Someone was knocking on Searing's door. "Goh ahway," she muttered from her hard steel bed.

The knocking continued. "I dun wanna get up."

The knocking stopped and the doorbell started ringing. "Fine!" She gracelessly fell out of her bed and onto the floor. On wobbly hooves and with a pounding head, she stumbled through the bunker and to the source of the bell. She angrily opened the fridge door. "What are you shelling?"

"Nothing at all, my dear," Discord calmly said as he stepped out of the appliance and looked around, closing the door behind him. Empty glass bottles of various types of hard drinks were strewn about the place. "Looks like somepony had a party last night, hm?"

"I drank all the drinks! *hic* Three hours ago! I think."

"You've got some tolerance. Admirable. Dare I ask why you thought - why are you getting all huggy?"

Searing had as much of an iron grip on Discord's body as she could muster, which was more like aluminum foil. "I WAS LONELY-Y-Y-Y-Y!" she sobbed out before passing out against the chaos spirit.

Discord left the lower half of his body with Searing while his upper half floated around. The first thing he checked was the saddlebags he gave her, and they were full of goodies, mostly armor and weapons with a few other things mixed in. "Hmm, I can't let you have this where we're going next." He looked out the open end of the bunker and saw a slagged hole on the opposite side. "Well, somepony had fun shooting."

Deciding that things were good enough, he pulled himself back together, properly put the saddlebags on the sleeping Searing, and snapped them out of the world.

Someone was knocking on Searing's door. "Go away," she muttered from her warm, comfortable bed.

The knocking continued. "I dun wanna get up."

The door opened and someone approached her. "Wake up, Searing~" Discord gently said.

"No," Searing drowsily stated as she pulled the precious pillow against her face.

"Hmph. Seems I have to take more drastic measures." He snapped, but nothing seemed to happen. Satisfied, he grabbed the blankets and yanked them off the bed, revealing the humanized Searing Victory, wearing some light sleepwear.

"Yeeeee!" Searing immediately curled up, wide awake and feeling a chill on her bright red skin.

Discord, also human and wearing a tastefully mismatched set of clothes, put a pair of earplugs in, followed by earmuffs, and sat down on the ceiling. While the room was magically soundproofed, he would need to wait out the freakout.

Searing wiggled her toes first. "Wha-" She held a hand up in front of her. "What's going on?" Slowly, she started moving her fingers, then quickly felt her very much not unicorn face.

When it appeared that Searing was on the brink of calming down, Discord, standing with a stopwatch on the ceiling, walked over to her. "That behavior is very unbecoming of a young lady such as yourself."

"Why do I look. . . not quite like Yang?"

"It's just part of the trip, my dear. You still have Background Pony Syndrome, but you're not a pony now, so you should be able to interact like normal with people. Of course, you need to learn how to walk first, and you'd better learn fast."

"Alright, alright." Searing rolled out of bed and landed on the floor. "Ow! Why are these things on my chest so big?"

"They're the same size as Yang's would be if she appeared here instead of Equestria. In fact, you've been blessed with the same figure as her. 6'3", excellent physical shape, and an excellent physical shape. Anyways, to your feet, soldier!"

Searing tried standing, but couldn't find her balance and fell on her back. "How do you stand on only two legs?"

"A better question would be how minotaurs don't fall over on two little hooves, but who am I to judge?" Discord watched Searing try and fail to stand a few more times before making an offer. "Would you like some help?"

"No." Searing fell on her chest again. "Owwwww. . . Okay, yes."

"Excellent." Discord smacked her head with a giant foam sledgehammer with the words 'PLOT CONVENIENCE!' in bold red letters written on it in crayon, permanent marker, pencil, calligraphy ink, strawberry juice, and oil paint. "There we go."

Searing stood up and shot him a glare. "You think that works?"

Discord slid around the ceiling without moving a muscle, the former unicorn chasing him around for a full minute. "You know, I think it does work," he observed.

She stopped and looked around, then started consciously testing her legs and arms, now suddenly somewhat familiar to her. "Your teaching method needs work."

"Hmmm, nah. On a side note-" he flung a bundle of blue and maroon fabric at her. "You need to get ready for school."

Searing's breath caught in her throat. "School?"

"Are you afraid of a little edumication?" The chaos god taunted.

"Well. . . Um. . ."

"Dark and troubled past with staff that acted with questionable ethics and legality?"

"Ifellasleepallthetimeinschool." Searing's bright red skin almost hid the bright red blush on her face. Almost. "Or I got in fights. Sometimes both. I wasn't there for long either."

"Is that all? Well, I'm sure a good breakfast will help with that. Go shower up and I'll get started on it." Discord flipped over to the floor, walked through the wall next to the open door like a ghost, and whistled a merry tune. "Oh, you have plenty of time before you have to leave! Three hours! I need to go over some stuff with you too!"

"Alright alright!" Searing found her way to the bathroom and was soon in the shower. She quickly discovered her new sensitive areas, and the incredible dexterity of her hands. Despite some familiarity having been literally hammered into her head only minutes earlier, it was still a new thing, and she was getting a rush out of it. It was also a change of pace from being stuck in the old bunker.

After enjoying having a real towel again and getting dressed, Searing went downstairs, following the heavenly scent and sizzle of bacon cooking. "Well, you took your sweet time," Discord noted.

"Well excuse me for having to get used to a new body," Searing retorted as she sat down at the island themed island in the kitchen. It had a deep blue border, tan and green interior, and even the items on the island were island themed. She could even swear she heard waves coming from it and saw a colorful bird fly through the trees.

"Oh, I heard you getting used to it all the way from here." He was facing away from her, but she could practically hear the eyebrow waggle in his voice.

Her face went redder. "Discord!"

"I promise I won't tell anyone here about it." He quickly finished his cooking and set a plate of bacon, scrambled eggs, and fried toast in front of her. "More importantly, we have things to cover." He pulled a projector screen down from the curtains over the sink, then clapped and dimmed the room. The screen lit up with an amateur powerpoint opening slide. He picked up a spatula and began the presentation. "We will start with the biggest hazard you will have to navigate."

"You?"

Discord's hand shot to his heart. "Audible gasp! You wound me." He quickly went from dramatic back to serious enough and advanced the slideshow to a clipart picture of a road. "No, it's traffic. I'm sure you're aware of Yang's motorcycle, right?"

"She did let me see it once when I asked her. It looks fun."

"Those are not common, but not rare either." The next slide had pictures of a variety of vehicles. Cars, trucks, vans, SUV's, moving vehicles, semi trucks, and emergency vehicles. "These are the most common ones. They can all move faster than even the fastest earth pony can run."

"Except Pinkie Pie." Searing started on her breakfast.

"You learned fast in Ponyville," Discord said with a note of admiration. "Long story short, you do not want to get hit by one of these. The driver may not notice you in time, and you may not live. The lightest of them still weighs over a ton. And while we're here, I won't teach you how to drive any of these. Cue the disappointed groan!"

Searing shrugged. "I'll make do without."

Discord let out a disappointed groan. "Fine! Be that way. Moving on-" the humanized chaos spirit advanced the slide to one with a picture of a sleek computer. "-These let you, with the right connection, obtain any bit of information you want, play games, talk with other people, look up cat videos, buy stuff, and look at things that you wouldn't want your family to catch you looking at. You're probably better off learning about the internet by experience. It is a very chaotic place."

"Sounds like your kind of place."

The slide dissolved and melted into the sink. "Moving on from the computers and internet are phones, most of which are basically just mobile pocket size computers. Communication!"

"Yeah, I can do without that too."

Discord smirked. "Just wait until you try one." The slide popped like a balloon, covering the island and Searing with confetti. "Commerce! Shopping! Business! Meals! Spending money! Clothes! All the fun things a girl your current physical age stereotypically does! By the way, clothes are a bit of a big deal around here. Don't go out without any on, and make sure you choose your clothes well. You don't have any fur, so you'll need them. Fortunately, I've managed to. . . Acquire enough for you to last a while. You would not believe how cheap they were."

"You magically stole them?"

"I magically stole them."

Searing took a moment to finish her food and sighed. "How long are we here again?"

"The whole school year and then some. More slides!"

"-and those are the common wonders you'll see around here." Discord let the projector screen roll back into the curtains. There never was a projector, but that didn't matter. "Now for the cover story."

"Can't I just make something up?" Searing tiredly asked over her empty breakfast plate. The Carne Den's food was much better, but it would do for the time being.

"You are from a land called England, and you came here because I, your dear old single dad, had to move due to work. I've already set everything up at the school you will be attending."

"You're not my father," Searing firmly stated.

"Now where did I say anything about that? I'm your dad, not your father. Anyways, you grew up in the English countryside away from a lot of technology because you were a flower child or something like that, and I accommodated as best I could, complete with private tutors. As a result, you're somewhat technologically stunted, but we'll get that fixed soon enough."

"With what? Another foam hammer?"

"Pfsh. Don't be silly. No, you're going out there and seeing it for yourself." He hoisted a backpack onto the island, the impact shaking everything on it and causing ripples in the blue edges. "I'll take you to the school. It's only a mile from here, so you can walk on your own easily enough once u kno da wey."

Searing took the hefty bag. "What's in here?"

"Textbooks, folders, paper, pencils, everything you'll need for your classes."

"It feels like there's a whole tree in here. Isn't this supposed to be a high tech place with those. . . phones and tablets and internets?"

"Progress on integrating that is a bit haphazard. But enough talking! Let's get walking."

The walk in the morning sun was peaceful, though Searing was on edge the whole time. Discord was going to do something else chaotic at any moment, she was certain. The highly ordered alien surroundings, much more ordered than even some pony cities she'd seen, most certainly did not at all contribute at all to her nerves.

Along the way, Searing tried to use a little bit of her magic. She was able to feel it, as she always could, but drawing on any of it was nigh impossible. It quickly became apparent it was an exercise in futility that would only wear her out.

Even with the presentation and explanation, seeing cars in motion fascinated and scared Searing. She saw people passing by, looking at their devices and barely noticing anything around them. At the same time, she was working on committing the path to memory. "There's no way I'm getting out of this. Better just put my head down and trot right through it."

The walk turned out to be a straight line, ending just a couple blocks after a barking dog spooked Searing. "And here we are!" Discord cheerily announced. "Certified Public Accountants!"

"The sign says Crystal Prep Academy," Searing pointed out.

"Same acronym! We're a bit early because they need to finalize some stuff with us properly. You know what that means?"

"Let's get it over with." Searing went towards the school, leaving Discord's question to blow away in the wind.

The inside greatly contrasted with Searing's red skin and spikey blonde hair. The walls were teal and light blue while the floor and ceiling were different shades of lavender, all with a few well placed decorative lines. It all somehow worked out and looked okay.

Discord, needless to say, stood out like a tall unicorn in a herd of average earth ponies.

There were a few students inside, and it became readily apparent that Searing's given clothes were a uniform. The students were scattered around the common area, some going over papers, others playing a card game, and a couple catching some last minute shut-eye.

Discord caught up to her easily. "This way." He turned her head so she saw the administration office. "This shouldn't take long."

After a brief conversation with a secretary, they went to the principal's office proper. "Mr. Discord and Searing Victory, I presume? I'm Principal Abacus Cinch," the ice blue skinned woman greeted.

"A ple~asure to meet you," Discord responded with enough enthusiasm for all three of them before they sat down. "So, what needs doing?"

Principal Cinch was very clearly not amused, but maintained her professionalism. "We just need to give Searing her school planner, print her ID, and give her a quick tour. Before we do that, I want to make sure I have something right."

"Go on."

"You're absolutely sure she doesn't need a tutor for technology navigation and education? The offer is still available."

"Pfsh, naw," Discord casually dismissed. "She may have grown up in the English countryside away from it all, but I'm sure she'll be able to pick up on it on her own."

"If you insist. I will keep the offer available for her."

"Can we get it over with?" Searing asked.

"We can." Principal Cinch pulled out a spiral bound Crystal Prep Academy planner and printed schedule and handed them to Searing. "We'll take care of the picture for your school ID first. Searing, if you could just stand against the wall and face me, please?" Searing complied, standing still against a plain section of wall. Principal Cinch took her phone out from her desk and took a few pictures. "There we go." A few taps later, and she'd sent the pictures off in an email, followed by a text message. "Let's start the tour."

The tour went smoothly enough. Principal Cinch was professional, Searing paid attention, and Discord behaved well enough. They ended at the counselors' offices to pick up Searing's ID and make one last introduction. "In light of Searing's situation, I've arranged for someone special to be her counselor, should she need it." She opened a door to an office, revealing a pink skinned woman with three colors of hair. "Searing, meet-"

"Princess Cadence!?" Searing exclaimed, drawing everyone's attention, though Discord was trying to suppress a laugh.

"Well, that's the first time a student's called me that," Dean Cadence said with a hint of amusement. "You must be Searing Victory, right?"

"I. . . I. . . What. . . Discord?"

"Don't ask me, Searing," Discord said. "How could I have possibly known you would react this way?"

She gave him a flat glare. "You planned this."

"Nope!"

Cadence stepped up. "I'm not sure what's going on, but I believe it would be best if I took some time to talk with Searing. May I?"

“Classes start in thirty minutes,” Principal Cinch said before leaving to go back to her office.

“Don’t have too much fun, Searing,” Discord said. “That’s my job, after all.” A moment later, he left to go do whatever it was a chaos spirit does. Parcheesi roulette checkers, or something like that.

“Close the door and have a seat,” Cadence gently said, and Searing did as she was told. “I just have to know: Why did you call me Princess?”

“I. . . Well. . . Um. . .” Searing stammered out. “Because you look like one?”

Cadence politely giggled. “Searing, I am not a princess. I had dreams of it as a little girl, but I'm definitely not one. Those dreams are just happy memories for me now."

Searing's eye developed a twitch as she tried to process and separate the different Cadences. There was the one she was familiar with; the Princess of love, ruler of the Crystal Empire with her husband, Prince Shining Armor, mother of Flurry Heart, and, from what she'd heard, one of the nicest ponies around. The one in front of her bore many visual similarities, including the gold piece around her neck, sounded very nice, and even had a picture of herself with what looked like a human version of Prince Shining Armor and a little girl that looked like Flurry Heart. "I. . . I. . ." Searing slumped forward and hit the desk with her head. "I am so confused."

Cadence took action. She walked around the desk and, in one smooth motion, pulled Searing to her feet, pushed the chair away, and brought her charge into a hug. "Big changes are confusing. I heard about your life in the English countryside. I'm sure it's all like magic to you, isn't it?"

Searing couldn't find it in her to retort on the magic comment, instead slowly returning the hug. For a few minutes, they just stood there. "I've been so lonely. . ." Searing said after she managed to collect herself a bit.

"Lonely?" Cadence asked with concern.

Searing realized that she'd messed up and stiffened up a bit. "Well, the past week's been like that for me. Nopon - Nobody to talk to, just stuck in one place."

"What about Discord? What's your relation to him?"

"That's. . . Very complicated." Searing broke the hug and backed up a bit. "Everything's fine, it's just been chaotic."

"Well, you'll find some structure and order here. Having a schedule helps quite a bit with that. Speaking of schedules, what's yours?"

Searing looked at her planner. "Geometry, English, History, Biology, Lunch, Health, Physical Education, and Study Hall. What's this label down here?"

Cadence looked at the label in question. "That's your locker number and lock combination. Let me show you the way there. We can talk more if you'd like."

"Alright."

After learning how to use the lock on the locker and depositing her backpack, Searing went straight to her first class: Geometry. She chose a desk off in the corner of the room, away from the teacher's desk. She already knew she wasn't going to like it.

The teacher came in right after Searing sat down, and it wasn't long before more students started filing in and taking their seats as well. Searing watched them all out of the corner of her eye. Each one of the students noticed her, especially the guys, who couldn't quite seem to look her in the eyes, even when she was looking at them.

Finally, the bell to start class rang, and the teacher took his place in front of the class. After taking attendance, with Searing being the last one on the list, he introduced himself. "Welcome to Geometry. You can call me Mr. Angle. Today, we'll just review some basic terms to get everyone up to speed."

Searing's eyes started glazing over as he started listing various terms that she couldn't comprehend or understand. Hypotenuse, radius, diameter, circumference, and more all went over her head. "What good is any of this stuff?" She thought as it went on and on, the words, numbers, and minutes of the class all blurring together.

Towards the end of the hour long class, he handed out some papers for everyone. Homework, apparently. A minute after Searing stuffed it into her math binder, the bell rang, and she was more than happy to get up and leave.

Out in the hall, Searing was able to get a good look at the students wandering about. It was organized chaos with everyone chatting, walking, and using their lockers. She also noticed that she was very tall compared to the vast majority of the students, and even some of the teachers. As she switched out her math and English binders, two numbers came to mind. "How tall did Discord say I was? 6'3"? I think that's what he said. And excellent shape twice. I'm going to stand out a lot."

The English teacher was sitting at her desk when Searing arrived. "Your name?" She asked.

"Searing Victory," Searing said. No other students were in the room yet.

The teacher looked through the attendance list. "Ah, there you are. Have a seat." As in Geometry, Searing took the corner seat furthest from the desk. "You're very punctual, Searing."

"I am?" A brief glance around showed no other students.

"There's a ten minute break between classes, and it's only been three since the first class finished."

"Oh. Was I supposed to do something else on the break or. . ."

"Nothing's required. It's simply a chance for you to walk and talk with your peers, get some water, use the restroom, whatever you need or want to do."

"I see." A yawn escaped Searing's mouth. "Can I close my eyes for a bit? I got up way too early today."

"As long as you're awake in time for class. The bell should wake you up."

"Thanks." Searing leaned back a bit and closed her eyes.

A few minutes later, the bell to start class rang and Searing opened her eyes in time for the teacher to start speaking. "Welcome to English, everyone. I'm Ms. Turner. We will be diving into the elements of the plays written by Wobbly Javelin throughout the whole school year."

A chorus of groans and a series of slumps went across the class. Searing leaned to the blue student next to her. "Hey, why's everypo - everyone reacting like that?" She quietly asked.

"Hm?" Her face went from defeat to confusion and she leaned towards Searing. "You've never heard of him?"

"No. Should I have?"

Ms. Turner noticed the conversation. "Searing, Babbling, what are you two talking about?"

Babbling elbowed Searing, and the red skinned girl stood up. "I've never heard of Wobbly Javelin before," she admitted, earning confused looks from everyone in the classroom.

After a few seconds, Ms. Turner spoke with genuine confusion. "How is that possible, Searing?"

Searing shrugged. "It just is?"

"He's one of the most renowned playwrights in history. The scripts he's written are still performed to this day, and he introduced many elements of modern writing. There's nobody in the nation who hasn't at least heard the name Wobbly Javelin." Ms. Turner was clearly passionate about the topic.

Searing was getting a bit fired up as well. "Then I guess it should be 'almost nobody' in that case." As much as Searing wanted to continue, she quickly realized that there was no way she could really make a good point on the topic and quietly sat down.

For the rest of class, Searing held her tongue, but it did nothing to stop the confused looks occasionally directed at her. "Discord's probably laughing at this right now."

Discord let out a loud belly laugh as he saw the 7X13=28 skit. "I have got to try that sometime!"

After putting the English homework into its binder, the bell rang, and Searing followed the herd of students out of the room and into the hall. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Babbling join with some other girls and start talking with them.

"I wish I had some friends here," Searing lamented to herself as she switched things out for her next class. "Even that flirty waitress Honey Suckle would do. I don't know why Yang keeps her around."

She went to her next class at a more leisurely pace after switching the required materials. After all, she had time.

The history teacher was an interesting sight. Instead of looking like a skinny old balding man, he had a low mohawk, a good amount of muscle, and didn't appear to be very old. That alone got Searing's attention and interest. "Welcome to history class, everyone," he said. "You may call me Mr. Broden. In this class, you will learn some ugly history: War, and everything that's come from it." A student up front raised her hand. "Yes, High Note?"

"Aren't you a music teacher?" High Note asked.

"I am, and I will use music to help you learn history." A number of groans sounded out. "I know what you're thinking, and no, there will not be any childish cartoons with it. You're all mature enough to handle the music I will be using."

Another student raised his hand and didn't wait to be called on. "Didn't our normal history class cover war already?"

"Not to the extent I will. Those history classes cover a lot, but don't go in depth. For example, do you know why Napoleonic warfare ended, and what battle sealed its fate?"

"Ummm. . . No."

"Then the introductory lesson is decided. First, I have to take attendance." A couple minutes later, attendance was done. "The battle that truly sealed the end of Napoleonic warfare, and the single longest battle in history is the battle of Verdun in World War One. A three hundred three day battle of attrition - Yes, Searing?"

"What's attrition?" Searing asked. She'd heard the term before, but its meaning slipped her mind. Nobody shot her any odd looks this time, so it apparently wasn't a widely known term.

"A battle of attrition is where both opposing sides continue spending resources against each other. Money, arms, munitions, soldiers, food, water, anything you need to fight a war. Of course, that could be said for any war. Where it starts coming into attrition is when both sides are at a deadlock and continuously fighting in a single area. Neither can advance against the other, and retreat isn't an option because the enemy will advance."

"So, it's like a siege?"

"No. Sieges are large offenses against a heavily fortified location, often involving the offense cutting off supply chains. A siege could be the start of a battle of attrition, but a battle of attrition is not a siege."

The homework given out just before class ended was a lyric sheet for a song called Fields of Verdun. As she went to her locker to get ready for biology, she read the lyrics and found herself humming a tune. She had no idea if it was the right tune or not, but she hummed it out anyways.

As she was going through her backpack, a tall, dark blue skinned student with piercing yellow eyes came up to her. "You're new here?" He asked after a bit, his voice rather deep.

"What of it?" Searing retorted.

"And it looks like you're taking senior level classes."

"What of it?" Searing repeated.

"Hmmm. . . I think you'll do nicely. I'll see you later." With that, he left her and disappeared around a corner.

"That was weird." After dismissing the event, she finished switching to her biology material, closed the locker, and started the search for the classroom.

Ms. Featherbind finished checking her attendance list and turned to the class. "Welcome to biology, everyone. We'll be doing some refreshers for now to make sure everyone's caught up." A small chorus of groans echoed through the class while Searing did her best to care at least a little bit about the material. "Let's start with the seven kingdoms of life forms. Searing, would you like to answer that?"

Searing panicked. "Crap! Another thing I don't know! What's the best wording?"

"Searing?"

"I. . . Forgot," Searing said. "Things have been very strange for me recently."

"Would you like to at least try?"

"I'd rather not."

"Duly noted." She looked around a bit. "Zephyr, how about you?"

"Bacteria, Archaea, Protozoa, Chromista, Plantae, Fungi, Animalia," Zephyr said without missing a beat, and not quite looking at the teacher.

"Very good!"

It was then that Searing, only able to understand three of the seven terms, realized that Geometry and all its numbers really wasn't so bad. Biology was going to be a nightmare.

Searing looked over a sign listing what made up a free lunch: an entree, a side, and a drink. Anything extra would cost her extra, and she knew she had no money. She didn't even know what the money looked like in the strange world she found herself in. "At least it's better than biology. Simple, straightforward, and to the point."

The lunch she picked out was a cheeseburger, fries, and a carton of milk, all placed on a styrofoam tray. It looked like a popular choice, or at least a common one. After following the line past the lunch checker, she found a spot to herself, sat down, and started on her food. "I never thought meat could taste so bland," she thought as she chewed the first bite of the burger. "I miss the Carne Den."

She was halfway through the burger when a colorful group of girls approached her. "Hey, new girl, want to join the cheerleading squad?" one of them asked.

Searing looked over the group of seven that had approached her. Each one had a different skin color. Orange, yellow, green, teal, blue, violet, and pink. None of them could be said to have short hair. They also had a very different uniform on. The tops and pleated skirts were black with glossy crystal patterns tastefully placed all over. The two pieces didn't quite meet, leaving a couple inches of midriff exposed. Their sleek shoes also followed the color scheme of the uniform they wore.

Searing gave her answer. "No thanks." She went back to her bland tasting lunch.

The blue one sat down and put an arm across the former unicorn's shoulders. "Come on, you'll fit right in. We can have a full dark rainbow to cheer on the Shadowbolts when they beat Canterlot High again~"

Searing didn't let her surprise at the familiar terms show beyond a pause in her chewing as she quickly collected her thoughts. "Once again, no. Now, will you please let me eat?"

"Only if you say Yes~"

"What would Yang do in this situation? Call an authority? No, she practically is an authority. Punch her? No, that's only when she's attacked. Words?" Searing said the only thing she could think of that could work. "Let me think about it."

"That's the spirit!" The cheerleader gave Searing a not-so-subtle smack on her back and grabbed a few of her fries. "I look forward to your choice on Friday."

"Point taken," Searing thought as they left. “What does a cheerleading squad do anyways?”

Mrs. Snowheart, after taking attendance, delved straight into lecture mode for the health class. Searing tried to pay attention, but even with the slides and a packet with a copy of the presentation, she was having a hard time keeping up with some of the terminology. The basic stuff was easy. Diet, exercise, nutrition, day to day stuff she'd learned just by living. It was when the anatomical and chemical stuff came out that she really got lost.

Partway through the lecture, which had moved onto internal organs, Searing looked to the side and noticed her reflection in a big mirror that took up the whole wall. She looked between the detailed organ diagram and the mirror a few times. "How does all that fit inside me?"

Coach Isamu looked over the students standing before him at the track around the soccer field. "So you're my final pack for the day. Hmph. I see some of you actually came dressed for the class."

Searing looked around and saw that some of her classmates were indeed wearing a variety of lighter athletic clothes. "How did I miss that?" She had noticed a female coach with a black and white ball on the other side with students of her own putting on different color vests earlier, but not the students next to her, and she was momentarily confused at herself.

"Before anyone starts panicking, I will make this clear: wearing those kinds of clothes is not required. It is simply an option, but I highly recommend it, if only to save your uniforms. Today's exercise will be light: I expect you to do at least ten laps around the track by the end of class. Walk, jog, run, tap dance, I don't care. I will give you something to go over and keep at the end of class. Get to it!" Searing and a few other students promptly started walking in the direction Coach Isamu wanted them to while others groaned at the prospect of walking for the whole class.

"I can get behind this," Searing thought as she walked, already feeling better about the class than any other. "It's almost like boot camp."

It wasn't long before she noticed how far ahead of everyone else she was in the class, and she felt a glimmer of pride at being good at something in the school for once. Geometry, English, History, Biology, Health, all those classes could eat dust for all she cared. Getting out and moving was the best.

Just as she was coming out of a turn, someone on the soccer field yelled "INCOMING!" Searing turned to the source and saw a ball flying her way. Her first reaction was to try and catch it with her magic. That didn't happen, so she did the next best thing and put her hands up to try and catch it.

She missed, and the ball landed on her foot. She jumped around for a second out of surprise more than anything, since it didn't hurt beyond a brief stinging sensation. When she recovered, she saw the soccer playing students and their coach looking at her. Searing decided that the best way to return the ball was with a kick, so she kicked it.

The ball flew a fair distance into the middle of the field, and the players gave her some cheers for the kick before going back to their game. Searing went back to her walking, now imagining what it would have looked like if she had jumped and kicked it, complete with the fire magic she was already missing.

After eleven laps, she was feeling great, and stood at attention in front of Coach Isamu. Once everyone was assembled in front of him, he started handing out papers. "These are the various physical activities that we will be doing throughout the school year, and when they start. Except for the last one, you do not need to have any special clothes for this class, but like I said earlier, it is a very good idea."

Searing looked at the paper. "Walking, soccer, wrestling, acrobatics, swimming. Why would you need special clothes for swimming? I'll have to word the question carefully. . ."

"Hey, coach?" A girl asked.

"No time for questions today!" Coach Isamu barked. "Get going to your next class!"

"But-"

"Go!"

Searing was the first to recover and followed the order, her question unanswered and lingering in her mind. Not wanting to look or sound foolish, she kept it to herself. "I'll have to find out about swimming clothes later."

The study hall room, instead of having neatly organized desks, had a few circular tables spread out around it. Searing had opted to just bring her backpack there since it was the last class of the day, and not far from the entrance to the school either.

She sat and waited as other students filed in. A whole minute after the bell rang, Coach Isamu, wearing a normal teacher's uniform, ran up to the open door, leaned against the frame, and caught his breath for a moment, catching Searing off guard. "Hah. . . Hah. . . Sorry I'm late, everyone," he said as he came in and not so much sat down in his chair as he did drop into it. "And the whole pack is. . . You're here too, Searing."

"It's on my schedule?" Searing cautiously suggested.

Coach Isamu shrugged. "Well, if this is your class, that's how it is. Anyways, study hall is in session! Read, draw, meditate, chat, I don't really care, just don't disturb the class. If you need a hall pass or have any questions, just come up and ask me." A student raised his arm. "No, I'm not going to answer your question from here. You've got to come to me."

The student got up and walked over to Coach Isamu's desk. Searing kept an eye and ear on the conversation. "May I get a pass to go to the library?"

"Sure." Coach Isamu wrote something on a slip of paper and handed it to him.

"So that's how it's done," Searing thought. "I should. . . I want to talk to Princess. . . Dean Cadence, but I should probably look at my own books first." She pulled out one of her textbooks and promptly hit it with her face when she realized what she'd grabbed. "Biology. . . Sweet Celestia, why? That class is going to be the bane of my existence here." With a resigned sigh, she opened the book and started trying to understand what was inside. Thankfully, there were colorful pictures and diagrams. They didn't help her very much.

Searing walked out of the school in a daze. There was so much she was expected to know, learn, and do, it made her time in the minotaur rings as a foal look better and better.

"Heeeeeeeeeeey Searing!" Discord sang out, waving from the sidewalk with a lopsided grin. "How was my girl's first day at CPA?"

"Shut up, Discord," Searing responded without stopping.

"Hm, nah." He quickly started walking with her. "As your dad, it's practically my job. So, how was it? Did you get any boys clamoring over each other to be with you?"

"No. Shut up."

"Tell me how you feel?"

She shot him a sideways glare. "You really want to know?"

"Yes, do tell."

Searing's voice lowered and got a razor sharp edge. "I woke up one day and nopony noticed me. Then I spent the last week alone in some dusty old bunker with drafts like you wouldn't believe, then you show up again and I wake up like this, then I get dropped into a high school at the highest grade with a heavy backpack, no clue to what they're talking about, and no idea what to do, so you tell me how I'm feeling."

"A little agitated, perhaps?"

The rest of Searing's walk home had her directing an angry silence at Discord, who didn't seem bothered by it. The only interesting thing that happened was the dog a couple blocks from the school barking at them as they passed.

Searing walked into her room. "Why does my room look different?" The furniture was all different and was in different locations. The walls were magenta and the fan was a seafoam green. The windows and closet, at least, were in the same spot. "Discord!"

"Chaos, Searing!" Discord answered from downstairs. "I'm going to go get us some Chinese takeout for supper. I hope your homework is done before I get back kthxbye!" A door slam signalled his departure, and Searing soon saw him riding a regular bicycle along the sidewalk.

"Homework. Yaaay. . ." Searing groaned out as she set her backpack on her new desk, sat down, and fished it out.

Her eyes glazed over as she looked at the numbers and angles and word problems on the geometry homework. She set it aside and looked at the English homework, something about the old playwright named Wobbly Javelin. History was just the lyric sheet and listening recommendation, but she had no idea how to find the song Fields of Verdun. Biology had a cell diagram with blanks, a word bank, and no hints. Health made absolutely no sense at all.

On the bright side, none of it would count towards her grade, which she couldn't quite bring herself to care about anyways. It was all evaluative stuff. Even so, she wished she could just burn it.

Memories of the days encounters came to mind. Cadence, Shadowbolts, Canterlot High, and more. She knew it would get better eventually, and with phys ed, she would have plenty of time to walk her thoughts out.

Author's Notes:

This is going to be the longest arc of SVUA, at nine chapters total. Other stops will be shorter.