"HEEEELP!!!" Oh Celestia, how could this have happened to me. "BOLT! CRIMSON! ROSE! ANYPONY!" This didn't happen, this didn't happen, this didn't happen. "HEEEELP!" I heard hoofsteps coming down the hall. Yes, my savior, the one who would get me out of this predicament, it was…
"What is it, what happ..." A voice that showed some annoyance, obviously female, shouted beyond my door. It slammed open to reveal a young, flamingo colored, Pegasus mare with a short and disheveled pink mane. She had strikingly yellow eyes and short wings, her Cutie Mark is a stylized purple rose. Really, all you could see were the purple petals. She wore a pair of purple and blue anklets on her forelegs.
This mare is, unfortunately, my big sis, Rose. She was pretty short for a fifteen year old, only being slightly taller than me. She is somewhat athletic, kind of a… What was it again, tomcolt? "Stuck again, I see." She said, not even trying to hide the slurred annoyance in her voice. At the time, I didn't know why she talked like that after Sundays.
She wasn't wrong, though, I did manage to get stuck in my sheets. Again. Being a small child tends to leave you with some unspent energy, and that energy can appear at the weirdest of times. Especially during a spider related nightmare. Sometimes, I still shudder when recalling that one.
"Sis. Help. Please?” I pleaded.
"I really hate it when you wake me up early, especially after Sunday." She rubbed the side of her head while letting out a slight groan, clenching her eyes. “Just because you can't deal with a stupid nightmare, doesn't mean you should wake up the whole freaking house.” She turned around and walked out my doorway.
“Please! Today's a school day and I don't want to be late!” I called. Truth be told, I didn't really know what time it actually was, but I felt like it was pretty late in the morning. Back to the topic of school, I'm an Earth Pony. It's not fun being one of, like, three Earth Ponies at your school, bullies sure won't let you forget it. Especially if you live in Canterlot.
"Hey bro, you need help?" I heard a tired voice call from my doorway as a ruby colored Unicorn walked in. He has a thick, wine colored mane, dip dyed black at the ends. His eyes are a deep blue. He is the oldest out of us, being eighteen at the time. He’s pretty tall and has a strong build, too. He would make an awesome dad. Oh, he also has a blue star inside a bubble for a Cutie Mark.
"Hey, Crimson. Can you help me outta this?" My blanket and I are cloaked in a blue glow as I float up into the air. This happened to me on occasion, usually after a long night laden with nightmares. It only took me a few seconds to finally slip out of my comfortable prison, thanks to my brother. Too bad I landed on my face.
I have the darkest mane out of my siblings, black. My mane was also a tad unkempt at the time, or as some colts would call it “spiky”, but my brother liked to keep it short so it didn’t get too out of hoof. I had a red coat. My eyes are, kinda like jade. I got really curious one day and tried comparing my eye color to those... things you find in home department stores that show off what color of paint you're gonna get. Jade was listed and it was the closest I could find to match my eye color. I didn't have a Cutie Mark.
Where was I again? Oh, right. Slip! Smack! Success! I think Crimson cringed when I landed, but my memory is a little hazy here. “So glad I'm not a Unicorn.” I said as I rubbed my forehead. My room wasn’t the cleanest, but what do you expect from a nine year old? My bed was nice and sturdy. It had two mattresses and sat atop four metal legs.
My room was unpainted and had vertical wood paneled walls, as did most of the house, My green, wooden dresser was right next to the bed, five drawers. On top of the dresser was a comic book titled
Dragoon, a black alarm clock with white bells, an old porcelain lamp, and a pair of sunglasses. The rest of my room was mostly empty, aside from the few clothes scattered on the floor, and the bookshelf. I'm not saying I had clothes on my bookshelf, I'm just saying I had a bookshelf. Though, it's more of a single plank of wood nailed into the wall than a bookshelf.
"Yeah, I'd rather not imagine smashing my horn against the floor like that." He replied in a fatherly tone. “Since you're already awake, I guess you should get ready for school.” I can't remember if he yawned here or not, so let's just say a yawn was in here somewhere.
“Yeah, sorry for waking you guys up.” I apologized after properly sitting up. I took a look at my clock to see what the time was. Six thirteen, about forty-seven minutes before my alarm was supposed to go off. “I'm really sorry for waking you up this early.” My brother chuckled a little.
“Don't worry about it, you had a nightmare, it happens. Just don't go making a habit out of it, ok?” Just like Rose, he turned and left my room. "I'll be downstairs making some waffles, make sure to put that book in your bag before you come down. I don't want you to forget to return it again." My favorite books are ones that have to do with myths and legends, this one I've forgotten to return to the school’s library for a few days now. My late fee is three bits.
"On it!” I stood up and walked over to my bookshelf. It's not that big, just a plank of wood nailed to the wall, but it can hold more than ten books. I took out the book titled Mare in The Moon and walked over to my custom saddle bags.
Placing the book in my bag, I set the latter against my bed. I turned my vision to look out my window just in time to see the sun just rising behind the castle. Canterlot Castle, it always gives off this otherworldly feel of comfort and authority at the same time. I tried explaining this to a few other colts, but they always felt it was intimidating, which I just couldn't imagine.
Since I woke up so early, I figured I may as well start my day with the usual morning ritual. Pointing my right hoof at the castle and placing that same hoof over my heart. I smiled, my usual merriment returning. Right then, I had a feeling that today was going to be a good day.
Author's Note
I really hope this turned out better than my first version of this story.
"Seven o’clock," I said, checking the time on a clock hanging on the wall. "Alright, I'm heading to school now!" I made sure to wait for an answer from my brother. I was in the living space now, and it was a bit nicer than the rest of the house. A brown couch sat against one of the walls. Adjacent to that by another wall was a brown loveseat. An aged, wooden table in the middle of the room. The walls were unpainted like the rest of the house and contained pictures of my siblings and me growing up together. Not a picture of our parents anywhere.
"Kay, I'll see you at four!" He called from the kitchen, he really is a cool brother. I picked up my bag, slid my arms through the straps, and headed for the door. A weird thing, my bag was. It was some weird mix between usual saddlebags and a harness. My mentor had said that he made it like this so it was easy to wear when standing on two hooves, which was something he was teaching me at the time. Not the easiest thing in the world to do, by the way!
"Hey!" Hearing my brother walk up to me, I turned around to see him with his hoof held towards me. A caring look came to his eyes as a smile crossed his lips. "Have a good day at school, bro.” He placed his hoof over his chest. I proceeded to do the same with my hoof.
"You know it, thanks bro." I opened the door that lead outside. Running as fast as I could on my rear legs, I ran down to the first corner. I stopped and turned to see Crimson at the window, I waved to him and kept running to my school. It was a long way, but I liked the run, only to trip and fall on my face. After that, I decided to just gallop the rest of the way to school. Bolt would understand.
I got to see the new spa that was being built, the bakery, and the best fruit-salespony in Canterlot. I trotted up to a fruit stand being headed by an Earth Pony stallion. He had a green mane and an orange coat. Purple eyes. He was kind of lanky then. I never got to see his Cutie Mark, but I bet it was fruit related. Or maybe selling related. Basket related?
"Hello there, Scar. Any fruit on mind today, or just saying hey?" His name was Baldwin and he spoke with a low monotone voice, but it sounded wise to me. He placed an open sign on the counter and opened up some large baskets that were just filled to the brim with fruit.
"Both, but I also wanted to ask a question." I said.
“Let's get your order out o’ the way first then, shall we?”
“Okay, um…” I looked at all he had to offer, one basket had nothing but bananas, those were always delicious. The next basket over was mixed: having oranges, peaches, and tomatoes. The final basket was apples, and they weren't in any order. “Two bananas, an orange, and those two apples.” I pointed at the apples closest to me, one was smaller than the other. The bigger of the two was also a darker shade of red than the other.
“Alright.” He took the fruit out of the basket and put it on the counter, when he moved the apples, however, I felt like I saw heaven. It was bright yellow and just as big as the dark red one. A golden delicious. I pointed at it.
“That one too, please?” I asked.
“Sure thing, these guys don't store well anyway.” He placed it on the counter alongside the others. “That'll be ten bits, little one.” That left me with just enough to pay for my late fee.
“Thanks, Baldwin! Now can I ask my question?”
“Only if the one you just asked isn't your question.” He smiled. In hindsight, that should've gotten a smile out of me, but it just left me confused.
“Umm, I just wanted to ask if you knew anything about Ponyville.”
“Ponyville? Why's that?”
“I'm moving there at the end of the week, and my mentor won't tell me much about it.”
“Bolt won't tell you about Ponyville?” His smile shifted to light frown. He mumbled under his breath, but I could still make out what he said. “What is that pony planning?”
“If you know anything about Ponyville, could you tell me?”
“Sure thing. I actually just visited Ponyville two days ago.”
“You did?” I asked, wonderment in my voice and eyes.
“Yup,” his monotone voice began to slowly shift into a country-like tone. “I was visitin’ my aunt. She and her grandchildren run the apple farm down there. In fact, my aunt was there when Ponyville was founded!”
“Woah!”
“Uh-huh. It's a nice place, you're sure to make a lot of friends down there.”
“Cool! Now I really can't wait until Saturday!” I did a giddy little hop, and dragged the fruit on the stand into one of my bags. “Well, I'll see you later Baldwin!” With a skip in my step, I began my gallop to school. Again.
“Have a good day at school, Scar!” His usual monotone returned.
«~†~»
Nearly twenty minutes of light galloping later and I had made it to my school. It was pretty normal sized for a big city like Canterlot, it had two floors and many hallways and rooms. The exterior was mostly red bricks and wooden frames. A giant chimney stood in the center of the building.
"Wow, the place is filled.” I could see colts and fillies trotting around, talking with each other, playing tag or racing, or even just reading. Just a sea of moving colors. My heart was pounding faster, crowds were far from my favorite place to be when I was younger. I always found it difficult to talk with other ponies my age and fillies of any age, excluding my sister of course. I stayed back a bit until the bell rang and teachers walked out to corral their students.
I saw Mrs. Wordsearch, my teacher and runner of the school’s library, near a group of students, all of whom were part of my class. She had a lilac coat and a dual tone teal and purple poofy mane, a lilac horn peeking through it. She had deep red, half-moon glasses. Her Cutie Mark was a locked, dark purple book with a silver magnifying glass over the blank cover. She had a pair of saddle bags with her. I trotted over as I heard her telling the class about today’s lesson plan. Like the beginning of every school, my class would spend the first thirty minutes outside if it was nice enough.
“Now, does everypony have their rulers?” She asked. The best way I could describe her voice would be similar to flowing water. Her question was followed by my fellow students either nodding or verbally confirming. “What about your notebooks and pencils?” Again, everypony confirmed they had what she asked for. A beige filly with a wheel Cutie Mark raised a hoof and spoke with an Emerald Island accent.
“What are we doing today, Mrs. Wordsearch?” She asked, a few fillies around her also wanting to ask that question.
“I'm glad you asked, Sugar Dale. Today, we’ll be learning about the growth patterns of certain trees around Canterlot.” She pointed in the direction of a park that was close by. “We’ll spend some time down at the park, study a few leaves, and with whatever time we have left, you can spend playing around the park together. Oh, and today's first class will be double in length, so we'll be down there for nearly an hour.” Hoots and hollers were what followed her explanation. And so, the day began.
Author's Note
Wow, this has a fewer amount of words than the first chapter, weird. Anyways, feel free to tell me where I've made any mistakes. See you in two weeks with the next chapter!
“Alright, class,” Mrs. Wordsearch called out, “follow the leader!” With that, she turned and began to lead her menagerie of students toward the park. “We’re going to be taking a different route today. There’s construction work being done, so we’ll need to go around. It will only take a little longer to get to the park.” As she said this, many students started to express their negative opinion of a longer walk. She turned her head back to us with a stern glare, “And I don’t want to hear ANY complaining.” She turned her attention back to our current route.
As per usual with walks like this, the cluster of students started out like a fairly mixed bag of trail mix. Fillies would talk with each other about topics I didn’t understand, nor cared too at that age, and the few colts that were there would chat and bump each other, the closest they could get to rough housing without getting into trouble. I stood out to the side of the non-uniform line, not really wanting to be near any of them. I wanted to avoid getting bullied as much as possible.
Only a few minutes later did the group of ponies begin to shift, with colts and fillies getting closer to their usual friends, causing the chain of children to lengthen out as they stood side-by-side in twos or threes, excluding ponies like me that wanted to walk by themselves. It took even less time for the line to diverge even more, with the slower groups of ponies congregating further back and others catching up with our teacher. That left both the few groups in the middle and ponies that didn’t group together. Not much happened early on, from what I remember. We passed some houses, took a few twists and turns toward our destination, ponies chatting about pretty much anything. It was after a detour the class took to avoid the construction work that my gut felt like it was churning and twisting into a knot as I heard some familiar voices.
"Ugh, were getting too close to the blank flank." That posh voice belonged to a filly named Crystal Chance. Was it posh? It might've just been snooty. Getting off track. She was a Unicorn and had a pearl-colored coat, I forget what her mane was, either white or silver. She was followed by two other fillies, a grey Pegasus and a blue Unicorn. I think their Cutie Marks were a rhombus for Crystal, a trio of circles for the blue Unicorn, and... I don't think I ever saw the Pegasus' Cutie Mark, she had longer wings than other Pegasi her age. Crystal continued to speak. "Watch out girls, you might lose your Cutie Marks if you're too close."
"Even if he did get one, it'd probably be in farming like the rest of the Earth ponies." The blue Unicorn, let's just call her Circles for now, spat in my direction. And I mean spat, like, as in she said it harshly. You know what I mean. Oddly enough, the Pegasus just kept quiet. Usually she would jump in with the insults, but I didn't stay long enough to find out this time. I picked up my pace, leaving the middle of the line so I could catch up with Mrs. Wordsearch.
"Oh, hello Scar," She looked down to me with a soft smile. "You look down, are you alright?"
"I'm fine," I lied, "I brought the book, The Mare in the Moon, it's in my bag. I-i also have the bits for the late fee." I should also note that I was pretty shy when I was younger, and as you can imagine, this caused a bit of difficulty. I also had some difficulty talking to Baldwin earlier that day.
"That's wonderful, Scar, but I believe it would be better to talk about the book during library time."
"Yes, ma'am." The rest of the walk was mostly silent on my part. Mrs. Wordsearch went over a few more details, the other students talked, more or less the same fair from earlier.
We made it to the park and my nose was itching something fierce. Like, that feeling you get when you need to sneeze but it won't happen. Yeah, like that, I remember it very (un)fondly because it was probably the most irritating thing I had felt. This wasn't the type of park that had swings and slides and stuff, it was more like a landmark than anything. There were a multitude of trees around the park, I would probably only be able to discern between a few, however. Guess that's what the lesson is for.
"Ok, class. We'll split in just a few, but I need to inform you all that we can't cover the whole park." This was met with a few "aww"s as we settled around her. "Now, now, don't act like that. We still have a good portion to examine." She levitated a map to each and everyone of us, an official map of the area, which had a red square drawn with a marker highlighting the area we were allowed to be in. "You're going to pick up any leaves you find and make a rough sketch in your journals that should look similar to it. By the sketch, you should write down the name of the tree it came from, what color the leaf was, how long it was, how wide it is, and what felt like against the frog of your hoof. In that order. You should be able to find the name of the tree three pages back when we were studying vocabulary. You should also circle down on your map where you found the leaf. I want all of you to have, at least, three different types of tree leaf sketched and written down in your journal by the time we leave the park, but feel free to sketch down more leaves if you're having fun! Scar, you are really scratching your nose, are you alright?" After her explanation, she almost every filly and colt started looking my way as I was rubbing away at my snout with a fetlock.
"U-um... Yes, I'm fine..."
"Eugh!" Wailed Crystal, "You better not have a cold, because if you get me sick-"
"I-i don't have a cold! M-my nose j-just really itches!"
"Hmph! That's how it always starts! First is an itch, then it turns to sneezing and coughing, immediately followed by an epidemic!"
"Crystal." Mrs. Wordsearch said sternly, making Crystal quiet down. "Class, you may go and examine the trees now. If you find a leaf or tree you don't know, come get me." She ended with a smile. The class dispersed and she walked toward me. "Scar, are you sure you aren't under the weather? It wouldn't do for a sick colt to be outside."
"I'm fine... My nose is just itchy..." She put a hoof on my shoulder.
"Is it stuffy, it's not difficult to inhale, is it?"
"No... Ok, maybe it's a little stuffy."
"Does it feel like you need to sneeze-"
"Yes! I-i mean, yes, ma'am."
"Heheh," she chuckled as she booped me. "It could just be the pollen that's goofing with your snoot. If it gets any worse, please tell me." I nodded.
"Yes, ma'am."
"Ok, now run along and sketch some leaves, we only have a little over forty minutes left." I nodded again.
"Ok." After she had Pat my shoulder, I went on my merry way toward a tree I instantly knew. It was a cotton wood tree, the leaf was three inches long, two inches wide, dark green on the front and pale on the back, the back felt kinda fuzzy while the front felt like that pleather stuff my sister would wear.
Shk, shk.
My ears twitched when I heard something getting rustled. After a quick look around, I found the dark-blue tail of a pony slightly waving between a pair of bushes. I walked around to see light-blue colt with dark-blue mane. His mane was spiky like mine, though his stood out more to the sides. He had orange eyes. He was examining a weird blue branch with purple leaves and some odd looking red and yellow flower on the end. I continued to rub my snout.
"Hey, whazzat?" I so eloquently asked.
"I have... No idea... But I don't care. I'm still drawing it." He said. His voice was a little rough, almost like he had strained it through the night.
"Cool. Wait, should we draw the purple leaves or the red ones? Or the yellow ones?"
"The red and yellow ones are flower petals," he pointed at the flower, "you can see the stamen in the center."
"Huh." We both drew a leaf, two inches long, half an inch in width, purple, a bit coarse. After writing down how it felt, I heard Mrs. Wordsearch walk by us. "Hold on for a sec, I'm gonna get the teacher."
"Yeah, we do need to know what the name is, don't we?" He responded. After calling for her and saying we needed help, she followed me past the bushes to the branch.
"Oh my." She adjusted her glasses. "I think, I think you boys just found the branch of a Dragon Sneeze tree."
"Dragon what tree?" We asked.
"A Dragon Sneeze tree, they're a tree with a special magic to them. They make dragons sneeze, basically. It's self explanatory, really."
"What let's them make dragons sneeze?" The colt asked.
"I wish I could tell you. I really don't know what kind of magic allows them to turn such beasts into a sniffle ridden mess."
"So... Can we keep this written down in our journals?" I asked.
"Oh, of course you can. This is a wonderful find, you two." She gave us a mirthful smile.
"Actually, he found it," I pointed to the blue colt," I just happened to find him.
"Well, either way, this is really wonderful. Ah ha, I know what to do with this." A moka colored glow surrounded a few leaves and were picked off and placed in a plastic baggy to be stored away in her saddle bags. "Strange that this branch would be so far away from the tree." She looked left and right. "I can't even see a Dragon Sneeze tree anywhere, where did this branch come from?" She walked off, I think she was lost in thought. I was about to talk to the colt when I turned to him, but he was already walking off in the direction opposite of our teacher. After seeing that he was an Earth pony and didn't have a Cutie Mark, I decided I would probably talk to him later and went to an oak tree.
Eventually, the time came for us to head back to the school and my snout was finally feeling like it should, clear and itch-free. Due to Mrs. Wordsearch combining the first and second lesson times into one for today, that meant the next lesson time was library time. I am so glad they call them "periods" instead of "times" now. The halls of the school were a little bland now that I look back on them. They were lit by candles since they had almost no windows for some reason, the ceilings were boring, and the floor was just an eyesore. Who ever designed the floor must've been under the influence of something because the pattern on the floor was just weird, multicolored, reflective, abstract shapes on an off-white background. You might be thinking I have something against the floor, and you'd be right, I do.
I remember the library being close to the furnace room, just across the hall from it. Obviously, the library had bookshelves and tables. To the left and right of the main desk, bookshelves were lined against the walls, leaving room for tables to be placed in the open space. The checkout desk sat across the way from the door, windows letting in the sunlight from behind. The children walked around, some returning their checked-out books to get new ones, while others that hadn't gotten a book last time trotted to the shelves to get one now. I was one of the former, but the last in line. I took out The Mare in the Moon along with the bits, and hoofed them to Mrs. Wordsearch, whom had taken her place behind the desk. She took out a slip of paper, upon which were written details about the books physical condition.
"One The Mare in the Moon," she verbally listed off, "no water damage on either cover, no pencil or ink on either cover," she flipped the pages of the book in rapid succession, "no water damage nor pencil or ink on the pages, no folds or creases, ..." She turned her attention to me. "I see you've been using sticky notes as bookmarks again?"
"Y-Yes," I said, afraid the sticky notes may have left some residue on the pages. "W-why do you ask?" She turned the closed book toward me with her magic, back cover first. Opening it revealed the inside of the back cover was bathed in sticky notes. "Oh, so that's where they went."
"Fourteen sticky notes, all inside the back cover. You read this book fourteen times in the last five days?"
"... Y-Yes..." I looked down to my hooves.
"Hehe, Scar, don't look so ashamed." She used her magic to turn my face to her. "That just shows how much you love reading, either that or how much you love this book, and that isn't something to be ashamed about.
"I know..." Despite really wanting to look away, I continued to give her my full attention.
"Now, this book is three days late, excluding the weekend, and you've already payed the late fee. Why don't you go and get another book while I keep this here, ok?"
"Actually, I-I was wondering if I c-could check that out again."
"I'm sorry, Scar, but the The Mare in the Moon won't be able to be checked out." I was about to interrupt when she held up a hoof, silencing me before I even spoke. "This book is going to be picked up after school by a member of the Royal Guard today. Princess Celestia's personal student has requested this book, and as fate just so happens to be, this is the only copy in Canterlot."
"The only copy?"
"Heh, I don't know either. You'd think The Mare in the Moon would have hundreds of copies within Canterlot. You ask me, I think it's a conspiracy." She finished the explanation, ending the last bit with a wink, signifying she was joking. "I'm sure you'll find another book like this one, in fact, here." In her dark-purple golw, she pulled a green book from under the desk, "This is a copy of West Equestria Legends. I'm more than positive you'll enjoy it." After writing my name on a piece of paper and sliding it into a pocket inside the front cover of the book, she floated it over to me. "I hope you have a fun read."
"Ok, I will." I nodded as I took the book between my hoof and chest. "Thank you." She smiled as I walked to a group of tables. That's when I saw him again, the blue colt. He was sitting with an open comic in his hooves. The title was covered, but I could immediately tell what he was reading. "Hey, you like Dragoon?"
"Yes I like comics, now go..." He trailed off before looking to me, disbelief in his eyes. He had been asked if he liked comics before, that was obvious, but this looked to be the first time anyone had asked seriously. "You know Dragoon?"
"Yeah, that's my favorite comic!" In that moment, I felt excitement raise within me as I found somepony who liked the same comic I did. I still kept a quiet tone, I was in a library after all. "My favorite arc so far is the Abyssal Beast arc!" I had sat down beside him at this point.
"Abyssal Beast arc?"
"You're on chapter twenty-three, right? Odd-Eyes and Pendulums?" He took a quick look at the front cover.
"Yeah!" I could here his excitement, despite his quiet tone. Library equals quiet.
"The arc I'm talking about doesn't start for another few chapters." I gasped as a thought ran through my head. "I have every chapter of Dragoon so far, wanna come to my house after school and read them?"
"Would I!? That sounds like a lotta fun!" He took my hoof and shook it. "I'm Blur, Blur Navy. I'm bad with names, so sorry if I forgot yours. What's your name?"
"I'm Scar Cross, and don't worry, I'm also bad with names." After that, we read his copy of chapter twenty-three and talked about other Dragoon stuff until the bell rang, telling our class that it was time to pack up and head to our room.
Author's Note
Feel free to leave a comment or criticism, or anything really. I'll be happy read 'em.
Fun little side note. The first word in paragraph 6 is the 556th word in the chapter.
