Chapters This was it. The day I was finally going to meet my best friend in person. We'd met at a DJ PON3 concert in Canterlot a few months before, and we'd hit it off so well, we decided to become pen pals. We wrote to each other every day, and receiving mail from Circuit Boost had become the regular highlight of my day. I always looked forward to it more than anything else. And I hated being tardy with my responses more than Aunt Twilight did with her old friendship reports to Aunt Celestia.
I triple-checked my saddle bags, to make absolutely certain that I had everything I needed. I was going to visit Circuit in his town and stay with him for a few days, and I wanted to pack just enough, but not too much. My Aunt Rarity would have had a fit if she'd seen the wooly winter jumper I'd packed; being just a hair’s breadth away from summer now. But at least I was certain that I could stave off freezing to death. Checking the clock, I realised that it wouldn't be long before the next train arrived at the station. “Time to get going,” I told myself, as the butterflies in my stomach started to flap their fragile wings ever-so-slightly faster, causing me to shiver a little. “Come on, Velvet. You can do it.” I tried to contain my excitement as I glided gently through the house to get to the front door. “Bye, mom! Bye, dad! See you on Wednesday!” I called, waving a hoof as they popped their heads in from the room beyond.
“Oh, goodbye, sweet sugarcube! Please be safe, my delicate flower!” My mother said, fussing and worrying as always. Bless her heart. She only ever meant well.
“Oh, come now, Fluttershy.” My father said, calmly. “She’s going to be fine! Our little filly is growing up.” Mom looked at him worriedly, not convinced. He smiled at her kindly, then turned his focus directly to me. “You be safe out there, Velvet; do you hear me? If a single strand of hair on your precious head is harmed, I promise that your...” he paused for a moment. “... friend... will be taught a very unpleasant lesson...”
I rolled my eyes. “Dad, I'll be fine. And I won't let you lay hoof, paw or claw on him no matter what.”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “You’ve always been such a stubborn child...”
“I know. Thanks, dad(!)” I retorted, opening the front door. “I’ll be fine, you two. I promise. Now, I gotta go, before I miss my train.” And with that, I exited the cottage; flying at a moderate speed toward the train station. I landed on the platform just as the train pulled up. “It’s time...” I couldn't help but smile as I boarded.
The journey would only take an hour, as this particular train was a fast one. As the train left the station to begin its journey, I brought my headphones from my baggage, plugging them into my small music player and drowning out the sounds of the rest of the world.
“I'm sinkin’, you’re wadin’... I'm thinkin’ something’s gotta give~” I mouthed along to one of my favourite songs as I turned my sights to the passing scenery through the window. My mind was still racing, and I couldn't think of anything or anypony aside from Circuit Boost. I took out my favourite book by J.L. Barns, and began to read, reducing the volume of the music without turning it off completely.
The entire train journey seemed to go by in mere minutes. I could've sworn that it’d taken only ten minutes to get to his town from Ponyville, were it not for my travel-clock telling me that an hour had indeed passed. I had to carry a mini-clock on my bag because I couldn't wear watches. Most watch straps gave me itchy skin. Which was a shame, but it was no major loss. I looked around the platform, but I didn't see anypony I recognised at all. I decided to exit the station, take a seat on a nearby bench that was in a nice shady spot under some trees, and began to read my book again. The music was considerably more distracting now, without the minor sound of the train to blend into the background of each track. I carefully removed my headphones and put them, and my music player, back in my bag.
Every now and then, I'd look up from my book and scan the surrounding area. After what felt like forever - but was probably actually no more than fifteen or twenty minutes - I looked up and saw a familiar figure just seventeen metres away, and coming closer. It was him.
“Circuit...” The word slipped from my mouth quietly and unintentionally as I saw the grey earth stallion coming towards me. His deep purple eyes, his red mane and tail with pale, pinkish-white streaks... He was exactly as I remembered. I noticed that he was wearing saddlebags, too. I was afraid that he'd think me strange for bringing mine, but the sight of him also wearing his obliterated that idea from my mind. I put my book back in my bag when we noticed each other; my blue magic aura glowing and sparkling brighter and more intensely than ever before. I rose from the bench as he continued to approach.
“There she is.” He said from a short distance away. I trotted over to him, grinning from ear to ear. I hugged him tightly, and was delighted when he hugged me back just as tight.
“Hey, you! Oh, my gosh...” I trailed off for a moment, rendered utterly speechless by the overwhelming happiness and excitement I felt. “I can't believe it! Is this happening? Am I dreaming?” I was still beaming, unable to stop smiling even if I had wanted to.
“Awh, bless ya.” He smiled back at me as we began to walk, giving a soft little laugh. “No, you're awake. This is very real.” He looked me straight in the eyes for just a split second before focusing on which way to go. But that one glance was all it took. I saw it in his eyes. He was as ecstatic as I was - he just had better control of it, at least in public. And behind the excitement, he was concealing something else that I couldn't quite figure out...
I couldn't keep the grin off my face. This was actually happening. My brain was taking a long time to process this information, but my heart was way ahead of it; racing at a million miles an hour and happier than Twilight when she first went to the Crystal Empire's library. I wasn't around at the time, but since I had inherited my father's powers, I used them to see all the past events that had transpired among the Elements of Harmony before I was born. It had taken me the best part of a week, but I now knew everything that had happened in the lives of my mother and her friends, even before they had met each other.
I'd seen Rainbow Dash fly for the first time. I'd seen the first beauty pageant that Rarity had ever won. She'd gone on to win many more, but of course, the first is always the most cherished, the most special. I'd witnessed Pinkie Pie's first word, which was, unsurprisingly, "cake". I'd seen Twilight read for the first time. I'd seen her growing up. I'd seen her moving to Ponyville from Canterlot. I'd seen Applejack buck her first apple. I'd been witness to the creation of her biggest secret. I knew the secret well, and she didn't know that I knew. And I'd seen my own dear, sweet mother as a filly. Bless her heart; she was so fragile and adorable. I paid very close attention to her life, and I learned things about her that she was too scared to ever tell anypony. Even my father. But I suppose, having all the same powers, he had probably done the same as I had. Although he never said anything, or acted like he knew. All of their firsts made them so happy - almost as happy as the day they got their Cutie Marks.
Cutie Marks. I began to feel, as Pinkie would put it, nervousited. I was still ecstatic to be here with Circuit Boost, and nothing could ruin that, but anxiety was clawing at the corners of my mind now that I remembered that I had no Cutie Mark. It hadn't really mattered to me when I was at home. Everypony knew who and what I was. Blank flanks weren't uncommon, even at my age. Although the only friend I had who had also been a blank flank had finally gotten her Mark, just two days prior to my journey. I didn't know if I even had a special talent. Everypony was supposed to earn a Cutie Mark during their life. More often than not, it'd appear before the age of five. By eighteen, there was no doubt that a pony would have a Cutie Mark. It was something weird and magical to do with pony biology. I was seventeen, and I was no closer to getting my Cutie Mark than I had been ten years ago. Princess Celestia had said that she didn't even know if I would get a Mark. Despite being a pony, the fact of the matter was, I was born of a Draconequus. And since the Draconequus in question was Discord, the master of Chaos and all things deadly, evil and unholy, his magic may have tampered with a lot of my biology. That explained my yellow eyeballs.
I was surprised at how Circuit could look at me like it was nothing; like it didn't bother him in the slightest. Then again, he was my best friend for a reason. He was warm, kind, friendly and sweet. Not the least bit judgemental. He was by far the nicest and most wonderful pony I had ever met. And of course, he was intelligent. That was getting harder and harder to find these days. An intelligent pony with whom one could converse about anything, be it the news or the stars, or anything in between.
"I'm hungry. Are you hungry?" I smiled at the sound of Circuit's voice.
"A bit, yeah..." I replied, quietly.
"Have you had breakfast?"
"Nope. You?"
"Nah, me neither. Let's go get something to eat, I'm fucking starving."
We trotted off to find somewhere to eat. We were spoiled for choice, as there were a lot of food joints around. I let Circuit lead the way to wherever he wanted to go. After all, it was his town and he knew best.
"You alright, Velvet? You've been really quiet for the last minute or so. Everything okay?" Circuit's voice yanked me back to reality. I'd zoned out for what felt like only a few seconds while thinking. I guess I was hungrier than I had initially thought. It did have an annoying tendency to distract me and lower my brain's processing power and speed.
"Yes, I'm fine, thank you. Sorry, I just..." I shook my head a little to clear it. "I was thinking. I do that a lot... I'm sorry..." I scratched my left foreleg with my right forehoof awkwardly.
"Awh." He smiled at me. "That's fine. Kinda cute." I blushed at that and made a sound halfway between a whine and a squeak. That just made his smile a little wider, and I smiled back shyly. As awkward and shy as I normally was with pretty much everypony, it was hard to stay that way around him. Circuit Boost was unlike anypony else I had ever met. Actually, unlike anypony else, full stop. He felt different to the rest of the world, and he made me feel different. I mean different as in... Better. Not like myself. He made me feel strong. Confident. The pony I always wanted to be. And most of all... He made me happy. I nudged him gently, unable to voice my affections at this exact moment. He nudged me back, and I knew that he understood.
"You're cute. Not me." I replied. He growled in a friendly, joking way. "What? You are!" I giggled. I hugged him tightly and he hugged me back just as tightly, reminding me that he genuinely cared about me as much as I cared about him.
"Now, how about that food?" He said, grinning at me.
"Sounds good. We'll starve to death at this rate."
"Well, try to stop being so damn adorable then." He responded brightly.
"I should say the same to you!" I said, giggling and blushing bright pink. He turned to me with a serious look, before cracking that amazing smile again. He winked at me, and for a moment, I felt my legs buckle a little. That was kind of hot.
"Here we are." He announced as we arrived at the doorway of a small store. "Come on." I nervousitedly followed him into the shop.
We finished eating and left the store within just a few minutes of entering. I suppose we really were ravenous. I bounced on the spot for a second or two after we left, high on pure happiness.
"Awh, bless! You're freaking adorable, I swear to Luna." Circuit Boost said, smiling at me. Unlike most ponies, when he smiled at me, I could tell that it was genuine. When other ponies smiled at me, it was either pitiful or fearful. Sometimes, it was an odd mixture of both. Only my parents and my aunts smiled at me with genuine affection. But Circuit... When he smiled at me, not only did I see the true happiness and affection behind it, I felt it, too.
"I notice you said Luna, not Celestia..." I said, smiling.
"Oh, yeah. You noticed that, huh?" He grinned at me. "Well, I know that they're your family, and I don't wish to be rude to Princess Celestia, but... I like Princess Luna better." He admitted, blushing a little.
"Hey, you wanna know something?" I replied. "So do I." I giggled nervously, but my nerves quickly went away when Circuit gave me a small, gentle nudge.
We walked around town for a while. I noticed a lot of interesting-looking stores and ponies on the streets. Every now and then, Circuit would stop and have a short conversation with some passersby. He was quite the popular, sociable pony. I could never attempt that back home in Ponyville. I'd tried once in the past, and it had ended rather horrifically. I shuddered at the memory. Chaos magic wreaked havoc on the town that day, and it was a nightmare. Worst thing about it was, I wasn't the one who flipped out and set Ponyville on fire. It was my father who did it.
I'd just tried to make some friends, but everypony just ran away. Some screamed. Others shouted some really hurtful, nasty things. I was feeling pretty bad and I had started to cry, so I decided to go home. Little did I know that my father had been watching from the sky, and he had seen everything. And he was not happy in the slightest. He was absolutely furious and would not listen to reason.
"Daddy... What are you doing..?" I asked hesitantly, as he descended from the clouds. He began to terrorise Ponyville; ripping the houses apart and setting other buildings on fire. He made some ponies float around uncontrollably, making them visibly nauseous.
"Daddy, please! Listen to me!" I shouted up at him. "Please stop this! Stop this, so we can just go home!"
"No, Velvet!" My father boomed, causing the ground beneath my hooves to shake violently. "They have shunned and hurt you! They must be punished!" I begged and pleaded, but he would not listen. So I just went home by myself.
When he realised that I was leaving, daddy dearest stopped taking his rage out on the poor, frightened ponies. Sure, they may have been somewhat harsh and nasty, but I couldn't really blame them. Although it wasn't my fault where I came from, I could completely understand them being afraid of something or someone that they did not understand. Well, they didn't understand me yet, at least. I was hoping that one day, maybe when I had learned to fully understand myself, the others would understand and accept me, too. Maybe someday... Someone might even come to love me.
I was so buried in my memories that I almost bumped right into Circuit. He'd stopped in front of me suddenly and gone very, very quiet.
"Hey..." I whispered, walking around to stand next to him again. "Whatever is the matter..?"
"Stay behind me." He said in a hushed, deadly serious tone. "I think..." He whirled around to look behind me, staring at the ponies walking by. A few gave us some odd looks, but I didn't care. I knew that Circuit had his reasons. "I think we're being followed. I just have this feeling. Don't you?" He looked at me with concern. I nodded. The furs on my body were standing on end. I'd been so wrapped up in my thoughts that I hadn't noticed the sudden change in the atmosphere.
After two minutes of nothing but low growling sounds originating from Circuit, I nudged him. "I think we're okay now..." He flicked his ears back and forth a bit, standing up straight again. "Look," I said softly. "Everyone else has gone back to normal... I think the threat has passed." I nuzzled his cheek, making him flush a rather flattering shade of red. "Come on, weren't we going somewhere~?" I asked in a much cheerier tune, walking a forward a little and brushing his face ever-so-lightly with the tip of my tail. With that, he was instantly back at my side, blushing even deeper than before. "Hey, handsome. Ya got a little somethin' on your face there...~" I said, winking.
"Wh-!" He stammered for a moment, before regaining his composure. "Grr...~ I was just taken by surprise, that's all..." He scratched the back of his head nervously. "Heheh..."
"Awh, if you say so...~" I said softly and calmly. Just as he looked like he was calming down a little, I kissed his cheek, making the red hue return to his face. "Guess you weren't expecting that, either~?"
One of his back legs twitched, and his left eye followed suit. "L-let's go home..." He swallowed hard and took another moment to steady himself before speaking again. "It's not far. C'mon, then." And with that, he took the lead again.
