The White Tail

“The White Tail”

Prologue

Written by Matias Longstride

Edited by Abyss136

Fifteen years ago in the familiar land of Equestria…

A bird can be heard singing its song while perched on an ancient tree, swaying in the wind near the edge of the forest. Five Pegasi can be heard tearing through the sky, leaving a trail of smoke behind them. Startled, the bird flies off as it hears the roaring of hundreds of ponies nearby. Upon discovering the source of this disturbance, it discovers a massive stadium filled to the brim with ponies staring at the announcer with anticipation.

“Ladies and Gentlecolts! I am proud to present to you…The Wonderbolts!”

Right on cue, The Wonderbolts did their usual routine of flying over the stadium, performing their signature moves. As they passed over the crowd, all five hundred ponies began stomping the ground, cheering and whooping.

These ponies are from the nearby town of Celeston, a small city-port sitting on the western coast of Equestria. The city is made up of many small two-story buildings each leading to the center of town, where a beautiful statue of Princess Celestia can be seen.

Not everypony went to go watch the Wonderbolts that day. A family of four Earth ponies decided to take the opportunity to spend some good ‘ol family time at the beach.

A cream-colored mare was watching her young colt from the waters edge, and said with a hint of worry, “Branching, you better be careful in the water; the current might drag you out to sea!”

This is Aedre Palm, whom would rather be called Miss Palm.

Looking over at her with his blue eyes, the overconfident Branching replied, “Ha-ha, very funny Mom, like as if it could!”

He continued his epic battle with the waves, only to be tossed ashore again and again. A leaf-green stallion trotted over to stand beside Aedre.

“Son!”

The little light-brown colt perked up.

“You better listen to your mother, or else you will be doing nothing but bucking coconuts for the next three days.”

This is Magnus Palm, the proud owner of The Palm Family Farm, as well as the husband of Aedre Palm. His cutie mark is a coconut split in half, while Miss Palm’s is a sugar palm fruit. They usually sell well over a hundred palm tree fruits a week, especially coconuts, which is what the Palm family is well known for, due to its sweet and exotic taste.

Branching quickly fell into line, standing at the edge of the water, with a look of defeat on his face.

The family started walking up the beach with the ocean facing their right, the colt still staring dejectedly at the water.

Looking over at his wife with concern, Magnus asked, “Aren’t you having fun at all?  You always seem stressed out.”

Aedre sighed and replied, “Well, it’s not easy watching over two eight year old foals.”

Magnus snickered at this, and then replied, “And here I thought the beach would make everypony relax. Speaking of relaxing, where is our filly?”

As if he somehow managed to summon her by sheer will, a ball of sea-green fur came rolling out from the sand dunes beside them, causing sand to fly everywhere.

Everypony jumped back in surprise from her entrance as well as from the sand storm she created. After shaking the sand from their faces, they see her sitting there with an innocent smile on her face, giggling.

“Booyah!” exclaimed the little filly, punching a hoof in the air. “Can I do that again?!?”

Branching angrily responded, “No Mayflower, you cannot do that again; I got sand in my eyes because of you!”

“But it’s sooo much fun!”

Noticing Aedre’s stress level rising, Magnus hoofed in, saying, “No! No more!”

Trying to change the subject, Magnus said, “Hay, I have an idea, how about you two look for some seashells?”

Aedre gave him a thankful look as both Branching and Mayflower immediately trotted ahead of them in search of seashells.

Following her little hunters, Aedre noticed something odd floating in the water.

“Honey… HONEY!” she yelled, trying to get his attention, still staring wide-eyed at the water.

“Hmm?”  Magnus responded, and looked over to see what his wife was staring at.

He suddenly froze in place, realizing that not just something, but SOMEPONY was drifting just offshore.

As he galloped towards the ocean, both Branching and Mayflower turned to see what the commotion was all about.

“Kids, stay with you mother!” Magnus yelled as he dashed out into the water. He hurriedly swam over to the motionless figure, and reached him just in time before he slipped below the water’s surface.

As he quickly pulled the from the cold clutches of the ocean, he saw that it was an ice blue Pegasus colt with a vibrant green mane and tail. He swam under the young colt, making sure he was on his back, and made his way back to his family, who were waiting anxiously on the beach.

As Magnus reached the shore, Aedre and her foals gasped in shock, fearing the worst.

Despite Aedre’s attempts to distract her kids from the scene, Mayflower asked, “Is he gonna be okay?”

“Hush now dear...” was all Aedre could say.

Once Magnus laid the unconscious colt down gently onto the sand, he realized that the little Pegasus could not be older than his own two foals.

Wasting no time, he performed CPR on the young colt, attempting to break him from death’s grasp.

Just when Magnus thought it was too late, the colt suddenly jolted awake, spewing water into the air.

He gingerly opened his eyes, started tearing up, and then began to cry.

Magnus secretly smiled at his success, thanking his rescue classes for the techniques he used.

Seeing her husband successfully save the colt, Aedre and her foals trot up to the pair.

“Hey there, little guy. It’s ok; you’re safe now.  There’s nothing to be afraid of.” Magnus said with sincerity in his voice, all while scratching the back of the little colt’s ear.

The little colt glanced up at them with his icy blue eyes, and mumbled something incoherently.

Mayflower abruptly asked, “What’s yer name?”

“Yes, what’s your name cutie?” Aedre asked.

The shaken colt suddenly replied with a panicked look on his face, “I…I-I don’t remember...”

“What do you mean? Do you even know what happened to you?”

The colt got up slowly, only to quickly fall back down with a loud thud.

“Do…d-do you know what happened to me?” asked the colt.

Magnus replied, saying, “We aren’t sure; we saw you floating on the ocean’s surface not ten minutes ago.”

Convinced the shivering colt was suffering from amnesia, both Magnus and Aedre decided to bring him to the local doctor.

“Here, let’s get you into town to go see Doctor Clover.” said Aedre with a smile.

“O…Ok…what’s a Doctor Clover?”

And then suddenly the colt passed out. Aedre couldn’t help but giggle at his question; it was adorable how he said it.

They went into town with the little colt on Magnus’ back, when Branching spoke up, “Since he doesn’t know his name, can we give him one?”

Aedre and Magnus smiled at each other, and Magnus looked over to Branching and said, “And what would you name him, hmm?”

Mayflower pounced in on the chance, saying,

“Oh! Umm, how about Limpy? Or something like Blueberry… Oh wait Bubbles! Bubbles can work!”

“I don’t think a young colt would want to be called Bubbles.” Magnus said to Mayflower, who kept trying to come up with good names. Branching merely said,

“I don’t have a clue.”

They came up to the Doctor’s house and knocked on the door. Luckily for them, Doctor Clover was not really interested in watching the Wonderbolts perform. The top half of the door opens, revealing the old pony.

“Oooh! Well, if it isn’t the Palms! What can I do fer ya?”

Doctor Clover was an old Unicorn, with faint orange fur, a grey beard and mane, a black flat cap, and glasses. His cutie mark was that of a red knee hammer.

He glanced over at the unconscious colt on Magnus’ back with his shining green eyes, adjusted his glasses, and asked,

“Is he alright? The lad looks like he had more cider than he could handle, eh?”

Magnus quickly responded, before his agitated wife could yell at the clueless Doctor, saying,

“He was found floating in the ocean, and I actually saved his life. He doesn’t remember who he is, or what happened to him, for that matter.”

Doctor Clover’s glasses slid off a little as he thought, “Hmmm… these blackouts are usually due to too much fruit juice or something of the sort, but something seems amiss here...”

After re-adjusting his glasses and clearing his throat, he waved them in while opening the rest of the door.

When everypony was inside, he asked in a more serious tone, “Well then, let’s have a good look at him. How long was he out for, hmm?”

“We don’t know.” Aedre said, giving a worried look at the colt. “We just saw him floating unconsciously in the ocean twenty minutes ago, and we got him here as quickly as we could.”

“Ok, that’s a new one… So he was just floating in the water?”

Magnus nodded, and motioned for Aedre and the kids to sit at one of the tables in the lobby.

“Can you carry him over to the Inspection Room for meh, Magnus?” Magnus looked over to Aedre and she gave him an easy look, letting him know she and the foals would be fine. With confidence that Aedre wouldn’t explode into tears, he went into the Inspection Room with Doctor Clover, leaving his family in the lobby.

The Inspection Room was like any other room in the clinic. It had an examination table with a mirror just behind it, and across the room were several cabinets and a small refrigerator.

“Let’s put the lad on the table and see if we can’t wake him up.”

Using his magic, Doctor Clover picked the Pegasus up and gently laid him on the padded table.

“So, Doctor, how are you going to waa…?” Magnus asked, but Doctor Clover already had a plan, raising his hoof to cut him off.

“Don’t worry, Mr. Palm; I know exactly what will wake him up!”

He trotted over to his fridge, and returned with something wrapped in foil, and said, “This delicacy will definitely wake him up!”

Unfolding what appeared to be a burrito, Doctor Clover heated it up with his magic and began to wave it in front of the young colt’s muzzle.

Immediately reacting to the tantalizing aromas, the young colt’s eyes shot open.  His wings slightly flared, and he began to devour the delicious food in front of him.

Magnus stood there, shocked, as he watched the young colt wolf down the burrito, and asked,

“So, what exactly was that, Doctor?”

He smiled and confidently replied, “That was the nacho burrito, made up of a wheat flour wrap with cheese, chips, and spicy hay to top it all off. Nopony can resist it!”

Noticing the little colt was done with his burrito, Doctor Clover asked him,

“Was that good, my little friend?”

The colt nodded, wings still slightly flared, but with a smile on his face.

“That’s a… a nacho burrito?” The Pegasus slowly asked him.

“Yes it is indeed! Here, have another; you must be starving!”

Without skipping a beat, Doctor Clover fetched another one from the fridge and began to heat it up.

Magnus thought to himself, “He helps his patient’s by feeding them? I’ll be sure to come here if I get sick!”

The Colt ate the second nacho burrito, much slower than the first.  Satisfied that the Colt was good to go, Doctor Clover leaned in and asked,

“What’s your name lad?” The young colt’s ears drooped a little and he replied,

“I don’t…remember…”

He tried his best to remember, but all he could come up with was a fuzzy memory.

Doctor Clover asked, “Do you remember anything at all?”

The colt shook his head and timidly replied,

“No…”

Doctor Clover looked over towards Magnus and asked,

“Was he hurt in any way when you pulled him from the ocean?”

Magnus thought for a second, and replied, “Apart from having to perform CPR on him, I didn’t notice anything else.”

With renewed interest, Doctor Clover decided to take a closer look at the nervous Pegasus, and said, “Well, let’s take a look, then!”

Upon closer inspection, he didn’t find any bruises, abrasions, or cuts, or anything else of that nature. After much searching, he came across a strange-looking white patch on the inner side of his flank.

“Oi! It seems you have a white patch on the inner side of your flank! What’s with that, lad?”

Magnus cocked his head to the side and said, “Isn’t that normal among ponies, Doc?”

Doctor Clover quickly stated, “Well yes, but his is more of a birthmark rather than a patch of fur, it seems. It’s only here, which is not the norm for other ponies. It’s definitely something else, eh lad?”

The little Pegasus replied, “I don’t know…” He couldn’t help but be embarrassed by this, and blushed a deep red.

“Humph… Do you think you can fly, my boy?”

“I… I don’t know how…”

“How about swimming then? Well, I guess not, since that’s how you ended up here.”

The Pegasus nodded, feeling hurt from recalling that experience; ironically the only thing he could remember was not being able to swim.

“Well, you seem to be feeling just fine now,” he says as he rubs the young colt’s head.

“The memories are locked away somewhere in your noggin, lad.  Alright, I think we’re done here.”

Turning his attention to Magnus, he said, “Why don’t we go see how the others are doing in the lobby?”

As they rejoined the others in the lobby, Doctor Clover said, “Well he seems fine now, everypony. Oh, and don’t worry about the bill.”

Magnus replied gratefully, “Doctor, thank you for your generosity, but you really need the bits.”

Doctor Clover dismissed his remark, looked over to the Pegasus colt, and said,

“Now you’re going to stay with them for a little bit, ok lad? You’re welcome to stop by anytime if you need help.”

The colt nodded and Magnus led him over to Aedre and her foals.

“Oh, and one more thing!” The Palms and the icy blue Pegasus looked over to the old Doctor, who said, “Be sure to make it home safely!”

With a goodbye, they set off to The Palm Family Farm, and the quickest way back was along the beach.

They were careful to not frighten the Pegasus, but he didn’t seem to mind that they were walking along the beach again.  The parents began to talk to each other about that what to do with him, so Branching and Mayflower decided to question him.

“So, can you fly?”

“No…”

“Oh, ummm… How about tricks, do you know any tricks?”

“No…?”

“Do you have a favorite color?”

“I don’t remember…”

Mayflower looked at him and then said, “You are really tough to get answers from, you know that?”

Branching looked over at Mayflower, who was on the opposite side of their mystery friend, and asked,

“Hey sis, did you find any seashells?”

“Sure did, I have one right he-” he cut off Mayflower as he snatched the seashell from her grasp, and threw it into the ocean. It skipped a few times and landed a good three yards out, still floating on the surface of the water.

Mayflower angrily shouted, “Why did you do that?!?”

“Because you stepped on mine and broke it!”

“That was an accident, go and get it back now!”

“No!”

As the brother and sister argued, the young Pegasus looked over at the floating seashell. With a determined look, he said,

“I’ll get it!”

The foals both looked at him with surprise, and Mayflower cautiously asked,

“…Really? Aren’t you afraid of the water?”

The Pegasus didn’t respond, and calmly trotted towards the water. The parents were a good fifty hooves ahead when they noticed that their foals had stopped and where the colt was going.

Magnus started galloping back, yelling, “No, don’t go in there!”

The Pegasus didn’t hear him, or chose not to, as he took his first step onto the surface of the water, and then another, and then another. Magnus and Aedre stopped in their tracks, not sure of what they were witnessing.

“What in the name of Celestia…” was all Magnus could say when he saw this strange Pegasus not swimming, but WALKING on the surface of the water.

The colt simply walked over to the floating seashell. The water was a good six feet deep, but he was barely grazing the surface of the water with his hooves.

After picking up the shell, he walked back to the brother and sister, who, along with their parents, stared at him in utter amazement, having never seen something so spectacular before.

Quickly recovering from his initial shock, Branching says, “I wanna do that!”

Mayflower added, “Me too!”

Dropping the seashell in front of them, the surprised Pegasus asked, “Ya'll…can’t do that?”

“No way can we do that! How do you do it?” the icy blue Colt merely shrugged, saying,

“It just happens.”

“Oh, I have a name for you now!” declared Mayflower with a smile, “You shall be called…Seaponeh!”

Branching looked at her with a ‘really?’ look and dryly said “What’s with the ‘eh’ in Seaponeh? Isn’t Seapony just as good?”

“No silly, it adds more to the name, and does it look like he has fins and sings that Shoo bee doo song on a rock?”

Magnus and Aedre trotted up to them, still astonished from the little show.

“Well, it seems you have a cutie mark…and an odd one at that,” said Magnus as Seaponeh looked at his flank. He discovered that his new cutie mark looked like a golden trident rising from the ocean.

“So…do you like the name I’ve given you?” Mayflower tentatively asked.

Seaponeh smiled, and replied, “Yes…Yes, I do.”

And so together with the still astonished parents, they finally returned to the Palm Family Farm, discussing the day’s events.