Adventures in The 6ix

by Wiz Ahmad

Chapter 21: Back on The Board

XAVIER POV

HOME

“And when can we meet?”

“Maybe around noon – twelve is good.”

“Alright, thanks, see you later.”

Having confirmed a meetup event for my laptop trade and inquired with Dr. Nancy, I set my phone down on the table. The moment I entered the house last night, I explained to Joyce my plan of selling and trading some items, and she agreed. We then had a long talk about skateboarding, and I explained how things went wrong early on and how I’d prevent them from occurring again this time round. Eventually, she relented, on the single condition that I share with her all the details on who I hung out with at the skatepark besides Zack.

“And that’s why, officially today, I return to the creative, expressive sport I left too soon,” I declared to all my friends, chowing down on the rest of my breakfast.

“Yay!” Fluttershy cheered, albeit a little softly.

“I’ll explain to you all about it later,” I added, adding empty bowls to the sink. “For now, I need to get some practice.” I winked at Tempest. “Maybe I could even teach you, too.”

In my room, I pulled a large plastic storage box out of my closet. Inside were stacks of Independent trucks, bearings, wheels of slightly different sizes and hardness ratings, rolls of grip tape, and some nuts and bolts. Skystar noticed a stack of boards wrapped in plastic, packed far in the back, and pulled them out too.

“So these are all the components that make up a skateboard. I love how you organized it all so neatly with proper labelling,” Twilight noted, a little excitedly.

“That’s how you’re able to find things quickly and efficiently,” I replied with a smile. “Now, I also have one longboard and a cruiser here.”

I pulled them off a rack in the opposite corner of the room and held the longboard across my lap. “This one my mom bought, back when she wanted to give me some moral support by joining in the fun of skating, shortly after my dad left. I myself didn’t need it, but kept it anyways as a reminder of the times.”

I then brought over the cruiser board. “This one is shorter, and she also bought it sometimme afterwards when the longboard became too big and heavy for her. As I became more bold and independent with my skating, she quit skating herself, and thus they’ve sat here.”

“If she doesn’t need ‘em, and yah don’t need ‘em, then yah should get rid of ‘em,” Applejack suggested. “They’re just taking up space.”

I nodded sadly. “All the other boards and parts here are mine, though. I broke several, obviously. So let’s set up two new ones with this remaining stash, which is a collection of the last of my sponsorship rewards. Watch, listen, and learn.”

I grabbed a craft knife from my closet shelf, and cut off the plastic wrap on one of the boards. Laying it flat on my lap, I unrolled a strip of grip tape, peeled off the backing, and stuck it onto the board, taking care not to form any ridges, and smoothening out any bubbles. Using the knife, I cut around the edges and smoothened them down with a scrap of the excess.

“Note how the graphic reads? That tells you where the front and rear are,” I explained, holding up the board so the bottom faced them. “The nose is to the right, and the tail to the left. Now let’s add our trucks.”

I used the sharp point of the knife to poke holes in the grip tape where the board’s holes were, and pushed the bolts through. Twilight nodded eagerly, picking up on where I was going with this.

“Next come the trucks, bushings – these here” – I pointed to the white rubber disks – “and align them neatly and precisely parallel to the board. Then I tighten them really well with some basic tools.”

Finally I demonstrated how to squeeze the bearings inside the wheels using the trucks’ axles to support them, and slid them on, tightening the wheel nuts. Finally, we were ready.

“I gotta admit I feel nervous about this,” I muttered, holding up the fully assembled skateboard. “I haven’t done this in so long. But wait!”

“What?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “Get your board and let’s go!”

I shook my head. “Let’s see in Skystar can walk first. Dr. Nancy said she should be good to go by now.”

“Oh, right.”

Always a hyperactively eager friend, Pinkie held Skystar stable while I untied the holding straps and carefully slid the wheelchair away.

“Now we’re going to only apply a little bit of pressure at a time,” I warned, holding Skystar’s thigh. “Ready, Pinkie? Just a little touch at first.”

Together we slowly lowered Skystar’s leg to the ground until it just about touched. “How does that feel?”

“A little bit of pain, but I can bear it.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, let’s allow a little more pressure then.”

I raised Skystar’s leg up off the floor, then lowered it a little, this time leaving a little slack in my holding support as her leg touched the floor yet again.

“I think she just needs some break-in,” Rainbow suggested. “You know, to get the muscles going again.”

“Same as I had to do when I was young,” I added in agreement. “Many times, actually!”

Over the next two hours, Pinkie and I helped Skystar take her first steps with her back feet, slowly getting used to the pressure and building up the muscle. For the amount of injury she’d received, Skystar was incredibly hardy. A handgun bullet had practically chipped her skin and here she was, developing her natural walking cycle again after just a week’s time.

“Can we go out now please?” Rainbow Dash pleaded. “I’m literally dying from lack of awesome fun!”

I had to laugh at that. “Easy now. You can fly and walk, while this poor hippogriff can only do one. I’m sure you’re well-aware of how much strength is needed to take a sudden landing.”

That shut her up real good. After about thirty walking sessions around the small living room, Skystar felt comfortable enough to walk on her own without assistance.

“I… Am I really doing it now?”

“Yes you are!” I proclaimed loudly. “You can walk again – without support, free and independent!”

“Yay!” Skystar squealed, jumping for joy, only to wince at her landing.

“Yeah, you’ll have to watch out for that. Take your time and that leg will be strong again.”

As if on cue, my phone beeped. It was a notification.

“Okay girls, I have to head off to trade in the laptop, and then afterwards we’ll try to go to the skatepark and I can brush up on my skills. See you soon!”

With that, I pulled all the cables out of my laptop, slipped it into a backpack, and dashed up the steps, outside, and down the road, where I could get a taxi.

“Aaaaand we’re home alone again,” Rarity groaned. “More boredom…”

“Patience everypony, he’ll be back soon,” Twilight reassured her.

TWO HOURS LATER

“Hi everyone, I’m back!” I announced, prancing down the steps. “Now we can go. I’ll trade in the keyboard later tomorrow. Let’s try this now. It’s the heat of noon but shouldn’t be too dehydrating. Besides, we can easily get some water while we’re at it.”

I set the laptop with its charger and power cable down and grabbed my newly assembled skateboard. We all headed outside, out onto the empty, dead-end street.

Taking things slowly, I set the board down and carefully stepped on. It almost shot out from uder my foot, but I pulled it back and kept control. Quickly correcting my balance points, I pushed off, up the road, trying to get that free, but focused feel I’d developed back at the start of my teenage years. Attempting a brief kickturn, I succeeded, but upon trying a tail manual, tripped backward and lost hold of the board. I bailed out and ran after the board, hopping back onto it with glee. At the end of the road I attempted to powerslide, but just got thrown off.

“You okay Breezy?” Tempest asked worriedly, already at my side.

“Yeah,” I replied, rubbing my hurt head and burning forearm. “It’s coming back to me. Let’s go to the skatepark. I need some level flat ground to do this properly.”

After a quick cool drink and some padding with an ice pack, we walked all the way up to Queen St and up Landsowne Avenue. Rainbow Dash had brought along some water bottles, and Rarity carried a few hand towels. Fluttershy, always the caring one, had a first aid kit.

The park was very small – just two mini ramps, a wavy curve, and a single rail – but its flat, smooth concrete surface was enough. I tossed my board onto the ground and pushed off.

“Right, now that we’re here, let’s see what I can do…”

I began with a simple flat ollie. After five tries I got it consistently. Next I practiced just switching the board’s position underneath me with quick, precise footwork, and some basic warm-up practice.

“Just let your memories flow, like water,” Skystar encouraged.

I pushed hard and approached one end of the ramp, crouching and ready for a trick. With a quick jump and flick, I scooped the board under me – a shuvit – and landed back down while still at the top of the ramp. Landing was sketchy, but I held it down and rolled away, readjusting my stance.

“Now for the hard bit – fakie 360,” I told myself quietly.

I sped up to the ramp, jumped, and flicked hard. As I caught the board in time after it spun, my eyes also caught something too – Twilight taking notes with a pen and a notepad, though I pretended I didn’t see her.

“Taking some notes on the tricks?” I teased, sipping some of the water.

“Oh, yes,” Twilight blushed, her eyes shifting. “It just looks so interesting and fascinating how the board moves in relation to the minute details of your foot and body movements, and –”

I cut her off with a chuckle. “Don’t be nervous about studying me. It’s just creative expression in action. That trick was a fakie 360 – fakie because you ride the board backwards.”

“And it rotates 360 degrees!” Twilight added excitedly.

“Exactly!” I cheered. “Now for some more tricks.”

I then set off yet again, this time sliding my foot off the nose in the middle of an ollie – a kickflip. Then – after ten tries – an actual 360 flip. Finally, I ollied onto the rail and turned the board sideways with my feet mid-air, so its middle hit the rail. I leaned forward, keeping my feet firm to fight the wobble – and lost. I slid forward and my shoulder slammed into the ground, while the board toppled over the other side of the rail. Some of my dreads also got pulled.

“Ow!” I yelped, slowly getting up. I’d fallen numerous times before but it’d been years since I’d fallen this badly. It took much longer for my body to recover from the initial shock, but I tried again. And again. Eventually, I was able to boardslide along the rail’s entire length.

“I’d call it a day,” Applejack told me, as I sat down to drink some more and gain some breathing space after the ordeal.

“Yeah,” I muttered. “But I’m gonna be back tomorrow for several hours until it all comes back into me. Until skating fully flows through my mind and spirit again.”

And then, out of the blue, my phone rang.

Author's Note:

Xavier returns to skateboarding after nearly three and a half years off the board. Can he still pull all the insane moves he did before? And how will Pinkie and Skystar react to their surprise?

Find out more in the next chapter!

Comments

[BestinDworld]

keep it up