We speculated at dinner what my cutie mark could mean.
“Perhaps it means I’m going to be a Royal Guard!” I said, excitedly.
“That would be cool!” Derpy replied, with equal excitement. She gobbled down her muffins and smiled brightly.
“Don’t you ever eat anything besides muffins?”
“Well, when I was living at home, there were some things I ate other than muffins.” She contemplated the sandwich before her.
“Why do you like muffins so much?”
“Oh, that’s an easy question! I love muffins because they’re what my mom made me all the time when I was back home. She would make them for me all the time. Especially when daddy was working late. I don’t understand why he worked late so often.
“Mom always said something about how I was quite a hooffull. I spent a lot of time seeing various people about my eyes and about my performance in school.” She stopped and thought for a minute. “I suppose that all added up to a lot of bits, because I hardly ever saw my daddy. I once asked him to come in for Family Appreciation Day, but he said he was too busy, so my mom had to come in.”
“Anyway, it was our way to bond. She even taught me how to make muffins. It’s just some flour, some water…” she trailed off as she tried to remember all the ingredients in the recipe.
“That’s quite alright, Derpy,” I said, hoping to keep her from spending all the free time we had on the muffin recipe. “So, I noticed that you have two different names. Why is that?”
“Well, one is the name I was given when I was born—Ditzy Doo. That’s my father’s last name, Doo. There were some rough times. My mom argued with my dad a lot about how he was never there to help raise me. Something about how he was never there when I needed to go to the doctor, and how he didn’t understand anything about my condition.
“That was the last time I saw my daddy before I came here. My mom said that I should use her last name, Hooves. Derpy is just my nickname.” She gave me a smile before returning to contemplate the sandwich again. “I was given that by my daddy.” She seemed to have a fondness for her father.
“So what did your parents do for a living?”
“My dad was a Mail Stallion. I kind of always wanted to follow in his hoof steps. I just need to learn to focus my eyes a little better.” She blinked a few times and her eyes, for a moment, synchronized. The next moment, though, the right eye drifted inward.
“I think that’s a great dream,” I say. “I think you should go be a Mail Mare.” I beam at her and she gives me a grin back.
“What about you? What do you want to be?”
“I used to want to be a Cloud Crafter like my dad, but I don’t think that’s going to happen with this cutie mark.”
“Yeah, you’re going to be part of the Royal Guard!” She stood up and put her hoof in front of her mouth like she was hold a trumpet. “Here comes the grand Princess Celestia and her most noble Guard, Sky Bolt!” I chuckle as I stand up and march in front of her. She was so much fun to be around! She always knew how to make light of just about any situation. I really liked that about her.
She also knew how to laugh. That was so great about her. She had a laugh that just made me want to smile and laugh too. When I heard Derpy’s laugh, I knew that everything was going to be okay. There was just some unknown thing in me that told me that nothing could stop us if all we had was our laughter.
The activity after lunch was raincloud kicking. Derpy seemed quite the natural at it. She was able to clear out her entire row of rainclouds before anyone else, including me, had completed one. She seemed to really enjoy herself, bouncing on the clouds. That was when she absent-mindedly ventured over into the thunderstorm section. Mrs. Storm started to fly after her, but it was too late, with a single jump, lightning discharged from the cloud, striking Mrs. Storm, who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
With a shake, Mrs. Storm was okay, but all the fillies and colts—except me and Derpy—were laughing. When we saw that Mrs. Storm was okay, we busted out laughing ourselves. It was quite humorous, but Mrs. Storm was less than amused. She understood that it was an accident, but she didn’t find it funny.
Once everypony was calmed down from the jest, Derpy was sat on the side since she had already cleared her set of clouds. She was kind of sad that she had no more clouds to drain, so I sat down beside her and let her take my row. I never particularly enjoyed Raincloud kicking, and she seemed to love it. I was so happy that she was happy.
We all finished early, since Derpy was on the case. There was one cloud she made rain a little too much that it thinned out so far that she fell right through it. She just kept on bouncing, though. When she opened her eyes, she realized where she was and let out a laugh that was echoed by all those close to her. Some tried to push a joke onto her, but she was already laughing, and it was lost in the ruckus of the roars of laughs.
Alto came to us later. “I feel so bad for the other day,” she said. She seemed sincere, and Derpy took her hoof in a hoof shake.
“What do you mean?” Derpy asked.
“I, I should have stopped my sister,” Alto said, with a frown on her face, “I just let her do it because I didn’t want to be caught up in the middle. Strata Cirrus can be quite mean.” There was a tear in her eye.
“It’s easy to get swept up in the moment,” she said. “You’re forgiven.”
There was a smile on Alto’s face that shined as bright as the clouds she was walking on. “Does this mean we can be friends?”
“Of course!” Derpy was so happy. North Breeze was just upset. I supposed he really liked Alto.
“I don’t need you! I’ve got plenty of friends!” North Breeze said with a lot of anger.
“I know you didn’t!” Alto said, walking back to the Mess Hall with me and Derpy.
Alto was a nice filly. She was happy to have friends like us who liked her for who she was. So many foals made fun of her because she just wanted to be a musician. Most Pegasi thought that was a job only for Earth Ponies and Unicorns.
“I mean, my father is a weather pony,” she started explaining at dinner. Derpy was eyeing the third muffin at the table with desire in her eyes. “He specializes in the use of the decorative clouds. My mother is a snowflake manufacturer. But for me, nothing is more soothing than the sound of a viola on a warm evening.
“Play a what now?” Derpy asked in confusion.
“A viola! It’s kind of like a violin, but it’s larger and has a deeper tone,” Alto explained. “It’s the alto instrument of the violin family.” She gave a large grin. “I never was really interested in flying anyway. I like my hooves on the ground.”
“I don’t see why anyone would be upset with you following your dreams,” Derpy said.
“They say ‘It’s not becoming of a Pegasus to lower herself to the levels of Unicorns and Earth Ponies and playing such back-water instruments.’” She mocked her parents in such a degrading tone.
Derpy still hadn’t taken her eyes off the muffin sitting in front of Alto, untouched. Alto watched her gaze, perhaps wondering if she was staring at the carrots that she left also untouched. Perhaps, like me and the toast on the first day, she didn’t really like the carrots and was hoping that Derpy would ask for them instead of the more desirable muffin. She still hoofed over the muffin anyway to a Derpy who let out such a squeal that the whole Mess had to have heard it.
Our new friend Alto bid farewell before the required bedtime. Derpy and I took the time to watch the Moonrise. The Mare in the Moon stared down at us as we watched the stars appear. Derpy and I were happy together. We were best friends, and there was nothing that was going to get between us.
As per usual, Derpy and I waved at each other from the windows above our beds. She snuggled the cloud muffin I had given her, then disappeared. I laid down and snuggled under the blankets. I felt something soft in my mane—significantly softer than the coarse hair I had—and reached in to investigate. It was the cloud I had stored from the other day.
I suddenly remembered why I had stashed it. I wanted to make something special. I began molding it and playing with it, trying to get all the details right, but there simply wasn’t enough cloud here for me to complete my project.
“Well, well, if it isn’t a lovebird,” a familiar, hated voice said from the next bed over. I had almost forgot that I slept next to him. Almost.
“A lovebird? I’m a Pony, same as you, Thunderstorm.” I was confused with this new nickname. It made no sense to me. Lovebirds were colorful birds, like the ones I saw flying into Cloudsdale every Spring. I was never very gifted with animals, so I never really saw one up close. Even when we tried to do a bird-watching field trip, I scared off the birds that were trying to come closer.
“You are pretty dense, aren’t you.”
Then it hit me. Lovebird. He was making fun of my friendship with Derpy, just like every other foal the other day.
“I’m just friends with her! That’s all!”
Just keep telling yourself that, Sky Bolt. Maybe it will be true one day.” I could hear him rolling over and pulling the covers over his head. “Only a mare as dumb as she is would ever love you.”
What did this verb mean? ‘Love.’ I pulled out my pencil and paper and began writing my parents again. I asked them what it really meant to ‘love’ someone, and why was everypony making fun of me for it? I nearly forgot to tell them that I had gotten my cutie mark, so I added that at the bottom, under my signature. I rolled over myself and tried to go to sleep. Perhaps tomorrow would clear everything up.
It was the middle of the week. Wednesday. Normally, I hated Wednesdays, but then again, I never really had a friend before to make the week bearable, let alone two. Alto and Derpy were standing on the porch of their cabin. It seemed they were in the same cabin.
We divided our breakfast in what we decided was the normal fashion: Derpy took all the muffins and gave us the rest of her tray of food, and we ate what we wanted from the rest of the meal.
“Hey, Alto,” I said, “What do you think of my Cutie Mark? I got it yesterday!”
She contemplated the mark for a minute from where she sat, then put a hoof to her chin. “I think that it’s cool. What’s it mean?”
“I dunno yet. Derpy and I think it has to do with being a member of the Royal Guard!”
“Wouldn’t that be so cool!” Derpy asked.
“You bet it would!” Alto ceded. We continued talking about what it would be like to be a Royal Guard. They were always so still and brave. And they all seemed to look alike, though. I hoped that me joining the Royal Guard didn’t mean that I would have to dye my coat. I loved my sky blue coat and golden mane. Derpy said that would be silly if I had to change what I looked like. She said she would be my friend anyway, because it’s what’s on the inside that counts. Even if she couldn’t tell who I was from a crowd of Guards. We all laughed then.
North Breeze came in about this time. The Green and Scarlet colt sauntered past Alto, in an effort to draw her back to him. It was met with a fiery scowl.
“So I see you chose to join… them. The Blank Flank and the Dunce.”
“My flank’s not blank anymore, North Breeze.”
“Oh? Is that so?” I show off my cutie mark, and he seems genuinely surprised that I could follow through on my comment. “What does that even mean, Belly Flop? That you’re a pony shield?”
“I think it means that I’m going to be a Royal Guard in Canterlot.”
“You are thick. That’s not the cutie mark of a Royal Guard!”
“Oh, and you’ve seen one?” Derpy said.
“I come from Canterlot. I see Royal Guards every day.” He huffed at me. “And you would never make it in their ranks, Sky Bolt. You’re too…” He paused in mid-sentence as Mrs. Storm walked by, greeting the four of us with a smile. When she was out of range, he finished, “Stupid.”
Derpy watched me closely to make sure I didn’t do anything I’d regret, and though I was fuming to the point that I swore the next thing I looked at would catch on fire, I said and did nothing. North Breeze gave me a smirk and promenaded off.
“I’m proud of you, Bolt,” she said with a wide smile. “You’re learning to control yourself.” She came around the table and wrapped a wing around me in a hug. Alto was only glaring at North Breeze as he sat with the other fillies he had met. He tried looking over when she wouldn’t notice, but his cheeks grew red as he noticed her glower meet him in the eyes.
“I don’t believe that colt,” she said. She shook her head and returned to her breakfast.
“Why?”
“I’ll tell you later. I’m not really ready to talk about it yet.”
“Okay,” Derpy said, “whenever you’re ready, we’re here to talk. We’re your friends.” She blinked a couple times so that her eyes both focused on Alto, but that time, like all the others, was short lived. Alto gave a small snicker.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t laugh about that,” she hung her head.
“It’s alright, Alto. I’ve learned that there are things that we have to like about ourselves in order to live a happy life. And I love to see other ponies smile.” She offered a smile to Alto. “Don’t worry,” she said, “I think it’s kinda funny too!”
Mrs. Storm gathered us up to go to the center of the camp, next to the lake. There was a little place where a pony could stand and be above the rest of us.
“Today, we will be honored with a special guest!” Mrs. Storm announced. “It is Mr. Dash, all the way from Cloudsdale!” A cyan-coated, rainbow-maned stallion, who actually couldn’t be too much older than us, came flying in so fast there was a rainbow trail behind him. He slowed down only to land softly on the platform. “Now listen closely to him, he’s the best weather pony to come out of Cloudsdale yet!”
“Woohoo!” cheered some of the crowd, but I had known Mr. Dash for a while. He lived in a house not far from my parents. While he spent a lot of time working on the weather for the regions around Cloudsdale, he was always there at the local hangout after school, the Thunderhead.
“Wouldn’t it be cool to know somepony like Mr. Dash?” Alto asked. She seemed a bit awestruck to see Mr. Dash. “With a mane like that…”
“I do know him,” I said. “I live a block away from him. I mean, he just graduated high school this year.”
The look in Alto’s eyes was something to behold. She seemed to have glimmers and stars shining from behind the black pupils, framed by her rose irises. “Could you introduce me?”
“I suppose…” I didn’t see the harm; it was just that I didn’t know how busy he was going to be.
Derpy looked at me and smiled with a nod of approval. The smile on Alto’s face was so wide, I wondered if there was room on her face for her eyes or her nose. It seemed to make Derpy happy that I made Alto so happy. Though, I wasn’t quite so sure why it made Alto so happy.
“Welcome fillies and colts!” Mr. Dash said. He was quite stunning. I had never seen a pony with so many variations in his hair. Back home, my mom had only two colors in her mane, and my dad only one. It was a marvel that there could be so many colors in one mane. And it certainly didn’t look dyed. It was one hundred percent natural. “Being a weather pony isn’t for everypony. In fact, it takes a skill set that you have to be born with.
“My father was a weather pony, and my mother worked in the Rainbow Factory. He would always clear the skies after it rained so that my mom could produce a beautiful Rainbow. She even said that when she had me, I was a rainbow because she loved them so much.
“You have to start young to be a great weather pony,” he said, “you need to practice your agility, your speed, and, of course, your accuracy.” He lifted himself off the ground a little with his wings. “I mean, if Trottingham is supposed to get rain, then you send them rainclouds. If Manehatten needs some wind, you get your flank over there and you make some wind.” He punctuated each point by drifting toward the city or town her was talking about.
“But that’s not all there is to a Weather Pony’s job. You have to learn from the lay of the land, you have to know what it needs. If you miss a storm or two, you have to make it up. Especially when you’re dealing with farms.
“Making it rain and that is not all a Pegasus on Weather Patrol does, either. We are needed to clear the clouds for sunny days, and make sure that clouds don’t thicken up so much they try to make fog…”
At this point, I began tuning out Mr. Dash’s presentation. It was all about weather and stuff. Things that my dad had taught me about since he was young. He told me that before he completed his study of the finer art of cloud crafting, he earned his bits as a Weather Pony. He said that was a great place to start for any Pegasus—learning to control the clouds and make weather. The next step was the weather cloud making, then finally Cloud Crafting the way my father did it. Mom helped me practice weather stuff most. I kinda missed them all, even though it was only a few days since I had last saw them.
Mr. Dash continued until about mid-morning talking about how Weather Ponies were significant to the history of Equestria. It reminded me too much of history classes in school for me to pay attention. Derpy, though, was rapt. Alto, I could tell, was more interested in the pony making the speech than the speech itself. When Mr. Dash opened it up to questions, most of the crowd lifted hooves in the air.
“You, right there, the filly with the white coat and pink mane.” I looked to Alto, who was the only filly I knew fit that description here. She squeaked as Mr. Dash called on her.
“I—I was just wondering…” she blushed so red that it nearly matched her mane. “Are you… single?” She blushed so much that her face almost turned the color of her mane. “Never mind! Ohmygoshthatwassostupid. Ishouldhaveneverdecidedtodothat!”
“What’s wrong, Alto?” I ask, as another filly asked what Mr. Dash’s favorite part of his job was.
“I don’t know what I was thinking!”
“About what? Why did you ask him that?”
“Never mind!” She sunk back into the crowd.
“What was that about?” I asked a puzzled Derpy.
“I think I know,” she said, but there was still a look that she was confused.
We watched the last of Mr. Dash’s presentation, then we went to the Mess for lunch. Alto was nowhere to be seen. There was certainly something strange going on here.