Chapters Lemon Pies and Chess: Lemonade
“Do we control when we die? Do we control who we fall in love with? Are we in any charge at all, or is it all one big game of chess, resulting in death for many and pride for many more? Because, if we are truly in control, why MUST we die at some point?" -unknown
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Lemon wandered through the forest of tall, magnificent lemon trees, waiting impatiently for some sign of his father’s arrival. He was a small, 5 year old pegasus. His hair was green and neatly combed, a single brown streak coming past his ear. His tail was long and green with a brown core. The child looked timid, harmless, yet full of energy.
And the forest; the trees were of a dark green shade, yet sunlight passed through every branch, illuminating the ground and every budding lemon seed. The sky was clear, not a single cloud, bright and blue. Silence was all to be heard throughout, except for the occasional tweet of a lark when, a mature voice broke the silence.
“Lemon, I keep telling you, you shouldn't go this far into the plantation, you could get lost!” Coming from the direction Lemon was facing, a familiar pony approached. This pony was taller than Lemon, and 17 years of age. His fur was maroon and his mane was dark brown. He had a freckled face. Maple was his name, and he was Lemon’s elder brother. The two of them were close, but couldn't always talk because of course Maple had school at his age.
“Oh its okay,” Lemon’s naive, young voice replied “I leave a trail of rocks up to this point in the forest. That way I know my way back.” Maple looked behind him to indeed see a trail of rocks, spread out every 3 metres or so.
“Either way, you could get hurt out here, what if a badger bit you?” Maple looked down at Lemon’s face, who just continued to smile at him.
“The animals here know me, Maple, I come here every day. Around now, I think the larks should be coming back to their nests.” And at that moment, a dozen larks flew over head and each landed in a lemon tree. Their golden feathers looked very admirable under the shade of the lemon trees, as they brought twigs and caterpillars back to their nests.
“I wanted to surprise him, I thought maybe if he could show up at the house and I appear behind him, it would be a funny prank!” The naive attitude of Lemon Zest made him a cute little pony, but sometimes you just wanted to face hoof.
“Never mind the prank; Mum wants us to help clean the living room, okay?” Lemon sighed and reluctantly agreed. “Okay.” He told his brother. They made their way back to the house, crossing hundreds of lemon trees on the way. Soon enough, there was a clearing and a large, empty patch of land came into view. In the centre was a single, tall lemon tree, much larger than the rest. A fair distance north of this tree was a great, magnificent house. It was 2 stories high, with a large, wooden patio to the left and a raised balcony to the right. The bricks were painted white and the windows looked old yet clean. In front of the small, red door were some flower pots, large yet with small flowers inside.
“Lemon, how come you didn't sit under the super tree of yours? You could have hid behind there to prank dad and I wouldn't have to come looking for you?” Maple asked little Lemon, as they just reached the tree. Lemon liked to call it the “super tree” because of how it was so much more magnificent than the other trees on the plantation.
“Well, what if he saw me? He’d only be a few feet away?” Lemon replied. Whenever Lemon’s dad arrived, it was a big moment for the whole family, but especially big for Lemon. The two of them would play chess under the super tree, and while playing they’d enjoy the lemonade which Lemon had taught himself to make before he could even speak. Mum would always make that delicious recipe with specially roasted chicken and lemon juice. Lemon’s dad didn't mind him wandering off into the plantation, in fact, his dad actually taught him a lot about the wildlife that lives in there: the deer, the birds, the foxes…
Maple opened up the small red door to the house to reveal the living room. There was a small collection of sofas and the stairs to the right, to the left was the small yet conveniently organised kitchen, as well as the door to the patio. In the kitchen, a mare cleaned the counters with a yellow cloth. This pony was yellow, just like Lemon, and had a brown plaited mane. She also had freckles, like Maple, and was quite saucy for her age.
“...No, actually, I found him watering the flowers outside” Maple replied, giving Lemon a subtle look of trust. Lemon was glad his brother was helping him out here.
It didn't take long; their mum, Citronella, had already done quite a bit of work. Three knocks on the door silenced the ponies in the room.
Lemon Pies and Chess: Lemonade
Everypony in the room froze right where they stood, bringing silence to the room. They knew this day was coming, all of them! Citronella had her mane styled for it, Maple booked time off school, Lemon was more than excited and yet now, this moment was here! It was to happen now! When that door opened, a pony who had not been seen for almost a month would make his return: Citron, Lemon and Maple's father and wife to Citronella.
Being the owner of the company that produces over half of Equestria's lemon supply, lengthy business trips had to be made regularly. Like it or not, Citron would have to leave his family at a moment's notice to make business deals, deliver supplies and a whole host of other things that must be taken into account when being a high-profit businesscolt. As one can imagine, whenever he WAS home, the family would take full advantage of his company.
Lemon couldn't get the door. The heat of the moment had frozen him; stood no more than a few feet away, separated only by an inch-thick door, was his father! Maple felt the same way, and he too was frozen. Citronella, of course, was just as excited to see her husband, but she was frozen for just a couple of seconds. Being the only adult in the room (though not for long), she walked towards the door, pretending she was not about to leap for joy.
Her hoof touched the handle. She pulled it down. The door swung open without any creaking or disturbance. Citronella took a peek through the door... her heart stopped.
"Oh." She said in a confused voice. Wondering who might have knocked on the door, she took a step outside and looked around: empty. There was nopony in sight. Her muscles relaxed.
"Surprise." She immediately froze a second time. The two children froze even stiffer. "You happy to see me?" Citronella stood outside, that voice was familiar. She heard the same happy, confident, aged voice that proposed to her a while back. Lemon and Maple heard that same voice, the voice that would cheer them on when they were struggling as toddlers, and one that could only belong to one pony: Citron. Lemon turned around. He saw him stood there, and felt his heart take off and fly away.
Citron stood before the back porch looking ever so glad to see his family again. His yellow fur was more pale that Lemon's, as it had aged more. His grey mane sat short and scruffy; figures that Citron hadn't combed his hair today! He looked strong and tall. After all, he was keeping in good physical condition, as he was still a lemon farmer at heart. His wings housed strong, long feathers, and he carried a pair of black saddlebags.
Lemon wasted no time once he got over his moment of shock. The pegasus foal didn't even waste time walking around the sofa, leaping straight over it in one large leapfrog. He fell sharply into the embrace of his father, an embrace he had been missing for long enough now.
"Okay, try not to kill me!" He laughed as Citronella finally came back inside, looking as if she was holding back a torrent of joy, ready to flood at any moment. Maple wasn't as full on as his younger brother, he stood to the side and waited to greet his father.
Upon noticing Maple, Citron approached the maroon-coloured pegasus and, rather than the 'hug of death' he got from Lemon, gave him a quick hug with a single hoof, patting his back and addressing him.
"Maple, good to see you!" He left the hug, fully aware that a pony of Maple's age would be less enthusiastic to engage in intimate moments with parents. "College going good for you?" Maple was currently taking college courses in agriculture and economics.
"It's goin' great, pa!" Maple gave his dad a smile before the stallion of the house saw his wife. Citronella stood there, for once in her life, blushing! She was usually a very confident and sometimes a bossy pony, but here she was seen nervous! The mare stood with her hooves close together, only looking at her husband out of the corner of her eyes, face bright red. Citron seemed to recognize what was going on here.
Citron managed to get a few words in despite the fact that any air that was once in his body had now been squeezed out of him. "And I thought Lemon's hug was full on!" Citronella didn't care. "Okay seriously, I can't breathe..." Citron's face started to become just as red as Citronella's as the air was stolen from him. Upon realizing what she was doing, she snapped her eyes open and hastily put down her husband, who quickly took advantage and gasped for air, breathing heavily.
"Uh, sorry. Good to see ya again!" Citronella was still blushing quite a bit after that ordeal, while Citron was still trying to regain his breath.
"So, checklist: Lemon, you up to a game of chess?" Citron turning his attention onto Lemon made the young pony beam with joy.
"I got this while making lemonade. I'm sure my talent is my brewing ability!" Lemon seemed to be really enthusiastic about discovering his cutie mark, which understandably he was! This simple image upon his rump was one that would spell out a great deal about himself, and not only that, but his brother could no longer call him a blank-flank! The reasoning has been doubled!
"Now if you two ladies don't mind," Citron jokingly referring to Maple as a lady, "Lemon and I have a game to undergo!"
Lemon Pies and Chess: Lemonade
Lemon moved his pawn forward a couple of squares.
"The trip was awfully exciting," Citron responded while moving one of his own pawns forward, "you should have seen the immense machinery those far off ponies have!"
Moving a second chess piece, Lemon found some interest in something that would be described as 'immense machinery' mainly because Equestria had not come very far in the world of engineering.
"Well, there were these huge tanks filled with water, coal and machinery. The coal could be burnt, which would turn the water into steam, then somehow that steam powered these enormous steel wheels on either side of the tank!" Lemon saw his opportunity and took a piece, score one for him.
"So... It doesn't need anypony to turn the wheels?" He smirked at his smart little move.
Lemon was intrigued by this idea, "and, what are these machines called?" He saw his dad make a random move.
"They're called 'locomotives' I think." Citron took a sip of lemonade, "I hear there are plans to have them come through here! To Ponyville!" Lemon again made a smart move, clearly he had been practising during his business trip, "nice to see some modernisation come to this old place."
Really, the place had a unique type of beauty thanks to it's simplicity. The two ponies sat upon simple wooden chairs playing chess at a simple wooden table which was placed under the 'super tree' as Lemon called it. It was getting late, the sun setting over the horizon of lemon trees, creating a yellow colour in the sky, the stars looking small but twinkling regularly as if they had significance in this massive expanse of nothing. Citron and Lemon each had a glass of homemade lemonade with them, a drink which had been created by Lemon in anticipation of Citron's return.
Citron moved his knight, allowing his bishop to have some open ground to roam. At that point, Citron remembered some important news he had for his son.
"No way!?" Lemon beamed excitedly at his dad. A place at school was a big moment for him, this meant he would finally learn to fly, he could meet other ponies his age, he could learn important things for the orchard, the list went on for the young, enthusiastic foal! A nod from Citron confirmed his fantasies.
"Yep, starting in a couple of days, you'll be at the school just a short walk from here." Citron seemed to notice his son's enthusiasm for an education, though really he believed it was more so he could meet other foals and fillies. "You won't have to stay cooped up on this orchard all anymore!"
Lemon seemed not to be taking in any of what Citron was telling him, in fact, he probably forgot he was in the middle of a chess game! This seemed to be made obvious by the way he looked: like a statue. A statue of a yellow pegasus foal that looked happier than a brony during a date with Tara Strong.
Soon enough, Lemon did in fact manage to escape from his mini-comma.
"Lemon, we should head inside. It's getting dark." Citron told his son. The foal replied by knocking over Citron's king.
The rest of the night went swimmingly, it was over too quick for Lemon, Maple, hell it went fast for every pony! Citron brought an atmosphere to the room that made happiness and harmony seem so much more enjoyable. Citronella, as planned, had made that special meal with the recipe involving roasted chicken and lemon, a knock out dinner by any standards. It seemed like Lemon could only function properly as long as he knew his dad was well, which says a lot about him, really.
Lemon Pies and Chess: Lemonade
Lemon looked in the mirror, with a beaming smile spread wide across his face. His first day at school was going to be a great one, he just knew it!
"Alright, today's the day..." he thought to himself eagerly, "recite what you already know," thinking about how much fun school would be. If only he knew the truth... but I'm getting ahead of the story here. He took a look at the learning sheets his dad had put together. Citron had been teaching Lemon basic skills since he was a toddler. "1 x 2 = 2, 2 x 2 = 4..." Lemon believed that if he started school already having a good knowledge, he would learn faster. It might make him look good, as well, which as a result would make him more popular, or at least that was the foal's theory.
Raring to go, Lemon called to his mother. "Mum! I'm ready for school!"
His mum was quick to respond. "Lemon, school doesn't start for two hours..."
The young pegasus snapped back to reality. "Oh... Right."
So, Lemon still had a whole two hours to burn. He made his way downstairs so he could grab his breakfast, walking with a happy spring in every step. Usually, Lemon would eat breakfast alone in the living area while Citronella worked outside. Today, Maple had the whole day off school, Citronella was having the morning off and Citron was here! Even though the pale furred pegasus was here all of last night, it still came as a surprise for Lemon to come downstairs and see his dad.
Citron had four long prongs stood by the small fireplace, outstretched. On the end, slices of bread cooked slowly under the heat of the mild flame that arose from the few pieces of coal. Maple was helping Citronella in the kitchen, preparing a mix of tea leaves and lemon pips that combined to make a wonderfully zesty cup of tea, a recipe exclusive to Sweetest Lemons. These cups, however, were not for sale, they were for the family's enjoyment.
Lemon merrily skipped into the living room, awaiting a greeting that soon came from his brother. "Morning." Maple greeted Lemon while crushing together the special brew in a pestle and mortar, the lemon pips making satisfying crunch sounds upon contact, like a nut being bitten into.
Lemon returned the greeting with his own. "Hey, Maple." Not quite as formal as his elder brother's address, but one would not expect somepony of Lemon's age to be particularly mature, especially when in a personal space such as his own home.
Citron appeared suddenly from behind, and after a rather rough scruffing of Lemon's mane, he politely offered breakfast. "Want some toast, kiddo?" The pegasus took some toast off the flame and served it on a plate in front of where Lemon sat, its surface only slightly charred thanks to Citron's technique of cooking on a small fire.
"Thanks, Dad."
Once Lemon had reassured his mother, Citronella, that he was NOT going to wander far for the third time, he opened the front door to the outside world and made his way. The place where Lemon often retreated to was an easy path to follow from the main orchard.
"Go in a straight line from the direction of the Lemon tree," Lemon tread the route as he read it out loud from memory, "then where the orchard begins, go to the small blackberry bush and follow the trail of rocks..." He started walking through the vast expanse of lemon trees. "Until you reach the boulder with the larger bush beside it!" Lemon was caught mid-thought as a faint rustling sound came from said bush, the leaves shaking and twitching slightly as if disturbed.
Curious as to what creature may be hiding in the cloud of leaves, Lemon resisted the urge to move suddenly. Instead, the foal called out with a gentle voice. "Hey! Come on out, little guy..."
"GUY?" Lemon jumped at the high pitched reply! Clearly, this was not some creature, but a pony!
Again, Lemon was caught mid-thought as he was tackled by a flash of pink fur leaping out of the bush, flattening him on the ground. Looking up, he took the opportunity to make out the features of this pony, presumably a filly. She had hot-pink fur which stood out from her shaded surroundings with a humourous contrast. Her mane stood out just as much, if not more! While Lemon's was combed and green, this filly had a very scruffy pastel-rose mane, which looked as if it hadn't been combed or brushed since last Hearth's Warming.
The filly allowed Lemon to get up from lying on his back, moving back so that he could clumsily get to his hooves, still trying to get over the shock of being tackled. Once he did manage to return to his original stable state, the filly introduced herself.
"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie!" Her voice was amazingly high-pitched, to the point it was probably considered an impersonated voice, although how anypony could speak like THAT if it were not their natural voice was beyond Lemon. Another out of place thing here was her completely oblivious playfulness. She had just tackled Lemon to the ground, and yet she introduced herself like they were meeting in a coffee shop, upon friendly circumstances!
Lemon, shocked by the surprise, had no response.
"Yoo-hoo!" Pinkie Pie waved her hoof in Lemon's face in an attempt to get him working again. "Do I have to tackle you again?"
Lemon suddenly started responding again. "Uh- uh... Right! Uhm... Hi?" Something seemed awkward about this moment to Lemon. Pinkie, on the other hoof, seemed to think no such thoughts, as she smiled at him with her bright teeth exposed, looking as if she was on a permanent sugar rush. The pink filly giggled excitedly.
"Took ya long enough! So, what's your name?" He played along for now.
"I'm... Lemon Zest..." The filly continued beaming and staring at Lemon, who felt himself blush slightly. "So, what exactly are you doing here on the orchard?"
"Oh, just exploring! Why, is this your orchard? You're doing pretty well for a foal!" Only Pinkie could assume a foal was the owner of a lemon orchard half the size of Ponyville. Still, Lemon played along as best he could. It wasn't often he met somepony new, and despite her slight over-enthusiasm, Pinkie seemed like a fun gal!
"No, no, my dad is the owner." Lemon didn't put on any sarcasm, as he didn't want to come off as rude. Besides, he didn't know what sarcasm was.
"Ooooh, that makes more sense!" Not that Lemon didn't want to facehoof at this moment.
Lemon looked up at the position of the sun. Deducing there was still well over an hour before school, Lemon decided he would stay and just chat with Pinkie for a while. Even if it wouldn't burn the whole hour, it would hopefully burn most of it. "So... do you live near here?" Lemon asked, Pinkie shaking her head upon the question.
"Nah, I live a while away on a rock farm!" This pony lived on a rock farm? "Me and my family come here every few weeks to visit our Aunt Pie and so we can sell!" Just to make sure you got that last bit there: THIS PONY LIVED ON A ROCK FARM?!
"You live on... a rock farm?" It was difficult for Lemon to imagine a pony as extroverted as Pinkie Pie working a job as boring as harvesting rocks! Pinkie sighed.
"Yeah... I've always wanted to move here, to Ponyville. Sure, the family are fun, most of the time, but it does get quite dull..." The filly looked like she was building up to some inspirational line."I need a home with more... PIZAZZ!" Pinkie jumped up, looking up to the morning sky, and threw her hooves in the air, almost hitting Lemon. On landing, she looked down at him. "Know what I mean?"
No. No, he did not understand what in the seven circles of Tartarus she meant by the pretentiously foreign term "pizazz", nor was he going to subject himself to the brutal psychological torture of discovering its meaning, or even hazarding an educated guess. He didn't even know what most of those words meant. "Sure! I know what you mean...." It was then that Lemon realised what would be happening around now. "Hey, Pinkie, come duck by this bush..." Lemon returned to the bush Pinkie leaped out from.
"Okay!" The pony hopped over to him, bouncing in the air as if defying gravity instead of... Just walking like a normal pony. "So, what we doing?" Lemon hushed Pinkie, to which she responded by freezing mid-jump somehow... "Why?" She slowly lowered herself to the ground in the way a pegasus might slowly hover down, but she clearly did not have wings or a horn for magic, she was an earth pony. Lemon didn't notice -and a good thing too, he probably would have lost it- instead he had his eyes focused on a nearby tree.
"Keep watching that burrow, there..." He was only peeking slightly above the bush as if he was hiding. Pinkie imitated this, though her mane stood out hopelessly. From the dark mud of the burrow that dug under a lemon tree, a small family of badgers arose! A large fluffy one followed by two smaller, almost bald babies. The larger badger showed a motherly behaviour in the way she walked slightly above the cubs, protecting the tiny, innocent creatures.
Lemon sat quietly and observed, and to his surprise, so did Pinkie! The two enjoyed the adorable sight of the two babies stumbling about, occasionally falling only to have the mother nudge them onto their paws again using her small, furry snout. Lemon just now noticed that Pinkie looked as though she was going to explode or something, she was shaking slightly yet rapidly and remained silent. Lemon spoke up.
"Uhm... Pinkie?" He hoped communicating with her wouldn't make her erupt.
"THEY WERE SO CUTE!!!!" Her shrieking, deafening scream could probably be heard from Canterlot! Lemon tried to cover his ears, but Pinkie pulled him in as dozens of birds fled from the sound. The two were now staring eye to eye, Pinkie holding Lemon in as if he was a captured fish in the claws of a bear! But, more pink.
"Like REALLY! REALLY! CUTE!" she released her grip on Lemon, who for a moment wondered if the shout had made him deaf... The sound of a bird flapping it's wings denied this.
"...yeah..." There wasn't much Lemon could say. He was, once again, sent into a state of shock by Pinkie Pie! "I'm gonna go now... I have school..." It would probably be for the best that he returned home before she did something permanent.
"Okay! See ya!" Pinkie went back to talking in a tone that was at least somewhat accepted by the pony ears without pain. Lemon turned his back to her and waved a hoof before starting to walk back.
"See ya."
...
"Same time tomorrow?" Lemon stopped. He looked back at Pinkie, who was still beaming at him. Her smile made Lemon smile in return. "I'm here all week, after all?"
Lemon couldn't help but chuckle slightly. "Sure, same time tomorrow! In fact, how about tonight? 5 o'clock?"
"Great!" Pinkie happily bounced away, Lemon following her with his eyes.
"... Odd one." He thought to himself, "but friendly!" He walked back home.
Lemon Pies and Chess: Lemonade
(-Around an hour and a half later-)
Well, he was here now. School. The building was very much a lot smaller than what Lemon pictured; he pictured a large building with many rooms branching off, but this was just a block, like a house. It looked humble though, a large orange building with a prism roof, as well as a brown door and rectangle shaped windows on either side. The face of the building seemed to have been decorated with white swirling patterns, and a bell tower tipped the roof of the school.
There was a small exposed porch at the foot of the door, a few white steps leading up to it, two pillars holding up a pointed roof. A sign post outside the fence perimeter of the building told Lemon that this was definitely the school of Ponyville, or at least the primary school.
Only a handful of ponies around Lemon’s age were walking through the gates at this time, supposedly the rest of his future classmates were either already in the nearby playground or still at home.
He started walking towards the schoolhouse, his head slightly low due to his shy attitude he felt when approaching the building that would ultimately decide his events for the next 6 years. Laughter and the sound of foals and fillies playing was arising from behind the large structure before Lemon, bringing him to the conclusion he should probably join them, at least until class started.
It wasn’t until Lemon had walked the full length around the back of school and saw the playground of fillies and foals that he discovered just how nervous he was. Once his eyes met the faces of all those children, he froze! Once he managed to gain movement again, he retreated back to the side of the school, out of sight. Breathing heavily, he questioned himself.
“Ah jeez, shit shit shit…” Despite his young age, his mind still possessed a colourful vocabulary. “Just go out there!” He was about to go… “No!” He did not. “What do I do, what do I say?” All the other ponies seemed to be happily playing; supposedly they already had some friends before going to school. Lemon… Lemon did not. A voice caught him off guard.
“You okay, bro?” Lemon froze before turning to face the foal who was addressing him.
“Uhm…” Lemon didn’t know exactly what to say here. The foal before him was a cyan unicorn with a brown mane, a few white patches at the tip of his tail. This unicorn, for some reason, was wearing a orange shirt, which really did not blend well with his blue fur. “I’m fine!” he smiled at the foal, who did not seem convinced.
“So, that’s why you’re hiding behind the school?” Lemon suddenly abandoned his weak composure of leaning on the school in favour of a more broad one, which of course he was putting on in hopes this foal wouldn’t question him further.
“I’m not hiding!” Lemon saw his opportunity to know somepony at this school, anypony as long as he didn’t have to go out to that playground by himself. “So… first day?”
“...yes, it’s my first day…” The foal replied. Lemon wasn’t exactly sure how to get a name out of him, asking him would probably sound awkward.
“Kind of-” Lemon was cut off.
“Kind of? It’s either your first day or it isn’t…” Well, this unicorn didn’t seem like the most subtle of characters! His sudden aggression somehow made Lemon more confident, making him feel as if he had to stand his ground here.
“Yes! It’s my first day!” He chuckled slightly, the way this pony was so easily irritated actually proved to be quite humorous!
“Right! So, what’s your name, faget?” The pony asked. ‘Faget’ wasn’t exactly the nicest way to refer to Lemon, but he didn’t really care.
“Lemon.” The unicorn chuckled.
“You’re named after a fruit?” He stopped sniggering, “I’m Sky.” Finding a new breed of confidence, Lemon stepped away from the wall of the schoolhouse and started making his way towards the playground.
“So, what’s with the lemon on your booty?” Sky asked Lemon, surprising the pegasus as to why he would use such an insensitive term as ‘booty’, but he answered nevertheless.
“What, you’ve never seen a cutie mark before?” How a pony would have never heard of a cutie mark before was beyond Lemon, sure it wasn’t out of the ordinary to not own one, but to have never heard of one?
“No, I know what a cutie mark is!” Well, that’s that mystery solved. “What I mean is: what’s your special talent? Not that I give one, just you know, being a friendly pony and all…” Honestly, what had Sky been up to in his life? His attitude was that of a modern teenager, but a six year old speaking like this? Again, Lemon didn’t really care.
“Oh, right. I got it while brewing lemonade, so I’m assuming my talent is my brewery skills.” The two were now at the edge of playground, just walking and chatting until they found an ideal place to sit down. They eventually found an ideal spot under a tree, which Lemon compared to the Super Tree back at the orchard.
“Hey Sky, you don’t have a cutie mark yet…” Lemon question Sky as he noticed the unicorn’s flank was blank.
“Well spotted, Sherclop!” The foal sighed. “I never get to do what I want and find my cutie mark because my parents are travelers.” Lemon sympathized for Sky. “I mean, we’re packing and unpacking so often, I’m lucky if I stay anywhere long enough to start going to school.”
“So, you don’t enjoy traveling?” Lemon asked, “I thought it might be rather exciting to see areas from all over Equestria?” Sky shook his head.
“I get where you’re coming from, but what sounds worse: seeing great things but not being able to enjoy them, or just not being given the temptation?” Sky’s point made sense, actually. Seeing great things but being denied their happiness would in fact seem worse than just not seeing them at all.
“Well, surely you don’t have to travel if you don’t want to?” Lemon took a slight interest to travel, but really he was going on with this conversation so he could get to know Sky more.
“Well, what am I supposed to do?” He picked at the grass in front of his blue hooves, looking as if stressed yet sad, “they’re my parents, I have to go wherever they go.” A group of three ponies approaching Sky and Lemon made them look up. Their posture told Sky they were not friendly.
Lemon Pies and Chess: Lemonade
Three ponies, Lemon counted, were headed towards them. Exactly what they wanted would soon be made clear. The pony in the middle seemed to be tallest, his black mane looking neatly combed yet high profile, almost like some kind of Elvis horse. This pony also had orange fur and a poorly maintained pair of wings.
The pony to his right appeared to be an Earth pony, he did not have wings or a horn. His white fur blended well with his neat blue mane which appeared to be neatly combed, a complete opposite of his companion's style choice.
To the left of the two was a unicorn with grey fur and a dark green mane, a face being worn that gave aggression yet was not exactly intimidating. It was difficult to be intimidated by a face filled with spots and cracks; honestly, this filly looked like a small witch pony!
It was obvious they wanted their presence to be noticed, what with the fact that they seemed to try and make eye contact with Lemon and Sky while approaching them in a youthful attitude, only stopping a couple of feet away.
"Hey, what are ya doin' in our corner of the grounds?" the orange pegasus asked them, in that tone of voice one could only expect from an 80s sports movie villain, a tone that clearly confirmed Lemon’s belief that these kids were not friendly and it appeared as if Sky felt the same way. Lemon was an introvertive pony, however he felt like he had to stand up for the sake of his friend.
“...Does it matter?” He asked the group, receiving a foul look from the grey pony in response. Lemon took no interest. It was at this moment that he noticed a number of fillies and foals looking over to them out of the corner of their eyes, yet none of them seemed willing to help.
“He asked you a question.” The voice came from the grey pony’s mouth, it was a voice that sounded oddly deep for a female’s voice, it also sounded awkward and bolshy.
"And he gave you an answer." Sky spoke firmly, completely undeterred by the fact that he was facing off against three ponies here, all of which appeared to be older than Lemon and Sky. The grey pony then gave Sky that same look Lemon received, however Sky threw back a dirty look of his own which actually seemed to work in temporarily making her look away.
"It matters because you shouldn't be here," the white earth pony of the group was talking now, he spoke in a strong British accent, not that Equestrians knew what a 'Britain' was. "This part of the grounds is reserved for us only!"
"And who reserved it?" Sky kept his clear tone of voice throughout the whole ordeal, it was as if nothing was intimidating him at all. The pony in the center of the trio was quick to respond.
"We did, now get lost!" Lemon was about to 'get lost' as the orange pegasus pony put it, but Sky remained stood right where he was standing, so Lemon thought it would be best for him to stay beside his blue friend in case a certain pile of manure were to hit a trio of spinning blades.
"You can't just claim a patch of land and call it reserved just because you're too lazy to find some other place to play with your dolls." Lemon envisaged a roaring flame in Sky's hooves, not that ponies knew what a 'flamethrower' was. "We got here first."
The white pony spoke again. "We've been here a whole year, moron, now get out of here." He approached Sky and Lemon, giving them ever-dirtier looks.
"You call me a moron," Sky retaliated with his own approach, "but you gotta be really brain-dead to think I'm gonna shift aside for the Knights of the Stupid Table."
"You talk tough, rookie." The air was tense now. "Let's just wait and see how you stack up when the hooves go flying, huh? Weakling." This last comment got to the blue unicorn.
Out of nowhere, Sky threw a strong right hook.
Lemon heard a satisfying crack as something gave inside the white pony's skull, and he fell to the floor with a loud thud. "AH!" he screamed, writhing on the grass, clutching his face.
The other two ponies stood above him, checking on the fallen bully. Lemon knew what was going to happen next.
"Sky, combat wise, what have you got?"
"... this ballpoint pen?" He pulled out a pen from his pocket using his magic and held it up for all to see.
Lemon facehoofed. "Damn it, Sky," though in hindsight he shouldn't have doubted the capabilities a pen could have when facing off a pair of attackers. Just as the lady of the group locked eyes with Sky and started walking angrily towards him, the pen shot forward like a rocket and lodged itself right in the chest of the pony, causing her to step back and groan in pain.
The orange pony was now heading their way, looking as if he was desperate to attack Sky and save his reputation. Whether or not Sky was going to pull a hat-trick out of the bag was anypony's guess, but Lemon was not willing to take the risk, so in a yellow blur, he darted under the hooves of the attacker and tripped him up in one powerful swoop. By now, however, the white pony that fell victim to Sky's first attack was getting back onto his hooves, the grey filly had gotten the pen out of her chest and both wanted COLD HEARTED VENGEANCE! But instead, Lemon and Sky were going to deliver SWIFT JUSTICE!
Both ponies headed straight for Sky, him being the pony who caused both of them their pain. After tripping the orange pony, Lemon was now side on to the attackers, so he saw his opportunity to run head on into them, knocking both of them over in a domino-effect. Sky, noticing the Elvis haired pegasus getting back to his hooves, charged at him and slammed his face back into the ground by grabbing his mane with his magic and pulling it right into the tarmac. For good measure, he repeated a few times to the point where the orange pegasus was on the verge of not getting back up.
The other two ponies were now groaning on their backs, lying on the grounds like dead bugs. Lemon looked worn out, even after the short burst of adrenalin, and Sky looked like he wanted to kick some more heads in. Probably not a good idea though, Lemon thought; getting expelled on the first day did not seem like a good idea.
Lemon thought it best, at this time, to run for the hills. Unfortunately, there were no hills to run to as it was a playground, so he made do with what he had and ran to the furthest possible corner followed by a certain blue furred unicorn with anger-management issues.
"Okay," he wanted to think of someway of getting out of this without being expelled or without his parents finding out. "Do you have any ideas of how to come out of this clean?"
"Um..." His head flew up. "Yes. Yes, I do have an idea of how to come out of this clean!" Sky made his way back to the colts and filly who attacked them, their bodies looking dusty and worthless. Lemon just now noticed the state of the orange pony who Sky attacked most recently.
"Jesus Sky, we're not supposed to kill them!"
"We weren't supposed to attack them to begin with." He made his way up to the face of the orange pony who stared back at him, a look of evil in his eyes.
"Prick." He spat his words at Sky who -unlike last time- responded with a few choice words.
"You and your goons here were just completely wrecked by a couple of six year olds," Lemon stood beside Sky keeping a close watch on the other two ponies, "how would that sound to your fellow classmates?"
"If you tell anypony-" the orange horse's words were cut off,
"If YOU tell any teachers what we did, we won't tell any students.” The orange pony looked down at the tarmac upon which he lay, “and it will be as if this never happened, your reputation will remain intact. If you DO tell a teacher or two, we are going to tell all the students. All of them. About how you, Mr Orange, were beaten by me and Lemon. Deal?”
The orange pony didn’t even hesitate. “Deal.” Sky sighed.
“Better.” he got up, joined Lemon and headed back to their corner.
“Sky…” Lemon addressed his blue friend, who looked at him out of the corner of his eye, “You are sick.” Sky chuckled slightly.
“Only slightly!”
The rest of school was… not exciting as Lemon expected. Sky knew from the start that school would be a pretty dull place, but Lemon had to face the disappointment of finding out himself. His goal to make a friend was complete, though, even if he also made a few enemies in the process. By the end of the school day, Lemon didn’t want to see Sky go. His presence made him feel secure.
“Hey, Sky…” Him and the unicorn were now stood outside the schoolhouse with a large number of fillies and foals walking by after a draining day of pretending to learn. “Would you like to come over and spend some time at the orchard?” Let’s just assume for the sake of the lazy editor's sanity that he told Sky he lived on an orchard while in lesson.
“Sure, nothing better to do.” The pony shrugged and followed Lemon home. Lemon just now thought about the cray response Sky might have to Pinkie Pie. They entered through a parting in the white fence that surrounded the maze of lemon trees and followed the dirt path that led to the house, however Lemon and Sky did not go in the house, instead Lemon led him into the forest. Judging by the position of the sun, it was around 5 o’clock, Pinkie would be here!
“If we get lost, I’m eating you before you eat me!” Sky told Lemon, who was following his track of rocks he lay and was paying no attention to Sky’s crazy survival ideas. Judging by his earlier escapade, though, he was likely serious.
“Well, we can just chill here for a while.” Lemon saw no sign of a pink ball of fluff and fur, although he didn’t see her last time before she tackled him… she was probably hiding again. And here came his response:
“HEEEEEEEEEEEEY!” A blur of pink fell from a nearby lemon tree and landed directly on Sky’s back, forcing him onto the ground. “Who’s the new kid?"
“Pinkie, this is Sky! Sky, the pink mass that just attacked you is called Pinkie.” Lemon explained. Pinkie got off from Sky’s back and had her face in front of Sky’s, before greeting him with an excited “HI!” Sky had no response for some time, but he eventually spoke up.
“...Well, she’s cute enough.” He got up and brushed some dirt off his orange shirt. "I guess." Pinkie giggled.
“Yes, I’m blue. Well spotted!" Sky rolled his eyes. "Have a gold star.”
Lemon butted in. “So… wanna play a game?”
Pinkie seemed enthusiastic. “I LOVE GAMES!” She bounced a couple of times in long bounces that, again, seemed to ignore the rules of gravity.
“I like games slightly less than the next pony. Why the heck not, I guess."
Pinkie spoke before Lemon had the chance to suggest a game of Hide and Seek.
“LET’S CLIMB A TREE!” Sky showed a sudden interest.
“Yeah, that sounds fun!” The unicorn made a quick dash for a nearby tree -nearby trees certainly weren’t in short supply- and Pinkie quickly followed.
"Okay, we'll climb a tree." Lemon approached the same tree the other two stood by. Not many trees in the orchard had grown like this, with many branches sticking out here and then, but there did come the occasional tree that spread out more.
"I get to go up first, excuse me fags." He stood leaning on the tree, and quickly he had made a grab for a branch and was pulling himself up. "Lemme know if any of you two noobs need help up," he continued climbing, right to a high up branch. The place he selected as his seat was ideal, there were a couple of other branches beside it that would also make ideal seats.
Pinkie was next to climb up. Her small size -as opposed to the more muscular body of Lemon and the slightly fattened body of Sky- meant she could nimbly slip through small gaps between branches and easily reach the high up position where Sky sat. She sat on a nearby branch that was slightly further down. Next it was Lemon's turn.
Pinkie called down to the pegasus, "you're next, get up here!" Her words encouraged Lemon further.
"All right, I'm comin'..." Lemon reached out and lodged his hoof in a split in the branch before pulling himself up and wrapping his other hoof around a further back branch. He pulled himself up further, feeling slightly fatigued at the effort, yet he continued. The pegasus could now get a rear hoof up and onto a nearby branch, giving him enough power to push himself up onto the final branch beside where Pinkie sat. Pulling one last time, he made it. Sitting beside Pinkie, he could now see a much higher up view of the orchard, just below where all the lemons hung from their dens of leaves and twigs.
"Wouldn't it be great to fly around this place?" Sky sounded calm and truthful, very abnormal for his character. "The freedom, the wind, the adrenaline... You're lucky, Lemon."
"Hardly, I don't know how to fly yet..." Lemon sighed. "What, you really want to fly?"
"Yeah!" Sky was sat on the edge of the branch, his legs dangling freely in the air, tempted to jump and take his chances, "but... what are the odds, I'm a unicorn! We don't have wings!"
"N'aaaaw, I'm sure there will be some kind of flying spell!" Pinkie reassured Sky.
"Yeah, there is, but it's really high-level magic, you'd have to study magic all your life to learn it." He moved further back on the branch, almost feeling himself give in to temptation. "It's not happening."
Pinkie started merrily swinging her hooves under the branch, occasionally nudging Lemon's leg to get him to do the same. Instead, Lemon gave Pinkie a question.
"What about you, Pinks, anything you'd like to get off your chest?" The pink filly pondered.
"Hm... I live on a rock farm?"
"I already know that." Lemon replied, "you told me earlier to-"
"You live on a rock farm?!" Sky butted in.
"Yeah, a rock farm. I'd much rather live here in Ponyville, but we only come up here every fortnight or so to visit our Grammy Pie."
"...YOU live on a rock farm?" Sky repeated himself.
Lemon stopped history repeating itself. "Okay, the pink one lives with rocks, the blue one wants to fly, case closed!"
"Way to kill the conversation."
So, they just sat there on the high branches of a lemon tree, talking, playing 20 Questions, doing whatever one can imagine three ponies doing in a tree... which actually isn't that much.
Lemon Pies and Chess: Lemonade
Coming downstairs, Lemon had a good idea of what he might find. A few bags of clothes and his dad ready to go. A week and 2 days had passed since his dad had returned after his last business trip, yet here he had to leave for another one. Still, it's not like Citron WANTED to leave his family so regularly, it was just a responsibility that came with being the owner of Sweetest Lemons, a responsibility that could have great effect on the business's profit -and as a result, the lives of his family too- if ignored. There was actually a certain degree of tragedy to the fact that in order for his family to live a full life, Citron had to leave them at random dates.
Just as expected. Citronella and her pale furred pegasus husband were embracing in the living area, this particular hug being not quite as lethal as the death hug Citron received when he returned just over a week ago.
The two of them abruptly ended their passionate moment of intimacy when they noticed Lemon coming down the stairs, the foal wearing a face of discomfort, likely due to his father's departure.
Now down on the second floor, Lemon noticed a collection of rucksacks and a briefcase neatly organised by the couch, and that Citron was wearing a smart blazer, the collar being neatly made with a white tie sitting proudly behind it.
The embrace was one that was felt often, but still a very meaningful one, nonetheless. As Lemon slowly approached his father, Citron slowly invited his son in with a comforting hoof. The foal was quick to move into the hug once he was invited in, immediately wrapping a hoof around Citron’s back, who held his son in close, remaining silent.
“Alright, so your dad had to leave for business!” Lemon and Sky now sat outside Ponyville schoolhouse, waiting for class to start. “No point in crying over it, he’ll be back.”
“Wow, Sky, you’re such a supportive pony!” Lemon sarcastically said to his unicorn friend.
“So, I’m assuming you and the other pegasi are learning to fly?” Sky played with his ballpoint pen using his magic, taking it apart and putting it back together again.
“Yeah. And you’re learning on improving your magic ability, correct?” Lemon had no magic to play with a ballpoint pen, so instead he just admired a family of birds that nested in a nearby tree.
“Yeah. Whad’ya suppose the earth ponies will be doing?” Sky had now taken the pen apart enough times to assemble it with quick pace and ease, noticing how the various components work.
“...hell if I know, physical activities maybe? Like sports?” He shrugged, not really taking an interest as to what other classes may be doing.
Sky sighed, his breath quickly followed by the rapid rattle of the schoolbell.
“See ya.” Lemon lazily got up after waking up not too long ago, plus his dad’s leave left him worn out emotionally.
Ponyville’s young fliers class was a small collection of filly and foal pegasi, all around Lemon’s age, all eager to get flying. Lemon had been waiting for his first flight all life, he really loved the idea of absolute freedom, yet right now he was quite a bit less enthusiastic due to recent events, he hoped flying would help take his mind off things.
"Foals and fillies!" A grey mare with a purple mane was speaking above the small crowd. "My name is Miss Purple Dart, I shall be your coach for flight classes." Lemon just now noticed some kind of badge on this mare, military by the looks of it. "Now for starters, I want you all to form a neat line facing me." Her voice seemed rather small and calm for a coach, supposedly she was more of a teacher than an actual trainer. Upon her word, the class all lined themselves up in a neat line, many students making sure they stood by their friends, all of them poking their enthusiac heads forwards.
"So, for how many of you ponies is this your first flight?" Lemon and one other grey filly with a scruffy yellow mane raised their hooves.
"I see, only a couple of first timers, no problem." Purple Dart started pacing along the line of ponies while speaking. "So before any of you start actually flying anywhere, I'd like to see if you can just hover on the spot." Lemon suddenly became very nervous, his first flight was seconds away. "Upon my count, I'd like you all to channel your pegasus magic into your wings and start a gentle flap." Pegasus magic? Lemon hadn't even heard of such a thing! "It is important that you do not lean while in the air and it is important that you do not flap too hard." Oh Celestia, this could only end bad! "3, 2, hover!"
Lemon focused. He felt the blood flow into his wings. He lowered his wings, he raised them, lower, raise, lower, raise... Lemon knew he would have to use this apparent 'pegasus magic' Purple Dart spoke of, but he didn't know how! Many other ponies were already off the ground. So, he just concentrated.
"Take off, take off, work magic, work!" He thought to himself desperately, his eyes closed to allow for easier concentrating. He was about to stomp his hoof in desperacy... but... there was no ground! Fumbling his tiny legs about, opening his eyes, he realised: he had done it!
His heart raced and he felt a massive adrenaline rush as he looked around and saw that his wings were flapping on his own command, plus he was hovering a good three metres off the ground without any abuse of effort to speak of.
The other ponies seemed to be experiencing little, likely because he and that one other filly were the only first time fliers here. Speaking of whom, the grey filly was just now leaving the ground, looking down excitedly as the earth fell away from her hooves. Lemon was really desperate to start performing some aerial stunts now, his nervousness had vanished, he wanted more! If this was what simple hovering felt like, imagine a full length flight session! His lust was dissipated by the word of his coach.
"All right, good! Now slowly ease your wings and land."
"Urgh, but I don't want to land!" Lemon thought to himself. The other ponies all gently brought themselves back to the ground, Lemon being the last one to come down. Reluctantly, the foal allowed the adrenaline to calm and felt his wings reduce their power to gentle flaps, Lemon's yellow body landing again with minimal effort. Immediately he wanted to get up into the sky again; even when he was just standing his heart still raced with intense speed.
"Next, you're actually going to flying somewhere." Now! He wanted to go now! "After you take off, I want you to lean forward and fly over to the edge of the playground," Lemon's wings were itching and begging to get moving! "By then I want you to lean back and slow down into a land." The lust was building intensely. "3, 2,"
"FINALLY!"
Not even realising that he just carelessly let out an impatient call, he allowed his energy to surge straight into his wings, the flapping motion coming back to him in a high of ecstasy. The drug that was flying took full control as Lemon shot forward like an arrow, his craving for a fix finally being satisfied, soaring straight over the ground watching it all disappear under his hooves. The wind seduced his mane as he left his classmates in the dust, only focusing on his own moment of absolute freedom. Revival. Energy. Adrenaline. ADRENALINE!
His mind had disappeared along with any other moment of doubt, he had waited long enough! He was finally flying! And it was absolute bliss! His eyes quickly caught sight of the end of the playground thanks to the adrenaline, but he did not slow down, he sped up! The pegasus was free! He flew skywards at a vertical angle, into the everlasting expanse of blue silk and clouds. The cold fingers of the wind whistling at his feathers, Lemon let out a mighty cheer of victory! The blood was pumping! His heart was furiously pounding! He allowed a wide grin of celebration cut onto his face! He closed his eyes for a few seconds... and let go.
Drunk with pure, heavenly pleasure, the foal stopped flapping and fell onto his back. His head fell backwards, underneath his tail, before he soared furiously back to the ground! Lemon opened his mouth and allowed his emotions to flood out; his soul had finally discovered a release for all his worries! Drops of water escaped from his eyes and air screamed past his ears as it flew through his mane and tail, only forcing Lemon deeper and deeper into a false reality, a worry free universe of complete purity... like a dream.
The still ground was rushing towards him with incredible speed, without action, he would smash into the rock like a bug on a window. Spreading his wings, he pulled out and now flew above the school heading out to wherever his intoxicated instinct would lead him. Ponies going about their simple, everyday lives whizzed past Lemon in one mighty blur of velocity fueled flight, joined by the rooftops of many Equestrian structures robbed of their power as the foal ignored their significance and size.
Soon enough, the town's buildings had all avoided a collision with Ponyville's newest adrenaline junkie. Lemon now faced a large collection of evergreen trees in his path, they wouldn't stop him, nothing could stop him, he was a juggernaut missile. Directing himself so no trunks would smash into him, he swooped through the forest in one awe inspiring glide. A clear, straight route was selected, a single tree stood at the end, sat there idly, like a target in the scopes of a sniper.
Lemon locked his eyes on the tree. Speed! He was now oh so close. Satisfaction! He powered through the mass of leaves and twigs and straight back into the sky. ...Perfection!
Eventually he would have to breathe, any oxygen that tried to whip into Lemon's lungs only whipped into his mane, not a single breath making it in, not that the foal noticed during his single minute of glee that would easily last a life time.
The foal brought his wings out and suddenly stopped, hovering. Immediately he started gasping for air, taking in the sweet taste of fresh air as he stared after the vast display of pure, green nature followed by the collection of houses and small, humble businesses that made up Ponyville.
Now that he could think -though it was still somewhat of a challenge due to his struggling for breath- it came to Lemon exactly what he had done: abandoned his lesson! Then again, he DID learn how to fly... which was the goal... so...
Lemon Pies and Chess: Lemonade
Quietly and with little movement, Lemon sat in his lonely seat within the backroom of Ponyville schoolhouse. Flying away from the school the way he did had landed him with a detention. Despite this, the foal still believed it was worth it. All he could really do was sit and impatiently tap his pale green hooves on his wooden chair (the foal had green hooves despite his yellow fur). Still quite a while before the clock struck "get me out of here o'clock," Lemon heard the door open swiftly beside him. He turned his head slightly to see a blue unicorn in an orange shirt with a brown mane; it was Sky!
"You got carried away too, didn't you?" The unicorn asked his pegasus friend.
"How'd ya guess?"
"You just told me!," how he had told him, Lemon did not know, "plus I saw you, it was kind of difficult to miss..."
"Aah," Lemon pulled out a seat so Sky could sit beside him. "So what did you do?”
Sky sat beside Lemon and replied, “I… zapped a teacher…” Lemon chuckled, “Then when she told me not to, I did it again…”
“Aah Sky,” Lemon patted his friends back, “you’re a very devious character, aren’t you?”
Sky didn’t even try and deny it, “Yep!” Lemon just now noticed that Sky wasn’t exactly acting his normal self. Usually Sky would speak with a chin up, his words sounding confident, even if they rarely made sense. Today, he looked as if something was troubling him, his head being held low by his own chain of thought.
“Are you alright, Sky?” Lemon asked him, trying to look at Sky’s face as it looked down at his hooves.
He sighed. “...How did it feel. Flying, I mean…” It now became clear to Lemon just what was troubling Sky. He really wanted to fly. Lemon just learnt how.
“...It was great.” The naive foal had trouble putting it into words. “You can’t replicate it, you can’t fake it, you can’t describe it… there is nothing like it.” Sky raised his head a little. “Complete freedom.”
Sky was speechless for a few seconds. He then sighed. “You’re a lucky son of a farmer. While you were having the time of your life, I was stuck with performing basic repair spells.”
Sky’s stress was understandable. Though both of them had always wanted to fly, Lemon was the only one of the two who would be almost guaranteed the ability to do so. The yellow foal did not know how to try and cheer up Sky, but he was spared the humiliation of trying as a teacher opened the door and stood in the doorway.
The mare was young and had purple fur, as well as a very fuzzy mane. The colours in her mane were pink and pale purple, alternating in long, vertical stripes. She must have been pretty intelligent to pass the teacher’s qualifications, because her crazy style choice would certainly make her seem like some kind of yob who just wanted to earn money, and it would take quite the CV to overpower that!
“Since this is your first time in detention, we’ll let you go early,” the mare sounded somewhat nervous, she was definitely new. “but don’t, don’t do anything like this again.” Her voice was not what you would expect from a mare looking like she did, it was more mature and trusting.
“Understood.” Lemon was quick to stand up, he purposefully cut off Sky from the teacher, no doubt Sky would have had some kind of cheeky comeback like “no promises” had he not blocked him. Sky didn’t pay much attention, he just followed Lemon out, the teacher politely holding the door open for them.
The rest of the day went fairly fast for Lemon. Lesson 2, break, lesson 3, assembly, home. The day went so fast for a good reason. He had a plan.
The foal stepped outside Ponyville schoolhouse joined by the herd of other fillies and foals his age, Sky at his side.
“Sky, come back here with me…” Lemon started wandering round back of school, occasionally looking back to make sure Sky was following him.
“What? Where are we going?” Sky asked him, confused as to why Lemon was going in the opposite direction he usually walked after school.
“Here will do,” Lemon stopped beside a tree, Sky just behind him.
“Okay, why are we round here and how does it affect me?” Sky asked Lemon as the yellow foal flexed his wings.
“Come on Sky, I know you’re thinking what I’m thinking!” Lemon hoped that flexing his wings would make it quite clear what he was offering Sky.
“Well, I probably am, but I’m into mares, Lemon. Sorry.”
“Sky! That is NOT what I was thinking!” Sky chuckled. “...How would you like a flight?” Sky immediately stopped, frozen. “We both know you really want to fly, I now know how… how about a ride?”
"Well..." For once, Lemon had seen Sky silenced. "...can you fly with another pony on your back? Your wings are still young, you probably won't even get off the ground..."
"Thanks!" Lemon was undeterred, "But why not try, I can fly pretty far without a rider, I bet I could at least get you back to your place."
Sky was sceptical, not to mention saying he "rode his friend" wouldn't exactly sound good...
"Well... I highly doubt it would be safe!" Sky did in fact want to fly on Lemon's back, but he was not about to admit it...
"Come on Sky," Lemon readied himself, "I know you secretly really want to hop on my back!"
"Dammit Lemon!" Sky felt awkward doing it, but he climbed onto Lemon's back, hooves around his neck for grip. "This is not a homosexual thing, I swear!" He pleaded as he prepared to fall off the second Lemon's wings started flapping.
“Okay, are you ready?” Lemon asked Sky, the blue unicorn foal excited and worried at the same time on his back.
“Yes, just start flying already!” Sky’s heart was in his mouth, Lemon’s was in his wings. He lowered himself slightly, gearing himself up for a running start. He took a deep breath, as did Sky… and Lemon started sprinting. Running faster, and faster, until his wings started flapping. He hoped a running start would make flight easier since he was carrying a passenger along. It worked.
Lemon felt Sky clutch his fur harder as his hooves were swept away from the ground, the yellow foal having to focus as much pegasus magic as he could into his wings in order to handle flying with the weight of two ponies. Nonetheless, his strength was fueled with enough determination to get himself higher and higher, Sky just starting to abandon his fear in favour of that same feeling of ecstasy Lemon experienced his first time flying earlier that day.
Lemon's energy had now lifted him above the rooftops, the ponies that walked along the dirt roads being reduced to the size of birds as he and Sky swooped above them, nopony really paying much attention; seeing ponies fly was not exactly strange in Ponyville.
However, it WAS new for one pony: Sky. His hooves were no longer clutching desperately onto Lemon's neck, instead, one hoof stood free and strong in the air, the cool wind blowing at his fur with excitement and victorious pride.
The unicorn had to hold back a massive cheer of glee with immense self control for the sheer sake of his reputation with Lemon, he was loving the moment, though he would rather Lemon didn't hear him cheer, quite simply due to the fact that he was a prick!
Lemon was homing in on Sky's house, a place he had seen Sky walk over to before but had never actually entered himself. Said blue foal was too lost in the feeling of flight to notice, but he soon realised what was happening when the empowering wind that was once engulfing his body died down into a mere gently breeze. As his insane heart rate died down along with Lemon's high altitude, he regained his clutch on Lemon's neck and remained silent.
Sky now only had memories of the experience, memories which he desperately clung onto, not allowing a single second of that reviving, epic experience drain away. His dreams of flying just became reality, he had seen Ponyville from the view of a pegasus-
"Sky!" The foal's thoughts stopped abruptly as Lemon interrupted him, "you can get off now!" He had no words, he just slowly got off the back of his friend, not having any way of responding to the events that just unfolded. All he could do was stutter as Lemon asked him "so, how was it?"
"Uh-- uhm, uh..." He was completely oblivious to his roughed up mane and suddenly, very untidy, shirt. Nothing was getting into his head.
"Take it you enjoyed it, then?" Lemon smirked, amused by the sight of Sky in such a silenced state.
"Y-- yeah!" Sky's breathing just now returned to a regular, slow pace, "that was..." What happened next silenced Lemon just as Sky had been: Sky embraced him! Not like a joke hug, not an aggressive hug, just a meaningful, polite embrace. Lemon had no words. Sky had reached a thought wall which he could not break through.
Once he could somewhat think again, Sky let go, by which time Lemon had allowed the shock of receiving a hug from Sky freaking Noble to get over him.
"S- see ya, Lemon," Sky still couldn't quite think clear enough to come up with something clear to say, "and thanks..."
"No problem, see ya." Sky slowly entered his home and closed the door, not looking back. Lemon suddenly heard a familiar pony call his name.
"Lemon!" It was Citronella. She was sprinting at Lemon. She didn't look angry, she didn't look sad, she looked... worried. Her heavy breathing told Lemon she had been chasing him from way back at the schoolhouse, however Lemon would not have heard any of her calls while flying.
"Mum! What is it?" He called back at her. Citronella was now directly in front of Lemon.
"The farm!" Lemon suddenly became alert. "It's in danger!"
Author's Note
Well there sure are a number of lines here that sound sexual out of context... Wow.
Lemon Pies and Chess: Lemonade
"So, sorry guys, I can't help ya." Maple told Lemon and Citronella, "the trip has been planned for months, I have to go, this could mean big things for Sweetest Lemons once I've got my qualifications!"
Lemon was not convinced. "But, there might not be--"
"Leave it, Lemon." Citronella cut the foal's words short, worried he may get carried away and say something possibly harmful.
Maple continued "Its only our own fault we forgot, with all this stuff going on with dad," Lemon was reminded of his father, a colt he would likely not see for sometime, at least this was one of his shorter trips. "I don't blame you. But, you two can still protect the farm, right?" Maple looked down at his younger brother and crouched beside him, hoping a few choice words would spark Lemon's enthusiastic spark. "After all, no builders can get past you, can they Lemon?"
The thought of some builders believing they could just build on Lemon's family's property was hitting Lemon, his brother's words did in fact spark something in him, but it was not enough. The foal just gave a subtle nod and a timid smile.
Maple sighed. The red pegasus looked up at his mother, who returned a faithful look: Maple would just have to try some more to inspire his brother. With these new building plans for a track to be built through the orchard, and with Maple and Citron away, Lemon would certainly have to help somehow. He just needed a little push.
"Lemon, you like living on this lemon orchard, don't you?"
"Yeah yeah!" The yellow pegasus was quick to respond to his sibling, "its great! I love it!"
Maple gave him a serious look, his eyes suddenly appearing to show lacklustre. "What if... Say," he then spoke up, "some ponies tried to take over? And we lost the farm?" Lemon looked shocked, his head looking down at the ground, his innocent brown eyes showing worry. "Then what?"
Wow. Lemon thought to himself. So that's how its gonna turn out if I do nothing...
"...that won't happen." The foal spoke with quiet confidence, reinforcing Maple's faith in his ability.
"Why not, kiddo?"
Lemon's spark had ignited, its fuel the building plans. "Because I'll stop them! No train line is being built through the orchard because I won't let them!" He was a cute foal, though any grown up caught speaking like this would look rather out of place... Yes, he was showing strength, but both Maple and Citronella felt like there was little Lemon could truly do, despite his desire and drive. However that was no reason to not get him hyped and at least try and get him doing something that might help the farm’s odds of staying in business despite this whole “hey, there’s a railway line being built through the farm” drama.
“There ya go!” Maple roughed up his brother’s mane. “Now, as soon as I leave, I want you to discuss with Mum how you and her are gonna protect the farm, okay? "
Lemon nodded with enthusiasm. "Sure!" He raised a hoof in request for a hoof bump, a request which Maple answered by bumping hooves with the yellow foal, I know , weird, right? "When will you be back?"
"Very soon!" The red pegasus reassured, "four days at most!" Maple grabbed his saddlebags and Citronella helped him get them on, securing the belts. He nodded in goodbye to Citronella before giving farewell to Lemon with one of the most stereotypical lines imaginable.
"See ya, sport!" With the sound of a door opening, a couple of hoofsteps and a closing door, he was gone. Lemon was now alone with his mother.
Right, Maple asked me to discuss with her! He thought to himself, remembering his brother's request.
"So, Mum! Farm saving!" He sat down clumsily, taking on a position similar to a small dog's.
"...uhm.. how... if the building plans are already there, we'll have to do something pretty noticeable to have those plans cancelled..." Citronella informed her child, sitting in a similar way.
"...any ideas?" Lemon asked her, pondering.
"...make a catchy song?" She suggested in response.
"Mum, we can't just break out into song and dance in the middle of town!" Lemon chuckled.
"Why not?" Citronella unplatted her mane, letting it flow free. "A group of ponies were doing it the other day, ponies just joined in, they don't care!"
Unconvinced, Lemon shook his head. "We need something better…” Suddenly, three knocks disrupted the conversation, the noise lifting Lemon’s and Citronella's ears with curiosity.
As Citronella rose, stumbling to the door, Lemon sat and played with his hooves, not expecting anypony he knew to be at the door.
“Lemon, it’s for you.” The foal’s head shot up. He got to his hooves and turned around, a blue unicorn foal was at the door, Lemon quickly recognised him as Sky.
“Sky!” He slowly and enthusiastically approached the door. The foal did not look his usual self. Sure, a few hours ago, he looked shocked after his first time flying, but by now the shock should have left him. Something else must have been bothering him. Lemon quickly figured this out.
“I’ll just be out quick, Mom” Lemon joined Sky outside, Citronella closing the door behind him with a nod of understanding.
“So, what’s the problem, Sky?” Lemon asked his friend.
Nothing.
No reply whatsoever. This was unlike him.
Some small words arose from Sky’s mouth. Spoken with honesty and fragility, they were the words of a foal who had endured more than somepony his age should have to. He refused to cry, though his eyes were bloodshot with the effort of holding them back.
Gently, with great care as if his friend was as fragile as glass, Lemon sat Sky down so he rested upon the Super Tree. The yellow foal then left his friend leaning on the great trunk as he -with consideration - slowly approached his home and entered, his brief eye locking with Citronella and his posture quickly allowing his mother to deduce that something was wrong.
"Sky..." Lemon spoke slowly as if broken, "h- he needs a place to stay." Citronella looked at her foal, puzzled.
"Why, what's happened?" She asked as Lemon held the same facial expression, the same dull lips and eyes, looking down at the floor.
"His... parents, were... well, their house was... broken into." Lemon's words were trembling as his innocent mind tried to comprehend such a cruel act. "The... attackers... k- killed the mother..." He swallowed. "The dad fought them and... accidentally... killed one of the attackers in the process." He sighed. "Sky's dad is in prison right now... and, Sky saw the whole thing."
Citronella stood, frozen. She did not know Sky all that well, a few quick meetings being their only times seeing each other. What she did know was Sky's age. He was the same age as Lemon. Only a foal. Still in primary school. She also knew of Sky's close relationship with her son, and it wouldn't take a genius to work out that if one of the two is in despair, the other will likely share his distress.
"...and now Sky needs to find some place to live..." Lemon nodded.
"Yeah... So... Can he..."
"Yes." Lemon's ears pricked up. "But he's sharing your room!" Lemon didn't seem to care, he was too happy to hear his best friend would be living under the same roof. "Bring him in."
"Sure! Sure!" Lemon was about to rush outside, letting his excitement fuel him, until Citronella called to him, stopping the foal.
"Lemon," Her son faced her, "don't be hyper! Remember..."
"Oh, right!" Remembering the whole 'Sky's mum has died and his dad is in prison' thing, he stepped outside with the same careful posture he walked in with.
"So?" The more potent red shade controlling Sky's eyes made it obvious that he had been crying, though he would certainly deny it if Lemon asked if he had been.
"Mum said yes, so..." Lemon lowered himself, kneeling beside his damaged friend. "You should come inside."
Sky nodded. "Looks like we're roommates!"
Author's Note
Hooray for super late uploads!
