"Seven o’clock," I said, checking the time on a clock hanging on the wall. "Alright, I'm heading to school now!" I made sure to wait for an answer from my brother. I was in the living space now, and it was a bit nicer than the rest of the house. A brown couch sat against one of the walls. Adjacent to that by another wall was a brown loveseat. An aged, wooden table in the middle of the room. The walls were unpainted like the rest of the house and contained pictures of my siblings and me growing up together. Not a picture of our parents anywhere.
"Kay, I'll see you at four!" He called from the kitchen, he really is a cool brother. I picked up my bag, slid my arms through the straps, and headed for the door. A weird thing, my bag was. It was some weird mix between usual saddlebags and a harness. My mentor had said that he made it like this so it was easy to wear when standing on two hooves, which was something he was teaching me at the time. Not the easiest thing in the world to do, by the way!
"Hey!" Hearing my brother walk up to me, I turned around to see him with his hoof held towards me. A caring look came to his eyes as a smile crossed his lips. "Have a good day at school, bro.” He placed his hoof over his chest. I proceeded to do the same with my hoof.
"You know it, thanks bro." I opened the door that lead outside. Running as fast as I could on my rear legs, I ran down to the first corner. I stopped and turned to see Crimson at the window, I waved to him and kept running to my school. It was a long way, but I liked the run, only to trip and fall on my face. After that, I decided to just gallop the rest of the way to school. Bolt would understand.
I got to see the new spa that was being built, the bakery, and the best fruit-salespony in Canterlot. I trotted up to a fruit stand being headed by an Earth Pony stallion. He had a green mane and an orange coat. Purple eyes. He was kind of lanky then. I never got to see his Cutie Mark, but I bet it was fruit related. Or maybe selling related. Basket related?
"Hello there, Scar. Any fruit on mind today, or just saying hey?" His name was Baldwin and he spoke with a low monotone voice, but it sounded wise to me. He placed an open sign on the counter and opened up some large baskets that were just filled to the brim with fruit.
"Both, but I also wanted to ask a question." I said.
“Let's get your order out o’ the way first then, shall we?”
“Okay, um…” I looked at all he had to offer, one basket had nothing but bananas, those were always delicious. The next basket over was mixed: having oranges, peaches, and tomatoes. The final basket was apples, and they weren't in any order. “Two bananas, an orange, and those two apples.” I pointed at the apples closest to me, one was smaller than the other. The bigger of the two was also a darker shade of red than the other.
“Alright.” He took the fruit out of the basket and put it on the counter, when he moved the apples, however, I felt like I saw heaven. It was bright yellow and just as big as the dark red one. A golden delicious. I pointed at it.
“That one too, please?” I asked.
“Sure thing, these guys don't store well anyway.” He placed it on the counter alongside the others. “That'll be ten bits, little one.” That left me with just enough to pay for my late fee.
“Thanks, Baldwin! Now can I ask my question?”
“Only if the one you just asked isn't your question.” He smiled. In hindsight, that should've gotten a smile out of me, but it just left me confused.
“Umm, I just wanted to ask if you knew anything about Ponyville.”
“Ponyville? Why's that?”
“I'm moving there at the end of the week, and my mentor won't tell me much about it.”
“Bolt won't tell you about Ponyville?” His smile shifted to light frown. He mumbled under his breath, but I could still make out what he said. “What is that pony planning?”
“If you know anything about Ponyville, could you tell me?”
“Sure thing. I actually just visited Ponyville two days ago.”
“You did?” I asked, wonderment in my voice and eyes.
“Yup,” his monotone voice began to slowly shift into a country-like tone. “I was visitin’ my aunt. She and her grandchildren run the apple farm down there. In fact, my aunt was there when Ponyville was founded!”
“Woah!”
“Uh-huh. It's a nice place, you're sure to make a lot of friends down there.”
“Cool! Now I really can't wait until Saturday!” I did a giddy little hop, and dragged the fruit on the stand into one of my bags. “Well, I'll see you later Baldwin!” With a skip in my step, I began my gallop to school. Again.
“Have a good day at school, Scar!” His usual monotone returned.
«~†~»
Nearly twenty minutes of light galloping later and I had made it to my school. It was pretty normal sized for a big city like Canterlot, it had two floors and many hallways and rooms. The exterior was mostly red bricks and wooden frames. A giant chimney stood in the center of the building.
"Wow, the place is filled.” I could see colts and fillies trotting around, talking with each other, playing tag or racing, or even just reading. Just a sea of moving colors. My heart was pounding faster, crowds were far from my favorite place to be when I was younger. I always found it difficult to talk with other ponies my age and fillies of any age, excluding my sister of course. I stayed back a bit until the bell rang and teachers walked out to corral their students.
I saw Mrs. Wordsearch, my teacher and runner of the school’s library, near a group of students, all of whom were part of my class. She had a lilac coat and a dual tone teal and purple poofy mane, a lilac horn peeking through it. She had deep red, half-moon glasses. Her Cutie Mark was a locked, dark purple book with a silver magnifying glass over the blank cover. She had a pair of saddle bags with her. I trotted over as I heard her telling the class about today’s lesson plan. Like the beginning of every school, my class would spend the first thirty minutes outside if it was nice enough.
“Now, does everypony have their rulers?” She asked. The best way I could describe her voice would be similar to flowing water. Her question was followed by my fellow students either nodding or verbally confirming. “What about your notebooks and pencils?” Again, everypony confirmed they had what she asked for. A beige filly with a wheel Cutie Mark raised a hoof and spoke with an Emerald Island accent.
“What are we doing today, Mrs. Wordsearch?” She asked, a few fillies around her also wanting to ask that question.
“I'm glad you asked, Sugar Dale. Today, we’ll be learning about the growth patterns of certain trees around Canterlot.” She pointed in the direction of a park that was close by. “We’ll spend some time down at the park, study a few leaves, and with whatever time we have left, you can spend playing around the park together. Oh, and today's first class will be double in length, so we'll be down there for nearly an hour.” Hoots and hollers were what followed her explanation. And so, the day began.