It was the first day of Cloudsdale Academy. Nighting Gail and Lighting Strike were preparing for the big day. Nighting Gail was a grey filly with a beautiful red mane. She hadn't discovered her cutie mark yet, but she didn't mind much. Her brother, Lightning Strike, was a black colt with a white mane. He had his cutie mark, he'd gotten it just recently, actually. Lightning was planning on showing off his new cutie mark at Cloudsdale Academy. Nighting Gail was different from other fillies, yet she didn't care if she was different. She always knew she was unique. Lightning, on the other hand, wanted to fit in. He would always brag about stunts he never did or attempted. He always told his sister that any lie can make you famous. Nighting Gail normally never liked competitions, but her brother always got her to compete against him, even if she wasn't a very good flyer. The two pegasi still loved each other, no matter the issue.
Nighting Gail finally closed her bag and looked at her reflection in the mirror. She smiled. Mother was right, she was a pretty pony. Or, so she thought. Nighting Gail trotted town the steps by her room to see Lightning Strike playing an air guitar. Nighting Gail rolled her eyes. "Hey, Mr. Musical, excited for school?" she asked him, setting her bags on the kitchen table. "You bet I am! All the new ponies to impress!" Lightning replied with a smug smile. Nighting Gail rolled her eyes again. Sometimes, Lightning was such a boaster.
"Morning, kids." Blue Skies said, flying down the stairs. "Hi, Mom!" "Good morning, Mom!" the filly and colt replied. "What's for breakfast?" Lightning asked his mother. Nighting Gail sighed and trotted over to a chair next to the kitchen table. Blue chuckled and walked towards the oven to prepare some homemade waffles. "Are we gonna have daisies with our meal?!" Lightning asked her eagerly. "No, you've had too much already, Lightning." Blue replied.
Nighting Gail grabbed a book out of her bag. The title was, "The Sun and the Moon". It was a textbook about the sun and moon, obviously. Nighting Gail was a very strange filly to others. She skipped past the information about the glorious sun that brought life each day...and read the pages about the mysterious, dark moon. She'd always been fascinated about that big, shiny rock. It held so many wonders. So many mysteries.
Lightning Strike couldn't understand why his sister preferred the moon to the sun. The sun was so....so...well, bright! Everypony (well, at least everypony HE knew) liked the sun better.
"Hey, Gailee," Lightning asked his sister. "What's so cool about that dumb 'ol moon?"
Nighting Gail was shocked by that question. "'Dumb ol' is NOT what the moon is! Are you sure we're talking about the same moon? Perhaps you are speaking about one of Saturn's moons...Tethys? I think that one is very boring-" "NO! I want to know why you like OUR moon! Why it's so cool to you." Lightning shouted.
Nighting Gail froze, then sighed. "It's just so...magical to me. As if the moon puts me under a spell. You know?"
Lightning Strike slowly shook his head, letting his sister know he had no feelings for the moon. "Can you just...pretend to like the sun at Cloudsdale Academy? I don't want anypony bullying you..." he explained to her.
Nighting Gail was flattered that her silly brother didn't want her to get bullied. She understood why and accepted his thought. "Alright. But just for the Academy. Otherwise, the moon is my favorite."
Lightning leaped up in the air and spun around and around. Nighting Gail assumed being bullied wasn't the only thing he didn't want. She sighed and stuck her head in her book.
Once the colt and filly had finished their food, it was off to Cloudsdale Academy. "Goodbye, Mom!" Nighting Gail called to her mother as she flew out of their cloud-house. "Goodbye, Gailee! Take care! Don't let those bullies stop you!" Blue Skies called back. Nighting Gail felt happy that her mother wanted her to feel safe. She didn't feel the same about Lightning Strike though; he just didn't want to get bullied himself for having a "weirdo sister". Then again, maybe he did care? ....Nah!
Chapter 2: Cloudsdale Academy
Lightning Strike landed at the front steps of Cloudsdale Academy. "First day at the academy, don't blow it dude." he mumbled to himself. Lightning trotted towards the door, but was suddenly stopped by three larger colts, most likely older than him. "Who are you, noob?" the orange colt with a brown mane covering his eyes asked. Lightning hesitated to reply. "I-I'm Lightning Strike. The fastest colt you'll ever meet!" he stuttered. The orange colt chuckled. "That's pretty funny, what was it, Lightning TYKE?" the group of older colts started to laugh. Lightning Strike, for the first time, was truly embarrassed. "I'm not a tyke! I'm strong and brave! U-uh, I think..." Lightning corrected. The colt with a brown coat and cream mane started to laugh. "I like this colt. He seems our type." he said, nudging the colt with a dark coat and blueish mane. "How about yous come and sit with us at lunch, 'ey lil' buddy?" the brown coated colt asked Lightning. Lightning Strike beamed. "Sure!!!" he replied happily. "Sweet, I'm already making friends!" he thought to himself. The colts flew away as Lightning walked into the academy.
Nighting Gail flew around the academy, looking for the secretary. "Alright, secretary...secretary...aha!" Nighting Gail flew over to a fluffy, white cloud desk with a computer and a purple mare behind it. "Um, excuse me, my name is Nighting Gail. I'm a new filly to Cloudsdale Academy." Nighting Gail told the secretary. The purple mare looked down at Nighting Gail, one eyebrow up. "What do you want, kid?" she asked. Nighting Gail explained that she needed a schedule for her school. "Look kid, you don't get schedules at this school. Just look at that bored over there and see what classes you're in. Now leave me be, I'm busy." the mare told Nighting Gail, and continued to type on the computer.
Nighting Gail trotted over to the bulletin board and looked for her name. "Hmm...where's my name?" Nighting Gail thought. "Is it that one?" a grey filly with a blonde mane asked. She was pointing to Nighting Gail's name. "Oh, yes! Thank you very-huh?" Nighting Gail thanked the filly, but saw that she looked funny. Her eyes were all scrambled up. She looked...derpy. "Hi there...what's you're name?" she asked the filly. "It's Ditzy Doo, but most ponies call me Derpy because of my eyes. Derpy Hooves to be exact." the filly replied. Nighting Gail felt bad for this pony! Just because she was different, ponies gave her a nickname. That's just plain rude! Suddenly, the bell rang and Ditzy was flying off to her class. "Bye, bye Nighting Gail! See you in biology!" she called out. Nighting Gail saw that she was in class with the derpy filly. "Oh well, time for school." Nighting Gail thought, and slowly flew to math.
"Alright class. Here is what we will be learning today-" Nighting Gail walked into the classroom, late, cutting off the teacher. "Sorry I'm late! I'm a new student!" Nighting Gail apologized to the class. "Very well, take a seat next to Buttermilk." the teacher replied. Nighting Gail sat next to a pink filly with a blonde mane. "Hi, I'm Nighting Gail! But you can call me Gail." she whispered to Buttermilk. "Hey, I like your mane. Is that its natural color?" she asked Nighting Gail. "Mhm. My mother says I'm the only pony in the family who got the red hair." she replied. "Hey, Gail, want to sit with me and my friends at lunch?" Buttermilk whispered. "Sure!" Nighting Gail replied, happily. She was already making friends! The two fillies turned to the front of the class and payed attention. Looks like this year wouldn't be so tough with the bullying.