Superficial

by Crescent Moon Crew

Rating: teen
Tags: Profanity, Adventure, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Drama, Original Character, Mystery
Length: 7317

The kingdom of Equestria has reached its demise after a war that left many casualties. Story takes Place 3,000 yrs in the future in the Reconstructed Kingdom of Illusia??

3,000 years have passed since the Great Equestrian War. Both sides in war suffered major casualties. However, the end of the war didn’t bring prosperity to Equestria; instead, it brought its downfall. In a final attempt, the princesses, along with the bearers of Harmony, gave their life to defeat the enemy forces. With the massive devastation caused by the many battles, the Everfree Forest began to spread its roots far and wide causing a territorial division in the land of Equestria. The land of the North began to prosper yet, things weren’t as nice as they seemed. Friendship existed but hate was more visible than in the days of Equestria. As the years passed, records of Equestrian history were destroyed and  the only remains laid in the Woods of Everfree, where anypony who dared to venture into will never return. In the center of the New Kingdom, which got the name of Illusia, laid a small town. In it lived a young pegasus with a light blue coat, scarlet red eyes and his cutie mark, still not found. That meant that his fate wasn’t set yet. Join the young pegasus as he embarks on a life changing adventure to uncover the past.

Story takes place After season 6 and Before season 7 thus the Alt Universe tag. Tags will continue to be added as the story progresses

Published 2018-11-07 18:30:01 UTC
Last updated 2018-11-07 18:30:01 UTC

A Peculiar Pony

Some years ago, at least as I remember, everything seemed to be going great. I was a young foal with big goals. A young blue Pegasus who was barely getting used to flying. My life was a good one, I had family that cared for me and many friends too; I was loved. At school, I was well known for always being the first one to volunteer. I was surprised about it especially since I hadn’t gotten my Cutiemark. I wanted to become a well known pegasus, similar to how the guards where which is why I wanted to get the hang of using my wings so much. I felt that it was my destiny; my own ambition. The only problem was that I was the only Pegasi from my class that still needed to get used to flying. Beyond that, I wasn’t teased for not knowing how to. I guess part of it was because nopony really knew about it.

In town, I was recognized everywhere I went. Part of it being a small town of ponies and the other because I would always be lending a helping hoof. Back at home, it was a little calm for me since I was the youngest of two. My older brother Featherswift was always nice to me; he would help me when I had problems and even guided me through my flying lessons. No matter where I was, I felt appreciated for who ‘I’ was… at least that’s how it was until Flight Camp.

Once I went to Flight Camp located on the outskirts of Baltimare, things began to change. For starters, I knew nopony but everypony knew me because of my brother. When he had come to Flight Camp, a few years back, he was recognized for being the best flyer the camp had ever seen; that of course, was bad new for me.

When I got to camp for the first time, I knew that things were going to be different from home; however, I didn’t expect them to go the way they did. I knew I was going to have to start from the very beginning since there was nopony I knew. ‘This shouldn't be that hard’ I thought to myself as I made my way to meet with the other ponies. Now, looking back at this day, I keep on telling myself that things could’ve been different if they didn’t recognize me as being Featherswift’s brother.

As I gathered with the rest of the ponies, I heard the instructor doing roll call.Then he paused at my name.

“Arctic Flare!” yelled the instructor.

“H-here” I responded back.

“Wait a second, aren’t you Featherswift’s little brother?” the instructor lowered his clipboard to make eye contact with me.

The remaining of the classmates began to talk amongst themselves, “Isn’t he the best flyer to come out of here?”, I heard one pony whisper to another.

“Y-yes sir” I replied with a timid voice.

“Huh, well welcome aboard. I am looking forward to seeing what the little brother can accomplish.”

After the instructor spoke, we began with what was expected from us. Simple rules like staying within camp borders, what time we are expected to show up to our lessons and all.

☀☀☀

A few weeks had passed since I began camp and things were just getting started. On our first flight test, we were taken to the training ground.

“Alright listen up!” yelled the instructor while all heads turned to face him.

“For your first test, you are to fly through every course,” he added pointing his hoof to the field, “within 10 minutes to pass your test. Any questions?!,” he stood silent for 5 seconds, “Alright! Number 4 go up!”

A young colt with white coat and a blue mane standing next to me began to make his way to the field. 'Alright Flare, you got this, you been training all week long for this’ I thought to myself. I was excited yet worried about the test. It was, after all, the first time I would have been graded for my flying skills. A couple ponies had already been called up when the instructor called up the next participant.

“Number 13! Your next!”

‘That's my call’

I began to make my way when the instructor stopped me,

“Hey Flare, wait up,” the instructor began, “I just have to tell you that the current record for finishing the course is 7 minutes with 38 seconds, it was set by your brother Featherswift. I’m pretty sure you can break it. Now go out there and show me what you got!”

‘Great, not only am I being judged by my flying skills, I’m also competing against my brother?’ I was feeling more nervous now than ever before.

The instructor blew the whistle and I began to take flight and make my way through the first obstacle. ‘Good I’m up to a good start’ I kept my mind focus on the obstacles ahead of me. ‘Obstacle 2, 3, and 4 cleared, just 3 more to go’ I began to make my way to the second to last obstacle when the words of the instructor replayed in my head. This made me lose my concentration and crashed on the last obstacle…

Failing to finish the test.

☀☀☀

I woke up hours later in the nurse’s office. My vision was hazy and all I could see was the figure of a mare, who had a bright and beautiful pink coat. I had been brought because I suffered a minor injury; I sprained one of my wings.

“You finally woke up,” I heard a soft and gentle voice said, “here’s some food.”

“Uhm, what happened?” I asked as I tried to sit up, “OWW!” I felt as if my left wing was getting torn apart.

“Be careful dear, your wing is still fragile. I can’t believe you didn't fracture anything else based on the impact.”

“My test” I tried to stand up but the pain in my back was overwhelming.

“No no no, you still need rest, that wing won’t heal if you move too much” the nurse declared as she began to lay me back down.

As I layed back down, I recalled what happened, I was flying full speed to the last part of the course when I lost concentration and crashed with the last obstacle. The force and collision made me lose my trajectory and I hit the ground spraining my left wing. I rested my head in the pillow knowing that there was nothing else I could do. I had let my instructor down and all the training be for nothing.

☀☀☀

A week later, the nurse said I could continue with my courses but that I shouldn’t be flying. She had talked to my instructor to let him know I was grounded until further notice. I made my way back to the class grounds when a pegasus of dark brown coat with a military cut mane approached me.

“Hey guys look, is that dumb pegasus that can’t even finish a simple test.” he said to the two pegasi next to him.

“Haha and look, he can’t fly anymore” said the one to his right.

“And you know what’s worst, Thunderstrike?” asked the one to the left of the center pony, who i assumed was Thunderstrike, “My little sister still passed the test with no training.”

The three of them began laughing. I could tell based on their appearance that the two ponies to the sides where not that smart, so I just ignored them and made my way to meet the rest only to find out that I had become the laughing joke of the whole class. On top of that, they were also judging my ability to fly.

I passed by a group of classmates who were discussing their scores of the test. Suddenly,their voices dropped and I heard one of them whisper, “Look at him, I can’t believe he dares to show up after making a fool out of himself.” another added, “not only that, I can’t believe HE is related to Featherswift, you would expect his brother to actually complete the test.”

I continued to make my way to the only place where the rest of the ponies weren’t gathered around. ‘Great, not only did I fail my test, I am now considered a disgrace.’

The instructor arrived and seemed to be looking for somepony. “Ah, Flare.” he made his way to where I was standing, “The nurse told me you can’t fly for while, so here is your work for the meantime. I will also excuse you from your flying test until you can fly again. You just need to read the sections marked.” he handed me two books one titled, ‘Elements of Flight’ and the other one was a workbook. The rest of the class, specially Thunderstrike, began to protest on how the instructor was being too lean with me.

“What! What makes him so special to have to do different activities from us? I call that bullㄧ”

“Thunderstrike that’s enough” the instructor cut him off, “Arctic Flare sprained one of his wings and can’t fly until further notice. It will be unfair for me to test him on something he can’t do.”

The rest of the class turned to face me. ‘And now everypony hates me.’

The next day, I received the first letter from my family ever since camp began. It just wasn’t what I needed after a rough month

Hey Flare,

Wow it’s been almost a month since camp started, we meant to write sooner but things got accumulated. On a side note, your brother became Captain of the Pony Service Unit can you believe that? Anyhow how is it going for you? I’m pretty sure you have made many friends. And seeing as how you spent most of your days practicing with your brother, you must be the top of your class just like him. Ohh, I bet you even broke his records.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Loved Dad

“He couldn’t be more wrong.” I decided to go for a walk to clear my head. During my walk, I saw Thunderstrike picking on another pony, so I decided to jump in and help.

“Look at him he’s scared, hahaha what should we do?” I heard Thunderstrike tell the two pegasus next to him.

“Leave him alone.”

“Huh, what was that,” Thunderstrike turned to face me.

“I said leave him alone” I walked right between them and the younger pegasus.

“Or else what? What are you going to do huh? You can’t even fly. What is a stupid pony like you going to do against me? Come on guys, this idiot ruined the fun.”

I turned to face the younger colt, “hey are you okay?”

“I can defend myself”

“What was that?” I asked.

“I can take care of myself. I don’t need a disgrace of a pegasus like you to be looking out for me.” he began to walk away. I felt anger rise inside of me.

Things seemed to go the same way for a long time. I began to distance myself from everypony at camp. I wandered around camp borders every time I had the chance which in effect gave me an idea of how the schedule for the guards work. I found ways to sneak out of camp and back without being noticed. One day, I decided to leave camp at night and I wandered around the town for a while. Not knowing what to do, I wandered around for a short time before coming to a sign.
“Woods of Everfree. Beware your step,” I took a look at the dirt walk in front of me leading into the mysterious woods, “this doesn’t look that intimidating” I began to take a step forward and ventured to where the road took me. Howls, twigs snapping,and all sorts of strange noises came from every direction causing me turn my head at any small sound. “Hehe, they weren’t kidding with that sign,” I laughed nervously as fear began to take over me, “guess that’s enough exploring for now.” I turned back the road to follow my way back to town only to be surprised by the sight of the woods continuing endlessly in every direction.

“That’s weird,” I turned my head facing every direction, “the road was right behind me, I couldn’t have gone in for too long.” Fear began to grow deeper on me, “no no no, I need to get out of here.” Seconds later my walk became trots as I headed in the direction I thought was the way back to Baltimare. The road seemed endless, the noises grew louder making me think I was heading into the heart of the woods only to set my mind at ease when my eyes caught the glimpse of open woods ahead of me. “Yes, I’m finally out!” I began to slow down to a walk seeing as how the exit from the woods was only a few trots away.

At first glance, things were wrong. The town in front of me looked nothing like Baltimare. “I don’t recall seeing a fountain before.” I inspected the nearby houses; broken windows, vines growing on their sides, cracked walls, and most of all, worn out. “What happened here, how long was I gone?” Many questions had began to run through my head. How long was I in the woods, I began to take a closer look from building to building looking of something to answer my questions. I walked over to one of the building with more vibrant colors. In its decaying moments, the place still looked more alive than its surroundings. Unlike the other houses or buildings around, this one looked like a giant Gingerbread house, a creepy one at that for the contradictory decorations of years of abandonment adorning it. The sign hanging from a beam to the left of the entrance was covered with dust. I moved the sign slightly making it swing, making the rusty metal bars to squeak as the sign swung, dropping some of the dust allowing for some of the words covering a sparkly pink cupcake to be read. “Su ar C be C rn r” I gave the place one more look when out of the corner of my eye, I saw the silhouette of another pony, no another being inside, “huh?” My gaze attempted to focus on the object but the minimal light from the moon made it difficult to see.

“Hey!” I made the mistake of calling out to whatever was inside. The silhouette turned to face the source of the call, focusing it’s nerve racking gaze at me. Bad Idea Arctic, you’re a dead pony now. the creature began to run, not towards me but out of the building. As the creature was running past me, I noticed it had a robe covering his head and front hooves. I had a feeling he wasn’t a threat. “Hey no come back, I just want to ask you some questions!” My words failed to give out the message, “for the love of,” I trotted after the other living thing in this place tailgating to not lose sight.” the creature looked back giving me a look at its eyes. They were yellow. “Look out!” I shouted. When the creature looked back to what laid ahead it was too late, the pieces of debris caused it to slow down. Now’s my chance I galloped at full speed tackling it to the ground.

“Enough running away, who are you!” The hood came off his head to reveal a unicorn colt, his coat was grey with his black mane brushed towards his back. “Alright, you caught me, it must have been foolish of me to run away.” A unicorn I thought to myself, why didn’t he just use his magic to flee. Unless he’s… “Oh pardon me for taking you down in such manner, I didn’t mean to hurt you. I’m Just confused as to what’s going on” I responded, “Who are you, what happened here, where are we. are you hurt, is there anything I can do to helー” I was interrupted, “settle down there, I’m sure you have many questions as so do I but I’m afraid they’ll have to wait. For now, I’ll take your offer.” He smiled before continuing, “A little glass of water please.”

My thoughts couldn’t keep up with the request of the Mysterious pony in front of me. “Woah woah woah, I don’t think I can find all those things here, and I’m sure you made up half of the things in that oddly specific list of yours.” I said after he had finished with the extravagant request.

“Hahaha, oh my I didn’t have a laugh like that in many years,” responded the pony, removing a tear of joy from his eye. I stared in confusion at his sense of humor before he continued, “So, what brings you by here Arctic Flare?” My confusion grew, How does he know my name, “How do you” I was interrupted, “Know your name? Just one of my many talents,” he said. I was about to question him but a howling stopped me. “What was that¨ I turned to face the direction of the noise. “That would be a Timberwolf, now seeing as how you don’t know them which I must say I wouldn’t be surprised since they only live and visits areas around the Everfree forest, er I mean woods.” He responded with not a single color of worry on his tone. “A Timber what?” I asked slightly worried. “Hahaha your actions remind me of one of my dearest friend, she is one of the kindest ponies one could meet. But no need to worry, they only wander around rundown places if given the opportunity.” Fear began to take over me, how can he be so calm about this “Are you forgetting we are in a rundown place?!” I began to panic “No No No this can’t be how I go, I still got things to do, mares to meet. I don’t want to be food of whatever these timber thingies are!!” he began laughing at my cowardliness. “Oh ho ho ho you sure remind me a lot about her now, but you can’t just die here, you still have a lot more important things to do with your life” he controlled his laughter and proceed to walk as the howls grew louder and closer, “follow me then, I know a safe place around here.”

The mysterious pony lead the way from where we were standing towards a building. My eyes focused on the largest building in the center of the rundown town. It didn't look any different than the other buildings; cracked walls, growing vines, and broken windows. On top of that, in front of it laid the small roof of the highest point of the building. “Go inside, this is the safest place in the town,” said the unicorn colt standing at the entrance of the building. “Uh thanks, I made my way inside taking a close look at all the saddening adornments of the great hall room. Spider webs in every corner, dust covered the cabinets and other items laying on the untidy floor. “Our unwanted visit will be out there for a while so for the meantime tell me Arctic, what has caused all this stress in your life,” The yellowed eye pony asked, “seriously how do you know so much about me, have you been stalking me?” I asked with a serious tone. “As I stated, one of my many talents.” He added in a calm yet arrogant tone.

☀☀☀

A few hours seemed to have passed as I was reaching the ending of my story, “And well, the teasing is still going on till this day. That's the reason why I decided to walk around town and now I’m here.” Realization soon hit me, “Oh no, How did I lose track of time!” I stood up and scrammed towards the door, “I need to get back to camp before they realize I’m gone.” I turned to face the colt, “I’m sorry but do you know the way out of here? I kind of lost.” I rubbed the back of my head, “haha there is no exact way out of here, see the woods actually brought you here and I’m still questioning why.” the unicorn responded, “come with me, I’ll lead you to the exit.” I followed behind him to the fountain, the same one that I saw when I first got here. “Okay, so how exactly do I find my way out?” i asked seeing as how the woods stretched out in front of me in a similar way as to the road I followed that brought me here. “You don’t the woods will lead you out,” said the colt behind me. I didn’t understand what he meant by that but decided to trust his word, “hey I didn’t get to ask you what happened here or about you.” He chuckled, “I will answer that the next time I see you, but before that you’ll need a little history lesson” he paused, “maybe that’s the reason.” he added under his breath barely loud enough for me to hear. “Here, take this with you,” he handed me a worn out book, “keep this close to you, don’t let other know of the book or its contents.” He added with a serious tone. “What is this?” I looked at the book and then back up only to be have my sight be rewarded with an endless road. “Woah, what the” I looked around only to be found in the same endless woods as hours ago. This is so weird I opened the book, “What exactly did he mean by history lesson?” I glanced at the page seeing the table of contents. Many of the titles didn't make sense to me as they were written with symbols I wasn't familiar with, except for one. “Ponies and magic?” I questioned myself, “I thought Unicorns are the only ones with magic.” I wanted to read into it but I first needed to get back to camp. I looked up to see that I was back to the town of Baltimare.

I continue to walk around town for a few more hours. ‘How come time didn’t pass for all the time I was in there’ I asked myself in thought as I looked at the entrance of the woods one more time before beginning my walk. For the majority of the walk I was still baffled by the experience of what seemed hours ago that i hardly payed attention to my surroundings since I was more focus on the book. ‘I don’t think I should read it in public,’ I looked at the book then to the road leading to camp,’I need to get back to camp if I want to read it. I proceed to make my way back to camp still keeping an eye out for the guards by the gates.

‘Non unicorn magic? But unicorns are the only one that have magic abilities’ I began skimming through the book and my eyes focus on a paragraph in particular.

Ah yes, I can imagine how confused you may be about this but here me out. Many centuries ago, this land was called Equestria, then war broke out the majority of its land was destroyed along with the fall of its rulers. I am unsure of how drastic were the changes from the war to now. I tried to gather more information but I am limited to what I have here.

I shall continue making more research and see what else do I find.

‘Who exactly are you,’ I questioned myself as I looked at the time. It was getting really late so I decided to get some rest and continue the reading in the morning.

I woke up to the blow of the whistle

“ATTENTION! today we will be going over your flight routine for your next exam. You will be divided into pairs so listen up for your name.”

The instructor went over the list and when he got to my name, I just wanted to disappear.

“Thunderstrike, you will be paired with Arctic Flare”

“What!!! Are you serious, I have to be flying along side this?”

I jumped in “Yeah, I’ll rather be set with someone else than him”

“Very well then, Anyone want to change partners for Arctic?” the instructor added. There was silence “Okay then, I’m sorry but you two have no other choice, you will work together”

I could see that everypony kept on looking at me with disgust and even Thunderstrike murmured something under his breath. We made our way to the field and Thunderstrike kept on getting on my nerves until I couldn't take it anymore.

“Why does a strong and amazing pegasus like me have to be paired with a disgrace like you. Ugh, I’ll rather die than to be known as the pegasus that worked alongside with you”

“That’s it, I won’t take any more of your insults” I assaulted thunderstrike, “I may not be the best flyer but I sure can kick your flank!”

“Get of me you bug” Thunderstrike shove me off with a punch that hit me right on the jaw. I was irritated and annoyed of all the things going on in my life that I didn’t care what will happen next. Seconds later the instructor arrived and separated us.

“Hey both of you that’s enough”

“This insignificant creature started. He assaulted me first”

“I said enough! Both of you, to your cabins. You both fail the exercise,” the instructor was lenient with the punishment but even like that, I still wanted to let out my anger. I made my way to my cabin when I heard Thunderstrike say, “you’ll pay for this you winged pest”

Once in my cabin, I started to throw things. I only stopped once I saw the book I had gotten last night. ‘Probably some reading will clear my head’ I began to read the book from where I left off the previous night.

Let’s see what’s next on the list? Ahh yes, magic. You’ll be surprised to know that Unicorns aren’t the only ones who have magic. You must know by know that Pegasus can fly but haha that ain’t but the tip of the iceberg for their powers. No, Pegasus have a special connection to the sky and weather. There is even an old pony’s tale that narrates the unification of the three pony tribes. I recommend giving it a look. I’ll continue with these entries later on

The next entry contained said story. ‘If I can reconnect with the magic of a pegasus, I may be able to get my life back. No more insults or hate. I have to find out how can I do it’ I had such motivation that the following days I kept on reading and practicing. It seemed like a wild goose chase, but to me. It was my search for liberty.

For the following weeks I continued to keep distance from the rest of the campmates and proceed with my reading. I kept on reading the story of Hearth’s Warming Eve countless times since it made me want to be in that time, the time where everypony lived in harmony with one another and hate wasn’t seen as often. The next entry to the book talked about how weather used to work.

My research continued and based on the limited information I have, I can only conclude that weather began to change on its own after the Equestrian war. I believe that pegasi lost the connection to their magic afterwards I looked through some books about flight and I saw some sections that I think may be useful to figuring out how to reconnect. They used to be common at flight schools.

‘Common in flight schools,’ it took me a moment to realize what that meant ‘of course, the books the instructor gave me’ I stood up and headed back to my cabin but was stopped by Thunderstrike.

“Woah, where in Illusia do you think you are going pest, you still owe me for making me fail that exercise. I still can’t believe an insect like you didn’t get expelled for attacking someone like me,” said Thunderstrike with a tone of arrogance, “Come on Thunderstrike, even an insect is welcomed here before him” added one of his minions.

“Look, I don't have time to waste with you three. I have better things to do” I added, “so if you could get out of my way that will be nice”

Saying that only made things worse, “Ohh now this winged bug is thinking he is better than us, I say we teach him a lesson” Thunderstrike began to take steps closer to me,

“For the love of… I really don’t got time for this” I took flight and headed straight to my cabin.

“Where is it” I moved and toss items one after another looking for the Elements of Flight book, “ah, here it is” I opened the book and skimmed through it, “uhh, walking on clouds, making a cloud? I really need to read this book from the beginning” I turned the pages of the book and began reading the book. I had gotten deep into my reading that I lost track of time. I had gotten into chapter two, which talked about cloud walking, but just by looking at it I knew I was going to spend a long time in it. For the meantime I would try to look for more information about olden times. I went to town again to see if I could reach the ruins of the city, of course I had to wait for night to arrive. I wandered around town for awhile; I decided to visit the different stores nearby before going towards the woods. Along my way, I stumbled upon an eerie looking store, it was a Gypsy one. My curiosity kicked in so I decided to give it a look.

“Hello?,” I asked as I entered the store. The store decorations seemed odd, bizarre masks hanging along the walls, crystal balls in one side, aromatic candles on the other, etc.

“Ohh my, I have a visitor, come in come in don’t be afraid,” said an old mare. She was wearing ragged and baggy clothing with countless accessories, along with that, she had a bandanna wrapped around her long curled hair.

“Uh hi, sorry for the bothered, I saw your store and decided to give it a look.” I responded timidly.

“No need for apologies, how may I help you? Perhaps you came looking for your fortune to be read?,” she began to move around the store picking objects up for me to see, “or you are probably looking to buy a protection pendant,” she paused to look at me, “no, that can’t be it.” she continued scanning the room as if searching for the specific item amongst all of the bizarre objects hanging. My sight caught a glimpse of a drawer containing numerous books.

“May I?,” I asked pointing to the drawer.

“Go ahead, let me know if you see something that intrigues you.” replied the gypsy mare.

I began to look around the different titles the books had; Legend of the Mirror Pond, Supernaturals: Natural Remedies and Cure-alls That Are Simply Super, The Mare in the Moon amongst others. The was one in particular that caught my attention, “Potions and Spells” I said out loud picking up the book and giving it a look. From what I could tell, non unicorns could perform these spells too.

“Hmm, interesting choice,” said the mare and she took the book from me. But I must ask, why the interest in this book?”

“I found a 一,” I paused mid sentence recalling what the colt in the woods had said, ‘don’t let other know of the book or its contents,’ “uh, just curiosity.” I tired to play it off my smiling after my sentence in hopes that she didn’t suspect anything.

“Hmm very interesting.” she looked at the book then back at me, “what are your intentions with it?” added the mare.

“My intentions? Uh well i just want to read it, maybe even try to make some potions?” I responded not knowing if that was the answer she wanted to hear.

She gazed at me for a short while. At first I assumed that my excuse wasn't valid for her, soon after she added, “Very well, you may take it, but I must warn you, some of the spells can be troublesome. Make sure you use them wisely and come to me if you have any questions.” she added as she handed me the book.

“Thank you Ms, how much would it be for it?” I asked, knowing that I hadn’t brought any money with me.

“No need for any payment my dear. It's nice to see that there is someone so interested in this form of magic. I would only ask that if you would like to learn more to come by anytime you want.”

“I look forward to that Ms,” I began to reply back before she interrupted me, “Nuri, you can call me Nuri.” I bowed, “ohh, thank you Nuri, my name is Arctic Flare. Once again, thanks for the book.” I took a look behind her and saw the time, “Damn! I’m running late,” I spent more time that I had intended to and didn’t have any left to venture into the woods again, even if time seem to stop while in them. I turned to face her, “it was a pleasure to meet you Nuri, but I must go, I’m running slightly late. My parents may get worried if I don’t get back soon.” I lied. It was never in my intentions to lie to a pony I just met, especially one who had been nice to me compared to everypony back at camp. I just felt guilty to tell her I have snuck out of flight camp.

I placed the book into my bag and began to make my way back to camp. I was in such hurry that I had forgotten about the security patrol and almost got caught. For the second time in a couple of months I felt happiness overcome me ‘almost there Flare, you’ll soon get your life back’ I closed my eyes and laid to rest.

The week went by and every night I would visit Nuri so she could help me out to make a potion. She would mostly be making them and I would be writing down important information; it went on like this for 6 days. A day afterwards, I got a letter from my family which was enough to break my happiness.

Arctic!

We are very disappointed in your actions Mister, we received a letter from your instructor saying that you aren’t progressing in your skills. Does that mean that you didn’t pay attention to any of the instructions your brother gave you? And on top of that, you are also fighting other campmates? What would Featherswift think of this once he finds out all the hard work he put into teaching you was for nothing. You need to make some progress to not disappoint your brother, specially right now that he is officially Captain of the Pony Service Unit.

‘And there goes my mood’ I had had enough with the same things going on for almost 5 months now that I decided not to go to my flight routines and continue reading the books; mainly reading the new book I got. As I looked more carefully through the book, there were some spells and potions with a warning. At first glance the spells didn’t seem to be deadly, but their warnings varied from one another. Some of them seemed like they could be sources of Dark Magic. Many of the potions where recipes for antidotes, healing remedies, etc. I began to read some and noticed that for some of them, I had easy access to the items required. Some of the plants needed grew around campgrounds, so that meant I could test some of them out. Hours later I decided to try to make my first potion. I got my bag and stuffed the “Elements of flight” book in it to not make it suspicious. As I walked out of my cabin, I bumped into Thunderstrike which caused me to lose balance and fall.

“Well what do we have here? If it isn’t a pest,” said Thunderstrike as he turned around to see who was the one that dare crash into him, ‘great, out of all possible moments I bump into Thunderstrike right now’ “what is this,” Thunderstrike noticed the book and began examining it, “no, give meㅡ” It was too late, Thunderstrike had already began his daily trash talk, “Hey everyone look, Arctic here is trying to make up for being a disgrace of a flyer, he is reading books about flight to try to fit in with us. Hahaha this is so stupid,” he tossed the book at me, “you are a disgrace and no one will ever see you as anything other than that. No matter what you do, you will never be a respected pegasus” everyone around me began to talk amongst themselves and I felt a knot form in my throat. I stood up and walked away without saying a word.

I began to walk around the edge of camp looking for the necessary ingredients while trying to forget about what Thunderstrike had said. “That idiot! I’ll show him and everyone else that I am not a bug like they think I am.” For the rest of the day, I tried to avoid being seen by anyone and waited until night to sneak out. I was still saddened by the incident that afternoon, but something made me feel that taking a walk through the nearby forest will be useful to calm my mind.

I made my way through some of the trees of the woods, trying to not make too much noise to not attract nearby ponies. My first intention was to visit the mysterious pony in the ruins but for some reason, the woods wouldn’t take me there. This had been going on since the last time i tried to go. I found a spot deep inside the forest that just seemed fitting to sit down by and be alone with my thoughts; at that moment, an idea popped in mind. I took out some of the plants I picked out at camp out of my bag along with the book I had gotten from Nuri. I opened it to the potions section of the book and looked for one to make.

“Ah here we go, let’s try to make a Healing potion.” I said to no one in particular, “let's see, I need some water, but where am I going to find it?” I looked around me and saw a body of water not too far from me, “that's weird, that wasn’t...” I paused, recalling that the woods acted in strange ways, “oh right. The woods.” I took out the bottle I had brought along with me and made my way towards the source of water.

Minutes later I returned to the place my items were and continued going over the list of necessary items I required, “I got the water and the plant leaves, and those confusing ingredients,” I looked at my bag, “well, I’m still not sure of where to find them but I’m glad Nuri had given me some. I should get started.” I began to make the potion and some time later, it was complete, or at least I hoped I made it correctly.

“Now to actually test it out,” I looked around for some rock or any object that could help me out with the next step. I picked up a small sharp end rock and placed the tip to my right hoof. With some hesitation. I move the rock up causing the sharp end to make a cut on my hoof.

“OWWWWWW! That hurt!” I took the bottle containing the potion and opened it. The wound stung as I opened the bottle, once done, I took a sip of the weird tasting liquid. “Ugh, this doesn't taste too good. But I do hope it works.” A few seconds passed and nothing. “Did i do something incorrectly?” I looked back at the book, reading the steps of the potion again and found my mistake. “Variation of the Healing Elixir. Potion is to be applied to wound,” I looked at the flask, “wish I read that before taking a sip.” I went ahead and applied some of the liquid over the cut. The area applied soon began to feel cool, and little by little the wound cleared out and disappeared. I had officially made my first potion.

I stood up like a lightning, “YES YES YES! I DID IT!,” I shouted not caring if anypony heard, “I MADE MY OWN POTION!” I was so full with happiness. For the first time since camp had started I wanted everyone to be here to admire my marvelous skills with potion making.

“LOOK AT THIS THUNDERSTRIKE,” I shouted at the sky, “WHO IS THE USELESS PONY NOW” I stood quiet when I heard the chirp of some birds. My happiness felt unrivaled at the moment but the words that Thunderstrike had said that morning still hanged heavy upon my mind. ‘No matter what you do, you’ll never be a respected pegasus’ I shut my eyes and screamed as I felt tears threatening to come out. “Shut Up!!! I… I will not be the target of your words anymore! I’ll show you and everypony that ever doubted me that I AM NOT A DISGRACE.” I picked up the Potions and Spell book and looked through the Spells section. Soon enough the tears began to roll down my face as I tried to read the descriptions of the spells. One in particular caught my eye. The only description it had was that it will grant the user the ability to be who he wanted to be. I began to read the spell out loud.

“All in one, the choice is yours. Covered with a sight that blurs, with this disguise I am set free. I break the chains to let me be”

Nothing happened at first. I was about to try again when suddenly a bright emerald Aura came out of the book and engulfed me in it. The aura danced around my extremities and I saw how my coat was turning into a charcoal colored tone. Holes began to appear on my extremities. My wings, they began to become more thin and silk like. Everything was blurry and I fainted. The last thing I recall seeing was the shadow of the nearby trees disappearing as I fell into slumber.

So much had happened on the last 6 months, but this was one that will stay with me for years to come. What did I do? What had I become? What would have happened if I just waited one more day?

Author's Note

Greeting Fellow Readers,

So for starters, thank you for taking the time to read the first chapter of Superficial. This is actually my first attempt at writing a story and hopefully not my last. Please I do ask that you leave your thoughts and comments along with some feedback you may have after reading it.

Daniel X. Signing out, Until Next Time