//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 // Story: Beginning of Autumn // by MagicTypingPony //------------------------------// The final bell rang and Autumn started to pack up his books and pens into his saddle bag, “Let me do that for you Autumn.” Vigil said, taking his bag from him. Autumn absently nodded to her, his attention being drawn to Nocter at the desk next to him. The colt had all of his attention being drawn into his work book. Autumn had never seen Nocter focusing on school work with this level of concentration. Sneaking up behind him, Autumn peeked over his friend's shoulder. “What are you looking at?” he asked curiously. Almost as soon as Autumn spoke, Nocter jerked upwards and slammed the book shut. He turned to Autumn, his cheeks glowing bright red. “N-Nothing! Nothing at all!” Nocter shouted frantically, his eyes darting around, trying avoid all eye contact. Autumn backed away, looking at his friend with a puzzled expression, “O…kay then. If you say so. You just looked a little distracted is all.” “I was just…working on something.” Nocter explained as he hastily started to pack away his things. “…Alright then. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then.” Autumn replied. Autumn slowly left his class and walked down the hal, with Vigil following closely beside him, “Was everything alright with Nocter?” she asked. “I-it was nothing…he was just…focused of something, I guess.” he replied. The two of them walked the rest of hallway in silence, eventually exiting the school. As if on cue, the family carriage pulled up to greet them as they made it to the road. The ride home was uneventful. Vigil was attempting to make conversation with Autumn about something, but he could hardly hear her. Autumn's mind was wondering, continuously looping around a particular mare. ‘Does Maple like me.’ he thought to himself. ‘Vigil thinks so. But Maple doesn't like anypony. So Vigil can't be right. But then she's also a mare, so she could possibly be right.’ Autumn groaned in frustration and looked out the window. “Is everything all right Autumn?” “Everything's fine Vigil. Everything is just fine.” -- The trip home didn't end fast enough. As soon as they made it through the front doors, Autumn took off to his room, eager to start his studies. Anything to stop him from thinking about Maple. Vigil smiled at Autumn's enthusiasm as she followed him to his room. Placing his saddlebags on the floor next to his door, she turned and made her way the study, or as some servants call it, 'The Master's Domain'. Approaching the door, she felt herself shiver with fear as she raised her hoof to knock. Before she could touch the door, a low voice spoke from beyond it. “Come in.” Vigil entered, taking care to close the door quietly behind her. The room was dark, and was only illuminated by a small lamp on the far corner of a desk that was messy with papers. The dim light faintly revealed the outline of a pony sitting at the desk, clearly deep in his work. “Master Storm?” Vigil said timidly. “Yes?” he replied, not shifting from his position. “Master Mist had his day at school and is now revising his work in his room.” “He's up to date on his all of his studies?” “Yes.” “Good. Is there anything else I should know?” “He has made some friends.” Upon hearing this, Storm moved. He sat up straight and turned in his chair to face Vigil. “Friends?” “Yes sir. He has two. Nocter Fission and Maple Gem.” “Nocter Fission? I've never heard of his family. Are they of a lower class?” “Yes sir.” “That won't do at all. I'll talk to him about Nocter later. Who was the other pony?” “Maple Gem sir.” “Maple Gem...” Storm pondered on the name for a minute before continuing. “Thank you Vigil. You may go now.” He went back to doing his work as Vigil quietly turned and left the study. -- Autumn was lounging on his bed, reading one of what seemed like endless books his teacher had assigned him as homework. A quiet knock came from his door, causing him to look up. “Who is it?” Autumn asked. “It’s me, Autumn.” replied the quite voice of his mother. Autumn lazily grabbed the door handle with his magic and pulled the door open, revealing his mother. She was wearing a long, silver dress, and her mane was decorated with rainbow coloured hair pins. ‘Why does she look like she's going out?’ thought Autumn to himself. “Oh goodness! Why aren’t you ready?” His mother exclaimed. Autumn gave her an odd look, “R-Ready for what?” he asked, not really understanding what she was going on about. “Oh dear. Your servant must of forgotten to tell you. Our family has been invited to a social gathering at the Crystal Tree estate.” His mother explained as she levitated Autumn off his bed and into the bathroom as if he were a young colt. This was new to Autumn, while he assumed that at his birth, he was shown to plenty of high class ponies. But he’d never been out of the house for any reason that wasn’t school. “What's the Crystal Tree Estate?” he asked. His mother set him down on the bathroom and pulled out a hairbrush before answering. “The Crystal Tree Estate is the home to a wealthy family of unicorns, much like our own. They've issued an invitation to a social gathering there tonight.” “Do I have to go?” Autumn's mother paused her attack on his mane. “Of course you have to go. Refusing to show up at a social gathering you've been invited to is the height of rudeness. Besides, this will be your first social gathering. You best understand how they work, because you'll be attending a lot more of them in the future.” She gave his mane a particularly harsh tug, causing Autumn to wince in pain. “B-B-But I won’t know anyone there.” “You won't know them, but they'll know you. You'll be introduced to a lot of high class ponies. It'll be fine.” Autumn wanted to continue arguing, but figured it would be pointless. “Okay then.” he said, giving in. “It'll be fine.” his mother repeated. “You'll be great. You just have look presentable.” Fifteen minutes passed, and Autumn’s hair looked no different from when his mother starting combing it. Letting out an annoyed huff, she stopped her vain efforts to straighten his mane and moved on to dressing him. His mother tried to lift him up again, but Autumn's horn glowed, and he cancelled out her levitation spell with a burst of magic. “I can walk, you know.” he said in a rough tone as he made his way to the dressing room. His mother ignored his comment and followed him in. “Now stay still.” She said as she pulled out a white coat and blue vest. Autumn sighed and complied with her request. His mother then proceeded to dress him up like a store manikin. Autumn failed to see the point of wearing clothes, seeing how most ponies walk around naked anyway, but he stood there patiently and waited for his mother to finish. After a few minutes of aggravating boredom and fidgeting, she finally finished. “There we go. All done. What do you think?” His mother said pulling out a mirror and placing in front of her son. Autumn looked into the mirror, and gazed at the gaping pony staring back at him. A white coat covered his once brown fur. A deep blue vest was resting on top of the coat, with a matching tie. The tie was rather tight though, and he started pulling at it. His mother batted his hoof away. “It’s too tight.” he complained. “Stop fidgeting. It’s fine. Now come on, we’ve wasted enough time already.” She started pushing him out of the dressing room. The two of them made a mad dash to the front door, seeing that a carriage was already waiting for them outside. Autumn’s father was standing next to the carriage, looking impatient. He wore a black tuxedo, and his mane was combed over in a stylized fashion. upon seeing the rest of his family, he levitated a pocket watch out of his breast pocket to check the time. “You're late.” he scolded as the three of them climbed into the carriage. As soon as they sat down the carriage started moving. “Sorry. I experienced some trouble while preparing Autumn.” “You got him dressed? You should have left it to a servant. It's what we pay them for.” “It's Autumn's first night out. I didn't want to not be apart of that.” Her husband shook his head, discontinuing the conversation. Instead, he shifted his attention to Autumn, who was shifting uncomfortably in his seat. “Autumn, I cannot stress enough how important it is that tonight goes smoothly. Can you promise me that nothing will happen?” “Y-Yes father… I promise ” Autumn replied timidly, keeping his head down. -- They came to stop outside the estate. From his window, Autumn could see the silhouettes of high class ponies talking while sipping expensive cider through the windows of the manor. The front lawn was a sight to behold. It was filled with flowers, and was sporting marble statues of three of the four princesses. Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Cadence's marble counterparts gazed across the front lawn, seemingly adding a more chilly atmosphere to the already cold temperature of the evening. “Autumn.” his mother's voice snapped him out of his stupor. Autumn looked up to see that his mother and father had already exited the carriage, and were waiting on him. He quickly clambered out of the carriage and joined his family. The three of them approached the front door and Autumn’s father pressed the doorbell. Autumn could hear classical music being played from the othersider of the door. After a few seconds, the door opened to reveal a unicorn stallion with a short orange mane, and a sky blue coat. He was about the same age as Autumn's father. “Summer!” the stallion suddenly said, greeting Autumn's father with a friendly hoof shake. “I’m glad you could make it. And you’re lovely wife.” He shifted his attention to Autumn's mother, taking her hoof in his own and giving it a light kiss. After greeting finally turned to Autumn “And you must be Autumn. I’ve heard quite a lot of things about you.” “Y-You have?” Autumn responded, his cheeks flushing slightly. “It’s good to see you again too, Amber Quartz.” Autumn’s father cut in. “Please come in, all of you. I fear that I'd make a bad host if I left you three out in the cold any longer.” Amber opened the door wider so that they could enter. They party seemed to be in full swing by the time Autumn and his parents arrived. Amber wasted no time in engaging Autumn's father in a conversation while leading him to a small group of what Autumn assumed were business ponies. Autumn was turned around by his mother, “Now dear, I afraid that I’m going to have to leave you now. I have some things that I need to discuss with some other ponies.” “B-But mother…s-shouldn't you stay with me?” “Now now dear, just remember your manners and everything will be fine. Maybe you’ll even find some other foals here.” She said in a bright tone while straitening his tie. Content that his son looked good, she gave him a peck on the cheek before trotting off. Autumn watched his mother leave, until she was eventually swallowed by a crowd of ponies. Sighing, he turned around to look at the ponies around. There was no one he recognized, and there was definitely no foals. “It’s okay.” he reassured himself. “No pony knows who I am. All I have to do is keep my head down and stay out of sig-” “Autumn?!” His thoughts were interrupted by the voice of somepony who he’d hoped he wouldn't run into. “M-M-Maple?” he asked, dreading to turn around. The filly of his nightmares trotted into view. “Oh great, it really is you.” her mane was let down and straightened instead of usually being tied up at the back. She was wearing a sparkling sky blue dress that even Autumn admitted looked nice on her. “What do you mean, 'it really is me’?” Autumn asked. “I was secretly praying that my father wouldn’t invite your family, but I suppose some things are just impossible to prevent from happening.” “It’s good to see you don’t change out of school…” “And what is that supposed to mean?” “You don’t act differently at home.” “I do…but since you’re here, I figured I could quit the masquerade.” “Masquerade?” Before Maple could answer, a mare walked up to them, interrupting their conversation. Her mane was bright yellow with a lime green coat. She was wearing a silver dress, had her mane laced with assorted gems. She gave Autumn a smile before turning to Maple. “Who’s this handsome colt?” she asked. “Oh, hello mother. This is Autumn Mist of the Pure Magic Blood family.” Autumn noticed that Maple’s tone of voice changed. It was a lot less bitter than it had previously been. “Really? Well Autumn, I would just like you to know that you are always welcome in this house.” Maple’s mother said, giving Autumn another sweet smile. “T-Thank you.” Autumn responded bowing his head. Maple gave him a slight nudge to look up. He raised his head to the blank space where Maple's mother used to be. “W-Where did sh-?“ “Mother does that sometimes.” Maple groaned. She turned and started walking towards the entrance to the back garden. “W-Wait up.” Autumn said, running to catch up to her. “What do you want now?” “Well...it's just that...I don't know any other ponies here...so...?” “You can't talk with your parents?” “I don't know where they are.” Maple rolled her eyes and nodded, “Fine, you can come with me.” -- Meanwhile in the dining room, Amber Quartz and Autumn's father were discussing matters. “So how is your research going?” Amber asked. “Smoothly. I’m surprised how easy it is.” “Easier than beating me in chess?” Summer laughed “Not that easy. Why did you keep on challenging me to chess anyway? You didn't have a single strategic bone in your body.” “The thrill of the game.” “I suppose that's a valid reason.” “So I take it that you're still unwilling to tell me exactly what it is you're researching?” Amber questioned, rerouting the conversation back to its previous topic. “Forgive me Amber, but while we may be friends, some secrets may never be shared. And if you will excuse me for changing the subject, but I hear that your daughter is in the top rankings of Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns.” “Oh yes. She’s really made a name for herself.” “And yet you don't seem so supportive of her endeavours.” Amber sighed. “Summer, you must understand. I’ve had three son’s before Maple, and they all exceeded my expectations. They all became very successful, and sometimes they still my help now then.” “And because of them, you have no time for Maple?” “Well, yes. But that doesn’t mean I don’t value her. I just...” “It's okay Amber. I understand.” “Thank you.” “Yes. Sometimes we just don't have the time to polish all of our gems.” “So true.” “Moving on, from what I hear, your daughter has made friends with Autumn.” Summer said trying to keep the conversation moving. “From what I've heard from her, she doesn't see it that way.” “Is that so?” “But I believe you. My daughter is known for her sarcasm.” “Do you have any plans for her after she graduates from school.” Amber smiled curiously. “No. But I'm guessing that you do.” “I'm thinking...about a possible joining of our houses.” A smile appeared across Ambers face. “That is quite an idea, my friend. We were like brothers in our youth, why not be brothers in our later years?” “I agree.” “Unfortunately, I believe that your plan is a bit too ambitious at best.” “Ambitious how?” “Maple would never agree to marry Autumn. She's very conscious of herself, and of what she wants to do in her future.” Summer laughed. “Amber, my friend. This is why you could never beat me in chess. You give up to easily. When an opportunity like this shows itself, you don't pass by it if it involves getting your hooves a little muddy.” “So what are you suggesting?” “Maple and Autumn are already friends, the next step after that won't be far off. All we have to do is give them a little nudge. The rest will be like clockwork.” “You were always too smart for your own good. I swear, if I don't have a strategic bone in my body, then you're skeleton must be comprised of them.” The two stallion laughed heartily and chinked their glasses. -- Autumn stuck beside Maple throughout the evening. He was stunned by her behaviour. The Maple beside him was a complete opposite to the Maple that he knew at school. She was polite, quiet and even compassionate. They entered the dining room just as the music just as began. Maple looked around and spot Amber Quartz talking to Autumn's father near a small table in the corner. Amber looked up and saw his daughter staring at him. “Maple!” he called out, waving his hoof attract her attention. “I-I should go…” Autumn stutter, spotting his father with Amber. He turned to leave, but Maple grabbed his hoof. “On no you don’t.” Maple looped their hooves together and began to walk towards her father. Autumn, with no way out of the uncomfortable situation, followed her. Upon seeing the filly and colt with looped hooves, Summer whispered something in Amber's ear, which he nodded in agreement to. “Maple. Please.” Autumn begged. “You said wanted to spend the evening with me. If you think I'm going to let you go back on that now, you picked the wrong pony to hang out with.” The two of them kept walking until they made it to the table. “How are you kids going?” Amber asked cheerfully when they arrived. “Oh, we're doing just fine father.” Maple replied in a sugar-coated voice. “Autumn was just showing me a lovely evening.” The two stallions looked at each other briefly, a hint of smile on their faces. At that moment, the current song playing end, and new one replaced. Summer listened to the tune, recognizing it well. “The Harmonic Requiem.” he recited. “A song perfect for dancing to. Autumn, would you like to take this dance with Maple?” Autumn's face flushed. “I don't think...” “I’d love to dance.” Maple interrupted, smiling sweetly. Autumn was convinced that she wasn't trying to make his life uncomfortable before, she was throwing every at him now. Autumn took a step back, “Y-yes b-but ummm….I-I need to use the restroom.” “Come now.” protested Maple. “This song doesn't go for long.” She started to lead Autumn to the dance floor. “But I actually have to go.” he pleaded. “You can either hold it in, or I can suspend your bladder, which will be very painful I warn you.” The two of them reached the centre of the dance floor. Looking each other in the eye, they began to dance, or as Autumn would have put it, shuffled awkwardly around in circles. The song went for an agonisingly slow amount of time. Or Autumn could have just been interpreting it that way as he actually had to go the bathroom. His accidently bumped into Maple while 'dancing', earning him a scowl. “Where did you learn to dance.” she hissed at him ‘There's the Maple I know.’ Autumn thought to himself. “I never really learned how to dance.” Maple was taken aback. "Then how are you...?” “I'm mirroring you.” Maple's eyes widened in surprise. “You're doing a pretty good job.” she complemented him. “Thanks.” Suddenly the song ended, and the two ponies broke apart. Autumn rushed off as fast as he could before returning to Maple. “So....ummm....where is the...” “Up the stairs, third door on right.” “T-Thank you.” -- Autumn filled the sink up with water and splashed it on his face. Sighing, he looked up into the mirror. He could see thin lines forming under his eyes. “I need to get more sleep…” A loud noise suddenly rang through the hallway and into the bathroom. The sound was that of a metallic object being dropped on a wooden floor. Autumn jerked his head towards the door. Slowly exiting the bathroom, he Autumn began to walk slowly down the hallway, trying to locate where the sound came from. Autumn noticed a door that was slightly ajar. He silently made his way to it and put his ear to the door. He heard the sound again, which was followed by what Autumn could only assume was a curse word. Strange. Autumn could of sworn that he'd heard that voice somewhere before. Bracing himself against the door, Autumn lit up his horn. He then threw the door open and fired a beam of light into pony's face. Except it wasn't a pony. Shielding himself from the light with an arm, the culprit lunged at Autumn, tackling him out the door into the hallway. Autumn landed roughly on his back, with the culprit landing on top of him. The culprit raised a talon and was about to strike the colt underneath him when he suddenly recognised who it was. “Oh hi Autumn.” said Will. “Fancy meeting you here.”