> The Spark of Friendship > by VioletAura > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Rushed Acquaintance > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1 - Rushed Acquaintance It was a warm night in Canterlot. The stars has just began to rise into the open sky as Princess Luna gloriously raised the moon effortlessly with her magic. It was always positioned with such precision and grace, as if the moon had a natural route to being among the stars as the darkness overtook the now depleting sunlight. It was no surprise it was such a beautiful sight, the Princess took great pride in her talent even though many ponies may not appreciate her efforts. However this wasn’t just the night for one of Canterlot’s residents, it was the busiest time of her day. The night brought in excitement and pure happiness into her soul as she thought about what the night would held for her. It was true that most Canterlot ponies would be found in their homes either getting ready for a blissful night of sleep or heading out to one of the many orchestral concerts that would be held inside the glorious city however Aries was quite different. She had grown up in this beautiful city, surrounded by the elegance that captivated the city in an aura of high society; and she loved it as much as she loved the chaotic organization that made up the tinted night sky but it never stopped her from dreaming about how wonderful other parts of Equestria could be. More importantly she wondered how ponies behaviour would be outside Canterlot and among the other cities. Were they upper class like so many Canterlot ponies, or were they more of a country culture? Her thoughts about other cultures or other worlds swam around in her mind as she trotted towards Canterlot’s Royal Observatory as if she was on autopilot and her body moved with it’s turbulence. Living in Canterlot since birth had given Aries a slight elegance tone to her petite voice that would be considered high class to some, however it was drenched in a more determined tone that could come across as if she was trying too hard. She didn’t mind after all it would be boring to be just be another high class pony that only cared about what happened within the walls of the city and that did not appeal to the young mare one little bit. She did hold herself with a dash of high class but it was no where near the extent of others and she knew how to speak in a correct manner. It was more of her attitude towards other ponies that kept them at a reasonable distance away from the grey pegasus. As she saw the observatory come into view her trotting slowed down into a calm walk as she took a few deep breaths of the cool autumn breeze that made it way through the quiet streets of Canterlot during the evening. Before she knew it she had comes to the doors of the observatory. Like many building in Canterlot the observatory was built to blend into the elegance that the city was constantly drowning in, although it seemed to bend quite well into the other building, it was one that would come second to the magnificent castle in both class and awe. While both buildings seemed to take up an incredible amount of space, the castle towered over the observatory with such an amazing feat, it was either a great confidence or a powerful mistake that they were positioned together. Although the observatory was smaller than the great castle that truly wouldn’t do the large building justice as it towered over the common buildings and streets of the beautiful city. Aries gently pushed the large oak wood doors to encourage them to slowly open to allow her to enter, as they creaked open she began to enter. As her hooves came into contact with the pristine, glossy floor that was coated in a layer of wax that caused Aries to simultaneously created a loud sound along with a gently slide every now and then. She made her way up the large spiral staircase towards her ‘office’ as she put it. Once she was on the second floor of the divine building she took a couple of elegant steps towards her desk. It felt as if something, or rather some pony was staring at her however she found that to be utterly ridiculous and so she just shook her head gently, her deep sky blue and violet mane gently hitting her cheeks a little before settling back down as she put her saddle bag down on her desk, a slow clipping sound could be heard behind her as if a pair of hooves was walking towards her. Aries’s ear began to twitch as the noise hit her and with one quick motion she turned around and gasped loudly. In front of her was standing a denim blue stallion. His dark blue eyes stared down at her with a certain determination and social awkwardness that seemed to go deeper than just shyness. His celeste and persian mane seemed to curve back on itself. Although he seemed out of place and as if he wanted to be anywhere but here, in front of her she still rolled her blood red eyes at him slightly. “Who ever you are, would you kindly move away? It's time for me to begin my nights work ” She moved her left hoof up gently and gestured for him to move away from her. She glanced up at him to see a look of panic plastered over his face before he spoke. “O-Oh… um sorry… uh… I’ll just…” The unicorn stammered out as he looked up at Aries for a moment before shuffling to the side, allowing the pegasus past as he quickly began to leave. “Wait! I didn’t even catch your name?” Aries called out as the unicorn froze on the spot. “O-Oh…. my name is um…” He paused for a moment while he scrambled his mind for the right words before looking back up with fake confidence, “Sub Zero, my name is… Sub Zero…” He looked at the ground while he hoofed the floor a couple times. Aries glanced between him and her desk before taking a deep sigh of defeat and looked at him again. “My name is Aries Bolt “ She spoke her own name, putting emphasis on her last name. She walked over to him slowly and looked him up and down before looking back up at him. Sub Zero’s eyes shrunk slightly at her presence and he gulped before speaking once again “I need your help”