CMC: The Third Generation

by PhoenixTDM

Cloudy Afternoon

A few weeks had passed since the terrifying Nightmare Night Jany and her friends had the worst scare of their lives. Jany was still having nightmares. She absolutely loved pranks, but she thought her Grandpa Discord went a little too far this time. Water was Jany’s #1 fear, and her grandpa made her even more terrified of it.

Jany had also been thinking a lot about a certain cinnamon-colored colt with wall-eyes. Could he actually have a good side to him? He’d been avoiding Jany the past couple weeks and hardly bullying them. Her friends asked her a few times what had happened, but she couldn’t come up with an explanation that would make sense to them. It felt wrong to expose Cinnamon’s vulnerability, even though he was so mean to her and her friends. Although Cinnamon wouldn’t hesitate to embarrass any of them, Jany didn’t want to act anything like Cinnamon.

---

Fluffball and Jany were flying to the school. Fluffball was blabbering on about a new tree she found, but Jany had a hard time following. She was distracted. Yesterday, Cinnamon seemed like he wanted to talk to Jany, but her friends pulled her away for some (unsuccessful) attempts to get their cutie marks. She wanted to find him and talk to him today. She yearned to find out if he could actually be a nice pony.

As they landed and Fluffball, yet again, got jealous of Sun Ray and Cheeseball talking near the tree, Jany started to search for Cinnamon. She knew that he frequently hung out with Cloudwatcher and Colt on the side of the schoolhouse before classes started, so she walked over there. And there he was. Cinnamon was smiling and chatting with the two colts.

Jany slowly began walking towards them. They didn’t notice at first, but soon, Cloudwatcher (who was facing Jany’s way) saw her. He nudged Cinnamon who looked at Jany. As soon as he saw her, his eyes widened.

“Um… Hi,” Jany started. Cinnamon told his friends to leave.

“Hey…” Cinnamon looked down.

“So… Um…” Jany wasn’t sure what to say.

“Look, I’m sorry for yellin’ at ‘ya at the carnival. And I’m sorry for avoidin’ ‘ya. I just didn’t know what to say. Well… I do know what to say, and it’s thank-you. Thank ‘ya for bein’ there for me. I know you wouldn’t’ve done that if you knew it was me, and I definitely wouldn’t’ve done that if I knew it was you, but I appreciate it.”

Jany wasn’t expecting an apology and a thanks. She wasn’t really even expecting anything. This must’ve been the nicest thing Cinnamon had ever said to anypony!

“Oh! Uh, you’re welcome!”

“I bet you’re wondering why I’m bein’ so nice to ‘ya,” Cinnamon said. Was he reading her mind or something?

“I know I haven’t been nice to y’all… I’ve always been so mean for no reason besides of how y’all look, when I don’t even have normal eyes, myself… When I got home that night, I realized how terrible I’ve been actin’. I don’t know why I’ve been treatin y’all that way, I think I’ve just been projectin’ my insecurities onto y’all. But when you were kind to me on Nightmare Night and helped me get over my fear, I realized that you ain’t bad just because of how ‘ya look. And I apologize for how I’ve acted towards y’all.”

Now that was the opposite of what Jany expected to hear today. Was Cinnamon actually telling the truth? Did he actually feel bad for treating Jany and her friends so horribly?

“Wow. I’m not sure what to say, but… uh… thank you,” she said, “I don’t know if I can forgive you, though, until you apologize to my friends first. Especially Fluffball.” Cinnamon had always bullied Fluffball the worst. Jany’s Aunt Screwball’s best friend with “Aunt” Dinky, Cinnamon’s mom, so Fluffball saw Cinnamon more often outside of school, which led to him picking on her the worst.

“Yeah…” Cinnamon replied. The school bell rang and Jany teleported inside the building, not wanting to be seen walking in with the school bully.

“Jany, where were you?” Sun Ray asked when Jany sat down.

“Oh, um… I was in the filly’s room!” Jany lied. Sun Ray nodded and then Mrs. Cheerilee started talking. Today’s subject was on cutie marks! Just like the last few years in November, they learned about how cutie marks are a symbol that appear on a pony’s flank when they discover their special talent. Jany listened intently, hoping to hear something that would make her realize what she could try and do to get hers, but there wasn’t really anything.

---

After school, the four friends stood by the tree in front of the schoolhouse. Mrs. Cheerilee’s lesson had inspired the three crusaders to try more ways to get their cutie marks, and they were brainstorming ideas.

“Hmm… How about we go bowling?” Fluffball suggested.

“Or roller-skating!” Jany squealed.

“We should try things in Cloudsdale! We always do Ponyville things,” Sun Ray said.

“Yeah!” the cousins agreed.

“Cheeseball, do you wanna come, too? I know you already have your cutie mark, but I can enchant you to be able to stand on clouds!” Fluffball asked.

“Yeah! I’ve heard so much about Cloudsdale from this filly here,” he playfully nudged Sun Ray, “and I’d love to see it!” Fluffball shot a look of jealousy at Sun Ray, but quickly threw on a happy face and put a spell on Cheeseball.

“More magic, please?” Fluffball asked. Jany shared some of her chaos magic with her cousin, who looked visibly more energized afterwards. Just then, something, or rather somepony caught her eye. Cinnamon Apple was slowly walking towards them.

“C’mon, let’s go!” Fluffball changed into her red earth-pony disguise, but it had pegasus wings now. Sun Ray fluttered into the air.

“Wait, how will I fly?” Cheeseball questioned.

“Huh. I didn’t think about that. Jany, can you just teleport us to Cloudsdale?” Fluffball asked. Jany wasn’t sure about whether to wait for Cinnamon to talk to them or teleport her and her friends up to Cloudsdale. She looked back and forth between the colt and her friends.

He can talk to us tomorrow. It’s not every day we all have time after school to hang out! Jany smiled and teleported the four ponies up to the pegasus city.

Jany had only been in Cloudsdale once, when she, Fluffball, and Sun Ray went back in time to find out how Sun Ray’s cousin had gotten his cutie mark. She could actually explore the city much better now. All around them, Pegasi walked on the clouds and flew through the air as they talked with their friends. Walking on clouds wasn’t something new to Jany, but it was odd seeing only clouds everywhere.

“WOAH! I’m actually walking on clouds!” Cheeseball shouted. The three fillies laughed. Yeah, walking on clouds felt a lot different than normal ground. It was as if you were walking on a damp, very fluffy pillow.

“Do you guys wanna come to my house?” Sun Ray asked. Jany realized she had never actually been there before! She’d only been to Icy Breeze’s house right on the edge of Cloudsdale.

“Yeah!” they all said. Sun Ray led them away from downtown Cloudsdale and towards a small neighborhood. There were a few small houses, but mostly medium-sized ones. Sun Ray stopped in front of a medium-sized house. The purple house had a lot of windows. There were two pillars in front of the pink door, and a rainbow connecting them on the top. The roof was made of clouds and there were bush-like clouds in the front yard.

“Here’s my home! I’ve lived here all my life. My mom’s grandparents gave it to her before I was born.” Everypony looked in awe at the cloud house. All the houses in their neighborhood were also separated by rainbow-like gates. Sun Ray’s friends now understood why Sun Ray was so surprised at Ponyville culture; they were all amazed at how different the Pegasi in Cloudsdale lived.

Sun Ray opened the door and they all walked inside. The walls were a nice cornflower-blue color and the carpets were purple like grapes. There were a lot of photographs hanging on the walls of Sun Ray and her younger siblings. Fluffball went back to her undisguised form.

“Sun Ray, is that you?” a stallion’s voice called.

“Yeah, and I brought some friends!” Sun Ray said. A green pegasus stallion with dark red hair and freckles walked into the living room.

“Hi, Dad! These are my friends, Jany, Fluffball, and Cheeseball!”

“Oh, nice to finally meet you guys! I’ve heard a lot about you. I’m Kicks,” he said. Just then, a light blue pegasus mare with rainbow hair flew into the room. Jany recognized her as Sun Ray’s mom, Prism Dash.

“Hey, fillies!” she ruffled Sun Ray’s mane, “And who is this young stallion?

“Oh, I’m Cheeseball!”

Prism smiled, “I’ve heard a lot about you!” Fluffball shot another jealous look at Sun Ray, and Jany giggled.

“So, what are you kids gonna do this afternoon?” Prism asked.

“We’re gonna try and get our cutie marks! Speaking of cutie marks, can you guys tell my friends how you got yours? We love hearing cutie mark stories,” Sun Ray asked.

“Of course! Y’know, I was a past Cutie Mark Crusader, too! Almost all of my friends had already gotten their cutie marks, and it was just me and my best friend Gemstone who hadn’t gotten ours, yet.”

“Gemstone’s my aunt!” Jany said. Prism nodded, “She sure is! Anyways, one day, our school had an art contest. Gem and I decided to work together on it. Since her mom worked in the boutique, we got inspired from her to make a dress. I drew the design and Gem made the dress. When we won first prize, we both got our cutie marks!” She pointed to her flank and her cutie mark was of a paintbrush painting a rainbow. Everypony gave oohs and aahs at it.

“What was Gemstone’s cutie mark?” Cheeseball asked.

“Ooh! I know! Her cutie mark is a blue gem with a needle and thread in front of it!” Jany said, “I never knew how she got it until now. How did the other crusaders get it?”

“Well, Lemon Drop was the first to get his. He got it from helping organize the post office during Hearth’s Warming Eve; his cutie mark is a stamp with a lemon in the middle.

“Raspberry got hers second. She wrote a beautiful story about how her parents met, and got her cutie mark of two pencils curving into a heart with a raspberry in the center.

“Blueberry got hers next: one of the foals in our class went missing and she solved the mystery of where he went (he’d gotten lost in the Everfree Forest). Her cutie mark is a magnifying glass with a blueberry in the middle.

“And lastly, there was Cherry. She got her cutie mark a little while before Gem and I did. There was a talent show coming up, and Cherry decided to do a ballet dance. She’d danced with Gemstone before, but this time, she came up with her own dance. I still remember that stunning performance to this day. When she won first place, she got a cutie mark of two ballet shoes with a cherry in between them.”

“Wowwww!” the four foals said.

“I remember, too. I was there for all of those except for the Lemon Drop one,” Kicks said.

“How did you get your cutie mark again, Dad?” Sun Ray asked.

“It’s not nearly as impressive as those other stories, but I got my cutie mark when I won my first boxing match,” he pointed to his flank and his cutie mark was a red boxing glove.

“Hearing cutie mark stories is so cool!” Jany said.

“Yeah!” Fluffball agreed, “Next time we all go back to the Castle of Chaos, we have to ask everyone how they got theirs!”

Everypony nodded, and then they went out into the backyard to try and get their cutie marks. Cheeseball tagged along because he wanted to experience pegasus things. The backyard had a rainbow fence surrounding it. There were a few more bush-like clouds scattered about the cloud floor.

“So, what should we do?” Fluffball asked.

“Well, we could play Cloudball! I have a set somewhere… But, wait, there needs to be at least three players per team…”

Suddenly, two small green foals flew into the backyard.

“HI, SUN RAY!” her siblings shouted.

“Oh, hey, guys! Do you wanna play Cloudball with us?” she asked.

“Yeah!” they said. Sun Ray, Jany, and Thunderstrike were on one team, and Fluffball, Cheeseball, and Lightningstrike were on the other. The six foals had a blast learning the rules and playing the new game, but none of them got a cutie mark. They did many other activities, too: collecting thunderclouds and rainbows in jars, mowing the cloud-lawn, making cloud sculptures, and trying to control the weather. When it started to get dark, everypony went inside for dinner.

“Are you sure your parents won’t mind you staying over for dinner?” Kicks asked the foals.

“I know my parents won’t, and neither will Jany’s, but will yours, Cheesy? I know they’re pretty strict,” Fluffball asked.

“I’m sure they won’t mind. They told me I could play with my friends after school,” he replied. The six foals sat down at the dinner table. Kicks brought a bunch of hayburgers over to the table and they all ate a delicious dinner.

---

When they had all finished dinner, Fluffball offered to teleport Cheeseball back down to his house in Ponyville. She went back to her regular earth pony disguise.

“Wait, Fluffy, I think you should go into a different disguise in case my parents get suspicious. They might’ve seen you at school before and know who you are,” Cheeseball said.

“Yeah, that’s true, good thinking, Cheesy,” Fluffball replied. Cheeseball watched as a green light flashed over Fluffball and she turned into a light purple unicorn with blue eyes and curly green-and-purple hair. This new filly disguise had a cutie mark of two dolphins.

The door opened and a yellow earth pony with curly orange hair like Cheeseball’s stood in the doorway. She had green eyes and her cutie mark was a carrot. Fluffball recognized her as Carrot Top, the mare who sold carrots at the market.

“Cheeseball, where have you been?” she asked, a piercing look in her eyes.

“I was at my friend, umm… Dolphin Blaze’s house for dinner!” Cheeseball pointed to Fluffball, who gave a small wave and a sheepish grin.

“What have we told you about asking first before you go to a friend’s house? We don’t want you to be kidnapped!” Carrot Top said.

“I’m sorry, Mom…” Cheeseball replied. He turned back to Fluffball, “Bye, Flu- I mean- Dolphin.”

“Bye, Cheesy,” Fluffball turned around and walked away. Cheeseball walked inside and saw his dad sitting on the couch with a glare.

“You are grounded, young mister. For the next two weeks,” his Dad growled.

“Wh-what?!”

“You know the rules—we can’t have you staying out until dark without asking, first! We don’t want anything bad to happen to you, especially since there’s changelings around. They come out in the night and feed on your soul!”

Cheeseball sighed and went up to his room. He didn’t think any of this would happen. His parents had told him he was allowed to play with his friends after school! His sisters bounced into his room.

“Oooooh, you’re busted!” They sang. Cheeseball glared at them.

“Not right now,” he replied, putting his head in his pillow.

“Are you okay?” Lucky asked. Cheeseball sat up and shook his head no.

“Wait… Were you with Fluffball?” CC teased. His sisters looked at each other and smirked.

“No!!!” Cheeseball replied.

“Suuuuure…” Lucky said. Cheeseball shoved them out of his room and closed the door. He reluctantly went to his desk and started doing his homework. It was gonna be a long night.

Author's Note:

Thanks for reading! This is fastest update in a long time! I'll hopefully have the next one up soon! For a sneak peek, the next one's going to be about Cheeseball's birthday! (Unless I change it for some reason).

Edit:
I am making a comic adaption of this story! Read it here!