After class, Thundershield approached Ms. Delphinetly. She was a mare coated in light green with hair as green as the grass in Ponyville. Her cutie mark shows a meter stick lying on a globe with a graduation hat on top of the globe. She looked at Thundershield disappointingly. “Thundershield, I am extremely disappointed in you. Not only were you late, but you nearly destroyed the classroom with your magic.” said Ms. Delphinetly, “Maybe there was a reason you were late Thundersheid?”
“I’m sorry auntie! I tried not to be late! I-I don’t know. I woke up late, I guess”
“I see. Is your leg healed yet?”
“My leg hasn’t healed yet, ma’m.”
“What? Really?” Delphinetly’s expression, though mostly stern, showed some curiosity.
“No it didn’t m’am. I was trying to reach your class on time and it didn’t heal so I use a teleportation spell.”
“Okay. And you didn’t let me walk you because?”
Thundershield stared at the ground and shuffled his hooves awkwardly. “Because I didn’t wake up earlier enough to have you help me.”
Thundershield closed his eyes slowly and heavily sighed in guilt. “I’ll accept my punishment.”
No matter how many times Thundershield did it, Delphinetly couldn’t believe how genuine and mature her nephew took the scolding. She could let it slide; she did punish him by giving time outs. Besides, today was a special day. She walked up to Thundershield and lifted his head to meet her violet eyes.
“I won’t punish you, Thunder. But I will have to tell your mom about this.”
Thundershield, bewildered, stared at her for several seconds. “But it’s my fault aunt Delphinetly! I woke up thinking I could get to school on time with my injured leg. I should have woken up earlier.”
“No Thundershield, it’s quite alright, I’ll forgive you today.”
“Really?!”
“Yes, but promise that you won’t burn any of my books or be late again? Even if that means waking up earlier than usual?”
“I will! I’ll wake up extra early and I’ll work on the spell so I can be even earlier!”
Ms.Delphinetly giggled and Thundershield gave her a hug with the strength of an anaconda. “Thank you so much Aunt Delphinetly! I won’t let you down ever again!” Then he dashed as fast as he could out to catch up with his friends.
“Don’t run so fast Thunder!” said Ms.Delphinetly.
She smiled; he was one of the most hardworking students she ever had and admired his nephew. He always brought her apples so she could see her smile and would give her the best hugs he could give so she wouldn’t be sad.
However, he was a bit of trouble in class. One time, a colt and Thundershield were intensely brawling in the sand. The colt punched Thundershield in the face and he returned with two jabs at the colt’s face. When colt front-kicked Thundershield in the stomach, Thundershield cringed over with a surprised expression in his face. Thundershield shook it off and tackled the colt to the ground, nailing him to the ground. They rolled around the edges of the ring of the chanting foals, exchanging blows. “Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!”
The colt ended up in bottom and tried to use his forehooves to punch Thundershield. Thundershield simply dodged and swung his head with full force, smashing the colt’s nose with his horn. Thankfully it was dull, making it a small blunt weapon rather than a dangerous pick. That didn't calm Ms.Delphinetly, though, who pushed Thundershield off the colt and made sure the colt was okay. She sent everyone, but the colt, who was sent to the hospital for injuries and a bruised up Thundershield, back into the school. She yanked Thundershield by the ear and yelled, “Thundershield! Why would do that? You know that isn’t right!”
Thundershield lowered his head, ear pulled, and said, “Because he insulted you, and no one insults the best aunt in the whole wide world!”
She looked in amazement. She knew the Thundershield was protective but she never knew how far his protection reached. She just shook her head, smiled and gave him a big hug. “I love you aunt Delphinetly, and I don’t want anyone to hurt you in anyway.”
She snapped out of her flashback and looked at her necklace. She opened it and found Thundershield, Dusty, Aqueda, and her all in a family photo. “I love you, too.”
Thundershield was trying to run without spraining his leg again. “Hey, Firesword, wait up!”
His friend looked back. He was red with black hair without a cutie mark, just like Thundershield. His eyes were as orange as a well lit candle. He saw that his friend was limping. “Hang on Thundershield, I’m coming!”
Thundershield tried to run as fast as he could but his friend already reached him. “Your leg hasn’t healed yet?” asked Firesword.
“No, it’s completely healed Firesword, I can now walk again now that you came over,” said Thundershield sarcastically.
“Ok, Well I see you later, I gotta run somewhere.”
“Hey, I didn’t mean it like that, you know I like to joke around from time to time,” Thundershield said.
“Really? Tell me more about how you were just kidding!” Firesword said with a tiny grin.
Thundershield just smirked. “Thanks for waiting for me.”
“Why didn’t you tell me to walk you to go to school?”
The question became a quick agitator when uttered more than once. “Because I don’t want you to worry about me.”
“It wouldn’t be a problem at all. Plus, we’d be excused from being tardy, and I know I would like to sleep a little longer.”
Thundershield just looked at him. “If you got your way, you would sleep a whole day!”
“And that’s a problem because?”
“Whatever man, I just want my leg to heal so you would stop making me your scapegoat.”
Firesword just looked at him in confusion.
“You know, someone to blame when things go wrong,” said Thundershield.
“Like I would know. Unlike you, I’m not an encyclopedionary.”
Thundershield rolled his eyes. He wasn’t that smart and kept reminding Firesword that. “Anyways, my dad is coming home from the Royal Guard for his birthday! My mom, my aunt and I want to surprise him with the town! You want to help prepare?”
“Sure! Let’s go!”
When they went to Thundershield’s house, Aquedea was waiting for him anxiously. “Hijo! Why didn’t you wait for me?!”
“I’m sorry mama, I didn’t mean to worry you. ‘I thought you needed the extra sleep.”
Aquedea tried to fix his hair, “Promise you won’t go out by yourself ever again, querido?”
“Moooom, stop embarrassing me.”
“Prometeme que, por favor!” (Promise me please!)
“Si, mama, no voy a hacerlo de nuevo.” (Yes, mom, I promise I won’t do it ever again.)
“Good.” She kissed Thundershield on the head. She saw Firesword holding a straight face. “Hola, Firesword!”
“Hola, Miss Aquedea,” said Firesword. He looked at his friend– smirking-- and then walked inside with Thundershield. Thundershield lowered his head with blood red cheeks. The house was a typical Western home that was painted green with red window frames. Inside displayed the mix of the Spanish and Pony culture. The inside was decorated with a white ceiling and pillars upholding the ceiling. The wooden pillars protruded through the walls and held the ceiling atop. Inside, many of the furniture displayed a Latin feel to it. But today there was an extra touch of decorations, for Dusty Oak was coming back from his duty of the Royal Guard. He went to join the Royal Guard after he was offered by one of the Captains. “Mom, why did dad join the Shining Guard?” asked Thundershield.
“Hijo, he joined because he wanted to help defend Equestria from its dangers,” Aqueda said while putting decorations were being put up. “You know that.”
Thundershield did know that, but there wasn’t a single day that he missed his father. He wanted to go out there and travel with him. More importantly, he wanted to stand at his father’s side. He loved his home, his friends, his family, and Hooverston. He looked up at the stars and saw that one was shining brighter than the others. It was the star that reminded him of his father.
…
“Hey dad, why is the star brighter than the others?” asked young Thundershield.
“Well, why shouldn’t it?” asked his father.
“Because it‘s not giving the others the chance to be seen.”
“But you can see the other stars, can’t you?”
“I guess so. But why does it do that?”
“Well maybe the other stars are lost and confused. They might be even scared in the dark.”
“Well…I guess.”
“The shining star was born with an enormous glow and it wants to use its gift to help other stars by protecting them from the darkness.”
Thundershield never saw it that way, he always thought that the star was too bright and tried to impede the other star’s abilities. “So, it’s helping the other stars?”
Dusty playfully tackled Thundershield to the ground and tickled him. “I’m absolutely positive, kid. It wants to help others, just like you. So what it does is, just like the bright stars, is it shines brighter than the others so it can give even more light from the darkness.”
Thundershield gazed at the star a bit more. “That star is awesome.”
Dusty smiled and began to speak again, “I’m sure when the star was little, it thought the same thing you’re thinking right now.” Dusty changed his tone of voice suddenly and said, “Thunder, you and that bright star have something in common.”
“What’s that dad?”
“Both of you shine so brightly, that everything notices. Maybe you or him don’t notice the shine yourselves posses, but you both will. And when the time comes, you will both use that shine to help everyone.”
…
Thundershield just looked at the sky from the window. Seven years later and the star is one of the brighter ones in the sky. Its shine has not been extinguished just yet. “When dad? When will the time come?” Thundershield asked looking at the sky.