Author's Note

This is my first writing project and fan fiction. I had this idea for quite some time and I'm actually glad I decided to hop on it. It's about time I did something I thought of. The chapters will be kinda short however I do plan on trying to make them a few thousand words long later on when I gain some more experience and have others proofread everything. That being said, things are subject to change when I get the chance. Wording and such will be edited to make the story go smoother.

This story is a third person narrative, something I'm not too familiar with when it comes to writing. While that is going on, there is a narrative portion of it with diary entries. Where you'll see how the character views everything. ~~I am very nervous about this.~~

Chapter I - Another Night

Reason This Exists

The reason why this exists is because of my parents. They told me I should document my thoughts, feelings, and daily life. I know the real reason why they suggested this. I’m embarrassed to say and I refuse to mention it. Even in something as private as a diary.

My parents are an odd couple, to say the least. My father was the one who stayed home and took care of me and my mother did the working and bit making. My father was an excellent cook and usually did it with my mother. I would watch them flipping ingredients between each other with their wings. Carrots and heads of lettuce soaring through the air and landing in the partner’s wings, where it would be chopped and prepared for the family. Fortunately, I was named Autumn Glow. My mother couldn't crack jokes about me heating up food but that didn't stop the season jokes. You’d think my father would bring up all the easy and obvious jokes but no, it’s my mother.

My parents said that it was difficult to name me. They had Setting Sun in mind but they thought it was too typical and bland. Then, they went with the colours I donned on my coat. They resembled that of a sky during a sunset. The sky's vibrant orange owns most of my coat and the shining yellow from the sun fades towards my hooves. My mane/tail, however, takes on a darker approach, where the colours are from the clouds at the same time of day. The deep navy blue blended evenly with purple between the clouds. Then a stripe down the middle of the long hair collected the reddish-pink colour you'd see in clouds higher up in the sky. Everything in the sky made it onto me as if an artist used their brush to grab the colours from the sky itself and paint them onto me.

And you’d expect me to be born at sunset where the colours would come out beautifully in the sky. Nope. Was born early in the morning, just as the sun was being risen by Celestia. Heard the story many times by my mother to other ponies. “This mare came out two weeks later than planned. We were worried if something was wrong but just as we were about to check, she decided she wanted out and everything went smoothly. A beautiful, healthy foal was brought into this world by her own accord. A foreshadow to how she is today. But my little Autumn is a hard worker.” (( I was due two weeks before the full pregnancy term was complete. Before. How the fuck do I come out before the term is completed?! ))

Her praise would echo in my head from time to time when I sat alone in my room. Yeah, I do stuff when I feel like it but only when there is no time constraint on it. I shouldn’t really rush to get something done if it can get done anytime. Though, even without a time constraint, some things do need to be done while I’m still young. I know that. ~~I knew that before I got myself into this fuckin' mess.~~

~ ~ ~

The orange mare sighed, looking at the last sentence she wrote that was covered with a thick line through it, the ink still wet. The black stroke slowly sank into the paper, making whatever it was underneath mildly hard to read permanently. Autumn Glow fixed her sky blue eyes for a long time at what she wrote, thinking deeply about what she referenced. Then her attention was brought to the note she had in the margin just next to that paragraph. Perhaps the two events were related. Maybe the fact that she stayed in longer, her destiny, her purpose, completely changed from the original. It was a crazy thought, but her mind said that it could be true.

Her thought process shifted back to normal. She wished that somehow her problem would disappear overnight. She glanced at her flank, as if something magical happened just as she was thinking about it. For a second, she was even hopeful that something so outlandish would have happened. But after processing what she was looking at, Autumn realized nothing changed. Autumn told herself she wasn't being rational, bumping her hoof at her head. She believed this to be her punishment for being so stupid.

Her jaw clenched more and she heard a small snap. Quickly, Autumn put her personalized pen down under the inkwell. The pen was made for her by her parents. She never liked using pencils and enjoyed the look ink had on paper once it dried. And the small bumps on the side of the words written gave whatever she wrote a nice look. Autumn begged and begged her parents to give her something but nothing worked. All through school, she had to deal with the wood and the taste of that awful rubber. It wasn't until Autumn started writing more at home that her parents saw the faces she was making as she wrote and decided to give her something that used ink. They were close to jut getting an eraserless pencil but realised that it would be the same as ink, no way to erase her mistakes. This pen also had small grooves for her teeth so that her fast scribbling wouldn't mess up her writing or make the pun slip out. The grooves were slightly worn but now had a small fracture under it.

Autumn pushed back flapped her wings forward. The gust of wind made the loose paper on her desk kick up and flutter as she flew through her room, facing the soft ceiling. Autumn wondered how it was molded perfectly by professionals. A flat, stable roof over her head. She thought of the skills the ponies had in planning and building. How they were able to visualize the layout of the whole house and knew how everything would be able to stay up without a problem.

With near perfect accuracy, the short mare landed with a bounce on her bed. The window, next to her bed, showed her the night sky. The tiny balls of light shone in her eyes. She removed her spectacles while looking out the window. The stars suddenly had thin and pointy thorns poking out in four directions. She smiled at how they looked, reminding her of her childhood doodles when she was bored during school. Despite not liking the taste off the eraser, she pushed her dislikes aside to draw whatever she imagined.

But the smile didn’t last long as she was reminded that somepony could have an amazing talent to draw beautiful pictures. Or even a talent to identify where they were in the world just by just looking up at the night sky when they’re lost. With another deep exhale of air, she rolled over away from the window. She didn’t bother putting the blankets over her as Autumn drifted off to sleep. “Someday,” she wondered, “This will be a funny episode of my life.”

Her eyelids fluttered shut and in a few minutes, Autumn Glow was quietly snoring. Her thoughts quieted down and she soon dreamed of soaring through space.