Beginning of Autumn

by MagicTypingPony

Chapter 7

Autumn awoke to the sound of Vigil’s voice, “Wake up Master Mist…Wake up!” Vigil said as she shook the sleeping colt. Autumn rose from his bed, tired from a bad nights sleep.

“W-What time is it?” Autumn groaned as he got out of his bed.

“You’ve slept in Mast-…Autumn.” Vigil said, correcting herself.

She took Autumn's hoof and half lead, half dragged him to the bathroom. Autumn was stumbling after her, trying to keep up with Vigil, but failing. Despite his mind wanting him to wake up, his body refused to cooperate, and instead responded with a sloppy movement that beared some resemblance to a colt's first steps.

Vigil dragged him into the bathroom and closed the door behind them. She then picked up Autumn as if he were a newborn, and placed in a bathtub. Autumn was dimly aware of what was going on. He was too tired. All he saw was Vigil filling up a bucket with water before his mind went blank, and he fell asleep again.

Vigil finished filling up the bucket and turned back to the now sleeping colt. She tried to feel irritated at his lack of effort to wake up, but she just couldn't. He just looked so cute, curled up in a small ball, snoozing the day away. Part of Vigil wanted to just leave him like that, but she couldn't. She had to get him to school, and no amount of adorableness was going to stop her. She picked up the now filled up bucket and positioned it above Autumn. Taking a minute to prepare herself not to smirk, Vigil turned the bucket upside down, turning the once peaceful colt into a sputtering wet mass. Before Autumn even had a chance to regain his bearings, Vigil sprang into action and started scrubbing his coat and mane with a sponge.

Autumn's mind was fuzzy. He could dimly remember watching Vigil filling up a bucket and now he was soaking and being attacked by something soft and spongy. The assault on Autumn senses jerked him awake, and soon started grumbling at Vigil's attempts to clean him.

"Stop it. That tickles."

"Don't pull my mane."

"Ow. Be careful around the horn."

"Sorry." responded Vigil, as she dropped the sponge and started drying his dripping body with a towel. "But I'm afraid you've slept in. We don't have a lot of time before we have to leave."

When Vigil was eventually satisfied that the grumpy colt was dry, she dropped her towel onto the tiles and attached Autumn's saddle bags to his back, which see had prepared an hour prior.

The rest of the morning went by quickly. Autumn vaguely took any notice as he ate his breakfast. Whenever somepony said something to him, he nodded blindly in response, hardly noticing what was said to him in the first place. Autumn could think of nothing more than the previous night. That griffon. What was his name? Will or something.

"Autumn?"

Or was it Bill?
"Autumn?"

No. It was definitely Will.

"Autumn?!"

"Huh?" Autumn turned to Vigil, who was staring at him with a concerned look on her face.

"Are you alright Autumn?" she asked, her voice showing as much concern as her face. "You look distracted.”

"I-I'm fine, thank you."

Vigil raised her eyebrows in scepticism. "Oh really? Well I'm not going to pry. If you say it's nothing, than I will also assume that it is nothing."

An awkward silence fell upon the two ponies. Vigil rung a small bell on the carriage wall, signalling to the stallions saddled to carriage to start moving. After a few minutes of silence, Vigil looked across at Autumn and noticed him rubbing his eyes. He looked sleepy.

“Did you sleep well Autumn?” Vigil asked.

“N-No, not really… I was actually woken up by…” Autumn stopped for a brief moment and looked around the carriage tentatively, despite the face that only he and Vigil were present. “…I was woken up by a griffon.”

Vigil raised her eyebrows in surprise. “A griffon?” she asked. “Are you sure?” Griffons aren't that common in Equestria. For one to be in Canterlot would be incredibly rare. And worrisome.

“Why would a griffon wake you up?” Vigil continued.

“I-I think he was trying to steal something.”

“Not that surprising. Your family is one of the wealthiest families in Canterlot. Have you told your Mother and Father about this?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“W-Well…H-He didn’t take anything…s-so…I just thought…” Autumn stumbled over his words, his failed attempt at an explanation making Vigil smile.

“It’s alright Autumn. My lips are sealed.”

Autumn blushed slightly through his fur. “T-Thanks Vigil…”

A few more minutes of silence hung in the air of the carriage before it slow.

“Ah. We've arrived.” said Vigil cheerfully as the carriage came to a stop outside the school. Vigil got out of the carriage and opened the door for Autumn. But the colt didn't move. He only stared at the school as if it were the pits of Tartarus.

“Autumn? Are you feeling alright?” Vigil asked, snapping Autumn out of his trance.

“Y-Yeah….J-Just a little nervous…” Autumn said as he hopped out of the carriage and started walking towards the front gates.
The walk from the carriage to the front door seemed to take an eternity. Autumn wanted to run in any direction except the direction he was going in. Entering school on the first day was tough. But entering with a servant? He'd rather die. Unfortunately, despite Autumn's wishes, he could not stop the inevitable from happening, and the two of them passed through the front door.

The eyes of chatting fillies and colt's turned towards Autumn and Vigil as they walked into the hallway. Autumn could feel the eyes of the other fillies and colts staring at him. He could hear them whispering. Autumn began to walk a little faster. Eventually, the familiar door of Autumn's classroom came into view. Autumn hastily trotted up to the door, and almost dived through it, with Vigil quickly following him inside.

“Is this your classroom?” she asked, looking around the room.

“Yeah, this is it.” replied Autumn, glad to be out of the stares of the other fillies and colts. “I think we're finally alone.”

“Hi Autumn.” said a voice.

Autumn froze as he turned towards the voice's owner.

“What are you doing here so early?” asked Nocter. Autumn breathed a sigh a relief.

“I...I'm...I'm just...”

“Forget I asked.” said Nocter, noticing Autumn's bumbling attempts at an explanation. His gaze shifted from his friend and onto Vigil, who was standing slightly behind Autumn. He smiled.

“And who is this lovely mare?”

Vigil chuckled at the colt’s complement. “My name is Vigil. I'm here under strict orders from Autumn’s father. I am to help Autumn if he ever requires any assistance.”

“Oh... so you’re a servant?” Nocter asked.

Autumn cut in before Vigil could answer. “She's not a servant. She's an.....assistance provider.”

“So in other words, she's a servant?”

“Well...not exactly...she's...”

“Yes. I am a servant to the Pure Magic Blood family.” Vigil answered.

“It’s not exactly like that!” said Autumn.

Nocter rolled his eyes at his friend's vague attempt at excuses. “Sure thing Autumn, whatever you say. Lucky colt.”

“Doesn't your family have any servants?” Vigil asked out of curiosity.

Nocter laughed at the question. “Ha! I wish! No, my families nothing special. We're what you'd call, bottom ranked nobility.”

“Then….h-how did you get into this school?” Autumn couldn't help but ask, remembering the cruelty of the judges at his entrance exam.

“Beats me? You’re looking at the only middle class colt to come here.” Nocter smirked. By this point, various other ponies had entered the classroom and were seated at their allocated desks. The bell signalling the beginning of class rang through the school, and their teacher walked through the door and took his place behind his desk. Autumn and Nocter hastily made their way to their desks, taking their subject books out of their saddlebags. The teacher began calling roll.

“Blitz.”

“Present.”

“Candy Corn.”

“Present.”

“Elegance.”

After the teacher finished reading the roll, he looked up and stared straight at Vigil.

“Can I help you?” he asked in a tired voice.

“Oh. No thank you.”

“Then do you mind telling me exactly what you're doing in my class?” he asked causing a few fillies and colts to giggle.

“I am here under the orders of Summer Storm, from the Pure Magic Blood family, to assist his son, Autumn, in any ways I can while he is attending school.”

“She's here to help him at magic school, and yet she's an earth pony.” muttered the teacher under his breath.

“Pardon?”

“Huh?”

“Did you say something?”

“No...it's just that, well...just don't distract any of my students. Ok?”

“Got it.”

Vigil didn’t help Autumn in class. He never needed any help to begin with. Autumn worked quietly and efficiently next to Nocter. When the time came to perform spell casting, Autumn was relieved to here that they were practicing a simple levitation spell and nothing overly complex. Surprisingly, a lot of Autumn's classmates were having trouble with the spell, Nocter included. He was trying to lift his book gently, but always ended up using too much force, making the book smack into the ceiling and fall onto his desk. Meanwhile, Autumn's book was floating gently through the air like a cloud.

Eventually, the bell for recess rang, and the class began to pack up their books and file out the door. As Nocter and Autumn made their way outside into the schools courtyard, Nocter turned his attention back to Vigil.
“So what’s it like being a servant?” he asked.

“Nocter…” Autumn growled, worried that his friend was becoming insensitive.

“I’m just being nice Autumn, jeez.” Nocter stated.

“It’s quite nice actually.” answered Vigil, ignoring Autumn's worries.

“And since you work for the P.M.B house, I assume you hear all sorts of gossip.” Nocter continued with a slight chuckle.

“Oh I hear things now and then...” Vigil smirked.

“Nocter, I think you’ve asked enough…” Autumn glared Nocter.

“Okay, okay. I get the picture. Hey, why don’t we have another game of Magic tennis?”

“I’d rather not…” said Autumn, remembering his last game against Nocter, the undefeated champion.

“Suit yourself. I’ll see you back in class!” Nocter said running off to the court.

Autumn let out a small sigh, “I’m sorry about him Vigil…I hope he didn’t make you uncomfortable…”

Vigil giggled. “Oh Autumn, its fine. I’m not embarrassed by a few questions. He seems like a nice friend.”

“Yeah…a friend…” Autumn repeated. The word echoed around in his head.

“Now Autumn, what would you like to do for the rest of recess?”

“M-Maybe get ready for the next class…”

“But Autumn…Recess is still going.”

“I’d like to be early…” Autumn said quietly as he began to walk back to class.

Vigil gave a concerned looked and followed beside him, “Autumn…are you feeling alright your acting a bit…jumpy?”
Autumn blushed as he heard some fillies’ giggling at what he assumed was him. He started to walk at a faster pace. “Autumn? Are you listening to me?” Vigil asked. Autumn pretended not to hear her as he moved faster as he kept his eye fixed to the floor. He suddenly bummed into another filly.

“S-Sorry…I-I was in a bit of a ru-“Autumn was cut off by the pony he ran into.

“Look where you're going, idiot!” yelled Maple as she picked herself up off the floor.

“Of course.” thought Autumn. “Of all ponies I could have run into, I had to run into Maple.”

Maple’s enraged eyes found their way to Vigil, “And who is this earth pony with you?” she asked, pointing her hoof at Vigil.

“H-Her name’s Vigil…My father assigned her to me so that I-I wouldn't get into trouble.” Autumn shyly explained.

“Frankly, I don’t blame your father. After what you did yesterday I’m surprised he’d actually let you come back to school at all.” Maple replied.

“It’s nice to see you too Maple…” Autumn mumbled under his breath.

Maple gave Vigil another glare and practically stomped off, “Now if you excuse me. I have no time for peasants like you.”

Vigil stared at Maple as she walked away until she turned a corner and vanished from sight. She turned back to Autumn. “She likes you.”

Autumn raised his eyebrows. “I'm not even going to ask how you came to that conclusion.”

“Trust me, she does.”

“If she likes me, I'll convince my father to give you a day off. Deal?”

“Deal.”

Author's Note:

Sorry for the long wait. There were internet and other issues going on where I'm at. Anyway I hope you enjoy.