Against the Light

by Mosaic Lore

Chapter 1

It was a perfect Canterlot fall morning - birds flittering about, rays of sunlight bursting through breaks in the fluffy clouds that the pegasi were clearing from last night's rain. It was always important to let the sun dry up any remaining puddles of rainwater, especially on the streets where unsuspecting carriage ponies can't tell whether a murky puddle is an inch or a foot deep. The outer edges of the city were already brimming with activity – coffee shops and small markets always opened their doors earlu for the flood of hungry workers and students looking for a bite to eat.
“Hey, Gravy Face, why so bitter?” asked Nail with a smirk.

“Don't call me “Gravy Face,” Rust Bucket!” Gravity retorted. Nail was cool and all, but sometimes she is a real jerk. The tawny unicorn mare beside her looked genuinely hurt, she stroked her rust colored mane with one hoof as the two strolled down the street. This was usually how their mornings went. Chatting as they galloped through the morning traffic of Canterlot to school. However this morning was different. When they came to the fork in the road, Gravity did not turn to the left with Nail down the road that led to Diamond Secondary School. No, instead she faced towards the right, looking towards the untraveled road.

“Ya think you'll be alright without me Gravy Face?” Nail said, clearly worried. Gravity paused, thinking of a good parting response.

“I don't even know why you call me Gravy Face, my face is gray, just like the rest of me,” She questioned. Nail laughed,

“I betcha five bits you wont survive the first five minutes at your new fancy-schmancy private school!” She was probably right, Nail was the only friend Gravity had, she had always supported her. However she tried to sound confident when she replied,

“The bet is on.”

~

Rockheste Private School for Young Mares and Stallions. Quite a mouthful. However it seemed to go on forever when it was slapped on a long granite sign in front of the school. At least it wasn't a boarding school. It was a miracle that her own mother could afford to send Gravity to such a place. She wished that Nail could come with her, but she knew that Nails parents could never afford it. Students were already starting to trickle into the school, chins high and smooth thin bodies hugged by their perfectly tailored uniforms. That's when Gravity remembered she didn't have hers on. She was too embarrassed to go out in public with that thing, especially since she lived in a less wealthy part of Canterlot. It wasn't unlike Gravity to avoid attention at all costs, mostly because whenever she did draw attention it was usually a bad thing. Gravity trotted down the concrete walkway that led to the main entrance. The hard surface felt horribly uncomfortable on her hooves, the jarring hardness of it caused painful vibrations to move up her leg.

The two open front doors were surprisingly simple, large and wooden, not uncommon. However the archway definitely showed off the grandiose side of the school. Gravity trotted confidently into the building, only to be stopped dead in her tracks. “Holy...” she murmured as she gazed up in awe at what she saw before her. On the ceiling was a massive painting, however the term masterpiece would be more accurate, really. The painting showed a great ball with historic leaders all dancing elegantly together, Gravity's seemingly endless gawking session was only interrupted by a professor gingerly passing by, and commenting on her observing it,

"That painting was made by one of our students, you know,”

“Really?” Gravity questioned, almost refusing to believe such a thing. She knew this place was for the talented and rich, but a student? Making that?

“Really, her name was Bejeweled Stroke, she's our art professor now. And you should get your uniform on, classes are starting soon.” he said, smiling. This was when Gravity got a good look at him. He was young, with a lively yellow coat and a dull red mane. “I'm Professor Golden Binding, I teach first year social studies and I believe that I have you first period.” he said kindly, and then set off. Gravity scoured the wall for a clock, and found a rather large one above the main entrance, it read 7:53. “7:53?! I only have seven minutes until class starts!” she thought hurriedly. “Excuse me? Hello? Do you know where a bathroom is?” she asked a random pink mare quickly, her breathing had quickened. Gravity never did well under stress.

“Down the hall to the left. And the first door to the left is the mares room,” the purple mare replied. She seemed very annoyed. “Don't you have a map?” she asked. A map! The map! She had a map. It was right at...home. How was she going to get around? She couldn't just ask everypony where everything is! That would be the opposite of a good first impression. Worst first day ever.

Deciding not to dwell on it, Gravity sped towards the bathroom. All the halls seemed fully decorated with the arts. No wonder Gravity's mom wanted her to attend here. She was rather art crazed herself. However she had no time to look at the various sculptures and murals. She skidded to a halt when she reached the bathroom and burst inside, breathing heavily. She reached for her favorite blue saddlebags when she realized something. She had no saddlebags.

Gravity wanted to scream. But there was no going back home. She instead just walked out of the bathroom and headed to her first period, social studies. She gulped when she entered the room. The class was a lot smaller than the public school rooms. There was only about fifteen kids, and all of them stood in awe as the naked earth pony, drenched in sweat, came into the room. However, Professor Golden Binding simply smiled and nodded.

“I'll go get a spare uniform, okay? You get settled in.” he said sweetly. Gravity sighed in relief. However all her stress was not yet relieved. She sat at a desk closest to the window, and peered outside.

“Hey, gray mare, nice mane!” said a stallion. Gravity blushed and turned away from the other students. Most mares and stallions have the very roots of their manes start in between their ears and creep down to the back of their head. Some stallions have their roots further forward on their head. But Gravity's roots started just a bit higher from the back of her head and went down the back of her neck. Her mane came over her in waves from her neck and draped down over one side of her face. Her mother once teased that the reason why she named her “Gravity,” is because her mane seemed to defy it. Nail once said that her mom once knew a really old pony named Scootaloo when she was a filly who had a similar mane.

When the stallion that had just spoken realized that she wasn't going to reply, he continued to speak. “You part Zebra or something?” he chirped. This stung Gravity extra bad. Why did everypony think she looked like a Zebra? The stripes in her mane isn't exclusive to Zebras and aren't even black, they're light blue. Gravity snorted in response. A light prod on her back sent her head snapping in the direction the invasive hoof came from only to see her friend Professor Golden Binding had returned with a spare uniform in his jaws. Gravity nodded thanks and then zipped to the bathroom to change into it. Unfortunately, it was not as nice and fitted as the ones most of the students wore, in fact, the loose and sagging shirt made her look bigger than she actually was. Gravity had never been so self-conscious in her entire life.

Thankfully the rest of the day was mostly peaceful. However she did get many strange stares from the other students. Most of the teachers introduced themselves and started on a small lesson. The lessons were usually introductions, but Golden Binding held an actual lesson that was very interesting. He talked about the past and how ponies would get their cutie marks at a young age, around 8-12. It shocked most of us, the vast majority of ponies never got their cutie marks. Those who did, like Gravity's mom, would get paid highly in their job. It seemed so odd that the ponies of the past didn't think that cutie marks were all that extraordinary. Gravity learned that the stallion that had bothered her name's was Chrome Clockwork, and that the reason why he was teasing her was because he thought she was cute.

She let out a shuddering sigh when the bell rang. The first day was over. She was awfully glad to get out of the building. Everything was so fancy inside there. She much preferred the suburban area of Canterlot than the high class city center. The busy carts filled with grains and vegetables clacking across the cobblestone streets, the smell of burnt bread from that crappy bakery across the street. Yes, Gravity would much rather be there than in any high class private school. She relished in all of these things as she walked home, enjoying the wind on her back that was restrained by the closed windows and itchy uniforms of Rockheste Private School.

“GRAVYYYYY!!” screamed the ecstatic tawny pony mare. Nail bounded towards Gravity, and she jumped in surprise. “You survived?” she yelled.

“Uh, yeah, duh.” Gravity replied, trying to make it sound obvious.

“Even without your saddlebags?” Nail pushed, leaning closer to her friend.

“You knew?” Gravity gasped in surprise, why didn't she tell her?

“Why do you think I made the bet? I thought you would be suspended for coming in naked to school!” Nail laughed.

“Thankfully a nice professor helped me out by getting me a spare.”

“Was he cuuuuuute?”

“Hell no! He's like, 25 or something crazy like that.”

“Heh,” Nail concluded, looking out into the distance. It was a strange event, seeing Nail not talking for once. But even in moments of silence, she has thoughts racing through her head at the speed of light. Nail's really intelligent, she's just talkative.

Gravity knew something naughty was going through Nail's head when she got that light in her eyes. That look that means she has thought of something bad. Nail's head slowly turned toward Gravity, an evil grin growing on her face.

“What have you thought of now?” Gravity asked, raising an eyebrow. Nail chuckled and suddenly grabbed Gravity's hoof and dragged her into a nearby alleyway.

“Woah! What are you doing-MMRRPH!” Gravity's exclamations were muffled by Nail's hoof, and she leaned in closely to Gravity. Whatever Nail was thinking of doing, it was going to be real bad.
And Gravity's expectations were met and exceeded.

“Wanna go over the Wall?”

Author's Note:

Thank you for reading the first chapter in my new story!