"So, you've got the rest of the student council turning against you for burning up their many, many rules," Midnight said. "The social studies teachers that support the student council don't seem too pleased either. They really want your head on a pike. All that in the span of a month. Why did you do it?"

"Do you want the noble reason or the real reason?" Searing asked as she slumped over onto her clean, empty desk.

"Give me both."

"More freedom for the students and less work for me."

Midnight put on his smug grin. "So what's the noble reason then?"

"Shut up. . . What about Principal Cinch?"

"Oh, I have heard that she is upset. Not livid, but we'll get her there soon enough. And when she gets there, we can play all the cards that are in your favor against her, then Dean Cadance can step in as Principal and then things will be much better."

Searing sat up and sighed. "Sometimes, I really wonder which of us is the actual president. What if this plan doesn't work?"

"Then we go out in a blaze of political glory. It's our last year here, we hold prestigious positions, and she is obsessed with image. We are perfectly safe."

"If you say so. How do people do this for a living?"

"Do you want the noble reason or the real reason?"

"Shut up, Midnight." With a tired groan, Searing stood up. "I'm going home."

"Want me to walk you there?"

"No thanks."

The walk home was perfectly normal. The weather was good, the birds were singing, traffic was low, and on the end of the second block from the school. . . There he was, as always. Searing smiled as she walked up to the white waist high fence and the big friendly chocolate lab on the other side. "Hey there, Buddy!" She happily said as she started scratching the dog's head. "Oh, you are just mad today, aren't you?" The dog happily leaned into her scratching and petting. "Yes, you are absolutely furious, aren't you?"

"Good afternoon, Searing," the not angry dog's owner said as he stepped out of the house.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Trender," Searing replied without stopping the stream of scratches for the visibly very not upset dog. "How are you?"

"I got up, so that's good," the old man said. "At my age, it's a blessing. How's the student council business going?"

"Oh, you know. . . The rest of the council doesn't like me, Midnight seems to have his own agenda, and most of the student body praises me."

"Sounds like you're doing something right."

"All I'm doing is getting rid of pointless, redundant, difficult, and stupid rules, like a time limit on water fountain use. Why would anyone get upset over that?"

"You're ripping power out of their hands. People in power love power. Take it away, and they will naturally object.”

"As I've noticed."

"Speaking of noticing things, I've noticed that you haven't been coming by as much. Why would that be?"

Searing considered her words. "Well. . . Would you believe me if I said I was hitting the gym with my double and her adopted mom?"

"I might. Certainly the gym part. Your sleeves seem to be fitting a little tighter. I can see some muscle already."

"It's very intense. I felt like I was going to die after the first session."

"And now?"

"The same, but a bit less."

"Improvement. Hey, winter's coming soon."

"Yeah. Any idea what day we're getting the first snow?"

Mr. Trender shrugged. "Dunno. It'll happen when it happens. Scheduled weather would be nice, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah, it is. A nice idea."

"Anyways, if the weather's really bad after school, you can hunker down here. A few minutes or through the storm, it doesn't matter. I have a guest room."

"Thanks for the offer."

After getting her homework out of the way in her currently ice themed room, Searing put her kimono on over her uniform for layers of warmth. For whatever reason, Discord had maxed the A/C in her room alone and she had no way to warm things up. She could, however, keep warm in her igloo styled bed.

The doorbell caught her attention. "Who could that be?" An English accent caught her attention. "Other Searing? Why would she. . . Supper! That's tonight?" Not-Unicorn Searing wanted to go greet her friend/double, but she was so warm and comfortable, she didn't want to leave. "Well, I see her multiple times each week. So what if I miss this one?"

Not-Unicorn Searing heard her door open. "Searing?" Human Searing asked. "Yeee! Why is it so cold in here? Turn up the heat!"

"I don't think I can," Not-Unicorn Searing said. "I'm in the igloo."

Human Searing poked her head in. "Why is it so cold in here?"

"Discord."

"Ah. Mind if I join you? We can watch some videos on my phone."

"Sure, why not?"

Human Searing crawled in and got comfortable next to Not-Unicorn Searing. "It's a bit tight in here. Didn't you have a bigger bed before?"

"Discord. Chaos."

"Oh yeah. Anyways, we're going to start with something Discord sent me." Human Searing pulled up her text messages and found the link. "He says it's a summary of every crime drama ever."

"What's it called?"

"Heavy is Dead."

"That was stupid," Human Searing said after she collected her thoughts. "What kind of. . . I mean. . . Just what?"

"I'm kind of used to that," Not-Unicorn Searing said. "You would not believe the number of crazy videos I've seen in exchange for his help with my homework."

"Let's go to something cute."

"Like what?"

Human Searing searched for a bit before letting out a gasp. "Kittens in slow motion!" Without waiting for an opinion, she started the video immediately, and much d'awwing happened.

"More kitten videos?" Not-Unicorn Searing asked.

"More kitten videos!" Human Searing agreed.

"Girls! Supper's ready!" Discord shouted. "I mean, it is Chinese delivery, but supper's ready!"

The two Searings looked at each other. Both were hungry, but they were also incredibly comfortable. To get to the food, they would have to go through the chilly room. They looked at each other and came to an unspoken agreement. The food was more important, even if they had to put up with their chaotic guardians. That, they could agree on without saying anything.

Author's Notes:

I'm not entirely satisfied with this chapter, but I want to get on to more stuff, so here it is.