//------------------------------// // Chapter 14: Neurodiversity is Magic!! // Story: Starlight Glimmer's First Student: A "Human"?! // by Clockwork2003 //------------------------------// Poor Noah! Poor, poor Noah! That bucking dolt who tried to zap him off the face of Equestria has a lot of chutzpah! Even if Noah is immortal now, thanks to my soul fusion trick, it’s not nice to zap a creature with the intent to kill! I certainly hope attempted homicide charges are laid against that horrible excuse for a unicorn! It doesn’t matter, anyways. I am angry, and I want Noah to feel safe. Knowing he’s on my back makes my nerves a bit less tense, but knowing that there are ponies who don’t want any humans in Equestria disturbs me. We continue to fly towards Celestia’s castle, and Noah is shaking. He usually shakes one of his legs as a stim when he’s stressed, but now his entire body is vibrating rapidly. I really feel bad for him, and I want to do something to help! “Noah, my rider, are you okay?” I ask him, as he tries to stop shaking his body. “I’m alive, thanks to you. If anything, I am thankful, Starlight.” He says with affection. Twilight looks at the two of us with pity. “I am so, so sorry your coronation as Princess of Justice didn’t go as planned, Starlight. I’m very proud of the two of you, and I think you both made the right choices. It’s better to avoid conflict than to instigate it, or even fan its flames!” Twilight explains to us, as we finally approach the citadel. Carefully swooping around in a final approach, I try to find the guest suite window that I jumped out of a few minutes prior. Finally locking onto it, I nudge my rider with my left wing, directing him to suck in his gut for landing. “Landing already? Damn, I have a fast steed, and a cute one, at that!” He says, sucking in his gut, bracing for my landing. I find that my landings are getting easier each time, but I am only a freshly minted alicorn, so I have plenty of room to improve. Leveling out my wings for landing, I feel my front hooves clip against the floor. Finally, all four hooves make contact with the marble, and I carefully and precisely slow my gallop down to a complete stop over the course of some fifteen seconds. The castle corridor is quite long, indeed! Noah sighs, and I finally deactivate the “glue” spell. Noah’s legs leave go from my body, and he shakily dismounts me, taking an extra minute to remove my bridle. Twilight lands shortly after and gives me a rather tight hug. In the light blue dress that I am wearing, the waistband is rather tight, so I feel the hug a bit too much! “Starlight, my lovely, smart pupil. I want to apologize for not planning well enough to take rabble-rousers into account. I didn’t think that there were ponies who harbored hatred in their hearts towards humans, or even nonponies, for that manner. I give Luna a bit of slack because she’s one millennium off track from the rest of us, but modern ponies in the Friendship Era?!” Twilight says, aghast. “It’s fine, Twilight, it’s really fine. I am more worried about my rider. Can I go check on him?” I ask Twilight, who sits down on her hind legs, notebook spawned. It’s a very typical move of Twilight to write down everything that could have gone wrong. I feel really bad for her. Noah taps my barrel, alerting me to the coalescence of cool air and magic forming across the hall. With a gentle pop, another pony teleports her way into the common hall. Thank goodness it’s a friendly one! I wondered where Princess Luna was during the ceremony! I knew she was there, but I couldn’t spot her amongst the crowd. She trots over slowly towards the three of us, cosmic mane flowing around her body. Noah looked at the mare in awe. I guess he’s never seen Luna with the “cosmic mane” before? It’s quite pretty, indeed! Finally approaching the three of us, Luna sits down on her haunches and lets out a hoof. “Come hither, “Rider of Justice.” We wish to speak with thee.” Luna says, kindly beckoning him to approach her. Not many ponies or creatures are invited into the personal audience of Luna, so this is a big deal! “Sure, Ma’am.” He says before Luna sticks out her tongue at him. “We are both on a surname basis. If thou art the co-equal sovereign of Starlight, there is no need to use honorifics when speaking to us. The surname Luna is appropriate, youngster.” She chuckles, as Noah approaches the lunar alicorn. “What do you want to speak to me about?” He asks her, as Luna uses magic to conjure a chair for him. “Sit, young human. We have a story for thee.” She playfully orders as Noah listens to the mare in front of him. He sits down on the oak wood chair in front of him, and I notice that it has Luna’s Cutie mark on it! “This tale is notable for everypony present in this hall. Twilight and Starlight, we give the two of thee consent to open thine ears, as well.” Luna clears her throat and begins to speak with the poise only she could manifest. Luna is a fun pony, indeed! Much more clever and erudite than Celestia, but don’t tell anypony I said that! “We are also on this “spectrum” the rider is on, Starlight. Our near-fanatical obsession with the moon and stars as a filly horrified Tia, so she took us to see Starswirl the Bearded for a magical evaluation.” She explains, projecting images of these past events onto the wall of the castle. Twilight was almost as intrigued as Noah. I’d guess she’s never heard this story before, either? “After careful evaluation, Starswirl told our sister that we were in an altered state of being. Keep in mind, young “rider”, that the Two Sisters were merely unicorn fillies at the time! No immortality, no Cutie Marks, nothing to distinguish us as notable ponies. He did not have a name for our condition, but he explained that he’s seen it before in quite a few creatures. We were given the instructions to embrace our uniqueness, and hone our special interests for the benefit of all ponykind!” Quickly changing the scenery, Luna shows the four of us how she received her Cutie Mark. “Contrary to popular Ponish legend, we did not get our Cutie Mark by raising the moon; rather by successfully intercalating the Equestrian Calendar. We discovered something that was later named the “Metonic Cycle”. It was a cycle of 19 years when the lunar phases recur at the same time of the year. We also proved that a lunisolar calendar, rather than a solar calendar, would be the ideal way to track the seasons. We performed this feat at the age of twelve!” Luna says, in what Twilight would call a “humblebrag” moment. “In sum, Noah the human. We used our innate interests to benefit all of ponykind, even when others told us it was not our place. Even Tia was skeptical of our progress; always infantilizing her younger sister, considering her inferior, and whatnot. It was this infantilization that led to the horrible actions of Nightmare Moon. We were not given the love we deserved, and we didn’t know the best method of asking for it.” Luna’s horn deactivates, and she sighs. This must have been rather traumatic for her, and Noah can see that. Twilight raises her hoof. I am curious what she’s going to say! “It’s crazy how much can change in one thousand years, Luna. When I was a filly, I enrolled in Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. I didn’t do well on any of the standardized tests, so Celestia gave me a unique way of proving my abilities. She told me to hatch an egg. That’s how Spike was born!” Twilight smiles, thinking of her, well I don’t know what to call him. Is Spike her son? Her attendant? Her ward? Eh, I’ll get to the finer details later. The point still stands, though! “I also got my Cutie Mark that day, showing my innate talent for magic. Like you and Noah, I wasn’t always the most social pony. I always deferred invitations to parties, social get-togethers, and other events in lieu of studying, or reading a book, or learning privately with Princess Celestia.” Twilight takes a moment to compose herself, clearly distraught from the hateful conduct her subjects showed just a few short minutes ago. I go over and embrace her, taking a minute to pat her on the back, trying to calm my mentor down. “Thanks, Starlight. I needed that. Now, back to my story. Right around the time Luna’s exile was due to end, Celestia knew that the Nightmare would return. She needed six ponies to come together to become bearers of the Elements of Harmony. It just so happens that a certain mare was lacking friends, and her teacher gave her the push she needed to find Friendship. That’s how the Mane Six came to be!” The Princess of Friendship smiles, thinking of her friends. While I knew Twilight was “neurodiverse”, I didn’t know about Princess Luna! This information could prove to be extremely insightful when the School of Friendship opens imminently. Noah stands up from his chair and promptly changes the subject. “Do you know what’s going to happen at the coronation party? The four of us ditched, and there are probably many ponies who are eager to see us, and ask questions too! Is it still going on?” Noah asked a very good question. I did ditch my own coronation party! That’s very un-princess-like of me! Twilight and Luna both chuckle, and smile. “The party’s still going on, Noah. Don’t worry. It’s not going to be a loud event. I don’t like excessive noise, either, and only the most notable and essential ponies will be in attendance. I don’t think there will be more than two hundred and fifty ponies total. Does that make you feel any better?” Twilight asks him. Noah nods, signaling he is okay with this party’s plan. “Sounds like a plan, everypony. Now, one more question before I hop back on Starlight. When is the Friendship School opening?” Noah asks Twilight, who promptly replies with “Three weeks from today. The building needs to be set up, I need to recalibrate the portal to your planet, and I have to print thousands of pages for textbooks!” Twilight promptly answers him. Thousands of pages, huh? Sounds about right. Noah turns around and opens my saddlebag. He needs to reequip my bridle if we’re going to ride back to the party! As he’s fumbling through the bag looking for this key item, I hear a knock on the door of the foyer. Princess Luna casts a quick spell, and the large wooden door opens, creaking softly as well. Well, that’s a nice surprise! Noah’s never met this mare before. I think they’ll get along swimmingly! *** Who the hell is this? She’s gray, has a rock on her flank, and-. Wait a minute. No eye contact, looking at the floor…is this another autistic pony? “I heard there’s another evolved creature here. Does he like rocks? Please, for the love of Luna tell me he likes rocks!” She says, quite devoid of any emotion while speaking. “Maud Pie. She’s something. Stubborn as a rock (pun intended) and neurodivergent like almost everycreature here.” Starlight says, introducing me to this Earth Pony mare. Rocks? That’s one hell of a special interest, but I think I can pull this one off. I know a few facts about geology, so maybe she’ll think I am cool? My special interest is in law and political science. No wonder Starlight thinks I am awesome! “Name’s Maud. Maud Pie. My sister planned the party. She’s nuts. We don’t talk a lot, but she’s an Element, so the Pie family gets perks every now and then. More importantly, DOES THE RIDER KNOW ABOUT ROCKS?!” I chuckle, before approaching the mare, letting out my hand to shake her front hoof. “No, I don’t touch. You should know better, being evolved and all that.” Sensory issues, huh? I used to have those, but they went away over time. “No touching…got it! As for a rock fact, I have one for you. Ever hear of pumice? It’s the only rock that can float!” I say, to which Maud clicks her tongue. “Silly creature. Pumice isn’t a rock. It’s cooled lava. Well, it’s technically a rock, but I don’t consider it one. The density in that thing’s lighter than air, so it floats! Volcano pressure can do that, you know! I have a degree in geology from Canterlot University, so hit me up with any rock questions!” Maud is a bit less emotionless when talking about rocks. I get that. Special interests make things more, well, interesting for people! Luna looks at Maud with a curious gaze. “What is the purpose of thy visit?” She asks sincerely, wondering what Maud Pie is doing so far away from home. “I want to help the neurodiverse humans learn Friendship. I don’t know much about Friendship, but I know about autism. Always have somepony who is autistic help out when dealing with autism. Basic pony ethics! Maybe I could teach the teachers about how to handle these humans properly?” Twilight smiles, clearly pleased about something. “Did Pinkie Pie teach you a joke, Maud? Did you learn empathy just like that?!” Maud doesn’t react to the question, but she does reply. “I care about things that affect me. Autism affects me, so I want to help others. Rocks also affect me, because they are timeless and eternal, like-.” Woah, Woah! She’s got an ego! I like it! I like this one. She’d be a good asset in the Friendship School. “Well, we have Trixie and Bon Bon on the team, and we do need more ponies to help out. You’re hired!” Twilight says with glee. My lovely pony marefriend raises a hoof, clearly wanting to share something crucial with us. “We’ll talk about Friendship School stuff later. First, I have a coronation party to attend. Noah, put the bridle on. We have a party to go to, and I want to have a cupcake!” Starlight says, quite eager to leave. I can tell that she wants to leave because her wings are tilted upward, like flaps on an airplane. I am not one to disobey my marefriend, so I promptly reequip Starlight’s bridle and mount the Commie Horse with eagerness. Pressing into her sides, I gently turn my mare around towards the window. “Glimmy, you’re probably going to need to back up a few paces. We’re still a bit too close to the window to take off safely.” I tell her kindly, as she teleports the two of us a few meters back. “Twi, we’re going to the party now. I want to show my rider off to my social circle. Noah, you know the drill.” Yeah, yeah yeah. “Yeah, I know. Hyah! Giddy up!” Starlight raises her front hooves for a moment, before galloping off towards the window/launchpad. “I’ll be at the party in half an hour, Starlight. I have to talk to Luna about some Princess stuff.” “No problem. Hold on, my little rider, we’re going to take off!” And with that, my lovely mount flaps her wings and launches herself into the stratosphere. I hope the party will be fun!