The Warrior's Path: Part 1

I accompany Lyra as she shows me the wonderful things about Ponyville. She shows me the various types of shops, and other places that ponies like to hang out at. While on my tour, Lyra and I passed by, what looks like, a bakery.

The building is visually pleasing with its array of colors and its unusual architecture. Then I turn my attention to a path of stepping stones leading up to three steps that lead into the building. At the beginning of the stepping stone path, there was small sign, just like that one outside of Ponyville. “Sugar Cube Corner” the sign read. Lyra turns to me.

“Ya wanna go inside?” she asks me.

“Let’s,” I reply to her.

We walk towards Sugar Cube Corner, and, as we heading for the front door, I could see a reflection of myself in a window to the left of the door in my periphery. I gallop hastily towards the window. Now I am able to get a good, long look at myself at long last. I was already aware of the fact that I had blue fur, brunette mane and tail, and a horn that stuck out of my skull, but this was the first time I was able to look at my eyes. They weren’t blue anymore. My eyes had changed to a blood red color (for whatever reason). I just let this little detail pass by because I had been through so much shit today that I didn’t bother to give a single fuck. Before Lyra entered Sugar Cube Corner, she saw me looking at myself in the reflection in the window. Lyra approaches me subtly, and she stands by my right side.

“What are you doing, Aura Storm?”

I ignore her but not on purpose. I’m just fascinated and entranced by my pony form. Lyra puts a hoof on my right shoulder, and she shakes me like an infant.

“Aura!” Lyra screams.

“Huh? Ah shit. Sorry Lyra. I’m just…getting a better look at myself.”

Lyra raises an eyebrow, and she gives me a little smirk. Then I continue to speak.

“I know. I know it sounds weird, but since I came to Equestria, I haven’t actually gotten…a good look…at myself.”

Lyra still holds the same look she gave me before.

“Humans are weird.”

I can’t help but laugh at the comment she made, and it didn’t take long for Lyra to join in on the laughter. We continue to laugh for a good couple of minutes. Then the front door to Sugar Cube Corner opens slowly. The opening door immediately catches my attention, and I stop laughing. Lyra hadn’t noticed that I had stopped laughing, so she continues. Coming out of the open door, is a light gray mare with a dark gray mane and tail. She didn’t have any wings or a horn. She was just a regular pony. My eyes grow wide, and my pupils dilate at the sight of her. She was absolutely gorgeous. She wore a pink bow tie, and she had a dark pink treble clef on her posterior. I jerk my head in rapid haste to look at my posterior, but it was blank. What could that mark possibly mean? I drop that subject, for the time being, and I turn my attention back to the gray mare. I can’t help but admire her beauty and elegance. Lyra had stopped laughing a little bit after the gray mare left Sugar Cube Corner. Lyra looks at the gray mare, and then she looks to me. I could feel her eyes upon me, but I don’t pay any attention to her. My eyes are completely glued to the gray mare.

“Aura, are you alright?” Lyra asks.

I don’t respond to her. I kept my eyes on the gray mare, without blinking. Lyra waves one of her hooves in my face in order to try and grab my attention. I can see her hoof as clear as day, but it fails to snag my attention.

“Aura?!” Lyra shouts at me.

I barely even hear Lyra yelling at me. I have become too infatuated with the gray mare to even acknowledge Lyra’s existence. Lyra looks at the gray mare, then back to me again. Lyra had finally processed what was happening. She saw that I have become immediately attracted to the gray mare as soon as she stepped out of Sugar Cube Corner. Lyra raises an eyebrow.

“OOOOOOOOOOOO. Aura likes Tavi,” Lyra said childishly.

I instantaneously jerk my head towards Lyra, and I give her a look of confusion and yearning.

“What did you say her name was?! I asked Lyra, hoping to get as much information about the gray mare as I possibly could.

“Oh, her? Her full name is Octavia Melody, but she also goes by Octavia, and some of her friends call her Tavi, but she’s not too fond of that nickname. You should go and talk to her.”

I shuttered at the thought, and my eyes grew wide at the thought. I was never good at talking to girls, even in the human realm.

“I…..umm…ehh…I…don’t…know,” I stutter vigorously.

“Awe, come on! Don’t be such a little filly!”

I squint at Lyra angrily, trying to summon up the courage to prove her wrong.

“Fine,” I said sternly while squinting at her.

I look back at the gray mare, but she was gone. I look for her from where I stand, and then I run to the spot where she had stood previously. I do, eventually find her. She sat at a table on the other side of the door of Sugar Cube Corner.

“Well?” Lyra said impatiently. “What are you waiting for?! Go get’er!”

Lyra pushes me, fiercely towards the gray mare named Octavia. Lyra pushes me hard enough that I trip over a stepping stone leading to the front door of Sugar Cube Corner, and I land; face first, onto the ground right next to where Octavia was sitting. I had just made the most awkward entrance imaginable. With my face in the dirt, I could feel Octavia’s eyes upon me.

I try to arise to my hooves with some dignity, but I fail to do so by, somehow, tripping over my hooves and land in the dirt again, face first. With my face in the dirt…..again, I can hear minute giggling coming from my left; coming from Octavia. I turn my head towards her, and I look at her shyly. She was giggling at me with her eyes closed, and her hooves up to her mouth. Watching her laugh made me smile a little bit. She slowly stops laughing, and she looks directly into my blood red eyes. She quickly turns her head away from me and blushes. I can also see a little grin illuminating from her face. She tries to hide it but I can see it as clear as day. I keep looking at her while still on the ground; hoping that she would turn her head and face me again. She glances at me with her head still turned away. Her cheeks are still flushed with the pink pigment of flattery. I slowly get up, without any failures or slip-ups this time, and I walk over to the chair from where Octavia was currently sitting. I look directly at her again; still hoping that she would look away from that wall and onto me. I can see her grin slowly starting to fade away. Then she slowly turns her head until we lock eyes. Octavia slowly starts to blush again with that same look of flattery. I can feel heat radiating off of my cheek which meant that I was blushing as well. Instead of continuing to gaze into her picturesque violet eyes, I assemble the confidence to say something to Octavia.

“Umm…do you mind if I umm…sit here?” I stammer.

Octavia nods at me, her confidence steadily growing.

“Yes…umm…of course.”

I pull out the chair, but before I sit down, I look at how Octavia was sitting; she was, pretty much, standing on the chair with her hind legs, and her front hooves were on the table so that she could enjoy a glass of, what seems like, hot apple cider through a bendy straw. So I tried to sit on the chair just like Octavia did, but with all four hooves on the seat. Sitting in the chair wasn’t as awkward as I thought it would be. While sitting on the chair, I could see Lyra past Octavia. Lyra flicks her right hoof in a “go on” gesture, and I can see her mouth the words “go on” as she is flicking her hoof. So I put a hoof up to my mouth, and I clear my throat and this instantly draws Octavia’s attention.

“Umm…..hello. My name is Aura Storm. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

I try to be as formal as I possibly can. Octavia raises an eyebrow with a straight face. I almost broke into a nervous sweat. Have I done something wrong already?! So I decide to cut the crap and say what I came over here to say.

“Alright, I’m just going to get to the point. Honestly, Octavia, I find you attractive, and that’s all I have to say.”

Octavia blushes even harder than before with her eyes widened and her pupils dilated. I had probably just made thing extremely awkward between us. I sigh light so that Octavia can’t hear it.

“I should probably go,” I say disappointed in myself. “I don’t want to make thing anymore awkward than they already are.”

I leapt from my chair, and I slowly walk my way over to Lyra with my head pointed at the ground in melancholy.

“Wait!” a voice said.

The voice came from behind me, and there was only one pony behind me at the time; Octavia. I turn around swiftly, and I could see Octavia leaping from her seat and running towards me.

“Now hold on just a moment!” Octavia exclaims while running towards me.

She stops right in front of me, and she continues speaking.

“How dare you run off before giving me a chance to respond!” Octavia says sternly.

I raise an eyebrow, eager to hear what she had to say. Octavia starts to speak again.

“You’ve got some guts saying that kind of thing up front. I like that.”

“You like what?”

“I like stallions that are not self-conscience about what they do or what they say. If I wasn’t so busy, I would LOVE to get to know you.”

“What are you busy with?”

“Oh, I’m a first chair cellist for the Canterlot Symphony Orchestra, and I have a performance in a couple of hours. So I need to get ready for that.”

A couple of things had crossed my mind. One: What the hell is Canterlot? Two: How can she play the cello with NO FUCKING FINGERS?!?! That baffled me the most, but I just decided to drop that subject, and I decided to ask her the first one.

“Umm…what’s Canterlot?”

“It’s only the capital of Equestria!”

“Really? Where is it?”

Octavia gave me look like I was physically deformed.

“You’re not from here are you?” she asked.

“No, I’m not, but I don’t feel like talking about it. It’s a little complicated,” I state uneasily.

Octavia squints her eyes at me, trying to squeeze some answers out of me. I glance to my left, then I glance to my right, without turning my head, and then I look back at Octavia.

“So where is the general location of Canterlot?” I ask.

“If we back away from Sugar Cube Corner, we can see it from there,” Octavia said.

Octavia and I back away from Sugar Cube Corner, and then Lyra decides to stop watching from the sidelines and join us. The three of us back away from Sugar Cube Corner until Octavia says something.

“Stop! Right here is fine. Look over there!”

Octavia points to a large mountain in the distance, but it looks like something is clinging to the mountain side. It looks like a city with a castle at its epicenter, but that couldn’t be possible. Then Lyra puts in her two cents.

“See that city clinging to the mountain side, that’s Canterlot!”

“That’s…..impossible,” I say absolutely stupefied.

I have never seen such spectacular architecture in all my life. Canterlot was truly a sight to behold.

“Magnificent, isn’t it?” Octavia said. “But only the rich, talented, and powerful are allowed into Canterlot”

“Are there any exceptions to entering Canterlot?” I ask Octavia while beholding the glorious city of Canterlot.

“There is one way,” Lyra mentions. “You have to be of extreme importance to her highness, Princess Celestia.”

“Who’s Princess Celestia?” I ask.

“Wow! You really AREN’T from here,” Octavia comments with utmost certainty.

“Yeah yeah yeah. We all understand the fact that I’m not from here! Now can you please continue?!”

As I had requested, Lyra continues her little speech on Princess Celestia.

“Well, basically, Celestia rules over all of Equestria, and she raises and lowers the sun. While her sister, Princess Luna, rules the night and raises and lowers the moon.”

“How long as Celestia been in power?” I ask.

“Somewhere over a thousand years, I believe, but don’t quote me on it.”

“That’s impossible! There is no possible way that anyone or anything could live that long!”

“Well, Celestia and Luna are alicorns so…”

I interrupt Lyra to ask her, yet, another question.

“What’s an alicorns?”

Lyra and Octavia look at one another. Then they both face palm themselves, but since they didn’t have hands, I guess it would be called a “facehoof” or something. The Octavia addresses me.

“In simple terms, alicorns are unicorns and pegasi mixed together. So they have, both, wings and a horn. They also have extreme longevity.  This explains why they live so long.”

“How does one achieve alicorns status?”

“You either have to be of royal blood, or you have to do something brave and noble for all of Equestria.”

“Like what?”

“Like saving Equestria from certain destruction.”

“Oh,” I say disappointedly.

Well shit. There goes my shot of becoming an alicorns. Oh well. Like someone like me could become an alicorns.

“Aura Storm!” Octavia exclaims, attempting to snag my attention. “I best be going.”

Octavia walks towards me until our muzzles are only mere inches from each other. She looks at me seductively. We look eyes; her violet eyes pierce through my soul, and I can’t help but blush. I can see her blush, as well, while she bites her lip a little bit. Then Octavia starts to speak again, and she puts a hoof on my left cheek.

“Maybe I’ll see you around, Aura Storm.”

She slowly removes her hoof from my cheek, and she starts to walk away. She keeps walking until I possess the will to say something.

“Octavia, wait!” I shout after her “Why be unsure to see me again? Why not be certain?”

Octavia raises an eyebrow in curiosity.

“What are you getting at, Aura?

I sigh lightly.

“What I’m getting at is that I want to see again. So would you like to go on…a date…with me?”

I’m hoping that I won’t regret what I had just said. Throwing my emotions out there was pretty risky. Now, I patiently wait for Octavia to respond. I look at Octavia, and she gives me a small grin. I thought the worst; I thought that she was going burst out in laughter, but she does something else.

“Aura Storm…,” Octavia starts.

I feel a bead of sweat trickle from my forehead, and it runs down my cheek, falls off of my face, and splashes subtlely, onto the dirt. I try not to let my face express the emotions that are boiling and festering inside of myself. Then Octavia continues, and she says something totally unexpected to me.

“I would love to go on a date with you,” she says proudly with a smile.

I have a mixed feeling of astonishment and absolute relief. All of the negative emotions that swelled within my soul had just instantaneously vanished in one feld swoop after hearing Octavia say “yes.” I respond to Octavia, trying to keep my shit together, and try not burst with positive emotions.

“Fantastic,” I say with a smile. “Shall we work the detail on a later date?”

“We shall,” Octavia responded. “But until then…”

Octavia puts her right hoof on my left cheek, and she caresses it. I close my eyes, and I except her affectionate touch. I nuzzle into her hoof, and I absorb some of its warmth.

“I’ll see you around, Aura Storm,” Octavia says while, slowly, sliding her hoof off of my cheek.

I open my eyes, and I became a little blue when she stopped caressing my cheek. I had grown accustomed to her touch, and I longed for it. Octavia turns around, and she walked towards a hot air balloon. That must be the only mode of transportation to get where she was going, Canterlot. I watch her pay for the flight, enter the balloon, and I watch her slowly drift upwards towards Canterlot. I continue to watch the balloon as it gracefully drifts higher and higher towards its destination. I close my eyes, and I sigh happily.

“You did it, you son-of-a-bitch,” I say subtly to myself.

I open my eyes, and I watch the balloon become an insignificant little speck the further it flew away from Ponyville. Then I hear hooves approaching from behind me from my left side. I didn’t bother to turn around because I already knew who it was; it was Lyra. She sits beside me, and she watches the balloon fly towards Canterlot with me. She nudges my left shoulder with her hoof, and my body flows with the motion of her hoof when she pushes off of me. I can see Lyra looking at me in my periphery, but I don’t turn to her. I can also see her smiling gently at me.

“Way to go, Aura Storm! Honestly, I didn’t think that you would do it.”

“I didn’t think that I would do it either, but I did,” I say while glancing at her with my head still facing towards the drifting balloon.

As I continue to watch the balloon that Octavia was soaring in, I can see the beautiful Equestrian sunset descending behind Canterlot.

“It’s getting pretty late,” Lyra stated. “We should get goin’.”

“Going…where exactly?” I ask.

“Home. Now let’s get goin’.”

Lyra starts to walk towards her destination, but she stops when she realizes that I’m not following her. Lyra turns around and faces me. I am still sitting in the exact same spot I was before with my muzzle pointed at the ground. Lyra walks over to me.

“What’s wrong, Storm?”

I look at Lyra with extreme melancholy with tears building up in my eyes.

“But…..but I don’t have a home anymore. I have…NOWHERE to go! No one to turn to.  I…..I don’t know what to do!”

I look back to the ground, and the tears that I had been building have been let loose. One by one, my tears fall onto the ground, and they produce miniscule wet spots on the earth. I continue to wallow in my own self-pity. Then I feel a hoof being placed upon my right shoulder. I look up with a stream of tears stained on both of my cheeks, and I see Lyra smiling at me warmly.

“Aura Storm, you are NOT alone,” Lyra assures me. “You’ve got a friend in me, and you’re bound to make even more friends while you’re here. You haven’t been here for more than a couple of hours, and you already have a date! It’s quite impressive actually! Octavia’s not usually the pony for dates, or even socializing for that matter. She’s the up-tight, snooty kind of pony, but she saw something in you that made her change perspectives for the amount of time that you were with her. You pretty much achieved the impossible, and you should feel proud of yourself, Aura Storm.”

I start to cry again, but these weren’t tears of sadness; these were tears of joy and relief. I have never felt such happiness and/or acceptance in all of my natural life. I wipe the tears from my eyes, and I speak to Lyra

“Thank you…so much, Lyra. I have never met anyone who is as compassionate and caring as you are.”

Lyra blushes a little it after hearing the compliment that I had given her. Then she overcomes her flattery, and she speaks to me.

“You don’t have to thank me, Aura. You made me feel better when I was low, and I wanted to do the same for you when thing got you down.”

“Still, thank you. I greatly appreciate it.”

Lyra smiles at me gently.

“You are very welcome, Aura.”

Lyra gazes at the sunset in front of us.

“It’s getting even later,” Lyra says. “C’mon! Follow me, and you can stay with me at my house.”

I grin at Lyra, but I don’t respond. Lyra ventures towards her place of residence, and I followed after her.