//------------------------------// // Revelations (3) // Story: New Horizons // by BlackWing //------------------------------// Revelations While it was slightly out of the way, I headed to Appaloosa before Cloudsdale, deciding to stop at the floating city on my way back. On my way back? Had I already decided that I would be returning to Ponyville? I shook my head to clear it of such thoughts and continued. Rolling green hills gave way to dusty plains and soon the rustic town came into view. Being that I had never been to this town before, I figured I'd ask one of the locals which way to go. "Excuse me, do you know which way to the Appaloosa Agricultural Institute?" I inquired of a dusty coated stallion. "The wha? Oh, you mean tha farmin school? Yeah Sss right over there." "That's.... a barn. I mean, it's a big barn, but... it's a barn." "Well shucks, where else do ya think you're gonna learn farmin from?" "Uh, okay, thanks." As it turns out, the school was not in the barn, that's just where the classroom was, and the barn had been fully repurposed to serve as such. No, the school itself was the FARM, which makes sense now that I think about it, given that it was an agricultural school. There was no entrance exam for this school. You could simply apply, be automatically accepted, process payment and get to learning. In that case I decided to take the tour. They had classes about soil composition, farming cycles, irrigation, hydroponics, horticulture, as well as herbology and magical plants. It was interesting, but didn't really draw me in. It didn't feel like something I was meant for. The next several weeks ended up much the same. I'd go to a school, tour it, then decide it wasn't what I was interested in. Manehatten Culinary College, Manehatten Fashion School, Bitsburg Technical Institute, Hoofton Textiles Trade school, every single one I'd take the tour and find myself disinterested. At this point I realized that I already had my mind set on Princess Twilights magic school but kept looking for others solely because I had been told to go there. In other words, I was being needlessly contrarian. I still enjoyed myself exploring the Equestrian countryside though there's only so many days of 'rolling green grassland' one can take in before it becomes tedious. No, It was time to head back, though I still convinced myself to stop in Cloudsdale. "Now this is more like it!" Up in the sky, cool air, masses of puffy white clouds strewn about in pillars and arches not rigid like those in Canterlot, but more organic and windswept. *BOOM* "What the heck?" I raised a barrier and turned towards the source of the noise, witnessing a rainbow streak across the sky. "There goes Rainbow Dash again. She's so cool." Dozens of young ponies, and a few griffins also, turned to the sky to view the commotion. "Yeah, she's putting on a show for the applicants of the Cloudsdale flight school." "Ehh, she's not that great." Came a different voice. "Just because you didn't get accepted doesn't give you any right to be a sourpuss, Melody." Another chided. "I didn't get accepted because I didn't apply, stupid. I'm going to the Dominion Warmage Academy." The voice, belonging to a girl griffin sneered. "Yeah yeah, you're going to be a 'legendary hero'." They younger ponies blew raspberries at her. "More like villain with your attitude." They all ran off laughing after that. "Eh... whatever." She then turned to look at me. "Say... you're not from around here, are you?" "How can you tell?" I asked in turn. "Everyone around here is used to the showoffs' periodic rainbooms, but as soon as you heard it you put up a barrier. If you know defensive magic, that means you're probably from the New Dominion, right?" "Yes, Signal actually." "Oh cool. I'll be going there for school this year. The name's Melodious Thunder" She stuck out a claw to shake. I accepted. "Seth North, I'll be going to Princess Twilight's magic school." "Uh, no offense but, why do you want to learn something like pony magic? Isn't that kind of lame? Can a griffin even use pony magic?" Melody inquired. "Dunno if I can use it, but I'm more interested in the theoretical side anyway. I already know some different protection magic, I'm more interested in learning utility magic like teleportation." "Yeah, I guess your dad would have taught you some of his spells." "Okay, I'm starting to get annoyed now. Why does everyone and their mother know who my dad is?" I stated irately. "Ooh... yeah, um... just come with me." "Mom, Dad, I'm home." "Welcome back, did you have a good time?" "Yeah. I met a new friend." "Who's this? A BOY? Look Tedris, our little girl is all grown up. She'll be going off to school soon, and now she's bringing home a boyfriend!" The mother swooned. "Now listen here, I won't have you doing anything untoward with my daughter, do you understand me?" The father scowled. "Geez, I just met him today, calm down will you? This is Seth North." Immediately Melody's parents changed their demeanor. "I'm just going to show him my room." She guided me up to her bedroom. "I swear they can be so frustrating sometimes. Anyway, take a look." Covering her walls were posters. Images of a griffin. Some were for a concert tour, one was a page from a clothing magazine, another was a wanted poster, more still from news articles. "Griffin North." The pirate, the villain, the hero, the scholar, the king. The king? Memories came flooding back. "Mommy, why are they bowing to daddy?" "Well, Seth, your dad's the king." "To be honest Seth, I'd rather they not even bow to me. Bowing like that makes the person you're bowing to seem unapproachable, like you can't get near them. I don't like it." "Your father carved a path through this world, giving those who were lost a way to go. He rescued my mom and dad. If not for him, I wouldn't exist. I guess you can say I'm a bit of a fangirl." "Why... why does nobody talk about this? Why are the adults keeping it a secret?" Your father has done all that he can to ensure his own past isn't a blight on your future. "It was the one thing he asked for." Melody answered. "He knew the adults would never forget but he wanted the next generation to only view him as a relic of the past, consigned to the history books. Again, the only reason I have this is because my parents are terrible at keeping secrets. They kept all his memorabilia and of course, I found it. I've been a fan ever since." "The whole time I was growing up I thought he was lame. Just a boring teacher who liked to read the morning paper over a cup of coffee, and tend his garden, he was just playing the part of a stable parent to make sure I had a good life." "Well, I guess that explains why he dropped out of the public eye. I knew he did but I never knew the reason. Your dad must really love you a lot to do all that for you." "Yeah. Thanks for showing me this Melody." "No problem." With that I left and made my way back to Ponyville. Now that I knew the truth, I had a lot to mull over. Besides, if I was going to study there, I'd need a more permanent residence than a jerry-rigged cloud house. That means finding an apartment, which means money. I had some, but certainly not enough for a whole year of food and housing. That means I'd need a job.