, Soarin,” said Swift. “There isn’t much we can do other than just show that we’ll be there for Artifex.”

The girl to his side scuffed her foot against the floor, emitting another groan. “God. I just wish he’d quit being so stubborn. Artifex, you idiot…”

Swift turned back to Soarin. “Anyway, the dance is in two weeks. All we can really do is hope for the best. So… don’t beat yourself up over this, okay?”

Soarin nodded. “I’ll try not to, so long as you guys don’t as well.” He turned his gaze down the hall, looking to where Artifex had once stood. “And… you guys don’t lose hope either, alright? Artifex is… obviously working through something. He’ll come to you in time.”

“How do you know?” Rainbow asked. “He acts so distant all the time?”

Soarin shrugged. “I don’t; I just have this feeling that, when he knows he needs it, he’ll come to you for help.” He looked back down at the floor. “That’s… well, that’s my impression of him, anyway. I don’t know if it’s right, or if it’s wrong, or it’s at all accurate. But Artifex doesn’t seem like the kind of guy—to me, at least—to throw away friendships for something else. He seems more… responsible than that.”

Rainbow swallowed her frustration, then nodded. “Yeah, I know. Artifex is a toughie to understand, but deep down, he’s just as much of a person as the rest of us are.”

They expressed their agreement in murmurs. “Anyway, I better get going,” Soarin said. “I’ll see you guys later.”

“Yep,” said Swift. “See ya, Soarin.”

They watched him go, still feeling uncertainty in their hearts.