First Hoofstepsby MochaChapters2 - New Identity3 - Housewarming4 - Comet's CutiemarkStory Finale - Tick TockStory Premiere - Slice of Life2 - New IdentityGod, this was a hard decision. If he left this world forever, he would be leaving Lucy behind. That would tear him apart, let alone her. He tried to imagine the anguish she would go through. “I, um... I don't know...” “That Luke boy really is a mean, spiteful, selfish man, isn't he?” “Yeah, he is. Wouldn't be too upset if I never saw him again.” “But you wouldn't if you came here.” That was true. He thought deeply about it, then nodded. “OK. I accept your offer.” Celestia leaned forward, her eyes closed, her horn glowing yellow, until it breached the barrier of the screen and touched his arm. It felt cold against his skin, and he shivered, but it soon warmed up. His veins started to glow with the same aura as the princess' horn and he tried to jump back, but there was something gluing him to his seat. He was fixated on the screen, on Princess Celestia's eyes, on that gorgeous, flowing hair... His stomach jerked and he felt himself falling, falling towards the screen, falling towards Celestia. He didn't hit his head on the laptop, though; he still fell, he fell through it, he fell into some tunnel thing. A portal, whatever. He looked behind him and watched the light of his bedroom slowly fade away, gradually getting smaller and smaller until it was a mere speck in the distance. Around him was just a blur of yellow aura, like a yellow sky at dawn, with occasional threads of cream and sparkles of white. Another jerk of the stomach and this time he could see the other end of the portal-tunnel-whatsit, a mere speck in the distance. All this falling was forcing the blood out of his head and into his feet, he felt them throbbing, he felt so... light-headed... THUD. It took a while for him to finally open his eyes. He squinted against the stark light around him, and tried to raise his head, but he felt too weak. He felt something strange on his forehead, a circle of solidity, so he raised a hand to check it out. It protruded a good 15 centimetres or so, and tapered to a slightly rounded point. His hands felt different, like he couldn't curl his fingers. He looked at them and his eyes widened. They were hooves. He cried out in alarm, screamed rather, then broke down into tears. He was a pony – a unicorn to be exact. He didn't want to be a pony anymore, he didn't want to be here. This was all so strange, so scary to him. He looked up, his vision ever-so-slightly obscured by his new pale-yellow muzzle, and saw Princess Celestia, his new ruler, sitting royally on her throne. “I don't want to be here anymore,” he wept, tears streaming down his fuzzy cheeks, “I want to go home.” “I am sorry, Mr. Reynolds, but now that you're here you can never return.” Jay cried even harder, blubbering on about this and that and how he'll miss them. “Chin up, my dear boy,” Celestia consoled, walking over and laying a hoof on his shoulder, “you will feel better about this in time.” Chin up. Jay looked up at her, expecting to see Lucy, expecting this all to be some horrible dream, but it was still Celestia. “Now,” she said softly, “seeing as you will have to live here for the rest of your life, you might as well name yourself appropriately. What do you want to be called?” Jay sniffed as he stood up, wiping his tears with the back of his hoof. His legs felt wobbly, he was still exhausted from the falling. “I, um...” he hesitated. What did he want to be called? “... Comet, please.” “I see. Any second name?” “... Trail.” “Alright then. Comet Trail, What do you want your talent to be?” Ooh, tricky. He thought of any jobs he might like, but none of them seemed to apply here. He looked around, trying to find some inspiration, but there was nothing except red carpet, pillars, and grey-coat guards wearing golden armour. He then thought back to his very first seconds here, how he felt his unicorn horn for the first time. “Magic, please.” Magic was good at all sorts of things, right? Mastering it would be super useful. “Very well. Hold still, please.” Celestia leaned forward and touched his horn with hers, which was glowing again. Jay – excuse me, Comet – felt a surge of energy flow through his body. It was a sort of electricity that re-energised him, made him feel stronger, but there was also something else to it as well. He thought back to the days gone by, where he would sit and do things, and a nondescript girl would appear and talk to him with a nondescript voice... it was all very hazy. In fact, he couldn't even remember half of what went on – actually, not even that, come to think of it. His horn started to glow with the same colour as Celestia's, a new wave of energy buzzing through its length. It was rather exciting, being able to wield magic for the first time. Then all of a sudden, a bright flash of light turned his attention to his flank, which now sported a swanky new icon. It was a perfectly spherical, vibrant orange comet with a lighter orange and gold trail that enveloped it completely; white sparkles splayed outwards from the head. It looked very pretty. “Thank you very much, Your Highness,” he said, bowing his head. “Not at all. Come, we have much to discuss.” Celestia walked towards a door on the right-hand wall and turned back to face him once she realised he hadn't followed. He was still standing there, frowning at his hooves, trying to walk. “I'm not sure how to co-ordinate myself,” he said, lifting a hoof and setting it down a few inches in front, “you make walking look so easy.” “Oh my goodness gracious,” Celestia laughed, “how could I forget? You must not be used to walking on four legs quite yet.” She walked over and stood parallel to him. “If front-left is 1, front-right is 2, back-left is 3 and back-right is 4, follow this sequence: 1, 4, 2, 3.” “1... 4... 2... 3...” Comet repeated, moving the respective legs in time to the sequence. He was getting there, slowly. Celestia kept by his side as he laboriously made his way to the door. Celestia opened it, and they continued inside. It was a veritable palace of books in here. Nobody else populated this library, so they had it all to themselves. They sat down at a low table and Celestia, with her magic, took a book down from a higher shelf and placed it on the table in front of her. Comet shuffled over so that he could read it as she opened it to the first page. “I'm going to teach you everything there is to know about our world, so we'll start with the laws first,” Celestia announced. The laws of Equestria are actually very similar to our laws. No murder, no theft, no adultery, yada yada yada. It was about halfway through the book before they got to the good stuff: magic. “You are not permitted to curse another pony under any circumstances. You must also never use your magic to tamper with a pony, for instance their personality, their appearance – unless you have explicit permission from them to change their appearance of course – or their memories.” “Cool. Got it.” * * * Now to practise magic. Comet and Celestia stood facing each other. “I want you to imagine your magic. Imagine it flowing through your horn, then push it out and stretch it to become a basic shield.” Comet closed his eyes and concentrated on his horn, feeling the ebb and flow of his magic up and down its length, feeling it wind through the grooves that spiralled from its base to its tip. He pushed against the magic, feeling it trickle out of his horn, escaping into the atmosphere. He stretched it, feeling the resistance, and the silky-smooth, slippery texture of it in his mind. He opened his eyes and saw a whole lot of yellow. “Very good!” Celestia praised, “Your talent really is magic. You can unfold your body now.” In his effort to perform magic, he had bent in half. He chuckled as he stood up straight. “On to a simple spell,” Celestia remarked, “read what's on this parchment, and remember it as you push the magic out of your horn again.” She handed (hoofed?) him a scroll with cursive writing on it. It was so cursive that it looked like the letters were from an entirely different alphabet. He could read it easily, though. I cast away the darkness As I shine the light of love. A golden light shone like a bright torch from the tip of his horn, that got bigger the more he thought of the spell. “Try giving that light to me,” Celestia suggested. Comet flicked his head forward, sending the light drifting toward Celestia and hovering just in front of her nose. “Excellent.” They practised some more basic magic, like simple levitation, recalling of objects from Comet's personal pocket dimension (that would come in very handy), changing states of objects, from solid to liquid, from liquid to gas, and back. “Now that we've got that out of the way,” Celestia said, “let's visit your new home. It's in Ponyville; perhaps visit the library sometime to see Twilight Sparkle, my other student.” Celestia lead Comet outside and down the steps, turning left at the bottom and coming face-to-face with the Royal Chariot, a grand throne-like carriage made of gold pulled by muscular guard pegasi. Celestia climbed onto it and Comet squeezed in next to her; the seat wasn't quite wide enough to comfortably fit two ponies, so they had to make do with the unicorn practically in the princess' lap. “Take us to Ponyville, please,” Celestia instructed. The guards nodded. They took a running start, the carriage wobbled (making Comet uneasy) and they were off. Next stop: Ponyville. 3 - HousewarmingCelestia lead Comet outside and down the steps, turning left at the bottom and coming face-to-face with the Royal Chariot, a grand throne-like carriage made of gold pulled by muscular guard pegasi. Celestia climbed onto it and Comet squeezed in next to her; the seat wasn't quite wide enough to comfortably fit two ponies, so they had to make do with the unicorn practically in the princess' lap. “Take us to Ponyville, please,” Celestia instructed. The guards nodded. They took a running start, the carriage wobbled (making Comet uneasy) and they were off. Next stop: Ponyville. The wind brushed through Comet's mane and tail and rushed past his face, and he found it exhilarating. He looked over the edge and watched the ground whizz by – the lush green grass and colourful flowers of the meadows; a farmhouse and the overturned soil of its land; the houses of, clearly, another village. They finally came to rest at the edge of a small town with thatch-roof cottages and a busy market. Everyone looked around and as they saw Celestia, they bowed deeply. Once she had passed each of them, they straightened up and began to talk amongst themselves about the newcomer. “Bless him, he looks so shy,” some pegasus cooed quietly to her friend. Comet blushed furiously and walked a little more briskly. He and Celestia turned a corner and came to the end of the street, where on the right stood a cottage exactly like the others except for its name: Truntsworth. Like the others its name was carved into a wooden sign hanging from a wooden signpost at head-height outside the gate. “You will be living here,” Celestia declared, “it's nice and close to the library.” “Thank you very much, princess. I'm sure I will like it.” “If you need me, go to Twilight and ask her assistant Spike to send a letter.” “Will do.” And with that, Celestia turned and walked away, back to her chariot. Comet watched her leave, then turned and walked into his new house. It was roomy in here, with a large-ish living room and other smaller utility rooms like the kitchen and the bathroom. While he was in his bedroom he took the time to mull over his new appearance in the wall mirror to the left of the bed. He was fairly tall, with pale yellow fur and orange, light orange, gold and white-coloured mane and tail that matched his cutiemark. His eyes were a lovely amber. He looked quite handsome, actually. His mane and tail seemed to shimmer in the light, as if he had poured glitter on them. He supposed his new name fit him. Someone knocked on the door and he carefully, methodically trotted down the stairs before opening the door. It was a pink pony with no wings and no horn, but a very poofy mane and tail to compensate. “Hi!” she greeted excitedly, “You're the new guy, right?” “Uh, yeah,” Comet replied, “can I help you?” “I am Pinkie Pie, Party Planner Extraordinaire! I'm here to welcome you to Ponyville on behalf of everypony here.” “Thank you,” Comet said, smiling. Pinkie was quite an excitable pony, that was for sure. “In fact, Twilight has agreed to have a housewarming party in the library just for you! Come on, let's go!” There was no debating the matter. Pinkie pushed him from behind, forcing him in the direction of the library. Mercifully it was rather close, it was just round the corner – but his rear felt rather sore after being forced along the ground like that. He knocked on the door and, after a moment of silence, decided to let himself in. It was dark in here. He looked around for a lightswitch, but before he could move anywhere the light flicked on and he was confronted with a large crowd of ponies. “Surprise!” they cheered, causing Comet to jump in alarm. “Thank you, everybody,” he remarked loudly so that they could all hear, “I feel very welcome already.” “Everybody?” a unicorn asked, “but... huh?” Comet frowned. What was so confusing about that? Did she not know the definition of everybody? But the way he said it – everybody – that had implied it was the second half of the word he didn't quite get. … I'm here to welcome you to Ponyville on behalf of everypony here. Comet cleared his throat and grinned nervously. “Sorry – slip of the tongue. I meant everypony.” A purple unicorn with deeper purple hair and a magena sparkle for a cutiemark approached him and shook his hoof. “Nice to meet you, Comet,” she greeted, “my name's Twilight Sparkle. I've heard so much about you, it's all so interesting! I'd like you to meet my friends. They're over there.” Comet was lead to a group of five other ponies, one of whom was Pinkie Pie. The other four were a white unicorn with curled purple hair and light blue eyeshadow; a yellow pegasus with long pink hair; an orange earth pony with nondescript blonde hair and a cowboy hat; and a blue pegasus with rainbow-striped hair. “This is Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Girls, this is Comet Trail.” “Nice to meet you all,” Comet said. They replied with many variants of the theme of 'hi'. “I love your cutiemark,” the white unicorn, Rarity, commented, looking at his comet cutiemark. “Thanks. Cool, isn't it? Celestia gave it to me. My talent's magic.” “Celestia gave you that cutiemark?” Rarity gasped, “You should feel honoured! It's not every day a pony is given a cutiemark by royalty!” “Your talent's magic?” Twilight squeaked cheerfully, “Oh, this is wonderful! I'll teach you everything I know –” “Take my advice,” Rainbow Dash cut in, “don't let her. She's a walking library.” “Don't listen to her,” Applejack sighed, “she's still a little upset after Twilight didn't give her the second ticket to the Gala.” Rainbow rolled her eyes and did a nonchalant loop in the air. Rarity cantered over to the punch stall and poured herself and presumably Comet a goblet. Comet used his magic to take hold of the drink and keep it just in front of him, nodding in thanks. “Don't keep him all to yourselves!” a male pegasus called irritably from the crowd, “I bet he wants a few more than 6 friends.” “We'll be finished in a bit, don't worry,” Twilight told him. She turned towards the stairs leading up to the second floor. “Spike!” she called, “Come down and meet our new friend!” “He likes readin' his comics when the library's taken up by a party,” Applejack whispered to Comet. He chuckled. “I like to do the same now and then.” A small, bipedal purple dragon with green spines and a cream underbelly hopped down the stairs and made his way over. He really was quite small, about shoulder-height with Comet. He shook his hoof. “Hey there,” the dragon said, “I'm Spike. Twilight's number 1 assistant.” “Charmed,” Comet replied, “Comet Trail. Professional new guy. Celestia tells me if I need her I can just ask you to take a note...?” “Oh, yeah, that's my main job. Faster than mail.” Comet frowned. But surely there was no other way of transporting letters? He was about to enquire when Spike burped, sending green flames and a roll of parchment onto the floor. Comet picked it up with his magic and gave a questioning look to Twilight, who nodded her consent. He opened the letter. Dear Twilight – “Oh, it's for you,” Comet said, handing her the scroll. She read it then dashed out, clearly in a rush to get wherever she needed to go. “She's off to do some magicky thing, I bet,” Pinkie remarked, rubbing her chin contemplatively with her hoof. The rest of the party was spent talking to ponies other than the main 6 and Spike. Ponyville was quite an interesting place, with ponies of all shapes, sizes and talents in such a small square-area. He met a pony whose talent was potion-making and alchemy, who was certainly good at his craft. After a good amount of punch and a lot of cupcakes, hay burgers and the like, it was getting late. Comet followed the main 6 out, talking to them some more. “There's the annual Gala coming up in a few weeks,” Rarity told him, “perhaps you could come by my Boutique tomorrow and I could tailor you some fabulous new clothes to go in.” “That sounds lovely,” Comet agreed. “And you could always visit the Apple Farm for some apples and apple-based products,” Applejack suggested, “and to meet my folks.” “Sure.” “Alright, see ya later!” Rainbow called, waving, as they each parted ways. * * * Comet drew the bed covers back and hopped into bed, then wondered how on Earth ponies slept. His normal way of sleeping felt too uncomfortable, so he tried hooking his legs under him and sleeping like a cat, but he found that he was the wrong way round in the covers. He turned around and slept for hours on end like that. He looked largely like a yellow slug with hair. * * * The next morning was bright and warm, and the sun's rays felt lovely on his cheeks as he opened his eyes, discovering that he had gone back to sleeping like he usually did. He sighed and got up, stretching every possible muscle, then trotted downstairs to get himself some breakfast. He then realised that he had forgotten to get any groceries, so he went to the local café for a warm toasted bagel and hay. As he promised, he then cantered over to Rarity's Boutique, a fancy tent-like structure with ornate decorations inside and out. He found Rarity working on a dress in one corner of the shop, and when he cleared his throat she took a moment to turn around and realise who it was. “Ah! Just the pony. Come over to the mirror and I'll measure you up.” “Do I have to pay you, or...?” “Oh, no, darling! This first one's on me. You will have to pay next time, though, yes.” Just as well, because he hadn't brought any money with him. In fact he didn't have any money to begin with – or at least in the accepted currency of Equestria, whatever it was. Bits, was it? He'd overheard as such from a pair of shoppers yesterday evening. Bits and jewels, he thought. Ooh, that sounded like a nice catchphrase. “How long does it normally take you to make a standard dress?” he asked. “Define 'standard', dear.” “For example, a plain white dress, no decorations, no fancy stuff.” “A few minutes. Dressmaking and fashion is my talent, you see, and magic helps me be that little bit faster.” “You must earn a lot of money for being so quick and so meticulous, then.” Rarity 'mmm'ed in response, flashing her eyebrows up for a moment, as if to say that she couldn't really answer that but she might as well give him a good indication. She levitated a tape measure, a pin cushion (with pins) and a roll of string from some compartment under the stool Comet stood on. She measured him and attached a length of string to a particular portion of his body, then repeated until he was divided up into sections. Rarity then took a roll of bright orange fabric and compared it to his side, nodding and getting straight to work. It was only a couple of minutes before she had finished a lovely waistcoat and crisp white shirt. She helped him into the new clothes then frowned, looking at him from all angles. “No, no, that won't do. A little too gaudy.” She used the pattern she had made for the orange waistcoat to make a black one, then sewed some orange gemstones as buttons onto the front. She put this new waistcoat over the top of the shirt, which clearly she had deemed acceptable. “Ah, yes, the citrine gems really bring out your eye colour. Yes, that'll do nicely.” “This looks fantastic, thank you very much.” “No problem at all, darling. Now, try not to get it soiled before the Gala!” She took a sip from a glass of water she had placed on a side table. “Oh, yeah, I've been meaning to ask,” Comet said, “what exactly is the Gala?” Rarity almost choked on her drink. She coughed and spluttered for a bit then composed herself, correcting her frazzled mane. “My darling Comet! The Grand Galloping Gala is only the most stupendously splendid event you will ever participate in! The lights, the sounds, the garden, the ponies! The sophistication! Goodness gracious, how have you never heard of it?” Comet shrugged. It wasn't so much a shrug as it was a slight bob. “In fact, to prove it is so delightful, I will take you there on my honour. My plus-one, if you will.” “Oh, thank you! You're so kind.” “Oh, no, that's Fluttershy. I'm just generous.” 4 - Comet's Cutiemark“My darling Comet! The Grand Galloping Gala is only the most stupendously splendid event you will ever participate in! The lights, the sounds, the garden, the ponies! The sophistication! Goodness gracious, how have you never heard of it?” Comet shrugged. It wasn't so much a shrug as it was a slight bob. “In fact, to prove it is so delightful, I will take you there on my honour. My plus-one, if you will.” “Oh, thank you! You're so kind.” “Oh, no, that's Fluttershy. I'm just generous.” Comet waved goodbye as he left, using his ever-growing magic skills to fold the new waistcoat and shirt and put it in a cloth tote bag, which he carried in his mouth as he made his way to the Apple Farm for, as Applejack had said, some 'apples and apple-based products'. It would be nice to meet her family. He trudged up the hill and wound his way between the patches of bare earth where various crops grew in vast numbers. He approached the farmhouse then realised that this farm was the one he had gone past on his way to Ponyville. He knocked on the door, and was greeted by Applejack. “Ah! Just the pony. Come in, make yerself at home!” “As long as I'm not intruding on anything.” “Nah, of course not! Come inside, we were waiting fer ya!” “You were?” Comet asked, letting himself in and walking alongside the apple farmer deeper into the abyss of the enormous farmhouse, “I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting.” “It's no big deal, we'd only just gathered here.” Comet jumped in alarm once again at the sheer number of ponies crammed into this half of the barn. They were all earth ponies, and were all shapes and sizes, with many variants of clothing. Of course, the first thing he said was, “Don't you guys feel a little uncomfortable, all stuffed in here?” They laughed and shook their heads almost in unison. A yellow pony with long, thick ginger hair wearing a cowboy hat and a waistcoat (but no shirt) came up to him and shook his hoof. “Howdy! The name's Braeburn. Pleasure to meet you.” “Comet Trails, likewise.” “And now come and meet the rest of the family!” Applejack pressed, pushing him forward much like Pinkie had done yesterday, once more unto the fray. “We have: Apple Fritter; Apple Bumpkin; Red Gala; Red Delicious; Golden Delicious; Caramel Apple; Apple Streudel; Apple Tart; Baked Apple; Apple Briosche; Apple Cinnamon-Crisp...” Applejack took a deep breath, having not breathed for the entire list. “Big Macintosh, Apple Bloom and Granny Smith! Up and at 'em, Granny! We've got a guest.” An elderly mint-green pony with white hair tied in a bun and an an orange neckerchief with red polka-dots, who had previously been snoring quite loudly in a rocking chair at the back, sprang awake and slowly inched her way towards the front, along with a thickset red stallion with ginger hair (who was clearly Big Macintosh, going by his size) and a yellow filly with red hair tied at the back with a pink ribbon the size of her face, who was by inference Apple Bloom. “It's lovely to meet all of you,” Comet announced, “I've heard you're the best apple-farmers in town!” “Sweetie, we're the only apple-farmers in town! That's why we're the best, 'cuz there's no competition!” Granny Smith replied. This elder clearly had some feisty spirit left in her. Comet chuckled, then noticed Apple Bloom staring up at him with big amber eyes just like his own. She then moved around him to investigate his cutiemark. “Cool cutiemark,” she remarked, “how'd ya get it?” “Apple Bloom, now is not the time,” Applejack scolded. “No, no, it's fine. Celestia gave it to me.” There was a collective gasp. Clearly nobody here had such an event happen to them. He laughed nervously, feeling their eyes drill into his very soul. There was a moment of awkward silence. “So... why did Celestia give it to ya?” Braeburn asked. “To be honest, I... I honestly don't quite know. I think what happened was, I was there, I had no cutiemark, so it was a case of 'since you're here, might as well', y'know?” “There has to be more to it than that, sugarcube,” Applejack said, “Celestia wouldn't just give ya a cutiemark. Was there any other reason, d'ya know?” “No, actually, I don't believe there was.” Applejack squinted suspiciously then let it slide, at least for now. “So what's yer talent?” Apple Bloom asked. “Magic.” “Well go on, then! Show off a bit!” Everyone watched him with baited breath, and he started to feel a little claustrophobic. Nonetheless, he did as he was told, and concentrated on his horn, once again feeling the electric sensation of his magic. He could feel the ponies around him as disturbances in the otherwise grid-like structure of the fabric of space; he felt a slight resistance as he probed and poked around for something to levitate. Something large, perhaps, to show them what he could do. Something big. … Big. Big Macintosh. He opened his eyes and looked around for the stallion, who was at 2 o' clock. He closed his eyes and redirected his magic towards him, feeling it envelop the irregular shape. He urged the shape upwards, pushing it from beneath, and pulling it from above at the same time. It was a tremendous effort, one that make a slipped tendon in his neck snap back into place rather loudly (allowing him some relief), as he felt every ounce of Big Mac's weight on the tip of his horn, bearing down on it. It was an immense resistance, one that was incredibly difficult to overcome. He opened his eyes. Big Mac had disappeared, but when Comet looked up he found him a few feet up in the air, hovering silently. He was trembling, perhaps because of how unsteady Comet's magic was. Comet dragged him around the room, through the air, like a majestic red-and-ginger statue. It was quite the spectacle. He set the farmer down in his original place, shaken and mortified but otherwise OK. “I haven't really had the chance to practise,” Comet informed the crowd, “so that's pretty much all I can do for now. Sorry there wasn't anything flashier.” “To be honest,” Braeburn chimed in, “if you'd done anything flashier, you would've set the barn on fire.” The others, including Comet, laughed and nodded. Big Mac didn't do anything of the sort, he was too traumatised. “Maybe you could drop by Appleloosa later today, meet the folks there too,” Braeburn suggested. “I might actually, yeah. Thanks for the offer,” Comet agreed. He turned to the crowd. “Well, it's been nice meeting all of you, but I really must get back. Twilight was going to teach me some more magic.” The group disbanded, ponies walking out of the door and going home by taxi or by hoof. Applejack stayed behind and beckoned Comet to a quiet corner of the barn. “I'm a bit concerned about this here cutiemark,” she told him, pointing at his mark, “somethin' don't seem right about it.” “What do you mean? I got it like any other pony.” “Nopony has been given a cutiemark by Celestia before, Comet. That's what worries me.” Comet frowned, lowering her hoof with his own and taking a step back. “What're you on about? Celestia didn't give it to me, I got it by myself when I was a colt.” Applejack's eyes widened, then she squinted at him again, more than a little dubious. It was rare for a pony to change the story of their mark this often, or even at all. Nothing was tying together, the information she was given wasn't cohesive. It didn't take a Twilight to figure that out. “Wanna repeat how you got your mark to me, then?” “Sure.” * * * Comet Trails was born during a meteor shower, which convinced his unicorn mother Moonlight Twinkle and bat-pony father Chromium Elixir that he was special, and he would bring good fortune to them and to other ponies. What was even stranger was the fact that he was born with his horn glowing, which was a sign that he had been bestowed with untold magical power. Of course, Chromium was a little cynical about such a legend, but he kept his mouth shut. A few years passed and Comet, at school for the first time, was sitting by himself on the oak tree-trunk bench in the playground while the other ponies played around with each other. They were the cool ponies, they had their marks, they were special. He was just some suggestion of a pony, something that to them didn't even exist all that much. He was a concept that they had left behind on their 'big day'. He was a loner. While he was sitting on this bench, contemplating life, a pair of pegasus ponies stalked over and started bullying him. “What use are you? You haven't got any talents!” one of them jeered. “And your dad – what's up with him? He looks like he ought to be sucking our blood!” the other taunted. “Leave me alone,” Comet mumbled half-heartedly. He knew they wouldn't. “Aw, poor baby, can't stand the heat? Don't worry, we'll stay well away from you and your creep dad.” They pushed him over and he landed on his back in a patch of mud. It was cold and brown and so very sticky. They laughed at their prank as they trotted away triumphantly, their chests out, and Comet started to cry. Tears tumbled down his cheeks like the great waterfalls of Rainbow Falls and splashed in the mud, making it worse. He rolled over and stood up, his legs shaking, and he skulked inside, his head low. He sat at his desk and slammed his head on it. It wasn't his fault he hadn't found his talent. It wasn't his fault his dad was part bat. It wasn't his fault he was shy, nor was it his fault he was a loner. The sheer injustice of the matter made him cry even more. If only he could get back at those two, he would be the happiest colt in Equestria. If only he could teach them a long overdue lesson of how to treat others. He looked up, having realised something. He was a unicorn, he could always get enroled in Celestia's School of Magic. He wiped away his tears on the back of his hoof, and simply tried to survive the rest of the day. When he got home, he found his dad in the large-ish study, where he was concocting another one of his brilliant alchemical inventions. He was an alchemist, his talent potion-making. He saved life and limb with these potions, and he couldn't afford to get even a single digit wrong in his calculations that he had to do to find the correct amount of each ingredient, or it would completely spoil the product. Comet walked up to the desk, where his father was working. “Hey, Comet!” Chromium greeted, not looking up for fear of getting something wrong in the measurement of dragon heart's blood, “how was school?” “I was bullied again.” “I swear, if they even so much as go near my son again, they will have to answer to me.” “Dad, I wanna be put into Celestia's School of Magic.” The abruptness of the request and the importance in Comet's voice made Chromium snap his head up. He immediately stopped what he was doing. He carefully placed the pipette he had been working with down on the desk beside the beaker of blood, then got down off his chair and circled round the desk to meet him. “Comet, getting enroled in that School is hard work. I have to write a carefully-crafted letter of request to the administrator, and then it has to be approved, and then we have to go all the way to Canterlot for you to take an entrance exam. Plus, it costs a lot of money.” His voice was low and raspy, like a just-woken-up voice. His wife Moonlight would have shivered in bliss if she were here, but she was busy in the kitchen making dinner. Comet hung his head. “I just... wanted to learn more magic.” Chromium brought him in for a hug, and looked at the sky for some kind of revelation. His chest fur was thick and soft and his body was warm. Comet could hear his heart beating. “I'll ask your mother.” Comet hugged him tighter, a beaming grin now plastered all over his face. It was 6 o' clock in the evening on Christmas Eve and the sky over Canterlot was a beautiful crimson and maroon. The letter had been approved, and today was the day of the exam. Moonlight was teaching Comet a nifty little calming exercise to do with his breathing – breathing in slowly, then breathing out, pushing his troubles away with a hoof. It worked, and just as well since one of the four examiners beckoned them in. Immediately after he had stepped up to the stage, Comet dissolved into a panic attack. He hated being in the spotlight, he hated being tested, he hated the looks the examiners were giving him, he hated all of it. He was hyperventilating now, feeling claustrophobic, feeling trapped. He looked over to his parents for help, and they both demonstrated the breathing exercise in perfect unison. Comet copied them, and felt marginally better. There was a rattle of wheels over tiled surface and he looked to his right to see a trolley being pushed in front of him. On it sat a red egg spotted with darker red, which was supported from below by a box with hay in it. “You are to crack this egg with your magic, and your magic alone,” one of the examiners instructed. She and the other three summoned a clipboard and a quill each. When Comet didn't produce results, she raised an eyebrow. “Well, Master Trails?” Comet laughed nervously, beads of sweat trickling down his forehead. He looked at the egg and tried to imagine it cracking under the spark of his magic. … Nope, nothing. He was doomed. Why did he ask to come here in the first place? He had failed already, and he was wasting their time. “Master Trails, if you fail to crack the egg in five minutes, you are automatically disqualified. You are wasting our time, which could have been spent with our families. You are incredibly fortunate that we are kind enough as to drag ourselves over here just to watch you break an egg.” Comet started to panic again, and badly. He was all over the place. He hoisted himself off the ground using the edge of the trolley to get a better shot at the egg, but it rolled out from under him and flicked, sending the egg straight into his face and bouncing onto the ground. He apologised profusely as he tried to grab it as it rolled away, but it slipped out of his hooves and bounced further. He didn't stop saying sorry until 20 minutes had passed, when he had, after enormous effort, returned the egg to its stand. He collapsed onto his rear, panting. After recovering his breath, he thought about trying again, but didn't. “I'm sorry I wasted your time,” he mumbled. He trudged back to his parents, feeling dejected, only to find that even they had lost interest and were looking out of the window at the sky beyond. “Hey, Comet, come and look at this,” Chromium said softly, lifting him up to see through the window. It was a beautiful sight. One, two, three comets glittered past at once, and they weren't going to stop coming any time soon. Comet stared at it with childish wonder, the comet trails reflected in his eyes. It was magnificent, it was so pretty. He remembered that day, when his mother was in the hospital bed during a shower just like this, cuddling her newborn son... He felt an overpowering shiver course through his body and his horn tingle with that familiar fizzle of magic, only this time it was much, much stronger. He yelped as he felt his muscles spasm uncontrollably with the sheer power, and he fell out of his father's grip and tumbled half-way back to the center. The examiners, who had started to pack up, turned their attention back to him only to widen their eyes. All at once a burst of pure, raw magic exploded out of Comet's horn like a sonic boom, sending him hurtling the rest of the way and crashing against the trolley, making the egg topple back out of its box and hit him on the head, bouncing onto the floor once again. Comet lay there, slumped against the trolley, limp and spasming, his horn glowing not just with an aura, but in its own right. A blast of magic utterly vaporised the eggshell, leaving behind a red baby dragon with orange spines. But it didn't stop there. Comet found himself hovering a good few feet above the ground without his consent, and he started to scream, flailing his little legs around, crying out for help, for somebody to drag him back down again. Chromium tried, but as soon as he had released his hold Comet shot back up and cracked his head against the ceiling (literally or metaphorically, Comet didn't care to examine). There was no budging him. He was sobbing again. Another shot of magic switched Moonlight's position with the baby dragon's, so now Chromium was hugging the dragon tightly with fear and Moonlight was sitting a few feet in front. Yet another hiccup switched the examiners' bodies, so now the male ponies had the voices and minds of the female ponies and visa versa. “Please help!” Comet cried over the loud crackle of his obscenely over-the-top magic, “I don't know what's happening! I can't stop!” “But you can,” a regal, smooth voice called back from below him. He looked down to see none other than Princess Celestia, looking up at him, her mane and tail being blown backwards by every burst of his magic. “I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!” Comet wept, referring to the well-cooked room and ponies. Celestia didn't reply; the only thing she did was reach up and touch his hoof. He was hanging upside-down so he could see her. “Come down,” Celestia said softly, “come back down to your parents. You must be tired.” “I am! I am, I am, I am!” “Calm yourself. Breathe in... breathe out. In... out. There we go.” With every slow breath, Comet dipped a little further, until he reached the ground and his magic ceased. He collapsed, all out of energy. He didn't give a bit whether he passed the test or not; he just wanted to be with his mum and dad, he wanted to be home. “Your magic certainly rivals that of Twilight Sparkle, another pony in your situation,” Celestia informed him with a smile, “therefore, I hereby accept you into my school. I will teach you everything I know, and the rest is up to you.” Comet lay there, not moving. He gave a sigh of relief that was barely distinguishable from his actual breathing. His mother and father raced up to him and asked whether he was OK. He could only smile and nod in his response. * * * It was Christmas Day, and Comet bounded down the stairs, ready to open his presents. His parents were on the sofa and so looked around when he entered the room. “Merry Christmas,” they greeted cheerfully. “Merry Christmas!” Comet replied in kind. He expertly found his way under the tree and started opening his presents. There were a lot, mainly because he was an only child and so there was more money to go around at Christmas. There was a small box that, when opened, contained... … Nothing. He frowned and looked at his parents, showing them the empty box, and Moonlight giggled, Chromium giving her a cocky grin and sharing it with Comet. “Oh, don't worry, you've already got that present,” Chromium told him jovially. He walked over to the door and beckoned Comet to come upstairs with him. Chromium positioned his son in front of the wall mirror in the master bedroom. He then turned him 90 degrees to face it on profile. Comet looked himself over then reached his flank. He gasped in delight and hugged his dad. It was a comet, an orange comet with an orange, yellow and white trail, with white sparkles surrounding it. No more bullying, Comet thought gleefully. * * * “So you've been lying to us?” Applejack growled. Comet frowned again. “I haven't lied to you at all! Where in Equestria did that come from?” “Before, you said that Celestia gave you that mark. Said it was a case of 'you were there, so might as well'.” There was a pause where Comet tried to remember ever saying that. He shook his head. “I don't remember saying that at all, Applejack. You might have misheard – it was rather rowdy in here.” Story Finale - Tick TockAuthor's Note ATTENTION! First Hoofsteps is now the first story in a series entitled Number of Hoofsteps, which will be structured like the base show -- Premières and Finales, sandwiching normal episodes. I will try to keep the 'seasons' of NoH to about 5 'episodes' long. This is the Story Finale of First Hoofsteps, which will be followed by the Première of Second Hoofsteps. Story Finale - Tick Tock “So you've been lying to us?” Applejack growled. Comet frowned again. “I haven't lied to you at all! Where in Equestria did that come from?” “Before, you said that Celestia gave you that mark. Said it was a case of 'you were there, so might as well'.” There was a pause where Comet tried to remember ever saying that. He shook his head. “I don't remember saying that at all, Applejack. You might have misheard – it was rather rowdy in here.” Next stop was the library to meet Twilight. Comet loved magic, possibly just as much as Twilight (though that was stretching it), because it all looked just so cool. He knocked on the door of Golden Oaks Library and let himself in when Twilight called for him to do so. He found her sitting amongst a fort of books on the floor and he came up behind her, sitting next to her. “Whatcha doin'?” he asked casually. Twilight looked around and nodded in acknowledgement of his existence, then carried on reading. He leaned over her shoulder to get a better look. It was some sort of spell, or at least part of one, as Twilight was in the process of writing it. “Ooh, what's that?” Twilight looked at him and put her quill down. She smiled as she put it away in a file and directed him away from the book fort and towards the central table. There lay another pile of books, smaller than the others, and Twilight picked the topmost one and opened it to the fifth chapter. Therein resided combat magic, which she was quick to teach and demonstrate to him. Comet wasn't really all that impressive at offensive spells, but more than made up for it on defense and status-changing. He managed to cast a Dizzying Spell on her, which of course sent her stumbling around, crashing into things; he used a Reverse All Spell to stop it. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “What's there to be sorry about? That was amazing! I've never felt so out-of-control before!” “That's what's to be sorry about. I didn't mean for you to lose control like that.” “Trust me, Comet, there are much worse things to worry about in a combat setting. Now, back to practising offensive magic.” Spike poked his head around the corner of the doorway on the second floor, looking distastefully at the mess they had created. He hopped down the stairs and started gathering books and putting them away. He couldn't reach the top shelf, or any shelves above the second row for that matter, so Comet levitated him up. The fight hadn't stopped for that, though. Twilight fired a disarming spell, making Comet squeak in surprise and react instinctively, throwing up a shield just before it hit his muzzle. The barrage stopped but he kept the barrier up for safety purposes, while still levitating Spike. He looked up after a while to see Twilight watching him closely. “You're doing two things at once,” she noted. “I'm sorry,” Comet wheezed, exhausted. He dropped both the shield and Spike, who landed on the floor with a soft fmph. “You're apologising way too much,” Spike pointed out, getting up and dusting himself off, “even when you weren't at fault. You have to stop saying sorry so much.” “Sorry.” Spike rolled his eyes, dismissing it with a wave of the hand, continuing on his less-than-merry escapade into the depths of the book castle. He started to collect books from there, when the walls started to crumble and diaries and spellbooks and dictionaries fell around him. Comet snapped his attention to the beseiged castle and caught all of the books before they fell on Spike and buried him alive. The sheer amount of yellow now in the room made everything else look pink in comparison. “You really are good at magic, aren't you?” Twilight praised, “first you pretty much master defence and status-changing, then you do two things at once, then you accomplish quick-casting!” “Well, my talent is magic.” “Hey, what's this?” Spike had found the book Twilight had been writing in previously. It was one of the books Comet had saved him from being trapped under, so he plucked it out of the air and read the page it had opened to. “Spike, no! Don't touch that!” Twilight cried, but it was too late. A vicious wind picked up, ruffling their hair (or spines), and the door wasn't even open. It seemed to pool in the center of the table, and swirl even faster there, forming a miniature tornado. Comet could feel himself slipping, losing his grip on the floor. A bright flash of light blinded him for a moment and when he looked back at the table, it was glowing navy blue, and clock-like insignias floated around it. “You were writing a time spell?” Comet shouted to Twilight over the racket, “You of all ponies should know that's highly dangerous!” “There's no time to explain it now!” Twilight shouted back, “I'm losing my footing and I'll be sucked into the portal!” And that she was. Her body stretched a little as she disappeared actually into the table, as if it were some sort of black hole, or wormhole, or that kind of thing. Comet jumped so he could be dragged in faster so he could follow her instead of leaving her and Spike in there. Everything faded into a darkish aquamarine tinged with greenish navy, and an oddly familiar jerk to the stomach signified Comet's descent into the unknown. He looked around him and he could have sworn he saw ghostly images of clocks and stopwatches and pocketwatches and all sorts of watches. There was no denying that he was travelling through time, and that he had been thrown in at the deep end by Miss Purple Smart. He could see her up ahead, her and Spike, so he locked his arms down by his sides to help him descend faster to catch up with them. That was a mistake. He smashed against the ground at top speed, concussing himself on the oaken floors of the library. It took him a while to get his senses back, and when he did, he looked over at the table. The portal was still there. Had he gone back in time at all? If he had, why was the portal still there? “Strange... perhaps it didn't work,” Twilight sighed, venturing towards the portal to try again. “Wait, Twilight!” Spike ordered, making her stop completely, “If the spell worked and nothing seems to change, you'll just keep going through the portal, wanting something to happen, when in fact you would've gone back thousands of years and nothing you know would exist. And what if the portal were to close then? You'd be stuck millenia before your time, and you'd die before you were born, and you'd be stuck in a paradox!” Twilight looked at him, astonished with his conclusion, and nodded. She walked out of the door and saw... A normal day in Equestria. Comet appeared beside her, making her jump, and they began to roam around, looking for any differences. They checked the Square, the Town Hall, everywhere. When they got to the Schoolhouse, though, they immediately knew they had indeed gone back in time. Foals who should have been adults were playing in the playground, albeit still with their cutiemarks. Miss Cheerliee was making daisychains with Carrot Top, and Bulk Biceps looked rather skinny, or perhaps he was normal size and Twilight and Spike were just too used to seeing him as a living ball of muscle. “Amazing,” Twilight breathed. Everypony stopped and turned to look at her. Change 1. “Hello everypony,” Twilight greeted, “I am Twilight Sparkle. I've come from the future –” “Twilight, you realise that just by being here and interacting with these ponies means that you are changing the past, right?” Comet interrupted, “Just let them be! – Oh, my...” Comet had by chance looked over at the bench he used to sit on and, lo and behold, there he was. Or there he used to be. Or there his colt self was. Already it was really quite confusing. His colt self was sitting there, by himself, with a contemplative look on his face. And then the bullies came. “What use are you? You haven't got any talents!” “And your dad – what's up with him? He looks like he ought to be sucking our blood!” “Leave me alone,” Colt-met mumbled half-heartedly. “Clear off,” Comet growled, advancing on the bullies. They cowered in his presence and ran away. Change 2. “Comet, you've just changed your own past!” Spike cried, biting his claws anxiously, “You have to be so careful!” “You seem very well-versed in time magic, Spike,” Twilight grumbled, raising a speculative eyebrow. Spike shrugged. “It's called common sense.” “Sweet Celestia, you're right!” Comet breathed, “I was so caught up in my bad memories that I didn't think about what I was doing... stupid, stupid, stupid!” He violently punched himself in the face for being so, as he put it, stupid. Colt-met looked at him, bewildered. “Thank you for stopping those bullies,” he said with a small voice. “Gaaah! No, don't say that! You were supposed to be bullied, that's how you got your cutiemark! Or – my cutiemark! Yours? Mine? Whatever!” “I'm sorry!” Colt-met sobbed, running inside with tears in his eyes. Comet' eyes widened as he realised just how much he had screwed up. He sat on the bench, completely dwarfing it as it was meant for little ponies, and held his face in his hooves. Spike walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. “Don't worry about it too much. You'll always get the same cutiemark whatever, because you're hardwired to get it. Unless of course, you encourage him to do something else he is good at doing, or prevent him from doing the thing that got you your current mark.” “I'm good at saying sorry, and I'm not even Canadian.” “Then don't make him have to say sorry. What would an apologising cutiemark even look like?” “No idea. Probably a sticky-note saying 'Sorry' with a sad face.” It was now evening, and time for the big event. Comet lead the way as they galloped to Canterlot, Spike on Twilight's back. Their only goal was to watch it all unfold, perhaps just peeking in through the doorway, but when they realised they ought to stop off, they were already right next to Colt-met's parents, who stared at them suspiciously before turning their attention back to their son. Twilight stared at Chromium Elixir, Colt-met's dad, taking in his appearance. He had fangs, tufty ears, leathery bat wings and slit pupils in green eyes. He was a bat pony. “Your dad was a bat pony?” Twilight asked rather loudly. Comet snapped her mouth shut with his magic, and kept it that way. “Is, Miss Sparkle. He isn't dead yet.” Chromium looked thoroughly perplexed. He inquired as to what in Equestria they were on about, and Comet answered with a simple 'timey-wimey stuff'. He also mentioned, in passing, that he was the alchemist's son from the future. Chromium didn't answer, but kept his attention firmly on the son onstage fumbling with the egg he had to crack. Comet watched in horror as his former self practically juggled the egg, unintentionally throwing it around the room. He was convinced the colt would fail, because it certainly seemed he was getting close, but then he remembered that he never did fail, otherwise he wouldn't be here watching himself. He caught the egg with his magic just before it hit the ground, paranoid that it would crack and have him disqualified for not breaking the egg with his magic. It was then he realised that he, the older Comet, counted as another pony. And that he was using his magic to assist the examinee. Change 3. “Comet Trails, you are hereby disqualified for having non-examinees tamper with your exam in your favour. You wasted everypony's time and you should feel ashamed.” Colt-met burst into tears and galloped out, having lost the chance to be greater. Comet tried to chase after him but almost immediately fell over absolutely nothing. He faceplanted then curled into a ball, groaning in near agony. Something was happening, he didn't feel right, he didn't feel whole. A horrible electricity sent him into spasms. Twilight and Spike raced over and knelt beside him, asking if he was OK. He wasn't. His whole body seemed to secrete black, ghostly steam, cloaking him in darkness. They could hear his cries for help, his cries of pain from inside, until his voice trailed away. They watched, petrified, as he stood up; he was no longer distinguishable as any particular pony – he was simply a stallion unicorn-shaped shadow with disturbingly glowing yellow eyes. He squinted menacingly. “Comet...?” Spike whimpered. “That's not Comet, Spike,” Twilight informed him, backing away and charging her horn, “that's a Paradox. They're caused when something in the past doesn't happen that should, or does happen that shouldn't.” “So in this case, Comet never got his cutiemark.” “There's more to it than that. He told AJ that he'd got his mark from performing magic to get into Celestia's School of Magic. AJ told me that he had also said that Celestia herself gave it to him, which prompted me to investigate. If he never got his cutiemark, he would never tell AJ. AJ would never tell me about it, and I would never investigate. Separately, Comet's talent wouldn't be magic, so he wouldn't come to the library to be taught more spells. He shouldn't be here strictly speaking, because he had no reason to be.” The Comet Paradox lunged, knocking Twilight to the ground, forcing her to release her charge of magic, which ricocheted around the room several times, narrowly missing Comet's parents. Spike ordered them and the examiners to evacuate, leading the charge, showing more responsibility and leadership than he had ever shown before. Twilight and The Comet Paradox sparred horns. TCP was cold and vibrating with a kind of energy, a kind of malice. Twilight started charging up, running around the circumference of the large circular room to keep him away. TCP had a leaping stride that at times made it look like he was flying. At long last Twilight was fully charged, so she let loose and hit him square in the chest. An explosion filled the room but didn't scar the surroundings, and unfortunately it didn't affect TCP. He was knocked back and had sprawled on the floor, but he got up soon enough and fired his own magic. At first the shot seemed easily blockable and insignificant, until Twilight could hear a rumbling and crackling above her. She looked up and her eyes widened as she saw the five black comets with navy, purple and maroon trails blazing towards her at terminal velocity. TCP had cast a Target Spell, and since he was attributed to comets, he could control them with it. The only creepy thing about this whole fight was that TCP never spoke, never made any sound, even when some of the magic he used was quite high-level stuff. Though technically he didn't have a body to tire, plus he didn't have a mouth. The comets exploded on the ground near Twilight's hooves and she screamed as she was flung across the room and slid to a halt near the stage. TCP leapt, pinning Twilight to the ground, her head smacking against the corner of the stage and knocking her out. He charged his horn again, but was interrupted by a purple, green and cream-coloured streak barrelling into him from the side, sending them to the ground. It was Spike, and he was trying to distract TCP to allow Twilight to recover. They tumbled and fought, Spike kicking and flailing, while TCP tried to catch him in the face with a shot of magic but missing 8 out of 10 times. The other two scarred Spike's chest and his right cheek, but he was too busy laying down the law. In the end TCP kicked him aside and stood up, striding towards Twilight, his horn glowing purpleish-navy. Spike jogged over and took hold of her hoof and bolted, dragging her behind him, TCP in hot pursuit. Spike flitted round a corner and dove through a nearby window into somebody's house, Twilight banging against the windowsill as she followed limply. Thankfully, TCP had seen them turn the corner but hadn't seen them enter the house, so he ran on. Spike held his breath as he waited for his heavy hoofsteps to die down, then hoisted himself back out of the window and dragged Twilight back the way they came. They circled around so that they didn't meet TCP as they made their way to the library, Spike's ears swivelling like satellites, trying to figure out where the Paradox was. Mercifully, he wasn't nearby. He slammed the door shut when he got inside, then turned to face the portal in the table. “We'll come back for you,” Spike promised, directed at TCP, who was currently on the other side of town. He jumped in, followed by Twilight. “I want to go back to when we first arrived in the past,” he told the walls of the portal. They were flung along a tangent to the main tunnel and crash-landed in the library once again. There already, with frightened and confused looks on their faces, were Past Twilight, Past Spike and Past Comet (hereafter known as PT, PS and PC). PT gasped in shock at Twilight's limp body and PC jumped away, horrified beyond belief. He trembled in the opposite corner. “What happened?” PT demanded. Spike took a deep breath. “You guys will go to the Schoolhouse and talk to the ponies and Comet will make his past self cry and then you will go to Celestia's School of Magic to watch past Comet get his cutiemark except he doesn't because your Comet will prevent him from getting it and your Comet will turn into a Paradox and he will beat up your Twilight and your version of me will drag her from Canterlot back to Ponyville and jump back in the portal then this conversation will happen all over again.” PS and PT stared at him blankly for a moment then PT nodded once, taking the book that had started this whole mess from PS's claws. “What're you doing?” PC asked. “I am not risking a temporal loop. I am also not risking you becoming a Paradox. Oh, and I'd hate to be knocked out.” PT touched the page and after a moment the portal turned a deep maroon and scarlet, signalling a change in the path of time that they were about to walk. They jumped in, and it felt like floating in space. They were dragged off, Spike merging with PS and Twilight merging with PT. She woke up then closed her eyes against the nausea of waking up to being transported through time, just before she, Spike and Comet hit the ground and bounced a little. The portal started flashing then imploded, causing a colossal bang that shook the whole town. A few loose branches on Golden Oaks Library fell to the ground, and birds that had been perched on them flew away with an alarmed collective squawk. “What in Celestia's royal name was that?” Rainbow Dash demanded as she stormed in, followed less exuberantly by Twilight's other four friends, “I was sleeping perfectly happily on a cirrus cloud!” “You were sleepin' on the job again, I don't think you would particularly miss anythin' by bein' awake,” Applejack scolded. Rainbow flashed her a dangerous look. “We went back in time for a bit,” Comet told them groggily as he stood up, “now if you'll excuse me, all that falling has done neither my head nor my stomach any good at all.” He dashed out the door holding his stomach with a green-tinged face. Rarity frowned after him, then turned back to Twilight and Spike, who were only now recovering fully. “Falling?” “The portal was in the table,” Spike answered, looking like he was going to be sick right there and then. He shot upstairs and they didn't see him for quite some time. He then reappeared quite suddenly. “I've just realised something, Twi,” he said urgently, “we never got rid of the Paradox – he's still in the past – he could change anything!” “Forgive me for asking, but... what are you talking about?” Fluttershy asked. As she spoke, the library dissolved around them, replaced by a burning, charred, hollow tree-trunk and similarly assaulted-looking books scattered all over the place. “I told you!” Spike spat, directed towards Twilight. Twilight looked around for the book with the time spell in it, and found it – though it was shrivelled and blackened, and some of the words were damaged, rendering it too unpredictable to use. She growled in irritation then trotted over to the drawers in the desk on the left-hand side of the library, withdrawing a vial of ink, a phoenix-feather quill and a roll of parchment. “Rarity – you have an eye for detail – could you make out the spell from the book? Be very careful not to touch it or use your magic on it.” Rarity nodded and walked over, leaning slightly forward so that she didn't have to get too close to the book in order to read it. She lowered her head until her nose was barely a centimetre from the pages. With this spell, I ask of you – Tempus, the God of Time – To resurrect the past and allow me to act as your servant, As your ambassador, As I observe what has been done, Knowing I must not disturb the winds of time Nor knock the hourglass askew. “Gosh, Twilight, that's some fancy stuff!” Pinkie remarked. Twilight touched the parchment and a portal similar to the previous one opened in the air above her, ticking and tocking like a grandfather clock. She supposed the different, more immediate location of the portal was because she wrote it with a powerful spell-weaving quill, the phoenix feather, as opposed to her usual knowledge-collecting one, the owl feather. “Aren't we coming with you, darling?” Raity asked. “Better not. It'd get pretty crowded, and simply knocking over a vase could lead to catastrophe, as the spell implies.” “Good luck,” Fluttershy wished her, before she was promptly sucked away into the bluish tunnel. The journey felt strangely bumpy, as if she was sliding down a long flight of stairs on her rear, and she was thrown this way and that as the tunnel wound around itself. It felt like the portal wasn't sure what it wanted to do with itself, like that one awkward guy in the back of the night-club not dancing. In this case he was dancing a bit too much. When they landed, she was able to take one step forward before The Comet Paradox froze her in place with his magic. TCP drew close, so close that his nose almost touched Twilight's, as he investigated. He peered at her in a feral kind of way, like she was his prey. He perused her up and down, moving around behind her, making her feel uncomfortable with the notion that he might attack her without warning. Twilight concentrated as hard as she could on the magic in her horn, which consequently dispelled the Statue Spell with a squeaky pop. She launched, firing an intense, immense beam of magic that engulfed the Paradox and injured him substantially, throwing him backwards and against the opposite wall. He was paralyzed. He slid to the floor and raised his gaze to Twilight, who advanced upon him, her horn shining with a holy light. It was dazzling, the way it emitted such a perfect white, with little offshoots spurting here and there now and then. She touched his chest with the light and TCP screeched, trying to draw away but unable to. The light was hurting him, hurting his darkness, dissipating him like the shadows. His final howl of anguish before he completely disappeared echoed around the room, replaced by loud ticking, signalling the forming of the portal. Twilight jumped into it and was whisked back to the present, where she and the others watched the library reform and fix itself around them. Story Premiere - Slice of LifeAuthor's Note EDIT: Fixed "little bitch" to "little so-and-so" to keep with E rating. Sorry about that! ATTENTION! First Hoofsteps is now included in a series entitled Number of Hoofsteps. See Author's Notes on the final chapter for more details. Story Premiere - Slice of Life Streetlights of London flickered and half-shone like tired eyes in the night and fires danced in the grates of fireplaces as the occasional cream-coloured headlight waded through the rain. Pools were filled even in autumn; they glistened in the little moonlight that broke through the clouds. Drops dripped from the eaves of the houses as Jay sat on his sofa, the Wii U GamePad buttons clicking under his fingers as he figured out where to place the Boo in his New Super Mario Bros. U level. The grass waved outside on the lawn and the flowers shone like little beacons from the smile of the moon. Very few people were out this late but Jay enjoyed this time of day; it was quiet and still, allowing him to think whatever he wanted with no repercussions. The sky was amethyst and the cigarette smoke-scented air was crisp and cool. The few stars which were visible winked at the ants below, and the moon beamed down upon them. Jay had his all-important A levels to attend next week and he had revised a ton, so he was rewarding himself with a little time on Super Mario Maker. A can or two of Fanta were strewn across the floor and a handful of crumbs were scattered over the carpet in front of the coffee table, on which he had kicked up his feet. The time came when he closed down for the night and he checked his watch to see that it was already 3 in the morning. He cursed under his breath as he put all of the Fanta cans and crumbs in the trash before creeping upstairs and taking off his tank top and shorts, leaving only his hipster boxer trunks on, revealing thick but soft muscles. He clambered into bed and went to sleep. Next morning, he woke up and went downstairs for some breakfast. His trunks felt a little dislodged so he pulled them back up again and looked at the clock. Sleepy as he was, it look a moment for him to realise that he was going to be very late. He cursed loudly and slapped some jam between two slices of bread (getting a bit on the counter which he cleaned up), munching it on the way back upstairs to take a shower and get dressed. He was so late. He'll be murdered by his teachers. He had a Spanish test today – wouldn't want to miss that. He'll have to endure prying questions from his classmates. He raced downstairs and out the door. He ran at full pelt to the school, only now remembering that he hadn't packed his bag with today's books. He burst through the main doors then skidded into the Spanish classroom where the teacher was handing out scraps of paper for the vocabulary test. He looked around and raised an eyebrow. “Kind of you to join us, Mr. Reynolds,” he remarked in self-consciously precise English, “why are you late?” “I lost track of time, sir.” “Convenient. Have a seat and get a pen out.” Everyone watched him take a seat and get his pen out. He felt their eyes on the back of his neck, and he felt the hairs stand on end. He shrank a little in his chair. He looked at the blank piece of paper on his desk and as soon as the teacher started reading out random vocab, he wrote down the translation. * * * It was soon lunchtime and Jay decided to wait in the House for ten minutes for the lunchtime queues to ease up. He signed in on the register and sat in the comfortable seats at last. He never got a chance to sit here because all the cooler kids always took these chairs, and he wasn't particularly fond of being intrusive. After a few minutes he heard the door he came through open and close again, and a girl came into sight with golden blonde hair tied back from her eyes spiralling into luscious curls that bounced as she skipped over. Her baby-blue eyes lit up when she saw him. “Hi Jay!” she greeted cheerfully, “How did the Spanish test go?” “Great, thanks,” Jay replied, “got a bit delayed this morning though. Didn't wake up 'til about 8:30. How about you, Lucy? How'd you sleep?” “Well, thank you.” There was a moment of silence where Jay looked out of the window at the streets beyond. They were two stories up and he could see just over the top of the roofs at the birds soaring through the air. The road below ballooned outwards into two separate lanes to fit around a central patch of refreshingly organic green, a row of trees standing tall there. He heard Lucy shift a bit and returned his attention to her. She actually wasn't looking for his attention, but since she had it, she supposed she should make conversation. “Got more of my Art project done today.” “Sweet.” Jay paused. “Hey, wanna hang around town later?” Lucy nodded, grinning. She liked hanging out with him. They'd spend an hour or so at the café, then go to the library, then... shopping! She always loved that part. Getting a new dress, or some new shoes, or some stationery, or – She snapped back to reality to find Jay right in front of her face, his lips on hers. His chestnut brown hair felt soft and tickly against her forehead, and his warm brown eyes were fixed on her own. The moment was electric. A tingling sensation buzzed down the length of her spine – the same feeling she's been having for the past two tmes he's kissed her. It ended as quickly as it had began, and Jay sat back for a bit before getting up. “I'm gonna get some lunch. Coming?” “Right behind you.” The lunch hall was packed, but thankfully the lines had calmed down, so getting served was quick and easy. It was lasagne today; Jay's favourite. Lucy had the vegetarian option, because she didn't really like mince. They sat together at the least-full table and chatted about nothing in particular. It was nice to be able to talk to someone, because Jay wasn't really all that popular for some reason. It was then that Luke sauntered over with his gang of 5. “Ooh, look at Reynolds and his little girlfriend!” he cooed mockingly. “I take issue with that,” Jay replied, “you don't like gay people, yet you don't like me having a girlfriend? Double standards much?” Luke pinned him to the table by the back of the throat. Jay's vision was obscured by lasagne. Lucy was screaming. “Don't smartmouth me,” Luke snarled. He was escorted away promptly by the teacher on watch duty for a good scolding. Jay listened to the ruckus of the lunch hall chatter, too depressed to lift his head out of his lasagne. Lucy did it for him, and wiped him down with a napkin. “Thanks,” he said glumly. “You really should tell someone about this,” Lucy said firmly, “it's not going to stop until he's expelled, I can tell you that much.” “But they're never going to expel him. He's smart, he's good on the pitch, he's a ladies' man. He's too valuable. I'm just some average guy, not smart, not good on the pitch, nothing special.” Lucy smirked a knowing smirk, then leaned forward slightly to get on his level. “I'm not going out with 'some average guy'. I am going out with Jay Reynolds, the nicest, most hard-working guy I've met. If awards were earned for resilience and persistence, you'd win ten of each, I guarantee it. Oh, chin up, Jay, you're breaking my heart. Besides, all you have to do to ignore that jerk is to hang out with the people who love you the most – your friends, your family. None of us will judge you and if you tell us what happened we will be more than happy to help cheer you up and beat down on the bullying.” “I'm not in the mood.” “You say that, but you know I'm right.” “No, I really am not in the mood, Lucy. Now let's just eat our lunch and get out of here, it's getting stuffy.” Lucy desperately tried to think of something she could do to cheer him up. “How about I get you some more lasagne?” “There's only 5 minutes left.” There was no debating the matter. Lucy got up, took his plate to the counter and dished out some more lasagne, then placed it back down in front of him. “Eat.” She turned her attention back to her own food and continued to eat it. Jay pushed the food on his plate around with his fork for a bit then begrudgingly started eating. He felt a little better already. * * * The bell rang for the end of school and Jay started packing his bag after Chemistry. Luke stalked past him and purposely budged him, knocking him against the table, the consequent vibrations shuffling his pencil case onto the floor. Lucy grunted in disapproval and picked it up, delaying a little for some reason as she straightened up. “Don't worry,” she whispered, watching Luke strut out of the door with a dumb, unfounded triumphant look on his big smug face, “once we get out of the Chemistry block, I'll show him a thing or two about physical contact.” Lucy hung her bag around her shoulder then skipped out through the door, followed by Jay, still trying to close his own bag. As she promised, she approached Luke when they had left the building. “I don't think you should look so smug about hurting my boyfriend,” she growled. Everyone stopped whatever they were doing to watch in awe. There was absolute silence as Luke slowly turned his head, then squared up to her. She was about shoulder-height. “Oh yeah?” he challenged, puffing out his chest and contracting his biceps in an attempt to look scary, “What're you gonna do, pippy?” Pippy was his version of pipsqueak. The fact that he couldn't be bothered to even use the whole insult was rather riling in and of itself. In response, Lucy took a step back, keeping her left leg in place, then surged forward and gave him a good, hard punch square between the eyes. He reeled, tripped over his own galumphing feet and fell on his behind. Lucy loomed over him and he breathed heavily. “Not so omnipotent now, are you, you little so-and-so?” Lucy snarled, giving him a steely kick to the unmentionables. He screeched like a dying crow and started to weep. Jay stared in disbelief as Lucy skipped back over to him and threaded her arm around his. “I think that'll solve your problem, or at least temporarily.” Jay couldn't find the words to respond, so he didn't. * * * Jay got home and dumped his bag on his desk, then looked for his phone in his blazer to check his messages. It wasn't there. He searched frantically through every single item of clothing on his body (yes, including his shoes and socks), then checked his bag. He unzipped his pencil case and there it was, his black iPhone 6, sandwiched between his pens and his pencils. He took it out, wondering how it had got there, then turned it on. Change Your Life by Little Mix chimed from the phone, and a message onscreen read, 1 new message from Lucy W. He smiled as the chorus of the inspirational song rang out into his bedroom. Only Lucy would rig his phone to play that for her ringtone. Hey, Jay – just wondering if you're doing OK. I'm sorry about lunchtime. Jay sighed and turned his phone off, collapsing onto his bed and staring up at the ceiling for a long, long while. He was searching for something up there, some sign that things would get better. A speck of dust floated into his eye and he blinked madly, trying to get it out. He sat at his desk and raised the lid of his laptop to fin that he hadn't actually turned it off, and it was at 56% power. Great. He plugged it into the mains supply and opened File Explorer, looking for his English essay that was due in next week, then came across an unusual file. message.mp4. He frowned, concerned, and opened it, as you do. He wasn't particularly bothered if it was a virus, because the virus scanner would pick it up and destroy it. That's a thought. If it was a virus, it would be destroyed by now. But he definitely had not downloaded message.mp4. Onscreen now was what looked like a very tall, very white unicorn with feathered wings and gorgeous, flowing rainbow-coloured mane and tail. He recognised her immediately as Princess Celestia, the higher power of the world of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Not that he had invested that much time in the series; he had watched about three episodes after hearing about it by chance from a little girl he had passed on the street. He hadn't particularly enjoyed it – too girly, no real action – but there was no denying that he was watching it now. “Good evening, Mr. Reynolds,” Celestia greeted, “I assume you have opened the file now?” Jay didn't answer. It was a video, he couldn't actually talk to it. But the princess wasn't speaking either. She raised an eyebrow and Jay frowned again. Was he supposed to be speaking right now? “I, um... yes, yes I have.” “Good show. As you know, I am Princess Celestia, the ruler of Equestria –“ “Woah, woah, woah. How am I able to talk to you? How are you able to talk to me?” Celestia cleared her throat and ignored the comment. “I understand you have been bullied at school.” “Who told you that?” Jay demanded anxiously. “I just know. I'm Princess Celestia, trust me, I know things. Anyway, as I was saying, you must by now feel rather rejected from society, like you have no friends. Other than your girlfriend. My sister understands perfectly well how you must feel.” “I'm still really confused as to how on Earth we're having a conversation.” “Magic. Anyway, I'm here to ask one thing of you: would you be willing to leave your world forever, and enter mine? Nobody would ever tease you here. Everyone here is nice, respectable, and in turn they respect each other.” “Well, um... I...” “Don't worry, take your time.” God, this was a hard decision. If he left this world forever, he would be leaving Lucy behind. That would tear him apart, let alone her. He tried to imagine the anguish she would go through. “I, um... I don't know...” “That Luke boy really is a mean, spiteful, selfish man, isn't he?” “Yeah, he is. Wouldn't be too upset if I never saw him again.” “But you wouldn't if you came here.” That was true. He thought deeply about it, then nodded. “OK. I accept your offer.”
2 - New IdentityGod, this was a hard decision. If he left this world forever, he would be leaving Lucy behind. That would tear him apart, let alone her. He tried to imagine the anguish she would go through. “I, um... I don't know...” “That Luke boy really is a mean, spiteful, selfish man, isn't he?” “Yeah, he is. Wouldn't be too upset if I never saw him again.” “But you wouldn't if you came here.” That was true. He thought deeply about it, then nodded. “OK. I accept your offer.” Celestia leaned forward, her eyes closed, her horn glowing yellow, until it breached the barrier of the screen and touched his arm. It felt cold against his skin, and he shivered, but it soon warmed up. His veins started to glow with the same aura as the princess' horn and he tried to jump back, but there was something gluing him to his seat. He was fixated on the screen, on Princess Celestia's eyes, on that gorgeous, flowing hair... His stomach jerked and he felt himself falling, falling towards the screen, falling towards Celestia. He didn't hit his head on the laptop, though; he still fell, he fell through it, he fell into some tunnel thing. A portal, whatever. He looked behind him and watched the light of his bedroom slowly fade away, gradually getting smaller and smaller until it was a mere speck in the distance. Around him was just a blur of yellow aura, like a yellow sky at dawn, with occasional threads of cream and sparkles of white. Another jerk of the stomach and this time he could see the other end of the portal-tunnel-whatsit, a mere speck in the distance. All this falling was forcing the blood out of his head and into his feet, he felt them throbbing, he felt so... light-headed... THUD. It took a while for him to finally open his eyes. He squinted against the stark light around him, and tried to raise his head, but he felt too weak. He felt something strange on his forehead, a circle of solidity, so he raised a hand to check it out. It protruded a good 15 centimetres or so, and tapered to a slightly rounded point. His hands felt different, like he couldn't curl his fingers. He looked at them and his eyes widened. They were hooves. He cried out in alarm, screamed rather, then broke down into tears. He was a pony – a unicorn to be exact. He didn't want to be a pony anymore, he didn't want to be here. This was all so strange, so scary to him. He looked up, his vision ever-so-slightly obscured by his new pale-yellow muzzle, and saw Princess Celestia, his new ruler, sitting royally on her throne. “I don't want to be here anymore,” he wept, tears streaming down his fuzzy cheeks, “I want to go home.” “I am sorry, Mr. Reynolds, but now that you're here you can never return.” Jay cried even harder, blubbering on about this and that and how he'll miss them. “Chin up, my dear boy,” Celestia consoled, walking over and laying a hoof on his shoulder, “you will feel better about this in time.” Chin up. Jay looked up at her, expecting to see Lucy, expecting this all to be some horrible dream, but it was still Celestia. “Now,” she said softly, “seeing as you will have to live here for the rest of your life, you might as well name yourself appropriately. What do you want to be called?” Jay sniffed as he stood up, wiping his tears with the back of his hoof. His legs felt wobbly, he was still exhausted from the falling. “I, um...” he hesitated. What did he want to be called? “... Comet, please.” “I see. Any second name?” “... Trail.” “Alright then. Comet Trail, What do you want your talent to be?” Ooh, tricky. He thought of any jobs he might like, but none of them seemed to apply here. He looked around, trying to find some inspiration, but there was nothing except red carpet, pillars, and grey-coat guards wearing golden armour. He then thought back to his very first seconds here, how he felt his unicorn horn for the first time. “Magic, please.” Magic was good at all sorts of things, right? Mastering it would be super useful. “Very well. Hold still, please.” Celestia leaned forward and touched his horn with hers, which was glowing again. Jay – excuse me, Comet – felt a surge of energy flow through his body. It was a sort of electricity that re-energised him, made him feel stronger, but there was also something else to it as well. He thought back to the days gone by, where he would sit and do things, and a nondescript girl would appear and talk to him with a nondescript voice... it was all very hazy. In fact, he couldn't even remember half of what went on – actually, not even that, come to think of it. His horn started to glow with the same colour as Celestia's, a new wave of energy buzzing through its length. It was rather exciting, being able to wield magic for the first time. Then all of a sudden, a bright flash of light turned his attention to his flank, which now sported a swanky new icon. It was a perfectly spherical, vibrant orange comet with a lighter orange and gold trail that enveloped it completely; white sparkles splayed outwards from the head. It looked very pretty. “Thank you very much, Your Highness,” he said, bowing his head. “Not at all. Come, we have much to discuss.” Celestia walked towards a door on the right-hand wall and turned back to face him once she realised he hadn't followed. He was still standing there, frowning at his hooves, trying to walk. “I'm not sure how to co-ordinate myself,” he said, lifting a hoof and setting it down a few inches in front, “you make walking look so easy.” “Oh my goodness gracious,” Celestia laughed, “how could I forget? You must not be used to walking on four legs quite yet.” She walked over and stood parallel to him. “If front-left is 1, front-right is 2, back-left is 3 and back-right is 4, follow this sequence: 1, 4, 2, 3.” “1... 4... 2... 3...” Comet repeated, moving the respective legs in time to the sequence. He was getting there, slowly. Celestia kept by his side as he laboriously made his way to the door. Celestia opened it, and they continued inside. It was a veritable palace of books in here. Nobody else populated this library, so they had it all to themselves. They sat down at a low table and Celestia, with her magic, took a book down from a higher shelf and placed it on the table in front of her. Comet shuffled over so that he could read it as she opened it to the first page. “I'm going to teach you everything there is to know about our world, so we'll start with the laws first,” Celestia announced. The laws of Equestria are actually very similar to our laws. No murder, no theft, no adultery, yada yada yada. It was about halfway through the book before they got to the good stuff: magic. “You are not permitted to curse another pony under any circumstances. You must also never use your magic to tamper with a pony, for instance their personality, their appearance – unless you have explicit permission from them to change their appearance of course – or their memories.” “Cool. Got it.” * * * Now to practise magic. Comet and Celestia stood facing each other. “I want you to imagine your magic. Imagine it flowing through your horn, then push it out and stretch it to become a basic shield.” Comet closed his eyes and concentrated on his horn, feeling the ebb and flow of his magic up and down its length, feeling it wind through the grooves that spiralled from its base to its tip. He pushed against the magic, feeling it trickle out of his horn, escaping into the atmosphere. He stretched it, feeling the resistance, and the silky-smooth, slippery texture of it in his mind. He opened his eyes and saw a whole lot of yellow. “Very good!” Celestia praised, “Your talent really is magic. You can unfold your body now.” In his effort to perform magic, he had bent in half. He chuckled as he stood up straight. “On to a simple spell,” Celestia remarked, “read what's on this parchment, and remember it as you push the magic out of your horn again.” She handed (hoofed?) him a scroll with cursive writing on it. It was so cursive that it looked like the letters were from an entirely different alphabet. He could read it easily, though. I cast away the darkness As I shine the light of love. A golden light shone like a bright torch from the tip of his horn, that got bigger the more he thought of the spell. “Try giving that light to me,” Celestia suggested. Comet flicked his head forward, sending the light drifting toward Celestia and hovering just in front of her nose. “Excellent.” They practised some more basic magic, like simple levitation, recalling of objects from Comet's personal pocket dimension (that would come in very handy), changing states of objects, from solid to liquid, from liquid to gas, and back. “Now that we've got that out of the way,” Celestia said, “let's visit your new home. It's in Ponyville; perhaps visit the library sometime to see Twilight Sparkle, my other student.” Celestia lead Comet outside and down the steps, turning left at the bottom and coming face-to-face with the Royal Chariot, a grand throne-like carriage made of gold pulled by muscular guard pegasi. Celestia climbed onto it and Comet squeezed in next to her; the seat wasn't quite wide enough to comfortably fit two ponies, so they had to make do with the unicorn practically in the princess' lap. “Take us to Ponyville, please,” Celestia instructed. The guards nodded. They took a running start, the carriage wobbled (making Comet uneasy) and they were off. Next stop: Ponyville.
3 - HousewarmingCelestia lead Comet outside and down the steps, turning left at the bottom and coming face-to-face with the Royal Chariot, a grand throne-like carriage made of gold pulled by muscular guard pegasi. Celestia climbed onto it and Comet squeezed in next to her; the seat wasn't quite wide enough to comfortably fit two ponies, so they had to make do with the unicorn practically in the princess' lap. “Take us to Ponyville, please,” Celestia instructed. The guards nodded. They took a running start, the carriage wobbled (making Comet uneasy) and they were off. Next stop: Ponyville. The wind brushed through Comet's mane and tail and rushed past his face, and he found it exhilarating. He looked over the edge and watched the ground whizz by – the lush green grass and colourful flowers of the meadows; a farmhouse and the overturned soil of its land; the houses of, clearly, another village. They finally came to rest at the edge of a small town with thatch-roof cottages and a busy market. Everyone looked around and as they saw Celestia, they bowed deeply. Once she had passed each of them, they straightened up and began to talk amongst themselves about the newcomer. “Bless him, he looks so shy,” some pegasus cooed quietly to her friend. Comet blushed furiously and walked a little more briskly. He and Celestia turned a corner and came to the end of the street, where on the right stood a cottage exactly like the others except for its name: Truntsworth. Like the others its name was carved into a wooden sign hanging from a wooden signpost at head-height outside the gate. “You will be living here,” Celestia declared, “it's nice and close to the library.” “Thank you very much, princess. I'm sure I will like it.” “If you need me, go to Twilight and ask her assistant Spike to send a letter.” “Will do.” And with that, Celestia turned and walked away, back to her chariot. Comet watched her leave, then turned and walked into his new house. It was roomy in here, with a large-ish living room and other smaller utility rooms like the kitchen and the bathroom. While he was in his bedroom he took the time to mull over his new appearance in the wall mirror to the left of the bed. He was fairly tall, with pale yellow fur and orange, light orange, gold and white-coloured mane and tail that matched his cutiemark. His eyes were a lovely amber. He looked quite handsome, actually. His mane and tail seemed to shimmer in the light, as if he had poured glitter on them. He supposed his new name fit him. Someone knocked on the door and he carefully, methodically trotted down the stairs before opening the door. It was a pink pony with no wings and no horn, but a very poofy mane and tail to compensate. “Hi!” she greeted excitedly, “You're the new guy, right?” “Uh, yeah,” Comet replied, “can I help you?” “I am Pinkie Pie, Party Planner Extraordinaire! I'm here to welcome you to Ponyville on behalf of everypony here.” “Thank you,” Comet said, smiling. Pinkie was quite an excitable pony, that was for sure. “In fact, Twilight has agreed to have a housewarming party in the library just for you! Come on, let's go!” There was no debating the matter. Pinkie pushed him from behind, forcing him in the direction of the library. Mercifully it was rather close, it was just round the corner – but his rear felt rather sore after being forced along the ground like that. He knocked on the door and, after a moment of silence, decided to let himself in. It was dark in here. He looked around for a lightswitch, but before he could move anywhere the light flicked on and he was confronted with a large crowd of ponies. “Surprise!” they cheered, causing Comet to jump in alarm. “Thank you, everybody,” he remarked loudly so that they could all hear, “I feel very welcome already.” “Everybody?” a unicorn asked, “but... huh?” Comet frowned. What was so confusing about that? Did she not know the definition of everybody? But the way he said it – everybody – that had implied it was the second half of the word he didn't quite get. … I'm here to welcome you to Ponyville on behalf of everypony here. Comet cleared his throat and grinned nervously. “Sorry – slip of the tongue. I meant everypony.” A purple unicorn with deeper purple hair and a magena sparkle for a cutiemark approached him and shook his hoof. “Nice to meet you, Comet,” she greeted, “my name's Twilight Sparkle. I've heard so much about you, it's all so interesting! I'd like you to meet my friends. They're over there.” Comet was lead to a group of five other ponies, one of whom was Pinkie Pie. The other four were a white unicorn with curled purple hair and light blue eyeshadow; a yellow pegasus with long pink hair; an orange earth pony with nondescript blonde hair and a cowboy hat; and a blue pegasus with rainbow-striped hair. “This is Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Girls, this is Comet Trail.” “Nice to meet you all,” Comet said. They replied with many variants of the theme of 'hi'. “I love your cutiemark,” the white unicorn, Rarity, commented, looking at his comet cutiemark. “Thanks. Cool, isn't it? Celestia gave it to me. My talent's magic.” “Celestia gave you that cutiemark?” Rarity gasped, “You should feel honoured! It's not every day a pony is given a cutiemark by royalty!” “Your talent's magic?” Twilight squeaked cheerfully, “Oh, this is wonderful! I'll teach you everything I know –” “Take my advice,” Rainbow Dash cut in, “don't let her. She's a walking library.” “Don't listen to her,” Applejack sighed, “she's still a little upset after Twilight didn't give her the second ticket to the Gala.” Rainbow rolled her eyes and did a nonchalant loop in the air. Rarity cantered over to the punch stall and poured herself and presumably Comet a goblet. Comet used his magic to take hold of the drink and keep it just in front of him, nodding in thanks. “Don't keep him all to yourselves!” a male pegasus called irritably from the crowd, “I bet he wants a few more than 6 friends.” “We'll be finished in a bit, don't worry,” Twilight told him. She turned towards the stairs leading up to the second floor. “Spike!” she called, “Come down and meet our new friend!” “He likes readin' his comics when the library's taken up by a party,” Applejack whispered to Comet. He chuckled. “I like to do the same now and then.” A small, bipedal purple dragon with green spines and a cream underbelly hopped down the stairs and made his way over. He really was quite small, about shoulder-height with Comet. He shook his hoof. “Hey there,” the dragon said, “I'm Spike. Twilight's number 1 assistant.” “Charmed,” Comet replied, “Comet Trail. Professional new guy. Celestia tells me if I need her I can just ask you to take a note...?” “Oh, yeah, that's my main job. Faster than mail.” Comet frowned. But surely there was no other way of transporting letters? He was about to enquire when Spike burped, sending green flames and a roll of parchment onto the floor. Comet picked it up with his magic and gave a questioning look to Twilight, who nodded her consent. He opened the letter. Dear Twilight – “Oh, it's for you,” Comet said, handing her the scroll. She read it then dashed out, clearly in a rush to get wherever she needed to go. “She's off to do some magicky thing, I bet,” Pinkie remarked, rubbing her chin contemplatively with her hoof. The rest of the party was spent talking to ponies other than the main 6 and Spike. Ponyville was quite an interesting place, with ponies of all shapes, sizes and talents in such a small square-area. He met a pony whose talent was potion-making and alchemy, who was certainly good at his craft. After a good amount of punch and a lot of cupcakes, hay burgers and the like, it was getting late. Comet followed the main 6 out, talking to them some more. “There's the annual Gala coming up in a few weeks,” Rarity told him, “perhaps you could come by my Boutique tomorrow and I could tailor you some fabulous new clothes to go in.” “That sounds lovely,” Comet agreed. “And you could always visit the Apple Farm for some apples and apple-based products,” Applejack suggested, “and to meet my folks.” “Sure.” “Alright, see ya later!” Rainbow called, waving, as they each parted ways. * * * Comet drew the bed covers back and hopped into bed, then wondered how on Earth ponies slept. His normal way of sleeping felt too uncomfortable, so he tried hooking his legs under him and sleeping like a cat, but he found that he was the wrong way round in the covers. He turned around and slept for hours on end like that. He looked largely like a yellow slug with hair. * * * The next morning was bright and warm, and the sun's rays felt lovely on his cheeks as he opened his eyes, discovering that he had gone back to sleeping like he usually did. He sighed and got up, stretching every possible muscle, then trotted downstairs to get himself some breakfast. He then realised that he had forgotten to get any groceries, so he went to the local café for a warm toasted bagel and hay. As he promised, he then cantered over to Rarity's Boutique, a fancy tent-like structure with ornate decorations inside and out. He found Rarity working on a dress in one corner of the shop, and when he cleared his throat she took a moment to turn around and realise who it was. “Ah! Just the pony. Come over to the mirror and I'll measure you up.” “Do I have to pay you, or...?” “Oh, no, darling! This first one's on me. You will have to pay next time, though, yes.” Just as well, because he hadn't brought any money with him. In fact he didn't have any money to begin with – or at least in the accepted currency of Equestria, whatever it was. Bits, was it? He'd overheard as such from a pair of shoppers yesterday evening. Bits and jewels, he thought. Ooh, that sounded like a nice catchphrase. “How long does it normally take you to make a standard dress?” he asked. “Define 'standard', dear.” “For example, a plain white dress, no decorations, no fancy stuff.” “A few minutes. Dressmaking and fashion is my talent, you see, and magic helps me be that little bit faster.” “You must earn a lot of money for being so quick and so meticulous, then.” Rarity 'mmm'ed in response, flashing her eyebrows up for a moment, as if to say that she couldn't really answer that but she might as well give him a good indication. She levitated a tape measure, a pin cushion (with pins) and a roll of string from some compartment under the stool Comet stood on. She measured him and attached a length of string to a particular portion of his body, then repeated until he was divided up into sections. Rarity then took a roll of bright orange fabric and compared it to his side, nodding and getting straight to work. It was only a couple of minutes before she had finished a lovely waistcoat and crisp white shirt. She helped him into the new clothes then frowned, looking at him from all angles. “No, no, that won't do. A little too gaudy.” She used the pattern she had made for the orange waistcoat to make a black one, then sewed some orange gemstones as buttons onto the front. She put this new waistcoat over the top of the shirt, which clearly she had deemed acceptable. “Ah, yes, the citrine gems really bring out your eye colour. Yes, that'll do nicely.” “This looks fantastic, thank you very much.” “No problem at all, darling. Now, try not to get it soiled before the Gala!” She took a sip from a glass of water she had placed on a side table. “Oh, yeah, I've been meaning to ask,” Comet said, “what exactly is the Gala?” Rarity almost choked on her drink. She coughed and spluttered for a bit then composed herself, correcting her frazzled mane. “My darling Comet! The Grand Galloping Gala is only the most stupendously splendid event you will ever participate in! The lights, the sounds, the garden, the ponies! The sophistication! Goodness gracious, how have you never heard of it?” Comet shrugged. It wasn't so much a shrug as it was a slight bob. “In fact, to prove it is so delightful, I will take you there on my honour. My plus-one, if you will.” “Oh, thank you! You're so kind.” “Oh, no, that's Fluttershy. I'm just generous.”
4 - Comet's Cutiemark“My darling Comet! The Grand Galloping Gala is only the most stupendously splendid event you will ever participate in! The lights, the sounds, the garden, the ponies! The sophistication! Goodness gracious, how have you never heard of it?” Comet shrugged. It wasn't so much a shrug as it was a slight bob. “In fact, to prove it is so delightful, I will take you there on my honour. My plus-one, if you will.” “Oh, thank you! You're so kind.” “Oh, no, that's Fluttershy. I'm just generous.” Comet waved goodbye as he left, using his ever-growing magic skills to fold the new waistcoat and shirt and put it in a cloth tote bag, which he carried in his mouth as he made his way to the Apple Farm for, as Applejack had said, some 'apples and apple-based products'. It would be nice to meet her family. He trudged up the hill and wound his way between the patches of bare earth where various crops grew in vast numbers. He approached the farmhouse then realised that this farm was the one he had gone past on his way to Ponyville. He knocked on the door, and was greeted by Applejack. “Ah! Just the pony. Come in, make yerself at home!” “As long as I'm not intruding on anything.” “Nah, of course not! Come inside, we were waiting fer ya!” “You were?” Comet asked, letting himself in and walking alongside the apple farmer deeper into the abyss of the enormous farmhouse, “I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting.” “It's no big deal, we'd only just gathered here.” Comet jumped in alarm once again at the sheer number of ponies crammed into this half of the barn. They were all earth ponies, and were all shapes and sizes, with many variants of clothing. Of course, the first thing he said was, “Don't you guys feel a little uncomfortable, all stuffed in here?” They laughed and shook their heads almost in unison. A yellow pony with long, thick ginger hair wearing a cowboy hat and a waistcoat (but no shirt) came up to him and shook his hoof. “Howdy! The name's Braeburn. Pleasure to meet you.” “Comet Trails, likewise.” “And now come and meet the rest of the family!” Applejack pressed, pushing him forward much like Pinkie had done yesterday, once more unto the fray. “We have: Apple Fritter; Apple Bumpkin; Red Gala; Red Delicious; Golden Delicious; Caramel Apple; Apple Streudel; Apple Tart; Baked Apple; Apple Briosche; Apple Cinnamon-Crisp...” Applejack took a deep breath, having not breathed for the entire list. “Big Macintosh, Apple Bloom and Granny Smith! Up and at 'em, Granny! We've got a guest.” An elderly mint-green pony with white hair tied in a bun and an an orange neckerchief with red polka-dots, who had previously been snoring quite loudly in a rocking chair at the back, sprang awake and slowly inched her way towards the front, along with a thickset red stallion with ginger hair (who was clearly Big Macintosh, going by his size) and a yellow filly with red hair tied at the back with a pink ribbon the size of her face, who was by inference Apple Bloom. “It's lovely to meet all of you,” Comet announced, “I've heard you're the best apple-farmers in town!” “Sweetie, we're the only apple-farmers in town! That's why we're the best, 'cuz there's no competition!” Granny Smith replied. This elder clearly had some feisty spirit left in her. Comet chuckled, then noticed Apple Bloom staring up at him with big amber eyes just like his own. She then moved around him to investigate his cutiemark. “Cool cutiemark,” she remarked, “how'd ya get it?” “Apple Bloom, now is not the time,” Applejack scolded. “No, no, it's fine. Celestia gave it to me.” There was a collective gasp. Clearly nobody here had such an event happen to them. He laughed nervously, feeling their eyes drill into his very soul. There was a moment of awkward silence. “So... why did Celestia give it to ya?” Braeburn asked. “To be honest, I... I honestly don't quite know. I think what happened was, I was there, I had no cutiemark, so it was a case of 'since you're here, might as well', y'know?” “There has to be more to it than that, sugarcube,” Applejack said, “Celestia wouldn't just give ya a cutiemark. Was there any other reason, d'ya know?” “No, actually, I don't believe there was.” Applejack squinted suspiciously then let it slide, at least for now. “So what's yer talent?” Apple Bloom asked. “Magic.” “Well go on, then! Show off a bit!” Everyone watched him with baited breath, and he started to feel a little claustrophobic. Nonetheless, he did as he was told, and concentrated on his horn, once again feeling the electric sensation of his magic. He could feel the ponies around him as disturbances in the otherwise grid-like structure of the fabric of space; he felt a slight resistance as he probed and poked around for something to levitate. Something large, perhaps, to show them what he could do. Something big. … Big. Big Macintosh. He opened his eyes and looked around for the stallion, who was at 2 o' clock. He closed his eyes and redirected his magic towards him, feeling it envelop the irregular shape. He urged the shape upwards, pushing it from beneath, and pulling it from above at the same time. It was a tremendous effort, one that make a slipped tendon in his neck snap back into place rather loudly (allowing him some relief), as he felt every ounce of Big Mac's weight on the tip of his horn, bearing down on it. It was an immense resistance, one that was incredibly difficult to overcome. He opened his eyes. Big Mac had disappeared, but when Comet looked up he found him a few feet up in the air, hovering silently. He was trembling, perhaps because of how unsteady Comet's magic was. Comet dragged him around the room, through the air, like a majestic red-and-ginger statue. It was quite the spectacle. He set the farmer down in his original place, shaken and mortified but otherwise OK. “I haven't really had the chance to practise,” Comet informed the crowd, “so that's pretty much all I can do for now. Sorry there wasn't anything flashier.” “To be honest,” Braeburn chimed in, “if you'd done anything flashier, you would've set the barn on fire.” The others, including Comet, laughed and nodded. Big Mac didn't do anything of the sort, he was too traumatised. “Maybe you could drop by Appleloosa later today, meet the folks there too,” Braeburn suggested. “I might actually, yeah. Thanks for the offer,” Comet agreed. He turned to the crowd. “Well, it's been nice meeting all of you, but I really must get back. Twilight was going to teach me some more magic.” The group disbanded, ponies walking out of the door and going home by taxi or by hoof. Applejack stayed behind and beckoned Comet to a quiet corner of the barn. “I'm a bit concerned about this here cutiemark,” she told him, pointing at his mark, “somethin' don't seem right about it.” “What do you mean? I got it like any other pony.” “Nopony has been given a cutiemark by Celestia before, Comet. That's what worries me.” Comet frowned, lowering her hoof with his own and taking a step back. “What're you on about? Celestia didn't give it to me, I got it by myself when I was a colt.” Applejack's eyes widened, then she squinted at him again, more than a little dubious. It was rare for a pony to change the story of their mark this often, or even at all. Nothing was tying together, the information she was given wasn't cohesive. It didn't take a Twilight to figure that out. “Wanna repeat how you got your mark to me, then?” “Sure.” * * * Comet Trails was born during a meteor shower, which convinced his unicorn mother Moonlight Twinkle and bat-pony father Chromium Elixir that he was special, and he would bring good fortune to them and to other ponies. What was even stranger was the fact that he was born with his horn glowing, which was a sign that he had been bestowed with untold magical power. Of course, Chromium was a little cynical about such a legend, but he kept his mouth shut. A few years passed and Comet, at school for the first time, was sitting by himself on the oak tree-trunk bench in the playground while the other ponies played around with each other. They were the cool ponies, they had their marks, they were special. He was just some suggestion of a pony, something that to them didn't even exist all that much. He was a concept that they had left behind on their 'big day'. He was a loner. While he was sitting on this bench, contemplating life, a pair of pegasus ponies stalked over and started bullying him. “What use are you? You haven't got any talents!” one of them jeered. “And your dad – what's up with him? He looks like he ought to be sucking our blood!” the other taunted. “Leave me alone,” Comet mumbled half-heartedly. He knew they wouldn't. “Aw, poor baby, can't stand the heat? Don't worry, we'll stay well away from you and your creep dad.” They pushed him over and he landed on his back in a patch of mud. It was cold and brown and so very sticky. They laughed at their prank as they trotted away triumphantly, their chests out, and Comet started to cry. Tears tumbled down his cheeks like the great waterfalls of Rainbow Falls and splashed in the mud, making it worse. He rolled over and stood up, his legs shaking, and he skulked inside, his head low. He sat at his desk and slammed his head on it. It wasn't his fault he hadn't found his talent. It wasn't his fault his dad was part bat. It wasn't his fault he was shy, nor was it his fault he was a loner. The sheer injustice of the matter made him cry even more. If only he could get back at those two, he would be the happiest colt in Equestria. If only he could teach them a long overdue lesson of how to treat others. He looked up, having realised something. He was a unicorn, he could always get enroled in Celestia's School of Magic. He wiped away his tears on the back of his hoof, and simply tried to survive the rest of the day. When he got home, he found his dad in the large-ish study, where he was concocting another one of his brilliant alchemical inventions. He was an alchemist, his talent potion-making. He saved life and limb with these potions, and he couldn't afford to get even a single digit wrong in his calculations that he had to do to find the correct amount of each ingredient, or it would completely spoil the product. Comet walked up to the desk, where his father was working. “Hey, Comet!” Chromium greeted, not looking up for fear of getting something wrong in the measurement of dragon heart's blood, “how was school?” “I was bullied again.” “I swear, if they even so much as go near my son again, they will have to answer to me.” “Dad, I wanna be put into Celestia's School of Magic.” The abruptness of the request and the importance in Comet's voice made Chromium snap his head up. He immediately stopped what he was doing. He carefully placed the pipette he had been working with down on the desk beside the beaker of blood, then got down off his chair and circled round the desk to meet him. “Comet, getting enroled in that School is hard work. I have to write a carefully-crafted letter of request to the administrator, and then it has to be approved, and then we have to go all the way to Canterlot for you to take an entrance exam. Plus, it costs a lot of money.” His voice was low and raspy, like a just-woken-up voice. His wife Moonlight would have shivered in bliss if she were here, but she was busy in the kitchen making dinner. Comet hung his head. “I just... wanted to learn more magic.” Chromium brought him in for a hug, and looked at the sky for some kind of revelation. His chest fur was thick and soft and his body was warm. Comet could hear his heart beating. “I'll ask your mother.” Comet hugged him tighter, a beaming grin now plastered all over his face. It was 6 o' clock in the evening on Christmas Eve and the sky over Canterlot was a beautiful crimson and maroon. The letter had been approved, and today was the day of the exam. Moonlight was teaching Comet a nifty little calming exercise to do with his breathing – breathing in slowly, then breathing out, pushing his troubles away with a hoof. It worked, and just as well since one of the four examiners beckoned them in. Immediately after he had stepped up to the stage, Comet dissolved into a panic attack. He hated being in the spotlight, he hated being tested, he hated the looks the examiners were giving him, he hated all of it. He was hyperventilating now, feeling claustrophobic, feeling trapped. He looked over to his parents for help, and they both demonstrated the breathing exercise in perfect unison. Comet copied them, and felt marginally better. There was a rattle of wheels over tiled surface and he looked to his right to see a trolley being pushed in front of him. On it sat a red egg spotted with darker red, which was supported from below by a box with hay in it. “You are to crack this egg with your magic, and your magic alone,” one of the examiners instructed. She and the other three summoned a clipboard and a quill each. When Comet didn't produce results, she raised an eyebrow. “Well, Master Trails?” Comet laughed nervously, beads of sweat trickling down his forehead. He looked at the egg and tried to imagine it cracking under the spark of his magic. … Nope, nothing. He was doomed. Why did he ask to come here in the first place? He had failed already, and he was wasting their time. “Master Trails, if you fail to crack the egg in five minutes, you are automatically disqualified. You are wasting our time, which could have been spent with our families. You are incredibly fortunate that we are kind enough as to drag ourselves over here just to watch you break an egg.” Comet started to panic again, and badly. He was all over the place. He hoisted himself off the ground using the edge of the trolley to get a better shot at the egg, but it rolled out from under him and flicked, sending the egg straight into his face and bouncing onto the ground. He apologised profusely as he tried to grab it as it rolled away, but it slipped out of his hooves and bounced further. He didn't stop saying sorry until 20 minutes had passed, when he had, after enormous effort, returned the egg to its stand. He collapsed onto his rear, panting. After recovering his breath, he thought about trying again, but didn't. “I'm sorry I wasted your time,” he mumbled. He trudged back to his parents, feeling dejected, only to find that even they had lost interest and were looking out of the window at the sky beyond. “Hey, Comet, come and look at this,” Chromium said softly, lifting him up to see through the window. It was a beautiful sight. One, two, three comets glittered past at once, and they weren't going to stop coming any time soon. Comet stared at it with childish wonder, the comet trails reflected in his eyes. It was magnificent, it was so pretty. He remembered that day, when his mother was in the hospital bed during a shower just like this, cuddling her newborn son... He felt an overpowering shiver course through his body and his horn tingle with that familiar fizzle of magic, only this time it was much, much stronger. He yelped as he felt his muscles spasm uncontrollably with the sheer power, and he fell out of his father's grip and tumbled half-way back to the center. The examiners, who had started to pack up, turned their attention back to him only to widen their eyes. All at once a burst of pure, raw magic exploded out of Comet's horn like a sonic boom, sending him hurtling the rest of the way and crashing against the trolley, making the egg topple back out of its box and hit him on the head, bouncing onto the floor once again. Comet lay there, slumped against the trolley, limp and spasming, his horn glowing not just with an aura, but in its own right. A blast of magic utterly vaporised the eggshell, leaving behind a red baby dragon with orange spines. But it didn't stop there. Comet found himself hovering a good few feet above the ground without his consent, and he started to scream, flailing his little legs around, crying out for help, for somebody to drag him back down again. Chromium tried, but as soon as he had released his hold Comet shot back up and cracked his head against the ceiling (literally or metaphorically, Comet didn't care to examine). There was no budging him. He was sobbing again. Another shot of magic switched Moonlight's position with the baby dragon's, so now Chromium was hugging the dragon tightly with fear and Moonlight was sitting a few feet in front. Yet another hiccup switched the examiners' bodies, so now the male ponies had the voices and minds of the female ponies and visa versa. “Please help!” Comet cried over the loud crackle of his obscenely over-the-top magic, “I don't know what's happening! I can't stop!” “But you can,” a regal, smooth voice called back from below him. He looked down to see none other than Princess Celestia, looking up at him, her mane and tail being blown backwards by every burst of his magic. “I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!” Comet wept, referring to the well-cooked room and ponies. Celestia didn't reply; the only thing she did was reach up and touch his hoof. He was hanging upside-down so he could see her. “Come down,” Celestia said softly, “come back down to your parents. You must be tired.” “I am! I am, I am, I am!” “Calm yourself. Breathe in... breathe out. In... out. There we go.” With every slow breath, Comet dipped a little further, until he reached the ground and his magic ceased. He collapsed, all out of energy. He didn't give a bit whether he passed the test or not; he just wanted to be with his mum and dad, he wanted to be home. “Your magic certainly rivals that of Twilight Sparkle, another pony in your situation,” Celestia informed him with a smile, “therefore, I hereby accept you into my school. I will teach you everything I know, and the rest is up to you.” Comet lay there, not moving. He gave a sigh of relief that was barely distinguishable from his actual breathing. His mother and father raced up to him and asked whether he was OK. He could only smile and nod in his response. * * * It was Christmas Day, and Comet bounded down the stairs, ready to open his presents. His parents were on the sofa and so looked around when he entered the room. “Merry Christmas,” they greeted cheerfully. “Merry Christmas!” Comet replied in kind. He expertly found his way under the tree and started opening his presents. There were a lot, mainly because he was an only child and so there was more money to go around at Christmas. There was a small box that, when opened, contained... … Nothing. He frowned and looked at his parents, showing them the empty box, and Moonlight giggled, Chromium giving her a cocky grin and sharing it with Comet. “Oh, don't worry, you've already got that present,” Chromium told him jovially. He walked over to the door and beckoned Comet to come upstairs with him. Chromium positioned his son in front of the wall mirror in the master bedroom. He then turned him 90 degrees to face it on profile. Comet looked himself over then reached his flank. He gasped in delight and hugged his dad. It was a comet, an orange comet with an orange, yellow and white trail, with white sparkles surrounding it. No more bullying, Comet thought gleefully. * * * “So you've been lying to us?” Applejack growled. Comet frowned again. “I haven't lied to you at all! Where in Equestria did that come from?” “Before, you said that Celestia gave you that mark. Said it was a case of 'you were there, so might as well'.” There was a pause where Comet tried to remember ever saying that. He shook his head. “I don't remember saying that at all, Applejack. You might have misheard – it was rather rowdy in here.”
Story Finale - Tick TockAuthor's Note ATTENTION! First Hoofsteps is now the first story in a series entitled Number of Hoofsteps, which will be structured like the base show -- Premières and Finales, sandwiching normal episodes. I will try to keep the 'seasons' of NoH to about 5 'episodes' long. This is the Story Finale of First Hoofsteps, which will be followed by the Première of Second Hoofsteps. Story Finale - Tick Tock “So you've been lying to us?” Applejack growled. Comet frowned again. “I haven't lied to you at all! Where in Equestria did that come from?” “Before, you said that Celestia gave you that mark. Said it was a case of 'you were there, so might as well'.” There was a pause where Comet tried to remember ever saying that. He shook his head. “I don't remember saying that at all, Applejack. You might have misheard – it was rather rowdy in here.” Next stop was the library to meet Twilight. Comet loved magic, possibly just as much as Twilight (though that was stretching it), because it all looked just so cool. He knocked on the door of Golden Oaks Library and let himself in when Twilight called for him to do so. He found her sitting amongst a fort of books on the floor and he came up behind her, sitting next to her. “Whatcha doin'?” he asked casually. Twilight looked around and nodded in acknowledgement of his existence, then carried on reading. He leaned over her shoulder to get a better look. It was some sort of spell, or at least part of one, as Twilight was in the process of writing it. “Ooh, what's that?” Twilight looked at him and put her quill down. She smiled as she put it away in a file and directed him away from the book fort and towards the central table. There lay another pile of books, smaller than the others, and Twilight picked the topmost one and opened it to the fifth chapter. Therein resided combat magic, which she was quick to teach and demonstrate to him. Comet wasn't really all that impressive at offensive spells, but more than made up for it on defense and status-changing. He managed to cast a Dizzying Spell on her, which of course sent her stumbling around, crashing into things; he used a Reverse All Spell to stop it. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “What's there to be sorry about? That was amazing! I've never felt so out-of-control before!” “That's what's to be sorry about. I didn't mean for you to lose control like that.” “Trust me, Comet, there are much worse things to worry about in a combat setting. Now, back to practising offensive magic.” Spike poked his head around the corner of the doorway on the second floor, looking distastefully at the mess they had created. He hopped down the stairs and started gathering books and putting them away. He couldn't reach the top shelf, or any shelves above the second row for that matter, so Comet levitated him up. The fight hadn't stopped for that, though. Twilight fired a disarming spell, making Comet squeak in surprise and react instinctively, throwing up a shield just before it hit his muzzle. The barrage stopped but he kept the barrier up for safety purposes, while still levitating Spike. He looked up after a while to see Twilight watching him closely. “You're doing two things at once,” she noted. “I'm sorry,” Comet wheezed, exhausted. He dropped both the shield and Spike, who landed on the floor with a soft fmph. “You're apologising way too much,” Spike pointed out, getting up and dusting himself off, “even when you weren't at fault. You have to stop saying sorry so much.” “Sorry.” Spike rolled his eyes, dismissing it with a wave of the hand, continuing on his less-than-merry escapade into the depths of the book castle. He started to collect books from there, when the walls started to crumble and diaries and spellbooks and dictionaries fell around him. Comet snapped his attention to the beseiged castle and caught all of the books before they fell on Spike and buried him alive. The sheer amount of yellow now in the room made everything else look pink in comparison. “You really are good at magic, aren't you?” Twilight praised, “first you pretty much master defence and status-changing, then you do two things at once, then you accomplish quick-casting!” “Well, my talent is magic.” “Hey, what's this?” Spike had found the book Twilight had been writing in previously. It was one of the books Comet had saved him from being trapped under, so he plucked it out of the air and read the page it had opened to. “Spike, no! Don't touch that!” Twilight cried, but it was too late. A vicious wind picked up, ruffling their hair (or spines), and the door wasn't even open. It seemed to pool in the center of the table, and swirl even faster there, forming a miniature tornado. Comet could feel himself slipping, losing his grip on the floor. A bright flash of light blinded him for a moment and when he looked back at the table, it was glowing navy blue, and clock-like insignias floated around it. “You were writing a time spell?” Comet shouted to Twilight over the racket, “You of all ponies should know that's highly dangerous!” “There's no time to explain it now!” Twilight shouted back, “I'm losing my footing and I'll be sucked into the portal!” And that she was. Her body stretched a little as she disappeared actually into the table, as if it were some sort of black hole, or wormhole, or that kind of thing. Comet jumped so he could be dragged in faster so he could follow her instead of leaving her and Spike in there. Everything faded into a darkish aquamarine tinged with greenish navy, and an oddly familiar jerk to the stomach signified Comet's descent into the unknown. He looked around him and he could have sworn he saw ghostly images of clocks and stopwatches and pocketwatches and all sorts of watches. There was no denying that he was travelling through time, and that he had been thrown in at the deep end by Miss Purple Smart. He could see her up ahead, her and Spike, so he locked his arms down by his sides to help him descend faster to catch up with them. That was a mistake. He smashed against the ground at top speed, concussing himself on the oaken floors of the library. It took him a while to get his senses back, and when he did, he looked over at the table. The portal was still there. Had he gone back in time at all? If he had, why was the portal still there? “Strange... perhaps it didn't work,” Twilight sighed, venturing towards the portal to try again. “Wait, Twilight!” Spike ordered, making her stop completely, “If the spell worked and nothing seems to change, you'll just keep going through the portal, wanting something to happen, when in fact you would've gone back thousands of years and nothing you know would exist. And what if the portal were to close then? You'd be stuck millenia before your time, and you'd die before you were born, and you'd be stuck in a paradox!” Twilight looked at him, astonished with his conclusion, and nodded. She walked out of the door and saw... A normal day in Equestria. Comet appeared beside her, making her jump, and they began to roam around, looking for any differences. They checked the Square, the Town Hall, everywhere. When they got to the Schoolhouse, though, they immediately knew they had indeed gone back in time. Foals who should have been adults were playing in the playground, albeit still with their cutiemarks. Miss Cheerliee was making daisychains with Carrot Top, and Bulk Biceps looked rather skinny, or perhaps he was normal size and Twilight and Spike were just too used to seeing him as a living ball of muscle. “Amazing,” Twilight breathed. Everypony stopped and turned to look at her. Change 1. “Hello everypony,” Twilight greeted, “I am Twilight Sparkle. I've come from the future –” “Twilight, you realise that just by being here and interacting with these ponies means that you are changing the past, right?” Comet interrupted, “Just let them be! – Oh, my...” Comet had by chance looked over at the bench he used to sit on and, lo and behold, there he was. Or there he used to be. Or there his colt self was. Already it was really quite confusing. His colt self was sitting there, by himself, with a contemplative look on his face. And then the bullies came. “What use are you? You haven't got any talents!” “And your dad – what's up with him? He looks like he ought to be sucking our blood!” “Leave me alone,” Colt-met mumbled half-heartedly. “Clear off,” Comet growled, advancing on the bullies. They cowered in his presence and ran away. Change 2. “Comet, you've just changed your own past!” Spike cried, biting his claws anxiously, “You have to be so careful!” “You seem very well-versed in time magic, Spike,” Twilight grumbled, raising a speculative eyebrow. Spike shrugged. “It's called common sense.” “Sweet Celestia, you're right!” Comet breathed, “I was so caught up in my bad memories that I didn't think about what I was doing... stupid, stupid, stupid!” He violently punched himself in the face for being so, as he put it, stupid. Colt-met looked at him, bewildered. “Thank you for stopping those bullies,” he said with a small voice. “Gaaah! No, don't say that! You were supposed to be bullied, that's how you got your cutiemark! Or – my cutiemark! Yours? Mine? Whatever!” “I'm sorry!” Colt-met sobbed, running inside with tears in his eyes. Comet' eyes widened as he realised just how much he had screwed up. He sat on the bench, completely dwarfing it as it was meant for little ponies, and held his face in his hooves. Spike walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. “Don't worry about it too much. You'll always get the same cutiemark whatever, because you're hardwired to get it. Unless of course, you encourage him to do something else he is good at doing, or prevent him from doing the thing that got you your current mark.” “I'm good at saying sorry, and I'm not even Canadian.” “Then don't make him have to say sorry. What would an apologising cutiemark even look like?” “No idea. Probably a sticky-note saying 'Sorry' with a sad face.” It was now evening, and time for the big event. Comet lead the way as they galloped to Canterlot, Spike on Twilight's back. Their only goal was to watch it all unfold, perhaps just peeking in through the doorway, but when they realised they ought to stop off, they were already right next to Colt-met's parents, who stared at them suspiciously before turning their attention back to their son. Twilight stared at Chromium Elixir, Colt-met's dad, taking in his appearance. He had fangs, tufty ears, leathery bat wings and slit pupils in green eyes. He was a bat pony. “Your dad was a bat pony?” Twilight asked rather loudly. Comet snapped her mouth shut with his magic, and kept it that way. “Is, Miss Sparkle. He isn't dead yet.” Chromium looked thoroughly perplexed. He inquired as to what in Equestria they were on about, and Comet answered with a simple 'timey-wimey stuff'. He also mentioned, in passing, that he was the alchemist's son from the future. Chromium didn't answer, but kept his attention firmly on the son onstage fumbling with the egg he had to crack. Comet watched in horror as his former self practically juggled the egg, unintentionally throwing it around the room. He was convinced the colt would fail, because it certainly seemed he was getting close, but then he remembered that he never did fail, otherwise he wouldn't be here watching himself. He caught the egg with his magic just before it hit the ground, paranoid that it would crack and have him disqualified for not breaking the egg with his magic. It was then he realised that he, the older Comet, counted as another pony. And that he was using his magic to assist the examinee. Change 3. “Comet Trails, you are hereby disqualified for having non-examinees tamper with your exam in your favour. You wasted everypony's time and you should feel ashamed.” Colt-met burst into tears and galloped out, having lost the chance to be greater. Comet tried to chase after him but almost immediately fell over absolutely nothing. He faceplanted then curled into a ball, groaning in near agony. Something was happening, he didn't feel right, he didn't feel whole. A horrible electricity sent him into spasms. Twilight and Spike raced over and knelt beside him, asking if he was OK. He wasn't. His whole body seemed to secrete black, ghostly steam, cloaking him in darkness. They could hear his cries for help, his cries of pain from inside, until his voice trailed away. They watched, petrified, as he stood up; he was no longer distinguishable as any particular pony – he was simply a stallion unicorn-shaped shadow with disturbingly glowing yellow eyes. He squinted menacingly. “Comet...?” Spike whimpered. “That's not Comet, Spike,” Twilight informed him, backing away and charging her horn, “that's a Paradox. They're caused when something in the past doesn't happen that should, or does happen that shouldn't.” “So in this case, Comet never got his cutiemark.” “There's more to it than that. He told AJ that he'd got his mark from performing magic to get into Celestia's School of Magic. AJ told me that he had also said that Celestia herself gave it to him, which prompted me to investigate. If he never got his cutiemark, he would never tell AJ. AJ would never tell me about it, and I would never investigate. Separately, Comet's talent wouldn't be magic, so he wouldn't come to the library to be taught more spells. He shouldn't be here strictly speaking, because he had no reason to be.” The Comet Paradox lunged, knocking Twilight to the ground, forcing her to release her charge of magic, which ricocheted around the room several times, narrowly missing Comet's parents. Spike ordered them and the examiners to evacuate, leading the charge, showing more responsibility and leadership than he had ever shown before. Twilight and The Comet Paradox sparred horns. TCP was cold and vibrating with a kind of energy, a kind of malice. Twilight started charging up, running around the circumference of the large circular room to keep him away. TCP had a leaping stride that at times made it look like he was flying. At long last Twilight was fully charged, so she let loose and hit him square in the chest. An explosion filled the room but didn't scar the surroundings, and unfortunately it didn't affect TCP. He was knocked back and had sprawled on the floor, but he got up soon enough and fired his own magic. At first the shot seemed easily blockable and insignificant, until Twilight could hear a rumbling and crackling above her. She looked up and her eyes widened as she saw the five black comets with navy, purple and maroon trails blazing towards her at terminal velocity. TCP had cast a Target Spell, and since he was attributed to comets, he could control them with it. The only creepy thing about this whole fight was that TCP never spoke, never made any sound, even when some of the magic he used was quite high-level stuff. Though technically he didn't have a body to tire, plus he didn't have a mouth. The comets exploded on the ground near Twilight's hooves and she screamed as she was flung across the room and slid to a halt near the stage. TCP leapt, pinning Twilight to the ground, her head smacking against the corner of the stage and knocking her out. He charged his horn again, but was interrupted by a purple, green and cream-coloured streak barrelling into him from the side, sending them to the ground. It was Spike, and he was trying to distract TCP to allow Twilight to recover. They tumbled and fought, Spike kicking and flailing, while TCP tried to catch him in the face with a shot of magic but missing 8 out of 10 times. The other two scarred Spike's chest and his right cheek, but he was too busy laying down the law. In the end TCP kicked him aside and stood up, striding towards Twilight, his horn glowing purpleish-navy. Spike jogged over and took hold of her hoof and bolted, dragging her behind him, TCP in hot pursuit. Spike flitted round a corner and dove through a nearby window into somebody's house, Twilight banging against the windowsill as she followed limply. Thankfully, TCP had seen them turn the corner but hadn't seen them enter the house, so he ran on. Spike held his breath as he waited for his heavy hoofsteps to die down, then hoisted himself back out of the window and dragged Twilight back the way they came. They circled around so that they didn't meet TCP as they made their way to the library, Spike's ears swivelling like satellites, trying to figure out where the Paradox was. Mercifully, he wasn't nearby. He slammed the door shut when he got inside, then turned to face the portal in the table. “We'll come back for you,” Spike promised, directed at TCP, who was currently on the other side of town. He jumped in, followed by Twilight. “I want to go back to when we first arrived in the past,” he told the walls of the portal. They were flung along a tangent to the main tunnel and crash-landed in the library once again. There already, with frightened and confused looks on their faces, were Past Twilight, Past Spike and Past Comet (hereafter known as PT, PS and PC). PT gasped in shock at Twilight's limp body and PC jumped away, horrified beyond belief. He trembled in the opposite corner. “What happened?” PT demanded. Spike took a deep breath. “You guys will go to the Schoolhouse and talk to the ponies and Comet will make his past self cry and then you will go to Celestia's School of Magic to watch past Comet get his cutiemark except he doesn't because your Comet will prevent him from getting it and your Comet will turn into a Paradox and he will beat up your Twilight and your version of me will drag her from Canterlot back to Ponyville and jump back in the portal then this conversation will happen all over again.” PS and PT stared at him blankly for a moment then PT nodded once, taking the book that had started this whole mess from PS's claws. “What're you doing?” PC asked. “I am not risking a temporal loop. I am also not risking you becoming a Paradox. Oh, and I'd hate to be knocked out.” PT touched the page and after a moment the portal turned a deep maroon and scarlet, signalling a change in the path of time that they were about to walk. They jumped in, and it felt like floating in space. They were dragged off, Spike merging with PS and Twilight merging with PT. She woke up then closed her eyes against the nausea of waking up to being transported through time, just before she, Spike and Comet hit the ground and bounced a little. The portal started flashing then imploded, causing a colossal bang that shook the whole town. A few loose branches on Golden Oaks Library fell to the ground, and birds that had been perched on them flew away with an alarmed collective squawk. “What in Celestia's royal name was that?” Rainbow Dash demanded as she stormed in, followed less exuberantly by Twilight's other four friends, “I was sleeping perfectly happily on a cirrus cloud!” “You were sleepin' on the job again, I don't think you would particularly miss anythin' by bein' awake,” Applejack scolded. Rainbow flashed her a dangerous look. “We went back in time for a bit,” Comet told them groggily as he stood up, “now if you'll excuse me, all that falling has done neither my head nor my stomach any good at all.” He dashed out the door holding his stomach with a green-tinged face. Rarity frowned after him, then turned back to Twilight and Spike, who were only now recovering fully. “Falling?” “The portal was in the table,” Spike answered, looking like he was going to be sick right there and then. He shot upstairs and they didn't see him for quite some time. He then reappeared quite suddenly. “I've just realised something, Twi,” he said urgently, “we never got rid of the Paradox – he's still in the past – he could change anything!” “Forgive me for asking, but... what are you talking about?” Fluttershy asked. As she spoke, the library dissolved around them, replaced by a burning, charred, hollow tree-trunk and similarly assaulted-looking books scattered all over the place. “I told you!” Spike spat, directed towards Twilight. Twilight looked around for the book with the time spell in it, and found it – though it was shrivelled and blackened, and some of the words were damaged, rendering it too unpredictable to use. She growled in irritation then trotted over to the drawers in the desk on the left-hand side of the library, withdrawing a vial of ink, a phoenix-feather quill and a roll of parchment. “Rarity – you have an eye for detail – could you make out the spell from the book? Be very careful not to touch it or use your magic on it.” Rarity nodded and walked over, leaning slightly forward so that she didn't have to get too close to the book in order to read it. She lowered her head until her nose was barely a centimetre from the pages. With this spell, I ask of you – Tempus, the God of Time – To resurrect the past and allow me to act as your servant, As your ambassador, As I observe what has been done, Knowing I must not disturb the winds of time Nor knock the hourglass askew. “Gosh, Twilight, that's some fancy stuff!” Pinkie remarked. Twilight touched the parchment and a portal similar to the previous one opened in the air above her, ticking and tocking like a grandfather clock. She supposed the different, more immediate location of the portal was because she wrote it with a powerful spell-weaving quill, the phoenix feather, as opposed to her usual knowledge-collecting one, the owl feather. “Aren't we coming with you, darling?” Raity asked. “Better not. It'd get pretty crowded, and simply knocking over a vase could lead to catastrophe, as the spell implies.” “Good luck,” Fluttershy wished her, before she was promptly sucked away into the bluish tunnel. The journey felt strangely bumpy, as if she was sliding down a long flight of stairs on her rear, and she was thrown this way and that as the tunnel wound around itself. It felt like the portal wasn't sure what it wanted to do with itself, like that one awkward guy in the back of the night-club not dancing. In this case he was dancing a bit too much. When they landed, she was able to take one step forward before The Comet Paradox froze her in place with his magic. TCP drew close, so close that his nose almost touched Twilight's, as he investigated. He peered at her in a feral kind of way, like she was his prey. He perused her up and down, moving around behind her, making her feel uncomfortable with the notion that he might attack her without warning. Twilight concentrated as hard as she could on the magic in her horn, which consequently dispelled the Statue Spell with a squeaky pop. She launched, firing an intense, immense beam of magic that engulfed the Paradox and injured him substantially, throwing him backwards and against the opposite wall. He was paralyzed. He slid to the floor and raised his gaze to Twilight, who advanced upon him, her horn shining with a holy light. It was dazzling, the way it emitted such a perfect white, with little offshoots spurting here and there now and then. She touched his chest with the light and TCP screeched, trying to draw away but unable to. The light was hurting him, hurting his darkness, dissipating him like the shadows. His final howl of anguish before he completely disappeared echoed around the room, replaced by loud ticking, signalling the forming of the portal. Twilight jumped into it and was whisked back to the present, where she and the others watched the library reform and fix itself around them.
Story Premiere - Slice of LifeAuthor's Note EDIT: Fixed "little bitch" to "little so-and-so" to keep with E rating. Sorry about that! ATTENTION! First Hoofsteps is now included in a series entitled Number of Hoofsteps. See Author's Notes on the final chapter for more details. Story Premiere - Slice of Life Streetlights of London flickered and half-shone like tired eyes in the night and fires danced in the grates of fireplaces as the occasional cream-coloured headlight waded through the rain. Pools were filled even in autumn; they glistened in the little moonlight that broke through the clouds. Drops dripped from the eaves of the houses as Jay sat on his sofa, the Wii U GamePad buttons clicking under his fingers as he figured out where to place the Boo in his New Super Mario Bros. U level. The grass waved outside on the lawn and the flowers shone like little beacons from the smile of the moon. Very few people were out this late but Jay enjoyed this time of day; it was quiet and still, allowing him to think whatever he wanted with no repercussions. The sky was amethyst and the cigarette smoke-scented air was crisp and cool. The few stars which were visible winked at the ants below, and the moon beamed down upon them. Jay had his all-important A levels to attend next week and he had revised a ton, so he was rewarding himself with a little time on Super Mario Maker. A can or two of Fanta were strewn across the floor and a handful of crumbs were scattered over the carpet in front of the coffee table, on which he had kicked up his feet. The time came when he closed down for the night and he checked his watch to see that it was already 3 in the morning. He cursed under his breath as he put all of the Fanta cans and crumbs in the trash before creeping upstairs and taking off his tank top and shorts, leaving only his hipster boxer trunks on, revealing thick but soft muscles. He clambered into bed and went to sleep. Next morning, he woke up and went downstairs for some breakfast. His trunks felt a little dislodged so he pulled them back up again and looked at the clock. Sleepy as he was, it look a moment for him to realise that he was going to be very late. He cursed loudly and slapped some jam between two slices of bread (getting a bit on the counter which he cleaned up), munching it on the way back upstairs to take a shower and get dressed. He was so late. He'll be murdered by his teachers. He had a Spanish test today – wouldn't want to miss that. He'll have to endure prying questions from his classmates. He raced downstairs and out the door. He ran at full pelt to the school, only now remembering that he hadn't packed his bag with today's books. He burst through the main doors then skidded into the Spanish classroom where the teacher was handing out scraps of paper for the vocabulary test. He looked around and raised an eyebrow. “Kind of you to join us, Mr. Reynolds,” he remarked in self-consciously precise English, “why are you late?” “I lost track of time, sir.” “Convenient. Have a seat and get a pen out.” Everyone watched him take a seat and get his pen out. He felt their eyes on the back of his neck, and he felt the hairs stand on end. He shrank a little in his chair. He looked at the blank piece of paper on his desk and as soon as the teacher started reading out random vocab, he wrote down the translation. * * * It was soon lunchtime and Jay decided to wait in the House for ten minutes for the lunchtime queues to ease up. He signed in on the register and sat in the comfortable seats at last. He never got a chance to sit here because all the cooler kids always took these chairs, and he wasn't particularly fond of being intrusive. After a few minutes he heard the door he came through open and close again, and a girl came into sight with golden blonde hair tied back from her eyes spiralling into luscious curls that bounced as she skipped over. Her baby-blue eyes lit up when she saw him. “Hi Jay!” she greeted cheerfully, “How did the Spanish test go?” “Great, thanks,” Jay replied, “got a bit delayed this morning though. Didn't wake up 'til about 8:30. How about you, Lucy? How'd you sleep?” “Well, thank you.” There was a moment of silence where Jay looked out of the window at the streets beyond. They were two stories up and he could see just over the top of the roofs at the birds soaring through the air. The road below ballooned outwards into two separate lanes to fit around a central patch of refreshingly organic green, a row of trees standing tall there. He heard Lucy shift a bit and returned his attention to her. She actually wasn't looking for his attention, but since she had it, she supposed she should make conversation. “Got more of my Art project done today.” “Sweet.” Jay paused. “Hey, wanna hang around town later?” Lucy nodded, grinning. She liked hanging out with him. They'd spend an hour or so at the café, then go to the library, then... shopping! She always loved that part. Getting a new dress, or some new shoes, or some stationery, or – She snapped back to reality to find Jay right in front of her face, his lips on hers. His chestnut brown hair felt soft and tickly against her forehead, and his warm brown eyes were fixed on her own. The moment was electric. A tingling sensation buzzed down the length of her spine – the same feeling she's been having for the past two tmes he's kissed her. It ended as quickly as it had began, and Jay sat back for a bit before getting up. “I'm gonna get some lunch. Coming?” “Right behind you.” The lunch hall was packed, but thankfully the lines had calmed down, so getting served was quick and easy. It was lasagne today; Jay's favourite. Lucy had the vegetarian option, because she didn't really like mince. They sat together at the least-full table and chatted about nothing in particular. It was nice to be able to talk to someone, because Jay wasn't really all that popular for some reason. It was then that Luke sauntered over with his gang of 5. “Ooh, look at Reynolds and his little girlfriend!” he cooed mockingly. “I take issue with that,” Jay replied, “you don't like gay people, yet you don't like me having a girlfriend? Double standards much?” Luke pinned him to the table by the back of the throat. Jay's vision was obscured by lasagne. Lucy was screaming. “Don't smartmouth me,” Luke snarled. He was escorted away promptly by the teacher on watch duty for a good scolding. Jay listened to the ruckus of the lunch hall chatter, too depressed to lift his head out of his lasagne. Lucy did it for him, and wiped him down with a napkin. “Thanks,” he said glumly. “You really should tell someone about this,” Lucy said firmly, “it's not going to stop until he's expelled, I can tell you that much.” “But they're never going to expel him. He's smart, he's good on the pitch, he's a ladies' man. He's too valuable. I'm just some average guy, not smart, not good on the pitch, nothing special.” Lucy smirked a knowing smirk, then leaned forward slightly to get on his level. “I'm not going out with 'some average guy'. I am going out with Jay Reynolds, the nicest, most hard-working guy I've met. If awards were earned for resilience and persistence, you'd win ten of each, I guarantee it. Oh, chin up, Jay, you're breaking my heart. Besides, all you have to do to ignore that jerk is to hang out with the people who love you the most – your friends, your family. None of us will judge you and if you tell us what happened we will be more than happy to help cheer you up and beat down on the bullying.” “I'm not in the mood.” “You say that, but you know I'm right.” “No, I really am not in the mood, Lucy. Now let's just eat our lunch and get out of here, it's getting stuffy.” Lucy desperately tried to think of something she could do to cheer him up. “How about I get you some more lasagne?” “There's only 5 minutes left.” There was no debating the matter. Lucy got up, took his plate to the counter and dished out some more lasagne, then placed it back down in front of him. “Eat.” She turned her attention back to her own food and continued to eat it. Jay pushed the food on his plate around with his fork for a bit then begrudgingly started eating. He felt a little better already. * * * The bell rang for the end of school and Jay started packing his bag after Chemistry. Luke stalked past him and purposely budged him, knocking him against the table, the consequent vibrations shuffling his pencil case onto the floor. Lucy grunted in disapproval and picked it up, delaying a little for some reason as she straightened up. “Don't worry,” she whispered, watching Luke strut out of the door with a dumb, unfounded triumphant look on his big smug face, “once we get out of the Chemistry block, I'll show him a thing or two about physical contact.” Lucy hung her bag around her shoulder then skipped out through the door, followed by Jay, still trying to close his own bag. As she promised, she approached Luke when they had left the building. “I don't think you should look so smug about hurting my boyfriend,” she growled. Everyone stopped whatever they were doing to watch in awe. There was absolute silence as Luke slowly turned his head, then squared up to her. She was about shoulder-height. “Oh yeah?” he challenged, puffing out his chest and contracting his biceps in an attempt to look scary, “What're you gonna do, pippy?” Pippy was his version of pipsqueak. The fact that he couldn't be bothered to even use the whole insult was rather riling in and of itself. In response, Lucy took a step back, keeping her left leg in place, then surged forward and gave him a good, hard punch square between the eyes. He reeled, tripped over his own galumphing feet and fell on his behind. Lucy loomed over him and he breathed heavily. “Not so omnipotent now, are you, you little so-and-so?” Lucy snarled, giving him a steely kick to the unmentionables. He screeched like a dying crow and started to weep. Jay stared in disbelief as Lucy skipped back over to him and threaded her arm around his. “I think that'll solve your problem, or at least temporarily.” Jay couldn't find the words to respond, so he didn't. * * * Jay got home and dumped his bag on his desk, then looked for his phone in his blazer to check his messages. It wasn't there. He searched frantically through every single item of clothing on his body (yes, including his shoes and socks), then checked his bag. He unzipped his pencil case and there it was, his black iPhone 6, sandwiched between his pens and his pencils. He took it out, wondering how it had got there, then turned it on. Change Your Life by Little Mix chimed from the phone, and a message onscreen read, 1 new message from Lucy W. He smiled as the chorus of the inspirational song rang out into his bedroom. Only Lucy would rig his phone to play that for her ringtone. Hey, Jay – just wondering if you're doing OK. I'm sorry about lunchtime. Jay sighed and turned his phone off, collapsing onto his bed and staring up at the ceiling for a long, long while. He was searching for something up there, some sign that things would get better. A speck of dust floated into his eye and he blinked madly, trying to get it out. He sat at his desk and raised the lid of his laptop to fin that he hadn't actually turned it off, and it was at 56% power. Great. He plugged it into the mains supply and opened File Explorer, looking for his English essay that was due in next week, then came across an unusual file. message.mp4. He frowned, concerned, and opened it, as you do. He wasn't particularly bothered if it was a virus, because the virus scanner would pick it up and destroy it. That's a thought. If it was a virus, it would be destroyed by now. But he definitely had not downloaded message.mp4. Onscreen now was what looked like a very tall, very white unicorn with feathered wings and gorgeous, flowing rainbow-coloured mane and tail. He recognised her immediately as Princess Celestia, the higher power of the world of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Not that he had invested that much time in the series; he had watched about three episodes after hearing about it by chance from a little girl he had passed on the street. He hadn't particularly enjoyed it – too girly, no real action – but there was no denying that he was watching it now. “Good evening, Mr. Reynolds,” Celestia greeted, “I assume you have opened the file now?” Jay didn't answer. It was a video, he couldn't actually talk to it. But the princess wasn't speaking either. She raised an eyebrow and Jay frowned again. Was he supposed to be speaking right now? “I, um... yes, yes I have.” “Good show. As you know, I am Princess Celestia, the ruler of Equestria –“ “Woah, woah, woah. How am I able to talk to you? How are you able to talk to me?” Celestia cleared her throat and ignored the comment. “I understand you have been bullied at school.” “Who told you that?” Jay demanded anxiously. “I just know. I'm Princess Celestia, trust me, I know things. Anyway, as I was saying, you must by now feel rather rejected from society, like you have no friends. Other than your girlfriend. My sister understands perfectly well how you must feel.” “I'm still really confused as to how on Earth we're having a conversation.” “Magic. Anyway, I'm here to ask one thing of you: would you be willing to leave your world forever, and enter mine? Nobody would ever tease you here. Everyone here is nice, respectable, and in turn they respect each other.” “Well, um... I...” “Don't worry, take your time.” God, this was a hard decision. If he left this world forever, he would be leaving Lucy behind. That would tear him apart, let alone her. He tried to imagine the anguish she would go through. “I, um... I don't know...” “That Luke boy really is a mean, spiteful, selfish man, isn't he?” “Yeah, he is. Wouldn't be too upset if I never saw him again.” “But you wouldn't if you came here.” That was true. He thought deeply about it, then nodded. “OK. I accept your offer.”
