//------------------------------// // Chapter 11: Fall into Winter, Part 1 // Story: Larkspur Blossom // by Pone_Heap //------------------------------// Lark was glad to see the rain stop. He’d never really thought about it, but Vanhoover sat in a temperate rainforest. Living in Fillydelphia, he wasn’t unused to rain. Just not this much. It had been a wet Autumn. Now it would be a snowy Winter. It was just around the corner. They were 11 weeks into school, and they could see the weather factory turning out the new clouds. Valley and Copper were excited. Winter was their favorite time of year and they looked forward to the snow. Lark only hoped his aunt and uncle, or Copper, had a means for dealing with the snow. It would be too much to do on his own. His growing group of friends had proven interesting. Without really thinking about what he was doing, he had brought Windy into his circle, only a few days after meeting her. Medium and Misty loved her. Windy meshed well with Medium's sense of humor, and shared Misty’s relatively even manner. The handful of colts he had become friendly with enjoyed her too. But first and foremost, she was Lark’s special friend. To many she had already become his best friend. One may recall another friend of Lark's… one whom he himself had passionately declared was his best friend. Thunder liked Windy. She admired Windy. She even envied Windy. Windy was prettier, smarter, more carefree… and many other things she hated to admit to herself. Thunder still held a torch for Lark. If Lark had more experience in life, he might have tried to… avoid the trouble an older colt might have seen coming. But that comes later. The last month had been good for Lark. To his great happiness, his head mended, and he was able to get back to normalcy. He would be very careful not to get his bell rung again, if he had anything to say about it. His aunt and uncle met Windy’s parents, and as different as they were, they were actually becoming pretty good friends. Windy met Larks sisters and adored them to a degree which even Misty thought excessive. And Lark, taking Copper along, visited Mr. Meadow’s lab. It turns out the spell worked and was as accurate as the equipment in the lab. Lark couldn’t have been prouder of Copper and the staff were floored. Copper smiled shyly, pleased her idea worked. Lark spent more time with Windy at her parents’ house. Lark’s library was nothing to sneeze at, but Mr. Meadow’s was incredible. Lark was even allowed to borrow books. The family had an appreciation for art and had objects from all over the world. Windy’s parents were certainly well-traveled. They told stories of the places they’d been and seen, and Lark loved to hear about it. Windy was certainly welcome at Lark’s aunt and uncle’s place. They adored this beautiful, well-mannered filly. Lark’s friends spent a little more time here, as the weather got colder, but still had other places they liked. Valley and Copper, their friends tromped mud into the house, and soon enough, it would be snow. They tried to be patient about it, and it wasn’t so hard when they could clean up the mess with a glow of the horn. What Lark hadn’t been ready for, was the stallion-to-stallion heart-to-heart he wound up having with Mr. Meadow, just a week after meeting him. It was hard to find a way to bring it up, but it had to be done. Windy told Lark what was going on with her body. And Lark knew the gravity of what may happen in the future. It didn’t need to be reexplained. Without exchanging too many morbid words, Mr. Meadow wanted Lark to know how grateful he and his wife were that their daughter had a friend like him. They knew how he’d been watching out for her. And Mr. Meadow wasn’t talking down to him or patronizing him. He certainly didn’t mean to thank Lark, as if Lark had taken on some great burden of pity. It was from the heart. There are just some things that will never be easy to talk about. Lark, feeling very young and small, was unsure how to respond. This was some heavy stuff for an 11-year-old. But he let Mr. Meadow know how much Windy meant to him. On a lighter note, Windy definitely enjoyed her group of friends. Though she couldn’t do everything they could, and sometimes would sit out the things they did, she never tried to hold it against them. She usually had no trouble walking, or even trotting. Sadly, she hadn’t been able to gallop for a couple years. And flying was out of the question. But she was able to do most things with them. She particularly enjoyed walking around with them. There were plenty of interesting trails to see. And a few of Lark’s friends even took a liking to the museums they began to go to. Most weekends since Autumn began found them touring, for few bits or free of charge to them, somewhere. Being a student had its perks. So, school and life went on, to the later Autumn, soon to be Winter. Lark was happy. He had a handful of friends he loved, his sisters were doing fine, and he really felt at home with his aunt and uncle. He also felt very welcome at the Meadows’. Things were great. It was hard to say if the 11 weeks seemed long or short. But, as mentioned earlier, Lark had prodded the hornets’ nest. Becoming such good friends with some girl, when he already had such a good filly friend? He thought nothing of it. What 11-year-old colt would? But Thunder’s animosity had grown. She felt conflicted. Windy had become her friend- one of her best. She wanted to be happy for Lark. She knew how rough things had been for him, and he was so very happy. And she was still his friend. He never treated her any differently than he had. Still, she felt how she felt. It would only be a matter of time before there was a problem. Said problem would occur just before the first snowfall of the year. It was a Friday afternoon. Many of the foals in school were excited for the scheduled snow the weather teams would release that night. When they woke up in the morning, they would have 6 inches of perfect snow. Snowball fights and snowponies were on their minds. Lark thought about the snow he would probably wind up moving all weekend… maybe he could get the unicorns to do it instead. But it didn’t bother him. He knew everypony would help him out. Looking around the class, Lark’s classmates were a little rowdier than usual, in their excitement. Ms. Pearlshine tried to show them patience. It really hadn’t been that long ago she was a foal, gleefully waiting for the first snow of the year. She had to maintain order a few times, but never had to chuck any erasers across the room. At least gym class started in a few minutes. Lark had finished everything school wise that day and would have no homework bogging down his fun. The clock struck 2:00 p.m., and they were sent to gym. Volleyball that been fun, but now they were playing indoor hoofball. The gym was only big enough for one game, so the teacher had them constantly switching out. Lark didn’t particularly enjoy it. The nice thing was, his class still had gym at the end of the day. Once they moved inside, the other classes in elementary switched to different times of the day. The only thing Lark didn’t like about this was Windy was in another class. He could only see her before and after school, at recess, in passing, or on their own time. Soon after meeting her, he began walking her to school. The thought of her walking to school on her own, with her difficulty, bothered him. She didn’t ask him to do it, and she was tickled pink he would. He walked her home, too. Lark’s sisters had taken to walking to school with their friends by then. They knew the way and there were enough of them. If they ran into trouble, he once taught Copper a spell that was supposed to turn ponies inside out. It had been a joke when he was a little foal, but he now hoped it didn’t really work. Some of the crazy things he taught her did work, he had learned. While waiting for his turn in the hoofball game, he thought of Windy. He’d met her a little before 8:00 a.m. that day. To combat the cold, she had on the cutest hat and scarf, along with a new pair of snow boots. The temperature had literally dropped overnight in preparation for the snow. It was a pleasant walk, like it always was, the two of them happily chatting about this, that, and whatever. They were excited for the next day. Lark had found a toboggan in the trash and had fixed it up. They’d have to go out of town for any sledding action, but a shuttle ran back and forth from one of the Vanhoover area ski resorts all day Saturday. Lark had convinced many of his friends to go. Windy, of course, was coming, as were Thunder, Medium, Misty, Light, Daisy, and even Sherry. Lark thought about his sisters, but his aunt and uncle saved him the responsibility by deciding to take them ice-skating the next day. Windy hadn’t gone sledding in years, and confident she’d be able to hack it, really wanted to go. Lark had learned her parents didn’t really restrict what she did. They seemed to trust her judgement about what she could and couldn’t do. If worst came to worst, Windy could rest at the lodge while everypony else was outside. Windy was prepared to deal with that if it happened. It was par for the course. One thing bothering Windy was the apparent wedge she was driving between Lark and the other girls. She saw it, plain as day. Medium and Misty didn’t mind as much, realizing Lark had made such a friend, but it was Thunder that concerned her. She and Thunder were friends, but when Lark started walking her to school, Thunder didn’t like it. Thunder had become jealous of what Windy and Lark had, and Windy felt awful about it. Avoiding it was getting harder, and she knew soon she would have to talk with Thunder. She planned to ask Medium and Misty for advice that afternoon. That had her feeling better, and she tried to pay attention to the funny story Lark was stumbling through. Of course, Lark was entering the hoofball game, unaware of all the tension… just a colt. The idea of getting clocked in the head again scared him, so he found himself taking it easier than he might. He knew after the first concussion, a second one would be bad news. Having made it through another session without getting his bell rung, he went back to class with his classmates. Ms. Pearlshine wished them a good weekend. She herself would be getting together with some old friends from college to go skiing. Skiing looked fun to Lark, but he had an aversion to compound fractures, so he’d never tried. There were a number of ski resorts in the area, so it wasn’t likely his group of friends would come across their teacher. The bell rang, and the class rushed out, hearing Ms. Pearlshine call for them to be careful. She didn’t want to see any of her little ponies coming back in casts or anything. Lark shook his head, laughing at the awful idea of that. He briefly met with his party, discussing the shuttle bus. It conveniently loaded and unloaded in the school parking lot. It was 3:00 p.m., and they were going to a little café close by for pie and cake soon. The eight of them would be attending their girls’ high school volleyball game against Riverside High after their snack. None of them were terribly interested in the game, but heard it was a fun place to hang out. Everypony quickly ran home to drop off their stuff. Lark, of course, went with Windy to her house. As he’d no reason to take his saddlebags home for the weekend, he just left them at school. He and Windy would leave from her house to the café. Lark turned to Thunder, beaming, “See you in a little while, Thunder.” Thunder faltered, but tried to look back evenly, with a smile, “Okay, Lark… See you, Windy.” The doe-eyed Pegasus turned, smiled, and nodded. She went away with Lark, her familiar gait keeping them in Thunder’s line of sight longer than she cared to watch them. As Thunder had many times before, she once again found herself unable to intrude upon Lark and Windy. She wanted to walk with him, even if it meant, well… walking. He’d been missed lately, spending so much time with Windy. Sometimes when Windy struggled with whatever they were doing as a group, Lark would stay back with her, or even sit out so she wouldn’t be alone. Thunder wanted to spend some time with her friend too, and it had been lacking… It had gotten bad enough, that even though Windy was her friend, she wished the lame Pegasus would just… disappear sometimes. And it hurt her that she had begun to think of Windy in such a way. Lame. It was something she hated about herself… such ugly thoughts. Windy was special. Lark saw it. Still, what did Windy have that Thunder didn’t? Sure, she was prettier… and smarter… and more interesting… Thunder tried to stop thinking about this. But how could Lark like her more than me?! The lemony Pegasus felt hot tears in her eyes as she watched Lark and Windy turn their corner. After settling down, she took flight and made it home. The group met at the café at 4:00 p.m. Knowing dinner waited for them later at home, they shared some appetizers. They listened to Medium explain some crazy theory she had read in a book about aliens, or something. She wasn’t making a whole lot of sense and was growing flustered. Misty and Windy kept trying to throw her off track, with some abstract nonsense, much to the amusement of the group. Having grown used to some of the crazy ideas Medium either heard of or came up with, Lark had solidified a few of his own beliefs: he didn’t believe in ghosts or aliens. But it was fun to listen to her. Looking over, he thought of what a devious duo Windy and Misty made. Normally of stable nature, they were given to fits of high glee and good-natured cruelty when they both thought something was stupid. If Medium didn’t think it was just as funny as they did, he might have put a stop to it. Light sat back watching the show, laughing. He had more friends in another class, due to the 5th grade being so tossed up, but he always enjoyed whatever Lark’s group was up to. Of all the colts Lark knew, Light was his best friend among them. Daisy and Sherry, not having been in class together before, had become very good friends. As opposed to the “rowdiness” they both disliked in Lark’s original circle of friends, both were fairly serious fillies. The fact one was a stalwort track star and the other an obligate couch potato, was about the least important thing in their friendship. Some ponies just become friends and it isn’t always clear why. While Medium was playfully arguing with Windy and Misty about alternate dimensions, Daisy and Sherry tried to tune them out, working on a book of crossword puzzles one had brought. Lark sat in his court, feeling great. He was surrounded by his friends, they were going to have fun at the game, and then after he and his family moved a little snow, he could grab that old toboggan and they would romp at the resort until they couldn’t stand up anymore. Even as young as he was, he had a stroke of clarity, feeling that life was sometimes perfect, and the weekend would be something to treasure. Thunder, on the other hand, sat amongst them all, not really in any particular position, uninterested in her share of hay fries. She was feeling down. She’d failed to sit next to Lark, Daisy somehow winding up there. Not that it would have made a difference. Lark seemed to have eyes only for Windy in the end. She had half a mind to make up some excuse and just go home, blowing off the resort trip. The idea of watching Lark and Windy frolic all day, Lark protecting her fragile constitution, had her stomach doing the jitters. Nopony was even talking to her… About 5:00 p.m., the group walked back to the school, whooping and hollering about the fun they would be having in about 18 hours. Medium was caught up in an energy vortex, reminding Lark very much of Valley, as she pranced about. Misty and even Sherry, to Daisy’s displeasure, were guffawing at her antics. Windy was talking to Light, whom she had briefly shared class with the year before, about her current teacher. Ms. Pearlshine was popular among students, and she hadn’t wound up there. Lark led the way, not thinking of anything in particular. Thunder had been holding up the rear, and she saw her chance to talk to Lark alone. She increased her trot and went to join him. But as she came up, she found herself at a loss. She couldn’t think of anything to say… Lark both noticed she had joined him, and saw she was sulking, “What’s up, Thunder? You okay?” Her brewing resentment flew out the window and she was excited to talk with him. Beaming to herself, she opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She still had nothing to say. Eyes now downcast, she paddled along next to the pony of whom she was supposed to be a best friend. “Thunder?” She wasn’t ready to give up, but she could feel a lump rising in her throat. She could feel her eyes heating up; if she wasn’t careful, she might start crying in front of him. What’s wrong with me? I thought I was done with this… He said ‘no’… “…Just a little worried about my grades. I told my parents I’d try harder. I have… but they might not think it shows.” This wasn’t entirely a lie; she was concerned. But that wasn’t the reason her eyes were threatening to well up. Lark nodded in grave understanding. “Really, just ask Ms. Pearlshine if you need help. I’m sure Mr. Chippy would be happy to help you, too.” Sometimes she wondered if Lark was clueless or just dumb, “Maybe…” Noticing just how down she was, “I know you’ve been trying harder this quarter. Ms. Pearlshine knows you have. You’ll get it.” She knew his words were genuine, but it did nothing to quell her feelings. “Sure… Thanks, Lark.” With that, she slipped casually to the back of the group. She was alone again. By this time, Lark had fallen back, with Light taking the lead, and he was once again talking to Windy. His expression… she’d never seen it on him when they were together. She knew he loved their time together, but he was different with Windy. Her eyes heating up again, she looked away, focusing on the ground. Now she really wanted to go home. And the idea of going sledding with her friends tomorrow brought her no happiness then. But she trudged on, not just because she didn’t know what else to do, or how to get out of it, but because she had generally always been an optimist. It took a lot to knock her down. But maybe this was it, though. She actually looked forward to the noise of the gymnasium, with the game and all, if only for it being loud. She could sit and just try to stay cool, maybe think less about her best colt friend… if he was that anymore. The gymnasium sure was loud. The East Vanhoover colors, blue and silver, were everywhere, glistening in lights. The high school really loved their girls’ volleyball team, and with good reason: they were the city champs 3 years running and they were on course to have a solid year. They might not win in the end, but their love of the game was inspiring. Lark hadn’t really met any high school kids. They were big. So were the middle school kids. Lark thought about it, realizing in 2 years he would be a 7th grader. It seemed like such a far-off thing, but later in life it would seem like nothing to him. Not many, but a handful of older elementary school students, probably all 6th graders, were watching. Other than families, they realized they were the youngest students there. It was about 6:45 p.m. East Vanhoover was ahead. It had proved to be a hoof biter, and despite going there to just “hang out”, they found themselves excited for their school. It had been a great game so far, and Lark was very glad he went. He sat between Windy and Sherry, yelling his head off. They were all cheering enthusiastically… save Thunder. Due to the crowding, they were stuck sitting in 3 rows. Thunder was in the back with Daisy, who was whooping with uncharacteristic abandon. Then the crowd at once roared and groaned as Riverside scored the set’s deciding point. It had been so close. This meant each team had won 2 sets. A volleyball match is best out of 5 sets, so a tiebreaker game was necessary. A 15-minute break was called to get everything ready, and for the teams to catch a breath. Everypony had a few minutes to run out for a snack or a restroom break, but most remained glued to their seats. The final set would be something to see. Win or lose, it would be a fitting end for one of the teams, and not a bad end at that. Other than Thunder, the foals were chatting excitedly about the match. It sure beat sitting around at home or loafing. Thunder wanted to be happy for her friends, but she just couldn’t be anything but bitter. All the noise finally started getting to her. Becoming more and more angry, she saw Windy and Lark facing one another. She couldn’t hear a word of it, but Windy must have said something funny, as both broke down laughing. They laughed until they cried, and then faced forward. Windy leaned on Lark, and Thunder watched him snake a hoof over her shoulder, hugging her in tight. He was still shaking with mirth. That did it. Her heart sank, and she felt hot tears begin to fall down her cheeks. A furious growl began to build in her throat. Daisy noticed, “Thunder… Are you okay?” With a frustrated shriek, Thunder bolted straight into the air, upsetting her neighbors and almost kicking Daisy. Medium and Misty noticed her take off. Alerting the others, Lark helped Windy down the bleachers and the rest of them followed suit.