Chapters 1 - Educational Adventure
Miss Cheerilee smiled at her classroom of little ponies. "Calm down, everypony. I know this is an exciting idea, but the breezies will only be sending a few ponies, and they only have room for a few in return." She raised her hooves. "One for one, a fair trade."
Her eyes wandered over the classroom. "While you're there, you'll be living as a breezie, with the breezies. You will not be able to return." She raised a hoof to her chin. "I will also expect a full report on the experience." The two conditions made many raised hooves lower. But still some remained up and ready. "While I want you to learn from the breezies and do things as they do, you will be the only support the others have. You have to work together."
More hooves shrank with worry. One set of three remained just as high, waving eagerly. Cheerfilee smiled at the crusaders. "I am, somehow, completely unsurprised."
Apple Bloom grabbed Sweetie, who was next to her. "We'll watch out fer each other!"
Sweetie raised a notebook with her magic. "And take so many notes!" She lurched to the side, Scootaloo crashing in from the other way to grab her.
"We'll check it all out!" Scoots shouted with a grin.
Cheerilee set down her hooves. "Well, there is a final step." She looked from the CMC to the other eager foals. "You have to get permission from your parents."
Scootaloo wilted with a suffering sigh.
Cheerilee did notice that. "Scootaloo, an okay from your aunts will suffice."
Her mood rebounded instantly as she jumped up over the desk with a cheer, clopping her hooves together.
"Now, back to the lesson of the day." Class had not been cancelled to broach that topic, and they were dragged back into more local learning.
"It's gonna be so cool!" Scootaloo had arrived home, jittering with excitement. "I wanna see how those little ponies get anything done." She slapped down a paper on the table. "I just need a singature from you two."
Her aunts looked at the paper more skeptically. Lofty mussed Scootaloo's mane. "Did you even read this?"
"Yes."
Holiday laughed. "By which you mean, 'no and I'm hoping you don't either.'" She smooched Scootaloo's blushing cheek. "You are too easy to read sometimes."
Lofty sat, crossing her arms. "It says here Twilight's gonna zap you."
"Wouldn't be the first time," defended Scootaloo.
Lofty tapped at the paper. "You'll be a breezie." She brought her hooves close. "This small. That something you want to do?"
"Yes?" Scootaloo smiled brightly. "Why wouldn't I?! It'll be so much fun."
"Hm?" Sweetie's father was watching something on television, only half-paying attention.
"I need your hoof stamp right here, please." Sweetie presented the form. "It's for a school trip."
"Oh, sure." Down came his hoof, stomping it without hesitation. "Have fun! Oh, how long is it, a day trip?"
That was a fine question! Sweetie turned the paper to look at it. "A moon."
"A moon?!" Hondo sat up sharply. "That's quite a long time for a school trip!"
Sweetie neatly folded the paper, tucking it away even as this new piece of information was digested. "We're going to learn a lot. I'll be taking notes the entire time."
Hondo hiked a dubious brow. "That's the longest you've ever been away before."
"I'm not a little foal anymore." Sweetie extended her tongue slightly. "I can take care of myself for a little while. Besides, Twilight's involved!" She saw her name on the paper.
"Oh, well, if Twilight's gonna be there." Hondo sat back, clearly put at ease. "Just, be careful, alright? I don't want my Sweetie getting hurt." He put out a hoof and soon had a Sweetie to hug gently. "And have fun."
"I will!" she sang joyfully, permission obtained!
Apple Bloom pointed at the paper before Granny. "Ah just need ya to give the alright!"
Granny Smith was not so swift, leaning in with a thoughtful noise. "A whole moon? Who's gonna cover yer chores while you're off gallivantin' to who knows where?"
"What's this now?" Applejack was just entering, shaking herself out from a day's work. "Whatcha got there?"
Granny waved at the paper. "Apple Bloom wants to run off somewhere fer a whole moon."
"This one of them contests?" Applejack circled the table to have a peek. "Bunch of scams, lemme tell ya." But then she could read it. "Oh, it's a school thin'." Her hoof trailed down across it. "Twilight's doin' it?"
Apple Bloom bobbed her head. "She's gonna zap us into breezies and we're trading places with breezie foals to learn stuff!"
Applejack's brows fell even as a sly smile grew. "Well, that sounds like we done found an answer then."
"We did?" Granny raised her shoulders. "What answer?"
Applejack tapped at the paper. "If yer gettin' breezie exchange students, one of 'em, or all of 'em, can stay here and do yer chores while you're gone."
Apple Bloom drew her head back. "Huh... Sure." She pointed up at her room through the roof. "They kin use mah room while ah'm gone. Ain't no harm in that."
Granny nodded firmly. "Good, then we'll teach them somethin'. Bein' an earth pony ain't easy, but we'll show 'em how it's done, little flittering things. They won't be flitterin' so much if they're full size." A pause. "They'll be full size, right?"
Apple Bloom pointed at herself. "And ah'll be teeny tiny!"
Applejack grabbed her little sister, hugging her fiercely with one leg. "You'll always be teeny tiny in mah book, sis. Now, alright." She stomped her hoof on the paper, leaving a nice clear mark. "You better learn somethin' new! This ain't just fer fun."
Lofty hummed. "I'm not sure I approve of the idea, you being so far away from all the adults you know and can turn to."
"It is a long way aways," joined Aunt Holiday. "Are you sure you're ready for this?"
Scootaloo bobbed her head. "I won't be alone. Other ponies from my class are going too." She clapped her hooves. "Including the girls! You know them!"
"We do," allowed Lofty with a little smirk. "If they went off for so long without you--"
"--You'd be beside yourself," agreed Holiday. "We can't allow that."
"We certainly can! But we wouldn't. Scootaloo, we need to go over a few things first. If you're going to be so far away for so long, you need to be ready."
Scootaloo snapped a salute. She was getting permission! Did anything else really matter?
Holiday set an arm over Scootaloo. "You're taking after your parents, aren't you? Going off to far off places to mingle with the locals and maybe get into trouble."
Scootaloo's cheer took a turn. "Um, sorta?" She wasn't sure how she felt about that bit. "It looks fun, with the girls."
"With the girls," echoed Lofty with a little snort. "Now, if you're in trouble..."
The next day, Cheerilee found a stack of papers on her desk. It wasn't a big stack, but it was a stack. She pushed at them with a hoof to count them quickly. Five papers. "I'll let Twilight know. She'll contact you when she's ready. But that's not today's lesson. You know how the flowers had dew this morning?" A tepid affirmative from the crowd came. "It's time to learn why that is!"
Twilight floated the permission slips about. "Hm!" Five eager little minds, wanting to learn. How delightful! She turned and zapped the table that served as the cutie map.
A little breezie popped into being atop it. "--with three slices." He turned in place to face Twilight. "What the? Oh, it is the Twilight! How can I be helping you today?"
Twilight nodded at Seabreeze. "I have five volunteers."
"Five?! That is being too many." He frowned at the large form of the pony princess. "Why do you have so many?"
"The foals are very eager to take part in this." Twilight curled a hoof to her chin. "I was thinking, what if we exchange with two towns at once? Could you arrange for that? We'd send three to one and two to the other. We'll gladly take five breezies in return. Our school can accommodate that."
"Easy for you to be saying. Your school is very much larger." He threw his hooves wide for emphasis. "I will talk. Goodbye!" And he vanished, the map returning to its usual state.
Half a world away, Seabreeze clapped his face between two tiny hooves. "Five?!"
"Told you," taunted a female breezie. "Ponies adore us."
"Why are they doing that? They are the ones who are large and great! We are tiny and--"
"They still like us," whistled the female with a giggle. "Still, this is good, isn't it?"
"I am not ready!" cried Seabreeze. "The Twilight, she said she would send three to one and two to the other, yes?"
"Ja," agreed the female, seeming to enjoy Seabreeze's meltdown. "Why?"
"Then we can give three to the other." He pointed off. "And just deal with two. We just need a village for the three." Seabreeze looked hopeful, the disaster showing signs of being resolved. "But which one will want ponies?"
"They'll be breezies," noted the female, waving over herself. "Not big ponies. A few guests isn't that big."
"They are ponies," exclaimed Seabreeze with a frown. "About as big as it is getting."
"Tiny ponies," giggled the female. "Sounds fun! Little pony larvae? I bet they will be so very cute!"
"Adorable," grunted Seabreeze without the same enthusiasm. "Why were you so sure they'd agree to the plan you were making?"
"Do you close your eyes every time?" She sat and rolled her eyes. "They watch us each flight. The ponies wish they could be so small."
"But why ?" To Seabreeze, clearly a baffling concept. "Whatever, it is too late. Promises were made! You!" He pointed at the female. "You like it so much, your problem! Find somewhere to take the three. I will set up for the two."
He fluttered off in a tizzy, leaving things in her hooves. "Three little ponies." She clapped with naked joy. "That sounds so fun!" She lifted into the air to make her own plans with a huge smile. "I'll make this work. Silly boy, this is not even being a problem. A chill pill or three is what you need." She rolled her eyes as she navigated the idyllic forest that was home to the breezies.
"The winds are just right." Twilight had a hoof up. "Confirmation?"
Fluttershy nodded with confidence. "Are you sure the foals will arrive safely?"
"If they stay in the current and don't stray away from it." She looked across the foals, CMC included. "Now, time to get dressed, as it were."
Her horn glowed brightly as she wove the spell around them, reducing five foals to five even teenier young breezies looking around from their new vantage point. "Now--" She scooped them all up. "You just need to spread your wings and..." And they were carried away with a bunch of tiny squeals of excitement and alarm.
"Ah got it!" assured Apple Bloom, doing her best to stay straight as the winds pushed her and the girls along. "We're on the way!"
"Woo!" That she'd be able to fly hadn't been noted a specific benefit. It was still one, and Scootaloo was living the dream, soaring along the breeze. Though her wings hadn't ever been powerful enough to lift her from the ground, her practice still came in handy, allowing her to control her motions with far greater skill than her peers. "This is already super fun!"
Sweetie made notes in a floating pad as she did a slow spin in the air, not focusing enough on keeping upright. "Don't forget, we're here to learn too. I bet Miss Cheerilee will quiz us!"
Apple Bloom paled. "Good thing we have you here to take such good notes." She caught Sweetie as she was about to float past. "Gotcha!"
Author's Note
The CMC are off to the breezie grotto to learn what breezie life is like. Some breezies are coming to learn pony life. Nothing can go wrong. Not a dang thing. Ignore any typos on the permission slips.
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2 - Like Seeds in the Wind
While it was they that moved quickly, it seemed much the opposite. Equestria was hurriedly sliding past them. The lack of active effort to move forward only amplified this sensation. Their new insect wings seemed fine for balance and direction, but largely useless for controlling where they ended up. The breeze had them, and they were living up to what they had become, subservient to its desires.
None of this stopped Scootaloo from swooping from one side of the wind tunnel to the other, savoring the freedom of functioning wings. "How are you two doing?" she shouted at the two foals that were not crusaders.
"I'm fine," assured Prickle Berry, her unusual strength of little use as she hurled through the air. "Thank you."
Scootaloo looked towards the other and he fidgeted. "I'm alright!" chimed Featherweight, who had finally lived up to his name, blowing on the wind like a loosed feather. "You look like you're having fun."
"That's because she is," assured Apple Bloom, half-crashing into Scootaloo. She was not as skilled with her new wings. "Miss Cheerilee said we gotta back each other up though."
Sweetie joined the meeting, a glowing pad scribbling away with a quill closely beside her. "We get to have fun and learn things. An ideal combination."
Apple Bloom shoved Sweetie away a little. "You are takin' this real serious, aintcha?"
"If I don't, who will," countered Sweetie with an extended tongue. "You'll be thanking me when I stop us from getting a failing grade."
Scootaloo threw a leg over Sweetie's withers. "I'll thank you right now! You're giving me more chance to enjoy these wings." She tried to buzz them, but breezie wings were not really made for that, especially in the middle of a carrying wind. They could give her flight, but pegasus wings had perks. "Hm. These are still new."
They were approaching a mountain range that filled their visions. The winds were pushing them right towards it. "Look!" came Prickle's cry, directing their attention at a swirling vortex the wind was bringing them towards.
Sweetie flipped pages and got to a new bit of note taking. "I remember hearing about that. That means we're about to arrive at the home of the breezies."
A moment of colors, and the breeze was gone. Despite that, they didn't crash to the ground. Scootaloo did a loop in the air with a wild wooping laugh, for she could fly freely. "Woo!"
"Ah, there they are being." Sea Breeze was there, perched on a mushroom and looking over the five arriving breezies that had been ponies. "Welcome. Now, two of you are coming with me, yes? Three of you will be with her." He pointed at a second breezie with a bright smile. "I do not care which is which. Pick now."
Sweetie pointed at Sea. "Weren't you... You met the girls, I think? Fluttershy mentioned you."
Sea cringed at that. "Ah, yes. I did do that thing." He rubbed behind his head lightly. "Make your decisions quickly now."
The other breezie seemed far less tense about it. "You'll all have a great time. Thank you for coming so far to reach us." She spread her hooves and thin legs. "We welcome you!"
Apple Bloom took a step forward, enjoying the feel of ground beneath her hooves, however strange they had become. "Um, hiya! Well, if it's two ta one and three fer the other, this seems like an' easy choice." She directed a new hoof at the smiling female breezie. "We're comin' with you!"
Sweetie waved at the two other foals, Prickle and Featherweight. "Have fun! One of you should take your own notes." She shook her notepad for emphasis on that.
Featherweight drew a camera from his pocket. "I'm going to get tons of photos!"
Prickle clapped at that. "That's a good idea. Everypony back home will be so excited to see that." The two of them closed with Sea Breeze.
Which left the female with the crusaders. "Hello, little ones. I am being Swirly and it is nice to meet you all." She dipped her head at the foals that were small even compared to her. "You are all safe and well?"
Scootaloo snapped a sharp salute. "All present and ready to go!"
Sweetie pointed at her busy notepad. "Why can we fly here? I don't feel a breeze, and none of us are being carried away."
"That is a great question!" Swirly clapped with a smile. "You are paying attention. This is a special place." She directed a hoof about. "In this vale, we can fly easily. Even outside--" She pointed to the portal back. "--we can fly, but it is harder, especially a long long way away. We could never be making it from your town without a good breeze." Her wings flapped, more of a flutter as she lifted into the air. "If you will following me? I have nice place for you all."
The crusaders followed, two on hoof with Scootaloo giggling as she flew overhead. It wasn't a fast flight. Rainbow Dash was safe, for the time being, but it was flight. "There are a lot of mushrooms," she noted as she drifted along.
"We do love our mushrooms," Swirly agreed. "You'll be in one, living." She pointed to a large, wide one with a brightly blue roof. "There we are!" She stepped up to the door and brushed it aside, having no lock or even much of a latch. "This is being your home for new. Is good, ja?"
Apple Bloom poked her head in the fungal architecture. "Neat!" She poked a wall, confirming it seemed solid enough to not crash upon them. "Is this your home?"
"No." Swirly inclined her head. "I am being next door." She pointed the way. "Look out window there and see me. You call and I come quick."
Sweetie blinked at that. "We're living alone?!"
"Sweet." Scootaloo swooped up, landing in the middle of the room. "So, uh, do we just explore? Because I'm down with that."
Swirly laughed at the energetic spirit. "No, that was not the deal made." She curled a hoof on her chest. "You are student. I am teacher. You will learn, yes?"
Sweetie brought her hooves together in a little clop. "Oh! I didn't realize. Hello, teacher. Are we part of a larger class?" She considered their orangish-pelted teacher with purple-berry mane. Her mane was long and flowing. She had long lashes, but that seemed to be a common point among all breezies, herself currently included.
Swirly put her hooves close together. "We breezies do things small. Small classes, small students. All is being small, yes? You are my class, and I am already proud." She nodded with a look of complete satisfaction. "Assignment for today is easy, relax. Get settled in new home, hm? Tomorrow, adventures begin!"
Apple Bloom offered a hoof. "Well, shoot. Thank ya kindly then, Miss Swirly. We'll be doin' our best to be right courteous guests in yer town." All three bobbed their heads in agreement with the idea. "Alright, girls. Let's unpack!"
With a communal cry, they charged off, each finding a room for themselves and unloading what they had brought into them. It became clear that whatever they had stashed away had shrunk when the rest of them did. Scootaloo tapped at her chin. "I'd better remember it all..." Or it'd become eency tiny when she was full sized. Er, or stay eency tiny. Either way, that'd be a sad way to lose her things.
When Apple Bloom emerged from her room, she saw Sweetie seated in the living room first. "Huh, already done?"
"Yup!" Sweetie inclined her head. "I only brought a few things, like a brush."
Apple Bloom quirked an ear at that. "That's all ya need?"
"We're here to live like breezies," argued Sweetie with a smile. "I can't do that if I bring Ponyville with me."
"Huh..." Apple Bloom frowned with new thought. "Ya might have a point there. Too late fer that though, already here, an' unpacked."
Scootaloo soared down the stairs, landing between the other two girls. "I am loving this so far."
Sweetie burst into giggles. "If you like it so much, why not stay?"
Scootaloo began tapping her hooves as she counted, "One, then I'd be away from you two, so that's already a dead idea. Two, I'm a pegasus, even if flying is fun, I'm still a pegasus." She rolled her eyes. "And a breezie is not a pegasus. Three, did I mention you two wouldn't be here, or the rest of my friends? Pass! But I'm going to enjoy it while I'm here."
Apple Bloom got the smuggest of smiles. "Pity Rainbow weren't here to hear ya say that. Yer givin' her a run for the loyalty badge."
Scootaloo colored swiftly. "I'm not trying to show off!"
Sweetie giggled. "Nothing wrong with being a good pony. I try to be generous, like my sister, when I can."
"And ah'm down with honesty." Apple Bloom nodded, no shame in taking after her sister present. "Now, uh, bein' honest... What's fer dinner? That flight took a lot out of me." She frowned. "Which is kinda confusin', seein' as we weren't doin' the flying. We were just kinda blowin' in the wind an' all."
Swirly cleared her throat, reminding them that she hadn't ever actually left. The three started, but she was smiling kindly. "The pantry, it is full of tasty things." She trotted right past them to show the way. She reached up with her hooves, brushing a few cabinets open. "All good things for little breezies to become bigger."
Scootaloo bumped against Apple Bloom as she followed. "Even gliding takes power. Less than flying, but not nothing. I'm extra hungry! I was steering."
Sweetie snickered at that. "You didn't have to, but you sure had a good time with it."
That got Swirly's attention. "You seem very talented in flight. Were you a pony with wings before?"
"Yeah!" Scootaloo bobbed her head fiercely, fluttering her wings. "So I knew how to use them already." She spread her wings as wide as they'd go. "But they are definitely different."
"I can only imagine." Swirly nodded with thought. "Our wings, they are made mostly for catching wind. Pony wings? They make the wind, do they not?"
"That isn't a bad way to phrase it." Scootaloo peeked at her alien wings. "But that sounds funny." She giggled at the idea. "I was making wind."
Sweetie rolled her eyes at that. "Ignore her." She instead advanced on the opened cabinets. "Ooo." She stared a moment, nothing happening. "Oh yeah..." She did not have a horn. What she saw would not come to her no matter how much she stared at it. She reached with her hooves instead, drawing out a bundle that she soon had opened, revealing to all what seemed to be a stack of granola bars.
"Oh, is very tasty." Swirly set a hoof beside them. "Honey? We love it. Nuts, also good. Honey and nuts? Perfection!" She casually snatched one of the bars and chewed loudly into its crunchy sweetness. "Mmm."
Sweetie joined, the others not long after her. For a moment, there was nothing but the sound of crunched granola bars in the tiny mouths of the four breezies. A fine dinner, if one were a breezie. Sweetie waved her empty hoof. "Huh... I'm not hungry. That wasn't a very large bar."
Swirly nodded as she walked away, brushing the cabinets closed on the way back. "We are being small. Small bellies, small appetites. It doesn't take so much to keep us happy."
Apple Bloom burst into laughter. "Think how many bits we could save if we ate so little as ponies?"
"Ponies are not being breezies." Swirly waved a hoof in a warning way. "As ponies, eat as ponies are doing. Do not eat like breezies do. For now? You are breezie. We eat as breezies." She clapped her hooves. "And, as breezies, sleep as breezies. Tomorrow, adventure as breezies! Fun, yes? I will be returning in the morning, and we start."
Author's Note
Everything is set up for breezie adventures, yay!
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Morning came not with loud roosters or tolling bells. It came with excited conversations. The breezies of the community had risen with the coming of the light and were quite cheerfully sharing tales and words with one another that the mushroom walls of their new home did little to ward.
"Morning!" shouted Scootaloo as she slid down the bannister to the ground floor. "Everypony ready to start?!"
"Nope." Sweetie had the smuggest grin as she stepped down less athletically. "There isn't a single pony here to start."
"Ha ha." Apple Bloom reached the bottom with the others. "Ah'm kinda peckish. Ah know we ate just before bed an' all."
"Me too," joined Scootaloo. "Small things eat more often?"
"But less," noted Sweetie, drawing out her pad to take notes on that fact. "Let's get some breakfast." With a communal cheer, they charged into the kitchen. Rather than going for more granola, they found a jar. "It's like honey..." But it wasn't golden, and wasn't as thick, really. Still, it was sweet and floral.
All three took a hoof, dipping it into the jar and tasting. "Mmm!" complimented Apple Bloom. "Not bad." She thrust her hoof right back in and got to cleaning it off with sweeps of her tongue. Breakfast was secured.
Swirly entered on the scene of the three sharing the sweet syrup. "Oh! Good. Breakfast is done." She nodded with clear satisfaction. "Are you ready to set out?"
Scootaloo popped the lid back on and turned it tightly. "Mornin' teach! Where are we going today?"
"You." She was pointing at Apple Bloom. "You are named after a fruit. Is this a good comparison?"
Apple Bloom inclined her head. "Um, yeah. Ah'm an apple farmer and a potion maker!" She swirled her hooves as if stirring a cauldron that wasn't there. "Why?"
"Very good." Swirly clapped excitedly. "Then how about today we go visit our fruit trees? Fruits are very large, often too large for any one breezie. Except berries. We love berries." She licked her lips at the thought. "Just the right size. But a big fruit, it can being great! Cut it up for a whole of the family."
Apple Bloom lifted into the air on her new wings. "Do ya got apples here? 'magine they'd be huge!"
Sweetie burst into giggles. "First chance you get, you look for apples?" She stuck out her tongue at Swirly. "Don't encourage her."
"But to encourage you is being my job," defended Swirly with a bright smile. "This way!" She led the way outside in the bustling activity of the morning. Countless breezies were floating past on various tasks.
One stopped. "Swirly!" He waved excitedly. "Why are the little ones being?"
"All they way they came," cried Swirly, returning the wave. "Pony towns. Ponies they are!" She waved at the crusaders as a whole. "Here they are for learning."
"Ooo, learning!" The male breezie clapped excitedly. "Have fun!" And off he floated back on his own business.
"This way." Swirly lifted into the air on wide wings. "Can you fly all?"
Scootaloo showed by doing, lifting up to Swirly's side without hesitation.
Sweetie and Apple Bloom spread their new wings, but whatever the next step was, it didn't come to them instantly. "Huh," let out Apple Bloom. "What do we do?" She angled her entire body to the left and right, as if shaking the wings would do the trick.
Scootaloo bounced in place, despite not having a ground to push against. "Jump and never come back down!"
"Well, not never," cautioned the teacher. "But a long time is good enough, yes?"
Sweetie bounced high in the air, her wings catching the wind. She swooped forward without her control, squeaking in alarm as she began an uncontrolled forward motion. "Pull up!" called Scootaloo, causing Sweetie to draw away from the ground at a sharp angle, ascending rapidly into the sky.
"Ain't gonna get me," confidently assures Apple Bloom, taking a slightly less full powered leap. She brought her wings down and failed to land, instead wobbling back and forth in the air instead of shooting out like a bullet as Sweetie had done. "Ha! Look at me go!" She wasn't going much of anywhere, but she was off the ground.
"eeeEEee!" Sweetie was coming at them at an uncomfortable speed, but she was caught firmly in two sets of arms. Both her teacher, Swirly, and Scootaloo wrapped around her, hooves coming in to squeeze as Sweetie caught her breath.
Scootaloo laughed with joy. "Welcome to the air! Good job, both of you." She released Sweetie, who stayed aloft without darting away. "Takes some practice, but flying's the best " She pumped a hoof excitedly.
"About that." Apple Bloom raised to be even in altitude. "You don't fly, Scootaloo, no offense or nothin'. How do you know what flyin's like?"
Scootaloo flipped an ear back. "Cold. I've flown before..." She worried her hooves together. "Just not... under my own power. Rainbow's taken me flying before, and when I'm in the zone on my scooter? I may as well be!" She suddenly turned in the air towards Swirly. "Hey, do breezies have scooters or anything like that?"
Swirly shook her head at the idea. "You mean the thing with the wheels?" She made little circles in the air. "We are not having any of those, many sorries."
A great crash got all their attention to where a mushroom was lifted into the air in the distance.
Sweetie raised a hoof, squinting in that direction. "Is that Prickle?" Their overwhelmingly powerful class mate had casually lifted a building some distance away. "I hope everything is alright."
Swirly inclined her head left and right. "I am also hoping this, but that is not today's project." She turned and instead pointed to a forest that was descending down into their magical breezie valley. "There, just on the border. That is being where fruits can grow at times. We shall look and see, yes? Points for the first to see!" And off she went, drifting towards the trees with a big smile.
The younger ones trailed after her, Scootaloo swooping and swirling excitedly with sharp cries of athletic joy. Apple Bloom smiled at the naked excitement of her friend. "Sorry fer pokin' fun."
"Ain't no thing." Scootaloo swept off the sweat she wasn't shedding. "I'm going to be first though." And she put all her attention into speed. Breezies were, however, still not built for speed. Trying to slap her wings didn't make her go faster. She just wasn't a pegasus, nor had bird-like wings. She was going about the same speed as the rest of them. "C'mon!"
Breezie giggled at the attempt. "Perhaps, later, I will show you the secret. For now, this is safer. You stay near me, yes?" Students that didn't dart away made her life a little easier. "Ooo, look." She pointed. "A peach tree! Be careful with those."
Sweetie inclined her head. "Does that mean you won?" She had her pad out in one hoof, a pencil in the other. "You were technically the first to see it."
"That depends." Swirly crossed her arms with a big smile. "Are we stopping for peaches, or looking for else fruit perhaps?"
Apple Bloom considered the great stone pit fruits ahead and to the left of them. "Ain't nothin' wrong with a peach, but they do got that big rock in 'em. I saw we look fer a fruit what ain't got that goin' on."
"Seconded." Sweetie took a fresh note. "I bet that rock makes it heavier too."
"Good eyes." Swirly turned her attention away from the peach tree. "Fruits of stones are usually heavier than others are being."
Scootaloo found a tree with fruits. She was perched on a bunch of them. "Cherries can't go wrong there." She nodded with complete confidence. "Small enough to carry easy, even for little breezies."
"Like us," agreed Sweetie, landing on the branch of the same tree. "What do we carry them back with?"
"With these." Swirly drew free a bag. It was no small bag. It had several loops around the rim. "We each are taking one, yes? Then we carry together. Much easier! Ready?" Soon Apple Bloom and Scootaloo had a hoop each, holding the beg wide for Sweetie Belle to drop big ripe cherries into the opening easily. "Just like that! In fact, yes yes. I show you how to visit market. We sell extra cherries, is good to know, ja? To trade with new friends, is good. Can't always find what you are wanting, so trade what you have."
Apple Bloom gave a thoughtful hum. "Do Breezies do a, uh..."
"Barter?" suggested Sweetie with a grin.
"Yeah, that! Do they do a barter thing?"
Swirly nodded her head quickly. "Coins are big and heavy. Too big and too heavy! We trade, no coins. No smith, how make coins? We don't."
Sweetie dropped a new cherry, the bag almost full and the others straining to keep it aloft. "What do we trade for then?"
Apple Bloom pffted as if it was a common thing. "Fancy ponies only think in bits. A farmer knows a favor can be worth a thousand bits!"
Swirly tried to clap, but the bag she was supporting made that difficult at beast. "Yes! You are being very clever. We trade for a favor, then when you want something, you trade it back. We are small creatures. Small creatures, small town, small trades. Sometimes even trade the favors. Is like coins, but less heavy, which is good, ja?"
Scootaloo moved forward, drawing the sagging bag shut. "Either way, we got plenty of cherries. Enough for us and some for another breezie that didn't fly all this way to get them."
Sweetie hummed as she made fresh notes. "Barter is alive and well," she said and wrote at the same time. "We should try to find somebreezie that really really wants the cherries. They'll give us the biggest favor."
"Clever." Swirly nodded firmly. "The market is a safe place. So safe, in the fact, I will let you girls trade your cherries. You can tell me how it went afterwards. Be sure to be saving some for yourself, or you will do all that work and get no cherries. That sounds sad to me, yes?"
With a communal cry, they headed back to town. Sweetie grabbed the one abandoned loop, making it easier on the others as the balance of the bag shifted. With four breezies taking up their part, they got it back without too much trouble.
"I should be warning." Swirly inclined her head back at the tree they were leaving. "There are animals that live in fruit trees that think breezies are very tasty. We cannot help that we are sweet! Always be careful when picking fruit, or you get picked! That is bad! Do not let that happen. I will get in trouble, and you get hurt, bad bad bad."
Apple Bloom swallowed audibly. "Huh, so that's why fruits can be traded. I was wonderin' why anybreezie would trade if they're all just sittin' here waiting to be gotten'. Not like ah see any breezie tendin' to 'em."
Sweetie bobbed her head furiously. "Apple trees back home get a lot of care from the Apples, and we can't just go on in and steal them. These trees don't appear to be owned."
"Oh, they are," assured Swirly. "They are owned by the animals that live in them. And if you are not being the most careful, they will take you as the barter. You are not wanting that, are you?"
Even as the fillies tensed at the idea of being gobbled up by some wild animal, Sweetie took diligent notes of what she had learned.
Scootaloo clapped her hooves together. "If I saw an animal going for one of the girls, I'd kick them right in the head!" She lashed a hind hoof out into the air to demonstrate. "Like that!"
Apple Bloom laughed gently at that. "Ah feel safer, havin' you around to watch mah back."
But they had made it without being gobbled. It was time to trade!
Author's Note
🍒 Their first little adventure, complete. Cherry get! 🍒
Reading words this tiny is hard, alright? Typos could happen.
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They dropped off some of the cherries they had gotten, just one of them actually. Swirly had insisted that was enough for them, and it was difficult to argue with each being bigger than their own head. "And now, marketplace! That is where we are going!" She led the way, but only partly. "There." She pointed to the collection of tents and stalls. "You can be doing it!"
"Huh." Apple Bloom hefted her share of the bag, holding her ring up. "Well, ah done run a stall before, and ah'm better than the first time."
Sweetie cheered. "Go Apple Bloom! We're right behind you."
"I'm right behind you." Scootaloo poked at the bag of berries. "Sweetie's to the side. Let's sell some cherries!"
With the communal cheer, they advanced as one, tied together by the bag they hoped to sell. Conversations began to reach them, but they were not in ponish. Not even the heavily accented ponish that Swirly used. The breezies there were shouting at each other in high pitched gibberish that none of them could understand.
Apple Bloom pressed a hoof to the side of her head. "Uh..." She glanced at the other girls. "This may be trickier than ah thought..." Despite that, she advanced to a clear spot. "Let's set up."
The others nodded along with that, and they got to putting together a simple but serviceable stand, one of the cherries out on display, shiny and tempting, they hoped. "Vad är detta?" asked a new voice, a male breezie trotting up to the stand and coming to a stop, eyeing the big cherry with thoughtful noises. "Säljer du? Jag har inte sett dig här förut."
All three crusaders blinked helplessly at the inquisitive newcomer. Apple Bloom tried to marshal herself. "We are... hopin' to trade... ja?"
"Ja!" The breezie bobbed his head. "Hur många har du kvar?" When Apple Bloom looked lost, he inclined his head, one brow raising. "Vad är fel? Är det här något nytt sätt att pruta?!"
"Ja?" tried Apple Bloom. She knew exactly one word. She'd have to maximize her mileage with it. She gestured over the big cherry with, she hoped, a winning smile.
"Ja?! Jag förstår inte." He turned away from the confused Apple Bloom. "Goddag till dig." Lifting on his wings, he drifted away, a scowl on his face.
Sweetie slipped in from the side. "That could have gone better."
Apple Bloom grabbed Sweetie by the shoulders. "Yer a walkin' dictionary! What did he say?!"
Sweetie squeaked, brushing off Apple Bloom's desperate hooves. "This dictionary's only written in one language."
Scootaloo snickered at the exchange. "Yeah... we need to take a different approach. Selling to creatures that can't understand us is hard. I though they'd talk Ponish."
Apple Bloom sat back on her haunches, twitching her breezie tail. "There's gotta be a way! We can't learn a language like that. Is Swirly the only one that speaks Ponish?"
Sweetie inclined her head. "Swirly's friend spoke Ponish. I remember that."
"I am also speaking the Ponish." Another breezie approached at a casual walk. "And you are not speaking the Breezie, hm? Perhaps we are helping one?" He gestured between himself and the girls. "A fair trade?"
Scootaloo hopped up, hooves on the counter of their stand. "Now you're talking!"
"Yes, I am talking Ponish," agreed the new breezie. "Is fair trade, ja?"
Sweetie bobbed her head. "Ja!" One word, but they knew that word. "What do you have in mind?"
"Nothing in mind. Is back there." He pointed the way down the aisle he had come from. "Come."
The girls got to packing, stuffing away the cherry in their bag and hefting it up to follow the breezie that they could at least understand. "Should be working!" The male nodded as he walked. "Making you speak the good."
"A book?" proposed Apple Bloom with uncertainty. "That'd be a start, but it takes a while to read those."
"Neigh!" he said, even if it was spelled differently, sure sounded like it. Good thing spoken words didn't come with spelling attached. "Now is not time being for books. Now is time for drink!" They went past quite a few stalls with breezies excitedly extoling their wared in their funny language. "Here." He pointed to one in particular, no breezie behind it, at least until he hopped up over the counter.
The girls looked to one another as he rummaged around, grabbing some bottles. He sprung back up, three bottles, each a different bright neon shade of fluid within. "You are trying this, ja? Drink and speak good." He nodded all the more firmly. "Drink and trade done."
Scootaloo squinted a bit. "Huh. He's like you." She looked to Apple Bloom. "We found another potion maker. You know, like Zecora."
"Gonna bet there's less apples in there than ah usually make." Apple Bloom was approaching despite that. "You sure this works?"
"Nay." He shook his head. "That is what trade is being. You are testing, ja? Drink."
Sweetie pointed at herself. "And what do we get for testing this?"
"If work, you are speaking good, ja? Is what want!" He clapped his hooves together excitedly. "Winners, all being."
Apple Bloom allowed an explosive sigh. "Well, alright! Ja." She took a bottle at the end of her hoof and upturned it into her mouth, chugging down the stuff quickly. It didn't taste as bad as she had feared, like a sour fruit that tingled on the way down. "Där. Hur... Vad?"
The breezie began clapping all the more wildly. "It working completely, ja ja?! How are you feeling?"
"Jag känner att jag inte kan prata normalt!" Apple Bloom was looking around in a mild panic, unable to speak Ponish.
The breezie inclined his head. "You are speaking well." He danced in place, clearly satisfied with his creation. "Trade is being complete!"
Sweetie set a hoof on Apple Bloom's slender side. "It's alright. We're here. You can understand us, right?"
"Ja," sighed out Apple Bloom, that one cursed word remaining steady. "Se, om jag kan prata kan vi åtminstone sälja körsbäret." She pointed at the bag with the cherries in it, then back towards the stand they left behind.
Scootaloo seemed to get it. "You wanted to be the salespo--breezie before, now's your shot." She grabbed her loop and hefted. When the others took theirs, they began their way back to their stall. "It'll wear off, hopefully."
"Förhoppningsvis? Det är bättre snart!" Apple Bloom set the bag down and pulled out a big cherry to set out on display, the stand officially re-opened. "Få din körsbär!" She gestured emphatically at the cherry. "Stort och gott. Rättvis handel här!"
Sweetie gave an unsure giggle. "She already sounds like she's making a sale... even if I have no idea what she's saying."
Whatever she had said, it seemed to work as a female breezie wandered up, a little baby breezie attached to her back. "Sa du körsbär? Åh, vad stor och glänsande!" She reached out, feeling the cherry. "Ja. Det blir en fin middag. Tack. Jag är Windy Shine." She was pointing at herself as she gave the name, then began gathering up the cherry with a joyful expression.
"Glad att stå till tjänst. Ha en bra dag." Apple Bloom nodded confidently. "Vad är det du gör?"
Windy paused, then applied a little hoof to her face. "Dumma mig! Jag är snickare." She smiled sheepishly, but then fled with her cherry, floating off.
Scootaloo gave a soft huh... "Did... she just steal our cherry?"
Sweetie giggled at that. "Remember what the teacher said? We're trading for favors. She looked happy, and so did Apple Bloom, so I guess we've earned a favor. Whatever it is she can offer back."
Apple Bloom was gathering the second of three cherries, setting it out. "Det här är inte så svårt! Förhoppningsvis tar det slut när vi är klara med handeln."
Scootaloo cycled a hoof. "Yeah... I didn't catch a word in there, but you sound happy, so keep it up!"
Sweetie pumped a hoof emphatically. "Go AB!"
Apple Bloom, with her newly given linguistic skills, traded the other two cherries away, but not both for favors. The third, instead of simply giving their profession, instead produced a great walnut. "Du vill ha det här, eller hur?"
Sweetie sniffed at the air. "Huh... Walnuts must be good to breezies."
"Gonna agree, that smells great." Scootaloo bobbed her head vigorously. "Take the trade!"
"Titta hur bra skalet är borttaget." The breezie ran a hoof over the bared nut, the shell entirely removed, ready to be devoured. "En bra affär, eller hur?"
Apple Bloom considered it critically. She waved at her cherry. "Titta på glittret på det körsbäret! Du har tur, det här är den sista jag har." She patted it gently. "Men du verkar trevlig. Och det är en fin nöt."
He leaned forward, pressing the nut into Apple Bloom's grip. "En affär då? Det är ett nöje att göra affärer med dig." As soon as Apple Bloom took hold of the nut, he was grabbing up the cherry. "Ha en bra dag." He waved as he floated away with his cherry.
Sweetie clapped excitedly. "Two favors and a big walnut! I call today a complete success."
Apple Bloom hopped down, setting the nut between the three of them. "Ja." She was specifically avoiding speaking more, lest more of the strange breezie language spill from her. "Vi går hem?"
Scootaloo perked an ear at that. "Vi... we? go.... home? I understood that one!"
Sweetie nodded softly. "Home sounds good. We have a nut to eat." She worked herself under the nut, lifting it up on her back. "Scoots, grab the bag."
Without the cherries in it, the bag was much easier to pack up and stuff away. The girls headed home, a spring in their step.
"There you are being!" And there was Swirly, descending on them as they left the market. "Without any cherries. Is that a good sign? Ja?"
"Vi bytte mot två tjänster och en stor valnöt." Apple Bloom was waving at the walnut atop Sweetie Belle.
Swirly's eyes went wide. "Du kan prata! Detta är mycket överraskande. Genom vilket mirakel hände detta?" She inclined her head as she asked her question, peering at Apple Bloom with clear wonder. "Jag visste inte att ponnyer lärde sig så snabbt." She could see the lost looks on Sweetie and Scootaloo's faces. "Oh, only the Blooming Apple? Hm. How curious."
Sweetie advanced towards their new home. "She tried a potion some breezie was selling. He said it'd make her speak, and it did."
"But it also made her not talk Ponish, which is less cool." Scootaloo was snickering a bit at the situation, walking alongside Sweetie.
"A sort of good. You made good trades? That is nice looking walnut you are having there." Swirly nodded at the big nut on Sweetie's back. "How did it go, leave nothing out."
So they gladly told her, some of them in Ponish, some in Breezie. Fortunately, Swirly knew both and could follow along even as the language being used swayed back and forth.
"Åtminstone middag ready--" Apple Bloom blinked, fluttering her big lashes. "Ready? Ja? Ist ready?" She had some Breezie accent, but Ponish words were escaping her. "Yay!"
Sweetie thumped against her, the nut jostling and threatening to fall. "That's quite a relief. I was worried you'd have to teach us the language just so we'd understand you."
"Pass!" Scootaloo cut a hoof through the air. "It was hard enough learning Ponish."
Sweetie rolled her eyes at that. "Don't be close-minded. Learning a new language from a native speaker sounds like fun to me."
"Ja?" Swirly circled around Sweetie. "I can be teaching, if you want. Not so fast as potions, but lasts longer, ja?"
"Ja!" agreed Sweetie with a big smile. "I would be delighted."
"Mycket bra." Swirly nodded with a big smile. "For today, we eat and rest. We had many adventures."
They had survived their first day in the land of the breezies. Surely it would be downhill from there.
Author's Note
The commissioner asked that they drink a mysterious potion that made them speak Breezie. With that seed, this chapter happened! I hope you all enjoyed this literal typo of a chapter.
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