“I told you she’d be here.” Fluttershy whispered to Rainbow as they listened to,
and watched, as Aurora began her speech.
“Cloudsdale Academy has always been a proud place, and almost every student
has been proud to study here. The teachers has always been proud to teach here.
And as long as I remained in office, I was proud to be the Principal of this school.
Until I was basically forced to retire, because there are laws about that, and laws
must be followed. However, my legacy lived on, as my own daughter took my place
when I left. So you won’t get rid of us that easily.”
At that, most ponies in the large room giggled, some even laughed.
Another pony entered the stage from the side. She looked almost exactly like
Aurora, but younger, and therefore with more vibrant colors in her mane.
She had hers cut shorter though, and in a Bob style cut. She also had no
glasses on. But other than the hair and lack of glasses, it was like looking
backwards in time.
Aurora stepped aside, and the younger version of her stepped up to the microphone.
“Most of you in here probably don’t know me, or you’ve only heard of me.
My name, just like my mother, is also Aurora. However, She is Aurora Borealis. I...”
She paused for a moment for effect.
“...am Aurora Australis. The current principal of Cloudsdale Academy.”
The room clapped their hooves and talons, some ponies cheered.
“Now, during this reunion, me and my mother will both be working here,
so you’ll all get a chance to meet her, and me, if you want to.
As for the reunion itself, we have lots planned. Sport events, Quiz contests, seminars
held by the various professors and teachers, movie nights,
a Cloudsdale Academy Gala, and some surprise events. Oh, and a guided tour
around the facilities, so you can all see what has changed, and what has not.
For example, this very building we’re in right now.”
The speech went on for almost an hour, both Auroras taking turns discussing
the old and new, the traditions and changes, and over-all, the pride of the Academy.
On their way out, everypony (and griffin) was given a schedule of all the activities,
categorized under “Mandatory” and “Optional”, and then under various
sub-categories such as “Quiz”, “Sport”, and so on.
Rainbow and Fluttershy looked at the schedules.
“Lots of stuff here.” Rainbow said.
“Yes. I’m guessing you’re going to all the sports stuff?” Fluttershy asked.
“Hm.. most of it. I’m actually going to a couple of the seminars too...”
“You are? I thought that was too egg-heady for you.” Fluttershy teased.
“Shut up. No, but seriously, look at the seminar list. There’s some weather stuff
there, and I am a weather pony after all, and I do take my job more seriously
than it seems sometimes. So I’ll be going to those. But other than that, I’ll stick to
the sports, and maybe a Quiz contest or two just for fun. and that Gala is mandatory,
so we’ll have to go. Not that I’m complaining, it still might be nice...”
“Oh, you don’t need to keep your facade up with me, I know you better than anypony.
I know you secretly enjoy some girly stuff ones in a while, as long as it’s not
too much or too often.” Fluttershy smiled.
“Yeah, but keep quiet about that, okay?” Rainbow hushed her and quickly scanned
the area to make sure nopony heard them.
“Relax, I won’t tell anypony, I pinkie promise.”
Rainbow calmed down. “Oh well... Anyway, I’m getting hungry, and it’s around
lunch time. The school cafeteria won’t be open until tomorrows events, so we can’t go
there today. and your parents aren’t home until later. So how about we go out
somewhere? How about.... Thunder Clouds?”
Suddenly, a familiar voice, somewhat raspy but clearly female, spoke up from behind
Rainbow. “I checked it out, they’re closed today too, something about repairs.
They’ll open in a couple of days.”
Rainbow turned around quickly, and her eyes widened.
“Gilda!”
“Dweeb!” Gilda replied with a smirk.
“Loser!” Rainbow retorted, with an even bigger smirk.
“How’s life, featherbrain? What’ve you been up to since we saw each other
last, when you wrecked our party in Ponyville?”
“I already said sorry for that, so shut up about it, okay?
Anyway, It’s been fine, mostly. Been traveling around a bit, and also spent some
time home in Griffin Stone... And now, I’m here for the reunion. What about you?”
“Same here, actually! minus the Griffin Stone part.” Rainbow laughed.
“Uhm...” Fluttershy started, but trailed off.
Gilda turned her head, only now noticing Fluttershy.
“Oh. Hi, Flutters. Nice seeing you again. Everything going okay with you and
your life? Still working as a... what was it, animal caretaker or something?”
“Hi Gilda... And yes, that’s.. uhm, correct...I take care of the ‘wild’ animals in
Ponyville... Anyway, I was.. wondering... Rainbow?”
Rainbow replied, “Yeah, Flutter?”
“If Thunder Cloud is closed today... maybe we could go to, uhm...
that small cafe near the library? That quiet little place, I’m sure you remember...”
“Oh yeah.. that place. I remember you really liked that place. Hm.. Sure.
We can go there if you want. I’m open for anything as long as I get something to eat
before I die. Which means, as soon as possible. Wanna join us, Gilda? If that’s
okay with Fluttershy of course.”
“Y-yes, that’s okay with me... I don’t mind...” Fluttershy smiled shyly.
“Quiet little cafe? Not really my style. No offense, but I think I’ll pass this time.
I’m more in the mood for some fish, so I’m gonna head to one of the Griffin places
instead. Buuut, if you’re heading to Thunder Cloud some other day, I’ll tag along.
For now, I’ll see you guys some other time. We have the whole reunion week
to hang out. more than enough time.” Gilda smiled.
“Yeah. We’ll see you later!” Rainbow returned the smile.
Gilda took off, and flew away.
“Awesome to see her again! This week just got even better.” Rainbow grinned.
“I’m glad you’re happy, but we better get going before you starve...” Fluttershy
said and smiled in a teasing way.
“Hah, yeah.. Woe is me, Who has not eaten for hours...” Rainbow replied
in a overly dramatic tone, putting a hoof on her head as if she was fainting.
they both laughed, and started walking toward the small cafe.
* * *
A while later, as the two mares left the cafe, Rainbow took a leap and spread her
wings, hovering just above Fluttershy.
“So what now?” she asked, turning upside down in the air, looking down at
Fluttershy, who turned her head upwards to meet Rainbows eyes.
“Well, I was thinking of just relaxing for the day, maybe take a walk somewhere,
just look around.. maybe take a trip to the store and get some supplies for dinner...
Me and mom decided I’d make dinner today, since she made it yesterday,
and I was thinking of a carrot-lasagna...”
“Sounds good, But the walk and all that sounds boring.. no offense.
I’m just not in the mood for that right now. I feel like actually doing something.
Maybe go to the arcade and play some games, or go to the Arena and see if
anypony is doing anything sporty. Maybe they’ll let me join.”
“What if we split up, then? I can take a walk by myself, and get the shopping done,
while you can go play or something, and then we’ll meet back home later.”
Fluttershy suggested.
“Yeah, sounds like a perfect plan!” Rainbow agreed with an excited smile.
“See ya later then!” She said as she flew off towards the inner areas of the city.
“Bye..” Fluttershy smiled as Rainbow disappeared.
* * *
Rainbow flew above the cloud houses, watching the ground below her
move past in a blur. She slowed down as she neared the center of town,
where a large mall was located - a mall which had the Cloudsdale Arcade.
She landed and went inside, making her way through crowds of ponies and
a few griffins, trying her best not to bump into anypony - a task she found
harder than expected.
“Must be Pay-day or something”... She thought to herself as she tried to avoid
bumping into a large griffin, and just barely managed to do so.
She (somehow) made it all the way into the Arcade, just to find it overfilled
with ponies of all ages, occupying every single machine they had, most of them
even having lines of ponies waiting for their turn at the various games.
Rainbow grunted and mumbled, “Damn it... guess I’m not playing any
Pac-Mare today. Plan B then. I’ll get out of here, and if I survive that,
I’ll see if there’s anypony at the arena I can challenge for a race or something.”
And so, she set off on her quest to get back out through the crowds of probably
hundreds of ponies and griffins. And for the record, flying above them was not an
option, since most public buildings have a ‘no flying inside without special
permission’ policy. Rainbow did not have such permission.
* * *
Meanwhile, Fluttershy made her way across town via small roads and back alleys.
She wasn’t too eager about it, but on the other hoof, the other option was the
very crowded main streets, or above-roof-height flying. both of which she was
even less eager about than the back alleys. It wasn’t optimal, but it was the lesser evil,
so to speak. And she did know these small streets quite well, as she had chosen them
over the bigger ones many times before. And after all, it was the middle of the day,
the sun standing tall in the middle of the almost-clear sky, with just a few small
clouds hanging around. She made her way to a small store, where she bought
everything she needed for the dinner later, and then decided to go to the park
for a while.
She arrived at the park, and sat down.
But as she sat there, a griffin approached her, one she did not recognize.
This one was male, a relatively big brown one with an owl head.
“Hey, fuzzball. I ain’t seen you here before, so I’ma guess you’re new.
See, there’re some rules here in this park.”
“Huh? I don’t understand... Did I do something wrong?”
Fluttershy asked in a worried tone.
“Yeah, you did. See, you’re sitting at the bench. That bench ain’t yours to sit on.
That bench is for griffins. And you ain’t no griffin, so you can’t sit there, see?”
The griffin said, looking at Fluttershy with a smirk on his face.
Fluttershy could sense his intents, and thought she’d better leave,
so she got up from the bench, but the griffin continued talking.
“Woah, hey now... You can’t just expect to leave. You broke the park rules.
You’re gonna have to pay the Rule-breaking-fee. A hundred bits. Pay up,
or you’re gonna get in trouble.”
“B-but I don’t... I don’t have that kind of money... and.. I don’t think
that’s a real rule...” Fluttershy replied, trying not to show how scared she
actually was.
“Not real? Hah. You think that matters at this point? No.
What does matter is, you either pay up or I kick your flank. Got it?”
The griffin said, now sounding threatening.
“I-if you come any closer, I’ll... I’ll...”
“You’ll what? Scream? As if that’ll help. I doubt you can scream loud enough.
Look around you. It’s only us here. Nopony even close.”
Suddenly, another griffin approached from behind some bushes. Gilda.
She walked up to the griffin and Fluttershy, placing herself in between.
“What’s going on here?” She asked the griffin, acting as if she didn’t know
Fluttershy.
“Just informing this little pony about the park rules. She’s refusing to pay
the fee for breaking the rules, so now I’m gonna beat her up a bit.
Wanna join in?”
“What did she do wrong?” Gilda asked, still pretending to not know Fluttershy,
who nervously just stood there, not sure how to react.
“She sat on our bench, and then she refused the hundred bit fee.”
The griffin replied. “So naturally, she needs a beating. Come on, we could
easily take her. It’s us against her, and we’re both stronger than her. She’s just a
pony, we’re griffins.”
“I think you’ve made a mistake in your calculations there...” Gilda said,
stretching her talons and extending her claws.
“Oh yeah? What?”
“Who said I’m on your side?”
“What do you mean? She’s a pony. Of course you’re on my side!
Us griffins hate ponies!”
“I admit I don’t really care for ponies... most of them. this pony,
however, happens to be a friend of mine...” Gilda said in a slow, threatening voice.
Then she added, in a slightly louder, angrier voice,
“And if you ever go near her again, I’ll rip your wings off! Is that clear?!”
The griffin suddenly lost his attitude and looked scared. He didn’t say anything else,
instead he turned around and flew off, almost as fast as Rainbow Dash.
Fluttershy was still shivering and stunned from the events, when Gilda turned
toward her. “You okay? That guy won’t bother you again.”
Fluttershy tried to calm down. “T-t-t...Thanks.... I was so scared...”
“You’re lucky I was passing by the area, otherwise he really would’ve beaten you up.
He’s an idiot though. Only a few griffins actually hate ponies. most of us just don’t
care much. But we barely care for each other either, so it’s not that big of a deal.”
“Uhm... Would you mind.. Not telling Rainbow about this?
She would just get worried and angry, and try to find that griffin, and...
I don’t want to cause any trouble...”
“Sure, we’ll just pretend it never happened. I won’t mention it unless
you do first.”
“Thank you.. Uhm, I better get home now...”
“Want some company? I got nothing else to do anyway, and you still look a bit
shaken up. Plus, It’ll give us a chance to get to know each other a bit. Dashie
really wants the three of us to all be friends, so...”
“Well.... yes, that would be nice.. and, I really do want to be your friend...
I mean.. You can never have too many friends, right?”
“Not sure about that, but... the few friends I do have, I’d at least like to be good
friends with. Come on, let’s get going. You lead the way, I’ll follow.”
And so, Fluttershy and Gilda started walking toward Fluttershys home.