I didn't wake up to anything in particular, really. I suppose it was just my body's way of telling me enough was enough. Unfortunately, the muscles in my hind legs haven't quite figured that out yet as there was a fuzzy feeling of slight numbness from the bottom half. It wasn't a terrible problem to have though. Just one of the many excuses I could use to justify my staying in bed.
Eventually, starring up at the fan and counting how many times the blades made a full rotation got incredibly boring. That and the bright sunlight from my window effortlessly overpowered through my curtains and eyelids. Guess for every reason there was to stay in bed, there was an equal amount to get out of it. Touche. With what little energy I had, I managed to hoist myself up and let out an exasperated yawn along with a stretch. Smacking my lips together, I was also able to notice a distusting taste in my mouth. Annoyed, I finally crawled out of bed and got myself ready. I made my way downstairs and was immediately greeted by the warm scent of mom's breakfast. A hearty pile of pancakes was tilting on a plate right on the part of the kitchen table i like the most: next to the fridge. If, in the event I happen to be choking, I could simply and quickly reach back and get a drink. It's not that I'm paranoid or dont know how to properly swallow, I just like to plan ahead. My dad teases me about it, believing it's some bad habit but i never saw it that way.
I forked down my breakfast alone while listening to the clock slowly tick against the wall, carefully eating around the flapjacks as to not get my white mane sticky with syrup. Eating breakfast alone was pretty normal during the week. By the time I wake up, my parents have already started the day either out in the field or stables with me following sluggishly behind. When it came to work, I'm admittedly a slow starter but only because I'm not a morning pony. The life of a farmer is strangely satisfying and peaceful although it requires a bit of a morning patience that I've yet to aquire. I blame my late night studies. I'm unquestionably the most knowledgeble one in my family. What I've sacrificed physically, I made up mentally.
I finished breakfast and made my way outside. Opening the door,I was immediately met with soothing sunlight and that smell of fresh soil.
"Aaah," I sighed, "feels nice."
After I got tired of admiring my brown fur glistening, I looked around for mom and dad. Usually they'd already be out here picking our vegetables. Our farm was located near the outskirts of Ponyville. The space was necessarry due to the large amounts and variations of vegetables we grew. The isolation never felt isolating, however. The train station was only about a few miles away from home.
Eventually I was able to track down my parents who were in the stables where we mainly to packaging and inventory. From a distance, I noticed Dad rustling a hoof through his frazzled, dark-brown mane. He did it so often sometimes it got hard to tell whether or not he was concerned about something. They standing over a box reading over something and seemed to be discussing something pretty serious judging by Mom's face.
"Yo," I greeted. "Obviously, I'm the last pony here to anounce, but shouldn't we be getting ready for delivery?" They both turned to face me immediately shifting their previous looks. Dad chuckled and smiled at me saying something really stupid that I didn't really catch. I was still tired.
"Barron, honey," Mom said with a weakish grin, "your dad and I have something to tell you...It's about school."
Shit, I knew it. I was naive in the first place to think I'd ever make it into the Canterlot school for Gifted Unicorns. First and foremost, I'm not a damn unicorn. But still, did they even bother at looking at my high school records? Gradutated with a perfect GPA and qualifying for Princess Twilight's Advanced Sciences Internship Program. Sure I can't actually use magic, but can't they at least entertain me?
My mom noticed that I started to get flustered and she quicky reassured me. "Oh, no, honey, its not that," she gently placed her hoof on my head, "you actually got in! Its just the financial issue." Dad sighed and shook his head. Suddenly my heart sank. I hadn't thought it was psooible to feel happy and sad at the same time but there's apparently many things I don't know concerning simultaneus emotion. Altough I wasn't at all surprised, but it doesn't change the fact that it was my whole reason for trying so hard in school to begin with. Suddenly I felt as if all my work was reduced to dust.
"We know you won't like it son," Dad gave me the papers that he and mom were reading over, "but this was the only way we could've gotten you into Canterlot without taking out any loans."
Nearly swiping the papers from his hoof from impatience, I quickly ran through the forms and my heart sank so deep into my chest, I thought it would burst from my damn back. These were estate forms. They're planning on selling the entire farm to pay for school. I couldn't believe it. My whole life I had thought my parents simply thought of my fascinations with magic as nothing more than a hobby. But here they are, willing to sacrifice everything their business and livelihood stood for all so their weird kid can chase his unreachable dreams. My hooves trembled and it became increasingly difficult to breathe. I don't deserve my parents and they definitely don't deserve a setback such as myself. Guilt overwhlemed me as I stood there starring blankly at the papers before I came back to my senses.
"No," I placed the sheets back onto the box, "I'm not going to do this if this is the price. Are you guys Insane?"
"Barron, this isnt just for your school," Dad smiled as he placed a soft hoof on my head, trying to comfort me. "With this money, you'll be able to live there in Canterlot as you study! Besides, we're not getting rid of the entire farm...it's more of land renting situation. It's a good thing altogether since we could always use an extra set of hooves around here."
"Don't care. I'm not going to leave you guys while random ponies we've never seen before start living here."
"Honey, we knew you would react this way," Mom said concerningly. "We understand how important your magic school is and we're not exaclty losing any of the farm. You always blow the simplest things out of proportion."
"It's not like we can go back on it now," Dad added. "We already got your apartment and purchased your train tickets!"
"WHAT?"
They gave me an envelope containing the train ticket and a single, bronze key. They weren't joking. I would have never imagined that this would have been the payoff for doing something that I wasn't born for. Obviously, I knew there would be some sort of consequences but definitely not anything drastic. Do they honestly expect me to do good in school on a guilty conscience?
After what seemed like hours of talking, Mom and Dad had finally eased my nerves to a degree and I had settled my mind into continuing going to Canterlot. By the time we had finished in the stables, I had somehow forgotten it was still quite early in the morning. Shortly after the three of us had went back to work as if nothing had happened. But my mind was anything but still. After all, I'm an earth pony going to a school dedicated to the magical arts. It seemed as if I had been chasing after this my whole life. I mean, I have, but now that it's finally here, it suddenly feels so strange as if it had been a dream all along. I'm not sure what kind of answers I think I'm going to be getting from all this, but this was yet another one of those times I wish I were a unicorn.
