//------------------------------// // Silence // Story: The Aces // by GillyRae //------------------------------// Six o’clock came a little too fast for Silver. She felt like she was barely done unpacking when she glanced at the cuckoo clock and realized that it was five fifty already. With nothing left to do, she headed back into the main room, still a little shocked at the amount of important events that had happened in the past hour. When she entered the main room, the first thing she noticed was Willow, lying on the ground, a scrapbook full of glossy photos in front of her. She looked up when Silver entered. “Hi Silver!” she chorused contently. “Did you get all settled in?” “Yeah. I don’t have much to unpack, in all honesty,” Silver said. She glanced at the scrapbook in front of Willow, “What’s that?” “Oh, this?” she glanced down at it, “It’s a scrapbook of all the Weather Ace students who graduated.” Interested, Silver walked behind Willow and looked over her shoulder at the pictures. Despite the fact she hadn’t been expecting to recognize any of the smiling ponies on the pages, she was still disappointed that she didn’t know any of them. Willow flipped the page and pointed with her hoof at a picture of a happy couple. “You see these ponies?” she asked Silver. “Yeah. What about them?” “They’re Jack’s parents,” Willow said. Silver blinked in astonishment, but at the same time she could see the resemblance. The mare was beautiful in a filly-next-door sort of way, with a gentle face, aquamarine eyes, and a peachy orange coat. The stallion was built in a way similar to Coach Wave, except there was less muscle in his chest and more in his legs. He looked like he would be suited more to playing professional sports than flying. But by his facial features, he looked uncannily like Jack. The mare was sitting in front of him, leaning into his chest and laughing, while the stallion was looking down lovingly at her. The description of the photo said Flora Blossom Apple and Thunder Flare Blaze. “Wait a sec. Flora Blossom Apple? As in, Apple family?” Silver asked in surprise. “Well, I suppose. Do you know the Apple family?” Willow asked. “The Apple family is a big family I know from Ponyville,” Silver said slowly, “Did Jack’s mom come from Ponyville?” “I don’t know much about Jack’s mom,” Willow said. “However, he talks about his dad all the time. His dad’s the son of Spitfire Blaze.” “The Wonderbolt?” Silver asked, her eyes widening. “Yep,” Willow said. “Jack won’t shut up about being related to a Wonderbolt. I’m surprised he didn’t tell you as soon as you walked through the door.” Silver frowned. How could she not have realized it sooner? With a surname like Blaze, she should have known that Jack was related to Spitfire, yet…it hadn’t really crossed her mind. “Wow. How do you know all this stuff?” Silver asked . Willow closed the book and stood up. “I leaf through the scrapbook all the time. I love learning obscure historical facts, especially family facts. My family is so boring.” Silver was about to reply when the sound of hooves against the floor interrupted her. “Hellooooooo Fillies!” Jack called out, drawing out the “o” as long as he could on one breath. Silver turned around and saw that he wasn’t alone. Behind him was a tall colt who could only be Blue Skies. His clear blue coat surely lived up to his name, and he had wide, stormy ash-gray eyes and a spiky midnight blue mane, messy like Jack’s mane, although more of an organized mess. Jack stepped aside. “Blue, this is Silver.” He grinned suddenly, as if realizing something. “Hey, you two both have color names!” Willow sighed. “By Celestia, Jack, who cares?” “Oh shut up,” Jack hissed. Blue looked at Silver, and she got the feeling he was scrutinizing her, picking out every little flaw in her. Although, as she watched him, she realized he wasn’t staring at her. He was staring at her wings. “Uh. Hello. I’m Silver Halo,” she said, smiling unconvincingly. His gaze lingered on her wings a little longer before they snapped to her face. He gave a brief nod, so small Silver wasn’t sure if it had been intentional, and then turned and started towards the door. Jack looked after him. “Wait, where are you-“ he began, before he caught notice of the clock mounted to the wall in the room. “Oh. It’s time for dinner.” Silver glanced over to the clock. Sure enough, it read 6:00. “We ought to go,” Willow said. “Or else Coach will be angry with us.” She looked positively terrified of this idea. The four ponies, led by Blue, walked out of the main room, into the beautiful cloud-hall, which Silver gaped at as they walked through. Then, into the Lobby they went, only to collide into a small crowd of older ponies, chatting and laughing loudly. Willow leaned over to Silver. “Those are the full-fledged Aces. My dad might be somewhere in there.” Silver pricked her ears. “Wow, really, your dad’s an Ace? Does he live here?” “Nah. Most full-fledged Aces go home in the evening, but sometimes they’re on night duty in case there’s an emergency, which there never is.” “What do they do all day then?” Silver asked. “They help keep the skies above Cloudsdale clear, and sometimes come in and teach us lessons,” Willow replied. Silver almost began to ask another question, but before she could speak, a large stallion whom Silver recognized as the stallion in the photo album, Jack’s dad, stood up on what appeared to be one of the faded couches. “Aces!” he shouted in a booming voice. The crowd of ponies quieted down and turned towards him expectantly. “I’ve been told by Big Wave down here that there’s a new recruit joining my son and his friends.” Silver’s heart sank. She didn’t really want much attention, yet here was a crowd of some of the most experienced fliers in Equestria, staring at her, smiling at her, stamping their hooves against the floor in applause. Jack’s dad continued, “Silver Halo’s her name. Well, make sure to say hello to her, don’t be unfriendly, make her feel welcome!” He smiled knowingly, “Although, I’d bet she’s already gotten a particularly warm welcome from Wavey.” Coach Wave, in the front of the crowd, though clearly visible due to his massive size, pulled a disapproving face, but it didn’t quite look convincing. “Anyway, I believe the thing to do now is show her how we Aces do things here.” He swept his gaze to Silver, who shifted uncomfortably but managed a smile. “Right?” “Right!” the crowd chorused. “Who are we?” “The Aces!” “What do we do?” “We keep Equestria safe!” “What do we do?” Jack’s dad repeated. “We keep Equestria safe!” “I can’t hear you!” “WE KEEP EQUESTRIA SAFE!!” the crowd roared. Silver couldn’t keep from genuinely grinning now, the crowd had managed to be louder than a group of ponies twice its size, all for her. “Do they do this every night?” Silver shouted over the ruckus of the Lobby. “Most nights!” Willow replied. “We’re like a big happy family here! Everypony knows everypony else’s name.” The doors that the crowd was facing opened, and the ponies began to make their way inside. When Silver finally got in, she realized that they were entering the Cafeteria. The room was spacious and echoy, the floors were blue marble, and the walls were covered in windows. To the left, tables filled the room. To the right was a line of ponies leading up to what appeared to be the kitchen. A little overwhelmed, Silver followed Willow into the line. “What’s on the menu?” Silver asked. “There’s usually a variety of lots of stuff,” Willow said. “What’s your favorite?” “My favorite? They serve Cirrus Pie on special occasions…now that’s always heavenly,” Willow said with a dreamy expression on her face. “Cirrus Pie? You ponies eat clouds?!?” Silver exclaimed. “No, no, no, Cirrus Pie is a pastry with a fluffy marshmallow filling. It’s not actually clouds,” Willow said, giggling slightly. The line moved forward steadily until finally, Willow and Silver entered the kitchen, where all of Silver’s senses were immediately attacked by the warm smells of food. There were daisy sandwiches and carrot stews and cranberry salads and more. Silver piled her tray with a tomato basil soup and a little raspberry side salad, then slid it towards the cashier, a peach-colored mare with an earthy green mane. “Welcome to the academy, dear,” The mare said when Silver passed by. “Thanks!” Silver said. Willow led Silver over to a round table, already occupied by Blue and Jack. “Where were you guys?” Willow asked after she sat her tray down on the table. Jack tossed a grape into the air and caught it before replying, “We got ahead of you guys in line. Slowpokes.” Willow’s face contorted into one of shock. “Sh-shut up.” Silver frowned. “What’s wrong, Willow?” She shook her head as she sat down, “Nothing, nothing.” Silver looked across the table at Jack and Blue for explanation of Willow’s sudden mood swing, but Jack didn’t seem to have noticed, and Blue was staring down at his hooves, lost in his own thoughts. “So, tell us about yourself, Silv!” Jack exclaimed. “Well…I grew up in Ponyville,” she said, not sure of anything else particularly interesting to tell him. “Woah, really? My mom’s family is from Ponyville,” Jack said. “Right! Your mom is from the Apple family, right?” Silver questioned. “Yeah! How’d ya know?” he asked. “Willow was flipping through the scrapbook and showed me your parents,” she said. When Willow suddenly tensed up beside her, Silver knew she had said the wrong thing. A slow grin began to spread across Jack’s face. “What makes ya so interested in my folks, Will?” he taunted. “I was just looking through and I saw them…” Willow trailed off, before finishing, “why do you care?” Jack shrugged. “Just think it’s a little weird that ya know so much about my family, is all. Also that you’re willing to share it with other ponies.” Willow’s ears seemed to be puffing out steam, but she didn’t have anything to say, so she simply stood up and stormed away, leaving her food untouched. Silver looked after her, not sure of what to say or do. “Eh, don’t worry about her. Will gets off on the stupidest things sometimes,” Jack said, popping another grape into his mouth. - After dinner, Silver walked behind Jack and Blue back to the student’s rooms, still feeling awful about causing Willow to storm off indirectly. They entered the main room, which was depressingly empty, but neither of the colts seemed worried about Willow. Jack said he was going to go listen to some music and disappeared into the colts’ rooms, and Blue went over and lit a fire in the fireplace. After getting a good fire going, Blue straightened up and sat down on the couch, beginning to watch the flames. Silver, unsure of what to do now, watched him, feeling uncomfortable and lonely. Finally, she decided she ought to just go to bed, and started towards the fillies’ door. She was about to open it when she heard something from behind her. For a brief moment, she thought Blue had just said something, but when she looked at him, he was still watching the fire, unmoving. How funny, she swore she just heard someone say "It’s not your fault.” Shaking her head, Silver chuckled awkwardly to herself and opened the door, dismissing that thought. She was just tired and overwhelmed, that was all, and the voice was probably just her subconscious trying to remind her to be rational. But still…it had sounded so real...