The move to Cloudsdale was a good one, especially for Singer. The family of pegasai had taken well to their new surroundings and felt that they fit right into their new home, surrounded by clouds and sunshine. Singer was the most happy. He could freely fly around anywhere he wanted and didn't have to worry about upsetting anyone, although Brawn always seemed to manage to find something to get annoyed at him over. This was something that Singer couldn't figure out, no matter how hard he tried. His little innocent mind couldn't comprehend why he and his brother had so much friction between them. or why Brawn always acted like he hated him. All Singer ever wanted to do was to play with Brawn and be a brother to him, but Brawn didn't see Singer the same way Singer saw him. But the open flying area of Cloudsdale provided more room for each of them to fly around without getting into each other's way. Singer hoped that this would play a contributing factor in his plan to make Brawn like him.
None-the-less, Singer wasn't about to let that get him down, the cheerful pegasus colt was excited for school to start back up. He had enjoyed going to school in Canterlot, but often felt left out because a majority of the students in his class practiced magic, which was something that Singer would never experience himself. Living in Cloudsdale would provide him the perfect opportunity he needed to fit in.
First day of school and Singer was excited to be a Cloudsdale student. The little six year old pegasus entered the school building with excitement and full of charisma. He got so excited that he felt like he wanted to sing, but he held back because he was unsure of how the other students would recieve such an act. He walked along the hallways of the school, looking around and getting to know the place better. The school was kept real clean and there were at least two water fountains down every hall. That told him that this school had alot of atheletics here. Something that Singer might be interested in.
In all of his thinking, Singer wasn't watching where he was going and bumped into a small violet colored pegasus filly. She turned around upon impact, seemingly shy. Without hesitation, Singer aproached her to apologize.
"I'm sorry about that. Clumsy me. My name is Singer, what's yours?"
"I... I'm Violet." She said shyly. "Are you new here?"
"I am" said Singer. "I used to live in Canterlot, but I have a feeling that I'll like it better here."
"Yes... it's very, uh, nice." she replied back.
"You okay?"
"Yes, I'm sorry... I'm just a tiny bit shy when I first meet new ponies."
"I'm not... as you can tell." Singer chuckled and looked up at her, she appeared to be a little more welcoming the longer they talked. "So who's your teacher?"
"Ms Nymbus."
"Oh my gosh! Me too! Hey, I know we just met... but... would you want to maybe... I dunno... sit together in class?"
"Really? You want to sit with me?"
"Sure, why not? I mean, I think I like you already. You seem like a nice pony. Maybe we can be friends."
Violet seemed to be shocked at his proposition. She didn't really think anypony would want to be friends with her, due to her shyness and lack of confidence, but in this lucky encounter she appeared to have gained a friend in Singer.
"I think that would be... nice." She finally let out after about a minute and a half of silence.
"Great!" said Singer. "Well... wanna go in, now?"
"Okay" she said with a little reluctance.
Singer led Violet into the brightly colored class room and they both took a seat at one of the tables. As the bell rang, the other students soon joined them.
"Good morning class" said Ms. Nymbus, an elderly pegasus mare with a kind voice.
"Good morning Ms. Nymbus." said all of the students in unison.
"Welcome to your first day of school! I trust that your summer went well?"
All of the students nodded. Singer grew excited, this was already way more fun than the kindergarten class he attended at Canterlot. His teacher was kind of snobby and stuck up, and nothing like Ms. Nymbus.
"Today we are all going to introduce ourselves and have fun before our actual work begins when we return after the weekend. We'll start with the first table. Flash Sentry, why don't you go first?"
The golden colored pegasus walked up to the front of the class room and told everypony his name and a little about himself. He was one of the many blank flanks in the school. Singer wasn't excluded from this group. The other three ponies from Flash's table had been up and introduced themselves. Next it was Singer's table's turn. Violet, being the only other pony besides Singer sitting at her table went before Singer did. Singer watched as the poor little violet colored filly struggled to get more than her name out. "Violet Pedals" had been her revealed full name. Ms Nymbus looked upon her with understanding eyes, patting her on the head and sending her back to her table, calling upon Singer to be next.
Singer flew up to the front of the room, looking out all of the other fillies and colts looking back at him. He felt pretty cool standing up there. They had been sitting there at that moment to see him, to hear him speak. In his excitement of the moment though, he had forgotten to do so, getting a gentle nudge from his teacher to start.
"Oh... sorry. My name is Singer Case. I just moved here from Canterlot. I have a mom, a dad, a brother, an uncle, and a grandma, whom I all live with and love. I love to sing, play with toys and spend time with my family. Oh yeah and I love cheese fries!"
A few colts laughed at his last little tidbit of information as Ms Nymbus moved on. After everypony had been introduced, Ms Nymbus brought out snacks and drinks and had games prepared. All of the children seemed to be enjoying themselves, including Singer and Violet who mainly just sat there and talked the whole time.
"So you believe in them too?" said Violet, finally getting comfortable around Singer and acting like herself.
"Of course I do. Humans are totally real! I'm going to be the first to discover them for real!"
"We could go there together... you and me. Best friends forever!"
"I like that idea! Just make sure we pack alot of cheese fries for the trip!"
"You're really weird" she said, making him stop talking for a minute, almost looking a bit saddened. "I like that about you. I'm kind of weird too."
Singer looked up with a more upbeat expression as she finished her statement. She then grabbed his hoof and put a piece of paper on it for him to read.
"What's this?"
"Read it!"
"Singer, please sign here for our contract to be friends forever! Signed, Violet."
"Friends forever?" he asked.
"Friends forever!" she answered back giving him a hug, then giving him a blue crayon so he could sign his name on the contract. "Now once you sign this, put this away and never ever let anyone take it away from you! Do you promise?"
"I promise!"
Singer had did everything that he said he would. He signed the "document" and placed it in his diary, then placing it back in his bag.
A couple more hours had gone by and Ms Nymbus decided to move on to a different activity. One that would be right up Singer's alley.
"Okay class! As your teacher it is my responsibity to help you discover who you are and what your special talent is so you may earn your cutie marks. And as it appears, most of you are still blank. Perhaps we can change that. Let's see... Singer. Would you like to come up and go first?"
"Me?" said Singer suprised.
"Yes you."
"Okay."
The little colt walked back up to the front of the room once again to display his talent. All he knew was he could sing, so that's what he would do. He didn't get nervous, sure he'd never sing in front of anypony before, but for some reason he felt right standing up there as if what he was about to do would be a part of who he was.
"I am going to sing a song for you guys. This song is inspired by my new friend Violet, who may be the coolest pony in this room!"
Violet blushed at his comment as all the other ponies in the room smiled at her.
"Lean on me
When you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
Til I'm gonna need
Somepony to lean on
You just call on me brother when you need a hand
We all need somepony to lean on
And I just might have a problem that you'll understand
We all need somepony to lean on"
Singer looked up and all of his classmates were overjoyed to hear his voice. His voice had been amazing, it was a high pitched, uncracking, sturdy voice that made everypony in the class room love it.
"Go Singer!" called a filly from the other side of the room.
"That was amazing!" called another.
"I think they want an encore, Singer." said Ms Nymbus.
"You got it!"
"Lean on me
When you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
Till I'm gonna need
Somepony to lean on"
Just then a small and swift light flashed on his flank, going unnoticed by Singer, but not by his teacher.
"Well I'll be a..." she said pleasantly surprised. "Singer, you might want to look at your flank!"
"Huh?" said Singer as he looked back. "WHAT? My cutie mark?"
"On your first day of school, no less!"
"Wow!"
Singer then looked up at Violet who was smiling real big for him. She saw their newly found friendship blossom into something even more spectacular. As Singer rejoined her, she couldn't help but reach over and give him a hug.
"Singer, that was amazing!" she said.
"Yes... it was."
"And all of that happened because of us being friends?"
"I suppose so. Friendship is music. I gotta write this down in my journal!"
"So your song..."
"I meant every word of it, Violet. You and me are going to be best friends forever!"
"I take back what I said before I came to school today." she said happily. "I love school now, and it's all thanks to you."
"Aaaaw shucks!" he said, blushing.
It was most definitely a memorable day at school for Singer. He couldn't wait to get home and tell his parents about his cutie mark, and about his friend. His grandma had come to fly with him back home from school, and he couldn't wait to to tell her and everypony else back home about his wonderful day.
"So child, how was your first day at school?"
"It was great, Grandma Joy! I want to tell you all about it, but I want to wait until we get home so everypony can hear it!"
"Oh my, is that a cutie mark?"
"Yes!"
"My word! You got your cutie mark in school? That's great, Singer!"
"Thank you!"
Once they had gotten home, Singer dashed into the house full of excitement, waiting to tell everypony about how he got his cutie mark. Briefs had been home for about an hour and was asleep. Uncle Fender and Brawn were in their rooms doing their respective hobbies, while Belle was cooking dinner. Singer had hoped that his dad wouldn't be grumpy at him this time and that Brawn felt like being nice today. The former had been dealing with another loony client, boshing his dreams of having normal clients in Cloudsdale. Brawn's teachers had to get on to him several times in school and had informed his mother, who had to bring him home, early form school.
"Hey mom!" said Singer. "When is everypony going to come in for dinner? I got something I want to say to everypony!"
"In a few minutes, sweetie. Go wash up and everypony will be in here momentarily."
"Okay, thanks mom!"
Once Singer had washed up, everypony had gathered at the table for their meal. Brawn, looked less than pleased to be there and Briefs looked like he was having trouble staying awake. Everypony was getting what they wanted from the table, and Singer decided to speak after a few minutes of silence.
"So... guess what happened to me today!"
"No one cares." said Brawn, stuffing his face with broccoli.
"Brawn!" said Belle, angrily. "What have I told you about your attitude?"
"I dunno." said Brawn defiantly.
"I would send you to your room, but I think you want that. I just don't know what to do with you, anymore!"
"I got my..." said Singer, getting interrupted.
"You're mom's right, Brawn!" said Briefs. "You really need to watch yourself before you get yourself in some deep trouble with the both of us!"
"I was just saying that what Singer has to say is probably irrelevant and unimportant to our lives like everything else he says!"
"BRAWN!" yelled Belle. "How dare you say something like that! You are grounded!"
"Whatever!" he said as he got up from the table and walked to his room. Not before slamming the door. Fender and Grandma Joy exchanged puzzled looks at this.
"What was that all about?" said the former.
"I just can't figure out what has gotten into that kid." replied Belle.
Singer suddenly didn't feel like telling anypony anymore, he finished his plate and asked to be excused.
"But wasn't there something you wanted to tell us?" said Belle.
"No" he said quietly as he walked off to his room. "It's not fair! My day was perfect until my family ruined it!"
Singer then opened his bag and pulled out his diary again and was about to vent about Brawn, until he found the contract that Violet had signed with him. A contract to remain friends forever. This rekindled the joy in Singer's big heart. He wasn't going to let his family ruin a day that would forever be special to him. In his journal, for today he read his early entry that he had written in school.
"Friendship is music" he read as he grabbed a pencil. "Thank you Violet!"
So what if he couldn't tell his family? He and Violet shared that moment together, making it that much more special to him. He hoped that he would always remember that and never take it for granted. He decided to add a little something to the entry for the day.
"No matter what, I will never forget this day that I shared with a very special somepony. A friend to call my own. I am the luckiest pony in Equestria. Even if Violet is the only friend I ever have, I am lucky! Signed, Singer Case."
Even though he had managed to not feel sad anymore, the hurt from what happened at the dinner table still remained. But in that moment, he got a knock on the door. It wasn't Fender's knock, so he asked who it was.
"Grandma Joy, here" she said. "May I come in?"
"Of course, Grandma Joy!" He said.
When she opened his door, she looked upon her grandson with great compassion. She saw how hurt he looked after the kithen table incident just a few minutes before. She walked over and sat on his bed with him, wrapping him in her arms.
"I am so sorry that they ruined it for you, Singer."
"I'll get over it."
"If you want, you may tell me right now if you want. I am very curious as to how you got your cutie mark!"
"Okay!" said Singer with excitement as he prepared to tell her his story.
When Singer had completed his story, Grandma Joy gave him a good night kiss, before she'd head off to bed and left his room to first, pay a visit to Brawn. She would have a much different message for him. She wasn't happy when she entered his room, and he could see her face. She was in serious mode, no ammount of talking was going to get Brawn out of this conversation.
"Grandma Joy?" he said with fear.
"Hello Brawn. I think you know why I am here."
"Yeah..."
"You seriously need to straighten up and act your age! Your little brother has done nothing to earn that kind of behaviour toward him. And your parents definitely don't deseve it."
"I can't help it. He's just so annoying!"
"Are you really annoyed? Or are you just jealous?"
"Why would I be jealous of him?"
"You may not think anypony's noticed, but ever since Singer was born, you've been acting different. Like he came in and took over your territory."
"He wasn't even supposed to be born."
"Whether you want him or not, he's your brother and you're going to have to learn to accept that. The sad part is, Singer loves you and wants to be your brother but he can't because you won't let him. Just because you're thirteen years old, now doesn't give you the right to do what you want either. You've wasted the last six years of your life, being jealous. I would suggest you stop wasting your life on petty accusations and actually give him a chance. Did you know that he got his cutie mark today?"
"I didn't notice."
"Of course not. Well that's pretty much all I wanted to say. I hope that what I've just said to you sinks in. I love you Brawn, but eventually you're going to have to grow up."
And with that, she left his room. Brawn sat there thinking about what she had just said. He marveled over the thought of Singer still wanting to be his brother, even after treating him like garbage his whole life. He'd never really taken the time to get to know him, let alone hang out with him. He still felt anger towards him, but he figured he at least owed it to him to apologize.
Brawn opened his door to make sure that no one was stirring. The coast was clear. He then snuck across the hall over to Singer's room and entered. Singer looked up and noticed Brawn standing in his room, at first looking around, then looking up at him. Singer wasn't sure how to handle this, for he feared that Brawn had come to say something else mean.
"Brawn? What did I do this time? I'm sorry, whatever it was."
"You didn't do anything, Singer. I was just... coming to apologize for how I acted earlier."
"Huh?"
"You shouldn't have to pay for my bad attitude, and I'm sorry. You didn't do anything to deserve the way I treated you today."
"Then why are you mad at me?"
"Anyways, I heard you got your cutie mark today."
Singer stood up so Brawn could see it clearly. Singer's cutie mark was a microphone with a small cut off cord. A look of pride came across his brother's face when he saw this.
"I remember when I got my cutie mark."
"Can you tell me the story?"
"I'll tell you what. You tell me how you got yours and I'll tell you how I got mine, capiche?"
"Ca-what?"
"Capiche. It means, "alright?"."
"Oh okay... CAPICHE!"
Singer jumped back up in his bed, at the head part as Brawn sat down at the foot of his bed. Singer then proceeded to tell Brawn about everything that had happened at school. Brawn sat there and listened to the whole story. As he told it, he could see the excitement in the young colts gestures as he told it in detail. Brawn was beginning to wonder what it was that made this kid so unlikable to him in the first place. Maybe there was hope for them, yet.
I don't know what it was that changed Brawn's attitude, but whatever it was I am thankful for it. Although things between us didn't escalate into the brotherly love that I had hoped for after that, things did in fact get better between the two of us. Things that had fallen apart were now starting to come back together.
And on another positive note, things between Violet and I were just beginning to blossom. Just another thing that took my life in a turn for the good. Things were really looking up at that point, which was fine with me.