Two afternoons later, Sky and Thunderlane were sitting together in their Drawing & Painting class, looking forward to a relaxing weekend. The first art project of the year was a simple one, a shaded picture of their hand holding an object. Sky had taken a picture of his left hand holding a ruler, and was using that as a reference image. He was making good progress on his drawing, but Thunderlane was having some difficulties.

“Man, drawing my own hand is a lot harder than I thought it’d be,” Thunderlane remarked.

Sky shrugged. “It’s not that hard for me. You just have to make sure you get all the creases.”

“It’s not that, dude. I keep drawing the knuckles all wrong. Man, if this is supposed to be the easiest project, this is gonna be a hard class.”

“Ah, don’t worry about it. We have two weeks to work on this. And Brush is, like, the most chill teacher I’ve ever had.” Harlequin Brushstroke was very laid-back, to the point where he allowed all of his students to just call him “Brush”.

“True. By the way, here’s what happened to my brother yesterday.” Thunderlane held up his phone and showed Sky a video of his younger brother’s latest skateboarding fail. The previous afternoon, Rumble had attempted to jump a set of concrete stairs in Meadowbrook Park, and it had not ended well.

Sky winced as he watched Rumble’s painful landing. “Ow, that’s got to hurt! I guess you could say Rumble took a tumble.”

“Good one!” Thunderlane laughed. “Yeah, he sprained his ankle pretty badly, and scraped up his shin too. He stayed home today because he says it’s too painful to walk.”

“Not a great start to his freshman year, that’s for sure."

“The first thing he asked me this morning was whether or not the twins would come over and check on him. Here I was, thinking he’d grown out of his crushes on them.”

Sky chuckled and rolled his eyes. Back when they were all in elementary school, Rumble was constantly trying to impress Cloudchaser and Flitter, who found his efforts cute and funny. Sky also remembered Rumble getting mad at him when he gave Cloudchaser a bag of chocolates on Valentine’s Day, even though none of them had even hit puberty yet.

“Well, to be fair to him, they do seem like they’d be good caretakers. And besides, you’re the one with a crush on Miss Blossom!”

“That is not true! Just because I think she looks good doesn’t mean I have a crush!”

“Then why do you keep staring at her during class?” Sky teased. “You say you don’t have a crush, but your eyes tell a different story.”

“Fine. Maybe I do, maybe I don’t. Does it really matter anyway? If she dated me, she’d get fired. Though once she gets to know me, she might decide that she likes me more than her job…” Without thinking, Thunderlane smiled and winked at Sky.

Sky laughed. “Well then, I think that answers the question!”

Sky returned to drawing for a few more minutes, then looked around the room. It wasn’t long before his gaze became fixed in one place. On the other side of the room sat a group of three girls. They each had very different colors and hairstyles, and there was one in particular who caught Sky’s eye. She had minty green skin, soft turquoise and white hair, and a beautiful pair of golden eyes. She also wore a cute pink headband with a flower, and her light magenta dress showed off her shoulders very well. She looked adorable as she chatted and giggled with her friends. Sky couldn’t believe he hadn’t noticed her before. Canterlot High had a fair number of pretty girls, but this girl was definitely the prettiest one he’d seen. Sky soon found himself gazing across the room at her instead of working on his drawing.

“What the hell are you looking at, dude?” Thunderlane eventually asked.

Sky jumped and turned back to his friend. “Oh… nothing. Just… zoned out a little bit there. You know, it’s the last period on Friday, I’m just kinda tired.”

Thunderlane chuckled. “Ah, don’t worry, man. I totally get that. I’m just messing with you, that’s all.”

A few minutes later, the bell rang, signaling the end of the school day. “All right, everyone, time to clean up!” Brush called. “Your only homework is to do something fun and relaxing this weekend. Have a good one!”

As Sky left the art room, he smiled as he noticed the minty girl and her two friends departing the other way. He found her appearance very attractive, although he didn’t know her name or anything else about her. He made his way to the school’s main entrance, and then headed home to start his weekend.

The following afternoon, Sky was sitting on the couch in his basement, with Sunny curled up on the floor near his feet. Sky was watching Agent 75, one of his all-time favorite comedy movies, on the TV. The titular character was a well-meaning but clumsy spy who constantly screwed up at everything he did. The movie’s slapstick gags never failed to crack Sky up.

“He knocked his own partner out the window!” Sky cackled as he watched Agent 75 accidentally bump another spy out of a high-rise window. Fortunately, the other agent managed to cling onto the ledge. Sky’s laughter was interrupted by the sound of his father, Air Raider, coming down the stairs. Air had light blue skin and short gray hair, although his hair had been navy blue when he was younger. “Hey buddy, I’m going to the mall,” he said to Sky. “Do you want to come with me?”

“Sure! I haven’t been to the Canterlot Mall in years.”

“Sounds good. I’ll be waiting on the back porch.” Air turned and walked back up the stairs.

“All right, I’ll be there in a sec.” Sky picked up the remote and turned off the TV just as the channel went to a commercial break. He bent down to squish Sunny’s cheeks before getting off the couch and heading upstairs. He brushed Sunny’s fur off his socks before putting on his sneakers and going outside.

“So what are you going to the mall for?” Sky asked as he got into the passenger seat of Air’s navy blue hatchback.

“I’m buying some desk speakers for my office. Since I’m planning to get three, you’ll have to carry at least one.”

“Sure thing, but only if you buy me a donut afterward!”

Air chuckled. “All right, it’s a deal!”

The fastest route to the Canterlot Mall was via Route 17. Air drove west along Aquamarine Avenue, and they soon arrived at the interchange for the highway. As Air got on the southbound entrance ramp, he shifted into the highest gear and accelerated. Both of Sky’s parents were unusual in that they preferred cars with manual transmissions.

Since it was Saturday, the traffic was light. Air and Sky only had to travel five miles on Route 17, and the exit for the road leading to the mall soon came into view. As they passed under the sign for exit 34, Air switched into the rightmost lane and got off the highway. This was the exit for the Jade Parkway, a wide open road lined with lush green trees on either side, as well as a landscaped median. It made for a very scenic drive into the city. On the way to the mall, Air reminisced about the times before they left Canterlot, when Sky was younger.

“The last time we went to the mall together, you must have been ten,” Air remarked. “It was before we moved to Valesbridge.”

“Yeah, it was six years ago. A lot of stuff has changed since then.”

After driving east along the Jade Parkway for a few miles, Air and Sky arrived at the Canterlot Mall. It was a large building with stucco walls and a shiny glass roof. It didn’t look too different from how Sky remembered it, though two of the department stores had been replaced by different ones.

“This place is more crowded than I thought it would be,” Air remarked as he drove into the mall parking lot. “Let’s see if we can find a spot close to one of the doors.”

Every light pole in the parking lot had a big blue sign with a number on it, which was convenient for remembering where you parked. It must have been Air’s lucky day, because he found a space right next to number 23, which was near the north entrance. He and Sky got out of the car and walked into the mall.

“Looks like they remodeled since the last time we were here,” Sky commented. More glass panels had been added to the roof, which allowed more light to shine in from outside. In addition, the colors of the walls had been changed to a wider range of pastel colors, rather than the plain alabaster they were previously. Up ahead, Sky could see the mall’s famous golden fountain, located in the center of the building. There were many people walking around in all different directions.

Sky and Air soon found the electronics store, which was located just east of the fountain. It was one of the larger stores in the mall, with several aisles carrying many different electronic devices and parts. Air picked up a catalog when they walked in. “Speakers, aisle 7,” Air said, reading off the store directory. He walked down to the seventh aisle, and Sky followed. But when they scanned the shelves, they couldn’t find the desk speakers that Air wanted. “I guess they’re not in this aisle,” said Sky.

Air nodded. “Let’s check the next one.” They headed over to aisle 8, which carried headphones, but the speakers weren’t there either. “Well, that’s a pisser,” Air remarked. He then noticed a store employee stocking a shelf with earbuds. “Excuse me, sir, do you currently have these speakers in stock?” Air opened the catalog and pointed to the one he was looking for.

The employee shook his head. “No, sorry. That catalog is outdated – we stopped carrying those a couple weeks ago. The music store on the second floor should have them, though. That store’s owned by the same company as this one, and most of our music-related goods are being transferred over there.”

“Thank you. Come on, Sky, we have to go to the music store instead.” Air and Sky left the electronics store and got on the up escalator. At the top was a sign with a mall directory, which was convenient because Air didn’t know where the music store was.

Air squinted as he read the store listings. “Let’s see… Synthia’s Music Shack, right here.” He pointed to a spot in the mall’s west wing, near the food court. “I think there’s a donut place in the food court. We can go there right afterward!”

“Oh, perfect!”

“Now that you’re almost seventeen, you should be buying your own donut, but a deal’s a deal,” Air chuckled as he and Sky walked along the mezzanine. It had storefronts on one side and a glass railing on the other. There were fewer people up here, which Sky was happy about. When it wasn’t too crowded, the mall was a nice place to just walk around.

After walking for a while, Sky and Air reached the music store. The name “SYNTHIA’S” was spelled out above the door in large yellow letters, along with the symbol of a guitar and three music notes. Sky and Air entered the store and found that it carried all kinds of music paraphernalia, from musical instruments to CDs and headphones. “Look, they have bagpipes!” Air remarked, pointing to Sky’s favorite instrument hung on the wall.

“Oh yeah!” Sky laughed. “Cool!” He was about to follow his dad, but then he glanced over at the cash register. Sitting behind the register was the same minty girl that Sky had been admiring in his Drawing & Painting class the day before. Around her neck, she wore a gold pendant shaped like a small harp. Her eyes were closed and she was wearing a set of earbuds, presumably listening to some music on her phone. In her presence, Sky wasn’t sure what to do with himself, so he simply remained where he was, alternating between looking at CDs on the shelves and looking at the floor.

Eventually, the girl took her earbuds out and opened her golden eyes. “Can I help you?” she asked.

Sky felt his heart skip a beat, and looked back at her in surprise. He hadn’t been expecting her to call out to him. He was so enamored by her that he didn’t know what to say. “Um… I’m… fine, I guess. Just, um… looking around… that’s all.” He cleared his throat.

“Um… all right,” the girl replied. “If you need anything, I’m right here! I know a lot about music.” She returned to looking at her phone.

Sky blushed upon hearing her voice, which sounded really pretty and sweet. He didn’t know what else to say to her, but he didn’t want to just stand there. He glanced toward the other end of the store and saw that his dad was still scanning the shelves. “So… you work here?” He knew it was a silly, obvious question to ask, and a part of him cringed at having asked it.

The girl looked up. “Yep, I do. I work here three afternoons a week. My name’s Lyra, by the way. Lyra Heartstrings.”

“Lyra… that’s a really pretty name." Sky blushed again as soon as he said that. “My name’s Sky Scraper.”

Lyra giggled. “Nice to meet you, Sky – and thanks. Say, are you new to Canterlot? I don’t think I’ve seen you before.”

“Yeah, I am. I just moved here from –”

Before Sky could finish his sentence, Air called out to him. “Hey, Sky, I found the speakers! Could you please carry one of them for me?”

“Sure,” Sky responded. He turned back to Lyra. “Sorry, I have to help my dad carry something. I’ll be right back.” He jogged over and picked up the third speaker, while Air carried the first two. When they came back, Lyra scanned the speakers and Air paid with his credit card. “What I was going to say was… I just moved here from Valesbridge a couple weeks ago,” said Sky.

“Well then, welcome to Canterlot!” Lyra said with a cheerful smile. “Have a great day!”

“Thanks… same to you!” Sky replied. As he and Air left the store, carrying each speaker in a separate bag, Sky thought over his short conversation with Lyra. At this point, there was no doubt that he had a crush on her, although his first conversation with her had been rather awkward.

“So were you talking to that girl at the register?” Air asked as he and Sky walked to the food court to get donuts.

“Yeah, I was. I was going to help you look for the speakers, but then I ended up talking with her instead.”

“I guess there’s always time for a pretty girl,” Air teased.

Sky blushed. “Why are you saying that? I just talked to her for maybe a minute. It’s not like I have a crush or anything.” But he did, and he hoped he would get a chance to talk to Lyra again soon.

Author's Note

And thus, Lyra has entered.