16

by AlwaysDressesInStyle

Act I: Sweetie Swirl (Part 1)

Another summer had come to an end, and I found myself sitting in class for the first day of second grade. It was nice seeing all of my classmates that I hadn’t seen in months, but aside from that I would've preferred to be back on summer vacation. We really need an autumn vacation, winter vacation, and spring vacation to go with summer vacation. Three months each. With a week of school between each break. I yawned, no longer used to being up early for school. Pure fantasy, of course.

As was tradition for the first day of school, our new teacher went around the class asking us all to introduce ourselves. I recognized most of my classmates from the previous school year, though there were a few new faces, as well as some who hadn’t returned for one reason or another.

Thag and Slag were the first to go, since the dragon twins were sitting directly to Miss Dream Weaver’s left. They were for all intents and purposes identical, and I still couldn’t tell them apart, despite having known them since kindergarten.

Next was Crystal Clear, a recent arrival to Equestria from the Crystal Empire. Just across the river from Fillydelphia, Damden was a melting pot of sorts, with myriad creatures mingling with long-established families from all the pony tribes. I’d never seen a crystal pony before, but I tried not to stare. I couldn’t help but wonder if we would be able to see what the translucent lavender filly ate for breakfast if we looked at her tummy.

Crumb Cake followed, and I was glad to see her back – her parents were great bakers, and she was quickly catching up to them in terms of skill. I looked forward to the tasty treats she was sure to bring in, like she had the previous two years we’d been classmates.

Then it was Heartlight’s turn – a unicorn with a heart of gold, she’d been my bestie since kindergarten. I’d never met a pony who didn’t like her – she could make even the coldest heart light up in joy.

Since I was sitting next to her, that meant I was next. I hated talking about myself, but Heartlight nuzzled me for encouragement. “I’m Sweetie Marie Swirl. I’m seven years old. My favorite colors are purple and green. Ice cream is my favorite food, but I like pizza with extra cheese and hay too. I live in the Bucker Hill neighborhood of Damden.”

The tawny pegasus filly on my other side was new and introduced herself as Desert Moon – she’d just moved to Damden from Las Pegasus. She looked around the room, and I could tell she was even more terrified at being the center of attention than I was. I nuzzled her to calm her down, as Heartlight had done for me.

Desert Moon scooted a bit closer to me as Zach introduced himself – a zebra, he always rhymed his words. I thought it was cute, but a few of our classmates found it annoying.

I tuned out the introductions, as Desert Moon and Crystal Clear were the only new students – I already knew everybody else. Instead I focused on inching my way closer to Desert Moon, and Heartlight did the same, getting closer to me. Eventually the three of us were huddled together.

I groomed Heartlight as our last classmate, Sliced Bread, introduced himself. His parents were bakers, and he had a stunning blue coat and fabulous violet hair. I’d been crushing on him since kindergarten, and I hung on his every word, even if he didn’t say anything I didn’t already know.

That left Miss Dream Weaver as the only one who hadn’t introduced herself. A teacher for more than thirty years, she’d been guiding young ponies and creatures on their path to success for decades. She then passed out journals to everyone in the class and announced that updating it daily would be our writing assignment for the year.

Ugh. I’ve never kept a diary before. Seriously, I hate writing, especially about myself or what I’ve done on a given day.

Winter was approaching – the Running of the Leaves had passed, and the air was already getting chilly. Recess was still outside, but gym class had moved indoors for the season.

Volleyball was on the agenda for the day, and Mayday and Gladys were the team captains. Mayday wore his battle scars proudly – the blue pegasus was covered in scrapes and bruises. He wasn’t the strongest flyer, but he was always trying to improve. Gladys, on the other hoof, was a boastful griffin who always tooted her own horn.

My bipedal classmates had an advantage and quickly found themselves picked by the team captains. Thag the dragon and Arlene the Abyssinian were picked by Mayday, while Gladys picked Thag’s twin brother Slag, and Brick Wall, the minotaur.

With an odd number of students in the class, there was always one extra creature who ended up making the teams lopsided. Who it was varied by sport, though unicorns weren’t particularly useful at volleyball since using magic was explicitly against the rules, and our horns impeded our ability to headbutt the ball. Nobody likes having the ball burst in the middle of gameplay, least of all the unicorn taking an exploding volleyball to the face.

Sure enough, as the only three unicorns in class, Heartlight, Mica, and I were the last three chosen, with me being the odd pony out. At least the team captains had deliberately picked Heartlight and Mica in turn so that Heartlight and I could both be on the same team.

With a whistle the game began, and Mayday started things off by bucking the ball straight up, leaping into the air and turning a somersault, then connecting with the ball on its way back down to send it deep into the other team’s back row. Barring the fact that he landed on his head, it was pretty epic.

Brick Wall returned the serve, spiking it between Heartlight and myself. We each went for it, stopped to let the other get it, then started again when the other hesitated. We ended up colliding in a heap, but miraculously my hind leg managed to catch the ball and knock it back towards Heather Winds. The pink earth pony fashionista was always dressed in style, even in gym class. Wearing a bright red tracksuit, she headbutted the ball over the net.

The ball was already headed for us again before Heartlight or I could get to our hooves. Arlene lunged for it, passing it to Thag, who spiked it right for his brother.

Slag, however, wasn’t about to let his twin score a point on him, and sent the ball back across the net. By then Heartlight and I had returned to our hooves and apologized to one another for getting in the way.

It was a close game, and we only squeaked out the win by virtue of having an extra player. There was that much less space for a ball to sneak through.

After gym was a math test. Some of my classmates were still struggling with the multiplication tables, but I had them memorized and got the highest grade in the class.

At the very end of the day, Miss Dream Weaver assigned the parts for the Hearth’s Warming pageant – I was to be Princess Platinum, while Heartlight was selected to play Clover the Clever, Crumb Cake got to be Smart Cookie, Heather Winds was playing Chancellor Puddinghead, Mayday was chosen as Commander Hurricane, and Desert Moon was picked to play Private Pansy. Even though there were no minotaurs in the traditional play, Brick Wall was narrating. The rest of our classmates were to play various supporting roles, and Miss Dream Weaver had even written in parts to show what had happened to the crystal ponies, dragons, zebras, and Abyssinians when the wendigos appeared.

Mica Shine was disappointed she hadn’t been picked to play a major part, considering that was her profession. Unlike me, she relished being the center of everypony’s attention. The unicorn filly commanded attention when she spoke, due to her existing acting experience – mostly bit parts in theatrical productions and a few magazine advertisements. But Miss Dream Weaver promised that anyone who’d had a smaller part would have a bigger role in the springtime production of Hinny In The Hills. She also insisted that there was no such thing as a small part, only small actors.

The pageant was in the closing act as I argued with Mayday and Heather Winds.

“Look! The entrance is freezing over!” Heartlight proclaimed.

“Great, now there’s no way out. We’re trapped,” Mayday complained.

Then it was my line, “You two deserve this horrible fate. You’ve done nothing but argue with each other.”

“Earth ponies are numbskulls!”

“Unicorns are snobs!”

“Pegasi are brutes!”

Mayday, Heather Winds, and I delivered our lines in turn, then froze in place as the wendigos appeared. Mica Shine was in charge of the special effects, and she made mica appear in front of us, as if we were frozen in blocks of ice. Mica was the only pony in class who could do that, and she’d seen the reason as to why she hadn’t been cast in one of the main parts as soon as we’d had our first practice.

I stood there for a few minutes while Heartlight, Desert Moon, and Crumb Cake solved the world’s problems and banished the wendigos back to whence they came.

Heartlight’s horn was soon the only thing left visible as the three of them huddled together, and Mica’s talents surrounded them with mica as she had all of us. Heartlight emitted a light from her horn in the shape of a heart, and suddenly the ‘ice’ melted from the three of them, and then from the rest of us. I watched the mica in front of me shatter, and then I walked over to congratulate my friends for saving us all.

The play ended as we all hugged and sang traditional Hearth’s Warming songs.

Brick Wall narrated the ending and called us each out in turn to take a bow.

My friends and I quickly changed out of our costumes and joined the rest of our classmates, friends, and family for a traditional Hearth’s Warming feast.

The thing about the play that has never made sense to me is why the three tribes didn’t take their newfound spirit of tolerance and cooperation home with them and unfreeze the pony tribes’ native lands. Earth, Pegasopolis, and Unicornia remain buried somewhere in the Frozen North outside the Crystal Empire. Why?

Daddy lost his job today. I know I’m supposed to talk about what happened in school but I’m too upset. Mommy says we have to move. We started cleaning the house so we can put it up for sail sale. I don’t want to move. I like it here.

Can you please talk some sents sense into them Miss Weaver?

I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do, Sweetie Swirl. If your parents have decided to move, they will be moving, and you’ll be going with them. Change can be good. You’ll have new experiences and you’ll make new friends. Your classmates and I will miss you, but you can always write to us and stay in touch. -Miss Weaver

I can’t believe it’s over already. The last few months went by so quickly and I’ve been dreading this moment. Normally I’d be celebrating the last day of school, but not this year. Next week we move to Horsey. They make choclate chocolate there, so it isn’t all bad. But it isn’t home and I don’t want to go. I can get Horsey bars in the store. But Horsey choclates Chocolates (this is also capitalized because it’s part of the proper name of the company) hired both my parents, so that’s where we’re going.

Tomorrow is my last day of school. I guess that makes this my last journal entry. I won’t miss writing in this thing. While I admit, my writing has improved whole bunches a lot since the beginning of the school year, it’s not something I really like doing. Thank you, Miss Weaver. It’s been a good school year and I’m going to miss you and all my classmates. Especially Heartlight and Desert Moon.

I’m sorry this entry is so short. I’m crying again and you don’t need a lot to read on the next to last day of class anyway.

It’s been a pleasure having you in class. Good luck in your future endeavors, and you can always write to me at the below address. You should get the addresses of your classmates before you go so you can stay in touch with your old friends, but don’t forget to make new friends. Never forget that this is an opportunity for you.

Dream Weaver
173 Celestial Boulevard
Whitmare Park, Damden, Equestria

It was more than just an end of the year ‘graduation’ party. Miss Weaver turned it into a going away party for me, and some of my classmates even got me gifts. Crumb Cake made her signature crumb cake and she even let me take the rest home with me. The rest of my friends all got me little toys, and Miss Weaver gave me a book of stamps.

I couldn’t help it. I cried, my classmates cried, and it was a happy and sad day all at the same time.

None of us ever got our cutie marks. They won’t get to see mine and I won’t get to see theirs unless I come back to visit someday.

I was going to throw out my stupid journal, but all my friends signed it. Even Miss Weaver signed it. How can I get rid of this book now? It’s precious to me. I don’t think I’ll ever write in it again, but I’m keeping this book forever.

My parents had promised me that upon our move to Horsey they’d get me a season pass to HorseyPark every year for as long as we lived there. I stared out at the amusement park in wonder – for the first time I was actually excited about my new home.

Roller coasters and a Ferris wheel towered over the other rides, beckoning me as I looked around like an out of place tourist. There’d only been one amusement park in the Damden area, but it had earned a bad reputation from all the injuries suffered there, and later due to all the resulting lawsuits against the theme park’s owner, Flim Flam Industries. Suffice it to say my parents had never taken me there.

HorseyPark was tamer by comparison, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my summer vacation hospitalized.

Fillies and colts squealed as they galloped towards their favorite rides, breaking me out of the trance I’d fallen into. I started with the carousel, the calliope music catching my attention. The ride featured ursas, manticores, and hydras, and displayed varying amounts of wear and tear from the thousands of ponies who’d taken turns riding them. The monsters had their scariness toned down, making the ride appropriate for foals. Still, it was odd seeing an adorable timberwolf or cute bugbear.

From there I went to Swing Thing, a ride that rose up and twirled the riders around in little swings. For a few brief moments I felt like a pegasus in flight, the wind in my mane and my tail whipping in the breeze. I couldn’t help but think back to Desert Moon. Is this how she feels when she flies?

The Ferris wheel was my next pick, and it offered a spectacular view of the park and the surrounding town. From the top I could tell that the park had five roller coasters – all of which had long lines. There was also a flume ride, which due to the summer’s heat, had an even longer line for what appeared to be a ridiculously short ride.

I’d never been fond of crowds. I wasn’t a herd pony, and being around lots of other ponies was something I desperately tried to avoid. The most fun rides had the longest lines. It didn’t take long to realize I could maximize my fun and reduce my time waiting by sticking to the least popular attractions. I’d never been to the park before, so everything was still a new experience to me. Summer vacation or not, my mind drifted back to math class – I could ride the bumper cars five times in the time it would take to get through the shortest line for any of the roller coasters.

So that’s what I did, finding my favorites and riding them repeatedly until it was nearly closing time. Only then did I get in line for one of the roller coasters, since they’d have to wait until everypony had had their turn before closing down for the night. Knowing that there was literally nothing else I could be riding made the wait more bearable.

Nearly two hours later, I finally understood why so many ponies had waited around all day just to ride the coasters. It was an exhilarating rush; in ways the smaller rides just couldn’t compete with. I looked forward to getting my parents’ money’s worth out of the season pass.

It’s a new school year in a new school in a new town. I don’t have to write in this journal anymore, yet I need to get my thoughts out somehow.

I feel so gipped gypped. I only had two months for summer vacation, because Horsey starts their school year a month earlier than Damden. If that wasn’t bad enough, I didn’t make any new friends today at all. My classmates have known each other for years and I’m new. They think I talk funny because of my acksent accent. They all laughed when I said I’d just moved to Horsey because the locals all call it Horchy for some stupid reason. I even pulled out a dictionary and showed that ‘horsey’ is pronounced the way I was saying it and that only made them laugh at me even harder.

I hate it here and want to move back home.

I guess I need to catch my own spelling mistakes now. Miss Dream Weaver isn’t going to do that for me anymore.

I looked around at my new classmates. A filly sitting a few rows in front of me was almost twice my size, and she was the smallest pony in the class aside from me. Furthermore, I was the only unicorn, and there were no pegasi at all. Everypony else in the class was an earth pony.

I’d been going to school here for two weeks and they’d already skipped me ahead two grades in that time. This was my third week in the school, and my third new set of classmates.

At least this time I knew not to say the town’s name when introducing myself – I still refused to pronounce it the same way as the locals because that was obviously incorrect. If they want it to be ‘Horchy’, they can rename the town accordingly.

I’d already figured out that the ponies here were way too serious, and lacked a sense of humor. They kept saying things like ‘getting up with the chickens’ which I thought was just an expression until I figured out that I was literally the only pony in my class to have an alarm clock, not a rooster.

Making friends had proven impossible with the first two classes I’d been placed in, and I had no doubt at all that it would be even less likely with this group. They’re all big, strong earth ponies that don’t want anything to do with a unicorn that can’t manage to pull a plow more than a couple of yards.

As expected, my ‘edited to be as uncontroversial as possible’ intro still managed to rally everypony against me. My accent hadn’t disappeared in two weeks, and nothing was going to make it go away other than living here for a while.

Worst of all, even in this new class, there was no magic in the curriculum at all. I was still the only unicorn I’d seen in the school, and in two weeks of attending classes I hadn’t seen a single pegasus, let alone a zebra, dragon, or griffon.

“Foreigner.”

I looked up – it was the filly I’d noted as being the closest in size to me. I think her name is Shoofly Pie.

The rest of the class continued to hurl sarcastic taunts at me whenever the teacher wasn’t paying attention – which was often. Unlike Dream Weaver, my third teacher in as many weeks wasn’t particularly motivated to teach. He had his favorites in the class, specifically ponies he could talk to. Sports, mostly. Buckball was unheard of in Horsey – there were no unicorns or pegasi to play. Hoofball was the primary sport of interest, and watching eleven solidly-built earth ponies crash into a similar number of earth ponies on the opposing team appealed to Horsey’s earth pony demographic. It was a game of strength. Unlike the teams I’d seen in Damden, there were no unicorn quarterbacks or speedy pegasus wide receivers. They’d be absolutely crushed by the earth ponies. Passing was an unheard of concept – it was all about which team could run the ball furthest without the other team stopping them. It eliminated a lot of the strategy of the game.

I sat at my desk trying not to upset anypony and failing miserably. My very existence bothered them. They continued whispering insults to me whenever they thought they could get away with it. ‘Hornhead’ was a popular one, but I was soon given the derogatory nickname ‘The Little One’.

I can’t win.

Lunch period was over, and I made my way to the restroom before the next class.

“Looks like somepony’s just in time for her swirlie.”

“A Sweetie Swirlie!”

I took a step backwards, but the door was blocked by a pair of earth pony colts that had no business being in the filly’s bathroom. They’d been standing behind it so I couldn’t see them when I came in. They’re starting to get clever.

“Little smarty pants, breaking the curve on the test, again. I told you what was going to happen the next time you aced an exam.”

Bova Shankel grabbed one of my hind legs, while Wheat Chaff got the other one. The two colts dangled me over the toilet bowl.

They paused so a few other gathered students could gawk at my predicament. That hesitation was all I needed to not be there anymore. I winked out of the bathroom and reappeared in the hallway 1.2 seconds later. Some unicorns can go miles. I get twenty-five yards.

Thankfully, it was enough of a head start that I made it back to the classroom ahead of them. I couldn’t focus on class the rest of the day, as my mind played out various scenarios – things they could’ve done differently that I wouldn’t have been prepared for. Teleporting worked this time. What happens if it doesn’t next time? If I teleport to the other side of the wall, outside, they’d have to go all the way across the building to get to the door.

I had a new plan for next time.

Because I knew there’d be a next time. There was always a next time.

I stood at the sink in the science classroom, washing my hooves. I heard hoofbeats and looked up to see Scrapple charging straight for me. I blinked. That’s weird, he doesn’t normally bother me. If it wasn’t for me he’d be the least liked pony in school. I stepped to the side and he crashed into the spot where I’d been standing a moment before.

He bounced off the counter, breaking it in the process. Our homeroom teacher hurried over and looked to me for an explanation. I just shrugged. It was obvious that there hadn’t been a fight – that was a thing I was almost assured to lose. My magic would need to be much stronger to have a hope of holding my own against any of my classmates, or at the very least, I’d need to know some defensive spells. Instead, I’d honed my magic for a flight response since finding unicorn tutors in the Horsey area had proven impossible.

I wasn’t used to that flight response being a solitary step. I had to fight the urge to gallop away, but with our teacher’s close proximity to me, nopony else was going to make a move on me.

Scrapple got sent to detention and I waited at my seat for the final bell to ring so we could all go home. I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m not taking chances. The instant the bell rang I teleported, putting me twenty-five yards ahead of my classmates.

I never went straight home. I didn’t want my classmates knowing where I lived, so I took roundabout paths on my way to and from school. It made it more difficult for them to know where to ambush me on any given day. After school, I usually stopped at Lickety-Split’s Ice Cream Parlour. If I teleported out the school’s door, it was enough head start that I could gallop to the ice cream shop before anypony could catch me. Sometimes they tried waiting for me, though Lickety-Split usually made sure the coast was clear before I left.

“How’d you like to have dessert on the house tonight?”

“I’d say I’m a broke student, so what do I have to do? Need me to wash the dishes again?”

“Nope. All I want you to do is try out this new recipe. If you don’t like it, just remember it’s free.”

I chuckled. “Well, the price is certainly right.”

She served me a dish of black raspberry ice cream and I bit into a spoonful. No toppings, just plain ice cream to make sure I could take the most unbiased taste possible. I savored the flavor, letting the ice cream melt in my mouth. “Needs two percent more raspberry, a little less salt, and lose the seeds. The seeds make for an awkward texture. Anypony with a strong gag reflex isn’t going to be able to eat this. Also, every other ice cream parlor offers raspberry. Why don’t you mix it up with some blueberry swirled in too.”

She blinked. “That’s… much better feedback than I was expecting.”

“Oh, sorry, I mean ‘I like it’.”

“No, no, no, let’s go back to your recipe tweaks. I didn’t think you could cook.”

“I can’t.”

“Hmn, let’s try out your recipe and see if you have any talent at coming up with flavors.”

I’d never made ice cream before, so I mostly watched. Lickety-Split didn’t have any blueberries, so she sent me to the store to get some. She let me leave out the backdoor, and nopony was waiting for me so I took off to the market, pausing in front of Cloudberry’s booth. She had a wide range of berries available and I quickly grabbed a bunch of blueberries and returned to the ice cream shop.

The blueberries were puréed in short order, followed by more raspberries. Once the latter were liquefied, Lickety-Split strained them to remove as much of the pulp and as many of the seeds as possible. I used my magic to get as many of the rest as I could.

The end result was a soft serve blueberry and raspberry swirl that was phenomenal. Even Lickety-Split agreed that it was better than what she’d originally been trying to do. So much so that she named the dessert after me: Berry Sweetie Swirl.

“Looks just as tasty as your cutie mark.”

“I don’t have…” I jumped off my seat and turned to look at my rump – an ice cream cone, swirled in raspberry and blueberry greeted me. “I got my cutie mark! I got my cutie mark!” I grabbed hold of Lickety-Split and somehow dragged the earth pony around the floor of her shop, dancing with her.

Some of the students in my class had yet to get their marks, despite being two years older than me, so I vowed to keep my own mark hidden until all of them did. No sense giving them another reason to bully me. It’s nothing that makeup or wearing dresses can’t hide…

Horsey was a tourist trap. Between the chocolate factory and the amusement park, ponies from all around Equestria came to the town, mostly during the summer. That included unicorns and pegasi. The locals tolerated the outsiders because they brought bits with them to spend in the local economy. That meant that HorseyPark was one of the few places in town I could be myself. Unicorns were still uncommon in the amusement park, but not completely absent. Even my classmates left me alone when we crossed paths in the park, either ignoring me completely or recognizing my existence with a quick nod.

I took advantage of my season pass, going to the amusement park every day they were open. It was more than a place to have fun, it was more than a safe zone. It was someplace I could interact with other unicorns, many of whom were happy to teach me a little magic while we waited in line for the rides. I could go on the rides any time, but the opportunity to learn new spells was nearly nonexistent. Suddenly the crowds in the park became my friend – long waits in line during summer vacation turned out to be more instructive than the nine agonizing months of the school year.

For years I’d only had illumination and levitation. Thanks to visiting unicorns I’d picked up teleportation, which was easier to cast than I’d expected it to be. But I didn’t dare venture past twenty-five yards, because I had no safe way to truly test my limits. I’d teleported myself from school to home one day, and been knocked out until the next morning. It was an option I had, but one I used sparingly to avoid the pain. The latest trick I’d learned was a defensive bubble, and it was one I was eagerly looking forward to trying. Given the option of offensive or defensive spells, I always opted for the latter. I consistently faced too many ponies at once to go on the offensive. I’d just wear myself out and then they’d be able to pummel me at their leisure. Defensive spells tended to use less energy and hold up better under prolonged and repeated attacks, giving me time to remove myself from the situation.

With HorseyPark closed for the season, I stared out the window, bored out of my mind. Unlike the hustle and bustle of Damden, there was little of interest to see outside – just the same scenery that was there yesterday… and all the days before yesterday, too. Venturing outside ran the risk of running into classmates, so I opted to remain bored at home.

I picked up my crayons and started drawing, but the end result looked more like random scribbles than the landscape I was trying to draw of our front yard. Not getting the results I wanted, I started looking around for anything else to do that might alleviate my boredom. I’d read all the books on my shelves, and didn’t feel like rereading them. Practicing my magic was an effort in futility with no new spells to learn.

Not finding anything in my own room, I wandered the house, ending up at the storage closet in the hallway. Dusty board games rested on the top shelf, but I hadn’t had anypony to play against other than my parents since moving to Horsey so they sat neglected. The family’s winter gear was hanging there – coats, sweaters, and boots waiting for cooler temperatures.

At the very bottom I found a cookie tin and popped the lid open. Instead of tasty treats, I found canvas, tapestry needles, and yarn. I sat in the hallway and pulled everything out. At the bottom of the tin I found a how-to guide and a book of patterns. What is all this?

I opened the instruction book, which covered the basics of needlepoint: thread the needle without knotting it, pull the needle through a square in the canvas mesh and go into the next mesh, whether that be adjacent or not.

I blinked. Seems simple enough. I grabbed the needle in my magic and started threading it with yarn. The pink ball of yarn was the least musty-smelling, so I used that as I experimented. It took a few tries, but once I got the hang of it I settled into a rhythm. This is really relaxing.

I lay there in the hallway for an hour, so long that my Mom came home from work and found me sprawled out working on a mostly blank square of canvas, with a pink outline of the first pattern in the guide.

She chuckled. “Your grandmother always wanted me to pick up needlepoint, but I never really found it interesting. She’d be thrilled to see you following in her hoofsteps.”

“It’s kinda fun, and really calming.” Exactly what I need after a stressful day at school.

“She’d be proud of you.” Mom tussled my mane. “Sereneity Hills also crocheted this sweater for me when I was younger. It’s yours now, if you want it.”

She reached into the closet and pulled out a black sweater with colorful stripes. It smelled of mothballs, but I happily accepted the gift. Grandma Hills had passed away before I was born, so it was nice to gain a connection to her.

“If you want to learn crochet, too, somewhere in here there’s a box with everything you’ll need.”

I nodded my head. Bring it on!

I’d been ambushed in the bathroom again, and teleported outside, as had been my strategy for a while. Unfortunately, I’d winked right into the middle of a crowd of waiting classmates. They’ve finally figured out this trick. Great…

“So nice of you to join us.”

I never thought I’d wish for teleport recoil. Why couldn’t I have come out in exactly the same place as one of these morons?

“Words aren’t going to get you out of this this time.”

I always knew there’d come a day when I wouldn’t be able to talk my way out of things. That was why I had contingency plans. I had few spells at my disposal – my magic was below average strength and I hadn’t had a magic teacher since I’d lived in Damden. But I’d been practicing what I could, and managed to scrounge up what few books of magic could be found in the area. I might not have had the best tricks at my command, but I’d learned how to fully utilize the ones I did. I lit my horn – a trick so basic it was literally the first thing unicorns were taught to do with their magic. I intensified it, making it far, far brighter than it needed to be to merely light my way.

With my classmates temporarily blinded, I shoved the two I was standing between, and then scrambled out of the way as they started wildly swinging at one another. I put a defensive bubble around me as I dashed away from the fight.

I’d joined the Future Farmers of Equestria to try and understand my classmates and the community as a whole. My first time in the club’s greenhouse was also my last time in the greenhouse. We quickly discovered that I had no natural talent with plants. It took a lot of earth pony magic to salvage the tomatoes after I was done with them.

After that fiasco, we all agreed it would be better if I focused on other parts of the curriculum. It was a practical club to join, as farmers often needed to patch their own equipment. I learned the basics of welding, plumbing, and electricity, all of which were useful skills. My magic gave me the advantage of being able to finely manipulate things, which was particularly useful in electrical work.

Unfortunately, it didn’t give me any advantage in reading diagrams. I plugged in my electrical project and it lit up. Unfortunately, rather than the still dark light bulb, the wires themselves had gone up in flames. Somepony quickly yanked the cord out of the wall, extinguishing the blaze as I just sat there dazed, watching all my hard work go up in smoke.

What did I do wrong? I was mystified, and quickly developed an appreciation of all the various talents my classmates had. Especially considering they had to use their mouths and hooves to work. They might be dumb as bricks, but even bricks are useful. What does it say about me that I’m smart but utterly useless?

I took a lot of ribbing from my classmates, and for once it was justified.

I teleported to my desk. My last two classes of the day were in rooms so close to one another, I could actually do that. With only one class left for the day, I started planning my route home as I waited for the classroom to fill up.

The bell rang, interrupting my thoughts. Our teacher wasted no time announcing our latest project – much to my horror it was a group assignment. I screamed internally. Most of the ponies quickly paired up, and I knew I’d be the odd one out, as always. Much to my surprise, Shoofly Pie approached me.

I wasn’t even the only option left available. Close, but for once, not the very last. There really is a first time for everything.

I had two rules that had served me exceedingly well over the years – the first was I never gave anypony my address. I didn’t invite classmates to my house, at all, under any circumstances. Inviting enemies into one’s home was a stupid thing to do, so I didn’t do it. The second was I didn’t go to anypony else’s house, either. It prevented me from walking into traps. Paranoia or not, I was unpopular. I didn’t have friends: there were a few ponies who tolerated me, and a bunch who didn’t. Even those that tolerated me only did so when it was convenient, and would choose the herd over me in a heartbeat.

We split into our groups, and I selected a spot as far away from the other groups as possible.

“I’m a little surprised you picked me.” I waited for the other three horseshoes to drop.

“You’re the smartest filly in class. I figured maybe we could make a deal – you do the work, we get a good grade, and I can make your favorite dessert?”

“I’m partial to crumb cake.”

“What’s that?”

“Never mind.” Shoofly pie is molasses and brown sugar. That’s sufficiently sugary, and it’s her mark, so it’ll be fantastic. “Make it a shoofly pie. I’ll do most of the work and you can just help where I need it.”

“Okay! Deal! Wet-bottom or dry-bottom?”

‘Wet-bottom’ sounds so wrong, and if there’s anything I’ve learned from living here all these years it’s that the more wrong it sounds, the more right it tastes. “Wet-bottom, please.”

“Good choice.” She nodded enthusiastically. “And to think, everypony says you have bad taste.”

“Because I don’t subscribe to herdthink.”

“What’s that?”

“Going along with the group because anypony who doesn’t will immediately be ostracized for daring to break societal norms. I’m a firm believer in thinking for myself – sometimes I agree with the herd, and sometimes I don’t. Just because everypony believes something doesn’t make it true. For example, let’s take shoofly pies. For the sake of argument, let’s say the herd prefers wet-bottom over dry-bottom. I have a fifty-fifty chance of agreeing with the herd or disagreeing with the herd, but I’ll only make my decision after trying both.” I could see the gears in her mind trying to process that and failing miserably. “I imagine shoofly pie is one of those things that’s acceptable to deviate from the majority on. Even herds must maintain some semblance of individuality, even if it’s naught but an illusion.” Her eyes were as glazed over as a doughnut. “Put simply, I’m an iconoclast.”

She obviously had no idea what that meant, but she didn’t want to appear dumb so she just nodded like that explained everything. I could’ve said I was born in outer space and was only visiting Equestria to determine if there was intelligent life down here, and she probably would’ve believed that easier than trying to process my going against the grain. Also, I’d have to report back to my home planet that no, there wasn’t.

“You’re also arrogant. Nopony likes that.”

“That’s just my matter-of-fact way of speaking. I tell it like it is, with no sugarcoating. Oh, and sarcasm. I have plenty of sarcasm to go around.”

“Nopony likes sarcasm.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. If you want to be accurate, nopony likes being on the receiving end of sarcasm, and that goes for me too. If you can’t take having sarcasm directed towards you, I’d recommend not initiating it. I’m actually surprised my special talent isn’t sarcasm, but I have no idea what that cutie mark would even look like.”

“Probably a bunch of random symbols. Like ‘#%@!’”

I pondered that and looked back to the ice cream cone decorating my flank. “Hmn, that might be the better talent, but this one has the better mark.”

She sighed. “If sarcasm isn’t your special talent, I’d hate to know you if it was.”

“That’s legit.”

I was surprisingly okay with our arrangement. The only thing I could give Horsey was the food was amazing. Many of my classmates had food-themed names and cutie marks, with good reason. I was pretty much the only pony in class who couldn’t cook, despite also having a food cutie mark. My parents weren’t exactly known for their cooking prowess either, so I took advantage of the rare opportunities granted me. Sometimes my classmates cooked for the whole class, and that technically included me too. I disliked most of my fellow students, and outright hated the rest of them, but that didn’t blind me to their talents. Most of them weren’t particularly bright, though the longer I’d lived in Horsey the more I’d come to think of that as upbringing and less a legitimate lack of intelligence.

Mostly though, by doing all of the work personally it meant not having her over at my place, and not having to go to hers.

One of the few Future Farmers of Equestria activities I’d exceled at was land judging. Even without sharing an earth pony connection to the ground as they all did, I could look at slope, drainage, etc. and come out with a perfectly logical answer every single time.

I was standing at the bottom of a pit, examining the terrain when dirt started raining down on me, followed by some rocks. Dippy Egg called out to me, “Find anything in that hole yet?”

“Three fossils and a water main, but there’s no sign of your IQ.”

What had started as a dirt shower quickly changed into Dippy bucking the entire pile of dirt into the hole. Undaunted, I continued taunting him, “I admire you. It takes a lot of courage to go into a battle of wits completely unarmed.” That only served to rile him up even more, which was exactly the worst thing he could’ve done… to himself. I teleported out of the pit as he collapsed the dirt pile into it.

There were too many witnesses – he didn’t get away with wrecking the competition. “Hey! What do you think you’re doing?” One of the judges came running over and grabbed Dippy.

I won the competition – the first time I’d managed to win an FFE event, and if I was honest, it would likely be the only time.

I waited for the bell to ring to release class for the day. Something was up, I could feel it in the air. Tensions had been high all day and I wasn’t waiting around for everypony to relieve them. I teleported the second the bell rang.

But it didn’t work – somehow many of my classmates had gotten out of class early, because they were standing outside Lickety-Split’s. Those who hadn’t gotten out of class early were pouring out of the school, and some of them had already spotted me. At this point my only hope for escape was to sprout wings and fly away.

I turned to the right and galloped for all I was worth. Trying to outrun them was an effort in futility. I should’ve teleported straight home, headache or not.

It was Sunnyside who caught me. She stepped out of an alley and tripped me, sending me tumbling head over hooves. I landed upside down, staring up at the gathering crowd. There were a lot of ponies surrounding me and they whispered amongst themselves to try and figure out who was going to get the honor of rearranging my face. My mana hadn’t charged up enough for another teleport. This is going to hurt.

“She’s mine. I had to do that stupid group project with her last year.”

A lot of the others cringed at Shoofly’s words and parted to let her through the crowd.

“Get up.” Shoofly dragged me to my hooves, then swung her hoof at me. I jerked backwards as she connected with my cheek, and I fell to the ground once more. It doesn’t hurt. She pulled her punch… She pushed me just hard enough to knock me off balance.

She loomed over me, inserting herself between me and the crowd who’d gathered to beat me senseless. “Aww, is little filly crying because she got a boo-boo?”

I’m not crying… Oh. I started crying. She’s grasping subtlety and going against the herd. What in Equestria happened to her?

“Do I need to kiss your boo-boo and make it all better?” Quieter she added, “Just stay down until everypony leaves, okay? No matter what I say.” She kissed my cheek where she’d hit me, sucking on it. “Sorry for the hickey, but you need to show some bruising or nopony’s going to believe this.” Louder she boasted, “I guess she’s not so tough after all. Was there any doubt? Come on, get up you pathetic little wimp. You talk big, but that’s all you’ve got, isn’t it? Words can’t hurt a pony. Except little foals like you. I bet you go crying to mama every night because us big bad earth ponies hurt your itty bitty little feelings. Poor baby.”

I stayed down, gritting my teeth and continuing to let the tears flow.

The laughter of our peers surrounded us, and she did her best to block me from everypony else’s sight. She kicked me while I was down, aiming for my saddlebag to absorb most of the impact. I felt it, but I could tell she wasn’t trying. “She’s not even worth my time, let alone anypony else’s. If I can beat her up, anypony can beat her up. She’s like the training dummy of beatdowns.”

The others laughed at her insults.

“What, don’t you have a snappy little comeback? No? I didn’t think so. Come on, everypony, show’s over. Let’s get out of here.” She turned to me. “And if anypony asks how you got hurt, you tell them you tripped, got it? Or it’ll be worse next time.” The rest of the class guffawed at her comments as they left me alone in the dirt.

Once they were gone I got to my hooves. My ribs were sore – my saddlebags had absorbed most of the impact, but not all of it. I’m glad she wasn’t trying to hurt me, because she did a number on me even trying to be gentle. I opened my saddlebags, checking the contents for damage. Shoofly hadn’t kicked me hard, but she was still an earth pony, and it didn’t take much effort for her to break things, regardless of whether she wanted to or not. The first thing I found was a slip of paper I hadn’t put in there. I picked it up.

I hope this note finds you okay. The others are planning a little surprise for you after school today, so if you get this note you didn’t get away like you normally do. With luck, it was me delivering your ‘beating’ and not one of the others. If it wasn’t me, I’ll come visit you in the hospital. But if you get this, and you’re not hurt too badly, meet me at the school tonight at 8.

It wasn’t signed, but it didn’t need to be for me to know who’d slipped it in my bag – probably when she was ‘kicking’ me. My curiosity was piqued. She could very well be lulling me into a false sense of security to lure me into a trap. But the more I thought about it, the less sense that made. She had had me at her mercy – if she had wanted to hurt me, nopony there was going to stop her.

I couldn’t let my parents see my bruised face, so I’d made an excuse as to why I couldn’t stick around as soon as I’d gotten home, shouting it up the stairs. Instead I found myself sitting at the counter at Lickety-Split’s Ice Cream Parlour. Lickety-Split took one look at me, bruised and covered in mud, and I had an unprompted hot fudge sundae in front of me a minute later. An entire can of whipped cream was plopped down on the counter next to it.

“They finally got you?”

I nodded. “Could’ve been worse. I think… I think the filly who did this to me was going easy on me.”

“Maybe so. Ponies aren’t malicious by nature.”

“I wish I could believe that.” I squirted some more whipped cream on my sundae. “I dodge this on a near-daily basis. They finally got me today. There I was, humiliated, crying on the ground while she boasted about easily beating me.” I left out the part about her whispering to me. If any of my classmates came in, I needed Lickety-Split to believe the story and not contradict it. Otherwise that wouldn’t make things worse for just me, it would make things bad for Shoofly Pie too. Suggesting that she hadn’t gone all out, however, would explain why I wasn’t in a full body cast. “If she would’ve been going all out, I’d be hospitalized. I think it says more about how weak I am that she didn’t have to do so.”

I was unpopular. Lickety-Split had lost business because I patronized her shop. My classmates had found other places to go once it became apparent that Lickety-Split wouldn’t allow them to torment me in her establishment. That didn’t stop her from sitting on the stool next to me and stroking my back with a hoof, while I cried into her shoulder. She was the only pony in Horsey I trusted, and she sat with me between customers. During a slow period, she invited me into the kitchen, where she helped me clean off as best she could. We probably broke a few health codes in the process, but at least we got all the dirt out of my coat and hair.

I stayed at the ice cream parlor until nearly seven, then walked back to the school. I was an hour early, but the easiest way to avoid a trap was to be there before it was set up. It was already dark, and I waited in a tree until Shoofly arrived. Once I was sure she was alone, I teleported down to where she was standing.

“Um, hi.” She shuffled her hooves awkwardly.

“Why?” It was a simple question. I didn’t need to specify what I was referring to.

“I owe you one. If not for you, I would’ve been held back a grade. I was failing and acing that assignment was the only way I was going to bring my grade up enough to pass. I knew nopony else would want to be your partner so I figured you could do all the work and I’d get half the credit.”

I nodded. That had been our arrangement after all. “At least you offered to make food. The others don’t even do that when I get roped into doing all the work on a group assignment.”

Her ears flattened. “I really, really needed that A+. I couldn’t take any chances on you being unhappy with the arrangement, so I had to give you something, because we both know me trying to help with the work would’ve only resulted in us both failing.”

I nodded. “Probably.”

She sighed. “You’re smart and the others don’t like that.”

“I noticed.”

She sighed again. “I’m trying to apologize.”

“I know.”

She groaned in frustration. “Okay, fine, we’re gonna do this the hard way.” She closed the gap between us faster than I could ready a spell. She trapped me in her powerful forelegs.

This isn’t hurting as much as it should be. I cautiously opened my eyes.

“Normally when somepony hugs you, it’s considered courtesy to hug them back.”

I looked down. Oh, this is an embrace. A sign of affection. Even my parents don’t hug me anymore. How long has it been since the last time somepony hugged me?

I reached my forelegs up and halfheartedly wrapped them around her.

“You can do better than that.” She squeezed me tighter.

“Ow… I’m still a little tender there.”

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t think I kicked you that hard.”

“You didn’t, but I don’t have earth pony strength or endurance and you do. A ‘light tap’ for you is still going to be painful for me.”

She facehoofed. “I am so, so, so very sorry about that. I didn’t even consider that. They needed to see you hurt and crying, so I had to make it look convincing.”

“You succeeded. Definitely hurt, definitely crying. Thanks for the subtle hint to do the latter.”

She shuffled in place. “It took me a while, but I finally think I understand what you were saying about going against the herdthink. When the herd thinks it’s a good idea to hurt somepony for no real reason other than they don’t like what you’re saying, I don’t like what the herd is thinking. I’m sorry it took me so long to figure out what you were trying to tell me.”

“To be honest, I didn’t think you ever would. I didn’t think anypony ever would. We’re a herd species, so going against the group is a foreign concept to most of us. Believe me, it wasn’t my choice to suddenly be thrust into a new environment and get made fun of for everything from the way I talk to the way I think. But I’m not changing my beliefs to conform to society, especially not when that society is actively sabotaging itself.”

“What do you mean?”

“The education around here is pathetic. It’s not that I’m super smart, it’s that this school is designed to indoctrinate, not educate. They’ve skipped me ahead two grades because I keep thinking outside their perfect little box. They don’t know what to do with me, so they want to get me out of school as fast as possible. I’m dangerous. I ask questions. Now I’ve encouraged you to start asking questions. That’s their worst fear come true – if enough ponies start questioning the illusion, reality will eventually rear its ugly head. Everything in this school is too convenient. History is cherry-picked. Most of the sciences are ignored unless it’s something that’s useful to local agriculture. Overall, it seems designed to push an agenda, and if I hadn’t moved here from elsewhere I’d have never noticed and I’d be in the same boat as everypony else. Science teaches you to question the answers and experiment. Somepony doesn’t want anybody questioning things. Speaking of questions, I’ve got a doozy of a question for you. Where are all the unicorns and pegasi around here?”

“There aren’t many. The only pegasi around here are on the weather team, and they mostly keep to the little town they built up in the clouds. Your family might be the only unicorns in the area entirely.”

“This isn’t normal. Where I’m from we had unicorns, earth ponies, pegasi, and we even had a crystal pony. There were dragons, griffons, and hippogriffs. There was diversity in Damden. There’s none of that here.”

“Are you sure that Equestria isn’t mostly like Horsey, and Damden isn’t the exception to the rule?”

My brain came to a screeching halt. “First of all, you’re thinking outside the box and I’m going to applaud you for that. You’re asking questions, and that’s one I never even considered. I don’t have an answer to that.”

“The ponies that live here like it here. Maybe it isn’t to your taste, but we like it just fine. We don’t need dragons and crystal ponies to be happy. We’re earth ponies – we just want to work the land.”

“And that makes you happy.” It wasn’t a question – I’d seen for myself firsthoof that the ponies of Horsey were happiest when growing plants or preparing a meal.

“Simple lives for simple ponies. We don’t need complications. Besides, it’s not just earth ponies. All the tribes tend to stick together. The pegasi have their cloud cities like Cloudsdale, the unicorns have their mountain cities like Canterlot, the crystal ponies have their empire, etc. Earth ponies need more space to grow things, so we have lots of small towns across the land instead of a few urban strongholds.”

I blinked. “That’s surprisingly deep for a pony that was failing school last year so badly that you were in danger of being held back a grade. Amazing what happens when you start questioning things. It makes you want answers. You’ve given me some new questions and an entirely different perspective. This has been a wonderful conversation. So much so that I completely forgot my ribs were sore until I just now reminded myself why we’re having this conversation in the first place.”

“I really am sorry about that. I was trying my best not to hurt you.”

“It’s okay. You don’t know your own strength. I’m kinda used to it at this point. Even when you’re not actively targeting me, I’m not built to endure like an earth pony. I can’t run as far or as fast, I can’t jump as high, and I certainly can’t bounce back to my hooves as easily after falling. I’m a unicorn, and not a particularly strong one. I’m two years younger than everypony else in my class because they keep advancing me. Sometimes I wonder if the school’s administration is secretly hoping that an accident happens and the frail little unicorn they don’t know what to do with is out of their hair forever.”

“You’re very bitter.”

“Can you blame me? I’ve been treated as ‘different’ ever since I got here. I talk differently. I think differently. I apparently even walk differently – what did they call it, ‘with an air of unicorn superiority’? How does that even work? Unicorns hold their heads up. Earth ponies look at the ground they’re connected to. I’m not better than earth ponies because I’m a unicorn. I am, however, smarter than all of you. That’s not because I’m a unicorn, that’s just because I happen to be intelligent and this school offers me no challenges whatsoever. It took me a few years to figure this out, but the longer I live here the less I think all of you are stupid, and the more I’ve come to realize it’s a factor of your environment. Everything here is designed to keep the masses ignorant. Even the smartest ponies here don’t think for themselves. But you’re learning to. How does it feel to open your mind?”

“Confusing. I liked it better when the world made sense.”

“Lies can be comforting – as a matter of fact, the best lies often are. Give ponies a lie they want to believe and they’ll choose to believe it over an uncomfortable and/or inconvenient truth every time. It’s easier, especially when friends are involved. Who wants to go against the ponies they consider their friends? You took a risk coming to my rescue today, and I can’t thank you enough for doing so. I won’t blame you if you prefer the company of the herd to that of the outcast. I promise not to hold that against you. But maybe you can… step in like you did today whenever somepony’s out to hurt me? Maybe you can stop the herd from lashing out at me?”

“Maybe you could stop being so annoying to everypony?”

“Did you ever stop to think that all of you annoy me too? Or, for that matter, that you all started it?”

“Not really, no.”

Well, we made some progress. I can’t expect miracles. “How, exactly, can I be less annoying?”

“Maybe tone down the thinking outside the box a bit. Most of all, stop insulting everypony.”

“But it’s okay for them to insult me first?”

“They outnumber you. By a bunch. This is for your own safety. You asked how you can make it stop, and I’m telling you. Oh, and start pronouncing words correctly and drop that nasally Damden accent.”

“We live in Horsey. That’s how that word is correctly pronounced in every dictionary in Equestria. I’m not calling it Horchy just because the locals insist on calling it that.”

“You’d certainly blend in better.”

I raised my eyebrows, using them to point to the horn still situated in my skull. “Yeah, us hornheads don’t exactly ‘blend in’ with the locals.”

She threw her forelegs up in frustration. “If you insist on being, what did you call it again?”

“Iconoclastic.”

“Yeah, that. If you insist on that, you’re going to keep getting picked on and there’s nothing anypony else can do about it.”

“The only way I’m not going to be picked on is if I cut my horn off, bulk up, learn how to effectively grow crops, recite the rhetoric the rest of the herd spews, and intentionally mispronounce words. Nope, not happening. I respect myself too much. I like who I am, and really don’t care if nopony else does.”

“That’s why nopony likes you. Just tone it down a bit. Nopony expects you to bulk up like an earth pony.”

“What about cutting my horn off?”

“Uh… that has been mentioned a few times. Put it this way, if you do so voluntarily nopony would stop you.”

“And you’re okay with that?”

“No. Well, not anymore. I mean, to be fair, you use your magic against us!”

“Well, to be fair to me, big, strong earth ponies wanted to beat up dainty little me, so I’m not sorry for using my horn to defend myself.”

“And I don’t blame you for that. At least not now.”

“Why did you ask me to come here tonight, anyway?”

“Partially to apologize, partially to thank you, and I really don’t know what else I was expecting. Maybe to come to some sort of mutually beneficial agreement. A peace treaty of sorts?”

I sighed, reality was a bitter pill to swallow. “The herd needs an enemy. It took me a long time to figure that out, but it’s the role they need filled. There has to be an outsider, someone the herd can rally together to defeat. If not me, then who? There isn’t anypony else. I could do everything I jokingly mentioned a few minutes ago, but it wouldn’t change anything because the herd sees me as the villain. I don’t know if it was the sight of my horn, or the sound of my words, or a combination of both… but there’s no coming back from it. Before my family came to town, who was it, the weather team?”

A look of horror crossed her face. “We always blame the thieving pegasi whenever something goes missing.”

“The same pegasi you rely on to bring the rain that keeps your crops watered. Maybe that’s why they stay in their little town in the clouds. Did you ever think of that?”

“…Not until now, no.”

“I think we’ve both learned a lot today. For your benefit, this conversation never happened. I don’t think I need to tell you that the herd wouldn’t appreciate you associating with me.”

It had been another long day at school and all I wanted to do was go home. I’d managed to avoid the bullies all day, but they’d tired me out in the process. I was mentally exhausted from trying to outthink the herd. I reached into the coatrack and pulled out black thread.

My sweater! Somepony had unraveled it.

“Uh-oh, looks like somepony’s going to be chilly-willy all the way home.”

I turned to find half a dozen ponies jeering at me and something in me just snapped. “Unleash the kraken.” It was a spell I’d been taught by a tourist while we waited in line at HorseyPark. A simple illusion, using tendrils of magic to look like a giant squid’s tentacles. It was meant to ward off others.

The tendrils were less illusive than I’d initially expected and I grabbed Amber Lager in my aura and lifted her above my head. “Which one of you did this?”

Amber’s shaky hoof pointed to Shady Maple and I unceremoniously dropped her, then picked up the colt and pinned him against the lockers with my magic. “My Grandma made that for my mother. That was an heirloom, you little horseapple smear. She’s been dead longer than I’ve been alive. I can’t go ask her to fix it.”

Shady was gasping for breath and our classmates rushed me. I used Shady as a club, knocking them all away from me in turn. I finally dumped him on the ground and glared at him. “Apologize.”

The colt easily twice my size stammered the words as he as he cowered at my hooves. Then he and his cronies galloped away from me.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. I got angry and let myself get surrounded. Wait, I just fended off half a dozen bullies. When did my magic get this strong? Have I been underestimating myself all these years?

Normally I raced out of school as fast as possible, but I realized I’d never actually tested how much weight I could levitate. Instead I headed to the weight room, surprising everypony inside, as I was the last pony anyone would expect to see there. My being there was as stupid as a chicken making a nest in a fox’s den.

Before anypony could start taunting me I sat on one of the weight benches. “Two hundred pounds, please.”

There was snickering as they loaded the dumbbell. I lifted it in my aura without even struggling and set it back down. “Make that three hundred.”

That cleared the room, as hulking earth ponies raced away from the petite unicorn filly, screeching about ‘freaky unicorn magic’.

With nopony else around, I discovered I could easily go up to four hundred pounds, but started struggling past that. I could levitate more than that, but only for a short period of time, and at the cost of using most of my mana reserves. That didn’t matter – most of my classmates weighed less than four hundred pounds.

I don’t think I need to worry about being bullied anymore.

Gym was my least favorite class. At least in the others, I could use my brain to solve problems, but in gym I was the smallest pony in the class by a wide margin. Partially due to my dainty unicorn build, and partially due to being two years younger than my classmates. I’d been exempted from playing hoofball. The coach took one look at me and made me get a doctor’s note to excuse me from playing.

As the years had gone by, I was excused from more and more sports. Anything where I had to headbutt the ball? Exemption due to my horn. Anything with physical contact? Doctor’s note because I was too fragile to play. Dodgeball? I’d been allowed to play that exactly once. My exemption for that one stated I was too small of a target. The coach was trying to protect me as best she could, but I was sick of running laps every day while my classmates got to play games.

The rare times I was allowed to play I had to wear a horn inhibitor made of pure onyx. Since softball was a non-contact sport, I was actually allowed to play for once. Horn ring or not, it was a welcome change of pace from running laps.

I was sitting on the bench, waiting for my turn when the principal trotted up to the coach and pulled me out of class. She escorted me to an unused classroom and prompted me to take a test. One hundred questions, it only took me an hour and a half to complete it.

She sat there, grading it as I watched. She stopped at the seventy-first question. “Congratulations, you passed.” She thrust a piece of paper at me. “Here’s your diploma, now get out of here. You’re not my problem anymore.”

Meh, I’m not even bothering to get out of bed today. What’s the point? I rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. I had no desire to go work my dead-end job at HorseyPark. They’d been the only place in town willing to hire me, yet I couldn’t care less if they fired me.

I was just across the river from Damden, and I’d never felt more homesick for the town I still considered home. When planning my trip I’d considered staying an extra day, and trying to track down all my old friends. But I couldn’t forget how Heartlight and Desert Moon had barely remembered me the last time I’d gone home, only a few years after leaving. They’d had each other and found other friends besides. They’d moved on. I never had. I’d never had friends to replace them, and even if they didn’t remember me at all now, I knew I’d never find friends that could replace them in my heart. I cherished that era of my life.

That’s why I’d ventured to Fillydelphia in the first place. I needed to move on. I needed to advance my life instead of staying stuck in the same old rut. First and foremost, I had to get out of Horsey. I knew that. The town had slowly been sucking the life from me for almost a decade. My only reason to stay there was my parents, and I’d grown to resent them for bringing me to that Celestia-forsaken backwoods settlement.

I needed help.

I hated admitting that. I'd always helped myself, because no one else would. So a self-help seminar seemed like just the thing I needed. A guide for putting my life back on track.

I arrived at the stadium and found an open place to stand next to a nervous pegasus that kept glancing up at the sky. She didn’t interact with me, and I was fine with that.

An old rock song started playing and fireworks exploded around a minotaur who took center stage. He started hamming it up for the audience, flexing to show off his powerful muscles.

“Welcome friends to the first day of the rest of your lives. I’m Iron Will, and I’m here to turn you from puny pushovers into pony powerhouses. Come on, stomp those hooves.”

We obliged. If nothing else, he had a flair for showmareship.

“Iron Will needs a volunteer.”

I raised a hoof, as did dozens of others in the crowd. The blue pegasus next to me panicked and did her best to hide behind me.

“You!” Iron Will pointed at me. I started trotting toward the stage but he stopped me. “Not you, the blue pegasus hiding behind you. Get up on stage.”

“Eep!” The pegasus flattened to the ground.

I looked from her, to the minotaur, and back again. I sighed as I lit my horn and picked up the hysterical pegasus and carried her to the stage. If nothing else, I’d upgraded my seat in the process.

“What’s your name?”

The pastel blue pony muttered something incoherent.

“Louder. The cheap seats couldn’t hear you. The front row couldn’t hear you. Iron Will who’s three inches in front of your face couldn’t hear you!”

“Th…Thistle Whistle, sir.”

“Ha! I love pony names. Ponies get cheery names like Thistle Whistle, while minotaurs get boring names like Immobile Object or Steel Force. So Thistle, what brings you here today?”

She gulped. “I have a crippling phobia that makes it hard to leave my house most days. I’m hoping you can help me overcome it.”

“Spit it out, already!”

“I’m terrified of clouds.”

There was an awkward pause of silence before the rest of the audience realized that this pony was a pegasus. Then there was laughter.

“You hear that Thistle Whistle? They’re laughing at you! Are you gonna take that from them?”

“Um? Yes.”

Iron Will shook his head.

“No, I’m not going to take it?”

“No, you’re not gonna take it! No! You ain’t gonna take it! You’re not gonna take it, anymore! When others laugh at you, you wrath at them! You’ve got a problem. Do you know the solution to that problem? Of course you don’t, that’s why you’re here listening to Iron Will. So I’ll give you the solution, but it’ll cost you five bits first.”

She reached into her saddlebags and gave the minotaur the requisite amount of money.

“To conquer your fear, the skies you must clear.” He picked Thistle up and forced her to look at the sky. Several fluffy white clouds were hanging in the sky over the city and the blue pegasus trembled at their sight. “Now get up there and buck some clouds!” When she didn’t take off under her own power, Iron Will threw her at the nearest cloud. “Don’t come back down until the sky’s empty!”

The minotaur posed dramatically as fireworks burst on the stage around him. Then all eyes turned to the sky as Thistle cleared clouds the best she could.

A few minutes later she landed. “No more clouds in the sky.” Thistle shuddered. “I touched clouds.” She fainted.

“She faced her fears and beat them!” Iron Will picked Thistle Whistle up by her foreleg and held her up. “Let’s hear it for Thistle Whistle!”

The crowd stomped in appreciation, and I added my stomps to the crowd. It was enough to snap the timid pegasus out of the daze she was in.

“You hear that Thistle Whistle? That’s all for you! The next time you’re scared of a cloud, you go up to it, give it the ol’ one-two!” He quickly jabbed with his left hand and followed-up with his right.

Iron Will dispensed advice to more ponies, and I slowly realized I didn’t really need his help. I already stood up for myself and didn’t let others push me around, even when that was detrimental to my health.

“If you’re living in the past, you’re gonna finish last.”

Iron Will’s words snapped me out of my thoughts. That one’s useful. Maybe this hasn’t been a complete waste of time after all. My past is on the other side of the river. Maybe I should go say goodbye to it once and for all.

I slipped away from the self-help seminar. It was mostly assertiveness training, which I didn’t need. I had a way with ponies – the wrong way. It was sufficient for getting them to leave me alone most of the time. I’d been running away from the consequences of my assertiveness for long enough that it was more of a game to me than anything I was truly afraid of. A game I needed to continue winning for my health, but a game nonetheless.

If you’re living in the past, you’re gonna finish last. Iron Will’s words echoed in my head as I crossed the Flanklin Bridge into Damden. Things had certainly changed in the decade since I’d last lived there, but the layout of the town was still the same, even if there were some new buildings that had been built in the intervening years. Unlike Horsey, Damden was a dynamic city where change was the only constant.

My favorite ice cream parlor was gone, replaced with a griffin restaurant. One sniff was all it took to determine meat was on the menu and I continued past without stopping.

Crumb Cake’s parents’ bakery was still open, so I wandered in. I recognized her parents, though they were obviously a bit older than the last time I’d seen them. If I can’t have ice cream…

“Crumb cake, please.”

“She’s not in right now.”

“I meant I’d like a slice of crumb cake. Make that two of them.”

Crumb Cake’s mother looked at me, almost as if she vaguely remembered me. I’d been living in Horsey long enough that my accent had changed into some sort of hybrid between the two regions. Being in Damden, it was as noticeably out of place as it was in Horsey. If she recognized me, she didn’t mention it, instead hoofing over my order.

I took a seat by the window and reminisced. Memories of cantering through that door, Heartlight and Desert Moon hot on my hooves came back to me. I still missed them – I always would. But life had gone on, and I had to do the same. Still, I couldn’t help wondering what they were up to these days, or even what their cutie marks were.

Crumb Cake’s cutie mark wasn’t hard to guess, and easily confirmed since pictures of my former classmate were hanging on the walls. I didn’t recognize anybody else in the pictures, though. I guess she’s not close to anyone from back in the day anymore either. And she doesn’t have the same excuse I do of not living here anymore.

I bit into the crumb cake, and the nostalgia washed over me again. Stars above, it would almost be worth it to move back here just to be able to eat this again. I watched the ponies and other creatures going about their lives, but I didn’t see anyone else I recognized. Though to be fair, it was very possible that I’d known some of them back in the day. Even if I had it wouldn’t have been worth it to reach out to them. I was too far removed from being relevant in their lives. No, at this point I was naught but an outside observer enjoying a trip down memory lane.

I needed this. I grabbed two more slices of crumb cake to take home to Horsey, and said a silent goodbye to Damden once and for all.