A quick tap of the quill marks the end of the notes. My wings relaxed after what seemed like hours of writing. The clock begged to differ, showing only a single hour had passed. I didn’t believe it, and brushed it off as a trick of space-time (because we all know how finicky that can be). I looked back down at my work—several papers spread over the table. I’d been writing nonstop as ideas flowed from my subconscious.
“Finally.” I said, sighing in relief.
Chapter or no, my editor would be pleased that day.
Though… my editor wasn’t the mare I should’ve been worried about.
“Eep!” I yelped as I felt something tantalizingly close to my inner thigh.
“I know that it was for your job, but I was having such fun in the bedroom.” I looked beneath the table to find the mare I’d left in the bedroom licking the fur on my legs flat.
“Well, I’m almost done. I just have to take these to-” I wasn’t able to finish, as I was suddenly pushed back from my seated position and onto my back.
After making sure my head didn’t smash itself on the ground I looked over my stomach to my beloved.
“But you always spend so much time with her!” she whined playfully. “I sometimes wonder if… if you’re....” she started tearing up—but it was more than obvious she wasn’t being serious.
“Cheating on you?” I asked, a raised eyebrow and soft smirk. “Of course not.” I pulled her into a firm hug. “I could never cheat on you.”
“B-b-b-but…” she stuttered as she looked into my eyes, an animatedly large lower lip and puppy dog eyes.
“Never!” I whispered to her, smiling.
I pulled her into a loving kiss and, while she was distracted, flipped her onto her back. She chuckled as she reoriented herself and looked up at me, now standing over her.
“You wouldn’t,” she said simply.
“I would.” The Cheshire grin I gave her was more than enough warning, but I was still too fast.
My mouth went to her belly and gave a mighty blow, releasing a loud noise of flatulence and laughter. Not even a second later she was doing everything she could to get me away from her, but it was futile. I would get my stomach farts if it was the last thing I did.
Her pleads for me to stop were the only thing I could hear, besides the natural sound a pony makes in such a situation.
Naturally, I didn’t listen.
My saddlebag hit the ground with a soft thump—all the hardback books I got from the library that day must be weighing it down. My rump hit the seat and I sighed in relief.
Just as I thought I was safe, a loud ringing nearly sent me jumping into the ceiling. Once I realized it was just the starting bell I calmed down again. I’d made it on time.
Of course, nothing can last forever. The teacher raised her hoof to quiet the class and draw attention to herself. She welcomed everypony before she began writing on the blackboard.
Math.
I. Hate. Math.
She continued with… what was this thing? It looks like you’re drawing a tree with a really long branch! That’s not a math symbol! And how does four equal two, when you put the tree thingy above it?! you’re just making stuff up, now!
Anyway, as she talked about squares and tree roots (or something along those lines) my mind began to wander. I thought about trees, taking me to the apple farm that was outside of town. It was a huge estate, one that dwarfed even the city proper. Of course, I wasn’t much of a farmer—my black hoof is a testament to that. My mom got me a flower, once. It was dead within a day. Mom says that flowers don’t die that fast to dad when she thought I wasn’t listening.
I didn’t realize that, in my dazed state, my eyes had strayed from the board.
“Hey.” I heard a whisper from my right. “Hey, Goldie. Whatcha lookin’ at?” asked Rose Swirl, the filly that sat next to me in class.
Rose Swirl was the opposite to me when it came to hooves and their colors—literally and figuratively. I had a light grey coat and a soft yellow mane; Rose had a pink coat, purple mane, and red eyes. And when it came to plants, I don’t think she had a hoof that wasn’t green. No, really. I once saw the earth pony filly laying on her belly and using her hind hooves to dig holes for the seed package she was reading for instructions on care.
That was a strange afternoon.
I was once again pulled from my own thoughts by Rose. “Goldie, you there? Equestria to Golden Script.”
I shook my head to clear my mind and bring myself more firmly into the present. “Sorry, just lost in thought.”
“Oh? Is that all?” she asked with a raised eyebrow and suggestive smirk. “Sure those ‘thoughts’ weren’t about somepony in particular?” she asked and flicked her eyes to the other side of the room where I was supposedly looking before.
There sat Sky Chaser, one of the cuter colts in class. His light blue mane was almost long enough to touch his desk, his alabaster coat seemed to be constantly covered in a light dew, and his beautiful green eyes held a shine like the afternoon sky....
Now, I’ll have you know, I wasn’t looking at him for any reason, he just happened to be where my eyes settled.
“What? No!” I said a little loudly.
I looked to the front of the class, where the teacher was writing little numbers in the superscript. Just… math, what are you?
“You sure? Seemed as though you were watching pretty intently.” Rose looked over at Sky. “You should ask him out.”
I barely held myself back from shouting even louder, slapping a hoof over my mouth to help in the effort. “Are you insane?” I asked when I knew I could keep a level voice.
“Oh, come on! This isn’t the first time I’ve caught you staring at him.” She was right. At least, she’d thought she’d caught me staring at him, but he was just where my eyes wandered when I wasn’t thinking about anything specifically—it wasn’t a crush and it wasn’t even attraction!
“But… we’re only foals, Rose! Don’t you think we’re a bit young? Mom says that I should wait until I’m out of school to start looking for a special somepony.” I looked around uncomfortably, making sure our conversation was a private one.
“Do you do everything your mother tells you to?” Rose asked challengingly.
I mulled this over for a moment before responding. A quick glance to Sky, another back to the teacher—still engrossed in her… eugh… math—and a quick look to the rest of the room (there were perks to sitting in the back of the class) and I decided.
“Yes,” I said simply before sitting back in my chair, then tried to shift my attention to the nonsense that was superscript numbers under the little tree-thing.
“Wha-?!” Rose squeaked in surprise. “Horseapples! I watched you take a quill from Quills and Couches last week!” she whispered harshly to me.
“Dad payed for that the next day. The shopkeeper knew I didn’t have any bits so he sent me home to show dad so he could buy it for me.” I tried to draw the tree thing as I said this, but it came out more like a V with one of its lines extra long. I tried again.
“But… what about that time she told you to take out the trash, but you didn’t take it out?” Rose was grasping for straws, now.
“I was in the middle of a quick outline. She knew that I’d be done shortly, but finished what she was doing first. I never got the chance to take out the trash, but I always intended to.” This time the tree looked closer, if a little lopsided.
Rose growled to herself as she slumped in her chair. I didn’t notice, as I was busy drawing line-trees, but her eyes suddenly lit up as a thought apparently came to her mind.
“Fine, then I’ll just ask him out.”
The pencil fell out of my wing, clattering to the floor. Lucky for me, it was fairly quiet compared to the teacher’s voice at the moment. I scrambled to pick it back up again before it rolled too far away.
“What’re you talking about, you don’t even like stallions.” I brought my blushing face close to the paper, covering it with my wing as I tried to distract myself from where my mind was leading me.
“Yeah, but I’ve always been curious what it would be like to be treated, y’know? Doors held for you, meals payed for, romantic picnics in the park…” she sighed wistfully.
I thought for a moment, then took a deep breath. “Fine.”
“Huh?” her attention was pulled from her apparent daydream. “What do you mean, ‘fine?’”
“You can ask him out. It’s your life, not mine.” I calmly went back to my math, copying down what the teacher put on the board so dad could explain it later.
She thought for a moment, then looked to my flat-affect face. “Gold, I didn’t mean to push. I just want you to be happy.” Her hoof was suddenly on my own, which was clinging to the side of the desk; holding me, the desk, and the paper in place. Firmly.
“I know, Rose.” My face softened and my grip lessened. I put the pencil down as I looked up to her, recognizing the concern in her eye. “I know.” I smiled and put my other hoof on hers.
“Anything you two would like to share with the class?” came a voice from the front of the room. “Seems like a really touching moment.”
We both blushed and moved back to our seats.
“No, sorry,” I hurriedly said.
“Right. Golden, can you solve this equation?” she asked as she motioned to the board.
My blood turned to ice as all eyes were on me. I looked over the tree with several numbers and a few symbols under it—some I recognized, some I didn’t. I kept reading through it, hoping for something that would kick start my memory of something I might have seen a few minutes ago. Of course, I had no luck. I began to stutter something out when a voice from the front of the class interrupted me.
“Seven, ma’am.” All eyes shifted from me to Sky Chaser, who was looking calculatingly at the board. “But there’s no way Golden could have gotten it—you used the alternate symbols for multiplication. Gold was absent the day we covered those.”
The teacher blushed lightly, then looked at the board, where she’d drawn asterisks and dots where X’s should have gone. She looked over to Sky and nodded her head.
“Very good, Sky Chaser,” she said, turning back to me. “Golden, see me after class so I can show you what you missed.”
I smiled, as I was expected to, and nodded; but once the teacher’s eyes were off me, my head met my desk in the quietest face-desk I could manage.
“I’ll wait after for you. We can walk home together.” Rose tried to comfort me, rubbing my back while the teacher’s own was turned. “I’m sorry for getting you in trouble.”
“No, it’s fine. I don’t understand any of this, anyway.” I said as I sat back up, trying to do my best to pay attention the rest of the day so I can piece it all together later on.
The remedial lesson was the worst.
I was taught all the shapes of the multiplication sign, some tricks with parentheses, and the importance of the superscript numbers—or “squares and cubes.” I still didn’t completely understand it, but it was starting to come together. I could ask my dad about anything that didn’t make sense later… after my daily writing… and probably an eight-hour nap… and another day of school.
I’ll ask him before the test, assuming there isn’t a pop quiz in the next few weeks.
“Finally, freedom!” I giggled to myself as I pushed the schoolhouse doors open.
Rose should have been waiting next to the flagpole, but when I rounded the corner of the school I found something horrifying.
Or, more accurately, somepony.
Sky Chaser sat next to the flag, looking up at a nearby cloud. Rose was nowhere in sight. He hadn’t noticed me yet, so I could still sneak away. I have been told that I can be very sneaky when I want to be.
I froze midstride, thinking back to earlier today, when Sky answered the question for me. I realized that, at the very least, I owed him a “thank you.” I steeled myself and stepped out from behind a bush.
“Sky Chaser?” I asked quietly.
His head whipped around and he jumped to his hooves. Apparently, he wasn’t expecting me to be behind him when I appeared, not that he was really paying attention to his surroundings. He always seemed to have his head in the clouds…
“O-oh! Golden Script, I didn’t notice… uh, hi!” he said, putting out a hoof for me to bump.
I did as much, chuckling at the poor colt’s stuttering. “What’re you doing here? Class has been out for a while, now.” I sat down, and patted the dirt for him to join me.
He shifted uncomfortably on his hooves, then moved to sit next to me. He seemed to have something to say, but was having trouble concocting the words. I waited patiently for him to organize his thoughts. He looked up at me and took a deep breath before speaking.
“Rose talked to me after class. She said that you were watching me and that she thought I should approach you, because you weren’t approaching me.” I stiffened when he mentioned Rose, but let him continue. “I don’t know what to say, really… it’s just… I’ve never had somepony like me, before. Not like that, anyway.” To this, I lost my level head.
I burst into a fit of laughter, falling onto my side as I did.
“W-what? Was it… something I said?” He asked, looking from me to the surrounding bushes, as if there were ponies lurking in the shadows and this was some elaborate prank.
“No, no!” I said, putting my hooves under me once more as I calmed down. “It’s just silly how oblivious you are.”
“Oblivious?” he asked, slightly confused.
“Oblivious: not aware of or not concerned about what is happening around one,” I recited on instinct. “Basically, you don’t notice how many of the fillies in class watch you.” When I finished explaining he blushed.
“You mean-” he started, but couldn’t finish his thought.
“Uh-huh. If I had to guess, I’d say you were number two on the ‘most crushes’ list.” I chuckled as I said it, thinking about who the only other pony was that obviously had more love directed their way.
“Like who?” he asked, finally letting his paranoia dissipate and letting his disbelief take over. “I’m not that liked, am I?”
“Of course! Smart, athletic, handsome—you’re nearly the complete package!” I sat up as I said this.
“I’m not all that…” he said humbly, kicking the dirt with a hoof.
“You kind of are. I mean, you answered that question in class today without so much as a thought! Thanks for that, by the way. I had no idea what she was talking about all class, today.” I chuckled, as did he.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t expect anything else for a while. Teach told me if I did it again she’d put me in detention for disrupting class.” Sky looked down to the dirt, drawing little circles with his hoof as he did.
After a brief moment of silence—one I realized was awkward only a few seconds later—he glanced up at me again, a spark of something in his eye that resembled my little sister when she wanted an extra cookie.
“You really think I’m all that stuff you said earlier?” he asked softly, letting his hoof fall flat again.
It was my turn to blush. “Well, yeah…” I said hesitantly.
“And…” he hesitated a moment longer. “What Rose said?”
“Wait, what did Rose say?” I asked, completely forgetting the earlier conversation for a moment.
“That you weren’t approaching me, and stuff.... Is it true?” He asked, giving me that cookie look again.
I blanched, looking around like he had earlier, but didn’t notice anypony, much like I assumed he had. I remember that I stuttered something, but couldn’t quite tell you what. It was all just such a blur. When it was evident this still wasn’t a prank on either of our parts, I looked back to him. He seemed hurt by my hesitation—but, beyond that, disappointed. Then a thought occurred to me.
“Do you… like me?” I asked, looking back to him.
There wasn’t an answer—just a shrug and a blush.
“But… but you’re Sky Chaser!” I said as if it were some incredible fact, as if he were part of the Wonderbolts or the royal family, or something.
“And you’re Golden Script,” he chuckled, “what’s your point?”
“Well… it’s just… I mean…” I sputtered something again, looking back up to him confusedly. “You’re cute and smart and fit and kind and just about any filly in class would fall for you in an instant if you gave them any of your attention! I’m just… the egghead at the back of the class....” I flinched away from his hurt gaze.
“You’re not just a nerd. I don’t remember anyone else writing epic poetry last year, or correcting the teacher when she used the wrong ‘there’ in a sentence, or even memorizing all those definitions! I can’t think of anypony I’d rather be with more, right now.” He scooted forward, bringing our muzzles closer. “And I think you’re cute,” he said quickly, putting himself out there, so it seemed.
“I… I’m not cute!” I said, blushing full blast.
“I think you are, and isn’t that all that matters?” he said, moving another scoot forward.
“S-Sky… I can’t....” I said, fear and pain in my voice.
Confusion crossed his muzzle as he leaned back. “What do you mean?” There was blatant pain in his voice, as well.
“I… I can’t reciprocate the emotions and feelings that are being presented in this courting attempt. I’m sorry.” I said this in the most technical way I could think of at the moment, trying to make it seem robotic and professional.
“I… I don’t understand…” he said, taking a step back—I had only just realized he stood up.
“I can’t be in a-” he cut me off.
“No, no; I don’t understand why,” he clarified. “You just said that I was a great pony, but you don’t want to be with me?”
“No, I don’t.” I looked down at my hooves, ashamed that I couldn’t return these apparent feelings.
“Why?” His voice cracked.
“I’m not ready for a relationship. I don’t think. Maybe.” I took a breath and, before he could answer, I kept talking. “If I accept your proposal I’ll be bringing us into a relationship that I don’t know I can support completely. It would be unfair to you to bring about a commitment that I couldn’t go through with.” I looked him in the eye. “I’m sorry.”
At some point he had calmed down, if only slightly. “So… not now, but… eventually?” he asked with a stiff upper lip.
“Maybe,” I said simply. “But that’s something for us to figure out in the future.”
He nodded, thinking a moment longer as he stared at the dirt. I regret putting him through that, but the alternative was much worse.
“What do I do now?” he asked.
“Recover. The pain will disappear eventually. Then you should ask somepony else you like—I assure you any filly in our class would accept in a hoofbeat, though I wouldn’t recommend all of them.” I told him, standing like him. “I have to get home, soon. I’ll, uh... see you around.” I turned on my hooves and began walking away when I heard him speak up.
“Golden?” he asked, almost too quiet to hear.
I stopped and turned around. “Yeah?” I asked.
“Will you still be my friend?” He had a hopeful look in his eye.
I thought for a moment. Could I really be friends with somepony that I knew had feelings for me? Not to mention I wouldn’t have exactly called him a friend before—not that I wouldn’t have liked to. I started thinking about what it would be like to have another friend besides Rose and made my decision.
“Sure, Sky Chaser.” I smiled warmly back to him and his face, too, burst into a smile.
“Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow!” he said, lifting off from the ground with his wings.
I hated how he could fly. I was still just learning. Stupid pegasus with pegasus parents. Earth pony and unicorn parents were stupid, too. Families are stupid.
I kicked a rock, which flew a few feet away and struck a fence post head-on. My anger dissipated as I wondered if I could do it again, and I quickly discovered a new rock to kick.
“He what?” dad screamed in a semi-rage.
“Written, calm down! This isn’t something to get so mad about!” mom did her best to stop his anger before it went out of control.
She wasn’t succeeding.
“Golden Harvest, this colt decided he wanted to sexually harass our firstborn and you don’t think it’s something to be mad about?” He wasn’t yelling anymore, but there was a growl in his voice I wasn’t used to at the time.
In fact, I can count how many times I’ve heard that voice with my hooves.
“Written, it was a foal’s feelings—those are often strange and raw. Perhaps this colt just admired Golden for talents shown in class. We were shown the writings that were done last week, don’t you remember?” Mom was now standing between me, cowering in the corner, and dad, who’d been slowly approaching me. “You’re scaring Golden and you need to calm down.”
“Like Tartarus I need to calm down!” he burst out.
“Written! Language!” mom shouted—she was the one that implemented the curse jar when I got older, but we didn’t pay it much mind when she wasn’t home.
“What about it? Gold knows more words than you or I probably ever will! You remember that month my Mare-Liam Dictionary went missing? Guess who took it!” Dad was starting to act like he used to when he went to the Salt Mine every Friday with his friends a few years ago.
Nopony liked it when he went to the bars and drank a lot.
“That’s beside the point, Written! You’re scaring him!”
I’d never heard my mom yell so frantically, before or since, and I honestly hope I never will. It was the most terrifying part of the entire experience. So much so, in fact, that it sent dad stumbling back a few strides. It was then that I looked up from my hiding. I looked back and forth between my mother, who was breathing hard, and my father, who looked like he was rethinking his position in the argument.
“Fine.” That’s all he said as he stood up straight again. “But Gold,” he said, looking at me determinedly. “Colts don’t like other colts.”
With that, he left the room.
A few moments passed, the clock’s ticking being the only sound perceivable. After a short time, though, mom suddenly collapsed in a crying heap. I stood as quickly as I could and galloped over to her, nuzzling her mane to try and garner attention.
“M-mommy… are you okay?” I asked, a slight whimper in my voice.
Her head raised slightly and I saw how red her eyes were, but she smiled for me and gave my forehead a soft kiss. “Yeah…” mom sniffed. “Mommy just needs a few minutes to rest.” She stood on wobbly legs and moved to the couch. “And I think I’d sleep a lot better with a snuggle buddy.”
The tears in her eyes weren’t enough to obscure the sunlight of the smile she let shine. I couldn’t help but smile with her as I climbed onto the couch and huddled into her chest.
“Don’t listen to your father,” she whispered in my ear. “He’s just a little old fashioned.” A few adjustments, a pillow pulled closer, and a hoof to raise my chin, bringing our eyes together. “Ponies are allowed to love whoever they choose.”
“You mean whomever,” I corrected, chuckling softly.
Moms laughter made me laugh, too. Once the giggles were out of our system we laid our heads down and drifted off to sleep.
“Good night, Goldie.”
“Good night, Mommy.”