//------------------------------// // Back To School // Story: Skyborn // by That Avi Nerd //------------------------------// Aurora Borealis sat patiently in her seat, waiting for her morning lecture to begin. The white pegasus brushed her cyan and blue mane out of the way of her cobalt eyes so that she could better see her teacher. From her spot on the edge of the thirteenth row, only a few rows away from the wall, it was difficult to make out the canary colored earth mare, let alone the board. Though at the top she could make out the title, Sophomore History, written in bold white chalk. "I heard that this is the worst class this year," a mare's voice whispered it's way into Aurora's flicking ear from the seat net to her. She leaned towards its source: a pink unicorn who sat next to her. "My sister said it's basically an extension of all those stories we were told as foals," she replied in a hushed voice. "I think I like the stories better," came a third voice from behind Aurora and the unicorn, "we weren't graded on those." The orange stallion leaned in, placing his head between the two mares'. His black mane dominated the right side of Aurora's vision. They were her foal-hood friends Rose and Buck, with special talents in writing and astronomy respectively. Auroras special talent was, well, nothing. A far cry from her unicorn and earth pony friend. And everyday the other classmates reminded her of that. "Nah," said Aurora, "this'll be a piece of cake. Now chemistry, that's what'll give me trouble." A gray coated unicorn in front of her turned in her seat, leaning nonchalantly on the back of the chair. "I've got chemistry in the bag," she bragged, looking through the side of her silver mane. "Along with every other class this year... again!" "We can't all have a cutie mark in studying." It was all Aurora could do to keep from sticking a hoof in Crystal Star's mouth. The uptight filly seemed to instantly memorize information from books, making her high school experience a breeze. She often used it to her advantage, along with several other outside influences. "At least I have a cutie mark. Actually, you just might have one now that I think about it. It's nothing! Get it? Because that's what you're good at! Nothing!" Aurora leaned forward in her chair, ready to leap forward and grapple the unicorn to the point that her gray coat turned blue! Rose's arm stretching across her chest was theonly thing that manage to stop her. "She's not worth it, Aurora," Rose tried to calm everything down before it got even further out of control. "Just what are you going to do?" Crystal Star dared her. "I'll just have my daddy fire your hard working mummy. I'm sure he can find somepony who's better suited to push a mop!" "Okay, now she's worth it," Rose growled, releasing her arm from Aurora's chest. Just as she did, the pegasus began to raise her wings, readying herself to strike. "Is there something you three would like to share with the rest of the class?" Aurora stopped under her teacher's voice. The canary mare's glare was more than enough to snap their attention away from each other and onto her. However, the rest of the class was staring at the offenders. "No, ma'am," the three said in unison. "Excellent. Now, let's start off class the right way, shall we?" Everypony settled into their seats, preparing their materials to take notes with. "Good morning, class." Aurora used the drone of the bustling class room to cover up her cursing, "Privileged brat," to the back of Crystal Star's head. The gray unicorn may have been book smart, but everything she's read has done nothing to teach her a good attitude. Her father didn't help. He was the district director, thus having a large amount of money and power. Money and power that Crystal Star leached off of. Lost in her mental rage, Aurora found herself scrambling to pull out her own notebook as Miss Parchment began her lecture. "As you may have deduced," she began, walking over to the board with a piece of chalk, "in this class you will be learning pony history leading up to the Navis Project, which we will learn more of in the next semester. But in particular we will be focusing on what's known as the Celestial Era." "Excuse me, Miss Parchment?" A pony in the second row raised their hoof. "Yes? You have a question?" "Sorry, but is that the era where Princess Celestia banished Nightmare Moon forever?" "That's very good! The Celestial Era began at that moment in history and extended for about a thousand years! Can anypony tell me where he went wrong, though?" Aurora raised her hoof, but Crystal Star blurted out the answer none-the-less, "Because she was only banished for a thousand years." They gray unicorn turned and smiled coyly at Aurora. When sure faced back to the board, the pegasus merely rolled her eyes. Not like literally everypony knew the answer already, she thought to herself. Aurora wasn't necessarily angry, just frustrated. Everypony already knew most of the stories from the Celestial Era anyway! Hay, she was a fan of the stories surrounding the Elements of Harmony and their Bearers herself. It was Crystal Star thinking that somehow she'd become more popular if she was the one who said it. If anypony else had blurted it out, they would have been yelled at. Her father was half the reason she even got away with so much in the first place! Not because she was smart. Miss Parchment scribbled on the board, small fragments of chalk breaking off here and there. "Once upon a time, about twelve hundred years ago to be exact, in a region that was known as Equestria, there were two regal sisters who ruled together, and created harmony for all the land. To do this..." Aurora tuned the teachers out for a bit. She already knew this foal's tale. Her mother used to read it to her constantly. The eldest sister controlled the sun; the youngest the moon. The youngest became jealous of the attention her sister got because all of the ponies were asleep during her nights. Eventually the youngest rebelled against her sister so Celestia sent Luna to the moon and a thousand years later she came back and tried to over throw Celestia again but was stopped by the Elements of Harmony, again, and transformed from Nightmare Moon back into Princess Luna blah blah blah. The good thing about knowing the story was knowing when to pay attention again. "...and harmony had been maintained in Equestria for generations since. But that came to an end. Two hundred years ago, Nightmare moon escaped. One particularly talented unicorn managed to stop her with some help. Can anypony tell me who that was?" Aurora saw Crystal Star opening her mouth and took her chance. "Twilight Sparkle, the student of Princess Celestia who went on to become the Princess of Magic," Aurora spoke confidently. Miss Parchment furrowed her eye brows, foreshadowing what was to come. "Aurora!" she barked, "do not speak without raising your hoof and being called upon!" "But!—" "No buts! Am I understood?" "Yes, Miss Parchment..." The teach went back to her lecture while Crystal Star tried to contain her snickering. Thought it was obvious that she wanted Aurora to hear her. This is going to be a long year... The pegasus slipped down into her seat. "I thought this day would never end!" Aurora breathed a sigh of relief, hovering above her friends as they pushed their way out of class. The three ponies found themselves standing in a vast yet enclosed space. The Eighth Ward, District Two. Mainly a commercial ward, it was home to only about fifty ponies. Stuck in what was known as the Interior, the parts of the ship inside the primary envelope that had no view of the outside world, the conditions were less than optimal. Wooden homes and business lined both sides of the street. Lights shinned down from the ceiling forty feet above, set to a day/night cycle. At night, they'd shut off and street level lamps would turn on. When it was supposed to be dark out, the upper lights would shut off, and lamps that were at street level flickered on. There was no dusk or dawn for the ponies in the Interior. The Interior Districts aboard Navis 7 were comparative to slums. Districts One was more residential, with some commerce; while District Three was primarily agricultural and industrial. The mid-ground, District Two, had a mix of both One and Three. It had the hospital, a library, and... that's about it. Each District had its own school. District Two's being in the Eighth Ward. The school was a multistory structure that served students ranging from pre-school to seniors in college. "Should we go topside today?" Rose was referring to Districts Four through Six on the top of Navis 7, the only districts with a complete view of the sky, and usually where the upper echelon of Navis 7's society lived. The remaining Districts, Seven through Ten, were each their own separate external pods attached to the bottom sides of Navis 7, allowing the only view o the ground for mos common ponies. "Nah," Buck said, "let's go to District 8. We could meet Flora for lunch." "Are you ever going to ask her out?" Rose elbowed Buck's shoulder. She and Aurora both teased him all the time about the crush he held on the green earth pony. "Well... maybe I'll do it today. I don't know..." He was tracing circles on the floor with his hoof. "All the more reason to go there, then," Aurora said. "Come on, my mom wanted me to stop by home before we went anywhere first." She led her friends down the street, still hovering despite being weighed down by her school bags. Being a pegasus on Navis 7 was difficult for her; access to the outside was strictly off limits, and the wards had limited airspace. In Layman's terms: there wasn't really anywhere for a pegasus to stretch their wings. The largest open space on Navis 7 was the central atrium, between Districts Two and Three, essentially acting as a park. But even that was too constricting. To fill her need for flight, Aurora rarely walked wherever she went. Often times she'd get weird looks from passing ponies, as if she were the odd one for actually using her wings. After a few blocks the trio arrived at the wall between Wards Seven and Eight. A large arch served as the passageway, allowing an easy flow of ponies between the two Wards. It was equipped with a gate that could be shit in the event of an emergency. Aurora and her friends still had to go over one ward, then down two more levels to get to the First Ward, where she lived. As it happened, her home sat next to the junction that connected District Two to Districts One, down to District Eight, and up to District Four. Allowing her an easy access to all sides of the ship. It was one of the reasons her father had chosen that location. That, and District One, which was closer to his place of work, was full at the time. "I'm home!" Aurora called inside, opening the door. She sat her bags down next to the door where her friends waited while she tended to her business. Three steps into the living room and she was tackled to the ground by a blur of blue. She rolled a few times before ending up on her back, with somepony standing on the top of her, pinning her legs and arms to the ground. "Hey, sis," the blue pegasus said cheerfully. "Oh, hey Andromeda," Aurora tried to push her elder sister off, but simply didn't have the strength too. "Wanna get off so I can go talk to mom? Please?" "Nope! You're going to talk to me first. How was your first day?" "Fine, I guess." Andromeda frowned. "Crystal Star?" Aurora looked away, and Andromeda sighed. "Want me to go beat her up again?" "No... it's fine." "I do, though," Rose said from the doorway. "But seriously," Aurora continued, "can you get off?" "Not until you tell me where you're going!" "Ugh... Mom!" "Andromeda," their mother called from the kitchen, "get off of your sister and come help me with supper!" "Aww," the blue pony sighed, "you haven't been any fun since you started high school." "Nope!" Aurora said confidently. "Now, get off." Andromeda reluctantly released her sister. Aurora followed her into the kitchen, where their mother was standing next to the stove, using her magic to help cook something atop it. "You wanted to talk to me, mom?" Aurora stepped up to the cyan unicorn's side. "Where is it that you plan on going tonight?" she asked, tilting her head slightly towards her daughter while still keeping her vision focused on the meal. "Well, Buck wants to go see Flora, so we figured we'd go see if she was up for lunch." "Oh?" Her head perked up as she looked at the entrance between the kitchen and living room. "Are you going to ask her out this time, Buck?" she called in to him. They couldn't see it, but Buck's face was turning almost as red as Rose's mane. "We're gonna get him to try. Now what'd you want? We need to go soon..." "Not so fast young lady, I need you to take this to your father first." She used her magic to levitate a silver metal lapel pin over to Aurora. It was the ship's insignia, a phoenix with its wings spread, rising out of ashes. A vital piece to his duty uniform. "Why can't you bring it to him?" Just as her sentence was finished, Aurora's ears were pierced by a high pitched scream. She looked for the source and saw Rose tossing a unicorn foal into the air. "Oh... Comet, that's right." "Three weeks and you still haven't gotten used to your little brother yet, huh?" "I haven't gotten used to the lack of sleep... Why can't you just send Andromeda?" "I've got class tonight, twerp," the blue pegasus entered the kitchen, pushing her way past Aurora while bumping her to get to an already made sack lunch before exiting again. "See ya guys later!" she said as the front door closed behind her. "Does dad really need this?" "Yes, really. He's already called home about it twice. Now go, the fore-deck pass is on the table." "But mom... I want to go hang out with Rose and Buck." "And you can! After you give your father his badge. "Fine." Aurora groaned, turning to head into the living room. On her way out she grabbed a plastic card attached by a red lanyard off of the table, placing it around her neck. The pass allowed her access to some parts of Navis 7's fore-deck. Enough for her to get to her dad's office, at least. "I gotta go run an errand..." she said as she hovered over to her friends, both of whom looked disappointed. "Meet you guys there?" "Yeah," Buck said. Rose nodded and set Comet back on the ground for him to rampage elsewhere. "See you later." Aurora followed them outside, shutting the door behind her. Where her friends turned left down the street towards District Eight, she flew to the right, to District One. The border between Districts were larger than those between Wards. The size accounted for the security checkpoint stationed there. At this point in the day, it was congested with ponies on their way home from work or school. It didn't matter to Aurora; she just flew over them. "Aurora, get down!" a security guard at the border yelled at her. Most of the guards surrounding District Two were fairly familiar with her, and all usually in the same way. "You know flying at altitude is prohibited!" She rolled her eyes and went on her why. It wasn't like he was going to leave his post and chase after her, again. Not during rush hour at least. It was a thought that often occupied her mind, but she never really under stood it. Just why can't we fly like we were born to do? On Navis 7, hovering was allowed, and she took full advantage of that, but anything above ten or so feet wasn't, for what ever reason. Maybe because the Overseer was an earth pony and was jealous. Or maybe he just didn't see a point to it. She didn't know. Either way, she didn't care. As she made her way forward through District One, the air became more clear. With less factories as District Two, and an added bonus of being on the front of the ship where they got the freshest air from the vents. After passing through several Wards she reached the border between District One and the fore-deck. A solid metal door separated the two areas, with security guards on either side. "Pass?" the guard asked her, looking her over mane to hoof for anything suspicious. Aurora held up the pass that was around her neck so that the guard was able to examine it in greater detail. "And what's your purpose here this time, Aurora?" Her name wasn't on the pass; the guard was just familiar with her from all the other times she had visited Navis 7's fore-deck. "Dad left his badge at home," she showed him the silver object in her hoof. "Again?" "Again." "Yeah, he's been ducking the brass all day so he wouldn't get caught without it." The guard help up his own badge card that was around his neck and swiped it in a reader slot next to the door. There was an electronic beep as the door slid open. "Make it quick, though," he warned. "The Overseer is out and about today and you know how he feels about civilians on the fore-deck, pass or not." Aurora nodded and walked into the passageway. It was considerably smaller than Ward she was just in: about the size of a regular hallway in some regular 'ole building. Corridors like this crisscrossed all over the front of Navis 7, creating the fore-deck. Doors lined both sides of the halls with names of ponies or departments on them. Her fathers looked like one of these, but was up a few decks and still more forward. She passed several of the ship's crew along the way, all wearing the same light blue and black two-toned button up uniforms. White chevrons on their arms indicated enlisted personnel; bars for officers. None of them paid her any mind. It wasn't uncommon for Aurora to be seen meandering about this part of the ship. With time she reached a corridor with a blue sign hanging from the ceiling with "A.I.R. Team H.Q. written in white lettering. Each Navis-Class ship had teams that would venture outside of the ship to take out ice that built up on the air frame. The ship had an automatic de-icing system that would normal take care of it, but that system was high maintenance and as a result was down, a lot, or it didn't work because too much ice had built up for its capabilities. Manual De-icing Teams regularly patrolled the outer envelope and glass for ice. But every-so-often between MDT sweeps, too much ice would build up. If it caused problems, like on the control surfaces, or rotors, or puncture a hole in the envelope, the Advanced Ice Response Team would take over. Armed with picks, de-icing chemicals, and various materials, they'd remove the threat and repair the damage it had caused. Made up entirely of pegasi, this team possessed the most dangerous job on the ship. The walls here were a different color than elsewhere, a perk of their high tier status. Written on white letters against the blue walls on the right side of the corridor was the inscription, Through these halls, rests the fate of the future. Other sayings could be found on the other walls throughout this section of ship. Aurora took a deep breath, continuing forward on the ground through what she considered to be sacred halls. This was the only place she wouldn't fly aboard the ship, purely out of respect and appreciation. She wasn't one of them, not yet, she reminded herself. And even with a full fore-deck pass like hers, not many civilians were tolerated on this deck. So her dad being on the team gave her an added advantage. A few rights and a left later, Aurora slowed her walk to better see the contents of the ceiling above her. The names of every perished AIR team member was carved into its own individual tile. Being the highest deck on the interior of the ship, these ponies' names were above all. Watching over the ship, even in death. At the start of the hall were the names of the first to die, long ago when the ship was first launched. By the time she got to the end she began to recognize some of the names, friends of her father mostly. Near the end of the hall an earth pony had climbed to the top of a ladder and was chiseling away with a hammer at a fresh tile. Dust fell onto his formal dress uniform as he chipped in a name; the most recent casualty. LCPL Caelum, Team Two. KIA 01-30-1207. He carried us, so we may carry on. Her brother. Killed just over a week ago when an ice pick was ripped out of another pony's belt by a wind gust, tearing into his wing. Nopony could get to him in time before he disappeared beneath the clouds behind Navis 7. It took Aurora several minutes to realize that she was standing in the middle of the hall watching as his name became one of many. What brought her out of the trance was the earth pony asking, "Know him?" as he finished. "Yeah..." Aurora sighed, proceeding on with her head bowed. The hall she was in led to a T junction, with paths going left and right. She was interesting in the door directly ahead of her. It was silver in color with Captain Aries, AIR Team Commander, written in bold black letters. Aurora stood in front of the door, in the pest position of attention she could muster. Raising her hoof, she rapped on it three times. "Enter," came a stallion's voice from inside. Slowly she opened the door and did as told. A blue carpet provided a soft surface to stand on. The door was centrally aligned with the rest of the room. On either side were three chairs pushed up against the wall. Various paintings and posters of the ship and the AIR Team covered three walls in equal parts. A black desk sat in the center of the room, pushed back more towards the far wall, which was a single bay window. In one corner of the far wall, stood the blue AIR Team flag; in the other was the ship's red flag. Behind the desk in a black roller chair sat a gray coated pegasus will a mane that resembled Aurora's. "Dad?" The stallion looked up from a stack of papers, setting down his ink pin. "Aurora? What are you doing here?" She walked across the carpet, passing over a giant white version of the ship's insignia that went from the door to the desk in length and about halfway to the side walls. "Mom wanted me to bring you this," she set his badge on the desk, next to a couple pictures of her and her elder brother and sister when they were foals. "Thank you so much," a smile was brought to his face as he picked it up, clipping it to the proper place on his uniform. "I thought Andromeda was bringing it over?" Aurora shrugged. "I don't know, mom asked me to do it." "Huh, I told her to have your sister do it... She might as well have, she goes to school near here anyway." "That's what I told mom!" I said that she should do it so I could go with my friends to eat in District 8." Her father quirked an eyebrow. "Your usual friends?" she nodded. "Hm. Buck going to finally ask Flora out? She seems nice." "Rose and I ar—were going to try to get him to." "Well, if that doesn't work, I'm sure he'd be a good stallion for you—" "Daaaad... You know I only like pegasi." He mouthed the words along with her as she said them. "Speaking of which, how's that... Streak... no, Strife? No, uh, Strike? No..." "Storm?" "Yeah! When do I have to sit in the living room some night with my ice pick because he's late bringing you home?" He took pleasure in watching her cheeks light up like a Hearth's Warming tree. "He... doesn't exactly know that I, uh," her voice quieted, "like him." Aries crossed his hooves on his desk and leaned forward. "You know what to do about that?" She shook her head. "Tell him." "Gee, thanks dad." There couldn't have been more sarcasm in that sentence if she tried. "Why are you giving dating tips to your high school daughter? Most parents would be threatening them if they tried anything." "Hey you never know! I'll inform you again that I met your mother in high school." He leaned back in his chair, putting his hooves behind his head. "Those were the days..." he said, reliving memories. "She was the cheer captain, I was the—" "Jock?" "—nerd... She and her friends ignored me until one day I asked her to the dance and sh—" "Rejected you. Rather harshly, at that." "Ya! How'd you know...?" "You've told me this story..." "But nonetheless!" Aries punched a hoof to the air in determined victory, "I was able to woo her under the stars of the observation deck, the northern lights dancing before our eyes." "Hence my name." "Sweetie, don't interrupt, it's not polite. For the rest of high school she was with me! Heh, who woulda thought? The nerd and the smokin' cheer captain? Boy of boy was she a pretty mare back then still is, mind you, but wow..." "Dad." "I remember our first time together—" "Dad." "—it was after some big game our district won—" "Dad." "—and she snuck over to my house because I was grounded for that infernal B on my report card—" "Dad..." "—and she still had that cheerleader's uniform on... oh sweet Celestia what a night!" "Dad!" Aries sat back up right in his chair, Aurora staring at him with wide eyes. "I really didn't need to hear all of that!" "Sorry dear. You know... she still has the uniform..." "Dad!" "Look, all I'm saying is that if he's the right one, he's the right one. Not like that Jericho twit." She gave him a deadpan look. Aries paused for a second. "So how was your first day of Sophomore year?" Aurora dropped her head on the edge of the desk, causing all of her dad's pens, lose papers, and pictures to bounce an inch into the air. "Ugh... It was awful. Crystal Star is—" She was interrupted by three knocks at the door. "Sorry," he mouthed the apology to her. She knew that work too precedence over her while he was on duty. Aries cleared his throat. "Enter." The door opened and in came a pegasus a few years older than Aurora. "Sorry to bother you, sir," he said, approaching the desk. Aurora took a step to the side so that he could have center stage. "Ma'am," he nodded to her as he passed. "I have the weather and ice predictions for the net few days like you asked. "The pegasus pulled out a series of files that were tucked away under his wing and slid them across the desk. "Thank you, Lieutenant Wing." Aires picked up the files and began shifting through them. Just as the Lieutenant began to leave, he stopped him, "Oh, Lieutenant, I don't believe you've formally met my daughter. Aurora, this is Lieutenant Quick Wing. Lieutenant, this is Aurora." "Pleased to meet you," Quick Wing shook her hoof. "Your father speaks highly of you." "Thanks." Aurora looked at the unit patch on the sleeve of his uniform. "Team 3, right?" "Yup. Team leader. And I, uh," he rubbed the back of his neck, "sorry about your brother. Caelum and I were good friends in school—" "You're dismissed, Lieutenant," Aries said. "Aye, sir," Quick Wing saluted, turning and heading out the door. Aurora watched him leave, and Aries didn't miss on it. "Drop those wings, young lady," he commanded. Startled, Aurora jumped in her hooves, sheepishly regaining control of her wings, which were slowly rising. "I'll have none of that in my office." "Didn't you just basically say it was okay if I dated somepony while I was in high school?" she retorted. "Somepony your age. He's four years older, and not in high school Think about dating him and I'll kick your flank off this ship so fast..." Another series of knocks. "Enter!" This time the door opened just a crack, enough for somepony to speak through. "Overseer's headed this way, sir," the voice said. "Whelp, that's your cue," Aries told Aurora. "Go see your friends. Talk to you at home." Aurora nodded, spreading her wings. Hovering in the air, she zipped out the door, down the hall, through twists and turns, following her path back to District 1. Aries laughed to himself. She's a lot like I was... he thought. A series of at least four, un-even tempoed knocks on his door annoyed his ears. Only one pony failed to follow his three-knock-rule. "Enter..." he sighed. "So how cute was he?" "Dad called me out on goggling him, that's how." "Ladies, that's all very interesting, but could we please tend to the matter at hoof?" "Oh, right." Aurora, Rose, and Buck all sat at a street side cafe in the 8th District. Gathered around a table, the cafe shop was on one side of them, and a large series of windows were on the other. They stretched from one side of the ship's front right eternal pod that was District 8 to the other, reaching from the floor to the ceiling before making way for the foundation of the floor above them. Three levels high, a quarter of the ship long, this was one of four external pods, each with a local population of several hundred. Aurora was only idly listening to what Rose and Buck were saying; her focus had turned to the outside world. She could see for miles out into the clear blue sky. I she stood against the window to look down, she would have been able to see grassy plains and snow-capped mountains. As much as pegasi felt they belonged in the air, Aurora felt as though she was couped up inside of Navis 7. She wanted to go back to the earth, to smell its air, to fell the dirt and the snow. To be able to look up into the sky instead of down from it. She seemed to be the only one though. "Hey," Rose's voice snapped the pegasus out of her fantasy. "Focus, Buck needs our help." The two mares looked over to the fidgeting stallion. Rose said that he had been trying to back out the entire time hey were walking to the cafe. It only seemed to get worse once they arrived. "I don't think I can do this you guys," Buck confessed, sighing. "Just relax," Aurora did her best to comfort him, "it'll be fine." "But what if she doesn't like me as much as I like her?" Rose and Aurora gave each other sly looks. "Oh," Rose said, "I don't think that'll be too much of a problem..." Rose was old friends with Flora, and had not-so-long-ago discovered that she did in fact have mutual feelings for Buck. Since then, she had been working behind the scenes to push the two together, culminating to today. The sound of a tiny bell ringing filled the ears of the ponies. They looked to the door of the cafe, where a young mint-green earth pony mare stepped out. She approached the table, greeting the trio. "Hey guys," Flora said with the usual chipper voice, "sorry about taking so long to wait on ya. Works been busy lately. What can I get ya?" Buck figited some more before saying, "I'll take a water for now." Flora nodded, writing the order down on a pad. "What about you two?" she looked at Aurora and Rose. "We were actually just leaving," Rose said, getting up and grabbing hold of Aurora's hoof as well. "Isn't that right, Aurora?" Rose elbowed her side without Flora's noticing. "Yeah," Aurora grunted through the pain. "Gotta go foal-sit Comet for awhile. Rose offered to help me with him. You know unicorn foals and their crazy magical abilities." "Aw, he's such a cute kid. Anyway, see ya later!" As Flora waved goodbye, Rose practically pulled Aurora way. She lead the pegasus around the corner of a nearby building, where they watched from out of sight. "You didn't have to be so rough back there," Aurora remarked. "Eh, it was fun," Rose smiled. "Now the real entertainment begins." A soft red aura surrounded the unicorn's horn. She used her magic to telekenetically move a chair behind Flora, pushing it into her legs so she was forced to sit next to Buck. To top it off she moved over several flowers from the adjacent tables and placed them in front of her. The two mares watched as Flora tried to cover her laughing with her hoof, all while Buck smiled sheepishly. He was saying somethings and she was nodding, but the two observers couldn't make out what exactly. "You think he's actually asking her out?" Rose wondered, moving her head around slightly to try to get a better view. "Yup," Aurora said as Buck took Flora's hoof in his own. The pair stopped eavesdropping on their friend and gave one another a victorious hoof-bump. "They seem like they'll be happy together." Aurora walked along side Rose back out onto the street, heading for home with a job well done. They had better be, that was a lot of work getting those two to admit their feelings to each other." "Hmmhm." There was a pause between the two." "So you and Storm ever gonna—" "Let's not talk about Storm." "You never told him, did you?" Aurora hesitated to answer, causing Rose to gasp. "You didn't! I knew I shouldn't have trusted you to do it on your own! Fine, I'll tell him myself!" Rose took off galloping down the street, leaving Aurora in a daze behind her. The pegasus shook herself out of it, smiling. A chase, eh?" She quickly opened and stretched her wings. So be it. Aurora ave several powerful flaps, perusing after her fleeing pink friend.