Prologue

Could be for understanding

Prologue – Could Be...

The air around Ponyville holds a chilly winter day dryness, a dryness that turns any pant into a hard to swallow and unfriendly breath of air. Which, unfortunately is exactly what's happening to the light orange coated, dark blue and orange striped maned, pegasus.

Another heavy pant turns into a make believe dragon steam swirl in front of him as he turns his head to the cloud he hovers next to, "Am...-am I done now? *pant*...."

Sparky's usually stuffy nosed voice has been altered to a slight out of breath tone, however it barely turns the light purple mare's head as she just taps her hoof to her mouth.

The larger dry white cloud that the unicorn rest on hasn't moved since Sparky placed it where the mare told him. But the stallion's fast wings that have been kicked into overdrive just to keep his tired out body where it is has started to turn the cloud's once smooth surface into a rippled and bumpy texture.

A wide smile comes over Violet's face as she moves her hoof from her mouth and starts up her hoofing.

Her answer brings a groan from the light orange pegasus as he reluctantly nods his head, "Fine...Last time."

Violet's smile drops as she straightened her posture up a little more and begins to instruct the pegasus like she's done the last few times. Sparky holds his eyes to the mare as she runs through her silent commands. Truthfully Sparky already knows what he needs to do, but even telling Violet that wouldn't stop her.

So instead Sparky follows her lead as he takes in a deep breath like her and begins to slow his wings down like she told him to. It takes a moment for the stallion's wings to slow, but they finally begin to come back to his command with another long and deep breath.

Violet notices the spread out wings and now sparks her already light blue glowing horn up a little, mainly just for show.

To the mare's glowing horn Sparky shifts his own thoughts as he taps into the strange warm swirling that begins to move around his body and towards his wings. His light orange feathers take on their own magical like glow as the beating in his wings and his own breath starts to rise.

Sparky's eyes search the area around him for something to focus on, with nothing more to see other than a few small little clouds around he finally locks his eyes onto one as he takes in a deep breath and flaps his wings back hard.

The quick rush of wing from the sudden and abrupt stop of his wings that now rest as far back as he can extend them only last for a split second as the stallion's held in breath releases with a hard flap forward, "Ahhh!..."

Sparky's involuntary shout is followed by a low almost crack of of thunder as a few bolts of mostly uncontrolled orange magic shoots from his wings.

The spark of magic brings an excited and amused smile to Violet's face as she watches the small cloud Sparky's magic was directed to disappear into a wispy remnant.

Sparky's response however is joyful but for another reason. The young stallion flops himself to the cloud that Violet sits on with an out of breath exclamation, followed by a weak but happy kick of his right front hoof towards the air, "Whoo-hoo..."

The cloud rocks to the added weight and Violet's body stiffens as she forces her mind back to the spell that has been keeping her from falling back to the earth. With a low chime of magic her spell holds and she turns her gaze to the tired out stallion that now lays flat on his back only a hoof in front of her.

Sparky continues to catch his breath as he just lays to the cloud's surface, to tired out to care he's sprawled out on his back. He stares up into the blue and cloudy snow filled sky as he brings his voice up, "H-.*pant*..How did I do?" As his sentence ends he turns his head towards the mare he lays in front of as he waits for a response.

To the stallion's stare Violet brings her hooves up as she gives a little smile.

No answer comes from Sparky for a moment though as he just blinks to the mare he now stares at upside down, "Wait...What is that ten out of ten or one out of eleven?"

Violet rolls her eyes as she repeats her motion.

Sparky watches the motion for a moment as a smile slowly starts to creep over his face, "You really think it was better?"

A quick nod comes from Violet as she holds her gaze only to the stallion's face.

"Good..." A faint chuckle comes up from Sparky as he flattens his front hooves to the cloud around him, "...Because you're training is harder than what I did at the Wonderbolts."

A faint wheezing laugh comes over Violet as she holds her head up proudly.

With another deep and calming breath Sparky slowly starts to turn himself over as he pushes himself up to sit on his flank like the mare that now sits in front of him, "No, really. Wonderbolts stuff was just simple track stuff, I didn't have to create magic for two hours." Sparky holds the new found light hearted smile as he waits for the mare's hooves to come up.

Violet shrugs the comment off as she hooves back an answer.

"Ya... I guess I will have better practice with this stuff.." Sparky cocks his head as he thinks over Violet's comment, "But, I don't think we'll be learning pegasus combat spells...er, whatever Sombra called it." A light chuckle comes up from Sparky as he rolls his hoof to Violet, "Most likely i'm just doing more track stuff."

Violet gives a simple smile to the statement as she continues to listen to the stallion, "...I know you'll be doing magic and it's affect on ponies."

The words flick Violet's ears as she brings her hooves up.

Sparky straightened his posture a little as he speaks up, "Actually Violet, I do know that. Starlight told me."

Violet blinks to the name as he hooves it back out.

However the question that follows her motions turns Sparky's head as his once confident tone turns to it's normal stuttery banter, "Oh, we've been sending letters over the break. H-haven't you two been talking?"

The light purple mare shakes her head to the comment as she shells out another fast paced comment.

Sparky takes notice to the mare's slightly quicker hoofing as he sparks up a new found smile, "What, is Violet Sparkle still jealous that there's another pony in the world that can do amazing spells like her."

The confident and playfully intended comment falls short of it's purpose as Violet takes her head back and up in complete rejection of it, not because she thinks Starlight poses a threat in her school. But instead for another reason.

However before Sparky can speak up, a voice coming up from beneath them turns their attention, "Hey, you two up there??"

The idea of dropping the conversation is quickly snatched up by the young mare as she eases herself towards the edge of the cloud for a better look of who called out. Sparky does the same, but he holds a keen eye to the light purple unicorn’s distance from the edge.

The sight of the two ponies poking their heads from the cloud that hooves a decent distance from the snow covered ground brings a response up from the two young stallion's that stare up. However it's the blue unicorn’s words that really reach Violet and Sparky, "Well are you two coming down?"

Sparky's faded smile comes back to him as he just looks over his annoyed friend's face, "Why don't you come up here Bell?"

For a second the comment brings a slight bit of shock to the blue unicorn, but the shock is quickly taken over by his stronger second thought, which now comes out with his more annoyed tone, "DO I look like a pegasus Scaredy Feathers?-..."

Bell's comment is brought to a halt as the tan stallion next to him speaks up, "Scaredy Feathers? Really Bell you can't do any better than that?"

The unicorn's attention is quickly snapped back to his friend as his light teeth chattering voice comes up, "It...is...COLD!" Bell's voice pops with a slightly feminine like squeal as he turns his head back to the cloud above him, "And some ponies are making us wait!" Futty gives a little chuckle to his friend's voice as he turns his head back to the two ponies still in the cloud.

Bell's comment brings a grin to Sparky and Violet's faces, usually Bell calls all the shots for their little group; so the fact that he's helpless on the ground continues to bring Sparky's voice up as the pegasus calls back down, "What do you mean we made you wait? You two were supposed to be here an hour ago?"

A groan comes from the cyan scarf wearing unicorn as he brings a boot wearing hoof up from the snow and starts to speak up, "W-well we went bowling for a little bit..."

Sparky blinks to the comment as he cocks his head, "What? Why? You guys know we leave tomorrow-.."

"Sparky...It is cold....And i'm not weird like Violet, I actually feel it." Bell's comment has little affect to the light purple mare as she continues to hold her smile to the ponies below her.

As Violet's silent smile holds a brief gust of cold air runs past Bell's body as he shivers for a moment.

Futty's laugh comes back up as he nudges the stallion next to him, "Alright Bell, follow my lead." The slightly larger stallion starts to happily sway himself back and forth as he turns his devious grin to the cloud above him, "Violet and Sparky sitting in a cloud, K.I.S.-...Whoa!"

A small bolt of light blue magic hits the ground in front of the tan stallion, the terrible sung song comes to an end as Bell and Futty both start to laugh.

Sparky holds his eyes from the mare next to him for a moment as he starts up his wings and brings himself from the cloud, "I-i'll put the cloud down."

Violet turns her eyes to the stallion that now starts to hover towards the back of the cloud. Within moment's the cloud begins to quickly descend to the slightly snowy ground.

As the cloud comes to rest the light purple mare stands from the cloud's white surface and moves to the snow covered grassy field the other two ponies stand to.

Sparky takes his front hooves from the cloud and it begins to slowly float back to the sky as he folds his wings behind him.

"Finally..." Bell puffs his chest out a little as he speaks up, "Alright, now what are we going to do for this time's send off?"

Futty trots himself next the blue stallion as he holds a loud, "Hmmm. Well we already ruined Pearl's party two months ago for the last send off..."

"Well I got nothing..." Bell relaxes his posture as he lifts his hoof up lazily to Violet, "Ugh, why are your school's only out for two months? Now we don't have anything to send you two off with?"

Violet rolls her eyes as she points to the two slightly snow covered bags that set up against a nearby rock.

"Ok?" Bell and Futty both hold their confusions to the light purple mare as she trots over towards them.

To his friend's confusion Sparky finally brings his voice up as he clears his throat, "Um, Violet actually had something to show us."

End of chapter