Summer Days

by Alex The Lone Wolf


Day 1 - Summer Sun

I remember having strange dreams that I never paid much attention to. In fact, they would disappear for the most part after several seconds of waking up. Sometimes, I would think long and hard and try to remember what they were about, but I usually found that they only unnecessarily took time out of my life. Had I known that these dreams were actually hinting at the power hidden inside of me, I would have taken them much more seriously.

It was both the first day of summer and the last day of school. I had been lightly woken up by the school bells in the distance from where we lived together. I mumbled sleepily a bit as I wiped my eyes and tried to blindly find the window sill by our twin-sized bed. It was ironic. You would think that a twin-sized bed would fit a couple of twins pretty comfortably. However, our bed was only big enough to barely hold us together while not giving us much leg room.

When I managed to grab ahold of the window by our bed, I slowly allowed my eyes to adjust to the light outside in town. That morning was an especially beautiful one. I even lightly pushed open our window to feel the cool summer breeze that had been roaming around at that time.

I took a minute to take in both the scenery and the rising sun's rays which kissed my coat ever so gently. It was going to be an amazing day. I just knew it. After I had enough time to practically daydream, I turned to my side and found you still sleeping the morning away. The bells hadn't woken you up, so I was sure if I hadn't woken you myself, you would've missed probably one of the most important days of school.

"Alex…! Alex!" I lightly called. "Come on, wake up! You can't miss the last day of school! Miss Cadence will miss you."

After some teasing from yours truly, you finally managed to wake up. Afterwards, we went on to brush our teeth, and, you know, the usual stuff.


I knew it had been the last day of school, but Athena had been way more excited than usual. It was nice to get out of schoolwork, but at the same time, I felt like I liked being at school better. There was Miss Cadence to hang around with, and she was a way more of a suitable role model than our parents.

"Come on, Alex!" Athena called, waving her hoof vividly towards me. "If we don't hurry, we're going to miss role call!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming." I answered as I casually walked on over.

"Hey, hey, hey! It's your last day, isn't it?" We heard from nearby.

It had been one of the shopkeepers we have been acquainted with for some time now. Unfortunately, we didn't really have any money to buy any of his merchandise with, but he seemed to like us enough to spare time out from his business on us.

"Hiya, Mr. Orange!" Athena bellowed out cheerfully. "It is, indeed!"

This shopkeeper's name had to do with Sticks, but Athena liked calling him Orange.

"That sounds great! Hope you two have a good one!"

Before we kept moving on, I had just remembered something important I wanted to ask him for a while now. "Oh! Hey, I don't suppose you have any openings for the summer, do you? Athena and I are kind of strapped for bits."

"Sorry there, Al." He returned an apologetic frown. "I'd love to have you around here, but shop hasn't been getting too much attention lately. You can check back later in the summer. Maybe I'll have something at least for one of you then."

"Yeah, yeah. No problem." I shook my head as I completely understood his stance.

"Why don't you check with Aura?" He pointed his eyes in the direction of a younger mare nearby. She tended to sell treats to the school ponies and other locals. "She might have something."

"Got it. Thanks." I began waving off as I turned in the other direction.

"See you later, Mr. Orange!" Athena waved as well, stepping backward until her body jerked a bit as if she was going to trip.

I quickly grabbed a hold of Athena, but it wasn't until I noticed the ground behind her when I realized how disastrous it would have been if I hadn't caught her. There had been a grate for rain, but it had been almost entirely rusted out. The middle section of the metal looked like it could break at the smallest and most gentle kind of impact.

"Keep your eyes peeled there, Athena!" Sticks warned from his post. "I spoke with the town and made a complaint, but they told me it could be weeks before it gets fixed. Only way I'd be able to have it replaced now is if I call someone to fix it, but it'd surely run me a pretty bit. No way do I have that kind of money on me."

I thought of maybe trying to find something to put on there, but I realized it would erase the point of the grate being there in the first place. "We'll be careful. Thanks." I returned and looked over to Athena. "You alright?"

With a small smile, she nodded. "Thanks." Making an important note of the location of the grate, she proceeded to skip on forward towards the next shop. "Let's go talk with your girlfriend!"

I felt my teeth clench from embarrassment. "Athena! Hey!"

Aura obviously wasn't my girlfriend, but I always thought she was extremely pretty. Honestly, I'd be interested in dating her, but she was kind of…older than me. Athena knew this, but she still liked to tease me about it anyway. I didn't know what kind of satisfaction she gained by almost utterly embarrassing me like that.

"Hi, Aura!" Athena greeted with a bright grin.

"Hey, Athena. How's it going?" Aura returned an inviting smile.

I hesitantly approached the counter as I knew Athena was going to throw one last subtle tease at me. "Alex wants to ask you something."

"Oh?" She turned towards me, causing me to feel way more nervous than I should have been.

"Yeah, I just wanted to know if you might need any extra help around here during the summer." I asked as quickly as I could.

"Hmm." The end of her ponytail wavered lightly as she tilted her head in thought. "I'm not sure, but if it gets really busy during the summer, I'll be sure to let you know!"

So, it was kind of the same answer as before. I guess two places are better than one.

"I appreciate it." I mentioned and glanced towards the direction of the schoolhouse. "Guess we better get going. Don't wanna be late for our last day after all."

"It's your last day? Awesome!" Aura expressed in an undeniably cute manner. "Hope you have a great day!"

"Thanks." I attempted to calmly smile. "You too."

Before we could get going, she called out to us one last time. "Oh! Mrs. M wanted me to tell you to stop by her shop before you head off to school if I saw you. She said she has something for the two of you."

"Cool!" Athena shared.

Something for us? Is it a job or something materialistic? Guess we better go find out.

"Okay, thanks. See you later, Aura."

"Bye!" She waved lightly as we turned in the direction of our last stop before we would definitely have to get a move on to school.

Mrs. M ran a sort of quick stop shop for food and drinks. It was usually for ponies on-the-run, but sometimes others stopped by to relax and hang out with their friends.

"How's it going, Mrs. M?" Athena greeted warmly. "You wanted to see us?"

Having been an elderly pony, she had to go through the motion of squinting through her glasses until she was able to recognize us clearly. "Athena, Alex, yes!" She attempted to twist her body around to reach something to the side. "I made you some breakfast." She placed a couple of paper bags on the counter.

"No way! For real?!" Athena blurted out in surprise.

It wasn't that much of a surprise, to be honest. We usually helped her out on certain occasions at her shop. It was for free, of course, and she would do things like make us lunch or breakfast in return. "You didn't have to do that." I humbly assured.

"Nonsense!" She objected. "You two deserve it. After all, you two are the sweetest ponies I have ever met."

Athena and I glanced towards each other for a moment before politely accepting her gift. "Thank you, Mrs. M! Beats an ordinary slice of toast anyday!"

"Yeah, thanks, ma'am." I added to our collective thanks.

"You're very welcome." She responded as a smile slowly stretched out on her face. "You two have a good day."

"We will!" Athena energetically replied and proceeded to bump me with her leg. "Come on! Let's get to school."


By the time we arrived, there were only a few minutes before class would begin. Athena and I decided to keep our breakfast and save it for lunch instead. Since there wasn't much time to begin with, we were only able to share a short greeting towards Miss Cadence. Afterwards, we proceeded to take our seats and wait for what would be in store for us today.

Since it was the last day, Miss Cadence went easy on the class. She was always kind of easy, at least towards Athena and me, but today was extra laidback. Today's lesson was mostly about our plans for the future. Once we were finished with our work, we asked Miss Cadence if we could be dismissed to get an early start on lunch. It was then when the two of us gathered on the rooftop with brown bags on hoof.

Athena excitedly yet calmly began revealing what had been inside her bag. It was a hay and veggie sandwich smothered in some kind of sauce Athena loved. It was definitely an unusual meal, but that was just like Athena.

The two of us quietly enjoyed our meal as we felt the gentle breeze brush against our coats. Unfortunately, there was no sunset to enjoy, but it was the middle of the day after all. It wasn't until we finished our meals when we started seeing other ponies gathering outside for their free period. We could see groups of young stallions kicking a ball around, mares possibly gossiping and giggling among each other, and other friends just hanging around.

I wasn't sure if it was unfortunate or not, but Athena or I didn't really know what being down there was like. Besides each other, the only other pony we really talked to was Miss Cadence. I was mostly used to this, but every now and then, I'd see Athena looking pretty miserable about our state of popularity, so to speak.

I could hear her sighing loudly, catching my attention. "I wonder what it feels like…to have so many friends by your side." She mentioned as I noticed her intently eyeing those below us. "Going to parties. Having a birthday party and bringing a bunch of your friends to share laughs with. It must be nice…"

"Does it really bother you that much?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Yeah, it kind of does." She stated despondently. "The fact that kids keep away from you because you're not like them? It sucks. How am I supposed to have any kind of control of what color my eyes are? All it takes is one pony calling you a freak before others hop on the bandwagon and steer clear from you. That and…" She took a glance over to her flank. "I'm the only one left who hasn't gotten her cutie mark…"

"They're just kids." I almost angrily returned. "They don't know anything besides fitting in with the latest trends. I probably wouldn't want to hang around someone who's spoiled by their parents anyway. Besides, you're not alone. We share the same kind of eyes, remember?" I reminded, making sure to look her in the eye, so she could have a clear view of mine.

Athena stared back for some time before she slowly turned away. "Yeah…but you got your cutie mark." She turned over to my flank. "I think you actually had a chance to fit in, but you decided to stay with me and let my weirdness rub off on you."

"Well, you're never going to get your cutie mark with that kind of attitude." I said frankly, turning my attention over to the different kinds of commotion the other students were creating. "Seriously, don't feel all guilty because of what I chose to do. You and I have seen the kind of drama these kids like to stir up and be a part of. I'd hate to be a part of any of that."

"I guess you're right." Athena seemed to accept hesitantly. It was silent between us for a moment before she spoke up once again. "Hey, Alex?"

"Hm?" I responded with, my mind feeling blank at the time.

"Do you think…we have a purpose with our lives? You know…moving up from having no friends and a broken family? Sometimes, I feel scared because I don't know what's in store for our future. In other words, I'm not sure if we can just be who we are without any kind of worries or barriers. I'm not sure if we even have a future to look forward to."

I took her words in a deep state of thought. I suppose I never really thought about that, and I had always lived life as it came. It seemed she wanted a happy healthy life like the majority of other ponies here. In one way, she wanted the freedom to be herself and not be punished for it. It was hard, but I guessed that the first step to our "happy" life would be getting out of our home and moving forward to support ourselves afterwards.

"I don't know…" I shook my head. I had begun feeling a little worried for our future as well, but I didn't want to think about what we'd do at that time. "It's not like I can see into the future." I turned towards her and began remembering the reason why I had been able to make it this far in life. "…but you know what? I feel, as long we're together…" I turned towards the blue skies and smiled warmly. "Nothing can stop us."


At the end of the school day, everyone had been in a rush to get out, so they could get started on their summer vacation as soon as possible. However, Athena and I had remained inside the classroom. For one, there was absolutely nothing exciting or special waiting for us outside the school like it was for the other classmates. But most importantly, we wanted to speak with Miss Cadence for as long we could before we went our separate ways. She had been from Canterlot, so there was no promise that we'd see her again.

"Will you be teaching us next year, Miss Cadence?" Athena asked a little worriedly.

Miss Cadence softly smiled. She must have sensed how strongly attached Athena had been to her. "I'll try my best to come back and teach my favorite students." She rubbed each of our manes as if we had been little foals. "However, I don't know how much longer I have in this program. You two know how young I was when I started teaching you. The only way I'd safely be able to stay here is if I'm officially employed as your instructor." She lifted a hoof and somewhat worriedly brushed her mane. "Then again…a lot of things are happening back in Canterlot. As you know, I've been dating somepony who's apart of the Royal Guard for a while now, and I think I can say things are getting pretty serious now." She chuckled a little embarrassingly. "At best, I may be only able to teach for a couple more years."

"I think we should be graduated by then…" I mentioned, turning towards Athena for confirmation.

"You two should totally come to Canterlot then!" Miss Cadence suggested enthusiastically. "I'm not sure what it is you two exactly plan to do, but it is a thriving city. I'm sure you'll find something there."

"That doesn't sound too bad actually." Athena's lips lifted upwards by an apparent glimmer of hope. "We'd have to save up money to move there though…"

"Yeah. Isn't Canterlot pretty expensive to live in?" I asked.

"Well…" Miss Cadence rolled her eyes in thought. "Depending on what exactly happens up there with me, maybe I could get you someplace to stay. After all…" Her small grin had rolled over into a frown. "I know how hard it is for you two at home. I wish I could have been able to do more."

Athena immediately shook her head. "No, no. You've done enough by treating us like normal ponies, unlike the others. But, if you could do that after we graduate, we'd totally appreciate it. Home here isn't exactly the best place to think about our future."

"I'll see what I can do." Miss Cadence chuckled as she said that. "You two have such amazing potential. I just hope being here doesn't keep you from accomplishing things you're capable of doing."

Athena and I shared a glance with each other. When I turned back to Miss Cadence, I merely shrugged. "We do with what we can."

She stared at us with a somewhat solemn look in her face in response before she seemed to be interrupted with another thought in her mind. "I better get going. I've got some things I should really take care of back in Canterlot." She turned her attention to her bag and had another moment of sudden realization. "Oh…! And before I forget!" She pulled out two pieces of clothing from her things. "Seeing how your birthdays are around the corner, I got you two a little something-something!"

A pair of hoodies were unveiled before us. One was a blackish-blue, and the other was a bright pink.

"Whoa!" Athena exclaimed.

She hovered them towards us with her magic until we stretched out our hooves to catch them.

"I really wanted to give them to you on your birthday, but I wasn't so sure if I'd be able to. On that particular day, I'm going to be here going over some paperwork like evaluations and all that to sum up my work for this year. Even after I'm done, I'm probably going to have to head to Canterlot anyway."

"We could have just come over here for a visit then." I mentioned as Athena took her time in excitedly looking over her new and seeming soft hoodie. "It's not like we really do anything special on our birthday anyway. We usually just get out of the house and find something to do on our own."

"That also reminds me!" Miss Cadence was yet reminded of another that thing must have trailed off her mind. She then pulled out what appeared to be a flyer from her bag. "Here." She said as she brought the paper over to me. "I thought this might be something you'd be interested in doing. It's another reason why I didn't think I'd be able to see you. After all, you wouldn't want be wasting a special day around someone who's stuck doing work."

"Huh." I had already been studying the flyer as soon as I grabbed ahold of it. "A competition? Never heard of this before."

"Yeah, it doesn't seem like it's a big thing." Miss Cadence continued to explain. "A pony had been handing flyers earlier this morning and I just so happened to take one on the way over here."

"Oh, hey!" Athena had been observing the flyer over my shoulder. "It looks like they're promoting some new kind of ice cream, and the winner of the competition gets the luxury of being the first pony to have it…for free!"

"Question is… Is it really worth the trouble of winning the competition for just a piece of new ice cream?" I couldn't help but ask.

"This isn't just any kind of ice cream!" Athena refuted emotionally. "This is like…an only-for-a-limited-time kind of ice cream! If we won this, we'd be the first ponies to have the opportunity of trying something no pony has ever tried before!"

"But…ice cream…?" I still felt the reward wasn't exactly worth the effort.

"Free ice cream!"

I heard Miss Cadence laughing at our little banter. "Either way, the way I see it, this competition seems like a fun little thing to do. The ice cream is just a reward for anypony who strives to perform their best."

"And promotion, I guess." I added in and looked over the flyer once more. "I guess it wouldn't hurt. Like I said, we usually don't really have anything to do anyway."

At my side, I heard Athena sigh. "If only we weren't broke, I'd totally have ice cream every day. Ice cream is the best."

With one last giggle, Miss Cadence gathered her things. "I really need to get going. Don't wanna be late. I hope I'll get to see you two really soon."

"Yeah, same here!" Athena expressed strongly.

Miss Cadence proceeded to pull us in for a group hug. "Have a great summer, you two." She mentioned earnestly, tightening her embrace for a moment before we pulled away.

"You too." I responded, beginning to feel a little disheartened with her departure. "Thanks a lot for the hoodies. It's about the only thing we've really gotten in our lives."

"Don't mention it." She lightly messed with my mane as she shared one last smile.

Afterwards, Athena and I carried our newly acquired hoodies with us and walked back home.

"So, what do you wanna do for our birthday?" Athena asked me the question. She was usually always the one to bring it up every year.

I remembered the flyer Miss Cadence had given us. Athena was pretty excited about the idea of winning the ice cream. If it had just been me, I'm pretty sure I would have skipped the idea of the competition as a whole. However, as I thought about it, I began feeling this sort of fluttery feeling in my heart. Soon enough, a thought immediately formed in my mind. It was the thought of being able to give something for once to the only pony that's been there for me my entire life. The only pony that I've been able to count on to pick me back up. Perhaps the only pony that I would give my life for.

Thinking back, I don't believe I ever did tell Athena how much I loved her as I should have, but if I were to win this prize and finally have something to give to her as a birthday gift, I could really show her how much she means to me for once…

"Alex…?" Athena called, slightly leaning over to observe the lowered expression on my face.

"We could check out the competition." I finally replied. Taking another look at the flyer, I paid attention particularly at the date. "It takes place right on our birthday. What are the odds of that?"

"Oh, so you are interested?" Athena returned a smug little smirk.

"I have my reasons." I intentionally answered vaguely. I'd rather keep the idea of giving her the prize a secret until then.

"Reasons?" Athena returned questioningly. She remained silent for a moment, presumably thinking, until she spoke up once more. "Why? Do you think you'll see Coco there?"

I immediately jumped and froze in place when she brought her up all of a sudden. Coco hadn't been in my thoughts at the time, but her name was still able to have a significant effect on me. "Why would you say that?!"

"Ohh! I see. So I was right?" Athena stretched out her smug smile even more.

"No!" I exclaimed rather loudly. It was the truth, but the way I looked and sounded certainly wasn't helping.

"Whatever you say, lover boy." Athena brushed off with a small but effective tease. "Just remember, if it wasn't for me, you two would have never started talking."

"Yeah, yeah…" I continued walking, willing to get back home as soon as possible. "It's too bad we didn't really get to talk at all today."

"You know she's busy." Athena reminded as she caught up with me at my side. "Her parents have been wanting to take her to Manehattan, but I guess she's been insisting on staying here. She must really love you."

"Oh, shut up!" I felt myself feeling hot from embarrassment.

"Ohhh!" Athena began giggling and obviously enjoying the look of my rather weak side. "You're so cute when you blush!"
There may have been things about Athena that have had the potential in making me extremely uncomfortable, such as her teasing, but in reality, nothing she could ever do could detract from how much she ultimately meant to me.

"Hey, do you know about the Summer Sun Celebration?" Athena asked once the heat in my cheeks died down a bit. "I think it's supposed to be a kind of social gathering or party for when the sun gets raised on the longest day of the year. It's supposed to be like in three weeks."

"I think I've heard of it…" I answered after sparing a little time in thought. "I don't think I've ever actually seen this 'celebration' though."

"Well, if we ever come across it, we gotta check it out." Athena enthusiastically suggested.

"Yeah, sure." I somewhat lazily accepted. "I think I'd prefer to see the moon get raised, but whatever makes you happy."

"That's just because you're a night owl." She pointed out.

"You're totally right."

"Totes, my boy, totes."

With future events in my mind, we returned home to continue thinking over new plans to spend our summer vacation on.