For anypony Equestria is the entire world. And for anypony it's the all world. Almost for anypony. The most curious ones know that west of Appleloosa there are stamptating bisons and far south of Ponyville there is a zebras prides, who lives at horribly hot deserts. Maybe schoolteacher told'em so.
And the very rare pony also remember that if you'll swim on boat to east from Manehattan over one week you'll see the "another world", another forsaken by Celestia world.
I was sitting here, at Manehattan, at the Harmonika pub and was speculating about how many ponies at Equestria saw "that world". Maybe one hundred? In that case the quarter of them was sitting in this pub with me and trying to forget about that lands. However, there was not so nice to think about Equestria, but that was more important to forget about that lands.
I lowered my head, took a glass with the fuel by teeth and threw my head back. Fuel, justifying it's name had nicely burn me inside. A put the empty glass on the table and straightened my legs on the bale of hay.
I wanted only to dream, but i really didn't want to go to my flat. At my mind i saw images of the local ponies. Many of mares in Manehattan have almost no clothes and often walking naked. I almost accustomed to it, but that was very hard not to think about that. However, after the each day of trading apples on the Manehattan fair i wanted no mares, but only to eat, to drink few glasses of fuel and to sleep.
I was awaken by the ringing of the drinks tray. A cup of coffee and a glass of tea was on it. A heavy, sinewy but aging pegasus sat opposite to me. Interest mixed with irony was written on his rough face.
- Ahizen Steam, I think that's time to go for you.
I looked on him puzzled.
- That's yet another Equestrian tradition, if somepony drinks at pub more than he can handle, the host gives him a some non-alcoholic drink for free. That's way to politely say, that it's time to stop drinking, and a given drink helps him to feel better after a lot of alcohol. - he started to explain, taking a cup of coffee with one hoof and pushing the tray to me with another.
- Herz Feld, come one I know my rate. I can drink the three glasses more.
- Any three glasses more. At least drink them however else. - said he putting his cup on the table.
I tried his tea. This Ponland's racist think that if I'm from Flankia, that means I obligately drink tea. He was right.
Strong tea. Slowly, the world became more clear in my head.
- Listen, Herz, how did you open your pub in Manehattan? I mean, that's a lot to do in Equestria, but you're in Manehattan and you'd open a pub.
- You're asked me that hundred times. I didn't find any job yet?
- Em, I sell apples at the fair, how much it seems to be a job?
- Not much and only two weeks more.
- You see. And what's next?
- Why are you asking me?
- Come on, Herz, you're like local elder. Helps to arrived ponies to deal with this place.
Pegasus smiled complacently.
"Firstly, look on your cutie mark. Explore it with a high attention and write on the paper all of the related associations" - he, obviously, cited some equestrian schoolpony's guide.
- Screw on.. yup.. I'm serious - unless i had a blank flank, until the last month i thought it's normal.
- Okay-okay. Also, as i know you'll get your cutiemark after few years of living here. But you have that, as you called it "prizvanie"?
- Yep, vocation. But if I only know it.
- That's it. There's reason to live on Manehattan only if you clearly know why you want to live here. Or you will drink the fuel until the end of your live?
- Go to Canterlor.
- Only if you're working with a high society. Or studying. Or something in that way.
- Are you a my friend or a dragon's? - Herz didn't knew this joke but i think he guessed it's meaning.
- Huh. As I know the Manehattan's Fair will last next few weeks, so here's a tip. Write few notes to the "Equestria Daily" about Flankia. Flankian pony - is the very rare thing here, so they'll belive you even if you'll write that there lives the dragon-headed ponies who eating the tea porridge on breakfast. Huh, they speaking to me with “love and tolerance”. - pegasus contently clapped his wings. -However, their pay will give you one-two week of time to find a job and to see Equestria.
Was he joking or not, but using equine i was able normally only to write. All pony-languages that I know are relatively close. Actually at all of them for the most of situation exists a suitable phrase on the ancient-equine and also exists it's own, and often uniqe phrase. Not so easy to understand the ways of writing them, but it's not so hard to learn it. So, if I'll write with the language of our common classic literature - "Equestria Daily" will get my article almost without corrections. Unless my horrible flankian accent, hard and dicrete. Herz was speaking without an accent as almost ponlandponies who came here, but all three flankians who he knew was speaking with the hard accent for all life. I think that's the difference in the our mind's deeps, when our mothers was teaching us to speak or when we was learning how to read? Some operation in our mind we do in another way. So small but important operation that we even don't think about it.
- Hey! Poni im ter lyft! Are you still here?
- Eh?
- Time to go as I said, for me. Clients are waiting. And for you too if you want to sleep at home before the tomorrow's fair.
Sighing, i finished my tea with a one gulp, left four bits on the table and left the pub.
Ponsk-town, five years ago
- Did you hear? Wonderbolts are going to sonic rainboom. «News» are writing about it all the time.
- Ja'll say more to you. At all schools and work collectives all pegasi are obligated to go through the flying qualification program?! Yesterday «News» wrote, that our Stormbolts are going to do it before them.
- They are writing so every year.
- But there's winter at country. Are they going to fly with the fur coats? That's ridiculous.
- Maybe they'll be training at Equessa? That's possible to fly there with the overcoat only.
- Buuy the pies!! Buy the pieees!
Two with meat, please.
Ja'llduit!
We was coming back from school through the market. Of course I was carrying both of our bags.
I'll do it. - she ate the pie and repeated.
Aurora was a young pegasi who had a celestial-grey color. Her tail shimmered with all of the possible colors, but all with a big dose of the grey color, so her tail looked dingy.
And how you'll do this?
Dunno. But i'll do it even if my nose will be running for the rest of my life.
I sighed. Both of us realized that he nose will be running really for the rest of her life. If she'll make a sonic rainboom at the winter Ponsk sky it will be not so long.
May be we can make a special coat?
At such frost you can only walk at the coat. But not fly over thousand kilometers per hour.
Maybe a furcoat?
And what you think?
«Flying in a furcoat» was a common phrase, like a «charging a furcoat to the pants». That's really silly. That was hard to take even a plain-flying speed in it.
Maigosh, ya're frozen! - slightly overplaying with her voice, but with a full seriousness said her mother.
Rainbow of North, that's no reason to disturb. We are fine.
Aurora, did you drag this deadweight to our home?
Mom, we are sitting at the same desk. And together we're getting the better grade.
Hmpf.
Flankian education system declared that a personal grades — is the ideologically-harmfull folly. And all all test, homeworks and so on, were did by two or more ponies and almost everytime these two ponies was a desk-neighbors(and there was no desks for one pony). Even if someone didn't like his neighbour, they was «voluntarily appointed» to do tasks together. And they'll get only one grade for their work. And even if someone will get the right to chose that's more comfort at work with your neighbour.
And Aurora's mother, Northern Rainbow, thought that her daughter must do all the task solo unrelated to my work and that it'll give her a ticket to the future.
But we thought only that it'll be god to get rid of all the schooltasks.
And also she was afraid that we'll become a friends.
Ouuu, so it goes. - at such moment Aurora's voice was untranslatable and only with my will power i was preventing my tail from the tapping on the floor.
Some more at the wings beginning. - I was rubbing her wings with a starbalm. At that frost that's to freeze the wings was not easier than to tap on asphalt. And any pegasi coming home firstly was rubbing his wings with a «starling», as pony called it. It was accelerating the blood and evaporating on the air it heating.
Ah, if my wing only was rubbed every time when i doing math.
Don't get used to it. And learn how to do it self or after school you'll still need to live with a mother.
Actually, she did only only two exercises at half of hour. However, that was not so uncommon with the wing rubbed.
Can we do so? I'll make all the tasks, even the physics and you'll think how to do the соник реинбум. - her try to spell «sonic rainboom» with the right Equestrian pronunciation was really cute.
Let’s do so.
And if you'll get the offer — you'll must to do nothing but you must think how to fade the sun using only matches and sticks would you reject it? And if even if not offered but asked your only frien that was making you to think not only about friendship. I was going just to dream about something because I was sure that rainboom is impossible at the winter Ponsk. Also I thouht that it's all only propagandistic bullshit and that's no reason to normal pony, even a pegasi, to think about doing it.
However that idea slowly occupied my mind. We can order a special suit to Alt Macher, the pony who secretly dresses al the high-placed ponies. Ironically, any of them was obligated to exile him at the same moment as they heard about his business. Is it possible to ask the major ponies for a such money? Or, maybe, to ask a leader of the local pony-pioneers division? For such important thing they may give enough money. No, even in that way we'll don't save enough mass.
Maybe use a hot-water bottles under coat? Such warmers with a overcoat will be lighter than a furcoat no too much, but it'll be a greater aerodynamics.
Maybe I can do a suit using the old rubber buses? It sound phantasmagorical, but it was more real than to order the suit to someone another and it'll have a better thermal isolation than a leather or fur suit.
Huh nooo.. Uh? I covered my muzzle with a hoof. It was warm. Contacting with the oxygen starbalm decomposes into the vapor and the natural oils. Emitting a large amount of heat. Because of that starry not decays at the bottle, warming the body and heating really fast if you'll blow on it.
But even if I'll spread Aurora so intensively, that it'll burn her skin at few seconds it'll be not enough to warm her at flight. And even to spread with the starbalm a little filly, even very hurrying, not possible at less than few minutes. But I get an idea.
-Ta-daam! - I was carying a strange suit in front of myself. It took only three days from me to make it.
- Eh?
- That's in what you'll do the sonic rainboom.
- But it'll be cold for me even at house.
The suit was covering the whole body. It was made of the thin slices of the rubber obviously not the bus-origin. It was slinky and looked more like a swimsuite for the winter deep swimming.
- That's not all. - I showed a heap of the cardboard slices. Each slice looked like an ancient armors part. All together they'll be covering all the pony.
- An that. - I showed the simple cloth suit. Of course it was covering all the pony.
It was a blistering cold that day. My plan wasn't too complex but we had only one try to do it. We were sitting at the hardly heated old cowshed. At the last moment I insisted on the two cups of the storong tea.
That was absolutely logical, but I'd never think about it if I'd not want to look at the naked Aurora some more time. In I can bet one to four that I was the first pony excluding her parents who saw she without clothes.
Because of that or because of the excitement before the fly her wings were standing up and didn't bend at all.
We finished to drink tea but he wings were still not bending. If she'll nit calm down she'll not fly anywhere. And if she'll not fly at the next thirty minutes we'll be catched.
My big sister, Moon Shine, an author of the Aurora's suit, will probably try to cover us but she'll not help us too much.
- Okay, go on start.
- But wings.
- A moment.
- Aww — at that moment I place my hoofs on the her wing's edges and bend it, as the workers bends their jeans suits. Wings resisted to bending and felt down, but almost instantly moved and made the few swings.
- What a jokes?
- One pegasi teached me that at the summer camp. Stallions on east are often doing so if there's an important event or even classes where is very rude to show your standing wings to otherponies.
- Ok, stop your explanations. I want to the air now!
-On start! - she started to wearing fast the rubber suit. I'd open the box with the cardboard «armor». Each piece was filled and smeared with a starbalm. Next I quickly put it all on she and fixed it. At the end she'd wear the cloth suit. Perfect! At the fly starbalm will vaporate fast heating she and rubber layer will be not only thermoisolator from the cold air and overheating starbalm, it'll also be a thermostabilizer. It'll accumulate the heat of the vaporating starbalm and will slowly giving it to she. Also it'll help to save her own warm.
- Attention. - I've opened the old door with my hoofs tap. Pegasi had made a right pose.
- Engage! - she'd fly out from the cowshed like a bullet. Now she's going to run over the cellar, take wing and start to ascend. I hurried to gather thing. Furcoat, a flagon half-filled by the fuel, an egg-honey-spice concentrate, a first aid kit. So we lost a year of the perfect studying when we were selling all spices and sweets from our extra ration that we had for it. That's no reason to care about the ration anymore. If we'll succeed — there will be no reason to disturb about anything, maybe we'll be called even to study at Peterhoof. And if we'll fail — there's no reason to care about an extra ration. That'll be reason to care about any.
I threw the furcoat on my croup, take the medkit into my teeth and run to the frost.
