"SHADE! SHADE WHERE ARE YOU?"
"SHADE YOU NEED TO START GETTING READY!"
The pegasus and unicorn anxiously called out for their son to get ready for his first day of magic kindergarten. When there was no answer, they both sighed.
"He's wandered off somewhere again," stated Midnight Phase.
"Can't he sit still for 5 minutes?" Feather Shock questioned.
They searched all over town, frantically checking cafés, shops, the library, everywhere. Shade Vortex had an unusual knack for wandering around. One minute he was beside his parents, then he was gone the second they turned around. Needless to say, raising him could be challenging.
"Where is he!?"
Midnight turned to see her husband's worried expression and his wilder-than-usual navy blue mane.
"How could we have lost him? He could be anywhere! He could be hurt or-"
Midnight cut off Feather's nervous breakdown with a gentle hoof on his tense, pale-blue shoulder.
"Hey hey hey, don't worry, Shock. We'll find him. We just need to keep looking," she assured him calmly. Her warm expression started to ease his fear, and he simply nodded.
"Hi mom! Hi dad!"
Both turned quickly to see their son waving to them from a doorway. Irritated, Feather scolded:
"Shade! How could you wander off like that!? You had us worried sick!"
The dark gray, unicorn foal simply jumped up and down cheerfully while exclaiming:
"I FOUND MY WAY TO SCHOOL!!!"
Midnight and Feather both looked up to realize it was indeed the local school where they found their son. They both just stood there, dumbstruck.
_______________
Shade Vortex strolled a triumphant canter out of the school door, successfully completing another day of his third year of school. He was halfway on his way home when out of a corner of his eye, he saw something in the sky falling. No, he saw *somepony* falling.
Out of instinct, he quickly galloped in the direction of the falling pony who had disappeared from his visual range behind a line of trees. Thoughts and questions filled his mind as he raced towards them. He didn't know what he expected to do, but he had to do something.
He drew nearer, and was relieved to hear a filly singing.
*Good,* he thought. *She's okay.*
He stopped dead in his tracks as an explosion of color shook the sky.
"What...the..." was all he could muster to say.
Regaining his focus, he eventually reached a clearing in the forest-like area, where a pink-maned, yellow pegasus filly was sitting among a group of small animals.
"Hey! Are you okay?" he called out to the filly.
His appearance startled away the animals, and the filly was filled with a shocking nervousness as well. Apologetically, Shade began:
"Sorry... I saw you falling from the sky and rushed over to see if you were fine."
The filly just sat there, hiding half her face and lowering her shaking body.
"It's okay, you don't have to be scared. I'm not going to hurt you," Shade reassured.
The filly seemed to ease her nerves, silently choking out the words:
"I-I'm fine....."
Shade relaxed himself as well, then looked to the sky and asked:
"Did you fall from Cloudsdale?"
She shyly nodded. Shade started to question just how the heck she survived such a great fall, but didn't, considering she was frightened enough.
"I'm Shade Vortex. What's your name?" he warmly and calmly asked.
Slowly, she began in a soft voice:
"...I'm...F-Fluttershy..."
Shade brought a warm smile to his face, which seemed to ease Fluttershy even more.
"It's nice to meet you, Fluttershy. My Dad's a pegasus. He can take you back home if you want."
Fluttershy nodded again, this time with a slight smile.
_____________
Years Later
_____________
Shade continued to fidget where he sat, which was painfully obvious to his parents. Practically a stallion now, at graduation in fact, and he still couldn't sit still. Feather Shock sighed to himself, whereas Midnight let out a silent chuckle.
The wait was crushing Shade, who was eager to get up, take his diploma, and go nowhere in particular. Living in Canterlot for the past few years to attend a basic magic high school was painfully boring, even if he was good at it. There was less excitement in the prestigious society, and he couldn't wait to get on the first train out of there. His 'metaphorical Hype Train,' as he referred to it.
Of course, sitting amongst his classmates for the last time, observing them all, left a feeling of emptiness in him again. Out of the entire group of graduates, he was the only one without his cutie mark. For the 77th time in his life, he asked himself:
"What am I supposed to be?"
His mother overheard her son's catchphrase and noticed his face: lost in thought again.
"It'll come to you in its due time," Midnight reassured her son again.
The warm gaze between the two was broken at the call of Shade's name.
"I just hope that time comes," Shade whispered as he approached the stage.
____________
1 year later
____________
Shade didn't miss Canterlot at all. Having returned to his home town of Ponyville nearly eight months ago, he was happy with his life. Everything just seemed to go his way. Not only was his family able to return to their original house without it being sold, but an old friend had moved and resided here.
Over the past few years, he and Fluttershy had always kept in touch via occasional letters, and she had even attended his graduation. Now she lived in Ponyville, explaining that she and her family decided it was best if they stayed on the ground after the incident with Rainbow Dash's race. And since Rainbow Dash was Fluttershy's best friend, and Shade was able to spend more time with Fluttershy, Shade and Rainbow eventually became quite close by association.
Everyone seemed to question it, two mares and one stallion spending so much time together, but neither three of them thought much of it. They were just friends.
At least, that's what Fluttershy and Rainbow both thought. Over time, Shade's feelings for Fluttershy had changed and become something more, and even he wasn't sure why. It just sort of developed within him. And this wasn't the only conflicting feeling he had.
He still did not own a cutie mark.
Everyone he talked to about it gave him the same answer:
*It'll come in its due time.*
____________
"Well I'm tired of waiting. I'm going to go out there and find out who I am, and what I'm meant to be," he said, finishing the speech he was giving his parents.
Both shocked, his parents pleaded with him to rethink his course. "Where will you go?" they asked.
"You don't know what's out there!" they argued.
"You could get hurt!" they warned.
Shade's resolve was already firm, however.
"I'm sorry, but I can't stay here and wait for my destiny to come without me putting in the effort to discover it. As to where I'll go, I do not yet know. But my Journey to Nowhere will take me wherever I'm meant to go."
Shade paused to watch as his parents slightly teared up, knowing they could do nothing to stop their adult son.
"I truly, and deeply love you both. You have cared for me my whole life, and put up with my mistakes. I promise you, I will return."
And with that final notion, Shade turned to canter out the door, grabbing his tan cloak on the way out.
Just before he reached the outer gate of Ponyville that led into the Everfree Forest, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash quickly flew towards him. He turned around to be embraced by the only two friends that stuck with him this long. He teared up, returning the hug and not wanting to let go, Rainbow and Fluttershy both saying their goodbyes through sobs into the blade-shaped spikes of his black mane.
"Please don't go..."
"We'll miss you..."
"Come back..."
But he did let go, and headed to the forest, stopping to slowly turn to see his crying friends.
"I will return..."
______________________________
Years before, up in Cloudsdale
______________________________
"JET! DID YOU REMEMBER YOUR LUNCH?"
“Yes, mom I have it."
“Do you have all your information?"
“Yes mom, I have it. Seriously mom, stop worrying it's just school. I think I can handle myself."
“I know...it's just that....you've grown up so fast...."
As Wind Cruiser spoke, her tone got lower and lower. Jet suddenly had a pang of guilt for being so rude to his mother. This was, after all his first day. It was only natural for her to be nervous about how her little "speedster" (as she liked to call him) would do on his first day of school.
“It's ok Mom, you don't have to worry. I'll be fine, really."
As Jet spoke, he got closer to his mother and decided to affectionately nuzzle her in an attempt to cheer her up. It worked a little, because as he nuzzled, she could only smile.
“I know, and I'm so proud of you. I trust you. But... just know that no matter what happens, I'll always be here for you. I love you, my little speedster."
She amplified her words by roughly rubbing her hoof on his head, causing a small giggle to eminate from the spiky haired foal.
“Mooommmm, your embarrassing me!" pleaded the young pegasus.
“Oh please, your such a drama queen. But ok, I guess I'll see you in a few hours. Are you sure your gonna be alright?" she questioned with a small frown.
“Yes mom, I'll be fine," Jet exclaimed.
“Well... alright then... bye," Wind Cruiser stated as she slowly opened her wings to take off.
After all these years, her little foal was finally growing up. She knew this time would eventually come, but she refused to acknowledge it. Jet could almost make out a small glimmer of a tear forming at the base of his mother's eyes as she slowly made her assent. Jet turned around, and began walking towards his school. He then stepped dead in his tracts, and in the blink of an eye, did a complete 180° degree spin, popped open his tiny (but strong) wings, and took off, full speed towards his mother.
Wind Cruiser barely had time to react as a small orange bullet soared towards her.
“GAH!" she screamed as the little orange mass wrapped its small hooves around her in a death grip.
“I love you mommy," Jet truthfully admitted as his small tears warmed his mother's chest fur. Still surprised, it took her a few seconds to compute what had just happened.
“I love you too," she finally said with a smile as she returned the hug. "And I always will," she finished.
The hug between mother and son lasted a few more seconds until finally, Wind Cruiser pulled away.
“Now go on ahead, I'll see you soon enough," she stated in her usual calm and naturally soothing voice. Jet looked up from her blue fur to look into his mother's deep blue eyes one last time before he left.
“Promise?"
“I promise," she said with a knowing smile.
“Now go on, or you'll be late, and we can't have you being late on your first day now can we?" she asked with a fake frown.
Jet's pupils shrunk to the size of pin heads as he realized that he was almost out of time. Quickly pulling away he shot off in a blur of Orange and black. As he flew off, he yelled back to his mother:
“BYE MOM SEE YOU LATER!!"
Wind Cruiser could only let out a small laugh and wave as her little speedster flew off into the open world.
“It's only a few hours, he'll do fine," she thought as she finally made her way back home.
Jet on the other hand was still flying at full speed towards the school.
“Well, here I go," Jet thought as he burst into the classroom.....
______________________________
Years later
______________________________
The day had finally come: graduation.
*Finally, all that hard work is finally starting to pay off,* a now much bigger and older Jet Fly thought as he was calmly sitting down inside the huge open stadium his school called a gym.
He was seated next to all his fellow Flight School students. As he waited for his name to be called, Jet reminisced about the last few years of his life that lead to this moment.
Ever since his birth, Jet's father, Fire Ball, had wanted him to be a Wonder Bolt. With that goal in mind, he trained Jet in the ways of speed and flight ever since he could open his wings. Jet still remembered their intense training sessions like they happened yesterday. All the laps around the house, all the wing up's, all the weighs. But in the end, it paid off. Jet was now a large, strong and handsome stallion.
But while his father focused purely on his physical activity, his mother had always been more relaxed, and lenient. She was always the one to help him out of jams and always the one who supported him. He loved his father dearly, but he could be too intense at times. His mother on the other hand would allow him to relax and just sit down.
But even though his father wanted him to go and join the Wonder Bolts, Jet had always had a secret passion: he loved kaiju and monsters. And he knew almost everything about all of them. For some reason, he'd always been interested. It was just something about them that bought his interests. Maybe it was their massive claws or scales, or the special abilities some had, but he loved to read about and study them.
He usually kept this passion a secret so that his father wouldn't be disappointed. But he couldn't hide anything from his mother, she almost immediately found out. How? He had no idea, but somehow she knew, and actually supported his passion. But when it came to his father, he didn't want him to know. He didn't want to hurt his father's dream for him. The Wonder Bolts were amazing to Jet, he loved them, but he didn't necessarily want to become them.
And this internal struggle shone throughout his life, because he was the only pony in his class without a cutie mark. This brought a slight blush to his dark orange cheeks. He was a bit embarrassed that he had yet to find his special talent. He was the only blank flank in his class.
He was still conflicted about his passion and his father's dream. In the end, the decision had been made for him. His father had already made reservations for him at the Wonder Bolts academy. Jet sighed as he thought about what might come in the future.
*I'll fly across that bridge when I get there,* he thought to himself as he thought about his family.
Both his mother and his father had arrived on time for his graduation. Jet chuckled as he thought about them. They were so different. His father, Fire Ball, was a serious, tough, and intense person. His mother, Wind Cruiser, on the other hand was calm, laid back, and lenient. Jet had always wondered how their relationship worked out.
*Opposites attract, I guess,* Jet thought.
“JET FLY," the announcer's booming voice brought Jet out of his trance and back into reality.
“I guess it's time," Jet whispered to himself as he made his way up the stage.
____________
“Huh, this is Wonder Bolts Academy," Jet thought to himself as he cruised his way to the giant cloud filled with fast flying pegasi.
Jet had to admit, it was rather impressive. The cloud was huge, and had all sorts of weird and oddly shaped machines meant for multiple purposes.
“HEY SCRUB!"
Jet heard a female voice yell in his general direction. Just to make sure they were talking about him, he looked to see who called, and sure enough, a yellow Pegasus with red and orange hair was looking directly at him.
“You must be Jet Fly, huh?" she said in a more matter-of-fact way rather than a question.
“Y-yes that's me," Jet stuttered out.
“Yea, I figured. My name's Spit Fire, and I'm the Captain of the Wonder Bolts," Spit Fire stated.
“It's an honor to meet you Miss Fire," said Jet Fly while extending his hoof to Spit Fire to shake.
She merely looked at it and snorted before flying off and ushering him to follow.
“Right....." Jet exclaimed sheepishly while he rubbed the back of his neck.
While they flew, Spit Fire took it upon herself to explain a few things.
“Here you'll get pushed to the limit, and test your skills in the art of aerial flight. We train winners, not lazy bums, so if your not ready to sweat your mane off, this place is not for you."
She went on for quite some time as they made their way to a certain part of the cloud. Even though she kept talking, Jet wasn't really listening.
“Great," Jet grumbled to himself.
*Why did I agree to this? I never really wanted to come here in the first place. Dad, you better appreciate this...*
Jet's thoughts were interrupted by the sudden stop of his superior.
“Here we are, the cabins. You'll be staying in #13. I'll give you a day to get settled and explore. But I want you to be ready to train in the morning. Later Scrub," Spit Fire said as she flew away.
“I'll give this two months. If I still don't like it, I'm leaving," he said to himself as he looked out the window and out into the open air.
“Let's see how this goes."
______________________________
Two Months Later
______________________________
*Sorry Dad...*
Jet mentally kicked himself for letting down his father.
*I gave it a try, but... it's just not for me. These are great ponies and all, and they do great work, but...it's just not for me.*
Jet had really, honestly tried to like the training. All the drills, and practices were actually similar to his father's training, but he never liked that either. It wasn't as if he didn't feel like he couldn't make the cut, because he was actually one of the fastest in his class. Even surpassing Soarin in some practices. But, no matter how good he did, and no matter how much he tried to like the training, he just couldn't get into it. Every morning was a pain.
*But where do I go?*
This thought stopped Jet dead in his tracts. He couldn't go back home, his parents would be too disappointed. His father would be crushed. This was his dream for him.
*No, I can't go back. Not until I've figured out what I want to do,* Jet finalized.
But that still didn't really answer his question.
*Maybe I'll fly around and try to find somewhere to clear my head,* Jet told himself.
Just before he was about to jump off the Cloud Academy for good, he heard a feminine voice come up from behind him.
“You don't have to go you know. Your one of the best here. You could stay, really make a living for yourself with us."
After spending so much time with her, Jet almost immediately recognized that voice.
“It's a nice thought Spit Fire, but... it's just not for me. I just need to...to go. Find somewhere to clear my head, find somewhere I truly belong," Jet replied.
Spit Fire looked a little saddened by that, but quickly regained her usual stoic self.
“Well, if you don't, you can always count that you'll have a place here," she complied.
She then proceeded to stuck out her hoof towards him. The move shocked Jet because he had never seen her shake anyponies hoof before. But he regained his senses and happily returned the gesture.
“Thanks, that means allot to me," Jet said as he began to take flight and fly off into the distance.
“Later Scrub!" Spit Fire yelled at him with a small smirk as he slowly disappeared into the horizon.
Jet Fly could only chuckle as he made his way into the unknown....
_______________
It had been a few months since his leave from the Wonder Bolts Academy. Early in his travels he stumbled across a kind family of farmers, after he fell asleep in their barn.
The Apples, as they called themselves, were a nice family of Farmers consisting of a huge red stallion named Big Mac, a baby filly called Apple Bloom, an older mare called Granny Smith, and a bright orange mare that went by the name of Apple Jack. They were kind enough to let him stay with them after he explained his situation to them. But, under the condition that he would pull his weight and help out around the farm.
That was fine with Jet. He was more than happy to help the kind folk that decided to give a total stranger a place to stay. But what he really appreciated was the wisdom that Granny Smith held. After explaining his situation to her, she asked him:
“What do you want? What do you like more than anything else?"
It was a puzzling question. He loved both fast flight, and kaiju. But when it came down to what he liked better, kaiju and monsters took the cake.
“I-i love monsters. I love to read about them, study them, and I already know all about them. But I've never had a chance to actually make a living out of it..." Jet said sheepishly.
“Well, then find a way. I can't tell you what to do, but I will tell you this: always follow your heart. What is it telling you to do? Follow your heart, and you'll succeed," Granny Smith said with her infinite wisdom.
After a few more days of working with the apples, Jet Fly found out that Canterlot was now offering Kaiju and Mythical Creatures classes. This is exactly what he had always wanted, a way to finally make his passion into a career. After saying his thanks and goodbyes to the Apples for sheltering and feeding him, Jet Fly was on his way.
He was now currently flying towards Canterlot's direction.
“Here we go again", Jet thought as he finally entered into Canterlot air space.
Little did he know that this school had so much more planned for him...