After two weeks, Searing had settled into her routine. Wake up, shower, breakfast, walk to school, ignore the barking dog, and try not to draw any attention to herself during classes that were not physical education. One change that she liked was Discord no longer walking with her.

It was her third Monday in this world, and during the walk to Crystal Prep, she reflected on an encounter from not long before.

"So, Searing Victory, is it?" The blue skinned cheerleader asked as the former unicorn left study hall at the end of the first week. "Are you going to complete our dark rainbow for the Shadowbolts?"

"No," Searing said before trying to pass by the cheerleader.

Keyword: try. "You really think you can just say no that easily?"

"Yes. I don't want trouble, so just let me go."

The cheerleader stopped Searing again. "How about I sweeten the deal, hm? You'll have all of us to help you with your homework, especially if you help us in return. Anything you have trouble with, one of us will likely know. We can be your social circle."

Without breaking eye contact, Searing took off her backpack and dropped it on the cheerleader's foot. "I said no, and that's final." She picked up her backpack and successfully passed the surprised cheerleader, who was busy holding the foot Searing had targeted. "Have a good weekend."

She was brought out of her reminiscing by the barking dog. For the first time, she stopped and looked at it, an idea crossing her mind. "If I pet it, I'll feel better. If my hand gets bitten, I can get out for today." With the plan in place and plenty of time, as usual, she approached the brown dog and held out her hand. The dog stopped barking and started sniffing her hand before licking it.

Seeing that the dog was not dangerous, Searing moved closer and started scratching it behind an ear, eliciting a happy dog sound from the happy dog. "Well, you're actually pretty nice." Searing was definitely feeling better. "What's your name?"

An old man stepped out of the house. "Are you the one Buddy's been barking at every morning?"

Searing stopped the scratching, but left her hands on the dog's head. "Umm. . . Yes?"

The man looked at her for a bit before smiling. "Well, you seem alright. Buddy likes you now, so that's a good sign. If you keep showing him affection, he'll keep showing up for you. I don't mind as long as you treat him well."

"Thanks, Mister. . ."

"Mr. Trender. Everyone calls me that. What's your name?"

"Searing Victory."

"That's a powerful name. Anyways, I'm sure you have things to do at school, so don't let my prattling on stop you."

"But what about the dog?" Searing started scratching Buddy's chin, the dog accepting the affection.

"You can let him stop you," Mr. Trender playfully said. "But you probably shouldn't."

"Yeah, you're right." Searing withdrew her hands and Buddy started whining at the loss of incoming affection. "Have a good day, Mr. Trender."

"You too."

With a bright spot added to Searing's day, she went back towards school feeling just a bit lighter, though her backpack still felt like it weighed a ton.

Geometry was still a mess of numbers and formulas, but Searing was beginning to wrap her mind around the shape of things

The Wobbly Javelin plays confused Searing, from both the oddly formatted books and the stories themselves.

History opened with a song, Devil Dogs, which Searing liked, while the discussion that followed it was a tad dull.

Biology was still worse than Geometry.

A tall boy with dark blue skin, piercing yellow eyes, and smugness rolling off of him in waves was leaning against the lockers next to Searing's as she got her health class materials. "Hey, new kid," he said.

Searing stopped to look at him. "What do you want?"

"Want to be the president of the student council?"

"Huh?"

"I think you'd do a wonderful job there."

"What's this student council?"

"Think of it like the legislative and executive branches of government mixed together and downplayed to just the school level."

"Why - who are you?"

"Ah, how rude of me." The tall boy cleared his throat and went into an overly dramatic bow. "My name is Midnight Stroll, Vice President of the student council, and I'm looking for candidates to assume the role of President. It is a prestigious position."

"Why don't you take it?"

"I abide by the rules set by the council, and one of them is that in the event of the President permanently leaving Crystal Prep, the Vice President has to find candidates that can replace the President, at which point there's a debate and the student body votes to choose the new President. The Vice President also can't participate in the debates beyond moderation."

"Yeah, I don't want any of that. I just want to get the year over with and get out of here."

"Do you want to get back at the cheerleaders for the way they've been treating you?"

Searing paused as she closed her locker. ". . . You have my interest."

"Excellent!" Midnight pulled out a thick folder from his blazer and thrust it into Searing's grasp. "Here's some information for you. The debate's in the auditorium after school on Friday next week. If you change your mind, just text me. My phone number's in there."

"I don't have a phone."

Midnight's smug facade switched to one of surprise. "You don't? Not even a flip phone? Slider? The unbreakable Brickia?"

"No."

The surprise went back to smug. "Well, that may turn out to work in your favor. I'm off to my class now. I'll see you later."

Searing could only stand and watch him leave with confusion on her face. The thick folder certainly proved that the encounter was real. "I'd better keep this hidden." She quickly put it back in her locker and went off to health class.

Searing was distracted in health class by the encounter in the hall. To everyone else, it looked normal.

Physical Education was as much of a godsend as ever, and she got twelve laps in thanks to sprinting occasionally.

Study Hall went a bit differently. "Coach Isamu?" Searing asked.

"Yeah, Searing?"

"Can I go to the bleachers and study there?"

An eyebrow went up on the teacher's face. "You're serious?"

"Is something wrong?"

"No, you're just the first." He started writing out the pass. "That being said, I'm trusting that you won't take the chance to leave school early."

"No, of course not."

"I hope so." He handed the pass to Searing. "Just remember that you're on your own out there."

"Thank you." Searing picked up her stuff and went back outside. There was no real comfortable spot, so she just chose the top row and sat down there. She did not pull out any of her binders or textbooks to study. Instead, it was the thick folder from Midnight. "Let's see what's in here. . . Policies, policies, policies. . . Absolute zero tolerance on tardiness: no forgiveness for being even a second late, regardless of reason. Objections by other students in class will result in them getting marked as late as well." Her mind drifted back to the previous week, and an instance where Mrs. Snowheart marked a classmate late, even though he was only five seconds behind the bell due to computer issues in the library when he was returning a book. "What would Yang do with that?"

Some half an hour and five policies later, Searing was brought out of her intense thinking by a familiar voice. "Is everything alright, Searing?"

"P-Princess. . . Dean Cadence!" Searing said as the person in question sat down with her.

Cadence giggled at the mistake. "Searing, I am not a Princess."

"Sorry. What are you doing out here?"

"You haven't come to see me since school started, and I was worried about how well you were adapting. I was going to pull you out of study hall, but you weren't there. Coach Isamu told me you were studying out here."

"Oh."

Cadence smiled and looked skyward. "I honestly don't blame you. It's too nice to be cooped up indoors, especially in a room with no windows. But back on topic, how are you handling things here?"

"Well. . . I'm doing alright. I just want it to be done and get out."

"And what would you do if you did leave?"

Searing thought about it for a moment. "I don't know."

In the silence that followed, Cadence's attention went down to the open folder. "Searing, what's that?"

"Huh?" Searing looked down at the open folder, specifically the paper detailing a light green skinned student. "Oh! Uhhh. . ."

"You know what, don't tell me. I saw nothing. You were just studying your biology textbook and that's that."

"But-"

"Apapap! I don't want to hear anything either. I see nothing, I hear nothing, I know nothing. New topic: have you used a computer yet?"

"No, I haven't."

"Are you afraid of them?"

Searing did a double take at that. "What? No, that's stupid. I just don't care."

"Searing, it would behoove you to learn how to use them. They make things much easier. Also, I've seen your handwriting." Searing put her head in her hands at that statement. "It's messy, to say the least. I don't think you could write a full paper that way."

"What I wouldn't do to get my horn back."

"So, I have a proposal for you: I can help you learn how to use a computer after school in the privacy of one of the library's computer labs today. All you have to do is ask and be open to learning the system."

Searing thought about it for a moment. "No thanks."

"Searing, it's better to learn it now than trying to figure it out when it's crunch time. In this day and age, computer skills are very important. You don't have to become a goddess of the keyboard, read binary, or be able to speak in computer code. If you can learn some programs and how to perform some basic operations for typing up papers, that'll be good enough."

"I'll think about it."

On the way home, Searing stopped at the fence where her new friend was waiting. "Hi, Buddy," she said as she started scratching his chin. "I'm glad you're here."

"Ah, you're here, Searing," Mr. Trender said as he came outside and up to the fence. "How was school?"

"Well, I got chosen as a candidate for student council president. Don't know why. I've barely been here for a month."

"That is strange."

"And I couldn't find it in me to really turn it down." Searing noted that Buddy, despite the tone of the conversation, was still happy. "And, unrelated, they want me to take some lessons on computer and internet use. I never had one where I'm from."

"Ah, those machines. They're a mixed blessing, like a lot of things. They're nice for looking things up, and there are kids who just play games on them all day, but sitting at one is no substitute for a good day's work around the house. My grandson actually set up a speaker system in my house so I can play my music and talk shows from my computer and hear it everywhere. It's pretty nice."

"You can do that with them?"

"No idea how he did it. It's like magic to me. Heh. Here I am teaching a high school student about computers. Never thought I'd see the day that happened."

"Sorry. . ."

"It's fine, Searing," Mr. Trender said with a smile. "I'm sure you've got homework to do. Best get along and do it."

"But. . . Buddy's stopping me. He demands my attention." Searing's hands had never left the happy dog during the whole conversation.

Mr. Trender looked at his dog. "Searing has to go, Buddy. Time to head in." Buddy whined for a moment before obeying. "One last thing: I've heard Principal Cinch is highly allergic to dogs. Just so you know."

"Thank you."

"See ya tomorrow morning."

Searing looked over the homework she'd spread across the mint colored and scented coffee table in the living room. Even focusing on only one subject at a time didn't help her understand anything.

"Is my daughter having trouble with her homework again?" Discord teasingly asked her.

"I'm not your daughter," Searing replied.

"As far as the paperwork and legal stuff is, you are. Do you want some help? There's a small cost, though."

"What would that be?"

"You just have to sit back, relax, and watch a few videos. How about it?"

Searing considered it for a moment. "Sure."

"Excellent! Just stack everything up and I'll get it ready." While Discord messed around with the TV and a phone, Searing neatishly stacked up all her books and binders. The thick folder got mixed in as well, but she wasn't worried about it. "Ready?"

"I suppose."

"Let the fun begin!"

"Are they all that weird?" Searing carefully asked after the short video ended.

"Oh, no no no, not at all," Discord assured.

"Thank Celestia for that."

"The rest are weirder."

"Can I work on my homework instead?"

"Nope! You made a deal, and I've already upheld my end of it. Onwards!"

When the last video finished, Searing felt like her brain had melted. "Those were all made by one guy?"

"Yep."

"What kind of drugs did he take to come up with all that?"

"Common speculation: all of them. Anyways, you should feel the knowledge coming into your cute little head overnight. Supper is pizza!"

Searing got up and went to the kitchen, where two Pizza Hut boxes were stacked up on the island. She opened the top box and saw a pizza topped with peppers, pineapple, and pepperoni. "Blegh!"

"That one's all mine." Discord yoinked the box away and started enjoying a slice. "Is nice."

The bottom one had a pizza covered in meat and Searing eagerly started eating a slice of it. She was hungry after watching all the confusing videos.

After going to her room and taking in the orange and blue plaid walls for a second, Searing changed out of her uniform and into some more casual and comfortable clothes. She decided to try looking over the homework again.

Geometry actually made some sense now, and some of the numbers were suddenly easier to understand.

Wobbly Javelin was still confusing, but Searing found herself better able to understand the material.

History wasn't much of an issue before, but she could better imagine the songs Mr. Broden presented. In fact, it sounded like the whole song in her head, if she focused a bit.

Biology was still as confusing as ever, but she was able to keep things straighter more easily.

Health started making sense, though she still had no idea how all the organs presented fit inside her.

Physical Education would still remain her favorite class.

She opened the folder from Midnight and started perusing the pages again. Strategies and plans started forming on each policy she read and reread, and she started writing things down. "Wait a minute. . ." She realized that it wasn't homework, yet she was going through it like the rest. "How did. . . The stack! . . . May as well go through with it."

Author's Notes:

Politics! Because what could possibly be more chaotic than that?