Partly Educational

by Brass Polish

2 Buddying Up

Before long, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Snowdrop, Hyssop, and Polar Star were all at Junior Speedster’s Flight Camp. Applejack and Pinkie Pie had told the Coach about their royal duties, and they all agreed that the two earth ponies would be allowed to supervise the foals.

“We’ll hang back to start with,” Applejack said to Pinkie, “and see how things go.”

So they watched as the Coach went down the line-up of young pegasi and instructed each one to introduce themselves.

“Keep it brief,” he said. “Give your name, your background, and your ambition.”

One by one, each camper said who and what they were. Polar Star was the first of the three foals Pinkie and Applejack were concerned with to be addressed by the Coach.

“I’m Polar Star, I’m from Ponyville, and I like to find ways to improve,” he said.

“He’s a subtle one,” Pinkie whispered to Applejack. “He didn’t exactly say ways to improve himself, did he?”

Applejack didn’t know if she was standing on her hooves or her head.

The Coach reached Hyssop.

“I’m Hyssop,” she said, “I’m homeschooled, and I want to introduce something to Cloudsdale that’s never been seen in the sky before.”

There were a lot of raised eyebrows.

“At least she’s got a goal in mind,” Applejack said quietly to Pinkie Pie.

“Do you think she only just got that idea after meeting us?” asked Pinkie.

Applejack shrugged as the Coach carried on down the row. Snowdrop was the second to last. As expected, all eyes were riveted on her. If she was nervous though, she was doing a good job of disguising it.

“I’m Snowdrop,” she said calmly, “I was brought back by King Sombra… and… I…”

Ponies leaned in, ready for what she’d settle on as a goal.

“And I want to watch others rise to great heights the way I did in my time.”

Once introductions were done, the Coach announced a free period, where the campers could mingle and showcase their abilities. Neither Applejack nor Pinkie Pie knew how to feel when Hyssop, Polar Star, and Snowdrop buddied up. On one hoof, it was very coincidental. On the other, they had all three of the foals they wanted to keep an eye on in one corner of the camp. They watched as the three foals flew around a small circle of hoops. Snowdrop was taking her time, passing through each hoop carefully and looking intently at the infinite string of clouds as she passed in the middle of them. Polar Star wasn’t going much quicker than Snowdrop, but he mostly looked straight ahead as he navigated the hoops. As for Hyssop, she kept brushing the bottoms of the hoops with her tail even though she was flying faster than her two partners.

“Look at Polar,” Applejack said to Pinkie. “He’s trying not to look at Hyssop.”

“Looks like Impatiens was right,” said Pinkie Pie. “With Snowdrop around, no one will want to poke fun at anypony. That means Polar Star’s trying not to bash Hyssop’s lousy flying skills.”

Applejack frowned a bit. “Hopefully he’ll be able to keep it up.”

Then, without warning, Hyssop flew away from Polar Star and Snowdrop, and headed towards Applejack and Pinkie Pie.

“She still needs to work on her tact,” said Pinkie quietly.

“I’m having fun here,” Hyssop said to Applejack and Pinkie Pie. “Snowdrop and Polar are fun to be with.”

“So why’d you just leave them without saying anything?” asked Pinkie.

“I wanted to ask you two something,” answered Hyssop.

“You could at least tell your friends that you’re gonna leave for a minute and that you’ll be right back or something,” advised Pinkie Pie. “Like we said before, it’s kinda rude to just up and leave.”

“Oh. I forgot,” said Hyssop in her unabashed way.

“So what did y’all wanna ask?” Applejack prompted.

“What else besides earth ponies do you have down on the ground that we don’t have up here in Cloudsdale?”

Applejack chuckled. “We heard y’all say you’d like to introduce something new to Cloudsdale, but you don’t wanna jump the gun.”

“That’s rich coming from you, AJ,” sniggered Pinkie.

Applejack opted to quickly change the subject.

“My granny discovered the only Granny Smith tree in Fillydelphia when she was about your age,” she said.

“A tree!” exclaimed Hyssop.

“Uh, yeah,” said Applejack, slightly taken aback. “Until she came along, they thought all they had were golden delicious apples growing on their trees. They never knew the slightly discoloured ones were actually green.”

“My sister discovered something when she was a filly too,” Pinkie Pie chimed in. “An edible kind of rock that you can make candy necklaces out of.”

“Oh. We have rocks you can eat up here in Cloudsdale,” said Hyssop.

And off she went.

“Looks like it’ll take a while for her to learn to say something before she leaves,” sighed Applejack.

“They have edible rocks up here? I didn’t even know they had any rocks up here,” Pinkie pondered.

“Here.”

Pinkie and Applejack jumped.

“Try this,” Hyssop passed a golf ball-sized bright blue rock to Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie did so, and instantly regretted that first bite.

“What kind of rock is this?” she choked.

“It’s a hail stone,” answered Hyssop.

Polar Star and Snowdrop walked up as Pinkie Pie was nursing her sore jaw.

“Did I just see Pinkie eat a flag pole holder?” asked Snowdrop.

“A flag pole holder?” repeated Applejack.

“Well, they can’t stick their marker flags into the clouds. They’d just sink through,” said Polar Star. “So they cut hail stones in half, poke holes in the flat parts, and that way they can sit on the clouds and hold up the flag poles.”

Applejack remembered something. “When I was in Las Pegasus, I wondered what the walkways and buildings were made of. I didn’t find out until after we left what Las Pegasus has that Cloudsdale doesn’t.”

“What is it?” asked Hyssop, whose face was now right in front of Applejack’s.

Applejack backed up a few steps. “They build their buildings and walkways outta painted hailstones.”

“Oh! That’s why Las Pegasus is compatible with all three races of ponies,” grinned Hyssop. “Uh… do they have trees in Las Pegasus?”

“Mostly indoor plants or hanging plants,” said Applejack. “I didn’t see no trees.”

Hyssop was positively beaming.

“What’s with the look?” inquired Polar Star.

“I know what I’m gonna introduce to Cloudsdale,” smiled Hyssop.

“You wanna plant trees up here?” Pinkie had recovered from her icy surprise by now.

“Yeah! Just like Applejack’s granny introduced Granny Smith trees to Fillydelphia,” said Hyssop happily.

Applejack was about to correct Hyssop that technically, they always had Granny Smith trees in that town and just didn’t realise it, but she saw that Polar Star was biting his lip. She was sure he wanted to say he thought it was a rotten idea, but didn’t want to in front of Snowdrop. So she opted to encourage the homeschooled filly.

“Well, I think that’s just dandy, Hyssop,” she said.

“But how are you gonna plant seeds up here in the clouds?” asked Pinkie Pie. “They’d sink through the clouds just like marker flags.”

Hyssop ran off again, and came back a minute later with more marker flag holders made of half hail stones.

“These hail stones can cradle the seeds when I plant them into the clouds,” she said happily. “They’ll get plenty of water and sunlight, and if I can get big enough ones, there can be plenty of soil in them as well.”

Now Pinkie also saw Polar Star looking like he was chomping at the bit yet holding his tongue.

“You’re a genius, Hyssop!” she exclaimed. “But, uh, don’t you think the camp’s gonna need those?”

She indicated the flag holders.

“Oh. Well, maybe not anymore,” said Hyssop, unabashed.

Much like Polar Star, Applejack and Pinkie Pie kept quiet when the Coach asked around about the missing marker flags. When Hyssop showed him the flag holders, he concluded that the flag must’ve just blown away.

“Now where am I gonna get more hail stones?” asked Hyssop when the Coach had gone. “The Weather Factory doesn’t sell the ones they make.”

“Wherever this camp gets its flag holders, I guess,” Pinkie Pie suggested.

“Any variety store ought to have those,” said Hyssop.

“What about the seeds?” ventured Snowdrop. “I doubt there are any shops in Cloudsdale that sell those.”

“Leave that to me,” said Applejack. “I’ll head back home and get some of our best quality Granny Smith seeds for ya!”

Hyssop bounced up and down excitedly.

“I’m gonna reach my goal!” she exclaimed in delight.

Polar Star was trying to look pleased, but his teeth were gritted and he wasn’t making eye contact.

“Uh, before I go,” said Applejack, “where are we gonna do this?”

Polar Star spoke up at last. “We?”

“We can all help Hyssop make her dream come true,” insisted Pinkie Pie.

Applejack nodded. So did Snowdrop. Polar Star inclined his head a little bit.

“Yay! Thanks, everypony!” beamed Hyssop. “My dad knows what I’ve always wanted to do. I’m sure he won’t mind if we plant a few trees in our backyard.”

“Alrighty then,” said Applejack. “I’ll meet y’all there in about an hour.”

It took longer than an hour for Applejack to take a balloon back to Ponyville, run to Sweet Apple Acres, grab a small bag of Granny Smith seeds, and take a balloon back to Cloudsdale, but she was so enthusiastic about Hyssop’s idea that it didn’t seem that long to her. It did tire her out a little, though.

“I hope that’s the last time I have to make a round trip to Ponyville,” she chuckled.

Soon, she found her way back to Hyssop’s house. Pinkie Pie, Hyssop, Polar Star, and Snowdrop were just walking up the road towards it. Applejack saw that Polar Star was looking a lot calmer now, albeit with a bit of a forced smile. She wasn’t worried that Hyssop would catch on if she noticed since she wasn’t good at social interaction, but she did wonder if Polar been nitpicking Hyssop’s unusual idea while she was away.

“Howdy!” she called. “I’ve got the seeds.”

“Great! We’ve got the flag holders,” Pinkie Pie showed her the plastic bag full of hail stones cut in half. “We’re just gonna ask Impatiens in we can plant those trees in his backyard.”

She and Applejack led the way towards the house.

“Polar Star hasn’t been makin’ fun of Hyssop’s idea, has he?” Applejack whispered.

“Nope,” replied Pinkie quietly. “He’s definitely learned to keep his rude comments to himself. And it’s all thanks to Snowdrop.”

“Polar Star, you look like you want to say something,” said Snowdrop.

Pinkie Pie and Applejack spun around, alarmed.

“Uh, no, I’ve got nothing to say,” lied Polar.

“You’ve been wincing ever since Hyssop told us she wanted to plant trees up here in Cloudsdale,” said Snowdrop. “If you think there’s a problem with it, you should speak up.”

“No, no! It’s a brilliant idea!” said Pinkie quickly.

“Yeah. Just because it’s never been done before, don’t mean it ain’t no good,” added Applejack.

“Polar Star,” said Snowdrop, “you said at camp that you want to find ways to improve.”

Polar’s face relaxed a little. “That’s right.”

“So how can Hyssop’s plan to use hail stones to plant seeds be improved upon?” asked Snowdrop.

“Well, I don’t see how we can improve this rotten idea,” said Polar Star.

Applejack and Pinkie Pie grimaced. And then they noticed that Impatiens was watching their conversation from his front door. They were both sure they’d failed in their mission.

“What’s gonna happen when the tree grows?” demanded Polar Star. “Its roots won’t have anything to hold onto and the tree will weigh the stones down slowly until it slips through the cloud and falls outta the sky.”

Hyssop stared. “I didn’t think of that.”

“Why didn’t you bring this up before?” asked Snowdrop.

Polar Star gulped. “My mom says I need to stop pointing out flaws. And a lot of my friends say I’m rude for doing that too. This filly back in Ponyville named Scootaloo…”

“Oh, I know Scootaloo!” smiled Snowdrop. “It was one of her feathers that was added to the Reverse Cremator so I could be brought back to life. What about her?”

“Well, she’s been trying to fly for a long time,” said Polar Star, “but all she does is hover above the ground a little. I mean, how can she expect to fly anywhere if she has no particular place to go. But whenever I tell her she needs to pick up destination if she wants to fly properly, she and her friends get mad.”

Snowdrop smiled. “Your way of trying to help your friends may be blunt, but I think you’re a very upright colt.”

“Me too,” said Hyssop. “I’m glad you stopped me before I sent a bunch of trees raining down on some poor unsuspecting earth ponies.”

Applejack and Pinkie Pie exchanged awkward glances as Impatiens stepped out of his house towards them

“Oh, I don’t want to stop you,” said Polar Star. “I like the idea of trees in Cloudsdale. But I just don’t see how we can grow them in those tiny little hail stones.”

“What’s this about planting trees in hail stones?” asked Impatiens.

Hyssop and Polar Star told him about the idea to plant Granny Smith trees in hail stones so they could grow up in Cloudsdale.

“We’ll have to make larger hail stones,” said Impatiens. “And even then, we’ll probably only be able to plant one tree in each one so they don’t get too heavy for the clouds to support.”

“Can we make larger hail stones?” asked Snowdrop.

“Well, I know the head of production in the Weather Factory’s hail department,” said Impatiens. “I’ll see if I can pull some strings and put an order through for large, flat oval-shaped hail stones for us.”

“So you like my idea?” asked Hyssop.

“Of course I do,” said Impatiens. “Did you come up with it at camp?”

“Yep,” nodded Hyssop happily. “And it was all thanks to my new friends.”

She pulled Polar Star and Snowdrop into a hug, and looked at Applejack and Pinkie Pie.

“Thanks to you, I’ve found something I can share with the whole town, instead of just imagine something in my house,” she smiled.

With that, Applejack’s and Pinkie Pie’s cutie marks buzzed and glowed.

“You know,” said Pinkie, “if planting trees in Cloudsdale catches on, that verse Spike made up at the Equestria Games won’t sound so stupid.”

Author's Note:

For a while, I thought this was gonna be the lousiest story in the batch. I think it actually turned out okay.

Comments

[howard035]

I thought Polar Star was going to have an aneurysm there for a while.