“You never change, do you, Flarewing?” You asked walking right up to him. He turned around and looked at you with his impish grin.
“Why would I?”
“I don’t know, maybe because you seem to get yourself in trouble at an almost constant rate.” You said, rolling your eyes.
“Name one time I’ve gotten myself in trouble by complimenting a pretty mare.”
“I can name twelve. One being the last time we went out into Canterlot together. That one stallion nearly threw you through a window because you hit on his wife.”
“In my defense,” He said with a chuckle. “I didn’t know she was married. And I could’ve handled him.”
“But you didn’t,” You started. “I did. I managed to calm him down and saved your sorry flank.”
“Can you do anything but focus on the negative?”
“I could try to focus on your positive qualities,” You said with a wicked grin. “But it’s just a lot easier, and more fun to point out your flaws.”
“And to think I call you my best friend.”
“Funny, I was thinking the exact same thing about you not too long ago.” You said with a short laugh. Flarewing joined in and soon the two of you bumped hooves with grins on your faces.
“It’s really good to see you, Blackstar. How have you been? And I just noticed that cool coat you’re wearing. Where’d you get it?”
“I got it at this place in town. A new friend of mine made it for me.”
“Look at you making friends already. Come on, we can catch up at your new place.”
“Actually, I don’t have a house of my own. I was just about to buy one when you showed up.”
“You don’t have a house, then where have you been staying?” Flarewing asked, tilting his head slightly.
“Oh, I got a job with this family and they’re letting me stay with them, for a little while at least.”
“What kind of family, ya gotta tell me about them.”
“Let’s see,” You said, scratching your chin with a hoof. “There’s: Granny Smith, she’s a little odd but in a good way, Big Mac’s really quiet, but I get the sense he’s dependable, Apple Bloom is a great little kid, but can be a little excitable, and Applejack, she’s pretty nice and she’s a hard worker.”
“How old is Applejack?”
“I think she might be a year or two older than me.” You replied, a confused look on your face.
“Well, that’s interesting.” Flarewing said with an odd expression.
“What’s so interesting… oh no. You are not using me to hit on Applejack. There is no way that’s going to happen.”
“That’s not what I had in mind at all.”
“Uh huh,” You replied, not convinced in the slightest. “Can you please not try anything like you normally do around some of my new friends?”
“I only promise to try.” Flarewing said with a chuckle.
“Anyway,” You said, trying to change the topic. “…how are things in Canterlot?”
“Things are pretty much how they always are, except Celestia and Luna seem bored.”
“Well, running an entire country probably takes up a lot of time.”
“Like you wouldn’t believe. Now, you have to introduce me to some of these friends you mentioned.”
“Later, right now I have to get a house. I can’t live off of others forever.” You said, walking to find a place to buy a house with Flarewing at your side.
“You always say things like that.” Flarewing stated. “Back in Canterlot you would always try to deny things the princesses wanted to give you. What’s up with that?”
“I prefer to not feel like I owe somepony something.” You admitted. “If I can do something on my own then I will, and if I can’t then I try to do something in return for whoever helps me. It’s just the way I am, so don’t try to change me.”
“I wouldn’t bother trying. You’re way too stubborn for something like that.”
“I’m not the only stubborn one here.”
“I’m not stubborn, I’m persistent.”
“Uh-huh,” you said with a roll of your eyes. “Looks like I found something.” You said, stopping in front of a house with a, “For Sale” sign in the window. You and Flarewing found the address on the sign and about half an hour later you had the key to your new home. You used your new key and unlocked the front door. Both of you stepped inside and quickly noticed how empty it was.
“Nice place, all it needs is some chairs, and tables, and just about any other piece of furniture.”
“With as much as this place cost I don’t think I could afford a sandwich, let alone a chair.” You sighed.
“Don’t worry about that, let’s just take a look around and see what we got.”
“What’s with this ‘we’ business?”
“Duh, I’ll stay here when I come to visit.”
“If I do allow you to stay over when you visit then the first rule is: you’re not allowed to bring anypony over without getting an okay from me first. Otherwise I’m afraid of what you’d do here.”
“Are there any other rules I need to follow?”
“That all depends on your behavior.”
“Fine, Mom.”
“Just shut up and help me look through the place.” You said with a quick shake of the head.
The two of you started walking through the rooms of the house. The only things that seemed to be furnished were the kitchen and master bedroom. The rest were bare and had marks on the floor where the previous owners belongings had resided. The house had one feature that you enjoyed. The master bedroom had a door that led to a balcony with a view of a wide open field stretching for what seemed like an eternity. Flarewing walked up beside you as you were enjoying the view.
“Not a bad view. That field looks like a great place to just stretch my wings and fly.”
“That’s not really an option for me, so I’ll just enjoy the view.”
“Can’t you use your magic to fly around?” Flarewing asked.
“The magic field for levitation is dense, so it blocks out most of the feeling of the wind currents or anything else you’d experience from normal flight. Otherwise, you’d probably see a lot more unicorns doing it, but without the sensation of flying I don’t really see the point.”
“Yeah, if I couldn’t feel it I don’t know if I’d bother with it either.” Flarewing agreed.
“Well, I can look at this anytime let’s find my new friends and introduce you to them.” You said, leaving an empty home again.
“So do you know where to find these friends of yours?” Flarewing asked after a few minutes of walking down the streets.
“I think so.”
“Wow, you not knowing something, never thought I’d see the day.”
“There are plenty of things I don’t know. I’m not some sort of reference book!” You snapped back, with more intensity than you had intended.
“Relax; I was just messing with you.
”
“I’m sorry,” You said, slowly taking a deep breath. “I’ve had a lot of stuff on my mind lately and I don’t know what to do about it.”
“What is it? I might be able to help you.”
“I… I don’t know how to put it exactly. I’m happy and all, but a part of me feels like I shouldn’t be. I probably sound really stupid right now.”
“Not at all,” Flarewing replied. “You’re talking to the youngest sibling of a lieutenant in Celestia’s royal guard and the captain of the most famous performers in Equestria. I used to feel like I shouldn’t be happy with what I was doing with my life.”
“What helped you get over that?”
“I remembered that I’m not them and I should do what I want.”
“So, I should just live my life? Do you have any other advice to give?”
“All I can say is try not to stress yourself over things you can’t control. Other than that I’m not that good at giving advice.”
“Thanks, Flarewing, your advice helped, I think. I’m sorry I snapped at you like that.” You said with a weak smile.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve come to accept the fact that you have your own little quirks.”
“And by little quirks…”
“I mean you’re kinda nuts, but you’re still a good guy.”
“Yeah I am nuts, but I keep it to myself.”
“That’s part of the problem.” Flarewing said in a hushed tone.
“Hmm, did you say something?”
“Nope, come on let’s find those friends of yours.” You and Flarewing walked down the streets until you made it to the library. You knocked on the door and Spike answered it again.
“Hey Spike, is Twilight here?”
“Oh, hi Blackstar. No, Twilight said something about going to Sugarcube Corner.”
“Thanks, sorry to bother you.”
“Don’t worry about it. See you soon.”
“You too,” You replied, starting in the direction of Sugarcube Corner.
“Blackstar, how many of your new friends are girls?” Flarewing asked after you two had walked for a while.
“Why are you asking?”
“It seems like at least two of your new friends are girls so I was curious.”
“I haven’t really thought about it but all of my new friends are girls.”
“Way to go!” Flarewing said with a sudden slap to your back. “I remember when you could barely say a word to a girl, and now you’re friends with a bunch of girls. What would you do without me?”
“Yeah, thanks for that.”
“Don’t get sappy on me, Blackstar; let’s go see those friends of yours.” The two of you made it to Sugarcube Corner in a few minutes. You noticed that the sign said it was closed. You thought it was odd and knocked on the door.
“Is it supposed to be closed this early?”
“I don’t think so. Pinkie said that this place doesn’t close until about eight at night.”
“Maybe it’s a mistake. You could try knocking.”
“Hey, Pinkie; are you in there? It’s me, Blackstar.” You said while knocking. A few moments later Pinkie opened the door with her normal grin.
“Hey Starry; what are you doing here?”
“Starry?” Flarewing said with a snort.
“My friend from Canterlot is visiting me and wanted to see my new friends, and when I went to the library, Spike said that Twilight would be here.”
“Yeah, she’s here and so is everypony else.”
“Why are they over here?”
“We… were having a little get-together.”
“What for?” You asked.
“It sounded like fun to me so I asked them to come over.”
“Can you ask them if they want to meet my friend?”
“Sure, that shouldn’t be too hard.”
After that, You, Flarewing, and the girls decided to have dinner together at a restaurant in town. Much to your surprise Flarewing didn’t attempt to hit on any of the girls and all of you had a great time. You told Flarewing about Rainbow Dash and her wanting to join the Wonder Bolts and he told her about an upcoming tryout. At the end of the night you all said good night and you and Applejack walked home together.
“That was a lot of fun.”
“I agree. I’m glad to see everypony got along with Flarewing.”
“It wasn’t that hard, you and him acted just like brothers.” Applejack said with a smile.
“Really?” You asked an odd expression on your face. “I’m an only child so I wouldn’t know.”
“Trust me, ya did.”
“He has helped me out a lot.” You replied, thinking back to earlier in the day.
“What about you? Have you helped him any?”
“Yeah, I have helped him out from time to time.”
“That’s good. Well, good night.” Applejack said with a yawn.
“Good night.” When you got back to your room you fell into your routine of pulling out your journal.
Hey me in the future. I’ve been writing this journal for a few weeks now without even realizing it. I was forced to write the first entry, and I wanted to test out my new magic with the second entry. But, the rest I wrote just because I could. I guess that psychiatrist was right. Writing down my experiences and feelings really does help me sort out what’s going on in my head. Speaking of experiences, today Flarewing stopped by and helped me pick out a house. It’s a nice place. At least, it will be once I buy some decorations and furniture. After that I’ll move out of the Apple family’s house and live on my own.
Huh, living on my own doesn’t have as much appeal as when I first came to Ponyville. It shouldn’t matter too much seeing as I’ll be hanging out with my new friends a lot, but a part of me feels like I should have something… or somepony as the case may be to come home to. What am I thinking about? Do I want a relationship with somepony? I don’t even know the first thing about asking a girl on a date. Let alone what to do when on one. Looks like I have more sorting out to do in my head than I thought. I’ll stop for now. I hope you know how to handle this better than I do.