Sky Dancer’s Special School.by ArtistChaptersSky Dancer’s piece of paperThe School DanceGoing to PonyvilleSky Dancer’s piece of paper“Sky, can you look at me?” my teacher, Miss Horse Apple asked, coming over to my desk. I don’t understand her question, why would she ask me to look at her? “Oh, come on, Sky, you want the cookie don’t you?” Miss Horse Apple asked me. “No, I don’t want the cookie. Why would I want a cookie for looking at you?” I think to myself as I sit there. Miss Horse Apple lets out a loud sigh as she goes back to her desk. I looked at the sign above the door, “ABA Therapy.” I don't know what it means. Even though I’m 16 now, I still act like I’m a child. I can’t control that but my teacher doesn’t seem to understand that. “Sky, can you say cookie?” Miss Horse Apple asked, in one of her child-like voices. Those words send a cold shove down my spine, I don’t like it when she does that. I think deep into my seat, thinking that she can’t see me if I do that, but boy am I wrong. “Sky, oh Sky, where are you?” Miss Horse Apple asked looking under my desk. I hid under my desk, hoping she wouldn’t find me. It seemed quiet under here, I liked the quiet, I didn’t like my teacher very much, she was too chipper. Miss Horse Apple’s voice sounded very close as she walked past my desk. “Come on, Sky, you know this isn’t how we learn, we should practice some more,” She said, coming even closer to my desk. “You need to learn to talk properly, no more echoing.” I didn’t want to learn to talk properly, I didn’t like to talk, talking with one of those things I was never good at. I briefly picked my head out from under the desk, to see that Miss Horse Apple had returned to her desk. I stayed under the desk until school was over and I heard the school bell ringing. I came out from under the desk and stood up to say goodbye to my teacher. “Sky, goodbye, I’ll see you tomorrow, oh and don’t forget here is a piece of paper you need to give your mommy,” Miss Horse Apple said, laughing. As I rounded the corner I saw Mommy standing there waiting for me with a big grin on her face. As I ran up to pull out the piece of paper that my teacher had given me. But Mommy put it back in my saddlebag, telling me that we need to get home. Heading home through the bustling streets of Van Hoover, I clung to Mommy like glue, I didn’t like all the noise. Entering our home, I was greeted by my Dad who had come home from work while I was at school since he worked at the weather factory here in Van Hoover and Mom was a Wonderbolt. “Hey kiddo, how was school today?” My Dad asked me. “School today?” I quietly repeated, rocking on the spot where I stood. “Well, that’s good,” my Dad answered, knowing what I was wanting to say. “Soarin, I need to talk to you, it’s important,” I heard Mom say to dad. Dad’s eyes shifted from me to Mom and back again. I wasn’t sure what he was thinking about, but it must’ve not been what he was thinking about. “What is it?” he finally asked after a long period of awkward silence. “I got this from Sky’s teacher,” Mom said, holding out the piece of paper to Dad. Dad took the piece of paper and read over it, his face twisted up, was it anger or confusion? I couldn’t quite put my hoof on it. “A school dance?” Dad finally asked after a while. Mom nodded. “Yeah, I think we should let Sky go, it’ll be good for him.” “I don’t know, you’ve seen the way he gets around crowds, what if he has a meltdown, what if he hurts somepony?” Dad asked. “Why are you so worried, I should be the one worried, my son is growing up,” Mom said to Dad. I didn’t understand what they were talking about, but I could hear what they were saying. I just didn’t understand the words to me, the words they were saying were gibberish. “Sky, do you want to go to the school dance?” Mom asked me. I tilted my head, trying to make sense of what she had just asked me. “No, no dance,” I said, quietly, but still audible enough that mom could hear it. “You see, he doesn’t want to go, no need to worry,” my dad reassured my mom, putting a hoof around her. I watched them embrace for a while, and then I went upstairs to my room, I opened the door to my room and I took a moment to look at the Wonderbolt posters that were plastered on my wall. One day I wanted to be just like them, like mom flying around and performing tricks. But that would never come for me, I knew that much, I understood that I was different, but never fully grasped why. I went over to my dresser opened a drawer and pulled out a photo of my extended family who are still living in Ponyville. I glanced at the photo for a while before deciding to put it back where it belongs. I think if you want to ask me who I missed the most out of my family, I would have to answer. It was my cousin, Melody, she is the daughter of Auntie Applejack and Uncle Stevie Wonder. Come to think of it, the last time I ever heard from Uncle Stevie was seven years ago. Hope he’s doing all right. Oh and then there is Auntie Twilight who is now the ruler of this land. I don’t understand what all the fuss is about but I understand she’s pretty famous now. I hear hoof steps approaching my door, I know it’s my mother, so I quickly go and open the door for her. She comes in and sits down on my bed, padding the space beside her. We sit in silence for a while then she starts speaking. I can’t understand a word she says because she’s speaking too fast. “Why don’t you want to go to the school dance?” She asked. “School dance,” I repeat, trying to make sense of her words. ”It's too loud, not ok,” My mother puts a hoof around my shoulder, I don’t shy away from her touch like I usually do when ponies try to touch me. “I know it is gonna be scary, but it’s ok to be scared,” my mother reassured me. I can’t fully grasp what she has just said to me, so I just yawn and fall back onto my bed, mom looks down at me with a loving look, kisses me on the forehead, and leaves the room, turning out the light as she goes. Author's Note I’ve decided to write this from Sky Dancer’s point of view, to give readers a glimpse into his mind. There isn’t much description, it’s mostly portrayed through dialogue. The School DanceAuthor's Note I’m genuinely open to receiving constructive criticism, so please feel free to share your thoughts! I value feedback as an opportunity for growth and improvement. However, I kindly ask that you maintain a friendly and respectful tone in your critiques. If my reactions seem strong, please understand that it's nothing personal; sometimes a particular comment might resonate more deeply with me than intended. Let’s aim to keep our conversations positive and invigorating, fostering an environment where we can all learn from one another. I truly appreciate any input you have to offer, as it helps me refine my work. While I’m always eager for feedback, I would greatly prefer that any criticism be delivered in a gentle manner, rather than harsh or overly negative. Thank you for your understanding and support! The School Dance The next morning on the way to school, Mom rambled on about how she was excited for me to go to the dance today. I was excited too, but also nervous. What if no pony wants to dance with me? Or what if I had a meltdown would the other students be scared of me because I was shouting and screaming? What would Miss Horse Apple say? Those were just some of the thoughts that swelled around in my brain as we flew to school. When we landed, I was greeted by my teacher who had a wide grin on her face as she led me inside and led me down the hall to our classroom. As we entered the classroom, the other students turned and looked at me. I saw one of my best friends, just staring at me as though she saw me for the first time. Miss Horse Apple showed me to my desk, which was next to my best friend who was a green unicorn Colt with a wild red mane with blue eyes, and a baseball bat as a cutie mark. “Ok, you guys, today, we are going to talk about the school dance!” She smiled softly as she spoke as she sat down at her desk. My eyes flickered around the room as my teacher continued to talk about the dance, but at this point, I wasn’t paying attention to the teacher or anything else. I was looking out the window at the city. “Sky, are you still paying attention here?” Miss Horse Apple asked, coming up to my desk. I didn’t even look at her, not until she came over to my desk and stood before me. Then she asked me again but to me, her words were just gibberish because she spoke too fast just like mom did and just like dad, and just like almost everyponyc I meet. Everypony speaks too fast, so I can’t understand them. Why won’t they speak slowly? “Sky, your mom signed the paper for you to go to the dance, so that is what you’re going to do, understood?” my teacher told me with a stern look on her face like she was upset. Or maybe it was another feeling I didn’t understand, I wasn’t good with knowing how ponies felt about me. “Go dance?” I hesitantly asked, slowly looking at my teacher. I did not want to go to that dance. I was too scared to go. She needed thoughtfully before returning to her desk and clearing her throat to get our attention. “Don’t forget to pack your best outfit for the dance tonight,” She finally said after a long silence. Miss Horse Apple noticed my hesitant demeanor and walked over to me. “What’s wrong?” She asked, looking me directly in the eyes. “Don’t want to go dance tonight, will be loud,” I finally answered. Miss Horse Apple just smiled and shook her head. “Oh, is that all, we can get you noise canceling headphones, but as I recall, you have noise canceling headphones in your bag, why don’t you just take them?” She suggested. I hesitated to ponder over the question and nodded after a while of processing the question that was asked of me. That evening after dinner, Mom flew me back to school for the dance. Mom and I touched down on the school steps, I slang my bag over my shoulder and we walked inside, the inside of the school was decorated with streamers and a banner that said welcome to the school dance hung over the auditorium. Mom led me inside the auditorium, where my teacher greeted me and Mom with a big smile. “Well, hope you have fun, kiddo, I’ll pick you up after,” Mom said to me as she walked out of the auditorium. I looked around the room at all the streamers that were hung on the wall and there was even a table with snacks and a large punch bowl in one corner of the room, taking my bag off my shoulder. I unzipped it and brought out noise, canceling headphones, putting them over my ears, as it had gotten significantly louder, from some students chatting very loudly. Still standing by me, my teacher nudged me to some of my peers. I honestly didn’t want to go over and socialize with them, but since my teacher basically told me to do it, I went ahead and did it anyway. The unicorn Colt from earlier in my class was standing with his friends, so I decided to go over and try and say hello, though I wasn’t entirely sure how to approach them. Even though the Colt was my best friend in the whole world, aside from my cousin Melody, I still didn’t know how to communicate with him. Other ponies made it seem easy but for me it was extremely difficult because I couldn’t talk, and my echolalia wasn’t enough of a communication method anymore. I started walking over to them, but then stopped because I was unsure of where to begin introducing myself to his friends. His friends seemed cool and I didn’t wanna say anything that would embarrass me and make me look funny in front of his friends. But luckily, I didn’t have to say anything, because he was already coming toward me with his friend group. “Hey, Sky, you remember me, we had class just this morning?” He asked. Of course, I remembered him, but I don’t know his name because I’ve always been too shy to ask. “By the way, my name is Quillstroke, my mom works for one of the richest ponies here in the city, we are super rich,” Quillstroke beamed, his green eyes sparkling when he mentioned being rich. He seemed to be very proud that he was rich, I didn’t know what at the time but something would happen, though I didn’t know what. Behind him, his friends snickered when I didn’t immediately respond. “Well, it was nice seeing you, Sky, hope we meet again one day, I’m gonna go off to dance with my girlfriend,” Quillstroke said with a little grin on his face as he walked away with his friends behind him. I could hear his friends laughing behind him as they walked with him to go find this supposed girl friend of his. This night wasn’t turning out the way I had hoped, I was honestly hoping to ask somebody to the dance the day before, but I couldn’t and nobody wanted to even dance with me because they thought I was weird because I couldn’t talk I glanced across the dance floor to see my best friend dancing with his very good looking girlfriend, she was dancing very closely to him, I didn’t understand what they were doing, but something felt off. So instead of actually dancing with somepony, I decided to sit in the corner the rest of the evening until mom picked me up. The next morning, I heard a knock on my door, I got up from my bed and went to open the door, Mom and Dad were standing outside my bedroom with pretty big grins on both their faces. I wasn’t certain what they were so happy about. Mom came into my room and sat on my bed and Dad was standing in the doorway. “So how was the dance last night, buddy?” Mom asked me, still grinning. “Was good,” I mumbled, looking around the room before my eyes fell upon my Wonder bolt poster. “We got exciting news, you’re going to be a big brother!” Dad smiled, going over to Mom and laying a hoof on her belly. I didn’t know what it meant to be a big brother but what I did realize was that mom was gonna have another baby, a new pony that I could potentially play with when they were a bit older. I remember when Aunt Pinkie had her child it was super exciting for everypony, but I was especially excited because Bubble is someone who I get along with very well. I love all of my cousins, they really are the best. “Oh, and we have even more good news, we are going to Ponyville for the weekend to see your Aunt Twilight,” Mom said to me. And Aunt Pinkie, I think she will be very excited to see you and you get to see your cousin Bubble as well,” Dad added, smiling down at me. I was super happy that we were going to see my Aunt Twilight and Aunt Pinkie, I hadn’t seen Aunt Pinkie and Uncle Cheese, ever since my cousin Bubble’s fifth birthday party. After the excitement had died down a little bit mom and dad went downstairs for breakfast and waited for me at the kitchen table. I was so excited I couldn’t even eat my oats that mom specially prepared for me because she knew that was one of my safe foods. So after breakfast I immediately ran back upstairs and started drawing a picture for my cousin since I knew he was deaf. It was difficult to communicate with him for me because I couldn’t talk, and it was even more difficult for him because he also couldn’t speak so drawing pictures was the best way for us to communicate. To be continued…✅✅. Going to PonyvilleAuthor's Note I really hope you enjoyed this story! It's bittersweet to say that this will be the last chapter for now. I'm thinking about writing a sequel, but I'm not quite sure yet. Your feedback means a lot to me, so please feel free to share any constructive criticism. Thank you for being a part of this journey! Thank you for everyone who commented, and thank you to all of the people who disliked and liked this story, I know I don’t say it often enough, but I appreciate even the people who didn’t like the story. Thank you for coming with me on this journey, I really do appreciate every single comment I’ve gotten so far. Going to Ponyville Since Auntie Pinkie lived in Fillydelphia, I didn’t get to see her much, and she didn’t come to Ponyville very much anymore, I remember Mom telling me when I was younger that Aunt Pinkie would make frequent trips out to Ponyville to get her party supplies from the local vendors. I thought about this as I sat at the kitchen table, eating my oats and listening to my parents talk about what their plans were for when we got to Ponyville. Suddenly, I got up from my chair because I remembered the picture I had drawn for my cousin was still in my bedroom. I didn’t want to leave it behind, so I retrieved it and came back to the table with it in my mouth. “What have you got there, buddy?” Dad asked me, once I had sat back down. I dropped the picture on the table and pointed to it, with a big grin on my face. “Is picture for Cousin Bubble!” I triumphantly said, holding up the picture. “Well, I’m sure he’s going to love it, now finish your oats the train leaves in 15 minutes,” Mom said as she got up from the table and began washing the dirty dishes that were in the sink. “Rainbow, we only have 15 minutes before the train leaves, why in Celestia’s good name, do you think you can do the dishes now?” Dad asked Mom incredulously. Mom simply shrugged and resumed doing the dishes, as I looked at this scene I was quite puzzled as to why Dad found it hard to believe that Mom was doing the dishes. Dad looked at the wall-mounted clock impatiently as the hands ticked by slowly but he didn’t seem to show his anxiety, but I could feel him getting even more impatient as he watched Mom do the dishes, one by one. “Come on, Rainbow, we don’t have time for this!” Dad cried, as he got up and started pacing back and forth. “Will you relax, I’m almost done, we’ve got plenty of time before the train arrives, or we could just take the easy way and fly there ourselves, after all, Ponyville is not too far,” Mom said, trying to calm Dad down. “Ok, so what you’re saying is we could either wait for the train or we could just fly there ourselves, why didn’t you mention that flying ourselves was an option?” Dad asked. Mom just rolled her eyes and went back to cleaning the dishes with a dish towel. When she was done, she turned to me and asked, "What would you like to do, would you like to take the train or fly ourselves?” I heated for only a moment before answering, “Fly.” “Good choice, you see, even our son agrees that flying is better than taking the train,” Mom said, padding me on the head as she and Dad walked away to get the luggage. I wondered how in the world were we going to fly with all our luggage. I heard Daddy let out a scream from the next room. “You what?” “I didn’t buy the ticket for the train, I didn’t think we would need them, I mean, we did just agree, we were going to fly there,” I heard Mom say to Dad. The next thing I heard was Dad let out a very heavy sigh as he trudged back into the dining room with what I could only assume was disappointment in his eyes. After a minute, Mom came into the dining room as well with the biggest grin on her face I had ever seen. “Sky, we did it, we overruled Daddy,” Mom smiled. I didn’t know what the word “overruled” meant. I figured that this was a celebratory moment, so I began jumping up and down excitedly. Mom and Dad led me outside onto our balcony, where we took to the sky to fly to Ponyville, flying over the city of Vancouver. I looked down at the ground to see the city's inhabitants bustling around and going shopping. After a few hours of flying, we arrived in Ponyville and headed to Aunt Twilight’s castle. Once we had touched down on the front steps of the castle, Mom knocked on the big door and waited for a few moments, after which Aunt Twilight opened the door and greeted us with an extremely warm smile on her lips. “Come on in!” She smiled, as she guided us inside and closed the big crystal door behind her. I couldn’t help but marvel at all of the crystal items that were present in the castle. I looked in awe at the crystal walls, but I stayed close to Mom while we walked through the castle to the throne room. Aunt Twilight opened the door to the throne room, where Aunt Pinkie and Uncle Cheese were waiting. The moment I saw them I immediately ran up to them and hugged them. “Wow, Sky, look how much you’ve grown!” Uncle Cheese smiled. “I know, right, and he’s a really good flyer too, we could hardly even keep up with him on this trip,” Dad remarked. I looked around the room for my cousin, Bubble, but I couldn’t see him, so I assumed he didn’t come with them. I wanted to ask why he didn’t accompany them on this trip, but I couldn’t ask. I looked at Auntie Pinkie with a questioning look in my eyes, she looked back at me with a seemingly understanding look in her eyes. “Bubble is at Sweet Apple Acres with Aunt Applejack, he will be by later this evening,” Aunt Pinkie explained. I nodded contently and sat down on the crystal floor, feeling the cold crystal on my fur. “So, what brings you here, the letter that I received only said that you would be staying the weekend,” Aunt Twilight said, smiling at Mom and Dad. “We both thought that it would be beneficial for Sky to see his family,” Mom said, before continuing. “And I’m pregnant.” Aunt Twilight’s face lit up like a Christmas tree and she began jumping up and down. “Rainbow, that’s so exciting, do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?” Aunt Pinkie asked. Mom shook her head, “We don’t know yet, we’re going to see the doctor next week to find out.” “And you know what this calls for?” Uncle Cheese asked, grinning from ear to ear like a little school pony. “A baby shower!!” Aunt Pinkie finished for him, bouncing up and down in excitement. “So, I heard that you were at your school’s dance, how was it, did you have fun?” Aunt Twilight asked me. “Yes, had fun,” I replied, looking down at the floor. “Oh, well, I’m glad you had fun,” Aunt Twilight said, smiling. I looked over to see Dad and Mom talking with Aunt Pinkie and Uncle Cheese. Mom had said something funny because Uncle Cheese was laughing hysterically as he held his stomach. “That was a great joke, Rainbow,” Dad said. “So, has anyone heard from Moonwalker?” Aunt Pinkie asked when she had stopped laughing. “Last time I heard anything from him, he was living in Canterlot with Rarity, I think they got engaged,” Uncle Cheese remarked. “Say what?” Aunt Pinkie almost shouted, bouncing up and down in excitement. Uncle Cheese nodded, looking at Mom and Dad whose eyes had grown to the size of dinner plates. “Wow, I’m so happy for them, did Moonwalker say when the wedding would be?” Mom asked when she had found her voice from the shock. Uncle Cheese shook his head and smiled, “No not yet, but Rarity said that we should all get together sometime.” Aunt Pinkie’s smile brightened as she turned to me and said, “Are you excited that Uncle Moonwalker and Aunt Rarity are getting married, because I sure am, and that also means I get to be in charge of the reception, isn’t that just exciting?” I just looked at her blankly and didn’t say anything. I was excited that they would get married, but I didn’t know how to feel about the fact that Aunt Pinkie was going to throw the party at the reception. It was always too loud for me at her parties, even though Mom and Dad had explained to her on several occasions that I did not like loud parties, she did not seem to get it. Later that evening, Aunt Twilight invited us all to stay for dinner, Bubble had to come back to the castle and was sitting beside me on the floor. I showed him the picture I had drawn for him and he smiled at me. “Wow,” He signed. That’s a nice picture, thank you.” I repeated the sign for thank you. Mom had bought me a book on basic Equestrian sign language, and every evening after school, I would go to my room and study that book. Aunt Pinkie came over to where we were sitting and tapped Bubble on the shoulder to get his attention, she pointed to her ear and made a circle with her other hoof letting it end in a drop. Bubble seemed to understand and got up and retrieved something from his saddle bag, putting the object behind his ear. “Bubble, can you hear me?” Aunt Pinkie asked. Bubble nodded and turned to me. “Yes, I can hear everything, Mom.” Aunt Pinkie grinned from ear to ear. “This is incredible, my baby can talk.” For the rest of the evening Bubble and I played while the adults talked about various subjects, even though I wasn’t entirely sure what they were talking about, Bubble paid attention to all the sounds he heard from his mother laughing to Aunt Twilight talking about books. The next morning, we went to see Aunt Applejack who wasn’t happy to see us, she explained that the night before Cousin Melody had gotten into trouble and was grounded for the weekend, I was a bit disappointed that we didn’t get to see Cousin Melody. So we went back to the castle and stayed there the rest of the day, I was having fun when Bubble tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Let’s go to the Everfree?” “No, no good idea, stay here, stay here,” I protested. “Ok, it was just a suggestion, no need to worry,” He said, taking off the small object from behind his ear and putting it in its case, which was resting beside him. I pointed to it, as I wanted to know what it was. “This, is hearing aid,” Bubble explained, but I couldn’t understand him, because of his speech, I assumed his speech was all slurred because of him not wearing his hearing aid. Auntie Twilight once explained to me that deaf ponies, like Bubble, sometimes needed hearing aids to make the normal ponies understand them better. To me, it didn’t make sense, but if it helped, then I was happy for my cousin, I looked at the black case beside Bubble and picked it up, he seemed to notice and gesture for me to put it down again. I did as I was told, and then went over to Mom. I was so thrilled to be a part of such a wonderful family, they understood me, my cousins were amazing, and my aunts and uncles were the greatest aunts and uncles in the world, they seemingly always knew what I wanted, even if I didn’t communicate in the same way other ponies did. School was also the best, even though I didn’t really like my teacher, she still helped me when I was having a hard day or when I had had a meltdown the day before, sure school was hard, but I wouldn’t give it up for anything in Equestria, I certainly wouldn’t give up my family for anything in Equestria either. Even though I didn’t get to see most of them most of the time, when I did, it was a real treat.
Sky Dancer’s piece of paper“Sky, can you look at me?” my teacher, Miss Horse Apple asked, coming over to my desk. I don’t understand her question, why would she ask me to look at her? “Oh, come on, Sky, you want the cookie don’t you?” Miss Horse Apple asked me. “No, I don’t want the cookie. Why would I want a cookie for looking at you?” I think to myself as I sit there. Miss Horse Apple lets out a loud sigh as she goes back to her desk. I looked at the sign above the door, “ABA Therapy.” I don't know what it means. Even though I’m 16 now, I still act like I’m a child. I can’t control that but my teacher doesn’t seem to understand that. “Sky, can you say cookie?” Miss Horse Apple asked, in one of her child-like voices. Those words send a cold shove down my spine, I don’t like it when she does that. I think deep into my seat, thinking that she can’t see me if I do that, but boy am I wrong. “Sky, oh Sky, where are you?” Miss Horse Apple asked looking under my desk. I hid under my desk, hoping she wouldn’t find me. It seemed quiet under here, I liked the quiet, I didn’t like my teacher very much, she was too chipper. Miss Horse Apple’s voice sounded very close as she walked past my desk. “Come on, Sky, you know this isn’t how we learn, we should practice some more,” She said, coming even closer to my desk. “You need to learn to talk properly, no more echoing.” I didn’t want to learn to talk properly, I didn’t like to talk, talking with one of those things I was never good at. I briefly picked my head out from under the desk, to see that Miss Horse Apple had returned to her desk. I stayed under the desk until school was over and I heard the school bell ringing. I came out from under the desk and stood up to say goodbye to my teacher. “Sky, goodbye, I’ll see you tomorrow, oh and don’t forget here is a piece of paper you need to give your mommy,” Miss Horse Apple said, laughing. As I rounded the corner I saw Mommy standing there waiting for me with a big grin on her face. As I ran up to pull out the piece of paper that my teacher had given me. But Mommy put it back in my saddlebag, telling me that we need to get home. Heading home through the bustling streets of Van Hoover, I clung to Mommy like glue, I didn’t like all the noise. Entering our home, I was greeted by my Dad who had come home from work while I was at school since he worked at the weather factory here in Van Hoover and Mom was a Wonderbolt. “Hey kiddo, how was school today?” My Dad asked me. “School today?” I quietly repeated, rocking on the spot where I stood. “Well, that’s good,” my Dad answered, knowing what I was wanting to say. “Soarin, I need to talk to you, it’s important,” I heard Mom say to dad. Dad’s eyes shifted from me to Mom and back again. I wasn’t sure what he was thinking about, but it must’ve not been what he was thinking about. “What is it?” he finally asked after a long period of awkward silence. “I got this from Sky’s teacher,” Mom said, holding out the piece of paper to Dad. Dad took the piece of paper and read over it, his face twisted up, was it anger or confusion? I couldn’t quite put my hoof on it. “A school dance?” Dad finally asked after a while. Mom nodded. “Yeah, I think we should let Sky go, it’ll be good for him.” “I don’t know, you’ve seen the way he gets around crowds, what if he has a meltdown, what if he hurts somepony?” Dad asked. “Why are you so worried, I should be the one worried, my son is growing up,” Mom said to Dad. I didn’t understand what they were talking about, but I could hear what they were saying. I just didn’t understand the words to me, the words they were saying were gibberish. “Sky, do you want to go to the school dance?” Mom asked me. I tilted my head, trying to make sense of what she had just asked me. “No, no dance,” I said, quietly, but still audible enough that mom could hear it. “You see, he doesn’t want to go, no need to worry,” my dad reassured my mom, putting a hoof around her. I watched them embrace for a while, and then I went upstairs to my room, I opened the door to my room and I took a moment to look at the Wonderbolt posters that were plastered on my wall. One day I wanted to be just like them, like mom flying around and performing tricks. But that would never come for me, I knew that much, I understood that I was different, but never fully grasped why. I went over to my dresser opened a drawer and pulled out a photo of my extended family who are still living in Ponyville. I glanced at the photo for a while before deciding to put it back where it belongs. I think if you want to ask me who I missed the most out of my family, I would have to answer. It was my cousin, Melody, she is the daughter of Auntie Applejack and Uncle Stevie Wonder. Come to think of it, the last time I ever heard from Uncle Stevie was seven years ago. Hope he’s doing all right. Oh and then there is Auntie Twilight who is now the ruler of this land. I don’t understand what all the fuss is about but I understand she’s pretty famous now. I hear hoof steps approaching my door, I know it’s my mother, so I quickly go and open the door for her. She comes in and sits down on my bed, padding the space beside her. We sit in silence for a while then she starts speaking. I can’t understand a word she says because she’s speaking too fast. “Why don’t you want to go to the school dance?” She asked. “School dance,” I repeat, trying to make sense of her words. ”It's too loud, not ok,” My mother puts a hoof around my shoulder, I don’t shy away from her touch like I usually do when ponies try to touch me. “I know it is gonna be scary, but it’s ok to be scared,” my mother reassured me. I can’t fully grasp what she has just said to me, so I just yawn and fall back onto my bed, mom looks down at me with a loving look, kisses me on the forehead, and leaves the room, turning out the light as she goes. Author's Note I’ve decided to write this from Sky Dancer’s point of view, to give readers a glimpse into his mind. There isn’t much description, it’s mostly portrayed through dialogue.
The School DanceAuthor's Note I’m genuinely open to receiving constructive criticism, so please feel free to share your thoughts! I value feedback as an opportunity for growth and improvement. However, I kindly ask that you maintain a friendly and respectful tone in your critiques. If my reactions seem strong, please understand that it's nothing personal; sometimes a particular comment might resonate more deeply with me than intended. Let’s aim to keep our conversations positive and invigorating, fostering an environment where we can all learn from one another. I truly appreciate any input you have to offer, as it helps me refine my work. While I’m always eager for feedback, I would greatly prefer that any criticism be delivered in a gentle manner, rather than harsh or overly negative. Thank you for your understanding and support! The School Dance The next morning on the way to school, Mom rambled on about how she was excited for me to go to the dance today. I was excited too, but also nervous. What if no pony wants to dance with me? Or what if I had a meltdown would the other students be scared of me because I was shouting and screaming? What would Miss Horse Apple say? Those were just some of the thoughts that swelled around in my brain as we flew to school. When we landed, I was greeted by my teacher who had a wide grin on her face as she led me inside and led me down the hall to our classroom. As we entered the classroom, the other students turned and looked at me. I saw one of my best friends, just staring at me as though she saw me for the first time. Miss Horse Apple showed me to my desk, which was next to my best friend who was a green unicorn Colt with a wild red mane with blue eyes, and a baseball bat as a cutie mark. “Ok, you guys, today, we are going to talk about the school dance!” She smiled softly as she spoke as she sat down at her desk. My eyes flickered around the room as my teacher continued to talk about the dance, but at this point, I wasn’t paying attention to the teacher or anything else. I was looking out the window at the city. “Sky, are you still paying attention here?” Miss Horse Apple asked, coming up to my desk. I didn’t even look at her, not until she came over to my desk and stood before me. Then she asked me again but to me, her words were just gibberish because she spoke too fast just like mom did and just like dad, and just like almost everyponyc I meet. Everypony speaks too fast, so I can’t understand them. Why won’t they speak slowly? “Sky, your mom signed the paper for you to go to the dance, so that is what you’re going to do, understood?” my teacher told me with a stern look on her face like she was upset. Or maybe it was another feeling I didn’t understand, I wasn’t good with knowing how ponies felt about me. “Go dance?” I hesitantly asked, slowly looking at my teacher. I did not want to go to that dance. I was too scared to go. She needed thoughtfully before returning to her desk and clearing her throat to get our attention. “Don’t forget to pack your best outfit for the dance tonight,” She finally said after a long silence. Miss Horse Apple noticed my hesitant demeanor and walked over to me. “What’s wrong?” She asked, looking me directly in the eyes. “Don’t want to go dance tonight, will be loud,” I finally answered. Miss Horse Apple just smiled and shook her head. “Oh, is that all, we can get you noise canceling headphones, but as I recall, you have noise canceling headphones in your bag, why don’t you just take them?” She suggested. I hesitated to ponder over the question and nodded after a while of processing the question that was asked of me. That evening after dinner, Mom flew me back to school for the dance. Mom and I touched down on the school steps, I slang my bag over my shoulder and we walked inside, the inside of the school was decorated with streamers and a banner that said welcome to the school dance hung over the auditorium. Mom led me inside the auditorium, where my teacher greeted me and Mom with a big smile. “Well, hope you have fun, kiddo, I’ll pick you up after,” Mom said to me as she walked out of the auditorium. I looked around the room at all the streamers that were hung on the wall and there was even a table with snacks and a large punch bowl in one corner of the room, taking my bag off my shoulder. I unzipped it and brought out noise, canceling headphones, putting them over my ears, as it had gotten significantly louder, from some students chatting very loudly. Still standing by me, my teacher nudged me to some of my peers. I honestly didn’t want to go over and socialize with them, but since my teacher basically told me to do it, I went ahead and did it anyway. The unicorn Colt from earlier in my class was standing with his friends, so I decided to go over and try and say hello, though I wasn’t entirely sure how to approach them. Even though the Colt was my best friend in the whole world, aside from my cousin Melody, I still didn’t know how to communicate with him. Other ponies made it seem easy but for me it was extremely difficult because I couldn’t talk, and my echolalia wasn’t enough of a communication method anymore. I started walking over to them, but then stopped because I was unsure of where to begin introducing myself to his friends. His friends seemed cool and I didn’t wanna say anything that would embarrass me and make me look funny in front of his friends. But luckily, I didn’t have to say anything, because he was already coming toward me with his friend group. “Hey, Sky, you remember me, we had class just this morning?” He asked. Of course, I remembered him, but I don’t know his name because I’ve always been too shy to ask. “By the way, my name is Quillstroke, my mom works for one of the richest ponies here in the city, we are super rich,” Quillstroke beamed, his green eyes sparkling when he mentioned being rich. He seemed to be very proud that he was rich, I didn’t know what at the time but something would happen, though I didn’t know what. Behind him, his friends snickered when I didn’t immediately respond. “Well, it was nice seeing you, Sky, hope we meet again one day, I’m gonna go off to dance with my girlfriend,” Quillstroke said with a little grin on his face as he walked away with his friends behind him. I could hear his friends laughing behind him as they walked with him to go find this supposed girl friend of his. This night wasn’t turning out the way I had hoped, I was honestly hoping to ask somebody to the dance the day before, but I couldn’t and nobody wanted to even dance with me because they thought I was weird because I couldn’t talk I glanced across the dance floor to see my best friend dancing with his very good looking girlfriend, she was dancing very closely to him, I didn’t understand what they were doing, but something felt off. So instead of actually dancing with somepony, I decided to sit in the corner the rest of the evening until mom picked me up. The next morning, I heard a knock on my door, I got up from my bed and went to open the door, Mom and Dad were standing outside my bedroom with pretty big grins on both their faces. I wasn’t certain what they were so happy about. Mom came into my room and sat on my bed and Dad was standing in the doorway. “So how was the dance last night, buddy?” Mom asked me, still grinning. “Was good,” I mumbled, looking around the room before my eyes fell upon my Wonder bolt poster. “We got exciting news, you’re going to be a big brother!” Dad smiled, going over to Mom and laying a hoof on her belly. I didn’t know what it meant to be a big brother but what I did realize was that mom was gonna have another baby, a new pony that I could potentially play with when they were a bit older. I remember when Aunt Pinkie had her child it was super exciting for everypony, but I was especially excited because Bubble is someone who I get along with very well. I love all of my cousins, they really are the best. “Oh, and we have even more good news, we are going to Ponyville for the weekend to see your Aunt Twilight,” Mom said to me. And Aunt Pinkie, I think she will be very excited to see you and you get to see your cousin Bubble as well,” Dad added, smiling down at me. I was super happy that we were going to see my Aunt Twilight and Aunt Pinkie, I hadn’t seen Aunt Pinkie and Uncle Cheese, ever since my cousin Bubble’s fifth birthday party. After the excitement had died down a little bit mom and dad went downstairs for breakfast and waited for me at the kitchen table. I was so excited I couldn’t even eat my oats that mom specially prepared for me because she knew that was one of my safe foods. So after breakfast I immediately ran back upstairs and started drawing a picture for my cousin since I knew he was deaf. It was difficult to communicate with him for me because I couldn’t talk, and it was even more difficult for him because he also couldn’t speak so drawing pictures was the best way for us to communicate. To be continued…✅✅.
Going to PonyvilleAuthor's Note I really hope you enjoyed this story! It's bittersweet to say that this will be the last chapter for now. I'm thinking about writing a sequel, but I'm not quite sure yet. Your feedback means a lot to me, so please feel free to share any constructive criticism. Thank you for being a part of this journey! Thank you for everyone who commented, and thank you to all of the people who disliked and liked this story, I know I don’t say it often enough, but I appreciate even the people who didn’t like the story. Thank you for coming with me on this journey, I really do appreciate every single comment I’ve gotten so far. Going to Ponyville Since Auntie Pinkie lived in Fillydelphia, I didn’t get to see her much, and she didn’t come to Ponyville very much anymore, I remember Mom telling me when I was younger that Aunt Pinkie would make frequent trips out to Ponyville to get her party supplies from the local vendors. I thought about this as I sat at the kitchen table, eating my oats and listening to my parents talk about what their plans were for when we got to Ponyville. Suddenly, I got up from my chair because I remembered the picture I had drawn for my cousin was still in my bedroom. I didn’t want to leave it behind, so I retrieved it and came back to the table with it in my mouth. “What have you got there, buddy?” Dad asked me, once I had sat back down. I dropped the picture on the table and pointed to it, with a big grin on my face. “Is picture for Cousin Bubble!” I triumphantly said, holding up the picture. “Well, I’m sure he’s going to love it, now finish your oats the train leaves in 15 minutes,” Mom said as she got up from the table and began washing the dirty dishes that were in the sink. “Rainbow, we only have 15 minutes before the train leaves, why in Celestia’s good name, do you think you can do the dishes now?” Dad asked Mom incredulously. Mom simply shrugged and resumed doing the dishes, as I looked at this scene I was quite puzzled as to why Dad found it hard to believe that Mom was doing the dishes. Dad looked at the wall-mounted clock impatiently as the hands ticked by slowly but he didn’t seem to show his anxiety, but I could feel him getting even more impatient as he watched Mom do the dishes, one by one. “Come on, Rainbow, we don’t have time for this!” Dad cried, as he got up and started pacing back and forth. “Will you relax, I’m almost done, we’ve got plenty of time before the train arrives, or we could just take the easy way and fly there ourselves, after all, Ponyville is not too far,” Mom said, trying to calm Dad down. “Ok, so what you’re saying is we could either wait for the train or we could just fly there ourselves, why didn’t you mention that flying ourselves was an option?” Dad asked. Mom just rolled her eyes and went back to cleaning the dishes with a dish towel. When she was done, she turned to me and asked, "What would you like to do, would you like to take the train or fly ourselves?” I heated for only a moment before answering, “Fly.” “Good choice, you see, even our son agrees that flying is better than taking the train,” Mom said, padding me on the head as she and Dad walked away to get the luggage. I wondered how in the world were we going to fly with all our luggage. I heard Daddy let out a scream from the next room. “You what?” “I didn’t buy the ticket for the train, I didn’t think we would need them, I mean, we did just agree, we were going to fly there,” I heard Mom say to Dad. The next thing I heard was Dad let out a very heavy sigh as he trudged back into the dining room with what I could only assume was disappointment in his eyes. After a minute, Mom came into the dining room as well with the biggest grin on her face I had ever seen. “Sky, we did it, we overruled Daddy,” Mom smiled. I didn’t know what the word “overruled” meant. I figured that this was a celebratory moment, so I began jumping up and down excitedly. Mom and Dad led me outside onto our balcony, where we took to the sky to fly to Ponyville, flying over the city of Vancouver. I looked down at the ground to see the city's inhabitants bustling around and going shopping. After a few hours of flying, we arrived in Ponyville and headed to Aunt Twilight’s castle. Once we had touched down on the front steps of the castle, Mom knocked on the big door and waited for a few moments, after which Aunt Twilight opened the door and greeted us with an extremely warm smile on her lips. “Come on in!” She smiled, as she guided us inside and closed the big crystal door behind her. I couldn’t help but marvel at all of the crystal items that were present in the castle. I looked in awe at the crystal walls, but I stayed close to Mom while we walked through the castle to the throne room. Aunt Twilight opened the door to the throne room, where Aunt Pinkie and Uncle Cheese were waiting. The moment I saw them I immediately ran up to them and hugged them. “Wow, Sky, look how much you’ve grown!” Uncle Cheese smiled. “I know, right, and he’s a really good flyer too, we could hardly even keep up with him on this trip,” Dad remarked. I looked around the room for my cousin, Bubble, but I couldn’t see him, so I assumed he didn’t come with them. I wanted to ask why he didn’t accompany them on this trip, but I couldn’t ask. I looked at Auntie Pinkie with a questioning look in my eyes, she looked back at me with a seemingly understanding look in her eyes. “Bubble is at Sweet Apple Acres with Aunt Applejack, he will be by later this evening,” Aunt Pinkie explained. I nodded contently and sat down on the crystal floor, feeling the cold crystal on my fur. “So, what brings you here, the letter that I received only said that you would be staying the weekend,” Aunt Twilight said, smiling at Mom and Dad. “We both thought that it would be beneficial for Sky to see his family,” Mom said, before continuing. “And I’m pregnant.” Aunt Twilight’s face lit up like a Christmas tree and she began jumping up and down. “Rainbow, that’s so exciting, do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?” Aunt Pinkie asked. Mom shook her head, “We don’t know yet, we’re going to see the doctor next week to find out.” “And you know what this calls for?” Uncle Cheese asked, grinning from ear to ear like a little school pony. “A baby shower!!” Aunt Pinkie finished for him, bouncing up and down in excitement. “So, I heard that you were at your school’s dance, how was it, did you have fun?” Aunt Twilight asked me. “Yes, had fun,” I replied, looking down at the floor. “Oh, well, I’m glad you had fun,” Aunt Twilight said, smiling. I looked over to see Dad and Mom talking with Aunt Pinkie and Uncle Cheese. Mom had said something funny because Uncle Cheese was laughing hysterically as he held his stomach. “That was a great joke, Rainbow,” Dad said. “So, has anyone heard from Moonwalker?” Aunt Pinkie asked when she had stopped laughing. “Last time I heard anything from him, he was living in Canterlot with Rarity, I think they got engaged,” Uncle Cheese remarked. “Say what?” Aunt Pinkie almost shouted, bouncing up and down in excitement. Uncle Cheese nodded, looking at Mom and Dad whose eyes had grown to the size of dinner plates. “Wow, I’m so happy for them, did Moonwalker say when the wedding would be?” Mom asked when she had found her voice from the shock. Uncle Cheese shook his head and smiled, “No not yet, but Rarity said that we should all get together sometime.” Aunt Pinkie’s smile brightened as she turned to me and said, “Are you excited that Uncle Moonwalker and Aunt Rarity are getting married, because I sure am, and that also means I get to be in charge of the reception, isn’t that just exciting?” I just looked at her blankly and didn’t say anything. I was excited that they would get married, but I didn’t know how to feel about the fact that Aunt Pinkie was going to throw the party at the reception. It was always too loud for me at her parties, even though Mom and Dad had explained to her on several occasions that I did not like loud parties, she did not seem to get it. Later that evening, Aunt Twilight invited us all to stay for dinner, Bubble had to come back to the castle and was sitting beside me on the floor. I showed him the picture I had drawn for him and he smiled at me. “Wow,” He signed. That’s a nice picture, thank you.” I repeated the sign for thank you. Mom had bought me a book on basic Equestrian sign language, and every evening after school, I would go to my room and study that book. Aunt Pinkie came over to where we were sitting and tapped Bubble on the shoulder to get his attention, she pointed to her ear and made a circle with her other hoof letting it end in a drop. Bubble seemed to understand and got up and retrieved something from his saddle bag, putting the object behind his ear. “Bubble, can you hear me?” Aunt Pinkie asked. Bubble nodded and turned to me. “Yes, I can hear everything, Mom.” Aunt Pinkie grinned from ear to ear. “This is incredible, my baby can talk.” For the rest of the evening Bubble and I played while the adults talked about various subjects, even though I wasn’t entirely sure what they were talking about, Bubble paid attention to all the sounds he heard from his mother laughing to Aunt Twilight talking about books. The next morning, we went to see Aunt Applejack who wasn’t happy to see us, she explained that the night before Cousin Melody had gotten into trouble and was grounded for the weekend, I was a bit disappointed that we didn’t get to see Cousin Melody. So we went back to the castle and stayed there the rest of the day, I was having fun when Bubble tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Let’s go to the Everfree?” “No, no good idea, stay here, stay here,” I protested. “Ok, it was just a suggestion, no need to worry,” He said, taking off the small object from behind his ear and putting it in its case, which was resting beside him. I pointed to it, as I wanted to know what it was. “This, is hearing aid,” Bubble explained, but I couldn’t understand him, because of his speech, I assumed his speech was all slurred because of him not wearing his hearing aid. Auntie Twilight once explained to me that deaf ponies, like Bubble, sometimes needed hearing aids to make the normal ponies understand them better. To me, it didn’t make sense, but if it helped, then I was happy for my cousin, I looked at the black case beside Bubble and picked it up, he seemed to notice and gesture for me to put it down again. I did as I was told, and then went over to Mom. I was so thrilled to be a part of such a wonderful family, they understood me, my cousins were amazing, and my aunts and uncles were the greatest aunts and uncles in the world, they seemingly always knew what I wanted, even if I didn’t communicate in the same way other ponies did. School was also the best, even though I didn’t really like my teacher, she still helped me when I was having a hard day or when I had had a meltdown the day before, sure school was hard, but I wouldn’t give it up for anything in Equestria, I certainly wouldn’t give up my family for anything in Equestria either. Even though I didn’t get to see most of them most of the time, when I did, it was a real treat.
