//------------------------------// // Innocence // Story: Sharp and Flat (First Attempt At Writing) // by thisnameisironic //------------------------------// Treble walked out of Starswirl Hall blushing. Something just happened that changed his life forever. Something he couldn’t wait to tell Deb the next time he saw her. Something that probably Celestia herself couldn’t predict. Treble got- Hey! Don't spoil it! Huh? Pinkie Pie? What are you..? You skipped over the class I was teaching! Pinkie, it was only for the conven- -ience of the readers, I get that. But you Pinkie Promised that you wouldn’t skip my class! …Crap. Look, I’ll narrate your class- No one breaks a Pinkie Promise. EVER!!! Pinkie, I’m sorry! I forgot about it and..! … Look, you want to narrate with me or not? … Now Pinkie, I know what you’re thinking. …I’d love to stick and chat, but I got other places in the story I gotta be! Wait, Pinkie! … Well, anyway, Treb- At least tell what happened before he walked out! I WAS GETTING THERE! ______________________________________________________________________________ Pinkie Pie’s class was…interesting to say the least. She was supposed to be teaching music theory, but it ended up more like a very fast-paced game of 20 questions. There wasn’t even any learning at all, except for the fact that physics were no match for this pink pony. Despite being an earth pony, she managed to teleport herself around the room faster than a blur. There was no warning, much to the misfortune of Treble during the class. When Treble entered the choir room of Starswirl Hall with Sweetie Belle, they had to sit separate from eachother. The colts were in the middle, while the fillies were on either side. Oddly enough, there weren’t any classification tests. He thought there were supposed to be categories like sopranos, tenors, and altos. Instead, the classifications were simply “boy” and “girl”. After the fairly quick “voice placement test” that didn’t seem fitting to call so, Pinkie immediately began answering questions for other ponies. Surprisingly, this took up the entire rest of the class. Pinkie would even let them out a half hour early! Treble found this time to look at…he didn’t know what the term would be. He liked her, but it was more than just liking her. Also, the fact that she was a blank flank just like him…he got butterflies in his stomach thinking about that. Another fact was that…he couldn’t put his finger on what it was. In fact, he didn’t know exactly why he liked her. He just did. Sunlight was shining through a window onto Sweetie Belle’s mane. It may have just been his imagination, but her mane and tail seemed to sparkle in the light…sparkle, not glitter. He hadn’t realized it that much until now, but he really liked her mane. He was about to look at her tail when he was startled by a hyperactive voice that suddenly appeared behind her. “Ooo! Ooo! I think I met you at registration! Pebble! Vinyl’s kid, right? I worked with her at Princess Cadence’s wedding! Do you have any questions like the others? You haven’t raised your hoof yet!” There was a short silence when she finished talking. Then quiet murmur. Treble felt his blood rush to his head. He could overhear some of the colts and fillies already. “Vinyl? Does she mean the Vinyl?” “Vinyl wasn’t straight!” “Is he adopted?” Pinkie cleared her throat, stopping the commotion. “I think we’re done here. I’m famished from all answering and taking-questioning! You can go early!” ______________________________________________________________________________ The fillies and colts rushed out. All except Treble. He was still in shock from what just happened. He didn’t want ponies to know that his mom was the loud, partying, and obnoxious mare that was Vinyl Scratch. Now, in Treble’s eyes anyway, he was going back to the same world of pain he has been trying to avoid. Vinyl’s a lesbian? He didn’t know what that was, but he still took offense. Vinyl’s an alcoholic? She actually quit while with Octavia, but since Treble didn’t know, he denied it. Vinyl’s a sellout? That really got his dander up! Now he was stuck. He can’t bear to show himself again. He figured he should just go back to his dorm room and stay there for the rest of the month. He was sure he could survive 30 days on 10 bags of munchies and 24 cans of Colta-Colas. Maybe he could starve himself. Maybe he was a little pudgy. While he was continuing to prepare for his own personal apocalypse, he felt a tap on the shoulder. He turned toward the tapper to find a familiar white unicorn, with the same Trixie yogurt-like blend of a mane. Faust, I really like her mane… “You alright? You’ve just been sitting here since we were let out,” Sweetie Belle asked, which the colt could tell was with good intention. Treble looked at her then looked down again, trying to ignore his tears. “Look, if this is about your mom…” Sweetie began, but then the white colt started bawling. Sweetie could tell that he was obviously sensitive about the topic. She knew Vinyl Scratch, of course. She’s performed at Ponyville a few times, but never actually listened to her music. She remembered that at one point her sister hired Vinyl to mix while she showed off her Gala dresses. It turned out to fail in the end, but it didn’t matter anymore. “Listen, I don’t care if your mom’s a DJ. My sister runs her own fashion shop, so I’m rarely able to spend time with her. I can’t play with her or anything.” Treble lifted his head, showing his eyes red from tears. That sounded almost exactly like his relationship with his mom. She was busy all the time working on music, or performing at concerts, or whatever she usually did. Whatever time he would be able to spend with her, he would take advantage of. “Listen,” Treble began. “I just-” Sweetie Belle hugged him. He wasn’t really expecting it, but he liked it. The filly that he “liked” was now giving him a hug when he needed it most. “You just need someone to cheer you up, that’s all.” Then, out of nowhere, something happened that neither of them could’ve predicted. Sweetie pecked Treble on the nose. Both of them blushed at about the same time. What just happened? Treble thought to himself. Did she…kiss me? Why do I have this weird feeling? It’s like… POMF! At that moment, his wings burst open. He looked back at his wings and, for some reason, they wouldn’t go back down. Why did he feel…embarrassed? Sweetie giggled. “Is something wrong?” she asked, unaware of what was ensuing on the colt’s back. “N-No, nothing's wrong…” he replied. He should ask his dad about this. He’s a pegasus, after all. He might know this stuff. “Well…the others are throwing frisbees downstairs,” Sweetie mentioned. “You wanna play with them?” Treble, for a moment, didn’t know how to respond. It would be nice to spend more time with this filly, but he really wanted to see Deb. He wanted to tell her about Sweetie, and why he’s feeling the way he is around her. But he can’t just say no; it would be rude. “I’m…sorry. I need to see my sister. I want to talk to her about something,” he replied, bracing for the worst. “It’s fine.” Treble turned to walk out but then looked back at Sweetie. “…See you at lunch?” Those words alone gave Sweetie possibly the biggest grin he has ever seen. Treble smiled back and ran out the door. Sweetie Belle thought to herself after he left. She didn’t know what made her kiss him. It just…happened. Note to self: don’t tell Rarity about this. ______________________________________________________________________________ Treble returned to his room after a long, wet sprint back to his dorm. Rain was pouring heavily outside and he absolutely hated rain. He didn’t like his tail and mane getting soaked when he was going somewhere, especially when he didn’t have a carriage to get into. There seemed to be only one exception to this, though: swimming. He didn’t like it at first, but now whenever he got the chance to, he would be more than happy to do it…if there weren’t many ponies around, of course. Treble plopped on the bed. Did that moment really just happen? Sweetie Belle, the filly of his dreams, kissing him on the nose? Nopony else was around, which seemed to make it even more surreal. And that mane... Dear Faust, that mane! Then she was a blank flank, just like him. Something about that just made her that much more special. He was the only one in Trottingham, so he was always the target that caught the attention of bullies. It wasn’t fair! Couldn’t they just catch him a break and pick on some other pony? That’s when he thought he heard something move. Treble jumped. That was one problem with his dorm: he had to share a bathroom with a camper from an adjacent room to his. He thought that’s probably what Deb meant about having a roommate. But he had this fear that the pony in particular would be…one of those types. Like the type who would sneak into your bedroom while you’re sleeping and scare you awake. Then he heard it again. It wasn’t coming from the bathroom, though. It was like whatever it could be was right in front of him. That’s when a certain light gray unicorn with red eyes materialized out of thin air. “SURPRISE, FOAL BROTHER!!!" Treble flinched and hit his head on the wall behind him. He rubbed the back of his head, since that knockback would probably give him a headache later on. “Buck, what was that for?!” Treble reacted to yet another one of his sister’s immature pranks. “Sorry. You left your door unlocked, so I had to make sure you would lock it next time,” Deb explained apologetically. “Yeah, I guess…and don’t call me that!” Deb giggled at his response to her title for the colt. “You’re always going to be my foal brother, and you know it. Anyway, how was the first morning at camp?” ______________________________________________________________________________ Shrugging off his little “nickname”, he proceeded to tell Deb everything he remembered from that morning. He told her about this morning, and why he wasn’t there for breakfast. At that moment, his stomach growled, to which they both laughed and Deb giving him a granola bar. He told her about when he went into the library to ask for directions and ended up meeting a real dragon. Even though she already knew about Twilight working at the library since her coronation, she still showed a face of amusement as Treble went into his excitement about seeing a dragon close up. He told her about Pinkie Pie’s music theory class. About how, really, he didn’t learn anything at all except for the party pony’s physics breaking. Deb seemed concerned about this fact. “Last year at camp we had a different music theory teacher, but after she retired, Pinkie Pie took her place,” Deb pointed out. “Now I know you won’t be getting the most here.” Treble just looked down to the ground. “I wish I’d brought my guitar. Or my keyboard,” “For?” And that’s when he began the highlight of the morning: the filly named Sweetie Belle. Treble went into more detail about meeting his first friend at camp than the other events combined. He went into detail about how she was a blank flank like him, and came to the camp to hopefully get her cutie mark. He talked about how nice her mane and tail were, and how it seemed to sparkle in sunlight. He mentioned how she was still friendly to him despite Pinkie revealing that he was Vinyl’s son. He almost mentioned how he got kissed, but he caught himself. “What was that?” inquired Deb. “Nothing.” “Nothing. Nothing at all?” “Nope.” “Are you sure?” “I’m sure.” “Because by the way you described this filly, I’d say you like her.” Treble gulped, starting to get nervous. “Yeah?” “But not just a like.” “Huh?” “You like-like her.” Treble started blushing around the time Deb mentioned him liking Sweetie, but now he was as red as an apple, and only more color appeared on his face as she continued. His stubborn personality refused to admit his secret directly, though. It always seemed to be a thing with him: that he would want to tell his sister about something special that happened but she would always find out somehow. This was personal though. “W-What’s that supposed to mean?” said the stuttering colt. “It’s more than just friendship, isn’t it?” Deb asked, clearly trolling at this point. She should remember to thank her aunt for that minor talent later on. “N-N-No…” “You like her like how Mom likes Dad. Which means…” “I don’t like her! Not that way!” “Then how come you hugged her and let her kiss you?” Oh no… “…” “Haha, oh come on, don’t act like that didn’t happen,” Deb said with a chuckle. This really rustled Treble’s jimmies, bringing him into a mix of anger and tears. “How did you know?!” Treble shouted, raising his voice through streaming tears of embarrassment. “Hey, it’s okay, little brother,” she reassured him. It was clear he didn’t want her to know until he was completely comfortable with the fact. Or most likely not, because he rarely told anypony his secrets. It was probably out of fear that he would regret it in the near future. ______________________________________________________________________________ Now would probably be the best time to explain how Deb knew about the adorable incident that could only be described as “young love”. Deb had the rest of morning off after classifications and didn’t have her class of the day (music theory, like Treble) until after lunch. As a result of boredom and friends doing other things, she decided to check on her foal brother. She arrived outside Starswirl and found colts and fillies already out. All except Treble. Worried, she went into the building when he heard a conversation between him and another filly. Not wanting to be caught, she cast an invisibility spell on herself and caught a closer look. He was hugging a filly (a fine one for him, in Deb’s opinion), and was crying into her shoulder. She seemed to be trying to comfort him. Deb could guess that the pink pony from before revealed Mom’s identity again, because Treble was definitely talking about her. She couldn’t hear the exactly conversation going on, only bits and pieces, but she could tell that their Mom was the subject. It was at that moment that the filly in question kissed him on the nose. It was only for a brief moment, but it was Treble’s first kiss, nonetheless, and Deb couldn’t be more proud. They both blushed, like neither of them intended for that to happen. It was rather cute, and she knew that she would definitely bring it up to him later. Of course, he would be stubborn and say he didn’t do it (he usually found fillies ‘gross’), and that only made him more cute. She realized that Treble would be walking toward him soon enough, so she retreated downstairs just as the invisibility spell was about to wear off from lack of focus. Treble has a fillyfriend! She was chanting in her head. She couldn’t be happier for her foal brother. After teleporting near Treble’s dorm and taking a short walk to the dorm itself, she went inside and approached his room. She would originally wait outside his door, cast a vanish spell, then reappear as soon as he was in range. His door, Deb noticed however, was slightly ajar. Now she knew how to make her plan even more successful. With attempted hushed giggling, she went inside and prepared for his arrival. ______________________________________________________________________________ “Hey, Treble. It’s alright to like fillies your age. I’ll admit: I had my eye on a few colts back then.” Treble looked up. “You did?” “Yeah. I even like a few stallions here at Canterlot School right now.” Treble’s young mind came to a realization. An epiphany...at least, for somepony his age to thought that ponies of opposite sex were gross. “So it’s alright to like-like somepony right now?” Deb could tell he was trying to avoid the word “love”. It looked like he wasn’t exactly used to that word if it wasn’t describing the relationship to his mom, dad, or sister. “Of course. And if you have any like-like feelings toward teachers, that’s fine too. I felt that way with my Equestrian History teacher back at Trottingham. He was pretty hot…” Treble giggled at the last part, probably because he could relate: he did have a crush on Ms. Smiles from last year. She was nice, and protected him from bullying, and even helped him with homework. “Well, Treble. It’s getting close to lunch,” Deb made mention of. “Ready?” “Can we eat with Sweetie Belle?” Treble blurted, then immediately covered his mouth when he realized. “We could, I suppose.” Deb giggled at her brother. If only she could get her own coltfriend, but then again, “love” between a young colt and filly was innocent in comparison to an actual relationship. With that, they left the room, Treble locking his door, then walked toward the commons. ______________________________________________________________________________ "Deb?" asked Treble as they were leaving the dormitory. He made sure no one was around. "Yeah?" "Something happened to me when she kissed me," he explained. Deb's eyes widened. He's starting to go through "changes" already? She should probably make sure, later, but not out in the open. "And?" "My wings went up and wouldn't move." Yep. She figured that's what would've happen. Can he even hit puberty this early? She shouldn't need to ask that; her father hit it early before other colts his age did. "...Yeah, you'll want to write Dad about that."