Chapters The Bluestar Element
Written by BronyDerp117/K.G. Sanchez
Chapter One: The Move
"Y-you write me and v-visit often, you understand?" The Princess said with warm tears rolling down her face.
"I understand. And you keep being the most beautiful mare in Equestria." Skate responded with a warm smile. She looked at the teared up pony in front of her. Her silver coat with an ocean blue mane shuffled slightly from the light Canterlot breeze, and her big blue eyes were filled with tears. Skate wasn't attracted to the Princess that way, she was just openly honest with her opinions of her best friend.
"That's impossible while you're still on this planet. And promise you'll write me."
Skate chuckled. "Oh how I love your cheesiness. And I promise as Celestia, or better yet, Luna as my witness. She is your mother after all."
"Here, put these pins in your saddle bag. Whenever you write a letter, put one of those pins on the tie so I know its from you. They're your cutie mark."
Skate was surprised. These weren't your average knock off gold pins. These were solid, real gold that were reserved for Celestia's and Luna's personal letters. "Wow, they let you make, what? Two-hundred Celestia-letter-worthy gold pins just for me?"
Now Princess Silver Dream chuckled. "Why do little things impress you so much? Yes,being best friends with a Princess has its advantages."
The two mares smiled warmly at each other and embraced for a few moments.
"I'm going to miss you so much." Silver muttered through a fresh batch of tears.
"Me too." Skate responded, her own tears coming out now.
"As will I." Luna said as she walked up to the embracing mares. "Your saddle bags are all packed up. I was surprised at how little things you had in your room in the castle. But then again you have never been very materialistic. Has Silver explained what to do when you arrive in Ponyville?
"Thank you Luna, you really didn't have to have the guards pack my bags for me. As for arriving in Ponyville instructions, no. She hasn't."
Silver went wide eyed for a second, then responded, "Oh buck, I'm sorry." She paused as Luna gave her a quick glare for her language, then continued, "When you arrive in Ponyville go straight to the library and speak to the librarian. She lives there so she'll most likely be in there. Tell her you're the new pony moving into the house at 128 Mane Street. She'll lead you to your new house and answer any questions you might have. Also, the post office is directly three buildings to the left of your house, so you can't be lazy and say 'Its too far'."
Skate laughed and replied, "Damn Silver, why are you so clever? I'll make sure to send you and Luna a letter after I'm settled in." Skate looked at the clock tower above them. 10:42AM. "Well noon is creeping up, and I wanna get settled in by nightfall. So girls, I guess this is goodbye."
"Oh, one more thing Skate. Don't start shredding up the streets until you're at least settled in.
Skate pouted, "Awwww, fine. Well I really should be leaving now, its about an hour trip and I really don't want to be fumbling around with boxes in the dark. Especially with all the furniture I have to buy when I get there. Goodbye girls, I'll make sure to write to you two either tonight or tomorrow morning."
"Farewell for now young one." Luna said affectionately. The three ponies hugged tightly, tears coming from all of their eyes. Skate folded out her wings, getting ready to take off. She made sure everything was in the bag(mainly just her hat, extra pair of glasses, and her enchanted, foldable skateboard), said her final goodbyes, and took off. Her deep water blue mane with its purple streaks and purple bow flapped violently in the wind as she flew off.
Silver and Luna stood there watching her fly to Ponyville. After a few minutes, Luna asked Silver, "Why didn't you tell her Twilight Sparkle was the librarian?"
Silver smiled and replied, "I figured meeting her idol would be better as a surprise."
"Maybe she speaks truth, you are a clever one dear daughter."
Skate had idolized Twilight Sparkle. She was one of the few ponies not from Ponyville who knew who the Element Bearers were. Skate would study up on them for hours and hours at a time. Books, ponies(mainly Celestia and Luna, having the Night Princess's daughter as a best friend did in fact have advantages), whatever resource she could get to to gain knowledge of them. She had particularly taken interest in Twilight Sparkle, since Skate had been fascinated by magic her whole life. Skate would always say she would gladly trade her wings for a horn. Though Silver would always make her rant end when she reminded her that skateboarding would be ten times more difficult if she didn't have wings.
Skate had also always been a very different pony. She was extremely athletic, skateboarding whenever she could. She had won multiple championships in Manehatten and Fillydelphia. She was an excellent flyer too. But despite her athletic nature, she was a bit of an egghead. Skate became fascinated with magic, science, and history at an early age, and would study them frequently. Reading was one of the few things that brought her happiness as a filly.
It is late morning now, and Skate is closing in on Ponyville
"Seems like a nice enough town from the air." Skate said to herself.
Something flashed by in the corner of her eye, and she stopped flying for a second, hovering. To the right she saw a cyan coated pony with a rainbow colored mane clearing some clouds. Skate looked up at the sky, looking at the position of the sun.
"I got some time to spare, and I'm gonna be a weather pony anyways. Might as well start practicing now. " she thought to herself. She flew a little closer to the pegasus clearing the clouds, then yelled out to her.
"Hey there! Need a hoof?"
Skate's voice startled the cyan pony, and she started looking around seeing where the voice came from.
"Who's there?" She yelled out to the sky, still unsure where the voice came from.
Skate slowly flew towards the cyan pony, who noticed her as she approached.
"Oh hey there. You startled me pretty good there. Uh I'm Rainbow Dash, fastest pegasus in Equestria! Say, what are you doing all the way out here? Wait wait wait, are you that new pegasus moving into the house on Mane Street?" Rainbow asked. Skate's jaw dropped, recognizing the name "Rainbow Dash" instantly. Rainbow eyed the shocked pegasus, wondering what was wrong with her.
"You alright there kid?"
Skate managed to snap out of her stunned state, and exclaimed excitedly "Y-you're Rainbow Dash! The Element of Loyalty! Ohmaigoshomaigoshohmaigoshohmaigosh I can't believe I just met an Element Bearer!"
Rainbow, surprised by this new pony's reaction, pridefully answered"A fan eh? Well how about you help me clear these clouds and we can talk a bit."
Skate's jaw dropped once again. "R-Rainbow Dash wa-....wants ME...t-...to help her cl-...clear clouds? Ohhhh myyyyy.... ahhh ehhh aye..." She continued to fangasm and speak jibberish as Rainbow hovered there, laughing so hard that her ribs started to hurt. She finally managed to stop laughing and said, "Lets start kid. Er, I didn't get your name. What is it?"
"Skate Bluestar."
"Well lets start then Skate!"
Oh my gosh I'm clearing clouds with Rainbow Dash! An ELEMENT BEARER! I can't believe this! This is the best day ever! Skate thought to herself. They started clearing clouds and Rainbow asked her where she was from. Skate explained how she was born and raised in Canterlot, but couldn't stand the uptight, posh ponies that inhabited the city. She further told Rainbow that for a year after she graduated high school, she started working at a shoe store to save up her bits to buy a house in Ponyville.
"Why'd you want to move to little old Ponyville? I understand you wanted to live in a small town, but why Ponyville? Wouldn't you want to live as far away from Canterlot as possible?" Rainbow asked, slightly confused.
"I do hate Canterlot, but my best friend lives there, and couldn't move with me. I knew there was a small town near Canterlot called Ponyville, and I chose it so I could easily visit my best friend whenever I wanted." Skate replied.
The two continued talking and clearing clouds, but the talking slowed down the clearing by a lot. They finally finished after about forty-five minutes.
"You seem pretty cool kid, we should hang out sometime. If you need help settling in just ask me okay?"
Skate grinned from ear to ear. Not only had she talked with Rainbow Dash, but they would be able to hang out again!
"Okay! I'll um, see you later Rainbow Dash!" Skate said joyfully. Rainbow Dash waved her goodbye as Skate turned around to fly towards Ponyville. Then a brilliant idea came into Skate's head.
I wonder if this will make a nice impression. She said to herself in her head. Smiling widely, Skate turned around again to face Rainbow, waving her goodbye as well. All of a sudden, she blasted up in the air flying incredibly fast, turning,diving, and arching in the air at the same time, doing a picture perfect, magnificent corkscrew through the air. With lightning fast speed, she continued to dive toward Ponyville still twirling. As she leveled out again into normal flight, but still going extremely fast, she looked behind her and grinned so widely that her smile would've been able to stretch across all of Equestria. Rainbow Dash's face was priceless. Her eyes wide, mouth dropped wide open, she stared at the light blue pegasus who had just done the best corkscrew she had ever seen fly towards Ponyville. Skate wished she could have taken a picture.
I've never even done a corkscrew that good! Not even Spitfire! Rainbow Dash thought to herself, still absolutely shocked by the trick.
Skate was about land at the the edge of Ponyville. Her day had already been the best day of her life. Little did she know the day was about to get a hundred times better within the next few hours.
Chapter 2: The Best Day Ever
Chapter 2: The Best Day Ever
Skate landed on the ground near the edge of Ponyville, still smiling as wide as a mile. She walked around for a bit, looking at this new place. The buildings were colorful and bright. The air was fresh and clean. It was nice a quiet, aside from a few fillies giggling and laughing off in the distance while playing with their friends. This is what Skate wanted, no, needed. To get away from the judgmental eyes of the big city, to be in a nice, quiet place where she could just relax and be herself without worrying about getting disgusted looks from fancy dressed ponies.
Oh I'm gonna like it here. Skate thought to herself.
She walked down the street, stopping occasionally to see what a pony had at his/her kiosk. Ponies greeted her politely as she trotted along, happy to see a new pony in town. Skate was lost in thought of all the wonderful things she had already seen in this town. So lost in thought that she didn't see the little purple dragon in front of her.
"Ow buck! Oh I'm so sorry mister. I was just zoning out. Are you okay?" Skate said worriedly to the purple dragon that had fallen over. Spike was re-rolling up a scroll that had come undone and didn't notice the pony. Still on the ground, he looked up the pony giving him a worried look. Spike was stunned at the mare's beauty. Her deep ocean blue mane with the purple streak running through the whole length of the mane, her simple, yet stunning manestyle done up in a pony tail, with a big purple bow keeping the ponytail from going undone. He looked into her big, deep purple eyes behind her slightly tinted eyeglasses. Her mane was covering half of her right eye, making the shine in her eyes look even shinier. Her sky blue coat was bright and clean.
She's more beautiful than Rarity! Spike thought to himself.
"Um, sir? Are you okay?" Skate asked once again.
"Huh? Uhh, y-yeah I'm fine, Just fine." Spike let out a nervous laugh. He blushed, his cheeks becoming a light crimson.
"I'm Spike! Um, what's your name?"
"I'm Skate Bluestar!" She chimed cheerfully. "I'm the pegasus that bought the house on 128 Mane Street. Do you know where the library is? I'm suppose to meet up with the librarian."
Spike was still trying to get over her beauty. Skate had to say his name again to get him to snap out of it. "Oh, yes. Its that big tree down the road. Can't miss it! So, um, I'll just be off now! Bye!" Spike said while quickly running off.
"Thank you sir!" Skate yelled out to the running dragon. Every time. Skate thought to herself, chuckling. She trotted down the street toward the library. She was about half way down the street when a pink pony jumped up in front of her, scaring her half to death.
"AH!" Skate yelped.
The pink pony looked at Skate for a second, gasped over-dramatically and quite loudly, then ran off. Skate stood there, very confused on what the hay just happened. She shook her head, hoping that if she was going insane, the insanity somehow fell out by shaking her head. She continued trotting down the street, but this time keeping an eye out for the strange pink pony that had nearly given her a heart attack. After a few more hellos and welcomes from friendly ponies, Skate got to the door of the library. She knocked on the door with her hoof, awaiting the librarian to answer.
I really hope she's not a boring, bitter old mare. Skate said to herself in her head.
But what happened next shocked Skate. As Skate was opening her mouth to say hello, she saw the lavender unicorn standing in the doorway. Her eyes as wide as her head, and her jaw to the ground, she stared at Twilight Sparkle in the doorway. Skate knew what the Element of Magic Bearer looked like from Luna and Celestia's descriptions of her, and a few pictures. Skate stood there completely frozen in shock. She was looking at her life time idol in the eyes.
"Um, hello. My name is Twilight Sparkle. Can I help you with something? Do you need a book?" Twilight asked, feeling a little awkward by the way the young pegasus in front of her was looking at her. "Are you okay?"
Skate managed to get two words out. "Tw-Twilight Sp-Sparkle?"
"Yes...do I know you from some where?" Twilight was very confused from the young mare's behavior.
"OHMAIGOSHOHMAIGOSHOHMAIGOSHOHMAIGOSHOHMAIGOSHOHMAIGOSH TWILIGHT SPARKLE HOLY BUCK YOU'RE TWILIGHT SPARKLE!! OHMAIGOSHOHMAIGOSH!" Skate yelled all of a sudden, excitement and happiness overtaking her. The sudden burst from the pegasus had scared Twilight so bad she fell over.
"Who are you?!" Twilight demanded more than asked, a little angry.
"Oh I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to scare you its just that you've been my idol since I was just a little filly! You're the Element of Magic! I've always been so fascinated by magic." Skate replied apologetically.
Twilight blushed and said, "Really? Why thank you. Um, are you Skate Bluestar? The pegasus moving into 128 Mane Street?"
"Sure am!" Skate replied, still beaming with excitement.
"Well I'm sure you have some free time on your hooves, would you like to come in for some tea or water?" Twilight offered Skate. No one had ever looked up to Twilight as a hero before, and it felt good. She felt it was the least she could do.
"I'd love that. Tea please." Skate answered.
Twilight showed her in and put a pillow on the floor for her to sit. Skate thanked Twilight as she walked into the kitchen to make the tea. Skate looked around at the impressive collection of books in the library. It had everything from spell tomes, to biological history of ponies, to even joke books. Skate could already tell she was going to fall in love with this library. Especially the rather large magic section.
"Impressive isn't it?" Twilight said as she walked into the room from the kitchen. She noticed that Skate was looking at all of the books. Maybe she likes to read stuff other than the cheesy fiction stories most of the ponies here read. Twilight thought to herself.
"Very. And I thought my own collection back into Canterlot was good. This blows it to shame!" Skate replied.
At the mention of Canterlot, Twilight became very curious. "Oh, you're from Canterlot too? What made you want to move out here to Ponyville?" Twilight asked as she levitated the tea cup in front of Skate. She studied the magic aura around the cup for a brief second before taking it in her hooves.
Skate took a sip. "Mmmm, delicious. Thank you. I moved here from Canterlot because I was sick of all the fancy, uptight, posh ponies that lived there. I may have been born and raised there, but I am far from a normal Canterlot citizen." Skate said to Twilight in a bit of an angered tone.
"Oh I'm sorry Twilight, its just they really get me angry. I came here to Ponyville so I could be myself without getting constant insults from all the wealthy ponies who think they're too good and rich to have a little simple fun."
Twilight felt a little bad for the pegasus. She knew how Skate felt, because she herself had been bullied as a filly for being a "nerd". "Don't worry Skate. All the ponies here are very kind and tolerant. I know how you feel, I was picked on as a filly for being what they called a 'nerd'."
Skate gave her a warm smile. "Thanks Twilight, that puts a big worry off my chest. Um, do they have anything against skateboarders though?"
Twilight looked at Skate with a confused look. Twilight wasn't familiar with this "skateboarding" thing Skate had mentioned, and she could sense Twilight's confusion.
"Its a sport. You ride a board similar to a scooter and try to do stunts and other fun stuff. Like I said, the thing you ride on is very similar to scooter, it just doesn't have the bar or handles." Skate explained.
Twilight nodded, giving Skate the assumption that she understood.
"I can tell you and Scootaloo are going to be good friends." Twilight said with a slight chuckle.
Skate laughed softly, which made Twilight look confused again.
"Twilight, we're cousins. We met when we were both 15." Skate explained. Twilight raised her eyebrows, she obviously didn't expect that. "So I assume Scoots lives here in Ponyville still?" Skate said.
Twilight gave her head a little shake, still a little surprised that Scootaloo had a cousin in Canterlot that she never mentioned before."Um, yes. Wow, I wonder why she never told us about you. Do you use your wings to accelerate on your, uh, skateboard like Scootaloo uses hers to accelerate her on her scooter?" Twilight asked. She didn't know this pony very well, but she was definitely a very interesting pony to talk to.
"Yes, though my wings are much more powerful than Scootaloo's. She never was that great of a flyer. I couldn't fly at all until I was ten years old myself because my wings developed very late. But when they did develop, I was a natural at flying. I'm very fast and can do quite a bit of tricks too. But I've always found flying too boring, so I usually use my skateboard to travel."
"You've got to be the most interesting pony I've ever talked to" Twilight said while laughing. Skate blushed, her idol had just said she was interesting. It wasn't much, but it meant a lot to Skate.
Skate giggled a little. "Thanks. Is it okay if I ask a few questions about magic and the such? Ever since I was a little filly I've been so fascinated by magic. Actually, I think it happened around the time of the Nightmare Moon incident."
Twilight was taken back a little by her question. An athletic, wild, and fun pegasus who reads books and was interested in magic. That was definitely a first for Twilight.
"Sure! Ask all the questions you want."
So Skate started asking Twilight questions, intrigued by every answer Twilight gave. They talked for hours about magic, science, history, the Elements, their points of views on many different things, and many other subjects. Twilight very much liked this pony. So young, only eighteen, yet so wise and open-minded. She could tell this was going to be the start of a great friendship.
"So Twilight, I do have one last question. Do bearing the elements have any side affects?"
Twilight was a little surprised by this question. Not because it was a confusing question or hard to answer, but because she asked it at all.
"There's only one that we know of. Bearing the Elements gives you the life length of an alicorn. So we're going to live as long as the Princesses. Well, Silver Dream might outlive us since shes only sixteen."
Twilight noticed a change in Skate's expression when she said Silver Dream's name. Skate then began to tear up, and Twilight got very concerned,
"Hey whats wrong? Did I say something to offend you?" Twilight asked.
"No. Its just the mention of Silver's name." Skate said quietly.
"Why does that make you tear up?"
"Remember during our conversation how I said I had to leave my only friend in Canterlot?" Skate said.
"Yes. Is she involved with Princess Silver Dream for something?" Twilight answered.
"She is Silver Dream." Skate muttered as a tear rolled down her cheek. Twilight's eyes went wide and her mouth went wide open. Skate noticed Twilight's shock, and chuckled slightly.
"You are DEFINITELY the most interesting pony I have ever met." Twilight finally said. This just made Skate's chuckle turn into a full laughing fit.
"Well Twilight, it was very nice talking to you. You've definitely made me feel a lot less worried about this move. So shall we go to my house? I wanted to try to get settled in by nightfall, and its.."She paused to look at the clock."Wow, its already two PM."
"Sure thing, just follow me." Twilight responded. "Its just right down the street, next to my favorite cafe in Ponyville.
"Silver knows me way too well." Skate said with a laugh.
While Twilight was showing her to her house, it was Twilight's turn to ask questions.
"If you don't mind me me asking asking, how in the hay are you best friends with the Princess of Dreams?"
Skate laughed, it was always fun explaining this to ponies. "When Silver was eight years old, she told Luna she was tired of the fancy school and wanted to be around normal ponies in a normal school. After an argument that resulted in Silver winning, she transferred to the school I went to. On her first day, the teacher assigned her to the seat next to me. Back then Silver being a Princess was still secret. She was quite shy when I first introduced myself, but as we started talking more and more, we became very close. Every since then, we've been the best of friends."
"Well, I'm not one to make assumptions without scientific logic, but that sounds a lot like faith to me." Twilight said.
"Indeed it was. I guarantee if she was friends with someone else when Luna told her she was an 'oops' foal, she wouldn't have gotten over it. When Luna told her, she stormed out of the castle and came running to my house. My dad told her I was eating at my favorite cafe, so she ran there. She ran right into me as I was leaving. She started bawling on my shoulders, telling what happened. I told her I was an 'oops' foal too, and I cheered her up. She still to this day thanks me for that." Skate said. She got choked up at the memory.
Twilight was impressed with their friendship. "You two must be very close. Do you miss her?"
"Yes, I already miss her very much. This is the longest we've been apart since, well. Ever, I think. We're like sisters." Skate replied with a tear in her eye. However the tear was more from happiness than sadness.
"Us Element Bearers are like that. We're basically sisters with different blood lines. Well we're here. How do you like your house from the outside?"
Skate beamed with happiness. "This is my house?! Holy buck this is at least twice as big as my house in Canterlot!" she exclaimed. Twilight was please that she liked the house. Twilight unlocked the door, and threw the key to Skate.
"Let me show you the inside." Twilight gave her a tour of the house. It was a quite decent sized home. It had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, an upstairs, a living room, a dining room that connected to a kitchen, and a couple of big closets.
"Wow, this is amazing!" Skate chimed happily. "Silver even bought me furniture! I thought I was going to have to spend all day buying furniture. But now I have no idea what to do." Twilight was relieved that Skate loved the house. The last part of Skate's statement gave her an idea.
"How about a free spa treatment? My friends Rarity and Fluttershy can take you. They go to the local spa every week on this day, and I'm sure they would love to meet you. Especially Rarity, she's the Ponyville fashionista, she makes beautiful dresses. And I'm sure she'll go on and on about how pretty your mane is." Twilight offered Skate.
Skate blushed again. "Thank you, I think I gave a little purple dragon a heart attack when I bumped into him." She then started to laugh. "He couldn't stop staring at me. It was hilarious."
Twilight laughed too. "That's my assistant, Spike. And I'll tell Rarity and Fluttershy to order a treatment for you. The spa is that building right over there." Twilight pointed her hoof toward the spa and Skate nodded her head showing that she understood. Skate thanked Twilight again and made her way to the spa.
I got to meet my idol, talk with her about everything I've always dreamed of talking to her about, my house is the nicest non-royal house I've ever been in, and I get a free spa treatment with two more Element Bearers. This day couldn't get any more perfect. Skate thought to herself.
Chapter 3: Heaven in the Spa
Chapter 3: Heaven in the Spa
Skate arrived at the spa after the short walk. She was glad to know that there was a spa not even five minutes from her new house. She pushed open the door and walked inside. One of the spa workers approached Skate wearing an inviting smile on her face.
"Hello and welcome to Day Spa! My name is Lotus and I hope you have a wonderful experience!" said the earth pony.
Skate smiled politely and replied, "Thank you, I'm sure I will. Um, is there a unicorn by the name of Rarity and a pegasus by the name of Fluttershy here?" The second Skate had finished her sentence, the white colored unicorn walked up to Skate.
"Oh you must be Skate Bluestar! Lotus, give her the full treatment on me." Rarity excitedly said. Twilight had told Rarity everything about Skate, and she sounded very intriguing.
"Why thank you Miss Rarity. Um, I've never been to a spa before, what exactly do we do?" Skate asked. Skate technically had been to a spa before, just didn't have time to get any treatments since she crashed through it's windows on her skateboard. The look on the spa owner's face was priceless, and Skate didn't regret it one bit just because of that face.
"Your coat and mane are that beautiful and you've never been to a spa?!" Rarity gasped. "This simply cannot be! Come, and be ready to be more relaxed than you ever have!"
Skate put on a polite smile and tried her best not to burst out laughing from Rarity's reaction. While Rarity and her were walking to the rooms, she noticed the pegasus named Fluttershy had been very quiet. Skate decided to introduce herself to the pony.
"I'm sorry Fluttershy, I haven't introduced myself. My name is Skate Bluestar! I appreciate you allowing me to come along with you and Rarity today." said Skate with a friendly grin. The pony mumbled something she couldn't understand, and she was about to ask what Fluttershy said when Rarity interrupted.
"She's very shy darling. Just give her a little time, she's a very sweet and kind pony once she stops being so shy." Rarity said.
Skate nodded as they made their way to the steam room.
"Here, put your mane up in the towel and put on this robe. You can put your lovely bow and eyeglasses on the bench over there." Aloe said to Skate. Rarity and Fluttershy already knew the drill, so they sat patiently as Skate untied her purple bow, allowing her long mane to flow freely. Rarity gasped as she saw Skate's full mane.
"Darling your mane!" Rarity exclaimed.
Rarity's statement concerned Skate, making her think something was wrong with it. "What? Is there something wrong with my mane?" Skate asked worriedly.
"No no no no darling, quite the opposite! Your make is just simply gorgeous! I've never seen such a beautiful pony, the stallions must be all over you!" Rarity said reassuringly.
Skate let out a giggle and blushed. "Thank you very much Rarity, your mane is very pretty too. Yeah I do catch a few stallions eyeing my flank every once in a while, but they hardly ever work up the guts to ask me out." Skate said as she finally got her hair properly wrapped up in the towel. She then took off her slightly tinted glasses, and her deep purple eyes became much more visible. Rarity gasped once again.
"My eyes?" "DARLING YOUR EYES!" Skate and Rarity said at the same time. Skate couldn't hold it in anymore and started laughing very hard. Fluttershy surprisingly was laughing too.
Lotus showed them into the steam room, and poured cold water on the hot, scorching rocks as the three mares started talking.
"I just simply can't understand how you don't have a special some pony. Surely there's a stallion you find attractive?" Rarity asked Skate.
Skate simply smiled and said, "No not really, but then again I guess I haven't really been looking."
They don't need to know, not yet. I don't know them well enough. Skate thought to herself.
"I have to agree with Rarity, I'm surprised you don't have a special some pony too." Fluttershy spoke the first understandable words of the night. Fluttershy didn't feel frightened around this pony. There was something about her that made her so friendly and easy to talk to.
Skate blushed again. "Oh come on girls. And what about yourselves? You two are very pretty, do you have special some ponies?" Skate asked. They continued to talk all through the spa treatment. Room from room they laughed, smiled, and generally had a good time. They shared stories and got to know each other very well. Even Fluttershy was being active in the conversations, and laughing just hard as the other two. After about three hours of what Skate would later describe as "Heaven in Equestria", they got to the last part of the spa treatment. The three of them climbed into their own separate tub of water that had been scented with fresh daisies. They let their manes hang free as Lotus, Aloe, and another worker all worked on their manes.
"The usual" Rarity and Fluttershy said at the same time. Lotus, who was working on Skate, asked her how she would like her mane done.
"Just the same how it was when I came in. And if you could also tie my bow how I had it I would be very grateful." Skate answered.
"Yes Miss Bluestar." Lotus replied. The workers put cucumber slices on the three mare's eyes and got to work, combing their manes out then beginning to style it as requested.
"Has this not been simply heavenly darling?" Rarity asked Skate.
"I haven't been this relaxed since the first time I slept on a cloud. I can't thank you enough Rarity and Fluttershy. How can I repay you?" Skate replied. She had already had the best day of her life, and now she had one of the most relaxing afternoons of her life.
"How about you tell me how you make your mane so beautiful!" Rarity replied.
Skate giggled and blushed again."You sure know how to make a girl blush Rarity. Believe or not, my mane is mostly natural."
Rarity choked on her own gasp as Skate said that."NATURAL?! Darling, you must be joking!" Rarity exclaimed.
"Nope, I just run the comb through it a few times when I wake up, tie it up in its ponytail with my bow, and I'm done. Sometimes I have to re-comb it after I skateboard, but generally its very easy. Its a blessing that my mother passed on to me." Skate replied, her blush as red as ever.
"Wow, ponies are always saying my mane is pretty, and its simple to do, but not that simple." Fluttershy said. Skate's cheeks were now a deep crimson red. Rarity was still silent in shock.
The spa workers finished the three pony's manes, and they did a fantastic job. Skate's mane had looked exactly how it looked when she walked in. Even the bow was tied perfectly.
"I had a great time this afternoon girls. We should do this again sometime! I'm going to go home now, I'm exhausted from today, and I still have a few things to unpack. That spa treatment made me feel so relaxed I feel like I could go to sleep standing up and have the best sleep I ever had. Well, I'm off now. Bye girls." Skate said to Rarity and Fluttershy.
They waved goodbye as she walked toward her house. Fluttershy and Rarity decided to go to the cafe not too far from the spa and get a bite to eat. They walked in and ordered their food, Rarity ordered a daisy and apple sandwich with a glass of apple cider. Fluttershy ordered a grass and daisy sandwich with a glass of water. They picked up their food and walked out to a table outside. As they were eating, Rarity started talking to Fluttershy.
"Wasn't Skate an absolute gem? I've never met such a beautiful, friendly, and interesting pony before. And its amazing just how simple her manestyle was too." Rarity said.
"She certainly was a nice pony. I've never felt so comfortable around a pony I just met before. She was just so friendly and kind, I didn't feel frightened around her." Fluttershy replied. They continued to talk about Skate when Applejack walked up to them.
"Hiyah girls! What're you two talkin 'bout?" Applejack asked them.
"Oh we were just talking about how lovely the new pony in town is. Skate Bluestar is her name." Rarity answered,
"Ah that Canterlot pony that moved into 128 Mane Street right? Twilight told me about er' today. I reckon I'll drop by her place tomorrow mornin' and introduce mah' self." Applejack said.
"She's really friendly and nice, you'll like her Applejack. I wasn't even shy around her." Fluttershy said.
Applejack raised her eyebrows. What Fluttershy had said really surprised her. It took three months for Fluttershy to stop being so shy to Applejack when they met.
I'm definitely gonna have ta meet this pony. Applejack said to herself in her head.
Meanwhile, Skate has just finished unpacking her things and put them where they belonged in the house. Skate looked at the clock. 9:30PM. This had certainly been the best day of her entire life. As much as she wanted to go to sleep, she remembered her promise to Silver Dream. Skate got out a piece of paper and a quill and ink well and began writing.
Dear Silver Dream,
My first day in Ponville has been the best day of my life. And damn you for not telling me the Element Bearers lived here! I nearly had a heart attack when I saw Twilight Sparkle answer the door in the library. She invited me in for some tea and we talked for hours about magic, science, history, our perspectives on certain topics, and quite a few other things. I also learned something very interesting from Twilight. Apparently a side affect of being an Element Bearer is having the life length of an alicorn! I found that very interesting. Speaking of the Element Bearers, I met all of them except for the Element of Honesty(Applejack according to my books) and the Element of Laughter(Pinkie Pie according to Twilight Sparkle). I hope to meet them soon. Rarity and Fluttershy, the Elements of Generosity and Kindness, took me to the local spa with them. I haven't been that relaxed in years! I also haven't blushed this much since my wings developed and everyone kept saying how amazing they were. Everpony I met today said I was the most beautiful pony they had ever seen. They kept asking me why I didn't have a stallionfriend. It was so embarrassing the answers I gave them, but they can't know my secret. Not yet, maybe if my friendship with them grows I'll tell them eventually, but I'm not sure. My house is very lovely Silver, and I was very surprised to find it already filled with furniture. Thank you, because I would have been tired enough to sleep on the floor. Excuse me if my writing is sloppy, because like I said, I am very tired. I hope to hear from you soon.
Love,
Your Best Friend, Skate Bluestar.
She rolled up the paper, put one of the gold pins from Silver on the ribbon that tied it, and sent it through the post office. She arrived back home a few minutes later. She climbed under the covers of the most comfortable bed she had ever lied in, and drifted off into a peaceful sleep.
Chapter 4: A New Day...
*Bang! Bang! Bang!*
"Ughhh."
*Bang! Bang! Bang!*
"UGHHHH" Skate grunted louder, hoping that the pony banging on her front door so early in the morning heard. The pony banged a third time, then she or he stopped for a moment. She lifted up her head up off the pillow to try and listen closer. All Skate could hear were the calm, faint noises of the morning. The birds were tweeting and the crickets were chirping in the light summer morning air outside. The sun was just beginning to peak over the horizon and a slim ray of sunlight met Skate's eye when she lifted up her head. Seeing blue dots and satisfied that the pony was gone, Skate laid her head back down on the soft pillow. She was just about to doze off again when...
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Oh for bucks sake." Skate muttered under her breath. She moaned in annoyance as she kicked off the blankets and got up off of the bed. Grabbing a comb, she brushed it through her mess of a mane a few times and quickly tied her bow to make her mane look half way decent, and walked to the front door. Yawning loudly, she opened the door to see an orange earth pony with three apples for a cutie mark standing on her doorstep.
"Ugh, its six o clock in the morning miss. Do you need help with something?" Skate asked the pony.
"Hiya there Skate Bluestar! I'm Applejack, a fr-" Applejack began, but Skate interrupted her.
"Applejack? You're the Element of Honesty! I've read about you in my books, and Twilight told me a bit about you. Nice to meet you! I'm Skate Bluestar! Well, I guess you already knew that. Um, sorry for my grumpiness. I'm used to waking up at around 8AM."
Applejack laughed. "Being a fancy city pony, I guess y'all ain't used to workin' at the crack of dawn." Applejack noticed the anger filter into Skate's face, and quickly added,"I'm just pullin' yer' tail sugar cube. Ah came by wantin' to introduce myself and welcome ya to Ponyville! If y'all are ever wantin' some apples, we at Sweet Apple Acres grow the best in Equestria!"
Skate's anger left her, and suddenly she became very hungry for some apples. "Thank you, and if these apples are as good as you claim them to be, I would love to try one. Do you have some on you, or a kiosk or..." she trailed off, waiting for an answer.
"Oh, um, I ain't got any apples on me. Today is harvestin' day, where me and my brother Big Macintosh buck all the apples off the trees. I reckon we'll be sellin' apples within the next couple o' days. But it may take longer, dependin' on if Apple Bloom can buck the trees hard enough." Applejack responded. Skate smiled at the opportunity presented to her. She was craving apples, today was harvesting day, they needed help, and Skate had very powerful legs from skateboarding.
"How about I help you? I've got nothing to do until I start my job as a weather pony in a week, and I could always use a few extra bits. Plus I'm really craving apples." Skate asked with a friendly smile. It was true, Skate had nothing to do for a week. Her Ponyville citizenship didn't finish cycling through the system for another few days, then she would have to wait for her application to get sent through to the weather ponies.
"Ah don't know, you're kind of a small pony. And its a lot of work kid. You gotta kick em trees pretty darn hard ." Applejack replied, uncertain if the young city pony could handle the work. Even though Applejack had small doubts because of her size and origin, it was mostly her stubborn pride giving her the doubt.
"It would be no problem! Skateboarding has made my legs really strong. I'm positive I can buck the trees hard enough!" Skate pridefully said. Back in Canterlot, Skate's bucking power was one of the things that kept the ponies her age from picking on her as a filly. But the older ones were much bigger and stronger, and just the more uptight. They would use their fancy words to insult her, knowing that they had the power if she decided to try and buck them.
Applejack was still unsure, but more willing to let her try. "Hmmm, ah might give y'all a chance. Big Mac is getting older, and he can't go for so long now. I still look and feel the same as ah did 10 years ago when ah was in mah' early twenties cause of them Elements. Apple Bloom isn't the strongest filly, er, mare either. Ah guess I'll give you a shot."
Skate beamed excitedly, she had always loved working. If Skate wasn't inside reading or sleeping, she was outside working or having fun. But then Skate realized Applejack didn't say anything about payment, and Skate only had 10 bits. She had literally spent all of her money on the house. "Um, I'm sorry Applejack if I sound pushy or greedy or something, but will I be receiving some type of payment? I spent almost all of my money on my house, and I could really use the extra bits."
Applejack chuckled,"Of course ah'm gonna pay ya. I wouldn't let nopony who's not not family spend hours buckin' at trees sweatin' and workin' without being paid! How does a thirty bit payment sound? Maybe we can get ta know each other a little too."
Skate sighed with relief. "That sounds great, when do we start?"
"Now, the early the better. We got some new trees this year, and ah reckon it'll take a might longer since Big Mac is startin' to feel the effects of middle age creepin' up. Though ah'm gonna warn ya, its dirty work. You sure you wanna be messin' up your-" Skate interrupted Applejack.
"Oh I'm not afraid to get my hooves dirty, don't you worry." Skate said, a determined grin on her face ready to make some money.
"Well alright then, follow me to Sweet Apple Acres and ah'll show y'all how and where to buck the tree."
Skate and Applejack walked through town, Applejack leading the way to Sweet Apple Acres. Skate was surprised by the largeness of the farm, it was going to take a long time to harvest all of those apples, but at least she'd be able to pass the time talking to Applejack, and if she was lucky, talk to Apple Bloom again. Skate had met Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom when they came to see the Hearths Warming Eve play 3 years before she moved to Ponyvile. Skate was sitting in the Royal Booth with Luna, Celestia, and Silver, when she saw Scootaloo walk in. She had recognized the orange coated, purple maned filly from an old family book Skate kept after a certain event that happened when she was 14. Skate told the three Princess's that filly looked like her cousin that she hadn't met before named Scootaloo. Celestia then told her that that was Scootaloo and that she should go talk to her. Skate was already up and off her chair by the time Celestia finished, and she rushed down the stairs to meet her cousin. Her only blood-related family member that hadn't caused her pain...
Three years earlier.
"Excuse me, Scootaloo?" Skate had asked the adolescent pony. Scootaloo turned around, confused as to how this stranger knew her name.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle was standing right next to Scootaloo, trying to tell her something when she turned around to see the pony who had called her name. "Shush for a second girls." She began, speaking to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. "Um, hello. Do I know you from somewhere?" She asked Skate, confused.
"I'm Skate Bluestar! We've never met, but we're cousins! I recognized you from an old family book I carry with me." Skate informed her, smiling widely.
"Ohhhhh! You must be the little blue filly Auntie and Uncle would always talk about. I won't go into detail the things they would say. Um, anyways, I see your cutie mark is pretty similar to mine. I've always wanted to try and ride a skate board, but they don't sell them where I live." Scootaloo said, remembering the times when her aunt and uncle would visit when she was little.
"Thanks, I really don't want to hear what my parents said about me. And I could show you some skateboard tricks after the show if you'd like. You and your friends, who I haven't met." Skate said.
Scootaloo looked at her friends, who were giving her a look that basically meant, "Well?". Scootaloo grinned awkwardly and let a out a little chuckle."Skate, this is Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, the three of us has been best friends since before we got our cutie marks. That's actually how we met, Sweetie Belle and I stood up for Apple Bloom when ponies were making fun of her for being a blank flank. We were blank flanks too, and decided to form a group called The Cutie Mark Crusaders. We had a lot of fun times."
Skate put her hoof out, and shook hooves with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. "Nice to meet you Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle! Well I guess I should head back to my seat now. You girls wanna meet outside after the show?"
"Su-" Apple Bloom began, only to be interrupted by Scootaloo.
"Hey, why don't you sit next to us? I don't think Apple Bloom or Sweetie Belle will mind."
"Not at all! It would be nice to meet some of Scoot's family." Sweetie Belle said.
Skate told them "Ok" and sat next to them. They began talking before the show started, but even after the show started they continued whispering. At one point, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo couldn't contain their laughter from a from a funny story Skate had shared, and a security guard had to tell them to be quiet. Which only made them want to laugh harder, but they managed to contain it. They giggled and talked through the whole show, and hung out for the rest of the night. When the three ponies had to leave, Skate was a bit sad. She very much enjoyed the night.
Back in the present, Skate had fallen far behind Applejack, zoning out while remembering that night.
"You comin' or not?" Applejack hollered at Skate. Skate stopped zoning out and quickly caught up to Applejack.
"Sorry, you talking about Apple Bloom reminded me of the Hearths Warming Eve play three years ago, when Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and me met each other. That was a fun night." Skate apologized.
"So you were the cousin of Scootaloo that little filly wouldn't shut up about fer' days. Well Apple Bloom might not be here today, dependin' on if she finishes some art project for some fancy art show."
"Well I hope she can make it. And is that what her flower cutie mark represents? Art?" Skate asked, a little disappointed.
At least I'll be able to see Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle again. Skate silently reassured herself.
"Yup. But enough of that, we need to get to buckin' and ah gotta show ya how to do it." Applejack then showed Skate the position to stand, how far away, what part of the tree is the best part, and how strong the kick has to be. After a few practice bucks at air and some more thorough explanations, Skate was ready to buck an actual tree.
"Alright, so position yourself, and buck at that part I showed ya." Applejack told Skate.
"Mkay." Skate stood close to the tree, lifted her back legs off the ground, raised her hips up, and hit the tree with a powerful buck. All the apples came clean off into the baskets that had been setup underneath the tree. However, there was a pretty big chunk of wood missing from the tree trunk now from Skate's kick.
"Um, I think I kicked it a little too hard. So you just have to barely kick it then?" Skate asked Applejack.
"You mean to tell me that was a light kick? You've got yer self a powerful buck there sugar cube. Come on, lets start buckin' these trees." Applejack responded, surprised at the strength of Skate's kick. They made their way around the farm, putting baskets underneath the trees then bucking the trunks, making all the apples fall. It took a few trees, but once Skate found the perfect amount of force to put behind her kick, she effortlessly bucked tree after tree. Skate and Applejack made a great team, they cleared almost half of the farm in just a few hours.
"Come on, lets rest a bit after this here tree. You're a natural Skate! Ah think ah'm gonna have ta pay ya 40 bits. Ah'm gonna go see if Apple Bloom is finished with her project. You can just sit here or come with me if ya want." Applejack told Skate.
"I'd like to go with you. It would be nice to at least say hi to Apple Bloom if she's not done." Skate replied. She followed Applejack through the apple orchards and to the farm house. Applejack walked in the front door and held it open for Skate, when Apple Bloom came down the stairs.
"Hiya sis, I just finished and was about to go out there an-" Apple Bloom started, but stopped when she saw the blue pegasus walk through the door.
"Skate!" She yelled joyfully.
"Hi Apple Bloom!" Skate replied in her own cheerful yell. They walked up to each other and locked into a tight hug.
"Its so nice to see you again! What brings you to Ponyville?" Apple Bloom asked Skate. They broke the hug and stood next to each other.
"I moved into the house on 128 Mane Street. I was sick of Canterlot and decided to move to Ponyville so I could be in a small town and still be able to easily visit Silver." Skate answered. Applejack walked to Skate, wondering if the "Silver" she had mentioned was the Silver she was thinking of.
"Wait, are y'all talkin' bout Princess Silver Dream? Luna's daughter, Silver Dream?" Applejack curiously asked.
"Yup, Silver and I have been best friends since before we even got our cutie marks." Skate answered. She used to find the question annoying, but after hearing it hundreds of times, she got used to it.
"Well ain't that somethin'. I'm gonna go back to buckin' apple trees, thank ya kindly Skate for your huge help, but me and Big Mac can get the rest of the fields. Ah'll let ya catch up with Apple Bloom." Applejack told Skate. A huge smile came on Skate's face, grateful for the money and for letting her speak with Apple Bloom.
"Thanks Applejack! Oh wait, before you go, I forgot to ask Twilight yesterday, who the hay is the pink pony with balloons as a cutie mark? She nearly gave me a heart attack yesterday. She popped out from no-" Skate began, but Apple Bloom and Applejack interrupted her at the same time.
"Pinkie Pie." They said at the same time. Then Apple Bloom continued, "Go to Sugar Cube Corner today, she lives and works there. She'll probably want to throw you a Welcome-To-Ponyville party. She does it with everypony. Sugar Cube Corner is in the middle of town, ya can't miss it."
"Oh I love parties. I'll make sure I do on my way home. But now, how have you been Apple Bloom?" Skate asked.
"I've been doing great! I recently sold a painting to some fancy art collector and he went to the Canterlot Art Museum and showed them it. They want to pay me 300 bits to put it in their museum. I've never been so happy! What about you? How have you been?" Apple Bloom cheerfully replied. Applejack silently slipped her way out of the house to get to work while the two young mares continued to chat.
"I'm okay, I really like my new house, its much bigger from my old one. And I've met quite a few nice ponies. Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy are among them. They're really nice ponies, I can see why they're the Element Bearers. But I do miss Silver Dream, but I'm sure I'll get over it eventually, I can still visit her whenever I like." Skate answered. Skate noticed a slight trace of concern in Apple Bloom's face. She gave her own expression of confusion, and Apple Bloom spoke.
"Do you still get the nightmares and flashbacks?" Apple Bloom asked quietly, concerned.
"Yes, they still haunt me. I don't know if they'll ever stop." Skate replied grimly, a sad expression on her face. Apple Bloom could tell Skate was struggling to keep tears from coming out. "They won't stop until he gets what he deserves. Until I see the same pain in his eyes. Until-" Skate continued with rage building up with every word.
"Skate, you know seeing the same pain will not make you feel better. You just need closure, that's all." Apple Bloom interrupted. Skate let out a few tears, and Apple Bloom gave Skate a warm embrace. They then continued to talk for hours. They continued to talk about Skate's haunted nightmares, but eventually they moved on to less grim subjects. Skate felt a lot better talking to an old friend. After about 4 hours, Applejack walked back into the house.
"Hiya girls, Big Mac and I just finished harvestin' the fields. Thanks a might for the help Skate! Here's your payment, 40 bits. Ah'm gonna go check on Big Mac, he was gettin' pretty tired when we were finishin' up." Applejack said.
"Thank you Applejack, it was nice talking to you and Apple Bloom. I should be going now, I have some things I need to do at my house. Thank you again for today!" Skate replied with a grin. "Bye girls!" She said as she was walking out of the door.
"Make sure you drop by Sugar Cube Corner on the way back!" Apple Bloom yelled at Skate.
"Okay!" She yelled back.
~~~~~
Sugar Cube Corner, here it is! Skate thought to herself. She pushed the door open and walked in, a bell ringing from the door being open. Skate walked up to the counter and ringed the bell there. From upstairs, Skate heard a loud thud and what sounded like hoofsteps going toward the stairs. From the stairs appeared a hyper pink pony, the same that had scared her so bad the day before. The pony let out the same loud gasp, and began speaking extremely fast.
"Oh my gosh you must be Skate Bluestar I'm Pinkie Pie its so nice to meet you we're going to be great friends and have funny times and smile and eat cupcakes and cake and muffins and hang out and I'm going to throw you a super duper awesome party tonight welcoming you to Ponyville and its gonna be awesome and the whole town will be there and we're gonna laugh and sing and have fun and play games and drink punch and cider and its just going to be amazing and the party starts at 8PM okay!!!" Pinkie said in one breathe. Skate stood there with eyebrows raised, unsure whether she should be scared of how hyper this pony is, or if she should laugh at it.
"How did you say that in one breath?" Skate asked while chuckling.
"I take in a big breath like this," Pinkie inhaled a large amount of air, "and then I let all out while I talk really fast and say everything I need to say before it runs out because I don't like waiting for me to take small breaths and say it slowly because that takes too long so do you have any other questions?"
"Uh, no. No more questions. Um, party! At 8PM. I'll be there!" Skate replied awkwardly.
"Okay! See you tonight here at Sugar Cube Corner!" The pink earth pony said energetically as usual.
Skate awkwardly made her way out of the store, and walked home. She walked up the steps to the door, pulled out her key to unlock it, then went in and locked the door behind her.
"Looks like I have to get ready for a party." Skate thought out loud.
Chapter 5: The Flashback
To My Dearest Friend Skate,
I am happy to hear you had such a great day in Ponyville! You have to admit, meeting the element bearers was better as a surprise, no? I'm glad to hear you enjoyed your time with Twilight Sparkle, I knew you two would hit it off. In the next letter I would love to hear what you two said about magic, just because I don't have a horn doesn't mean I'm not interested in magic. I may have not gotten a horn due to me being half pegasus, but my Alicorn half makes me live a very long time and magical knowledge could come in handy. Speaking of Alicorn, it is fascinating to know that the element bearers will live as long as Mother, Auntie Celestia, and I. If only you could be an Alicorn. But lets not think about that. I was very pleased that you enjoyed my house warming gifts, more like a house gift but whatever[Very small drawing of a winking pony]. Auntie Celestia received a letter from Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash talking about you. Twilight said she was very surprised by your wisdom for such a young age, and said you were a joy to talk to. Rainbow Dash went on and on about corkscrews or something, you just had to show off your skills didn't you? I will never understand why you don't find flying exciting, especially since we're both pegasi, but I guess I will just have to live with that. I've heard many things from Celestia about the spa in Ponyville, Twilight has described it a few times in her letters, I'm sure it must have been heavenly. I'm very happy you're becoming fast friends with the Elements, and please Skate, please stop worrying about your secret. You know they won't care, you know they will accept you. Not every place is like Canterlot elementary schools full of ignorant young colts and fillies. Its nothing to be ashamed of, so please don't worry about it. I hope to hear from you soon.
Love,
Your Best Friend, Princess Silver Dream.
"Here you go Ms. Bluestar. Ooooo fancy pin and ribbon, must be important." The cross-eyed, grey coated mailmare said to Skate, giving her a polite smile.
"Thank you Derpy! This is a letter from my best friend in Canterlot. Have a nice evening!" Skate replied, returning the smile.
"You too!" Derpy called after her from over her shoulder as she began trotting to the next house. Skate closed the door and walked over to her desk in her bedroom. She unrolled the letter and read over it. Smiling, she set the letter aside and took out a blank piece of paper and a quill so that they would be ready for her to write a letter when she got back from the party.
Pinkie Pie's "Welcome To Ponyville" party started in about an hour, and Skate needed to finish getting ready. After combing her mane a few more times, making her sure her bow looked fine, she was satisfied she looked okay. She trotted out of her bedroom and into the kitchen, grabbing a glass and filled it with water. After quickly drinking the water, she walked out of the door of her house and locked it behind her.
When Skate arrived at Sugar Cube Corner, she noticed all the lights were out.
Am I too early? Skate asked herself. She gently knocked on the door, but saw that the door wasn't latched as it opened slightly. Stepping in the door, she called out, "Is anypony here?" As the words left her mouth, the lights came on and confetti shot out, and everypony she met that day and some that she hadn't popped out from various hiding places.
"SURPRISE! " They all yelled energetically.
"AHHH!" Skate squeaked, startled by the surprise. Once she got out her shock, she started laughing and grinning widely. "Thank you so much everypony! I've never had a surprise party!"
Pinkie gasped in her usual loud manner, and in one breath said quickly "Omaigosh you've never had a surprise party?!!! Well now you have and we're gonna have a super duper awesome fun time!"
"What kind of music do you like Skate?" Twilight asked Skate.
"DJ-PON3" Skate replied. Twilight nodded and put the DJ-PON3 record on, and the music started playing.
"Well lets start this party!" Skate beamed. DJ-PON3 started playing, at Skate's request. Skate walked around and started mingling with everypony. Eventually she made her way back to Twilight Sparkle's little group. They proceeded to have some idle chit chat while bobbing their heads to the beat.
Skate's favorite DJ-PON3 song came on, and she yelled excitedly "Come on everypony! Dance!" And everypony started dancing to the fast, upbeat dubstep. At one point in the song, it went to a very low, skipping drum beat. It started out slow, then started speeding up. Skate knew exactly what was building up: the bass drop. Skate stopped dancing, and so did everypony. Skate stood on her hind legs, her head back, ready to jump forward and head bob to the drop.
Here it comes! Skate thought to herself, as the beat started raising faster and faster. Finally, after about thirty seconds of the build up, DJ-PON3's voice came through the record as the music completely stopped.
"Drop that."
And then the bass drop of all drops happened. Skate stomped her hooves to the ground, her head banging forward at the same time. All the ponies followed her lead, and all their hooves hit the floor with the same loud thud . Skate was greatly enjoying herself. Dancing to her favorite music and chatting with her newly acquired friends.
When a calmer song started playing, Skate decided to meet some of the ponies there she hadn't met. She saw a mint colored unicorn mare talking with a cream colored earth pony by the food table. Skate decided to trot over to them and meet them. She made her way through the crowd of ponies enjoying the music and enjoying the party. As she made her way through the crowd, she exchanged some "hellos" and received some "Welcome to Ponyville!" She finally got to the couple, who stopped chatting as Skate approached, and the two mares gave Skate a welcoming smile.
"Hi there! The name's Skate right?" The unicorn mare asked. Skate nodded and she continued,"Well nice to meet you! My name is Lyra Heartstrings, but you can just call me Lyra. And this is my marefriend Bon Bon." Lyra pointed a hood at Bon Bon who smiled and shyly said, "Nice to meet you."
Skate shook their hooves and said to them, "Very nice to meet you too! How long have you two been dating?"
Lyra's face made a confused expression for a split second, surprised that Skate didn't mention anything about them being fillyfoolers. She brought back her normal expression and replied, "About six years. But we've known each other since we were little fillies. We're actually getting married in three months! We're so excited!"
Skate grinned happily. "Congratulations! You seem like a cute couple, well I'll let you two continue your conversation while I go see if Pinkie has made the punch yet. Again, nice meeting you!" Skate called after the two mares while trotting away.
"You too!" Lyra called back. She looked back at her marefriend, "She was really nice, wasn't she?"
"Yes, she was. I was surprised she didn't say anything about us being two mares and getting married." Bon Bon replied, also a bit surprised.
"Yeah. Well anyways, like I was saying. I think Celestia is purposely hiding the existence of humans from ponies..."
~~~~
Skate found Pinkie rather easily, since she has the about the brightest coat in all of Ponyville. Pinkie and the other five elements were chatting as Pinkie brought out the punch. Skate eyed the punch thirstily, just waiting for Pinkie to say its ready. All the dancing had made Skate thirsty, and the punch looked very, very good.
"So that's when Celestia told me th- Skate, if you want some punch you don't have to wait for me to finish. Just go ask Pinkie if its ready." Twilight and the other elements chuckled. Skate put on a sheepish grin and made her way to the punch bowl, where Pinkie was mixing in some final ingredients.
"Hey Pinkie Pie! I just wanna say thanks for this crazy awesome party. Is the punch almost ready? I'm pretty thirsty." Skate said to the pink party pony.
"Yup! I only have to add one more ingredient to really pack a punch! Haha, get it?!" Pinkie chimed, as hyper as ever. Skate let out an unconvincing laugh, trying not to be rude and just say how terrible the pun was. Pinkie just ignored the laugh, and reached into a bag on the floor next to her. She pulled out a tall bottle filled with a clear liquid.
"And now for the final ingredient! Vodka! This'll definitely be a nice touch!" Pinkie said while pouring the alcohol into the punch. However, Skate was not so cheerful about the alcohol being added.
Skate's heart rate increased, her eyes narrowed. She shifted nervously, forcing her thoughts to the inner depths of her mind, refusing to let them break to the surface.
A-al-alcohol?
"P-pinkie. P-please don't add any a-alcohol." Skate pleaded. The pink pony just continued pouring the liquid into the punch, however.
"Oh come on Skate! Everypony likes a bit of vodka to get a little buzz! It'll be super duper fun!" She replied. Skate started sweating, her vision becoming blurry. She fought back tears as her sweating intensified. She started hearing the voice in her ears, that terrible voice.
Twilight, Rainbow, Applejack, and Fluttershy all noticed something was wrong with Skate, and they trotted up to her, worried as to why their friend was reacting in such a strange way to alcohol.
"Skate, is something wrong? What's the matter?" Twilight asked Skate.
"Yeah kid, you look like you just saw a ghost or something." Rainbow Dash added. Skate's vision started slipping from reality to memory, and becoming more and more blurry. She felt herself becoming very weak. Pinkie finished adding the vodka, and poured a glass of punch, then tried to hoof it to Skate.
"Here you go Skate! Have some punch!" Pinkie cheerfully said with a big grin. But her grin disappeared when Skate didn't take the glass of alcoholic punch.
"I'm s-sorry Pinkie, girls. I n-need to go to th-the l-little f-fillies r-room. E-excuse me." Skate replied shakily and weakly. Becoming dizzy and her vision fading even more, she hurried outside of the main party room inSugar Cube Corner. She practically fell through the bathroom door, and locked the door behind her. Skate made her way to the mirror, still extremely dizzy and her vision blurry. She looked at herself in the mirror. She didn't see herself, she saw a little filly, broken and hurt. Tears in her own eyes and the filly's eyes started pouring out.
No! Not now! Please not now! Skate cried to herself. She slumped down to the floor, still looking at the little filly in the mirror. Small and precious, with a deep blue mane with a purple streak, her dark purple eyes big, watery, and puffy. And...black.... The filly's bow was limp on her head, and her ponytail laid around her light blue neck, which had freshly made cuts and bruises on it. Skate was looking at herself, nine years ago.
Skate lied on the floor, crying her eyes out as her vision started to turn the world into a big, blurry light. Fading in and out of this strange state, Skate continued to cry weakly. Then it happened. The thing Skate feared with every fiber of her being.
There she was, much shorter, and weaker. The little filly, terrified as she looked up into the eyes of her father, knowing what was about to happen.
The flashback had begun.
"I'm s-sorry Daddy! P-please! I'm sorry!" The little filly cried, tears welling up as she looked into the hateful eyes of her father. Jet Bluestar was a good sized stallion. He wasn't a Big Mac, not by far, but he was still big nonetheless. He looked down at his cowering daughter, hatred burning inside of him.
"Sorry?" Jet began, anger clear and strong in his voice. "SORRY?! THIS'LL TEACH YOU TO BE SORRY STUPID LITTLE BITCH!" He screamed in anger, as her brought down a powerful hoof across the face of the little filly. She cringed in pain, crying loudly as the gash formed from the hit started to bleed. "SHUT THE BUCK UP YOU WORTHLESS LITTLE FILLY! STOP CRYING!" Jet screamed again, with even more rage burning inside of him. This time he turned around, and bucked the little filly so hard in the chest she flew four feet back and slammed into the wall.
Gasping for air, little Skate tried to get back up, but collapsed from the intense pain in her chest. The many empty whiskey bottles on the floor didn't help either. All she could do was lay there and cry, and hope that the beating was done and over. However, her wish would not come true. Jet grabbed her by the mane, and threw her to the center of the room, where he hit his daughter again. This time he hit her on the side of Skate's face, causing her to cough up blood.
"I'm not letting you off so easily." He hissed at his daughter. Jet forced her to stand up again, and he got ready for the final blow. Turning around again, he got ready for an even more powerful buck, straight to his daughter's stomach. Skate stood there weakly, too weak to even cry some more. She just braced herself for the kick, hoping it would knock her out and let her go a few hours with no pain. Just sleep.
Then the buck came. And indeed it was much more powerful than the last. Bucking her right in the middle of her stomach, Skate went flying back and into the wall again, causing it to crack as her limp body smashed against it, knocking her unconscious on impact. Battered, broken, and bleeding, the little filly lied there and slept as her father trotted to some other part of the house, still huffing and puffing with anger.
Just another day...
~~~~
A/N: So this is where the Dark tag comes into play. Please leave any criticism you have in the comments, and let me know how you think I did with all the intense emotions during the flashback. Do you think I delivered it well? Or poorly? I hope you enjoyed this chapter. The next will either be up tomorrow or sometime during the next week.
Chapter 6: Broken
Just another day.
The image of the filly in mirror faded, blending from the filly Skate, to the mare Skate. The flashback was ending, but Skate was still crying. She was still on the floor, looking in the mirror. Even though the visual flashback was over, there was still the last bit. The part of these attacks that shook Skate to her core. The voice. That horrifying voice. Deep and filled with anger, Skate heard it nearly everyday as a filly. When she heard it, she knew her night was about to become a whole lot worse. Her fathers voice haunted Skate's mind for hours after flashbacks. It was always the same drunken, deep, rage filled voice. Always loud, always tormenting.
You pathetic weakling. STOP CRYING!
"No! P-please, make it stop!" Skate pleaded to nothing. Sobbing loudly, Skate tried to stand up, only to fall again when the voice shot through her head again.
LEARN YOUR PLACE! He screamed again.
"N-no. Why? Why me?" Skate continued to cry. Her sobs drowned out the loud music coming from the room to her right. Skate knew if she didn't force herself to stand up, and leave that bathroom, she would be there for hours until she cried herself to sleep in the middle of the night. Skate shakily stood up, and started to slowly move toward to door. Her dizziness was gone, and her vision returned to normal. The voice grew fainter and fainter, until it completely stopped when Skate pushed through the bathroom door and into the room outside. The party room was to the right, but Skate couldn't go back in there. She couldn't. Skate sat on the floor, staring into nothing in the dark room. Memories started flooding into her mind all at once, causing silent tears to roll down her face.
Meanwhile, the all element bearers, except for Rarity, who was at the Boutique working on an extremely important order, were very concerned for Skate.
"What do y'all reckon got into her? She looked like she was 'bout ready to burst inta tears." Applejack said.
"I don't know, but we really should go check on her." Twilight worryingly replied.
"Yeah, the kid looked really upset." Rainbow added. Fluttershy didn't saying anything, which wasn't surprising, however Pinkie was unusually silent, and looking at the ground with her mane covering her face . Applejack noticed this and turned to her.
"Pinkie, why are y'all bein' so quiet? You're usually also buzzin' bout somethin'."
Pinkie looked up at her friends with tears in her eyes. "I'm supposed to bring ponies smiles at my parties, not make them run off to the bathroom and cry." Pinkie was fighting back her tears, and her mane deflated, becoming flat and straight.
"Come on girls, we need to go check on Skate." Twilight told her friends. The five of them made their way through the room, trotting around the dancing ponies. After pushing through the large group of ponies, they finally got to the door. Twilight stopped in front of the door and turned to her friends. They nodded to her, telling her to open the door. Twilight pushed the door open and the five ponies trotted into the dark room. They couldn't see anything, but they heard the soft, quiet sobs of a mare. Applejack flipped the magic light switch, causing light to flood into the room. The five ponies gasped when they saw Skate, who was quietly crying into her hooves in the corner of them room. Her face was covered by her mane, and her chest was soaked from tears. Skate's wings were twitching slightly, and jolted every other minute.
Fluttershy teared up at the sight, and Pinkie refused to look at Skate, guilt washing over her. Applejack and Rainbow Dash exchanged a nervous glance, as Twilight started to slowly trot to Skate. She stopped a few feet away from Skate and opened her mouth to speak. But she closed it, not sure what to say. She opened and closed her mouth a few times. Twilight put a hoof to her chin and tried to think of something to say. She finally managed to speak.
"Skate, what happened?" Twilight asked with much worry in her voice. Skate pulled her hooves away from her face, and blew her mane to the side, fully exposing both her eyes and her face. Her eyes were bloodshot and puffy, and her face was soaked with tears. Skate looked up at Twilight with a grim, dark expression.
Skate sniffled and wiped the tears away from her eyes with her hooves. "N-n-nothing. I'm f-fine." She lied while stuttering. Twilight was not convinced at all. Applejack and Rainbow Dash managed to finally trot to the two mares, but Fluttershy was still fighting back tears and Pinkie Pie was still silent, looking at the ground next to Fluttershy.
"Y'all were just crying yer eyes out. Seriously, whats wrong sugar cube?" Applejack asked Skate. Skate stood up, her legs wobbly.
"I'm fine!" Skate blurted out, raising her voice. She saw a slight look of hurt come across Applejack's face and quickly apologized. "I'm sorry. I'm..." She paused, trying to figure out what she wanted to say.
I can't tell them, I just can't. Not now. Skate thought to herself.
"I'm not fine, but I can't talk about it." Skate paused again, fighting back her need to cry again. "I just can't. Please, just respect me when I say its too painful to talk about. Can we just forget about it?"
Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Twilight eyed their new friend worryingly. They knew something was seriously wrong with Skate, but as much as they wanted to protest, they decided to respect her request.
"Okay, but we're taking you out to dinner. No buts." Rainbow Dash firmly said. Skate wanted to say no, but she was really hungry. Dancing and crying her insides out made her pretty hungry. Her stomach agreed as it growled loudly.
"Okay. But I do not want to talk about this, understood? Its just....its just too h-hard." Skate struggled to say. The three mares walked over to Pinkie and Fluttershy and informed them of the dinner plan. Fluttershy managed to snap out of her state, however Pinkie was still uncharacteristically quiet.
"Y'all wait here, Ah'll go tell th' guests the party's over." Applejack told the five ponies. Applejack trotted into the next room, and a few moments later she came back out as the music stopped and it grew very quiet.
"Lets go." And with that, the five mares silently walked out of Sugar Cube Corner, and down the street to one of Ponyville's cafes. On their way, Skate started to softly cry again, and Rainbow Dash attempted to comfortingly wrap her wing around Skate. However, Skate flew out of Rainbow Dash's grip, and said nothing as she forced her tears back. Rainbow was slightly hurt by Skate's reaction, but quickly put her confident, cocky face back on. As they were approaching the cafe, they ran into Rarity, walking in the direction of Sugar Cube Corner.
"Oh hello girls! I just finished my recent project and was making my way to Sugar Cube Cor-" Rarity stopped as she looked at Skate. "Oh my! Darling, whats wrong with you?" Rarity gasped.
When Skate continued to stare at the ground without saying a word, Twilight informed Rarity. "When Pinkie brought out alcohol to put in the punch, something happened with Skate. She ran to the bathroom and we found her in the front room of Sugar Cube Corner crying. When we asked what was wrong, she said it was too painful to talk about, so we, er, Rainbow decided we were going to take Skate out to dinner."
Rarity nodded, indicating she understood. They continued to walk toward the cafe, still not saying anything. They eventually arrived at the cafe and took a seat at one of the tables. Rarity attempted to start a conversation, but failed when Skate didn't say anything. She hid her face behind her mane, and said nothing. The seven ponies sat in awkward silence, waiting for the waitress to come take their order. When the waitress asked Skate what she wanted, she said "A hay sandwich" in a barely audible whisper.
The pony's food arrived, and they slowly ate their food. Skate didn't touch her sandwich, she didn't even look up the entire time they were in the cafe. After a few minutes of silent eating, Twilight gulped and decided to ask Skate the question all the element bearers wanted to ask.
"Skate, please tell us whats bothering you." Twilight pleaded.
Skate, without looking up, replied with more malice than she intended. "Nothing."
"Come on Skate, we can't help ya if ya don't tell us whats th' matter." Applejack said.
"Yeah, come on we can help you." Rainbow Dash added. Fluttershy and Pinkie nodded in agreement.
Skate finally looked up, and revealed her wet, red face. "I SAID NOTHING! JUST STOP ASKING!" She hissed in anger. She stood up and galloped out of the cafe towards her home. The six ponies still there sat in shock with their mouths wide open. They were completely taken back by Skate's outburst. Pinkie Pie started to softly cry, her guilt finally getting the best of her.
Skate ran down the streets of Ponyville. On the way, Lyra and Bon Bon were walking back to their home while looking up at the gorgeous night sky. Luna had created a very beautiful night, trillions of stars dotted the sky making it already bright without the full moon. Skate and the two mares didn't see each other and Skate slammed right into Lyra, knocking both of them to the ground.
"Sorry." Skate muttered and she quickly got up and continued to gallop to her house, ignoring the stinging pain in her chest. Bon Bon helped Lyra get up and brush off the dust from the ground.
"Are you okay Lyra?" Bon Bon asked her marefriend while helping her up.
"Yeah, but I don't think Skate is. She looked like she was crying." Lyra answered. "Lets just go home, she probably wants to be alone. We'll most likely just piss her off if we go to her." Bon Bon reluctantly agreed as the couple continued to walk home.
Skate rushed down the rest of the street, and ran up the steps of her porch. She nearly knocked her door off of its hinges as she pushed through the door and slammed it closed behind her, locking it. She put her back against the door, and slowly slid down the door. When her rear end hit the ground, Skate let all her emotion out. Bawling, screaming, and shaking in a horrible mix of anger, sadness, and depression, Skate drained it all out. The memory from the flashback replayed in her mind, and her fathers voice haunted her ears again. Eventually she weakly stood up, and walked to her desk in her bedroom where a blank piece of paper and a quill and ink well were waiting for her. Skate quickly wrote a letter for Princess Silver Dream, not caring that her tears were getting all over the letter. She quickly rolled it up and tied it, then ran to the post office. She threw the scroll and bits on the counter and galloped back to her home.
She arrived back and jumped into her bed. She got under the covers and curled up into a ball, and she eventually cried herself to sleep, and horrible nightmares invaded her already restless sleep.
I'm broken.
Chapter 7: To Fix A Friend
Chapter 7: To Fix A Friend
"Well I'm off to bed. Goodnight Mom, goodnight Auntie Tia." Princess Silver Dream told Luna and Celestia with a big yawn.
"Goodnight dear." Celestia replied.
"G-goodnight young o-one." Luna said to Silver with her own yawn. Luna had bags under her eyes, and was struggling to stay awake. Silver Dream left the throne room, where her and her mother and Aunt spent the evenings, and started to trot down the hall towards her chambers. Silver had just opened her door when a royal guard came running down the hall, calling the Princess of Dream's name.
"Princess Silver Dream! Princess Silver Dream!" The guard urgently called after the tired young mare.
"Yes Firedash?" Silver asked the panting red stallion in front of her.
"L-letter f-from. *cough* Skate B-Bluestar." Firedash finally managed to spit out. A large smile came across Silver's face, and she immediately grabbed the letter and thanked the red stallion, and gave him a small hug. Skate rushed into her room and unrolled the letter on her desk. However, her smile was immediately wiped off her face when she saw the tear stains on the letter...
~~~~
"She says she's tired, yet she's never tired enough to put off reading a letter until morning." Celestia said with a little giggle. When she didn't hear response from Luna, she looked up from her papers and saw her sister asleep. "Luna, my sister, please go to bed. You've been awake for thirty-two hours, this isn't healthy for you."
Luna's eyes shot open, and she shook her head vigorously. "What? Huh? N-No, I refuse. I am here to help with the Royal Court Duties and you cannot do anything to make me rest. You need my help sister, and I am here for you."
Celestia rolled her eyes and continued to read through the paperwork, while Luna did the same. After a few minutes of this, and some more yawning and head shaking(from Luna), Firedash walked into the room.
"I am sorry to interrupt your royal duties Princesses, but Princess Celestia, you requested that I remind you to send a letter to Twilight Sparkle before you sleep." Firedash said nervously. He was still a newbie, having only been a Royal Guard for two weeks, and he was worried about interrupting the Princesses during royal duties.
"Its quite alright Private Firedash. Thank you for the reminder." Celestia told the young stallion, who sighed a huge sigh of relief. He trotted out of the throne room and left the Princesses back to their silent duties. But not even five minutes after Firedash's retreat, Silver came busting through the doors.
"Mom! Auntie! You must hear this letter from Skate! It-" Silver began, breathing heavily.
"We're busy dear daughter. Surely this can wait u-" Luna began.
"No! This cannot wait, this is extremely important." Silver interrupted. Silver hardly ever interrupted her mother, and this caused Luna and Celestia to quickly listen to Silver.
"I'll read the letter aloud." Silver began. She cleared her throat and took a deep breath, then she started to read the letter.
"Dear Silver Dream, Luna, and Celestia.
Please excuse the sloppy writing and tear stains. Silver, I have had one of the worst nights in years. I had another flashback. But this was a memory that I haven't dreamed about in years. It was the night my mother passed away, and my father beat me for the first time in his damn drunken state. It was so dreadfully terrible, it was the most clear and vivid flashback I have had since the events of my fourteenth birthday. It was just so terrifyingly real, and his voice tormenting my ears certainly didn't help. However, I have dealt with terrible flashbacks before, and gotten over it. But this was different, it happened right in the middle of my Welcome-To-Ponyville party. Pinkie Pie brought out a bottle of vodka to put into the punch, and just the sight of the alcohol sent chills down my spine, reminding me so strongly of my father. I excused myself to the bathroom, and I collapsed on the floor in the bathroom when the flashback began. I sobbed very loudly, so loud that I couldn't even hear the blasting dubstep from the next room over. When the flashback finally ended, I went into the room outside the bathroom, walked to the corner, and just sat and cried. It was about ten minutes until the Element Bearers came into the room to check on me. I was so short with them, so cruel. I feel so terrible for snapping at them when they didn't even know what was wrong with me. Fluttershy was on the verge of tears, and Pinkie's mane was flat and straight, which means she's sad or depressed according to a story Twilight told me the other day. They forced me to go out for dinner with them, and we met up with Rarity on the way. In the restaurant I didn't eat. I just stared at the ground, trying with every fiber of my being not to cry. But when Twilight asked me what was wrong again, I snapped. I yelled at the six ponies and stormed out of the restaurant toward my home. I bumped into a couple, but apologized and quickly came home. Now I'm here, writing this letter with his voice in my ears. Please Silver, please help me with my dreams tonight. I know you told me long ago that the grief was too powerful for your magic to help any, but please just try. Just try to force a happy vision into my mind. I can't take this much longer. I feel...broken. Like my soul has been shattered. Please come visit me soon, I need your comfort, and Luna's if she can make it too.
Love, Skate. "
Luna and Celestia gave each other a look of disbelief, and disappointment.
"I have to go see Skate first thing in the morning. " Silver urgently said.
Luna sighed and replied, "I'm so sorry Silver, but you can't. Not any three of us can. We have to travel to the Griffan kingdom tomorrow afternoon for a peace meeting. I'm afraid we're going to have to leave Skate in the hooves of the Elements." A single tear formed in Luna's eye, the impact of her own words hitting her strongly.
"I'm so sorry my little pony. In my letter to Twilight Sparkle I will tell her to help Skate as much as she and her friends can. However, I will leave it up to Skate to tell them her problems." Celestia told Silver.
Silver teared up, not even able to speak. She rushed to her room with the tears pouring down her face, knowing she wouldn't be able to help her closest friend no matter how much she argued.
"I will send a letter to Skate and inform her of our leaving. " Luna sighed. "I can't even comfort my own daughters." She added with a tear rolling down her cheek.
"I'm so sorry dear sister. But, hopefully Twilight and her friends will be able to help Skate through this." Celestia reassured her younger sister as she brought her in for a loving embrace.
Luna smiled weakly and said, "Twilight's never failed you before."
"Come on, we need rest." The two Alicorns both walked off to their separate chambers, knowing they were going to have a restless sleep.
~~~~
Skate read the letter over and over again, equally heart broken every single time.
Dear Skate Bluestar,
I am so very sorry to inform you that Silver, Celestia, and I have to attend a peace meeting in the Griffan Kingdom tomorrow morning. Or this morning, depending on if you receive this letter in the night or morning. I am so, so deeply sorry I cannot be there for you, however we simply cannot postpone this meeting with the Griffans, as it could result in a war between ponies and Griffans. However, Celestia has sent a letter to Twilight Sparkle pleading that her and her friends try to help you. She's leaving it up to you to tell them your problem, whether you decide to or not. Skate my dear daughter, please do not be afraid to confess to them your issues with your past. They can truly help you, they helped me after my return from exile years ago.
Love, Princess Luna of Equestria.
[Official Seal Of The Night Princess]
"H-how can they leave..." Skate quietly cried to herself in her house. Skate was an absolute mess, her mane was tangled and all over the place, and her bow was on the ground. She hadn't gotten more than an hour of sleep that night, and she was exhausted. She decided to go to Twilight's place, since she knew she couldn't bear the wait for her to arrive. Skate got up and went into the bathroom and started the shower. After cleaning and grooming herself, she headed out to the library.
Meanwhile at the library, Twilight had managed to get all of her friends together to talk and help Skate.
"Thank you so much girls for coming on short notice, but I just received the letter from the Princess." Twilight thanked her friends.
"No problem sugar cube. We're here for ya whenever ya need us." Applejack told her violet unicorn friend. Just as she was opening her mouth to speak again, they six ponies heard the library door opened, and saw the light blue pegasus standing in the room after closing the door behind her. They all wore stunned expressions. Skate's fur on her face and chest were slightly damp from the tears and shower.
"H-hi girls." Skate said quietly with guilt in her voice. She was expecting the six ponies to be angry with her for being so hateful to them the night before, but she was very surprised when she found herself the target of a tight group hug. Skate felt a little better, until she saw that Pinkie's mane was still flat and deflated.
"Girls, I'm so, so sorry for being so short with you last night. I just-" Skate began, only to be interrupted.
"Whoa whoa whoa, what the hay are you apologizing for? We found you crying about some deep emotional stuff, of course you were gonna be short with us." Rainbow Dash interrupted.
"Yes Skate, we couldn't possibly be mad at you. " Twilight began." We're here to help. But..." Twilight trailed off.
"I suppose there's no way to avoid this is there?" Skate stated more than she asked. Skate sighed, she knew she had to tell them. If she was going to get over this without Silver's comfort, she knew she had to tell them.
"I'll tell you but...but not right now. Please, I need some time to think. Maybe we can have lunch in the park or something? I need to have a little fun before jumping straight into depression again." Skate sighed, slightly choked up. She felt horrible. Skate had only gotten one hour of sleep, which was filled with the memory of her mother's death, and her eyes were bloodshot from crying the rest of the night.
Rarity gave Skate a comforting smile. "Okay darling, we shall eat lunch at the park. Twilight, how about you go get a basket and a blanket, and I fix up some sandwiches?"
"Okay." Twilight answered as she trotted up the stairs to the closets in her room. The remaining five ponies engaged in some small talk while they waited on their two unicorn friends. Twilight and Rarity came out at the same time, and started to head for the door. The other ponies followed closely behind, except for Rainbow Dash who flew slightly off the ground next to Rarity.
The seven ponies arrived at the park and started to set up the picnic. They found a nice big tree with the perfect sized shadow for the seven ponies. Twilight lied the large blanket on the ground in the shade, the same blanket that they had the picnic on when Twilight received her brother's wedding invitation, and set the basket down in the middle. The ponies all sat down on various spots on the blanket as Rarity began distributing the sandwiches to her friends. When everypony had their sandwich, they began to munch happily.
"So um, Skate, how did you meet Princess Silver Dream? I-if you don't mind telling us, that is." Flutterhsy asked the dark blue-maned pegasus in an attempt to start a conversation. Of course, she was also curious.
Skate smiled at the memory and began to explain. "It was eleven years ago, when I was seven years old. Silver was only five years old. Remember, this was before Luna announced that she had a daughter, so everypony thought Silver was just a normal little filly. She was very, very shy, like Fluttershy shy. No offence Fluttershy." Skate said sheepishly as she looked over at Fluttershy.
"Oh that's okay, I know I'm shy."
Skate chuckled and continued, "Anyways, she was really shy. The teacher assigned her to the seat right next to me, and I greeted her. Most of us was five or six years old, I was older because I started school two years late. But yeah, all of us were immature, so everypony picked on the new filly. But I welcomed her, and she appreciated it. We started to talk during class, nothing major. Just small talk. We eventually started having real conversations, and we started to hang out after class. After about a month, we were best friends. We would hang out after school at my house and play with our little dolls and stuffed animals. We never went to her house though, which was because her home was the castle. She was my only real friend, and my best friend. In fact, she was the only friend I ever had until I met Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Applebloom when I was fifteen."
"How adorable!" Rarity exclaimed. Everypony, and Pinkie, who's mane was starting to slightly air up again, started laughing at Rarity's reaction, and they continued to happily eat their delicious sandwiches.
"*Om nom* So Shkate, *nom*, what did you do when, *nom*, when Luna announshed that Silver was her daughter. *nom*" Rainbow Dash asked as she stuffed her face with her sandwich.
"I was shocked, like everypony else. But I didn't really care. But she was so worried that I wouldn't want to be her friend anymore. When I told her that I didn't care if she was Celestia herself, she was so relieved. I actually got into a really messy fight when a colt started picking on her, saying that she was royal trash unfit to even sneeze in the direction of the palace. That cut Silver deep, and it royally pissed me the buck off. I started yelling at him, and when he pushed me, I was already thinking of how I should use the self defense excuse. He had no idea who he was messing with. I got up and bucked him as hard as I could right in the nose. He tried to shake it off and swung at me, but I dodged it and bucked him again in the ribs. Silver and two teachers actually had to pull me off of him. When I was brought to the principle's office, the self defense excuse worked like a charm. Lets just say that nopony ever messed with Silver again, until high school anyways."
"What happened in high school?" All six ponies asked at once, engrossed into Skate's story.
Skate laughed and responded, "You girls sure like my story don't you? In high school, Silver and I had all the same classes through all four years. Being a princess and being best friends with a princess had its advantages, and its disadvantages. This senior colt thought that he was a bad ass and started picking on Silver. I was about to lay into him when Silver did something I will never, ever forget. Ever. She pushed me back, and got right into his face. I still hear her voice speaking those words."
Four years earlier.
Silver huffed, and pushed Skate behind her, who was flabbergasted at what her friend just did.
"Need I remind you that I am the Princess of Dreams?"
"Princess of Shame you mean? Princess of Dreams, ha! " The colt remarked.
"Well, when you sleep tonight, know that you just pissed off the very pony who brings you your dreams every single night. Unlike my mother, who used to bring ponies dreams, I can control pony's dreams. And you just pissed me off. The pony who can give you the most peaceful nights sleep you ever had. The Princess of Dreams. I could have had you dancing with the mare of your dreams in a bright, beautiful meadow filled with every color flower you can imagine. The sweet smells could have been intoxicating. There could have been a romantic violinist gently brushing his bow across the strings of his violin creating an intoxicating melody. But no, you just made me mad. Very. Bucking. Pissed. So instead of that lovely dream, I think I'll bring you a little nightmare. Ooo! Maybe you do have that dream, but half way through the song your mare's face contorts into the face of Discord, and you jump back and fall through a black hole as Discord laughs menacingly! Then you land on a bed of fire and skulls into Tartarus! Then maybe Discord joins you as a certain three headed dog gives you a little 'treat'. Yes! That sounds delightful. Don't you agree?" Silver finished with an evil grin.
The colt's eyes narrowed down to tiny beads as he gulped. "Y-you're lying."
"Think that if you wish. Celestia have mercy on you tonight." Silver said as she turned around, whipping her mane in his face. Skate, shocked at what she just heard, broke down laughing as her best friend dragged her by the tail.
In the present , all seven ponies were laughing hysterically. Even Pinkie was laughing hysterically as she returned to her normal self. Her mane puffed out to its normal inflated, curly style. Skate's troubles had completely washed away now, and she was happy again. Sparkles started to form around Skate's body, but only Twilight noticed. She simply shrugged it off, thinking that her tears from laughing were blurring her vision. The sparkles floated for a few minutes, but slowly retreated to thin air.
Applejack was the first to regain her composure, however she still had the giggles. "Come on, hehe, Skate. Lets g-get back to the library. Haha."
"Okay!" Skate managed to spit out between laughing fits. Twilight wrapped everything up with her magic and the seven ponies started to quickly trot through Ponyville to the library, still laughing. When they arrived at the library, Spike saw them approaching and help the door open for them as they entered.
"Thank you my number one assistant! Why don't you take the rest of the day off, I can see you cleaned the whole library." Twilight told Spike.
The baby dragon grinned widely and thanked Twilight while hugging her. Spike quickly darted out the door toward Sweet Apple Acres.
"Where's he goin'?" Applejack asked.
"Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle are helping Apple Bloom with a project in their club house, Spike probably wants to hang out with them." Rainbow Dash explained.
"Well everypony, I don't think we can put this off any longer. Skate....I think its time. If you are ready of course, we don't want to force you to do anything you're uncomfortable with." Twilight said sadly.
Skate sighed. Her mood had immediately returned to depressed. "Okay, but you have to promise me what I say never leaves this room. This is one of my most personal secrets, and most painful." Skate told the six ponies in front of her, who all wore worried expressions.
"Cross my heart hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" The six ponies all said at once.
Skate took a deep breath, knowing what she had to do.
"I...I didn't exactly have the best fillyhood..." Skate began. She sighed again, and she felt tears ready to come out. "I guess I'll start from when the problem started. When I was nine years old, my mother passed away from a rare wing disease. My father and I were absolutely devastated. I cried and cried for hours when we heard the news. I tried to get my father to comfort me, but he just pushed me away. I was very young, just barely understanding the concept of death. I couldn't figure out why he wasn't helping me. So I cried as my father walked off to my parent's room. Then my father came back out an hour later. His breath smelled strongly of whiskey, and I knew he was drunk. I asked him if he was okay, and...and..." Skate paused, forcing her tears to stay down. The six ponies saw Skate struggling and all huddled around her, trying to comfort her. Rainbow Dash wrapped a wing around Skate, which she didn't reject this time. Skate finally regained her composure and continued. "And he yelled at me. I was so little, I didn't understand. My mother had just died and my father was angry at me. I still to this day hear my father's words, loud and clearly. 'NO I'M NOT BUCKING OKAY!!!'. He screamed at me. He was lost in his drunken and rage filled state. He continued yelling, and I said 'I'm s-sorry daddy! P-please!' He then..." Skate trailed off, unable to contain her tears. She managed to find her voice as she cried. "He then beat me...he gave me a black eye, a huge gash above my left eyebrow, and he nearly broke one of my ribs. This is where my life turned into a living hell. For the next five years, I would get abused almost every day from my always drunk father. Every. Single. Day." Skate finished, now breaking down into sobs.
The six Element Bearers were stunned silent. How could somepony beat an innocent little filly after her mother had just died?
"How could he beat you after your mother passed?" Rarity asked Skate.
"He blamed me for her death. I don't know why, his drunk logic didn't make him think properly. It was still very hurtful." Skate replied.
"Wait, you said five years? What happened when you were fourteen?" Rainbow Dash asked Skate with her wings till comfortingly wrapped around the blue maned pegasus.
"When I was fourteen years old, I decided enough was enough. I stood up to my father, and I still see that as the best decision I had ever made. I was nearing suicide when I was thirteen, and I was going to end it. But one thing stopped me, Princess Silver Dream. That's why we are so close. Anyways, on my fourteenth birthday, my father decided his present would be a beating. I decided I would teach him what pain felt like. " Skate paused for a moment to try and fight back her tears again. She then continued, "It started when I walked into the door as I got home from school."
Four years earlier.
"Are you sure Skate? Seriously, you don't need to do this. I can easily get my mother to have him arrested, there's far more than enough evidence. You don't need to get into a fight with him." Silver told Skate in concern.
Skate turned around to face Silver in the eyes. Silver backed up, scared by the intense rage burning in Skate's eyes. Its like they were glowing with the fires of hate.
"I need this Silver. I have to have closure with my father, or he will haunt me for my entire life. If I just had you send in Royal Guards and take him away, I would still lose. I would still be the little broken filly, and he would still be the big stallion. He needs to feel what I feel. He needs to be broken." Skate hissed in anger.
Silver sighed. She knew there was no such thing as arguing with Skate. "Fine. But, you have to swear to me that you will come to the palace immediately after. And if he breaks any bones are tries to kill you, you kill him. Do you hear me?"
And evil grin swept across Skate's face. "Oh I promise."
"Good luck, and try not to get hurt too badly." Silver locked into a tight embrace with Skate.
"I won't. You know my strength Silver, I'll be fine. Just have Royal Guards ready to storm the place. He's gonna try to flee after what I do to him." With that, Silver reluctantly trotted away as Skate stepped through the door of her house.
"I'm home Jet." Skate hissed. She had stopped calling her father 'dad' when she was thirteen. He never noticed, as he was always drunk.
"Well its miss big shot herself. Fourteen. Whoop de buckin doo." Jet Bluestar slurred back as he stumbled toward Skate.
"Thanks for the elegant happy birthday Jet." Skate remarked sarcastically. She then whispered under her breath, "Stupid alcoholic mother bucker."
Jet looked at his daughter in anger. "What did you just call me?"
"I called you an alcoholic mother bucker." Skate replied casually.
"WHY YOU LITTLE-" Jet began as he prepared to strike Skate in the face. However, he was knocked back by a powerful buck from Skate. The kick had knocked the wind out of him, and he struggled to breathe. An unfamiliar deep, burning pain invaded his torso.
"I'm not a little filly anymore Jet. You can't just hit me and expect me to take it anymore. I am the one in control now, and YOU are the broken filly now." Skate slyly stated.
With this, rage overtook Jet as he charged at his daughter. He slammed into her and kept running, and he slammed her powerfully into the wall. The wall broke down as Skate fell through to the room next to it; her room. Skate was hurt badly, her back made a sickeningly crunching noise and her chest was burning deeply in pain. But she couldn't give up. She pretended to be unconscious, and her father laughed wildly.
"Stupid bitch." He hissed as he turned around to trot back to his room. However, the second he turned around he found himself flying through the air. He was being propelled by his daughter, and the two ponies were headed straight toward the metal refrigerator. Skate's pain washed away like sand on the beach as the water violently slammed against the shores during a storm. Skate slammed her father into the metal fridge head first. There was a sickening crunch as his snout shattered against the force of the metal. The impact created a huge crater in to fridge door.
Her father screaming in pain, Skate took her chance. She got up off the ground and bucked at her father's wing joints. They shot out of the socket, dislocating and breaking them at the same time. Skate did the same to the other wing. Now broken, bleeding, and grounded, Skate finished it off.
Skate forced her father to his knees, and held his head in her hooves as she looked into his eyes. Skate's eyes literally glowed red with hatred. Her eyes burned fires of rage and vengeance, and her purple irises now had a faint red glow. Jet's dark green eyes housed fear. Skate saw this too. For the first time in five years, Skate was on top, and her father was the one who was afraid of seeing the light of the next day.
"Does it feel good?" Skate hissed with burning rage.
"N-no." Jet responded in an inaudible whisper.
"What was that?"
"No." Jet said again, slightly louder.
"I didn't hear you!" Skate screamed with her face inches from her father's.
"NO!" Jet yelled loudly.
"GOOD!" Skate screamed as she threw her father back, and turned around. She lifted her rear end off the ground, and cocked her legs for the final blow. With all the strength she could possibly muster, she bucked her father one last time straight in his face. His jaw made a horrific snapping sound as he fell over, knocked unconscious. Blood streamed down his face.
~~~~
"I then limped to the castle, and explained to Silver, Luna, and Celestia what happened. My father was arrested, and I moved into the castle when Luna adopted me."
The ponies were stunned silent yet again.
"My goodness...what a rough life you've had.Though I must ask, why do you receive flashbacks if you got your closure you wanted?" Rarity managed to spit out.
"On my fifteenth birthday, I received a letter from my father saying he broke out of jail and was coming for me. I won't bother you with what it said, it was all stupid. But it still did what he meant it to do. It really messed up with my mind, and that's when the flashbacks and nightmares began."
"My goodness, what a difficult life you've lived. I'm so sorry." Fluttershy said.
"Yeah, but it turned out all for the best. But only because of Silver. If it wasn't for her, I would have never stood up for myself. I would have committed suicide when I was thirteen." The ponies, except for Twilight, gave Skate a big, comforting group hug.
Twilight however, stared at the pegasus in awe. Tiny magical sparkles had formed around Skate, the exact same particles from the park, and nopony else noticed. Perhaps only Twilight could see them. A memory from three years prior flashed through Twilight's mind, and she had to force herself not to gasp as Skate continued to talk, the particles growing larger as she talked about her friend.
"Silver is the entire reason I'm alive right now. I told her that I had thought about attempting to commit suicide, and she started to cry. It was raining that day, and I was letting myself get soaked. After I told her, she wrapped her wing around me and she said something to me that I will never forget. She forced me to look up at the sky, and she said 'I like rainstorms. You know why? At the end of every storm, there's a beam of hope. Its beautiful, colorful, and inspiring. Its a Rainbow, Skate. But not just a rainbow. Its Violet Wind. Always remember that." Skate explained as she got very emotional.
"Violet wind? I'm not quite sure I understand darling." Rarity asked, confused.
"Yah, what did she mean by violet wind?" Applejack asked as well.
"Violet Wind was my mother's name. My mother was the most beautiful, kindest, most sweetest pony in Equestria. We were best friends. If I got a cut, she would kiss it and bandage it. If I was struggling with homework, she would stay up all night helping me. She was very special to me." Skate explained quietly as tears started to well up in her eyes.
All the other six ponies were now teared up too, and they engaged in yet another group hug. But this hug was different. Much, much different. The tiny sparkles formed around not only Skate, but the entire group. They grew every minute of the embrace. Again, only Twilight noticed. Those sparkles looked so familiar... Twilight gasped as a theory developed in her head.
"Twilight, whats wrong?" Skate asked.
"What? Oh, um....nothing! I just um, thought I saw a uh...mouse run across the floor. Yeah, a mouse! I guess my eyes are just playing tricks on me." Twilight lied while blushing. But the other ponies didn't question Twilight's strange answer.
"Well girls, its getting late, and I'm tired. I feel so much better talking to you about this." Skate began, and the sparkles formed yet again , this time however, they were quite large and bright. Though only Twilight noticed. "Thank you so much, you have no idea how much better I feel. Well, goodnight girls! Oh wait! I wanted to ask you girls something. How about we all have a sleepover at my house tomorrow night? Is everpony free?"
Everpony nodded, and Skate smiled. "Yay! Okay, I'll see you later!" And with that, Skate happily trotted out of the library toward her home.
Once Skate was out of earshot, Twilight jumped in front of her friends. "Girls, we need to talk."
"Whats wrong Twilight?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"I think Skate might be an Element of Harmony..."
Chapter 8: The Theory
"Good one Twilight, now seriously, whats wrong?" Rainbow Dash said, irritated.
"I'm serious!" Twilight defensively responded.
"How the hay could that even be possible!" Rainbow hissed back, clearly irritated.
"Calm down sugar cube. Now Twilight, Ah suppose you've got some reason to think this?" Applejack stepped in.
"Yes. Do you girls remember that ancient library Celestia invited me to three years ago?" Twilight asked. The five ponies nodded and Twilight continued, "There was this one book I found. I never mentioned it because I thought it was so illogical that I didn't feel the need to share it."
~~~~
Three years earlier...
"I'm so glad you managed to make it my most faithful student, are you ready?" Celestia asked Twilight outside of the newly discovered ancient library. The Princess and Twilight were at the ruins where the Element Bearers received their Elements, outside of an old rusted door below the room where the Elements of Harmony defeated Nightmare Moon. It's hinges were falling off and the door was coated with a full orange rust, indicating it was very old.
"Yep! I can't believe there was an ancient library right underneath the ruins where we got the Elements of Harmony. So, are we ready to enter?" Twilight excitedly stated.
Celestia giggled. Twilight had never changed, and she never would. "Yes, feel free to roam around and look at the various parchments in the library. I will be looking around too." Twilight grinned widely and the two ponies entered the ancient library. It was very dark inside, causing the two to use light spells. Twilight looked around at all the old tomes that lined the beaten down, web-filled bookshelves. However, Twilight felt a very strange magical aura coming from the far east side of the library. Intrigued, Twilight trotted to the source of this strange magical energy. She stopped as she came to a large stone wall. Confused, Twilight started searching around for a lever, hoping to find something that would move this wall. After about fifteen minutes, she gave up and decided to ask Princess Celestia about the strange energy.
"Princess Celestia, can you come here?" Twilight called out with a raised voice as she shot a light spell in the air, hoping that the Princess saw it. Within a few seconds, a golden ball of magic energy appeared in front of Twilight; Celestia had teleported.
"What is i- Oh my..." Celestia gasped, her eyes wide as she stared at the large stone wall in front of her.
"Do you feel it too? I tried to get to it, but this stone wall is in the way and there's no lever to move it." Twilight said.
Celestia only nodded, her mind racing with a thousand thoughts. This energy, this power...it felt so familiar . There was only one thing that could have caused this specific energy, but surely that can't be it. Right?
"Wait, there's a crack here! I think this can be flipped open with a simple spell." Twilight exclaimed. She fired up her horn, and shot a blast of a magic spell at the wall. And sure enough, it flipped sideways, allowing the two mares to walk in. However, when they walked in, they were taken back.
"Argh" Twilight grunted as the magic energy intensified when they walked in. But then Twilight saw it. Sitting in the middle of the dark room, there was a pedestal with one book on it. The book was glowing, it was encased in a magical deep golden aura. Twilight and the Princess looked at each other and nodded, silently telling Twilight that she could approach the book. She trotted up to the book and attempted to pick it up with her magic. However, when she tried to pick it up, a spark shot through Twilight's horn and body, and caused the tip of her horn to grow black.
"Ahh!" Twilight squeaked, stunned by the blast. "That magical energy is preventing me from picking it up. Whatever that book is, it must be really important." Twilight said. She carefully put a hoof on the cover of the book, and sighed with relief when nothing happened. Twilight then read the title out loud.
"The Elements of Harmony. Strange." Twilight read. Celestia's thoughts were proving to be correct with each passing second and she still stood, not moving. It can't be. She thought to herself.
Twilight flipped open to the first page. "The Elements of Harmony. Thy are the ultimate bond of companionship, thy shall be created when thy King of Equestria, Solar Shift, and thy Queen of Equestria, Lunar Grace, sacrifice thyselves... " Twilight continued reading. She read out loud, page by page. Twilight had finished reading the thin book, and by the end she was thoroughly confused.
"Princess, are your parents.." Twilight began, trailing off.
"Yes my faithful student. My parents sacrificed themselves to create the Elements when Discord took over. Luna and I overthrew Discord solely because it was our parent's dying wish." Celestia grimly stated, remembering the horrible memory.
"I'm sorry." Twilight said sympathetically. "But I still don't understand. Why is this so-" Twilight instantly stopped when she picked up the book. Underneath was a small chamber below the book. It housed an ancient, dusty leather bound book. The book on the top was a decoy, magically enchanted to float to conceal this book. Twilight picked it up with her magic and blew off the dust, making the title readable.
"The Forgotten Element." Twilight read aloud. This book was thin as well, however it was slightly thicker. Twilight opened to the front page and when her eyes met the first words, Twilight's eyes went wide. "To my dearest daughter, Celestia. By the time thou see this tome, thy will hath already heard the stories. They are true. Read on." Twilight read as she turned to Celestia.
Celestia's thoughts had been confirmed. "Father..." Celestia gasped in astonishment.
Twilight however, was extremely confused. She hated being this confused, and needed answers. "What does this mean?"
Celestia finally managed to collect herself again, and replied, "Solar Shift. My father... I recognized my father's energy in this room, but I refused to believe it. The stories he refers to...Twilight, read this book, and all with be answered."
Twilight didn't need any further direction as she started to read the book.
The Forgotten Element. Years after thy Elements shall be used against thy return of Discord, thy Forgotten Element shall appear. She will be a pegasus, and she shall have a dark past. Twilight continued to read on. The book described how the Elements Bearers will meet a pegasus with a painful past, and the Elements will help her overcome her past and cure her of her horrible nightmares and thoughts. The book greatly intrigued Twilight. But it was the last page that really got her attention. Twilight had just assumed the Forgotten Element was just a false prediction about the Element of Magic, until she saw that last page.
When thy Forgotten Element hath been given, thy Elements shall come together in circle, and proclaim their friendship though thy Vows of Harmony.
Thy Vows are as followed.
Let our friendship be forever tied together through our Loyalty, Honesty, Kindness, Generosity, and Laughter.
Let Perseverance break through all of our troubles, and may the Magic that is frienship bond us together. Forever, and always.
So that Harmony shall always be with us.
Twilight was shocked. "Princess, all the Elements are capitalized. And this word, Perseverance is capitalized too. Could this mean there's a seventh, forgotten Element?"
"I'm not sure my faithful student. My father was always a very strange pony. He spoke in cryptic ways, and he did the same in his writing. Think of it what you will, this can be taken many ways.."
"But Princess, how can there be a seventh element? Aren't the Elements suppose to balance each other out? Two Unicorns, Two Pegasi, and two Earth ponies." Twilight asked, confused for the hundredth time that day.
"Not necessarily my student. Whenever there are judges for a competition, what kind of number are the judges?" Celestia asked. The words came out of Celestia's mouth, but she could feel that her father was speaking through her.
Nice to see you again my father. Celestia said to her father in her head.
And you too, I see you've taken good care of Equestria. For that, your mother and I are grateful. Solar Shift responded. His deep, booming voice rang through Celestia's head.
"There's always odd numbers so there's no arguments. Usually there's three, five, or..." Twilight trailed off as realization slapped her in the face."...Seven." she whispered.
"Indeed my student." Celestia said.
~~~~
"Oh my..." Fluttershy gasped as Twilight finished her story.
"I-I can't believe there's a forgotten Element, and that Skate is the forgotten Element of Perseverance." Rarity gasped.
"Wait wait wait. How can you be sure she is the Element of Perseverance?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Today, every time Skate would talk about her best friend, or about her father, or when we hugged her, these magical sparkles started to form around her. And according to the book, when she tells us her final secret, the sparkles will glow brightly and everpony will be able to see them, instead of only me. She will be levitated into the air, her eyes will go white, then a huge flash of light will shoot out from her, and she'll appear on the ground with a crown boasting her Element." Twilight explained.
The five ponies were in disbelief. They had known this mare for less than a week, and they're friendship had already grown a powerful bond. They couldn't find any words to say. Even Pinkie Pie, who was now back to her normal self, was quiet. After a few minutes of silence, Applejack managed to speak first.
"Do y'all reckon it'll happen at tha' sleepover tomorrow?" Applejack asked Twilight.
"I'm not sure. But I guess we'll find out."
A/N: I'm not really satisfied with this chapter, but I just cannot think of anything to add. I just feel like this chapter goes by too fast. I don't know, let me know what you think in the comments. I'd like to give a huge thanks to Primalcorn1 for allowing me to use his idea and tweak it a little. The Vows of Harmony were heavily Nightmare . I highly recommend you read it, as it is very well written and has a great story. It is unfinished though, damn it.
Chapter 9: Perseverance
"Hi girls! Come in, come in!" Skate beamed cheerfully. She had spent the entire day after the discussion in the library tidying up her home. Skate felt much better after she talked with them. However, she still felt a sort of emptiness inside. She hoped that whatever questions the Elements had to ask, her getting the answers off her chest would help. She had a mostly peaceful night, aside from her dreams slipping to that of her mother at one point in the night. But whenever Skate had a nightmare about her mother and woke up, when she fell back asleep her dreams always turned back to Silver's words when she was thirteen and Silver was eleven.
"I like rainstorms. You know why? At the end of every storm, there's a beam of hope. Its beautiful, colorful, and inspiring. Its a Rainbow, Skate. But not just a rainbow. Its Violet Wind. Always remember that."
Violet Wind...
Somehow, Silver always knew when Skate dreamed about her mother, so she would give Skate that same dream.
"Thank you Skate." Twilight said as her and the other Elements trotted into the house.
"Wow, nice place you got here kid." Rainbow Dash said as she looked around at the various furniture and appliances.
"Why thank you. Silver bought everything in here for me. I just bought the house." Skate thanked Rainbow.
"So Skate, have you ever had a slumber party before?" Twilight asked the blue-maned pegasus. Twilight ached to get the night over with. To see if Skate was the Element of Perseverance. If it was going to happen, it was going to happen tonight.
"Of course! When I was fifteen, Scootaloo, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, Silver and I all had a big slumber party in the palace. We had so much fun. We stayed up all night and at about three o clock in the morning, apparently our laughter had awoken Celestia. So while we were in a laughing fit, Celestia just about broke the door down. Her eyes were all red, and-" Skate paused, trying not to break out in a laughing fit. "And her mane was messy and tangled, but still flowing. She looked right at us and yelled in the loudest Canterlot Voice I have ever heard, 'GO TO SLEEP! ' But this just made us laugh even harder." Skate finished with a loud, heavy laughing fit. The Elements started to chuckle at the thought of Celestia using the Royal Canterlot Voice.
Skate finally managed to contain her laughter long enough to ask the ponies if they wanted something to drink. They all asked for water, except for Rainbow Dash who asked for cider, and Skate trotted off to the kitchen to get her friend's drinks. When Skate closed the door to the other room, the Elements all faced each other with the same thought.
"Well girls, its tonight or never." Twilight stated with a anxious sigh. The other ponies nodded with their own anxious sighs. A few moments later, Skate came back out from the kitchen with a tray in her hooves that had five glasses of water, a glass of cider, and a glass of strange, fizzy liquid.
"What is that drink you have for yourself dear?" Rarity asked Skate, equally curious as her other fellow friends.
"Its a drink called Equestria Dry ginger ale. Its pretty popular back in Canterlot, and its like a soda." Skate explained.
"Ooooo! OOo! OOoooo! Can I try some?!" Pinkie energetically asked. Skate chuckled and let her have a sip of her ginger ale.
Pinkie whirled the liquid around in her mouth, examining every bit of flavor it could possibly have. She finally swallowed it and simply stated,"Not bad."
"So," Skate began as she took a sip of her drink, "what kind of games do you girls like to play?"
The Elements looked at each other then back at Skate, and shrugged. Pinkie said something about pin the tail on the pony and quickly darted out of the house. Skate looked at the door in utter disbelief.
"Wha....H-how? I don't even...What ?" Skate stuttered.
"Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie." The remaining Elements all said at once. Skate simply shook her head, and asked the five mares, "Uh anyways, how about truth or dare?"
Applejack frowned. "Don't y'all think we're a little too old ta be playin' that game?"
Skate grinned playfully. "Maybe for you old timers."
"Oh its on." Applejack responded, her pride guiding her.
"Come now Applejack, su-" Rarity began, but Applejack interrupted her.
"She just called us old. That includes you."
"Oh fine." Rarity said, not even bothering in arguing with her friend.
"Right. So Skate, you go first." Twilight stated.
"Mkay." Skate began as she went into thought. "Uhhh....Rarity, truth or dare?"
"Truth."
Skate's went into thought for a short moment again and asked her question. "Have you ever hit a filly?"
Rarity's mouth opened wide and she gasped in horror. "I would never do such a barbaric thing!"
"Good, cause if you did I would have to kick your ass." Skate replied with a playful wink, and everypony laughed softly.
"Funny, now my turn." Rarity replied. "Truth or dare?"
"Truth." Skate stated.
"Have you ever kissed a mare?"
Skate's eyes went wide as her heart started to pound furiously. Did she just ask that? Skate thought to herself. Sweat started to form on Skate's forehead, and she took a deep breath.Come on Skate! You'll tell them about your father but not this? She scolded herself in her head.
Just as Skate was about to speak, Pinkie walked back in the door.
"Okay so I got pin the tail on the pony so we can play it!" She excitedly beamed. Skate let out a huge sigh of relief. That was close.
"So, should we play it now?" Skate asked, attempting to end the game and change the subject.
"You didn't answer my question." Rarity stated. Skate gulped, she had hoped Rarity forgot. Skate took a deep breath, and got prepared to speak, knowing what she had to do.
"Yes." Skate stated in a barely audible, shameful whisper. "I-...I'm a..." Skate trailed off. She just was having trouble bringing herself to say it. She took another deep breath and finally spit it out. "I'm a fillyfooler." She shamefully said while looking at the ground. Her heart was racing, and she was sweating. Skate dreaded the possible reactions she would get. However, the one she got thoroughly shocked her.
"Why don't you have a marefriend?" Rarity asked.
Skate's mouth was open, and her eyes were wide with shock. "Y-you...you're not...WHAT?"
"Skate there's nothing wrong with that. You can love whoever the hay you want to love. Why would you think we cared? But I gotta agree with Rarity, I'm kinda surprised you don't have somepony." Rainbow Dash casually stated as if nothing was out of the ordinary.
Skate was completely flabbergasted. "Wow girls, I didn't expect you to be so accepting. Um, I haven't really met too many ponies here in Ponyville yet. I had somepony in Canterlot, but we broke up a year ago. Though there are some cute mares here." Skate said with a huge sigh of relief.
The Element Bearers eyes went wide open, and they gasped in pure shock. There, around Skate, formed these large, bright magical sparkles.
"The final secret..." Twilight whispered out loud.
"Whoa, whats happening?!" Skate yelled as the sparkles started to form rings around her. She started to levitate into the air, and the rings started to spin violently and rapidly.
"WHOAWHATTHEBUCKINGHAYISGOINGONWHATTHEBUCK!" Skate yelled. She didn't know what was happening, but it was frightening. Skate was now high in the air, just a foot or two from the ceiling. Her eyes became fully white as the rings continued to engulf her and spin faster. The violent rings were causing powerful winds to be shot through the house, and they just kept spinning faster and faster. The rings finally completely covered Skate, and then it happened.
BOOM!
The rings suddenly stopped and imploded on themselves, and a grand flash of white light whipped out with a large boom. However, the white light quickly gained all the colors of the spectrum; a sonic rainboom just occurred in Skate's house. But this was different. The rainboom shot out in a circle and went through the house's walls and roof as if there was nothing there. A huge, magnificent rainbow shot out from Skate's body and through the roof, going through it as if there was nothing there as well.
Finally, the show ended. There was a lot of smoke in the house, and this caused the Elements to cough. When the smoke finally cleared, they saw her. Skate was standing in front of them, and a huge, magnificent crown boasting her cutie mark sat on her head. All of the other Element's gems had their own color making up the rainbow, however, Skate's gem was a rainbow.
"Ughhh, what...what happened?" Skate wearily asked. The Elements did not answer however, but instead formed a circle and held hooves. Something told Skate to join them, but she didn't know what. It was like a natural impulse. Remembering what Twilight told them what they had to do, they began.
"Let our friendship be forever tied together through our-" Twilight began.
"Loyalty." The Element of Loyalty stated.
"Honesty." The Element of Honesty said.
"Kindness." The Element of Kindness said.
"Generosity." The Element of Generosity said.
"Laughter." The Element of Laughter stated.
Something in Skate told her exactly what to say. She just somehow knew, as if she had known her whole life. "Let Perseverance break through all of our troubles."
Twilight then continued. "And may the Magic that is friendship bond us together. Forever, and always."
Then, the seven Elements of Harmony all said together, "So that Harmony shall always be with us." They finished the Vows of Harmony and the other Elements of Harmony suddenly teleported to the ponies, and each, including Skate's, started to glow brightly, and their eyes did the same. They levitated out of the house and into the middle of the street. Powerful winds were blowing out from the Elements like a helicopter's rudder blades. Everpony in town gathered to watch this grand spectacle. They continued to rise in the air until they were completely off the ground. A magical, rainbow colored aura encased them as it started to beat like a heart.
~~~~
"Dearest sister, do you have to blast your music so loud? You know I sleep during the day time." Luna complained to her older sister.
"Yes. I do. Don't I Silver?" Celestia replied with a wink to Silver.
"I believe you do Auntie. And besides mother, the moon needs to be raised soon." Silver answered with a wink back.
"Trolls..." Luna muttered under her breath as she began to trot back out of the throne room. However, she remembered she needed to ask Silver about something, and opened her mouth to speak. "Silver do you-"
BOOM!
Luna stopped instantly, and the two Alicorns and Silver looked out of the window wearing expressions of shock. Out in the distance, they could see the huge waves of a sonic rainboom spreading across the land, originating from Ponyville. A large flash of light came out from one of the houses, and a grand rainbow shot out into the sky. After a few minutes of staring in disbelief, a Royal Guard came busting through the throne room's door.
"Princesses! The Elements of Harmony are missing!"
Celestia turned to Luna. "Sister, do you remember that book on The Forgotten Element our father wrote?"
"Yes." Luna said, knowing where Celestia was going with this.
"I think it just happened." With that, the three Princesses unfurled their wings and ran out to the balcony, then took to the sky toward Ponyville.
~~~~
The aura around the Elements of Harmony continued to beat slowly. It was as if it was waiting for something, or somepony. Everpony in Ponyville was now staring in awe. After a few moments of nothing different happening, the ponies of Ponyville saw three ponies flying in from the direction of Canterlot. They saw two Alicorns, and a normal pegasus.
"The Princesses!" Somepony yelled out from the crowd. The three Royal ponies landed, and everypony bowed.
"Our father was correct Luna....Silver. Skate is the Element of Perseverance." Celestia gasped as she saw Skate in the middle of the Elements, boasting her own crown with her cutie mark. All of a sudden, a deep, booming voice shot through thin air.
"Thy Elements of Harmony hath been brought together."
Celestia's and Luna's jaw dropped.
"Father..." They said at the same time.
"Celestia, my daughter of the Sun, Luna, my daughter of the Moon, thy must commence thy Ceremony of Harmony immediately for true Harmony to be established. You learned it long ago, dig deep into thou minds and all shall be remembered. Congratulations thy Elements of Harmony. " The deep voice rang out again. It was indeed the voice of Solar Shift.
The Elements started to slowly descend back to the ground, and their eyes returned to their normal colors. They still wore their Elements however.
"Ugh, Princess, why are you here? And what happened?" Twilight wearily asked Princess Celestia as she noticed her and her friends were wearing their Elements.
"We must get to Canterlot immediately." Princess Celestia urgently said.
