First published
Skieflyer is just a normal filly...
Scratch that.
Skieflyer is an odd filly. With her black coat and bright orange mane, not to mention the cat eyes...
Oh, and did I mention she has fangs?
Skieflyer is just a normal filly...
Scratch that.
Skieflyer is an odd filly. With her black coat and bright orange mane, not to mention the cat eyes...
Oh, and did I mention she has fangs?
No, she is not a bat-pony, changeling, or thestral....
Well, not completely, anyways.
Skieflyer, with her black coat, orange mane, cat eyes, fuzzy ears, fangs, and feathered wings, is half thestral...
...and half pegasus.
Skieflyer fluttered around her mother as she fixed breakfast in their Cloudsdale-home kitchen. “Mooom!” she whined, “Why can’t I train to be part of the Wonderbolts like you did when you were my age?”
Spitfire turned to her daughter. “Well, for one thing, I can just teach you myself here at home.”
Skieflyer rolled her cat-like eyes. “Mom, I know there’s something else,” she argued, “I mean, you don’t even let me go to school with the other foals my age!”
Spitfire sighed. “If you really want to know why you can’t go to school, ask your father when he comes home,” she said. Then, glancing out the window at the rising sun, said, “Which should be soon, considering that it’s dawn.”
Skieflyer’s father was a Thestral named Nightflash. He was a member of the Night Guard, so he wouldn’t get back home to his wife and daughter until dawn.
“Oh, alright,” Skieflyer reluctantly agreed.
• • •
“Daddy?” Skieflyer asked the moment her father entered. “How come I can’t go to school?”
Nightflash looked down at his daughter. “Because you are different than other foals your age,” he said simply.
Spitfire, in the doorway to the kitchen, did a mental face-hoof.
Skieflyer was getting annoyed. “Well, no duh, I’m different than the other foals, I mean you don’t see a Pegasus with fangs everyday, now do you?” She bared her teeth for emphasis
Nightflash smiled, showing his own fangs. “No, of course not,” he said with amusement. “But being different isn’t bad—“
“Then why can’t I go to school?!” Skieflyer demanded.
“You can’t go to school because the other foals would treat you harshly, just like they are mean to the poor fliers,” Spitfire said, not wanting the conversation to go on forever.
“But—”
“No ‘buts’,” Spitfire said “Now, I have a show that I have to practice for, so I’ll see you later.” She nuzzled Skieflyer affectionately before flying off into the sky.
• • •
Skieflyer was walking past her parents’ room on her way to bed and heard muffled conversation from behind the cloud door. She stopped and crept up to it and listened.
“I really wish she could go to school without the risk of being teased,” Spitfire was saying.
“I know,” replied Nightflash “And I’ve been thinking, what if we send her to Ponyville, you know, where my sister Shady Moon lives?”
Ponyville? Where is that? And I have an aunt that lives there? Skieflyer quickly snuck to her room when she heard the faint ‘foof’ of hooves on the cloud floor coming towards the door.
Nightflash came into her room to say good-night before he left for duty and tucked Skieflyer in.
“Good-night, Daddy,” she whispered.
“Good-night, sweetheart,” he replied as he left.
Skieflyer yawned and trotted into the kitchen. “G’moring Mom,” she said cheerfully. She glanced at her saddle bags—which were packed as full as possible—as her mom attempted to close them. “What are you doing?”
Spitfire glanced up and smiled. “Your father and I have decided that you are going to be stay with your Aunt Shady Moon in Ponyville for the school-year. It’ll be a long flight, since currently Cloudsdale is right above Fillydelphia.”
“Oh, okay,” Skieflyer said. “So, where exactly is this ‘Ponyville’?” she asked.
“Well, it’s not exactly near to Canterlot, but you can see it from there,” Spitfire said, as she continued to force the saddlebags closed.
“So, when do we leave?” Skieflyer questioned.
“Oh, I won’t be coming with you, your aunt is coming here. And since she left last night, she should be here any minute now.”
“Great, somepony I don’t even know is coming to take me on a very long flight to a place I’ve never even heard of!” Skieflyer muttered under her breath.
• • •
Seven long, boring hours of riding on her aunt’s back—and occasionally flying—later they finally arrived in Ponyville.
“Well, here we are, home sweet home!” Shady Moon said cheerfully. “You’ll be spending the school-year with me and get to make plenty of new friends at school! Won’t that be fun?”
Skieflyer rolled her eyes. “Yes, it will, and can we please just get to your house, so I can set my stuff down?”
“Right, of course,” Shady Moon started trotting in the other direction. “My house is this way.”
• • •
Shady Moon walked Skieflyer to school on the first day. “Now, don’t forget,” Shady said “Make as many friends as possible, and I’ll see you at three.”
Skieflyer trotted into the classroom and sat down in a desk, not looking at any of her new classmates.
The bell rang and she glanced up to see a magenta mare with three smiling flowers as her cutie mark.
“Good-morning, class,” the mare smiled as she said this.
“Good-morning, Miss Cheerilee,” the class chorused.
“Today we have a new student joining our class, her name is Skieflyer and I hope that you will welcome her.” Cheerilee smiled at Skieflyer. “Why don’t you come up to the front and tell us a little bit about yourself?”
Skieflyer flattened her ears, as all eyes turned to look at her as she went up to the front of the classroom. “H-Hi,” she stammered nervously “As y-you know, m-my name’s Skief-flyer. I am staying w-with my Aunt Sh-shady M-moon…” Skieflyer trailed off when she heard some snickers from some of the other foals.
Cheerilee smiled and sent her back to her seat before starting the lesson.
Skieflyer stared down at her desk. I wish I had never asked to go to school!
The lunch bell rang and everypony grabbed their lunches and raced outside to the picnic tables and benches. Everypony, that is, except Skieflyer.
“I jus’ wanna go home,” she mumbled around her lunchbox. She chose a spot on a bench by herself and began to eat her lunch.
A few feet away, there were three picnic tabled pushed together and a big group of foals were sitting there. One of them, a yellow Earth Filly, glanced over at Skieflyer.
“Ah sure feel sorry fer her,” she said to the orange Pegasus filly sitting next to her.
“Yeah, I mean how scary it must be to start a new school in a new town and have no friends,” the Pegasus agreed.
“Ah say we go over there an’ invaht ‘er ta sit with us,” the Earth Filly said.
“Good idea,” a fourth filly, a black Alicorn, agreed “I mean, I remember how it feels, and I hated it.”
Skieflyer glanced up from her lunch to see four fillies from her class standing in front of her. “What do you want?” she asked, more harshly than intended.
“Hay, look, we ain’t here ta be mean ta ya, we jus’ wondered if ya wanna sit with us at lunch,” the yellow filly said.
“Oh, sorry,” Skieflyer apologized “Actually, that would be nice to have some company.”
“That’s great!” the Pegasus grinned. “By the way, I’m Scootaloo.”
“An’ Ah’m Applebloom.”
“I’m Sweetie Belle”
“And, I’m Nyx,” Nyx grinned “The rest of us are over there.” She pointed to the three picnic tables that were pushed together.
“Wow, that’s a lot of friends,” was all Skieflyer could think of to say.
“Yeah, but they’re all real nice!” Scootaloo called back, she was already galloping back to the group.
Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Nyx laughed.
“Come, on!” Sweetie Belle said and they headed over to the group.
• • •
By the time lunch was over, Skieflyer felt more welcome. When they came back into the classroom, she decided to sit in the empty desk next to one of the Pegasi she had met at lunch, who she now knew as Wonder Struck.
• • •
When the bell rang at the end of the day, Skieflyer raced outside to meet Shady Moon.
“So,” Shady said “How was your first day?”
Skieflyer grinned. “It was awesome! And can I go over to my new friend, Applebloom’s house?”
Shady smiled. “Well, I don’t see why not, just be home before dinner, okay?”
“Okay!” Skieflyer called as she galloped after her new friends.