Not a Cloud In the Sky

by OutOfTheBlue

Welcome To Ponydom, I Shall Be Your Guide

After bandaging up his roomate, Cloud decided it was high time to take a shower and clean the blood out of his coat. As he washed himself, Cloud couldn't help but smirk at what was probably happening outside the bathroom right now.

She's probably transfixed, starring at mundane things like lamps and couches with wonder and fascination in her eyes.

Eager to begin helping the changeling settle in, Cloud quickly dried off and prepared to leave the bathroom, settling into his usual blank demeanor. As he opened the door, Cloud noticed the smoke and fire pouring out of his microwave and the changeling crouched behind the sofa, sobbing and saying.

"Please tiny wizard, I'm sorry! stop yelling at me!"

"Oh crap! FIRE FIRE!"

Cloud quickly grabbed the fire extinguisher and started putting out the fire. When the flames and smoke finally subsided Cloud saw the fork in the middle of the microwave. He turned to the cowering changeling and asked.

"What... just... happened."

She winced and shakily said,"I tried giving you tiny box wizard that thing so he would give me food, but he got mad and was yelling at me. He tried to kill me, I think, cause he kept shooting magic sparks."

Cloud groaned,"This is a microwave, you put food in it and it heats it up for you. You also, and I mean never, put something metal in it... ok?"

The changeling nodded before pointing to a broken lamp and saying

"Your tiny sun broke too, just thought you should know.

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As the two roommates sat down to lunch, Cloud asked,

"So... I think we should find a new name for you, I can't keep talking to you indirectly so... what do you want to go bye for now?"

The changeling shrugged before saying,

"Can think of some for me?"

Cloud scratched his head for a bit before replying.

"How about... Ebony?"

"No... sounds kinda... weird."

"Glimmer?"

"Too stereotypical."

"Dusk?"

"That would make me sound like I'm trying to be edgy or something."

Cloud's eyes wandered over to his bookshelf before settling on a book of mythology.

"How about... Pandora?"

The changeling thought for a bit before saying

"I like it. It sounds, nice."

The two sat in silence as they continued eating, before something occurred to Cloud.

"Wait, I thought you ate emotional energy? Why are you eating soup if you eat emotions. You said you could but why?"

Pandora paused to gather her thoughts before saying,

"Regular food can sustain us, but we need to feed on emotions to survive. Trying to live without that would be like trying to live on only water, you'd stay alive for a while, but eventually you'd starve."

After they finished and cleaned up, Cloud and his roommate went and sat in the living room. As they sat on opposite sides of the sofa, Cloud couldn't help but notice the sad expression Pandora had as she looked at all the books around the room, before he suddenly realized something.

"You can't read, can you?"

Pandora looked down for a second before slowly shaking her head. Realizing this was probably a touchy subject with her, Cloud quickly changed the subject.

"So... you got any family back where you're from?"

Pandora looked up before sighing,

"Changelings don't really do families. After we're born, we get sent to a nurse with all the other nymphs. Despite that, I happen to have a twin brother, we found out we can from the same place and have stuck together ever since."

"Is he still back there?"

"No, he got banished before I did. He loved the outside world, especially the music. His favorite was this gryphon stuff called 'metal' and 'alt-punk' or something like that. He got banished for treason, heresy, possession of contraband, public singing, and clerical errors. He immediately set out to get more music and live the 'free as $@1!' life as he called it. He changed his name to Beat, and when asked if he would renounce his crimes he just replied that he was 'too metal for this f#€$1%! joint and that all you f#€$1%! $@1! weasels can go straight to hell for all he cared'. I'll always remember how much he loved bananas and creative profanity."

Cloud just blinked and whispered,"Brutal."

"So what about you, where's your family?"

"In Cloudsdale, I just couldn't stand being near them any longer. Don't get me wrong, I love my family, it's just... I was tired of disappointing them."

"I'm sure you weren't disappointing them, I mean, really what could you do that was that bad?"

"I became a guard."

"That's something to be proud of, right?" Pandora asked while wincing. She liked Cloud well enough, bit in her opinion, royal guards were the worst.

"To put it in perspective, everyone in my branch of the Cloud family is rich, successful, or both. My dad and mom, were co-owners of a huge chain of companies ranging from soda to refrigerators. My sister, Sunny Cloud, is a top child psychologist, author, and is the headmistress of Cloudsdale's most illustrious private school. And to top it all off, my brother Godspeed Cloud, is a wonderbolt. How am I supposed to compare? They're all rich, successful, and have lots of friends and families of there own. My brother is married with two foals, my sister just got engaged, and here I am without a friend in the world. The only thing I am is a worthless, emotionless loser with no friends."

Cloud scowled down at the floor, remembering all the things that caused him to cut himself off from pony kind, and wishing he could go back and do it all differently. He felt something warm lean up against his side and looked down to see Pandora looking at him with a hopeful look in her eyes.

"C-can I be your friend? Please? I don't think you're worthless and what I sensed right now proved you have emotions. You saved my life and gave me a chance, and to me, that's all that matters."

Cloud smiled and pulled the changeling into a small hug. He had expected her carapace to be hard or scaly, but instead he noticed it was very smooth and glossy and felt like warm silk to the touch.

Wait, why am I noticing stuff like that. Oh great, I let my emotions get the better of me one time amd now I'm a total sap, just great. The two separated and Cloud asked,

"Hey Pandora, how about I teach you all about being a pony."

"Do you mean... can you teach me how to read!"

"I'll do my best, I might not be my sister, but if I can help it, you'll be reading in no time."

"Actually... I was wondering. Could you, I dunno, read me one of these books... please?"

Cloud smiled and grabbed a book of fairy tales called "Once Upon A Time: A Collection Of Stories By Tall Tale" and began to read.

"Once upon a time, in a far away land..."

And for the first time in years, Cloud was happy to have somepony with him.

Author's Note:

If you're still reading this story for some readon, thanks! Feedback is welcome wether it's sarcasm, pointers, or just asking me to put something in the story later, I'll do my best to answer any of it.

Comments

[Krittlik]

If you're still reading this story for some readon, thanks!

you are welcome
I only ask one thing: please don't change pandora into one of the new lings. Also, i hate it when my tiny sun breaks.