Where the Wind Goes

The first thing that came to my mind that day after leaving the station was the cold air... I mean, it was very cold outside. I rubbed my shoulders one at a time as Cobalt and I were waiting on the sidewalk for Classic.

"What? Are you freezing out here?" Cobalt asked when he looked at me.

"Well, I didn't remember the city was this... cold," I answered.

"Is that why you are shaking so badly? I thought it was for the concert…" He said teasingly with a smirk on his face.

"Am I shaking?" I asked, placing the hoof I had on my shoulder in the floor.

Cobalt smiled and opened his mouth to say something, but the sound of a claxon interrupted him. We turned to the street. Classic had arrived on his car, a big black one of our uncle’s company. It had tinted windows and golden wheels. I thought it was strange that Classic would bring a borrowed car. One of the front windows slipped down and Classic poked his head out of the car.

"Get in," he said and he pulled his head inside again. "I'm taking us to the hotel," he said with a smile on his face while placing a pair of sunglasses on his eyes.

I rolled my eyes and smiled as I entered the car, Cobalt followed me inside. The car’s inner decoration was white and crème color, and it was pretty big enough for me to do need to take my saddlebags off to sit down. Once inside, I noticed that Classic wasn't driving, there was a driver. I knew it! Cobalt entered the car and closed the door. Classic was watching us through the driver's mirror.

"To the downtown, please," he instructed the driver, and turned to us. "So... what's up?" he asked casually. Cobalt rolled his eyes.

“Well, we have the tickets and the transport. We need to find a hotel close to the downtown. The concert is going to be on sweet Apple Acres, so I think that a hotel close to the city square should be okay,” he said.

“Very well,” Classic answered, “you have the plan, I have the tickets, and Sun Seeker has the desire to go.” They both looked at me smiling. I smile to them blushing. They knew that the concert was… especially special for me.

I must admit, I was very excited for all this. I was going to meet my idol! I have been listening to Red Spark's music since I moved to Ponycity. My dream was to go to one of his concerts, and when Cobalt called me one week ago to my new house in Solstice to invite me to the concert... well, I couldn't have been happier.

"Completely,” I answered. “I would like to help you in anything I can,” I said, thinking of what Classic had said before. He was right. What I was helping to? I just had come, I wasn't helping with anything at all.

I looked to the city through the car's window, remembering the years I used to live here in the city. As we moved into the downtown of the city, Cobalt and Classic started talking about our first year that we haven't been together. Not since Classic moved to Canterlot, or me to Solstice. It had been "thanks" to my uncle. He had suddenly come with the idea that it was better for me and for my "proper education and formation as pegasi" to move to any of the cloud cities. Gosh... what could he know? He is not even a pegasi like me, he is a unicorn!

I shook my head trying to get rid of those thoughts, remembering my uncle only reminds me of... well, my parents. And I don’t like to talk about them… or think about it.

I keep looking at the buildings and houses as the car moved, I needed to get distracted of those memories. I noticed that Classic and Cobalt had stopped talking. They were now looking at me in silence. I turned to them.

"Are you crying?" asked Cobalt, worried. Crying? Oh my gosh... Did I let myself to cry again for that after all these years? I took my hoof to touch my cheek, I felt it slightly wet. I quickly cleaned the tear I didn't felt falling from my eye.

"Is it everything alright, Sunny?" asked Classic. He rarely calls me by my nickname.

"Yeah, yeah... Everything alright, just... remembering the old times." I answered and forced a small smile out. Cobalt smiled at me.

"Sure, those times were the best," Classic said. "Remember that time when...?"

It was very lucky that they didn’t come with more questions. I truly didn’t want to answer them. Cobalt, Classic, and I started talking about our old adventures in the city, which calmed me down. We remembered our six years together, since the day we met for the very first time at Miss Pollen's camp on summer six years ago... to our secret party the night before Classic left the city last year. I wasn't sad anymore, I was happy to be with my friends again. We were so entertained talking that we didn't even notice when we arrived to the downtown.

The car stopped beside the sidewalk and the driver nodded to Classic.

"We are here Mr. Classic, what do you want me to do now?" asked the driver.

"Tell him to meet us tomorrow at the hotel, Classic," said Cobalt "We won’t need transport while we are here." Classic nodded to him.

"Wait us at the hotel tomorrow at 12 pm to take us to the train station," instructed Classic.

"Sure thing," answered the driver. We got out of the car. Classic had to take his saddle bags out from the car's trunk before joining us in the sidewalk. Once we were ready, the car leaved.

"Let's go, we must find the hotel before the nightfall," said Cobalt. He started walking into the downtown, which hadn't streets for the cars. We followed.

Cobalt Value, he is an earth pony, and probably my best friend. He is silvery gray and has an obsidian black mane. His eyes are green and his Cutie Mark is a cut of a cobalt rectangle, shining as a reluctant gray metal. He is just one of the best ponies you can ever meet. He was the first foal to talk to me on Miss Pollen's camp, and along with Classic White, the first one to be my friend. Classic on the other hoof… well, he surely is my friend, but, I don’t know… he teases me a lot. But still, he is one of the best and kindest ponies anypony could find around. He is my cousin actually… or something like that. My uncle is married to his aunt. I think that doesn’t truly make us anything, but we still say that to the ponies we meet, it’s kind of a joke we always have made.

We walked through the main square, passing in front of the Harmony monument, a big and white statue that featured the six first portrayers of the “Elements of Harmony”. As always, there was a huge mass of tourists taking photos around it. The monument surely was pretty impressive, but I lived here for six years, it doesn’t have any effect on me anymore.

I was watching everypony around me. I really liked to walk on the downtown, so much... variety. There were all types of ponies and non-ponies around the place! There were earth ponies and unicorns walking on the street, sitting on benches, or eating on a restaurant on the street.

There were some mules, donkeys, alpacas and zebras too. I even saw a camel I think. I looked up to the sky. Pegasi and gryphons flied over the city and played in the clouds. Ponycity is well known for being the most cosmopolitan city in all Equestria, you would never find such variety anywhere else. I was smiling, of course. I enjoyed all this, in Solstice you couldn’t feel so much presence, I mean, it is a cloud city, only pegasi can live there.

We kept walking on the main street following Cobalt until he turned on a little alley. We crossed the alley to later enter on a parallel street in which we knew there was a hotel. The building was three stories tall and had many windows and balconies on the second and third floor.

As the rest of the buildings of the downtown, it was white and had an old medieval earth pony architecture style. We entered the place and walked to the reception. On the inside, the hotel was very well lit and beautifully decorated. There were a few ponies on the lobby, and one behind reception bar. He was dressing a red uniform and was typing something on the desk computer he had in front of him. We walked there.

"Good afternoon, my friends. What can I do for you?" said the pony of the reception.

"Let me handle this," Classic said to Cobalt and took a step forward and cleared his throat. I caught a glimpse of Cobalt rolling his eyes. I muttered a laugh.

"Do you have any rooms left?" He asked.

"It depends, sir. How many are you?" The pony answered.

"Three," Classic said.

"Then I am afraid I don't," said the pony.

"Oh, well... in that case, thank you. Good after-" Classic was saying when Cobalt interrupted him.

"You have any rooms for two?" He asked. Classic narrowed his eyes at him and walked backwards.

"Yes, we have," said the receptionist.

"We will take one for tonight," answered Cobalt.

"That would be 120 bits, sir," the receptionist said pompously.

Cobalt paid with some bills and the receptionist gave him a key. He then wrote something on the computer he had on the desk. We walked to the stairs. The room was on the third floor.

"Why did you accept that room? We are three, you know." Classic asked, almost offended.

"Relax, Classy, you two will stay here. I can return to my house right after the concert, we will meet again on the morning," Cobalt answered. "Besides, we probably couldn't have found another hotel. There are too many ponies coming to the concert too."

We went through the stairs and into the third floor. There were only 4 rooms. We have got the number 34. We entered the room. It was pretty nice. It had its bathroom, a closet, two dark red beds, a small table with a lamp over it, and a TV.

Classic, Cobalt, and I let the saddlebags on the floor, sighing at the release of the weight on our backs.

"I have to use the bathroom," Cobalt said and entered it. Classic used his mouth to carry his saddlebags close to one of the two beds. He took the TV remote, which was on his bed and turned on the TV. I noticed there was a balcony on our room. I moved my bags close to the other bed and entered the balcony.

I looked outside to the street. There were many ponies walking by. In the sky were ponies and gryphons too. I looked at the city, I couldn’t see most of it, but I still liked the view. The sun was already going down. The sky wouldn’t late to paint itself of orange and red. I smiled, but a small breeze of wind made me shake of cold, losing the smile. I entered again to the room.

"...of governor Dawn Song. The new politics were not taken as well to governor Sunburst, who openly attacked him on an interview stating that Dawn Song didn't had the experience to manage such an important responsibility. Governor Horizon decided to..." I could hear the TV news.

I closed the door of the balcony and sat on the bed to see what was going on in the TV.

"...Dawn Song accepted to assist the Great Council meeting this weekend..." I looked at who was being showed on TV, it was Dawn Song, the young pegasi governor of Solstice. He was... ehm, well, young and a bit handsome too. He had a night sky blue coat and an orange and light blue mane. He had dark orange eyes and a Cutie Mark of a sun rising behind a sea, which anypony could see unless he wasn’t wearing a suit or any clothes.

"What's happening?" I asked Classic, who was paying attention too.

"I don't really know... I heard something about the Supreme Council meeting this weekend," he answered. I nodded.

Cobalt opened the door of the bathroom and walked out.

"Let's get ready," he said. "I want to get there early, there is going to be too many ponies tonight."

Classic turned off the TV with the remote and went to retrieve the golden tickets from Cobalt's bag. Cobalt took out a dark red hoodie from it. He put it on, it had Red Spark's Cutie Mark, a flame, on its back.

"Oh! Let me see it!" I said as I approached to him. He had turned around and sat down on the floor. I could watch it perfectly, it was awesome.

"Thanks!" I said, smiling.

"I knew you would like it," he said and turned around, "I even brought this to you!" he said and threw me a piece of cloth. It landed right in my hoof, which I just had put in front of me to protect my face.

I looked at what had arrived on my hoof. It was a hoodie just like his. I smiled widely. Was he really doing all this for me?

"Oh, thank you!" I said with a big smile. It was awesome! I put it on. It even had the holes for my wings.

“Perfect, we now can go the concert perfectly dressed.” said Classic. He was talking with a slightly annoyed tone. I noticed he was also wearing a hoodie, and he had taken off his bow tie. I giggled, he looked funny.

“I didn't know you were fan of him too,” I said, teasingly.

“I'm not, Cobalt convinced me,” he answered with a serious tone. Cobalt and I smiled and walked to the door.

We leaved the room and went down to the lobby. There was another group of three ponies in there, wearing a gray hoodie, a vest, and a shirt of the concert respectively. They would surely go too.

Cobalt, Classic, and I walked out of the hotel. The sun was going down, the street lights turned on.

We started walking again to the main street. We were going to cross the alley we used before. Cobalt and Classic crossed it without hesitation, but I… I don't know, it seemed darker than before. I walked backwards, I was about to call them, but I accidentally bumped against somepony. I felt it: big, too big for a normal pony, and it had too much fur on his coat. I gulped. What if it wasn’t a pony? I turned slowly around. A big, brownish camel was looking down to me.

“Uh… Hi?” I asked nervously, turning completely to him and walking backwards slowly into the alley. The camel just kept looking at me with his black eyes without saying anything.

“Look brother, another pegasi!” said a soft feminine voice behind him. A head poked behind him and the silhouette of another camel came closer to me.

“It is the first one I see walking instead of flying,” said the first one, the one I had bumped with.

“Then don't miss the opportunity,” said the female one.

The two camels didn't look different, only that the female was wearing some kind of jewelry on her ears and neck. The first one walked around me. I was too scared to say something or walk away, they looked intimidating. As the first one examined me with full attention I looked to his back, two tall hunchbacks emerged from it. He had some saddle bags on them and other things, like paper scrolls (which seemed a bit odd, because nopony use scrolls anymore). The camel walked close to my side and used his hoof to grab my wing and stretch it. I closed it quickly and walked backwards to the alley.

“I'm sorry, really, but I have to go now,” I said nervously and I walked more into the alley to escape.

“No! Wait please, just a moment,” the camel said like trying to calm me down. He had a strange accent.

“I… can't,” I said. Those camels were starting to scare me. What do they wanted from me? Why had he stretched my wing just like that?

“Please, just a second, you are the first pegasus I have seen on the street. I just want to take a look,” said the camel.

They were not the first camels I have seen before, but they were the first ones I had actually talked too.

Camels have been coming to Equestria since long time ago, always wandering and studying us and our culture. They only travel on independent caravans, so each one makes its own different studies.

“But I am going to be late, and my friends-“ I was saying while walking backwards when I bumped with somepony again. At first I thought it was Classic or Cobalt who had returned for me, but as I turned around I noticed that it was another camel.

“Oh! Another feathered flyer from the west! It is sooo opportune to us that you are not walking on the clouds like the other ones,” said the third camel.

“Wa- walking on the clouds? You mean flying?” I asked. I was starting to get really nervous. Where my friends could be? The three camels were now surrounding me inside the alley.

“Just a look, I have to make one annotation. Just one, please,” said the first one I had bumped too. I looked at him nervously.

“Do what he says, we have traveled a long way here, reward our patience with a bit of your cooperation,” said the female one.

The three walked close to me, I walked backwards until I hit the wall of the alley. I was about to fly away when one of the camels restrained me to the wall. I gasped and I closed my eyes flinching, I was truly, truly scared. I felt some tears falling from my eyes as I felt one of the camels stretching completely my wing. I couldn’t look at it, for one moment I thought they would take a knife from their saddle bags and cut it off, but instead I heard something like a pen writing on paper.

After some seconds that felt like minutes, the sound stopped and the camel stretching my wing let it go after ripping one of my feathers from it.

“I’m sorry,” apologize the camel, “we couldn’t let go opportunity.”

I opened my eyes and looked at them. The female camel was holding my feather with her hoof, observing it with full attention. The other one was saving on his saddle bag a scroll that had my wing perfectly drew along with some annotations.

“You- you drew that?” I asked, my voice still sounded a little nervous.

“Oh, yes,” said the third camel, “thank you very much for your support on our studies.”

I noticed that he was slightly older, and smaller. The fur on his chin formed a small beard of the same color as him. He didn’t look threatening. He even seemed funny and friendly with that beard.

“It is wonderful how feathers can grow from you. It is peculiar, very peculiar,” he said, his old voice made me smile.

“Tell me, young pegasus. Do all your feathered compatriots need their wings to walk in the wind?” he asked.

“Uh… yeah, it is impossible to fly without them, why?” I asked. It was a strange question coming from creatures that devoted their lives to knowledge. They should know that too, right?

“We spotted a crystal blue un-winged equine galloping over the clouds and the air to the northeast on his majestic might towards the mountain city...” said the old one in tone of a storyteller.

“Huh?” I asked. I was trying to understand what he had said.

“Don’t mind him, Sand Wise is very old and crazy,” said the first camel. I turned to him. “We respect our elder, but I am afraid he had lost his mind watching the sun for too long.”

“Let´s continue our journey, brother,” interrupted the female, “we need to find a place to sleep tonight.”

The camels saved their stuff on the saddlebags and start walking out of the alley.

“Thank you again, young pegasus, we won't forget your help,” said the old one, Sand Wise, to me before turning around and leave the alley.

I didn't said anything, just watch them leave the alley. The three camels disappeared on the other street.

I opened my wings and started flapping, leaving the ground. I hurried to fly over the Main Street. Where do my friends could be?