I stood in the doorway of the library, my mouth plastered with a grin. I was rushed away by a pink blur that I could already assume was Pinkie. “Hey there this is your surprise party. I throw one every time I see somepony new or if it’s their birthday, but because you’re new I didn’t think you’d know anypony and if you didn’t know anypony that would mean that you wouldn’t have many friends and if you didn’t have many friends then you might be sad and lonely and then if you’re sad and lonely then no pony will want to be your friend and then if no pony will want to be your friend you’ll be forced to live out your days alone!” Pinkie gasped in a dramatic tone and I was feeling a little bit more scared at this point. I nervously shuffled across to Twilight, who had managed to make it close enough to me so that I didn’t have to go far. Personally I was amazed that Pinkie could talk for that long with only one breath, but in this reality I supposed Pinkie could do pretty much anything.
I didn’t know why I was so nervous and even terrified of Pinkie’s rant, but for some reason it just happened; the little voice at the back of my head was laughing at me and questioning why I would do something like that. I was never one of the tough girls back on Earth, but I wasn’t easily spooked. Twilight stepped over me and chuckled at Pinkie, although it was more of a forced chuckle than a genuine one, undoubtedly to say something to protect me “Pinkie.” She tried to whisper in the party’s noisy atmosphere. “I appreciate the effort and the party is fantastic as ever, but maybe you could avoid talking worst case scenarios to the filly.”
Pinkie giggled and bolted past Twilight, causing her to spin around in confusion. Pinkie sat next to me and nodded at the purple unicorn with a serious face “I’m only kidding Aero, I know you have friends already, like those three fillies yesterday.” She said in an oddly calm tone for her. “But hey, do you wanna play pin the tail on the donkey?” she grinned and rose to her hooves, her hair flailing around as if it had a life of its own. “Or do ya want a cupcake?” she held out a small cupcake from nowhere and then smothered in a red sauce I could only assume was ketchup. I reluctantly nodded, not sure how ketchup was going to taste on a cake. I was about to say thank you, but before I could speak, my mouth was filled with the treat. I chewed for a bit to clear my mouth, but I stopped.
I felt a searing hot pressure spread throughout my mouth. I put a hoof over my mouth to stop myself from screaming; it was not ketchup at all. The sauce that was on the cupcake had to be something as fiery as whatever could be found in the pits of hell. My eyes were starting to water and I was breathing rapidly through my nose; I could only thank the stars that I hadn’t had a blocked nose or else I don’t know what could’ve happened. Pinkie raised an eyebrow at me as I felt sweat form on my forehead “Hey are you okay?” she asked, but then smiled with eyes full of pride “Duh, of course you’re okay. You’re just so happy you’re speechless. Silly me.” I chewed the cake some more and found the strength to swallow the crushed up inferno that was in my mouth; I could even feel the heat of it as the food slid down past my throat and down my oesophagus. It was slightly painful to say the least and I was still left with the burning feeling in my mouth, although it was starting to die down a bit. Once it faded I let my tongue loll out as I panted, letting the cool air try to calm down the fuss that my taste buds were screaming out.
“What was in that sauce?” I asked, looking up to Pinkie with wild eyes. She simply pointed at the bottled sauce, and its label read ‘Hot sauce’ I sighed and lowered my head. Of course it was the hot sauce; I remembered on the show she had done the same to Twilight for her welcoming party. After a few minutes of near silence from me, I felt everything cooling down and I was able to feel normal again “Pinkie why didn’t you tell me that you put that sauce on there? I thought it was ketchup.”
Pinkie giggled and smoshed my cheeks together “It wouldn’t have been a surprise party, duh.” As much as she had a point, I was not happy with it. My mouth had nearly been incinerated by that sauce and I was going to have to find revenge somehow. Suddenly I remembered that ‘everyone’ was here and I went in search of Rainbow Dash. It didn’t take long to find her, but once again I was dragged away by Pinkie. I opened up my wings without even thinking and put them to the ground for extra drag, but it was no good.
“Pinkie what are you-whoa!” I was suddenly blindfolded and spun around at a ridiculous pace. I teetered unstably after I was finished and I felt Pinkie hold me steady for a second. My mind was a blur and even though I could think, the thoughts came out as if I didn’t understand them. One of my hooves were forcibly lifted and given something. I could only feel the edge of this object and something dangling from it. I used another hoof to feel the fabric that had been hanging from the object I held and realised that I was playing pin the tail on the donkey. I heard some of the ponies laughing at my expense whilst I heard others telling me which way to go. I didn’t know if I could trust them until I realised whose voices they were. What gave it away was the familiar squeak in a certain filly’s voice. It was undeniably Sweetie Belle’s. I stumbled forwards, almost tripping over my own hooves. It felt like I was learning to walk again and I hated it, but from all the encouragement the girls were giving me I managed to find some kind of strength and I charged forwards to slam my hoof on to what I presumed was the picture of a tailless donkey.
However, upon lifting my blindfold I was presented with a not too happy looking purple dragon; the pin locked between two scales and the tail hanging from his wrist. “Next time, don’t follow what your friends were telling you.” He warned, sounding as angry as he could, but it still looked cute to me. I pulled the pin out and blushed slightly. “It’s okay I guess.” He sighed and proceeded to stomp to the cupcakes, eating one whole with the dreaded hot sauce as well as a small ruby.
I turned to see the three fillies that caused my embarrassment and they sat looking at me as if they were innocent little angels. I smirked and walked towards them, already knowing better. It became more than obvious when Scootaloo and AppleBloom started trying to hide their laughs, snickering behind their hooves. “Ah think ya jus’ missed it bah this much.” AppleBloom giggled, still trying to hold in her laughs. She nudged Scootaloo and smiled “What’re ya laughin at Scoots?” she prodded again before both of them couldn’t contain it anymore. I looked across to see the dragon scowl to them. I shook my head and rolled my eyes as the two of them shared the enjoyment of it.
“Very funny girls.” I raised an eyebrow, smiling at them with a hint of sarcasm. As bad as I felt for the dragon, I couldn’t help but find it as funny as them. “No one told me about you three being here, when did you find out?” they gave me an odd stare as if I had said something that made no sense at all. I took a couple of steps back and I gave a sheepish smile to them “Uh hello, girls? Sweetie Belle?” I wanted to whimper, but I was able to hold back the urge to save myself from any further embarrassment.
They stepped closer to me and backed me up against a wall. I don’t know why, but I got a familiar feeling from all of this and I wasn’t entirely convinced I was enjoying it. “What did you mean by some-one? Aero we know you’re clever but even we know that’s not a word.” Sweetie stated to me. I sighed inwardly after this, I was expecting them to suddenly turn against me, but it was something like that. I frowned in thought, although it was just a façade to make them think I was trying to come up with a reason.
I smiled back at them as if I’d forgotten the incident “I have no idea where that came from. I just thought it up I guess…It sounds stupid though, so maybe I shouldn’t say that again in a hurry.” I looked around to change the subject, hoping to find something, anything. “Have you tried those cupcakes that Pinkie made? They’re delicious.” I beamed and pointed over to where the dragon was still covering his annoyance with the cupcakes “Quick, before he eats them all!” I giggle and we all made our way over to the table.
Pinkie immediately appeared to greet us. She showed us the variety of cakes she made and all the girls were staring at them, their hunger suddenly being found as they licked their lips. I smirked as Pinkie declared “These ones are a gift from me.” And she shoved the cupcakes in their mouths. Revenge on the three of them was sweet and I started laughing at them as I saw red blushes appearing on their faces from the sweltering hot sauce that the cakes were covered in. I watched as they tried to munch their way through the painfully hot treat. I wasn’t even hiding my laughter at them because it was probably the funniest thing I had seen since being in this world. I found a little bit of joy seeing them in pain. However, karma had it in for me because whilst I was laughing, Pinkie had seized the opportunity to shove another cupcake in my mouth with the same kick as the one I had before. I saw that the other three were laughing at me through their own experience and I soon found myself joining them. Despite the pain of it I was having a great time because of my new friends. “Aww you all look like you’re enjoying them so much.” She darted away and cheered hysterically, bowling several others over.
AppleBloom finished first and was gasping for some of the cooling touch that the air seemed to hold. “Well ah’ll be. That was the spiciest thing I ever tasted.” She panted until her breathing slowed and she calmed down. I was lucky enough to find a quick way to finish mine without feeling as if my throat was going to be charred from the experience.. “Say Aero, are you gonna stay with Miss Twilight from now?” I nodded, although it had struck me as odd that I was quickly taken in like that, but I wouldn’t be complaining about it. Twilight seemed very nice albeit a little bit too over the top with studying, but I could cope with that. In the long run it would just seem normal. I paused in my thoughts and realised that I might never get to go back to where I was actually from; the thought scared me and I felt my bottom lip tremble slightly. I liked it here so far, but being here meant that I wasn’t with my family and that would probably mean they thought I’d been kidnapped or something. The only problem was that I didn’t know if there was a way back, let alone how I was going to get back. “Well thas great!” AppleBloom cheered and the three of them clopped their hooves together. “Ah know who am gonna call on if ah need some help with school work.” The other nodded.
The girls and I spent the next couple of hours talking or playing more of Pinkie’s games that she had set out for us. Soon though the party goers were leaving and the rooms of the library were becoming emptier, making the place seem bigger than before. AppleJack and Rarity were leaving and took the three fillies with them. I stood by Twilight’s side as they left, waving them off as their figures disappeared into the distance. Pinkie popped into view again, smiling and waving as well. “Twilight I’ve cleared it all up. I’ll see ya later.” She cheered and then fled the scene, only a blur of pink showing where she had gone. I turned around to see that the library was indeed clean, it was spotless and not a single thing looked out of place to me, but then again, this was me and not Twilight. I looked up to see Twilight giving some signs of contentment with them room’s appearance.
“I’ll check later. Aero come with me. You’re gonna be meeting someone who I can’t wait to show you to.” She walked ahead of me out of the door. I took only a step before I heard the door close behind me “Spike will look after everything whilst we’re gone. Trust me, he’s my number one assistant.” She assured and trotted along. I had basically given up on walking next to her, so I did what I could and I started flying beside her, keeping pace with just a few flaps of my wings. I could sense that Twilight was still feeling nervous about this and I was trying to figure out why. Who could be so important that she would get nervous over meeting? We made it to a rather secluded area, hidden from Ponyville by a large mass of tree hiding it from view. “Okay Aero we’re going to have some food.” She smiled, but it was obvious to me she was hiding the full truth.
“Lucky for you two I brought some of my own food for us to share.” A calm voice spoke. My eyes widened as I realised who it was. I turned around to see none other than Princess Celestia; she looked regal yet her body language suggested she wasn’t demanding any extra attention. “Twilight Sparkle it is a pleasure to see you again.” The princess gave a warm smile, exchanging it with Twilight’s own. Celestia turned to me and looked down; lowering herself so she wasn’t intimidating me with her height “You must be Aero Crown. Twilight sent me a letter concerning when and how you showed up. Fillies don’t just come from nowhere.” I felt my ears fall back a little bit “We will get to those questions after we have eaten though.” She chuckled, obviously noticing how I faltered at her concerns. The yellow magic surrounded the air for a moment until a large blanket covered the ground and the blanket itself had several small items of food. It wasn’t what typically appeared in my idea of a picnic, but then again as a pony I wouldn’t be having any meat products, so it wasn’t a huge surprise at what I saw either. “I took what I could without the chefs noticing.” Celestia winked at both of us as we all sat down on the blanket. “Tell me Aero Crown. Have you enjoyed being in Ponyville?” I couldn’t explain it but I was so nervous in the princess’s presence and all I could muster up was a weak nod for her accompanied by an equally weak smile. “Have you learnt anything new?”
I nodded in response, but this time I couldn’t help open my mouth and smile at the brief, but still important memories I had of being here “Yeah I learned to fly. I’m not very good yet, but I think with Rainbow Dash’s help I can get good enough to be about half as quick as her.” I beamed before losing all my confidence again “A-and uh yeah…it was fun… your m-majesty.” I stuttered, lowering my head. I silently cursed at losing my cool in front of royalty, but knew it was too late to try and reverse it. I just hoped tat she didn’t mind my awkwardness.
I felt Celestia’s hoof on my left shoulder and I looked up to see her smiling at me “Learning to fly is a great achievement. Don’t think being expressive will bore me or make me dislike you. I also know they joys of flying.” She reminded me by extending her long, pure white wings. They were covered in the most delicate looking feathers that made me stare in wonder. I felt like the world was at peace just by staring at them. I reached out with one hoof and stroked her right wing. It felt so soft and smooth. She elegantly folded them back and smiled down at me again “Of course my wings are no better than yours and we both felt the same kind of rush from soaring through the air, no?” she smirked and tilted her head to the side at me. I giggled at her and nodded. She seemed so down to earth for someone of royal stature. I had never met royalty before and if they were all like this I was going to feel a little bit better about meeting them.
Twilight cleared her throat for our attention “Well I’m glad both of you know what it’s like to fly, but flying isn’t everything.” She said, a hint of jealousy seeping through her voice. “But I guess it would feel cool.” Both Celestia and I nodded eagerly. “Anyway princess I have some news.” Twilight levitated a sandwich around her as the princess and I started to eat our own. “So my friends and I have been talking about Aero here and we’ve decided that it would probably be best for one of us to keep her.” I looked to see that Celestia had gone quiet and was watching Twilight with an intense gaze; it was no wonder Twilight would feel nervous around the princess. “AppleJack and Rarity already have little sisters to care for, Pinkie wanted to, but we weren’t so sure about her taking care of Aero.” I sighed in relief at that news, although I made sure it was as quiet as possible. “Rainbow Dash didn’t want that much responsibility on her hooves and Fluttershy already has to tend to the animals she looks after, so that left me. I know I have to make sure I give in work to you, but because Aero has a knack for knowledge too I figured that having her around wouldn’t slow me down at all.” I shuffled on the floor nervously; by now I had eaten the sandwich, an apple and a smore, all because I got nervous at what Celestia would think.
Despite Twilight’s smiles I could tell that the princess wanted to say something about the whole arrangement; I could only hope she wanted to say something good, but it didn’t seem like she would hold back anything if it was something good, so I had to assume it was bad news. “Twilight,” she started “what you and your friends have started to organise is fantastic and really shows how all six of you really do trust each other with any task, and choose to find which pony would be most suited.” I had to laugh a little bit. All had been trusted…except Pinkie; I felt a little bit sorry for Pinkie, but from the looks of things she hadn’t seemed phased at all by the decision. “However, Aero Crown cannot be owned by you I’m afraid Twilight. It pains me to say this, but unless her parents arrive, Aero Crown will be an orphan and we’ll have to put her in an orphanage.” Suddenly I got many images of different orphanages running through my mind, and the one that stuck in my head the most was a pony version of Oliver Twist. I had it set in my mind that I would be going to some grotty old orphanage ran by a fat pony whose mane was probably falling out and he probably had a couple more gold teeth than he should do.
Twilight shook her head “But I don’t understand princess. There would be nothing wrong with me looking after her.” She gently stomped her hoof on the ground and shook her head again. “It just doesn’t seem fair; we know she hasn’t got her parents anywhere close by and we know that she would be fine with me…I don’t see the problem, princess.”
Celestia looked to the ground and then to me, levitating me up slowly. “If she has no relatives then it is law for this filly to be put into an orphanage. There is one in Ponyville if I’m not mistaken and it’s a nice one too. Aero Crown would be embraced and loved there until a loving family would like to give her that love themselves.” She paused for a moment, dropping the magical energy around me and letting me fall to the ground about a few inches below. “If I was allowed Twilight then I would let you look after her, but it is law and even I must obey the law or else my family would be looked upon with distasteful eyes.” She seemed to perk up again after she said that. “Twilight perhaps you could adopt Aero Crown when she is available.” She smiled and lifted me up again; I was getting awfully used to it by now and I was only listening to them, not thinking about anything else. “I’m certain that the orphanage would allow you to be Aero Crown’s adoptive mother.” I went a beat red underneath my fur after hearing that. “Like you said, there is nothing to suggest you wouldn’t be a good role model to look after this filly.” Only then did I start to perk up from hearing that. It meant that I wouldn’t be in an orphanage to rot for the rest of my life. Maybe I was overreacting about the orphanage’s treatment, but I didn’t want to be in one at all.
“I suppose I could do that, but what if some other family wants to adopt her before I do?” Twilight worried and lifted me over to her side. “I mean I barely know her, but my friends and I did find her and it would feel kind of wrong of me to let her go just like that.” She argued, nudging me softly and smiling at me as she continued “I would have to be able to adopt her. I just get the feeling that we could both learn so much from each other.”
The princess of the sun nodded “Twilight I think that you should do that.” She paused and looked down to me “It is with great reluctance that I have to declare the young filly, Aero Crown, an orphan and therefore should either find relatives or be sent to live in an orphanage until a willing family or pony” she winked at Twilight “steps forwards to look after her like one of their own.” Celestia closed her eyes and spread her wings out wide as a large aura of light surrounded her until she closed her wings again. “It was lovely meeting both of you, but I must go now. I cannot leave my sister or any of the ponies waiting on me any longer. Remember Twilight, you need to be the first to want to adopt her.” Twilight nodded as the princess stood up and let loose a brilliant yellow light, it was so bright I had to close my eyes.
Then there was nothing. I opened my eyes and Celestia had disappeared. I looked across to see that Twilight was still there and she was now approaching me; it hadn’t caught my attention that the picnic set had gone with the princess. “Aero I’m sorry you had to hear that, but it is law and I can’t break the rules so we’re going to take you to the orphanage.” She had a glum look on her face and put a hoof on my shoulder before saying “Sorry.” A bright flash of light blinded me again. My vision returned and I saw that we were in front of a rather tired looking building; its walls were losing its original layer of paint and a window had a couple of cracks in it. This had to be it; this was the orphanage. However, Twilight guided me further on “Whoops. It looks like I got that wrong, but don’t worry; the orphanage is just up ahead.” She chuckled nervously and I just followed behind without saying another word. She stopped and turned to face me “I know this isn’t exactly what we wanted and trust me I would much rather you start staying with me straight away, but the princess said that we need to do this. I’ll adopt you as soon as I can and then it’ll all be back to normal.” She beamed, raising her eyebrows at me. “I Pinkie promise that you will be in that place for no longer than a month.” She did the Pinkie promise and made me giggle at her. The only problem was I still had to endure a month in what was likely a grotesque old manor with several young ponies running through the halls with knives and various other dangerous things. I had guessed that I would be staying in my room like a recluse just to stay alive.
Twilight stopped in front of a large house, at least three storeys high and looked down at me “Here we are. Your home for the next month will be here, but don’t worry. I’ll visit you anyway, so it’ll be like you’re living with me anyway.” She ruffled the front of my mane and then gestured for the both of us to walk inside. Once we got inside I couldn’t believe it, the place looked so organised; almost as organised as Rarity’s home. All images of my time in an orphanage being like that of Oliver Twist’s were quickly receding fast. Twilight and I walked over to the counter. I hated being small; I couldn’t even see over the top of the counter. “Excuse me?” Twilight called as she rang the bell with her magic.
We were soon greeted with the presence of a light brown earth pony rushing in and she looked like she had just won the lottery when she saw us. “Hello there. How can I help you?” she seemed to be twitching a little bit. “My name is Joy Grove and I run this orphanage with my husband Earnest Grove.” She introduced and looked over the counter to see me. I looked up and saw she had a crazy look in her eye, although it didn’t seem like a dangerous crazy like Pinkie sometimes had. “And who might you be my dear?” she cooed down to me before looking up at Twilight “My my you are a young mother for this filly…don’t worry though, we’ll take good care of her and if you want you can visit anytime.” She spoke sweetly to Twilight. We’d both been taken back a bit by Joy’s comment.
“My apologies Misses Grove, but I’m not Aero’s mother. Princess Celestia told me herself that I needed to take this filly here because she has no relatives to look after her, so she needed to be taken to an orphanage where I would then propose that I would like to adopt her.” Twilight explained, smiling at the last part before blushing slightly. “If that’s okay?”
Joy looked at both of us, frowning in thought. She twitched again and smiled at us. “Of course you can Miss…” she prompted for Twilight to talk.
“Sparkle, Miss Twilight Sparkle.” She finished the earth pony’s sentence.
Joy smiled “Well Miss Sparkle you can adopt this young one now.” She smiled, but I could tell there was a hitch already. “But…” I knew it and I rolled my eyes. “My husband and I will have to assess your home to see if it’s suitable for raising a filly. If there’s something that’s not quite right we would require you to fix that problem and then we would reconsider. If your house I a disaster and just a trap waiting to injure anypony then you would be off the list immediately, but I wouldn’t imagine your home could be that bad.” She assured “Once we approve of your home and how good you are with foals then we will let you adopt young Aero.”
Twilight nodded with a determined look on her face. It struck me just how much Twilight seemed to want me to get out of the orphanage; she knew that I wasn’t keen on the idea of it at all, but we both knew I had to comply for at least a little while. “How long will this all take?” Twilight asked, her tone was flat and serious. I felt a little bit embarrassed that I was practically being fought for.
Joy twitched again and grinned “I thought you’d never ask. You really are keen to adopt this young filly aren’t you?” Twilight nodded “Well it will take just a couple of days to have you fully assessed and then if you’re given the okay you’ll have the filly two weeks from today.” She practically wobbled with excitement even though it would be Twilight adopting me and not her. I sighed; she seemed nice enough albeit a little bit crazy, but I guess you can’t run an orphanage and not be caring…except in example like Oliver Twist. “Now how about we show the little filly to her new room?” she squealed with excitement and began to lead Twilight and I through the hallways. I glanced into a large room to see a few other ponies around my age playing games, and they didn’t look tired or beaten, so I had to assume that this place was actually okay. “We have just finished refurbishing the whole place and Aero will be the first to stay in our newest room. It’s perfect for little fillies like her.” She beamed and led us down one final hallway until we stopped at the front of a white door. “Well here we are. I’ll leave you two. Aero can settle in and come down when she’s ready. I’ve got to go check on those cheeky little colts upstairs.” She snickered and trotted away.
I pushed the door open and walked in to find a room covered in a sky blue paint with several drawn on pegasi and alicorns. There was a wardrobe and even a set of drawers in the room. The wood it was made out of was in perfect condition and I could see that nearly everything in this room was completely new. I had a view out into one of the meadows neighbouring Ponyville and I even had a decent sized bed that fit snugly into the opposite corner that the door stood at. I guessed that the bathrooms were elsewhere and were used by everyone. A desk was set out at the edge of the bed and a chair was placed neatly next to it. I moved the chair across to the window and I stood up on it, looking out the window from a higher perspective. It was a nice view and I could see a few of the worker ponies pulling the ploughs over the fields in the distance. It all looked so peaceful and because of the colour in the room it felt more spacious, as if I was in the sky with the other ponies drawn on wall. It made me feel like I was finally at home.
That’s when it hit me; a wave of sadness passed over my thoughts as I remembered that this wasn’t my real home and I was thinking it was likely I would never see my real home again. I started sniffling as I felt tears start to form in my eyes. This was it; this was where I would be for the rest of my life. I would never see my family again and in this land I had no blood relatives at all. My body started to shake as I quivered and felt the sadness take over. The tears started falling like rain and I was crying now. I hadn’t cried properly in years, but it was all hitting me at once now. I had to spend the rest of my days without my actual family with me. I was placed on this world as an orphan and I couldn’t see things getting any better; for now I was just that filly with no parents and no pony to love her. Twilight wanted to adopt me, but I couldn’t break the wave of sadness with that thought alone. I slumped down on my chair and started wailing. I felt Twilight reach over and pull me into a hug. I felt a lump in my throat as I continued to blubber like a baby. “It’s not fair.” I moaned whilst having to hold back yet another surge of tears. “No one loves me and I’ll be alone forever.” I cried out. Twilight just held me tightly and gently rocked us as she sat on the chair, holding me. I couldn’t stop myself as I thought of all the things I was going to miss with my family. I was stuck as a pony and there was no way of getting back and I didn’t even get to say goodbye to them. As I filled my eyes with more tears I could feel Twilight gently stroking my back and stroking my mane to calm me, uttering soft “Sshh” noises to me, trying to get me to stop. I was out of hope. I was out of ideas. I was missing all those that I knew before and everything seemed hopeless.