The ride home was a long and solemn one, as Smolder was honestly fearing the worst, despite the reassuring words of her new friend, Cerulean Blue. If her board was confiscated, she’d be crushed. Her board was everything to her. It allowed her to be creative, just like in the classroom - but openly and freely. Skateboarding was prideful, almost rebelling, in its attitude, but also disciplined, precise, and somewhat brutal. A failed trick meant a hard hit to hard ground, but also a compelling call to try again to ensure that such an event wouldn’t happen. In a way, being beaten half to death by the ground beneath her had motivated Smolder to be more motivated and willing to be insightful and innovative. All that was needed was to bring such a newly refined and boosted mind and attitude into the classroom without any tampering or discardment.
Yet an additional element kinda worried her - others around her in close proximity. Sure, the elitists of Canterlot were bothered and annoyed - but they were disturbed by her presence, not her skating. In Cerulean’s treatment plant, she could do everything by herself, for herself.
“However, the premise of wanting to be alone kind of defeats the purpose of being together in peace and harmony with other students and teachers at school, doesn’t it?” Smolder challenged herself, before drifting off into a nap, amidst the other talkative pony passengers.
Less than an hour later, she was awoken by a screech and a heightened level of talking. Pushing herself upright in her seat and rubbing her eyes, Smolder turned and glanced out the window. It was the Ponyville Train Station. She’d arrived.
Upon exiting the train, she noticed a painter pony atop a ladder. Having finished a brief paint job, he then began descending down, soon reaching the second last step… and the ladder began tipping backward.
“Gah!” Smolder gasped, dropping her board and flying over to help. With a quick thought, she spun upside down and grabbed the top of the ladder, gripping the underside of the train station canopy with her feet as an anchor, thus allowing the ladder to be stable enough to allow the painter to fully dismount, while two pegasi workers helped carry it away.
“Thanks for that,” the painter said with a smile, trying to hide his feeling of bewilderment.
“My pleasure,” Smolder replied, suddenly realizing that she was hanging upside down from a train canopy like a giant bat. “And thank you for making Ponyville’s train station look refined and beautiful as it should be.”
Hopping back onto her board, Smolder pushed off, gliding down Ponyville’s roads and trails, looking for the Castle of Friendship. Finally locating it, she kickturned and sped down the road towards it, before grabbing her board and flying off to the adjacent School of Friendship. Without even slowing down, she burst through the doors and sped down the hallways without a breath, eventually finding herself at the doors to HeadMare Princess Twilight Sparkle’s office.
Letting out a pitiful sigh of defeat, she collapsed onto the floor and waited. And waited. And waited.
Finally, after what felt like hours, the powerful, authoritative figure appeared in the hallway. Before Smolder could even blink, Twilight was all over her, rubbing and investigating as if he was some sort of alien.
“Smolder! Oh, I missed you! Are you okay?” She then noticed the little dragon’s bruises and chipped scales. “What happened?”
“WHAT IN THE NAME OF CELESTIA WERE YOU THINKING!” Rainbow Dash bellowed, rushing over as Rarity, Applejack, and the others arrived outside Twilight’s office.
Smolder looked down sadly and used every ounce of internal will to fight back tears… or charring the irate pegasus’s mane to ashes. “I… ran away. To have some alone time to be free and creative.” She shot Dash a venomous glare. “Unlike you, who only knows how to yell.”
“But I - ”
“That’s enough, girls,” Twilight commanded. “Smolder and I will need to talk alone. And when we’re done, you have some apologizing to do, Rainbow. It isn’t right to run away, but neither is erupting in rage.”
Without another word, Twilight took Smolder under her wing into her office and shut the doors, before sitting at her desk.
“Why did you run away, Smolder?”
Smolder pushed her board aside and slid onto a chair. “I… I fell apart. When Silverstream was admitted to the hospital, it meant that I wouldn’t have anyone to practice and learn alongside. My own creative and innovative spirits felt encaged and suppressed. I couldn’t take it, so I ran away to Canterlot, where I found some space and time to skate and not worry about anything else at all. I felt free and capable. As you’ve seen already, I fell, yes, but I kept on going.”
“Eventually I landed one particular trick, catching the eye of one friendly stallion. He led me to his workplace, where in an open area, I kept going at it until I was too sore to stand up and too thirsty and hungry to see straight. I skated as hard as I could - refining tricks I’d invented and trying to make new ones based on the subtle movements - the little components - that made up each trick. Eventually over lunch he lured me into revealing the truth, and helped me understand what I did wrong and how I could fix it without having to quit enjoying my board. So with a train ticket paid by him and a new mental and spiritual outlook, I decided to return. Now before you, I come as a beaten-up board lover with a willingness to balance my life and prioritize my mind and heart, humbly asking for forgiveness. I promise, I’ll never run away again. I have no right whatsoever to make you or all your teachers worried.”
“Especially given that we are responsible for you on behalf of your land’s rulers,” Twilight added with a slight scowl. “I do forgive you, but I will be keeping this out of usage for a while.”
“Nooooooooo!” Smolder wailed as Twilight levitated her beloved board and slid it into a large cupboard in her desk under lock and key.
Twilight chuckled and smiled. “It’s not going to be gone forever. You have made a confident statement about a self-improvement plan. I will be happy to assist you in formulating it, implementing it, and perhaps teaching others about it too. Once I have observed and tracked that you are truthful, committed, and consistent with this plan, then you’ll be worthy of possessing your board again. The same goes for Silverstream.”
“Can Silverstream benefit from my new approach?” Smolder asked quickly.
Twilight nodded with a smile. “Indeed. Now let’s get you a good, proper meal to fuel that little dragon brain of yours so it can tackle some leftover homework. After that you can rest.”
Smolder nodded, making sure to stand up only after Twilight did. Together they left the office and headed to the cafeteria, where they ate together.
“By the way, who was that pony who let you skate at his workplace?”
“Cerulean Blue, founder and owner of the Canterlot Water Treatment Plant,” Smolder recited proudly.
Twilight’s eyebrows shot up. “Really? That’s quite… an amazing achievement. Both for him and you. Looks like you have learned a good amount of friendship and harmony on your little trip after all.”
“I’m just happy to have my mind open to the right understanding of my life’s structural order and knowing I’ll still be happy and free on my board at the same time,” Smolder confessed, chowing down on the last deep-fried gems in a bowl.