Contrast

by Golden Cake

Navigating The Bumpy Trail of Friendship

In the morning, I was awoken by the feeling of something rubbing my shoulder, rather frantically.

I groaned and slowly opened my eyes, and saw that it was Lucky’s hoof, and I saw that she was looking at me a bit anxiously, and was dressed in some sort of uniform.

“James! Come on, my school hours start in about thirty minutes, and I usually try to be early… now come on!! Before we’re late!!” She half whispered.

By this point she dropped a large backpack she was wearing on the floor with a thud and was basically pushing me off the couch with her head, until I fell to the shag carpet, barely catching myself with my hands.

“O-ok, ok… I’m going,” I mumbled, as I stood up on my feet.

I looked out the window briefly, and saw that it was still dark outside. The sun hadn’t even started to rise yet.

“Euughh, school schedules. Even in other worlds, they’re still just as terrible…”

Me and Lucky then ate some breakfast. Whole grain cereal that was shaped like pony hooves.

This world never ceased to amaze and confuse me.

When we finished breakfast, Lucky grabbed her heavy looking bag and held it on her back, and practically ran out of her apartment(as best as she could anyways), with me struggling to keep up with her surprisingly fast pace, and we both went down the stairs of the apartment complex before she waved the receptionist goodbye, as we both hastily left the front doors.

When me and Lucky were in the streets, she calmed her pace after a little bit.

“Ok, we’re almost to the school now.”

I looked at her and yawned.

“How is this going to work for me? I’m not enrolled, and on top of that, I’m not a pony.”

Lucky looked back at me and gave me a small smile, partially in pain from the weight of her bag.

“It’ll be fine. Princess Celestia allows students to bring one guest with them temporarily so they can ‘find themselves’, too.”

“Mmm,” I said in affirmation as I looked forward at the mostly empty streets around us. “They’re ok with people who aren’t ponies?”

“I’m pretty sure, yeah,” Lucky said. I’ve seen quite a few yaks back in the day, and even a kirin or two, though the kirin I’ve seen have usually been pretty quiet, almost silent, actually.

I rubbed my shoulder, as the thought of sort of being an outcast… again, made me nervous.

I looked back at her, as she struggled under the weight of her crazy large bag.

“Hey, umm, can I help with that?” I asked.

“I’ve GOT IT James, don’t worry. I do this EVERY day of school,” she said, with a hint of aggression.

“Okay, geez,” I whispered, nearly inaudibly.

I looked around to see if I could spot the school we were next to, but I had no idea what it would even look like, so I just kept walking.

“Wonder what Lucky was mad about. Maybe she doesn’t like people helping her? Or something.”

“Maybe I’ve been too needy. Damnit, I should really try and get a job here and make some money to help her, depending on how long it’ll take her to send me home.”

“I really hope we have some similar classes together. I don’t want to be even more of an outcast in a world of talking horses, of all things.”

After some more walking, we soon made it into the school, which looked rather exquisite, at least compared to some of the schools I attended in New York.

The school also had some kind of older ages, castle sort of theme to it. Come to think of it, this whole city actually did.

“Maybe this world isn’t exactly as advanced and evolved as mine.”

When we got to the entrance, Lucky painfully made her way up the front steps, with me looking at her concernedly, until she made it up, and swung the front doors open with her hooves.

It was… actually rather amazing on the inside.

And I don’t just mean how fancy and stylized things were.

It was actually incredible, seeing so many creatures talking in the halls, some using unique magic, ranging from giant plants to strange optical illusions, and some of them flying above us.

It was pretty chaotic, but it was really cool.

As I saw everyone socializing, I felt a familiar sense of inadequacy compared to them.

But then I looked down at Lucky, who was looking around at all of the students doing aerial stunts and using magic with wide eyes, and smiled.

“I already have a friend. And I’m gonna to focus my energy to helping her, as she helps me.”

“Wow… I’ve never seen the halls this lively before. I suppose there are just a lot less students who arrive an hour early to study for classes, like I usually do,” she said, before she smiled sheepishly.

Me and Lucky then heard the school bell ring, and Lucky immediately grabbed my hand with my hoof and pulled me into a hallway with her, as we nearly bumped into a few ponies.

“COME ON!! WE’RE GONNA BE LATE!!” She yelled, over the sounds of every creature else, who were talking and shouting loudly, as they started scrambling to get to their classes.

I ran behind her, until I was knocked back from all the ponies we’d been running through, as Lucky kept running forward to her first class.

I yelled for her, as there wasn’t an easy way through the crowd in front of me.

When she didn’t respond, I just stood in a gap in the wall that had a water fountain, as I waited for things in the hallway to calm down.

I probably could have caught up to Lucky if I was really quick, but this hallway was apparently really busy, so there wasn’t much I could really do.

By the time things were calm enough to walk in the hallway without being trampled under a hundred pony hooves, I started walking down the hallway, in the direction Lucky went.

I was clearly late, but I was hoping that whatever teacher I would have would be a bit more lenient since it was only my first day.

“Man, what am I gonna do? Just knock on every classroom door in this wing of the building and just HOPE that Lucky is in one of them?”

“This… will be awkward, but I guess it h-“

I was pulled from my inner thoughts as I looked up at a… monstrous creature, who stood in front of me with his arms folded, as my jaw dropped.

This… thing, towered over me, and was standing on two legs, just like me.

But he looked like he was an amalgamation of different animals, and he looked down at me with condescending eyes and a wicked grin.

“Well, it would seem you’re late for class, hairless monkey, I might just have to write you up!”

My eyes widened as I stood there, trembling slightly.

“W-who are you?”

The thing took a step closer to me, before there was a sudden flash of light around him, and he was suddenly dressed in a security guard outfit, as he smiled and… bowed? in front of me.

“You can call me Mr. Chaos, though my fans call me Discord.”

“Discord?” I asked, confused, as I took slower breaths to calm myself down.

He smiled at my question, before he snapped his fingers, and the floor under me was turned into solid ice, and the lockers and hallway were lined with a coat of snow, which was falling from the ceiling (which didn’t really make any sense).

The ice caused me to slip and nearly fall a second later, before I caught myself, and looked at him disapprovingly.

“The one and only spirit of chaos and disharmony! I look after this school and it’s… unique, and sometimes chaotic, students,” he said proudly.

“Ok… well, I need to get to my friend’s class, I’m a guest here,” I said, as the snow falling from the ceiling was piling up on my hair.

“And who might this friend be?” He asked intimidatingly, as he lowered his head closer to me.

“Lucky. Lucky Trail,” I responded.

Discord then snapped his fingers, as a pen and a small book appeared in his hands, as he pulled a pair of glasses out of thin air, and started flipping through the book.

“Lave Lime, Looming Light, ahh! Lucky Trail…”

He then shut the book, before it, and his pen and glasses disappeared with a brief flash.

“Yep, she is quite the interesting student, very determined in her pursuit of magical power!” He said, as he smiled villainously.

He looked down at me, and my repulsed expression, before he smiled sheepishly, and a glowing, golden halo appeared on his head, and he looked at me innocently.

“By which I mean, it’s so sweet that she is fighting so hard to reach her true potential to “use her power to help others”, as she’s told me. It almost brings a tear to my eye seeing how far she’s come!” He said, as he wiped his eye with a finger, without even drawing back a single drop of tears.

He then shook his head, as the halo dissipated into thin air.

“Anyways, I will send you to your ‘friend’s’ class, but I am writing you up. You’ll learn how to get to your classes on time soon enough, but until then…”

He then pulled out a giant stamp from behind him, that was colored red and had the words ‘TARDY’, shaped into it, before he slapped it in my face.

“YOU’RE TARDY!! Now get to class, and don’t let this happen again…” he said ominously, before he snapped his fingers, and with a flash of light, I was sitting in a desk in a classroom, right next to Lucky.

Lucky jumped for a second, but then just looked at me with wide eyes a few seconds later, once she had seemingly recovered from the shock of me appearing out of nowhere.

“J-James! I’m glad you could make it!!”

She looked at the snow that was coating my hair.

“I take it you’ve met our ‘security guard’, Discord?”

I nodded, and Lucky sighed.

“He’s such a weirdo,” she said, as she used one of her hooves to brush the snow off my head and onto the floor, before she licked her hoof clean of what snow remained on it.

The teacher hadn’t started talking yet, and was still sitting at her desk, so I took this as my opportunity to ask her some things.

“Why didn’t you come back for me when I fell behind?” I asked.

Lucky took a second to respond, before she cleared her throat.

“I… I just… had to get ready for this class! This class really helps students with the instinctual properties of their spark, and it’s been helping me, too.”

“…Mmmm,” I said in affirmation, with a hint of annoyance, as I faced forward.

“I’m… sorry, James. I didn’t want to leave you back there, this class is just really important!”

“It almost feels like she cares more about schoolwork than friends.”

“She’s… ‘sigh’, she’s just trying to help. She needs to learn to control her magic.”

“But she didn’t even look back…”

I looked at her, as she was copying words from a board in front of the class on a sheet of paper.

‘Sigh’… “whatever. Maybe I’m just not being committed enough to helping her.”

“Why does this have to be so complicated?”

For the class that followed, despite how it was about ‘magical instincts’ and stuff like that, it was hard for me to pay attention as my mind mostly dwelled on Lucky being unloyal, or me just being too needy of a friend.

When the school bell finally rang to release us to our next class, I followed Lucky to our next class, but we didn’t talk much on the way there.

I could feel that she was uncomfortable, but I didn’t have it in me to comfort her.

“Don’t be like that Lucky.”

“You’re the one who left ME behind.”

At our next class, which was about the physical bodies of magical creatures, or something, me and Lucky sat apart from each other, with me in the middle back section, and her in the front left section.

I was next to a unicorn mare with a bright green coat and cyan mane with a white stripe, who had a warm smile.

Her smile lightened my mood ever so slightly, before I looked forward.

After a few minutes of me just sitting there tiredly, I jumped slightly when the green unicorn tapped my shoulder, before I looked at her.

“Sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you. My name is Crystalline Lime, what’s yours?” She whispered quietly.

“Huh, engaging the conversation?”

“This pony is bold.”

“Um, James Falter, I’m a human, in case you couldn’t tell,” I replied just as quietly.

She nodded.

“Yeah, I noticed. I don’t know if I, or all of Equestria, have ever seen one of your species’ before.

“Ye-,” I said briefly, before our unicorn teacher shushed us politely, before he continued talking, as he pointed at the pictures on the chalk board with a stick he was levitating.

After a while of me staring at the board blankly, hardly interested, the phone on our teachers desk rang, and he walked over and answered it.

After some talking, he then put the phone down and told the class that he needed to take care of something for a few minutes, and that he expected us to be on our best behavior while he was gone.

When he left though, it only took all of about ten seconds for things to turn into screaming level of loud.

As I looked down at my desk, with my head leaning on my hand, I felt a hoof tap my shoulder, and saw that it was Crystalline, who was out of her desk, facing the door, and looking back at me, as she gestured for me to follow her.

I stood up and walked to her.

“We still have class, where are you going?” I practically yelled, so she would actually hear.

“Somewhere where both of us might be more comfortable, away from everything,” she said loudly, before she smiled assuringly.

I looked at the board in front of class, then back at her worriedly.

“Don’t worry. Today is just a study day anyways, we don’t have schoolwork. One day of absence won’t hurt anything,” she yelled.

I looked at the floor for a moment, then looked at her and nodded, before I followed her out of the class and shut the door behind me.

It was much more calm and quiet in the hallway than it was in the classroom, and I relaxed a bit.

Crystalline then led me pretty far down the hall, until we arrived in the library. I was glad we didn’t run into Discord.

She opened the door and held it open for me, before I stepped inside and thanked her.

This school’s library was very grand looking, but not too much differently than the one I had on Earth, surprisingly.

It was a large, open space, with the morning sunlight pouring in through the ceilings windows and the windows on the walls, revealing dust particles that were floating calmly in the air.

There were rows and rows of shelves, filled with books, which looked rather dusty.

It was really peaceful, and the shag carpet beneath us was also rather comforting.

Crystalline took me to a corner of the library, with some cushioned, comfy looking seats, right next to a few windows that were pouring in sunlight.

Sitting in the seats was a group of other ponies, some reading books, and some just relaxing, looking up at the ceiling as they smiled.

The ponies looked at Crystalline, then at me, before they quickly went back to reading and trying to relax.

“I… think I’m making them a bit uncomfortable.”

“I’ll just tell them that I‘m not her to intrude on their relaxing.”

“Everypony,” Crystalline said in a quiet, calming tone. “This is James Falter, he’s a human, but he seems like the kind of person to enjoy calm time alone, sort of like us.”

“Us?” I asked.

Crystalline then stepped closer to the other ponies and took a seat in a cushioned chair, before she nodded to a beanbag that was next to her, as she smiled at me comfortingly.

“She’s really trying to make me feel comfortable, with how much she’s smiling.”

“Hmm, she seems sweet, and this seems like a nice group of ponies who are content with themselves.”

I walked to her, then plopped down in the large bean bag, sinking into it and shutting my eyes as I relished in the silence and comfort of the library.

“James,” Crystalline whispered.

I opened my eyes and gave her a small smile.

“We are a group of ponies who just prefer time alone over time with others. I organized this group, and all we do is sit, and relax, in the silence and freedoms of our own imagination.”

“Yeah,” a stallion with a book said. “We don’t talk to each other often, but it’s not really awkward or anything. We already know that we’re all the same in this way, and we just relax knowing that we’re accepted for that here.”

When he said that, I looked up at the ceiling and relaxed in the silence of everything as they did.

“I can understand why you all enjoy relaxing like this,” I said. “I think I’m like you guys in this way too.”

My expression grew a bit darker, as I sat upright.

“But… I’ve mostly just been making myself feel bad about it…”

Most of them looked to me.

“What do you mean?” Crystalline asked.

I shifted in my beanbag, as I looked at the floor.

“It’s been hard to accept myself for the way I am. I used to see people at my school with friends, and I would feel like I was doing something wrong by not having close friends.”

There was a brief moment of silence before Crystalline spoke.

“It’s ok, James. We were all born like this, and have all had feelings like that once. But we’ve accepted that we can’t change who we are, and that we simply just aren’t the kind of pony’s fit for making friends, so we live contently in our own little group of quietude.”

My face morphed into a slight grimace when she said that.

I was glad that they accepted their differences and how they need to be alone more often than others might, but by the sound of it, they don’t even try to make friends outside this group.

Things aren’t exactly easy with Lucky, and now that I know that my mental image of a perfect friendship was totally wrong, it’s been even harder to accept.

But it’s worth a shot, in any case, to try to work through our differences, as friends.

Me and Lucky need each other(me more than her I’m sure, but still), so I should just stop being petty and talk to her.

I stood up slowly, as the ponies looked at me.

“Sorry, but I need to get back to class, and talk with my friend,” I said, as I was already walking to the exit.

Crystalline then teleported in front of me, as she stopped me with her forelegs.

“Hold on, James! Don’t you just want to relax in the calmness? Be with yourself, and us?” She asked quickly, as she smiled, and tilted her head.

I looked back at the rest of them, as they were looking at me, slightly confused.

I then looked at Crystalline, as I slowly pulled her forelegs off of me.

“Thanks Crystalline, but I’m fine. Like my friend Lucky told me, there’s no such thing as a perfect friendship, but… that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to make friends.”

Crystalline stood in front of me for a moment, staring into my eyes, before she blinked and stepped aside, looking at me with a hint of annoyance.

She then raised her right foreleg, as it glowed a bright green, until there was a bright, green flash of light, and a book appeared in her hoof.

She looked confused for a second, before she looked at me, and levitated the book in front of me.

“My spark pretty much allows me to use my magic to manifest an object that could help someone best in a certain situation. Take this with you.”

She levitated the old looking book into my hands, and I read the title.

“The Art of Spark Magic: Learning For Two”

I smiled.

“This is perfect.”

Crystalline didn’t smile, but I could tell she was glad to help.

“You’re welcome, James,” she said. “I’ll be back to class in about ten minutes.”

I nodded, and started walking to the exit, before she spoke again.

“But please, don’t tell anypony else about this space, ok? It’s just our own little comfort area that we all need,” she said, as she stood in front of her group.

I thought for a second, then turned around and nodded, which prompted her to nod and smile slightly in return.

When I returned to class, while being quiet and sneaky to not alert Discord, I opened the door and saw that our teacher was back, writing on the board, and the class was nearly silent.

Our teacher asked where I was, and I looked at Lucky, who looked at me sadly for a second, before she faced forward and read through her book that was in front of her.

“I… was getting a book for a friend.”

Lucky’s ear perked up, and she turned around to look at me.

“We’re both just having trouble learning our magic, so I got a book so we can learn together,” I said with a small smile as I looked at her, as a small smile crept onto her face in return.

“Alright, well, just tell me where you’re going next time you leave, okay?” The teacher said.

“Okay, I will.”

Our teacher nodded, before he pointed to my seat.

“Now take your seat please, and get ready to take some notes.”

For the rest of class, I mostly just listened to the teacher drone on about different creatures, since I didn’t have materials to take notes with, before class ended, and I walked with Lucky down the hall to our next class.

Hey, thanks for getting that book,” she said as we walked. “It has some good material, and honestly, I’ve been struggling training by myself.”

“Of course, Lucky,” I said, as I flipped through the complex looking pages. “I may not know much about magic, but you can show me the basics, right?”

Lucky smiled.

“Yeah, I’ll help you out. It’s also rather fascinating to think of a creature from another world using Equestria magic.”

I looked at her.

“You really think that that glow on my hands the other day was… my spark?”

“I’m positive,” Lucky responded.

She looked at the book.

“But that book is pretty complex, we can go over it and use it tomorrow, over the weekend, when schoolwork isn’t in the way.”

“Okay,” I said simply.

She looked away for a second, before she looked at me.

“And… I’m sorry about leaving you in the hallway back there. Sometimes, fixing my mistakes can just… really take priority over other things for me, it’s nothing personal I swear.”

“It’s fine, Lucky.”

“It’s not fine,” she said immediately. “You’ve just been trying to help me, and you’ve been kind to me, and all I’ve been doing is push you away.”

I didn’t respond, as I wasn’t sure what to say, before Lucky continued.

“I swear to you, James, I won’t make that mistake twice. From now on, I’ve got your back, through and through, got it?”

I nodded.

“Yeah, I believe you. Thank you, Lucky, just don’t stress it too much, I imagine your studies are important, too.”

Lucky sighed lightly.

“Yeah… but you’re also important.”

Once we got through all of our classes, and school had ended, as we walked out the front doors of the school, I saw Crystalline, as she was being harassed by a pegasus who was flying in the air in front of her.

“Damnit,” I mumbled under my breath, as I ran to see what was happening, with Lucky following right behind me.

“I got an F on that group assignment because of you!! You didn’t even help!!” The pegasus shouted angrily, as several balls of light blueish flames manifested around him.

Crystalline looked at him defensively.

“I gave you everything you needed!!” She said, as she stomped a hoof on the ground. “It’s not my fault that just happened to be a history book!!”

“Oh, I know equestrian history! You were just pulling some sick prank!! And you made me look like a fool in front of my friends!!” He said, as he aimed the fireballs at her menacingly.

Crystalline took a step back, as he flew above her.

“You were quiet the whole time!! You didn’t even try to help with our research on Saddle Arabia!!” He said furiously.

Crystalline looked at the floor with a scowl when he said that.

I took a few hesitant steps closer to them.

“Hey, how about you just calm down, ok?” I said calmly. “There’s no reason for anyone to get hurt.”

The pegasus looked at me with anger, before his expression turned into disgust.

“Oh, shut up, monkey. You should mind your own business.”

I gritted my teeth in frustration at his remark, before I sighed, and took slow steps between him and Crystalline, before I was completely between them.

“Look, you don’t have to do this, please,” I said, with my arms raised defensively, as my hands glowed.

Her looked at me angrily, as he gritted his teeth, before he held a fireball in his hoof, as my eyes widened.

“Just, SHUT UP!!!” He yelled as he aimed the fireball at me, and was right about to throw it.

In the heat of the moment I didn’t move, but I held my stance.

“Don’t!!” I said quickly, as I held my hands in front of me.

In that brief moment, my hands glowed brightly, before two brightly glowing, yellow tendrils, almost like ropes, shot right out of my palms and immobilized the pegasus as they wrapped around him tightly, causing him to fall to the ground, as the rest of his fireballs disintegrated, before the ropes swung back around and wrapped around me too, as me and the pegasus were tied up together, back to back.

I was just sitting there, confused, while the pegasus was wriggling aggressively, trying to get out.

“What the tartarus is this?! Stop it!! Let… me… go!!” He said, as he strained.

“I… I don’t know! This has never happened before!!” I responded.

The pegasus continued struggling to get out, before he soon gave up, and sighed.

“Can’t you… can’t you just undo this? It’s pretty uncomfortable…”

I shut my eyes for a few moments and tried to focus on making the tendrils disappear, as I strained myself for a bit, only to find that the ropes were still wrapped around us tightly.

By this point, Lucky was using her hooves to try to break the ropes by force, but it wasn’t really helping.

I then heard the pegasus snort, before he continued to berate Crystalline.

“This is all your fault!!”

“No… don’t blame her. I’m the one who made these ropes,” I said, as said ropes were making it a bit hard for me to breathe.

The pegasus snorted again, as he was breathing heavily, possibly from anger.

“Look… you’re angry, I get that. Based on what you’ve said, Crystalline might not have been the best partner to work with.”

I could feel Crystalline’s glare burning into the back of my head.

“But this isn’t worth it. Has Crystalline at least apologized for not talking with you about your research project?”

“NO!! SHE HASN’T!!” The pegasus said aggressively.

“Ok then… Crystalline? Could you please apologize to him?” I asked, as I turned my head to look at her, as she looked at me with annoyance.

I nodded my head to prompt her to apologize, as I looked at her imploringly.

Crystalline then sighed lightly, before she took a few steps forward.

“I’m… sorry. I guess… I guess I should have actually talked with you about our work,” she said, as she looked up at him. “I’m sorry. This is my fault.”

The pegasus scoffed, and was silent for a few moments, before he sighed again.

“Whatever,” he said. “You should really just work on being a better partner.”

As I felt him calm down, the yellow, glowing tendrils that were tightened around us dimmed, until they faded away completely, releasing us from their tight grip.

Lucky helped me to my feet, as the pegasus dusted himself off, before he looked at me and Crystalline with annoyance, before he left, and walked down the street, without saying a word.

I looked at Lucky, as she shrugged, then at Crystalline, as she watched the pegasus walk down the street.

Crystalline then walked past us with her ears folded, before she turned around to face me for a brief moment.

“Thank you, James.”

When it was just me and Lucky there, we looked at each other, before she walked down the street, as we headed back to the apartment.

Author's Note:

If you’ve made it this far in the story, thank you for following along with it!!
I’m no professional writer by any means, so some constructive criticism would be appreciated, if you have ideas on what I could be doing better.(just please don’t be harsh about it)
Hope y’all have a swell rest of your day!!