All he could do at that moment was stare at his flank. His shock was apparent in his wide eyes and open jaw. What he saw on his flank was nothing he ever believed could happen. The image of a drum, a drummer. High Rise was destined to be a drummer.
“He got his cutie mark!” One of the foals pointed enthusiastically at his rear, and soon every foal, filly and pony in the auditorium crowded around High Rise.
He was barraged with questions from every angle. How did it feel? Was he going to be a famous drummer? Didn’t your dad have a similar cutie mark? Everypony had a question, and the rest gave words of encouragement. Congratulations, it’s perfect for you.
“Your dad would be proud.” Daisy Trot’s voice caught High Rise’s ears above the cacophony. That was the second time that Daisy had broken down the floodgates for him today. Unlike the previous time, however, this was a happy one.
High Rise cried, he cried and he laughed. He cried between his smiles. The pure, unadulterated joy he felt overwhelmed every part of his body. He didn’t realize how much he missed his dad, how much he wanted to play again with him. To go to one of his shows. Or even simply sit down with him. After he was gone, High Rise had started to forget what little connections he had with his father. His own stubborn, rebellious acts had fractured their relationship. He didn’t have a chance to fix it before he was off to the next world.
He would have done anything to tell him he was sorry, that he wanted to do it all over again. If it meant he could be with him one more time. To be by his side once again.
Now? He had his dad with him wherever he may go. The cutie mark on his flank proved that. So he cried, and cried, and cried. The drumsticks in his hooves felt like his father’s hooves, holding him tight, telling him it was going to be okay.
The actual pony who held him at that moment was one of his friends, Crescent Sun. “Alright, move out the way!” She said to the other foals, creating a path for her to guide High Rise out from the event. Without a word, she led him to his mother, who waited at the side of the auditorium with the other parents of foals that were present.
A cream colored earth pony with a vibrant red mane. His mom, Bright Twirl, watched the two foals approach. The commotion around her son had made her worried, but the moment she laid eyes on her son, she dashed to meet the crying child.
“High Rise! Are you alright? What happened? Did you get hurt?!” She frantically asked. Crescent Sun placed a hoof on her shoulder, and smiled.
“Everything’s alright, Missus Twirl, look!” Crescent pointed to his flank, and Bright Twirl gasped.
“Honey! You’re cutie mark, it’s-!”
“Moooom!” High Rise cried as he dove into her hooves. His words were mixed with sniffles and hiccups. “M-My mark looks j-j-just like… just like Daddy’s!”
Her hooves held him tight against her barrel. Gently stroking his head. “I see it, sweetie. How does it make you feel?”
“I miss-miss him Mom, I really miss him!”
“I know, know. But now? Now, he is with you forever, and you know it.”
He continued to cry into her chest, squeezing tight in their hug. Crescent Sun wasn’t known for being a hugger type of foal, but she wasn’t safe from Bright Twirl’s grasp. Soon, she was dragged into her loving hooves, and the three stayed that way until he was done.
…
…
This was the first memory Luna witnessed from him that didn’t leave her heart wrenching. It was a simple, sweet moment. She did not know the context, but she didn’t have to. What was more important to her was that this dream wasn’t about High Rise’s loss of his bandmates. Something in his life was able to distract him away from the thoughts of his grief, and towards a bittersweet memory of his father.
In a way, this signified to Luna that High Rise was happy that night. Which made her happy as well.
It was AM.
“High Rise! Twilight is here for you!” Time Turner was always up earlier than him, and that meant he caught the door when a knock connected with it at 8:15 AM. When Twilight Sparkle schedules a time, she means it.
That meant that High Rise had to fall out of bed, clean himself up, and throw on his trusty goggles within five minutes. Time Turner made sure to remind him of how long he was making Twilight wait. All he had to do was point to a clock, there were quite a few clocks in the clockmaker’s house. Anywhere from ten to a thousand. Each time he did it, he got a groggy glare from High Rise. Not that he could protest much, he did say he would help her…
At 8:21 AM, High Rise came down the stairs. Where Time Turner and Twilight Sparkle sat at the dining table. Breakfast was shared between them, while a cold plate sat at an empty seat for him.
“Good morning, High Rise!” Twilight said with a smile on her face. If she was annoyed at how late he was, she didn’t show it.
“There you are, you kept the mare waiting.” Time Turner said with a grin of his own.
“Morning to you too, Doc. Good morning Twilight Sparkle.”
“Just Twilight.”
“…Twilight, I'm sorry for not showing up on time.”
“It’s quite alright, we didn’t have to meet at the library anyways. Since this will be a field trip!”
High Rise turned his head to the side. “A field trip?”
“Yes! That does mean that we will need to be ready to leave for Canterlot at the train station within the next fifty minutes.”
Suddenly, High Rise felt the need to eat faster. “Twilight, may I ask why I'm going with you to Canterlot?” He asked between his bites. “This is all a bit abrupt for a little bit of help.”
“I understand how it must feel, but it really is not a big deal. A round trip to Canterlot and back!”
“That doesn’t tell me why we’re going to Canterlot.”
Twilight got up from her chair and levied a long look onto him. “I also understand your apprehension. However I would really like to show you what I need help with first, before explaining it. I promise you I am not trying to trick you into something, in fact, I believe you will enjoy it.”
A confident smile soon took over her, and High Rise was forced to choose. Back out and refuse without information, or trust in what she says. On one end, this was Twilight Sparkle. She wasn’t some evil creature out to get him. Sure, some of her actions of late have been peculiar, but maybe he was overthinking things? At worst, maybe this was just Twilight trying really hard to be friends with him?
Then again, on the other end, this was Twilight Sparkle. If there was a single pony in Ponyville who could find out his secret(outside of Time Turner, who found out pretty quickly), it was Twilight. What if all this suspicious behavior she had been doing was actually to find out that he is a century too early? This trip to Canterlot could be a trap, to get him where she needed to perform all sorts of tests on him! Okay, maybe that’s too ridiculous of an idea, but if she did suspect anything from him, maybe she would take him to meet the current rulers of Equestria.
The current rulers. High Rise hadn’t even considered them up until now. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, twin rulers of Equestria. In the future, the two sisters retired from the throne and Princess Twilight took their place, joined by her friends in a council that led Equestria.
That made High Rise also think about how he’d been regularly doing cookouts with one of the future council members.
Too many thoughts, put that to the side. Not many ponies from High Rise’s time actually know much about Celestia and Luna. They appeared for special events and ceremonies, but have largely been out of the public eye for decades. Most ponies who lived under their rule have passed away at this point. High Rise was lucky to have met two of the alicorn princesses in the flesh, but he didn’t even know what the Princesses of the Sun and Moon even looked like. How would they react to a time traveling intruder in their country? He had no idea! Celestia once banished her sister for a millennia, didn’t she?…
So either a future friendship, or possible banishment. Great choices, and High Rise desperately hoped he was overreacting.
“Alright.”
“When you are ready, we will depart for the train station, preferably within the next ten minutes”
“…Right.”
It takes exactly two hours and three minutes to get from Ponyville to Canterlot by train. High Rise knew because Twilight told him the moment they arrived at the train station. When Twilight Sparkle plans a trip, she plans every detail. They would sit in the second train car from the front, which was the closest to the Canterlot train station exit. She had two door-adjacent seats already chosen for them, and once they noticed those seats filled with an elderly couple, she used her back up plan to sit across from those seats.
The train car was soon filled with the rest of the riders, and then it set off for the mountainside capitol. The two sat next to each other, High Rise hoped it would be in silence, but that was a foolish wish to expect.
“Now, we have a two hour and three minute window in which to relax.” Twilight had brought a book with her on the train, this book was titled The Waiting Games: 100 Games to play with friends while you wait. “I just found this book and have been excited to try it out! I would like to play a particular game if you don’t mind.”
“If you want to play a game, sure, I don’t mind.”
“It’s this one-“ She opened the book and presented it to High Rise. “Page Fifty three!”
“You did what!?” A guessing game where you try and find out the craziest thing about your friends!
-Take turns making guesses about your friends. The crazier and more detailed the guess, the better! Examples include:
-The pony you made a guess about then has to say whether the guess was a Truth, a Lie, or a Close One!
-Keep going around your friend group to see who guesses the craziest things, and which ones are right!
-The craziest guess wins.
“Seems simple enough.” High Rise hummed.
“Which is great for a morning train ride!” Twilight closed the book and grinned. “Why don’t you start?”
The odd thing about this game was how unfair it seemed to be. Even if they didn’t count High Rise’s knowledge of events that haven’t even happened yet, Twilight was a recognized hero of Equestria. Surely many of her crazier stories would be passed around quite a bit. So repeating them here wouldn’t be a problem for High Rise to “guess”. Whereas he was a nopony who Twilight would have no right idea what he has or hasn’t done.
What would he actually say, however? He didn’t want to say anything that would make her suspicious. “Uuuh… Twilight Sparkle has read every book in the Ponyville Library.”
“That would be a lie!” Twilight said, surprising even High Rise. “Though only on a technicality, I just got a brand new shipment of books two days ago that I have yet to read through.”
“Ah, and how long does it normally take you to read through a shipment?”
“Two days, actually. I’m pretty behind now that I think about it.”
That was the first time that High Rise had chuckled around Twilight. “Alright, your turn.”
“Okay, High Rise grew up in Trottingham.”
“Close one.” He replied.
“Oh? I thought you and Time Turner grew up together.”
Oh no… wait, I can work with this. Panic was held back as an idea popped into his head. His improviser powers had come back to him. Thankfully, he did actually grow up in Trottingham, partially. “I was born and raised in Canterlot, actually. I had family on my mom’s side in Trottingham, though, and we lived out there when I got a bit older. That’s when I met Doc.”
“That would explain your accent! I’m surprised to learn that you’re from Canterlot like me though.”
“Yup, my turn again?”
Twilight nodded her head, and High Rise thought of another guess to make. “Twilight Sparkle knows over… forty spells.”
“Truth! Only recently, the exact total today is forty two. Now… High Rise was friends with his teacher during High School!”
“Uuuh… Lie, I think? I honestly can’t remember. I didn’t have many teachers that stuck with me then.”
“Really? Not even Time Turner?” Twilight asked.
“Huh? Time Turner wasn’t a teacher.”
“Oh! He was your classmate?”
“Yeah, why would he be my teacher?”
“Well- I just assumed that-.. I mean- isn’t he-?… Nevermind!” Twilight laughed nervously and looked away. “Your turn!”
“Ooookay.” High Rise raised his brow. Was she thinking that Time Turner was much older than him? “Actually, how old do you think I am?”
“Early twenties, about the same age as myself,” She replied, not as a question left up to answer. Twilight was absolutely sure about it,
“I’m actually twenty seven.”
“You’re older than me?! Wait, I didn’t mean to say you were old! It’s just, you look very young for your age! My brother is the same age, and he looks young too! It’s just a surprising thing to learn!”
This time, High Rise could let out a full blown laugh at her reaction. Even with his apprehension, watching her stammer and trip over herself was something he did enjoy. It helped him to relax on this little trip he was on. “I guess I am older than you. I should start getting you girls to call me Big Bro Rise.”
“That has to be the worst nickname I've ever heard.” Twilight said through stifled giggles.
“Hasn’t anypony told you to respect your elders?”
The barrier was broken, and High Rise felt comfortable enough to talk with Twilight more casually. Throwing in more ridiculous guesses he wouldn’t have done before into their little game. Twilight’s guesses were far more tame compared to his. Mostly they poked into his history, and none of them focused on anything that would reveal his time travel. He didn’t even realize that an hour had passed as they played.
“Twilight Sparkle once used her magic to turn a water tower into a baby bottle for an Ursa Minor.”
“…Truth! How did you know that?”
“Are you kidding?” High Rise scoffed. “Do you really think the story about you carrying an Ursa Minor with your magic, creating a baby bottle with milk included at the same time, and then sending it back to its lair, wouldn’t get shared across all of Equestria?”
The subject of this particular story had her cheeks grow bright red at that suggestion. Twilight’s head tilted away from him. “It wasn’t that big of a deal, I mean, everything worked out so I assumed it wasn’t heard of outside of Ponyville.”
“Oh c’mon, Twi.” He had begun to use Twi, that’s how successful this game had been. “Do you think that’s the only story that’s come out from you and your friends in Ponyville?”
“Well, I suppose not, but it can’t be that many!” She waved him off.
“How about the story of how you possessed the entire town to obsess over a children’s toy.”
“T-that?! That was an accident! I didn’t mean for that to happen, actually, I did, but I didn’t mean for it to get that bad!
“There’s the easy ones, like Nightmare Moon and Discord and the Crystal Em-… no that one’s from a sci-fi novel I think.” Improviser saves the day again!
“Well I know those are known! I don’t know anything about a crystal though.”
“Forget about it. What about the time you and your friends scared off an ancient dragon polluting Equestria with its snoring?” That one wasn’t particularly fair, he didn’t hear about that one from the future. He heard that from Fluttershy.
“The dragon was not me at all! Fluttershy was the one who convinced him to leave.”
“Can’t forget to mention the Grand Galloping Gala with you and your friends.”
“Okay, I get your point!” Twilight suddenly shot a hoof up and onto High Rise’s mouth before he could say the next one on his mind. “There are a lot of stories about me, I got it, I just… I'm not quite used to that kind of attention.”
“You aren’t? But you grew up as Princess Celestia’s personal student, didn’t you? I mean, everypony knows that.”
“Not everypony! At least they didn’t when I was growing up. Sure, the ponies around me knew, but they never treated me differently for it. Canterlot is big and not a lot of ponies paid attention to me. Everypony in Ponyville treats me as another member of the community. I don’t think anypony has treated me like you have-.”
The words just came out, but it was clear Twilight didn’t mean to say them. She covered her mouth and stared at him with wide eyes, waiting for his reaction. She waited at least half a second, and then stammered again.
“I didn’t mean to imply that you were rude or anything like that! You spoke differently to me than to other ponies. I’ve never had anypony treat me like um, like how-“
“Like how I treat you as somepony important?” High Rise asked, and with her damage control cut off, she quietly nodded.
Surely she had to be kidding, right? Nopony in her entire life treated her like she was an important figure? Being the student of a Princess meant you had privileges. You could walk through the castle in Canterlot freely, and had access to the private library that nopony else was allowed into. Not to mention that they were personally taught by the current ruler of Equestria, they could meet them whenever they wanted! High Rise knew of these things because he was friends with a pony who enjoyed these privileges quite frequently!
Not to mention the other things about Twilight Sparkle. Her personal babysitter when she grew up was none other than Princess Cadance. A literal princess was her nanny! Her brother married that princess! Actually, that didn’t happen yet. At least High Rise thought it didn’t. Which major event in Equestrian history happened after Discord? If it wasn’t the wedding, what was Prince Shining Armor’s title right now? He certainly didn’t pay enough attention in school to remember a detail about some old prince in the Crystal Empire.
Too much to think about, put that one aside with the “cookout with a ruler” thought. Twilight Sparkle clearly didn’t realize how much privilege she had been afforded. Nor did she realize what standing she was placed in thanks to her saving Equestria twice at this point. Ponyville had shielded her from that one. It had given her a small town life to live without thinking about titles like “hero” or “famous”. If she had stayed in Canterlot after the Nightmare Moon event, things would be very different for her, or so he thought.
High Rise had to recognize that this Twilight Sparkle was very different from the one he knew. One hundred years of life would change a pony quite a bit, but this was still a young unicorn who runs a library, hangs out with her friends, and studies magic and the lessons of friendship. She wasn’t a Princess, or a grand hero of legend, or anything else like it. She was just Twilight, and she was nopony he had to be scared to talk to. Just like how he had grown used to the rest of the Elements, the Element of Magic was no different.
“Look, Twilight.. “ He began, “I’m sorry about that. I just didn’t know how to talk to you, that’s all. I didn’t want to say something wrong.”
“But how would you say something wrong? That’s what I mean!” Twilight pointed an accusatory hoof. “You don’t have to be scared about what you would say! Like you do with Fluttershy.”
She had no idea how wrong she was with that, but High Rise kept that impulse in. “I guess you’re right,” He said instead. “I’ll just have to talk to you normally now.”
“I would like that very much.”
Twilight Sparkle had no idea what to expect during this train ride. Her idea for the guessing game was mostly to coax information out of High Rise. If she could make enough close guesses within the game, it would be easier to figure out what felt weird about him to her.
Everything she learned about him, however, was normal. He was born to an earth pony mom and a pegasus dad, he grew up most of his foalhood in Canterlot, but spent his teens in Trottingham with his grandparents. When he was younger, he was a rather rebellious and rambunctious kid. Only growing into his full personality after his cutie mark. None of the stories that she got him to tell were anything more than… regular. Sure, some were funny, others were interesting in their own way, but none of them were what Twilight were looking for.
But what exactly was she looking for? Some secret reason why High Rise felt so peculiar? That gnawing feeling was still there in her mind, even as she laughed with him, but did it really matter? This was first and foremost a trip to break down the barrier she felt was between them. The prying would come later.
In that regard, she had succeeded before the main event! They could speak candidly to each other for once, or at least they could speak more openly than before. They didn’t share their deeper thoughts or feelings, but High Rise and Twilight Sparkle finally came to understand one another in one way. It felt good whenever Twilight could connect with somepony, and found herself a new friend from that.
They weren’t quite friends yet, but she could feel the bud begin to form between them. Twilight could put away those gnawing questions and suspicious thoughts for the day. Forming friendships and the trials with them is what Princess Celestia had sent her to Ponyville to learn, and the lesson she was learning today was more important.
It was nice to have some good company while you were learning, anyways.
“So, are you finally going to tell me what we’re doing in Canterlot?” High Rise asked, and Twilight checked the clock on the train car wall. It was 10:45 AM, they would soon be in Canterlot.
“I suppose I can, only because you are not being as formal with me now.” Twilight gave him a knowing grin and went into the saddlebags on her back. “You’re going to love it.”
Out of the bag were two slips of decorated paper. She held them up for High Rise to read. Numbers and words on them designated times and places, 2:00 PM, Seats F15 and F16 at the Canterlot Rising Rockstars Showcase. Names of different performing groups were shown on them, many of them were smaller indie bands that weren’t as well known. A mixed bag of variety between different genres and subgenres of rock.
Among the names was the amateur rock band, The Night-Mares.
“You got tickets to the Rising Rockstars Showcase?!” High Rise’s jaw dropped, his hooves stomping the floor in excitement.
“We got tickets.” Twilight grinned.
“And the Night-Mares are performing?!”
“You came to Ponyville for a Night-Mares performance, right? I figured you would enjoy it.”
A very un-coltlike squeal sounded out from High Rise. In one quick motion Twilight found herself wrapped in his lanky hooves, squeezing tight. She yelped in surprise, but soon giggled at his excited reaction. That was when Twilight Sparkle knew that today was going to be a good day.
Six days remaining.