//------------------------------//
// Chapter 8: My Favorite Little Fillies 
// Story: The Long Life of Breeze Rider 
// by Tyler-the-Brony 
//------------------------------//

	I couldn’t have wished for a better life. Not only was I considered a Noble, but I got to get up every day and go and teach little Pegasi how to fly. The Administrators and parents constantly bragged and told me that I was the best flight teacher around. I’m not pigheaded, but I couldn’t deny what seemed to be proving itself true. I had a “gift” for finding the Pegasi that would most benefit from my personal instruction, ponies would often say. Nopony knew that my gift was genuine though.

My gift came from a long time connection with my godmother, Princess Celestia. After I had spoken my first words, she told me she had given me one of her own personal abilities to have for my very own. I was now able to peer in the near and distant future whenever I saw the need to. This ability helped greatly in connecting with my students. I was able to see ahead of time how each of them would react to my lesson plans, who would need extra assistance, and who would grasp the techniques fully from the get-go. It made sense then, that I was commonly called the “Best” and “Favorite” teacher by my little ponies.

Some of my students really did need my personal instruction. Not because they would fail otherwise. Simply because I could give them the personal connections they needed to truly soar. As an Under Instructor, I wasn’t a full teacher, and was thus allowed to connect on a more personal level with my students. Other Teachers couldn’t exactly do that. I had three little Pegasi who I absolutely adored in my recurring class. 

The first little Pegasi was a spunky little cyan pony with a rainbow mane, aptly named Rainbow Dash. Rainbow instantly jumped at the mention of any kind of new tricks or speed tests. The little filly was always pushing herself, trying to go faster and do more. We all knew well why she did all that though. She wanted to join the Wonderbolts, a superb team of fliers hailed as the best and fastest Pegasi in Equestria, one day. She told everypony this at least twice a week, ever since I had first asked her what her dream was in our first day of class. I admired her drive and aspiration. I also knew for a fact she’d be a Wonderbolt someday. It’s one of the upsides of being a prophet. She was always requesting personal sessions and extra assignments to extend her range of tricks. I never begrudged her when she asked. She was quite a contrast with her two best friends in flight school, though they hadn’t all always been friends, who happened to be my other 2 favorites.

The next little filly was a yellow Pegasi with a long pink mane who went by the name Fluttershy. Fluttershy was quite timid and reserved, as her name might imply. She also happened to hit a growth spurt long before the other pegasi did, making her wings reach full size early and making her legs lanky. She was often teased as being unable to fly. It only made sense though. No pegasi is ready to have their full sized wings while still attending flight school. I spoke from experience, as I too had grown long before the others in my class. It took quite a while to get used to in my experience, and I had needed to practice several special flying tricks in order to adjust to my wings. I commonly made time to teach her these moves and help her practice them. Though I often spoke to my other students telling them not to mock anypony else, they still got away with it while I wasn’t around. However, being a prophet has its advantages. And one of them is being able to reprimand ponies for things other teachers wouldn’t notice if they did them in their classes. Over time, Fluttershy slowly began to change, becoming more emotionally stable and able to handle herself in the air. This gave me extra time to go and work on the last of my favorites.

My last favorite was also a filly, a small grey one with a blonde mane. She was named Derpy Hooves. She was a different kind of Pegasus, much like I was. She too hailed from Canterlot instead of Cloudsdale. She was the daughter of a member of the Royal Guard and one of Equestria’s most prominent actors. Her parents often ignored her though, never coming to attend events at the school or allowing her to come home and visit. Because of this, I had basically adopted Derpy as a sister. I made sure that she always had at least one friendly face to look for in a crowd or to come and talk to if she needed to. The reason her parents never appeared was because, sadly, they wanted no association with her after the accident that turned her into the filly she is now. I was the first one she ever told about it. 

Derpy had always been fascinated by magic, ever since she was born. Her mother often took her to Unicorn shows, so she could enjoy herself. Unicorn magic is always very unpredictable, especially when used by a showpony. Most of the spells they use in their shows are made simply to be visually appealing and are never tested fully to see what effects they may have. All it took was a single moment. Derpy’s mother turned away for a moment and Derpy got a little too close to the climax of the unicorn show. The various spells picked her up from the ground and trapped her within them. The Unicorns tried their best to stop their spells once they noticed their terrible mistake, but it was too late. The spells collided in such a way that Derpy was changed slightly. The best the Canterlot doctors could figure was that the colliding spells had placed Derpy in a permanent disorientated state. This meant that while she visualized doing something one way, the magic would make her do it another. Once her parents realized that this meant Derpy could spread a bad reputation to them, they sent her away to Cloudsdale and forbade her to return home until such a time as she was “fixed.” I had cried when I heard her story. I decided then and there that I would be the parent Derpy needed, no matter what. She came to love me as a brother too, over time. I was always the most proud of her out of all my students. 

Over the years though, Derpy continued to be teased. Once, when she was teased badly enough about her clumsiness, she had been so hurt that she ran way to cry. I had made certain the students who had forced her to do this were expelled. This was not the first incident they had been responsible for. They were also responsible for much of the teasing towards Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and all the other Pegasus ponies. This had been the final straw though. Once I had dealt with them, I immediately set out to search for Derpy, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy with me. We would find her. There was no other option.