Chapters The feeling of the wind in my face, puncturing the clouds as I go faster through the air, it is overwhelming. The green grass and candy-colored ponies beneath my hooves, the exhilaration that I get from the speed after dropping so far and then opening my wings again just close enough to the ground that I skid the ground with my hooves then shoot back up and land on a cloud, the softest thing known to us ponies. The most comforting way to rest after a long day of work or play. Oh how beautiful life is when you can fly.
“Hey, you know if you lay there and you start to sweat, the ink will rub off on your face.” I wake and everything is shaking around me. Wait, no it isn’t, I’m shaking. I blink a couple of times and I realize I had fallen asleep, and there was a purple pony trying to wake me. Then I notice the crown.
“P-P-Princess Twilight!” I quickly rose my head and the page of the book I was laying on ripped off because it had stuck to my face. From then on, I couldn’t stop myself and I just dug myself deeper and deeper into the ground. “I’m so sorry I know I’m not supposed to be here especially this late but I thought I might find what I was looking for and I,” I bowed pathetically and tried to salvage my situation. “I’m so sorry.”
Before we get any further into this story, I should tell you guys some things. I’m Stone Cloud, but I go by Cloudy. My father is one of the Wonderbolts, and my mother is in the Wonderbolts Reserve. My younger sister is a prodigy at her age and has either beaten or come extremely close to all the academy records at Wonderbolts academy.
Then there’s me. I can’t fly, nor do I have wings. I’m the first in a pureblood line to be born without wings. Well, it’s not so pureblood actually. I found out my thrice great grandpa was half earthpony on his mother’s side. So, a few generations later, here I am.
My parents had to move from their home in Cloudsdale when I came along. Immediately as I was born, I was rushed to Canterlot hospital so that I could actually lay on something. When I think about it, it’s a bit scary to know I could have died at any second right after I was born just because I was in the clouds. They moved immediately to Canterlot after I was born.
I’m still a blank flank after all this time too. My parents say it might be understandable because it’s hard to find your place in the world when the entire family has flying related jobs. Then there’s me. I don’t know what I want to do with my life, I just want to be like my parents. I want to fly. I want it so badly I snuck into the castle and went through the Royal Wing. I wanted wings, and I want them badly enough that I would, well, you get the idea.
So here I am, feebly standing in front of the Princess of Friendship and Magic with a page stuck to my face, fumbling over my words like some sort of awestruck child. Oh wait, I am.
I waited for my punishment, tears running down my face. Would she send me to the dungeon, or have me work in the castle, away from my friends and family, forever. Or maybe she was not so merciful and I would be put to death on the spot, though I’ve never heard of such a thing in Equestria, I would certainly not put it past anypony who sneaks into the Royal Wing of the library.
“Well did you find it?” She finally asked. I looked up at her, confused. “What you were looking for, did you find it?” The page that was stuck to my face pealed itself off of me, or at least so I thought until I turned to see that Princess Twilight had taken it and somehow managed to fix the page back to the rest of the page and the binding even.
“Y-Yes, Your Highness,” I answered hesitantly. She picked up the book with her magic and stared at it intently, then took a peek at the other books I had stacked next to it.
“Level 3 Physics, Mechanics, and the Biology of Birds?” She gave me this funny look like I was crazy. I just nodded. “What in the wide world of Equestria are you planning with these three,” she paused and her eyes got real wide, then she smiled. “Oh, I see,” she said looking to my flank. “No cutie mark either?”
“No,” I sighed and hung my head low with embarrassment.
“How old are you?”
“Sixteen.”
“I think that’s a new world record, or at least here in Equestria.”
“N-No,” I didn’t make eye contact, when I said it, I didn’t want to be scolded for trying to correct her, “the oldest was a twenty year old pony in Manehattan.”
“Oh so you have done your research,” she sounded like she was enjoying this, but I wasn’t going to look up.
“Yes, Your Highness. I didn’t like being made fun of for being the longest blank flank in history so I correct those who say it.”
“Well with these books it certain why it’s been so hard for you.” She took her hoof and put it on my chin. Obediently I raised my head. “What do you hope of accomplishing?”
“Well Your Highness, I,” I stopped and chose my words carefully. I definitely did not want to sound crazy to a princess. “More than anything, I want to fly.”
“Why?” she asked, not missing a beat, and somehow, her smile still seemed sincere.
“Well, I’m the first in my family to be born from an all pegasus bloodline without wings.”
“How rare,” she tilted her head, then looked back at the books. “So you want a pair of wings so badly, you’d make your own?”
“Yes, Princess Twilight.” She giggled when I answered.
“And this stuff isn’t way over your head?”
“Well, no. You see my family has always been commended for their mechanical works and their speed. My grandfather helped invent a whole new delivery system for rainbows after getting to watch the famous Rainbow Dash at the Wonderbolts Spectacular.”
“Oh I see, and your father became a Wonderbolt soon after, am I correct?” I nodded. “And isn’t your sister training at the Wonderbolt Camp at this moment?” Again, I nodded.
“H-How do you know so much about my family?” I asked beginning to feel a little uneasy. She just giggled.
“I once had a great teacher who told me that it was important for a princess to know all of her subjects. Even you Stone Cloud.”
“If you already know who I am, then why did you have to ask so many questions about me?” I asked, trying to keep things on this subject, trying to keep the thought away from me being imprisoned.
“Well, between us, I happen to see a lot of faces on a day to day basis and they all seem to blur into the same face eventually. So you can imagine not wanting to embarrass myself with accidentally calling you Big Macintosh.”
“Who’s,”
“Doesn’t matter, Stone,” she said, still not breaking her smile.
“Actually, my friends just call me Cloudy,” she giggled again.
“Well Cloudy, it’s a pleasure to meet your acquaintance. I am Princess Twilight Sparkle,” she knelt down close to my height and whispered, “but you can just call me Twilight when we’re alone.”
“But Princess,”
“Just Twilight,” she forced my mouth closed with her hoof pushing my jaw shut. “To be perfectly honest, the whole Princess thing just annoys me when I’m not in any sort of formal meeting. Even then it bothers me, but I understand the formality.”
“But,” She raised her hoof and I immediately stopped.
“No buts, Cloudy. You told me how you prefer to be called, and I’m telling you how I prefer to be called.” I know what she was saying, but agreeing to it and actually doing it are two completely different things. I mean, she’s a princess! And she just told me to call her by her first name, but.
“Why?” I asked looking to her, my face getting more wrinkled the more I thought about it.
“I already told you why,” I swear she could hold that smile forever. It was like I was looking at a robot. Only, her smile was sincere, truly sincere.
“But aren’t you going to punish me? I’m in the Royal collection of books, and I got in without permission.”
“We can just keep that our little secret,” she whispered. “Would you like to take them home?” My heart leaped. If I could take these home, I’d have plenty of time to study and try out all my ideas and theories.
“Do you really mean it?” I asked trying to contain my excitement. She nodded.
“On one condition, however.” She had raised her hoof.
“Anything Prin- uh Twilight.” She quietly laughed at me.
“You will write about your progress, and send letters once a week every Saturday, including this Saturday.”
“But that’s tomorrow, how can I,”
“I guess you’d better start writing right away, and tell me everything you figured out already.” This time her smile faded to a smirk, an evil smirk. She totally played me into finding out what exactly I was trying to build, and now she wants to keep tabs on me. For what though? To have it all to herself? To break my spirit by taking it away and making it illegal?
Then again, it’s really too great of an offer for me to refuse. Studying these books may be all I need to finish my blueprints back at home. Then I can get to work on my prototype and then a finished models.
“I’ll do it,” I said firmly.
“Good,” she turned around. “Now wait right here,” she disappeared behind a bookshelf to my left. A couple minutes later she came back with a book hovering next to her. “Try this one as well. I think studying this would be just as important as that bird biology book.” She sat it on the table next to me. Quickly, I turned to look to see what she brought.
“Pony Anatomy: Pegasus Edition,” I read aloud.
“I think you’ll find chapters four, seven, and ten most helpful. I marked them for you already.”
“But why help me?” This was confusing for me. Honestly I thought then and there she’d tell me that I was being pranked in some way. It wouldn’t be the first time, believe me. But her real answer was less clear and just left me with more questions.
“Let’s just say it’s intuition for now,” she said, putting her smile back on. “But I think you should probably head home now. I’ll tell the guards you’re on your way. Don’t wander from the path, else you’ll be arrested so don’t forget that.”
Oh boy, my parents are not going to believe this. I don’t even believe it. I am still trying to wrap my head around this thing. Oh well I guess. Here goes nothing.
“Where have you been Cloudy?” my mom asked frantically, rushing through the living room to come hug me. “We’ve been worried sick about you!”
“Sorry, Mom,” I hugged her back and headed for my room, however my dad decided to stop me before I could go anywhere.
“Son, you mother asked you a question, and we both want to know the answer to it.” He had a stern look on his face. But it was all for show, I know my dad well enough. He may look mean, but he’s twice as nice as he looks. Then again, that definitely would not stop me from getting grounded if I said nothing.
“I went to read some books at the library,” I said pulling the books I was lent by Princess Twilight. He was not letting up so easily. “What?” I think he could tell I was hiding something.
“Does this have anything to do with that over-sized contraption you have in your room?”
“If I say yes, would you be mad?” I tried to act innocent.
“Stone,” he sighed, “look we need to talk,” he had that ‘we’re gonna sit here and I’m going to lecture you’ look on his face. He walked into the dining room and took a seat at the table and gestured for me to do the same. Obediently, I took a seat next to him. “Your mom and I discussed it, and we think it’s about time you got rid of that thing and started something more constructive.”
“But I’ve almost made a breakthrough!” I quickly shouted back.
“It’s not that we don’t admire your persistence,” he calmly answered back, “but we think you should give up on whatever this thing is that you have been building and start trying to make some friends.”
“Yeah right,” I rolled my eyes. “What pony would want to be friends with a blank flank as old as me? I mean come on,” I stomped my hoof, “even the CMC decided that my age was too high and I was on my own!”
“Calm down Cloudy,” Mom came in from behind me and put her foreleg around me. “No pony is perfect, but I’m sure some pony would be willing to be your friend if you just opened up to them.”
“Open up for them to do what?” I pushed her away. “Open up so that they can tear me down further? No I don’t think so.” What was she thinking? What were they thinking? Friends?! Yeah right. That’s like fire and gasoline. The only thing we would have in common is a big explosion.
“When’s the last time you actually tried to make friends?” Dad asked.
I had to think about it for a minute. It was a while, but I remember how it felt. It was terrible. All I remember is a bunch of kicking, laughing faces, and a name. His name is Red Steel. Red was as his name implied, red with a dark brown mane and brown eyes. He has a mechanic cutie mark, though he wouldn’t know a thing about mechanics if not for me. I introduced it to him, and he took to it like a fish to water. He later repaid me by taking me to someplace I don’t remember and I was ambushed by his other friends, beat up, and left there.
A couple weeks after I had recovered, Red came to me and said that he felt terrible about it and that he was sorry and blah, blah, blah. That moment ruined my trust for anypony from that point on.
After that, I kept my nose in as many books as I could find. I wanted to fly away from here. And that’s exactly what I will do. I had decided that if I was going to have a cutie mark, it was going to be about flying, and then I would join the ranks of the Wonderbolts. I would show them all how great I could be. I hoped at least then, they would all stop teasing me.
“A while,” I finally responded. “Not like I need friends,” I quickly added.
“This is exactly why we think you should try and make some,” my mom quickly answered me.
“I know you guys are just trying to look out for me and my well-being, but we all know what happened the last time. I’m not ready to chance it again yet.” I walked down the hall forcing the end of the conversation, but I think my parents were trying to keep it going. I was going to pretend like I was off in my own world and ignore them.
I took a left into my room. Ah, my room. My sanctum of peace. The nice red throw rug next to my bed with its black comforter with two blue stripes caddy cornered to one side of the sheet, and my blank spot where my prototype and blueprints w-.
“WHAT?!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. I stormed out of my room ready to have a scream battle with my parents and then have them tell me exactly where my prototype was. “YOU TOOK IT! I FOUND WHAT I NEEDED TODAY AND YOU TOOK IT?!”
“Son, calm down,” Dad tried to be reasonable, but reasonable jumped out of a window after I lost something precious to me.
“CALM? YOU, YOU TOOK MY PROTOTYPE!”
“Son, we don’t even know what you’re building!” My dad shouted back. His voice was not near as loud or as stressed as mine, and it only made me angrier.
“WHY!?” I screamed at the top of my lungs.
“BECAUSE WE WERE AFRAID THIS WAS GOING TO CONSUME YOU!” My mother shouted back. My dad and I both, shocked at my mom’s reaction caused us both to sit down and straighten up as if on call by Princess Celestia herself.
A tear ran down her face, “You’re constantly home, yet your father and I hardly see you.” She sat down and started to sob.
Come on, don’t do that. You’re making me feel worse. Not the tears. Oh, and now the face.
“We don’t spend as much time home as we used to, and on top of that it’s like we never see you. And when you’re out of your room, you’re out of the house doing research on whatever that thing is!” She pointed to a mangled piece of machinery. Clearly mine, but what in the world happened to it? I bet as soon as they picked it up it fell apart. Which means I should probably take some no- Wait a sec, what am I doing, I’m in the middle of a crisis here and I’m thinking about notes? Oh boy I have turned into my grandpa, haven’t I?
“Look, I’m sorry Mom. I don’t mean to avoid you guys. I know you mean well, but that prototype means a lot to me. I’m going to get it working someday and then I’ll show you guys what it is, I promise.”
“But why won’t you tell us what it is?” She had a point. I honestly had no reason why I never told them. Maybe I never told them because they never actually asked what it was. Maybe I was afraid at what they might say, or that they would laugh since it looks nothing like a pair of wings right now.
“Maybe it’s better if I show you,” I finally replied. I walked over to the mangled contraption and examined it for any extensive damage. Actually, it was fine. It’s, folded? Ha! Another idea just hit me. I had not originally designed it to fold down like that, but the position that the wires had folded the skeleton of the wings perfectly. I made a mental note and then picked it up.
Once my belt strap was on, I proceeded to fit my gauntlets on my front hooves. Once they were fitted, the skeletal wings unfolded making what looked like two backwards legs coming out of my back. I moved each of my front hooves and each wing moved accordingly.
“You’re making arms?” My dad asked.
“No, it’s,” I sighed. I have no idea why this is so hard. “It’s a pair of wings.” From then on, all I heard were snorts and giggles from my parents, then a burst of laughter from the both of them.
“Why is this so funny?”
“We thought it was so much more serious than that,” my mom said with a chuckle. “We thought you might have been making weapons. You have no idea how relieved we are.”
“Does that mean I can keep them?”
“What are they for?” My mom asked.
“Well what do you do with wings?”
“Wait, you don’t think you can fly, do you?”
“Not yet,” I said with a grin.
“Cloudy,” my dad rubbed his head, “not everyone is meant to fly.”
“Yeah well, I’m not everyone,” I told him. Then I took my wings off, and walked to my room.
I put my wings back on my work desk, turned off the lights, and lied in bed. I stared up at the ceiling, where my Wonderbolts poster was stuck. Both my mom and my dad were on that poster. They had their hoods off, clearly revealing their faces. My dad looked like a younger Soarin, but with a light brown mane instead of Soarin’s gray mane.
My mom is a beautiful red color, she also has a light brown mane, but it has white streaks through. My mom has the sweetest eyes. She could whisk the violence out of even the meanest of dragons.
I just cannot believe them. Of all the ponies in the world, I thought that my parents might be supportive of me. Well there is Prin-
“Princess Twilight!” I quickly sat up and remembered I owe her a letter tomorrow. I need to get it written tonight so I can send it tomorrow morning.
Quickly I went to my desk and grabbed some paper and a pen. I wrote:
Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle, As promised, here is my first letter….
“No,” I sighed and crumpled up the paper and started again. And again.
Once more.
No this one. Words are hard.
Well, she did want to know what I know about my project, so maybe I should send her a copy of my blueprints. Since my parents still had my originals, I dug around for the copies I had put away in a drawer.
“Ah, there you are,” I said as I found the perfect one. This was the detailed sketch of what I wanted my final product to look like. I think some minor modifications may need to be made, but all in all, I think I’m going in the right direction. It looks a lot like my prototype. The only difference is that my prototype is missing an important component. Feathers. Or maybe some sort of skin-like flap like bats’ wings. I would have to figure that out later. Of course, there was still the matter of writing the letter.
After a few hours of consideration, I finally decided that I would apologize for my first letter, then maybe she would tell me how she wants her next letters to be written.
I wrote”
Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle, I apologize for my informality of this letter. I am not very good with words. However, this is the letter as requested. I have found that using a motor would be too heavy for my project, so instead I came up with a mechanism that would move in motion according to how I walked with my front hooves. The system at the moment is a little shaky, and I only have the skeletal frame built, however, a key component in my wings seems to be escaping my grasp. I think I will have to make either the feathers or a skin-like substance that would allow me to stay airborne. I almost lost everything, however thanks to my parents. They thought I was making weapons and tried to throw it away. Anyway, the blueprint has better detail of my findings of how it would work. Please use it in reference of my future letters until I have decided that a change is needed.
Your subject,
Stone Cloud.
I sighed loudly. Everything is done. Now all I need to do is mail it tomorrow.
Then my parents came back to mind. Dear Celestia, I hate them right now. First they try to take my dreams, then they try to crush them. “Oh!” Speaking of which, that fold came back to mind. Quickly, I picked my pen back up and decided to write underneath my letter.
P.S. When I thought that my parents had broken my prototype, I noticed that it wasn’t broken, the wings were folded, but only if the wire was held a certain distance away from the mechanism. I’m currently thinking about how to incorporate that into my next design.
“Ah, finished,” I sighed with relief, hoping that nothing else would come to mind.
You know, as much as I hate them right now, I really love my parents. My little sister as well. Though I am jealous right now that she is at Wonderbolts Academy and not me. She is the youngest acceptance into the academy in nearly fifty years. The Wonderbolts are in my blood, and I have earn my way in just like them. I don’t care that my parents don’t think I can do it. I think I can, and that is all I need.
I admire both of my parents for getting into their dream job of being a Wonderbolt, and I want to do the same. I want to be just like my parents. It’s just going to be a little bit harder for me. If I didn’t have to worry about school, I would probably have this done in about six months, and I’d be flying to Wonderbolts Academy in a year, easy. Yeah, I am very confident in how well I will do.
A few more minutes of staring off into space led to my eyes getting heavier, and heavier, then soon I fell asleep. I like being asleep. It’s the one place I can still fly with or without wings. I began to dream of racing the wind, punching through the clouds, getting wet from the moisture inside of them.
A loud knock at the door had awoken me. It was morning already. I slowly fell out of bed to the ground, then rolled over to get my hooves underneath me. The knocking progressed, and it was beginning to irritate me. Even as I yelled that I was coming the knocking still got louder. I have no clue how my parents could sleep through such a loud noise. So, I decided I was going to get even with whoever was being so annoying.
“WHAT!?” I shouted as I opened up the door. It turns out I was not as scary as what was at the door, and I jumped a few steps back. A fairly tall green and purple, bipedal dragon was at the door.
“Hello, Cloudy,” he said in a cheerful voice. “Sorry about the rude awakening. Princess Twilight said she would like the letter right away.”
Author's Note
Okay, I'm going to try to update this weekly from now on since it did so well. I hope you guys continue to like this!
I'm doing what now? Amber comes Home
“I- Who- What,” I fumbled over my words like a stuttering imbecile. Of course, there was a dragon standing outside my house, and not only was he polite, but he worked for Princess Twilight, too? That is it! I have officially gone insane.
“Yeah Twilight, I mean,” he corrected himself “Princess Twilight likes to keep to her schedule.” Okay, not insane. He held out an empty claw, and I stared at it, and he stared at it. Then he looked up at me, then back in his hand. “Do you have it?”
“Oh!” I quickly turned me around and started running towards my room before I had even realized it. Thankfully it was right where I had left it. Otherwise I probably would have never found it. My mind was buzzing with too many things, like the fact that there was a dragon at my doorstep. Princess Twilight, if you can read my mind, stop trying to surprise me, please. It’s been only a day and I am so much more confused now than I was before I snuck into the Royal Wing.
As I headed back, I could hear conversation being exchanged. My mother and father had finally woken up, and they were in the kitchen, talking to someone.
“Oh no,” I said aloud as I walked in on them. They let the dragon in.
“Good morning, Son,” my mom said cheerfully. “Do you know who this is?”
“No,” I answered, “but I am going to guess that he is some sort of aid to one of the princesses.”
“Cloudy, he is much more than just an aid,” my dad answered me. “Spike is Princess Twilight’s personal assistant.”
“Personal assistant?” Wait a second. He can’t be THE Spike. I thought that he was supposed to be a pony! I mean I know Spike is not exactly a traditional Canterlotian name, but “He’s a dragon?” I said as I thought it.
“Of course I am,” Spike answered. “Or at least, I hope so,” he chuckled. Now he was making fun of me, too. Thanks, Mom and Dad.
“Here’s your letter,” I sort of spat both my words and the letter all over Princess Twilight’s assistant. It was not on purpose, so I felt kind of bad about it. Well serves him right for making fun of me anyway.
“Uh, thanks,” he said wiping the spit off his cheek. Both of my parents looked back at me with these expressions of pure rage.
“Sorry,” I whimpered and lowered my head.
“What is the letter for?” My mom asked.
“Well, you see, I, uh,” I stuttered again. If it has not already been painstakingly clear, I’m not so good at the sentence structure department.
“Cloudy here has been given the chance to go to school at Twilight Academy,” Spike cut in.
“Wait I’ve been what?”
“That’s what this letter is for,” he held up the letter. “He should get an acceptance letter by Monday, and he can move in when the new school year starts.”
“You’re pulling our legs!” My dad shouted with a huge grin on his face. Seriously, I hope that Spike is kidding. “My son gets to go to the most prestigious academy for the academically gifted ponies?”
“Well nothing is set in, Stone,” Spike winked at me. I winced at the pun. “But it all depends on this letter. Speaking of which, I guess I had better send it before I forget.”
“Would you like some tea,” my mother asked.
“I guess I could stay long enough for tea,” he replied. Right after, he lifted the letter in front of his face, and completely incinerated it with green flame.
“What’d you do that for!” I shouted.
“Twilight said she wanted it right away,” he answered me.
“So you burned it up?” I said in a stressed voice.
“Don’t be silly,” he waved me off. “Twilight would probably kill me if I did that. So I just sent it instead.”
“With fire?” Okay, I know I may not be the smartest pony, but I do know what happens to paper when it is that close to a flame.
“Son, it’s magic,” Mom cut in. “He can send small items to a designated place through his green flame.”
“Oh.” Oh is right. Now I feel a little embarrassed. I forget sometimes that magic is not restricted to ponies. Almost anyone or anything can use it.
My mom sat a hot cup of tea in front of Spike. He then proceeded to pick up a spoon and empty most of the sugar jar into the tea.
“Thank you, and sorry I’m a bit of a sugar addict,” he said still carefully taking spoonful after spoonful of sugar.
“It’s no problem at all,” my mom replied with a smile. “So tell me,” she sat back down across from Spike. “How long have you been looking at my son?”
“I’m afraid it is confidential,” he answered taking a sip of tea. “However, I can tell you there is a certain length of a waiting list, and Cloudy is close to the top. Hence, the letter.”
“When did you tell him?” My dad curiously asked.
“Yesterday sometime in the evening,” both of my parents gave Spike some confused looks. “Yes, the letter time is short, but it implies the readiness of the student and how much they are willing to commit.” Spike took another sip of tea and glanced up at the clock behind my parents. “Oh my would you look at the time.” He stood up. “Thank you for the tea again and Cloudy, you should receive a letter in the mail by Monday,” and then he left, door gently closing behind him.
“So,” my father said, turning to me and giving me some weird and awkward stare, like a maniacal doctor meets an unsuspecting new test subject, “reading some books, huh?”
“Yeah,” I sighed and nervously chuckled, trying to hide my face. Why in the world was I not told about this? The least Princess Twilight could have done was warn me! But no, now I have to undergo my parents’ interrogations, and they’re military trained!
“You know if you would have told us the truth from the start, we wouldn’t have gotten so worked up,” my mom said as she put her wing over me.
“Yeah but,” I thought for a moment. I still have no idea if it is even okay to tell my parents that I got caught in the library. Sure everything is fine, but what if Princess Twilight is really strict about that stuff? “Not that I don’t love you guys, but I wanted to do this on my own and see how far I could get.”
“Well now you’re just showin’ off,” my dad said with a chuckle. “So that doohickey in your room is part of you trying to get into Twilight Academy?”
“More or less,” I shrugged. While I couldn’t tell if Mom was buying the whole story, I could definitely see my dad saw through some parts. He was still giving me that suspicious eye.
“Well when is it due?” He asked after a few minutes of pondering.
“Not sure, but I handed in one of my blueprints.”
“Thought your mom threw those away?”
“That wouldn’t be the first time you guys have done it, whether or not it was knowingly.”
“When have either of us accidentally thrown one of your ‘blueprints’ away?” He huffed.
“Actually on several occasions,” I snickered. It felt good to push back at my parents. Now they have to feel bad about taking away my stuff. “There was the time mom thought she would be nice and clean my room. Then you took a collaboration of my things and threw them away because I apparently took too long to pick them up. That’s just to name one for each of you.”
“Okay, you win that one,” my dad sighed and gave up. I wanted to jump and holler, but I kept my cool. Finally, I won. Whether or not it was fair still laid on the table, but who cares? I won!
“Well the new school year starts in a month, so you’ll have plenty of time to prepare once you find out, won’t you?” Mom quickly took her wing off me and turned her head away. I think that meant I was in some sort of trouble with her. I am not too sure what that means or if I really am in trouble though.
“Oh hey, your sister comes home tomorrow,” my dad said as he sat in his recliner. “Have you told her yet?”
“No not yet. I wanted to make it a surprise with everypony.”
“Well now the cat’s out of the bag so you had better tell her quick.”
“Good point,” I sighed. Dad was right. I think I should probably had better go and get something nice for her. She is a great sister, but she has separation issues sometimes. So I am definitely going to have to smooth things over with her.
The next day came too quickly for my taste. I completely slacked off on getting something for Amber and now I might be in trouble. Hope I can make it to the closest shop and back in time.
Oh hey that’s right, I forgot to mention the names of my family. My dad is Silver Shot, Mom is Scarlet Gem, but everypony just calls her Ruby. My sis and best friend ever is Amber Bolt, and as the name implies, she a very fast, orange colored pony, and the best aunt ever is my Aunt Dew. Okay it’s actually Morning Dew, but Aunt Dew sounds better to me. Aunt Dew comes over to watch us while Mom and Dad are off on work trips.
I rushed to the store and got the nicest little trinket for a necklace I could find. I hoped she would like it. It was a red heart pendent with the Elements of Harmony of the Six Heroes of Equestria embroidered on it. If she did not like this, well I like it. Then again, I have no idea what I would do with jewelry. I don’t exactly have a taste for it, other than it being shiny and I have that sort of attention span that makes me look at everything shiny.
I made it home before she did, so thankfully I had time to wrap her gift. It was not long after I had wrapped the gift when a faint, subtle pop had filled the air. It was her, definitely had to be her. I could recognize that sound anywhere no matter how loud the ambience was. Any second now, my little sis will come right through that door.
Then the door flung open. A nearly unrecognizable orange pegasus with a blue mane covered by a pair of goggles that sat atop her head and wearing leather jacket with a silver wing pin and a name tag on it that said Thunderbolt. She smiled and waved at us.
“Hey guys, I’m home!” I galloped straight towards her and gave her the biggest hug I could give her. She quickly returned the hug.
“Hi Sis!” I shouted, still hugging her.
“Hi,” she said. I noticed she was struggling for air. Guess I hugged her a little too hard.
“So how’d you like it?” Mom asked as she and Dad caught up with me.
“It was awesome!” She shouted. “But they said I needed to work on my agility. Like that matters,” she said with a cocky grin. “I’m the fastest thing out there!”
“Oh really now?” Dad acted impressed. “I bet you set all the records then didn’t you?”
“No just six,” she answered, still holdng that huge smirk.
“How much?” I asked curiously.
“Well, the quarter I beat by a half second and the half I beat by one.” My jaw dropped. I knew my sister was fast, but that is extremely fast.
“You’re kidding right?” I asked. “Major Soarin set the quarter and it was eight and a half seconds! And General Rainbow Dash set the half at ten!”
“Did the quarter in 7.8 and the half in 9 even,” she dusted off her jacket where her nametag was. “That’s how I got the name Thunderbolt. Gone in a flash and the only thing you hear is a crackling boom!” she said waving a hoof in the air. “Still,” she said starting to hang her head down, “I set the other four for the slowest times.”
“But you’re good at the straightaways aren’t you?” I asked trying to cheer her up.
“Yeah, but even the straightaways didn’t keep me from biting it every corner. I just can’t stop quick enough.” That would explain the silver badge instead of the gold badge. She definitely has speed on her side, but as much speed as she packs, she a danger to herself.
When she was six, she challenged a group of boys who were teasing me to a race. Yeah that’s right, my little sis tried to stand up for me. She won the race, but broke her nose, jaw, both her forelegs, her right wing, and a couple of ribs. She couldn’t stop fast enough and smashed right into the side of a small shop. She was in the hospital for two weeks before she was conscious again.
When she woke up, I told her how crazy she was and that she should never do it again. I was probably more furious than my parents were. Of course they were not there when I was screaming for help. That was the scariest moment of my life. I thought I had lost my sister. Thank Celestia I did not have to experience that. Which reminds me.
“Hey sis,” I said a little nervously.
“Yeah?”
“I have something I need to tell you,” I pulled out the small box, “but first I want you to open this.”
She took it and carefully unwrapped the box and took off the lid. Her eyes lit up instantly and I knew then that she liked it.
“This is awesome!” she screamed as she hugged me. Now that she hugged me, I am really not too sure if she really liked it or not. It felt like she had a death grip on me and she was trying to kill me.
“I wanted to get you something nice so that you would know that no matter where I am, I’ll still be here.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, starting to give me puppy dog eyes.
“Well, uh, I, uh,” I sort of coughed words out. “I might be going to a new school this coming semester.” I said with my eyes tightly shut.
“But,” she had tears starting to well up, “we always go to the same school.”
“I know sweetie,” my dad interrupted, “but Cloudy might have a real chance at going to Twilight Academy.”
“Twilight Academy?” she said excitedly. “You mean The Twilight Academy?” I nodded. Then she screamed, then hugged me. “That’s so awesome! My big brother, the smarty pants, is finally going to a smart pony school!” You know, fillies and mares confuse the heck out of me.
“So, you’re not mad?” I asked.
“Mad? How could I be mad? You’re going to Twilight Academy! That’s like every smart pony’s dream!”
“Well it isn’t official yet,” Mom cut in. “He has to wait on a letter tomorrow to see if he passes the entrance requirement.”
“Oh,” Amber said. “Well I’m sure you’ll be fine.”
“We’ll see,” I answered.
The rest of the day, Amber told stories of Wonderbolts Academy, and we all sat and listened, laughing at her silly tales and discussing the more important ones she had. It was clear she had a blast, and if she gets the chance, I hope she goes back next year.
The next day, the letter came in the mail I nervously opened it in front of my parents. There were two different pieces of paper in them. I pulled out the one at the front and read it aloud:
Dear Stone Cloud,
I am pleased to inform you that you have been selected to enroll at Twilight Academy. You will be taking classes specific to your cutie mark I frowned there. Details about the school and your enrollment options will take place on the first of August in the headmaster’s office. We look forward to your presence and we hope you have a wonderful rest of the day.
Sicerely,
Headmaster Thinker.
“Well now it’s official, our son is an official smarty pants,” my dad said with a smile.
“Congratulations Cloudy!” Mom hugged my tightly. “Were so proud of you.”
I began to wonder how much of this was a setup by Princess Twilight. I waited until I could go back to my room to take out the second letter. As I thought, it was from Princess Twilight. It read:
Dear Cloudy,
I don’t require that your letters be strictly formal, however yes, keep my formal name. Your designs are great, but I noticed that you have nothing on the specs of your feathers. I would like you to concentrate on those for the next couple of weeks. Refer to the Pegasus book I gave you, chapter four. Also, in the bird book, chapter four. Both of them cover how wings work. However, in chapter ten of the Pegasus book, I think you might find some helpful tips on how to get your machine to properly fold its wings.
Sincerely,
Princess Twilight Sparkle.
Well if that was not just extremely vague. I sighed and put the letter on my desk. I guess that means more reading for me, doesn’t it? Good thing I actually like reading.It almost sounds like she knows what I'm doing. If she know so much about how it works, why does she not just build one herself, or better yet, why does she not just tell me what to do?
“Hey! We’re going out to celebrate, dork!” my sister came in and slammed her hoof on my door. I may not have wings, but I’m pretty sure I just flew I jumped so high.
“What is wrong with you?!” I shouted back at her. “Are you trying to give me a heart attack?!”
“And what if I am?” She evilly smiled. “Come on, we’re going wherever you pick, dork.”
“Stop calling me that.”
“Dork, dork, dork, dork.”
“Fine I was thinking we should go to that Cheese Sandwich place, but now-“
“Aw come on Cloudy! I was just joking!” She pleaded. It was where I actually wanted to go anyway, but I was going to wait until we got there.
The next two months were not that exciting. I managed some work on my prototype. However, the readings Princess Twilight gave to me, were extremely helpful, especially the pegasus anatomy book. It really helped me improve on my designs in how the wings would turn as they flap.
Dad is getting called out on assignment near the Appaloosa territory. He leaves in a week. I heard the place used to be a nice little town, but now it’s a huge city, but they have a territory problem with the buffalo who still call nature their home. My dad is going there to try and smooth things over between the ponies and buffalo, but I don’t think that Chief Big Wind is much for words anymore.
But enough about that, school is about to start! I have never been excited for school before, but after taking the tours of Twilight Academy, then the meetings, and the learning opportunities. I can barely hold in my excitement!
“If you keep smiling like that, somepony might start thinking you’re crazy.”
“Yeah, so?” I pushed Amber. She has been unusually attached lately. She even went with me to the machinery shop, which is where we are currently headed. I do not mind it at all though. I probably will have little time to see her if at all when I move to the school.
Oh yeah, there is one downside to going to Twilight Academy. I have to move in at the academy, no exceptions. This was their way of telling us that they were trying to promote learning at all times, and they wanted to keep us close. My parents loved the idea. My sister and I hated it. I almost decided not to go just based on that. But when I told my sister, she hit me and told me I was being stupid. So to avoid further punishment, I just decided to go ahead and go.
I have been all packed and ready to go since last night, but we leave in three days. I have been so nervouscited that I have barely slept.
“Hey how about this?” Amber held up a small joint. I had spaced out long enough that I had not even recognized that we were already at the shop. I violently shook my head, trying to clear it of all my thoughts. I examined the joint. I would definitely have to do some welding, it is definitely too small in length, however, it might still work for something else.
“How many are there?” I asked.
“A lot,” she said acting a bit overwhelmed. For some reason, her response made me chuckle.
“Alright, I think we have the money for that many. Let’s just go ahead and get them all.” Over time, I have realized that sometimes I can make mistakes. Dad always says measure twice, cut once. This is sort of my version of measuring twice.
I have been making preparations for being at school. My entire family has given me a ton of bits to make sure I have everything I need ever since they found out. Sure, most of it was supposed to go towards finding school clothes and extra lunch money and stuff like that, but I may have spent a little less than I should have on those items.
I now have a gigantic rolling red toolbox with sixteen different black and silver drawers. It has all sorts of little gadgets and tools that fill it to near bursting point. Screwdrivers, wrenches, hammers, nails, even some power tools, but don’t tell my parents! They say I have a problem. I tell them there is no problem with a hobby. Of course now my hobby is going to be involved in school. Oh, did I mention that my toolbox rolls?
Amber and I arrived home with both of our saddle packs filled with mechanical items and tools. Amber practically collapsed at the door.
“Oh, Amber,” my mom ran to us. “Are you okay? Do you need me to carry those?”
“No I’m fine,” she answered, struggling to get back up.
“Yeah, good luck getting her to let those go. I told her I could carry both of them, but she insisted that she carry at least one.”
“Sounds like somepony is trying very hard to be nice,” my mom winked at me. I know what she was hinting at, but I had already made arrangements tomorrow for something special for Amber. Of course I could say nothing though because I wanted it to be a surprise. Tomorrow, I planned on letting her pick a place, wherever she wants to go. After which, I think we are going to head to The Cheese Sandwich. It is her favorite restaurant after all.
Even after several attempts to try and take the saddlebags from my sister, she eventually made it to my room. I felt terrible seeing her struggle, especially since I knew I could carry them without a problem. She is definitely my sister if she is this stubborn.
We spent the rest of the day organizing the new parts into my toolbox.
“Where’s this go?” I kept hearing from my sister. I had pointed so many times I felt like a robot. She was a great help no matter how annoying it was though.
I put my prototype on hold these last couple of weeks to make preparations for the instance that I may need a difficult part to find in upper Ponyville. It used to be such a small town, but now it is a decently sized city. Since Princess Twilight’s kingdom was selected by the Elements of Harmony, ponies have been flocking to that place, mostly dignitaries and the rich trying to rub elbows with the famous Princess Twilight.
That night I sat down at the dinner table for what would end up being the last dinner of ours as a family. The next day, Dad had been called out early because of an escalating tension in Appaloosa Territory. Since he and other Wonderbolt teams were called out, Mom was asked in at the main headquarters, so the next day was just Amber and me, until Aunt Dew arrived later that night.
During that day, I decided that I would do whatever Amber wanted to do, and it was nice to see her smile. We went to her favorite shopping mall, and spent practically every bit that Mom and Dad gave us there. This time, I was stuck carrying everything back home. Not so cool. Apparently my sister has some sort of vendetta for me.
After that, we went to Cheese Sandwich for lunch. Then went home and played board games until Aunt Dew showed up. I never know why I agree to play games with her in the first place, she seems to have me beaten before I even play. I swear she is cheating every time.
The day after, I was bored out of my mind. Aunt Dew, Amber, and I all sat around being lazy. It felt good, but still boring. It was my last day to be home, but I was already packed and ready to go. I went through the whole checklist, and everything was in its perfect place, ready when I am.
Could hardly sleep a wink that night, I was too anxious for the next day. Then, it had seemed like I closed my eyes for a second and the next my sister was waking me up, telling me it’s time to go.
We looked like quite the attraction as we dragged two suitcases, my tool chest, and on top of that I was wearing my saddlebags. I did design a quick fix to easily pull my tool chest with me. It was a large claw on one side and the other attached to my saddlebags, making carrying along practically a cinch.
On the way to the train station I thought about how Mom and Dad. They could not make it since they had work. Yeah it might be a bit disappointing, but I understand. We were all way too quiet though, I felt like I was being marched into a court-martial, or maybe to my execution. Either way, someone needed to start talking. Guess that means me.
“So,” I started, but I did not expect the interruption.
“While you’re there, you promise to stay in touch right?” Amber asked.
“Of course!” I answered. “Gotta make sure you at least try to stay out of trouble. Not to mention we get three days off for most of the holidays, so I’ll definitely stay in touch.”
“No you need to write so you’ll stay out of trouble. You’ll wander out past curfew for sure. At least if I nag about it, maybe you’ll keep working hard.”
“Says the one who still doesn’t practice turns while flying,” I gently shoved her.
“Ha!” she pushed back, “Coming from an earth pony!”
“You two knock it off,” Aunt Dew looked down at us. “You know if anyone ever questioned the fact that you two were brother and sister, this would definitely prove you were.” She kind of laughed, “Too bad I had nothing to record you two with.”
“What’s this I hear about brother and sister?” A familiar voice echoed through my ears. I turned around to see my mom. Of course everypony would normally act cool at this time, but I figured that since this might be the last time I see her for a while, I showed her my utmost affection. Okay, yes I was glad my mom showed up and I tackled her with a hug.
“Speaking of brothers, where is mine?” Aunt Dew asked.
“Oh he’s inside waiting on us. I just got here no too long ago.”
“Dad’s here!?” My sister and I both excitedly asked. We both thought that he was long gone to Appleloosa by now. Mom nodded and we both bolted for the door, my tool chest still behind me, making a horrible racket as I ran as fast as I could to look for Dad.
As soon as we were inside the train station, we looked for Dad wherever he might be. It took little effort considering he was the center of attention. He was wearing his Wonderbolt uniform with the hood rolled down. Foals and adults alike surrounded him and bombarded him with praise. Amber and I both waved at him. He smiled and returned the wave, and walking toward us, said goodbye to his admirers.
“We thought you would have been in Appleloosa by now,” said Amber.
“Well the distance was no small feat to cover, but I can manage for my son’s trip to Ponyville,” he retorted.
“Seriously?” I asked, dumbfounded. “You flew all the way back here, just to see me off?” He laughed loudly.
“No, of course not,” he said still chuckling to himself. “I may be spry, but I doubt even General Dash could get back here in time. I simply asked to stay close by for a couple more nights, and they agreed.”
He had me going for a minute there. I was nearly impressed. Appleloosa is quite the ride away from here. Even the most dexterous of the pegasi would have to at least make a stop in Ponyville or Cloudsdale before making the final trip up here. But alas, the joke was on us. My dad has always been good at gags and making others think that he is way stronger than he is.
Truth is, I would be willing to bet that he is stronger than he thinks he is, and that may be what makes his bluffs seem so realistic. He always gave the I’m not sure, but I’ll try, attitude, and boy try does he ever. He once moved a huge boulder trapping some ponies on a mountain. When one of the rescued ponies asked him how strong he was, he only replied with Just strong enough. I’m not sure what he meant by that, but I imagine it was something that hinders his real potential sometimes.
“There you are,” Aunt Dew called from behind us. She and Mom were pretty much left in mine and Amber’s dust after we sprinted inside the train station, so they had to catch back up.
“I imagine my two troublemakers didn’t give you too much grief did they?” Dad asked as he hugged Aunt Dew.
“Not at all,” she said with a wink. Dad sort of nodded with a smile, I’m not sure what for, though. “Anyway it is about time to get somepony on the train, don’t you think?”
“Yes, we should probably get you all loaded up, Cloudy,” Mom answered. We all walked toward the platform and an attendant took my bags and another took my tool chest. The one with the chest struggled for a little while before finally getting it to move.
Now more than ever, I began to have second thoughts. The train in front of me would take me somewhere I have never been before. It could be some place that I could never come to like. I turned to my family. I know I will miss them, but if I stay, I may miss out on the perfect opportunity to find what my cutie mark might actually be. I am ready to go, but at the same time, I want to stay.
“Cloudy,” Amber said giving me a hug. “Try to have fun while you’re there okay?” I nodded.
“She’s right, you know,” Mom said joining on the hug. “Make some friends while you’re there. The ponies who you will meet are different than the ones you know here. Give them a chance and maybe you’ll be surprised at what you find.”
“Guess it’s our turn,” I could heard Dad say. I could not see him through Mom, but I could feel him and Aunt Dew both joining in on the group hug. “We’ll miss you, bud. Don’t be afraid to call us whenever you need us, alright?”
“Okay,” I said. The train whistle blew, signaling it was ready to go. Everyone around us stopped what they were doing and headed inside. I held onto my family a little longer before letting them go.
“Time to go, Son,” Dad said with a smile. He nudged me onto the train. I stood there in the doorway, staring back at them as they waved. Their smiles were warming to say the least.
“Love you!” Mom said as the door closed. Soon after, the train began to move. I waved goodbye through the window on the door until my parents were no longer in sight.
Now, it was just me. I walked through the entryway on my left and looked for an open seat. Thoughts ran through my head about what I should have said when I had the chance. I hardly said a word because I was overwhelmed by what was going on. I should have said more, or at least said I love you back to my mom.
Author's Note
Alright here it finally is. I've been a bit caught up the last couple months trying to get things back in order. Sorry about the boring chapter, my computer had a spastic moment and deleted most of the story...... yay technology. So now it's back to the drawing board on most of the stuff I had written down. I'm almost back on track now so I'm going to try to have the next piece done soon. Thanks for those who are still watching!
I found an open seat next to a blue unicorn with glasses. He had shining orange eyes and a pale, sandy colored mane. He simply looked out his window into the distance oblivious to the world around him. I sat down across from him, then I saw his cutie mark. It was the outlines of a box, with a figure 8 on its side intricately woven around and through the box. It was perplexing to look at.
“Where I live, staring is considered rude,” he said, not even turning his eyes. I panicked and quickly changed my focus to the ground.
“Sorry,” I replied.
“Don’t be,” he said, still not moving. “We’re not where I live.” I could not really tell if he was joking with me or not. His face was expressionless. Finally I noticed that his eyes were moving at a strange pace: right, up, down, right, up, down. It was so quick it was hard to notice that his eyes were moving at times.
A few awkward, quiet minutes passed until we entered a tunnel. He blinked a couple of times and finally turned his head towards me. His mane was on the other side, so I never noticed how long it was before. It came down just below his shoulder as he sat up.
“Sorry about the odd talk earlier,” he said with a smile. “I was counting so I couldn’t take my eyes off them.”
“Off what?” I asked curiously.
“The trees,” he replied. “Since the last time I took the trip there are only four more trees.”
I looked in awe for a moment. Then I thought to myself, who counts trees? I mean there really is no reason to count them, but as if he could read my mind he answered me.
“It’s to keep my mind busy,” he said. “I happen to have quite an active mind so unless I keep it busy, I can go a little crazy.” He gestured with his hoof, circling it around his ear. “I’m Azure Sky, by the way. What’s your name?” He asked tilting his head to his left.
“I’m Cloudy,” I answered. He laughed. “What’s so funny?” I asked angrily.
“Nothing at all,” he said with a chuckle. “I just happen to think we would be a pretty good tag team.” I gave him my confused face as a retort. “Cloudy-Sky? Isn’t that funny?” He continued to laugh while I stared blankly. His smile faded to a frown. “I guess not then?” He slouched back down. He appeared to be thinking of what to say next. “What year will you be?”
“This is my first year,” I answered.
“I see,” he sat up straight again, apparently finding interest in my answer. “I’m a first year as well,” he paused for a moment after he replied, and I allowed him to collect his thoughts, “however, I was moved up a year early due to my previous school’s credentials, so while technically my first year, I am actually a second year.”
“Oh,” I said sort of slouching down trying to make myself small. I thought I was smart, but compared to Azure, my intelligence felt more comparable to a foal.
“Are you all right?” He asked, concerned while watching me scrunch into the fetal position. I just nodded. “Anyway, what classes will you be attending?”
“Engineering classes,” I answered quietly.
“Fantastic! I will be in a few of those myself! Any others?” I nodded, but I had no intention of telling him which. He, however, kept prying. “Well which others?”
“Biology and flight mechanics,” I said getting it over with. Though I knew what was coming.
“Flight mechanics?” He asked with a confused look. I figured he would be curious about that class. “What’s an earth pony doing wondering into flight school? Are you planning on making your own set of wings?” Then his face somehow got even brighter, “You already have haven’t you? That’s how you got in!” I hesitantly nodded. If I haven’t mentioned yet, this guy is a little scary to me at the moment simply because how excited he is. “That is amazing!” He shouted.
“I guess,” I quietly replied.
“Do you have your designs with you? Can I see them? Does it resemble pegasus wings or more like bird wings? How do they work?” Azure hit me with a barrage of questions. I think I figured out his cutie mark’s meaning. All his questions started to blur together, and I think he realized it himself after he stopped himself and took a breath. “Sorry, I got a little carried away there. You don’t have to show me your design.” To my relief at least.
“What are you going for?” I asked.
“Secondary Magical Studies,” he answered with a smile. “I was in Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns before I was transferred here. Princess Celestia thought it would be best if I continued my studies with Princess Twilight.”
“Why?” I asked curiously. “Sure Princess Twilight was a gifted unicorn herself, but Princess Celestia raises the sun! How can Princess Twilight top that?”
“No idea,” he said with a chuckle, then his face faded to a little more serious. “But you know, the decision was kind of sudden. I was told only a month before the new school year. I had no idea what for or even what I should do to prepare, but I’ve been around the princesses long enough to know to simply trust their intuition,” he said with a wink.
Intuition. The word brought back my memory of first meeting Princess Twilight. Just call it an intuition. I still have no idea what that means, but maybe I am just over thinking it.
“Wait,” I thought out loud. “You’re personally studying with Princess Twilight?” He nodded. “And you studied with Princess Celestia?” Again, he nodded. If I had not felt belittled before, I definitely do now. I may have personally met Princess Twilight, but personally studying with her? That is a whole other honor that I don’t have.
On the bright side, he still has not noticed that I am a blank flank. I hope it stays that way for a little while longer, or forever. Yeah, forever sounds better.
“Aha,” a voice to my left called out. “I told you I would find you.” I turned my head and saw a green pegasus standing in the walkway right next to our booth. She had a curly, cream colored mane with two green streaks, one lighter than her coat while the other was the same color.
“Hello Evergreen,” Azure made a small grimace. She giggled.
“Miss me?”
“Not really,” he quickly replied.
“Aw come on,” she said with a whimper as she sat down next to him. “Aren’t you going to at least introduce me to your friend here?”
“This is Cloudy,” he said with a huff. I nervously smiled and waved. She gave me an odd look, and I hoped it was from my awkwardness, not my flank.
“Is he your plus one?” Yep definitely my flank. Of course it was after I had just begun to feel a little more comfortable, and now I shrank back down into my seat.
“This is a school train, Evergreen. We don’t get plus ones.”
“But isn’t he a little young? I mean he still is a blank flank after all.” Great, she pointed it out to him.
“Twilight Academy starts their recruits at the same age. So why would he be any different?” Azure’s answer surprised me. He didn’t even glance my way when Evergreen mentioned my blank flank.
“But he’s a blank flank!” she said again, she seemed more surprised.
“What difference does it make? He’s obviously shown a high level skill in some area in order to be here. Blank flank or no, he’s here for a purpose. It isn’t always our fault that we have trouble discovering who we are. Sometimes the ponies around us make us more concerned with what we are not, which makes it harder for us to find our place. Regardless, Princess Twilight alone has the final decision on who is allowed here. Who knows, maybe she has a way to help Cloudy.”
Wow, I thought to myself. It was all I could even do to sit in awe of this unicorn who seemed to have it all figured out.
“Okay, okay,” she finally came back, “you don’t have to get all deep and metaphoric on me.” She looked at me again. “I’m Evergreen,” again, I quietly waved. “I’m sorry about my rudeness. I’m sorta like Azure’s sister.”
“Yeah, except that you aren’t,” Azure interrupted with a huff.
“Hey, be nice,” she shoved him. “Where are you from?” She asked me.
“Canter-lot,” I said getting quieter as I spoke. It was clear she and Azure were on completely different levels than I was. Evergreen did a great job at making sure that I knew that, and I felt more feeble just being in there presence.
“Cancer-hair?” she loudly asked.
“No, Canterlot,” Azure interjected again. “We just came from there.”
“Yeah, but not everypony here is a Canterlotian,” she quickly retorted.
“Fair point,” he sighed. Then he looked at me. “It is okay to speak, you know. It’s not as if she’s a scary monster,” then his eyes narrowed, “though she can be at times,” he said under his breath. She heard him anyway and started to shove him harder.
“I said be nice!” she shouted. She started beating on Azure and he took the beating while laughing.
“Lead by example!” he shouted, poking her back. “How about you be nice?”
Seeing the two fight like this reminded me a lot of me and my sister. I may not have been gone for long, but being here on the train with all these strangers made it feel like I had left so long ago. It put a smile on my face, and then I let out a small chuckle of my own.
“Hey! What’s so funny, Mister!” Evergreen immediately stood directly in front of my face as she shouted.
“Nothing,” I said still grinning. “It’s just you two remind me of home. I kind of needed it so thanks.” Evergreen backed up a little with a surprised look on her face, then the surprise faded to a smile.
“Well good mister shy guy,”
“Cloudy,” Azure corrected her.
“Cloudy,” she repeated. “It’s nice to meet you,” she said holding out a hoof.
“Nice to meet you,” I answered with a bump. She then sat back down next to Azure. “So how’d you guys meet, anyway?” I asked. Apparently I asked the wrong question since Azure had a grim look on his face. “What happened?”
“Oh he turned me into a tree,” Evergreen answered. “It was awesome!”
“It was nothing of the sort,” he shouted. “All you need to know was that we were in class together before I went to Celestia’s school.”
“Come on, you might as well tell him,” Evergreen said trying to coerce Azure.
“No,” he firmly stated, “and I had better not ever hear you speak of it either. Got it?” He looked nearly livid. Whatever it was that really happened must have been particularly terrifying for him.
“Oh look,” called another voice. His words were menacing to say the least. “I thought I heard the gargle of a monster.” He was a yellow unicorn with a brown mane. He was standing caddy-cornered to the booth so I did not see his cutie mark, but I saw his piercing red eyes cocked in this way that could not be found not offensive. Whoever he is I do not even want to know his name.
“Another ‘friend’ of yours?” I asked with a little sarcasm.
“Quiet blank flank,” he said taking a step inside our booth. “You’ll be sent home as soon as we arrive in Ponyville. How did you make it on this train anyway. This is for scholars, and whether or not I like to admit it, even the monster over there has some level of intelligence. Obviously Headmaster Thinker does not however for letting him even come to this school.”
“Monster? Who,”
“Why, the blue demon over there,” he answered my question as he pointed to Azure, who seemed quiet, but unmoved. “Like a good boy, he’s being quiet. Now roll over and play dead will you?”
“He’s not a dog, Steel,” Evergreen snapped. “Why don’t you go buy your friends in the next car? Heard there are tons of grubby money pigs like yourself two cars over. Hopefully you can take that stench you have with you.”
“Oh, did you hear something?” he turned to me asking his stupid rhetorical question in a calm, monotonous tone. “I thought I might have heard a bug or something around my head. Filthy things need to be squashed, don’t they?”
“How dare-“ I started, but he interrupted.
“I’d watch my tone if I were you, blank flank,” his beady eyes and his demeaning face were stretching my nerves. “You’re lucky I have even recognized your presence. Be grateful. If it were not for your status, I might not even see you.”
I was infuriated, mere seconds away from giving this guy a pounding he so desperately needed. Apparently Evergreen saw and violently shook her head towards me. So, instead I took a breath and asked a question. “So, you know me?”
“Of course I do. I know most everypony in Canterlot. Your dad is quite famous around Equestria. Pity, he had you for a son rather than a pegasus to follow in his steps.” The more I heard him, the more I was ready to hurt him. “Then again there is your sister the prodigy. At the Wonderbolts Academy they call her Thunderbolt, don’t they? How quaint.” My face was turning red from the anger I was feeling.
“Don’t start a fight, Cloudy. They’ll kick you out immediately,” Evergreen’s words reached me only after I had realized I was standing over the unicorn. His smug smile made me want to puke. I had realized my heart rate and my breathing had severely increased. I took a deep breath.
“Tsk. Tsk. I nearly had you going there, didn’t I?” He started to laugh. “Well if I can’t provoke you out of the school, then I will have to return another time. Ta-ta!” He left the car.
The other ponies in the other booths looked at me with strange faces as I huffed and puffed my anger out. They probably noticed my blank flank by now, but I cared very little for that for the moment. My emotions kept increasing and making me furious, but eventually I plopped back down, feeling angry and defeated.
I knew my father probably felt at least a little pity on me if not shame for me even being born. He got to me. I swore I would never let anypony do that to me again. I felt so defeated, and day one has not even ended yet. I wanted to go home already.
“Your dad,” Azure quietly spoke. “What’s his name?”
“Silver Shot,” I answered quietly.
“Your dad is a Wonderbolt?” He responded with a surprised tone. I replied with a nod.
“Not just a Wonderbolt, he’s the Wonderbolt!” Evergreen was excitedly bouncing. “He’s the best since General Rainbowdash. Usually he’s best known for his peaceful solutions to most of the conflicts he’s put into, but that definitely does not mean he can’t fight. He once went hoof to claw with the griffon triad. He’s actually tied for record holding with Rainbowdash in the Wonderbolts’ Extrordinaire Competition. He’s-“ she stopped for a second. I quit listening myself for a while, but apparently she noticed my disheartened appearance. “Sorry, I got a little carried away,” she said with a quieter voice. “Your dad is pretty awesome though.”
“I know,” I answered.
“I’m sure it isn’t all bad. I’m willing to bet he’s proud that you’re here,” Azure tried to reassure me.
“He is.” Again, I quietly answered and I never rose my head. “But you know,” I started, “maybe that unicorn is ri-“ suddenly I felt myself lift from the ground.
“Don’t you ever allow me the displeasure of hearing those words come from your muzzle. If I have to put a spell to where I read your thoughts to make sure you’re not even thinking that, I will,” I saw Azure’s displeased expression staring through my soul. “If I refuse to let him win, I will definitely never allow somepony he’s never actually met to feel burdened by his words. Now, repeat after me: I Cloudy,”
“I Cloudy,” I shakily repeated.
“Hereby choose never to let Steel’s words get to me.”
“Hereby choose never to let Steel’s words get to me,” again my repeat was shaky, but he let me down after that. “But-“
“No,” he shouted. His eyes actually began to glow. I was not exactly terrified before, but the glowing eyes made me jump back and I nearly let my bladder go. They soon went back to normal and he put a smile back on his face as he pulled some candy from his saddlebag that was underneath his seat. “Now, would you two like to share some chocolate with me?”
“Duh,” Evergreen answered with a silly voice as she grabbed a few pieces with her hooves.
“Cloudy?” he held out his hooves rather than use his magic. I think it was just to avoid further intimidation.
“Why?” I asked giving him a confused look.
“Well I have a lot of it since my mom likes to make sweets and I figured I could share some.”
“Sorry,” it was not the answer I wanted. “Why be so nice?” Though I was using the term ‘nice’ loosely.
“Why not?” he answered. “I have only just met you. What’s the point of being mean?” He had a point. I never really thought about it in that manner. There really is no point to being rude to someone you have never met, let alone be mean.
“I guess you’re right,” I said after giving it some thought. I took some of the candy he was still holding out for me. “Thank you.”
“It’s my pleasure,” he said with a smile.
The rest of the train ride seemed to pass by so quickly. We were there before we knew it. The sun was about ready to begin its final stretch towards the horizon as we departed from the train. I began to look for my luggage, but nopony’s luggage was being removed from the train.
“Come on Cloudy,” Evergreen said, pulling my leg. “We’re gonna be late to orientation.”
“But my luggage!” I shouted, trying to get her to let go of me.
“It’s already in your room!” She shouted back at me. I gave her a puzzled look, but she paid no mind to it. “Now come on!”
As we walked, my mind still wandered back to my luggage, trying to figure out what I missed. Honestly, it was probably something I missed in one of the information sessions we attended. I never exactly paid attention to what they were saying.
Because of my wondering mind, I happened to miss where we were until we made it to the school. The school was a large semi-circled building and the outside was comprised of this smooth, mildly transparent blue crystal with black marble pillars holding up the large entryway. The marble also held as the trim for the building itself. I could not tell how many levels the building had, but it had to be at least 200 feet high. All in all though, the building was a beautiful structure.
“Hey, goo-goo eyes,” Evergreen chuckled as she waved her hoof in front of my eyes, “you’re drooling.”
“Sorry, I just got overwhelmed,” I said as I finally shook myself out of my awe struck statue-like appearance.
“Hey you two, if we’re going to sit together, you might want to hurry up,” Azure called out to us. We followed him inside, and that would officially begin our new school year.
Author's Note
See what did I tell ya? I can get some things done on time-ish.