It was a warm evening. In fact, it was the warmest it would be all year, for tonight was the eve of the Summer Sun Celebration, the longest day of the year. It won’t be long before Princess Celestia performs her royal duty and raise the sun, bringing light and warmth to the land of Equestria. This year would be the 1,001st year of her raising the sun each day. It used to be that she would also raise the moon each night; however her sister, Princess Luna, had come out of seemingly nowhere, and took over that responsibility. It was still a dark night, and the moonlight was all the ponies of Equestria could see by, aside from the many lanterns they carried to celebrate. Most all of them were waiting in the town square of Canterlot, celebrating the night away with parties and games.
Princess Celestia was riding in her well-lit carriage, on her way to perform her royal duty at the Summer Sun Celebration in the Canterlot town square, when on the side of the street she saw a lone colt, walking alone on the sidewalk. He had a deep blue cobalt coat and wore a brown vest. Even in the dark of night, she could see his hair almost shine from the light of the carriage. It was a brilliant white and very messy. He had a matching tail that looked like a cloud was trailing behind him. On his flank was a cutie mark of a white wing, although no other wings could be found on him. He was clearly an Earth Pony. He was staring at his hooves as he walked, and he wore a sad expression on his young, white-freckled face. The princess called the carriage to a halt, and stepped off to approach her subject.
“Why aren’t you at the festival celebrating with your friends?” she asked the young colt.
He spun around, and then stared in disbelief. There, standing before him, lit by the carriage light behind her, was a large alicorn, with great big wings, and a long horn. She had a pure white coat, and a long, flowing mane that seemed to shimmer in different hues, and a matching tail. She wore an ornate tiara, and matching necklace, and held with her an air of royalty. The unmistakable sun shaped cutie mark on her flank told him that it was Princess Celestia herself! He took a moment to recall the Princess’ question.
“I-I don’t have any friends,” he answered.
The princess gave him a puzzled look. “You don’t have any friends?”
She took a moment’s pause, and instead asked, “What’s your name, young one?”
For a while, he just stood there. He was flabbergasted. The princess was patient with him, however, and simply waited for his answer. When he came to his senses, he answered, “My name is Glider.”
The princess closed her eyes and nodded her head, smiling thoughtfully.
“Glider; such a wonderful name,” she said. She opened her eyes again, still looking at Glider, and said, “Tell me, Glider: Why don’t you have any friends?”
It was then that the entirety of the situation seemed to catch up with Glider.
“Aren’t you supposed to be at the Summer Sun Festival to raise the sun?” he asked.
She gave him a big smile, and said, “I have a little bit of time.”
“It’s a long story.”
“Then I have a lot of time,” she replied, giving him a wink. She didn’t miss a beat.
Glider looked down thoughtfully. After a short pause, he looked up again. Tears were beginning to fill his eyes as he began to tell his story to her. The princess was silent while he told it, listening, making sure she caught every word he spoke.
As a young foal, his family owned a small business, almost too small to belong in Canterlot. The other fillies around him were raised to pay no attention to unimportant ponies, and Glider was a very unimportant pony. As a result, no pony bothered trying to be friends with him. Things only grew worse as he grew older. When he finally earned his cutie mark, which was nearly two years after all the other young fillies, it was unusual. As an Earth Pony, Glider’s special talent was making, and flying with his own wings. This alienated most pegasi, and the fillies it didn’t alienate wanted to try flying themselves. However it is difficult to learn how to fly if you aren’t born to, and most fillies ended up getting hurt, only to blame their injuries on Glider. After a few of these incidents, rumor began to spread that Glider only wanted to hurt those around him. As the family business continued to grow at an alarmingly fast rate, Glider’s father realized he would need an heir to take over the family business. Up until this point, Glider was left to grow up on his own, and was given much freedom to do what he pleases. With the rising popularity of his father’s business, his classmates began to show interest in Glider. But he knew this interest was faked. To make matters worse, his father began grooming Glider for taking over the industry, but Glider’s years of freedom left him unaccustomed to the sudden expectations set by his parents. As a result, Glider grew very uncomfortable with himself, and his family. At the moment, Glider is trying to educate himself further, by going to Canterlot University. However, he is graduating soon, and is afraid of what will happen next.
When Glider was finished with his story, he was looking down, and his tears were flowing freely. Princess Celestia was still standing over him, still listening intently to his sobs. She closed her eyes for a moment, only to open them again with a smile. She leaned her head in, and lifted Glider’s, and said, “I understand. And I’m going to help you.”
However, the princess was busy today, and would need to think quickly. “Perhaps what you need is a change in scenery. You’re going to Canterlot University you said? Maybe you should transfer to Ponyville University. It may not be as prestigious, but there you may find a more welcoming environment for a pony such as yourself.”
Princess Celestia had a sudden thought, and came up with a brilliant idea. “And while you’re there you should find a student of mine by the name of Twilight Sparkle. I have her studying the magic of friendship with her friends. I’m sure she could help you make new ones, if not be friends with you herself.”
“Are you sure?” Glider asked.
“It will ultimately be your decision to make, should you go, but I do recommend it,” she replied. She began to turn around, and was heading for her carriage. “I’m afraid I must leave you now. You were right; I do have business to do today, so I must leave you for now. I’m sure we’ll speak again soon.” She then stepped up onto her carriage again, and rode away, taking the light of her lanterns with her.
Glider continued to sit there on the side of the street. He simply couldn’t believe it. Glider couldn’t even dream of something like this happening, and even if he could, he knew this was real.
Glider sat there in the dark for quite some time, wondering if he should take up the princess’ offer and transfer to Ponyville University. When the sun finally rose, Glider looked up. The longest day of the year—over a thousand years of Princess Celestia raising the sun every day to shine all across Equestria. Glider never saw it as anything more than that. But now, as he felt the warmth of the sun on his face, he realized it meant much more than sun raising festival. It was a symbol. A symbol of how much the Princess cares for her subjects, and how she wishes to bring warmth to their hearts; to all of their hearts. Even Glider’s.
Glider decided to go. There wasn’t much packing that needed to be done, but he would need a few necessities if he was to make the journey to Ponyville. Today is a brand new day, and Glider was going to change his life forever.