Hard Earned Trust

That morning, I woke up refreshed. At least, better than normal, considering that the nightmares didn't come since my mind was awake the whole time. I felt so energetic, I decided to experiment with a unique pool of power I had found in the deeper corners of my mind. It was clearly an extension of me, but I had no idea what it was.

So, while still mostly in my body, I reached into my mind for the pool and took a small portion, not thinking of a task to do. It just sat there, so I decided to try and use it. I thought of being more of a grown pony, and willed some power into that thought. A strange sensation went through my body, and the power I used slipped back to the pool.

I looked at myself, and saw that it worked. When I stopped concentrating on it, my body went back to normal. Now that I knew it was magic, I decided to try something more permanent. I thought about a glass of chocolate milk appearing before me, and willed some power into it. Something sort of clicked, and a small glass of chocolate milk appeared before me.

When I released the rest of what I took back to the pool, the cup stayed, even when I concentrated on something else. Amazed, I drank it only to find that it really was a glass of chocolate milk. It was delicious.

"Breakfast is ready!" Mom called out from the house.

"Coming!" I eagerly replied and left my cloud and headed in.

"Be careful out today, somepony has been killing other ponies," mom said with a distant look on her face. I couldn't blame her. Ponies generally didn't know darker things like kidnapping and murder. Guess I’m just lucky like that.

I told her I would, and headed out to school. Maybe today Ms. Cherilee would give me algebra. The last packet I got had some basic multiplication and reading concepts, which I flew through. She knew I knew more than most ponies a little older than me, but she really had no idea.

When I got there, most of the ponies had the same empty look on their faces as mom did. Like they wanted to deny their reality, but couldn't. I almost sympathized with them before remembering that it wasn't a permanent problem. Years later they may think, "Wow that scared us a bit," and not have to deal with it again. I had to live with my issues my whole life.

Class went a little slow today, and I found myself very bored having completed the new packet in 5 minutes. It wasn't algebra, but it was exponents and some slightly higher forms of math.

After what seemed like forever, recess let out, and once again, I was dismissed from class. I think some fillies were jealous, but they never grasped the stuff I was doing, so they stayed out of it.

Before I could leave for Twilight's, I was stopped by a unicorn with a violet coat and yellow mane. She looked very nervous.

"Wh-why don't you talk to any pony? You look so lonely..." She said, glancing back at her friends, who gave her encouraging nods.

"Trust. I cannot give it since it has been taken," I replied evenly. What was with this pony's actions? Why was she so nervous?

"Well, I know it might be a bad time, but I was wondering... If, well you weren't doing anything special tomorrow..."

"What is tomorrow? I asked, confused.

"You mean, you don't know?!" Her friends all squealed behind me.

"No idea. I'm not even 3 months old you know. I don't know holidays or any of that," I said, sighing in exasperation. Looks like I'm the oddball out of something. Again.

"It's hearts and hooves day! Ponies get with their special somepony and go on a date!" One of them squealed.

'Oh great. Valentine’s day.' I thought bitterly. I had never had a real girlfriend on valentine’s day, and until I found myself a real relationship, I plan to keep it that way.

"I don't know. We'll just have to see," I said with a mischievous smile. I knew now that the girls found me interesting because I didn't socialize. I hadn't yet thought about observing pony society; maybe it's time I started.

I took to the skies having left them with that, and headed to Twilight's place. Once there, I found her waiting for me, eager to move on with her "psychic lessons" as she liked to call them.

Apparently, she had invited the princess over to see my mind and its capabilities. She started by getting me to link to her mind, not the other way around like usual. It took a little concentration, but I managed. She was impressed, but I was too busy gawking at Twilight's mental landscape. It was a library, much like her home. I could tell that the books were her memories, just as the orbs were mine. Everything in her head was organized. I could tell just by looking that she would sometimes overreact to something, or over-manage things that she did or planned to do.

She taught me how she accessed her magic. Much like I had earlier, she sort of called upon it, and then it revealed itself. When I told her I could do that, she couldn't believe it. I had to let her into my mind and show her that I had magic. Then I showed her how I could use it so create objects from nothing. She was astounded. She told me about how usually only immortal spirits like Discord, spirit of chaos. That's when princess Celestia arrived.

"Good afternoon, Twilight. Is this the infamous Sky Gear?"

"Yes princess, and what do you mean, infamous?"

"Roy, I have a message for you," she said in a formal tone.

"How do you know my first name?!" I demanded, furious at what this could mean. Did she spy on me? Did she somehow know of my plight and did nothing?!

"I only know that somepony long ago told me to tell you this, and that it would change your future: non-linear immortality," she replied, and I stopped being furious and became confused. How could somebody from the past tell somebody else about me? And what could non-linear immortality even mean?

I wanted to ask her, but the strangest thing happened. Everything went black and then Celestia just finished asking Twilight if I was Sky Gear.

“Wait! You just called me by my name. How did you know it?” I demanded, and got a strange look from the princess.

“What are you talking about? She just got here,” Twilight replied hastily, and I could tell she didn’t want me getting into that tone with the princess. They shared some words, and eventually decided on something.

“May I enter your mind?” Celestia asked calmly. I obliged, and was amazed to find how strong her presence was in my mind compared to when twilight had come in. The most incredible part was that she looked uncomfortable. I asked about it, and she shrugged it off. She was too busy wondering at my figure, as well as my old memories. When she left my head, she said something I would never forget.

“You are the single most powerful mind I have ever encountered in all my life.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked, confused, but eager to hear about something out of the norm.

“You said you gave him a construct to destroy once, and that it left you exhausted.” She replied, her tone becoming a little firm.

“Yes, but what does it mean?” Twilight asked, not knowing what to expect.

“If you had challenged him head on, you could have taken physical damage on top of mental obliteration,” she replied, and I knew where the tone came from. Her mother instincts were acting up. I gave a small smile at that, but nopony caught it.

After that, we delved into idle chitchat, and Twilights friends even came by. I got to meet all of them. Rarity, Apple Jack, Rainbow Dash (she was pretty cool), Fluttershy, and Pinkie. Pinkie was the craziest. She was cracking jokes left and right, and when I didn’t get them, she started pulling gags from the internet! At first I was shocked, and asked the others how she knew stuff like that, and they just said it was Pinkie being Pinkie. Soon, I didn’t care anymore. This mare was hilarious!

When I found out about the whole elements of harmony deal, I was amazed. They really did resemble their elements.  At some point they started talking about family heirlooms. Despite not being able to participate, I listened. Pinkie and Apple Jack seemed to each have one that was very similar to one another. Before she left, Celestia even said that she had one as well. She said it was a gift from when she helped the Crystal Empire. She had to leave before she could explain more about it, but the elements soon forgot about it.

After a long day of talking about our lives (even me!), my mom came to see me home, and I left with her. For the first time since I was born, things were looking up. That afternoon, I even decided to show mom my mind and who I was. At first she was scared, but I calmed her down, and she suddenly looked like a tension that she had held for years rushed out of her. When I asked what it was, she said, “For the longest time, we thought that we weren’t doing what we should as parents. You know you aren’t as close as most fillies your age are to their parents.”

“That’s silly. And now you know, I’m not just a few months old, I’m 17. I think you can worry about me a little less,” I teased, and she just wrapped me up in a huge hug.

Later that night, when dad came home, I showed him who I was, just like with mom. He too looked relieved, but I didn’t ask, because I knew. That night, we all fell asleep shooting the breeze. It was one of the best feelings in the world. For the second time that day, life was looking bright as day. That night, I didn’t have any nightmares. Instead, I happily dreamed of growing up with my new family. It was beautiful, and I never wanted to let go of that dream.