“There!” I jumped in the puddle and dug.
“It should be right about—” I dunked my horn in the mud and shoved it through “—here!” I dropped to my side and hoofed at the wall of the ditch with all four legs. A shadow slid across the ground, and I stood up to investigate. A burst of wind forced me to close my eyes. When I opened them again, I saw a winged silhouette floating above me in front of the sun. “Rainbow Dash!”
“Whatcha doing?” She asked, landing a few leaps from the puddle.
I jumped out of the mud and shook my body to get the wetness out.
She covered her head with a wing and took a step back.
“I’m hunting for gems!” I proudly announced.
“You are?” Raising her eyebrows, she stared at my horn.
“I’m using my horn to find them with a technique that I invented myself.” I wiped a mud clod from my horn and threw it on the ground. “Want to see how I’ll find them when Rarity teaches me the gem-finding spell?”
She took another step back. “Oh, I’d love to see it, but I’m afraid I’d just get, um—jealous.”
“Jealous?” I had no idea why Rainbow Dash would get jealous of me. She was the most awesome pony out there. I didn’t think so myself, but I knew it for a fact because Scootaloo had told me so. I trusted my friend, which meant her view of Rainbow Dash was undoubtedly the correct one.
“Um, I would get jealous because, em”—she put a hoof under her chin—“Because you have a horn, and I don’t. Yes, that could work…”
“Wait, you’re jealous of my horn? You, the Rainbow Dash?”
“Right—I am so—jealous of your horn because…” She looked up. “I never got to cast a spell in my life. Not even a spark. Without a horn, I never stood a chance at getting a space-themed cutie mark. And then Twilight went all out with her magic and turned herself into an awesome, immortal Alicorn Princess. I can’t do anything like that!”
I had no idea horns were that important. Not knowing what else to do, I stood there and watched her, mouth agape.
She looked back at me and pressed her lips together. Sips of air escaped her muzzle.
Rainbow Dash must have really struggled inside. It was obvious that she had a hard time holding herself back. “So, hehe”—she covered her mouth with a hoof—“I’ll just weather this one out, okay?”
With a squeak, she launched herself into the nearby cloud, and all I heard was a distant whine. If I didn’t know better, I could have sworn it sounded like laughter. Her envy of my horn must have really gotten to her.
She rolled on her back. Her hooves and wings twitched over the edge of the cloud. She was, clearly, losing the fight with her depression.
I decided that it would be better if I left before she saw my super-awesome horn again. School was probably going to start soon, anyway. I trotted on toward the main road. The gems would have to stay put a bit longer. I made a mental note to myself to watch for Pegasi after finding a buried treasure. As I had just based from one of them, they obviously struggled in coming to terms with their disability.
Realizing she didn’t have a horn devastated Rainbow Dash. I felt really sorry for her. She seemed so disappointed with not having a magic cutie mark. I could relate to that because I was still a blank flank. Yet, unlike me, she already had her cutie mark. She should just be chillaxing and enjoying being a non-blankflank, not despairing like she did. It all seemed like a bad joke. Why would she want to have a cutie mark if she earned one already?
And did Rainbow dash think Alicorns were better than she was? No Pegasus, beside her; or Alicorn, for that matter, could perform a sonic rainboom. Or maybe it was the draggy life of Alicorns that she was jelly of?
Why was she going on about immortality anyway? Was she afraid she’d die without it? Sure, she was old. That was obvious because she was a grown-up. But she wasn’t that old...
I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t even notice myself walking into the classroom.
A sigh emanated from in front of me as I bumped into three smiling flowers. They laughed at me!
No... It wasn’t the flowers on Cheerilee’s cutie mark that were laughing. The sounds weren’t actually coming from the furry faces before my muzzle. It was my classmates who laughed. Their hooves were pointed at me. I didn’t know what was so funny. The joke must have flown over me. Or maybe I was the joke? I scoured the body and legs to make sure I didn’t accidentally come dressed to school like in one of my recurring nightmares where I’m the only pony wearing clothes in front of a crowd of ponies. Obviously, I was properly naked, but they could still be imagining me under many layers of clothing; perhaps even the tight kind. I blushed at the embarrassing thought.
“Sweetie Belle!” Cheerilee narrowed eyes pierced me with a judging gaze. “Why are you late again?”
“Rarity told me not to rush,” I said in response, shrugging my shoulders as I cocked my head and squinted while I looked at her. It wasn’t my concern because I was just doing what an adult told me to do. Anything goes when you’re doing somepony’s bidding, especially if you’re directed to do the stuff by a grown-up.
“And why are you covered in mud?” She cleaned her cutie mark with a hoof. “I do hope that it’s merely mud this time around.”
“I found a puddle,” I explained.
“And you had to jump in it?” Cheerilee’s eyes rolled around.
“Mhm.” I nodded, and the class burst into laughter again.
They didn’t have a clue what had gone down before I came to school. If they could only have been there, then they would have seen how awesome I was with my horn and pretend magic. I even made Rainbow Dash jealous of me! My classmates should be envying my awesomeness; not laughing at me.
“Just—” Cheerilee sighed “—take a seat…” She groaned and turned to the chalkboard.
I walked toward my chair, but suddenly a gray leg appeared between my forehooves. It tripped me, and the weight of my big brain shifted over my forelegs. Even though I jerked my dock as hard as I could, I couldn’t regain my balance anymore. I was at the point of no-return. Closing my eyes was the most I could do while I plunged snout-first at the floor. There was a violet tail with white stripes before my face, but it didn’t help much with softening my crash. “Ouch!”
“Hey!” Diamond Tiara screamed. “Watch it, foal! Keep your filthy filth away from me.”
I picked myself up on all four legs again. My muzzle hurt a little, but I couldn’t see any blood. It seemed I was getting better at falling over. With so much life experience, I was bound to become a master faller.
On the tail before me, I noticed a muddy face-print where my head had landed. “But it’s already dirty...” I pointed a hoof at it.
Tiara gasped, “How dare you!” She waved a foreleg in the air. “Miss Cheerilee! May I be excused” She lifted her stained tail in the air with the other hoof. “It’s an emergency!”