At that, I noticed that I seemed to be spinning back and forth in the same spot. I wasn't falling, but I wasn't rising any further either. Something struck me as odd about flying, so I heeded Levita's advice and stopped flapping my wings. Immediately, gravity pulled my hooves down so I was straight in the air again. But how could that be? We were way up in the...clouds. I was standing on a cloud.
"I...I can stand on clouds. How...how can that be?" I asked, confused.
"You weren't listening to me earlier, were you?" asked Levita suspiciously.
I looked at her slightly ashamed, because she was right. However, she was not angry with me.
"That's what I thought, tehee. So, the thing that makes us walk on clouds is part of the magic that also makes us fly."
"Wait...you're telling me that magic flows through me? I'm not a..."
"Unicorn?" interrupted Levita. "Well, magic doesn't necessarily have to do with what we are. But the way we use it shows who we are."
I looked at Levita tensely. I wanted that explained in more detail.
"In short, magic is what gives Earth Ponies their strength, for example. Something magical that all living things generate. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds all of Equestria together." Levita told me enthusiastically.
But she realized it still sounded a bit illogical to me.
"Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Here, between you, me, the sky, down there, everywhere, yes. Even between the wings and the air."
I was fascinated by the fact that there was something supernatural around me, influencing my actions and doings in this world. But it was scary at the same time, because I did not perceive this unknown force before. At least, I didn't know that I also possessed magic.
"Sorry, I'm rambling. You want to fly, don't you?" she said, smirking at me.
"Then try to follow me. And remember, magic carries you, just worry about flying." she winked at me, opened her feathers and hopped backwards off the cloud with a grin on her face.
Levita didn't seem to be afraid of heights, but as I looked down over the edge of the cloud, I felt a little queasy. Why was I afraid of heights? I was a Pegasus pony! And that's exactly what I was about to prove.
"Come on...you can do it..." I muttered to myself.
I stretched my wings again and gathered my courage to jump over the cloud into the depths. I crouched slightly to push off hard with my back hooves, inwardly counting down.
"3...2...1..." I said, taking a deep breath before lunging forward.
The jump flung me away from the cloud and since my wings were outstretched, I sailed straight ahead. I looked around and could see low to the ground. To my right I could see Levita as she was doing a roll over me and moving to the left side of me. I wanted to be able to do that too, so I angled my wings to get into a spin. I kept slowing down the roll and trying to turn the other way. As I did so, I noticed that it made no difference how hard I flapped my wings during the spin. This had to be the magic Levita had told me about. The magic that had just given me the most beautiful gift in the world.
I wanted to try something and did a half roll on my back and let my wings glide loosely in the wind. Even though I felt gravity beneath me, I just kept sailing. It was a fantastic feeling, like being light as a feather. But I quickly became dizzy and turned around again. Then I tried a few climbs and descents before flying my first turn by doing a quarter roll and then angling the wings. I could fly in circles in this position and sink or climb at the same time. Then when I flew straight up, I was surprised at how easy it was. That's why it had catapulted me into the air like that during my first attempts at flying. When I was high enough, I tried to slow down slowly until I got into a kind of hover. It didn't take much force to maintain altitude. Once I stopped flapping my wings, I sank very slowly. However, I started flapping my wings again in time to notice that the rate of descent was slowly accelerating. Levita came flying in front of me and looked at me with enthusiastic eyes:
"Tell me, is it really the first time you fly?" she asked.
"So as far back as I can remember, yeah," I said.
"Are you kidding? That was great! Even though I don't know who you are, I can tell you this is not your first time flying! You flew maneuvers that I've only seen one Pegasus pony do before. That means you must definitely be from Cloudsdale!"
I was pleased that Levita found a piece of the puzzle through my flying techniques, which should help us explain where I'm from.
"Come on, we need to show this to Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. Maybe they can help us. And maybe there'll be an extra flying lesson with the best flier in all of Equestria!" she winked at me.
I knew Levita wasn't talking about Fluttershy, of course, and my guess for that wasn't based on her name alone. Levita wasn't flying towards Ponyville, though, but a few fields away. I didn't know where she was going before I heard a loud scream, which I'm sure wasn't from Fluttershy either. As we flew towards the ground, I could see the two Pegasi. Rainbow Dash was lying on her back on the ground, as if the wind had blown her over. Fluttershy was looking at her worriedly. Obviously, something was wrong.
"Hey, you two! What's the matter? We heard you screaming!" said Levita, landing next to Rainbow Dash to help her up.
"Uargh, it's hopeless, Levita!" she said in a pained voice.
Apparently Levita was very surprised by Rainbow's reaction, since she actually seemed like a pony, which didn't give up easily. But she quickly solved the mystery.
"If I don't have someone to cheer me on, then I won't be able to win the competition tomorrow." sighed Rainbow Dash.
Fluttershy's cheeks turned slightly red. Levita noticed me looking at her in confusion.
Levita explained to me that Rainbow Dash had a big performance tomorrow in Cloudsdale and she would like me to be there. Now I also realized the reason why she knew that we would meet the two Pegasi here. Apparently Rainbow Dash often practiced her flying maneuvers outside of Ponyville. This was safer than flying uncontrolled into any houses and causing chaos.
Rainbow Dash was very happy about this news, because of her friends only Fluttershy had the chance to fly, and her cheers were too quiet, of course. I agreed to fly with Levita to Cloudsdale tomorrow to cheer Rainbow Dash at the competition. Rainbow told us that this competition was very important for her, because at the end one pony would be named "Best Young Flier". And that would also raise her standing with the Wonderbolts, who would also attend the competition. Levita had already told me then that Rainbow's greatest dream would be to become a member of this special flying unit of Equestria. I considered putting myself up for the show as well. After all, I already really liked flying, and if Levita thought I had any flying experience so far, I might even win the competition! But at this point I realized that it would be rude if I competed against Levita's friend. Not to mention how Rainbow would break if I got first place. I had no idea how much I was underestimating her.
"Hey, do you guys want to watch what I prepared?"
Levita and I nodded and decided to find a place from where we could best watch Rainbow. We sat down on a cloud higher up, but Fluttershy preferred to watch from the ground. When we found our place, we waited anxiously to see what Rainbow wanted to show us. She also stood on a cloud and looked down excitedly, ready to dash off at any moment.
Rainbow stood on her hind hooves and took one deep breath before using the cloud she was standing on as a springboard and plunging into the depths. With an insane speed, she flew close to the ground, trailing a light rainbow glow behind her. She flapped her wings harder and took aim at a row of narrow long trees, which she skillfully flew through in a slalom. A strong gust of wind caught Fluttershy as Rainbow roared past her at full speed. I knew Rainbow was fast, but to really see her in action was simply breathtaking. She soared upward in a vertical flight and stopped in mid-air right in front of us.
"And now for Phase 2..." she said before flashing again and flying toward several clouds. She flew around the first cloud in a circle so fast that it began to spin. She made two other clouds circle, and with such ease that I was really fascinated by her. Fluttershy also seemed to be quite excited, even though we couldn't hear her up here. The whole thing seemed to be heading for the grand finale, as Rainbow was now flying much higher and I wondered what she was up to. She flew a few more loops before folding her wings and dropping down at an angle. As she did so, she stretched one of her front hooves quite long. I was afraid that she would crash, but then I saw that she did not slow down. On the contrary, gravity pulled her faster and faster until a white wall formed in front of her. Besides, there was a whistling sound, which seemed to get louder and louder. Levita watched tensely.
"She's really trying to..." she said quietly to me.
"What, what is she trying?" I asked confused, but Levita didn't give any answer because she was too focused on Rainbow. Fluttershy looked up slightly worried.
"Come on!" yelled Rainbow Dash before the white wall turned into an arrow shape.
But in the next moment, something seemed wrong. She stopped abruptly and hung in that white wall like a ball in a taut net. And that net relaxed upward again and flung Rainbow out in a high arc. She rolled back and forth screaming and I was terrified that something might happen to her. But Fluttershy seemed to recognize the danger and started to fly after her. Levita, however, had to laugh.
"Sorry. It's just that...Rainbow Dash has tried it so many times, and yet it's always ended the same way." she was still giggling.
"I don't understand, Levita. What was Rainbow Dash trying to do?" I looked at her confused.
"There's this legend of a Sonic Rainboom that happens when a rainbow pony like her flies faster than sound."
"So, does it really exist?" I asked curiously.
"I'm afraid I don't remember about that, it must have been around the time I was a foal. I've heard the legend of it, though, when Equestria was lit up by its colors."
"Do you think it was her? " I asked, even more curious.
"She just told me it's a natural gift that every rainbow pony can do. But it takes a lot of practice and patience to perfect the technique." replied Levita.
"Then she will probably have learned it from her parents. There don't seem to be that many rainbow ponies like her, do there?" I said confidently.
Levita put on a thoughtful look.
"It's possible. But only she knows who made the very first Sonic Rainboom. But I'll get that mystery solved too." she promised me with a wink.
Now I knew what Rainbow Dash's responsibilities were. Not only had she learned a great trick, but she also had a heavy legacy on her shoulders. If this Sonic Rainboom made it to legend status, it would mean a lot to the ponies in Equestria if Rainbow could pull off this aerial acrobatic feat. Levita and I flew around a bit more before heading back home to see out the time until the evening talent competition at Ponyville Elementary School. Lyra and BonBon were at Sugarcube Corner for the day because Princess Celestia was coming to the village. But Levita said you couldn't get in to see the princess unless you had the proper invitation, and how was I supposed to get one if I didn't know who I was myself? Hopefully Lyra and BonBon would have the opportunity to ask the princess about my origins. Thanks to Levita's analytical eye, we could at least find out that I was from Cloudsdale. That was something.
We rested a bit more until the evening before the Ponyville Elementary School talent show. Together with Derpy, we set off early for Sweet Apple Acres, since the school was located near Applejack's farm. When we got there, there were already many ponies gathered around a big stage. And again, I could see a few doubles, but I tried to ignore them and enjoy the evening. What made me especially happy, I could easily recognize the real Lyra from it, because she was always standing right next to BonBon. And I was glad that BonBon seemed to be better again. Levita, however, said that it would be better if I asked her after the performance what had come out with the princess. The event was already starting, so I didn't want to disturb them unnecessarily.
It started off interestingly. Apparently two little colts prepared a magic trick where they wanted to make a rabbit disappear. But that was not all, because instead of the rabbit something else was supposed to appear. When one of the foals lifted the cylinder again, the rabbit had disappeared, but the table was empty. But the mystery was quickly solved, because it turned out that the other foal started to eat carrots from the cylinder, which were supposed to appear on the table instead of the rabbit. It was not a real magic trick, but it was very entertaining, the laughing audience confirmed it.
After that, a pink pony came on stage and Levita explained to me that this was the teacher of the elementary school, Mrs. Cheerilee. For the fact that I had actually estimated teachers to be a little older, she still looked very young.
Next, two young ponies came on stage with roller skates on their hooves. They recited a poem while making matching movements on their roller skates. I thought it was very cute and it was interesting to see how much talent was already in such young ponies. And judging by their cutie marks, they already knew what they were really good at.
The next and last thing was a music that triggered something emotional in me. Levita noticed how I looked stunned when the spotlights were turned on, illuminating the faces of three little ponies that I had already seen a few days before at the old tree house. And even though the foals were singing their own lyrics, it seemed to me like an old familiar tune.
"Is everything all right?" asked Levita, putting her hoof on my back.
"Levita, that tune...I've heard that music before. Also how the spotlights had illuminated the faces at the beginning...it looks very familiar. But I can't tell you where from." I said slightly exasperated, almost tearful.
"That's right, now that you mention it. I've heard it before too, but it was quite a long time ago. I think the song they're singing right now is very well known. You've probably heard it many times and that's why it's still left in your mind."
The other ponies didn't seem to mind our conversation, because they were too spellbound on the performance of the three ponies, who were trying with all their might to put on a good show, tearing apart the stage equipment more and more while singing themselves hoarse, which sounded more like screaming to me. The whole theater ended with the stage sets crashing together and the performance ending in a cloud of dust. And even though the performance of a piece of music had turned more into a comedy, I didn't get much out of it. I was far too transfixed on what was going on inside me at the moment. How could such a simple piece of music trigger such a great emotional impact in me? How was I supposed to solve the mystery around me when I couldn't even put together the puzzle pieces I had found?
I turned away from the crowd, which was also having a great time with this performance. Distantly, I still noticed that the last group seemed to get the prize for the best comedy performance, but I didn't care at that moment. I was again only fixated on myself. Now that the show was over, the crowd dispersed a bit and Lyra approached with BonBon.
"Hey, you two! So, eh, how did you guys like the show?" asked Lyra still giggling.
I lifted my head briefly to look at her, only to look bleakly at the floor again afterwards. I didn't know what to do at that moment.
"Um, is he okay?" asked BonBon, while Lyra looked at me worriedly from the side.
Levita explained to both of them what I had just experienced and they decided to accompany us all the way home. Meanwhile, BonBon tried to make logical connections between the performance and my reaction and discuss them with Levita, while Lyra walked next to me and kept talking at me with a bit of small talk. I always responded with short answers and at one point even felt slightly annoyed by her talk, but I knew she only meant well and tried to distract myself a bit. When Levita and I arrived home, Lyra and BonBon said goodbye to us and then went home as well. Not many more words fell between Levita and me, but I decided to sleep on the couch in the living room that night. If I was already a burden to Levita that seemed like it would never end now, I wanted to at least keep that burden to a minimum and make sure she could sleep in her own bed again. I noticed that she was a bit confused by my behavior. But she said nothing more about it and went upstairs without a word as well. Even though it may sound sarcastic, I was grateful to her for leaving me alone at that moment.
But the next day I could forget the worries. I was looking forward to finally exploring the part of Equestria that had remained hidden from me until now. And maybe I would learn the origin of my existence there, too. Of course, it was also important for me to support Rainbow Dash in her performance. Levita and I set out for Cloudsdale, the hometown of the Pegasus ponies, around noon. I was excited to see what she would show me.
After a few starting difficulties, I was back in flight mode and we headed for the lofty heights. I enjoyed looking at the world below me, which was getting smaller and smaller. But instead, a completely new world opened up above me. It was perfect flying weather, the sun was shining and the weather ponies had removed all the clouds in the vicinity from the sky. Except for one large cloud, but after a short flight it turned out to be a floating city with thousands of pegasi flying around it.
"Welcome to Cloudsdale!" said Levita euphorically to me as we flew over the first parts of the huge city.
It was a beautiful city in a white cloud dress. But the buildings all looked like they were made of more than just water vapor. I found it to be a real feat to be able to change the structure of clouds so that solid objects could be built from them. From the distance, I could already see the arena where the competition was to take place. It was colorfully decorated with flags waving in the wind. Before we went towards the arena, Levita showed me around Cloudsdale a bit. She told me that Cloudsdale was especially known for its factories. I wondered what those factories could be and why I couldn't see any smoke from them. But the mystery was quickly solved when Levita explained that they were used to control the weather in Equestria. Of course, nothing had to be burned that could cause smoke.
We arrived at a huge cloud building with a huge funnel on top of it. Next to it was a large opening that looked like a giant trumpet.
"This is one of our factories, it produces clouds and rain, which is then used to fill the clouds. At the moment it is not in operation, but every summer it is refilled from above with water that we bring here from different reservoirs. Then we always have rain when the days get too hot." Levita explained to me.
"How does all this water get here? Don't you have to lug endless buckets up here for it?"
Levita had to laugh at my question.
"No, tehee, of course not. We have a very special technique. First, all the Pegasus ponies gather for a performance test where their wing strengths are measured..." said Levita, before we were startled by a loud thunder that cracked nearby.
What was only a brief scare to me seemed more frightening to Levita for some reason.
"What was that? Where did the thunder come from?"
"...From the weather factory..." said Levita still slightly afraid.
"Are we going to see it next?" I asked enthusiastically, but Levita didn't seem thrilled with the idea.
"Levita, calm down. That was just the thunder, nothing bad." I said teasingly.
"I know. I'm just scared of the sound. It always scares me." she apologized to me.
I remembered the stormy evening at BonBon and Lyra's house where she was also afraid of the thunder. I did care where the thunder came from, but if Levita didn't want to go there that was fine with me.
"That's all right, Levita. I'm sure I'll have another chance to visit the weather factory sometime."
"Thanks, I appreciate that. But I can at least tell you what I know about the weather factory from other ponies," Levita asked me.
And so, on the way to the arena, she told me all the details of what tasks the weather factory had. It produced thunderstorms that made the clouds rain and at certain times of the year it even made snow out of rain. For this, however, it needed a lot of energy. Therefore, the Pegasi used a part of the produced thunderstorms and placed it above the factory, whose lightning struck again and again over a large metal sphere at the top of the factory to always supply the plant with energy. The factory needed especially much energy to produce the rainbows. I had previously thought that these were just reflections from the light, but the colored watercourses in the city confirmed to me that it was indeed a liquid. I wondered what rainbows would taste like, but I would rather not drink something that flowed from a factory. Levita also advised me against it, probably some ponies had already experienced it.
Levita explained to me that the rainbows helped control the weather, because the clouds became controllable with magic by adding the liquid. This was also why the pegasi could push clouds around like solid objects. Without this ingredient, the clouds would be pushed around aimlessly by the wind and would rain where no rain was needed, for example. And although Levita described this scenario to me as pure chaos, it sounded more logical to me than clouds that could be moved by magic. She also told me that just about everyone in Cloudsdale worked in the factories, but when Levita lived in Cloudsdale, she was always afraid to work in the factory complex because of the constant thunder. Since I had always known her to be brave and direct, I thought it would be interesting to discover Levita's sensitive side.
After a short time we arrived at the stadium, where we could already hear the crowd cheering enthusiastically, looking forward to a fantastic air show. Levita and I looked for a place further up in the stadium, where we could look to the left onto the stage where Princess Celestia had already taken her seat to watch the show. Below us, on the opposite side of the arena, I could see Twilight with her friends. But when I pointed out her friends to Levita, she had to look twice because she didn't expect to see them up here. She explained to me that normally only Pegasus ponies could walk on clouds. And she couldn't see wings on them either, but maybe we were too far away to see it more clearly. But she couldn't fly over, because the tournament was already opened and any moment various ponies had to prove their flying skills. A little closer to the left of Twilight's group I could see a pony that looked similar to Lyra, but it had the wings of a pegasus and no horn. This was definitely not Lyra, but could the doubles now change their whole bodies in addition to their eyes? This was getting creepier and creepier, but I tried to stop paying attention to it and concentrate on the show.
In the background I could hear various instruments, which presumably accompanied the event with appropriate music behind the princess' stand. There was an emcee pony, announcing Equestria's elite flyers. The Wonderbolts. At this, six costumed pegasi came flying in, each trailing a trail of thunderclouds. They rose far into the air before flying so close together that the air between them compressed and released with a bang, after which the crowd cheered them enthusiastically. Levita seemed to enjoy it too, despite the bang, which pleased me greatly. Apparently, these elite flyers seemed to be deciding who would become the "Best Young Flyer in Equestria" in this competition. I fervently hoped it would be Rainbow Dash. The Wonderbolts took their places near the princess and the first flier came into the arena. It was a beige Pegasus with a pink mane. It was closely followed by a pony that looked just like the doctor from Ponyville that I had met. Only with wings. Something seemed off about the whole thing. Next, a purple pony with a yellow mane came flying out. Each pony wore a number and performed its own routine, which the Wonderbolts watched critically. I just hope Rainbow wouldn't get stage fright with all this pressure. Next came a pony with a yellow coat and purple mane, followed closely by Derpy, with Levita completely out of her mind and cheering her on euphorically. But as one would expect, Derpy flew around aimlessly and seemed to just enjoy being the center of attention for a moment. Of course, this was no achievement for a win, but it was still fun to watch her do it.
After Derpy, we started to worry about when Rainbow Dash would finally show up. But after a few other Pegasi, Rainbow Dash now slowly came flying out, followed closely by Rarity, who appeared to be wearing shimmering butterfly wings. I had to rub my eyes because I couldn't comprehend it at first. All the other ponies in the arena seemed just as fascinated by it and cheered her on as she gracefully rose into the air, classical music playing in the background. Rainbow Dash began her slalom flight while Rarity danced in the air. I didn't know what to focus on. But at a pillar of cloud, Rainbow flew back into her slalom too soon, causing her to bump into the pillar and be thrown to the edge of the stands. Rarity, meanwhile, continued to pirouette as Rainbow Dash rose into the air and flew out over the stadium. From a distance, I could see that she was now performing her second feat: The spinning clouds. At first it looked exactly as she had shown us, but for some reason she went into a spin and was thrown away by one of the clouds. As if that wasn't bad enough, the spinning cloud sped toward the Princess Grandstand, where it flew just above Princess Celestia's head to the stadium wall and fizzled out.
Now I knew that Rainbow Dash had only one way left to impress the Wonderbolts jury. She had to pull off a Sonic Rainboom. And as was to be expected, she soared far high above the stadium to build up enough acceleration, Rarity following right behind her and flying in front of the sun so that it cast rainbow colors on the entire stadium through her shimmering butterfly wings. The ponies all turned to look at her, with no one noticing Rainbow Dash anymore. But something seemed to go wrong and the wings dissolved into ash, whereupon Rarity plunged into the depths uncontrolled. The Wonderbolts got ready to take off and followed her. Rainbow Dash also seemed to have heard her scream and went straight into a dive. She roared through the bottomless arena at breakneck speed to rescue Rarity. Since we were sitting higher up in the arena, I couldn’t see her anymore. I hoped that she could still intercept Rarity in time. I would have helped her otherwise, but I doubted I would be faster than Rainbow Dash.
A gigantic explosion sounded under the arena and glowed in bright colors from below. At the same time, I could see a huge circle of rainbow colors spreading under Cloudsdale like a wave. Shortly after, Rainbow Dash came flying over our heads as she trailed a huge rainbow-colored trail behind her. And if my eyes didn't deceive me, she not only had Rarity firmly in her hooves, but also three of the Wonderbolts on her back. She had done it! Not only the rescue, but the Sonic Rainboom as well! I felt deep joy for her at that moment, this had to be the best day ever for her!
As she flew into the arena from below and safely unloaded the ponies, the audience cheered. Everyone was thrilled with her performance and even Fluttershy was cheering loudly. Twilight conjured up a balloon where Rarity could sit in the basket. Apparently, the six friends had some things to talk about and it looked like the competition was interrupted for a short time. The moment the Wonderbolts went to Rainbow Dash, I could literally see her joy. She was overjoyed to be able to meet her idols in person. When even Princess Celestia flew up to the six ponies, it was clear to me who had won the contest. She placed a golden crown with two wings on Rainbow's head and her friends carried her on their backs through the arena. She was to savor every moment of this success in the cheers of the audience.
Since the friends had a lot to talk about among themselves, Levita and I decided to fly back to Ponyville. But as we passed the outskirts of town, a strange change in temperature gripped me. Something was in the air.
"Something is wrong. I feel cold. Unpleasant cold." I said to Levita.
She stopped short and waved her hoof around, trying to smell something in the air.
"Hmm, I can feel it too. Apparently it's coming from the weather factory..."
At this, Levita's eyes widened and she looked at me excitedly.
"Oh, do you know what that means?" she asked me in an excited voice.
I shook my head in confusion.
"Winter is coming!" she cheered, rejoicing.
I could only share her joy to a limited extent, as I had not experienced a winter in Ponyville yet, at least I didn't remember one. But despite the lack of memories, I felt very much at home in Ponyville by now and was even able to meet many other ponies in town. Levita's six friends seemed to be busy with each other all the time anyway, so it was good to have other ponies to talk to.
Of course I didn't tell other ponies about my problem, that would only lead to an unpleasant questioning conversation. But I only realized how much time had passed since my arrival in Ponyville when I saw the first snowflakes falling from the sky that same evening. And when I looked out of the window the next morning after getting up, I could see an idyllic village completely covered with snow. Because it had become very cold, Levita wanted to go with me to Rarity to find some clothes to keep us warm. Levita picked out some woolly hoof boots. For me, Rarity had made a fluffy sweater and scarf that perfectly matched the color of my coat as well as my mane. She also said that I had colors that she had never seen on any pony, but I thought she did a great job. I noticed before in the village that my fur warmed me enough, but somehow I felt more comfortable wearing clothes.
Outside, village life was now in full swing. I enjoyed watching the ponies doing their activities. Some were sledding, others were having snowball fights, it was wonderful. Noticing a few ponies taking care of various animals, Levita explained to me that this was part of the whole procedure of "Winter Set Up" and many ponies set out in teams to ring in winter throughout Equestria. The opposite of this would be called the "Winter Wrap Up," but the ponies would do it in the spring so that winter could give way to spring. Levita said she always enjoyed helping with the Winter Wrap Up because she loved how the fresh bloomed flowers smelled.
On nice days, I would head to Cloudsdale with Derpy and Levita to learn more about my heritage, and on just about every evening, we would gather with Lyra, BonBon for a cup of cocoa at home or at their house, where a fireplace provided pleasant warmth. Of course, in addition to my business, we talked about stories from times I could no longer remember. It helped me immensely to listen to these stories so that this world around me no longer seemed so alienating. There was even a celebration of winter called Hearth's Warming Eve. For this, there was even a play performed in Canterlot that told an ancient story about the creation of Equestria. Levita decided that we should watch the performance together. I was eager to come along, so we all made our way together to the outskirts of the village, where I could see tracks on the ground leading to a nearby train station. For some reason, it surprised me that there were trains here. The unicorns could teleport, the pegasi could fly, and the earth ponies...well, it actually made sense to them. But I considered that it would be a long way to Canterlot even as the crow flies. So I also decided to take the most convenient route and got on one of the colorful wagons with the others, pulled by the purple steam locomotive at the front of the train.
They were just as colorful on the inside as they were on the outside. And the train also departed quickly to be in Canterlot in a short time. The snow was rushing past the windows. The four couldn't wait until we arrived in Canterlot. While Derpy dreamily watched the passing snowflakes from the window, Levita, Lyra and BonBon started to tell me about the play. It was about the origin story of Equestria, when the three pony breeds, Earth Pony, Unicorn and Pegasus Pony met. These were played by different ponies each year. I could easily imagine that Levita, Lyra and BonBon would be perfect for these roles, as they seemed to know the whole script by heart. I listened intently as the story ran its course, so much so that I almost didn't notice something bright appear outside the train. As I looked out the window at the setting sun, I saw a large castle with many lights, built on the side of a mountain. In front of the castle was a lake that ran in a river through the castle and down the mountain on the other side. As the train moved closer and closer to the castle, the city backdrop became larger and larger and I knew immediately: this had to be Canterlot.
When the train stopped at the station and we got off, besides the many ponies, I noticed the mighty porches of the city gate and the city wall, which seemed to be made of massive stone. It was breathtaking to walk through the gigantic gate that led into the magnificent castle town. A veritable sea of lights revealed itself before me, surpassing even the moonlight in its brightness. Dozens of stores seemed to be open so late at this festive time. The smell of sweet baked goods and sweets sold in the stores was everywhere. The foals seemed to be especially fond of it, and I too sniffed the air joyfully, while the song of several ponies rang out, standing in groups around town, singing happy winter songs. I could not stop marveling at this fantastic world.
The theater was located in the garden of the castle named Canterlot, which gave the city its name. It was immediately clear to me that the princesses ruled from here. I remembered that Lyra and BonBon had been with Princess Celestia when she had visited Ponyville. When I asked them about it, BonBon told me that unfortunately they didn't get an audience with the princess, that their pet had suddenly disappeared and she was busy all day trying to find it again. A little later, however, it had reappeared. Lyra added that the pet was a phoenix with red and yellow plumage. It was the most graceful animal she had ever seen. Some ponies even tell her that this animal had special magical powers.
When we went to the entrance of the castle garden, we had to cross a wooden gate which served as a bridge over a moat filled with water. The water in the moat seemed to be frozen, but the waterfall on the side of the city kept the river running under the ice, which also flowed through the moat. To the left of the gate was a huge fir tree decorated with many colorful self-luminous objects. The gate was guarded by two ponies, which apparently belonged to the princess's royal bodyguard. I just didn't know if this should make me feel safer. What was a princess, who ruled such a loving kingdom, supposed to be protected from?
All the ponies seemed to be going into the big castle, which I doubted was the playhouse where the play was being performed. But the others told me that it was the right way. We went up a large staircase until we came to a long corridor that apparently led to a larger hall. Levita explained to me that this was also near where the Grand Galloping Gala was always held, but in a different hall. She told me that this was usually the throne room where the princesses resided, but since they themselves could watch the spectacle from her gallery above the entrance to the hall, they didn't have to sit on their thrones, which were located backstage. The hall was solemnly decorated with wreaths and garlands of fir branches strung from one marble column to the next. On the left glass facade I could see a mosaic, on which some figures on it looked familiar. Why were Twilight and her friends on this mosaic? They all seemed to be wearing some kind of necklace and were enchanting a pony that was hovering over them. Was that something like...Nightmare Moon? I asked Levita about it and she also glanced over at the mosaic. It appeared to show how Twilight and her friends had used these magical necklaces to defeat Nightmare Moon and turn her back into Princess Luna. Levita called these necklaces the Elements of Harmony.
Lyra and BonBon seemed to be looking for a place further in front of the stage to better observe the spectacle. I found it better for the time being to remain in the background. When I let my eyes wander through the hall, I could not discover the six friends anywhere. On the other side of the hall I could see another mosaic, which showed a creature that looked a bit wrong. Its body parts were all different colors and shapes, and there were horns on its head. Levita explained to me that this was a representation of a powerful chimera that had haunted Equestria at that time. It had existed at the time when Princess Luna and Princess Celestia themselves possessed the Elements of Harmony. Thus, they succeeded in freeing Equestria from the Chimera's years of tyranny. There was even a statue in the castle garden that was supposed to represent the Chimera as she gloated and laughed into the sky. Levita said that she thought she could once hear the Chimera's laughter softly as she approached the statue. She hasn't gone there since. It scared me a bit too, as Levita told it. But since all that was long in the past, we didn't have to worry about the chimera anymore.
We noticed that Derpy had not been with us since we had entered the castle. But before we were about to start looking, the curtain of the stage opened a bit and Derpy looked around and waved to all the spectators. Levita had to giggle because she didn't expect Derpy to sneak on stage just to greet all the ponies in the hall. I thought it was a nice gesture from Derpy, even though I think it was not allowed to be in the stage area if you were not one of the showmen. After all, they had to prepare for a very special show. I was eagerly waiting to see what the show ponies would look like and how the whole play would go.
When the curtain went up, I could see the little baby dragon, Spike, giving the opening speech. If he was the announcer, I could begin to explain why I hadn't seen Twilight and the other five before. But first, a few other ponies came on stage to represent the primal races: Earth Ponies, Pegasi, and Unicorns. Some of them didn't look quite healthy, though. In general, all the ponies on stage looked pretty...gray. I had to think at that moment of BonBon's incident at the fall run, when she had a similar gray coloring. But probably it was related to the role, because the ponys in the story suffered from hunger and cold. But soon the leaders of the races gathered. And of course, they were played by none other than Twilight and her friends, as I expected.
But the role division was interesting: Rarity played Platinum, princess of unicorns, and Twilight was her assistant. She was called Clover, the clever one. Pinkie Pie played Puddinghead, the chancellor of the earth ponies. Her assistant Smart Cookie was played by Applejack. Rainbow Dash played Commander Hurricane, she seemed to be the leader of the Pegasi and Fluttershy joined later as the Pegasus army pilot Private Pansy. Except for Applejack and Fluttershy, I found that the roles also fit the personalities of Twilight and her friends very well.
The story began with there being food supply shortages between the races of ponies and as a result the rulers of the races sat down to discuss a solution. But the more they discussed, the more they argued. The whole thing went on until three mysterious creatures appeared in the sky and slowly turned the land around them to ice. Levita explained to me that these creatures were called Windigos, beings that spread coldness where the harmony between the ponies was endangered. Even in the audience you could feel the coldness that these creatures spread. The effects of this show were great! The ponys had to look for a new country. Stupidly, they met each other again and were faced with the problem of who owned the newly discovered fertile land. The whole thing became really exciting when the rulers began to argue again in a cave, whereupon the three winged creatures appeared again, hovering like ghosts over the heads of the rulers. And when the quarrel escalated, the cold of the Windigos froze the rulers in ice. Only the rulers' assistants were left, still trying to somehow get the situation under control. When all hope seemed lost, these three ponies swore eternal friendship despite their different origins. A wonderful message!
And from their friendship arose a spell strong enough to get rid of the Windigos and thaw the rulers again. Thereupon, the wizards explained to their rulers that at this cold time of year, despite their differences, what mattered was love and tolerance; only in this way could the land endure. When they had settled all their disputes, they decided to call the common land "Equestria". And apparently it was still guarded by princesses today, I wonder what stories Celestia and Luna could tell about their past. In fact, I didn't even know how old they were or...how old an alicorn could even get. After the closing ceremony of the play was over, the whole audience cheered and I had to say, for the fact that these six ponies played an important role for Princess Celestia not only in the play but apparently also in real life, they did really well. But I had my own troupe by now. Levita, Derpy, Lyra and also BonBon...they had become like a family to me.
As we walked out of the castle, BonBon seemed a little tense and was discussing something with Lyra. They waved us out of the crowd to talk a little further away from the ponies.
"So, what did you guys think of the performance? Well, I thought it was great!" I said.
"Yeah, the play was nice, but didn't it seem a little weird to you?" asked BonBon.
"Hm, the only thing that seemed a little weird to me was that Twilight and her friends were at the center of something again, it's kind of been happening more often lately." joked Levita.
"That's true, but didn't you notice anything special?"
“Well, I noticed that Minuette was involved in the play. I had last seen her when we had prepared a little party with Twilight's old friend Moondancer. But since Twilight was sent to Ponyville, Moondancer was too disappointed that she wasn't there and cancelled the party. But now that we're back in Canterlot, we can make up for it!" Lyra rambled.
"I think BonBon's point was that there was another Lyra on stage, too," Derpy said freely.
We looked at her in irritation. Even BonBon looked at her in surprise, probably no one had expected such an observation from Derpy.
"Uh...yes, Derpy. That's exactly what I mean. And not just her, there were a dozen lookalikes in the audience. I hadn't noticed at first, but as I slowly crept forward, I could count about how many doubles there were."
"So, how many were there?" wanted Levita to know, slightly nervously.
"Too many." said BonBon with narrowed eyes.
"But why haven't you noticed this before?" I asked.
"I don't know, I certainly would have noticed it at the last Hearth's Warming Eve. But something seems off this time, I didn't notice the doubles until..."
Then BonBon fixed her eyes on me.
"Will you excuse me for a moment? I need to talk to Lyra alone for a minute." BonBon said, still looking at me suspiciously.
I didn't know what was going on. Had I said something wrong? Levita and Derpy also looked at me slightly confused. I noticed how Lyra and BonBon discussed violently and both pointed at me several times. Levita joined them, so I was left with Derpy and we looked at each other helplessly. Levita seemed very concerned about what BonBon was telling her. If only I knew what the conversation was about. BonBon was probably very worried about the condition of the ponies she had seen at the theater performance. I could well understand her, the number of doubles was more than frightening. It was almost impossible to tell who was the real pony or a double. The only thing missing was that I would meet myself. So I really hadn't imagined it. But now I wanted to know from Bonbon what it was really all about and waved over to her. After a short while, the three of them came back to us.
"So, uh, sorry we had to discuss this between us for a minute now," BonBon said hesitantly.
"Are you going to tell me what that was about?" I inquired with interest.
"We...we feel that we shouldn't see each other again for now, since we suspect that you..." said Lyra, before BonBon nudged her briefly with her hoof.
"What Lyra meant to say was that we think you'll be safer in Canterlot than in Ponyville. That's why you should stay here for now, until we've investigated the matter of the doubles. And for that we have to go far away, isn't that so Lyra?"
She had to swallow for a moment, obviously she had to keep something from me that BonBon had told her.
"Uh, yeah. Right. We have to go far, all the way to...Appleloosa. Right. Appleloosa." stammered Lyra.
"And where am I supposed to live here?" I asked them both, confused.
"You can stay at my old home. I've only been at BonBon's lately anyway. I hope you can feel at home there too, depending on where you grew up...or hatched." said Lyra as BonBon nudged her a second time and covered Lyra's mouth with her hoof.
"Uh, yeah. But the whole thing is not to say that you should stay alone. I discussed that with Levita." said BonBon, turning to her.
"Right. I'll keep you posted on what's happening in Ponyville, of course, and I'm sure Derpy can bring you my letters."
Derpy then made a saluting motion, thereby agreeing to Levita's request. Somehow the whole thing seemed a bit over the top, but I continued to trust BonBon's intuition. If something were to happen here, I would be safest near the princesses. After we had discussed the next steps, Lyra showed me the most important points in Canterlot and told me that certain things here were different from what I had known so far. Money seemed to play a bigger role here than in Ponyville. Also, a lot of attention was paid to a well-groomed appearance here, as one could meet many well-known ponies. I thought it was a pity that Rarity had not yet managed to open a boutique here although she liked Canterlot so much. She certainly could have helped me out here. Lyra told me, however, that I could have all the things I needed put in her name, apparently she was a very well known unicorn here. I could not accept the help and wanted to go to earn money so that I could buy the things I needed. But Lyra insisted and BonBon told me that it was currently advisable if I did not attract too much attention, especially the attention of the doubles. Even in a dangerous situation I could experience again how much the ponies here paid attention to each other.
She also showed me where her friend Twilight had lived in Canterlot before moving to Ponyville. The house looked well kept, since she had moved to Ponyville only a year ago. Then we arrived at Lyra's old home, which was already a bit overgrown. Vine plants had already climbed a part of the house wall, but this gave the house a natural flair. The interesting thing was that it looked like a combination of a house and a castle. The house was covered with purple roof tiles and had a bright white facade. There were two bulbous towers attached to the side of the house, which towered over the house just a bit. There was even a balcony on one tower, painted gold from below, just like the two spires. Lyra said to me that her home was nothing special in itself, but to me it felt like a palace. The beautiful marble staircase in front of the entrance alone was worth a look. The door was made of solid wood in a dark shade of blue, and the gold-colored door handles gave me just a hint of what a magnificent mansion was hidden inside. When Lyra opened the door, I could not get out of my amazement.
Inside, several chandeliers hung from the ceiling, which Lyra made glow with a short spell. Since I had no magic power, she used a spell that made the chandeliers glow only at night, during the day they reflected the sunlight shining from outside through the windows to illuminate the entire interior. On the walls I could see paintings of various instruments. Apparently Lyra was very musical, which could be seen from her name and her cutie mark. She told me that she used to live here with her parents until one day they moved to another part of Canterlot so Lyra could get the house. Apparently, upon entering her old home, she had the desire to reveal much personal information to me. As she showed me around and showed me the house, she told me about her parents. Her father was a unicorn from whom Lyra had gotten her appearance. Her mother had met him here in Canterlot, she was a blue earth pony and she was always called Bee Bop by her father. Not only could she sing beautifully, but she had a special interest in learning new instruments. As many as ten instruments could be taught by her mother, including playing the harp, which she also taught Lyra. It was no coincidence that Lyra had been given a harp symbol as a cutie mark, because her mother had the same one, only in pink.
A red-carpeted staircase led to the top floor of the house, from which another spiral staircase led to the tower with the balcony. As we stood on the balcony, one could look out over the bright city to the dark expanse in the distance. Unfortunately, Ponyville could not be seen from here, as Canterlot was too far up for that. Probably the village was also too dark in contrast to Canterlot. Lyra wanted to show me the rest of her home, but BonBon said they had to leave soon. I noticed that the ponies here generally didn't lock off their homes, there seemed to be a lot of trust between them. We walked back towards the station and I had to say goodbye for the first time. I didn't know how long it would take BonBon and Lyra to unravel the mystery so that I could rejoin them in Ponyville. I hugged Levita and Derpy tightly, Lyra even tighter. BonBon seemed to be in a hurry to get on the train, so she just waved at me. It wasn't until the train pulled away and left me on the empty platform, where there were just significantly more ponies, that I felt left alone for the first time.
I decided to return directly to Lyra's house to spend the night there. It was also the first time I slept alone, at least as long as I could remember. A few ponies were still out on the streets, but many were still partying the evening away in various restaurants. This town, unlike Ponyville, was still lively late at night, so my sudden loneliness was at least somewhat alleviated. When I then walked through the front door of the Heartstrings estate and closed the door behind me, I first realized how alone I suddenly was.