In the wee hours of the morning, well above Ponyville in one of Cloudsdale’s many skyscrapers, an apartment suddenly came to life as its sole inhabitant, a white pegasus with a beige mane, flicked on the lights and began preparing for a new day. The colt himself was nothing spectacular; while being larger and stronger than most pegasi, which also made his wings seem tinier in comparison, he was pretty normal.
However, he was still too large to fit in the shower.
The colt began his daily ceremony of griping to himself as he tried to fit his bulk into the confined space.
I knew getting an apartment this close to the clown college was a bad idea.
After settling into a “comfortable” position, he then struck a cloud hovering directly above him, causing it to swell as it prepared to bathe the pony underneath it with water.
Hopefully, a nice, warm shower will help to cast off this sluggish state of mind and invigorate me so that I may meet this day head-on!
At that moment a cold drop of water fell onto the groggy colt’s head, causing him to shiver. He gazed dumbly at the cloud above him, mere seconds from beginning its downpour, when a thought struck him.
Why was the water so cold?
The answer struck him moments later, and when it did, his ruby eyes shot wide with panic.
Oh no! I forgot to let the cloud run!
He gazed up in horror as the water finally spilled from the bloated stormcloud.
no no NO NO-!
“AIIIIIIIIIEEEE!!!!!”
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Miles below, a sleeping bear started into wakefulness, cowering as it tried to find the source of the shrill, bone-chilling screech that pervaded the forest air. After a few seconds the evil screams stopped, just as suddenly as they had started. Still thoroughly terrified the bear quickly got to its paws, fearful that whatever had given voice to that cry was coming for him next! Without a second thought, the bear dove for the nearest cover he could find; in this case, a tree. He made an undignified scramble up into the concealment of the leaves and stood there, watching the ground below intently for any sign of the mystery predator.
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Later that day…
Down in Ponyville, the snow-white pegasus was quietly sipping his tea, steadfastly ignoring the ponies glancing at him and the snickering that reached his ears. It hadn’t taken long for word of the masculine colt’s shrill squeals to circulate throughout Cloudsdale and the surrounding towns. Now he found that wherever he went ponies around him were all laughing under their breath and avoiding eye contact with him. He ignored it all though, quietly and calmly sipping his tea, staring straight ahead.
Don’t respond, just sip your tea and take deep breaths. In...Out….In…Out… Sticks and stones may break my bones, but their jeers can never hurt me. Oh, but what if this reaches my companions at the fitness club?! I’ll be a laughing stock for sure!
Before the colt’s thoughts could get much farther, they were interrupted by the timely appearance of a sheet of paper promptly smacking him in the face.
Oh bother! First I’m the laughing stock of the town, and now I’m BLIND?! Will my misfortune never cease?!
He flailed wildly for a bit, swinging his hooves back and forth before realizing what had actually happened. As he peeled the offending paper off his face, the pegasus glanced at the ponies smirking at him, feeling more than a little foalish.
Now what have we here… “Mandatory meeting for all Ponyville Pegasi.”
“Library, tonight! Be cool or be mule.” A voice rang out from above. Glancing towards the sky, he just barely caught a glimpse of a rainbow-colored blur before it disappeared behind Sugarcube Corner.
An emergency meeting? I dearly hope it’s nothing major. My wings still ache from having to ‘disaster-proof’ the town. However, if it is... maybe everyone will forget about this morning’s mishap!
Filled with determination he jumped to his hooves, ready to tackle near anything that came his way. Unfortunately, the list of things the invigorated stallion was prepared to handle did not include the tray of ice cold water he had knocked out of a nearby waiter’s telekinetic field.
It made an interesting sight: The majestic white pegasus, standing tall and proud amongst the other café goers with fire in his eyes, completely and blissfully unaware of the water about to descend upon him.
“AIIIIIIIIIEEEE!!!!!”
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It was late in the evening and the normally peaceful Ponyville Library was packed, buzzing with the sound of anxious, excited pegasi chatting amongst one another.
“Do you know what’s up?”
“No idea.”
“I hope it’s nothing serious!”
“I doubt it. Probably just Twilight overreacting again.”
“I dunno… In case you’ve forgotten weird stuff tends ta happen in our little town. Heck, on muh way to work this morning, I saw a bear perched in a tree, lookin’ at the ground like it wanted ta grow wings and fly away!”
“I hear Cerberus has gone missing again.”
“I heard it was an Ursa Major!”
“Don’t worry guys! Whatever it is, I’m sure Snowflake will protect us!”
At that, a round of laughter broke out amongst the ponies. That is, everypony other than a particular white, muscular pegasus. Upon hearing his name, and the round of chuckles that followed, Snowflake stood up straighter and stared directly ahead into space, trying to ignore the burning in the tips of his ears.
Hooligans! Oh, I do hope there is an Ursa Major on the loose, else I’ll never live this down!
The clamor in the library, as well as Snowflake’s noble, selfless line of thought suddenly died as the lights dimmed, leaving the room in near-total darkness. After a moment a light illuminated a canvas that had been set up in the room and an informational film began to play, explaining how pegasi used wingpower to transport water up to Cloudsdale. While clearly outdated, the movie succinctly outlined that by generating a tornado of at least eight hundred wingpower, the water would be transported up to Cloudsdale, where it was needed to generate the weather clouds used by cities all across Equestria. The movie came to a swift conclusion as the film burned out. Immediately after, the room erupted into chaos as everypony began talking at once, trying to make themselves heard over their fellows.
“Hey!”
“What’s going on?”
“Wait, is it our turn to create the tornado?”
“What a waste of time!”
“I could be bowling right now!”
Snowflake however was not contributing to the noise of the crowd, but was instead staring at the canvas where the movie had played.
That was odd. Why would Rainbow Dash call us all to this meeting to show us a movie about things every pegasus has known about since the third grade? That is, unless this meeting is somehow related to that film...?
Before he could get any farther the lights returned, bathing the Library in a soft glow.
A sheepish voice sounded from the back of the room. “Uh… Intermission?”
Snowflake’s attention was directed back to the canvas as Rainbow Dash flew up in front of it.
Ah, finally. Now we’ll get to the bottom of this!
“So, here's the scoop.” She shouted, “Cloudsdale has chosen our own highland reservoir as a source of the rainwater they need for all of Equestria, and you know what that means. It means it's up to Ponyville's Pegasi to bring that water up to Cloudsdale.”
Before Rainbow had even finished the sentence, the pegasi in the room set up an excited chatter. Not wanting to lose the crowd, Rainbow quickly headed off the buzz. “Not only that, but Spitfire, captain of the Wonderbolts, will be here to oversee the water transfer and record our top tornado wind speed. Now last year…” Rainbow Dash’s voice faded into the background as Snowflake lost himself once more in his thoughts.
This is… ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC! With all the excitement that comes with this event, everyone is sure to forget about my mishaps this morning! And even better, I didn’t have to destroy the town to do it! The muscular white pegasus pranced in place with glee like a little filly. However, he quickly noticed the looks he was getting and stopped, coughing to cover up his embarrassment.
At that moment Rainbow Dash pounced on him, or rather, the unfortunate buck next to him.
“That coughing better be from a popcorn kernel, Thunderlane! Nopony's getting sick on my watch.” Turning back to the rest of the crowd, she shouted “So are we gonna train hard?
“Yeah!” Came the enthusiastic response.
“Are we gonna be strong?”
“Yeah!!!”
“Are we gonna be fast?!”
“YEAH!!” The pegasi shouted in a resounding chorus.
She flew up and looked Snowflake in the eye. “Record-smashing fast?”
Snowflake who’d gotten caught up in the moment, opened his mouth to shout gaily: I concur!
What came out instead was a guttural, testosterone-laced yell. "YEAH!!!"
“Who’s with me?!” Rainbow Dash flew back to the center of the canvas, whipping the crowd up into a frenzy. Meanwhile Snowflake stood rooted to the spot, shocked at the sound he had just heard.
What in Equestria was that obnoxious bellowing I just heard? Was… was that me? N-No. It couldn’t be. I am a gentlecolt after all, and gentlecolts like myself would never stoop to such barbaric behavior. It must have been somepony next to me. Yes, somepony else…
Quickly after, the meeting in the library came to a close and everypony shuffled back outside, discussing the upcoming trial. Snowflake however had other things on his mind, and as such, he nearly walked straight into Flitter.
Shaking his head to clear it, he looked down at the lilac pegasus mare standing in front of him. Hmm? I wonder what Flitter needs.
He failed to actually vocalise his thoughts though, and so the two pegasi just stood facing each other in awkward silence. Before long, the tension began to get to the normally cool, collected mare and she began to bite her lip, surveying her surroundings and shifting her weight back and forth.
What’s the matter with her? I’ve never seen Flitter this fidgety before. Maybe she as well wishes to mock me for my shrieks today, or worse... maybe she pities me! Oh I’ll never live down the shame! I need to set her straight before she destroys what’s left of my dignity.
As he opened his mouth to do just that, Flitter finally spoke up.
“Uh, hey Snowflake! So… what do you think about the plan to move all the water up to Cloudsdale?
Here it comes. Any moment now she’s going to tell me ‘not to chicken out,' or ‘try not to scream again.’
At Snowflake’s lack of response, Flitter scratched the back of her head with a hoof and looked around, as though searching for something to talk about. After a few tense seconds, the mare seemed to give up.
“Anyway…Your cheers today were uh, really something! I never knew you had such a manly side to you.” The nervous mare winced at how awkwardly that had come out, and even in the darkness of the night Snowflake could see her cheeks turn a bright crimson. “So... do you maybe wanna grab lunch some time?”
...A manly side? Whatever is she- Surely she doesn’t believe that barbaric cry was from my lips?! This simply will not do! I’ll have her know that I am a gentlecolt!
However, instead of delivering the lecture he had intended, he instead loosed another ‘barbaric’ cry of assent.
“YEAH!!!”
What? NO! NO THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEANT TO SAY, I-
Flitter smiled, also going weak at the knees. “Excellent! Let’s meet at Sugarcube Corner at say, four?”
No! I mean, it’s not like you’re unattractive, but THAT’S NOT THE-
“YEAH!!!”
NO! STOP SHOUTING THAT YOU WRETCHED MORON!
“Great! I’ll see you tomorrow then!” Flitter’s smile grew even wider and she looked thoroughly flustered, staggering to keep balance as her knees turned to jelly.
NO YOU MOST CERTAINLY WILL NOT! I AM NOT THE RUFFIAN YOU THINK I AM! I AM A GENTLECOLT! A-
“YEAH!!!”
-GENTLECOLT!
Taking a deep breath, Snowflake cooled his nerves and summoned every last ounce of his considerable self control. I must set things right. I can stand ponies mocking my… moments of weakness, but I will not, can not, allow my honor to be tarnished over such uncouth behavior.
The white pegasus closed the distance to mere inches between them so he could stare straight into Flitter’s purple eyes. He took a deep breath and prepared to apologize.
“Flitter, I desperately need to tell you something…” At the sound of his own cultured, neaponitan accent, Snowflake sighed in relief. Finally! That shouting nonsense is behind me at last.
“Yes?” Flitter asked, her eyes growing slightly larger.
“About this date of ours…”
“What about our date? I mean, I’m looking forward to it, aren’t you?” She flashed him a nervous but excited smile.
I must be careful how I break it to her. I wouldn’t want to seem like a boor as well as an imbecile.
Snowflake placed a hoof on her shoulder, knowing what he was going to say next was going to upset her, but it had to be done.
A single word escaped his lips in a low, seductive growl.
“Yeah.”
Snowflake’s macho displays finally proved too much for Flitter to bear, and with a delicate sigh the lilac pegasus swooned. Snowflake’s only reaction was to smack a hoof to his face.
...I’m sunk.