Teamworkby NoMoreNormalcyChapters1. Wishful Thinking2. Making Friends3. Exploration4. Truant5. Testing In6. School1. Wishful ThinkingThe land of Equestria holds fascinating sights within. Pegasi ponies moved about the clouds as though decorating the sky. Unicorns ponies magically levitating multitudes of items and casting a variety of spells. The plain appearing ponies without horns nor wings trotted about tending to the land, harvesting, and plowing. In a small town called Ponyville, there were ponies of all sorts moving about across the ground and in the skies. They were of all colors and sizes. There was even a pegasus with massive muscles and tiny wings! One pegasus flitted about the skies, helping others organize the clouds in abstract patterns. She has a chocolate coat with a cloud white mane and tail, both short and messy. Matching freckles adorned her face. Her eyes were a bright sky blue. Her tail swished about, flicking near her mark on her flank of breeze lines with a feather over top of them as she excitedly organized her quadrant of the sky. A cyan mare with rainbow mane and tail and a mark on her flank of a rainbow lightning bolt rocketed over to the chocolate mare. “Hey, Breezefeather!” Breezefeather turned around and met the mare, “Hi, Rainbow Dash! What brings you over here?” The prismatic mare puffed up her chest, “Nothing much! Just wanted to check up. How’s your spot doing?” Breezefeather sheepishly grinned. “I hope I’ve got the pattern right. It took a while to set these up.” Rainbow Dash looked around and frowned. “Are there a few missing?” A brief look around cinched it for the two mares. There were steadily fewer and fewer clouds in the air. “Okay, what?” Confusion permeated Breezefeather’s voice. Slowly the clouds around the two mares drifted away. A brief inspection showed that the clouds had drifted to a strange hole in the air. It swirled black and green and had an uncomfortable air about it. Regardless, both mares flew up towards the rend in the air. Rainbow Dash tentatively placed her hoof up against the distortion and watched as it easily sank in. The prismatic mare shuddered and withdrew her hoof and shrugged. “Maybe we should get Princess Twilight?” Breezefeather asked. “Sounds like a great idea, let’s go get her.” Both mares nodded to each other and flew towards a crystalline castle in the form of a tree. Not five wingbeats away a voice called out to them, “Who dares punk Skulker, Ghost Zone’s greatest hunter?!” Turning back, both mares saw a metallic bipedal being. It had a masculine jawline, noting it to be male. A green flame marked its mane. Its upper body jutted from what was now obviously a portal. It held out a fist similar to a minotaur’s. A black tank top adorned his metallic chest. A shoulder pad was on his left shoulder. What made the frightening sight comical was the fact that it ground its teeth around a pile of cloud around its mouth and over its shoulders and head, interfering with its mane. Glowering, the entity scowled at the two mares. “You two creatures! You are responsible for this, I’m sure!” He then raised his other fist and a strange nozzle popped out confusing the two mares before it fired like a miniature cannon. A net shot out and entangled Breezefeather. Her only response was a shrill shriek of surprise at the sudden capture. “Hey! Let my friend go!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, fury taking over her features quickly. She rushed the metallic fiend only for another miniature cannon to appear out of an opposing shoulder, which fired off a sound similar to a spell firing. The “spell” as it was turned out to be a globule of green goo which snapped the speedy mare’s wings shut and glued them that way. Immediately she plummeted, screaming for all of two seconds before a loud “oof” was heard as she hit the ground. Breezefeather could only cower as she was reeled up to the mechanical being. “So, you can talk!” the metal creature exclaimed. “Excellent! Perhaps you can make excellent bait for my ultimate prey!” “What!?” Breezefeather exclaimed, terrified even more now. The mini ooze cannon fired again, covering her muzzle and effectively silencing her. Her ears folded to the sides of her skull and she shook in fear. Never before now has she seen a terrifying creature in her life, and now it wants to make her into bait! However, her fear rooted to her spot, so to speak, preventing her from even thinking of a way out. Nearly as quickly as she was captured, the being reeled her in and dragged her through the portal. After a few moments of trussing, Breezefeather found herself in a world where the sky was like that of the portal. Doors floated through the air and there were purple rock landmasses all around. Some of these landmasses had vegetation on them and Breezefeather found herself still in the net tied to one of these branches. The chocolate mare swung with a worried expression on her muzzle. After a struggle, she managed to clear the goop from her mouth, and she gasped for clean air. “Okay, Breeze, you’ve got this,” she said to herself. “You can get yourself out, right?” Closer examination revealed to her that the rope for the net was fraying and broken in a few areas. Fear still permeated her, but an idea came to mind for her. Breezefeather placed the edges of hooves within a break in the net. Pulling apart, she tested her weight. After a few tries, she managed to get the hole widened enough to fall through. Just before she hit the ground her wings snapped out and caught the air and had flown upwards. Flying in lazy circles, she flew into the green expanse of sky. Her first thought was to try to find her way back home, but that proved difficult as she noticed the familiar landmarks that she desperately tried to memorize either had moved or weren’t there at all. Growing more and more concerned, she flew on, determined and just a little desperate to find that portal back home. She wandered and wandered. She encountered no other creatures that metallic bipedal creature she gathered as “Skulker”. Suddenly, a shot rang out and a blue laser struck the purple stone that happened to be floating by on her left. Startled, she shrieked and flew as fast as she could. Breezefeather was under no illusion that she could outpace this creature, especially when Skulker had metallic wings pop out of his back propelled by a blue-green flame that roared from twin turbines. Instead, she bobbed, ducked, dove, and weaved around him. All that practice flying helped her a lot, but there were many close calls. Every time Skulker got close, she would scream in fear. Each time she did so, Skulker seemed to pull back and then take his time closing the distance. He’s toying with me? Breezefeather thought after another close call and witnessing him pull back again, wide, uneven grin unnerving her. Another dive later and in a panicked voice she cried out, “I wish you would go home and leave me alone!” Skulker actually stopped and said, “Wait, no-!” And then as suddenly as he stopped, a pink glow surrounded him, and he vanished with a pop. “Wait, that actually worked?” Breezefeather looked around, confused even more so. “As you have wished and so it shall be,” said a calm and soothing voice. From above her near a very fancy door that Breezefeather would describe as Saddle Arabian, was a bipedal creature that was very much female. The only thing marking her as potentially bipedal was the fact that her upper body was upright, in spite of the magical tail that made up her lower half. Said tail appeared to be covered with a blue skirt and silver band that held it in place. Her torso was well-shaped and covered with a tube top with light pink trimming. Her upper arms had silver clasps and her wrists had matching clasps and bangles. Her dark, black hair was long and full, as it waved down past her hips. What struck Breezefeather the most was that her skin was a toxic green and her eyes a blood red. Finding her voice, Breezefeather hovered and asked, “Are- are you a genie?” “A genie?” the figure mused. “Why, yes, actually. My magical powers work best when someone wishes for something.” Her smile faded, “I’m quite powerless with no one to grant wishes for.” “Neat!” Breezefeather exclaimed! Finally, a way home! I’m sure she can make another portal home! She grinned at the genie and said, “My name’s Breezefeather, though I wish I knew your name. I don’t want to call you Ms. Genie all the time when I tell my friends about how you helped me.” The genie perked up and proudly declared, “I am Desiree, and I would love to get you home to tell your friends! However, I don’t know where that would be as I have never encountered any ponies that talk.” Breezefeather’s ears drooped a bit. “Oh. You’ve never heard of Equestria?” “I’m sorry, I doubt I’ve ever heard of it,” Desiree said, genuinely confused. “Oh, I guess you can’t send me home unless you know where that is, huh?” Breezefeather asked, deflated. “I’ll tell you what,” Desiree said, taking a bangle off of her right wrist. As she held it, it changed form and color from a simple silver bangle to a golden wrap bracelet in the shape of a snake. Its head and tail were covered in clear gems appearing white green in the glow of the world they were in save for two almond-shaped black gems marking eyes on the head. Desiree then slipped the bracelet on Breezefeather’s left forehoof and it rested securely around her pastern. “Just say, ‘I wish Desiree was here, now,’ and I shall appear. I’ll be able to grant you any wish as long as you are able to make it. Remember, you have to say, ‘I wish,’ or I won’t be able to grant any of the big stuff.” “That’s great! Wait, big stuff?” “Yes, big stuff. Like wishing for vast knowledge or power. Perhaps even something as simple as an item I don’t have. That’s all big stuff to me. However, if you wish for it, I can grant it. However, to get you to your home, I need more power, and the more wishes I grant to give me that power,” Desiree explained. Breezefeather beamed. “So, the more I wish, the closer we can get to where you can help me get home!” She paused, “Well, bummer. I don’t know what to wish for right now.” Desiree smirked, “Perhaps a hint, then? You’ll need a form that is similar to mine if you want to explore the world next to this one. Perhaps there you’ll get some hints.” “Ooh!” Breezefeather was interested. However, she couldn’t help but get a nagging feeling that there was some ulterior motive for Desiree to help her. Looking at Desiree’s face, however, she couldn’t see any such signs. It was pretty hard to tell. With a muzzle and rotating ears, she’d be able to tell much easier, but her face was less expressive than a pony’s. She decided to put the feeling aside. Maybe I’m just thinking too much on this, she thought. “Sounds like a plan, I guess! What would I look like?” “Maybe wishing to be a human or to allow the bracelet to turn you into a human would be a good start.” “I wish I knew what a human was,” Breezefeather said. Before her eyes widened and looked at Desiree. “As you have wished and so it shall be!” And with a wave of Desiree’s opposable appendage, information flooded her mind. That opposable appendage was a hand. Humans were bipedal monkeys that lacked significant hair but had much more intelligence. In fact, their intelligence could rival that of ponies, if she got that snippet of information translated right. They had hair only on their head and at certain points of their body. They wore clothes because it was taboo and illegal in most regions to walk around without them on. Otherwise, they were a lot like ponies. They loved music and art. They were interested in the science of the world around them and studied it. They warred and brought peace with each other. The last one seemed they did a lot more, perhaps due to the fact they didn’t realize how alike they all were, just like the pony tribes of old. They gathered in groups as friends or to join up against a common foe. However, she was granted one massive warning. Beware the Guys in White. Capitalized just like that. After the flood of information had come and gone, Breezefeather shook her head, “Who are the Guys in White?” Desiree’s face soured, “Despicable humans that seek to destroy all ghosts and the Ghost Zone. What they don’t know is that by doing just that, they destroy their world with ours!” “Ghosts?” Breezefeather flapped up to Desiree closer, “You’re more like a genie! I mean, I’m pretty sure I would know if you were a ghost.” “True, but I’m a genie-like ghost. Worry not, I won’t do anything horrible like those bigots in the Guys in White say,” Desiree said, all but spitting at the word she used to describe the human group against ghosts. Breezefeather blanched a bit. A genie-like ghost? So, she used to be a human, if her form’s anything to go by? “So, uh, well. Anyways.” She cleared her throat. “I- I wish for a way to this world of humans.” Desiree quirked an eyebrow upwards, amused. “As you have wished it, and so it shall be.” Pink magic swirled from her fingertips and it flowed outward and up between them and formed a portal. “You should be cautious. Humans are the only creatures that talk, there,” Desiree warned. “I’m sure I’ll be fine,” Breezefeather waved off Desiree, “after all, there’s bound to be some humans that want to be friends, right?” Desiree smiled coyly, “Why yes, of course, though you must be cautious all the same.” “Okay, Desiee, I will!” With that, Breezefeather darted through the portal. She could have sworn she hear a huff and maybe a correction, but that was alright. We are friends, after all, aren’t we? 2. Making FriendsOnce through the portal, Breezefeather could tell this was certainly not the same planet Equestria was on. The air seemed to be a bit thicker with pollution, making her cough a bit upon entering. She looked around and the place she was in appeared to be similar to that of rural areas. Why is there still so much pollution over here? She asked herself. It wasn’t like there were dozens of factories, were there? Still, she examined that she was near a farm. “Oh, maybe I can make friends with the farmer!” Breezefeather clapped her hooves together, excited. As she descended, she noticed familiar four-legged shapes down below her. “Horses! There are horses here?! And I thought that Saddle Arabia was the only place for them?” She dove down and landed near one of the horses. He was massive, a bit taller than any Saddle Arabian she’s ever heard of. If anything, he was about as tall as that Troubleshoes stallion over in Appleoosa she’s heard about from the Cutie Mark Crusaders, three little fillies that had at the time gone over to the town to get their cutie marks. Though he lacked the bulk. He also had a brown coat with dark mane and tail with a white marking on the bridge of his nose going over his mouth and nose. He stared at Breezefeather for a few seconds before going back to the grass at his hooves. “Hi, there!” Breezefeather cheerfully greeted. The horse simply brought it’s head up in a snap and flicked its tail in worry. “Don’t worry, I want to be friends! My name’s Breezefeather, what’s yours?” The wary horse only snorted and trotted backward a few steady paces before resuming his meal, keeping a cautious eye on the pegasus. “Right,” Breezefeather lamented, “Only humans can talk around here. That horse probably thinks I’m crazy!” She turned to the stallion, “Sorry about that!” She turned to look around. From what she could tell, the entire region was for raising horses. I have no idea what humans raise equines for, though. There were a couple of foals that were probably Saddle Arabian horse height, but their bodies were about as big as hers. They all had similar brown coats, but the white patterns always varied. And none of them had a cutie mark. “Okay, that’s weird. Why don’t equines here have cutie marks?” She looked at her mark on her flank as though for clarification. The image sat there, unmoving as usual. She then took to the air, dissatisfied with her questions. “Maybe the farmer here can help me out,” she said to herself solidifying her resolve. She flew over the farm a few times and saw a little farmhouse. “Bingo!” She winged over and landed gently in front of the door and knocked a few polite knocks. Confused voices sprang up from within, “What in the-? Why did that sound like a hoof on wood?” “I don’t know, you can’t think a horse got out, do you?” “If anythin’, it’s that colt, Angel. I keep tellin’ ya that we misnamed him! Crafty li’l devil.” Then there was the scooting of furniture and what sounded like booted feet -a single pair of them- walked over to the door. The door unlocked, then swung open and Breezefeather was face to chest with a human. Looking up from their flannel shirt and blue overalls, she saw the look of confusion and amazement as the human looked over her. She noted his nose was proportionally a bit larger than the average human she got a mental image from Desiree. His hair was as brown as the stallion she met outside. His skin was tanned to medium shade with how often he had to be outside. Suddenly, her mouth went dry and she forgot what she was going to say. The human, however, found his much more quickly, “Hun! You gotta take a look at this!” he called over his shoulder into the home, his masculine voice matching his frame. “What, what?” A feminine voice and body, almost matching her mate’s, found their way over to the door and stopped and stared at her. Her hair was shoulder length and her tanned skin wasn’t quite to the same tan as her husband’s but quite close. She wore a simple flower-patterned dress and was busy drying a plate, but that was soon forgotten, held simply in her grip. “Are those wings real or-?” She let the question hang in the air. Breezefeather brought her right pastern up to her mouth and coughed. Their brown eyes widened at the action. “Um, hi? I’m new to the region and was wondering where I was?” She smiled bashfully. The man’s mouth dropped open. The woman dropped her dish. Thankfully, it was plastic and simply bounced a few times on the hardwood floor. Two sets of feet slapped on the hardwood floor out of sync of each other and two small humans whose faces were level with hers and matched their parents parted said paternal and maternal figures and looked at wonder and amazement. “Woah!” Exclaimed a small boy, “A talking pony! With wings! Can you fly with those? How do you fly with those? What’s that mark on your flank, did it hurt when you got it?” “James, let me see! I want to see the pony!” A small girl’s voice spoke up from behind her presumable brother, her pigtails bouncing up and down with her jumps. After practically tearing him away, the small girl squeals with delight and looks to her parents, “Can we keep them, please, please, please?!” Breezefeather’s face turns a might sour after that “keep” remark, before she can speak, the parents recover, “Now sugar, this pony can talk so it would be rude to keep her as a pet.” The father looked to Breezefeather, “Now, hopefully, this ain’t no ghost tryin’ to cause trouble here.” Breezefeather was surprised, “Ghosts cause trouble here? I thought they only caused trouble in that world of theirs?” The man straightened up, “Well, of course, they cause trouble here. It’s only really after them Fentons opened that portal of their to that ‘Ghost Zone’ or whatever it’s called.” Breezefeather spoke up, “Well, I’m not a ghost pony or anything. I can fly, but that’s only because I have wings. Anything else is impossible.” The couple looked at her dubiously. “Honestly, I don’t have a clue on how to prove that I can’t go through walls.” The children suddenly ran in front of Breezefeather and clasped their hands in front of them and begged, “Please?!” The mother looked ready to relent and glanced at her husband. The gentleman looked to both the children and his wife and sighed. “Alright, alright. We were about to have dinner, would you like tah join us, Miss?” Breezefeather smiled, “That would be wonderful. I am a bit hungry from all the flying and work I did earlier today.” She noticed the welcome mat and wiped her hooves a fair amount, scarcely a trace of dirt made its way to the mat. “My name’s Breezefeather. What are yours?” The gentleman ruffled his hair, “Well, mah name’s Jedediah, but you can call me Jed. This here’s mah wife, Loraine. Mah kids are James, which ya probably know now because of li’l Crystal here.” Jed looked to his children. “Scamper now, kiddies, get yer hands washed good now.” “We already washed them,” James complained, “twice.” Crystal nodded in agreement. “Well then, Miss Breezefeather, I reckon you might need to use the facilities. Well, ah, ya got them where ya’ll are from, right?” Breezefeather chuckles, “Yes, we do. And I could certainly use your bathroom. Where is it?” Loraine smiled and picked up the dish she dropped, “It’ll be down that hall and to your left.” “Thank you very much!” Breezefeather then trotted in and followed the directions to the restroom. At the table, everyone sat down. Breezefeather tested the chairs and found that they naturally creaked as much as when she sat on it as when Jed did, so she figured it would be safe for her to sit on it. A fifth spot was made at the small table and everyone sat comfortably, though Crystal and James crowded around Breezefeather and asked her a multitude of questions. “How do you keep your feathers straight and clean?” “How do you fly?” “Can you make stuff with your hooves?” “Can you hold things like a person with your hooves using magic or is that just fantasy talk?” “If you eat, do you have to eat like a doggie because you can’t hold the silverware?” “What’s that mark on your flank?” “Did it hurt when you got it or did it magically appear?” “Do you have magic powers?” “What’s your job?” “How’d you get here?” “Okay, okay, one at a time, everycreature!” The children giggled at her colloquialism whereas the parents just raised a brow. “I’ll tell you all about myself if you stop asking questions for a bit, okay?” Everyone nodded. Breezefeather grabbed a fork in her tactile telekinetic grip that flowed along her hooves and waved it around a bit, “We ponies have magic in our hooves that let us hold things almost like humans. I say almost because hooves will never be as nimble as your hands.” She served herself some potatoes, carrots, celery, and broccoli. “So, we can certainly make things with our hooves, but unicorn ponies have it easier with their magic and telekinesis.” Crystal and James gasped whereas Jed and Loraine looked at each other. The children asked at the same time, “There’s other kinds of ponies!?” “I was getting to that!” Breezefeather chuckled. “There are all sorts of equines. There’s us pegasi, there are unicorn ponies, there are earth ponies which are ponies without horns or wings but are really good with the earth and have great strength. There’s more, but that will take all dinner to talk about and explain.” She ate some of the vegetables before resuming, “Anyways, each pony gets their mark called a cutie mark when they find their special talent. Mine is with the weather, and no, it didn’t hurt, it just appeared in a flash when I helped with maintaining a light breeze one day and I decided I needed to help with the weather around town.” “I’m sorry to interrupt, but you ponies control the weather?” Jed asks. “Yeah, don’t you guys?” “Uh, no, it’s pretty wild ‘round these parts. Or any parts, for that matter.” Breezefeather put her fork down for a moment. That’s weird, she thought, I’m not sure if I can wrap my head around that. She shook her head. “Well, anyway, I could help with the breeze then and I help with the weather back home now. Pegasi can manipulate the weather easily because they’re one of the only common species that specialize in it because we can manipulate clouds. We make them, shape them, and place them where they need to be. Some are rain clouds others are filled with snow. Sometimes we store powerful winds in them in case we need a powerful storm and it would be too dangerous for pegasi to be out and about what with all that lightning we make.” Everyone looked at her confused. “What, we have a weather factory in Cloudsdale, they make all sorts of things there.” She shoveled more food into her mouth. Everyone else shook their heads this time. Breezefeather resumed, “And yes, I do have to keep my feathers clean and straight and the best way to do that is preening, and yes, just like birds do. Otherwise, my flying would be all over the place!” Everyone chuckled at that. “Also, tied with my cloud walking, I also use magic to fly. Pegasi have flight magic that we use to keep airborne even if we’re only using a few feathers to keep to the skies and make a gentle breeze. Which makes preening pretty important.” Jed spoke up finally, “That’s quite a bit to process, and there’s a whole world full of you?” “Yeah, there is, but since I accidentally got her thanks to that metal Skulker ghost and a portal that took most of our clouds, I’m not too sure on how to get back. If they randomly open, does that mean they randomly close, too?” Jed was lost in thought, “Well, I ain’t no ectobiologist like them Fentons, but I’m sure they’d have the answer.” Breezefeather smiled, “Though I wouldn’t entertain the idea of flying up to them. They’d probably think you’d be a ghost of some sort, no matter what ya would say and try tah dissect ya’ll.” Breezefeather gulped, “Well, that sounds unpleasant.” James spoke up, slamming his hands on the table, “They think that ghosts can’t feel no pain! Phantom helped us out tons and he always seemed in pain when other ghosts hit him!” Crystal scoffed, “Not to mention they say that he’s an ‘it’ and won’t call him Phantom. Almost as bad as the town calling him ‘Inviso-Bill’. That’s a terrible name!” Breezefeather snorted, “Inviso-Bill? That’s a terrible pun.” Loraine stood up and cleared the cleaned plates, “Well, it’s time for evening chores.” The children groaned. “Now, now, I don’t want to hear no complainin’ and for you to be doin’ them.” The kids glumly looked at each other and shrugged on their jackets after collecting them from the main hallway and headed out the door. “Where are they going, Loraine?” “Oh, they’ve just got to bring the horses into the stables at the barn. Now that I think about it, do you have a place to say? It’s supposed to rain, what with those clouds looking like they do.” Breezefeather looked outside and they appeared to be right. The clouds were huge and fat with water, ready to douse the land in rain. “Oh my. I’m afraid I don’t. You don’t happen to have a spare room, do you?” “Sadly, we don’t,” Jed answered. “Well, technically, we do, but it’s so cluttered the kids can’t properly squeeze in thar.” “Oh, well, do you have room in the stables, then? A pile of hay and a blanket would be just fine. I wouldn’t want to try to sleep in any clouds that tend to more on their own or generate their own lightning.” Breezefeather shudders at the last remark. Loraine looks to Jed then back to Breezefeather, “Last I checked we had space, but are you sure you want to spend the night in that old barn, darling?” Breezefeather nods, “I’m sure I’ll be fine. Why don’t I help the kids get the horses to the barn? I could help out!” Husband and wife looked to each other and said, “I don’t see the problem-,” though before they looked back, Breezefeather had already gone over to help. It took a few hours of herding -I will never again say it looks easy-, we managed to get all the horses into the barn. A quick exploration and I noticed that there were plaid blankets that were tailored to fit around a horse so they could wear them all the time. The looked like they would make my town’s fashionista toss her lunch as soon as look at them, but I knew that they were alright. I shifted through them and found one that was made for a foal. It was a little on the long side, but once I put it on, it fit perfectly over my wings, keeping me warm. “So, you’re going to be staying in the barn then?” Asked James. “Yup! I’m going to sleep here for the night. Hopefully, I’ll figure something out by tomorrow.” “I hope you stay nearby,” Crystal said, “I like having you around. Your fun!” “Aw, thanks you guys, it’s fun hanging around you, too!” Breezefeather reached up with her forelegs and hugged the two children. “Why don’t you head back to the house? I’ll bed down here. You two must be exhausted, and school must be tomorrow! I know it’s a weekday back home.” “Oh, crud, school is tomorrow!” James exclaimed and grabbed Crystal’s arm, “Come on, Crystal! We’ve got to get ready for bed or Mom and Dad will smack us good!” As she was practically dragged out, both Crystal and James called, “Goodnight!” to Breezefeather who waved them off. She then closed the barn doors and entered an empty and clean stall, filled with fresh hay. Breezefeather yawned, “I hope I’m not too much trouble for Desiee, tomorrow.” 3. ExplorationTomorrow was a bit of a startle for Breezefeather. She was woken up to a gasp and a startled yell with a yell of her own in the mix. Seems that it’s the same no matter where you go – farm folks wake up early. Breezefeather calmed down once she recognized the voice belonging to Crystal as her screaming went to excited shrieking and giggles. Chants of “you’re real!” bounced off the walls of the barn and Breezefeather had to do her best to try to calm Crystal down long enough for her to do the rest of her chores. The storm had come that night. Breezefeather had slept through storms before, mostly because she had been too worn out from arranging and organizing the clouds for them to do anything else. The ground was muddy and covered in puddles here and there. She returned her borrowed blanket and bid farewell for the time being to the family after finding them individually around the ranch. Next, she flew up to find some clouds to rest on. The thing about it was, the clouds were much too high. She was amazed at how high up they were, even the lowest laying clouds were just out of her reach. If there were only some stratus clouds, I might be able to get at those, Breezefeather thought. Instead of flying higher to the thinner air, she flew around and to a forest nearby and rested in a strong, thick branch of a strong deciduous tree, surrounded by conifers. She lifted her left pastern, which still had the bracelet on it and said, “I wish Desiree was here right now.” From thin air, Desiree’s voice was heard, “As you have wished it, and so it shall be!” With a swirl of her trademark pink smoke magic, she materialized in front of Breezefeather. Desiree then bowed graciously, “What is it that you wish now, Breezefeather?” The mare smiled, “Well, it seems that if I want to explore, I’ll have to take your advice to heart and wish for a form that blends in, and I know how to make it work, too!” Desiree smiled and made the motion to continue. “I wish that my bracelet would turn me into a clothed human version of myself if I were to say, ‘no hooves please’ to my bracelet, and to turn back into my mare self with the phrase, ‘hooves please!’” Desiree quirked an eyebrow but simply said, “So you have wished it, and you know the rest.” Pink magical smoke then drifted from her hand and floated to the bracelet around her wrist. The bracelet glowed briefly and then settled back to its usual appearance. “Real quick, why those phrases?” Desiree asked, genuinely curious. Breezefeather shrugged and replied, “Who’d say them in normal conversation?” The genie made a face and nodded, as though to concede the point. “I’m going to test it out!” “Might I recommend-.” Desiree started but stopped when she heard, “no hooves please” and Breezefeather was suddenly a young woman with an average weight if a bit slim in stature. Same chocolate brown skin in place of a coat of hair. Same white freckles, only smaller and more plentiful. Same cloud-white hair on her head, only instead of a strip of mane, her hair covered the top, sides, and back of her head. Breezefeather was sure if she had a mirror, her eyes would still be the same sky blue. She wore a white t-shirt, blue jeans, and brown boots. Her grin threatened to split her face, “I look great! I can’t wait- woah!” She suddenly wobbled, unused to the new center of gravity she had with being bipedal. Her arms swung around, and she grabbed onto the tree itself. Desiree had a simple smile. “Not a word.” “I didn’t say anything,” Desiree defended, hands up in a non-threating manner as though surrendering. She, however, looked Breezefeather in the eye and smirked. The mare-turned-human looked back to the ghost and relented, “Okay, what were you going to recommend?” “Oh, dear, it slips my mind at this time, so sorry, Breezefeather.” Breezefeather’s lips became a fine line as she stared at the ghostly woman. “Fine, I can guess. Hooves please.” At the utterance of the phrase, she turned back into a pegasus, still clutching the tree. She then let go and pushed off enough to gain some distance and began hovering. “I’m going to go to the nearest town and try out being a human! I’ll see you later, Dessie?” The ghostly genie frowned, “It’s Desiree. Anyways, I’ll let you to it. Perhaps while you explore, you’ll get more wish ideas? Just call for me when you think of them!” With a wave of her arm, she disappeared in pink smoke. “Okay, that was cool.” Breezefeather made it back to the house and told the family she found a magic item that could turn her human and back and she was going to use it to explore. The parents warned that if it was actually a ghostly item, it might not be too healthy for her to use. The children, however, were all for it, wanting her to show off her new form now. Breezefeather felt she had to comply. Upon seeing her new form, the parents relented, especially saying, “Seeing as you aren’t a child, let alone one of ours, we can’t force you not to use it. But avoid those Guys in White! They’ll probably detect your fancy bracelet and try to capture you!” The mare agreed if only to not hear of any horror stories that the family may have heard. She said her command phrase and was a pegasus once more and flew to the city she now knew as Amity Park from the ranching family. Breezefeather was quite ecstatic to be in the city. The only city she’s been to before was Cloudsdale, and their architecture was flourished and fancy, able to defy gravity what with all the clouds it was made from. Breezefeather looked around and with her sharp eyes, didn’t see anyone looking up or at the alleyway she had chosen. The alleyway was, in fact, empty and sparse. Touching down, she whispered the command phrase into the bracelet and Breezefeather was that same human again. She took a tentative step and found that her balance as a biped was the worst. She fell on her face more times than she’d care for. After a full thirty minutes, she managed to stand upright and walk at a moderate pace without falling. Perfect. Walking out of the alleyway, Breezefeather then decided to explore the city. A few times she came across some buildings with dark windows and used their reflective surfaces to check out her face. Indeed, her freckles were all over the bridge of her nose and her cheekbones and her eyes were certainly that same sky blue. Pleased, Breezefeather resumed looking around. Pony-less carriages littered the roads, some parked and others in motion, most a single color, others the same taxi color that she’s seen rarely in Ponyville. She saw a multitude of businesses and regretted not having her money pouch with her filled with bits to make a purchase, that was if they used bits around here. Still, she explored. Her discoveries in the city were cut short, however, by the sound of a siren and flashing blue and red lights. She’s heard of police in cities like Winnyapolis and Manehattan, but she’s never had the chance to see them before. In a pony-less carriage that was black and white with red and blue lights flashing on top rolled up what had to be a police vehicle, simply because the word was plastered over its form multiple times. Officers in blue uniforms missing the traditional hat sat in the two front seats. A multitude of strange items littered the interior of the vehicle between and behind the two of them on a metal rack separating the back seats from the front. A wheel was operated by the officer furthest from her towards the center of the road and the officer closest to her looked at her from behind dark sunglasses. “Miss, what are you doing out here on a school day?” Confused, Breezefeather thought it over before replying, “I’m exploring the city?” It wasn’t meant as a question, but she couldn’t help her confusion. “Am I not allowed?” “Ma’am, you are supposed to be in class right now,” said the furthest one, slightly irritated. Breezefeather laughed, “Oh, I’ve already graduated. Have a good day, officers!” As she started to walk away, however, she heard the click of a handle and boots hitting the concrete behind her, “Miss,” Sunglasses called out to her, “come back here, please.” Though phrased as a request, Breezefeather just knew it was anything but. Slowly, she turned around for both not to trip herself nor to give the officer any reason to tackle her. “I’m sorry, officer, but I’m nineteen now, I don’t need to be in school. I just found myself here in town one day and I decided to explore while I’m here.” The officer only responded by tilting his head down to glance over his sunglasses to give a look that conveyed disappointment and something that said, “You’re joking, right?” Breezefeather groaned and walked over to the officer. “You do have an ID on you, right?” “Eye-dee?” she parroted. “What is that? You mean my papers, like a birth certificate? I don’t carry stuff like that with me!” Sunglasses closed his eyes tightly and tilted his head to the ground, “No, ID. Like a driver’s license, student identification card, state photo identification card, a passport, things like that.” Breezefeather tilted her head to the side, “A driver’s license?” Her thoughts went to the pony-less carriages and drew a conclusion, “I don’t have a need for something like that. I have two perfectly good wi- legs. Two perfectly good legs.” The officer didn’t seem to notice the near slip, “So you mean to tell me, that if you really are nineteen, you don’t have a driver’s license?” Disbelief colored his voice. Breezefeather placed one arm on the other and kicked a foot slightly, sheepishly. “Is that a bad thing?” Sunglasses sighed and shook his head, “No, it’s not, but it makes it harder for me to validate anything you say.” He took out a pair of what looked like slim hoof shackles to her. “Sorry, Miss, but it’s procedure and I need to take you to the school. To make sure you don’t run off or do anything stupid, I need to cuff ya for a bit.” She put both her hands on her face and groaned. Great, just great! This is just what I needed, to get arrested by the law. She held out her hands, palms up. Well, at least they aren’t taking me to jail. The officer clamped the cuffs on her gently, making sure they didn’t pinch or hold too tightly so she got circulation through her wrists. He opened a door to the back seat for her and gently guided her in so she wouldn’t bump her head on the ceiling of the interior. The door closed after her and the sunglasses officer clamored into the seat in front of her and with a quick whir of the sirens, they eased off the side of the street and cruised down the road. Groaning, Breezefeather leaned back into the seat. I wonder if Dash will think this is hilarious. Her thoughts stopped for a moment and went back to Ponyville. I wonder what they’re doing, now? Princess Twilight might be interested in the idea of another world to explore with strange bipedal creatures or even ghosts. Rainbow Dash would probably want to fight them all. Pinkie Pie would, well, she’s Pinkie Pie, she’d try to make friends. My co-workers might be worried about me, though I wouldn’t put it past everypony to write me off as a lost cause if it’s too dangerous to look for me. She recalled the vastness of the Ghost Zone. That place is huge! “Things not going your way, Princess?” the driver asked. “I’m not a Princess. What would make you say that?” Breezefeather asked, confused. “Let me guess, you don’t get what you want so you make up a little white lie, huh?” “Uh, no.” She thought for a moment. “You don’t believe I’m nineteen, do you?” Sunglasses interjected, “Sadly, I don’t think he does, Miss, but even if you are telling the truth, it’s hard to tell these days, which is why I recommend first chance you get to grab your birth certificate and head to the DMV to get a photo ID.” Driver replied bitterly, “Don’t put some silly idea into her head, she’s probably lying so she can run around, and smoke weed all day. Teens these days.” “Why would I want to smoke weeds? That doesn’t sound fun or pleasant.” Breezefeather was getting more and more confused. “MJ? Marijuana? The Devil’s Grass? Good God, girl, did you grow up sheltered or just plain dumb?!” “Hey!” She cried out insulted, “That’s uncalled for!” “I’ll have to agree with her there, McCreedy, that was really uncalled for,” Sunglasses agreed. Officer McCreedy simply harrumphed. The rest of the ride was in silence, though not that far. They parked in a blacktop parking lot next to a square building that had the word “Casper” written on the front of it, as the door was opened for her by Sunglasses. She managed to look at both of their name tags for once and concluded the grumpy human was indeed Officer McCreedy and Sunglasses was Officer Knowles. McCreedy stomped up the stairs and pulled the front double doors open almost violently, caught barely by Knowles as he gently guided Breezefeather into the building. Inside, it was very much well a school. A long hallway with lockers that were doubled up, staggered doors on each side of the hallway. The hallway ran to her left and right a few ways before turning right and left respectively, and a hallway in front of her to a different set of interior double doors. From the little windows, she could see a variety of teens from under to almost her age milling about, holding trays. Must be the lunchroom, Breezefeather thought. Her thoughts were jostled by the gentle urging of the officer as she was led to a door that was labeled “Principal Ishiyama.” Is she Neighponiese? Breezefeather couldn’t help but think, recalling how very Neighponiese her name sounded. Officer McCreedy knocked loudly on the door as Officer Knowles took his sunglasses off. The door opened and a woman with features that if you were to put them on a pony, made her look very Neighponiese as well. She wore a purple dress suit with a red necktie and a white undershirt and a bit on the large side. “Yes, how can I help you, gentlemen?” “May we come inside and discuss a few things?” Officer Knowles gently requested as he nodded to my direction. The woman looked concerned and nodded, “Right this way, gentlemen.” Inside and seated, Breezefeather looked around the office. There was a desk with the “Principal Ishiyama” written on a little placard that stood up on the front and the woman sat down at the desk, confirming her identity. There were two, simple wooden chairs in front of the desk that neither man sad down at but Officer Knowles gently guided her in front of one and gently pushed on her shoulder. She sat down, but not before turning a bit behind her and saw a wall of glass that looked to view a meat locker of some sort. She could only tell that it was meat from the giant lettering on one of the boxes proudly proclaiming “MEAT” on its visible side. Once seated, she faced Principal Ishiyama with no small amount of confusion. “It seems you’ve found a truant teen, officers, however, I don’t recognize her in the slightest,” the principal said, almost equally confused at the chocolate-colored teen in front of her. “I’m nineteen. I already graduated,” Breezefeather tried again. McCreedy wasn’t having any of it, “And I’m a magical princess. Get over it, Cupcake. You aren’t squirming out of this one.” “I’m not squirming out of anything! I literally am telling the truth!” Breezefeather rose her voice just enough to be heard by all parties inside the office, and possibly anyone outside the door. “Why won’t any p- body believe me?” McCreedy grew incensed, “Oh yeah, then why don’t you have some form of ID to back up your story?” He leaned down and pointed a finger in her face, “Face it, you just can’t handle someone calling your bullshit!” “McCreedy, that’s enough!” Everyone looked surprised to see that Officer Knowles was upset himself, glaring holes into Officer McCreedy. “You have been nothing but rude to this young lady.” “Young lady, pah.” “Just because she doesn’t have a way to prove anything doesn’t mean anything she has to say as less credible,” Knowles explained. “Also, you’ve been like this all week, what is wrong with you?” McCreedy didn’t respond and simply grit his teeth at first. Finally, he spoke up, “I’ll be in the car,” and stormed out of the office, slamming the door on the way. Knowles looked disappointed, before turning to Principal Ishiyama and had an apologetic tone, “I am so sorry about my partner. I really don’t know what’s gotten into him.” Ishiyama nodded understandingly and asked, “Let me check and see if we have any information for this young lady. What is your name, miss?” “I don’t think you’ll find me, because I’m not from this town,” Breezefeather explained. “Anyways, you’re free to try, I guess. My name’s Breezefeather.” Ishiyama looked confused, “Breezefeather?” “Yup! Just Breezefeather. All one word.” Confusion wore on the principal’s face even more as she went over to a filing cabinet and sifted through the files. As she did so, Breezefeather turned back to the screens and looked at the strange, strange meat locker. Officer Knowles followed her gaze. “Yeah,” he said in a hushed tone, “that was there when I went to school here. Don’t know why they value meat so much to put as much surveillance on it as they did. Why so much meat, too? Borderline wasteful if you ask me.” He then turned back to the principal and Breezefeather did the same, trying not to question why humans, being omnivores, seemed to value meat almost in equivalence to gold in her eyes. The principal was now at the desk, simultaneously sorting through more files and using some strange equipment. It looked like a screen like the surveillance screens, only the pictures moved as she worked a small instrument with a chord with one hand before moving both to what looked like typewriter keys and a chord leading from it as well. Both chords led to a box underneath the screen. Ishiyama frowned more and more as she continued her search, clicking from the little instrument and clacking of the keys was heard. After a few minutes, she turned in her chair and faced the two, “I’m afraid I’m not finding anything about a Breezefeather in my records, past or present.” She appeared apologetic, “I’m afraid you might have to check your records to see if you can find her, or even at the federal level. I’m sorry.” Officer Knowles sighed, “It’s quite alright ma’am.” He gently held Breezefeather by the upper arm and guided her up. “Come on, let’s get downtown to get you squared away. Not to mention figure out what’s going on with my partner.” Breezefeather didn’t think she was to hear that last part, but pegasus hearing was all that it was cracked up to be, and she heard every word. “Okay. I’m not actually under arrest, right?” Breezefeather asked worriedly. Officer Knowles chuckled a little bit, “No, no. Not having an ID isn’t illegal, but it does make our job harder. Come on, we’ve got a cozy little corner we can use to write down some info and see if we can’t run you through our systems.” Officer Knowles lead Breezefeather out of the office. “Thank you for trying, Ms. Ishiyama.” A nod was his reply and they were on their way. 4. TruantOfficer McCreedy wasn’t happy in the slightest that Breezefeather was going to be joining them at the police station to straighten things out. They all rode in the pony-less carriage in tense silence. Upon arriving, the tension was nearly palpable. Once all the doors were opened, everyone nearly scrambled to get out. The building itself was a simple one. Brown brick made up the exterior with white concrete steps leading up to glass double doors. “POLICE” was written in large font on a large, solid glass lamp in front of the station with the words “Amity Park Police Department” painted on the doors themselves, circling around a shield badge. Breezefeather was then led up the steps and through the doors. Inside it was bustling. It was a two-story building with stairs going up to their right and in front was a large desk with an officer working at it. They typed away at the interactive screen, scarcely paying any attention to them at first, before performing a quick doubletake. “What’s she in for?” “Gonna run her through the system and find out,” McCreedy said hopefully. It was the same sadistic hopeful, Breezefeather noticed, that often belonged with some folks who said they hoped somepony was flammable. Breezefeather frowned and suppressed a shudder. Looking to Knowles, the officer’s face was quite placid, but there was a slight fire in his eyes as he briefly glared at his partner. She hoped whatever got stuck in his craw, as some of the Apple family are wont to say, crawled right out and get the issue -whatever it is- resolved. She tripped slightly on her feet as she was led down to a desk almost smack in the middle of the others. Knowles gently placed her a chair and motioned for her to sit as he sat at the desk. Officer McCreedy opted to sit on the desk, folding his arms and generally not looking impressed. Officer Knowles appeared to ignore him as he typed on a sleeker-looking set of interactive screen and typewriter keys. A few clicks and taps and whatever he needed was brought up as he turned back to Breezefeather. “Okay, so, if you are telling the truth-,” Officer Knowles started. “Bah, no if about it. She’s got to be lying about something,” Officer McCreedy interjected. He leaned forward slightly. “I bet she’s a druggie, just looking for her next hit.” Breezefeather couldn’t help but snort, amused. “I’m sorry, a what? That name sounds ridiculous.” McCreedy narrowed his eyes and glared into Breezefeather’s, “You think being a drug addict’s funny? I ought to toss you into Gen Lockup and laugh at you detoxing!” Knowles apparently had enough and slammed his hands down onto the desk and bolted upright, grabbing his partner by the shoulder roughly and yanked him away from Breezefeather. “That’s it! I don’t know what the hell’s gotten into you, but you ought to cool it!” “Or what? You’ll tattle on me to the big boss?” “He doesn’t have to.” Everyone stopped save for Officers McCreedy and Knowles, as they turned and faced a man in a nice brown three-piece suit with a black tie. He looked to be in top shape, as far as Breezefeather could tell, in spite of his graying hair. Got to be the big boss then. He’s like a captain of his division of Royal Guard! The boss strode up the desk and glared at McCreedy. “My office. Now.” He turned to Knowles, “Hand this off to someone else and meet us there.” Knowles’s mouth made a fine line, but he nodded and made a few more clicks with the keys. Both men stood up and one followed the boss to a corner office that said, “Commissioner Andrews” and the other walked to a nearby desk and whispered and explanation to the fellow officer. They nodded a response and beckoned Breezefeather over. “I wish I knew what to say,” she whispered. And suddenly, she did. “Really?! You all live off the grid?” Breezefeather nodded, “Yeah, my folks didn’t see a need for all this fancy stuff, they just left it behind and came out to the woods to camp out. So, I could survive in the woods if I wanted to, but I just got so curious, my parents decided to let me explore on my own. I guess they wouldn’t be too happy that I got arrested.” “So, you saying you graduated?” “Oh, it was like saying, ‘Congratulations, you’re an adult now! Time to learn the hard stuff!’ So, I did.” The officer nodded more and continued checking their screen. After a few more button presses, they declared, “Well, it’s official. The US government doesn’t think you exist for all intents and purposes.” Breezefeather maintained a neutral face regardless of the mix of emotions -or was it because of?- that flooded through her. “But I’m right here.” The officer smiled sadly, “I know, but sadly the government these days requires writing or digital documentation of a person to be able to do things like buy a house, own a credit card, get a car, open a bank account, things like that.” “What if I rent?” “You’ll need an ID and a bank account to rent, and to get a bank account, you’ll need an ID and to get an ID you need a birth certificate.” “So, how do I get one of those? Birth certificates, I mean. After all, I’m already nineteen and a doctor hasn’t given my parents a piece of paper that says, ‘Congratulations, you gave birth!’” The officer looked back at Breezefeather, confused before relenting, “I suppose it is a little like that.” They typed a bit more on the keys, “I am just finishing up an email to a friend in the government who can help get you legally into the system. That way, you won’t be a ‘nobody’ to them.” Breezefeather could hear the air quotes in the officer’s voice, which made her smile. “Well, it sounds like things are going pretty well.” Breezefeather’s head snapped up and she saw Officer Knowles. She beamed. “Well, I get to have a bit of fun this week,” Knowles grimaced and turned to the officer at the desk, “You find her in the system?” “Nope,” they replied, popping the p. “Turns out her folks have been off the grid quite some time. Enough time where I can’t find even them anywhere.” “Grandparents?” “Never knew ‘em.” “Well, shoot.” He looked to Breezefeather, “Do you have a place to stay other than some random spot in the woods?” “I might,” Breezefeather thought back to the kind family she encountered. “They were nice folks when I found them. They said they had a spare room, but it was pretty cluttered.” Officer Knowles smiled a bit, “Okay, that’s a good start. Maybe if we ask nicely, you can stay with them until we get a few things straightened out.” His eyes gazed down to her wrists. “Is she still seriously wearing cuffs?” “Whoops! Got so wrapped up, I forgot about that!” The officer remarked. From their belt, they took a small, simple key. Using the said key, they popped it into each keyhole and unlocked the cuffs to where Breezefeather could move her arms apart. Finally! She smiled, relieved to have them off and rubbed her wrists to remove the sensation of the cuffs that were on her for a good chunk of the day. “Okay, so what first?” Breezefeather asked, still rubbing her wrists as she stood up. “First,” Officer Knowles explained, “we find this family and see if they’ll take you in for a bit. And then-.” He trailed off. “And then?” “And then we see how good your homeschooling was.” After a brief direction of where she flew from -explained away as walking-, they drove towards the small farmhouse. Breezefeather noticed that McCreedy was missing and she was offered the passenger seat. Eager to not be behind a set of bars. As they rode in a relaxed silence, Breezefeather’s mind went back to McCreedy. The grumpy, probably senior officer had certainly grated on her and his partner. Weren’t they supposed to work together, being a team? “So, I don’t mean to pry, but what happened to Officer McCreedy?” Knowles grumbled something for a bit, eyes forward on the road, peering through his sunglasses, “He’s been suspended – benched, you could say. He’s out for the rest of today and tomorrow to cool off.” “Ah,” she replied. Silence stretched for a few more minutes. The silence wasn’t tense, but it wasn’t entirely comfortable. “So, do you know why he’s such a meanie or is he just like that sometimes.” He sighed, “No, I really don’t. Though I can’t help but wonder if ghosts are the ones to blame, this doesn’t seem like your usual run-of-the-mill ghost thing.” “Why would it be ghosts?” Breezefeather asked gently. “Well, I can’t think of any other reason at this time,” Knowles replied. He sighed again and brushed his left hand through his hair. “There’s just no reason for him to be acting like that. He’s never acted like that before. Or at least that I’ve noticed” Breezefeather tried thinking of what might be causing the problem. It could be magic, she thought, but I don’t know much about it. Her thoughts went to home again. Princess Twilight would be able to think of something. “Sounds like a potential Friendship Problem,” she said almost automatically. “What?” Officer Knowles glanced at her, even turning his head towards her for a second. “Think about it,” Breezefeather said, suddenly gaining a glimpse of insight. “Everything he’s said has ticked you off while I was around either of you. It affected your ability to work together.” She thought for a moment, “Has he done anything to help your partnership in this past week or has he done or said something to go against it?” “Against, always. He’s a bit racist, but he keeps it to himself mostly, until a week ago, anyhow. Off and on he’s been going off on ‘Mexican’s this’ and ‘Negro’s that.’” He darkened a shade, “Well, he said the slur, not negro, anyhow.” “Slur? Is it bad enough to where you won’t repeat it?” “Hell yeah! It’s enough to get you beat up. Only thing is you could probably get away with it due to your ethnicity.” Breezefeather blinked, a blank look on her face. “Eh, or maybe just to be safe, you hear a word that starts with ‘N’ and isn’t ‘negro’ or doesn’t sound nice, it’s probably for the best that you don’t repeat it and punch whoever said it.” He looked left and right before turning down another road. This one happened to be a final stretch, however, farmhouse finally coming into view. “Here we are.” Once pulled up and parked, Breezefeather decided to stretch her legs. Right as she opened the door, however, she was practically pulled out by two small children. James and Crystal chatted excitedly over each other, only Breezefeather’s good hearing picking out the sentences they said. “You got to ride in a cop car! Was it fun?” “Did you get arrested?” “What did you get arrested for?” “They didn’t hurt you, did they?” “Were they mean or nice?” “Do you have a criminal record now?” “Easy, easy, one of you at a time!” Breezefeather tried to call to order. It didn’t work. The children just talked faster and over each other more to where not even she could discern what was being said. Breezefeather just laughed. Jed walked up to the officer and Loraine to the children to usher them to the house. Jed spoke up first, “I am sorry if she caused any trouble. We only met her yesterday and she didn’t seem too into how things worked.” “Well, she knew enough of it to avoid actual trouble,” Knowles acknowledged, chuckling slightly. He held out a hand, “Officer Knowles, sir, and you are?” Jed took Knowles’s hand and shook, “Jedediah Smith, Officer. Pleasure tah meet ya.” “Might I come in?” Knowles asked, ending the shake, “I have a few things I would like to discuss if that’s alright?” “Quite, quite. Come in,” Jed said, motioning to the front door. He looked at Breezefeather, “You too, young missy. I’m sure you’re the reason fer the fuss.” Breezefeather smiled shyly and walked through the door. Once inside, everyone headed towards the kitchen table, which was covered in paper and children’s drawings and what looked to be homework. Pencils were skewed everywhere as well as crayons. Loraine looked up from the table, helping James with a problem before nodding to Jed. She then finished helping and then grabbed his homework and Crystal’s and ushered the children to their rooms down the hallway and up a set of stairs. Breezefeather suspected they wouldn’t stay up there long. The remaining four sat at the table. “Well, I’ll cut right to the chase,” Officer Knowles started, taking off his sunglasses, “Breezefeather here needs a spot to stay while we contact a rep with the government to get Breeze here into the system. Since she’s made an acquaintance with you folks, I was hoping she’d have a stable place to be and not rely on the over-crowded homeless shelter.” Breezefeather was hopeful, but she wasn’t sure. They could reasonably say ‘no,’ after all. I mean, I just met them, and they probably don’t know what to do with a pegasus pony that’s disguised as a human. Jed and Loraine looked at each other, a bit startled at the request. She wished she knew what they were thinking. They then whispered to each other in a hushed tone. She tried her best to not listen in by humming the Smile song her friend Pinkie Pie would sing sometimes. After a moment, they seemed to come to an agreement and Breezefeather stopped humming. “Well, Jed and I have been thinking about hiring a new hand on the ranch,” Loraine started. “And we could always use ah minder fer tah kids,” Jed continued. “So, we don’t see why she shouldn’t.” Loraine finished. “Well, that’s great to hear!” Officer Knowles said. Breezefeather couldn’t help but agree. “That’s awesome!” She curled her fingers before clicking her knuckles together, “I won’t be a burden! I promise!” Officer Knowles stood up and pulled a card out of his breast pocket and handed it to the couple, “Here’s my number if you ever need to reach me as well as the direct number to the station if I can’t be reached. Just in case.” He smirked and glanced in Breezefeather’s direction, “Although I don’t think you’ll really need it, though you never know.” “Gee, thanks,” Breezefeather smirked back. He took out his sunglasses and perched them on his head, “Your welcome,” he snarked back. “By the way, we’ll keep in touch and let you know when the rep is here. Number’s in the phonebook, right Jedediah?” “Yessir, though let me get ya ah paper and write down our personal numbers, in case ya need tah reach our cells,” Jed replied, getting up as well and looking for a clean paper. Once one was found, he wrote down a nine-digit number and handed it to the kind officer before they shook hands. Once Knowles left, Jed turned to Breezefeather. “Alrighty, missy. I believe it’s time fer yah tah earn yer keep startin’ now,” he said. “And that would be?” “We need tah clear out the spare bedroom,” Jed said with a small smile. 5. Testing InBreezefeather lay on the spare bed, gazing up at the ceiling. Well, perhaps it’s my bed now, Breezefeather thought. For the time being, anyway. She was in her natural form, bracelet on the small nightstand next to her. The small, electronic clock read only 7:49, but the sun had set a half hour ago and she was tired from moving things out of her new room. She was normally an earlier riser, anyhow. Up when the sun was up or even before if work demanded it. Her mind was a whirlwind, trying to make sense of everything. Even the shower she took earlier didn’t help. So, I got pulled through a portal to a place called the Ghost Zone by some metallic ghost named Skulker, she began to recount. Then I flew away only to be chased by him. Next, I flew near Desiee and wished for him to be back home and she made him probably do that. Then she gave me a bangle of hers which turned into the bracelet on my nightstand. Her eyes turned to the bracelet as it glittered in the soft moonlight from outside. It even seemed to slightly glow, even. She looked back to the ceiling. Then she makes me a portal to a mortal world with a warning. After that, I find this nice family and they let me stay in the barn due to the cluttered guest room. Then I wished to be able to swap between human and pony with my bracelet. After that, I got arrested for being truant and now they’re going to put me in the system so they can keep track of me or something like that? Now I’m back at the farmhouse, waiting for them to tell me their rep is here to help me out. Breezefeather turned over in her bed and stared at the bracelet. At least I know now if I don’t turn back into a pony, I’ll still revert if I take the bracelet off. She sighed and turned over, back facing it. This is starting to get a bit much. I hope I don’t go crazy trying to make sense of why this is all happening. With that final thought, she drifted to sleep. She woke up bright and early that morning. Her sleep wasn’t perfectly restful, but it did its job. She glanced at the clock. 4:15. Oh my, that’s very early. Is everycreature up right now, even? She reached over and placed the bracelet on her arm and whispered, “No hooves, please.” In a gentle flash, her form went from that of a pegasus back to a human. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and took off the boots that materialized on her, before then staring at her feet. They looked so interesting. A heel, bridge of the foot connecting the heel to the ball of her foot, her toes, even if they were covered in a sock. Celestia, toes are so weird. She wiggled them. Kinda feel weird, but they’re softer than hooves and that should make them quieter, too. She placed her foot on the ground before her leg shot up away from the ground. She could feel the cold floor through her sock! The floor is freezing! Is there a fireplace anywhere? She tested the floor again and yup, still cold. Resting on the ball of her feet, she slowly tip-toed to her door. More than three times did she wobble and had to correct her standing. Buck it, she swore to herself, I’m just going to stand normally, cold or no. She almost regretted doing so, what with the floor just so cold. Sweet Luna why is the floor so cold! She walked slowly and as quietly as she could down the stairs, boots in one hand, other on the wall in case she wobbled again. Off and on the stairs would creak and Breezefeather would freeze, hopeful not to wake up the children or Jed and Loraine. Very slowly did she finally make it to the bottom of the stairs to an even colder floor. She ended up squeaking due to the shock. Using her free hand, she quickly placed it over her mouth to attempt to muffle any more noise. She looked around and noticed that there were Loraine and Jed at the kitchen table, each with a coffee mug in hand. Jed had some papers in hand and Loraine had the rest. Loraine was the first to look up, “Was that squeak you, darling?” She spoke softly. Briefly, Breezefeather thought about home again, remembering the seamstress and her generosity. Only once before had she gone to her shop and that was for a Grand Galloping Gala as somepony’s plus one. That was a messy gala. Breezefeather also spoke as softly as she could, but it still came out just under normal volume, “Yeah, sorry. Cold floor.” “No need tah apologize, Breezefeather,” Jed stage whispered, “ah should seeing as ah forgot tah turn on the heat last night.” “Isn’t it only mid-fall, right about now?” Breezefeather complained. “After all, it shouldn’t be quite this cold just yet.” “No, it’s not,” Loraine said, disappointment in her voice, “but it’s the norm, now. Wasn’t like this ten years ago.” She muttered the last part, but Breezefeather’s pegasus hearing picked it up again. Breezefeather frowned. What is happening to this planet? Why is the weather so different for them than home? Is it wild? Or are the powers that be are just terrible at weather management? Breezefeather opened her mouth to ask about the weather. Just then, a clatter and a clash were heard, and the chattering of children came through the floorboards from upstairs. “Well, so much fer staying quiet. Kids are up an' at ’em,” Jed remarked. Sure enough, Breezefeather saw the two children clamor and stomp about and briefly fought over the bathroom. It seems that Crystal won the argument as James stood outside the door, arms folded and face cast sour in a grumpy emotion. She chuckled at both Smith kid’s antics and briefly wondered what having a sibling would be like. Noting that the quiet hour was over, Breezefeather slipped her boots back on just to get off the cold floor. “So,” Jed started, “fer them chores of yer’s, why don’t cha help out the kids? They’ll give yah directions on what tah do.” Chores were simple if a bit time consuming considering all the horses that needed individual attention. After a couple of hours, they were done and had returned to the farmhouse, Breezefeather was notified that there was a tester already at the school, ready to help get Breezefeather placed or graduated officially, and the bus would come along shortly for Casper High. The first bus that arrived was novel. A massive yellow vehicle with the words, “Casper Elementary School” first pulled up and took the younger Smiths off to their school. Now Breezefeather had to wonder how she was going to get to Casper High, as her bus hadn’t arrived yet. Just within a few more minutes in the cold weather, another bus pulled up, half-full of kids stating, “Casper High School” written on its side. The door folded open and a large, gruff human woman garbled out, “Get on or I’m leavin’ ya.” Friendly, Breezefeather sarcastically thought and hopped on the bus. There were all sorts of students of all wakes of life. To avoid the stares she was getting, she walked to the back of the bus and sat down in the furthest seat. It didn’t work. All the stares still bored into her, though the faces were aghast, now. Breezefeather whimpered slightly and sank down into the seat. She wasn’t shy per-say, but such critical stares were certainly not welcome and made her feel uncomfortable. More students piled into the bus, especially once they got closer to the school. Once the bus was three-quarters full, a few students with bright and expensive-looking clothes stepped on the bus. Two were female, one of them had a pink halter-top on and a rich, red jacket on and thin blue jeans. Her skin was a few shades lighter than Breezefeather’s and her eyes were blue-green, and her hair was long and black, if a little curly and wavy, thought that looked styled as such. She wore a lot of makeup for Breezefeather’s liking. More so than Rarity, the fashionista pony of Ponyville. The other female was of a very light skin tone with long, straight blonde hair, a pink flower barrette adorning it. Her eyes matched the darker-haired girls. She had a white t-shirt on, though slimmer than Breezefeather’s to where it was form-fitting, with a backward “P” on it. She also had a matching jacket on and wore red pants that came down only to halfway past her shins. The blonde also had almost as much makeup on as the first girl. She noticed both girls had immaculate nails, painted green and black and they were marveling at each other's. The two males were large and identical in build. The first one had Neighponiese facial features with hair just slightly darker than the first girl’s hair, though cut very short. He wore a jacket that looked thick and yet it looked to be more matte than imitation leather. The red and white colors did seem to shine just a bit. She noticed that both boys wore the same jacket and had the same hairstyle, only the second boy’s hair was blonde. All four students walked towards the back of the bus. Uh oh, Breezefeather thought. Now I know why they were all staring. I sat in someone’s seat. As to confirm this suspicion, the dark-haired girl said, “Um, excuse me, but you’re in our spot.” Breezefeather said, “Sorry about that, but everyp- body was staring at me, and I wanted to get out of their view. Sitting in the front would have been uncomfortable.” Breezefeather slouched a little bit and looked down. She didn’t want to hurt any potential friendships. “I say there’s no harm.” Everyone looked to the dark-haired boy. “What? The girls are thin enough to triple up and sit on that seat, whereas us guys can sit on the other seat!” All three students stared at the dark-haired boy for a short while before the garbley woman called from her spot, “Sit down!” Breezefeather scooted to as close to the window as she could and motioned for them to sit, a hopeful smile on her face. Groaning, the girls sat down next to her, the blonde acting as a buffer between Breezefeather and the dark-haired girl. The boys sat in front of them, blonde boy towards the isle and dark-haired boy towards the window. “So, when’d you move to town?” Asked the dark-haired boy. “Oh, just yesterday,” Breezefeather replied. “I used to live off the grid with my folks before I decided to explore town.” “Why are you just now going to Casper High, then?” the blonde girl asked then. Everyone turned to her, curious. “Well, you see, I wanted to explore the town, but then some officers found me and thought I was skipping school and since I also lived off the grid, there wasn’t any record of me.” “Damn, how long did you live off the grid?” It was the blonde boy’s turn. Breezefeather shrunk down and squeaked out, “My whole life?” “Nuh-uh. You have to have a birth certificate. There’s no way your parents would have you be born in the wild,” the dark-haired girl ground out. “But it’s true, I don’t have a birth certificate and I don’t have any government-issued eye-dee to prove myself as graduated, but here we are.” “That explains why I saw a cop car pulling away from the school yesterday!” The blonde boy spoke up again. “That’s kind of cool. Got some street cred already?” “Huh?” Breezefeather asked confused. “Maybe? One of the officers seemed to think so. I don’t know why he doesn’t like me all that much.” “Some cops are just like that,” the dark-haired girl almost spat out. “Cerdos racistas,” she muttered. She then smiled, “You know what, how rude of us, we didn’t introduce ourselves! My name’s Paulina, this is my best friend, Star!” She gestured first to herself, then the blonde girl, Star. “And that’s Dash,” she said, pointing to the blonde boy, “and that’s Quan,” she wrapped up, pointing to the dark-haired boy. “It’s nice to meet you all, my name’s Breezefeather.” “Cool, it’s nice to meet you, Breeze,” Quan said, smiling. Breezefeather smiled. It was nice to make friends. The whole ride to the school, the five friends chatted about simple things: how cold it was getting and how ridiculous it was, how good of athletes the boys were, how tough certain classes were, and speculating if Breezefeather was going to get into school or was she going to graduate. Estimates favored her getting into Freshman year, where Breezefeather was hopeful about getting into Sophomore year with them. Once the bus stopped in front of the school, they got up to walk out. As they did, Dash scanned the crowded bus, looking for someone, though he scowled, his target not found, it seemed. Breezefeather thought it was strange that they were getting off first since they were in the back, but thought it was just the students being polite. Once she stepped off, it was complete chaos as to who was getting off next. Looks like that politeness only extends to this group. Strange. Breezefeather couldn’t help but dwell on that thought for a while, enough to where she almost ran into her new friends. Noticing their worried faces, she looked at what they were staring at. At the front of the school, there were two men in white suits with black ties. One had a dark skin tone like Breezefeather and the other was lighter like Dash. Though she couldn’t tell at first from their dark sunglasses, she could tell they were staring at the sky from the way their heads were tilted. “Are these the Guys in White I’ve been hearing about?” Breezefeather asked worriedly, covering her bracelet. “Yeah, that’s them,” Dash said, a small amount of venom entering his tone. “They hunt Phantom down like he’s a criminal. He’s not, he’s a hero!” “They weren’t here yesterday, why are they here today?” Breezefeather said worriedly, almost too quickly. She brought her left arm up and covered her bangle with her right hand and brought her arms to her chest protectively. She looked around and noticed, not a single student was getting near the entrance, and almost every single one of them had a scowl on their face. Save for three. She saw a thin boy with dark hair and a white t-shirt with a red oval in the center and a baggy blue jacket over top. His blue jeans seemed a bit baggy over his legs. His baby blue eyes looked bored. A girl to his right stood by and had a disappointed look on her face combined with a look of, “why am I not surprised?” Her hair was also dark and pulled into a half ponytail. Her whole outfit, in fact, was as black as night. She even wore combat styled boots. Her amethyst eyes bored into the Guys in White. The boy to the left of the dark-haired boy had dark skin and wore baggy green cargo pants and a yellow long-sleeved shirt. He wore a hat that she wasn’t sure what was called, but Breezefeather knew it was red. He was playing around with some sort of device that he held in his hand with a little pen of some sort. He peered down at it with his aqua eyes in interest from his thick-rimmed, half-moon glasses. Just when Breezefeather could examine them, the gothic girl looked at Breezefeather and scowled. Though taken aback a bit, she smiled and waved a bit, causing the goth to raise an eyebrow in confusion. “Do we know her, Danny?” She half-whispered. Breezefeather actually had to strain to hear that, what with all the other conversations around her. The boy with the blue jacket, Danny, responded, “I don’t think so, Sam. Tuck?” Tuck, still busy with his device, replied, “I didn’t find much on why the GiW were here, so I started looking her up, and there’s next to nothing other than a name in a police report.” Breezefeather cast her eyes down and turned around, tuning them out. She didn’t want to hear what they were going to say next. Though she was curious. How would they know about a police report? How would they get that information without going to the police station? How, how, how? Breezefeather couldn’t help but think. Her thoughts were interrupted when an older man with a receding hairline and a bit of a belly walked out and she heard the chatter switch from “What are they doing here?” to “Mr. Lancer.” He held a megaphone and flicked it on, its feedback screeching slightly. Breezefeather covered her ears to prevent a major assault to them. “Students there’s no reason to stand about here. Class starts in five minutes. If you’re in my class, I will count you tardy and assign extra work.” The rush to the school was almost immediate. Breezefeather barely got a chance to cover and hold her bracelet to prevent it from being accidentally taken off and to attempt to hide it from the Guys in White as she was swept to the school. She let herself be carried along and past the pushed aside men in white suits, too busy to keep a foothold to look around. She heard a soft beeping coming from them over the clamor of the students. She didn’t know what it was but assumed it some sort of detection device and quickly rushed in with the other students, trying to get to the front of the pack. Once inside, Breezefeather rushed over to the principal’s office that she recalled from her last trip here, nearly tripping the whole way. She closed the door behind her and breathed a sigh of relief. “Quite a mad rush, today,” a voice spoke up from the direction of the desk. Breezefeather saw that the principal was indeed there as well as someone in a dark blue suit and skirt combo with a tasteful pink tie. Her brown hair was tied into a tight bun and her matching brown eyes spoke levels of kindness and patience that could only be rivaled by that of Princess Celestia when she’s met her the few times. “I’m Agent Fairweather, and I swear the agency paired us up for a giggle, Miss Breezefeather.” The agent held out her hand. Breezefeather smiled and walked over to her, shaking her hand like she saw Jed and Officer Knowles. “Good, firm handshake, you’ll need that in the workforce.” The agent pointed to a small school desk that Breezefeather overlooked, “Why don’t we get started so we can get you in the system and then get you placed.” Breezefeather sat down in the chair and got comfortable. Well, as comfortable as she could, it wasn’t the best chair. The agent took up a clipboard and got a normal chair from the side of the room and sat it down. She pulled a pen from inside her coat and clicked it and poised to write. “Why don’t we start with your date of birth. Were your parents able to keep a track of the days?” After four long hours, Breezefeather had answered all of the agent’s questions and finished two of her four tests. Math and Science were fun and all, but she didn’t realize how different their science was in Equestria. I’ll have to take a few extra classes, she assumed. Her stomach growled. Agent Fairweather couldn’t help but laugh, it seemed. “Looks like it’s lunchtime. Don’t worry, head to the cafeteria and I’m sure I can work something out with them.” Breezefeather beamed, “You don’t have to do that,” she started. “Oh, but if you want to eat around here, unless it’s grass, you pretty much have to pay. Don’t worry, I’m sure it’s not coming from my salary,” the agent chuckled. Breezefeather stood up and stretched. “I think I remember seeing where it was. Back here after, right?” The agent nodded. Taking that as her cue, Breezefeather headed out of the principal’s office. She headed straight for the cafeteria where there were already quite a few students milling about, mostly at the large benches. Breezefeather gently pushed the large double doors open and slipped inside. She got about halfway to where the food was being served when she heard a, “Yoo hoo, Breezefeather, come sit over here when you get your food!” It was Paulina, waving from her group of friends. Smiling shyly, Breezefeather waived back. She managed to get to the serving area without incident. Though she did pause when she was the main course. Lasagna. Not just any lasagna, this appeared to have meat in it. She wasn’t opposed to meat, being a pegasus, she was just opposed to any high-fat meat. “Excuse me, is this high in fat?” Breezefeather asked the elderly woman manning the line. “’Course it is! What you expect, some low-fat nonsense?” Breezefeather frowned, “Is there anything else that I could have? High-fat foods make me sick.” The lunch lady frowned as well, “You won’t get your protein, girly, but there’s the sides.” Breezefeather smiled a bit, though her attention was brought back to the lunch lady, “Say, aren’t you that girl that the agent said I have to feed?” “Um, probably,” Breezefeather asked confused. “Well, I aught to feed you now, shouldn’t I?” She grabbed a helping of everything and piled it all on a tray for Breezefeather and smiled. It was a sly smile, and Breezefeather couldn’t help but give a wary one of her own, chuckling uneasily. Slowly, she took the tray and retreated towards the table with her new friends. As she sat down, she frowned, her friends chuckling at her misfortune. “Geeze, why’d she give you so much?” Asked Quan. “I don’t know, maybe she’s secretly a witch and trying to fatten me up?” Breezefeather replied. Paulina turned up her nose, “All those fats, that can’t be good for you.” “Not for me, it’s not. I physically can’t eat too much fat, or I’ll get sick,” Breezefeather lamented, all the students at the table raising a brow. “I can eat lean meats like chicken or fish, but pork and beef are a no.” She smiled when she saw an apple and almost went to grab it with her mouth. She stopped and reattempted with her hands and took as big a bite as she could. Almost instantly, she frowned again before swallowing, “And these apples just aren’t the same as home.” “How come?” Dash asked, “Aren’t apples, apples? No matter where ya go?” “I’m no apple farmer, but even I can tell you that’s not it. It varies from farm to farm and who’s tending the orchard.” Depressed, Breezefeather continued eating the apple. “Um,” Star spoke up, “why are you still eating that if it makes you sad?” “Because it’s food and I don’t want it to go to waste.” Breezefeather looked around and saw hopeful faces. “If any of you want my lasagna, just ask.” She was almost instantly bombarded by requests. Sullenly, she just held up her tray and someone took it as she was sans lasagna when she lowered it back down. Now there were only sad-looking vegetables and fruits on her tray. “Jeeze, these look pathetic. Were they in a can?” “Probably,” Paulina said. “You should pack a lunch when you get the chance.” “Noted.” She then heard shushes and requests to look hovering around her. Seems that trio of friends that she saw earlier had recently walked in. They look a little roughed up, Breezefeather noted. Tuck was fixing his glasses and dusting off dirt, Sam was fixing her hair, and Danny was covering some developing bruises. They walked over to their spot that was a few tables away. “Hey, Breezefeather, check this out!” Dash called out before he hurled something their way. It hit Danny in the back of the head with a splat. Now that it had stopped moving, Breezefeather noted that it was the lasagna that she had given up. Breezefeather covered her mouth and gasped. Why did he do that? Danny did nothing to him! All he did was walk in! Everyone save for her was laughing at the table. “Take that, Fentoad!” Dash cried out, laughing even harder. “Apologize!” Everyone stopped and looked at Breezefeather. When did I stand up? Oh, well, that doesn’t matter. “Apologize right now!” She said again. “What? We do this all the time. Freaktonio always has it coming.” “And just how, Dash?” Breezefeather asked, upset. Her hands were balled up into fists right now, she was so mad, her hands just had to do something to emote it. Her ears couldn’t do it anymore. “How did he provoke you?” “He’s a freak!” “So, you throw things at him for what you perceive as a freak?” Her voice kept rising in volume. “What if I was a freak, would you throw food at me, too?” “Why are you defending that freak anyways?” Paulina asked. “I mean, him and his friends are losers, you’re better off with us?” “Or what? I can’t be friends with you? You’ll torment me like you do him?” Breezefeather was starting to see red. “If you don’t like it, too bad,” Dash said. “It’s not like we get in trouble for it.” “You get away with being a bully?!” If she wasn’t incensed before, she was now. They bully him and get away with it?! That’s terrible! Breezefeather had enough. “That’s it! I’m going to go back to my testing early.” She stepped away from the table and stomped off. “You can forget sitting with us, then, Freak Lover,” Paulina called after her. Breezefeather turned around, “That’s great because I wasn’t planning on it!” She nearly roared out the last part, windows shaking in their panes. Scowl marring her features, she whisked back around and stomped all the way to the principal’s office. Breezefeather sat in her seat, scowling. “I’m sorry, though there’s not much I can do,” Principal Ishiyama said to her, after Breezefeather explained why she was back so early. “Why not? Who’s to say one of their friends wasn’t out in the hallway and practically mugged the poor kid and his friends?” “Did you see anyone in the hallway?” Ishiyama asked. “No. I was too mad,” Breezefeather ground out. She sunk into her chair. Are they being protected or something? Aren’t the faculty supposed to do something? What is wrong with this place. “But I did see Dash throw his food at that kid! How is there nothing you can do?” Principal Ishiyama frowned, “I don’t like it any more than you, but Dash is our star player for nearly all of our sports-.” “You’re giving him a pass because he’s good at sports?!” “Let me finish, please,” Ishiyama gently requested. Breezefeather settled again in her seat. “As I was saying, he’s our star player. There are a lot of folks that help us keep up repairs that are sports enthusiasts and recruiters. If he were out of commission for any reason, our funding to repair the school would be shot, seeing as we have ghost attacks on the regular. Unfortunately, this means we have to overlook some of his behavior. I like it as little as you do, Miss Breezefeather.” Breezefeather ground her teeth. I doubt it, she thought, though she kept her mouth shut. No, I shouldn’t think like that, she resigned, after all, she doesn’t really have a choice if those jerks that fund her are only interested in sports. “I guess I can see it. Still don’t like it, of course.” Agent Fairweather chimed in, nearly causing Breezefeather to jump out of her skin, “Well, seeing as we’ve gotten to an understanding, why don’t we resume our testing for today?” She took out more paper. About half of it had a lot of writing. “Let me guess, Language and a whole hodgepodge of other things.” I almost forgot she was here. Agent Fairweather nodded. “Just to see where you’re at and what you need.” 6. SchoolThe day wrapped up with Breezefeather sitting in the front of the bus on the way home, ignoring the privileged kids as they walked by her twice, once to get on and once to get off. The whole time, she sat there with her arms crossed and a disapproving face as she stared straight ahead. The nerve of them, just because they can get away with it, doesn’t mean they should do it! Her thoughts ran wild as she thought of the reasons why they were picking on poor Danny. Why him, anyhow? Is it because he stood up to them once? Or because he doesn’t at all? Either way, that’s no excuse! She nearly missed her stop, being lost in her thoughts like that. She rushed onto the farm and waited for the bus to be completely out of sight. Once gone, she almost shouted her command for the bracelet to turn her into a pony again and flew as fast as her wings would carry her. She rushed to her room and shut the door, flopping face-first into a pillow and yelling. I don’t think the pillow and mattress did much, Breezefeather thought, but I had to yell. Breezefeather listened and heard muffled voices followed by footsteps leading up the stairs and stopping at her door. A knock rapped on the wooden door. “Breeze, honey, are you alright? We heard you yell.” Well, that answered that, Breezefeather thought sullenly. She lifted her head enough to where her face was no longer in the pillow to lay her head flat on the bed, on her chin. “Yeah. Just a little frustrated is all.” Her door opened, Loraine peeking in. “Did you want to talk about it.” Though silent, Breezefeather nodded. Loraine opened the door fully and walked up to her bed and sat on its edge. “Was it about the test?” “Oh, Sweet Celestia, no,” Breezefeather started. “Apparently the school has to play favorites with their sports-oriented students over anypony -sorry- anybody else. It’s infuriating! I witnessed one of their players throw a hoof full -sorry- handful of food at the poor child! And he just sat there and took it. They laughed at him, Loraine! They’re bullies!” Her hooves were outstretched and her muzzle back in the pillow. “Why did I have to make friends with them on the bus?” she managed to say, though wasn’t sure if Loraine heard her muffled question. “Well, I don’t know these children, but if you think they’re bullies, I think you should tell a teacher.” “I did!” Breezefeather stretched her neck up and raised her hooves above the bed, frustrated. “And they told me that they have to, or they’ll lose funding for school repairs! I’ve never been so mad before in my life! I’ve never seen such blatant bullying in my life! What the buck is wrong with some humans?!” She flopped again on the bed. Loraine sat for a moment, seemingly in thought. “Well, I know what you have to do next.” Breezefeather rotated her head to where her muzzle was out of the pillow again, “What’s that?” “Make friends with him! That way you can let him know that those bullies aren’t your friends.” Breezefeather smiled. Why didn’t I think of that? She sat up on the bed and faced Loraine before giving her a hug. “What a great idea! I think I’ll do that next time I’m at school if I get the chance!” She looked around her room before she looked back to Loraine. “So, two things. One: What are my chores for today, and two: can we plan a bagged lunch for me? I don’t want to eat the sad food they have.” Loraine chuckled. “I’ll see what I can do.” Chores, followed by bed, followed by more chores refreshed Breezefeather that following morning. She was grateful for the space she was given and was all too happy to help out. She didn’t have much experience in herding or grooming livestock, but she was a pony and horses were very similar to ponies. She thankfully remembered her bracelet and said, “no hooves please” before any school busses were in sight. Bagged lunch in hand she climbed onto the bus and sat in one of the very front seats, sparse bodies occupying any making the choice easy. Minutes passed as she stared out the window. As they were getting to pull away from the next stop three students rushed forward, very out of breath, flagging down the bus. Once at a full stop again, they climbed on as well. Once on, they all sat in a front seat behind the driver of the bus, whispering to each other only when the bus started moving. Breezefeather turned to speak with them. The movement was noticed by Tuck, who whispered to get Danny’s and Sam’s attention. They, too, turned and saw her. “So, I’m guessing by yesterday you aren’t friends with the A-lister’s anymore?” Sam asked. Breezefeather blushed. “No, they shouldn’t have done or said those things. I’m sorry for that happening anyways.” “What are you sorry for, it’s not like you gave him the lasagna to throw at us,” Tuck said. Breezefeather ducked her head down and looked away from the trio. She heard an “ow!” from Tuck and as she looked back at them, Sam had her hands in fists and was glaring at Tuck. Tuck simply rubbed his sore shoulder. “I never meant for them to throw it,” Breezefeather said, “but I still gave it to them. I’m sorry.” “Hey, it’s alright. No big deal. It’s actually tame compared to what they usually do,” Danny soothed. Breezefeather straightened, “Tame?!” She struggled to keep her volume under control, “You mean to tell me they do worse than throw food at you and belittle you?!” “Well, you are new here,” Sam reflected. “Welcome to Casper High where the girls will talk foul rumors about you behind your back and the boys will bully you without remorse. I’m Sam, by the way. The techno-geek with the glasses is Tucker, and the quiet, almost invisible one of us is Danny.” Tucker had puffed up his chest when Sam has called him a techno-geek, reminding Breezefeather of Rainbow Dash when she was called Fastest Flyer in Equestria. Danny, however, smiled sheepishly and waved a small wave in her direction. “I’m Breezefeather. It’s nice to meet you three.” The bus pulled up to a stop, Breezefeather stood up. “Oh, I should get to the principal’s office and see where I got placed, I’ll talk to you later!” She almost sprinted for the door, attempting to beat the A-lister’s out. Being first on the bus had its advantages. The front doors were once again, guarded by Guys in White, but this time, she decided to go with a distraction tactic. Whistling, she gained the attention of the two men. “I think I just saw some ghostly figure fly down that alleyway! Oh my, that scared me! If only some ghost hunters would catch it!” She suppressed a wince, Okay, that sounded terrible, would they even buy it? The two men took out what looked like a blaster similar to one from Skulker’s metal body, only white and shaped a little differently. They barked orders at each other and sprinted to the alleyway next to the school. But it worked beautifully! Breezefeather thought with triumph. She then ran up the front stairs and through the doors before she power-walked over to Principal Ishiyama’s office. “Excellent timing!” Principal Ishiyama said. “Agent Fairweather just gave me the final report on everything. Your paperwork for citizenship should be filed and you should receive some important papers in the mail for record-keeping purposes within a couple of weeks. However, what we know today is what classes you should be taking.” “I didn’t do so well in a few of them, did I?” Breezefeather lamented. “A few of them, particularly science, wasn’t the best. You will have to take most of your time catching up on that. However, your math is pretty decent, so only one class, and you had a fair grasp of grammar, but you still need some work, so two classes on that.” Ishiyama walked over to her desk and picked up a paper, before walking back over to Breezefeather and handing the paper to her. “This paper has all of your classes and schedules. Since you started close to the start of the school year, there isn’t too much to catch up on.” Breezefeather examined the schedule more closely. First period was an English class with a Mr. Lancer, designated as her Homeroom teacher. Next was biology, also with Mr. Lancer. Her third class was Algebra with a Mrs. Hamilton. Then back to English with Mr. Lancer. Lunch. Then two periods of Physics with Mr. Lancer. “This Mr. Lancer is a good teacher to know so much.” “Yes, he’s our top Science and English literature teacher in this school. You have a final period for extra curriculars, but once you are done for the year, you can take a final assessment and graduate early with a G.E.D.” “What’s a G.E.D.?” Breezefeather asked, confused. “Is it like a diploma?” “It’s almost exactly like a diploma, but for those who didn’t go to school traditionally,” Ishiyama explained. She looked at the clock before shooing Breezefeather out of her office. “Hurry now! You have your first period with Mr. Lancer shortly. Look at the room number and make sure you go to the right class. Down the hall, around the corner and to your right! He’ll be expecting you!” Breezefeather strode swiftly out the principal’s door and noticed it was full of students. Some of them were sneering at her, others pitifully. She tried to tune them out and follow the directions she was given, but her pegasus hearing was still peak and the flood of people whispering didn’t help. “I heard she sold her body to a pimp to survive.” “I heard she’s going through rehab and she needs to retake some classes.” “I heard she got arrested for trying to sell drugs to a cop.” “That’s nothing, I heard she beat up a cop!” She so wished she could swivel her ears to effectively shut them out. Oh, how she wished. But she wouldn’t say it out loud and draw the Guys in White inside because Desiree would appear. I don’t want Dessie to get hurt, but I don’t want to be able to hear these nasty things! She sped up her walking speed just a bit more. More of the same hurtful things were said and she almost missed the classroom she was supposed to be in. She opened the door and looked in. There were some students already in and seated. She picked out Danny, Sam, and Tucker in the middle of the classroom. “Ah, you must be the new student,” a calm voice ushered her in. Breezefeather smiled and walked into the room. “I’m Mr. Lancer, and it looks like we’ll be getting to know each other quite a bit.” “I do have almost nothing but class with you, so this room will look very familiar, I suppose,” Breezefeather said, smiling. “Why don’t you take a seat. I’ll start role call in a few minutes at the next bell.” Class was a bit dull, having to go over somethings she already knew, but it wasn’t always her best class. The period came and went, the bell ringing for the next class. Breezefeather had noticed that she got to keep the book for her studies on English -a strange name for a language in my opinion, Breezefeather thought- and her paper even gave her a locker number and combination. She would have to spend time looking for this locker. And maybe I should get a saddlebag of some sort, she thought, looking to her second book as she was handed a book on biology. She walked over to algebra and was introduced to a woman with a very large nose, but a nice disposition. They went over a few refreshers but got some new material there. As well as a new book. Breezefeather hunted down her locker and found it to be an old and rusted locker. Its hinges creaked open from disuse and rust. Inside, there was a circle of cleaner metal, as though it was protected by something, though it was missing. Dismissing it, she placed her new books inside as well as her bagged lunch and went back to Mr. Lancer’s classroom. This class had different students in it, even though it was an English class. Breezefeather thought, Must be for older students. She was proven right when everything in the class was new and she got a book that was a bit more advanced than the other one she got previously. At least I can tell them apart for class. She thought. The bell rang again. It was time for lunch. She almost bolted to her locker and grabbed her lunch and rushed for the lunchroom. She was one of the first people there. Thankful, she went over toward where she saw the trio sit the other day, however she noticed a girl with dark skin, darker, wavy hair, sitting by herself. She wore a yellow tank top and orange skirt and headband. She had black leggings on underneath and a matching yellow jacket over top. Her headband was a matching orange and she wore golden triangle earrings and a gold necklace locket. She wore thick orange and yellow bracelets on both her right and left wrists. She had a bit more meat on her bones than Breezefeather, though that was an afterthought. She stared at her own bagged lunch sullenly. Breezefeather was a bit torn. There was the trio, but they were friends with each other already. Her was this girl, sitting all by her lonesome. Making a decision, she walked over to the girl. “Hi, mind if I sit here?” Breezefeather asked. The girl looked up from her lunch, surprised. She then looked around, then pointed to herself. “You want to sit with me?” “Considering I insulted the popular kids and I am probably a social outcast by now, I don’t really have anywhere else to sit. You also look like you could use a friend.” She looked about to argue with Breezefeather then looked over at her barren table. “You know, yeah, I could use a friend. My name’s Valerie, Valerie Gray.” “My name’s Breezefeather, though I bet everyp-body knew that by now.” Valerie raised a brow at Breezefeather’s slip but said nothing about it. “True, but it’s nice to get to introduce yourself, right?” Breezefeather giggled and slipped into the spot next to Valerie, “I guess you’re right.” “So, what’s your story?” Valerie opened her bagged lunch finally and took out a sandwich of some sort, and apple, and a bag of chips. Breezefeather did the same for hers, removing a romaine, cucumber, and mayonnaise sandwich, an assortment of baby carrots, and a small canister of assorted nuts. “Oh, nothing much. Just grew up outside of city limits off the grid, don’t know much about technology because we didn’t need it much, and having to go to school for the rest of this school year just so I don’t have to do four whole years.” Valerie examined the lunch Breezefeather had taken out, “Looks like you’re also vegetarian.” “Not entirely,” Breezefeather explained, a smile on her face. “I can still eat a bit of meat, but it has to be lean. Anything with a large amount of fat isn’t healthy for me.” “As in, gain too much weight, unhealthy?” Valerie smirked. “No, as in serious digestive problems, unhealthy,” Breezefeather deadpanned, taking a bite out of her sandwich. Valerie stopped smirking and stared at Breezefeather dumbfounded. “Really? Huh. So, your mostly vegetarian with a side of omnivore?” She stopped and thought about it before responding, “You know, that sounds about right. I’m going to describe it like that from here on out!” Both girls laughed. Their laughter, however, was cut short when the wall in front of them blew up. Flying through was a black and white blur as it slammed into the opposing wall. Breezefeather couldn’t help but squeak in cry out in alarm when it happened. At least Valarie only gasped in surprise, she thought. Stepping through the hole in the wall, the entity made Breezefeather’s blood run cold. Skulker, looking not quite as ticked off as she thought, advanced to his prone opponent. “Seems I didn’t have to have my bait to hunt you down, Ghost Child,” he sneered. “It seems you were already out and about!” Breezefeather had the presence of mind to slowly lower herself down to the ground underneath the table. Once there, though, she quickly gathered her food and tugged Valerie’s jacket. Valarie looked between the metallic ghost and Breezefeather’s pleading eyes. Groaning she, too, got underneath the table. From her new position, Breezefeather couldn’t see where Skulker was looking, but he couldn’t be looking in her direction now, no. A groan escaped the prone figure’s mouth from across the room and they sat up, holding their head. Breezefeather never got a description of Amity Park’s hero, but she assumed this must be them, and obviously a him. In a black, skin-tight suit with white gloves, belt, boots, and collar, he also had a peculiar symbol on his chest like in a Power Pony comic book. It was a spiky “D” with a little “P” inside it and white. His white hair almost shone with how bright it was and his eyes were a glowing, toxic green. He stood up and some of the student’s cheered for him. Breezefeather, however, couldn’t help but feel as though she’s seen him before. Was it his face? Perhaps the style of his hair? The build of his body? She couldn’t place it. Phantom didn’t waste much time, however, and quickly raised his hands. They glowed the same toxic green as his eyes and a laser fired from them, hitting Skulker in his chest, throwing him back through the hole that was made. Phantom rose from the ground, floating for a brief moment, legs turning into a misty tail, before rocketing off, arms outstretched, and hands curled into fists as he flew after Skulker. Once they were both gone for only a moment, Valerie stood up. Breezefeather looked at her in shock, “Wait, where are you going?!” Valerie flinched, and turned to face her, “You see, well, I was hoping-.” “To what? Get blasted?” Breezefeather cried incredulously. She waved Valerie back, “Hurry back here before they crash through another wall! That metal ghost is nothing but trouble!” “I know, but-.” “But nothing!” Breezefeather interrupted again. “What are you going to do, kick him? He’s metal and a ghost!” “I-. Well-.” Valerie sighed, defeated, “You’re right, not much I can do.” She grabbed her food and hunkered down again with Breezefeather. “Might as well not let this go to waste, then.” Breezefeather smiled, but as she turned away from Valerie and to her food, she frowned in thought. What was Valerie going to do that ghost? Did she have an ace up her sleeve? After lunch was over and it was determined that Phantom had defeated Skulker, the bell rang for the next class. She was distracted for the rest of the day. The final bell of the day rang and Breezefeather noted as she walked through the front doors that there weren’t any Guys in White guarding the door anymore. “I wonder where they went,” she thought out loud. “The Guys in White?” A voice asked behind her. Turning around, Valerie walked up to her. “Not sure, and don’t care. You know they’ll fire into a crowd if they think they might hit a ghost? Not caring that they hit an innocent person?” She scoffed. “Bunch of bullies and jerks. Right idea about ghosts, wrong execution.” “Right idea about ghosts?” Breezefeather echoed. “But aren’t there good ghosts like Phantom?” “No!” Valerie snapped. “There’s no such thing as a good ghost! They’re nothing but trouble!” Breezefeather had backed up and her eyes widened, surprised at Valerie’s outburst. Seeming to notice this, Valerie visibly deflated, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have yelled. It’s not like you know that ghosts ruined my life.” “Ruined? How?” Breezefeather asked, sympathetic. Valerie motioned to follow her as they both went to the bus, “Well, it started with a ghost dog. It wrecked everything in sight. Phantom was there and he definitely wasn’t helping in keeping that dog under control. Because of him and that dog of his, my dad lost his job, destroyed most of our belongings, and forced us to become broke just to replace even half of it!” Breezefeather gasped. It was a very large slight against anyone. Though she had a nagging feeling it might have been a misunderstanding, but she didn’t have anything to go on other than his hero status with the teens and kids she’s met so far. “Are, are you sure it was on purpose, though?” She asked as they sat on the bus. “What else could it be?!” “I don’t know, an accident? I’m not sure. I wasn’t there.” She thought for a moment. “Did he apologize?” Valerie scoffed. “I don’t want to talk about it.” Breezefeather looked downcast, though didn’t press the issue, “If you say so, then.” The next few days were more of the same, sans ghost fights. Evidently, they would only occur a few times a week, though on occasion, there could be a week straight of attacks with seemingly no break in sight. Breezefeather couldn’t help but wonder if ghosts needed sleep. Her relationship with Valerie was still rocky after trying to figure out what was going on with her and ghosts. They still sat with each other during lunch, but Breezefeather had been too nervous to say the wrong thing to set her off again. Friendship problems, Breezefeather had though to herself more often than not. I wish somepony would help us through it, because I don’t know what to say. Before the week let out, however, Valerie approached her. “Hey.” “Hey,” Breezefeather responded, unsure of what otherwise to say. “Sorry I snapped at you the other day,” Valerie explained after a pause. “I guess you just don’t get it. I mean, you didn’t have to deal with ghost attacks or worry about something like money.” She rubbed her arm defensively. Breezefeather couldn’t help a smile. “That’s okay. I’m sorry I pushed. I should have noticed you didn’t like talking about it.” She held out her hand uncertainly. “Friends?” Valerie smiled and clasped her hand around Breezefeather’s and shook. “Friends.” Smiling, the two friends stepped onto the bus. As the last to board, they had to pick a spot in the middle. There were cheers and jeers around them as the chaos of the bus unfolded. Valerie looked out the window and to the sky. “Oh, great, it better not rain. Forecast said it should miss us.” “Forecast?” Breezefeather echoed, confusion in her voice. “Prediction? Guess for the weather? We have scientists that use instruments to measure things like air pressure and humidity to predict how the weather’s going to turn out,” Valerie explained. Breezefeather’s eyes went wide, “Seriously?! That’s a thing!?” “Uh, yeah. You really have been living out there your whole life, haven’t you?” Breezefeather barely registered the comment as her mind was whirling. I could get these instruments, set them up in the Everfree forest, and predict what kind of weather is going to happen?! It’s possible?! She then became acutely aware that someone was waving in front of her face. “Hello, Earth to Breezefeather, come in?” “What? Oh, sorry, I was just thinking how I need to know how to do that yesterday.” Her face was set in determination. “Seriously?” Valerie asked, smirking. “You learn of this just a second ago and you want to know everything?” Her response was a nod. “You’re kind of weird, but in a good way.” “Thanks!” Breezefeather beamed, then face falling into confusion. “I think.” She ponders for a moment, “So how do I learn how to use these tools to predict something as crazy as wild weather?” “Honestly, I don’t know. I just know that there is a way. You could learn by going to a school for meteorology, that way you can get a job in it.” “That sounds super cool! How do I do that?” “First,” Valerie counted on her hand, “you have to graduate high school. Or at least get a G.E.D. Next, you have to get into a college for meteorology as a major and study all the relevant sciences. Then, you’ve got to try for a position by applying to a media outlet, like local news stations.” “Three steps? This aught to be a blast!” Breezefeather reclined slightly and placed her arms behind her head. Valerie chuckled, “Don’t get too ahead of yourself. There’s a lot of learning involved, and it will take a few years to do it.” Breezefeather relaxed and leaned forward from her reclining position. “Yeah, I know. I guess I’m just excited about learning it.” Valerie smiled. It vanished however when she looked out the window as the bus pulled to a stop. “Shoot! This is my stop. See you Monday, Breezefeather!” “See you Monday!” Breezefeather called after Valerie. She smiled and waved to her as she bounded out the door of the bus and up a flight of stairs. “We’ll talk again then, I’m sure.” The weekend wasn’t much torture. Though Breezefeather certainly didn’t like the homework. Pencil in mouth, she chewed a bit on the eraser before scribbling down a few answers while referencing one of her books at the kitchen table. It was pretty hard getting all of her homework home, especially in one piece. “I wish I had a bag for my books,” She said sullenly. She then noticed her bracelet glow, the shape of the snake glowing superimposed over the simple band, eyes pink instead of black. Wrapped in that same pink glow, a bag with two straps next to each other materialized next to her, in a simple brown color. After the magic smoke cleared Loraine stepped into the room saying, “So, how is your homework going, Breezefeather?” She stopped and stared at the bag. “Where did you get that from?” “It, uh, was a gift? From a friend.” She smiled. I think my smile’s a tad too wide, Breezefeather thought, self-conscious. Loraine looked at Breezefeather suspiciously. Breezefeather could feel a nervous sweat building on her forehead. “Why do you have a pencil in your mouth,” Loraine finally asked. Breezefeather looked surprised. “Am I not supposed to?” “Are you, writing, with your mouth?” Loraine said slowly, confusion mounting in her voice. “Um, yes?” Loraine paused before she shrugged and made a “huh” sound. Dismissing the prior train of thought, she then asked, “Did you have any questions about your homework? I don’t know how much help I can be, but I can try.” Breezefeather smiled. “Well, I’ve been doing pretty good with my math homework, I understand that pretty well. Got it all done while I was in school.” She frowned at the three other books in front of her. “Science, however, is kicking my flank. I didn’t know how much science could explain and do without the aid of magic.” Loraine sat next to Breezefeather at the table and looked at the covers of the books. “Why don’t we take a look at this one, first?” She moves the Biology book closer to the two of them while pushing the other two further away. “Start small, work your way big?” “Works for me!” It took Breezefeather a few hours to complete her homework, but Loraine had another surprise for her. “I’ve got to learn to write with what now?!” “Your hands, Breezefeather. You can’t write with your mouth while in class. Folks will ask questions and wonder why you’re doing that. Come on, why don’t we try it?” “Can I at least do my homework with my mouth?” Breezefeather begged. “That way my teachers can read my answers?” Loraine giggled. “I suppose so, but eventually, I want you to be able to write with your hands instead.” She looked pointedly at the mare now, “After all, I’m sure you’ve noticed a few odd stares.” Breezefeather thought back to the classroom. Every time she pulled her head up to examine her work or to look at the board, she realized some folks had turned their heads away sharply. She even caught a few odd looks directed her way. She sighed, “Fine, fine. We’ll try it your way.” Loraine walked over to another part of the house Breezefeather hadn’t quite explored yet and came back with a stack of lined paper. “Why don’t we start with a simple sentence?” she asked. Loraine then gently plucked the pencil out of Breezefeather’s mouth and placed it in her hand, causing Breezefeather to smile sheepishly. “Try writing, ‘My name is Breezefeather.’” And try she did. It came out terribly. So terrible, it was illegible and took up half the paper. Groaning, Breezefeather rolled her eyes and thumped her head on the table, laying there. Loraine chuckled, “Come on now. That’s only your first try. Give it a few more.” Breezefeather wasn’t happy, but she did give it her best. Monday couldn’t roll around fast enough for Breezefeather. Stuffing her books and homework into her new bag, she then tried to figure out how to carry it. After a few failed attempts, James -laughing the whole while- told her, “You’re supposed to slip your arms through the straps and wear it on your back. It is a backpack, after all.” Once again, Breezefeather felt silly, but was happy for the help all the same. The bus ride to the school was normal. Valerie got on from her stop and chatted with Breezefeather about how their weekend went and if the Guys in White were still there or not. As the bus stopped in front of the school, Breezefeather deflated. “Of course, they’re still here, why the buck not,” she said under her breath. “Why the what not? Did you say buck in place of a swear?” Valerie chuckled. Oh, heard that, didn’t you? Breezefeather thought, blushing. “Well, uh, you see-?” She was interrupted by the bell ringing and all the students making another mass rush to the school, pushing the Guys in White away from Breezefeather as she tried to stay in the middle of the mass of fellow students. Once inside, she walked over to her locker, Valerie walking next to her. “So, let me guess,” she starts, listing off her fingers again, though stopping at one, “you also say, ‘What the hay’ and other silly things, right?” “Well,” Breezefeather blushes, rolling her eyes to the side. Valerie laughs, lightly elbowing Breezefeather, “Relax, just poking a bit of fun. Friends do that from time to time.” Breezefeather chuckled, “Heck yeah, they do.” As they made their way to Breezefeather’s locker, there were some snickering students. As usual, her pegasus hearing picked it all up. “I can’t believe she’s hanging out with that hazbin.” “I can’t believe that hazbin’s trashing her rep even further with hanging out with a felon.” “Do you think they’re dating?” “Already? Pfft, they’re both sluts if they are by now.” “I wouldn’t have pegged Val to be gay, anyways.” Breezefeather slapped her hands over her ears and picked up her pace, Valerie trying to keep up and get Breezefeather’s attention. “Hey, Breeze, hold up! What’s wrong?” “What? Oh, nothing. Nothing really.” Breezefeather bit her lip as she took her hands down and started fidgeting. “Come on, it had to have been something. Did you actually hear what they were whispering about?” Breezefeather’s eyes darted to the left and right, avoiding eye contact for a few seconds before looking directly at Valerie. Her emerald eyes had nothing but concern in them. Sighing, Breezefeather deflated, “Yeah, they were saying mean things. Well, two things weren’t mean, just confused on an observation.” Valerie’s eyebrow quirked upward, “Really? You could hear everything?” Breezefeather nodded, “I have really good hearing. They weren’t saying nice things. Other than we might be dating, and they didn’t think you were into girls that way, but I think they’re reading into it too much.” Valerie’s only response was a hand to her face, making an audible sound. “Some people are idiots, so don’t mind them, Breeze,” Valerie waved off the remarks. Breezefeather wasn’t too sure, though relented saying, “Only if you’re sure it’s alright.” Valerie placed her hands on her hips. “I’m sure.” Breezefeather did her best throughout the day to take Valerie’s advise and ignore all the rude and confused comments around her and her new best friend. It wasn’t easy, but she tried to make the words run off her back like water off a duck’s. It rolled around to fifth period, when an explosion rang out and the outside wall to her second English class was blown apart. The ghostly creature was a white wolf with patches of green fur and a pair of blood-red eyes. Blue beams then shot through the hole from outside, scorching the wall and forcing students to duck and cover. Storming through the hole were the two agents from outside that were guarding the entrance. “Agent K,” the fair-skinned agent said to his partner, “ready to exterminate.” “Rodger that, Agent O,” replied agent K. The ghostly wolf seemed to take offense to that statement as it let out a low growl, before becoming translucent and it phased through the floor. “Target is escaping!” Agent K cried out. They then each pulled out a device that had dials and a screen. They turned around and around before Agent K pointed away from the school and yelled, “That way!” They then ran off, blasters at the ready. Mr. Lancer glared at the retreating agents, seething. Breezefeather could understand. Two agents of a government agency just destroyed a wall of the school and then ran off without saying sorry or sending for someone to fix the damage. “Well, students,” Mr. Lancer said, “I think it’s time we wrapped up for today. Remember, read chapter three in its entirety. You will be quizzed on it tomorrow.” He looked at Breezefeather. “Miss Breezefeather, today, we’re going to be in the lab for both of your science classes, so, head to room 117, okay?” She nodded in understanding and went on her way. The last hour of the day, as usual, Breezefeather was in a classroom dedicated to study hall for students that didn’t have a final class. Working on the farm kept her fit, and she wasn’t interested in sports, especially with the favoritism that was going on. So, in study hall she sat, practicing writing with her hands or doing homework using her mouth to work the pencil. By this time, she still got some stares, but more curious than confused. Also, in the class with her was Valerie. She took out a blank sheath of paper and wrote on it, passing it to Valerie next to her. You good? Valerie looked at the paper before jotting down a response and passing the paper back, overtly. Breezefeather took it quickly, but then turned to see that the teacher had noticed, but not cared in the slightest. He only looked at Breezefeather and pointed to the chalk board which said, “QUIET” on it, before returning to the book they were reading. Breezefeather shrugged and turned her attention to the reply. Yeah, why do you ask? I ask because it looked like you were favoring one of your legs. Did you get hurt? The response was scribbled. I What made you think I just pulled a muscle is all. I’m good. She frowned at the paper. If you’re sure. I mean, if you were somehow fighting ghosts, I’d be worried. Me, fight ghosts? That’s ridiculous. Breezefeather saw that they ran out of room on that side and flipped the page over. I’m serious. You don’t have any weapons that I can see, but you act like you can take them on, like you were going to try the other day. Are you okay? Breezefeather waited a while for the paper to be returned. There weren’t any mark outs, but there were some points on the paper where she tapped it. Nothing a good night’s sleep won’t cure. I’ll be fine. If you’re sure. You’ll tell me if you were ghost hunting, right? She waited much longer for the paper to be returned. Right. Breezefeather stared at the paper and glanced at Valerie. She thought hard about what to write next. Then, an idea struck her. Did you want to hang out after school? Sure! I kind of wanted to tell you something anyways… Where did you want to hang out at? Meet me in front of the school and we’ll catch a city bus? Sure! Breezefeather smiled as she turned to Valerie. Valerie smiled and gave her a strange gesture. It was her fingers curled into fists, but her thumbs stuck out. Breezefeather kept smiling before she turned back to the front of the class. What a strange motion to make, she thought. I wonder what it means. Something good, obviously.
1. Wishful ThinkingThe land of Equestria holds fascinating sights within. Pegasi ponies moved about the clouds as though decorating the sky. Unicorns ponies magically levitating multitudes of items and casting a variety of spells. The plain appearing ponies without horns nor wings trotted about tending to the land, harvesting, and plowing. In a small town called Ponyville, there were ponies of all sorts moving about across the ground and in the skies. They were of all colors and sizes. There was even a pegasus with massive muscles and tiny wings! One pegasus flitted about the skies, helping others organize the clouds in abstract patterns. She has a chocolate coat with a cloud white mane and tail, both short and messy. Matching freckles adorned her face. Her eyes were a bright sky blue. Her tail swished about, flicking near her mark on her flank of breeze lines with a feather over top of them as she excitedly organized her quadrant of the sky. A cyan mare with rainbow mane and tail and a mark on her flank of a rainbow lightning bolt rocketed over to the chocolate mare. “Hey, Breezefeather!” Breezefeather turned around and met the mare, “Hi, Rainbow Dash! What brings you over here?” The prismatic mare puffed up her chest, “Nothing much! Just wanted to check up. How’s your spot doing?” Breezefeather sheepishly grinned. “I hope I’ve got the pattern right. It took a while to set these up.” Rainbow Dash looked around and frowned. “Are there a few missing?” A brief look around cinched it for the two mares. There were steadily fewer and fewer clouds in the air. “Okay, what?” Confusion permeated Breezefeather’s voice. Slowly the clouds around the two mares drifted away. A brief inspection showed that the clouds had drifted to a strange hole in the air. It swirled black and green and had an uncomfortable air about it. Regardless, both mares flew up towards the rend in the air. Rainbow Dash tentatively placed her hoof up against the distortion and watched as it easily sank in. The prismatic mare shuddered and withdrew her hoof and shrugged. “Maybe we should get Princess Twilight?” Breezefeather asked. “Sounds like a great idea, let’s go get her.” Both mares nodded to each other and flew towards a crystalline castle in the form of a tree. Not five wingbeats away a voice called out to them, “Who dares punk Skulker, Ghost Zone’s greatest hunter?!” Turning back, both mares saw a metallic bipedal being. It had a masculine jawline, noting it to be male. A green flame marked its mane. Its upper body jutted from what was now obviously a portal. It held out a fist similar to a minotaur’s. A black tank top adorned his metallic chest. A shoulder pad was on his left shoulder. What made the frightening sight comical was the fact that it ground its teeth around a pile of cloud around its mouth and over its shoulders and head, interfering with its mane. Glowering, the entity scowled at the two mares. “You two creatures! You are responsible for this, I’m sure!” He then raised his other fist and a strange nozzle popped out confusing the two mares before it fired like a miniature cannon. A net shot out and entangled Breezefeather. Her only response was a shrill shriek of surprise at the sudden capture. “Hey! Let my friend go!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, fury taking over her features quickly. She rushed the metallic fiend only for another miniature cannon to appear out of an opposing shoulder, which fired off a sound similar to a spell firing. The “spell” as it was turned out to be a globule of green goo which snapped the speedy mare’s wings shut and glued them that way. Immediately she plummeted, screaming for all of two seconds before a loud “oof” was heard as she hit the ground. Breezefeather could only cower as she was reeled up to the mechanical being. “So, you can talk!” the metal creature exclaimed. “Excellent! Perhaps you can make excellent bait for my ultimate prey!” “What!?” Breezefeather exclaimed, terrified even more now. The mini ooze cannon fired again, covering her muzzle and effectively silencing her. Her ears folded to the sides of her skull and she shook in fear. Never before now has she seen a terrifying creature in her life, and now it wants to make her into bait! However, her fear rooted to her spot, so to speak, preventing her from even thinking of a way out. Nearly as quickly as she was captured, the being reeled her in and dragged her through the portal. After a few moments of trussing, Breezefeather found herself in a world where the sky was like that of the portal. Doors floated through the air and there were purple rock landmasses all around. Some of these landmasses had vegetation on them and Breezefeather found herself still in the net tied to one of these branches. The chocolate mare swung with a worried expression on her muzzle. After a struggle, she managed to clear the goop from her mouth, and she gasped for clean air. “Okay, Breeze, you’ve got this,” she said to herself. “You can get yourself out, right?” Closer examination revealed to her that the rope for the net was fraying and broken in a few areas. Fear still permeated her, but an idea came to mind for her. Breezefeather placed the edges of hooves within a break in the net. Pulling apart, she tested her weight. After a few tries, she managed to get the hole widened enough to fall through. Just before she hit the ground her wings snapped out and caught the air and had flown upwards. Flying in lazy circles, she flew into the green expanse of sky. Her first thought was to try to find her way back home, but that proved difficult as she noticed the familiar landmarks that she desperately tried to memorize either had moved or weren’t there at all. Growing more and more concerned, she flew on, determined and just a little desperate to find that portal back home. She wandered and wandered. She encountered no other creatures that metallic bipedal creature she gathered as “Skulker”. Suddenly, a shot rang out and a blue laser struck the purple stone that happened to be floating by on her left. Startled, she shrieked and flew as fast as she could. Breezefeather was under no illusion that she could outpace this creature, especially when Skulker had metallic wings pop out of his back propelled by a blue-green flame that roared from twin turbines. Instead, she bobbed, ducked, dove, and weaved around him. All that practice flying helped her a lot, but there were many close calls. Every time Skulker got close, she would scream in fear. Each time she did so, Skulker seemed to pull back and then take his time closing the distance. He’s toying with me? Breezefeather thought after another close call and witnessing him pull back again, wide, uneven grin unnerving her. Another dive later and in a panicked voice she cried out, “I wish you would go home and leave me alone!” Skulker actually stopped and said, “Wait, no-!” And then as suddenly as he stopped, a pink glow surrounded him, and he vanished with a pop. “Wait, that actually worked?” Breezefeather looked around, confused even more so. “As you have wished and so it shall be,” said a calm and soothing voice. From above her near a very fancy door that Breezefeather would describe as Saddle Arabian, was a bipedal creature that was very much female. The only thing marking her as potentially bipedal was the fact that her upper body was upright, in spite of the magical tail that made up her lower half. Said tail appeared to be covered with a blue skirt and silver band that held it in place. Her torso was well-shaped and covered with a tube top with light pink trimming. Her upper arms had silver clasps and her wrists had matching clasps and bangles. Her dark, black hair was long and full, as it waved down past her hips. What struck Breezefeather the most was that her skin was a toxic green and her eyes a blood red. Finding her voice, Breezefeather hovered and asked, “Are- are you a genie?” “A genie?” the figure mused. “Why, yes, actually. My magical powers work best when someone wishes for something.” Her smile faded, “I’m quite powerless with no one to grant wishes for.” “Neat!” Breezefeather exclaimed! Finally, a way home! I’m sure she can make another portal home! She grinned at the genie and said, “My name’s Breezefeather, though I wish I knew your name. I don’t want to call you Ms. Genie all the time when I tell my friends about how you helped me.” The genie perked up and proudly declared, “I am Desiree, and I would love to get you home to tell your friends! However, I don’t know where that would be as I have never encountered any ponies that talk.” Breezefeather’s ears drooped a bit. “Oh. You’ve never heard of Equestria?” “I’m sorry, I doubt I’ve ever heard of it,” Desiree said, genuinely confused. “Oh, I guess you can’t send me home unless you know where that is, huh?” Breezefeather asked, deflated. “I’ll tell you what,” Desiree said, taking a bangle off of her right wrist. As she held it, it changed form and color from a simple silver bangle to a golden wrap bracelet in the shape of a snake. Its head and tail were covered in clear gems appearing white green in the glow of the world they were in save for two almond-shaped black gems marking eyes on the head. Desiree then slipped the bracelet on Breezefeather’s left forehoof and it rested securely around her pastern. “Just say, ‘I wish Desiree was here, now,’ and I shall appear. I’ll be able to grant you any wish as long as you are able to make it. Remember, you have to say, ‘I wish,’ or I won’t be able to grant any of the big stuff.” “That’s great! Wait, big stuff?” “Yes, big stuff. Like wishing for vast knowledge or power. Perhaps even something as simple as an item I don’t have. That’s all big stuff to me. However, if you wish for it, I can grant it. However, to get you to your home, I need more power, and the more wishes I grant to give me that power,” Desiree explained. Breezefeather beamed. “So, the more I wish, the closer we can get to where you can help me get home!” She paused, “Well, bummer. I don’t know what to wish for right now.” Desiree smirked, “Perhaps a hint, then? You’ll need a form that is similar to mine if you want to explore the world next to this one. Perhaps there you’ll get some hints.” “Ooh!” Breezefeather was interested. However, she couldn’t help but get a nagging feeling that there was some ulterior motive for Desiree to help her. Looking at Desiree’s face, however, she couldn’t see any such signs. It was pretty hard to tell. With a muzzle and rotating ears, she’d be able to tell much easier, but her face was less expressive than a pony’s. She decided to put the feeling aside. Maybe I’m just thinking too much on this, she thought. “Sounds like a plan, I guess! What would I look like?” “Maybe wishing to be a human or to allow the bracelet to turn you into a human would be a good start.” “I wish I knew what a human was,” Breezefeather said. Before her eyes widened and looked at Desiree. “As you have wished and so it shall be!” And with a wave of Desiree’s opposable appendage, information flooded her mind. That opposable appendage was a hand. Humans were bipedal monkeys that lacked significant hair but had much more intelligence. In fact, their intelligence could rival that of ponies, if she got that snippet of information translated right. They had hair only on their head and at certain points of their body. They wore clothes because it was taboo and illegal in most regions to walk around without them on. Otherwise, they were a lot like ponies. They loved music and art. They were interested in the science of the world around them and studied it. They warred and brought peace with each other. The last one seemed they did a lot more, perhaps due to the fact they didn’t realize how alike they all were, just like the pony tribes of old. They gathered in groups as friends or to join up against a common foe. However, she was granted one massive warning. Beware the Guys in White. Capitalized just like that. After the flood of information had come and gone, Breezefeather shook her head, “Who are the Guys in White?” Desiree’s face soured, “Despicable humans that seek to destroy all ghosts and the Ghost Zone. What they don’t know is that by doing just that, they destroy their world with ours!” “Ghosts?” Breezefeather flapped up to Desiree closer, “You’re more like a genie! I mean, I’m pretty sure I would know if you were a ghost.” “True, but I’m a genie-like ghost. Worry not, I won’t do anything horrible like those bigots in the Guys in White say,” Desiree said, all but spitting at the word she used to describe the human group against ghosts. Breezefeather blanched a bit. A genie-like ghost? So, she used to be a human, if her form’s anything to go by? “So, uh, well. Anyways.” She cleared her throat. “I- I wish for a way to this world of humans.” Desiree quirked an eyebrow upwards, amused. “As you have wished it, and so it shall be.” Pink magic swirled from her fingertips and it flowed outward and up between them and formed a portal. “You should be cautious. Humans are the only creatures that talk, there,” Desiree warned. “I’m sure I’ll be fine,” Breezefeather waved off Desiree, “after all, there’s bound to be some humans that want to be friends, right?” Desiree smiled coyly, “Why yes, of course, though you must be cautious all the same.” “Okay, Desiee, I will!” With that, Breezefeather darted through the portal. She could have sworn she hear a huff and maybe a correction, but that was alright. We are friends, after all, aren’t we?
2. Making FriendsOnce through the portal, Breezefeather could tell this was certainly not the same planet Equestria was on. The air seemed to be a bit thicker with pollution, making her cough a bit upon entering. She looked around and the place she was in appeared to be similar to that of rural areas. Why is there still so much pollution over here? She asked herself. It wasn’t like there were dozens of factories, were there? Still, she examined that she was near a farm. “Oh, maybe I can make friends with the farmer!” Breezefeather clapped her hooves together, excited. As she descended, she noticed familiar four-legged shapes down below her. “Horses! There are horses here?! And I thought that Saddle Arabia was the only place for them?” She dove down and landed near one of the horses. He was massive, a bit taller than any Saddle Arabian she’s ever heard of. If anything, he was about as tall as that Troubleshoes stallion over in Appleoosa she’s heard about from the Cutie Mark Crusaders, three little fillies that had at the time gone over to the town to get their cutie marks. Though he lacked the bulk. He also had a brown coat with dark mane and tail with a white marking on the bridge of his nose going over his mouth and nose. He stared at Breezefeather for a few seconds before going back to the grass at his hooves. “Hi, there!” Breezefeather cheerfully greeted. The horse simply brought it’s head up in a snap and flicked its tail in worry. “Don’t worry, I want to be friends! My name’s Breezefeather, what’s yours?” The wary horse only snorted and trotted backward a few steady paces before resuming his meal, keeping a cautious eye on the pegasus. “Right,” Breezefeather lamented, “Only humans can talk around here. That horse probably thinks I’m crazy!” She turned to the stallion, “Sorry about that!” She turned to look around. From what she could tell, the entire region was for raising horses. I have no idea what humans raise equines for, though. There were a couple of foals that were probably Saddle Arabian horse height, but their bodies were about as big as hers. They all had similar brown coats, but the white patterns always varied. And none of them had a cutie mark. “Okay, that’s weird. Why don’t equines here have cutie marks?” She looked at her mark on her flank as though for clarification. The image sat there, unmoving as usual. She then took to the air, dissatisfied with her questions. “Maybe the farmer here can help me out,” she said to herself solidifying her resolve. She flew over the farm a few times and saw a little farmhouse. “Bingo!” She winged over and landed gently in front of the door and knocked a few polite knocks. Confused voices sprang up from within, “What in the-? Why did that sound like a hoof on wood?” “I don’t know, you can’t think a horse got out, do you?” “If anythin’, it’s that colt, Angel. I keep tellin’ ya that we misnamed him! Crafty li’l devil.” Then there was the scooting of furniture and what sounded like booted feet -a single pair of them- walked over to the door. The door unlocked, then swung open and Breezefeather was face to chest with a human. Looking up from their flannel shirt and blue overalls, she saw the look of confusion and amazement as the human looked over her. She noted his nose was proportionally a bit larger than the average human she got a mental image from Desiree. His hair was as brown as the stallion she met outside. His skin was tanned to medium shade with how often he had to be outside. Suddenly, her mouth went dry and she forgot what she was going to say. The human, however, found his much more quickly, “Hun! You gotta take a look at this!” he called over his shoulder into the home, his masculine voice matching his frame. “What, what?” A feminine voice and body, almost matching her mate’s, found their way over to the door and stopped and stared at her. Her hair was shoulder length and her tanned skin wasn’t quite to the same tan as her husband’s but quite close. She wore a simple flower-patterned dress and was busy drying a plate, but that was soon forgotten, held simply in her grip. “Are those wings real or-?” She let the question hang in the air. Breezefeather brought her right pastern up to her mouth and coughed. Their brown eyes widened at the action. “Um, hi? I’m new to the region and was wondering where I was?” She smiled bashfully. The man’s mouth dropped open. The woman dropped her dish. Thankfully, it was plastic and simply bounced a few times on the hardwood floor. Two sets of feet slapped on the hardwood floor out of sync of each other and two small humans whose faces were level with hers and matched their parents parted said paternal and maternal figures and looked at wonder and amazement. “Woah!” Exclaimed a small boy, “A talking pony! With wings! Can you fly with those? How do you fly with those? What’s that mark on your flank, did it hurt when you got it?” “James, let me see! I want to see the pony!” A small girl’s voice spoke up from behind her presumable brother, her pigtails bouncing up and down with her jumps. After practically tearing him away, the small girl squeals with delight and looks to her parents, “Can we keep them, please, please, please?!” Breezefeather’s face turns a might sour after that “keep” remark, before she can speak, the parents recover, “Now sugar, this pony can talk so it would be rude to keep her as a pet.” The father looked to Breezefeather, “Now, hopefully, this ain’t no ghost tryin’ to cause trouble here.” Breezefeather was surprised, “Ghosts cause trouble here? I thought they only caused trouble in that world of theirs?” The man straightened up, “Well, of course, they cause trouble here. It’s only really after them Fentons opened that portal of their to that ‘Ghost Zone’ or whatever it’s called.” Breezefeather spoke up, “Well, I’m not a ghost pony or anything. I can fly, but that’s only because I have wings. Anything else is impossible.” The couple looked at her dubiously. “Honestly, I don’t have a clue on how to prove that I can’t go through walls.” The children suddenly ran in front of Breezefeather and clasped their hands in front of them and begged, “Please?!” The mother looked ready to relent and glanced at her husband. The gentleman looked to both the children and his wife and sighed. “Alright, alright. We were about to have dinner, would you like tah join us, Miss?” Breezefeather smiled, “That would be wonderful. I am a bit hungry from all the flying and work I did earlier today.” She noticed the welcome mat and wiped her hooves a fair amount, scarcely a trace of dirt made its way to the mat. “My name’s Breezefeather. What are yours?” The gentleman ruffled his hair, “Well, mah name’s Jedediah, but you can call me Jed. This here’s mah wife, Loraine. Mah kids are James, which ya probably know now because of li’l Crystal here.” Jed looked to his children. “Scamper now, kiddies, get yer hands washed good now.” “We already washed them,” James complained, “twice.” Crystal nodded in agreement. “Well then, Miss Breezefeather, I reckon you might need to use the facilities. Well, ah, ya got them where ya’ll are from, right?” Breezefeather chuckles, “Yes, we do. And I could certainly use your bathroom. Where is it?” Loraine smiled and picked up the dish she dropped, “It’ll be down that hall and to your left.” “Thank you very much!” Breezefeather then trotted in and followed the directions to the restroom. At the table, everyone sat down. Breezefeather tested the chairs and found that they naturally creaked as much as when she sat on it as when Jed did, so she figured it would be safe for her to sit on it. A fifth spot was made at the small table and everyone sat comfortably, though Crystal and James crowded around Breezefeather and asked her a multitude of questions. “How do you keep your feathers straight and clean?” “How do you fly?” “Can you make stuff with your hooves?” “Can you hold things like a person with your hooves using magic or is that just fantasy talk?” “If you eat, do you have to eat like a doggie because you can’t hold the silverware?” “What’s that mark on your flank?” “Did it hurt when you got it or did it magically appear?” “Do you have magic powers?” “What’s your job?” “How’d you get here?” “Okay, okay, one at a time, everycreature!” The children giggled at her colloquialism whereas the parents just raised a brow. “I’ll tell you all about myself if you stop asking questions for a bit, okay?” Everyone nodded. Breezefeather grabbed a fork in her tactile telekinetic grip that flowed along her hooves and waved it around a bit, “We ponies have magic in our hooves that let us hold things almost like humans. I say almost because hooves will never be as nimble as your hands.” She served herself some potatoes, carrots, celery, and broccoli. “So, we can certainly make things with our hooves, but unicorn ponies have it easier with their magic and telekinesis.” Crystal and James gasped whereas Jed and Loraine looked at each other. The children asked at the same time, “There’s other kinds of ponies!?” “I was getting to that!” Breezefeather chuckled. “There are all sorts of equines. There’s us pegasi, there are unicorn ponies, there are earth ponies which are ponies without horns or wings but are really good with the earth and have great strength. There’s more, but that will take all dinner to talk about and explain.” She ate some of the vegetables before resuming, “Anyways, each pony gets their mark called a cutie mark when they find their special talent. Mine is with the weather, and no, it didn’t hurt, it just appeared in a flash when I helped with maintaining a light breeze one day and I decided I needed to help with the weather around town.” “I’m sorry to interrupt, but you ponies control the weather?” Jed asks. “Yeah, don’t you guys?” “Uh, no, it’s pretty wild ‘round these parts. Or any parts, for that matter.” Breezefeather put her fork down for a moment. That’s weird, she thought, I’m not sure if I can wrap my head around that. She shook her head. “Well, anyway, I could help with the breeze then and I help with the weather back home now. Pegasi can manipulate the weather easily because they’re one of the only common species that specialize in it because we can manipulate clouds. We make them, shape them, and place them where they need to be. Some are rain clouds others are filled with snow. Sometimes we store powerful winds in them in case we need a powerful storm and it would be too dangerous for pegasi to be out and about what with all that lightning we make.” Everyone looked at her confused. “What, we have a weather factory in Cloudsdale, they make all sorts of things there.” She shoveled more food into her mouth. Everyone else shook their heads this time. Breezefeather resumed, “And yes, I do have to keep my feathers clean and straight and the best way to do that is preening, and yes, just like birds do. Otherwise, my flying would be all over the place!” Everyone chuckled at that. “Also, tied with my cloud walking, I also use magic to fly. Pegasi have flight magic that we use to keep airborne even if we’re only using a few feathers to keep to the skies and make a gentle breeze. Which makes preening pretty important.” Jed spoke up finally, “That’s quite a bit to process, and there’s a whole world full of you?” “Yeah, there is, but since I accidentally got her thanks to that metal Skulker ghost and a portal that took most of our clouds, I’m not too sure on how to get back. If they randomly open, does that mean they randomly close, too?” Jed was lost in thought, “Well, I ain’t no ectobiologist like them Fentons, but I’m sure they’d have the answer.” Breezefeather smiled, “Though I wouldn’t entertain the idea of flying up to them. They’d probably think you’d be a ghost of some sort, no matter what ya would say and try tah dissect ya’ll.” Breezefeather gulped, “Well, that sounds unpleasant.” James spoke up, slamming his hands on the table, “They think that ghosts can’t feel no pain! Phantom helped us out tons and he always seemed in pain when other ghosts hit him!” Crystal scoffed, “Not to mention they say that he’s an ‘it’ and won’t call him Phantom. Almost as bad as the town calling him ‘Inviso-Bill’. That’s a terrible name!” Breezefeather snorted, “Inviso-Bill? That’s a terrible pun.” Loraine stood up and cleared the cleaned plates, “Well, it’s time for evening chores.” The children groaned. “Now, now, I don’t want to hear no complainin’ and for you to be doin’ them.” The kids glumly looked at each other and shrugged on their jackets after collecting them from the main hallway and headed out the door. “Where are they going, Loraine?” “Oh, they’ve just got to bring the horses into the stables at the barn. Now that I think about it, do you have a place to say? It’s supposed to rain, what with those clouds looking like they do.” Breezefeather looked outside and they appeared to be right. The clouds were huge and fat with water, ready to douse the land in rain. “Oh my. I’m afraid I don’t. You don’t happen to have a spare room, do you?” “Sadly, we don’t,” Jed answered. “Well, technically, we do, but it’s so cluttered the kids can’t properly squeeze in thar.” “Oh, well, do you have room in the stables, then? A pile of hay and a blanket would be just fine. I wouldn’t want to try to sleep in any clouds that tend to more on their own or generate their own lightning.” Breezefeather shudders at the last remark. Loraine looks to Jed then back to Breezefeather, “Last I checked we had space, but are you sure you want to spend the night in that old barn, darling?” Breezefeather nods, “I’m sure I’ll be fine. Why don’t I help the kids get the horses to the barn? I could help out!” Husband and wife looked to each other and said, “I don’t see the problem-,” though before they looked back, Breezefeather had already gone over to help. It took a few hours of herding -I will never again say it looks easy-, we managed to get all the horses into the barn. A quick exploration and I noticed that there were plaid blankets that were tailored to fit around a horse so they could wear them all the time. The looked like they would make my town’s fashionista toss her lunch as soon as look at them, but I knew that they were alright. I shifted through them and found one that was made for a foal. It was a little on the long side, but once I put it on, it fit perfectly over my wings, keeping me warm. “So, you’re going to be staying in the barn then?” Asked James. “Yup! I’m going to sleep here for the night. Hopefully, I’ll figure something out by tomorrow.” “I hope you stay nearby,” Crystal said, “I like having you around. Your fun!” “Aw, thanks you guys, it’s fun hanging around you, too!” Breezefeather reached up with her forelegs and hugged the two children. “Why don’t you head back to the house? I’ll bed down here. You two must be exhausted, and school must be tomorrow! I know it’s a weekday back home.” “Oh, crud, school is tomorrow!” James exclaimed and grabbed Crystal’s arm, “Come on, Crystal! We’ve got to get ready for bed or Mom and Dad will smack us good!” As she was practically dragged out, both Crystal and James called, “Goodnight!” to Breezefeather who waved them off. She then closed the barn doors and entered an empty and clean stall, filled with fresh hay. Breezefeather yawned, “I hope I’m not too much trouble for Desiee, tomorrow.”
3. ExplorationTomorrow was a bit of a startle for Breezefeather. She was woken up to a gasp and a startled yell with a yell of her own in the mix. Seems that it’s the same no matter where you go – farm folks wake up early. Breezefeather calmed down once she recognized the voice belonging to Crystal as her screaming went to excited shrieking and giggles. Chants of “you’re real!” bounced off the walls of the barn and Breezefeather had to do her best to try to calm Crystal down long enough for her to do the rest of her chores. The storm had come that night. Breezefeather had slept through storms before, mostly because she had been too worn out from arranging and organizing the clouds for them to do anything else. The ground was muddy and covered in puddles here and there. She returned her borrowed blanket and bid farewell for the time being to the family after finding them individually around the ranch. Next, she flew up to find some clouds to rest on. The thing about it was, the clouds were much too high. She was amazed at how high up they were, even the lowest laying clouds were just out of her reach. If there were only some stratus clouds, I might be able to get at those, Breezefeather thought. Instead of flying higher to the thinner air, she flew around and to a forest nearby and rested in a strong, thick branch of a strong deciduous tree, surrounded by conifers. She lifted her left pastern, which still had the bracelet on it and said, “I wish Desiree was here right now.” From thin air, Desiree’s voice was heard, “As you have wished it, and so it shall be!” With a swirl of her trademark pink smoke magic, she materialized in front of Breezefeather. Desiree then bowed graciously, “What is it that you wish now, Breezefeather?” The mare smiled, “Well, it seems that if I want to explore, I’ll have to take your advice to heart and wish for a form that blends in, and I know how to make it work, too!” Desiree smiled and made the motion to continue. “I wish that my bracelet would turn me into a clothed human version of myself if I were to say, ‘no hooves please’ to my bracelet, and to turn back into my mare self with the phrase, ‘hooves please!’” Desiree quirked an eyebrow but simply said, “So you have wished it, and you know the rest.” Pink magical smoke then drifted from her hand and floated to the bracelet around her wrist. The bracelet glowed briefly and then settled back to its usual appearance. “Real quick, why those phrases?” Desiree asked, genuinely curious. Breezefeather shrugged and replied, “Who’d say them in normal conversation?” The genie made a face and nodded, as though to concede the point. “I’m going to test it out!” “Might I recommend-.” Desiree started but stopped when she heard, “no hooves please” and Breezefeather was suddenly a young woman with an average weight if a bit slim in stature. Same chocolate brown skin in place of a coat of hair. Same white freckles, only smaller and more plentiful. Same cloud-white hair on her head, only instead of a strip of mane, her hair covered the top, sides, and back of her head. Breezefeather was sure if she had a mirror, her eyes would still be the same sky blue. She wore a white t-shirt, blue jeans, and brown boots. Her grin threatened to split her face, “I look great! I can’t wait- woah!” She suddenly wobbled, unused to the new center of gravity she had with being bipedal. Her arms swung around, and she grabbed onto the tree itself. Desiree had a simple smile. “Not a word.” “I didn’t say anything,” Desiree defended, hands up in a non-threating manner as though surrendering. She, however, looked Breezefeather in the eye and smirked. The mare-turned-human looked back to the ghost and relented, “Okay, what were you going to recommend?” “Oh, dear, it slips my mind at this time, so sorry, Breezefeather.” Breezefeather’s lips became a fine line as she stared at the ghostly woman. “Fine, I can guess. Hooves please.” At the utterance of the phrase, she turned back into a pegasus, still clutching the tree. She then let go and pushed off enough to gain some distance and began hovering. “I’m going to go to the nearest town and try out being a human! I’ll see you later, Dessie?” The ghostly genie frowned, “It’s Desiree. Anyways, I’ll let you to it. Perhaps while you explore, you’ll get more wish ideas? Just call for me when you think of them!” With a wave of her arm, she disappeared in pink smoke. “Okay, that was cool.” Breezefeather made it back to the house and told the family she found a magic item that could turn her human and back and she was going to use it to explore. The parents warned that if it was actually a ghostly item, it might not be too healthy for her to use. The children, however, were all for it, wanting her to show off her new form now. Breezefeather felt she had to comply. Upon seeing her new form, the parents relented, especially saying, “Seeing as you aren’t a child, let alone one of ours, we can’t force you not to use it. But avoid those Guys in White! They’ll probably detect your fancy bracelet and try to capture you!” The mare agreed if only to not hear of any horror stories that the family may have heard. She said her command phrase and was a pegasus once more and flew to the city she now knew as Amity Park from the ranching family. Breezefeather was quite ecstatic to be in the city. The only city she’s been to before was Cloudsdale, and their architecture was flourished and fancy, able to defy gravity what with all the clouds it was made from. Breezefeather looked around and with her sharp eyes, didn’t see anyone looking up or at the alleyway she had chosen. The alleyway was, in fact, empty and sparse. Touching down, she whispered the command phrase into the bracelet and Breezefeather was that same human again. She took a tentative step and found that her balance as a biped was the worst. She fell on her face more times than she’d care for. After a full thirty minutes, she managed to stand upright and walk at a moderate pace without falling. Perfect. Walking out of the alleyway, Breezefeather then decided to explore the city. A few times she came across some buildings with dark windows and used their reflective surfaces to check out her face. Indeed, her freckles were all over the bridge of her nose and her cheekbones and her eyes were certainly that same sky blue. Pleased, Breezefeather resumed looking around. Pony-less carriages littered the roads, some parked and others in motion, most a single color, others the same taxi color that she’s seen rarely in Ponyville. She saw a multitude of businesses and regretted not having her money pouch with her filled with bits to make a purchase, that was if they used bits around here. Still, she explored. Her discoveries in the city were cut short, however, by the sound of a siren and flashing blue and red lights. She’s heard of police in cities like Winnyapolis and Manehattan, but she’s never had the chance to see them before. In a pony-less carriage that was black and white with red and blue lights flashing on top rolled up what had to be a police vehicle, simply because the word was plastered over its form multiple times. Officers in blue uniforms missing the traditional hat sat in the two front seats. A multitude of strange items littered the interior of the vehicle between and behind the two of them on a metal rack separating the back seats from the front. A wheel was operated by the officer furthest from her towards the center of the road and the officer closest to her looked at her from behind dark sunglasses. “Miss, what are you doing out here on a school day?” Confused, Breezefeather thought it over before replying, “I’m exploring the city?” It wasn’t meant as a question, but she couldn’t help her confusion. “Am I not allowed?” “Ma’am, you are supposed to be in class right now,” said the furthest one, slightly irritated. Breezefeather laughed, “Oh, I’ve already graduated. Have a good day, officers!” As she started to walk away, however, she heard the click of a handle and boots hitting the concrete behind her, “Miss,” Sunglasses called out to her, “come back here, please.” Though phrased as a request, Breezefeather just knew it was anything but. Slowly, she turned around for both not to trip herself nor to give the officer any reason to tackle her. “I’m sorry, officer, but I’m nineteen now, I don’t need to be in school. I just found myself here in town one day and I decided to explore while I’m here.” The officer only responded by tilting his head down to glance over his sunglasses to give a look that conveyed disappointment and something that said, “You’re joking, right?” Breezefeather groaned and walked over to the officer. “You do have an ID on you, right?” “Eye-dee?” she parroted. “What is that? You mean my papers, like a birth certificate? I don’t carry stuff like that with me!” Sunglasses closed his eyes tightly and tilted his head to the ground, “No, ID. Like a driver’s license, student identification card, state photo identification card, a passport, things like that.” Breezefeather tilted her head to the side, “A driver’s license?” Her thoughts went to the pony-less carriages and drew a conclusion, “I don’t have a need for something like that. I have two perfectly good wi- legs. Two perfectly good legs.” The officer didn’t seem to notice the near slip, “So you mean to tell me, that if you really are nineteen, you don’t have a driver’s license?” Disbelief colored his voice. Breezefeather placed one arm on the other and kicked a foot slightly, sheepishly. “Is that a bad thing?” Sunglasses sighed and shook his head, “No, it’s not, but it makes it harder for me to validate anything you say.” He took out a pair of what looked like slim hoof shackles to her. “Sorry, Miss, but it’s procedure and I need to take you to the school. To make sure you don’t run off or do anything stupid, I need to cuff ya for a bit.” She put both her hands on her face and groaned. Great, just great! This is just what I needed, to get arrested by the law. She held out her hands, palms up. Well, at least they aren’t taking me to jail. The officer clamped the cuffs on her gently, making sure they didn’t pinch or hold too tightly so she got circulation through her wrists. He opened a door to the back seat for her and gently guided her in so she wouldn’t bump her head on the ceiling of the interior. The door closed after her and the sunglasses officer clamored into the seat in front of her and with a quick whir of the sirens, they eased off the side of the street and cruised down the road. Groaning, Breezefeather leaned back into the seat. I wonder if Dash will think this is hilarious. Her thoughts stopped for a moment and went back to Ponyville. I wonder what they’re doing, now? Princess Twilight might be interested in the idea of another world to explore with strange bipedal creatures or even ghosts. Rainbow Dash would probably want to fight them all. Pinkie Pie would, well, she’s Pinkie Pie, she’d try to make friends. My co-workers might be worried about me, though I wouldn’t put it past everypony to write me off as a lost cause if it’s too dangerous to look for me. She recalled the vastness of the Ghost Zone. That place is huge! “Things not going your way, Princess?” the driver asked. “I’m not a Princess. What would make you say that?” Breezefeather asked, confused. “Let me guess, you don’t get what you want so you make up a little white lie, huh?” “Uh, no.” She thought for a moment. “You don’t believe I’m nineteen, do you?” Sunglasses interjected, “Sadly, I don’t think he does, Miss, but even if you are telling the truth, it’s hard to tell these days, which is why I recommend first chance you get to grab your birth certificate and head to the DMV to get a photo ID.” Driver replied bitterly, “Don’t put some silly idea into her head, she’s probably lying so she can run around, and smoke weed all day. Teens these days.” “Why would I want to smoke weeds? That doesn’t sound fun or pleasant.” Breezefeather was getting more and more confused. “MJ? Marijuana? The Devil’s Grass? Good God, girl, did you grow up sheltered or just plain dumb?!” “Hey!” She cried out insulted, “That’s uncalled for!” “I’ll have to agree with her there, McCreedy, that was really uncalled for,” Sunglasses agreed. Officer McCreedy simply harrumphed. The rest of the ride was in silence, though not that far. They parked in a blacktop parking lot next to a square building that had the word “Casper” written on the front of it, as the door was opened for her by Sunglasses. She managed to look at both of their name tags for once and concluded the grumpy human was indeed Officer McCreedy and Sunglasses was Officer Knowles. McCreedy stomped up the stairs and pulled the front double doors open almost violently, caught barely by Knowles as he gently guided Breezefeather into the building. Inside, it was very much well a school. A long hallway with lockers that were doubled up, staggered doors on each side of the hallway. The hallway ran to her left and right a few ways before turning right and left respectively, and a hallway in front of her to a different set of interior double doors. From the little windows, she could see a variety of teens from under to almost her age milling about, holding trays. Must be the lunchroom, Breezefeather thought. Her thoughts were jostled by the gentle urging of the officer as she was led to a door that was labeled “Principal Ishiyama.” Is she Neighponiese? Breezefeather couldn’t help but think, recalling how very Neighponiese her name sounded. Officer McCreedy knocked loudly on the door as Officer Knowles took his sunglasses off. The door opened and a woman with features that if you were to put them on a pony, made her look very Neighponiese as well. She wore a purple dress suit with a red necktie and a white undershirt and a bit on the large side. “Yes, how can I help you, gentlemen?” “May we come inside and discuss a few things?” Officer Knowles gently requested as he nodded to my direction. The woman looked concerned and nodded, “Right this way, gentlemen.” Inside and seated, Breezefeather looked around the office. There was a desk with the “Principal Ishiyama” written on a little placard that stood up on the front and the woman sat down at the desk, confirming her identity. There were two, simple wooden chairs in front of the desk that neither man sad down at but Officer Knowles gently guided her in front of one and gently pushed on her shoulder. She sat down, but not before turning a bit behind her and saw a wall of glass that looked to view a meat locker of some sort. She could only tell that it was meat from the giant lettering on one of the boxes proudly proclaiming “MEAT” on its visible side. Once seated, she faced Principal Ishiyama with no small amount of confusion. “It seems you’ve found a truant teen, officers, however, I don’t recognize her in the slightest,” the principal said, almost equally confused at the chocolate-colored teen in front of her. “I’m nineteen. I already graduated,” Breezefeather tried again. McCreedy wasn’t having any of it, “And I’m a magical princess. Get over it, Cupcake. You aren’t squirming out of this one.” “I’m not squirming out of anything! I literally am telling the truth!” Breezefeather rose her voice just enough to be heard by all parties inside the office, and possibly anyone outside the door. “Why won’t any p- body believe me?” McCreedy grew incensed, “Oh yeah, then why don’t you have some form of ID to back up your story?” He leaned down and pointed a finger in her face, “Face it, you just can’t handle someone calling your bullshit!” “McCreedy, that’s enough!” Everyone looked surprised to see that Officer Knowles was upset himself, glaring holes into Officer McCreedy. “You have been nothing but rude to this young lady.” “Young lady, pah.” “Just because she doesn’t have a way to prove anything doesn’t mean anything she has to say as less credible,” Knowles explained. “Also, you’ve been like this all week, what is wrong with you?” McCreedy didn’t respond and simply grit his teeth at first. Finally, he spoke up, “I’ll be in the car,” and stormed out of the office, slamming the door on the way. Knowles looked disappointed, before turning to Principal Ishiyama and had an apologetic tone, “I am so sorry about my partner. I really don’t know what’s gotten into him.” Ishiyama nodded understandingly and asked, “Let me check and see if we have any information for this young lady. What is your name, miss?” “I don’t think you’ll find me, because I’m not from this town,” Breezefeather explained. “Anyways, you’re free to try, I guess. My name’s Breezefeather.” Ishiyama looked confused, “Breezefeather?” “Yup! Just Breezefeather. All one word.” Confusion wore on the principal’s face even more as she went over to a filing cabinet and sifted through the files. As she did so, Breezefeather turned back to the screens and looked at the strange, strange meat locker. Officer Knowles followed her gaze. “Yeah,” he said in a hushed tone, “that was there when I went to school here. Don’t know why they value meat so much to put as much surveillance on it as they did. Why so much meat, too? Borderline wasteful if you ask me.” He then turned back to the principal and Breezefeather did the same, trying not to question why humans, being omnivores, seemed to value meat almost in equivalence to gold in her eyes. The principal was now at the desk, simultaneously sorting through more files and using some strange equipment. It looked like a screen like the surveillance screens, only the pictures moved as she worked a small instrument with a chord with one hand before moving both to what looked like typewriter keys and a chord leading from it as well. Both chords led to a box underneath the screen. Ishiyama frowned more and more as she continued her search, clicking from the little instrument and clacking of the keys was heard. After a few minutes, she turned in her chair and faced the two, “I’m afraid I’m not finding anything about a Breezefeather in my records, past or present.” She appeared apologetic, “I’m afraid you might have to check your records to see if you can find her, or even at the federal level. I’m sorry.” Officer Knowles sighed, “It’s quite alright ma’am.” He gently held Breezefeather by the upper arm and guided her up. “Come on, let’s get downtown to get you squared away. Not to mention figure out what’s going on with my partner.” Breezefeather didn’t think she was to hear that last part, but pegasus hearing was all that it was cracked up to be, and she heard every word. “Okay. I’m not actually under arrest, right?” Breezefeather asked worriedly. Officer Knowles chuckled a little bit, “No, no. Not having an ID isn’t illegal, but it does make our job harder. Come on, we’ve got a cozy little corner we can use to write down some info and see if we can’t run you through our systems.” Officer Knowles lead Breezefeather out of the office. “Thank you for trying, Ms. Ishiyama.” A nod was his reply and they were on their way.
4. TruantOfficer McCreedy wasn’t happy in the slightest that Breezefeather was going to be joining them at the police station to straighten things out. They all rode in the pony-less carriage in tense silence. Upon arriving, the tension was nearly palpable. Once all the doors were opened, everyone nearly scrambled to get out. The building itself was a simple one. Brown brick made up the exterior with white concrete steps leading up to glass double doors. “POLICE” was written in large font on a large, solid glass lamp in front of the station with the words “Amity Park Police Department” painted on the doors themselves, circling around a shield badge. Breezefeather was then led up the steps and through the doors. Inside it was bustling. It was a two-story building with stairs going up to their right and in front was a large desk with an officer working at it. They typed away at the interactive screen, scarcely paying any attention to them at first, before performing a quick doubletake. “What’s she in for?” “Gonna run her through the system and find out,” McCreedy said hopefully. It was the same sadistic hopeful, Breezefeather noticed, that often belonged with some folks who said they hoped somepony was flammable. Breezefeather frowned and suppressed a shudder. Looking to Knowles, the officer’s face was quite placid, but there was a slight fire in his eyes as he briefly glared at his partner. She hoped whatever got stuck in his craw, as some of the Apple family are wont to say, crawled right out and get the issue -whatever it is- resolved. She tripped slightly on her feet as she was led down to a desk almost smack in the middle of the others. Knowles gently placed her a chair and motioned for her to sit as he sat at the desk. Officer McCreedy opted to sit on the desk, folding his arms and generally not looking impressed. Officer Knowles appeared to ignore him as he typed on a sleeker-looking set of interactive screen and typewriter keys. A few clicks and taps and whatever he needed was brought up as he turned back to Breezefeather. “Okay, so, if you are telling the truth-,” Officer Knowles started. “Bah, no if about it. She’s got to be lying about something,” Officer McCreedy interjected. He leaned forward slightly. “I bet she’s a druggie, just looking for her next hit.” Breezefeather couldn’t help but snort, amused. “I’m sorry, a what? That name sounds ridiculous.” McCreedy narrowed his eyes and glared into Breezefeather’s, “You think being a drug addict’s funny? I ought to toss you into Gen Lockup and laugh at you detoxing!” Knowles apparently had enough and slammed his hands down onto the desk and bolted upright, grabbing his partner by the shoulder roughly and yanked him away from Breezefeather. “That’s it! I don’t know what the hell’s gotten into you, but you ought to cool it!” “Or what? You’ll tattle on me to the big boss?” “He doesn’t have to.” Everyone stopped save for Officers McCreedy and Knowles, as they turned and faced a man in a nice brown three-piece suit with a black tie. He looked to be in top shape, as far as Breezefeather could tell, in spite of his graying hair. Got to be the big boss then. He’s like a captain of his division of Royal Guard! The boss strode up the desk and glared at McCreedy. “My office. Now.” He turned to Knowles, “Hand this off to someone else and meet us there.” Knowles’s mouth made a fine line, but he nodded and made a few more clicks with the keys. Both men stood up and one followed the boss to a corner office that said, “Commissioner Andrews” and the other walked to a nearby desk and whispered and explanation to the fellow officer. They nodded a response and beckoned Breezefeather over. “I wish I knew what to say,” she whispered. And suddenly, she did. “Really?! You all live off the grid?” Breezefeather nodded, “Yeah, my folks didn’t see a need for all this fancy stuff, they just left it behind and came out to the woods to camp out. So, I could survive in the woods if I wanted to, but I just got so curious, my parents decided to let me explore on my own. I guess they wouldn’t be too happy that I got arrested.” “So, you saying you graduated?” “Oh, it was like saying, ‘Congratulations, you’re an adult now! Time to learn the hard stuff!’ So, I did.” The officer nodded more and continued checking their screen. After a few more button presses, they declared, “Well, it’s official. The US government doesn’t think you exist for all intents and purposes.” Breezefeather maintained a neutral face regardless of the mix of emotions -or was it because of?- that flooded through her. “But I’m right here.” The officer smiled sadly, “I know, but sadly the government these days requires writing or digital documentation of a person to be able to do things like buy a house, own a credit card, get a car, open a bank account, things like that.” “What if I rent?” “You’ll need an ID and a bank account to rent, and to get a bank account, you’ll need an ID and to get an ID you need a birth certificate.” “So, how do I get one of those? Birth certificates, I mean. After all, I’m already nineteen and a doctor hasn’t given my parents a piece of paper that says, ‘Congratulations, you gave birth!’” The officer looked back at Breezefeather, confused before relenting, “I suppose it is a little like that.” They typed a bit more on the keys, “I am just finishing up an email to a friend in the government who can help get you legally into the system. That way, you won’t be a ‘nobody’ to them.” Breezefeather could hear the air quotes in the officer’s voice, which made her smile. “Well, it sounds like things are going pretty well.” Breezefeather’s head snapped up and she saw Officer Knowles. She beamed. “Well, I get to have a bit of fun this week,” Knowles grimaced and turned to the officer at the desk, “You find her in the system?” “Nope,” they replied, popping the p. “Turns out her folks have been off the grid quite some time. Enough time where I can’t find even them anywhere.” “Grandparents?” “Never knew ‘em.” “Well, shoot.” He looked to Breezefeather, “Do you have a place to stay other than some random spot in the woods?” “I might,” Breezefeather thought back to the kind family she encountered. “They were nice folks when I found them. They said they had a spare room, but it was pretty cluttered.” Officer Knowles smiled a bit, “Okay, that’s a good start. Maybe if we ask nicely, you can stay with them until we get a few things straightened out.” His eyes gazed down to her wrists. “Is she still seriously wearing cuffs?” “Whoops! Got so wrapped up, I forgot about that!” The officer remarked. From their belt, they took a small, simple key. Using the said key, they popped it into each keyhole and unlocked the cuffs to where Breezefeather could move her arms apart. Finally! She smiled, relieved to have them off and rubbed her wrists to remove the sensation of the cuffs that were on her for a good chunk of the day. “Okay, so what first?” Breezefeather asked, still rubbing her wrists as she stood up. “First,” Officer Knowles explained, “we find this family and see if they’ll take you in for a bit. And then-.” He trailed off. “And then?” “And then we see how good your homeschooling was.” After a brief direction of where she flew from -explained away as walking-, they drove towards the small farmhouse. Breezefeather noticed that McCreedy was missing and she was offered the passenger seat. Eager to not be behind a set of bars. As they rode in a relaxed silence, Breezefeather’s mind went back to McCreedy. The grumpy, probably senior officer had certainly grated on her and his partner. Weren’t they supposed to work together, being a team? “So, I don’t mean to pry, but what happened to Officer McCreedy?” Knowles grumbled something for a bit, eyes forward on the road, peering through his sunglasses, “He’s been suspended – benched, you could say. He’s out for the rest of today and tomorrow to cool off.” “Ah,” she replied. Silence stretched for a few more minutes. The silence wasn’t tense, but it wasn’t entirely comfortable. “So, do you know why he’s such a meanie or is he just like that sometimes.” He sighed, “No, I really don’t. Though I can’t help but wonder if ghosts are the ones to blame, this doesn’t seem like your usual run-of-the-mill ghost thing.” “Why would it be ghosts?” Breezefeather asked gently. “Well, I can’t think of any other reason at this time,” Knowles replied. He sighed again and brushed his left hand through his hair. “There’s just no reason for him to be acting like that. He’s never acted like that before. Or at least that I’ve noticed” Breezefeather tried thinking of what might be causing the problem. It could be magic, she thought, but I don’t know much about it. Her thoughts went to home again. Princess Twilight would be able to think of something. “Sounds like a potential Friendship Problem,” she said almost automatically. “What?” Officer Knowles glanced at her, even turning his head towards her for a second. “Think about it,” Breezefeather said, suddenly gaining a glimpse of insight. “Everything he’s said has ticked you off while I was around either of you. It affected your ability to work together.” She thought for a moment, “Has he done anything to help your partnership in this past week or has he done or said something to go against it?” “Against, always. He’s a bit racist, but he keeps it to himself mostly, until a week ago, anyhow. Off and on he’s been going off on ‘Mexican’s this’ and ‘Negro’s that.’” He darkened a shade, “Well, he said the slur, not negro, anyhow.” “Slur? Is it bad enough to where you won’t repeat it?” “Hell yeah! It’s enough to get you beat up. Only thing is you could probably get away with it due to your ethnicity.” Breezefeather blinked, a blank look on her face. “Eh, or maybe just to be safe, you hear a word that starts with ‘N’ and isn’t ‘negro’ or doesn’t sound nice, it’s probably for the best that you don’t repeat it and punch whoever said it.” He looked left and right before turning down another road. This one happened to be a final stretch, however, farmhouse finally coming into view. “Here we are.” Once pulled up and parked, Breezefeather decided to stretch her legs. Right as she opened the door, however, she was practically pulled out by two small children. James and Crystal chatted excitedly over each other, only Breezefeather’s good hearing picking out the sentences they said. “You got to ride in a cop car! Was it fun?” “Did you get arrested?” “What did you get arrested for?” “They didn’t hurt you, did they?” “Were they mean or nice?” “Do you have a criminal record now?” “Easy, easy, one of you at a time!” Breezefeather tried to call to order. It didn’t work. The children just talked faster and over each other more to where not even she could discern what was being said. Breezefeather just laughed. Jed walked up to the officer and Loraine to the children to usher them to the house. Jed spoke up first, “I am sorry if she caused any trouble. We only met her yesterday and she didn’t seem too into how things worked.” “Well, she knew enough of it to avoid actual trouble,” Knowles acknowledged, chuckling slightly. He held out a hand, “Officer Knowles, sir, and you are?” Jed took Knowles’s hand and shook, “Jedediah Smith, Officer. Pleasure tah meet ya.” “Might I come in?” Knowles asked, ending the shake, “I have a few things I would like to discuss if that’s alright?” “Quite, quite. Come in,” Jed said, motioning to the front door. He looked at Breezefeather, “You too, young missy. I’m sure you’re the reason fer the fuss.” Breezefeather smiled shyly and walked through the door. Once inside, everyone headed towards the kitchen table, which was covered in paper and children’s drawings and what looked to be homework. Pencils were skewed everywhere as well as crayons. Loraine looked up from the table, helping James with a problem before nodding to Jed. She then finished helping and then grabbed his homework and Crystal’s and ushered the children to their rooms down the hallway and up a set of stairs. Breezefeather suspected they wouldn’t stay up there long. The remaining four sat at the table. “Well, I’ll cut right to the chase,” Officer Knowles started, taking off his sunglasses, “Breezefeather here needs a spot to stay while we contact a rep with the government to get Breeze here into the system. Since she’s made an acquaintance with you folks, I was hoping she’d have a stable place to be and not rely on the over-crowded homeless shelter.” Breezefeather was hopeful, but she wasn’t sure. They could reasonably say ‘no,’ after all. I mean, I just met them, and they probably don’t know what to do with a pegasus pony that’s disguised as a human. Jed and Loraine looked at each other, a bit startled at the request. She wished she knew what they were thinking. They then whispered to each other in a hushed tone. She tried her best to not listen in by humming the Smile song her friend Pinkie Pie would sing sometimes. After a moment, they seemed to come to an agreement and Breezefeather stopped humming. “Well, Jed and I have been thinking about hiring a new hand on the ranch,” Loraine started. “And we could always use ah minder fer tah kids,” Jed continued. “So, we don’t see why she shouldn’t.” Loraine finished. “Well, that’s great to hear!” Officer Knowles said. Breezefeather couldn’t help but agree. “That’s awesome!” She curled her fingers before clicking her knuckles together, “I won’t be a burden! I promise!” Officer Knowles stood up and pulled a card out of his breast pocket and handed it to the couple, “Here’s my number if you ever need to reach me as well as the direct number to the station if I can’t be reached. Just in case.” He smirked and glanced in Breezefeather’s direction, “Although I don’t think you’ll really need it, though you never know.” “Gee, thanks,” Breezefeather smirked back. He took out his sunglasses and perched them on his head, “Your welcome,” he snarked back. “By the way, we’ll keep in touch and let you know when the rep is here. Number’s in the phonebook, right Jedediah?” “Yessir, though let me get ya ah paper and write down our personal numbers, in case ya need tah reach our cells,” Jed replied, getting up as well and looking for a clean paper. Once one was found, he wrote down a nine-digit number and handed it to the kind officer before they shook hands. Once Knowles left, Jed turned to Breezefeather. “Alrighty, missy. I believe it’s time fer yah tah earn yer keep startin’ now,” he said. “And that would be?” “We need tah clear out the spare bedroom,” Jed said with a small smile.
5. Testing InBreezefeather lay on the spare bed, gazing up at the ceiling. Well, perhaps it’s my bed now, Breezefeather thought. For the time being, anyway. She was in her natural form, bracelet on the small nightstand next to her. The small, electronic clock read only 7:49, but the sun had set a half hour ago and she was tired from moving things out of her new room. She was normally an earlier riser, anyhow. Up when the sun was up or even before if work demanded it. Her mind was a whirlwind, trying to make sense of everything. Even the shower she took earlier didn’t help. So, I got pulled through a portal to a place called the Ghost Zone by some metallic ghost named Skulker, she began to recount. Then I flew away only to be chased by him. Next, I flew near Desiee and wished for him to be back home and she made him probably do that. Then she gave me a bangle of hers which turned into the bracelet on my nightstand. Her eyes turned to the bracelet as it glittered in the soft moonlight from outside. It even seemed to slightly glow, even. She looked back to the ceiling. Then she makes me a portal to a mortal world with a warning. After that, I find this nice family and they let me stay in the barn due to the cluttered guest room. Then I wished to be able to swap between human and pony with my bracelet. After that, I got arrested for being truant and now they’re going to put me in the system so they can keep track of me or something like that? Now I’m back at the farmhouse, waiting for them to tell me their rep is here to help me out. Breezefeather turned over in her bed and stared at the bracelet. At least I know now if I don’t turn back into a pony, I’ll still revert if I take the bracelet off. She sighed and turned over, back facing it. This is starting to get a bit much. I hope I don’t go crazy trying to make sense of why this is all happening. With that final thought, she drifted to sleep. She woke up bright and early that morning. Her sleep wasn’t perfectly restful, but it did its job. She glanced at the clock. 4:15. Oh my, that’s very early. Is everycreature up right now, even? She reached over and placed the bracelet on her arm and whispered, “No hooves, please.” In a gentle flash, her form went from that of a pegasus back to a human. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and took off the boots that materialized on her, before then staring at her feet. They looked so interesting. A heel, bridge of the foot connecting the heel to the ball of her foot, her toes, even if they were covered in a sock. Celestia, toes are so weird. She wiggled them. Kinda feel weird, but they’re softer than hooves and that should make them quieter, too. She placed her foot on the ground before her leg shot up away from the ground. She could feel the cold floor through her sock! The floor is freezing! Is there a fireplace anywhere? She tested the floor again and yup, still cold. Resting on the ball of her feet, she slowly tip-toed to her door. More than three times did she wobble and had to correct her standing. Buck it, she swore to herself, I’m just going to stand normally, cold or no. She almost regretted doing so, what with the floor just so cold. Sweet Luna why is the floor so cold! She walked slowly and as quietly as she could down the stairs, boots in one hand, other on the wall in case she wobbled again. Off and on the stairs would creak and Breezefeather would freeze, hopeful not to wake up the children or Jed and Loraine. Very slowly did she finally make it to the bottom of the stairs to an even colder floor. She ended up squeaking due to the shock. Using her free hand, she quickly placed it over her mouth to attempt to muffle any more noise. She looked around and noticed that there were Loraine and Jed at the kitchen table, each with a coffee mug in hand. Jed had some papers in hand and Loraine had the rest. Loraine was the first to look up, “Was that squeak you, darling?” She spoke softly. Briefly, Breezefeather thought about home again, remembering the seamstress and her generosity. Only once before had she gone to her shop and that was for a Grand Galloping Gala as somepony’s plus one. That was a messy gala. Breezefeather also spoke as softly as she could, but it still came out just under normal volume, “Yeah, sorry. Cold floor.” “No need tah apologize, Breezefeather,” Jed stage whispered, “ah should seeing as ah forgot tah turn on the heat last night.” “Isn’t it only mid-fall, right about now?” Breezefeather complained. “After all, it shouldn’t be quite this cold just yet.” “No, it’s not,” Loraine said, disappointment in her voice, “but it’s the norm, now. Wasn’t like this ten years ago.” She muttered the last part, but Breezefeather’s pegasus hearing picked it up again. Breezefeather frowned. What is happening to this planet? Why is the weather so different for them than home? Is it wild? Or are the powers that be are just terrible at weather management? Breezefeather opened her mouth to ask about the weather. Just then, a clatter and a clash were heard, and the chattering of children came through the floorboards from upstairs. “Well, so much fer staying quiet. Kids are up an' at ’em,” Jed remarked. Sure enough, Breezefeather saw the two children clamor and stomp about and briefly fought over the bathroom. It seems that Crystal won the argument as James stood outside the door, arms folded and face cast sour in a grumpy emotion. She chuckled at both Smith kid’s antics and briefly wondered what having a sibling would be like. Noting that the quiet hour was over, Breezefeather slipped her boots back on just to get off the cold floor. “So,” Jed started, “fer them chores of yer’s, why don’t cha help out the kids? They’ll give yah directions on what tah do.” Chores were simple if a bit time consuming considering all the horses that needed individual attention. After a couple of hours, they were done and had returned to the farmhouse, Breezefeather was notified that there was a tester already at the school, ready to help get Breezefeather placed or graduated officially, and the bus would come along shortly for Casper High. The first bus that arrived was novel. A massive yellow vehicle with the words, “Casper Elementary School” first pulled up and took the younger Smiths off to their school. Now Breezefeather had to wonder how she was going to get to Casper High, as her bus hadn’t arrived yet. Just within a few more minutes in the cold weather, another bus pulled up, half-full of kids stating, “Casper High School” written on its side. The door folded open and a large, gruff human woman garbled out, “Get on or I’m leavin’ ya.” Friendly, Breezefeather sarcastically thought and hopped on the bus. There were all sorts of students of all wakes of life. To avoid the stares she was getting, she walked to the back of the bus and sat down in the furthest seat. It didn’t work. All the stares still bored into her, though the faces were aghast, now. Breezefeather whimpered slightly and sank down into the seat. She wasn’t shy per-say, but such critical stares were certainly not welcome and made her feel uncomfortable. More students piled into the bus, especially once they got closer to the school. Once the bus was three-quarters full, a few students with bright and expensive-looking clothes stepped on the bus. Two were female, one of them had a pink halter-top on and a rich, red jacket on and thin blue jeans. Her skin was a few shades lighter than Breezefeather’s and her eyes were blue-green, and her hair was long and black, if a little curly and wavy, thought that looked styled as such. She wore a lot of makeup for Breezefeather’s liking. More so than Rarity, the fashionista pony of Ponyville. The other female was of a very light skin tone with long, straight blonde hair, a pink flower barrette adorning it. Her eyes matched the darker-haired girls. She had a white t-shirt on, though slimmer than Breezefeather’s to where it was form-fitting, with a backward “P” on it. She also had a matching jacket on and wore red pants that came down only to halfway past her shins. The blonde also had almost as much makeup on as the first girl. She noticed both girls had immaculate nails, painted green and black and they were marveling at each other's. The two males were large and identical in build. The first one had Neighponiese facial features with hair just slightly darker than the first girl’s hair, though cut very short. He wore a jacket that looked thick and yet it looked to be more matte than imitation leather. The red and white colors did seem to shine just a bit. She noticed that both boys wore the same jacket and had the same hairstyle, only the second boy’s hair was blonde. All four students walked towards the back of the bus. Uh oh, Breezefeather thought. Now I know why they were all staring. I sat in someone’s seat. As to confirm this suspicion, the dark-haired girl said, “Um, excuse me, but you’re in our spot.” Breezefeather said, “Sorry about that, but everyp- body was staring at me, and I wanted to get out of their view. Sitting in the front would have been uncomfortable.” Breezefeather slouched a little bit and looked down. She didn’t want to hurt any potential friendships. “I say there’s no harm.” Everyone looked to the dark-haired boy. “What? The girls are thin enough to triple up and sit on that seat, whereas us guys can sit on the other seat!” All three students stared at the dark-haired boy for a short while before the garbley woman called from her spot, “Sit down!” Breezefeather scooted to as close to the window as she could and motioned for them to sit, a hopeful smile on her face. Groaning, the girls sat down next to her, the blonde acting as a buffer between Breezefeather and the dark-haired girl. The boys sat in front of them, blonde boy towards the isle and dark-haired boy towards the window. “So, when’d you move to town?” Asked the dark-haired boy. “Oh, just yesterday,” Breezefeather replied. “I used to live off the grid with my folks before I decided to explore town.” “Why are you just now going to Casper High, then?” the blonde girl asked then. Everyone turned to her, curious. “Well, you see, I wanted to explore the town, but then some officers found me and thought I was skipping school and since I also lived off the grid, there wasn’t any record of me.” “Damn, how long did you live off the grid?” It was the blonde boy’s turn. Breezefeather shrunk down and squeaked out, “My whole life?” “Nuh-uh. You have to have a birth certificate. There’s no way your parents would have you be born in the wild,” the dark-haired girl ground out. “But it’s true, I don’t have a birth certificate and I don’t have any government-issued eye-dee to prove myself as graduated, but here we are.” “That explains why I saw a cop car pulling away from the school yesterday!” The blonde boy spoke up again. “That’s kind of cool. Got some street cred already?” “Huh?” Breezefeather asked confused. “Maybe? One of the officers seemed to think so. I don’t know why he doesn’t like me all that much.” “Some cops are just like that,” the dark-haired girl almost spat out. “Cerdos racistas,” she muttered. She then smiled, “You know what, how rude of us, we didn’t introduce ourselves! My name’s Paulina, this is my best friend, Star!” She gestured first to herself, then the blonde girl, Star. “And that’s Dash,” she said, pointing to the blonde boy, “and that’s Quan,” she wrapped up, pointing to the dark-haired boy. “It’s nice to meet you all, my name’s Breezefeather.” “Cool, it’s nice to meet you, Breeze,” Quan said, smiling. Breezefeather smiled. It was nice to make friends. The whole ride to the school, the five friends chatted about simple things: how cold it was getting and how ridiculous it was, how good of athletes the boys were, how tough certain classes were, and speculating if Breezefeather was going to get into school or was she going to graduate. Estimates favored her getting into Freshman year, where Breezefeather was hopeful about getting into Sophomore year with them. Once the bus stopped in front of the school, they got up to walk out. As they did, Dash scanned the crowded bus, looking for someone, though he scowled, his target not found, it seemed. Breezefeather thought it was strange that they were getting off first since they were in the back, but thought it was just the students being polite. Once she stepped off, it was complete chaos as to who was getting off next. Looks like that politeness only extends to this group. Strange. Breezefeather couldn’t help but dwell on that thought for a while, enough to where she almost ran into her new friends. Noticing their worried faces, she looked at what they were staring at. At the front of the school, there were two men in white suits with black ties. One had a dark skin tone like Breezefeather and the other was lighter like Dash. Though she couldn’t tell at first from their dark sunglasses, she could tell they were staring at the sky from the way their heads were tilted. “Are these the Guys in White I’ve been hearing about?” Breezefeather asked worriedly, covering her bracelet. “Yeah, that’s them,” Dash said, a small amount of venom entering his tone. “They hunt Phantom down like he’s a criminal. He’s not, he’s a hero!” “They weren’t here yesterday, why are they here today?” Breezefeather said worriedly, almost too quickly. She brought her left arm up and covered her bangle with her right hand and brought her arms to her chest protectively. She looked around and noticed, not a single student was getting near the entrance, and almost every single one of them had a scowl on their face. Save for three. She saw a thin boy with dark hair and a white t-shirt with a red oval in the center and a baggy blue jacket over top. His blue jeans seemed a bit baggy over his legs. His baby blue eyes looked bored. A girl to his right stood by and had a disappointed look on her face combined with a look of, “why am I not surprised?” Her hair was also dark and pulled into a half ponytail. Her whole outfit, in fact, was as black as night. She even wore combat styled boots. Her amethyst eyes bored into the Guys in White. The boy to the left of the dark-haired boy had dark skin and wore baggy green cargo pants and a yellow long-sleeved shirt. He wore a hat that she wasn’t sure what was called, but Breezefeather knew it was red. He was playing around with some sort of device that he held in his hand with a little pen of some sort. He peered down at it with his aqua eyes in interest from his thick-rimmed, half-moon glasses. Just when Breezefeather could examine them, the gothic girl looked at Breezefeather and scowled. Though taken aback a bit, she smiled and waved a bit, causing the goth to raise an eyebrow in confusion. “Do we know her, Danny?” She half-whispered. Breezefeather actually had to strain to hear that, what with all the other conversations around her. The boy with the blue jacket, Danny, responded, “I don’t think so, Sam. Tuck?” Tuck, still busy with his device, replied, “I didn’t find much on why the GiW were here, so I started looking her up, and there’s next to nothing other than a name in a police report.” Breezefeather cast her eyes down and turned around, tuning them out. She didn’t want to hear what they were going to say next. Though she was curious. How would they know about a police report? How would they get that information without going to the police station? How, how, how? Breezefeather couldn’t help but think. Her thoughts were interrupted when an older man with a receding hairline and a bit of a belly walked out and she heard the chatter switch from “What are they doing here?” to “Mr. Lancer.” He held a megaphone and flicked it on, its feedback screeching slightly. Breezefeather covered her ears to prevent a major assault to them. “Students there’s no reason to stand about here. Class starts in five minutes. If you’re in my class, I will count you tardy and assign extra work.” The rush to the school was almost immediate. Breezefeather barely got a chance to cover and hold her bracelet to prevent it from being accidentally taken off and to attempt to hide it from the Guys in White as she was swept to the school. She let herself be carried along and past the pushed aside men in white suits, too busy to keep a foothold to look around. She heard a soft beeping coming from them over the clamor of the students. She didn’t know what it was but assumed it some sort of detection device and quickly rushed in with the other students, trying to get to the front of the pack. Once inside, Breezefeather rushed over to the principal’s office that she recalled from her last trip here, nearly tripping the whole way. She closed the door behind her and breathed a sigh of relief. “Quite a mad rush, today,” a voice spoke up from the direction of the desk. Breezefeather saw that the principal was indeed there as well as someone in a dark blue suit and skirt combo with a tasteful pink tie. Her brown hair was tied into a tight bun and her matching brown eyes spoke levels of kindness and patience that could only be rivaled by that of Princess Celestia when she’s met her the few times. “I’m Agent Fairweather, and I swear the agency paired us up for a giggle, Miss Breezefeather.” The agent held out her hand. Breezefeather smiled and walked over to her, shaking her hand like she saw Jed and Officer Knowles. “Good, firm handshake, you’ll need that in the workforce.” The agent pointed to a small school desk that Breezefeather overlooked, “Why don’t we get started so we can get you in the system and then get you placed.” Breezefeather sat down in the chair and got comfortable. Well, as comfortable as she could, it wasn’t the best chair. The agent took up a clipboard and got a normal chair from the side of the room and sat it down. She pulled a pen from inside her coat and clicked it and poised to write. “Why don’t we start with your date of birth. Were your parents able to keep a track of the days?” After four long hours, Breezefeather had answered all of the agent’s questions and finished two of her four tests. Math and Science were fun and all, but she didn’t realize how different their science was in Equestria. I’ll have to take a few extra classes, she assumed. Her stomach growled. Agent Fairweather couldn’t help but laugh, it seemed. “Looks like it’s lunchtime. Don’t worry, head to the cafeteria and I’m sure I can work something out with them.” Breezefeather beamed, “You don’t have to do that,” she started. “Oh, but if you want to eat around here, unless it’s grass, you pretty much have to pay. Don’t worry, I’m sure it’s not coming from my salary,” the agent chuckled. Breezefeather stood up and stretched. “I think I remember seeing where it was. Back here after, right?” The agent nodded. Taking that as her cue, Breezefeather headed out of the principal’s office. She headed straight for the cafeteria where there were already quite a few students milling about, mostly at the large benches. Breezefeather gently pushed the large double doors open and slipped inside. She got about halfway to where the food was being served when she heard a, “Yoo hoo, Breezefeather, come sit over here when you get your food!” It was Paulina, waving from her group of friends. Smiling shyly, Breezefeather waived back. She managed to get to the serving area without incident. Though she did pause when she was the main course. Lasagna. Not just any lasagna, this appeared to have meat in it. She wasn’t opposed to meat, being a pegasus, she was just opposed to any high-fat meat. “Excuse me, is this high in fat?” Breezefeather asked the elderly woman manning the line. “’Course it is! What you expect, some low-fat nonsense?” Breezefeather frowned, “Is there anything else that I could have? High-fat foods make me sick.” The lunch lady frowned as well, “You won’t get your protein, girly, but there’s the sides.” Breezefeather smiled a bit, though her attention was brought back to the lunch lady, “Say, aren’t you that girl that the agent said I have to feed?” “Um, probably,” Breezefeather asked confused. “Well, I aught to feed you now, shouldn’t I?” She grabbed a helping of everything and piled it all on a tray for Breezefeather and smiled. It was a sly smile, and Breezefeather couldn’t help but give a wary one of her own, chuckling uneasily. Slowly, she took the tray and retreated towards the table with her new friends. As she sat down, she frowned, her friends chuckling at her misfortune. “Geeze, why’d she give you so much?” Asked Quan. “I don’t know, maybe she’s secretly a witch and trying to fatten me up?” Breezefeather replied. Paulina turned up her nose, “All those fats, that can’t be good for you.” “Not for me, it’s not. I physically can’t eat too much fat, or I’ll get sick,” Breezefeather lamented, all the students at the table raising a brow. “I can eat lean meats like chicken or fish, but pork and beef are a no.” She smiled when she saw an apple and almost went to grab it with her mouth. She stopped and reattempted with her hands and took as big a bite as she could. Almost instantly, she frowned again before swallowing, “And these apples just aren’t the same as home.” “How come?” Dash asked, “Aren’t apples, apples? No matter where ya go?” “I’m no apple farmer, but even I can tell you that’s not it. It varies from farm to farm and who’s tending the orchard.” Depressed, Breezefeather continued eating the apple. “Um,” Star spoke up, “why are you still eating that if it makes you sad?” “Because it’s food and I don’t want it to go to waste.” Breezefeather looked around and saw hopeful faces. “If any of you want my lasagna, just ask.” She was almost instantly bombarded by requests. Sullenly, she just held up her tray and someone took it as she was sans lasagna when she lowered it back down. Now there were only sad-looking vegetables and fruits on her tray. “Jeeze, these look pathetic. Were they in a can?” “Probably,” Paulina said. “You should pack a lunch when you get the chance.” “Noted.” She then heard shushes and requests to look hovering around her. Seems that trio of friends that she saw earlier had recently walked in. They look a little roughed up, Breezefeather noted. Tuck was fixing his glasses and dusting off dirt, Sam was fixing her hair, and Danny was covering some developing bruises. They walked over to their spot that was a few tables away. “Hey, Breezefeather, check this out!” Dash called out before he hurled something their way. It hit Danny in the back of the head with a splat. Now that it had stopped moving, Breezefeather noted that it was the lasagna that she had given up. Breezefeather covered her mouth and gasped. Why did he do that? Danny did nothing to him! All he did was walk in! Everyone save for her was laughing at the table. “Take that, Fentoad!” Dash cried out, laughing even harder. “Apologize!” Everyone stopped and looked at Breezefeather. When did I stand up? Oh, well, that doesn’t matter. “Apologize right now!” She said again. “What? We do this all the time. Freaktonio always has it coming.” “And just how, Dash?” Breezefeather asked, upset. Her hands were balled up into fists right now, she was so mad, her hands just had to do something to emote it. Her ears couldn’t do it anymore. “How did he provoke you?” “He’s a freak!” “So, you throw things at him for what you perceive as a freak?” Her voice kept rising in volume. “What if I was a freak, would you throw food at me, too?” “Why are you defending that freak anyways?” Paulina asked. “I mean, him and his friends are losers, you’re better off with us?” “Or what? I can’t be friends with you? You’ll torment me like you do him?” Breezefeather was starting to see red. “If you don’t like it, too bad,” Dash said. “It’s not like we get in trouble for it.” “You get away with being a bully?!” If she wasn’t incensed before, she was now. They bully him and get away with it?! That’s terrible! Breezefeather had enough. “That’s it! I’m going to go back to my testing early.” She stepped away from the table and stomped off. “You can forget sitting with us, then, Freak Lover,” Paulina called after her. Breezefeather turned around, “That’s great because I wasn’t planning on it!” She nearly roared out the last part, windows shaking in their panes. Scowl marring her features, she whisked back around and stomped all the way to the principal’s office. Breezefeather sat in her seat, scowling. “I’m sorry, though there’s not much I can do,” Principal Ishiyama said to her, after Breezefeather explained why she was back so early. “Why not? Who’s to say one of their friends wasn’t out in the hallway and practically mugged the poor kid and his friends?” “Did you see anyone in the hallway?” Ishiyama asked. “No. I was too mad,” Breezefeather ground out. She sunk into her chair. Are they being protected or something? Aren’t the faculty supposed to do something? What is wrong with this place. “But I did see Dash throw his food at that kid! How is there nothing you can do?” Principal Ishiyama frowned, “I don’t like it any more than you, but Dash is our star player for nearly all of our sports-.” “You’re giving him a pass because he’s good at sports?!” “Let me finish, please,” Ishiyama gently requested. Breezefeather settled again in her seat. “As I was saying, he’s our star player. There are a lot of folks that help us keep up repairs that are sports enthusiasts and recruiters. If he were out of commission for any reason, our funding to repair the school would be shot, seeing as we have ghost attacks on the regular. Unfortunately, this means we have to overlook some of his behavior. I like it as little as you do, Miss Breezefeather.” Breezefeather ground her teeth. I doubt it, she thought, though she kept her mouth shut. No, I shouldn’t think like that, she resigned, after all, she doesn’t really have a choice if those jerks that fund her are only interested in sports. “I guess I can see it. Still don’t like it, of course.” Agent Fairweather chimed in, nearly causing Breezefeather to jump out of her skin, “Well, seeing as we’ve gotten to an understanding, why don’t we resume our testing for today?” She took out more paper. About half of it had a lot of writing. “Let me guess, Language and a whole hodgepodge of other things.” I almost forgot she was here. Agent Fairweather nodded. “Just to see where you’re at and what you need.”
6. SchoolThe day wrapped up with Breezefeather sitting in the front of the bus on the way home, ignoring the privileged kids as they walked by her twice, once to get on and once to get off. The whole time, she sat there with her arms crossed and a disapproving face as she stared straight ahead. The nerve of them, just because they can get away with it, doesn’t mean they should do it! Her thoughts ran wild as she thought of the reasons why they were picking on poor Danny. Why him, anyhow? Is it because he stood up to them once? Or because he doesn’t at all? Either way, that’s no excuse! She nearly missed her stop, being lost in her thoughts like that. She rushed onto the farm and waited for the bus to be completely out of sight. Once gone, she almost shouted her command for the bracelet to turn her into a pony again and flew as fast as her wings would carry her. She rushed to her room and shut the door, flopping face-first into a pillow and yelling. I don’t think the pillow and mattress did much, Breezefeather thought, but I had to yell. Breezefeather listened and heard muffled voices followed by footsteps leading up the stairs and stopping at her door. A knock rapped on the wooden door. “Breeze, honey, are you alright? We heard you yell.” Well, that answered that, Breezefeather thought sullenly. She lifted her head enough to where her face was no longer in the pillow to lay her head flat on the bed, on her chin. “Yeah. Just a little frustrated is all.” Her door opened, Loraine peeking in. “Did you want to talk about it.” Though silent, Breezefeather nodded. Loraine opened the door fully and walked up to her bed and sat on its edge. “Was it about the test?” “Oh, Sweet Celestia, no,” Breezefeather started. “Apparently the school has to play favorites with their sports-oriented students over anypony -sorry- anybody else. It’s infuriating! I witnessed one of their players throw a hoof full -sorry- handful of food at the poor child! And he just sat there and took it. They laughed at him, Loraine! They’re bullies!” Her hooves were outstretched and her muzzle back in the pillow. “Why did I have to make friends with them on the bus?” she managed to say, though wasn’t sure if Loraine heard her muffled question. “Well, I don’t know these children, but if you think they’re bullies, I think you should tell a teacher.” “I did!” Breezefeather stretched her neck up and raised her hooves above the bed, frustrated. “And they told me that they have to, or they’ll lose funding for school repairs! I’ve never been so mad before in my life! I’ve never seen such blatant bullying in my life! What the buck is wrong with some humans?!” She flopped again on the bed. Loraine sat for a moment, seemingly in thought. “Well, I know what you have to do next.” Breezefeather rotated her head to where her muzzle was out of the pillow again, “What’s that?” “Make friends with him! That way you can let him know that those bullies aren’t your friends.” Breezefeather smiled. Why didn’t I think of that? She sat up on the bed and faced Loraine before giving her a hug. “What a great idea! I think I’ll do that next time I’m at school if I get the chance!” She looked around her room before she looked back to Loraine. “So, two things. One: What are my chores for today, and two: can we plan a bagged lunch for me? I don’t want to eat the sad food they have.” Loraine chuckled. “I’ll see what I can do.” Chores, followed by bed, followed by more chores refreshed Breezefeather that following morning. She was grateful for the space she was given and was all too happy to help out. She didn’t have much experience in herding or grooming livestock, but she was a pony and horses were very similar to ponies. She thankfully remembered her bracelet and said, “no hooves please” before any school busses were in sight. Bagged lunch in hand she climbed onto the bus and sat in one of the very front seats, sparse bodies occupying any making the choice easy. Minutes passed as she stared out the window. As they were getting to pull away from the next stop three students rushed forward, very out of breath, flagging down the bus. Once at a full stop again, they climbed on as well. Once on, they all sat in a front seat behind the driver of the bus, whispering to each other only when the bus started moving. Breezefeather turned to speak with them. The movement was noticed by Tuck, who whispered to get Danny’s and Sam’s attention. They, too, turned and saw her. “So, I’m guessing by yesterday you aren’t friends with the A-lister’s anymore?” Sam asked. Breezefeather blushed. “No, they shouldn’t have done or said those things. I’m sorry for that happening anyways.” “What are you sorry for, it’s not like you gave him the lasagna to throw at us,” Tuck said. Breezefeather ducked her head down and looked away from the trio. She heard an “ow!” from Tuck and as she looked back at them, Sam had her hands in fists and was glaring at Tuck. Tuck simply rubbed his sore shoulder. “I never meant for them to throw it,” Breezefeather said, “but I still gave it to them. I’m sorry.” “Hey, it’s alright. No big deal. It’s actually tame compared to what they usually do,” Danny soothed. Breezefeather straightened, “Tame?!” She struggled to keep her volume under control, “You mean to tell me they do worse than throw food at you and belittle you?!” “Well, you are new here,” Sam reflected. “Welcome to Casper High where the girls will talk foul rumors about you behind your back and the boys will bully you without remorse. I’m Sam, by the way. The techno-geek with the glasses is Tucker, and the quiet, almost invisible one of us is Danny.” Tucker had puffed up his chest when Sam has called him a techno-geek, reminding Breezefeather of Rainbow Dash when she was called Fastest Flyer in Equestria. Danny, however, smiled sheepishly and waved a small wave in her direction. “I’m Breezefeather. It’s nice to meet you three.” The bus pulled up to a stop, Breezefeather stood up. “Oh, I should get to the principal’s office and see where I got placed, I’ll talk to you later!” She almost sprinted for the door, attempting to beat the A-lister’s out. Being first on the bus had its advantages. The front doors were once again, guarded by Guys in White, but this time, she decided to go with a distraction tactic. Whistling, she gained the attention of the two men. “I think I just saw some ghostly figure fly down that alleyway! Oh my, that scared me! If only some ghost hunters would catch it!” She suppressed a wince, Okay, that sounded terrible, would they even buy it? The two men took out what looked like a blaster similar to one from Skulker’s metal body, only white and shaped a little differently. They barked orders at each other and sprinted to the alleyway next to the school. But it worked beautifully! Breezefeather thought with triumph. She then ran up the front stairs and through the doors before she power-walked over to Principal Ishiyama’s office. “Excellent timing!” Principal Ishiyama said. “Agent Fairweather just gave me the final report on everything. Your paperwork for citizenship should be filed and you should receive some important papers in the mail for record-keeping purposes within a couple of weeks. However, what we know today is what classes you should be taking.” “I didn’t do so well in a few of them, did I?” Breezefeather lamented. “A few of them, particularly science, wasn’t the best. You will have to take most of your time catching up on that. However, your math is pretty decent, so only one class, and you had a fair grasp of grammar, but you still need some work, so two classes on that.” Ishiyama walked over to her desk and picked up a paper, before walking back over to Breezefeather and handing the paper to her. “This paper has all of your classes and schedules. Since you started close to the start of the school year, there isn’t too much to catch up on.” Breezefeather examined the schedule more closely. First period was an English class with a Mr. Lancer, designated as her Homeroom teacher. Next was biology, also with Mr. Lancer. Her third class was Algebra with a Mrs. Hamilton. Then back to English with Mr. Lancer. Lunch. Then two periods of Physics with Mr. Lancer. “This Mr. Lancer is a good teacher to know so much.” “Yes, he’s our top Science and English literature teacher in this school. You have a final period for extra curriculars, but once you are done for the year, you can take a final assessment and graduate early with a G.E.D.” “What’s a G.E.D.?” Breezefeather asked, confused. “Is it like a diploma?” “It’s almost exactly like a diploma, but for those who didn’t go to school traditionally,” Ishiyama explained. She looked at the clock before shooing Breezefeather out of her office. “Hurry now! You have your first period with Mr. Lancer shortly. Look at the room number and make sure you go to the right class. Down the hall, around the corner and to your right! He’ll be expecting you!” Breezefeather strode swiftly out the principal’s door and noticed it was full of students. Some of them were sneering at her, others pitifully. She tried to tune them out and follow the directions she was given, but her pegasus hearing was still peak and the flood of people whispering didn’t help. “I heard she sold her body to a pimp to survive.” “I heard she’s going through rehab and she needs to retake some classes.” “I heard she got arrested for trying to sell drugs to a cop.” “That’s nothing, I heard she beat up a cop!” She so wished she could swivel her ears to effectively shut them out. Oh, how she wished. But she wouldn’t say it out loud and draw the Guys in White inside because Desiree would appear. I don’t want Dessie to get hurt, but I don’t want to be able to hear these nasty things! She sped up her walking speed just a bit more. More of the same hurtful things were said and she almost missed the classroom she was supposed to be in. She opened the door and looked in. There were some students already in and seated. She picked out Danny, Sam, and Tucker in the middle of the classroom. “Ah, you must be the new student,” a calm voice ushered her in. Breezefeather smiled and walked into the room. “I’m Mr. Lancer, and it looks like we’ll be getting to know each other quite a bit.” “I do have almost nothing but class with you, so this room will look very familiar, I suppose,” Breezefeather said, smiling. “Why don’t you take a seat. I’ll start role call in a few minutes at the next bell.” Class was a bit dull, having to go over somethings she already knew, but it wasn’t always her best class. The period came and went, the bell ringing for the next class. Breezefeather had noticed that she got to keep the book for her studies on English -a strange name for a language in my opinion, Breezefeather thought- and her paper even gave her a locker number and combination. She would have to spend time looking for this locker. And maybe I should get a saddlebag of some sort, she thought, looking to her second book as she was handed a book on biology. She walked over to algebra and was introduced to a woman with a very large nose, but a nice disposition. They went over a few refreshers but got some new material there. As well as a new book. Breezefeather hunted down her locker and found it to be an old and rusted locker. Its hinges creaked open from disuse and rust. Inside, there was a circle of cleaner metal, as though it was protected by something, though it was missing. Dismissing it, she placed her new books inside as well as her bagged lunch and went back to Mr. Lancer’s classroom. This class had different students in it, even though it was an English class. Breezefeather thought, Must be for older students. She was proven right when everything in the class was new and she got a book that was a bit more advanced than the other one she got previously. At least I can tell them apart for class. She thought. The bell rang again. It was time for lunch. She almost bolted to her locker and grabbed her lunch and rushed for the lunchroom. She was one of the first people there. Thankful, she went over toward where she saw the trio sit the other day, however she noticed a girl with dark skin, darker, wavy hair, sitting by herself. She wore a yellow tank top and orange skirt and headband. She had black leggings on underneath and a matching yellow jacket over top. Her headband was a matching orange and she wore golden triangle earrings and a gold necklace locket. She wore thick orange and yellow bracelets on both her right and left wrists. She had a bit more meat on her bones than Breezefeather, though that was an afterthought. She stared at her own bagged lunch sullenly. Breezefeather was a bit torn. There was the trio, but they were friends with each other already. Her was this girl, sitting all by her lonesome. Making a decision, she walked over to the girl. “Hi, mind if I sit here?” Breezefeather asked. The girl looked up from her lunch, surprised. She then looked around, then pointed to herself. “You want to sit with me?” “Considering I insulted the popular kids and I am probably a social outcast by now, I don’t really have anywhere else to sit. You also look like you could use a friend.” She looked about to argue with Breezefeather then looked over at her barren table. “You know, yeah, I could use a friend. My name’s Valerie, Valerie Gray.” “My name’s Breezefeather, though I bet everyp-body knew that by now.” Valerie raised a brow at Breezefeather’s slip but said nothing about it. “True, but it’s nice to get to introduce yourself, right?” Breezefeather giggled and slipped into the spot next to Valerie, “I guess you’re right.” “So, what’s your story?” Valerie opened her bagged lunch finally and took out a sandwich of some sort, and apple, and a bag of chips. Breezefeather did the same for hers, removing a romaine, cucumber, and mayonnaise sandwich, an assortment of baby carrots, and a small canister of assorted nuts. “Oh, nothing much. Just grew up outside of city limits off the grid, don’t know much about technology because we didn’t need it much, and having to go to school for the rest of this school year just so I don’t have to do four whole years.” Valerie examined the lunch Breezefeather had taken out, “Looks like you’re also vegetarian.” “Not entirely,” Breezefeather explained, a smile on her face. “I can still eat a bit of meat, but it has to be lean. Anything with a large amount of fat isn’t healthy for me.” “As in, gain too much weight, unhealthy?” Valerie smirked. “No, as in serious digestive problems, unhealthy,” Breezefeather deadpanned, taking a bite out of her sandwich. Valerie stopped smirking and stared at Breezefeather dumbfounded. “Really? Huh. So, your mostly vegetarian with a side of omnivore?” She stopped and thought about it before responding, “You know, that sounds about right. I’m going to describe it like that from here on out!” Both girls laughed. Their laughter, however, was cut short when the wall in front of them blew up. Flying through was a black and white blur as it slammed into the opposing wall. Breezefeather couldn’t help but squeak in cry out in alarm when it happened. At least Valarie only gasped in surprise, she thought. Stepping through the hole in the wall, the entity made Breezefeather’s blood run cold. Skulker, looking not quite as ticked off as she thought, advanced to his prone opponent. “Seems I didn’t have to have my bait to hunt you down, Ghost Child,” he sneered. “It seems you were already out and about!” Breezefeather had the presence of mind to slowly lower herself down to the ground underneath the table. Once there, though, she quickly gathered her food and tugged Valerie’s jacket. Valarie looked between the metallic ghost and Breezefeather’s pleading eyes. Groaning she, too, got underneath the table. From her new position, Breezefeather couldn’t see where Skulker was looking, but he couldn’t be looking in her direction now, no. A groan escaped the prone figure’s mouth from across the room and they sat up, holding their head. Breezefeather never got a description of Amity Park’s hero, but she assumed this must be them, and obviously a him. In a black, skin-tight suit with white gloves, belt, boots, and collar, he also had a peculiar symbol on his chest like in a Power Pony comic book. It was a spiky “D” with a little “P” inside it and white. His white hair almost shone with how bright it was and his eyes were a glowing, toxic green. He stood up and some of the student’s cheered for him. Breezefeather, however, couldn’t help but feel as though she’s seen him before. Was it his face? Perhaps the style of his hair? The build of his body? She couldn’t place it. Phantom didn’t waste much time, however, and quickly raised his hands. They glowed the same toxic green as his eyes and a laser fired from them, hitting Skulker in his chest, throwing him back through the hole that was made. Phantom rose from the ground, floating for a brief moment, legs turning into a misty tail, before rocketing off, arms outstretched, and hands curled into fists as he flew after Skulker. Once they were both gone for only a moment, Valerie stood up. Breezefeather looked at her in shock, “Wait, where are you going?!” Valerie flinched, and turned to face her, “You see, well, I was hoping-.” “To what? Get blasted?” Breezefeather cried incredulously. She waved Valerie back, “Hurry back here before they crash through another wall! That metal ghost is nothing but trouble!” “I know, but-.” “But nothing!” Breezefeather interrupted again. “What are you going to do, kick him? He’s metal and a ghost!” “I-. Well-.” Valerie sighed, defeated, “You’re right, not much I can do.” She grabbed her food and hunkered down again with Breezefeather. “Might as well not let this go to waste, then.” Breezefeather smiled, but as she turned away from Valerie and to her food, she frowned in thought. What was Valerie going to do that ghost? Did she have an ace up her sleeve? After lunch was over and it was determined that Phantom had defeated Skulker, the bell rang for the next class. She was distracted for the rest of the day. The final bell of the day rang and Breezefeather noted as she walked through the front doors that there weren’t any Guys in White guarding the door anymore. “I wonder where they went,” she thought out loud. “The Guys in White?” A voice asked behind her. Turning around, Valerie walked up to her. “Not sure, and don’t care. You know they’ll fire into a crowd if they think they might hit a ghost? Not caring that they hit an innocent person?” She scoffed. “Bunch of bullies and jerks. Right idea about ghosts, wrong execution.” “Right idea about ghosts?” Breezefeather echoed. “But aren’t there good ghosts like Phantom?” “No!” Valerie snapped. “There’s no such thing as a good ghost! They’re nothing but trouble!” Breezefeather had backed up and her eyes widened, surprised at Valerie’s outburst. Seeming to notice this, Valerie visibly deflated, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have yelled. It’s not like you know that ghosts ruined my life.” “Ruined? How?” Breezefeather asked, sympathetic. Valerie motioned to follow her as they both went to the bus, “Well, it started with a ghost dog. It wrecked everything in sight. Phantom was there and he definitely wasn’t helping in keeping that dog under control. Because of him and that dog of his, my dad lost his job, destroyed most of our belongings, and forced us to become broke just to replace even half of it!” Breezefeather gasped. It was a very large slight against anyone. Though she had a nagging feeling it might have been a misunderstanding, but she didn’t have anything to go on other than his hero status with the teens and kids she’s met so far. “Are, are you sure it was on purpose, though?” She asked as they sat on the bus. “What else could it be?!” “I don’t know, an accident? I’m not sure. I wasn’t there.” She thought for a moment. “Did he apologize?” Valerie scoffed. “I don’t want to talk about it.” Breezefeather looked downcast, though didn’t press the issue, “If you say so, then.” The next few days were more of the same, sans ghost fights. Evidently, they would only occur a few times a week, though on occasion, there could be a week straight of attacks with seemingly no break in sight. Breezefeather couldn’t help but wonder if ghosts needed sleep. Her relationship with Valerie was still rocky after trying to figure out what was going on with her and ghosts. They still sat with each other during lunch, but Breezefeather had been too nervous to say the wrong thing to set her off again. Friendship problems, Breezefeather had though to herself more often than not. I wish somepony would help us through it, because I don’t know what to say. Before the week let out, however, Valerie approached her. “Hey.” “Hey,” Breezefeather responded, unsure of what otherwise to say. “Sorry I snapped at you the other day,” Valerie explained after a pause. “I guess you just don’t get it. I mean, you didn’t have to deal with ghost attacks or worry about something like money.” She rubbed her arm defensively. Breezefeather couldn’t help a smile. “That’s okay. I’m sorry I pushed. I should have noticed you didn’t like talking about it.” She held out her hand uncertainly. “Friends?” Valerie smiled and clasped her hand around Breezefeather’s and shook. “Friends.” Smiling, the two friends stepped onto the bus. As the last to board, they had to pick a spot in the middle. There were cheers and jeers around them as the chaos of the bus unfolded. Valerie looked out the window and to the sky. “Oh, great, it better not rain. Forecast said it should miss us.” “Forecast?” Breezefeather echoed, confusion in her voice. “Prediction? Guess for the weather? We have scientists that use instruments to measure things like air pressure and humidity to predict how the weather’s going to turn out,” Valerie explained. Breezefeather’s eyes went wide, “Seriously?! That’s a thing!?” “Uh, yeah. You really have been living out there your whole life, haven’t you?” Breezefeather barely registered the comment as her mind was whirling. I could get these instruments, set them up in the Everfree forest, and predict what kind of weather is going to happen?! It’s possible?! She then became acutely aware that someone was waving in front of her face. “Hello, Earth to Breezefeather, come in?” “What? Oh, sorry, I was just thinking how I need to know how to do that yesterday.” Her face was set in determination. “Seriously?” Valerie asked, smirking. “You learn of this just a second ago and you want to know everything?” Her response was a nod. “You’re kind of weird, but in a good way.” “Thanks!” Breezefeather beamed, then face falling into confusion. “I think.” She ponders for a moment, “So how do I learn how to use these tools to predict something as crazy as wild weather?” “Honestly, I don’t know. I just know that there is a way. You could learn by going to a school for meteorology, that way you can get a job in it.” “That sounds super cool! How do I do that?” “First,” Valerie counted on her hand, “you have to graduate high school. Or at least get a G.E.D. Next, you have to get into a college for meteorology as a major and study all the relevant sciences. Then, you’ve got to try for a position by applying to a media outlet, like local news stations.” “Three steps? This aught to be a blast!” Breezefeather reclined slightly and placed her arms behind her head. Valerie chuckled, “Don’t get too ahead of yourself. There’s a lot of learning involved, and it will take a few years to do it.” Breezefeather relaxed and leaned forward from her reclining position. “Yeah, I know. I guess I’m just excited about learning it.” Valerie smiled. It vanished however when she looked out the window as the bus pulled to a stop. “Shoot! This is my stop. See you Monday, Breezefeather!” “See you Monday!” Breezefeather called after Valerie. She smiled and waved to her as she bounded out the door of the bus and up a flight of stairs. “We’ll talk again then, I’m sure.” The weekend wasn’t much torture. Though Breezefeather certainly didn’t like the homework. Pencil in mouth, she chewed a bit on the eraser before scribbling down a few answers while referencing one of her books at the kitchen table. It was pretty hard getting all of her homework home, especially in one piece. “I wish I had a bag for my books,” She said sullenly. She then noticed her bracelet glow, the shape of the snake glowing superimposed over the simple band, eyes pink instead of black. Wrapped in that same pink glow, a bag with two straps next to each other materialized next to her, in a simple brown color. After the magic smoke cleared Loraine stepped into the room saying, “So, how is your homework going, Breezefeather?” She stopped and stared at the bag. “Where did you get that from?” “It, uh, was a gift? From a friend.” She smiled. I think my smile’s a tad too wide, Breezefeather thought, self-conscious. Loraine looked at Breezefeather suspiciously. Breezefeather could feel a nervous sweat building on her forehead. “Why do you have a pencil in your mouth,” Loraine finally asked. Breezefeather looked surprised. “Am I not supposed to?” “Are you, writing, with your mouth?” Loraine said slowly, confusion mounting in her voice. “Um, yes?” Loraine paused before she shrugged and made a “huh” sound. Dismissing the prior train of thought, she then asked, “Did you have any questions about your homework? I don’t know how much help I can be, but I can try.” Breezefeather smiled. “Well, I’ve been doing pretty good with my math homework, I understand that pretty well. Got it all done while I was in school.” She frowned at the three other books in front of her. “Science, however, is kicking my flank. I didn’t know how much science could explain and do without the aid of magic.” Loraine sat next to Breezefeather at the table and looked at the covers of the books. “Why don’t we take a look at this one, first?” She moves the Biology book closer to the two of them while pushing the other two further away. “Start small, work your way big?” “Works for me!” It took Breezefeather a few hours to complete her homework, but Loraine had another surprise for her. “I’ve got to learn to write with what now?!” “Your hands, Breezefeather. You can’t write with your mouth while in class. Folks will ask questions and wonder why you’re doing that. Come on, why don’t we try it?” “Can I at least do my homework with my mouth?” Breezefeather begged. “That way my teachers can read my answers?” Loraine giggled. “I suppose so, but eventually, I want you to be able to write with your hands instead.” She looked pointedly at the mare now, “After all, I’m sure you’ve noticed a few odd stares.” Breezefeather thought back to the classroom. Every time she pulled her head up to examine her work or to look at the board, she realized some folks had turned their heads away sharply. She even caught a few odd looks directed her way. She sighed, “Fine, fine. We’ll try it your way.” Loraine walked over to another part of the house Breezefeather hadn’t quite explored yet and came back with a stack of lined paper. “Why don’t we start with a simple sentence?” she asked. Loraine then gently plucked the pencil out of Breezefeather’s mouth and placed it in her hand, causing Breezefeather to smile sheepishly. “Try writing, ‘My name is Breezefeather.’” And try she did. It came out terribly. So terrible, it was illegible and took up half the paper. Groaning, Breezefeather rolled her eyes and thumped her head on the table, laying there. Loraine chuckled, “Come on now. That’s only your first try. Give it a few more.” Breezefeather wasn’t happy, but she did give it her best. Monday couldn’t roll around fast enough for Breezefeather. Stuffing her books and homework into her new bag, she then tried to figure out how to carry it. After a few failed attempts, James -laughing the whole while- told her, “You’re supposed to slip your arms through the straps and wear it on your back. It is a backpack, after all.” Once again, Breezefeather felt silly, but was happy for the help all the same. The bus ride to the school was normal. Valerie got on from her stop and chatted with Breezefeather about how their weekend went and if the Guys in White were still there or not. As the bus stopped in front of the school, Breezefeather deflated. “Of course, they’re still here, why the buck not,” she said under her breath. “Why the what not? Did you say buck in place of a swear?” Valerie chuckled. Oh, heard that, didn’t you? Breezefeather thought, blushing. “Well, uh, you see-?” She was interrupted by the bell ringing and all the students making another mass rush to the school, pushing the Guys in White away from Breezefeather as she tried to stay in the middle of the mass of fellow students. Once inside, she walked over to her locker, Valerie walking next to her. “So, let me guess,” she starts, listing off her fingers again, though stopping at one, “you also say, ‘What the hay’ and other silly things, right?” “Well,” Breezefeather blushes, rolling her eyes to the side. Valerie laughs, lightly elbowing Breezefeather, “Relax, just poking a bit of fun. Friends do that from time to time.” Breezefeather chuckled, “Heck yeah, they do.” As they made their way to Breezefeather’s locker, there were some snickering students. As usual, her pegasus hearing picked it all up. “I can’t believe she’s hanging out with that hazbin.” “I can’t believe that hazbin’s trashing her rep even further with hanging out with a felon.” “Do you think they’re dating?” “Already? Pfft, they’re both sluts if they are by now.” “I wouldn’t have pegged Val to be gay, anyways.” Breezefeather slapped her hands over her ears and picked up her pace, Valerie trying to keep up and get Breezefeather’s attention. “Hey, Breeze, hold up! What’s wrong?” “What? Oh, nothing. Nothing really.” Breezefeather bit her lip as she took her hands down and started fidgeting. “Come on, it had to have been something. Did you actually hear what they were whispering about?” Breezefeather’s eyes darted to the left and right, avoiding eye contact for a few seconds before looking directly at Valerie. Her emerald eyes had nothing but concern in them. Sighing, Breezefeather deflated, “Yeah, they were saying mean things. Well, two things weren’t mean, just confused on an observation.” Valerie’s eyebrow quirked upward, “Really? You could hear everything?” Breezefeather nodded, “I have really good hearing. They weren’t saying nice things. Other than we might be dating, and they didn’t think you were into girls that way, but I think they’re reading into it too much.” Valerie’s only response was a hand to her face, making an audible sound. “Some people are idiots, so don’t mind them, Breeze,” Valerie waved off the remarks. Breezefeather wasn’t too sure, though relented saying, “Only if you’re sure it’s alright.” Valerie placed her hands on her hips. “I’m sure.” Breezefeather did her best throughout the day to take Valerie’s advise and ignore all the rude and confused comments around her and her new best friend. It wasn’t easy, but she tried to make the words run off her back like water off a duck’s. It rolled around to fifth period, when an explosion rang out and the outside wall to her second English class was blown apart. The ghostly creature was a white wolf with patches of green fur and a pair of blood-red eyes. Blue beams then shot through the hole from outside, scorching the wall and forcing students to duck and cover. Storming through the hole were the two agents from outside that were guarding the entrance. “Agent K,” the fair-skinned agent said to his partner, “ready to exterminate.” “Rodger that, Agent O,” replied agent K. The ghostly wolf seemed to take offense to that statement as it let out a low growl, before becoming translucent and it phased through the floor. “Target is escaping!” Agent K cried out. They then each pulled out a device that had dials and a screen. They turned around and around before Agent K pointed away from the school and yelled, “That way!” They then ran off, blasters at the ready. Mr. Lancer glared at the retreating agents, seething. Breezefeather could understand. Two agents of a government agency just destroyed a wall of the school and then ran off without saying sorry or sending for someone to fix the damage. “Well, students,” Mr. Lancer said, “I think it’s time we wrapped up for today. Remember, read chapter three in its entirety. You will be quizzed on it tomorrow.” He looked at Breezefeather. “Miss Breezefeather, today, we’re going to be in the lab for both of your science classes, so, head to room 117, okay?” She nodded in understanding and went on her way. The last hour of the day, as usual, Breezefeather was in a classroom dedicated to study hall for students that didn’t have a final class. Working on the farm kept her fit, and she wasn’t interested in sports, especially with the favoritism that was going on. So, in study hall she sat, practicing writing with her hands or doing homework using her mouth to work the pencil. By this time, she still got some stares, but more curious than confused. Also, in the class with her was Valerie. She took out a blank sheath of paper and wrote on it, passing it to Valerie next to her. You good? Valerie looked at the paper before jotting down a response and passing the paper back, overtly. Breezefeather took it quickly, but then turned to see that the teacher had noticed, but not cared in the slightest. He only looked at Breezefeather and pointed to the chalk board which said, “QUIET” on it, before returning to the book they were reading. Breezefeather shrugged and turned her attention to the reply. Yeah, why do you ask? I ask because it looked like you were favoring one of your legs. Did you get hurt? The response was scribbled. I What made you think I just pulled a muscle is all. I’m good. She frowned at the paper. If you’re sure. I mean, if you were somehow fighting ghosts, I’d be worried. Me, fight ghosts? That’s ridiculous. Breezefeather saw that they ran out of room on that side and flipped the page over. I’m serious. You don’t have any weapons that I can see, but you act like you can take them on, like you were going to try the other day. Are you okay? Breezefeather waited a while for the paper to be returned. There weren’t any mark outs, but there were some points on the paper where she tapped it. Nothing a good night’s sleep won’t cure. I’ll be fine. If you’re sure. You’ll tell me if you were ghost hunting, right? She waited much longer for the paper to be returned. Right. Breezefeather stared at the paper and glanced at Valerie. She thought hard about what to write next. Then, an idea struck her. Did you want to hang out after school? Sure! I kind of wanted to tell you something anyways… Where did you want to hang out at? Meet me in front of the school and we’ll catch a city bus? Sure! Breezefeather smiled as she turned to Valerie. Valerie smiled and gave her a strange gesture. It was her fingers curled into fists, but her thumbs stuck out. Breezefeather kept smiling before she turned back to the front of the class. What a strange motion to make, she thought. I wonder what it means. Something good, obviously.
