Chapter I: The Epitome of Monotony
Hi, my name is Arrick. Im what most people would consider a typical seventeen year old. I go to school like everybody else, but unlike a lot of people in my neighborhood, I actually try to get good grades. Everyone says that Im a pretty good kid. Yes, I am a Brony, but Im a bit of a rare breed. Why, you may be asking? Ill tell you why: Im black. Now, Ive been ridiculed to no end for my "Brony-ism", even to the point of one of my closest friends calling me "A disappointment to my own race". But Ive never let it get to me, & thats just one of the things that people like about me. Im resilient & sometimes a bit secretive, but once you get to know me, Im probably one of the nicest guys you`ll meet. My life was the embodiment of monotony, boredom & tedium, though. (Another thing that people say is that I have an extremely extensive vocabulary. Hell, I even won an award for it when I was in kindergarten.) I would wake up at 6:00 AM, go to school, come home at 2:30, then do my homework, play video games, or watch My Little Pony until I ate dinner & went to bed. That was exactly what I did every single freaking day. I think I know why I love Kingdom Hearts so much. I feel for Riku. We both believed that we were destined to do something more than what we already did, & that the first real challenge of our lives would be escaping from the borderline prison we lived in. We both succeeded, but our methods led us both to personal failure. Riku became the human embodiment of Darkness & almost killed his friends & himself, & I made some half-decent friends who ended up betraying me at the flip of a coin. I had been through a lot, & so for the longest time, I did everything in my power to avoid doing anything that could possibly lead to me making friends.
But that was before I became a Brony.
It was a fairly normal day, & I was talking to the one person that had remained my friend throughout my life: a guy named Chris, who was only two years older than me. I was at his house, & we were just sitting around playing Battlefield 3. I was never a huge fan of FPS`s, but Battlefield & Halo were exceptions.
"& boom goes the dynamite!" I exclaimed as the round ended, claiming me as the victor. I usuallly didn`t trash talk a lot when I played video games, but Chris said that it gave him something to prevent, which in turn made him work a lot harder & get a lot better.
"Yeah, that was pretty awesome. Say, I`ve got something to show you." Chris told me as he picked up his laptop.
"What?"
"Youll see..." I didnt like that weird grin he was giving me, but I had learned over time to normally expect the best from him. He opened up a CD case & pulled out a blank CD simply marked, "FiM S1, Ep. 1+2". He placed the disc inside his laptop & it began to play. After only about two minutes, I asked a very important question.
"Chris, the fuck is this?"
"My Little Pony. Just give it a chance, Im pretty sure youll like it."
"Isn`t this supposed to be for like, girls?"
"Not anymore, bro. Not. Any. More." Chris always had a way of sounding intimidating, even when he wasnt trying very hard. We watched a single episode, & I found myself addicted. He had two whole seasons on DVDs, & we ended up watching both of them. He then introduced me to a few other interesting things; a site dedicated to fanfiction, an entire news site with its own app, which I promptly downloaded, & even a massive number of musicians & artists. & to think that all of this was inspired by a TV show about magic cartoon horses. I also found myself extremely interested in writing, so I gave it a try. My first couple of attempts didn`t go so well, but I got the hang of it from reading a lot of it, & I honed my skills quite quickly.
I was particularly happy today. It was the first day of summer vacation, & I had stopped by the small electronics shop on my way home & gotten quite the deal: a copy of Kingdom Hearts RE: Chain of Memories, Kingdom Hearts II, Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy X-2, & The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, all for a total of twenty-seven dollars. It was one of the only places I knew of that still sold PS2 & GameCube games, & I was quite lucky for that. I was walking home from school, whistling one of my favorite MLP related songs. I couldn`t help it anymore, & began to actually sing. I looked absolutely ridiculous, but I was enjoying myself more than I could imagine, & that was all that mattered.
"Pinkie Pie, Twi, Shy, Aj way more, ponies than I thought freakin out, minds blown, grabbin like a klepto now Im on a roll, payin` at the-"
My revelry was interrupted by a shocking discovery. The window that led into the living room of my house was completely shattered. My mom was at work, but my sister was at home. I had to make sure that she was okay, but I couldnt go in just yet. What if we had been robbed, & they were still inside? I ran out to the garage, & pulled off a quick bit of ingenuity. I duct taped a very sharp piece of scrap metal to the end of a hockey stick, effectively creating a makeshift scythe. I came back around & climbed through the window, being careful not to step on any broken glass. As I walked through the house towards my sisters bedroom, I stopped. I could hear a strange noise that sounded almost like breathing coming from inside my room, but I didnt check it out, since it was probably just my cat. She always loved sleeping on my bed when I was gone. I stepped forward & opened the door to my sisters room. She was laying on her bed in a borderline coma, snoring loudly. Knowing she was still alive, I headed back through the hallway to make sure that I heard my cat & nothing else. There was no way that I could`ve prepared myself for what I saw.
There was a decent sized mound of lilac blue on my bed, topped with a pile of cerulean & white.
"What the..."
I stepped a bit closer, & noticed a few things. First of all, the sound was coming from whatever this was, so it was clearly alive. Second, it had wings! This was starting to look very familiar, but it couldn`t be...
The pile stirred & moved, & I could see a pair of large rose-colored orbs staring back at me, a look of fear plastered across them.
"Cloudchaser!? DAFUQ!?"
The pegasus visibly flinched from my shout, so I dropped my makeshift weapon, crouching down on one knee & reaching a hand out towards her, which simply made her shrink back further.
"Its fine. Im not going to hurt you." I told her in a calm & soothing voice. I had experience with young puppies from doing a small amount of volunteer work at an animal shelter, so I imagined that she would be kind of like a puppy. I continued, keeping my voice low as I spoke.
"Are you okay? Was that you that broke my window?"
"Im sorry, I didnt mean-"
"Its perfectly fine. I can fix it anytime. Im more worried about you. Did you get hurt coming thorugh the window?"
"A little bit..."
"What happened?"
She lifted up one of her wings, revealing a small cut on her side. Nothing big, though.
"Stay right here. I`ll be back in a second."
I stood up & headed towards the bathroom, but before I left, Cloudchaser decided to address me again.
"Excuse me?"
"What?"
She stood up & climbed off of my bed, trotting lightly over towards me.
"Why are you being so nice to me already? I barely even know you, & you barely know me."
"Well, I just always thought that the world would be a better place if everyone could give out a little bit of kindness." I reached back down & ruffled her mane a bit, which just made it look even more awesome than before.
"Huh. So, am I still in Equestria?"
"As far as I know, no. Im sorry, but Equestria doesnt even exist here. Or at least not in real life."
"What does that mean?"
"I`ll explain later."
I headed into the bathroom & grabbed a few supplies, then came back & fixed the cut under her wing.
"I`ll be back in just a minute."
"Okay."
I reached down & scratched underneath her chin, which she clearly enjoyed. I kept scratching just to see how adorable she would look. Needless to say, I nearly developed diabetes. I then walked back towards my sister`s room, noticing that she was now awake.
"Arrick? Who were you talking to?"
My expression turned to a combination of excitement, anticipation, & worry. What if she couldn`t stay in our house? Then again, where would she go? I turned back to my sister, changing the aforementioned expression to pure fanboy-ism.
"Sam, you`re not gonna believe this."
My Little Cloudchaser
Chapter II: Finally, Some Variety!
"Whats going on here!? This shouldnt even be possible! Were going to get arrested for harboring an alien!" My sister was pacing back & forth in the middle of my room, going through all of the worst possible scenarios, when she said something that she couldnt have known about.
"Of all the things that could happen, this is the worst. Possible. Thing!"
I began snickering uncontrollably, finally bursting into full-blown laughter.
"What`s so funny?"
"Nothing, Rarity."
"I dont even want to know what that joke was, but I have a feeling as to what the answer would be. Now, what in Gods name are we going to do with that!?" She asked, pointing at Cloudchaser.
"First of all, it is a she. Second, she can talk, you know. Third, she has a name."
"Oh yeah, & what is it?" She asked, obviously talking to Cloudchaser.
"C-Cloudchaser." She was almost whispering, & I could tell that it was because she was completely terrified. I crouched down to her level once again, putting some extra assurance into my voice. I might as well have been a son of Aphrodite, because it felt like I was using charmspeak.
"Look, Cloudchaser. Everythings fine. Neither one of us is going to hurt you. You can trust me on that. I may have only known you for about an hour, but Id do anything for you." I leaned forward, wrapping my arms around her neck. This was clearly melting my sisters heart. I had never had this kind of connection with a human before, much less an animal. Then again, she had about the same level of intelligence as a human, so talking to her was more like talking to a normal woman. Or would she be a girl? Id have to ask about her age later on. Cloudchaser looked up at me & asked me a question.
"What did you say your name was?" She was clearly warming up to me.
"Arrick."
Okay, she is officially 20% cuter in real life.
"Cloudchaser, but I`m pretty sure you already knew that."
"So, are you hungry?"
"Kind of."
My sister turned to me, very distrusting of my idea.
"Arrick, what is she going to eat? From what I know, ponies are vegetarians."
"Well, we`ve got some vegetables. Hey Cloudchaser, do you eat potatoes?"
"Yeah!"
"Okay, I think we`re gonna be really good friends." I stood up & began to leave the room, motioning for her to follow me. As we walked through the hallway, I looked back at the window, then to my watch. 5:00. My mom would be home from work in half an hour.
How the hell am I going to explain this to her?
Cloudchaser was sitting next to me on the couch, eating some random vegetables that I had found in the kitchen. I looked at my watch again. 5:28. My heart was pounding, just trying to think about what would happen when my mom came home. A few minutes later, I heard an engine rumbling in the driveway. I turned to the pegasus sitting next to me, my expression turning somewhat grim.
"Cloudchaser. This might be the last time I actually talk to you. Follow me."
I led her back into my bedroom, & closed the door. My mom walked through the door, sitting down on the couch not much later. I headed back through the hallway, & noticed that I was sweating quite a bit.
"Hey, mom." I said, my voice dripping with nervousness.
"Hey. What`s wrong? You look like you saw a ghost. Wait a minute, what the hell? How did the window get broken!?"
"I can explain! Follow me."
I led her back to my bedroom door, & turned around to face my mom again.
"Okay, Id like to say that what youll see in here is in no way my fault, & youre probably going to freak out. but once again, & I cant stress this enough, it`s not my fault." I opened the door & the two of us stepped forward. Her jaw dropped to the floor at the sight of Cloudchaser sitting on my bed.
"Arrick, first of all, is that a pony!? Second of all, why is it in our house!? I thought it was just a TV show!"
"Well, that`s what I thought at first. Also, I already said this to Samantha, & I will not hesitate to say it again. She. Has. A. Name."
"& what would it be?"
The lilac pegasus looked over towards my mother, speaking somewhat quietly.
"My name is Cloudchaser. I`m sorry if I caused you any trouble."
"It`s fine, Cloud." I told her, giving a warm smile.
"You`re giving it nicknames now?"
"It is a she, you know! & yes."
"Why are you getting so defensive over an animal?"
Me & Cloudchaser were both sporting a look that showed a combination of anger, sadness, pain, & offense all in one. I stepped closer, my expression turning to pure rage.
"Do you realize what you just said!? She is as far from an animal as you could possibly get! Sure, she looks like one, but she has the intelligence, reasoning, & emotion that all humans, except for you obviously, can feel & use! From what I can tell, she`s more of a human than you."
My mother was clearly hurt by my outburst, which only fueled my anger even more.
"Fine! If you want to start treating animals like people, then you might as well live with them. Until you stop acting like that... whatever it is, is a person-"
"Pegasus! Hello, wings!?"
"I don`t give a damn. As of now, you & that thing are no longer welcome in this house. If you come to your senses & get rid of it, then you can come back."
"Fine! Cloudchaser, come with me."
I gathered everything in the house that belonged to me into a few bags. I also grabbed some food out of the refrigerator & placed it in an old cooler. My mother was at least kind enough to let us take some food & other things. I was standing at the door, looking back at her.
"Well, this is goodbye. You may have said that I needed to come to my senses, but you`re the only one that needs to do it. Tell Samantha I said goodbye."
I turned around & walked out the door. It was about 9:30 at night, so nobody could see us outside. Cloudchaser was making a strange noise as she walked beside me. After a few seconds, I realized that it was crying. I stopped moving, & she did the same as I leaned down towards her.
"Cloudchaser, is something wrong?"
"Yes. I just made you leave your own home just because Im not a human. Clearly, I was just sent here to ruin someponys life."
"You do realize that everything you just said is absolutely wrong? If anything, you were sent to make my life better. I had wanted to leave home, but I couldnt just yet. You helped me more than you hindered me. Besides, I have plenty of relatives & friends that might be able to let us stay with them. Come on, lets go. Ive got a really good friend that lives close to here, & hell definitely want us with him."
I pulled my phone out of my pocket & activated its voice commends.
"Call Chris."
The phone rang for a short time, & I could hear Chris picking up the phone.
Hey man. What`s up?
"Hey Chris. Can you be at your door in five minutes? I`ve got something you have got to see."
Alright. See you in five.
"Bye."
I hung up & turned back to Cloudchaser.
"Cloud, Im gonna need you to fly as high as you can for a while. Just make sure you can still see me. Theres a lot of people on this street, & I cant take the risk of anyone seeing you before we get where were going."
"Okay!"
Cloudchaser jumped into the air, flying to a surprising height. I continued walking towards Chris` house inconspicuously.
