The Price of Wings

by Arcict

chapter 07: "Friends"

The Price of Wings

Chapter: 07

"Friends"

Written by Arcict Gray

Cobalt looked at the library with some apprehension. The message had been plain enough but, reading between the lines had given him some... suspicions. He'd been to the library before but "to meet some new friends" he hadn't. When he'd first seen it he'd been in awe, not just a home or house, but a whole library within a living tree. The green-party dudes back home would pee their pants to see something like this, though whether in outrage at the defamation of a tree or in envy of the pony that got to live in there he wasn't quite sure.

That was a thought he couldn't help but snicker at... "You make me so mad I'm gonna pee my pants!"

Reaching the library's entrance, Cobalt knocked, pausing momentarily to notice how natural it felt now, doing things like this with his hooves.

A few moments passed and the door opened, the little baby dragon answering the door.

"Oh cool, you're here," Spike said, opening the door wide and stepping aside. Cobalt gave him a nod and a polite "thank you" as he walked in.

The main chamber of the library was large and round and one was immediately assaulted by just how many books were being kept here.

Cobalt stopped a short way in, looking around. He had hoped to spot Twilight, instead he spotted what appeared to be the 'front desk' of the library, which had been moved to be behind the door when it opened, all but forgotten. It seemed somewhat fitting that a library that somepony literally lived inside of wouldn't need any official "Front Desk", just find the princess librarian and she'll take care of it. As he mused Spike ran out ahead of him, looking up to one of the floors above.

"Twilight, he's here," Spike called up.

“Hay!” The princess of Friendship called out, looking down on them from one of the floors above, “Come on up!”

For a moment, Cobalt considered walking up the stairs to the floor the princess had called to him from. The Cobalt reconsidered and weighed what he wanted and, to a lesser degree, how much damage he would likely do, if he flew instead.

Two seconds of hesitation and he was carefully ascending through the air of the atrium, reaching Twilight’s level marginally faster than if he had walked. He didn’t care much about speed, the tipping point in his mental scales was a sense of destiny, he was a pegasus, he was meant to fly.

The door Princess Twilight was standing by seemed, by all accounts, normal. Yet, Cobalt got the impression there was something special behind it. Twilight was looking at him, anxious, anticipatory, she seemed almost giddy.

What was behind that door?

For a moment, Cobalt could do little else but wonder, imagining what might be there. Could there be a monster or some curious creature? Might there be something precious or shiny? Maybe there was some spatial anomaly or...

...Cobalt hesitated, might there be a portal back home? That was a thought that stopped him. He didn't want to go back, this was his home now, he didn't...

Twilight was looking at him with very poorly concealed anticipation, like this was a Christmas gift he was about to open.

Cobalt swallowed physically, trying to mentally swallow his fears and reached a hoof for the door, pushing it open.

It was two ponies, an earth pony and a unicorn.

"Surprise!" The princess of Friendship almost shouted into his ears. "This is Lumen Shine and Soccer Ball."

"Um, hello?" Cobalt said, taking in the pair. The unicorn had a white coat and light blue mane, the Earth pony had a deep green coat and a bright gold mane.

"Uh, hi," Soccer Ball, the earth pony said back, mirroring Cobalt's uncertainty.

"So...", Cobalt said, turning to Twilight. "These are... friends of yours?"

"They're from your world!" Twilight blurted out, striding out past Cobalt towards the other two and then turning to face... the empty space Cobalt had previously occupied.

"Well, that was weird," Soccer said, gesturing with a hoof at the spectacle as Twilight chased after the pegasus.

"Definitely unexpected," Lumen concurred.

A few seconds later and they heard voices, Twilight's and presumably this "Cobalt" pony, arguing.

"So, stay or go?" Lumen asked.

"Psh, you're asking me?" Soccer said incredulously. "I don't want to go anywhere."

"I'm going to go check it out," Lumen said, approaching the doorway and peeking his way out.

"And WHY don't you want to! They're from YOUR world! You should WANT to talk to them!" Twilight proclaimed, her face dangerously close to his own.

"Because they... they're going to hate me!" Cobalt defended, pushing away and rising a couple feet into the air.

"Why! What did you do?! Other than leave them behind?" Twilight said, sounding teeth-grindingly irritated.

"Well let's answer that in the form of a number," Cobalt said. "You like numbers, right?"

"What?! What number could possibly-" Twilight started.

"How many humans dream of flying?" Cobalt asked.

"That... why would that... how should I know the answer to THAT?!" Twilight demanded.

"It's simpler than you think," Cobalt insisted. "And it's extremely relevant."

Lumen watched as Cobalt hovered patiently as Twilight tried puzzling through the exact number Cobalt was asking for, taking the question very literally. Lumen himself already knew the answer, being rhetorical as it was.

"Princess," Cobalt interrupted, stopping Twilight from further pointless puzzlement. "It's very simple, there are only two possible numbers that it could be relevant. And here's a hint, I'll give you one of the numbers and that should give you the other, okay?"

"I don't need your help, and you're acting irrational!" Twilight asserted, pointing a hoof at him. "There is no reason you shouldn't be over there making friends with them right now!"

"There is one, and that's the number," Cobalt said, matter-of-factly.

"Uugh! Fine! What is this clue you're so desperate to give me." Twilight said, losing patience.

Cobalt cleared his throat as though he were about to give a lecture.

"It's like this, either none of the humans dream of flying ooor..." Cobalt said, letting the sentence hang unfinished.

Twilight still seemed lost and frustrated for a few seconds, then dawning comprehension came over her as she saw past "numbers" and started seeing "amounts" instead.

"Or all of them do," Twilight said, nearly whispering as comprehension dawned.

"All of them do," Cobalt confirmed. "And NONE of them GET to, not a single one... except me."

"And I just," Twilight said, not sure what to say. "I just forced you to-"

"Now hold on," Lumen said, pushing through the doorway he'd hidden in and into the conversation proper.

"Lumen, I'm sorry," Twilight said. "I... I didn't know I..."

"It's fine, really," Soccer said, trodding slowly past Lumen to join them. "True, none of us get to, in fact, that's probably why we all dream of it, because we never get to. But that doesn't mean we're just going to go hating someone just because they get a set of wings and we don't."

"Basically yes," Lumen confirmed. "There's no reason to go running away from us like that."

"Yeah well, I'm sorry if I overreacted," Cobalt said, but then turned towards Twilight. "But a little forewarning would be nice, don't spring things like that on me, okay?"

"Fine," Twilight said, more annoyed than anything. All that fuss and a small apology seemed to have made everything work out.

"So, you can fly with those?" Lumen said, approaching and looking at Cobalt. "I mean, I've seen pegasi before but not up close."

Curiosity was something Cobalt was very familiar with, especially concerning how a pegasus flew. As such, Cobalt knew instinctively what he would want to see if their positions were reversed. Cobalt hovered over the balcony and turned around, getting as close to the railing as he could so Lumen could see his wings.

"Fascinating," Lumen said, looking at Cobalt's flapping wings. "It still seems impossible."

"If it were just the wings sure," Cobalt said. "But it's more than that, there's a kind of energy, I can... I dunno, I guess it's like I can push the air around."

"Just... push it around?" Soccer said, disbelieving.

"Yeah, I was kinda hoping for something more," Lumen said, still watching Cobalt's wings.

"Sorry guys, but I haven't even had a chance to spend time around other pegasi," Cobalt said. "It'd be difficult to give you anything beyond my own experience, and that's hard to put into words."

"It would be impossible to relay my experience without a common frame of reference." Lumen stated, keeping his voice as flat as possible.

"Exactly, though hopefully I don't have to die to figure this one out," Cobalt said.

"What... are you two talking about?" Soccer said, looking from Lumen to Cobalt finally to Twilight, who looked just as confused.

"Star Trek," Lumen said confidently.

"The fourth movie... er, I think," Cobalt said. "Just about the only Star Trek stuff I know... from the original series anyway, the rest... meh, I'm more of a lightsaber guy rather than a phaser one."

"ACK!" lumen said, staggering back and pretending to gag.

"Nice," Soccer said, looking down at Lumen's horrible acting skills. "Let me guess, he stinks?"

"Nah, he’s pretending to be choked by The Force," Cobalt .

"You nerds," Soccer said quietly.

"Whatever," Cobalt said, rolling his eyes.

"So, do you know any tricks?" Soccer asked.

"Tricks?" Cobalt asked.

"Yeah, you know, like flips and loops and stuff." Soccer said.

"I... well," Cobalt said.

"Not in the library!" Twilight exclaimed. "It's way too narrow in here for doing tricks!"

"I... might be able to do one, and it's kinda an indoor trick," Cobalt said, glancing at Twilight.

Twilight just looked at him, radiating a mixed expression of unbelief and forced patience.

“So, here... it is." Cobalt said, turning to face an empty wall. Cobalt looked up to make sure that the ceiling was also clear. Slowly, Cobalt hovered closer and closer to the wall, finally touching it with a forehoof. With a little hesitation, Cobalt put all four hooves against the wall and began slowly walking up it, towards the ceiling.

"Wait, that's it?" Soccer said.

"No, wait," Lumen said as Cobalt reached the ceiling.

Cobalt put a forehoof against the ceiling and slowly transitioned himself, walking at a crawl onto the ceiling, literally flying upside down now, he trotted, even slower than on the wall, around the ceiling area.

"No way," Soccer said, impressed.

"Cool" Lumen said.

"Colts," Twilight said, half annoyed, half amused, half disbelieving.

Cobalt came to the edge of the ceiling, where it opened into the atrium proper. Looking up to the floor far beneath, Cobalt braced himself, crouching like a cat ready to pounce.

"Don't you dare!" Twilight warned.

Cobalt leapt into the atrium space and flipped around, descending a full level before he reached the opposite side and landing awkwardly on the railing. It wasn't a perfect landing, but it was good enough that Cobalt didn't feel it was ironic to stand on his hind-legs and spread his forelegs wide in celebration.

"Ta-Da!" Cobalt said.

Lumen and Soccer laughed, moving to the nearby steps to get down to his level. Cobalt decided to play a bit of a trick on them. When they got down the steps to the landing, Soccer taking up the rear, Cobalt wasn't there.

"What'cha looking for?" Cobalt said, coming down the stairs behind them.

Lumen stuck his tongue out at him, smiling.

"So, you guys staying here or... what's happening?" Cobalt asked, descending to the landing with them.

"We've got a train back to Canterlot later tonight," Lumen said.

"You guys live in Canterlot?" Cobalt asked, following them as they walked down the next flight of stairs.

"It's a pretty busy place." Soccer mentioned, as they made their way down to the ground floor.

"Still, this place is kinda nice, I'm looking forward to exploring," Lumen said.

"Wait, my ball!" Soccer said, looking back up the atrium.

"I can get it," Cobalt said, taking to the air.

"Wait I... oh nevermind," Soccer said, walking up to the wall he kicked it with a rear-hoof.

Cobalt rose, looking at each floor, trying to remember which floor they had met on, it being the most likely place where Soccer might have left his ball behind. Then, something hit him on the head. Cobalt dropped a foot, looking up, only to see a soccer ball, having bounced up off his head, falling back towards him. Scrambling, Cobalt tried to grab it, but it slipped past his hooves and fell down.

"HEADS UP!" Cobalt called down.

The ball dropped to the ground, stopping at a hover only a few inches above the floor.

"Do NOT ask me how I'm doing this because I still don't know," Lumen said, raising the ball up a little. Soccer approached it and took it into his hooves, clutching it like a precious possession.

"Well, so much for that," Cobalt said, descending and landing on the floor. Cobalt then looked at Soccer's flanks, sure enough, a bouncing soccer ball cutie-mark. "I Guess your name is no accident then."

"That's it, everypony out!" Twilight said, half commanding half beckoning and opening the front door. "If you colts are going to go kicking balls around you can take it outside."

Twilight watched them leave, then flew up to an upper window to watch them. They had left the library’s front lawn proper and were more out in the street, giving Twilight a good view from here. Unaware they were being observed, Twilight watched as the three bounced the ball around, more times than not, Cobalt had to go and retrieve it when either he or Lumen failed to make a good toss or kick with it.

Twilight mused how very much like colts they were, they were uncoordinated, yet excited and full of energy, as though the weight of years no longer bore down on them. They were adult stallions certainly, but with the youth of colts. Twilight couldn’t help but wonder if this was a side effect of coming through the portal.

As they played their individual skill differences began showing through. Cobalt was fast and dexterous, and had the greatest comfort working with his hooves. That made sense, he had been a pony the longest and had the greatest practice. Lumen was slower but used his magic almost instinctively, often making throws sloppy but catching the ball with ease. Soccer Ball caught and threw the ball like he’d been doing it for years but... something seemed a little off.

It soon became apparent what it was that appeared off with Soccer Ball, his kicks and throws started getting weaker and weaker, especially the kicks with his hind-legs. Eventually they stopped throwing the ball altogether and came together, talking. Twilight strained her ears but could only pick up the low blurbs of whatever they were talking about. Their conversation didn’t last long and soon Cobalt appeared to leave. For a brief moment Twilight was shot through with fear, was Cobalt leaving them? Had somepony said something to offend him? What if they don’t become friends? What am I going to...

And then the other two followed him.

“Oh, right, yeah,” Twilight said to herself, descending from the window. “That could happen.”

* * *

They were touring the town. Cobalt had to admit, he didn’t know this town like the locals did, but he could point out the big buildings at least.

As they walked, Lumen noticed when Cobalt’s cape blew aside in the wind.

“You don’t have the mark,” Lumen noted.

“Come again?” Cobalt asked, only now realizing he was uncovered.

“That mark... the, well, we have them,” Lumen said.

“The Cutie Mark you mean?” Soccer said. Soccer was behind the others and, as such, had not noticed Cobalt’s flanks were blank.

“Yeah, I...” Cobalt said, covering himself again. “That’s why I wear this thing, to avoid all the stares. Not many ponies have ever seen a full grown stallion without one.”

“So, do you know what this Cute-ceañera thing is?” Lumen asked.

Cobalt stopped, doing some thinking, pieces were coming together. Lumen and Soccer both had their Cutie marks, but the party celebrating it had not happened for either of them, and they, having just admitted all this, were wandering around in Ponyville, where just about anywhere was well within earshot of...

“Did somepony say they needed a Cute-ceañera?!” Said an overly excitable, overly energetic voice.

Cobalt groaned inwardly, all of the ponies he’d met were full of personality enough to be a lot to take in, and of all of them, there was one who never gave you enough time to actually TAKE any of it in.

“Hello Pinkie Pie,” Cobalt said.

“Soooooo? I couldn’t help overhearing that somepony hasn’t had their party for getting their Cutie Mark yet!” Pinkie fired off, looking Cobalt over. “Is it you? I bet it’s you! Oh don’t tell me, we’ll keep it a secret until the big reveal and-”

“Pinkie!” Cobalt near shouted. “It’s NOT me!”

Cobalt all but threw the cape off to show her he still didn’t have his mark yet.

“Actually, it’s us, but... we don’t really know what it is all about,” Lumen tried.

“Well it’s a party, Duh!” Pinkie started. “Who doesn’t know about parties, there’s cake and candy and games and... wait, have you NEVER had a party before?!”

“The Cutie-Mark part of it!” Cobalt insisted, “What about the Cutie-Mark bit makes it different from any other party, that’s what they don’t get!”

“Oh, well that’s simple,” Pinkie said. “You have a little ceremony at the end where you get to choose a different name to reflect your Cutie Mark and stuff.”

“A little ceremony?” Soccer asked. “Why do I get the feeling there’s more to it than just the ‘and stuff’ part?”

“It’s fine!” Pinkie Pie said, blissfully unaware of the concerned looks on Soccer and Lumen.

Cobalt had his own concerns, Pinkie was difficult enough to keep up with on a good day and he’d learned from his time in Ponyville that if you don’t head her off and cut off any delusional thoughts she might be having quickly that she can and will act on them, and then turn around and blame you for not telling her when you had the chance. All that often ignored the fact that she never really gave you a chance in the first place and that interrupting her was often the least rude means available to get that chance.

When conversing with Pinkie Pie, you needed to just think differently. This would be overwhelming for Cobalt, but since coming to another world, thinking differently was something he’d been doing a lot.

The trouble was, he also knew that there were some things that you simply couldn’t stop with Pinkie. She had it in her head that they were having a party, so that was simply going to happen, regardless of the trepidation and uncertainty his two friends were showing. He couldn’t stop her from throwing a party, and heaven help them if any of them decided not to show up.

“Consultation!” Cobalt commanded, directing it at Pinkie Pie. Then he turned to Soccer and Lumen, “Funds, and schedule... er, please.”

Playing “military general” was not Cobalt’s first inclination, but Pinkie liked to play, so if they needed to do this right, might as well make a game of it.

“Er, well, we’ve got about fifty of these ‘bits’ but...” Soccer said.

“They’re supposed to be for dinner and stuff,” Lumen finished for him.

“Schedule, are you staying here,” Cobalt barked as Pinkie nodded, taking in what the two had just said.

“uh,” Soccer said, fishing out a ticket.

“We’ve got a Passenger Train Ticket for... about nine-o-clock I think,” Lumen said.

“Pinkie! Current time!” Cobalt barked.

“Yes sir!” Pinkie saluted. “The current time is Three-thirty-two and six seconds, seven, eight, ni-“

“Thank you Private Pinkie, one moment.” Cobalt said, trying to think fast. It was three thirty, and they had to be at the train station by nine. If he gave them a maximum half-hour wait, including assumed travel time, he’d probably need to have them leave by around eight fifteen. But if they needed to eat first then he should give them an hour, seven fifteen then. Maybe shoot for straight seven, just in case Pinkie or this “ceremony” took too long and they were leaving late. So, the party should last for about an hour or two, which meant it should start at five. Giving them an hour and a half until the party started. There were a few things they could do to pass the time by then.

“Okay!” Cobalt declared. “We have a battle plan! We start the party at five! We keep it cheap! And loose, anypony wanting to come or go, that’s fine. They need to leave the party by seven, no later, and... and we’ll need a place to eat dinner after the party is over.”

“Right!” Pinkie said, mentally writing this all down.

“Contact!” Cobalt barked, picking Pinkie up. Pinkie, for her part, got down on his outstretched foreleg as he pointed her at Sugar Cube Corner.

“Fire!” Cobalt shouted and Pinkie shot off like a rocket at the building, nailing the doorway and disappearing inside with a burst of confetti.

Lumen and Soccer just stared at it all.

“What... was that?!” Lumen protested.

“That... was going with the madness,” Cobalt stated. “Trust me, around here in Ponyville... you either go with the madness, or it drives you insane and you eventually BECOME the madness.”

“But... who’s going to pay for it?” Soccer asked.

“Taxes, mostly,” Cobalt said. “Ponyville’s got an interesting income system here, and it all stems, from that.”

Cobalt pointed, Lumen and Soccer both strained to see what he was pointing at.

Canterlot.

“It’s the center of the nation,” Cobalt said. “Which means, it’s got ponies coming and going, businessponies, political ponies, non-ponies, workers, technicians, mailponies, and yes... tourists. And all those ponies gotta sleep somewhere. But space in Canterlot is limited, so you either spend a bunch of bits to sleep in a really expensive stable up there... or, you spend fewer bits to take a train ride down here. But once you’re here, there’s nothing to see... is there?”

Cobalt let the question hang for a moment.

“So... they have, parties?” Lumen speculated.

“They have parties, pretty much every day,” Cobalt declared. “They’ve got celebrations for just about every minor, and especially major, holiday Equestria has! They’ve even got Pinkie Pie on the lookout for anypony she doesn’t recognize, just to have the excuse of throwing them a party of their own. The businesses all pay a small ‘party tax’ which pays for the basics, and the town gets comers and goers coming through town spending bits at the businesses while they wait for the party to get started.”

“That’s... interesting, at least,” Soccer mused. “An economy based on parties.”

They continued the tour, the least they could do to kill the time. They went past Town Hall, The Marketplace, several shops down Main Street, then Lumen spotted something as they crested a hill, a big red barn in the distance.

“Ah, that would be Sweet Apple Acres,” Cobalt said. “That’s... basically the largest farm in the area.”

“They... specialize in apples, I assume?” Lumen half-asked, half speculated.

“You could say that, all the ponies that live there are named after apples,” Cobalt said. “Or, named based on the word ‘apple’, anyway.”

“So...” Lumen said, turning to Soccer. “Do... you wanna check it out?”

“I... “ Soccer said, uncertain. “I... maybe. Sure, I guess.”

Cobalt led the way over the few hills through town towards the orchard farm, pointing out places he recognized along the way. As they walked, Soccer kept stopping them and asking about some of the places they passed, whether Cobalt knew about them or not, more often, not. Cobalt tried not to complain despite noticing that Soccer kept stopping them more and more often. Cobalt breathed a silent sigh of relief as they reached the orchard path leading to the farm proper, with nothing but trees on either side, there wouldn’t be anything to ask about to stop them. Cobalt reflected a bit, he’d gotten used to flying enough that he honestly felt like walking was “slow”, even cantor seemed like taking things too slow now.

“Hey! Hold on,” Cobalt heard Lumen calling to him. Cobalt tried not to show any disappointment, he had hoped they could get a move on, going not only to the farm, but his brain went ahead, dreading how many stops they’d have as they went back to down.

“What’s up?” Cobalt asked.

“I just... I just need a breather,” Soccer said.

Cobalt looked at him, Soccer didn’t appear to be panting, nor seemed physically strained in any way, he wasn’t even sweating.

“Is... is there something wrong?” Cobalt asked. “Because, you don’t really look winded to me.”

Lumen and Soccer looked at each other.

“It... I...” Soccer said. “Fine, I might as well tell you. I’ve got weak legs. I was... well, it was an accident, but I was stuck in a chemically induced coma for a while, by the time I was able to get up and about, my legs were... well, weaker.”

“Atrophied?” Cobalt tried.

“Yeah, that’s what they said,” Soccer replied. Cobalt took note of Soccer’s mood, he seemed a little more comfortable with Cobalt’s acknowledgement of the medical word. “Anyway, when I came here... well, as an Earth Pony, I found my legs were stronger, no longer limping just to walk. I... I was happy, I could either go home and be looking forward to years of therapy, or come here... and, maybe only need a few months.”

“But they’re still weak,” Cobalt concluded.

“Weak enough that a day of walking, a little ball play, and a tour through town has them... well, you ever hear the phrase ‘I’ll be feeling that one in the morning’? That’s them right now.” Soccer said.

“Do... do you think you can make it all the way to the farm?” Cobalt asked.

“I... I’m fairly certain that even if I can... I won’t be able to make it back,” Soccer admitted. “I’m pretty sure I can’t get that far.”

Cobalt mentally slapped himself, why hadn’t he thought of that, the trip back.

Lumen watched as Cobalt, almost absentmindedly hovered off the ground and started looking around, thinking as he did so. After a few moments Lumen was about to turn to Sonic-

"I'VE GOT IT!" Cobalt all but shouted, causing both Soccer and Lumen to jump. "Stay here!"

And with that, Cobalt flew off, just leaving the two where they were they stood.

“So... do ya think he makes a habit of just... flying off like that?” Lumen asked, turning to Soccer. Soccer, for his part, just sat down, resting his legs.

And there, they waited.

“So, when do you think you’re going to tell him about...” Lumen began asking when Soccer cut him off.

“What is that?” Soccer said, pointing down the road. Lumen looked, there appeared to be a pony with... something, leaving a trail of kicked up dust behind him.

A few moments later and Cobalt was screeching to a halt, apple-cart in tow, literally, behind him.

“So I thought about... how to get around,” Cobalt said, panting from the gallop. “And I... realized that the Apples move apples all over using carts... and it’s winter so... they don’t have any apples to move around... so they aren’t using the carts right now... so I asked if I could borrow one.”

“The... apples? Have a cart? To move... apples?” Lumen asked as Soccer boarded the cart.

“The Apples... that is, the Apple family,” Cobalt explained. “Applebloom, Applejack, Big Macintosh and Granny Smith, they’re the family that runs the apple orchard here, largest farm in Ponyville.”

“We’re not going there?” Soccer asked, noticing that Cobalt was taking the cart back to Ponyville proper.

“It’s... kinda to avoid confusion,” Cobalt said. “Some ponies take things a little too... literally. If I go back to the farm, they might interpret it as me bringing the cart back like I said I would, and, well, it isn’t.”

“Is that... a little degrading?” Lumen asked, looking at Cobalt strapped to the harness of the cart.

“Heh heh,” Cobalt Chuckled, but for a while he didn’t say anything. “Back home, it wouldn’t be a cart, and I couldn’t pull it like this, but back home, we do have an equivalent, the rickshaw. Ponies here... have a different kind of society. Everypony is stronger per person than the average human, why not make a society that is built around that kind of strength? As such, yeah, carts like this are just a thing. If it were... I guess if it were ‘symbolically’ an insult then, maybe, but no, I choose this, so it means nothing more than what I choose it to mean. And right now, I choose it to mean that I’m willing to pull a cart... to make up for the mistake of dragging you two on a long tour.”

The tour continued, Cobalt still pointing out places of interest, Lumen and occasionally Soccer asking questions or giving some commentary. Lazily, the day drew closer to closing and Lumen noticed Cobalt taking the cart back towards the center of town.

“Are we anywhere close to where this party is supposed to happen?” Lumen asked.

“Right here,” Cobalt said, unhitching himself from the cart with some difficulty and pointing across the street to the little sweet-shop. Lumen noticed it was the same one that the pink pony had... rocketed?... into when Cobalt had... fired?... her... into it? Maybe?

Lumen shook his head, exactly what had happened, or how it had happened was something he couldn’t really think about at the moment.

“Listen,” Cobalt said. “Pinkie throws these parties all the time, she knows what she’s doing. However, she often has the problem of assuming that others know what they’re doing too. She’s likely to lead you on thinking you’re keeping up even if you’re totally lost. Because of that, if the party gets a little... serious, don’t hesitate to ask what’s going on. It’s better to look foolish than to get yourself wrapped up in something you don’t want.”

“You mean, like choosing a name and stuff?” Soccer asked, disembarking from the cart.

“It caught me off guard,” Cobalt admitted. “And I assume you-all as well. It is a party, but... we’re still strangers in a strange land, keep your ears up and your eyes open and stay sharp.”

They entered Sugar Cube Corner like a mist pouring in through the door, Cobalt leading the way with Lumen and Soccer flanking him.

Cobalt mused later on how disarming the scene had been. There were balloons, treats, a small cake, there was music and lights, some ponies were dancing, some were playing games. Several ponies were curious about the cutie-marks, given that it was a Cute-ceañera after all.

Despite the disarming atmosphere, it became apparent quickly that “staying sharp” was very good advice. The ponies weren’t just admiring the cutie marks, they kept asking how the two ponies got them. There were other questions as well, why were they full stallions and had never been to a cutie-mark party before? How long had they had their cutie marks? Other smaller questions came and went and Cobalt found himself playing “professional party pooper” and interrupting one or the other to give them time to find an answer or offer some advice.

The overall story was this. Equestria had previously sent out ponies to colonize other lands, this was true from Cobalt’s own research into Equestrian history. Most of these colonies had failed, but there were rumors that some isolated settlements might have survived. Lumen and Soccer claimed to be remnants from those colonies and ambassadors therefrom. Because of this, they claimed they simply hadn’t had much in the way of parties period. Pinkie Pie, started screaming aloud at this and, thankfully, was stopped by Twilight from running away and apparently leaving Equestria entirely to remedy this party-less pony tragedy. Cobalt noticed that Twilight was carrying around a fairly large book.

Twilight and Pinkie conspired in a corner for a few minutes. Cobalt speculated quietly, Twilight knew of his friends’ true origins and was probably cluing Pinkie in to the fact they lied. Cobalt was uncertain how he felt about this, Pinkie Pie could take things the wrong way very easily.

The party kept going and eventually started winding down. Cobalt was waiting for a turn at Pin the Tail on the Pony when he noticed Twilight leading Soccer and Lumen away to a side room.

Cobalt broke from the line and meandered over to the door. He wanted to listen, but he didn’t want to look like he was listening so he yawned and leaned against the door like he was tired, raising an air to the door itself to try and hear what was on the other side.

The meeting, whatever it was, was nigh impossible to hear, the music from the party was still going, as was the tapping clopping dropping beating of dancing hooves. After less than five minutes of failing to hear anything inside the door opened and Cobalt fell through the open doorway.

A quick calculation and Cobalt pretended he had actually fallen asleep against the door. Pretending to be something you’re not isn’t easy to do... but only if you do it wrong. Doing it right means calling forth the memories of actually being in that state, in this case, being asleep or recently awoken therefrom, and using those as the framework of your behavior. Cobalt slowly started picking himself up from the floor, shaking himself mildly and with his eyes mostly closed, blinking as he opened them.

“Nnng, hello Princess,” Cobalt moaned as he slowly stood up.

“Oooh,” Pinkie Pie observed, “did you get suspicious and start listening at the door and-then-get-rudely-interrupted-soyoupretendedtobeasleepsoyoucouldgetawaywithit?!”

Cobalt looked at her, he had expected random but this...

“Eh?” Cobalt asked, still blinking the sleepers out of his eyes.

“But still, ENCOM?!” Soccer said, his tone disbelieving. “I mean... seriously? Nobody’s going to get that.”

“They were all ENCOM employees,” Lumen defended. “It makes sense.”

“Two of them were ENCOM employees, one was an X-employee,” Soccer persisted.

“What...” Cobalt started, trying to prevent his curiosity from breaking his drowsy cover. “What’s going... happening... on?”

“It’s more than just picking a name,” Lumen stated. “We had to declare our ‘house’ as well; apparently there’s all these rules and stuff, and if you don’t belong to a house then... well, you either have none or you’ve got to make your own.”

“We talked a bit and figured we were kinda like the whole TRON thing, strangers in a strange land and... yeah, like TRON,” Soccer picked up. “So then ‘light-bulb’ here was all ‘let’s make a house name after the company in the movie’!”

“Well, I didn’t hear you come up with anything better,” Lumen said defensively.

“Yeah well, they put me on the spot is all!” Soccer protested.

“Come on Everypony!” Pinkie insisted. “We’re at a PARTY!”

“Actually, I think we need to go,” Soccer said, looking at a wall-clock. “We still need to find someplace to get some food before we get to the train.

“But... but... but!” Pinkie said, stammering for words.

“Enjoy the rest of the party,” Lumen said, following Soccer out the door.

“Thanks Pinkie,” Cobalt said, following the other two.

“I should go too,” Twilight said.

“Wait, Twilight?!” Pinkie protested loudly.

“I’ll be right back Pinkie, keep the party going, okay?” Twilight pleaded.

Pinkie Pie looked like she was in tears, but let Twilight go anyway.

Twilight found the three, Cobalt hooking himself up to an apple-cart with the other two getting inside.

“That wasn’t very nice you know,” Twilight said, approaching Cobalt.

“And, if somepony led two of your friends to a room with no warning, no invitation, and no understanding of the situation,” Cobalt said, not looking at her. “You would have just stood there and let it happen without worrying about them at all?”

“I... I...” Twilight stammered, Cobalt’s flat admission was not what she had expected.

“We’re still new here,” Cobalt reminded her. “So forgive me if I still don’t know when to and when not to trust the situation entirely. Besides... when else do I have a good excuse to play ‘the spy’?”

Cobalt pulled the cart along as a stunned Twilight simply stared, she still thought he was wrong but couldn’t come up with anything good to say in response to that.

“So, are we returning the cart now or... what?” Lumen asked. “I mean, what’s the plan here?”

“I think there’s a restaurant near the train station,” Cobalt said. “I’ll drop you off there and then take the cart back.”

“Kinda makes sense, putting a restaurant near a train station,” Soccer commented. “Commute, and all.”

Predictably, the place they found was called the Hay Burger.

“I wonder what kind of food they sell there?” Soccer sarcassed. Lumen rolled his eyes while Cobalt merely snorted

“Should we order something for you?” Lumen called after Cobalt, who had started leaving as soon as they had disembarked.

“Nah, just... save me a seat,” Cobalt said over his shoulder.

“Right,” Soccer said, heading for the restaurant.

“You didn’t tell him,” Lumen said, keeping his voice low. Even though it was evening, and well after dark, they were still out in the open and Ponyville was still somewhat active.

Soccer stopped for a moment, taking in how quiet Ponyville was at this hour.

“No, no I did not, and neither will you,” Soccer said eventually.

“Probably should tell him though,” Lumen said, walking up beside Soccer.

“I will tell him,” Soccer said. “When I’m ready to tell him.”

“Right, just saying,” Lumen said. “He ought to know, sooner or later.”

Soccer said nothing, but proceeded to the Hay Burger.

* * *

The trip back to Sweet Apple Acres was slower than Cobalt would have preferred. His sense of impatience was at war with his sense of responsibility. He didn’t want to damage the cart, didn’t even want to risk it, and if he flew, or tried to, he’d definitely be risking it.

As he briskly trotted, he reflected on the day. He’d been scared, uncertain, uneasy, the princess’s invitation had brought with it several unknown possibilities. Fear of the dark is often, fear of the unknown, and like any unaddressed fear, it can disappear from our view until it comes back to stare us in the face. All this Cobalt knew, but more importantly he mused on why.

Why hadn’t Soccer been up-front about his legs early on, especially after learning they were going on a tour?
Why had Celestia invited not one, but two more people through the portal?
Why hadn’t she told him she was doing so?
Why?
Why?
Why?

The only conclusion he could come to was that there was some larger plan that he was unaware of, or, rather, uncertain about. He knew that there was a larger plan, he even knew some parts to it. This part however, this had caught him off guard. And that, that was the big question.

Why had he been caught off guard by this?

Still, having two people he could relate with and talk to was... nice.

Which led him through a whole new avenue of thought, considering how focused he’d been on trying to learn how to fly. Heck, he’d been focused so much on just trying to integrate into Equestrian society that he’d long forgotten the idea of having contact with others from his world.

His world.

His... former... world.

A kind of mutated quote came to mind, inspired by his current thoughts and the similarity of concept.

“Can you live with this” came the voice of Davy Jones from the second Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Then the quote changed to something odd... “Can you live alone, a stranger in a strange land with no sight nor sound from home, and no friends to rely on?”

Cobalt could only stare at the ground thinking... “This is my home”

Though even as he said it, a part of him believed he couldn’t believe it, and wanted to rebel against it. Another part of him wanted to take that part and smash it’s head against one of these apple trees. A third part wanted everything to get quiet and stop fighting. A fourth part shut up all the rest with the resounding news that they had arrived and could soon take flight again on the return trip.

A fifth part nitpicked that technically this was the return trip, but all the other parts of his brain told that part to shut up and then locked it in a broom closet to think about what it had done.

* * *

They had already served the appetizers by the time Cobalt got back. Soccer noted the drying sweat on his fur, he had been feeling the heat a bit under the buckles of the cart, probably running... “galloping?” was that the term? Then he remembered how much he’d been pulling the cart around with two ponies inside, how much strain had he been under anyway? Soccer’s legs started aching again just thinking about it.

Lumen noticed Cobalt’s mane was more pulled back and ruffled, like the wind had been going through it, apparently he’d flown back instead of going by hoof. Lumen mused silently that Cobalt had kept himself to the ground, but due to his reaction to seeing them in the library, probably loved flying around whenever he could. The sheer sense of tedium at deliberately forcing himself to stay on the ground for most of the day pulling them both around, eesh. Lumen concluded that, yeah, if it was him, a quick flight once he’d ditched the cart would be a welcome relief.

Cobalt himself seemed only interested in the food and flagged down a waitress so he could order something as well.

The rest of the hour passed with discussions and small talk, who was from where, stories from ‘home’, hijinks they’d seen or done or heard about. All of which none of them fully remembered later, the details were lost to the wind. What they did remember was simply being there telling stories while the waitresses and cooks fussed about how they were serving a single table with orders that were out of order and trying to keep it all organized.

Eventually though, time ran out and they needed to leave. Bills were paid, bits were exchanged, bathrooms were used, and ponies left, Cobalt apologizing for making a mess of the ordering system by arriving late, the waitress that served them was just glad that it was over. The train was waiting for them and Lumen and Soccer hurried to get on board. Goodbyes were said and then the train was leaving, Cobalt watching as it slowly approached the mountain, lights in some of the cabins and at the engineer’s station revealing its position in the night. Cobalt mused that if he stayed there watching, he could probably make out its ascent along the mountainside.

He didn’t have time though. In a few days he was taking the F.L.A.P. and he needed to both study and practice, that meant getting to sleep sometime before midnight. Twilight was nowhere around so he didn’t have much chance to say goodbye unless he wanted to go hunting her down. The social awkwardness of doing such hit him hard, hunting someone down in a town where they could be anywhere, just to say goodbye when... if he did nothing, they’d already kinda said goodbye anyway? There just wasn’t even a question there.

Cobalt took to the air, and flew south, following the train-tracks that led that way to the familiar corner in the road that he knew would lead him back to the farm.

* * *

In the privacy of the passenger car, Soccer let out a sigh as Lumen read from a magazine that he had picked up from the train-station. An eerie red rippling light washed over Soccer and he transformed. Instead of hooves, his paws bore thick digging claws, his mane was short and his mouth bore fangs. Soccer the were-pony... stretched out and yawned on the bench.

“I’ll keep an eye out, just in case anypony comes in,” Lumen said, not even glancing from his magazine.

“Thanks,” Soccer said, yawning again.

* * *

- - - - - - - - - -
Report: (M/D) 1376 FE (2013 back home)
To: The Equestrian Portal Project Authority, Sr. Administrator: Dusty Legend.
CC: The US Stellar Psychic Alien Macrocosms; Admin.: Brian Majors.
CC: My family, address on file.
CC: Myself, for my own records.
From: Cobalt Skies, AKA, Simon Carbuncle Baker

Well, I got the test results back, they are about what I expected. I still feel a little disappointed but, meh, they are what they are so yeah, just gotta use what I’ve got instead of complaining that I don’t got everything.

The ranks are as follows... Excellent, Good, Decent, Poor, Abysmal

Wing Strength = " Decent"
Flight Endurance = "Decent"
Polarity = "North"
Air Sensing = "Abysmal"
Air Space = "Excellent" (It’s huge apparently)
Spatial Awareness = "Poor" (A note says “expecting improvement”)
Air Thickness = "Excellent"
Anchorage = "Decent"
Anchor Control = "Decent"
Constitution (anti-airsick-ness) = "Good"
Acceleration = "Decent"
Breaking = "Decent"
Agility = "Decent"
Flexibility = "Good"
Straight Speed = "Decent"
Generation (make clouds) = "Decent"
Reflexes = "Decent" (A note says “inconsistent results”)
Spin Control = "Good"
Obedience = "Decent"
Creativity = "Decent"
Intelligence = "Good"
Understanding = "Poor" (another note saying “expecting improvement”)
Cutie Mark = "????"
Special Talent = "????"

Those last two kinda figure, I’m an anomaly after all.
- - - - - - - - - -

Author's Note:

I am sorry for this chapter taking so long. It's been over a year, what the crap!

Unfortunately I also must take some time before the next one. You see, for about 2 months (3 now, the third was spent writing the rest of this chapter) I've been re-writing the ENTIRE Star Wars movies and only just managed to reach Episode 4. I'm going to finish Star Wars before doing Chapter 8, which should be... interesting.

Comments

[Arcict]

I will be updating again soon. I have been working on my Star Wars rewrites and have just now entered the rewriting of Episodes 8 and 9. I waited until Episode 9 came out to determine how far from it we would need to deviate in order for it to be "good" I am disappointed to say... it needed a lot of work and a lot of changes.

That being said, I can get back to work on this project once SW is finished.

I hope