Tidal Charm surfaced in the seawater, paddling along happily. It was the last day of summer holidays, and she was getting her last long swim in before the school year began.
Her large shark-like tail kicked powerfully behind her, propelling her to shore. It was something special about her, enabling her to swim powerfully in water. She swam often, enjoying the feeling of her wet coat and mane, the mist spraying behind her as she lashed her tail, propelling her in the water… It was all perfect.
Unfortunately, the sun was now setting, and it was time for Tidal to get out of the water and return home. She paddled to the shore, setting her hooves on the sand and fully emerging. She was the size of a normal filly, albeit the extra tail, standing at about half an adult pony’s height.
She tottered up the beach, humming to herself a happy song as she made her way to the beach’s exit, a small path through the rocks. Squeezing between the stone was usual for her as she ducked low and crawled through the space, emerging out onto the coastal street. A few ponies lazily walked up and down it. It wasn’t often travelled.
She happily crossed the road and walked down a branching road, counting the houses to hers. It was a small one storey house with bright blue walls, and windows infrequently set into them, small flower beds decorating them.
She trotted up to the door, the number 63 set into the wood, and pushed it open casually, entering the house and shutting the door behind her. “Mom! I’m home!” she called out, trotting into the living room.
Her mother stood in the kitchen, chopping up some sort of vegetables. “Good evening, Tidal,” she said, “Your dinner is on the table. Since it’s a school night, could you not spend the entire night on your video games?”
Tidal rolled her eyes. “Okay, mom.” She trotted up to the small dining table and looked upon the plate of food before her.
Ew. Alfalfa. She ate it anyways, crunching into the leaves hungrily. It was okay at least, her mother at least had put dressing on it.
She finished the food and carried the plate to the kitchen, putting the plate in the sink. She began to go down the hall towards her room.
“Tidal, dear?”
Tidal groaned inwardly. “Yes, mom?”
“Remember to brush your teeth and rinse yourself off after swimming in the saltwater.”
“Yes, mom.” Tidal changed course, glancing at her door - simple oak wood, with her initials, TC, etched into the lower half of the door. She did that as a small foal, and her parents were furious. They would have laughed at the memory those days.
Tidal went into the bathroom and went through the chores of showering off the salt water (admittedly, she hated when her mane got all crusty) and brushing her teeth. It was autonomous, Tidal not wanting to do them, but knowing that it was necessary.
Finally done getting ready for bed, she trotted over to her bedroom and walked inside.
Suffice to say, it was pretty messy, especially for a filly’s room. There was various items strewn over the floor. At the side was a small television set with a games console. The label read “Neightendo Gamebox”. On a small shelf next to the television was a small collection of square, plastic books containing various games.
She didn’t want to play on that tonight, however. She leaped on her bed and withdrew from under her pillow her prized possession: a Neightendo DS.
The hoofheld console was new in the market, and therefore, very rare. It opened like a book, but vertically, revealing two screens, a set of controls, and a pair of speakers.
It was so small! The fact that she could play her games even more on the go now was amazing. It was much better than the JoyBoy or even the Advance models, more powerful and fast.
Tidal opened the console, watching the light blink on as she held the device in her hooves. A little menu appeared on the bottom screen, prompting her if she wanted to launch her game. She tapped the button with the tip of her hoof - that’s right, she touched the screen with her hoof and it responded to her touch!
The game was quick to launch after a little show of symbols and logos, and she was presented the menu of Mareio Kart DS. She smiled and navigated the menus, selecting her character (She always chose Peach, it reminded her of Celestia) and starting the race.
Tidal got the DS for her birthday over the summer, and since then she has been constantly playing it whenever possible. Unfortunately, the game she was playing was one of two — the other one being a new edition of Pokèmare — but that didn’t stop her from playing it constantly.
Actually, she hadn’t touched her GameBox in a couple weeks now.
In the dark room, her face was dimly illuminated by the glow from the screen, her tongue stuck out in concentration as she navigated a race course.
The door opened slowly, casting light into the room as Tidal’s mother peeked in. “Tidal?” she asked, stepping inside and pushing the door mostly shut.
“Hey, mom- UGH!” Tidal groaned and shut the Neightendo DS, putting it to the side.
“Sweetie, you know how I feel about you getting angry at video games,” Tidal’s mom said, “You should know when to put them down.”
“You’ve said this a bajillion times, mom.”
Mom chuckled. “Indeed I have. My point still stands.” She sat down on the edge of Tidal’s bed. “Let me go put the DS in your bag so you can take it to school tomorrow and show your friends, okay?”
After Tidal nodded, she leaned down and gently kissed the filly’s forehead. “Goodnight, Tidal.” She got off the bed, tucked Tidal in further, and left the room, taking the DS with her.
Tidal was awake for a little while longer, thinking about her eventual first day at school. There will be new ponies, she hoped, that would like her DS.
Her tail twitched and she sighed, remembering the appendage that was permanently attached to her. What would the other ponies think of it? Her close friends understood her tail, but it also attracted negative attention. She was a little worried.
But it wasn’t the time to think. Tidal yawned and snuggled up into her bedsheets, falling asleep fast.
“Bye, mom!” Tidal waved back at her mom over her shoulder as she trotted onto the school grounds. Her bag bounced against her back, and she knew she had her DS inside, bouncing with all her stationery and other items. At least the way it closed prevented the screen from getting damaged.
The school wasn’t large - it was well situated for the population of the town Tidal lived in. It consisted of a simple, square building, with plenty enough classrooms to support the foals that go there for learning.
Tidal trotted inside, looking around. It felt new, being inside the school again. While school may have brought bad memories, it also brought so many good ones. She smiled as she pushed open the door to her classroom, entering the boxy room.
The class was divided into five tables, set apart from each other, in groups of about 3 or 4. A large teachers’ desk sat at the front, in front of a blackboard with the words “Welcome Back to School!” written on it in cheerful, bubbly text.
The teacher sat on the chair behind the desk, smiling as Tidal entered. “Welcome...” she looked down at a sheet of paper for a moment, and looked back up, saying, “Tidal Charm, right?”
Tidal nodded. “Yes, that’s me!”
The teacher, who Tidal recognized as Ms. White, nodded. “Feel free to sit anywhere.”
Tidal looked around the room. A small group of ponies were at one table, casting glances at her and more often, her tail. The others were empty. She decided to take the table in the back left corner of the classroom, putting her saddlebags in a cubbyhole labeled with her name.
She took out her pencils and eraser and sat down at the table, her tail sticking out the back of the chair. She could feel the gazes from the foals at the other table, and she tucked her tail away and shrunk down, deciding that maybe hiding was a good idea.
Tidal, like a lot of fillies her age, were quite shy, not wanting to be put in engagements she didn’t want to. So she decided, usually, to hide from new people.
Eventually the classroom filled up, and the lessons began. It was all pretty light, being it the first day of school, but it was still quite boring. Tidal found herself wishing that she had her DS in her hooves more and more with every minute that passed.
At least the teacher was nice. Tidal could tell the teacher was happy to know the new students, trying their best to remember their names, telling infrequent jokes that made the class laugh... it was at least a bit fun.
Eventually, lunch came around. Tidal pulled out her lunch box and DS, wanting to play it at recess. She already asked the teacher first, and they didn’t mind.
She followed the crowd out into the playground, finding one of the many benches and sitting on it, opening her lunch box and pulling out the sandwich Mom made for her.
After a little while, she noticed everypony... seemed to hang out with everypony else save for her. All the benches were full, except hers. She was the only person on the bench.
She sighed. She expected to be ostracized for her tail. She finished her sandwich and pulled out the DS, beginning to play Mareio Kart DS again, slowly forgetting about the other foals.
She was about to finish the race when somepony cleared her throat. “Room to sit?”
Tidal looked up. There was a lone filly, cocking her head at Tidal, expecting an answer. Without thinking, Tidal nodded, eager to have somepony talk to her despite her shy nature.
“So, what’s your name?” asked the filly, wearing an odd smile.
“It’s Tidal. Tidal Charm.”
The filly held her hoof out. “Pleasure to meet you! My name is Berry Bubbles.” She seemed to divert her interests after that. “Hey, why do you have that tail?”
Tidal groaned, still focusing on her game. “It’s cause I have it, duh.”
Berry Bubbles sighed. “But... like, it’s so weird! It’s not very pony, isn’t it?”
Tidal stopped. It had been obvious Berry had hit a sensitive spot. “Did you just say that I am not pony?” She asked, looking at Berry seriously.
“Yeah,” she said, “I mean, normal ponies have tails with hair.”
Seems like Berry is the bully around here. Her approach was really subtle.
Tidal glared at her. “I’m as pony as you are! I have hooves, and a head!” She nudged Berry. “Maybe I should be left alone.” Tidal returned to her game.
Berry scoffed. “Would you put that thing down?” she asked irritatedly.
“I don’t want to talk to you,” said Tidal.
What Tidal wasn’t expecting was the hoof that lashed out, flinging the DS out of her hooves and into the ground. “Oops,” said Berry.
Tidal could feel her heart sink as there was a loud snap, and a clatter as it rolled a few times across the ground. She launched herself off the bench and towards the DS, quickly picking it up, her heart sinking further.
The screens were both destroyed, a large black splotch spreading slowly across the screen. A couple of the buttons were wrecked, and it looked like one of the hinges was about to fall apart.
To add insult to injury, it blinked off before her eyes, the screen going blank.
Tidal sat down in shock, her hind legs just buckling underneath her. Her jaw dropped open, and she could swear the entire playground was silent as she started at the broken device.
Reality caught up to her and she felt a couple tears slide down her face, her eyes watering, fixated on her now broken device.
Then she began to cry quietly, burying her face in her hooves so no one would see. She picked up the remains of the device and shut it’s lid, walking back inside the school, feeling all of the other foals’ eyes boring into her as she plodded slowly.
Pushing the door open and heading inside, she walked into her classroom and sat down at her table, sobbing quietly with her head on the table. The teacher wasn't there to talk.
She heard a chair creak as a pony sat next to her. She looked up with bleary eyes. “What?”
“Hey,” said the voice of a young colt, “Is that a Neightendo DS?”
She blinks a couple times and gets a closer look at the colt. He was a light shade of brown with a messy orange mane, and a cap that had a little fan, the fan blades spinning… somehow.
“These things are super rare!” he said excitedly, looking right at it.
“It was super rare,” she mumbled, opening the DS to show him the damage. He gasped.
“Who did this?!” he asked a bit too loudly, “Who would break that?”
“Berry Bubble,” sighed Tidal, “She threw it into the ground.”
“Oh, the school bully… yeah, she's quite a meanie.” The colt held out his hoof. “I should really get to know you! My name is Button Mash, and I love video games!”
Tidal found herself gasping and squeeing in glee despite the urge to remain shy. “Oh my gosh! You play video games too?”
Button Mash nodded. “Yeah! Let me show you!” He trotted across the classroom to dig out a device from his bag. Tidal immediately recognised it as a limited edition JoyBoy Advance.
“Wow!” she said, looking at the device in awe as Button presented it.
“Go ahead and borrow it,” he said, sliding it over. “I've beaten the game five times over, and you need it more than me.”
She gasped and picked up the device. “Woah…” she flicked the on switch, watching as the device booted up to some game in Japoneighse. She found out it was some kind of fighting game, eventually.
A bit later, her head was buried in the game, furiously tapping at the buttons. Button Mash watched her play, giving her occasional tips along the way. In the end she lost the game, but she still put it down saying, “That was really really fun!”
She hugged Button Mash, a large smile on his face. “Thank you thank you thank you!”
“It's no problem… what's your name?”
“It's Tidal Charm!” She squeed happily. “Ooh! Can we be friends?”
Button Mash rubbed the back of his neck with a hoof. “Hehe… yeah, sure!”
As they said that, the class started filing in again. A teacher came up to Tidal. “Why did you go back inside during recess?”
Tidal sighed. “Because somepony was bullying me and I had to come inside before she broke anything else of mine…”
The teacher grumbled. “Was it Berry Bubbles, by any chance?” Tidal nodded. “Great,” the teacher groaned, “I'll talk to her later. Go sit down and we can begin class.”
And begin the class did, the afternoon looking much brighter to Tidal. She made her first friend! He also loved video games!
The rest of the day passed quickly.
“Mom! I'm home!”
Tidal walked in and into the living room, dropping her bag in the middle of the floor. Hopping onto the couch. Her brother, Intrepid, was home that day.
“Hey, Tidal!” Intrepid smiled, pulling her into a hug. “How was your first day at school?”
“It was great!” she said, “I made a new friend! I mean, the DS is broken, but I don't really mind!”
“Wait, the DS is broken?”
“Yeah, it is, but it can be fixed. A bully broke it but it can be fixed!” She presented the broken device to Intrepid, who looked at it for a moment.
“Yeah, it can be fixed,” he said, “I can fix it for you.”
“Yay!” She hugged Intrepid Charm. “Thank you!” She hopped off the couch and disappeared into her room.
“She will always be the same,” muttered Intrepid, looking over to his mother, who was in the kitchen. “She will still be the same, no matter what happens.”
“I agree,” said the mother, winking at Intrepid, “I suggest you go get to work fixing that device of hers.”
Author's Note
Whew, I'm on a roll with uploading stories I forget to upload.
Here's another!
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