My name is Astral Thunder. You might've see me walking through Ponyville. I'm the unicorn with the grey coat and long brown mane. You might even recognize my cutie mark, a crescent moon and thunderbolt
Here's a rundown of who and what I am. I am a prospective wizard and tinkerer, though my talents in the latter, so far, consist of small, simple clockwork machinations. Obvoiusly, I'm still learning.
My focus is mainly on academic pursuits. I used to be more outgoing than I am now, though that's changed in the last few years for reasons I'll soon disclose. I'm still friendly though, even if I don't trust ponies like I used to.
Now hearing this, you might think I come from a family of academics or doctors, but no. You see I'm (or at least I was) the black sheep of my family. Ever heard of Rainbow Dash? Yeah, she's my mom. That's right, I'm a unicorn, and my mom is a pegasus. You see, my dad was a Canterlot Royal Guard named Thunder Bolt... And he was a unicorn, in case you missed that part.
They meet a few months after Princess Twilight became sole ruler of Equestria. He was everything you could ask for, both as a dad and as a husband. He was both strong and smart. He was well educated and had a strong moral code he passed on to me.
He died when I was around eleven. I'll spare you the details. Suffice to say, I cried harder then I'd ever before and have since. But that's another story altogether.
Now to give you an idea of how my relationship with my mom was... She got mad at me because I wasn't an athlete. I never was, and I likely wasn't ever going to be one. However, she quickly got over that little roadblock with no small amount of coaxing from Aunt Applejack.
She felt bad, of course, for blowing up at me and apologized afterwards. That being said, she'd show up to to things like spelling bees, and treat them like sporting events. So picture this:
There were two tables with four school ponies each facing the audience. One school pony questioned young Astral from the opposing team.
"So given that market economies are inherently evil l AND inefficient, why do you think mixed economies are bad compromise?"
"Well, it's not a given that they're either of those things. To say it's evil is just silly. It's an economic system, not King Sombra. As for inefficiency, let me take a moment..."
"YEAAAH! YOU TELL 'ER!"
Oh, come on!
"Is that your mom?" Asked another filly.
"Dunk her head in the toliet!" Rainbow shouted
Why?
"She's gonna learn today!"
LEARN WHAT!?
A young Astral gets up to the microphone. He looks out at the audience and the moderator gives him his word.
"Astral, spell Syllabus."
"S, Y, L, L..."
"YEAAH! MY KID'S SPEELLING THE HAY OUTTA THESE WORDS!"
Not agian.
"Hey, kid!"
Nope.
"Hey!"
Naw.
"HEY! SPELL HORSEAPPLES!"
"Eww!" Goes a little filly.
Why, mom?
"What you 'ewwin'' for? You're gonna get dunked in the toliet!"
No, mom...
"You gonna learn today!"
No, she doesn't need to learn that...
"GO, KID! GO!"
Well, she gets an A for effort. But yeah, that's my mom, the Element of Loyalty. She certainly did her best to live up to that. She tried being as supportive as she could be, but I think deep down she'd rather I was a superstar like herself rather than bookish like my dad, or Princess Twilight. But this all changed when I was about twelve.
You see, mom meet a guy named Field Jockey, A brown Pegasus with a brown mane and a whistle as a cutie mark. He was a real hard flank and sports type. I instantly didn't like him, but I gave him a chance anyway for mom's sake. I remember when I first met him and his son, Junior Varsity. I was at recess with the other kids when mom showed up with them.
"Hey, kiddo!" Rainbow called out. Astral turned to see his mom with a strange stallion and a colt. He was tall, buff, and seemed to wear a permanent scowl on his face. He began trotting up to all three of them.
"Hi mom... Who are they?" He asked warily.
"Field Jockey, the guy I told you about, remember? And this is his son, Varsity. Field, Varsity, this is my son, Astral Thunder." Said Rainbow.
"You sure this isn't your daughter?" He asked, with a cocky smirk, and a raised eyebrow. Rainbow also cocked an eyebrow while astral simply looked astonished.
"Good one, dad." Said Varsity, chuckling.
"Uh, yeah I'm sure." Rainbow said, laughing nervously.
"You know I'm just kidding, Dashie. But seriously, we should probably make him into a proper colt." He said with an almost sinister look.
"Riiiight! Well class is about to start, mom." Said Astral.
"Alright, kiddo. See you at home."
They continued to see each other for close to a year. And through this entire year, I continue to despise this guy more, and more, even though everypony around loved the guy. Eventually, he and his son moved in, and he became my stepdad, technically speaking.
Oh, and I have a stepbrother now as well. Remember Junior Varsity? He's brown with a blonde mane and a Javelin for a cutie mark. And just in case you are wondering, he's only SLIGHTLY better than his dad... And he's everything she's ever wanted in a son. More on that later.
Remember how I described my dad? This guy was the complete opposite. My mom was an avid reader. However, before my dad showed up, her tastes consisted mostly of A.K. Yearling. My dad expanded her horizons, and exposed her to a whole world of literature.
This guy encouraged ignorance and the whole "might makes right attitude." He poked fun at mom whenever she had a book in her hooves. It got to the point to where she didn't even read much anymore, aside from the few times she could do it in secret.
And it goes without saying that he hated me, and everything I was about from the beginning. My room was filled with all the crap he despised. Books on magic, science, science fiction, fantasy, DIY, OnO player's guide, dice, various trading cards, and my various projects. The look on his face when he first came into my room, you'd think Aunt Rarity just walked into a manure factory.
And then, a week after he had moved in, this happened:
A young astral made his way to the kitchen from his room. Right next to the kitchen, Field Jockey was doing pushups in the living room. He quickly stood up when he saw this kid open the refrigerator.
"You got food in there?"
"Huh?"
"I asked if you had food in there, stupid."
"Umm, yeah?"
"Pfff, no you don't." He quickly slammed the refrigerator door shutshut and looked at Astral in a way that made his skin crawl.
"You ain't just going to be doing whatever the heck you want to anymore, boy." Astral started backing up before turning around and trotting to his room.
Yep. That happened. Oh and if you're wondering how Mom reacted when I told her, well...
Astral could be seen lying in his bed, talking to his mom. Rainbow Dash seemed to getting more and more upset.
"He did what?" She asked, indignantly. Astral lowered his head.
"Don't worry, kiddo. I'll take care of it."
Now, you'd think that'd be the end of the story. But we all know better than that.
"Hey, Astral?" Called out Rainbow as she entered Astral's room.
"Yeah, Mom?" He said as he got ready for school.
"I think there was a bit of miscommunication between you two, yesterday. He wasn't trying to be mean. That's just how he is normally."
"Yelling and slamming doors is normal for him?" Astral asked, rightfully skeptical.
"He said you was over exaggerating. I have to admit, you've been known to do that." Rainbow said as she pointed her hoof.
"You think I'm lying!?" Astral blurted.
"What? Of course not! It's just that... You do have an overactive imagination."
Astral was beyond angry. He couldn't believe that she was taking that... Clown's side over his. Rainbow noticed his face and responded.
"Look, I'm about to go into work. You two will be alone for the day, and will be able to work all of this out between yourselves. K, kiddo?"
Oh, we worked it out all right. Well, rather I should say, he worked it out by kicking me out of the house. Kicking me out consisted of forcibly dragging me out of the house, flying down, and plopping me on the ground.
Oh, and by the way, being a unicorn, my mom hato bring me up to the house every evening and take me to school every morning since we live in a... Cloud mansion. I wasn't able to eat all day because he didn't let me have breakfast and I had no money. That was fun. Five stars.
Anyway, I think you've read enough exposition for now. Next chapter will be getting to the actual story itself. And hey, if you like angst filled dramas, you've come to the right place. Stay tuned.