Chapters It was growing dark as the tan pony caught sight of Ponyville. She had come for one reason; to get away from home. Her old town, Gemstone Valley, had become intertwined with a cult. They were peaceful, but it sickened her when everypony started calling themselves “Princestians.”
Windy blew her grey mane out of her eyes as she trotted forward. The wind was picking up and she wanted to be inside the city by nightfall. She gazed at the white stripe in her mane in both hope and pain. She stopped for a minute, gazing at the white, lit by the rising full moon.
“Save me,” she silently whispered to the stripe, her words becoming lost in the wind. Another pang of betrayal hit her and she shuddered and scrunched her eyes in mental pain. She shook her head and chuckled. You know you’re going crazy when you talk to a discoloration in your hair, she thought as she started trotting again.
~~~
She finally reached Ponyville. The moon was overhead, allowing Windy to see everything within a few miles. She slowed her pace and started looking around.
“Come on. I-N-N. I-N-N. Where are you, inn?”
Within a few minutes Windy found a red sign with the letters I-N-N. Giving a silent cheer, she sauntered in. Seeing no one at the counter, she got a little worried.
“Hello?” she quietly called, looking around.
“Hey there!”
A dark yellow mare came walking to the counter from a back room. There were bags under her eyes, and it was pretty obvious that Windy had woken her up.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Do you have a room open?”
“We do. It’s up those stairs and on the right. And do you have bits?”
Windy looked at the pony behind the counter with a blank look. The mare looked a little disappointed.
“Well, I guess it’s on the house tonight.”
“Oh, thank you very much!”
“Yeah, no problem. Have a good sleep.”
“Thanks, you too.”
Windy turned around and walked up the stairs. When she reached the top, a medium length hallway sprang forth with four or five doors on each side of the hallway. She quickly came to her room and opened the door. Once inside, she looked around. It was sort of plain; a rug, a bed, and a table, but it was nice and cozy, and she felt quite at home. Tired from her long journey, she plopped into bed and slept.
~~~
The sun was high in the sky and she felt very refreshed when she woke up. She yawned and stretched, getting all of the cricks out of her back and limbs, then walked out the door.
Instantly she retracted, for there, right in front of the stairs, was a sign. WELCOME PARTY FOR THE NEWCOMER! Windy could only guess that it was for her. She sidestepped the sign warily and made her way downstairs. The sign was nothing to what awaited her downstairs. Confetti was all over the place, a few tables with food had been set up in the cramped space, and ponies were everywhere. There was one that stood out, however. She was pink all over, aside from her cutie mark, which were three balloons. This pinkie pony was bouncing off of walls, throwing more confetti on the already confetti-flooded ground.
Within seconds, the pink pony noticed Windy standing at the bottom of the stairs. Oh no, she saw me! The pink pony was standing beside Windy before she could blink.
“Hiya!”
“Um, hey.”
“You’re new in town! I would know, cause I know everypony in Ponyville!”
“Yes I am. Is there anything else totally obvious that you want to state?”
The pink pony frowned.
“Do you...do you...not like me?” She asked, a tear coming to her eyes.
“Uhhhh....yes...er no. Um....I like you, sorta. I think. To be honest, I haven’t really met you and gotten to know you yet.”
The tear quickly evaporated from the pink mare’s eye.
“Well then, I’ll just have to introduce myself! I’m Pinkie Pie, glad to meet you!”
“Windy. So, what’s with the...party?”
“Well, you’re new, silly.”
“Yeah, so?”
“I throw parties for every new pony! As they say, ‘there ain’t no party like a Pinkie Pie party !’”
“I still don't understand .”
“Really? Everypony─even Celestia─knows that I throw the best parties in all of Equestria!”
Instantly, everything that Windy liked about this pony was gone. She had just started to like this Pinkie Pie, but now she knew that she was a Princestian. Slowly, she started moving towards the door. Pinkie Pie noticed the subtle movements.
“Hey, where you going?”
Windy bolted. She had barely made it to the door when she bumped into an orange earth pony with a blond braid and cowboy hat.
“Woah there, Sugar! And where are you off to?”
“Anywhere but here,” Windy said hurriedly, taking a glance behind her. Seeing Pinkie Pie gaining speed on her, she bolted out the door, knocking the southern pony down.
“Well excuse me fer bein’ in yer way,” said the orange mare, unhappy about being knocked over. Windy felt sorry, but she needed to get away from Pinkie Pie.
Galloping at full speed, she looked behind her. To her delight, the pink pony was nowhere to be seen. She looked forward just in time to see the wall she was about to run into.
WHACK!
Windy lay on the ground writhing in pain, holding her face. Her muzzle had gotten the brunt of the blow, and she was sure she had broken her nose. Though her face was numb, she could see blood on the ground pouring out of her nose.
“I was gonna say ‘watch out,’ but I guess I was a little late.”
“You again.”
Windy looked at Pinkie Pie and saw a purple unicorn standing behind the pink wonder.
“Are you alright?” asked the purple unicorn.
“Yeah...it’s just a little pain.”
“This is Twilight Sparkle!” Pinkie broke in.
“Hey Pinkie, what about me?”
"Oh, sorry Spike. That’s Spike. He’s Twilight’s number one assistant.”
“More like ‘only assistant,’” Spike muttered.
Windy rolled her eyes. “And I’m supposed to do what with this information?”
“They’re just introductions, you silly filly.”
“Again, you’re stating the obvious.” Windy got up and looked at Twilight.
“It's Windy,” she said curtly, then turned and trotted away. The last thing she heard was Twilight’s confused, “Actually, it’s not too bad. Do you feel a breeze, Spike?”
Chapter End
Windy ducked into an alleyway when she was sure neither Pinkie Pie nor Twilight Sparkle were looking. Before she could go anywhere, she heard a faint voice behind her.
“Um, are you alright?”
Windy whirled around to find a yellow pegasus looking at her from behind her pink mane.
“What do you care?” Windy snapped. The yellow pegasus seemed to shrink back.
“N-no offense...I just...you looked upset...and...I wanted to help.”
“Speak up, I didn’t hear that last part.”
“Sorry. I said that I just wanted to help.” Windy groaned, if anything, the yellow pegasus had gotten quieter.
“Oh, come on; Out with it! Sheesh, are you always this quiet?”
The pegasus winced, and closing her eyes shouted out (though still rather quietly, maybe it qualified as a shout to her), “I just wanted to help!” Then, seemingly shocked by the sound of her own voice, the timid pegasus recoiled and said, “Oh goodness! I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to shout...” She was almost to the verge of apologetic tears when Windy interrupted.
“No, please don’t cry, I’m just in a bad mood is all. You can try to help if you like.”
“Really?” the pegasus sniffed and immediately brightened. The change was so dramatic that Windy took an impulsive step back.
“Ye-yeah, maybe you can help me. If you’d like that is.”
“Oh, yes! I would!” said the pegasus. A little too enthusiastically, thought Windy. So she changed the subject.
“Uh, what’s your name, anyway?” said Windy, taking another step back and bumping into the wall, dislodging some dust. She sneezed.
“Celestia bless you!” said the pegasus, not noticing Windy’s wince at the mention of Celestia. “My name’s Fluttershy. What’s yours?”
“Windy.”
“Ooh, that’s a nice name.”
Windy grimaced as she remembered some of the teasing she had gotten as a philly because of her name. Fluttershy saw her grimace.
“What’s wrong? Is it your wound? You have some blood on your nose.”
“No, it was nothing. Forget about it.” Windy wiped the blood away. “So, are you always this quiet?”
“Most of the time. However, even Celestia knows I can be loud when I want to be. Uh...Windy? Are you okay?”
Windy’s face had gone pale as the connotations of the pegasus’ words hit her. Not another one! Are all the ponies in this town crazy? She looked around frantically.
“So sorry,” Windy gasped out, edging back along the wall, “but I just remembered that I left my hat in the oven. Got-to-go-bye!”
As Windy cantered away, Fluttershy looked confusedly after her and said to nobody in particular, “W...was it something I said?”
Unknown to her, it was.
Windy got past the corner and sprinted out of any of these crazy ponies’ view. Unsure exactly where to go, she darted behind a fancy looking building. Seeing she was safe, she started counting how many ponies she had met that she knew were Princestians. It was pretty obvious that Pinkie Pie was a Princestian, and that yellow pegasus....Fluttershy...she seemed to be a Princestian too. She wasn’t too sure about that one purple unicorn, whose name Windy had forgotten, but she had the feeling that she may be one of them too. It was especially suspicious that she had a dragon with her....
Now that she had everypony sorted out, she turned to see the purple unicorn entering a house, presumably her own. Waiting for the door to close, Windy hurried over and peeked in the window. She gasped in surprise to see that the walls were covered with books. The purple unicorn inside turned to the window and Windy ducked. Unsure if the other equine had seen her or not, Windy waited for about 5 minutes then peeked in again. The room was empty.
“Hi.”
“OMIGOSH!” Windy jumped in the air, frightened. She whirled around to see the unicorn. “What?!”
“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I just saw you out here and was wondering if you wanted to come in.”
Shocked and a little confused, Windy stayed silent. Realizing that she had been asked a question, she shook her head to clear it, then seriously thought about the offer.
“Well, okay.” She said, defeated.
“Come on then.”
Windy followed the purple unicorn inside. When the unicorn shut the door, the silence was broken.
“I’m sorry but I never really caught your name earlier.”
“It’s Windy.”
The unicorn looked outside, still not knowing that Windy was stating her name, not the current weather conditions.
“It doesn’t look windy...”
“No, my name is Windy.”
Realization dawned on the unicorn’s face.
“Oooooh, okay. That makes sense.”
“Yeah. Now what’s your name?”
“My name is Twilight Sparkle. I’m the librarian and number one student to Princess Celestia.”
Windy winced and looked at the door. It was closed, and it looked like it wouldn’t open easily. She was stuck. Twilight didn’t seem to notice her discomfort.
“'Number one student to Celestia, huh? So, you think you’re high and mighty?”
Twilight was clearly shocked at the automatic 180 Windy had pulled.
“Um, what?”
“You think you’re high and mighty because you know the Princess? Heh, does she speak to you, have small conversations with you?”
“Yes, on occasion.”
Windy felt sick.
“Yeah, fat chance.”
“Uh, Windy? What’s wrong?”
Windy walked towards the door and opened it.
“Everything. Let me just ask you a question. Did you deliver a letter to a pony in Canterlot about a year or two ago?”
"I deliver quite a few letters. You'd need to be more specific."
"In that case, did you tell him about Celestia?"
"Um, I go up to a lot of ponies and tell them I have a letter to them from The Princess. I really don't see how this matters."
"Fine, never mind."
Windy slammed the door shut and walked out, almost running into Fluttershy.
“Get out of my way!”
“Oh....sorry.”
Fluttershy moved to the side and Windy walked past her. Not caring where she would go, she walked towards a forest. It was still midday, so there was enough light to see where she was going. She just needed to cool off a bit. Had she not been so angry, she would have heard Fluttershy say, “That’s the scary part of the Everfree Forest.”
End of Chapter
Author's Note
Some edits, changes to incorporate later chapters, etc.
(One Year Earlier - Gemstone Valley)
Windy looked at her mother. Poor mom, she thought, looking at the bags under her mother’s eyes and the wrinkles in her skin. Her mother was skin and bones due to a rare equine sickness. It was old and apparently had no cure, so she was stuck knowing her mother would soon be lying in the ground, breathing life no more. But I’ll think of that later. I’m glad I still have mom here.
“Hey mom, how you feeling?”
“Tired.”
“I think we all are lately.”
Her mom chuckled and Windy smiled.
"And how are you doing, my little foal?"
"Mom, I'm no longer a foal, I'm a grown filly now."
Her mom chuckled.
"You're still a foal to me."
A small grin touched Windy's face.
"Anyway, I'm doing pretty well. Just doing my daily check up."
"And it's wonderful to see you."
“Thanks. Well, take care, mom. I’ll be back tomorrow. I love you.”
“Love you too, sweetie. See you then.”
Wendy left the her mom’s house. Her mom had been mayor of the town a while back. That was before Windy was born, of course, but Windy was still proud of her mom.
“Hey Block, do you feel a breeze? ”
“Yeah, I think it’s a little windy, ” The two troublemakers Stump and Block sauntered beside the tan pony.
“Very funny guys,” Windy said, clearly not amused and refusing to make eye contact.
“So Windy, tell us....are you full of hot air?”
Windy stopped and looked at Stump, the one who made that joke.
“Do you know why you’re named Stump? Because you’re as dumb as one.”
Block laughed at Windy’s remark. She turned to him.
“Oh, shut up you Blockhead!”
Stump laughed at his friend’s twisted face from the insult. Windy started walking again and the two didn’t follow.
Those guys...they’ve been calling me names since we were foals. It just drives me nuts. Windy entered her house and started a pot of water. She started to tidy up a bit. It was nice being a bachelorette; she didn’t need to keep things clean.
She stopped cleaning for a minute, thinking about her mom again. She was so old; they both knew her time in Equestria was limited. There was elephant in the room whenever they met; they both had plenty of things to say, but each knew that soon they would see each other no more. Windy knew that both she and her mother didn’t want that. But, life goes on.
~~~
The next day Windy went to her mother’s house again. She wasn’t joined by Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum this time, which she was glad of. She hated when they came up to her.
As she approached, she saw some medical personnel standing outside. All were downcast and two were talking in hushed tones. Windy ran up to them.
“What happened?”
“I’m sorry miss, but who are you?”
“I’m Windy, the daughter of the lady who lives here. What happened?”
The two of the ponies looked at each other, then back at her.
“Miss Windy...I’m sorry, but your mother passed away last night.” The grey earth pony on the right said grimly.
“Wh-What?” She asked, shocked at the news.
“Your mother....is dead.” The other one, a brown unicorn stated bluntly.
“Oh my....”
“Do you want to spend a little time with her?” The unicorn pointed at the door in question.
Speechless, Windy nodded, a tear coming to her eye. She bit her trembling lip and slowly walked inside. On the bed lay her mother, her lifeless body looking whiter than yesterday. Even though she tried to hold them back, tears freely ran down her cheeks, dropping onto the floor below.
“Mom,” she sobbed, stumbling when she reached the bed. She lay her head down on her mother’s to say goodbye. “I love you mom,” she whispered.
“Don’t worry, she’s with Celestia now.”
“Who?”
“Princess Celestia.”
“Who’s that?”
“She’s this alicorn. She lives in Canterlot.”
“What’s an alicorn?”
“You know what, why don’t you come to our meetings? It’s at ten tomorrow morning at Brighty’s house.”
“Um...thanks.”
“Yep, Celestia be your guide,” he said as he started walking away with the cart her mother was on.
~~~
In the morning, Windy walked over to Brighty’s house. She was about half an hour early, but she wanted to know what was going on. To do that, she had to be early so that she could look at how everypony handled themselves.
She entered and stood in the back of the room. The medic who talked to her yesterday came up to her.
“Glad to see you made it.”
“Didn’t have a choice,” she replied, quietly and semi-defensively.
“‘Course you did. Everypony has a choice. C’mon, let me introduce you to everypony.”
“No, that’s quite alright.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. I’ll just watch. I know most of these ponies anyway.”
“Okay then.” He moved to another pony and greeted them warmly. It didn’t seem too bad. Then Dee and Dum showed up.
Block and Stump walked up to Windy.
“Hey, look who showed up.”
“It’s the little girl who lost her mommy. Boo hoo. You sad, girly?” Block taunted meanly.
“What do you want?” She asked them harshly.
“Nothing. We just saw you over here. Seriously, we’re sorry you lost your mom.” Stump’s voice seemed so sincere that Windy almost believed the two boys. But they had cried wolf too many times.
“Whatever.” Windy walked over to where it looked like they were starting the meeting.
“Welcome,” said a middle-aged pony, who was the leader. “In this week in our lessons of friendship, we will learn to be caring. But first, let us ask Celestia for guidance.” The ponies bowed their heads and closed their eyes. Windy, unsure of what was going on, only bowed her head, looking around at the others.
“Celestia, we ask that your words teach us. We thank you that you have not sent us into exile because of our ignorance, and that we are free to live here peacefully. In the name of you and your sister Luna, let it be so.”
All the ponies opened their eyes and looked at the lead pony.
“So, today’s lesson is in Inclusion. We need to welcome everypony with open arms. It doesn’t matter who they are, what they look like, how old they are, anything. We need to accept all ponies. I know it’s hard, but I know it can be done.”
He paused, scanning the audience. “I do see that someone has made progress.”
The lead pony was looking straight at Windy. She gulped.
“I don’t believe I’ve seen you around.”
“Not here, no.”
“What’s your name?” The pony’s voice was calm and inviting, but she was in the spotlight.
“That’s a nice name.”
Windy heard a snort near Block and Stump.
“Thank you.”
“So, Windy...”
“Yes?”
“How are you doing?”
Windy gulped again, then said, “I’m doing alright.”
The stallion who brought her spoke up.
“She lost her mom yesterday.”
The lead pony’s eyes got wide. “Oh my. I’m really sorry to hear that.”
A tear appeared in Windy’s eye. “It’s...it’s okay. It’s a part of life, you know?”
“But it’s still tough losing a loved one." He closed his eyes. "Celestia, please watch over Windy’s mother,” he said reverently.
“So, what’s up with this?” Windy asked, pointing out the room.
“I came back from Canterlot a couple weeks ago. While I was over there, I found this ponies who called themselves “Princestians.” Everypony over there knows about this alicorn in the sky named Princess Celestia and her sister Luna. I knew we didn’t have anything here in Gemstone Valley, so I decided to teach about it here. I even got a message from Celestia herself telling that this is what I should do.”
“You met her?”
“No, a message was delivered to me by a unicorn with a dragon.”
Right then, in Windy’s mind, his credibility dropped.
“A unicorn with a dragon delivered a message to you?” She asked, obviously dubious.
“Yes.”
“And how do you know that this Celestia is even real?” She looked around at the other people.
The room gasped at her question. The lead pony was unphased.
“I guess it comes down to personal belief. Also, most of the places there had a flag with a white alicorn across from a dark blue alicorn in a yin/yang type thing. The fact that everypony in the village believed Celestia existed was pretty convincing as well.”
“I see. Well, keep going with your lesson on...what was it...Inclusion? You certainly included me, so congratulations, you practice what you preach.” Her tone was curt and disrespectful. She hadn't asked to be included. The speaker ignored the tone and nodded.
“Thank you.” The lead pony took a breath then continued teaching. Windy liked him, but his story just wasn't believable. Why would he believe a messenger? Why didn’t Celestia just show herself to him? It was just too confusing.
I need more questions answered, and, well, I guess these guys are okay, aside from Dee and Dum of course...
End of Chapter
@Dozy Dreamer - I see what you're saying, but I did it that way for a reason. Also, 1500 words. Happy? ;)
@Inkarus & Dozy Dreamer - Fixed the problems.
Author's Note
Fixed some odd phrasing and added some dialogue.
Windy stayed in the room as all the other ponies left. She had a lot to process through. Block and Stump were active in this? She almost couldn’t--no, she couldn’t believe it. At all. She didn’t know a lot of the other ponies, but Block and Stump were...well, there was no way that they lived what the leader was preaching.
She got up off of her chair and walked over to the leader.
“Hi there; what’s up?”
“What exactly is this?”
“What do you mean?”
“What is this religion? And seriously....a unicorn with a dragon . You realize how silly that sounds, don’t you? I mean, dragons aren’t pets, you can’t just keep them in your house....”
The leader was silent, thinking. “You’re right, it does sound kind of silly.” He chuckled. “But you have one thing wrong. The dragon was the unicorn’s assistant, not pet.”
“That sounds even less believable.”
“Well, believe what you want to believe.”
“Well, I’ll believe that Block and Stump are hypocrites.”
“Oh?”
“They’ve always been mean to me. And then, I never noticed a difference when they apparently "changed." I wouldn’t have known if they were part of this or not by the way they acted.”
Again, the speaker was silent for a minute. “Windy, I’m sorry that the two boys have been unbearable, and they really shouldn’t be that way. Princestianity requires the changing of your ways, and it seems like they haven’t listened to that demand. I wish I could tell you that not many Princestians are that way, but the sad truth is that it is. I saw many Princestians at the meetings, and they were two different people at the meetings compared to their normal, everyday life. In the big cities, I think they feel it’s an obligation, rather than a choice. Everyone has a choice. It’s just deciding if you’re going to believe or not.”
That sort of made sense.
“You know, the unicorn I met looked a little like you. Maybe you’re related?”
Windy shrugged. ”Mom never told me about my relatives.”
“Ah, that’s too bad. Maybe you should find that out.”
“Maybe. Well, I’m gonna go back home. I have a lot to think about. Thanks for the brain food.”
“You’re welcome. Feel free to drop by at any time if you have anymore questions or concerns.
Windy walked out the door into the bright sun. She squinted as her eyes got used to the brightness. Lots of things to think about...it was almost too much.
Man, this just seems so....fake. Of course, I can only reference Block and Stump, but still... The whole “religion” thing seemed really fake to her.
Windy was so deep in thought, she almost didn’t notice the two troublemakers in front of her. Thankfully, she stopped in time.
“What do you want?”
“We’re just here to say that we’re glad you came to the meeting today. We thought it may help you.”
“And to what do I owe this act of kindness from you guys?”
“Windy, we’ve changed! Honest! Don’t worry, you’ll see.”
“Yeah, we’ll see alright.”
The two ran off in the opposite direction.
Was it true? Were Block and Stump actually nice now? Windy wasn’t sure. She didn’t know if she could believe them. In fact, she had no right to believe them. Then again, the leader of the group had said something about forgiving people and giving them second chances.
It was hard, but she had the feeling that she would have to forgive them. She’d deal with that later, though; right now, she had to finish her daily chores.
She trotted over to the open aired market and bought a few food items for lunch and dinner. When she was done with that, she cantered over to her mom’s place again. When she walked inside, she felt lonely. The place that held so much warmth now felt cold to her. She shivered as she looked over all of her mother’s prized possessions. They were mostly pictures, but there were a few vases and an antique table. What was she going to do with those?
She slowly trotted to her mother’s room, where she found a book. There was a note on the cover that said “To Windy, Love Mom.”
She bit the inside of her cheek, then opened it. Inside was a list of all living relatives in the area. On the bottom it said “Find one of these relatives and stay with them. The unicorn from Ponyville is about your age, I think you’ll have fun with her.”
Windy skimmed the page, searching for the Ponyville-abiding relative. There it was...”Twilight Sparkle.” Wait. Did it say “unicorn?” Was that the unicorn the leader of the group was talking about?
Assuming it was, she decided to go to the next relative; an aunt living in a place called Canterlot. That seemed good. Windy decided to keep that in mind, just in case something happened.
She grabbed the book and put it in the bag with the food items, then left for home. On her way, she saw one of the mares from the group. She was talking with a friend of hers, and Windy overheard their talk.
“There’s this new mare in the group. Ooh, she is so unkempt! Her mane looks like the wind blew it around, and....ooh boy, she kinda smelled like she hadn’t taken a bath in ages. It was one of the worst meetings I’ve ever been to!”
The heck? She was talking about her! Windy listened closer.
“The leader was talking about “inclusion,” but a mare like that is just....too hard to include, you know. And her name....I think it was Windy, or something like that, what kind of name is that?! That’s not a name, it’s an adjective!” The other mare laughed at that. Windy ran back to her house, a tear slipping from her eye. Hypocrites. The whole bunch of them....they’re all hypocrites! It was like they were asking her not to trust her. Block and Stump had never acted the part, and that one lady gossiping and proclaiming she wasn’t going to follow the leader’s teaching. It was just ridiculous!
“I’m not trusting another Princestian again,” she vowed, right then and there. “I need to get out of here, where was that relative situated again?”
She checked the book, but in the jolting of her running, the pages had gotten food all over them. She had to guess where she saw that one relative.
“Grr, was it Canterlot....or was it Cloudsdale? Ponyville?!” Something rang in Windy’s mind as she said Ponyville. Assuming that’s what it was, she grabbed the bag full of food and headed for the door on her way to Ponyville.
Sorry it took me a while, I was finishing another fic of mine...one that's been going since last year. I finally finished it, and can now work harder on this one. Thanks for the patience!
Author's Note
Somewhat redone. Will go over it more later.
Chapter 5 is on the way!
