Chapter 9: Introductions
Chapter 9: Introductions
“Okay, Starshade. It’s going to be dark when we go inside, and then somepony will turn on the lights and everypony will shout ‘surprise’ and then you’ll get to meet a lot of other ponies who will say ‘hello’ and try to shake your hoof and ask you loads of questions. Are you ready?”
Starshade nodded wordlessly to his caretaker.
“Please try to act surprised, okay?” Fluttershy insisted. “I don’t want us to upset Pinkie.”
“Of course,” Starshade said.
“It might be a bit overwhelming at first, but I promise that Pinkie will make sure everything goes alright.”
Starshade glanced to his side. “You said that there might be some foals my age here, right? That’ll be so fun!”
“Maybe,” Fluttershy answered. “Pinkie probably knows that I brought you along, and I think she would’ve invited a colt or filly or two to help keep you entertained.”
“And I’ll get to meet Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash?”
“Yes,” Fluttershy said with a nod. “And Rarity, too.”
“Awesome. I hope they’ll like me.”
Fluttershy put a hoof on Starshade’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about that. Just be you. I tried once to be somepony that I wasn’t and I felt so out of place. It wasn’t till I met all those cute little animals below Cloudsdale that I realized I should have just been myself and left flight school earlier.”
Starshade nodded. He had never experienced any problems being himself in the past. “I will.”
“Okay. Ready?”
“Definitely.”
“Just try to stay close.”
Fluttershy pushed open the door to her cottage. Starshade galloped past her, rushing headfirst into the dark interior. He felt his head hit something. It was soft, and it grunted.
“Ah. Uh… Surprise?” a stallion’s voice said from somewhere above Starshade.
After a split second of silence, a chorus of considerably more exuberant ponies shouted, “Surprise!”
The little pony’s eyes snapped shut as a bright light illuminated the room. Amid scattered cries of “Welcome to Ponyville,” the colt slowly opened his eyes.
The afterimage of the light obscured the foal’s vision, but he could tell that he was standing in front of something blue and brown. Something that was silent in spite of all the friendly and very loud ponies around it. Something that was trying very hard to distance itself from him.
“Ah Starshade, it seems you’ve run into Cobalt already,” a mare said.
Starshade looked in the direction of the voice. A purple blob stood to his right, and the colt could just make out a single extended hoof protruding from the shape. He reached out his own hoof and interlocked it with the blob’s, using the support to pull himself up.
Starshade blinked, clearing the afterimage slightly. The purple mass resolved into a horned head. “You are Starshade, right?” it asked.
The colt nodded, still slightly disoriented.
“I’m Twilight Sparkle,” the mare continued. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Twilight gestured in the direction of the blue figure that the colt had collided with. “And this fine pony, as I said before, is Cobalt Rooks.”
The stallion mouthed some words, the sounds only barely escaping his mouth as his eyes darted between Starshade and some location off to his side. “It’s a pleasure,” he finally managed.
Twilight raised a hoof to scratch her mane. She looked back and forth between the stallion beside her and the little colt.
After a few seconds, Starshade, a puzzled look on his face, said, “Uh… It’s nice to meet you both too. I’m… um… going to find Rainbow Dash now. Do either of you know where she is?”
Tantalus shook his head and mouthed a quiet “No”.
Twilight, however, pointed a hoof in the direction of Fluttershy’s living room. “I think she’s back there with Pinkie. She was helping her put up a few last-minute decorations. You and Fluttershy arrived a little earlier than we expected.”
Starshade nodded. “Thank you. I guess I’ll talk to you again, sometime. Alright?”
“Alright.”
As Starshade trotted excitedly away in the direction of the living room, Twilight turned to face Tantalus. “Is everything alright, Cobalt?”
“Yah. Uh… I’m going to go and find Fluttershy. I need to figure out this whole housing thing.”
“Okay. I’ll try to catch up with Starshade; I want to make sure he meets everypony that he needs to. If Fluttershy’s letter is anything to go by, the colt should be going into Cheerilee’s class. I think she’s around here somewhere. Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo too.”
As Tantalus turned to begin his search for Fluttershy, Twilight hurriedly added, “Oh. And if everything doesn’t work out with Fluttershy, you’re welcome to stay with me at the library. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but it has a pretty large basement that I’m not really using for much anymore. It’d take some cleaning, but I think it’s habitable. Besides, it would save you the walk every morning into Ponyville.”
The stallion smiled. “I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you very much for the offer.”
“Not a problem at all. Oh. And if we don’t get a chance to talk again here, I’ll meet you back at the library. Okay?”
“Got it. Thanks again, Twilight.”
Rainbow Dash. Sky blue coat. Multicolored mane. Sky blue coat. Multicolored mane. Ugh! Where is she?
The small pegasus was becoming frustrated; he had been trying to locate the pegasus mare within the sea of hooves that surrounded him for several minutes.
Starshade, struck by an idea, turned his eyes to the ceiling. Fluttershy had made the point of telling him that Rainbow Dash liked to fly everywhere, even indoors. The colt craned his neck to peer through the mass of stallions and mares above him.
Starshade collided with something soft. He had hit plenty of legs already, but this one felt different. The colt looked up from his prone position on the floor. An orange pegasus filly with a magenta mane lay across from him. Three of her legs were splayed outward against the floor, the forth trapped somewhere beneath her belly.
Despite her awkward position, an excited look formed in her purple eyes. Fanning her wings as she pushed herself to her hooves, the filly said, “I don’t recognize you. Are you the new colt?”
“Yes,” Starshade answered as he steadied his gait. “I’m Starshade.”
Starshade flapped his wings, trying to pull himself up like the filly had. After a few seconds, he sighed and pushed himself up with legpower alone.
“Oh?” the filly answered, “That’s a really cool name. I’m Scootaloo.”
Starshade glanced at the floor. “Thanks. Yours is pretty neat too.”
“Twilight Sparkle told Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and I that you’ll be living here with Fluttershy and that you’re going to be in our class. She said you’ve never been to school before.”
“Well, sort of. Fluttershy’s taught me a lot over the last five or six months – I’ve spent most of my time learning things.”
“But you didn’t have to go to class, right?” Scootaloo said.
“Yah, that’s right.”
The filly’s eyes went wide. “Oh. You’re so lucky. And you’ve only been homeschooled for a few months? You must have so much free time to have fun.”
“What do you mean? Learning is fun. I’ve been doing it for as long as I can remember.”
“As long as you can remember?” Scootaloo said. “Wait, just exactly how old are you?”
“Well, Fluttershy told me not to tell anypony, but she said I’ll turn one in two weeks.”
“That’s amazing,” Scootaloo said. “You look almost as old as Applebloom.”
Another voice interjected, “Did somepony say mah name?”
Two more fillies trotted up alongside Scootaloo. One, the speaker, had a yellow coat and a big pink ribbon in her rose-colored mane. The other, a unicorn, had a white coat and two-colored mane that was split between purple and light pink.
The yellow one continued, “What was that you’re sayin’ about mah age? I’m younger than ya, you know.” The white one nudged the yellow filly with her foreleg and gestured at Starshade. “Wha–? Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t see ya there. Mah name's Applebloom. Ah bet that you’re that new pony Twilight told us about, right?”
Scootaloo answered. “Yah. He is. He’s got an awesome name too. It’s Starshade.”
The colt nodded weakly, his ears folding back against his head. He liked his name, but he did not think it was anything special. “It’s nice to meet you, Applebloom,” Starshade said. Turning to the snow-coated unicorn, he asked, “Who are you?”
“I’m Sweetie Belle,” the filly answered. “You’re going to be in our class, right?”
“From what Scootaloo said, I think so.”
“That’s going to be really fun. Miss Cheerilee is such a good teacher.”
Scootaloo looked excitedly at the other two fillies. “Did you know that Starshade’s not even a year old? That’s so cool.”
Applebloom had a puzzled expression on her face as she said, “Are… are you some kinda genius or somethin’?”
“Uh… I don’t know. I did here Princess Luna say that I learned quickly once.”
“Wait,” Applebloom said. “Did ya say you know Princess Luna?”
“Yah. She used to visit Fluttershy and me once or twice a week back in Canterlot.”
Sweetie Belle interjected, “Oooh. I bet Luna’s doing the same thing with you that Princess Celestia did with Twilight! You’re so lucky.”
“Uh… What’s that?”
“Well, Twilight said that Celestia sort-of adopted her when she figured out that she was really good at magic. I bet Luna’s doing the same thing with you. Only without the magic part,” Sweetie Belle explained. Continuing, the white filly asked, “Did Luna invite you to some sort of special school? Did you have to leave your parents to live with Fluttershy in Canterlot?”
“No. Fluttershy homeschooled him,” answered Scootaloo. “But that’s still a good question. Where are your parents?”
“I… Um… I don’t know. Fluttershy and Luna don’t know. They found me somewhere in Canterlot.”
“Oh. I’m so sorry,” Scootaloo said. “I lost my parents awhile back. Now I just live with Cheerilee. But at least I got to know them. I don’t know why somepony would abandon a colt like you.”
“Scootaloo!” Sweetie Belle and Applebloom shouted in unison.
“What a thing to say!” Applebloom continued. “Ya need to be more considerate, Scootaloo. I’m sorry, Starshade.”
Starshade was silent. Sure, he had considered the possibility that he had been abandoned before, but he certainly did not feel like he had been abandoned. Still, coming from another pony, it felt different. Scootaloo had not upset him, but she had brought the painful idea to Starshade’s mind. Why had his parents left him on the streets of Canterlot?
Shaking his mane, the colt dismissed, “Oh. It’s alright. Fluttershy and Luna are sort of my parents now.”
“So… Uh…” Applebloom picked up, “It was nice talking to you, Starshade. I guess we’ll see you in school soon. Come on, girls, I saw Pinkie filling some balloons over by the punch. How does Cutie Mark Crusader party balloon fillers sound?”
“Awesome,” “I like that idea,” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle answered before bounding off after Applebloom.
Calling out from behind them, Starshade asked, “Before you go, does anypony know where Rainbow Dash is?”
Scootaloo shouted back, “I think she’s by the entryway. You probably just missed her; she was hanging up decorations in the air.”
“Okay! Thanks!”
Starshade turned and headed in the direction of the Cottage’s ground-floor door.
“Hey there, tyke,” a voice said from somewhere above Starshade. “I take it you’re Starshade?”
The colt looked up and into the eyes of Rainbow Dash. The sky-blue coat. The vibrant rainbow mane. The mare looked every bit as impressive as Fluttershy had described her.
“Yah,” the colt answered. “And you’re Rainbow Dash, right? The fastest flyer in Equestria?”
“Of course,” answered the pegasus with a flick of her mane. “The one and only.”
“I’m so glad I found you! You don’t know how long I’ve been looking.”
“An eager fan already, I see? Fluttershy must’ve done me justice.” The mare continued hovering above Starshade, letting her rear legs dangle limply just in front of his muzzle. The colt had to twist his neck just to make eye contact with the mare as she continued speaking. “I talked to Fluttershy already and she said that you haven’t seen any professional flying shows. Fortunately, I’ve managed to round up some tickets for the Wonderbolts. It’s not for four months or so, but I don’t think Rarity would really want to come; it’s not even in Cloudsdale this time, much less Canterlot. Maybe you could convince her to give you her ticket? I’m sure she would actually appreciate you taking it off of her hooves.”
“Uh… That sounds really cool, but who are the Wonderbolts?”
“Only the best stunt flyers in all of Equestria – aside from me, of course. No pegasus’ life is complete without seeing one of their shows. I can’t believe Fluttershy didn’t tell you about them.” The mare uncrossed her forelegs and put a single hoof to her chin. “Actually, I guess I can. Anyways, how does that sound, Starshade?”
“I… I… That sounds great! Thank you so much for the offer, Miss Rainbow Dash.”
“Well, you don’t have the ticket yet. And don’t call me ‘miss’. I’m just Rainbow Dash.”
“You’ve got it, Rainbow Dash.”
“Yah. I know.” Turning in the direction of the punch bowl, the mare, with another flick of her rainbow mane, said, “Catch ya later, colt,” and speed off to the refreshment table.
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Looking forward to the next chapter, so far so good
84360 i agree completely.
From what I read it's a very nice fic. Certainly an interesting plot to go from (and one that gets at me because I'm a sucker for deep relationships- e.g. what Luna feels for Starshade), and executed rather nicely. I can't name any specifics, unfortunately, but that's just because I have a hard time expressing my feelings.
Do carry on!
Wait, so Starshade is only one? Are you using the timescale where the ponies mature like normal Earth horses, or mature like humans? If the latter, then is he just like this because of some weird alicorn biology/magic thing making him grow faster?
you have the CMC FAR too young. They should at least be 7 or 8 years old.... and probably closer to 12, seeing as they're old enough to have cutie marks, which is a pretty obvious allegory for puberty.