He sat in the hallway, waiting to yet again be disciplined for his actions. Disrupting class seemed to be his specialty as of late. He felt justified, but deep down he knew that he was wrong. But he didn't care. This stallion was Comet Spangler, a tall unicorn stallion in his adolecent years, aged at eighteen. His fur was yellow, his blue and white streaky mane styled neatly, as if with a comb. At least there was one thing that was clean about him, because his actions and reputation said otherwise. And his tail was of moderate length.
He was no stranger to getting in trouble. In fact he found himself visiting with the big wigs up at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, quite often. This would be the sixth time, he'd counted, that he'd been to see Princess Celestia. He'd been told that it was who he'd be going to see this time, since she was in the building today. The first time, he'd been in to see her, he'd gotten scared but he'd had plenty of experience with her and every pony else who ran the place, now that he'd gotten over any intimidation he might have had. Though, he did make a mental note, to not tick off Celestia too much, as he'd heard stories about her that made him at least fearful of her and what she could do. She was the Princess of the freaking Day for crying out loud.
As his name was called by one of the professors at the school to go into Celestia's private office at the school, Comet pulled himself up off of the bench he was sitting on, and proceeded to enter. His hoof steps echoing down the empty halls, as every pony else was either in class or had gone home to their dorms. What did he care about them, anyway?
Princess Celestia greeted Comet with a knowing expression. She'd remembered his previous visits, as they were quite memorable. Crap... She then nodded, and motioned for him to sit down, which he did. No yelling, perhaps another slap on the hoof? He thought quietly to himself.
"So, being as disruptive as ever are we, Comet?" she asked. She maintained a calmness in her voice and in her approach. Being as professional as she could. "Turning all of the pencils in the class into butter knives, turning the beakers into gourds, and even bringing one of the statues from the Canterlot garden to life?" It wasn't a small statue either, the statue he'd brought to life was one of a giant pony, which felt the need to smash everything in it's path when it had been given the ability to move. Fortunately, the professors were able to dispatch the statue and reverse the spell to turn it back to normal before too much collateral damage was done to the premises.
"That was pretty funny, wasn't it?" he chuckled playfully, but it didn't last long as her facial expression turned from serious to ice cold deadpan.
"You're really pushing it this time, Comet. You know better than to behave like this. Then why don't you?"
He only nodded in response. He added a roll of his eyes to showcase his negative attitude. Celestia continued, despite his lack of a proper response.
"While I'm all for a little excitement now and again, Comet, there is a time and a place for it. During class isn't one of those times, nor is it the place."
"Yeah, I know." he murmered. Celestia didn't even pretend that she didn't hear that as her frustration was beginning to show in a hint.
"If you know, then why do you continue to cause disruptions?" she asked. She slightly turned her head towards the door as the professor who'd sent him to the office trotted in on the scene. She ignored him and continued on.
"Because no pony will let me quit this school..." he returned bitterly, finally feeling like talking. "I don't enjoy it here anymore. None of the teachers I have understand me, and every pony here already hates me. And the only teacher and friend that I actually liked was forced to retire! So why should I be forced to stay here? There is literally nothing for me here..."
This set the professor's temper ablaze. "You should be ashamed of yourself, you ungrateful little delinquent! It's a great honor to learn form any professor in this establishment. You don't deserve to be here, but yet-" He was a teal colored unicorn stallion with a dark green colored mane and tale, sporting a manacle on his left eye, as well as large front teeth. His big bushy eye brows just made him look all the funnier, Comet noticed that he looked even funnier when he was peeved.
He was cut off by Celestia who then raised her hoof as a signal to stop talking. She felt the need to end his ranting before things got out of hand.
"I apologize, your highness..." he said, noting her signals.
"If I understand right, Spellbinder, you have a class to attend to. I've got the situation under control here. Off you go."
"Yes. Of course, your grace..." he said, trotting out of the office, disgruntledly all the while.
"Now back to what we were talking about" she said, returning to the topic at hand.
Comet felt a little bit better watching Celestia kick out that distasteful stallion. According to him, Professor Spellbinder sucked eggs, and was nothing like the mentor that he'd worked with for the longest time. Celestia noted this, and she knew that this was likely the reason for his most recent out lashes toward every pony. He'd resented every pony responsible for forcing his mentor, Nelrim the Noble, into retirement. And it was no secret to her that Comet held bitterness towards her and every pony else involved in this action. To Comet, Nelrim was more than a mentor, he was also a friend and the closest thing to a father (despite his old age) he'd ever had, considering his parents were rich and almost never even around to see him due to vacations and their jobs.
Comet began to get a little angry at this trivial pursuit. "I think you know why..." he replied coldly. "I don't understand why you had to send Nelrim away. He was the only pony who understood me and you sent him away! And not only that, but you put me in Spellbinder's class! That pony is messed up in the head!" Comet shouted.
"That will be enough about Professor Spellbinder, Comet" she said as she looked down at her desk at a picture of her faithful student, Twilight Sparkle, that she'd received from said student prior to her moving to Ponyville. She was reminded of how much promise Twilight had shown before becoming her student and how she'd excelled over the years. She saw a lot of the same in Comet, as well as Twilight, and even Nelrim when he was a young pony under her own tutelage. She hated to see such gifted talent being squandered to play pranks and cause havoc. If she'd wanted chaos and disharmony, she would have just let Discord run amok in Equestria again, but she didn't want that.
"Comet, tell me. When you first came into the school, what were your goals? What did you hope to achieve by learning here at this school?"
Comet groaned. He didn't want to talk about this. That had been a long time ago, when he was a young colt. He'd wanted to be as big of a deal as Twilight was, and deep down inside, he knew that if he tried hard enough, he could amount to something. And he did for a while. He'd shown quite a bit of promise, as reckless as he was. But his attitude and worth ethic changed tremendously as he grew older into adolescence.
"Comet, we will not get through this unless you talk to me" she said sternly, but calmly. "Please don't let me use measures that I would rather not use." Such measures included her royal authority. Comet picked up on this, and realized that Celestia was trying to speak to him as a friend, as Nelrim had always done. Being that Nelrim had always taught him to respect the princesses, Comet decided to let his guard down just this once.
He sighed. "All I ever wanted was to do something important with my time here. But here lately, all I seem to be learning is pointless spells that are only good for spectacle shows...or pranks. I've never once learned anything that would benefit me, or helped me do anything important. I suppose learning how to turn apples into oranges is cool, but what's the point?" He looked up at Celestia, realizing that he'd been ranting and was probably sounding ungrateful for everything again, even if he was feeling that way, he wasn't sure he'd want his ruler to know that. However she nodded and motioned for him to continue.
"After a while, I lost sight of my goals and began to feel like I would never amount to anything. That's when I decided to just do what I wanted, feeling that whatever I did wouldn't matter."
"I've also noticed that you haven't really been the most sociable among the other students. You've kind of drifted on your own over the years." Celestia added.
"So you have been paying attention." Comet remarked. "I don't have time for friends. Friendships don't typically last long for me, due to the others either not liking my attitude or showing me that they really don't give a crap if I'm around. And after my recent 'change in behavior', no pony wants to be around me for some reason." He kind of smirked at this.
"Not many ponies take kindly to the type of pranks you're always pulling on them." Celestia countered. "But admitting that you understand your problems is the first step towards progress."
"Whoa, whoa!" Comet replied defiantly. "Who said that I actually regret anything that I've done? Canterlot ponies, and especially most of the ponies in this school, aren't exactly the most humble bunch of ponies. Nor are any of them worth any of my time. Many of them are snobs, and the other lot of them aren't even worthy to note because of how quiet they are. I really don't need any of them." Comet's resentment an bitterness made it's foul return, to Celestia's dismay.
"I see..." Celestia said as she pondered. Nothing that she'd ever done to help him seemed to work. However, she had an idea, one that had worked well for Twilight, and Dusk Noir, the pony who would eventually become her sister's student, as well. She saw no reason why it couldn't work to make it a third time for the charm. Though she might have to try a different approach this time. "Well, Comet. I suppose you are right. There is literally nothing that I, or any pony in Canterlot can do for you, now."
"So you admit that I'm a lost cause, and that you're going to let me walk away forever?" Comet said with a hopeful and sarcastic expression on his face.
"Not in the slightest, Comet" the princess replied, and watched as his hopeful face turned into a slight deadpan. "On the contrary. Regardless of what you may think, we all truly care that our students excel. Which is why, in your case, I'm doing something that I don't do for just any pony. I'm giving you a leave of absence and sending you on a trip of self discovery."
"Huh?" he said, puzzled. "I don-"
"You will" replied Celestia. "Meet me at the train station with all of your belongings tomorrow morning."
"O...kay...." Comet replied blankly. "Whatever you say, your highness."
......
The next morning, he'd gotten up bright and early, packed everything that he felt like taking with him and scurried on down to the train station. After thinking about it, he was fine with leaving Canterlot. Any place would be better than here, in his opinion. It was high time that he took some time off from being at that school anyway. And it wasn't like his parents cared whether or not he was in school or not. They were probably on some tropical island having coconut water served to them. How he wished he could be there as well, but I guess not everypony can be so lucky.
He didn't have to wait but a couple of minutes before the princess arrived. Though he wasn't expecting her to show up, he expected somepony to brief him on what was going on on her behalf. So maybe she really did care.
"I trust you slept well?" Celestia asked.
"I did, though I'm still wondering why you called me here and where you are sending me."
"I would like for you to take some time off from your studies and go take some time to yourself in a town not far from here. It's small, quiet, and full of ponies who might turn out to be to your liking. It's certainly not like the "snobs" you have to deal with here in Canterlot."
"You mean that little town that can clearly be seen way down there?" he said, turning his head to look down the horizon and into the valley where said town was located. He could barely make out a large windmill down below, and a few green looking hills and several nice white puffy clouds hanging over the rural looking town. "Ponyville, I think it is. That's where all of that weird stuff keeps happening. Like Discord among other things..."
"Are you saying that you don't want to go?" asked the princess.
"NO!" he shouted, before catching and stopping himself, before clearing his throat. "No, it's perfect! Some excitement might be just what I need. But why? Why would you send me there?"
"I have found that Ponyville has a charm that most other towns only dream of having. It's literally the very center of Equestria, and magical things have been known to happen there. And the environment is just so welcoming. Just ask my student, Twilight Sparkle."
Comet scoffed. "Yeah right, like I would talk to her..." he mumbled under his breath.
Celestia chose to ignore this, for the time she had to be there was dwindling due to other obligations she'd had for the day. "I have arranged for you to stay in a hotel for as long as it takes, so I emplore you to make the most of this trip." She smiled at him. "I wish you the best of luck, my friend. I truly hope that you find what you are looking for, or at least find some sort of peace."
"What I'm looking for?" he cocked his eyebrow quizically, and turned around, facing the train. "Peace? What are you...." he paused. He turned back around and looked up and saw that Celestia was now leaving, escorted by her royal guards. She looked back once more, and then continued on. Comet knew that she wouldn't be sending him to Ponyville if she didn't care. If she didn't, she would have expelled him or kicked him out of the school permanently.
"Ponyville, huh? Alright. I'm game! Let's see where this little adventure leads me to." With that, he levitated his pack onto his back and boarded the soon-to-be-departing train. After he placed his stuff into his seat beside him and sat down, he looked out the window at Canterlot. "Hasta la bye bye..." He grinned. All he had to do now was wait and he'd be out of Canterlot's hair.
......
Life for Singer Case, a stallion who gave up his fame for true happiness and was now living in Ponyville, was great. He had everything he ever truly wanted. Lots of friends to call his own, a place of his own, but the most important part of it all was that he got to spend almost every day with his best friend turned marefriend, Violet Petals.
Life had been good for him ever since he'd decided to stay in Ponyville and began dating Violet. It had been a dream come true. Sure he missed performing for large crowds, but not being in Las Pegasus didn't deprive him of chances to perform. He'd hold concerts in the Ponyville park on occasion, and was able to share his talents with ponies who actually seemed to care more about quality talent and performance than the spoiled rotten prone Las Pegasites ever did. Singer held out the hope that he'd be able to start his own band someday, but until then he was happy just performing by himself, and when he was alone with her, he'd sing with Violet, who wasn't in to singing in public.
Today was just one of those days where Singer had pretty much a whole day free. With Violet usually not able to come around until late in the afternoon due to her new job in Cloudsdale as Singer's dad's assistant, it left Singer plenty of opportunities to get to know the Ponyville ponies better and to help his friends if they needed him.
This particular day, he was helping Gentle pull a new load of supplies for her art shop on a wagon borrowed from the apple family. Gentle's coltfriend, Star Chaser would have normally been the one doing this, but he was feeling under the weather that day, so Singer gladly lent a helping hoof.
As he pulled the wagon, and Gentle walked beside him with a saddle bag full of supplies, and they chatted about how their lives were going.
"It's so strange how you find out how much you still have to learn about some pony once you start a new chapter with them" Singer said, as he and Gentle carried on their conversation. "I mean, I've known Vi since we were very young, but I'm finding out more things about her as we are dating. We are definitely more open with each other now than we ever were."
"That's just part of it, Singer." said Gentle. "And believe me, when I say that no matter how long you know some pony, especially a significant other, you never stop learning about each other. You will never have them one hundred percent figured out."
"That's what my mom told me" Singer replied.
"She sounds like a very wise mare."
"She is. She's the one who made sure that I didn't play with matches, and stick my hooves on the stove, as well as some pretty deep life lessons. I wouldn't be half the stallion I am today if it weren't for her. Hey, I should arrange for you to meet her sometime, she's about as cool as a mom can be and she always likes meeting my friends."
"I would love to meet your mom, I'm sure she's as awesome as she sounds!" said Gentle. "You know, I know another couple of ponies who you need to meet as well. They are pretty rad. About as rad as you and Violet are."
"Well then, I suppose they are definitely worth meeting then." Singer chuckled.
"Their names are Nightfall and Shimmer. I'll introduce you to them some time. Perhaps a triple date when Chase feels better?"
"That sounds like it'd be fun, I'll get back with you on that and we'll make it happen!" he said as he trudged alongside the light green unicorn mare, still pulling the wagon behind him.
Singer loved walking down main street in Ponyville, there were always trees filled with birds, and squirrels. And occasionally he'd see a rabbit or a cat running through the grass in the park as they walked by it.
A small assorted flock of birds flew right over their heads. Some of them were whistling, so Singer tried to replicate them. He did so pretty well, since he had that unique ability to mimic any voice, or animal sound.
"Sure is nice out today isn't it?" observed Gentle. "About like it is every day pretty much. Lots of source material that I can use for some paintings!" She had a way with colors, making whatever she painted look like the real thing. She was an incredible artist, in more ways than one. And it showed on the displays of her work that she'd had put up on her walls.
"I've seen your work, it's pretty darn good if you ask me."
"I would hope so, this is my profession after all." she giggled. She then looked up and noticed that they weren't much further away from Gentle's art shop.
"Here we are" said Singer.
He backed the wagon up to the door and helped Gentle unload all the boxes and place everything inside. The whole unloading process probably took five minutes tops.
"Thank you so much for your help, Singer!" she said gratefully. "I really needed these supplies, I can't believe I let myself run so low on them. So thanks again for your help!"
"Not a problem, Gentle!" he said with a smile. "Glad to have been of assistance, oh and thanks for agreeing to make some flyers for my next concert!"
"Oh, you're welcome Singer, anything for a friend!"
"I hope that Chase feels better soon."
"Me too! And thanks" said Gentle with a nod, before smiling knowingly as she saw a certain violet colored pegasus mare approaching Singer from behind. "Don't look now, but I think you have a visitor."
When he turned around, before he could see who it was, Singer's lips were met by Violet's who had been stealth-fully sneaking up on him while he wasn't paying attention. They continued their kiss for a few brief seconds before sharing a brief hug. For the first two or three days, they approached each other unsurely when they were about to do such things, but after that they just became natural to them.
"I don't think I'll ever get tired of that!" Singer said.
"Me neither!" said Violet. "Good afternoon, Gentle."
"Hi Violet!" said Gentle. "You two don't mind me, I'm going to get back to my art projects now, see you both around."
"Bye" they both said in unison, Violet giggled while her cheeks turned red. Singer wrapped his left wing around her, and they began to walk through Ponyville together, catching waves from other ponies. They kinda liked being the new couple on the block, everypony noticed them when they walked through town. They may not have been popular, but for now they would get glances from some pony occasionally and they'd get congratulated on their being together. It was a nice change for sure, and surely welcome.
"So, Miss Vi, what brings you to my neck of the woods?" Singer asked in a playful tone.
"Oh, you know. Just here to see the most amazing stallion in the world." she beamed.
"Funny, I was about to say the same thing regarding the most amazing mare in the world." Corniness was one thing that they were almost always prone to.
Singer gave Violet a kiss on the cheek, then pointing his hoof in the direction of his house. "I prepared a nice luncheon at my place for us this evening. Also I borrowed a movie that we can watch on this projector, I got from this pony in town, that sells all this neat stuff."
"That's specific" she remarked. "What movie?"
"I think it's a sci-fi movie about giant ants attacking pony kind. It's kind of weird."
"Sounds like it's right up our alley then." she smirked.
"You bet!" Singer said, as he nodded in agreement. "Hey, I have an idea..."
"What?" she asked, unprepared for what he was fixing to do.
Singer flapped his wings and darted off into the sky. He turned his head back while he was flying and shouted "Last one there is a rotten apple!" And with that, he was off.
"Hey! No fair!" Violet shouted as she too darted off after him. "You cheater! You come back here!"
Several ponies nearby watched their antics as they flew off into the horizon, some ponies laughing, some just turning back to what they were doing and not caring at all, and some just cringing with annoyance; one Cranky Doodle Donkey was one of them. One pony in particular watched the scene unfold and simply watched in adoration as she watched the two take off.
"Aaaaaw, young love" said Pinkie Pie, swooning on the balcony of Sugar Cube Corner. "It's so sweet! It reminds me of cake! And Oh My Gosh! I love cake!"
Her eyes then diverted to the ground, as she noticed that a pony she'd never seen before was approaching, and every pony in town knew what that meant. Her eyes grew big as they always had in this situation. She just had to go down and say hello.
She jumped off the balcony, slid down the drain pipe and dashed over to the yellow Unicorn stallion, hopping all the way over there and didn't stop until she had hopped right in front of him, stopping him in his tracks. She had manged to pull her Pinkie 'magic' and have a party cannon right behind her, and it went off on cue, sending confetti in the air.
"Uh... hey there, ma'am..." said Comet, actually trying to make a good first impression for once. Luckily, he was talking to a pony who'd almost never had a bad first impression of anybody.
"You don't have to call me ma'am, I'm not that old" she laughed. "Welcome to Ponyville! My name is Pinkie Pie, Ponyville's premier party pony, and I just want to say 'Welcome to Ponyville'!"
"Uh, thanks" said Comet as he tried to walk around her, but she kept walking backwards. "Name's Comet. Comet Spangler.
"Nice to meet you, Comet! I'm going to throw a huge party for you tonight, since you're the new pony in town, so that way you'll have a chance to meet new friends!"
Comet didn't like the sound of this, so naturally he tried to get out of it. The timid, reserved stallion routine usually worked in this situation. "No thanks, uh... Pinkie... I'd rather just spend the night alone, thank you."
"Okay, I'll throw the party tomorrow afternoon, then. I expect you to be there, because you're the guest of honor!" she said as another blast from the cannon went off. "Dog gone it!" she said as she stuck her head inside the barrel of the cannon. "This one's not working right, better get it fixed..."
"How am I the guest of honor? I've literally only been here for five minutes... unless Celestia put you up to this..."
"Nope! I always throw a party for every new pony who comes to town! It's what I do! It's kinda mah thang if ya know what I mean...." she beamed again. "Please, please, please come!"
"Alright, alright" he reluctantly agreed. "I'll be there." Anything that will get you to shut up, he thought in his mind.
"Yahoo!" she shouted, and set off the party cannon off when it was supposed to set off this time.
"Yep..." began Comet, speaking to himself, as he started off towards the hotel he was supposed to stay in. "This place is certainly not Canterlot, so it has that going for it. I just hope that all of these ponies aren't this energetic!"
Pinkie had been singing a song non-stop for nearly a minute, and didn't notice that Comet had left until after he'd already vanished from sight.
"Aw, Comet must have been so excited to meet new friends, that he's already gone off to look for one!" she said. "Good for him!" Pinkie finally hopped off, looking for more ponies to make smile.
.....
Coming up empty once again was something that Thunder Clap had been determined not to do when next he returned to the fortress. Fortunately, he and his colleagues, Mocha and Taffy had brought something very interesting from elsewhere in the Ever Free Forest. A magic artifact that had been lost, but was miraculously stumbled upon by Mocha's stubby hooves while they had been running away from yet another pack of timber wolves. A large mirror, like one you would find in a royal or rich pony's bed room. However this mirror was said to have magic within it. This intrigued Thunder Clap, and hoped that this would be a start in rectifying his failures from the past.
As he walked down the stone path that led to the main entrance of the fortress, he looked back at his bumbling friends to make sure that they weren't screwing something up.
"Mocha, Taffy... if you drop that mirror, Faust help the both of you!"
"We're being very careful with it" said Mocha, carrying the left side of the mirror on his back.
"Yeah, stop nagging at us, or you'll make us drop it!" shouted Taffy, who was carrying the right side of it.
The mirror looked a bit uneven, due to Mocha being larger than Taffy, but Clap didn't care. He warned them about what he'd do to them if they dropped it, so they used their wings to give them more control of it. They knew better than to screw up.
"Our wings are getting pretty tired now" said Mocha in a whining voice. "Please let us set it down now, we're like fifty feet away from the fortress..."
"You'll take a break when I say you can, now shut up!" Thunder Clap snapped.
"Who goes there, and what is your business?" a pegasus guard keeping watch on the sentry tower above the gate entrance to the fortress.
"Relax! It's just Thunder Clap" Clap called out to him. "Let us in, I think I've got something that will interest our master!"
"That's a pretty hefty statement, Thunder Clap" said the guard. "Alright, come on in..." He said as he motioned for the gate keeper pony to let the gate open. "This should be good." The guard murmured to himself.
Thunder Clap had hoped that his discovery would amount to something useful, for his sake. It was a gamble, but he was feeling confident.
Wingo had been standing just on the other side of the gate, inside. He'd heard that Thunder Clap had brought something back, so he wanted to see what kind of 'treasure' or otherwise garbage that Clap would bring back.
He watched as Thunder Clap, Mocha and Taffy brought their booty inside. As they were escorted by guards, Clap took a momentary glance to the left where Wingo had been standing and flashed a smug smirk his way.
"We will see, Clap..." whispered Wingo. The pegasus maintained his own smug expression as well. "We shall see."
They followed the trio to their master's quarters, where he'd been waiting since hearing of Thunder Clap's return. His eyes looked like they were staring into Thunder Clap's soul. Clap certainly felt that way as he found it hard to make eye contact with him. Clap looked on nervously, as Barber looked it over, levitating a book with a horn as he did it.
"Master" began Thunder Clap, with a bow. "I believe that I have found something of interest to you. It had magic energy coming off of it, I could feel it."
"So you have, Thunder Clap" said Barber with an evil chuckle. "So you have. Excellent work, Thunder Clap. Now go and find more treasures to bring back to me!"
"Yes, Lord Barber, sir..." said Thunder Clap, nervously as he, Mocha and Taffy scrambled outward.
"What is it?" inquired Wingo, who joined Barber in looking over the mirror.
"This is a mirror that could potentially aid in helping us take what is rightfully mine..." said Barber. "My kingdom!"
"And how might that be?"
"You will see in time" he replied, and with a swing of his cape, he turned around and his right hoof stallion followed. "Bring me your finest troops, there is other business that I need taken care of."
"It shall be done."