“Well, that was an interesting experience,” I grumbled as Rarity and myself headed away from the schoolhouse. “What is next on your schedule, Ms. Rarity?”
“Originally I wanted to hit a few stores to get some supplies, however,” Rarity looked up at the sun, frowning slightly, “it would seem that the test took a lot longer than I planned. No offense darling, but you certainly took the fact that the creative writing section didn’t have a page limit to heart. It’s nearly noon, so I suppose it's time for lunch first.”
“Sorry, I did get a bit carried away.” I rubbed the back of my head. “I remember one of my old teachers told me I should be a writer.”
“Is that so?” Rarity smiled down at me as we started to head back to her carousel-house. “I’m happy you still remember a teacher of yours. Maybe writing could be your special talent. Would certainly be an interesting cutie mark on an alicorn too.”
“Not to sound dumb Ms. Rarity, but I’ve noticed that there aren’t any other alicorns around other than me and Auntie Twilight.” I couldn’t help but awkwardly rub my horn, even though it did make me slow down quite a bit. Stupid kid legs. “Where are all the other ones?”
“Well, alicorns are special, darling.” Rarity chuckled. “Other than yourself, there are only four other ponies like you. One is your Aunt Twilight, but there is also your mother, and Princesses Celestia and Luna.”
Welp, that is good to know. Would explain why ponies keep looking a little surprised at me walking down the street I guess.
“Okay, Ms. Rarity. Thank you.” I gave my award-winning smile before going back to keep up with the unicorn and keeping an eye on some of the random ponies walking by us.
Now that I had a chance to see the random citizens of this town a second time, a lot of them had small tells about them that helped keep them apart. Well, other than the cutie marks I guess. I guess these ponies are a bit more comfortable with their bodies than humans would be, but the thought of a random person looking at my naked butt to see a marking was a strange thought for sure.
For the most part, Ponyville was a rather quiet, quaint town, all things considered. There were a few ponies setting up a flower shop, while a grey pegasus flew above head delivering mail. A blue unicorn with a sand clock cutie mark sat in front of a candy shop talking to a green unicorn with a lyre cutie mark. A grey-ish blue pegasus with a fluffy white mane moving a cloud around. And so on and so on. Reminded me of when I lived in Imabari, before-
“Flurry, darling, you alright?” Rarity lifted my head with a hoof, concern in her eyes.
“Y-yeah Ms. Rarity, I’m fine.” I awkwardly pulled back, shaking my head to pull my thoughts together. “Why, what’s wrong?”
“You suddenly stopped walking with me and started crying.” She sighed before magicking a napkin out of somewhere and rubbing under my eyes with it. “When we get back home we can talk about it if you want.”
“I...I think I’m fine, but thank you, ma’am.” I smiled, trying to alleviate whatever concern was in the air before following her the rest of the way back to the boutique. On the way back I saw the same pegasus moving the cloud out of the corner of my eye. I raised my eyebrow but shrugged it off for now, probably a pegasus thing.
Once we picked up Sweetie Belle, the three of us headed over to Café Hay for lunch. A cream-colored pony with a stereotypical french mustache and accent set out the three menus before us before making his way to the other tables. I took a look at it before frowning at the fact that it was nothing but the strange squiggles and symbols that everything seems to be written in.
God, I had an easier time reading Japanese than this stuff. At least it made some sense, this makes none at all. Is that a flower as a letter?
“Do you know what you want, Flurry?” Rarity smiled at me, pushing her menu to the side with an air of a pony who comes here often enough to have a ‘usual’.
“Uh, Ms. Rarity. One problem. I still can’t read.” I couldn’t help cringe a bit, feeling my mouth (muzzle?) scrunch a bit. Sweetie hid a giggle behind a hoof while Rarity facehoofed. “I think I have an idea of what I would want if that helps.”
“That is fine, darling. It’s my fault for forgetting about that little detail. Don’t worry, if anypony can fix it, it's Cheerilee.” Rarity smiled, making me feel a little better. Made me wonder if this is what it felt like to have an older sister instead of being the oldest. “What are you thinking of getting?”
“I was thinking of getting a chicken cobb salad and cider?” I offered, once again feeling my face scrunch up a bit in embarrassment at the look of shock on Rarity’s face and Sweetie gagging a bit. “Uh, did I say something wrong?”
“No, darling, you’re fine.” Rarity gave a stern look to Sweetie before recomposing herself. “Ponies don’t eat, ah, meat. I am sure they can whip up a cobb salad, though. Out of curiosity, do you remember if you had a griffon tutor? Just out of curiosity, darling.”
“No, I don’t remember if I did or not.” I tilted my head, a bit confused. “Miss Cheerilee asked the same thing back at the schoolhouse. Is something wrong?”
“No, no, nothing is wrong darling.” Rarity waved her arms a bit, trying to add an air of calm back to the table. “Just, with the ‘someone’s’ and now wanting meat, I was wondering where it was coming from. Since it isn’t really a, well, pony thing.”
Between Cheerilee and Rarity sounds like they’re trying hard to not sound racist. Specist? I mean, if I am going to be playing along I am gonna have to remember to sound more...pony. No meat, pony stuff...probably can’t drink. Wait, I can’t even drink to make this stuff more palatable. Fuck.
“I am sorry I made you two uncomfortable.” I sighed before sagging a bit, my chin resting on the table. “Everything is so weird. Feel like I'm taking a step forward and two steps back.”
“Don’t worry about it, Flurry. You just got out of the hospital.” Sweetie smiled at me, putting a hoof on my shoulder. “Plus, I have an idea! You’ve spent all morning with Rarity and Miss Cheerilee at school, how about the Cutie Mark Crusaders show you the town!” She turned to look at Rarity for permission, a massive grin on her face.
“Well, I promised Twilight I’d watch....” Rarity sighed as Sweetie turned up the cuteness. “Alright, Sweetie. Just be careful, okay?”
“Yay!” Sweetie cheered, practically hopping in her chair.
“So, what can I get you mares?” the waiter asked on his return, giving a smile to the two unicorns and raising an eyebrow at me before quickly recomposing himself.
Going around we gave our orders, with Rarity getting a fancy-sounding salad and drink while Sweetie got a dandelion sandwich and soda. When I gave my order I decided to ask for a simple garden salad, as much as it hurt to not ask for meat with my food. The rest of lunch was a quiet, cheerful affair with Sweetie and Rarity chatting about some of the music that Sweetie’s been listening to. I sat quietly, enjoying the sisterly bond between the two. Was nice, cute.
“You okay Flurry?” Sweetie asked, breaking me from my trance. “You look like you’re about to cry.”
“I-I’m fine.” I wiped my face off with a hoof. “I just got lost in thought, sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it, darling. If you want to talk about it with somepony, you can always talk with us.” Rarity smiled before going back to her conversion with Sweetie.
“Girls, meet Flurry Heart! And Flurry, meet Scootaloo and Apple Bloom.” Sweetie announced, beaming with excitement.
“Hello!” I smiled at the pegasus and earth pony before me. “Nice treehouse you got here.”
Now I wasn’t just being polite, it was a surprisingly nice treehouse. There was a map of Ponyville on one wall, with various locations with pins in it. On the other wall was a bunch of portraits of fillies and colts, probably showing off their cutie marks. There was also a podium, a table with a lamp, and a few other bits and bobs.
“Thanks! I’ll be honest, I’ve never met an alicorn with no cutie mark.” Scootaloo said, motioning to my blank flank.
“Scootaloo! Don’t need to shame her!” Apple Bloom chided.
“No, she’s right. I don’t have a cutie mark.” I stepped in, before shrugging. “But Sweetie said that you can help with that at some point.”
“Of course we can! We’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders! Helping ponies find their cutie mark is what we do!” Scootaloo pointed to the portraits on the wall, beaming with pride. “Would certainly be something to add you to it too!”
“First, we have to show Flurry around Ponyville!” Sweetie interjected, pointing at the map. “She’s staying here for the summer apparently, with Twilight! Or well, with me and Rarity for right now but still.”
“Oh, that gives us lots of time to find your special talent!” Apple Bloom grinned at me.
I nodded, smiling despite myself. The three of them were adorable, even though it was a bit odd to be the same height as a bunch of foals. Their enthusiasm and energy were infectious and reminded me how much I loved kids. Heck, if it wasn’t for my father, I would’ve been a teacher...
“So, what’s the first stop?”
The Cutie Mark Crusaders and I spent the next few hours running around Ponyville while they pointed out the various landmarks. From Sugarcube Corner (best cupcakes!) to the giant crystal Castle of Friendship (where my best aunt Twilight lived), Ponyville seemed to have a ton of crazy-looking buildings hidden in the generic-looking houses that covered most of the town.
As we got to the town centre, I took a moment to sit down and catch my breath. This small body had so much more energy, and god it felt good to be able to run around like we have been after being stuck in a schoolhouse and hospital. Probably foal child energy but hell, not gonna complain.
Looking up I couldn’t help but jump back a bit. In the middle of the town square was a large statue of a chimera of a pony, dragon, eagle, etc. Surrounding it was a ton of flowers, of all kinds and very obviously well taken care of.
“Who is that?” I asked, a little taken aback by such a strange statue in the middle of Ponyville.
“It's a memorial to Discord,” Sweetie explained, sitting next to me. “Was a ‘Spirit of Chaos’ that Fluttershy befriended. He died fighting this centaur that drained everypony’s magic, but not before giving Twilight the key to save everyone!”
“Wow. That’s....wow.” I blinked, before getting to my hooves and walking around it. “I’m happy he got a statue then.”
Turning around I saw the Crusaders cutting through a back alley to get to the next location. I chuckled and ran to follow them. I couldn't lose them since they were my guides. However, as soon as I rounded the corner I saw them all piled on top of each other, probably having run into each other to avoid running into a grey-blue pegasus in the alleyway.
Wait.
“Who the hell are you, and what did you do to them?!” I yelled at the very familiar pegasus and prepared to run towards the girls before I saw a shadow fall over me. I barely had time to tense up before I felt a hoof try to push me into the ground and a cloth got forced over my nose. I roared and grabbed the hoof with the cloth with my own, flipping him over my head by using his own momentum against him. He hit the ground like a sack of potatoes, clearly not expecting an actual fight from a foal.
I started to rear up to bring my hooves down on his head, trying to knock him out. Every instinct in my body screamed to run and get help but I’d be damned to turn and leave the girls with two adults that were 100% trying to kidnap them. Foalnap? Now wasn’t the time for that. But before I could connect his horn glowed and basted me full in the face.
I staggered back, my head ringing and darkness closing in. I bit my cheek and used the pain to force myself to stay awake and spread my wings. I took a deep breath and tried to fly up, but I felt something click in my brain and suddenly had to stop and fall over in pain. Something made my chest explode in sheer pain like I was getting stabbed through the lungs despite the fact I didn’t feel myself getting stabbed.
“That was surprisingly easy.” I heard a female voice laugh before I felt a cloth go over my mouth again, and whatever was on it made me pass out.