Chapters The rays of light shone through my balcony, into my room. I growled and turned over, covering myself in blankets.
Sure, here in the Empire, the mornings are nice and warm. But that doesn't stop me from locking my doors and listening to my maids screaming. Ignoring my maids. ("Get up this instant, you ingnorant foal! And unlock the door while you're at it!!!")
After about an hour of this, I heard really loud banging. I decided it was probably a good idea to get up. I heard the banging again, so I yawned and crawled out of my purple sheets. I trotted over to my dresser which had a gigantic mirror going up the wall. I stared into it. I looked as I usually did when I woke up. Like a homeless pony. My light blue coat was dull and un-crystalized. My ragged yellow mane wasn't any better. I used my horn to levitate my brush. My aura is pink, like all of the unicorns in the Sparkle family.
You heard me. I live in the Crystal Palace with my Dad, Shining Armor, who's Captain of the Royal Guard, and Princess Mi Amore di Cadenza. Or just Princess Cadence for short. I live the life of a Princess here. Seeing as I am the Princess. Not a a stuck up alicorn. (I'M NOT SAYING MY MOM IS STUCK UP, IT'S JUST MOST ALICORNS SEEM LIKE EGGHEADS!!!)
Anyway... Where was I again? Oh, yes! The... 'Exciting' part. Well, not really.
I finished brushing my mane. Then I heard the banging on the door, this time it was deafening. "Alright, okay, I get it!" I shouted.
That probably wasn't the best response. I heard squeaking sound coming from the bolts and another loud bang. The door came tumbling down. There, standing in the doorway was my favorite stallion. "Fleck!" I said.
Fleck is a light grey colt with cute white splotches all over his body. He has a darker grey mane which he keeps swept to the side, nicely framing his face. He also has the most bright and lively blue eyes in Equestria. That's what drew me to him. It most certainly wasn't his dried
Leaves cutiemark.
"Hey, SkySparkle!" He laughed.
My anger returned. "Fleck, what the hell is this crap!? Why did you break down my door!? "
His face turned serious. "You weren't opening it. The
Maids were furious. They came to me and told me to smash it down!" He said. "The reason why is... interesting. Your parents would like to see you."
I rolled my eyes as I lifted the foor up with him. "What this time?" The last important thing they told me was last month."
We put the door up on it's frame and began tightening the screws. While he did the bottom one, I levitated with my magic and did the top one. He asked, "What was that?" I said slyly, "That Mum's pregnant."
"Oh yeah." He smiled. "When you grow up, do you wanna have foals?"
I dropped my screw on his head. "Sorry." I mumbled. "Silly me."
Fleck simply picked it up and held it up to me. I thanked him. Then he repeated the question. I shook my head. He said, "I think it would be nice to have some little foals."
I laughed and said, "That's just because you're a guy! You see it differently."
I tightened the screw into the hole and smiled. "Done!"
Then Fleck stood abruptly, hitting his head on my stomach. I gasped as he fell over, twisting onto his back. At the same time, My magic faltered from shock, and I fell right ontop of him. "Ohhhhh my gosh..." I said aloud.
Of course at that moment a maid walked by. She stood in the doorway for a moment, observing the scene, While Fleck and I were frozen. Then I jumped off him and rammed into the door. Fleck jumped to his feet and hit his head on the ceiling being the strong earth pony he is. Then he ran up to the servant and stammered, "I swear to you, nothing happened! Nothing at all!"
I recovered and stood beside him nodding vigirously. The maid smiled lightly and chuckled, "Next time, close the door!"
She trotted off and I laughed into my hoof. Fleck was blushing beat red, but was laughing along. I said, "Oh. My. CELESTIA! I am soooo sorry Fleck! I didn't mean to do that!"
His blushing subsided and He accepted my apology. "I'd better go see Mum and Dad." He nodded a little too much.
I trotted down the crystal stairways to the banquet room, which was our family meeting place. Sure enough, Mom was sitting in the main chair with her swollen belly and her hair up in a pony tail. She had circles under her eyes, but her eyes still light up when I entered the room. Dad was wearing his silver armor. He was holding Ma's hoof in his. He stared at me intensly. I sat at my Mom's left side, the opposite of where Dad was. "You called?" I asked.
Dad nodded. "Yes. It's about you moving to Canterlot."
Instantly my spirits dropped. "You were serious about that?"
They were silent. I stared at them in horror. "C'mon, you guys! I have a life here! I have you guys here, a brother or sister on the way, lots of friends-"
Mom said quietly, "Lots of friends?"
I said, "Yeah! I mean, there's Fleck... You guys..." I struggled to think of another friend. "Fleck..."
Dad said, "Exactly. Now, you have the chance to make lots of new friends!" I tilted my head sideways, curious. "We've enrolled you into the Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Ponies." Dad put an acception sheet on the table. "You got in. Terms start tomorrow."
I glared at the sheet. Mom said, "We packed your bags while you were at that DJ Pon3 concert yesterday. You will also be accompanied by CometSwirl. You know, our mailpony."
A yellow pony stepped out from behind the throne Mom was sitting in. She had a turquoise mane kept in a bun and pretty eyes which matched her mane. Her cutie Mark had two flying shoes, which she was wearing. She also had two packs strapped to her back. She whispered, "Hello."
I stared at my parents. "So, you're sending me to Canterlot for a year." They nodded. "To stay in the dorms at some... School?" They nodded again. "And... Just, right now? Lickety-split?" They looked at eachother for a moment, then nodded.
A big saddle bag with my cutie mark on it appeared on the table. I grabbed it and put it on. "Alright. I see how it is. I'll see you in a year."
With that, I turned around and marched out the door, closely followed by CometSwirl.
I stared gloomily out of the train window. Comet and I had gone to the station to find everything for us was already payed for. After that, I said goodbye to the Crystal Empire, and Hello to an hour on a train ride to Canterlot.
I saw in the reflection of the mirror, that as soon as we left the north pole, CometSwirl's coat de-crystalized and her mame tumbled out of it's bun. She stared at it in awe. I turned to her. "We kinda got off on the wrong hoof. You know, me ignoring you. I'm really sorry about that."
She shrugged. "A shy, defensless pony like me... I'm used to it by now." Her voice was quiet and sweet. I smiled.
I reached out my hoof for a hoofshake. "SkySparkle."
She grasped my hoof uncertainly and said, "CometSwirl."
I asked, "You're the mailpony, right? Are you local or Equestria wide?"
She replied, "I'm just local. I'm too scared to go out of The Empire by myself."
We talked for ages. We didn't have too much in common, aside from the fact that nobody understands us. Finally, the intercom screeched, "All off for Canterlot!!!"
We collected our bags and trotted off. I looked around. The streets were all made frim cobblestone. The houses were all white with some fancy purple and yellow accents. I noticed how everypony carriyed themselves, hooves high and nises in the air. I imitated one of them and strutted about for a while. Comet was laughing her head off. Then after a while of this, we reach where the school was supposed to be. I winked at CometSwirl and kept strutting forwards. Comet fell into line behind me and said in a snooty voice that roooolled Rs, "Announcing her Rrrroyal highness! Princess-"
I bumped right into somepony and knocked CometSwirl down along with me. I got mad and sat up. "Hey! You should watch where you're going, you..." I trailed off.
The pony stood and towered over me. She was light orange and had a darker orange mane. The thing about her was, her mane faded into blue at the ends of it, the tip of her horn was purple and her eyes were rainbow. She shook herself off and smiled. "Well, THAT woke me up." She said.
Then she opened her wings and dusted them off. The edges of her wings were also purple. 'Wait a sec...' I thought. 'Flowing orange and blue mane, wings and horn... Princess MagmaEclipse!!!'
The realization crept onto me that I had just knocked over Princess MagmaEclipse, Patron of animals and Creator of Eclipses. I grabbed her hooves and cried, "Princess! I didn't realize it was you! Ishould of watched where I was going! I am SO sorry!Please don't banish me to the moon!"
She stared at me for a moment and then burst out laughing. I froze. "What?" I asked.
"Why in Equestria would I banish you to the moon?!" She said good-naturedly.
She offered me her hoof. I took it and stood. I hadn't realized I was on the bridge to the academy. I had passed the security gate. Then I remembered I was wearing my Crystal Empire official pass. MagmaEclipse squinted her strange eyes and read my badge. "Princess SkySparkle! I can't believe I didn't realize it was you! I should have known, my apologies!" She looked over my shoulder at Comet. Magma helped her up and said, "And you must be CometSwirl! Lovely to meet you!"
Comet looked at me with a mixture of shock and happiness on her face. Then Magma said, "You know, I have you both in at least one of my classes!"
I tilted my head. "Really? I didn't know you were a teacher. What classes?"
Magma picked up some sheets she had dropped. "Oops, wrong schedual, this isn't Bloomfountain!"
My jaw dropped. She was in Bloomfountain? What is Bloomfountain? Oh sorry. It is the absolute BEST school in Equestria. It was a university that most ponies with even the best magical abilities or the highest level of intelligence couldn't get in. Then Magma said, "Ah here we go! CometSwirl, I have you for History class, and Studies on the Magic of Friendship! Or just SMF for short," Comet beamed. "And SkySparkle... I have you for..." She shuffled her papers a bit. I stared at her waved mane for about a minute until she cried, "Found it! SkySparkle, I have you in THREE different optional courses! Good for you, you must have really high grades back in the Empire!"
I forced a smile. Of course my parents put me in three courses that didn't have to be taken. She continued,
"They are... Magic for Cilons and Unicorns, Understanding Wing Power," I rolled my eyes. Honestly? I'm not a freakin pegasus! "And you are also in SMF!"
I forced another smile. Then I said, "It was really nice meeting you, and sorry for bumping into you, but I think CometSwirl and I have to check into our dorms... See you tomorrow!"
"Bye!" Magma said. Comet and I galloped towards the entrance of the school, to our new lives.
I was so lost... I split up with CometSwirl, seeing as our we weren't in the same dorm. She seemed really nervous, but also excited to meet a new friend. I couldn't say the same for myself.
I was told that I was sharing a dorm with another pony taking Studies on the Magic of Boredom. What if she was weird? What if she was an egghead? What if she was a bully? Or even worse, Popular.
I was walking down a hall when I saw my number; 196. I took a deep breath and pushed open the door. There was an explosion of confetti. My first thought was, 'PinkiePie?'. But then I saw a pretty red pony that had a white swirl on her cheek with short green hair and unaturally blue eyes. She said, "Oh! Hello! My name's Pavaratti! You must be SkySparkle!" She threw the words at me in a high pitched voice. I was tempted to think it was Pinkie in disguise, but something told me eitherwise.
"Yup. That's me." I saw one side of the room had ballons and streamers everywhere. It was also plastered with Vinyl Scratch posters and pictures of her and her Dad... I think. I also spied a pink pony with short blue hair that I saw in the hallways, singing a pretty song. I saw the other side of the room, which was completly bland, and I threw my bag onto my bed. Then I emptyed it to find many posters and pictures. I smiled. Okay, so mabey my parents aren't like those parents that don't think of stuff. I posted my posters, placed pictures and filled my bookcase.
Then I sat down and decided to try and get to know 'Pavaratti'. "So..." I started. "What's your cutiemark for?"
It was obvious, but I wanted to make conversation. Her cutie mark had a soccerball, a football, a hockey puck and a baseball all squished together and covered with a white swirl like the one on her face. She giggled. "Being an athlete! Teeheehee! Obviously silly!"
I tried to laugh. I was still pretty depressed that my parents had sent me away, seeing that they packed everything i wanted them to. Then she asked me about my cutiemark, which was four stars. One of them resembled my Auntie Twilight's, just Silver and Gold, not Pink and Purple. I remembered the day well...
I was sitting on my mother's lap in the Empire. We were on the balcony that overlooked the kingdom. She was brushing my mane while teling me stories about the constellations in the night sky. I remember looking up at her, wearing my big circular glasses and asking, "Can you count the stars?"
She laughed. "I don't think you can count all the stars... But if you set your mind to it, you can do anything. Even count stars."
Then, when she left, I took out a notebook and began scetching out a picture if what the night sky looked like, dotted with little stars. I fell asleep on that balcony, and when I woke up, my cutiemark had appeared.
I said flatly to Pavaratti, "It's stargazing."
She stared at it. Then she smiled. "Oh yeah!"
A pink pony barged in. She was the same pony in the picture, with the blue hair. She also had blue eyes, though they didn't look as unatural as Pavaratti's. She said in an impatient voice, "Ratti, do you have my study book on SFM? I can't find it."
Ratti (fun nickname, mine's just Sky,) blinked then searched through a large black bag. "Mel... I believe you are in luck!" She emerged from the bag, holding a textbook in her mouth.
This Mel character sighed with relief and took the book. Then she spotted me. Then she glanced at Pavaratti, giving her a look that clearly said,
Aren't you going to introduce me?
Pavaratti smiled and said, "MelodyBreeze, SkySparkle. SkySparkle, MelodyBreeze! MelodyBreeze here is my twin sister, and SkySparkle's-"
"Your RoomMate." She gave me a smile that didn't reach her icy blue eyes. The she leaned into me and whispered, "If you hurt her, I'll have your horn." Then she leaned back and smiled again. "Agreed?"
I didn't know who she thought she was, but I felt like the smart thing to was to agree. She marched out after uttering a "Farewell."
After she left, I slouched immediatly. I haddn't realized how tense I was! I said, "That's your sister, huh."
She nodded. I was about to point out that She was as similar to MelodyBreeze as a Dragon is a Zebra, but she interrupted, "I'm adopted. Mel and I happened to be the same age, so we changed my birthday to the same day as her's."
I let that sink in. "Okay. Cool." Then I asked, "Just a question... Are you a cilon, or an Earth Pony?"
Pavaratti stared at me blankly, like I was speaking a different language, but then she mumbled, "Earth Pony. I think... No one ever knew my parentage. And I'm pretty sure if my mom was an almighty alicorn goddess, she would keep me in her care, not dump me in Ponyville on some random pony's doorstep."
I lay down on my bed, staring at the ceiling. "Sorry if that was uncomfortable for you, it's just... I've never- really had any friends that are mares. My friends are my parents and the captain of security's son."
Pavaratti gasped then turned around onto her belly. "Ooooh. A colt-friend?"
I hoped the heat in my fase wasn't visible. "Nononononononono. Not like that... We're just friends."
"Uh-huh."
"What?"
"You're a terrible liar."
"I was telling the truth!"
"You sure bout' that?"
"Forget it."
Later, after a great supper, we trotted back into our dorm areas. I trotted through a colt hallway and heard many of them wolfwhistle and stuff. Then One stallion, a pure black one with a green spikey mane grabbed my hoof. "Let's go some place quiet, sweetheart..."
I tried to pull away, but he was too strong. Then another colt slapped his hand away. He was a light grey pegasus with a red and orange mane that was blown back. He had a cutie mark with a comet on it. "ShockFlare, leave her alone." He said. His voice was deep, but not like Morgan Freemule.
ShockFlare did back off, into a room behind the colt and said, "C'mon Thunder! I was just playin!"
I clenched my teeth and growled, "It didn't seem like you were just playing."
He stepped forwards. "Why I aught to-"
I used my magic to levitate him in the air and clamp his mouth shut. "What?" I tilted my head teasingly. "Hit me?" I threw him into the dorm he was going into. Then I turned the the grey colt. "Thanks."
He nodded. "Don't mention it."
I held out my hoof. "SkySparkle."
He shook it. "I'm ThunderRunner." He looked at me. "SkySparkle... Hey! You're in Understanding Wingpower!"
I smiled. "Yup. That's me. I believe Unicorns and Pegasi and Earth Ponies should all have equal
Knowledge, be it math, science, arithmatic or wing power."
By his look,I could tell he hadn't understood a word, but was eating it up. He said, "I can't get into the Wonderbolts unless I take this course so, you know."
I nodded. Then I said, "I'll see you then."
He smiled in return. "See ya."
Once I returned to the dorms, I saw Ratti on her bed, reading a magazine of some sort. She looked up and grinned. Then, still looking at her magazine, she said, "You see... Fleck?"
I blinked. "Wha- what? No? What are you..."
Then she said, "Because it looks like you were struck by the cupid pony!!!"
I gasped in mock offense. "How dare you!?" I chucked my pillow at her. "Take that peasant!"
She threw it right back. Soon we had a fully fludged pillow war. Then a teacher came round amd said lights out. It was a bummer, but I was happy, because for the first time in forever, I had experienced true laughter.
"Miss. Sparkle! Eyes up here."
I stopped doodling on my wingpower textbook and stared boredly at the chalk board at the front. The teacher, Miss Sunny-Daze, (or just Ms. Daze) had just finished introducing herself. She was a pure white pegasus with an Orange, Pink, and Purple mane held up in a ponytail. Her cutie mark was a Sun. "Now, as I was saying, the southern winds blow..."
I lost track of the conversation for about five minutes when my name was called. "Ms. Sparkle?"
I blinked at her. "Yes Ms.?"
She asked, "So, where does the rain water get prossesed, SkySparkle?"
I bit my lip. "In the old days, the wind blew it to the old capitol of pegasi, Camelloop, but they decided CloudsDale was closer. So they set up a new factory there...?"
Ms. Daze nodded suspiciously. "Correct. Now, everypony will have to read from page One-Hundred and Twelve to One-Hundred and Thirty Three. Then I'd like an essay on the importance of the water funnel. Minimum of five paragraphs, on my desk tomorrow."
We all groaned and began our reading. I finished the pages quickly amd looked round' the room. There were at least ninty ponies in here. Most of them were pegasi. There were only two others who weren't Pegasus-seses. Me, and a purple unicorn I was sitting beside. She finished reading as well, and was doodling on the back cover. She had two golden earrings on her right ear, and had a neatly cut short dark purple mane streaked with gold. Her cutiemark had two golden lanterns.
I whispered quietly, "Hi."
She responded, "What's up." She sounded like she didn't know why she was talking to me.
I pursed my lips. "I'm SkySparkle."
She looked at me with her orange eyes. Her eyes flitted to my textbook, where I had scribbled my name on the cover. (Princess SkySparkle wuz here.) Then she rolled her eyes and muttered, "I can see that."
I used my magic to lift the words off my cover. Then I dropped them on the ground and stepped on them. She noticed my magic. "Oh, you're a unicorn. I didn't notice your horn." She said. "I'm Kimono."
I held out my hoof, but she looked at it distastfully, them whispered, "I don't care if you're a great unicorn, or that your daddy is the Captain of the Royal Guard, or that you're a Princess. I will be the top of our magic class. I need to be entered into that duel tornament. Winning means being on the top of the heap for the rest of my life. Don't get in my way. Okay?"
I said, "Don't count on it. If you're nice, I might just let you get second place."
The bell rang. I grabbed my stuff together and teleported to the door. Then I trotted out, my long yellow tail held high.
I was glad to be out of that room. Double block classes suck. I put my books away in my room and grabbed some bits. We had an hour off to figure out lunch, be it the cafeteria, or just in the city. But we had to be back to class in an hour.
I trotted onto the bridge leading out of the campus and into Canterlot. I looked at my bits for a moment and bumped right into MagmaEclipse again. I recoiled and rubbed my face. "Ow... Sorry... We've got to stop running into each other!"
She smiled and laughed. "Yes... Where were you off to?"
I told her I was going to the Zuppa café. Her rainbow eyes lit up. "I was going to meet my sisters there! We could lunch together!"
I forced a smile. An afternoon with a teacher wasn't exactly my idea of fun. Earlier, I tried to ask CometSwirl or Pavaratti if they wanted to go, but Comet wanted to spend time to get to know her new roomate, who happened to be Pavaratti's sister, MelodyBreeze. Ratti wanted to go out with her. So, I was left by myself. Oh, well. I saw Magma trotting off the bridge. I ran after her. "So..." I panted.
She glanced at me and slowed a bit. "Sorry." I nodded. She continued, "If we're gonna be friends, we should know more stuff about eachother."
I nodded again. She asked, "What's your favorite colour?"
I thought about that. "I like red and green."
Magma laughed. "Like Hearth's Warming? Haha! I like blue and pink. And purple. Okay, your turn!"
'To what!?' I asked myself. Then it hit me. 'I'm an idiot.' I told myself. Then a voice that sounded like a rock being dragged against another rock responded, 'Of course you are. You finally figured something out.' I ignored the voice and asked Magma, "How old are you?"
"Well... I'm immortal... So I kinda lost count of the years. But I'm around 987 years old... I'm trying to appear 17, however."
I stared at her. Then I laughed, "Well it's working!" She joined in with my giggling. Then I say, "I'm fourteen."
We joked a bit more. I learnt Magma enjoys reading and was born in a cave that apparently had a magic tree in it. I didn't believe that one, but meh. We kept talking until we were by the café. I trotted in. Then I stopped in my tracks. There, sitting at a table, were Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. They waved Magma over happily. She trotted over and sat. Then she pulled another pillow up and smiled at me, beckoning me. I walked cautiously up to their table and sat. They sat there, smiling at me. I blinked. Then Luna said in her refined voice, "Charmed to meet you personally, SkySparkle."
I nodded. I had seen her with my mother, but never on my own. Then Celestia said, "My favourite Great Niece! How you've grown! Last I saw you, you were a little filly!"
Her voice eased it's way into my soul and calmed me. I sat up and said, "It's nice to see you too. Both of you." I added.
A waiter came along and served us a brown liquid I believe is tea. I sipped it. Perfect. I glanced at the sisters, seeing that they had finished their cups already. I blinked again, my jaw dropping. The three giggled. I blushed, then drank the rest of the cup. I laughed after. We talked for a bit, then I said Princess Celestia's name.
The voice inside of me stirred and said almost evilly, "A daughter of Lumina? And Galaxor?" I had no idea what I was doing, because I thought the vouce was my self-consious, but it was doing this without my permission, seeing as I had no idea who Lumina or Galaxor were. It continued, "Revenge will be mine..." Then it disappeared.
My ears had flopped downwards. Celestia looked flustered, while Luna and Magma were busy eating their Zesty Cucumber Sandwiches. Then Celestia asked, "SkySparkle... Would you want to set up any private sessions with me?"
I blinked, then realized that she had heard the voice. She could help me understand what it was! I nodded and took a bite of my sandwich.
After all my other classes (Science, Arithmatic, check, double check, make it work!) I sulked back to the dorm. Ratti and MelodyBreeze and CometSwirl were sitting on the edge my bed. Melody stepped up. "We have decided..." Then she broke her formality. "Look, I'm really sorry about yesterday... I was having a bad day, and I wanted to make sure my little sis was safe. These two however tell me you're nice. I was wrong to do that."
I nodded, taking in what she was saying. "It's cool. What kind of mare would I be if I didn't accept an apology like that?" I gave her an awkward hug. Then the chimes went off signaling it was time to get to our dorms. I said a farewell to CometSwirl and MelodyBreeze. I would see them again tomorrow in Studies on the Magic of Friendship. Ratti told me that Melody was in it two. Then I would only have to know One other mare/colt in the class.
I hopped into my bed, and read the SMF textbook. It seemed interesting enough. And on my over-all day, with Melody... Honestly, she didn't seem so bad.