//------------------------------// // Preparations // Story: A Pegasus Horn // by Ignimbrite //------------------------------// Obsidian half-ran half-flew to school, silently wishing a slow and painful death to his alarm clock for failing to ring. He made it just in time for his first class to start. "Ah, Obsidian. Punctual as usual, I see." He really needed to get a new alarm clock. "Hello, Mr. Grade. Sorry I'm late." As Obsidian took his seat, Mr. Grade began discussing the importance of punctuality and professionalism. Once he was done with that, he switched over to the class's intended topic, physics. As usual, the bell rang just before he could finish the topic he had introduced for today. "Well, I guess we'll have to pick up where we left off tomorrow." The next class was history with Time Traveler. She was a good one. She knew how to make the subject come alive, as if the class were going there themselves. The only thing that could make it better was if he could actually remember all those dates and names. His first real problem showed up as he was leaving the class. "Hey look, it's the prince." Wrath Bone and his stupid posse had showed up right on schedule. Obsidian turned around and walked the other way. He was stopped by an unlocked locker door slamming into his face. Turning back around, he saw Wrath Bone, who simply smiled, horn still glowing. "I was talking to you." "So it would appear. I'm not listening. Goodbye." He turned to leave again, only to find himself facing a couple members of Bone's gang. "What's the matter, prince? You don't want to talk?" He gritted his teeth. "You never just want to talk." "Come on now." He leaned in closer. "If you don't want to listen to me, you could always make me back off. Unless you can't. Too scared to make me back off? Too weak?" Unfortunately, the correct answer was the latter, albeit with a hefty dose of the former. Half of Obsidian's magic went into his horn, and the other half went to his wings. If he overused either, he'd run out twice as quickly as any other pony. He also had to make sure there was some in reserve in case his sister tried to follow him out the window again, so wasting it on a fight was a bad idea in general. Naturally, he wasn't about to tell any of this to Wrath Bone. Of course, the regular taunts about his "great power" reminded him of something else. Wrath Bone already knew the answer. "What are you doing outside of class?" Thank you, overly strict hall monitor. "Just getting threatened by Wrath Bone here again." Judging by Wrath Bone's glare, Obsidian would probably pay for that statement later, but for now, any chance at getting the bullies in trouble was worth it. Unfortunately, the monitor evidently did not consider his comment worth noting. "Go on, get to class or I'll have to report all of you." "We're going." Obsidian rolled his eyes. I could tell him we were about to rob a bank, and he wouldn't care. The rest of the classes went about as expected. As Obsidian got out of school for the day, Wrath Bone was waiting for him. "Thought you could rat me out, huh prince?" "Is it really ratting if it's to somepony who ignores everything you say anyway?" He turned to leave again, only to feel a sharp sting on his backside. Looking back, he saw Wrath Bone levitating a number of stones. He ran. The good thing about wings is that they come in handy for finding shortcuts nopony else could use. It certainly came in handy against the unicorn and earth pony minions of Wrath Bone. The only ones left in the pursuit now were a couple pegasi. Naturally, they were full-blooded pegasi and decent fliers, and Obsidian was a half-pegasus who could, at best, hover a few seconds or fly in a straight line. Fortunately, he had a trick for avoiding pegasi, ignoring his instincts. Pegasi, being natural fliers, have an instinct for avoiding danger by traveling upwards. Given the number of threats that can't fly, it usually works quite well. This instinct carries over into pursuit as well, where they can keep track of their opponent from the air and outpace them at their leisure. Therefore, to avoid a pegasus, one must head down. Obsidian found an alley filled with garbage and dove behind a dumpster. From there, he slipped around some cans and carefully maneuvered his way to the opposite side of the alley. Sure enough, the bullies searched above the cans, occasionally pulling off a lid, but otherwise not thinking to check underneath anything. After several minutes of searching, they finally took off. Obsidian waited another minute before leaving his hiding place and heading home. By the time he made it back home, the rest of his family was already there. "Oh there you are," Gneiss hugged him. "Where have you been?" "I had to take a different route this time." Catching the subtle scent of old banana peels and other assorted refuse, Quartz could easily guess where his alternate route had led. "It wasn't that Wrath Bone kid again, was it?" "Don't worry. He didn't do anything this time." They both looked at him, unfortunately knowing he wouldn't give any information more specific than that. They then turned to address the two. Quartz explained what was going on, "Well, I need to meet with the movers so we can get things scheduled, and your mom has errands to run. We should both be back by dinner, so you two stay here. Okay?" They both nodded. "No wild parties while we're gone," Gneiss joked. They both replied with mock disappointment, "okaaaaaay." "Goodbye." "Goodbye." Feldspar looked at her brother, then took off up the stairs. A door opened and closed, and moments later, she returned with a record in her mouth. She lifted it up to him with a grin. Obsidian looked down to see the label: Panheads < • > Awakening He smiled, then walked over to the closet and pulled out a broom, while Feldspar began stacking boxes and books in the middle of the living room. Quartz Stone and Gneiss Crystal met back up on the way back home. "The movers say they should be ready to go around when we are, so that's good. How did it go for you?" "I've got all the transfer forms here, so all that's left is to enroll them in the new school when we get there." "Good. I guess this means just about everything ready to go then." "Pretty much. The only thing left I can think of is finishing the packing." They continued discussing the excitement and worries of moving for the rest of the way home. The first thing that greeted them when they opened the door to their house was an out-of-nowhere growl emanating from the record player. The second thing that greeted them was their son power sliding across the floor with his eyes closed, holding a broom like a guitar and flaring his wings behind him. The third was their daughter behind an assortment of boxes, stacked books, and pot lids doing a surprisingly impressive rendition of the band's drum section with a pair of wooden spoons. The two kids both looked up at the same time and froze. "Hi Mom! Hi Dad!"