Hard Earned Trust

Pearl’s week off was incredible. Sky gear learned everything at an incredible rate. On the third day of trying, Sky talked! Not like a baby either. It was so strange. It was like an older pony had been put into a foal’s body. He talked to them just like any other kid might talk to their parents, only with a little less attachment. Diapers turned out to be completely unnecessary as well. He seemed to have an innate knowledge of some things like that.

On the fourth day, he had learned how to read, and was always reading books and learning new words. He rarely asked for a definition- he always looked in the dictionary. By the end of that day, he sounded like a small adult. Kids grow up fast but this is ridiculous!

Then, on the fifth day, much to her surprise, Sky asked Pearl Rain to show him how to fly- but without actually helping him get off the ground- just go through the motions. To her great surprise, he copied her exactly, and then went out and flew for about 5 minutes.

From then on, Sky seemed eager to practice flying every day, and each day, he stayed in the air longer and longer. Pearl couldn't believe it. When she went back to work two days later, nopony else believed it either.

“He can do all that and he is only a week old?! That’s impossible!” most of them cried out.

Pearl was still very proud of her son, even if dumbfounded. He even wanted to go to school! Most kids never want to do that, even when they are actually at the regular age of going to school!

In fact, Sky gear once came with her to work. That turned out to be very interesting…

***

Even I was amazed at my learning capabilities. Maybe it was because I had a babies brain, and it absorbed information very efficiently. I shocked my mom and dad by learning to speak in 3 days. Then I blew them out of the water by figuring out how to read the next day. From then on, I always tried to read something every day, usually from nonfiction type books.

A few days later, I picked up how to fly just from watching mom. I was right when I thought that they worked like a birds- they didn’t go just up and down, they curved to let air get pushed around by them. Once I flew for the first time, I knew that I would fly every day for the rest of my life. It was an amazing feeling.

For my one month birthday, mom took me to where she worked. Before we left, we agreed that the knife on my flank should be covered up, so I wor what was like the pony equivalent of a trench coat-it went over the whole top of me but only connected underneath about halfway down my chest. I loved to wear it, especially since it had holes for my wings and pockets for stuff all over it.

It was a long flight up, but it was worth it. I found out that day that pegasus could walk on clouds and controlled the weather. It was incredible to walk on clouds. They were so soft.

“Mom, why do ponies have to control the weather? Why doesn't  it just happen?” I asked.

She told me that weather never happens on its own, and that even winter was essentially brought from the weather factories. Seeing them in action was awesome! Clouds were gathered up and pumped full of water from reservoirs and then sent to the distribution center to be sent somewhere or stored away for a while. Then there were rainbows. They actually had liquid rainbow. It didn't taste like skittles, but that didn't matter so much.

The best part of following mom everywhere was the fact that everyone was astonished to see my constantly flying alongside my mom. Maybe it was because I was only physically one month old. Mom later told me that it wasn't just that, but for a pony as young as me, I had pretty big wings, and that most ponies didn't grow them to proportion until a couple years.

At the end of the day though, mom’s boss came over and said something about how it wasn't safe for me to be here, and she said “He is perfectly safe, he flew with me the whole way without my help.”

“Is that so? For a one month old pony, you sure do make a lot of outrageous rumors,” he said jokingly.

“What rumors?” I asked. “The fact that I can read, talk, and even fly at one month?” I said, grinning like a fool. I could even see mom smirk a little bit.

“Wha- But-,” he stuttered, and mom kindly said that we had to go home.

***

A couple months later, after I had grown out to the proportions of a regular pony (which was an incredible growth feat apparently) only about half the size of the fillies that would enter school, mom got some sort of letter from the princesses. The concept of a diarchy was fascinating to me, especially one in which they ruled by love alone. I asked mom what it was about, and she told me that when I had first been born, she was worried that because I was different, something might have been wrong, so just to be safe, they asked Celestia what to do.

I wasn't angry, I was curious. What did they say? I haven’t told my mom about how before I learned to talk the language of ponies, I was speaking in another language entirely. Would it mention my nightmares? I had them almost every night, and they never get better or worse. I heard that Luna comes to cure nightmares in ponies sleep. Maybe there are just a lot of ponies out there…

Mom told me that the letter was telling me to go to a school near a place called Ponyville. It was primarily for earth ponies and unicorns, but pegasus were accepted too. It said that a unicorn named Twilight Sparkle, a scholar who worked pretty closely with the princess would have a look at me.

“Do you know what a cutie mark is?” mom asked me. I didn't know, so she told me that it was a symbol of one’s destiny. That stopped me cold. I knew exactly what my cutie mark symbolized.

“In the letter, it says that you could have one already because you already fulfilled your destiny.” She said.

That made my break down and cry.

“What is it Sky? What does it mean?” Mom asked, a little dazed by my reaction.

“Pray that you never know mom. Never,” I replied, relief rolling through me.

“When can I start school?”

“In another week dear. Until then, you’re here with us, and we love you.”

“I know mom. I know.” I sobbed.

***

A week later, we flew over to Ponyville. Mom was right when she said it would be about the same kind of suburban area as we were in, maybe less crowded. It seemed like an amazing small town to be in.

When we got to the school, Mrs. Cheerilee was waiting for us.

“Are you Pearl Rain?” She asked politely.

“Yes ma’am, and this is the one you heard about, Sky Gear.” Mom responded.

“Wow he really is young. About a year under his youngest classmates. Are you ready Sky Gear?”

“Yes Ms. Cheerilee. I’m ready.”

And so, I went into class after waving my wing at mom (a little thing we did). When I got in, Ms. Cheerilee stayed back for a few minutes talking to mom.

Almost right away, a purple pony in the front said: “What’s with that ridiculous getup?”

I immediately could tell she was a bully

“Says the girl with an ego so large she has to wear a little tiara? It just so happens that it is for carrying stuff around, and distributing the weight more evenly than any saddle bag.”

The pony sat there, shocked that I had just outclassed her, and I was barely half her size. She continued to stare at me as Ms. Cherilee came back in and introduced me, then showed me my seat.

Strangely, nopony talked to me until we were let out for recess. Cheerilee asked to see me, so I stayed behind.

“I talked to your mom, and it is incredible how you know so much. I just wanted to tell you that I will be giving you separate assignments to work on so that you may actually be challenged.”

“Ok. Can I go outside now?” I asked, itching to fly around some more. The freedom of flying was never something I got used to, and I probably never will.

“Yes, you may,” she replied, and I left to go outside. I found a nice open spot to take off at, but before I could, that bully came over.

“I see you don’t have any friends yet. Why don’t you ditch these losers and hang with us?”

“Diamond Tiara, stop being a bully!” said somepony. I turned around to see an orange pony and two of her friends.

“Uugh not these lamos again,” Diamond Tiara sighed. “Can’t you see that this guy has better things to do than to be bothered by you?”

“As a matter of fact, I have only three things to say. One, don’t mess with me, I don’t care who you are. Two, if you have stooped to bullying, I don’t want anything to do with you. Three, and this goes for all of you, I don’t want to have any friends. Last time I did, things didn't work out so well.” I said, and took off.

Looking down, I could see the bully leave, and the other three group together. Looked like they were planning something. Whatever it was, I knew I’d find out later today because of how they reacted to my third statement.

Sure enough, after I left school and headed over to Twilight’s house, I could tell they were following me.

“Come on out, I know you’re there.” I said loudly.

“Aww, come on!” cried the one who said something earlier. “My name’s AppleBloom. This is Scootaloo and SweetieBell.”

“I’m Sky Gear, and I meant what I said at recess.” I replied, starting off towards Twilight’s place.

“Well we wanted to know if you had your cutie mark yet! We can’t tell when you wear that coat,” said Scootaloo.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I said, a shiver going through me as I thought about it. Those damn nightmares.

“So you have one? Why can’t we see it?” Applebloom asked.

“Yeah, how  come?” chimed SweetieBell.

“I DON’T want to talk about it. Especially not with you. Be glad you get to live without your destiny following you around like a curse.” I spat, startling them a bit. “I never asked to be murdered by my best friend, and I will never make that mistake again,” I added in English.

I finally rounded the corner to the library/house I was told about. Twilight was supposed to see me, and I was to be near there until mom came to pick me up. I looked back, and the group of fillies had stopped some ways behind me, and was huddled together, whispering about something.

Ignoring them, I knocked on the door. A purple aura glowed around it, and a purple unicorn came out.

“Hello? Oh hi! Are you Sky Gear?”

“Yes, I am. Twilight sparkle I presume?” I responded.

“Correct. I have heard so much about you! Come on in.”

I walked inside, expecting to see a house, but all I could see was stacks of books and a staircase. Even still, there was a range of books stacked there. I heard that there were even supposed to be some secret compartments somewhere.

“I finally figured out what to do,” Twilight started, “and before I start, I need you to lay down.”

I did so, and she continued. “I’m going to enter into your mind. I want to see how your mental landscape has developed. Once I start the spell, you may feel disconnected, and  if you have any major fears, you may run into them here.” When she said that, I knew she was trying to see if I knew of something that would be there, but I didn't let it show too much.

“Well, ok, but I feel the need to warn you,” I responded, keeping my tone cool and even. “You may be uncomfortable with what you find there.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing that will bother me,” Twilight said quickly, clearly eager to begin. “Here we go.”

When the spell connected, I could definitely feel it. It was like my spirit drifted away from my body a little. That scared me for a moment, but soon the feeling went away, and the scenery changed. It went from nothing in particular to the nothingness that I found after death. Immediately, I felt alone. I curled up and realized that I had hands again. But they were different. I had red fur growing all over, and it had some streaks of white. Upon looking around a little more, I realized that there were two things in front of me. One was something like a crystal ball, only it had been shattered, and the pieces were piled in the bowl of the stand that held it. Next to that, there was the knife. I reached down to pick it up and was immediately bombarded with pain.

“SKY GEAR!” screamed a voice. I dropped the knife, not realizing I was screaming and crying. “You are ok, it’s all in your head.”

I knew that voice. It was… Twilight. Twilight Sparkle.  She was… she was seeing into my mind. What I am.

“Sky Gear, do you recognize me?” she said, looking into my eyes.

“Yes, I do. It took me a few minutes, but I do.” I said, then looked into her eyes. They were wide with shock and maybe a hint of fear. “So, what do you think? This is what is left.”

“What do you mean? Are you talking about this void? I can’t believe this! It isn't filled with nothing. It is raw emotion. Whatever just happened, it caused the whole space to react violently to everything! What did happen? And what are you?” Twilight questioned, her eyes starting to brim with curiosity.

“I was a fool. I picked it up. The one thing that has hurt me the most, and I touched it. As for what I am, I’m human. Before being born in Equestria, I was a human, and lived to be 17.”

“Is that the usual lifespan of your species? You don’t look to be old…” she said, slowing down.

“You are correct. I was just under the age of adulthood. My best friend murdered me,” I said, fury starting to spread through me. “With that,” I finished, pointing at the knife.

“What is that next to it?” she asked, after looking closely at the knife, being sure not to touch it.

“The shattered remnants of my old life, if I were to guess.”

“Can I…”

“Sure,” I said, and allowed Twilight to touch the shattered ball. Immediately, her eyes grew wide, but not in shock. In confusion.

“This isn't right. All that is here are shattered images. It should be as if I view your memories!” Twilight said, and  looked at me expectantly.

“I don’t like to think about it very much. Is there anything else you want to ask?”

“I want to see your mental strength. I’m going to leave, but not stop the spell completely. I’m going to make a construct. I want you to destroy it.” She said flatly.

“Are you sure about this? Is it safe?” I asked, concerned.

“The worst that could happen is the loser gets exhausted.” She replied.

I decided to let her do it, and I watched as she faded out of my mind. Then I could feel something else enter my mind. I heard Twilight's voice saying something about how the construct would try and take the form of something I hated. Then Arnold appeared.

I was so furious right at that moment that even I could feel the power of my emotions in the void. It was giving me strength. I focused on being strong, and I could feel myself become armored. My hands formed claws, and with a cry of rage, I sprang at the construct, ripping my hand right into where the heart would be and twisted it as hard as I could. Upon ripping my arm back out, the construct shattered, and I found myself suddenly back in the real world.

“That was… unexpected,” Twilight panted, my attack having clearly taken its toll.

“Are you OK?” I asked, almost falling over trying to get up like a person. I didn't want to have hurt somepony. That was never my intention, I was just so angry.

“Yes, I’m fine, but that’s enough… for today. Tomorrow, I want you… to be ready for some more mental exercises,” she said between gasps. Clearly I had done more than she let on, but I didn't push it. I thanked her for taking the time, and left out the door. Then I flew home to my little cloud fort. It was like a tree house, but it was made of clouds, and it was really nice to sleep on. Once there, I sat down and focused on only my breathing, concentrating on the feeling that Twilight’s spell made me feel. Soon, I found myself back in my own mind, only this time, I felt even more lonely. I reached for the shattered crystal ball and started piecing my memories back together.

Eventually, I found that only a few things were even there to work with. Memories of my parents, some friends, and some places I visited with them, and a few that I had been to and thought about my life at. There were other memories, but they were like pictures that weren't finished- I couldn't find all of the memory. Then, I let myself slide back into reality, and fell asleep soon after.