The sun is high in the sky with little blotches of white clouds speckling the cerulean sight. The air is warm but the wind gives a refreshing chill as it blows through the streets of Ponyville. The leaves of the trees rustle in the wind, showering the area in a relaxing serenade as it blends with the various calls of crickets and cicadas. The warmth of the sun beaming down on Ponyville, bathing the ponies and wildlife in joyous light. The cobblestone streets clicking and clacking as ponies trot along them, adding a sort of off beat rhythm to the flow of the crowds.
You take a deep breath as a rush of air blows past you, causing the feathers of your wings to rustle. You give them a little shake and continue down the street. The cobblestone street is warm under your hooves, giving a sort of calming feeling. You follow the mindless crowd into the town square, stopping in front of the town hall. You look up, letting your gaze take in all the little designs in the windows, and the architecture of the building. You’ve only been in Ponyville for a week or two, the architecture is still alien to you.
You take your gaze off of the town hall and continue down the street, taking in all the sights and sounds. A plethora of different colored ponies fill the street, causing the crowd to look like some form of modern art. Above, a few pegasi fly, racing each other or just avoiding the crowd below. You watch them for a little bit, your thoughts full of envy. You rustle your wings again, wishing you could join them, but knowing you can’t.
Ever since you were born you couldn’t fly. You were born with a handicapped wing. One of your wings never grew to full size, so you’ve been trapped walking your whole life. Your parents brought you to Ponyville when you were just little, so the ground has always been with you. You’ve tried to find ways to either make artificial wings, or even find a surgery to fix your wing, but there were no such solutions.
You let out a sigh and continue your way down the cobblestone street; you hold your small wing tight to your side, hoping to hide it amongst your coat. The envy slowly leaves your mind as you think about your current surroundings -- all the ponies, all the different ponies, working all in unison, not caring about weather they were a unicorn, or a pegasi. It is a refreshing thought of course, for most of your time growing up was spent being mocked by the other pegasi children.
As you walk down the street you feel the warm rays of the sun warming your back. You let a small smile spread across your face; the warmth is very relaxing. The birds chirping as they fly overhead adds to the relaxation of the moment. You let your smile spread across your face, not really caring who notices. You mindlessly follow the crowd you’ve wandered into. They seem to be heading to the market.
Great, I need to pick up some things. You lower your head slightly and pay more attention to your surroundings. You follow the crowd all the way to the market before you step out and slow down, observing the stalls and vendors who are showing off their wares. You pass by a small exotic looking stall, behind the counter is a zebra, showing some other ponies a beautiful ruby necklace.
You look at the other pieces of jewelry at the stall, all of them are designed with foreign looking patterns and all sporting rather large gems. The zebra leaves the group of customers and looks over at you.
“Can I help you ma’am?” The shopkeep speaks up, his voice smooth and calm but slightly raspy.
“Oh, no. I’m just looking at what you have here. I don’t think I could ever afford any of it.” You say, sounding a little timid.
“Don’t say that, I’ve got something for anyone with any kind of budget.” The shopkeep insists.
“If you say so. Do you have anything for fifty bits?” You ask, feeling a knot form in your stomach from the low offer.
“Sure do, come over here,” the shopkeep gestures with his head and then turns to another part of his stall, sporting three small glass cases. You trot over to the three cases. “Here, I’ve got rings and and bracelets here, all made from silver, hoof engraved with images and sayings from zebra folk tales.”
“These are very nice, do you mind putting this one aside for me?” You point to one of the bracelets. It is a polished silver bracelet with a geometric pattern engraved across it.
“Sure thing ma’am. When will you be back for it?” The owner asks while removing the bracelet and placing it in a small lockbox.
“Tomorrow, I have to get some things today.” You say, trying to sound as apologetic as possible.
“Alrighty, I’ll have it here, have a good day ma’am.” The shopkeeper gives a nod and a wink. You smile at his gesture and nod in return.
“You too sir.” You nod and continue through the market, stopping at the various food stalls and buying your bounty.
After a few moments of wandering you make your way to the apple stall, and the pony behind the counter is waiting with a smile.
“Howdy there! Come again for some more apples?” Applejack asks, tipping her hat towards you.
“Hey AJ. Yeah, ran out yesterday,” you reply, returning Applejack’s smile.
You’ve known Applejack for many years now. You’ve helped her out around the farm before, and she’s helped you out a couple times. It’s fair to say that you’re a close friend to Applejack.
“Have ya seen Rainbow around today?” Applejack asks while putting some apples into a bag for you.
“No, I’ve been looking but I haven’t seen her. You looking for her?” You reply. Applejack shakes her head and slides the bag of apples over to you. You take the bag of apples and drop it into your saddlebag.
“Nah, I think she’s lookin’ for you.” Applejack says, with a smile on her face.
“Me? What’s she want with me?” You ask quizzically
“Don’t know, she came by earlier and ask if I’d seen ya. So I guess you’d best be lookin’ for her.” Applejack says, you nod and pay Applejack the appropriate amount of bits.
“Will do. I’ll see you around AJ.” You nod and smile.
“Yeah, take care.” Applejack replies with a tip of her hat.
With that gesture you take off, trotting out of the market and heading for your home. Your home isn’t far from the market, only a few minutes away. You keep your eyes on the sky looking for Rainbow Dash, who is apparently looking for you.
You reach your house and head on in. Sunlight fills your house. Cascading various shadows over your furniture and knick knacks. You carry your bag into the kitchen and drop it on the floor next to your kitchen. You take a quick glance out the kitchen window, scanning the skies for your rainbow maned friend. With nothing in sight you quickly head for the bathroom. You stare into the bathroom mirror for a few seconds, taking in every detail of your own face, trying to spot any little hair that was out of place.
“Nothing? Good.” You say out loud to yourself.
You raise a hoof and flatten your mane and brush it to the right side of your face, holding it in place with two small black bobby pins. With a smirk and a nod you head out of the bathroom and towards the front door. You glance up at the pictures on the wall, most were of you when you were going through school, and some of your family. Feelings of nostalgia fill your brain. You do miss the school days, even though they were sometimes not the best, but you still had friends to play with. It was a much different feeling back then. You wanted to leave school so badly, just be out on your own; but now it’s much different. Now you miss the social interactions with the teachers, and your friends. It was a lot easier back then.
You shake the thoughts of school out of your head and pick up your house key from a small desk by the front door. You tuck it under your right wing and head outside. You squint as the sunlight hits your eyes, the rays stinging as they invade your narrowly open eyelids. You turn and remove the key from under your wing, locking the door and returning it to your holding place. You begin to stroll down the streets looking for Rainbow Dash. You scan the sky and the crowds, looking for that trademark rainbow mane. Nothing in sight.
The ponies around you all rush by with a sort of organized chaos around them. All looking like they have to be somewhere, but they don’t know where. You snake your way into the crowd, following the current of the crowd. Your eyes scanning every pony who passes by, looking for the one who was looking for you.
A few moments pass by and you've moved almost entirely across town, no sight of that rainbow mare. You break off and follow a small little dirt path, leading down between two small cottages. The hustle of the town dies down as you follow this roughly worn path. The only sound heard is your hooves on the ground and the birds above, making your walk that much more enjoyable. You finally come across a small pond shadowed by a single tree. This is new to you. You've never seen this little place before.
You trot over and peer into the water, the reflection showing you yourself. You lean in, looking at yourself more intensely, looking over every detail. You scrunch up your nose and let out a giggle. You curiously spot a cloud come in rather quickly, you turn your head upwards and look at it, squinting against the sunlight.
There's a slight breeze and suddenly a streak of blue fires out of the cloud and barrels towards you. Your eyes widen and you jump back; you feel something soft brush past your nose. You turn and look up, spotting a familiar rainbow striking the sky. You smile softly and watch. Your eyes lagging behind, watching the faint streaks that always seemed to follow Rainbow Dash as she flew.
Loop after loop, dive after dive, you kept you attention on her. She takes a turn in the air and folds her wings, heading down towards the pond. There's a tremendous splash when Rainbow hits the water, sending some water your way, wetting your coat ever so slightly. You look around, no sight of Rainbow, you look back towards the water and a a blue streak fires out, fast as a bullet. You watch in awe as the spirals in the sky, the water falling from her body making an actual rainbow, twisting and turning to Rainbow's flying.
You sit back and watch, it all looked so mesmorizing. Rainbow shoots down and lands in front of you, striking a pose before looking at you with a smile. You clap your hooves together before standing.
"So, what do you think of the best flyer in Ponyville's display?" Rainbow asks, cockiness drenching her words.
"It wasn't anything to write home about. I could do better." You muse, watching Rainbow's face take on a sort of shocked and confused expression.
"But but... You can't, not with your... Uh... You know." Rainbow stammers, looking for the right thing to say. You wave a hoof and giggle.
"I was kidding, and you don't have to delicate, I'm used to this," You shake your bad wing to strengthen your point. "And you performance was great, Wonderbolt quality even."
"Thanks." Rainbow blushes and looks bashful.
"You're welcome, and AJ said you were looking for me, what's up?" You ask.
"Well yeah, I have an offer for you. Do you want to help me train?" Rainbow asks, looking confident.
"Wait what?" You take on her last expression, shock and confusion. "I can't even fly, how can I help you?"
"Well, I want to start doing some low altitude stunts, mostly hoops and such. But I need somepony on the ground to hold the targets." Rainbow looks to you with a smile.
"Sure, I'll help ya," you say, returning the smile.
Rainbow lets out a loud hooray and hugs you tightly, you return the hug and blush a little. You back up a little and look at Rainbow.
"So when do we start?" You ask, excitement traced in your words.
"Tomorrow at noon, meet me here," she says, jumping up and hovering in the air.
You nod before Rainbow darts off. With a feeling of content you make your way back to the market to buy that bracelet.
Author's Note
Huge ups to electreXcessive for editing this chapter.
