Silver Rose rubbed at her eyes as she tried her best to pay attention in history class. Mr. Fowl was going on about something in the Renaissance era, but it was like she had cotton buds in her ears, combined with a metal drum over her head. Everything didn’t sound right.

After she and her aunt had gotten home, they had bumped into Silver’s mother, who insisted on being given a recount of the night’s events. In all, the telling took almost an hour, by which time the clock had gone past two in the morning. Apparently her mother found these kinds of stories amusing. A half hour was spent clipping her nails back to normal length. Then a further half hour was spent getting out of her Ghost Hollow persona and back into Silver Rose.

It felt like by the time she had actually gotten into bed to get some rest, the sun had already come up and the birds were chirping.

“Twiddle-dee-dee…” Silver Rose groaned and avoided putting her head on the table.

“Everything alright, Silver? You don’t look so good.” Canvas Splash twirled a pen in her hand. “Did you spend too much time studying last night?”

“Wha-?” Silver’s eyes focused on Canvas before rolling back in her head. “Yeah. Totally what I was doing. Studying. Yep.”

“Gee, you look like you were up all night.” Canvas poked Silver in the cheek with the end of her pen. “I hope whatever you were studying stayed in your head.”

“Yeah, me too. Say, you haven’t seen Cold Lullaby or Crystal Forecast today, have you?”

“Uh, Cold Forecast and Crystal Lullaby, you mean?”

Silver Rose flapped her hand. “Yeah, them. Whatever. You seen them today yet?”

Canvas shook her head. “I don’t usually see them the first half of the day. I mean, if you want to talk…” She pointed over to the left. Shock Coil was seated at his desk, but he had plenty of bandages all over his exposed skin; there were at least four on his face. “I’m sure Shock Coil can point you to his girlfriend. You gonna show ‘em who’s boss, Silver?”

“I think someone’s already done that…” Silver muttered with a smirk to herself.

“What’s that, Silver?” Canvas doodled a little square man on her notes.

“Nothing. I guess it can wait until later.”

“Mmm, okay.” Canvas held up her note paper. “What do you think? Think I’m prepared enough for the history exam?”

“Yeah, I think so, Canvas…” Silver answered blurrily.

“Everything okay over there, Ms. Rose?” Mr. Fowl pointed his pointing stick at her.

“Oh. Yes, Fister Mowl, I mean Mister Fowl.”

“Hmmm…” But then her teacher just went back to pointing out key moments in his lecture.

“Gee, come on, I’ll take your notes for you, Silver. You’re really out of it.” Canvas pulled Silver’s stack of papers over to her desk. “Just… look awake.”

“Gotcha.”

As Silver poked herself with a pen to stay awake, Canvas remarked, “What do you think happened to him anyway?” Canvas pointed at Shock Coil with her pen. “It’s like he was attacked by a beehive or something.”

“I dunno. Maybe he fell in a red of boses or something…”

“A bed of roses, you mean? Yeah, but how could that happen? His clothes would’ve have stopped the thorns, no?”

“Maybe he wasn’t wearing any clothes…” The young changeling rubbed her eyes again and stifled a yawn.

Canvas looked skeptical but quickly went back to taking notes that Mr. Fowl was quickly scribbling on the board, then erasing to make room for more.

When the bell finally rang, it managed to shock Silver out of her drowsiness for a few seconds as she began to pack up her things.

“Thanks for taking the notes for me, Can…” Silver accepted the pile of papers from her friend. “I really need to get some rest before the next class.”

“Hey, no sweat, Silver. I’ll see you for PE, okay?”

“Gotcha, Canvas. See you…” Silver waved slowly and began to leave.

“Silver!”

“Huh, what, what happened?” The young changeling shot up in her seat and looked around quickly.

“Wow, you were really sleeping, huh?” Indigo Zap leaned off Silver’s table with an amused face. “You okay?”

“Yeah, yeah… better now.” Silver rubbed her face. She did feel a little better. But only just a little.

“Do you, uh, would you need to go to the nurse’s office?” Sunny Flare smiled from her seat. “I… I could take you… if you want.”

“Nah, I’ll be fine. Just need to get back home and sleep. Didn’t get a lot of it last night.”

“Why, what were you doing?” Sugarcoat asked curiously.

“Uh, studying. Yeah.”

“Studying, huh?” Indigo Zap smirked. “Are you sure you weren’t just playing video games or something?”

“Not everyone procrastinates like you do, Indigo,” Sugarcoat said flatly.

“I do so not procrastinate,” Indigo insisted. “I work better under pressure, that’s all.”

“If by pressure you mean last-minute panic, then yeah, I’d agree.”

“Hey! I don’t panic!” Indigo bellowed, slapping a hand on Silver’s desk. The sound was able to jolt her up for a few seconds.

“We’ll see when the exams roll around, Indigo.” Sugarcoat went back to a book she was reading.

Eventually, Silver couldn’t tell how long, the bell seemed to ring and just when she thought class was about to start, everyone started getting up and packing their things.

Wait, what?

“Uh, what’s going on?” She pulled on Sunny’s sleeve to get her attention.

“Hmm? What do you mean?” Sunny raised an eyebrow. “We’re done. The bell rang. Time to go.”

“Wha… really?” Silver scratched at her hair. “Did class finish?”

“Yes…” Sunny said, waving a hand in front of Silver’s face. “Are you sure you don’t need to go to the nurse’s, dearie?”

“I don’t think going to the nurse's office is going to work, Sunny…” Silver pushed to her feet. “We should just head over to the ranging chooms…”

“Ri-ight,” Sunny said slowly. “Just a moment. Wait here.”

Sunny left the room quickly, her footsteps brisk and purposeful, or maybe it was just her imagination, because everyone else was leaving too. And it still felt like everything was echoing all around her, like her head was still in a metal drum.

“Man, I’m so sleepy…” Silver complained to herself. “Why can’t I just find somewhere to hide and get a few hours catch up?”

She started to doze off again, but was awakened by Sunny Flare’s fingers snapping in front of her nose.

“What? Oh, it’s you, Sunny. What’s up?”

Sunny Flare was holding a can of drink in her hand.

“Here. Drink this. It’ll help you stay awake.”

“What’s this?” The young changeling didn’t bother looking at it and just pried open the can.

Then she downed the contents, trying to ignore Mr. Beaker’s puzzled look. It tasted a little bitter, but she was too tired to bother if it was tasty or not.

“Hmm, so what’s this, Sunny?” Silver shook her now empty can. “And we better go if we want to make it to PE.”

“It’s an energy drink. I figured it would help boost you up,” Sunny explained as they left the chemistry class. “You feeling better?”

“A little.” Silver found she was more aware of her surroundings now and the echoing in her ears had stopped. “But thanks, Sunny. How much do I owe you for the drink?”

“Don’t worry about it. Your well-being means more to me than a handful of loose change.”

“Hm. Well, thanks a lot. I think it’s working,” Silver said, shouldering her bag. “Come on, let’s get to PE.”

Silver was more coherent during PE, actually following as the class passed by. There was dodgeball going on today. The young changeling still wasn’t too awake as she had liked, taking a few balls to the face, but at least that helped in waking her up further.

“Yo, guys,” Lemon Zest said as they paused to get some water. “You hear the news?”

“What news?” Canvas Splash asked from beside Silver, drinking from her pink water bottle.

“Crystal Lullaby had a fight with Shock Coil,” Lemon said, bouncing the balls of her feet. “Something about a ghost.”

“Ghost? Really?” Sunny made a weird sound. “They got into a fight. Because of a ghost. Get real, Lemon!”

“No, seriously, that’s what I heard.” The lime haired girl shrugged. “I don’t know how true it is, but that’s what’s being said.”

“I don’t believe in ghosts,” Canvas shook her head, her side ponytail swishing from left to right. “I don’t think those kinds of things exist. At least, in real life. They exist on paper, like on Sketchy, my sketchbook.”

“Umm, right, yeah…” Sunny gave her a weirded out look.

“Well, I don’t believe they exist too!” Sour Sweet said. “But we don’t really know any better, so we shouldn’t assume anything.”

“But besides ghosts, I really wonder what happened between those two.” Sugarcoat wiped at her face, then put her glasses back on. “Coil’s covered in bandages, and they’re so much in love with each other. I’ve never seen so much as an argument between them. If I didn’t know better, I’d say they’ve probably even slept with each other before.”

“Oh, they have…” Silver murmured, feeling very smug.

“I doubt they have.” Sour Sweet folded her arms. “Would they?”

“Come on, doing the thing?” Lemon Zest laughed. “What do you think this is, some kind of summer camp?”

“A summer camp isn’t necessarily a place where people screw around, Lemon.” Sugarcoat frowned, her glasses drooping a little.

“Yeah, but it happens all the time anyway.” The cheerful girl shrugged. “Especially in those horror movies. You always see lots of people having sex before they’re killed by whatever monster the movie has.”

“That doesn’t mean it happens in real summer camps,” Sour Sweet grumbled and gulped down a mouthful of water. “And I don’t think they do it anyway. We’re still in high school. No one should be doing anything of that sort yet.”

Sunny and Silver shared a look, then blushed together and looked away.

“Yeah, tell that to Sunny!” Lemon Zest put her bottle down and hopped up.

Sunny looked at her friends back and forth. “Wh-what? What about me?”

Lemon Zest snickered. “I’m still sure you screwed a boy in that Canterlot High restroom.”

Sunny clutched her cheeks and bent down. “I told you, nothing happened! No-nothing like that!”

“Hey, break’s up, come on back!” Coach Mustang blew on his whistle and waved for them to go back.

“Aye aye, coach!” Canvas was the first to run back over to the center of the court. “Come on!”

“Yeah, leave Sunny alone.” Sour Sweet pulled Sugarcoat along. “Let’s get on with dodgeball!”

Lemon Zest soon followed after, leaving Silver Rose alone with Sunny Flare, with the changeling slowly making her way over.

“I do hope the rest of this class will get me more awake…” Silver rubbed her eyes. “I’ll just need to get hit in the face more.”

“Do you need another energy drink?” Sunny volunteered herself. “I could always go get another one for you.”

“No, no, you don’t have to, Sunny. I’ll be fine. Eventually.”

“Hmm, okay. Hey, Silver… If it’s not too much to ask.” Sunny’s cheeks turned pink and she looked down at her feet.

“Yeah?” Silver waited for her question. She sniffed once, but she didn’t really get much information from it.

“Could… Could you meet me… you know, maybe during last period? Let’s s-say…” Sunny’s blush got brighter. “The se-second floor restroom…?”

“Oh, um, I’d love to, Sunny, but calculus,” Silver replied. “I really need to be there. Notes and all.”

“Oh, umm… okay, yeah. Classes are more important…” Sunny smelt of disappointment and Silver didn’t like it.

“Hey, uh…” Silver tugged on Sunny Flare’s shirt. “How about second last period? I have computer then. I’m sure I can miss some of it.”

Sunny’s face brightened up and she nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, that can work. So I’ll see you then?”

“Second floor restroom, yup.” Silver nodded.

The two of them shared a smile before joining the rest of their class for more dodgeball. Silver got hit in the face a few more times, which helped to alleviate her sleepiness, but it also made her face a little sore, though it was nothing a little love wouldn’t cure.

Once PE was done, they were free to head on to lunch, which Silver was very much looking forward to. She had taken a very sloppy shower and she hadn’t toweled herself down very well, but putting on her uniform over her wet skin didn’t quite bother her today.

“Man, Silver, you really have a face of steel.” Canvas Splash skipped alongside her on the way to the cafeteria. “Hungry?”

“Not really. I just want to get some more rest.”

The young changeling quickly collapsed down into a seat in the cafeteria as soon as she got the chance, picking the first table from the door.

“Want me to get lunch for you, Silver?” Canvas patted her on the shoulder. “I don’t mind.”

“No, it’s fine, Canvas.” Silver waved a hand. “I don’t need lunch today. I think I’ll just…”

As soon as she closed her eyes, everything had gone blank, but when she did open them again, she realized that she and Canvas weren’t the only ones at the table. Across from them sat Cold Forecast and Crystal Lullaby, with the former sporting a black right eye. Only Silver knew what the cause of it was. She smiled, though a little groggily.

“It’s okay, girls,” Canvas replied them calmly, then she held up her sketchbook. “It’s Sketchy here that you should really be apologizing to.”

Cold Forecast and Crystal Lullaby shared a worried look with each other, and Silver smelt a hint of fear coming from them.

“O-Okay… Sketchy, Canvas’ sketchbook… I’m sorry.” Crystal Lullaby said after a hesitant pause.

“Umm, y-yeah, me too, Sketchy. Sorry.” Cold Forecast blinked her one good eye.

“Okay, he says he accepts your apology.” Canvas put down her sketchbook happily. “So for real? You two saw a ghost?”

“Yeah, she was real.” Cold Forecast nodded her head and shivered. “I thought may-maybe it was a dream, but I have the black eye to prove it. And the claw marks on my bedsheets. I-I’m really sorry for bullying you all the time, Canvas. I swear, I didn’t know there was an artisan’s curse.”

“Artisan’s… curse?” Canvas said, looking confused. “I, er, didn’t really know that either.”

“It was terrible,” Crystal shuddered. “It screamed and raged, and it got into my studio even though I locked the door! Just thinking about it gives me the chills.”

“That’s because ghosts don’t need doors,” Cold Forecast snapped. “She got into my room the same way. It was awful. She was all white in color and she had these terrible bloodstained claws…”

“Don’t forget the fog,” Crystal said, hugging herself. “So cold and clammy.”

“She had fog too?” Canvas’ eyes beamed. “Cool! I’ve always imagined ghosts to have fog.”

“It’s not cool when she’s staring right into your face…” Crystal Lullaby croaked. “She even- umm… you know, nevermind. But she was so scary… I don’t want to see a ghost for as long as I live.”

Silver watched their faces, internally smiling. She had really made a good impression on them yesterday night, and by good, she meant good for herself and for Canvas.

“Well, so long as you did what the ghost said…” Silver said slowly. “I don’t think you’ll need to think about it again.”

“But what if it comes back again?” Cold Forecast dithered.

“Get your house exorcised?” Silver suggested.

“I’ve apologized to Canvas. And her sketchbook!” Crystal Lullaby replied frantically. “The ghost said it would leave me alone if I apologized! I hope she doesn’t come back.”

“Yeah, she punched me.” Forecast pointed at her black eye. “I had to put more makeup on today and it hurt. I really don’t want to see her again…”

“So that ghost came after you just because you tore up my sketch that day?” Canvas asked both of them, getting nods and partial shrugs from both girls. “Woah… Who would’ve thought artists had a guardian ghost.”

“It’s so not cool…” Crystal Lullaby sighed. Then she got up. “Well… that’s all I wanted to say, Canvas. I’m sorry. I… I’m going to go find my boyfriend now.”

And she was off.

“Yeah. I should go too. See you,” Cold Forecast said, and she was gone as well.

“Fancy that,” Silver said drily. “Seems you have someone watching out for you, Canvas.”

“Yeah.” Canvas smiled. “You didn’t have anything to do with the ghost, did you? Cause you said you were going to do something about these two.”

“Who, me?” Silver said innocently. “Of course not. I was studying all night, as my mother and aunt could tell you.”

“Oh.” Canvas blinked a few times, then gave Silver a hug. “Well, thanks for wanting to do something about them anyway! You’re really my best friend! At least you won’t have to do anything to them now.”

“Yeah, thank badness for that.”

“You’ve done so much for me, Silver. One of these days, I’m gonna make it up to you. Both Sketchy and I!” Canvas said happily. “Maybe I’ll draw a picture of you or something? Oh, even better, paint a picture of you!”

“Sure, whatever you want, Canvas.” Silver hugged her back, then let out a big yawn. “Well, now that this is all settled… I’d like another rest. Wake me when you’re heading out, okay?”