The moon was shining bright tonight, but not bright enough to drown out the other stars. It was a full moon and it was truly beautiful. Nights like these always make me happy to be outside. I glided through the air, silent and swift. Below me there were a few stray clouds, puffy, soft and silver in the moonlight. I softly landed on one of them and looked around for a bit.
Below me, the little lights of Our Town were like a beacon in the night. They were the only lights for miles in every direction, as far as I could see. Our Town was quite beautiful at night, quite peaceful. I really missed all this - the view, the air, the night. I’m never going to give all this up again.
I breathed in the cool, crisp night air and looked around me. Time to get to work.
I headed for the first cloud to clear, and with a pop it disappeared. There were a lot of stray clouds that drifted this way, and the weather team had to clear almost all of them. Only a few should be left alone to give the town some shade. There’s no fun in a heatstroke. But yeah, living in a desert does come with its disadvantages.
More clouds disappeared as the night went on. My wings started to get tired a bit. I hadn’t done this much work in a while, so I decided to rest for a bit and admire the night a bit more.
The weather team. The weather team’s a joke, if you ask me. It’s supposed to be made up out of strong pegasus stallions and mares that knew what they were doing and had the right education for it. Maybe cloud kicking wasn’t dangerous, but rain-and thunderstorms were if you don’t know how to handle them. And don’t even get me started on hurricanes and wind currents.
Under Starlight Glimmer’s leadership, the weather team existed out of a few random pegasi who, not surprisingly, were just as good as an earth pony or an unicorn at cloud kicking: not. The next mayor is supposed to organize it - but there is no mayor here! Sure, there are candidates - but they aren’t exactly the greatest candidates.
But I don’t really care for all that leadership stuff. I just want to be free and fly through the night, kick some clouds - but, I will admit, some company to share the night with would be nice. Until then, I’ll just keep to myself, I guess. Do some work others are supposed to do.
Ugh, bureaucracy.
I stood up again, ready to continue my job. I kicked off the cloud I was resting and kicked it another time, making it disappear. I smiled. There’s nothing better than a night’s hard work. Well, there is one thing better, though: sleep. Sweet, sweet sleep.
~
I stretched my wings at sunrise, a night’s hard work all done. Then, below me, I heard a voice.
“Heya, Night Glider!”
It was Double Diamond. He was carrying his ski’s on his back. One helmet was under his hoof.
“Where were you last night?” he asked, irritated. “You said you’d practice with me.”
“Oooh!” I facehoofed. “I am so, so sorry, Diamond! I overslept, didn’t I?”
He sighed. “Yes, yes you did.”
I sighed and kicked off the cloud I was on, and glided down to the ground. I landed with a soft thump on the ground.
I smiled apologetic to Diamond. “Look, I said I was sorry. Is there some way to make it up to you?”
He looked at me, angrily, with a twinge of sadness in his eyes. “This is the third time this week that you left me hangin’.”
I winced. “I’m sorry… It won’t happen again, I promise.”
He sighed. “Well, allrigh’ then. I’ll be off training.”
I bit my lip. “Uhm… can I join you?”
Double Diamond turned around, surprised. “Didn’t ya just have a whole night’s work done?”
I smiled back, sheepishly. “Well, I guess sleep can wait…” I flexed my wings. “Besides, these have been achin’ to try out some new moves.”
Double Diamond smiled. “Cool, allrigh’ then. Let’s go.”
“Yess!” I cheered and flew off. “Race ya to the mountains!”
“Hey, no fair!” I heard him say behind me, laughing.
Once the both of us finally reached the snow, Double Diamond put his ski’s down and clipped on his helmet. I yawned, but I quickly hid it behind my hoof before he could see it. He clicked on his ski’s the last.
“Allrigh’, ready when you are.” he said, confident.
I smiled. “Allright then, let’s go!”
I picked him up and carried the both of us in the air. My wings ached from the night, but I didn’t pay attention to it. I couldn’t let him down now.
Together, we soared through the chilly air towards the mountain range. It was a nice day, but the higher you go, the colder it gets. I shivered a bit, but I told myself that if I kept flying, I would keep warm.
Finally, we got to the top of the snowy hill.
“Ready for the drop?” I yelled over the wind.
“Ready!” he said, enthusiastic.
“Allright then. We’re almost there…” I accelerated, my wings burning from the trip, but I kept going.
“Now!” he yelled, and I dropped him.
“Woohooo!” he yelled as he soared towards the snow. He landed with a soft thump on the ground; a whole wave of snow set out beneath his ski’s to create a mini-avalanche below. The snow came to a stop on the foot of the hill in large heaps.
I stopped, panting, and landed on the ground. My wings hung limp at my sides.
“Yeah! That was awesome!” Double Diamond cheered from below. He was panting too, hopping around on his ski’s to find a better place to stand.
I smiled and plopped down in the snow. It was cold; I shivered and stood upright in an instant.
“Y-yeah, r-r-r-really awesome!” I shouted down, my voice wavering a bit from the cold.
He hopped around a bit, trying to see me.
“Hey Nigh’, you allright?” he shouted up.
“Y-y-yeah, I’m fine! J-j-j-just fell down in the snow.” I shouted back, trying to get some confidence in my voice. It failed miserably.
I could almost imagine him frown. “Come down, Night, you’ll get frostbite if you stay up there.”
I nodded - and shouted yes down after I realized he probably wouldn’t be able to see that - and spread my aching wings. I jumped off and glided down, to gently land where he was standing.
I smiled. “Hey.”
He smiled back, but his eyes still stood a bit worried. “You’re cold, aren’t you?”
He clipped his one ski from his right hooves and used his free hoof to untie his scarf.
“Here. This should keep you warm…” He threw it over my head and wrapped it around my neck. It was still warm. I blushed. “Th-thank you…”
He smiled. “C’mon, let’s get you home… I’ll continue training later.” He clipped off his second ski and flung the two of them over his shoulder, onto his back. He started walking towards the town.
I touched the scarf, hesitantly, smiled a bit and followed him back.
~
After I had gotten a nice, hot shower, I went upstairs to go to bed. Double Diamond’s scarf was still on the bed, where I had flung it carelessly when I hurried for the shower. I sat down on the bed and picked it up, gently touching the soft fabric. I should give it back in the evening, I think… maybe tomorrow morning. I don’t have anything planned for tonight, or have I…?
I looked around in search for something that made me remind some very important date. No, I found none. I guess it was allright, then. I sighed. Maybe I should ask Blank Scroll in the quill-and-ink store for an agenda, I bet she has some of them lying around.
I let myself drop on my back, bouncing up and down for a bit before lying still. Tiredness had caught up with me; my limbs felt heavy and I was pretty sure I had over-exerted my wings. They felt as if they could fall off any second. I felt a bit dizzy… I should’ve gone to bed hours ago. Heck, it was almost noon! I groaned and rolled to my side.
The scarf slid to the ground as I whirled around to put the blankets over me. I watched the purple scarf on the floor and groaned again. I held out my hoof to pick it up; I could just reach it. I put it on my nightstand.
Yep, definitely in the morning.
But, for some reason, my mind just wouldn’t let me rest. I let my eyes flutter over the interior of my room. It was bland, from the Time of Equality, as I call it. I still need to liven it up a bit more. My bed is in the far left corner, directly opposite of the door. Above my head was a window through which I could see the clear, blue sky. All thanks to me, I thought to myself, smirking.
To my left is a nightstand - to my right is the wall - and to my far left is a closet, a small desk and a chair. It was pretty boring. Yes, maybe I should liven things up a little. I can stand out now, it’s not forbidden anymore.
I can stand out… I smiled to myself. I closed my eyes, finally finding some rest.
I can be myself.
I snicker and turn to lie on my side, facing the nightstand with Double Diamond’s scarf on it. We all can finally be ourselves, and I am proud to be me. I don’t get why others didn’t like to be themselves… well, I wasn’t proud of me either at first, but that was before I learnt what it was like to not be me. And, honestly, that wasn’t really nice.
But I do know that there are some that doesn’t like to be themselves. Spilled Milk, for example. He has the cutie mark of - whaddya know - spilled milk. I mean, what’s that even supposed to mean? That you have to spill every carton of milk you see? What a talent. I’m sorry, but that’s my opinion, you know. I get that he prefers to be ‘equal’, I mean, anything is better than spilling milk for a living.
I yawned. Was that sleep I detected? Yes, yes it is! I yawned again and snuggled deeper into the blankets. Ah, sweet sweet sleep… Sorry Luna, but I’ve gotta refuel for the night. I hope you’ll understand.