Middle Canterlot

by Azure-Spark

Episode 1: Friendship in Blue

Middle Canterlot
Episode 1 - Friendship in Blue

In a city so devoted to nobility as Canterlot, there is, of course, no room for a lower class. But there is a middle class, and an entire section of the city devoted just to those not-quite-rich ponies. Middle Canterlot: the middle-class reaches of an otherwise filthy-rich royal city.

That’s about how well it was explained to Azure when she’d first heard about it. Like anypony else, she expected tales of the rich and powerful, not stories of “the everypony”. After all, sending her sister there for school had nearly driven her family out of what little home and money they had.

Yet without the motivation to return the favor of her parents’ hospitality all these years by not draining their funds any longer, Azure would’ve never left home to start her own adventures.

And she’d never have had an excuse to slip on-board a train headed into Canterlot.

She didn’t know how to get or hold a job on her own. She didn’t even know what her special talent was yet. She just happened to know how to pick out free space on a boxcar for the night. And that was enough to keep her happy most of the time.

The blue-coated, deeper-blue-maned unicorn slept peacefully, facing outside the open door of the car. Her tail, long and thin, trailed behind her as it wished, while her disheveled mane slumped back and spiked forward, folding haphazardly around her horn. Both were relatively unkempt, and the breeze passing by the open car door wasn’t helping. She and her worn saddlebag were wrapped in a tattered old blanket, surrounded by various shifting boxes.

The sound of the train's whistle awoke her, although not quite enough, as she closed her eyes again and rolled over. "Hmm, 5 more minutes Mommy..." she said in a bit of a sleepy southern drawl. Almost as soon as she had though, she winked one yellow eye back open, and rolled over to right herself. She was suddenly wide awake. Before her she looked up from the base of the mountain and saw the castle of Canterlot overhanging the valley below. She smiled, finally getting to see her destination was so close. "Wow, Canterlot,” she said, “Never thought I'd actually get to see it with my own eyes..."

The train screeched to a halt as the conductors pulled it into the station, lining up all the passenger cars to the platform. As the crowd converged on the passengers piling out, the blue stowaway took advantage of all the noise and hopped out of the box car. She had tied the "blanket" around her neck like a cloak to keep it with her.

She hoisted herself onto the platform, with a little effort, and sighed. “Alright, now just gotta find a way around—”

“Hey! What are you doing?” shouted somepony behind her.

Azure gasped, then galloped down the length of the platform in a panic.

Meanwhile, on another part of the platform, a young unicorn filly stood nervously amongst the waiting crowd. Her grass-green coat didn’t exactly stand out amongst the others on the platform, though her bright red mane was a bit more noteworthy. It was a little ironic; the filly whose talent was all about finding her way out of places was finally lost, just in a crowd. Of course, knowing which way was North didn’t matter when she couldn’t see her way between the hooves and bodies of the crowd. Rose hopped in place and craned her neck, worried that she wouldn't be seen amongst the full-grown ponies.

Rose stood beside the crowd of ponies getting off the train, watching for the blue pony. As the flow of ponies trickled down to the last few, Rose frowned.

"You lookin' for somepony?" asked a nearby conductor.

She nodded, replying, "Yeah, my sister said she'd be coming today, so I just thought,” Rose was cut off as the blue unicorn ran up to her, smiling widely, “Azure, you made it!”

“Not now, Rosey!” Azure called desperately. She skid to a stop just before the platform ended, then glanced behind at a group of station workers. They did not look very pleased.

“Stop her!” one shouted.

The conductor shifted his eyes, then whispered to Rose, “Do you know her?”

Rose nodded. “This is Azzy! My big sister! She said she’d coming today!”

The conductor gave Azure a dirty look, and she offered him a shrug and a smile.

“Alright,” he said. “I’ll let it slide.”

“Really?!” asked Azure.

The other workers finally caught up. “We caught her sneaking off one of the cars in back!”

“Don’t worry about it,” said the conductor. “She explained it to me. Thought she saw a piece of luggage in the car, fell off trying to get back to the platform.”

Azure nodded quickly.

“Well—” Her accuser hesitated. “Just... don’t do it again, okay? We thought you were some kind of stowaway for a minute.”

Azure saluted. “W-won’t happen again!” she said. Once the workers turned their attention back to the legitimate passengers, Azure sighed, “Phew!”

Rose hugged onto Azure’s leg. “Welcome to Canterlot!”

"Thank ya kindly," said Azure, hugging Rose tightly. She winked at the conductor. “And thank you very much. Saved my skin, that’s for sure.”

The conductor smiled and chuckled a bit, "Seriously, don’t do it again." Azure nodded, then started off towards the station exit. Rose bounced with excitement as she followed.

"If anypony asks, I wasn't on that train," whispered Azure as they left. Rose just shrugged. It was her way of agreeing without caring to understand.

---

Once the two had walked for a while and were deeper in the city, Rose started talking again, practically bursting from excitement, "There's sooo much I have to show you! Canterlot is amazing! Everypony is so nice here, they—"

"Wait, they are?!" Azure cut in, considering how rare it was that ponies described Canterlot as "nice", as opposed to "stuck-up."

"Mhmm! I didn't believe it either! Oh, just wait until you see the market!"

Azure shook her head at Rose's enthusiasm, smiling and laughing at the same time. "Okay, okay,” said Azure. “Just remember I gotta stop by home to drop off my bag at some point, alright?"

Rose shrugged again, and Azure rolled her eyes.

Soon they found themselves amongst another crowd, stands and stores lining the rows of buildings surrounding the small plaza. "This is it!" Rose exclaimed, bouncing and smiling. Azure was in awe, both at the beauty of the city itself, and at the sheer number of ponies in one place. She smiled uneasily, not exactly comfortable trying to move through the thick crowd. Rose led on however, leaving Azure to try to keep up with her brisk pace. As she went through the bustling crowd, Azure suddenly found herself faced with a tray of sample apple slices.

"Go on, try one! They're free!" said the pony holding the tray. Azure smiled weakly, and slowly levitated one into her mouth, eating it quickly. "Well?" asked the salespony eagerly.

"Uhh, its pretty good?" responded Azure, still forcing a smile and confused by what was happening. The pony raised a skeptical eyebrow. Just then, Rose poked at Azure's leg.

"Come on, sis, the house is this way!" she said, stamping her hooves on the ground lightly to get Azure's attention.

“Oh, uhh— I really should— bye!” Azure stammered, quickly following after Rose.

Azure shook off the uncomfortable feeling from herself as they trotted up more of a path. "How much further is it, Rosey?" Azure said, panting as she tried to keep up with her energetic sister's pace. Of course, as soon as she said this, Rose stopped. Azure barely noticed in time. Rather than trip over her sister, she swerved and slipped, falling face-first into the dirt.

"Riiiight here!" Rose said in a sing-song tone. Azure got up, shaking off some of the dirt. Once she saw what Rose was talking about, her jaw dropped.

"Mommy and Daddy could afford that for ya?!" she yelled, staring up at a lavish, four-story true-to-Canterlot townhouse. The exterior was a little less colorful than say an upper-class mansion in the city, but it fit with the middle-quarter style perfectly. Well, almost perfectly. Rose had apparently taken the liberty to add a few garden boxes and paints to the window shutters. At least it'll stand out that way, thought Azure, slowly following her sister inside, jaw still agape.

"Well, technically it’s just a dorm room or something on school property,” said Rose. “But yeah, Mom and Dad wanted to make sure I was nice and comfy here!" She took the lone saddlebag Azure had and tossed it in the corner on top of her own school bags. As Azure understood it, the school owned a strip of local townhouses for students who didn’t live in Canterlot to stay at. Somehow, Rose didn’t have a roommate already, but that was probably due to how few students’ families were actually willing to send such a young child away for school; most of her classmates lived locally with their families. In Rose’s case it wasn’t out of lack of concern, but rather a strong desire for a better education for her that motivated their parents’ decision.

"Oh yeah, school, how's that going for ya?" asked Azure, checking the pantry for a snack. A few seconds later, she came back levitating a carrot. She couldn't help but stare in awe at how nice the house was here. She forgot to see where she was going and ran into the counter, hard and with an "oomph!"

Rose snickered at her sister. "Walk much?" she mocked. Azure glared at Rose, unamused, and then took a bite from the carrot. Rose poked at her sister again with a hoof, "Lighten up, Azzie! Besides, I need to get to school now, remember?"

Azure stopped mid-bite, having absolutely no clue what her sister meant. She swallowed, then asked, "So shouldn't you be in school already then? I thought you had off today or something."

Rose looked away, "Well technically I don't, but—” Azure glared at Rose, but Rose just shrugged.

Outside the house, Azure dragged her sister and all her books up the street as fast as she could run. "Its the other wa—" Rose started, before getting jerked around as Azure flipped to face back up the street.

When they arrived at the schoolhouse, the children were apparently working on some kind of arts and crafts exercise, putting together bead necklaces with magic-kinesis. Azure pushed Rose inside first. She tried to look apologetic, but for the most part she just looked scared. The teacher, an orange-maned and yellow-coated unicorn with a coiled up bun of a mane, approached the two from across the classroom.

"Ahem," Azure said, nudging Rose.

Rose looked down for a second, then suddenly jumped to the teacher's hooves, pleading. "Ms. Primrose I'm sorry I was late I had to pick up my big sister from the train station please don't be mad I'm so so so soooo sorry!" she blurted out all at once, taking both Primrose and Azure aback.

"Umm, yes, of course that's fine. I told you yesterday, remember?" said Primrose, bewildered.

Azure looked even more confused. Rose turned around to Azure. She smirked and said, "Told ya." She stuck her tongue out mockingly while Azure glared and gritted her teeth.

"Compass Rose, that's not very—” Primrose tried to interject, only for Rose to run off to join the rest of the class. "Nice... Oh well," she said, shaking her head, "So you must be her sister Azure, right?"

Azure took a deep breath to calm herself, then responded with a smile, "Yeah, just visiting for a few weeks. How's Rosey doing? Not too much trouble for ya I hope."

Primrose chuckled, "Oh good, it's not just me she acts out around." The teacher-pony motioned for Azure to follow her up to her desk. "Now, I do have a few concerns," she started again.

"What, is she having problems passing classes?" Azure asked quickly.

"No, no, nothing like that. It's, well—”

"Why not!?" yelled some colt in the classroom.

Azure turned around. She gasped; Rose was hoarding a small pile of supplies. She completely refused to share anything with the poor colt, or anypony else for that matter. She practically shoved away anypony who tried. "Rosey!" Azure yelled, causing Rose to let go of the string spool the colt was trying to get. He flicked his tail at her as he walked away.

"That, to be frank." Primrose finished, shaking her head. "I don't know what it was like at home, but here, she doesn't even seem to be trying to make any friends. Between that and acting out in general, I can't help but think she's homesick or something."

Azure averted her eyes. "Er, that might be more my fault. Acting out and not making friends, sounds like me at her age. I mean, we used to travel around a lot, so I had a hard time keeping friends. Eventually I just kinda gave up, but I really regret it. I—well, we, sent her here so she could have a better experience than that."

Primrose gave Azure a sympathetic smile. "Of course, I understand,” she said. “I think it might be best if you talk with her. She knows you. She wants to be more like her big sister.” Primrose nodded towards Rose, now pouting on her desk. “I think she'll listen to her idol better than her teacher, don't you?," she asked, with a smirk.

Azure nodded. "Thanks for telling me. I'll try to set her straight," she said.

“Hey, Rosey? Can I uhh, talk to you for a second?” asked Azure, motioning for her sister to follow her off to the side of the class. Rose rolled her eyes and nodded, following reluctantly.

“I’m telling you, he started—” Rose began defensively.

"Rose, tell me the truth. Have you made any friends here?" asked Azure in a hushed voice. Her face was full of concern.

Rose looked up curiously and said, "No, but why bother? Its not like you ever needed to, and you turned out fine."

Azure shook her head. "Hey, I only didn't make friends because it was hard, what with all the moves. I sure tried though!"

"Pfft, yeah right. You're a loner-pony, and always have been as long as I've known you! You're tough, you don't need nopony,” said Rose, forgetting to whisper, “You’re awesome!” She jumped on the last word. By contrast, Azure winced at each part of the statement.

"No, no, no! That's not how a pony should be! I learned it the hard way, you need friends!" Azure picked up her own voice now. A strange look from the other ponies in the class and she toned it back down.

Rose glared at her sister. "You're just saying that because the teacher told you to, aren't you!"

At this Primrose got up from her seat and started over to the two.

"I'm not lying! I don't want to see you get as miserable as I did!" Azure yelled back. "Besides, its not even that hard. Just try being nice to somepony or something."

"Oh yeah? Prove it!" Rose said fiercely. "Prove its easy to make friends! If you can make just one new friend here in Canterlot before I have to come home for dinner tonight, then—” She paused to think. “Fine,” she grumbled, “I'll try to make friends myself, or something." She rolled her eyes at the final condition.

Primrose got up to the two, now listening out of sheer curiosity more than looking for when to tell them to quiet down. "Hah, easy!” Azure scoffed. “Though to be fair, what happens if I lose?" she asked with a confident smile.

"If you lose, and can't make any friends by tonight, that just proves I don't have to listen to you or the teacher, and you'll both drop it!" Rose practically screamed, not realizing Primrose was standing right there.

Before the teacher could interject, Azure responded, with a hoofshake, "Fine. It's not like it’s going to happen, anyway." She stuck her tongue out at Rose before heading to the door. Rose gasped, then returned the motion.

"Don't I get a say in—" Primrose started, as Azure rushed out without another word. "This." she finished on a sour note, rolling her eyes.

---

"Fresh apple slices! Get your fresh apple slices here!" The salespony from before was still trying to attract customers. The lunch rush was just ending, though, so it was hard to find somepony who wasn't already full. She sat down behind her stand, a little disappointed, and added a few more slices to her tray. When she looked up, she jumped, startled by Azure's wide-smiling face. "O-oh hello again. Did you want another sample?" she asked bitterly.

"Yes please! That first one was pretty good, huh?" Azure asked, talking slightly faster than normal.

"I guess so? Well you said it was, but..." The salespony shifted her eyes in confusion.

"Yup, yeah I did."

This was followed by a minute or two of awkward silence. Finally they both started at the same time, Azure with, "So, how about those apples huh?", and the salespony with, "I-I really should get going and try to find more customers." She picked up her tray and rushed off, leaving Azure defeated.

"Whelp, this ain't gonna be quite as easy as I thought." Azure said to herself.

She tried to mingle in with what was left of the crowd and came to a couple of local unicorns that were chatting about something they had done recently. At first Azure resisted the urge to jump in the middle, but quickly grew frustrated with the non-stop "like"s and "whatever"s of the conversation, and just moved on.

Another group spotted her leaving the crowd, and one of them called out, "Oh, hey, you looking for somepony?"

Azure looked up, seeing a good opportunity. "Actually, just looking to hang out with somepony. Can't find them though," she said, trying to act a little saddened by her "friend" not showing.

The pony that spoke earlier looked at her a little funny and said "Well I guess you can hang out with us if ya want." Her friends nodded in agreement. Azure perked up abruptly and trotted over to join the group.

The group meandered around for a while through the streets. Azure didn't have much to say since they were mostly gossiping about other ponies she had never heard of. She started to space on the conversation some, then was caught off guard when one of them asked, "How about you, blue?".

"How about me what?" she responded, genuinely confused. The trio giggled at her.

"Have you ever gone to a spa and gotten the full treatment?" the middle mare repeated.

"Well, no,” said Azure. She thought a moment, then added, “Kinda have gotten a mud bath before though!"

"Oh, really? How was it?" the left one asked, the other two quite interested now.

Azure smiled and thought, Alright, I got this now.

"So, I was sleeping outside one night, because I got kicked off of a train I had been hitchhiking on for a few miles, and there wasn't a town anywhere nearby. I find this nice, soft patch of grass and dirt not too far from there, and of course I'm too tired to find anything better than that, not even a few leaves. So, I get to sleep pretty quick, but when I wake up, turns out it rained through the night, and I'm up to my knees in mud!"

The three stared at her, appalled, with their jaws dropped. One of them finally asked, "Eell did it feel rejuvenating?"

"Nah, just kinda slimey." Azure answered flatly.

The trio slowly walked away from her, shaking their heads. Azure sighed, then slowly trotted off in the other direction.

The sun was almost hiding behind the city’s skyline now. Azure silently begged Celestia for more time, or at least better luck with these ponies. In her wandering she soon found herself in the noble quarter of the city, and there were barely any ponies to be seen. Desperate, she looked around, but all she could see were guards for a nearby manor. Well, a pony's a pony, right? she thought to herself. She picked a guard at random and approached him.

The guard saw her approach, and whispered to the other next to him, "Uhoh, heads up."

"Well hi there!" Azure started, forcing herself to stay cheerful, "How's it going big fellas?"

The guards looked at each other, then back to Azure. "State your business. The Lord prefers to keep to himself," one says, as they raise their spears to block entry.

"Oh is that so? Interesting. Well I just wanted to get to talk with one of you two, ya know, get to know ya better!" Azure responded, trying to maintain a smile as best as possible.

"Our job is to be ever-watchful for thieves and threats to the Lord's estate. We do not have time for your mere 'talk'."

Azure paused, looking at him with confusion. "So you have time to stand around and watch nothing all day, but no time to just talk?"

"Precisely," responded one of the guards. The other one looked at him, just as confused as Azure.

"It can't hurt, can it? This job does get boring after a while," said one guard quizzically to the other.

"Of course it can. The second we let our guard down, that's when a thief could get past us!"

"Would you relax? We can talk to her, nothing bad's going to happen. I mean, look at her! She's harmless!" At this Azure smiled even wider.

"I don't know..." said the tougher guard. Just then, as if on cue, an alarm sounded from inside the manor grounds. "Aha! I knew it! She must have just been a distraction so we would miss the real thief!" he proclaimed boldly, leveling his spear at Azure's neck.

"B-b-but I swear! I wasn't doing anything bad!" she said, recoiling away from the spear-tip. The other guard aimed his spear at her too, and she took off running. Not far from the gate, she ran face-first into the side of a carriage, having not seen it coming since she was watching the guards chase her. Dazed, she sat up, only to be stepped on as the noble-pony exited the carriage.

"Oh dear! I'm so sorry my lady, I didn't see you there! Are you hurt?" asked the fancily dressed unicorn.

"I-I think I'm alright, thanks," she responded, rubbing her head. He offered her a hoof to help her stand up.

"What is your name, milady?" he asked once she was standing.

"Azure, sir. I'm living here with my sister for a bit."

"Lord Trottington the third, charmed to meet you. What were you doing running in the street, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I, uhh, well its a long story," she started to answer, unsure whether or not to bring up the guards. In her nervousness she lifted her front hoof to scratch her head, revealing her flank to the Lord.

"Oh! Oh my, umm, where is your Cutie Mark, madam?" he asked, recoiling almost as in disgust.

"What? Oh, I uhh, never quite got mine yet..." She already knew where this was going.

"Oh. Oh, I see. I'm sorry, I must be late for turning in for the evening. Best of luck in your future endeavors!" he said hastily, trotting quickly off towards the manor. Azure slumped over again. This was the last straw to make her give up. Faintly in the distance, one of the guards shouted something about a false alarm, but it didn’t help her mood one bit.

Defeated, Azure sat outside her sister's classroom in the hall, not wanting to show herself without somepony else. Inside the classroom Ms. Primrose was teaching the class how to tie a knot with magic, which most of the students were outright not understanding how to do. She looked up and saw Azure outside. "Now class,” she said, “I'll be right back. Keep practicing while I'm gone!"

Azure almost shed a tear, thinking back to how she'd failed today, when Primrose cracked the door. The light from the classroom swathed over Azure briefly. "Azure? Are you alright?" asked Primrose as she shut the door behind herself to muffle the sound of the children.

"I couldn't do it. No matter what I tried, nopony in Canterlot wanted to be my friend. I just don't get it," Azure could barely speak without her voice breaking from holding back tears.

"Go on," Primrose said, sitting next to Azure and putting a hoof around her, just as she would with one of her students.

Azure proceeded to explain all of the failings since she had left the classroom earlier; "I freaked out this apple salespony, I couldn't related to most of the ponies in the town square, and then the nobles, ugh," At the end, she shook her head, wiping away a tear. "If only I had more time."

Primrose smiled and said, "You know what I think? I think you just tried too hard."

Azure looked up at her, puzzled. "How'd I do that?"

"You were too worried about your bet to just focus on being a good friend." Primrose answered, chuckling. Then she smiled sharply, "And just so you know, you didn't fail at making a friend today."

Azure blinked, sniffling. She wiped away a tear and stared at Primrose like she had a second horn.

Primrose turned away from Azure, and started on, "You have no idea how crazy it can get in there some days. Nothing but fillies and colts in there? Almost every day? Some days I take off just to have a nice, calm conversation with somepony!" She stood up and started pacing, still rambling on, "I was so relieved when you came in today! Sure, we mostly talked about you and your sister, but it was something, right?" Primrose giggled uneasily towards the end. Azure nodded slightly. "You know how I said I understand what you mean about needing friends earlier? That wasn't 'Ms. Primrose' talking, that was me. Ugh, I need more time off." She collapsed to the ground, throwing her hooves in the air dramatically. Azure stared at her, still confused.

"So, just by talking with ya a little, we're friends now?" Azure asked, finally.

"In my books, yes." said Primrose, nodding as she stood up, "Sure, I'm easy to make friends with, but I definitely count, right?"

Azure laughed, "Of course! Nice to meet ya, again, Primrose!" The two shook hooves, laughing some more.

"You're new in town, so I'll have to show you around sometime," said Primrose, "How about we meet for coffee sometime? I know a great place not too far from here! Or if you’d rather, I can whip up some at my place and we could just take it easy. Or—"

"Coffee? Never really had any, but I can give it a shot!" Azure said with a chuckle. "Now come on, we gotta get back to your class, Rosey especially." Primrose nodded in agreement. "Oh, and if you ever need help in the classroom, just let me know, okay?" Primrose gave her a hearty chuckle.

"If you're sure, but you might not realize what you're getting yourself into."

Inside the classroom, Rose leaned back and smiled confidently, letting the others cause chaos with the art supplies in Primrose's absence. The teacher's return caused everypony's yelling to cease immediately, with a few pieces of paper and glitter slowly left to fall. Azure slipped in shortly after, smiling with the same expression as Rose. At first Rose thought she'd lost, until she realized no pony was with Azure. She stuck her tongue out at Azure, ignoring Primrose talking, to which Azure returned the favor.

"Girls, please!" said Primrose, grabbing the sisters’ attention. "Now everypony, before I let you go today I'd like you to meet my new friend and part-time classroom assistant, Azure!” she said, making sure to emphasize “friend” with a wink towards Azure.

Rose's jaw dropped as Azure bowed before the entire class. "Hey, that's not fair!" Rose exclaimed indignantly.

Primrose walked over to Azure. They started laughing, ignoring Rose's outburst.

"You see Rosey, you can find a friend wherever you are! You just have to let it happen, right, 'Ms. Primrose'?" said Azure, with air quotes on the name.

"Exactly. Everypony, you could do well to remember this lesson as well! For homework—" Primrose was interrupted by a sea of groans at the mention of the dreaded homework. "Ahem! For homework, I want you all to tell me of a friend you made at some point, and why friendship is a good thing. Due after the weekend. Now, class, you may go."

Everypony except Rose rushed out, while Rose stayed to walk home with Azure. Rose couldn't speak.

"Look, Rosey, you have to understand: I don't know everything. I'm still figuring so much out, it makes my head spin sometimes. How I acted when I was your age— I regret that, really! I need help learning stuff now, like how to make friends, how to take care of myself—"

"What your Cutie Mark is?" Rose added quietly.

"Hah, yeah, that too. See, you already know something I haven't learned for myself yet!" said Azure. She added a playful nudge, and Rose started to smile. Rose nodded. "So, can I count on you to help me?"

Rose nodded again, then said, "Well so long as you don't make Ms. Primrose give us homework every weekend!"

Azure stopped, laughing, and smacked her own forehead with a hoof. "Yeah, sure. Just so long as you have your priorities in order, you silly filly."

As they walked the rest of the way home, laughing, the moon rose above Canterlot, the light shining all over the city. In a way it promised they'd all have a good night's sleep that night.

Comments

[The Unforgiven]

You write these stories so wonderfully, I'm definitely watching you and tracking this story. Please, keep up the good work!