Prologue and Introductions
A strong smell of alcohol wafted through the air. The smell reached the nostrils of about 3 other ponies, but I wasn't really sure. A light music played in the background - I didn't know the song, but if I did, I wouldn't have been able to recognize it. The bottle on the bar counter in front of me shook with a crash as my head came down on it. I was out like a light.
Let me start over: I'm Silver Gloss, a light grey earth pony with a metallic blue mane. I was born and raised by my grandfather, a pegasus pony (DON'T ASK) in Manehatten. I never really fit in around Manehatten; I was too fragile, too feminine for the tough gangs and various thugs that roamed the streets. So, when I was 15, Gramps and I moved to Ponyville. In Ponyville, where most of the population are mares, I fit in quite well. At first sight, people saw me as female, but I didn't really mind, because, hey, if you're not you, then who are you?
Anyway, it was in Ponyville that I got my Cutie Mark: a large wrench, showing my love for mechanics. Contrary to my lithe figure, I am very robust when it comes to automatons and locomotives. This Cutie Mark got me into Canterlot's Ministry of Mechanics as a novice. I was so excited when I heard! Canterlot is the city I'd always dreamed about, and I wanted to go to for as long as I could remember, and being accepted to the Ministry of Mechanics was just icing on the delicious cake. But over the course of two semesters, four terms, and one heartbreak, I degraded from the pony with his whole life in front of him to a meer barfly, unconscious in a mixture of saliva and vodka on a floor that hadn't been cleaned in months.
This is my story.
"Hey, Silver! The mail's here, fetch it for me!"
I sighed, hearing my grandfather's retched cries from downstairs. I shut my Pony-pular Mechanics magazine, and threw it onto my pillow as I rose. I opened the door out of my room with my teeth and headed down the stairs.
"I'm going, Gramps," I yell in reply. "Just a minute!"
"Consarnit, young man, don't give me that lip!" His raspy voice responded, and although I couldn't see it, probably spraying his ancient spit all over his recliner. I hate that man. Sure, he raised me to the stallion I am today, but he treats me as a slave, always doing physical labour for him, even if it's the most menial thing. You know what makes it even worse? I don't get any muscle from it! Still as skinny, and, well, downright attractive in the mare-sense of the word. Where was I? Oh, right.
I skidded across the carpet, the soft material feeling nice under my hooves. I bent my neck down and slid the mail into my mouth, picking it up. I straightened up, and started a slow trudge into the living room, where my grandfather would be laying in his trademark recliner, waiting for visitors so he could bother them with tales of years yonder. Visitors never came anymore, and I bet you could see why.
I turned the corner into the living room, and cast my gaze down upon the decrepit old pony laying there, his glasses slightly askew, his disheveled mane (at least what's left of it) losing a couple hairs and smelled the soft stench of old cologne as if he was still trying to seduce his long lost wife. I spat the paper envelopes at him. I saw his eyes squint down onto the writing on the front, focusing and trying to recall what the letter "A" meant.
I spun around, ready to head back to my room and my very compelling magazine, when I heard him call out to me again.
"Silver, this here letter's for you! Who would want to write to you?" He gritted out, struggling to find another way to insult me. I slunk to his chair, my innate curiosity spiking. I snatched the letter from him and held it up in the dim dusk light filtering in through an open window. All I could make of the front of the envelope was a small wax marking. I didn't know it then, but this would be the most important letter of my life. I set the letter down again, and glanced at my ancestor.
"Thanks, Gramps. Glad to know you have so much faith in my friendships."
"Frienships? With your body, it's more like gayships!"
Oh, how I hate that man.
I shut the door behind me and dropped the envelope containing the letter on my desk. I reached over to the lamp sitting in the corner and turned it on. With the light from my desk brighter than the setting sun, I could then see what wax-mark was being used to seal the letter. The wax-mark seemed to have what appeared to be a pony with a horn, a unicorn. Common in Equestria. Taking a closer look, I noticed that the unicorn also happened to have wings. Not as common. A brief thought passed through my head.
'Wait, what if...' I scoffed at the mere idea. Like that would ever happen in a million years. I bent down and grabbed hold of the corner of the envelope lid and tore it across, leaving a large enough hole in the top for the letter to fall out with ease. Using my hoof to unfold the letter, I began to read.
My eyes darted back and forth, taking in all they could. A slight sweat started on my brow, and I could feel my coat dampening with perspiration.
'It can't be,' I thought, trying to convince myself. 'No way.'
But it was. That letter was the letter sent by the Princess of all Equestria, and it was informing me of my acceptance to the Ministry of Mechanics. Let's just say this would be the first of my faints to happen, and it certainly wouldn't be the last.
"OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH!!!!"
I was screaming like a little filly meeting DJ-P0N-3. My hooves were everywhere all at once and my mane was all in my face. The feeling of excitement burst through my entire body, making me jump around with enough energy to make a rabbit explode!
Once the energetic high wore off, I laid back on my bed, hindlegs dangling over the side, body sinking into the soft mattress below me. A euphoric sense washed over me. My two biggest dreams solved in one simple letter sent on an unexpected day to the most average house to perhaps the least expected pony to do such a profession. I positively shivered in glee, a huge smile plastered to my face.
I sat up, still at a loss for what to reply. I got off the bed, walked over to the letter still open on my desk. I glanced down at the sheet. This is what it read:
Dear Mr/Mrs. Gloss,
We are happy to inform you that your request to join Princess Luna's Ministry of Mechanics as a novice for the school year has been granted. Your class verification number is as following: ADA754. All students wishing to attend for the school year must be there in 3 weeks maximum. Your dorm has already been set up for you and your dorm mates. As is custom, you will not know these dorm mates until the day arrives that you meet. Have a nice day!
Your Princess,
Luna
Even after reading over it once more (this was about the 6 or 7th time, I can't quite recall) I was in shock. My dream to go to Canterlot is coming true, along with my future proffesion, as long as I did well. I was so psyched by this, that I just had to tell somepon- no, EVERYPONY! EVERYPONY HAD TO KNOW! I trotted over my window, pulled aside the blinds, pushed open the door, and poked my head out.
"HEY, EVERYPONY! I GOT ACCEPTED TO THE MINISTRY OF MECHANICS! YOU HEAR THAT?!?! I GOT ACCEPTED! HEY, OLD MAN WALKING ON THE SIDEWALK! I GOT ACCEPTED TO THE MINISTRY OF MECHANICS! I BET YOU NEVER GOT ACCEPTED TO THE MINISTRY OF MECHANICS! I GOT ACCEPETED TO THE- WOAHHH!"
With each progressive word, I had inched myself out of the window. By the time I had started that last sentence, I was teetering out of the window, and I never even noticed. I fell out of the window and landed in the rose bushes below, the very rose bushes I spent last week trimming and priming. To make a painful story short: ouch.
The days passed in a breeze. I barely remember any of it, but I remember doing everything that old lout of a grandfather told me to do with a huge smile on my face. Physical labour? No problem, I was going to university. The days melted into weeks and those weeks slipped by like a comedian on a banana peel. Soon, I was packing my saddle bags with the clothes and supplies I would need for school.
"Blankets, books, my PonyStation 3, The Pony Scrolls: Skyrim, perhaps my favourite pair of pajamas..." I was listing off the things that I couldn't live without, home or the Ministry. I was so entranced with my packing, I never noticed my grandfather standing in the door way. I heard a brief squeak of a floorboard, and breaking my concentration, turned to see what it was. I was astonished to see Gramps there! He never leaves his arm chair, and even if he did, would never EVER go to my room.
"Silver," He said, tears starting to form in his eyes. "You're leaving for the Ministry in 3 hours, and I won't see you for a long time. Knowing my age and physical state, I may never see you again."
Tears streamed down my cheeks.
"Gramps..." I said softly, feeling more for my grandfather than ever before. He stepped closer to me, and my heart melted, glad to finally see my paternal needs met.
"And the fact that this will be our last moments together," Gramps said, emotion packed in every word. "It makes me want to tell you, like I always should have been telling you, that I...
"Yes?" I replied eagerly.
"That I- I..."
"Yes?!"
"That I'm so glad you're leaving forever."
I dropped.
"You've been a nuisance here for years now, and I can't take much more of ya! And just so you know, when you fail, and you will fail, that you won't be accepted back here!" My grandfather told me, truth said very strongly. He turned and left the room, clambering down the stairs, toward his awaiting recliner.
"Love you too, Gramps." I muttered sarcastically. Why would I ever get something like that from him? Why would I even think that?
I zipped my saddle-bags shut, slid them on, and left my room, shutting the light off as I exited. I felt a strange sense, as I was leaving, that I wouldn't see that room for a long time.
The train hit a rough patch, jolting me from my sleep. Looking out of the window through groggy eyes, I guessed we were about half way there.
'Well, I guess I better check out what else is on this train, maybe talk with the engineer up front,' I thought to myself. 'If I told him I'm in the Ministry of Mechanics, maybe he'll even let me drive the train!' With that thought in mind, I got off my seat, and started walking through the car.
A couple other ponies were in the car with me: two elderly ponies playing what appeared to be chess on a table separating them. A third pony lay asleep, much like I was, cheek pressed up against the glass, drool dripping down onto his lap. He had a small car as his Cutie Mark. I assumed he was out cold, and wouldn't wake up until we arrived. One of the elder ponies addressed me.
"Ahh, I see you're awake!" The pony with a deep brown coat and a light gray mane said to me with a smile. "You were quite the sleeper."
"And his snores weren't bad either!" The other pony with a light red coat and, surprisingly enough, a deep red mane despite his age, joked, laughing a deep chuckle. The other pony laughed with him.
"Oh, Crimson Tides," The former pony said to the newly named Crimson Tides. "You always were the jokester!"
I stood there awkwardly, unsure of whether to laugh along with them, or just ignore them completely.
"Oh, where are my manners?" The pony with the gray mane said to me, holding out a hoof. "I'm Diamond Forge, I believe you already know Crimson Tides."
"I'm Silver Gloss, very nice to meet you." I lied. It wasn't nice to meet them. Although Diamond Forge seemed nice enough, I didn't like his friend. Something about him just didn't click with me.
"Pardon me for asking, but what are you doing on a train bound for Canterlot? Shouldn't a young lad like you be heading to cities like Fillydelphia or Manehatten to seek his fortune, not a timely old place like Canterlot?" Diamond Forge asked, offering me a seat beside him. I kindly declined.
"Actually," I answered him, ignoring the comments from Crimson Tides about how much action I was missing by not going to Los Pegasus ("Whatever happens in Las Pegasus, stays in Las Pegasus!" He informed me). "I'm on my way to Canterlot's Ministry of Mechanics, to study and learn for the school year."
A strange smile settled on Diamond Forge's face.
"Oh, really?" He muttered to himself. "Well, this could be interesting."
"Anyway, I've got to be going now." I mentioned to him, starting to walk away. "Catch you later, or something."
I wiped the sweat from my brow as I opened the door to the car in front of my own; who knew meeting new ponies was this hard? I mean, I met new ponies when I moved to Ponyville, but Ponyville has a small population, barely larger then a district of Manehatten. And this was my first time meeting anypony new in... what? A year?
I continued my trek, this car completely deserted. I paid it no mind, glad I didn't have to introduce myself to any other ponies. I wasn't quite sure how many cars from the front of the train I was, but I hoped there wouldn't be much more. Opening the next door, and stepping in made me audibly gasp, and quite loud too.
I had stepping into an entire car filled with pastries and sugar. Cakes upon cakes, chocolate upon those cakes, and what I believed to be giant piles of whipped cream on top of the chocolate and cakes. But what really surprised me, what really took my breathe away was the rose-coloured beauty lying in it all. Her poofy hair was piled up on her head, and the huge smile on her face showed that she was as content as can be. I approached her nervously, knowing that I was instantly smitten, although I didn't want to admit it.
"Hello?" I asked. The pony's head lifted up to look at me.
I heard another gasp, but this time, it wasn't me. A flash of pink was all I got to see before I was thrown face-first into a giant cake, feeling another pony land beside me.
"Mmph mmlk phet woot phort!" The pony said to me, but since we were both buried in icing, she was pretty muffled. I yanked my head out of the icing, the force pulling my entire body out of cake, and onto the floor. The blossom pony poked her head out of the cake as I stared in bewilderment at the sweet loving gorgeous pony in front of me, a large piece of the inside of the cake on her head.
"What?" I managed to say through the cake in my mouth, the words barely coming out, as my throat went dry, and I began to sweat rapidly.
"I've never met you before!" Her voice sounding like an angels chorus, the words swimming around me, and kissing my cheek before going into my ears.
"What?" I repeated stupidly.
"I said, 'I've never met you before!'" She said, a fun loving smile still on her head.
I mentally slapped myself. How could I have forgotten the first rule of meeting a pretty filly?? NEVER make a filly repeat herself three times.
"I'm Silver Gloss, ma'am. Who might you be?" I tried to sound as dignified and sophisticated as I could, trying to impress her. A pink foreleg poked out of the cake that already had a head sticking out of it. The foreleg made it seem as though the cake was some form of a Mr. Potato Head. I touched her hoof with my own, bliss settling over me.
"Hi, Silver Gloss! My name is Pinkie Pie!"
