Chapter 1
"Dear Celestia, if you can hear me, I wish that anypony could get me, besides my parents. So far, they are the only ponies, in town, that haven't made fun of me. I just wish that I can ran away forever. No stopping, just keep on running forever. If you can hear me, please let other ponies respect me." wished little Laughing Stock as his mother came into the room. Laughing Stock's mom, Weatherbell, noticed her saddened colt on the windowsill, but she didn't want to interfere. Laughing Stock would do this often, and Weatherbell would watch as he would wish these possibilities. Every time he did this, his wishes would get bigger and bigger, the bigger he grew. She could remember when he found out about his little issue.
FLASHBACK
"Mommy, why do I wook wike this?" He was only four at the time, but his English was getting better.
"What do you mean, sweetheart?"
"Why don't I have a mane wike you, or a tail?" Weatherbell always knew that this day would come, the day when Laughing would start getting curious. She just didn't expect it to happen this quickly.
"Um...well sweetheart, I didn't want to tell you this."
"Tell me what, mama?"
"It's better if you didn't know."
"I want to know mama!" Laughing Stock was throwing a fit, knocking toys over and yelling at his "mama". "Mama!! Tell me mama, I want to know!" He eventually banged on the door very hard, scaring Weatherbell into thinking that he was going to break it.
"Okay! I'll tell you! Just promise me that you won't be mad, promise?"
"I promise mama." That's when it went downhill, the moment when she opened her mouth.
"It's because that you have a rare disease called cancer, but the good thing is that the disease didn't take away your beauty!" Weatherbell wiped her face off of sweaty tears, that just kept on coming. Laughing Stock stared at her, and cried.
"You named me because I am sick!"
"No we didn't, we named you because you are a bundle of joy!" Weatherball stated. The young colt just cried and screamed his way to his bed. He covered himself in the blankets, and forced himself asleep. Weatherbell turned off the lights, and closed the door.
FLASHBACK OVER
The horrors of that night scarred her brain for the rest of her life. Poor Laughing Stock, it wasn't his fault that he is like this. Of everypony inn Equestria, the disease had to land on Laughing Stock. Weatherbell thought. Ponyville is just a new place for these big city ponies, so quiet and small. Everything was so roomy and clustered together, where everything gets spread like fireflies. Weatherbell leaned in closer, causing the floor to creak, and Laughing to turn around.
"Mom? What are you doing?" he whispered.
"Oh, I came up here to tell you to go to bed. School's tomorrow, after all."
"But Mom, I don't wanna go to school tomorrow, because ponies make fun of me!" Laughing announced.
"That won't happen, because Cheerilee is there. Cheerilee and I go way back, but that's a story I'll tell you later on."
"Mom, do I-"
"Yes, you do. Now goodnight, sweetheart." Laughing got up, and ran towards his mother. He gave her a squeeze, and knocked himself out. Weatherbell whispered goodnight, and closed the door. All night long, Laughing kept dreaming about the horrible ponies that he was going to meet, and how badly they will make fun of him. It was like a tormented dream, but it was not a nightmare. The next morning, he awoke to the delectable aroma of coffee. It felt like his nose was carrying him all the way there.
"Hi Laughing, how did you sleep last night." Weatherbell asked.
"Good Mom, I slept good last night."
"Want something to eat?"
"No thanks."
"Well sweetheart, school is in half an hour. I hope that you have a wonderful time there!"
"I probably won't."
"Nonsense! Like I said last night, Cheerilee isn't going to let irreverence walk on top of you! She's going to watch over you like an eagle!"
"What does 'irreverence' mean?"
"It means disrespect, sweetie."
"Okay, but-"
"Buts are for sitting, you know that Laughing Stock." Weatherbell insisted that he go and sit down on the couch. He dare not defy his mother, so he went and sat down. The moments that he sat there were very emotionally silent, for nothing was important for them to talk about. He knew that the possibilities of his mother being wrong is slim to none. Still, there is still a chance for her to be wrong. He just ought to give it a try, and trust his mother's instincts. The clock struck eight o'clock, time for school.
"Bye Mom, it's for school."
"Well, have a good day sweetheart!" He grabbed his bag, and walked out the door. The school wasn't that much of a distance away. Laughing Stock walked down town, passing by the bakery for breakfast. He knew hat he should've ate when he had the chance, but now he is really hungry. He opened the door to see Pinkie Pie, and another stallion that he hasn't met yet. He had a sprinkled doughnut on his flank, reddish-greyish glasses on his face, a brown coat, and a dark brown mane and tail. The stallion was mumbling to Pinkie Pie about something. Little Laughing Stock walked up to him, and greeted him. At first, the stallion didn't notice him.
"Excuse me, sir and Pinkie. Can I have a cupcake?" he whispered. Pinkie Pie cocked her head, and smiled at the colt.
"Of course Laughing, coming right up!" she exclaimed as she dashed into the kitchen. The stallion turned around to see Laughing sitting there, comfused.
"Hello there, is your name Laughing?"
"Stock. It is Laughing Stock, sir."
"No need for 'sir', the name's Bronze."
"But you hav-"
"Yes I know that I have a doughnut on my flank, but hey. Not everypony's name goes with their special talent, just look at Pinkie." Bronze interrupted.
"Okay, but when did you come to Ponyville?"
"Yesterday, for I worked alongside Doughnut Joe in Canterlot. He got a bit reckless, so I left and came here." responded the doughnut pony.
"Wow, you lived in Canterlot and moved here?"
"Yes I did." Pinkie ran out with a green cupcake in her right hoof. She kept juggling it, so it must've just been made. She sat it on a table for Laughing.
"Thank you Pinkie Pie!"
"No problem Laughing Stock, anything for a friend!" He smiled, and chowed down on the delectable dessert. In a matter of seconds, he picked up the wrapper, and threw it away.
"Goodbye Pinkie Pie and Bronze, see you later!"
"Bye Laughing!" hollered Pinkie.
"Bye little Laughing Stock, take care!" Bronze said. The cupcake lifted Laughing's spirits to a point of enlightenment, where every problem washed away, for a moment. Laughing got to the school, and saw a pegasus enter in. He was trying to remember her name, but it fell short. Scooter, Scoots These were the best that he could remember of her name. He gave up on the pegasus's name, and walked in the classroom. Cheerilee looked at Laughing Stock, and gave a welcoming smile.
"Laughing, you made it! Welcome to school!" Her cheering nature is most likely the reason for her name. Laughing thought.
Chapter 2
"Hello, Miss Cheerilee! It's good to meet you!" Laughing greeted in a welcoming tone.
"Laughing, me and you mother go way back! I'm so glad to see her very handsome colt!" Cheerilee happily stated. That sense of amenity made Laughing's confidence grow three times, in an instance. Quite excitingly, Cheerilee pointed him to the class. "Now class, this is Laughing Stock! He is my friend, Weatherbell's, colt!"
"Why is he bald!?" Diamondtiara pondered loudly. Laughing Stock's confidence, then, shrank three times. It were comments like this that would make Laughing wish for a change of appearance. He ran out of the schoolhouse, while Cheerilee gave Diamond detention. She turned around, and walked outside to comfort him.
"I'm so sorry for that, Laughing." she said while tears filling her eyeballs.
"Why should you be? It wasn't your fault mi-"
"Call me Cheerilee, Laughing Stock. Even though the other students add a 'miss', I want you to call me by my name."
"Okay, thanks Cheerilee." Laughing joyfully acknowledged.
"Oh Laughing, you remind me so much of your mother."
"Really?" said while he looked up.
"Really. Now come on, we have to start class." There's that welcoming nature that stands Cheerilee out from a crowd. If there was an Element of Compassion, Cheerilee would definitely qualify for the job. Laughing Stock thought. They entered the classroom to redo his introduction. "Okay class, this is Laughing Stock."
"Hi there!"
"Yeah, how are ya doin'?"
"Nice to meet you!"
"Glad to make your acquaintance, haha." Laughing, for the first time, actually felt loved by other ponies. Cheerilee obviously knows when and how to take her job seriously. She pointed him to his seat, and he sat down. His seat was in the middle of the class, behind Twist and in front of of another filly, Applebloom's old seat. Cheerilee smiled, and started teaching the lesson.
"Today class, we will be learning some more about division. Who here remembers how to divide?" She asked while waiting for an answer. Twist raised her hoof towards the sky, and started to bounce in her seat.
"I do, I do!"
"I know you do Twist, but I want some other pony to raise her hand." Twist gently let her hoof down. It was awfully disappointing that she wasn't allowed to answer, but she is the smartest in the class.
"Ah think Ah do!" Applebloom quietly lifted her hoof.
"Okay Applebloom, what is forty-nine divided by seven? Show your work on you paper, please." she stated. Applebloom grabbed her pencil and started writing the divisor, dividend, and the quotient. She put the divisor in the right place, and the dividend in the right place. What she didn't do was the math correctly. She went through the dividing family: Dad, Mom, Sister, Brother, Rolo, which Cheerilee had taught the day before. Applebloom's final answer came out to be eight.
"Here Miss Cheerilee, Ah got th' answer!" Cheerilee walked up to Applebloom; she gave her a "so close" expression. However, Cheerilee was one of the teachers that cared more about the "work" than the answer. As long as her students were learning the processes of school, they could figure out the answers on their own.
"Lo siento Applebloom, but the answer is incorrect. However, the work is-"
"Wait, what did ya say ma'am?"
"The answer is incorrect?"
"No, before that."
"Lo siento?"
"Yes ma'am, what does that mean?"
"It means 'I'm sorry' in Mane, remember when I taught you kids about Europe?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Okay, that's a good thing. Anyways, the answer is seven; the work was excelente though."
"Let me give a gander t' what 'excelente' means!"
"Shoot."
"It means excellent!"
"Nice use of context clues, Applebloom. I wasn't planning on teaching you guys that until later in the year!" Cheerilee turned around, and walked to her desk. Applebloom, for a second, felt like the genius of the class. She'd kept blushing; she'd kept "writing" down things. Twist was getting sick of it, but Applebloom's parade was reigned upon by the teacher. Cheerilee told Applebloom to stop "boasting" in the middle of class. The farm filly just nodded her head, and sat down. Laughing Stock, meanwhile, was soundlessly taking down notes. In his little world in isolation, he kept thinking about the harsh times that the rest of the class would give him. Not ten minutes ago did Diamondtiara asked why he was bald; he knew that she would ask that. It was very disappointing that somepony would immediately call out the remark, even though it wasn't his fault. Laughing was just born this way, no doubt about it. He, then, started to think about what he was actually born to do; he never really thought about it before. It never came up in a conversation with neither his parents nor his friends, if he had any at the current moment. He stared to look around at the other ponies' flanks; all but three have their cutie marks. It was quite impressive that almost the whole class have their cutie marks, considering everypony's age. If everypony else found out what they're ought to deliver in the world, so can I. little Laughing Stock thought. That inspirational message caused Laughing to work even harder, for hours and hours. He'd never blink, metaphorically speaking, nor did he look away. Truth be told, he was working more diligently than Twist. She never really minded; she just cared that someone else was as interested in work as she was.
Ding, ding, ding.
"Ope! It looks like it's lunch time!" Cheerilee announced, relieving the rest of the class for at least thirty minutes. They all rushed out the door, all except Laughing and Twist. "Come on you two, we need to go to lunch." Twist looked up as if she never heard the bell in the first place. She grabbed her lunch, and bounced out the door. "That means you too, Laughing." He never looked up. Cheerilee took a drastic precaution with, "Ponies who stay behind don't get to eat their lunch; I don't know if you knew that." Laughing jumped out of his seat, meaning that he could hear Cheerilee, grabbed his lunch, and ran out the door. Outside, he happened to notice that the ponies would eat in groups. He saw Diamondtiara and Silverspoon sit together, Dinky Hooves with the quiet, weird, funny, and out of the ordinary fillies and colts, and the CMC sat together. Turning around, he saw the red-haired filly bey herself. She was in a shady corner. Laughing decided to walk over to her; he comforted her.
"Hi there!"
"Hi!"
"My name's-"
"Laughing Stock! I know, like Miss Cheerilee didn't announce to the class!" She gave a awkward giggle all of the sudden.
"Haha! What's your name?"
"Twist!"
"That's a cool name!"
"Thanks! Hey, do you want a peppermint stick! I've got plenty of them!" He's only known her for thirty seconds, and she's already offering treats. He looked down at her flank to see that two peppermint sticks there.
"Oh, are they associated with your cutie mark?"
"Yessiree! By the way, did you say 'associated'?"
"Yup. Who doesn't know what that means?"
"Pretty much the rest of the class!" She gave a welcoming, yet disturbing, giggle.
"Haha! You're pretty funny. Oh, and I would like that peppermint stick!" Laughing started to do his name, laugh. She dove into her bag, and pulled one out.
"I hope you like them; I made them myself!" Laughing took a bite, and he instantly fell in love with them.
"These are amazing!"
"Why thank you!"
"Hey, wanna be friends?"
"I thought we were already friends!" Twist stated.
