A thestral goes on a journey with some friends to make sure the world will know his name. This is his day to show he is a Master. Now, if only ponies would stop running away on sight.
Being a thestral sucks. We are considered cursed by Nightmare Moon, vamponies, cannibals, and other unsavory titles. No matter what we try to do, we are always painted in a negative light. It irks me. When they first came, I thought we would be able to join up with other ponies and fight them off. But when ponies found they were obedient to a fault, that hope was dashed. Now, Pokemon are a major part of pony society, helping it progress to unknown heights and as a whole improving society. Then I see my chance. Pokemon owners (who call themselves "trainers") are challenging to see who is the best of them all.
Fortunately for me, I have friends-no, family, that can help me destroy some of the myths of the thestrali race. All I have to do is be the very best. Nothing short will do.
My name is Cloud Song. And I will succeed.
Let's face it, Pokemon is the only series that you could crossover with MLP while still having freedom to create new characters. This is my first story on the site, and I hope it will be a hit and not a miss. This will be updated as I get to it, so please be patient with me. You can't rush creativity. Also, I'm only using up to Generation 5 of the pokedex. So no Kalos Pokemon. Please like and comment, I want the support and the feedback is helpful. Finally, Pokemon belongs to Nintendo and Game Freak. Don't sue me please
On 11/28/16, changed to Teen rating with a sex tag for lewdness that was by no means originally intended, but wound up in the story due to the way I was writing it. No implied activities, but plenty of stuff that would not fit under an E rating.
It was a week after Flurry Heart’s birth. All of Equestria was bathed in a beautiful aurora. Everything was right with the world. Then, one day, these mysterious creatures appeared.
Naturally, pandemonium was the theme for the day. Ponies are scared of new things until it proves otherwise. The creatures didn’t do any harm, but were understandably very confused as to why the little equines were running around screaming. The Ponyta were extremely confused, as the ponies looked like them, but also didn’t look like them.
When Celestia heard of the commotion, she calmly soothed the ponies and showed them how the creatures were doing no harm. The day after the creatures appeared, Ponies were starting to inspect the creatures, and vice versa. It was found that a select few could understand what they say, and those few ponies were head of Pony/Creature relations. They found out that the creatures were called Pokemon as a whole, and there were about 650 different kinds, each with different names.
When Princess Twilight heard of the need for information, she proceeded to become the leader in figuring out exactly made each individual Pokemon so special. After a few years, Ponies and Pokemon were living together, helping each other, working together, and generally making ponies’ lives easier. The Pokemon, however, loved to fight, and the Ponies recognized that. It was the thestrals in the northern edge of Equestria that organized the first Pokemon tournament.
After an absolutely incredible tournament as a whole, the tournament craze spread all through Equestria. Eventually, so many Ponies signed up for tournaments, they had to have a system of qualifications for them. The EPT (Equestrian Pokemon Tournament) formed as an open tournament for those who wanted to compare themselves against Ponies from all over Equestria. It was a week-long festival in Las Pegasus, held every year. This tournament, however, was only considered to be the second highest level of tournament.
The LPT (League of Pokemon Trainers) decided there needed to be a tournament for the best of the best. They set up different Pokemon Gyms in towns all over the country, even a few in the lands of the Gryphons, the Zebras, and elsewhere. There started with five Gyms in different parts of Equestria, and you needed three of their badges to compete in the Pokemon League Championship, which is widely considered the pinnacle of Pokemon training. If you win, you become a legend to all of Equestria. Eventually, so many Ponies were able to get the badges in the 2 years between tournaments that they increased the necessary requirements to get in.
Gyms were set up far and wide. From Ponyville to Canterlot to Apploosa to Las Pegasus to Vanhoover, Gyms were set up in all of them. There are now some 20 Gyms in the land of Equestria, with another 20 set up outside its borders, with Ponies needing 8 badges to qualify. There was only one badge that everypony needed to have to enter, and that was the Ponyville badge, headed up by Princess Twilight. Ponies were chosen to become Gym leaders and challenge Ponies to see if they were up to competing in the Pokemon League Championship.
Winning the Pokemon League Championship was very difficult in the first few years. Then Starlight Glimmer, protégé to Princess Twilight, won the tournament three times in a row behind a well-rounded team of Pokemon that had no similarities. She was declared the champion, the best in the world, and she almost overnight became a figure of importance, attending almost every big event involving Pokemon, and quite a few without. For a while, many thought she would be on top of competition for the next decade. But staying on top is very difficult.
Flurry Heart grew up with Pokemon. She was only ten years old when she set out and conquered the Pokemon Gyms in rapid order. Come time for the PLC, she was seen as the second best trainer in Equestria behind Starlight. The two of them met in the final match, and after a five year period at the top, Starlight was bested by Flurry Heart. She ushered in a new era of Pokemon competition, with the craze spreading to the rest of the world to try to beat Flurry, and for a while, she maintained her title. Eventually, she stepped down from Pokemon training after ten years at the top, instead choosing to be a mentor for young, up-and-coming Ponies. She started the most prestigious school in Equestria, the School of Pokemon Training. Ponies sent their children in hopes of them becoming the next Flurry Heart or Starlight Glimmer.
But what about the thestrals? They created the first tournament, but after that, they fell behind. Other ponies still viewed thestrals with distrust and fear. As a whole, they were seen as barbaric, as vamponies, as monsters. Ponies were still very skittish, and the thestrals were never given the chances other races were to shine. They needed a pony that others could trust to dispel the rumors and myths surrounding their race. Several thestrals made it to the PLC, but none ever made a deep run to command respect. Sky Song went the deepest, but only made it to the round of 32.
That leads us to today, where a ten year old colt named Cloud Song, son of Sky Song, applies for his license to compete in the PLC and the EPT. He is a very ambitious colt who wants to bring pride to the thestrals and destroy the rumors surrounding them. This is his story. This is his life. This is his quest.
I lay in bed late at night, looking at my posters on the wall. The smiling faces of Starlight Glimmer and Flurry Heart look back at me. Tomorrow, I will get my license to handle Pokemon. Then, my friends and I will go challenge Gyms and compete to be the best. Speaking of friends, I look on the floor and see them sleeping peacefully.
I see Umbreon, the dark type who has saved me from several scary situations in my foalhood. He was a wise-cracking smartalek, who would give me all the advice I need to get through my life. He can take several hits like a champ, and is more of a long fight Pokemon.
Then I see Jolteon, the electric type who is faster than most everything there is. Quick tempered, he uses his speed to dazzle the opponent. He goes off of instinct, never having a plan and never needing one, and makes split-second decisions regularly. The only downside is he cannot take an attack, but he is extremely powerful, especially with his Thunderbolt.
To his left is Espeon, the Psychic type that thinks and plans and is just the opposite of Jolteon. She uses her immense special attack to defeat everything but dark types. She always thinks things through, and always has a plan. However, just like her brother Jolteon, she can’t take a hit at all, but psychock and psychic and shadow ball hit the strongest of the bunch.
Sleeping on her back, legs straight up in the air, is Glaceon, the Ice type that never panics. Ever. She is always calm and collected, never rising to the bait of her siblings. Her Ice Beam is incredibly powerful, and she can defend fairly well. She just can’t move very fast, and doesn’t have a ton of HP. She can provide a level head and listen to my worries and provide an honest opinion.
Leafeon is curled up on the desk, snoring like a banshee. She is a Grass type that is softspoken and timid until she is in a battle. Then, she attacks with a variety of types, using Leaf Blade, X-scissor, Aerial Ace, and Dig. She never starts fights, and often stops fights started by the other siblings (mostly Jolteon and Espeon). She has a lot of weaknesses and not a ton of defensive fortitude, so she usually is a clean-up Pokemon who I send out when there is one left and she can take it.
Finally, in the fishtank, calmly sleeping underwater, is Vaporeon. The Water type is pretty much an all-purpose Pokemon and one that could deal with anything sent her way. She has a ton of HP and special attack, and uses Aqua Ring to make her that much more of a tank. She also hits with Hydro Pump, and uses Rest to stay in the fight longer. She goes with the flow, never complaining about anything, never really caring, just taking it as it comes.
These are the friends I will be journeying with to the top. Unfortunately, Umbreon is a night owl, so he sees me awake and hops up on the bed. Why are you awake? He asks.
“I guess I’m just nervous. I mean, I never left Hollow Shades before. I don’t know how other ponies will treat me, and…”
Calm down, Cloud. Umbreon says. You’ve been preparing for this for the past year. Now is a terrible time to get nervous. Remember, we’ll be here for you.
“Thanks, Umbreon. Have I ever told you how much you mean to me?”
Every night.
“Good. Just making sure.”
Hey, you need to get to sleep before Sky comes in and checks up on you.
I woke up at around 4 in the morning and immediately proceed to take a shower and brush my teeth. The pony looking back at me through the mirror has a storm-cloud gray coat with a wild, teal mane. My black as night wings are folded against my sides, and my turquoise eyes almost glow with excitement.
Heading down to the breakfast table sees my mother, Sky Song, making pancakes. Her coat is almost exactly my color, and her mane is a sky-blue, which is how she got her name. She has emerald eyes and the normal purple bat-wings that most thestrals have. She is a guard for Hollow Shades, and one of the best, but her normal job is Gym Leader of the Gym here in Hollow Shades. No surprise, as she is the best thestral trainer. A title I hope to take for myself.
Helping her is Flareon, my mother’s first Pokemon. Flareon is also the mother of my merry band of troublemakers (not a title I want). Right now, Flareon is keeping the stove lit as mom works on pancakes. However, I can tell they are somewhat…nervous? Apprehensive? Scared? Whatever it is, they aren’t exactly as relaxed as normal.
Probably due to the fact that this is my tenth birthday. I can get my license and go out on a journey to collect badges and compete in front of all of Equestria. Why ten? Flurry Heart was ten when she won her first of five titles.
Sky turns around and sees me coming down the stairs. “Oh! Good morning Cloud.”
“That it is. Good morning, Mom.”
“I thought I told you that you could sleep in. I did say that, didn’t I?”
“Yes, you did. You know I can’t sleep past four, and I can’t just lay in bed on my birthday when I have a license to get.” The best part about being a thestral? We don’t need a lot of sleep, since we are still kinda nocturnal.
My mother, however, is probably wishing I slept in more. She gave me my pancakes with a side of unamused glare, and then sighed in defeat. This was pretty much a normal morning for us. Meanwhile, Flareon is busy waking up her children, still sleeping (except for Umbreon, but he’s probably buried under Espeon) in my room. A few minutes later, the rest of them come down the stairs (or in Vaporeon’s case, sliding down them) and sit in their chairs, fighting a battle against sleep.
It’s a losing battle, but one thing turns the tide in their favor. Sky Song’s Pancakes (Trademark Pending). After a meal that resembles a war zone (seriously, the only polite one is Leafeon), they seem awake enough to at least come with me to the Pokemon Center.
“Don’t leave right away when you get your license.”
Oh, right, mom’s here. “Okay, I guess I could come back and deal with being crushed to death in a ViceGrip-like hug,” I say in the most snarky tone I can muster. Said tone is the same one my mom hates.
“No, that happens right now!” And she pounces and proceeds to squeeze me in a hug that for the past ten years, I haven’t been able to escape. After about fifteen minutes (and three more pancakes), she lets me go and kisses me on the forehead. I’m not going to fight it, since today is going to be the last day she sees me in a while. She then says, “Go on, get your license, and come back here. We still have a birthday to celebrate.”
“Roger Roger, Captain.”
“You do realize that you have taught my second in command that phrase, and now she says that all the time. It irritates me.”
“At least you’ll remember me when she says that. Bye!” and I’m out the door.
You shouldn’t antagonize Sky like that, Cloud. Umbreon says. She worries, like any other parent.
“Maybe. But messing with her is much more fun.” I say to him as he rides on my back. It’s usually him or Vaporeon who does that. Jolteon can’t sit still long enough, Espeon says walking is more relaxing (I don’t question her, she’s usually right), Glaceon gave me a cold when she did it the first time, and Leafeon has to keep Jolteon and Espeon from fighting.
I have their pokeballs, but I don’t force them to go in them all the time. I think of them as friends, not just awesome pets. Which they greatly appreciate.
The Pokemon Center is about twelve blocks away, almost in the center of town. Across the street, the Hollow Shades Gym looms, the columns and giant doors having scared most challengers off before they go in the doors. Inside, the hallway leading to the arena features pictures of the Leader when she was a competitor in her prime. How do I know? My mom is the Leader, and she has the toughest Gym in all of Equestria, having only handed out 5 badges in the past two years out of over 200 challenges. No one has ever beaten her on their first try, and since being in a town of thestrals is unsettling to say the least for most ponies, she messes with their heads and sneaks up behind them in the hallway.
I’ve seen my mom fight several times (since she doesn’t want to hire a babysitter, it’s either go with her when she is in the Gym, or go with her on her guard duties), and it scares me to think she was only top-32 in the competition. However, I have plenty of time. The last PLC just ended, so we have two years to get stronger.
The Pokemon Center is much more inviting, with its red roof and white siding. However, it sticks out in Hollow Shades, as the whole town looks like it came straight from Roam. As my destination approaches on the left, I see Night Shade, my mother’s second in command, standing guard in front of the center. As the furthest north town in Equestria minus the Crystal Empire, we have some monsters coming in from the north. Thus, the local guard here in Hollow Shades is second only to Canterlot’s Royal Guard. And since my mom is the captain, and I’m with her all the time, I know most of the guard by name. I even run messages back and forth, and for my eighth birthday, they gave me my own set of armor. Seriously, the armor is totally awesome. It’s a deep purple, with gold trim on the edges, and it matches the rest of the guard. I also got my cutie mark that day, a shield with a pokeball in the center.
Anyways, Night Shade is the only guard who treats me with some respect, while the other guards treat me like a little colt, which I do not appreciate. He is a bit of a father figure, since my father is nowhere to be found (not for lack of asking, but Sky doesn’t tell me anything. It sucks). As the second in command, he gets to deal with taking orders from my mom and subordinates that don’t follow orders well. He definitely has my respect.
“That day already!! You sure are growing fast, Cloud.”
And he knows what day my birthday is (he planned my eighth birthday party). Which is not creepy at all. Nope, definitely not creepy. “That I am, Night, that I am. Station 7 today?”
“Yup, which means standing here by myself to prevent defacing to the Gym and the PC. Also, no lunch break.”
My stomach rumbles at the thought of going without lunch. I tell it to shut up. “Well, it could be worse. Border patrol is nasty this time of year.”
“At least Charmeleon can help me keep warm.”
“True. Well, carry on, Shade. Posture is as good as ever.”
“Roger Roger, Cloud Song.”
“My mom hates that phrase now.”
“Good, she’s such a downer when she works, now I can get under her skin.”
“Don’t do it too much, or she’ll blame me for teaching you that phrase. At least not until I leave.”
“Okay, take care.”
“Always.” I look back at my group, and see Jolteon and Espeon are fighting, Vaporeon is napping, Leafeon is trying to stop the fight, but that hasn’t panned out yet, and Glaceon is meditating (it’s her hobby, and her way of getting rid of stress. Or so she says). “I can’t take you guys anywhere, can I?”
And yet you keep trying. Glaceon says without looking.
“Yeah, not a great decision. HEY!!!” with that shout, everyone freezes, and sees that I’m done talking with the guard. They then proceed to get back into orderly fashion, to no avail.
The only way you could keep them from fighting every five seconds is the balls, but we know you don’t use them very often. Umbreon points out helpfully.
“Don’t remind me. Now, time to get the license, so we can go see new stuff and fight new Pokemon.” A chorus of cheers erupt around me, and we enter the PC with all the grace of a terrible dancer.
Paperwork is terrible. I now realize that. No wonder my mom is crazy. She has to deal with this stuff all the time. I sure couldn’t.
After about 3 hours of paperwork and tests, I emerge from the PC with a card about the size of a library card. It says a bunch of jibberish, but the jist of it is, simply, I can go collect badges and compete on the highest level of competition.
On my way back, I’m practically bouncing I’m so excited. I would fly home, but that would leave my team behind. So I settle for walking as fast as I can. Barely. Jolteon is dashing about, unable to keep in his excitement. Vaporeon and Glaceon, on the other hoof, are calmly walking, but with huge smiles on their faces. Leafeon is actually having a conversation with Espeon, so she’s happy. And Umbreon is dancing. Yes, you heard me right. He’s dancing in the middle of the street, not caring how stupid he looks, and showing that he takes dance lessons every weekend.
As I get home, I see the lights are off, which would concern me if I couldn’t see in the dark. I wonder what’s going on though. Mom doesn’t like leaving the lights off. So, somewhat cautiously, I open the front door.
“SURPRIIIIIISE!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Leafeon runs away screaming, as I just smile and say, “You really need to work on your subtlety, guys.”
The Guard, including Night Shade, are all in my living room, looking somewhat insulted at the fact that I wasn’t surprised in the slightest. Nonetheless, my mom comes over and proceeds to squeeze me again, also ruining my reputation in the guard in the process.
“Hey, mom, kinda (wheeze) need to (cough) breathe.” I manage to get out, as she attempts to crush my ribs into dust. Fortunately, she lets go. “Thanks, mom. Jolteon, could you go get Leafeon? She ran away at the opening.”
Sure thing, boss. He then proceeds to stick out his tongue and run off.
“So, we have several presents, a few cards, and a mango-flavored cake.” Sky says. My eyes start to dart around the room, searching for the most delicious item in existence. Then, I see it. A four-foot long cake that smells of mangoey goodness. Have I said I love mangoes with a passion? Well, there, I said it. The cake said “happy birthday Cloud Song,” but I didn’t appreciate that. I slice half the cake for myself, and leave the rest of the guard to fight for the other half.
Jolteon leaps through the window (with Leafeon on his back), bounces off of mom’s head, and lands in front of me. Package delivered, ready to-GET BACK! he screams as he runs to the other side of the room.
The cake didn’t stand a chance. My piece was gone in about 30 seconds. There was frosting everywhere, including on the guards who didn’t get the memo and stood too close. Everyone stared at me as frosting dripped from the ceiling. “Weeeeeeeeellllllll, should’ve seen that one coming. Alright Cloud, come over here and open your presents.” Mom says.
Opening presents was a much more subdued affair. There was some stuff that I should’ve seen coming, like pokeballs, mangoes, posters, mangoes, and more mangoes. The last present, however, was super special. It was about three feet long, quite narrow, and screamed awesome. I opened it up and saw some wingblades, just like the ones the rest of the guard have. My cheer broke a few windows, and I quickly went to my room to get my armor and put on my wingblades. I come back down, and I feel like I fit right in. My wingblades feel just right, hiding from plain sight under my wings, clicking out when I flick my wings. I could probably join the guard right now, but I’m about to go on a journey.
My mom, however, is currently asking (and by asking, I mean yelling at) Night Shade, who just sits there and takes it like a stallion. Eventually, I walk over and shove my mother away from him before she pulls rank and strips him of his.
Finally, the cards. Mostly just a bunch of cards saying “Happy Birthday Cloud” and similar things. I see my mother got me a card, and decide to open it last. Eventually, I get to the card, and after opening the envelope, I read the cover. “Dear son, I wish you the best on your journey. You sure have grown up. Maybe I need to let go and accept the fact that you are an adult. Nonetheless, this is the only gift that I could think of that would help me know you are alright. Love, Mommy.”
Whistling appreciatively at the words, I open up the card and something falls out. Something golden. I pick it up and read it. “You have been accepted into Flurry Hearts School of Trainers located in the Crystal Empire. You will have 3 months to learn the nuances of being a trainer here in the academy located on the outskirts on the beautiful Crystal Empire.” I read it again. And again. Finally, I look up at mom and see the gigantic smile on her face.
“This had better not be some sort of elaborate prank, or I might have a use for these wingblades before I even leave town.” I say seriously.
“It isn’t a prank, Cloud, why would I prank you about something like this?” Sky asks me.
The rest of the windows were obliterated by this scream of joy. I charge my mother and hug her like she hugs me. After about thirty seconds, I go over to my team and tell them the good news.
1 hour later
“Don’t worry, mom, I’ll write. Seriously, you don’t need to come with me. I’ll be fine getting settled in.” I tell mom at the station.
“On the contrary, I know that. I’m just visiting a friend from when I was a guard for the Empire. Though helping you settle in is a bonus.” My mom says to me.
The guard is seeing us off, both of us in our armor, and Night Shade is in charge for the next few days until mom comes back. I got to him before mom did, and I told him to keep the city standing until I got back. He said his job would be easier with me gone, and I slugged him in the shoulder. We said our goodbyes, and then mom and I got on the train headed for the Crystal Empire. It was an overnight train, so we got a sleeper car (how mom has the bits, I will never know). I got in my bed and all the Pokemon climbed in with me, nearly burying me. I go to sleep quickly, ready to see the Crystal Empire tomorrow.
I didn’t get much sleep. The train jostled around all night, leaving me with an upset stomach. Apparently, I get motion sickness. Who knew.
Anyways, we arrived in the Crystal Empire at about nine o’clock. Thankfully, there was breakfast on the train, otherwise, I would have probably would have been cranky all day. We stepped off of the train onto the station, and mom looks around as if she is looking for somepony. Turns out, she is.
For once, my team is in their pokeballs, not wanting to crowd the station. A good call. Ponies are getting off and on the train with some sort of urgency. However, they give me and Sky a wide berth. For a second, I consider screeching and panicking the crowd, but Umbreon says, Do we really want to make a scene and get arrested before even getting to the academy?
Umbreon, you are great, you really are, but you are also such a downer.
“Heart! There you are, young lady!!”
Apparently, mom was looking for somepony. The pony she called to was taller than mom, had a huge horn on her head, and was wearing a jacket, despite it being quite warm here inside the weather shield (Of course, Hollow Shades is the coldest city in Equestria, so it’s warm to me). She was pink, with a purple mane and blue highlights. She looked familiar, but I couldn’t quite put my hoof on why she was so.
“At least you remembered your jacket.” Mom said to the pony she had called Heart.
“Yes, I did. You can stop worrying about me, Nana. I’m twenty, not five.” “Heart” said back. So mom was a babysitter. And lived in the Crystal Empire. I didn’t know she lived in the Empire before I was born. But my long term memory is spotty at best, so who knows what I’ve forgotten.
“Doesn’t mean I can’t worry about you. After all, you’re rather important.” So, mom babysat this mare when she was a filly, and her family was some sort of nobility. Cool.
“I can take care of myself, Nana. Oh! Who is this little colt?” “Heart” asked.
“This is my son, Cloud Song. Ever the rebellious one. Just got his license yesterday, and is already trying to get rid of me.” Ouch. Really, Mom? I would have been just fine without you, I wasn’t trying to get rid of you.
“Seems like your off-hours activities resulted in some-“
“FLURRY!!!!” Mom yelled at the other mare.
To my credit, I didn’t pass out right there at the station. My world just did a 360 kick flip (insert skateboard slang here). Apparently, Sky did some questionable things in her down time, and…NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE. NOT GOING THERE. NOT. GONNA. GO. THERE. GET THE BRAIN BLEACH.
After that, I realized something else mom had said. This pony named “Heart” was also called “Flurry.” No Way. No logical Way. That couldn’t mean…
Warning. Cloud.Song.exe has suffered from worldview change. Please wait five minutes for proper reboot.
Five minutes later…
Me, Mom, and the other mare are sitting at a café, with some coffee for the mares, and hot cocoa for me. They are chatting with each other like old friends (which, I guess they are) and laughing frequently. After waiting for a break in the conversation (which, with mares, was quite a while), I decided to ask my mom the first of many questions I would ask that day.
“You lived in the Empire before I was born?”
Mom looks at me and sighs, “Yes, I did. I told you once before, didn’t I?” Spotty memory, this is getting old.
“What did you do?”
“I was part-time guard, part-time babysitter, in case you can’t tell.”
“They were the same job, Nana.” The mare interrupted, “You were guarding/babysitting me.”
“Oh yeah, and who is she?” I ask mom, pointing a hoof at the mare.
Mom quickly glares at said mare, before sighing and asking the mare to introduce herself.
“Okay. My full name is Flurry Cadenza-Heart, but you can call me Heart. Your mom does. Your mother was my personal guard when I was a child. She was also the babysitter when my Mom, my Dad, and Aunt Twilight were busy.” She continued to say more, but at this point, I was looking at mom with a gaze that screamed HOW COULD YOU NOT TELL ME YOU KNEW MY IDOL????????
“Any other questions, Cloud?” Heart said.
“Yes. What did my mom do in her off time?”
“She would go drinking, get stupid drunk, and never remember what happened after. Even today, she can’t hold her liquor to save her life.” Heart said, over my mother who was motioning to stop talking. That would explain why there was never any beer in the house. And I could piece the rest together about my birth. NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NO-
Umbreon popped out of his pokeball and slapped me across the face. Get it together, Cloud. You are a ten year old, and if you want your mom to trust you being alone, you need to stop seizing up every time you hear something new.
“Fine! Fine! Jeez, Umbreon, stop yelling at me!” At this, mom and Flurry Heart burst out laughing, with mom doing so while still glaring at Flurry. After about two minutes of that, they calmed down, and Heart asked, “You can talk to Pokemon?”
“Yup. Always have. Always will.”
“I have a feeling that you will be incredibly helpful in class these next few months.” Flurry says.
“Speaking of, we need to get him settled in his dorm. I’ll see you around, Flurry.” Mom said.
“Bye Nana. See you in class, Cloud.”
We parted ways, and I was planning on just walking to the campus in silence, but a question popped up in my mind. “Dorm?”
“Yes, dorm. I can’t afford to buy a house here, and you probably should stay on campus.”
Frick. Social skills, my one weakness. There weren’t many other children my age, and fewer still weren’t scared of me. The ones that weren’t didn’t stay long. As a result, my social life was with the guard.
But, nothing I could do but grin and bear it. Entering the campus (which is about the size of Ponyville), we made a beeline for the dorms. It was a three-story building that looked like an apartment building. I was very drab, and as a whole didn’t seem like a place I would like.
Inside, however, is a different story. The ground floor had an air-hockey table, vending machine, foosball table, and other items designed to distract kids from studying. After going up to the desk and getting my room keys, we went up to the third floor (for flying species) and to room number 351.
It was a mare. I knew right away. The pink gave it away. Laying on her bed, reading a magazine, was a Pegasus filly that looked no older than I do. She had a light blue coat that reflected the sun right in my eyes (ouch) and a yellow mane that made her look like she had been given a drop of sunlight in her mane. She turned around as the door opened, and when she saw me and my mother, she did what anypony else would in that situation.
She proceeded to bounce out of bed, say hi, and shake my hoof so hard it nearly fell off.
I would have been shocked she wasn’t screaming, but today had been all kinds of weird, so I didn’t question it.
“Hello there! I’m Sunshine Drop! I heard I would be getting a thestral roommate, so I decided to do some research so I wouldn’t freak out when you arrived! Come on in! Oh, what’s your name?!”
Fortunately, she didn’t give me a chance to run away, as I would have bolted then and there. She grabbed my hoof and dragged me into the room. I was still comprehending how she could have so much energy, so my mom bailed me out.
“This is Cloud Song, and I’m his mother, Sky Song. We’re from Hollow Shades.”
“The thestral town? COOL! I wanna go there after we get done at school here, and now I have a place to stay!” Sweet Luna, did this mare never stop talking? And staying at my house? What? Hopefully she isn’t like this all the time, or I will be banging my head against the wall after about day 3.
Mom grabbed my bags and tossed them in with me, and said “Go ahead and unpack. I’ve got an appointment to keep with Heart’s parents. And before you ask, no, you can’t come, it is very formal and otherwise the exact opposite of you. Be back in a few hours, bye.” And she’s gone. As is my only hope of escape.
I look in my bags and get out some things that I can take care of right away. Starlight Glimmer and Flurry Heart posters go on the wall (“I have those posters, too!” Sunshine says), toothbrush goes in the bathroom (“Don’t confuse it with mine!”), pillow on the bed (“Looks comfy!”), and…that’s it.
“How do you not have anything else?” Sunshine asks.
“I’ve never had much. My free time was spent with the guard back home. Didn’t need toys when you could punch training dummies in the face.”
“This crisis is unacceptable, and there is only one solution.” For once, she didn’t have an exclamation point on the end of the sentence. A rare occurrence, if current trends are to be believed.
“And the solution is…?”
“SHOPPING SPREE!!!!!” she yells in my face.
“We don’t have time to go sho-hrrk!” I start to say, but she grabs me around the throat and jumps out the window.
I had unpacked my bags, and Sunshine saw that I didn’t have much. After about 5 seconds, she grabbed me and leapt out the window, all the while smiling and shouting “SHOPPING TRIP.”
Now, it’s been about two hours, my back hurts from carrying bags, I’m almost asleep on my hooves, and I’m hungry. Standing beside me, Umbreon and Jolteon are also carrying bags, and looking like they are at their wits end as well.
Sunshine and the rest of the team, on the other hoof, are still going strong. This is our fifth clothing store, even though both ponies and Pokemon don’t wear clothes, and they’ve bought several outfits for both themselves and us guys. She’s also gotten me some stuffed dolls, several books, an mp3 player, and other trinkets that I really didn’t need.
“Hey, Sunshine? Could we take a break for dinner? And drop this stuff off at the dorm? And generally stop rushing everywhere?”
She turns around, her golden mane catching the sun just right and blinding me momentarily. “Oh, sorry Cloud. I did this a lot with my family, and since they aren’t around to keep me in check, I kinda went overboard. Sure, we can stop. To be honest, I almost forgot you were there.”
She almost forgot about me? She hasn’t noticed that we haven’t been dealing with other ponies in these stores because of me? Or the fact that the cashiers keep looking at me with fear?
“I noticed them. Don’t worry. Not everypony is used to thestrals.” Sunshine tells me from in front, without looking.
I really should stop questioning this mare and what she does. Not worth it.
Anyways, we make the long trek back to the dorms. The girls finally take some of the bags (with Espeon taking Glaceon’s load to prevent them from getting wet), giving me time to mess with my mp3 player. It’s quite simple, and I look around for some songs that pique my interest. I find some upbeat rock music, and plugged the headphones in and turned it on.
TOO STINKING LOUD! HOW DO YOU LOWER THE VOLUME ON THIS THING? There, got it. That was terrible. Okay, note to self, volume needs to be at about 3 for optimal listening pleasure.
After dropping our stuff off at the dorm, I left a note for Sky that we were out to eat, and then we (yet again) jumped out the window. “Do you have an issue with doors?”
“Nope. I just like the rush I get” is the reply. Okay, so she is a hyperactive mare with near limitless energy and acts like an adrenaline junkie. These next three months are going to be interesting at best. At worst, I will kill myself to get away from her.
“Do you have any idea about where we should eat? I’ve been here for all of about 5 hours, so I’ve got no idea.” I ask Sunshine.
“Several places come to mind. We could go to a Burger Princess if you want something quick. If you want to eat a lot, we could go to Golden Stables. Or if you want to eat somewhere fancy, we could…”
“NOOOOOOOO! No, thanks. These Pokemon have terrible table manners.” (as do I, but she doesn’t need to know that).
Agreed. Let’s eat at Golden Stables, I’m hungry. Umbreon says. Rapid agreement from the rest of the Pokemon finalizes the decision.
“Hang on, Sunshine. Do…”
“Please, just call me Sunny. I don’t like it when ponies call me by my full name, especially friends.”
Friends? What? This mare is always about five steps ahead of schedule. “Okay, Sunny. Do you have any Pokemon of your own? You haven’t sent them out since I’ve met you if you do have any.”
Sunsh-SUNNY (gotta get used to that) looks at me with the same face as earlier, when she said “SHOPPING SPREE” and this whole mess began. “How could I have forgot?! I only have one, and I’m not sure exactly what it is. But, here it comes!”
After a flash, I look and see a small, white Pokemon about a foot tall, with what looks like an egg still covering most of it. I doesn’t look very old, either. I remember seeing this in a book before. What was it…Ah! Yes, “Togepi.” I say out loud.
“So that’s what its name is. Thanks! It’s such a cutie, but it’s definitely not very strong.” Sunny beams at me. Togepi continues to waddle toward Sunny, clearly attached to it.
A swift breeze is all I feel, and Togepi is gone.
It takes me about two seconds to see the offender, a Pegasus flying toward the train station. And Togepi is in its hooves.
It doesn’t take me long to know what to do. “Jolteon, follow it. Sunny, fly after it. Everyone else, get ready for a fight.” The other five quickly disappear in a red flash, and then Sunny, Jolteon, and I start chasing down the thief.
Meanwhile, at the Crystal Palace, Sky Song was saying goodbye to Flurry Heart and her parents. As she started to fly back towards the dorms, she noticed three flying shapes in the distance (superior vision is clearly superior). At first, she dismissed it, but then she noticed the outline of bat wings on one of the ponies. “What is Cloud doing? Better go see what’s up.”
It took about five minutes, but eventually, we caught up with the pony. Of course, it’s easy when your prey gets a nasty shock courtesy of Jolteon. The pony landed on the roof of an apartment, then turned around to see me, bat wings spread wide, eyes narrow slits, fangs glinting from the sunlight. “Let the Pokemon go, sir, and nopony gets hurt.”
“Nothing doing, kid. Go, Houndoom!” One bright flash later, and a Houndoom stares back at me, glaring menacingly. Well, only one option here.
Another flash, and Vaporeon is glaring back, clearly not phased. “Vaporeon, be a dear and take care of the Houndoom. I’ve got a pony to threaten.”
All due respect, but Sunny beat you to the punch. Vaporeon tells me, before unleashing a Hydro Pump in the Houndoom’s face. I glance over at the thief, and see Sunny screaming at him (now that he’s standing still, I can see that he’s a he), using language that I should not repeat in front of my mother. I calmly walk over, after glancing back at the battle.
It’s one sided. The Houndoom isn’t comfortable in a fight without orders, and with Sunny yelling in the thief’s face, he can’t give orders. Vaporeon (and the rest of my team, for that manner), however, is very comfortable with fighting without orders. As a result, I leave them be, and continue to walk over to the other two ponies.
“Sunny, please calm down. I’ve got this.” I say to her.
“Fine, just make sure this (expletive) doesn’t get away.” She says back. She managed to retrieve Togepi from the thief’s hooves.
“Don’t worry.” My wingblades pop out. “He’ll be too busy begging for his life.”
The thief did the only sensible thing he had done all night. He passed out at the sight of the blades, curling up into a ball.
Shortly after, Vaporeon knocked out the Houndoom with an expertly-timed Aqua Tail. Now that the excitement was over, I pulled my wingblades back in and proceded to start tying up the thief with some rope we found on the roof. Sunny was holding Togepi close, saying soothing, comforting words.
About fifteen minutes later, mom flies in, lands on the roof with a thump, and quickly surveys the situation. After seeing the thief hogtied and the Houndoom K.O.’d in the corner, she looks at me and asks, calmly, “Why haven’t you tied up his wings yet?”
“He showed no signs of resistance after I flashed my wingblades at him. Besides, I have the leash, and Jolteon is right here.”
“What did he do?”
“Tried to steal Sunny’s Togepi.”
“And the Houndoom?”
“All Vaporeon, and his.”
“Good work, soldier.”
“Thanks, Cap.”
Sunny decided that now was the best time to intervene. “Excuse me, Sky? I get that you are a guard, but HOW ARE YOU TAKING THIS SO CALMLY?!”
“Because this isn’t the first time. He’s always defended anyone willing to be his friend, and you, Sunshine Drops, have apparently become his friend in the past few hours.”
“That, and he was stealing a Pokemon. I can’t take that lightly.” I input.
“True. Anyways, shall we go to the Police Station? These two look like they need to recover from you, Cloud. And they were on the other side of the law.” Sky asks/tells us.
“Okay, but afterwards, I’m going out to eat. I still haven’t eaten since lunch.” I reply.
“BOTH of us are going out to eat.” Sunny says pointedly in my ear. “You have a lot of explaining to do, Cloud, and I’m hungry too.”
I’m sitting at the police station, filling out paperwork to justify arresting the stallion who tried to steal Togepi. And I hate it. Also, I still haven’t eaten since lunch, and now it’s about 6:30 at night.
Finally, the police chief thanks us, and mom, Sunny, and I exit the police station, with mom going to her hotel, and me and Sunny going to Golden Stables for (a long overdue) dinner. With a side of a slightly annoyed Sunny asking me personal questions that make me feel awkward.
Golden Stables was paradise. There was several kinds of salads, hayburgers, pizza, marshmallows, and (my personal favorite) mangoes. And it was all-you-can-eat. Sitting at the table we got, with several slices of pizza and a mango, Sunny came over and sat down with a salad big enough to feed a squad of guards (and I know from experience). Thus began the questioning.
“Why do you have wingblades?”
“The other guards gave me them for my birthday yesterday.”
“So, you just turned ten?”
“Yup.”
“Well, my birthday was about a month ago. Good thing I got you tons of belated birthday gifts.”
Well, now I can’t throw those things away. “What does your cutie mark mean?”
“I was born into a family of weather ponies. They thought I would follow in their hoofsteps, but I got a cutie mark for always being positive.” She then shows me her mark, which is a sun with a smiley face inside. “I got it when I first went to Ponyville and met Pinkie Pie. I actually stayed in Ponyville with her for about six months before going back to Cloudsdale. What about yours?”
“I got it on my eighth birthday party, when the other guards gave me my own set of armor. I knew then that I wanted to be a guard. I’ve been reading guard manuals ever since.”
Sunny cringed, “Yeesh, tough foalhood. Well, that gives me an explanation as far as what you did on the roof.”
“Oh, one more thing, where did you learn your language?” Seriously, the mare can cuss like a sailor when she wants to, as the thief can attest.
“My parents always fight over the smallest things. I learned it from them.”
“Your parents are terrible influences.”
“That they are. C’mon, let’s eat!” And her salad starts to disappear.
Credit to Sunny, she can pile it away. She ate her first salad, then proceeded to eat about three slices of pizza and even tried a mango (“How have I never had one before?! These things are soooo good!”), and then, to top it off, she ate several marshmallows. As for me, I ate five slices of pizza, three hayburgers, seven mangoes, and a salad. Mighty respectable, but it pales in comparison to Sunny.
Now, it’s about 8 at night, and we both leave and head towards the dorm. “Got anything you want to do on our last day before academy?” Sunny asks me.
“Just gotta say goodbye to mom before she leaves. The rest of the guards tend to get out of shape and lazy when she’s gone too long.”
“Okay. I’ve done everything I want to already, so we coul…CRYSTAL FAIR!!!!!” Sunny shouts at the top of her lungs. Ow, my ears.
“The what?”
“The Crystal Fair! Haven’t you heard of it?! It’s a giant carnival designed to strengthen the Crystal Heart! Pinkie wouldn’t stop talking about it! How have you not heard of it?!” Sunny says all in one breathe.
“In my defense, I didn’t read a lot of magazines.”
“That settles it! Tomorrow, after your mom leaves, we are going to the Crystal Fair all day!!!”
“Ummm, Sunny? What about me being a thestral? Won’t other ponies freak out?”
“Don’t worry about that. I bought a bracelet that has a glamour on it. Same coloration, but you’ll be a Pegasus instead of a thestral! So you can enjoy the fair!” Sunny explains to me.
“When did you get that?”
“When we were shopping earlier. Seriously, you were that out of it?”
“Yes, but in my defense, I was hungry.”
Sunny deadpans at me. “Are you sure you’re not a diabetic?”
“Pretty sure.”
Now, we’re standing in front of the dorms. After heading up to our room, we proceed to crash on our respective beds. “Hey, Cloud?”
“Yeah, Sunny?”
“Aren’t thestrals nocturnal?”
Okay, so apparently, some facts still aren’t available. “Partially. We can work all night if we wanted to, but since the rest of Equestria goes during the day, we tend to be awake during the day, but we can pull all-nighters if needed. Why do you ask?”
“Please don’t stay up all night just to irritate me, please? You’ve seen what I do to ponies who irritate me.”
“WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP!!!!!!!!!”
With a start, I wake up to see a (clearly excited) Sunny grinning from ear to ear (seriously, how do her lips do that?) standing next to my bed. I quickly glance up at my alarm clock (one of the many things Sunny got me yesterday) and see that it’s about 3:30 AM. “Sunny, how are you awake before a thestral? I’m supposed to be the early riser.” I mumble groggily.
“BECAUSE I’M EXCITED CAUSE TODAY’S THE CRYSTAL FAIR!!!!!!!” Sunny shouts in my ear. Ow.
“First, calm down, we don’t want to wake everypony up. Second, the fair doesn’t start until 10. Third, I’m gonna hafta limit your coffee.” I list in a sleepy voice.
“I don’t drink coffee!” She says in a much quieter voice, though I can still hear the exclamation point.
Wait, she doesn’t drink coffee? How does a pony wake up this early without co-wait, this is Sunshine Drops, the mare that defies reason and is five steps ahead. Don’t question it. I might have to make that my mantra for these next three months.
“And I want to see if this glamour charm works. Gotta make sure before we test it in public.” Sunny continues.
Groaning, I try to get up, and remember that my team is sleeping on me. Crud. “Hey, Sunny? Could you wake them up? I’m kinda stuck.”
She looks over at the sleeping Pokemon, grins, and promptly boops them on the nose.
Jolteon jumps up about 6 feet in the air after the boop. Espeon calmly wakes up and climbs off after being booped. Umbreon goes cross-eyed trying to see the hoof on his nose, while Glaceon just rolls over to get away, and rolls right off of the bed. Leafeon simply screeches (not Screech, just yelled), and Vaporeon doesn’t move. At all. Understandable, considering yesterday, but I need to get up.
“Espeon, please move Vaporeon. She’s not getting up.”
Ugh, fine, just lemme wake up a little bit. Fifteen minutes later, she lifts Vaporeon (Who is still sleeping like a Snorlax) and sets her back on the bed after I climb out. As soon as I climb out, Sunny drags me over to a bag from a store that we went to yesterday (don’t expect me to tell you the name, they all blended together after about ten minutes) and pulls out a pair of pink bracelets. Matching.
“So, this one” she gestures to the one that has a black ring in the middle “is the one with the glamour. The other one is mine, so ponies don’t question the pink bracelet.” She explains. She then gives me mine and puts hers on. With a gulp, I slide mine onto my left forehoof.
Immediately, I get an upset stomach and a headache. Bad. I almost fall over before it goes away after about ten seconds. I open up my eyes, and proceed to see nothing but darkness for a solid minute. After my eyes adjust (which is weird when you haven’t had that happen before), I look at Sunny and say “Turn on the lights.”
“Okie Dokie Loki!” And bright light. Somewhat. Not quite full force. I walk into the bathroom and look in the mirror. A Pegasus with a storm-cloud gray coat and a messy teal mane looks back at me. My wings are pitch black and feathery, and my turquoise eyes are no longer slitted. It seems eerie, looking at yourself in the mirror and seeing somepony different. But, this seems different. I can’t place my hoof on it, but it does.
Sunny walks in, takes one look at me, and proceeds to hug me to death, claiming “YOU LOOK SOOOOOOO FLUFFY!! AND YOU FEEL FLUFFY TOO!!” Okay, so I am now “fluffy,” whatever that means. Walking out of the bathroom (with Sunny still attached to me), I see my team panicking and wailing and other overly dramatic actions. Except for Vaporeon, who is still sleeping.
“Calm down, guys! What’s the matter?” I say to them.
When you put on the bracelet, you flashed with a green light, and afterwards, you became a Pegasus. We didn’t know what happened, but it didn’t seem like a normal glamour, so we proceeded to panic. Umbreon explains.
Green flash? That seems familiar. I read it in a book once. Something about transforming and disguising. “Sunny, where did you get this?”
“It was a store called ‘Changeling Cosmetics: Your only choice for glamour and transformation products. 100% guaranteed satisfaction.” Sunny answers.
CHANGELINGS?! Son of a “Sunny, did you get a receipt?”
“Of course, that bracelet was expensive.”
“Can I see it?”
A small slip of paper appears in my hoof. I scan it up and down until I see the products bought.
Bracelet x2. 10 bits. Okay, the bracelets are in there. But where is the glamour?
Transformation Spell x1. 125 bits. Ooooohhhh dear. “Sunny. It doesn’t say glamour. It says Transformation Spell.”
A small slip of paper disappears from my hoof. Sunny scans it. Sunny looks at me. She looks at the receipt. Then me. Then the receipt. Then she falls over laughing hysterically. I (and to that point, the rest of the Pokemon) glare at Sunny, threatening a slow and painful death if she doesn’t explain this laughing fit.
“I guess that’s why it was so expensive. And why it took about an hour to do.” Sunny says after she calms down.
“Sunny, I believe we need to go back to this store and talk to the manager. I want to know if this is permanent.”
“Just take it off, silly. That should work.”
“Oh, right.” Boy, do I feel stupid. I try to slip it off. It sure is on tight. After about five minutes, it pops off. I await the upset stomach coming, but it never does. “Sunny, have I changed back?”
“No.”
“Well (expletive) me. We definitely need to visit this store.”
“It’s closed today for the fair. We’ll have to go tomorrow.”
My heart sinks. Hopefully, I can get some answers tomorrow. But today, I get to walk around in a new body, with new wings. Oh, new wings. Experimentally, I flap a few times and easily get off of the ground. It doesn’t seem all too different to fly. Fortunately.
Landing on the ground, I look at my team, and see them gaping back, with a bit of a stunned expression. “Well, I guess we have a manager to threaten tomorrow. At least I was planning on looking like a Pegasus, or I would really be doomed.”
Uuhhhhh, sure. Anyways, boss, we’ve got to get to the station soon. Sky will be leaving in about an hour. Jolteon reminds me.
Oh dear. Mom is going to be the first to see me like this. This should be interesting.
Sky Song sat at the station, looking around for her son and his new friend. That Pegasus sure seemed nice. She also seemed a bit like Flurry’s aunt Pinkie Pie. Hopefully Cloud could handle her.
She noticed the Pegasus, Sunshine Drops, walking towards her. Beside her, there was a Pegasus that seemed awfully familiar. And then she saw Umbreon riding on the new Pegasus’s back.
“Hello, Sky!!” Sunny shouted.
Well, this promised to be interesting. Mom was sitting on a bench at the station. She was the only one on the train leaving the Empire this morning. Apparently, the fair is a big deal.
Mom turns to see me and Sunny walking towards her, with Umbreon riding on my back, mostly for recognition’s sake. She smiles, and does what anypony would do when you see a friend. “Hello, Sunshine. Who’s this colt with you? And why does he have an Umbreon on his back that looks like Cloud’s?”
“One, call me Sunny. I hate hearing my whole name. Two, this is Cloud Song, your son, after a disguise went wrong. Three, that’s because it is his Umbreon.” Sunny lists.
“In my defense, the original idea was a glamour to make me look like a Pegasus. Unfortunately, due to a mix up by Sunny while we were shopping yesterday, she got a transformation spell instead of a glamour. How she managed to mix the two up, I will never know.” I add helpfully to the conversation.
Mom looks at me, then at Sunny, then back at me, then at Sunny, then proceeds to fall over, laughing hysterically. I get a strange feeling of déjà vu. After about five minutes of laughter, I tell mom, quite seriously, “This isn’t funny, Mom. I really don’t want this to be permanent.”
“For you, it isn’t. For me, it is HILARIOUS!” Sky says back. “You went to Thorax’s place, didn’t you?”
“You mean Changeling Cosmetics?” Sunny asks.
“YUP! He is a changeling who immigrated into the Crystal Empire just after Flurry Heart was born. He specializes in transformation spells and glamour, and he apparently confused the two. He was always a silly fellow.”
Okay, now I really wanted to talk to him. “Do you know where he lives, mom? I don’t want to be forced to be a Pegasus for the rest of my life if I can help it.”
“Don’t worry, Cloud. I can write out his address. For now, go enjoy the fair. It really is a great time.”
With a deadpan look at mom, I sigh and say, “Okay. Could you at least give me a note with his address? I promise not to kill him up front if he can help.”
“C’mon, Cloud. Lighten up! Stop being so serious!”
“I’m just upset and I’m frazzled and I’m a Pegasus. I don’t think this is a time to be light.”
“At least go enjoy the fair. The opening ceremony is about to start. If you hurry, you can make it.”
“FIIIINE, bye mom. See you in 3 months.”
“Bye, kiddo. You’ll see me before then. I’m coming up for Flurry Heart’s birthday. In two months.” She hops on the train, and then the train starts speeding away.
“Well, best not to disobey mom. Let’s go to the fair.”
“OKAY! LET’S FLYYYYYYY!!!” Sunny shouts (which doesn’t hurt my Pegasus ears), then takes off. I put Umbreon back into it’s Pokeball, and fly after her, surprisingly well, considering thestral wings and Pegasus wings are completely different. Oh well.
Sitting at a picnic table with Sunny and the Pokemon (including Togepi) eating lunch, I look back at the past few hours.
We had done everything. Sunny was even more hyper than before. During the carnival games, we had won three giant stuffed animals, two of them pink, and countless other smaller ones. Eventually, we stopped after the 50th stall, mostly due to me saying that Espeon couldn’t carry anymore. I will have to admit, it’s nice to not have ponies running away on sight. I might hang onto this bracelet, provided I can turn back into a thestral.
I look over at Sunny, who’s looking at the Fair schedule. Her golden mane is loosely braided, and it shines in the sunlight. Her sky-blue coat is gleaming in the sunlight, and her expression is one of (what is probably standard for her) extreme happiness. Though, who can blame her? She won all those stuffed animals by herself. I’m still questioning how she did it.
“Attention, everypony! Please converge in the central plaza for our main attraction.” A voice announces on the PA system. I look at Sunny with a look that asks what this is. She gives me a look that says banana cream pies are evil. Also, she doesn’t know.
Well, mom said to enjoy the fair, so we go towards the central plaza. Upon arrival, I see that everypony is here. I mean EVERYPONY. The plaza (which is about the size of a hoofball stadium) is crammed with ponies of all colors and species. Except thestrals. I don’t count since I’m technically a Pegasus.
At the sound of several flugelhorns, Princess Cadence, Prince Shining Armor, and Princess Flurry Heart stand on a balcony high up in on the side of the Crystal Palace. “Welcome, everypony, to the 20th Crystal Fair since our return from King Sombra’s curse. I am glad to see all of you having fun at the fair, both locals and tourists alike. Now, let the light shine in the Empire!” Cadence announces.
All of a sudden, all the crystal ponies and a few tourists kneel down, and where they touch the ground, it lights up a brilliant blue. The glowing spreads across the streets, filling up (to my best guess) the whole Empire with this energy. Then, it all starts to get sucked in toward the Crystal Heart (I know where it is. We went and saw it earlier. What kind of tourists would we be in we didn’t see the biggest attraction in the Empire), and I can hear it spinning. Without my thestral ears. That’s fast.
Then, a sphere of energy explodes from the Heart, and I see white for about a second. After that, well, I’m glad I’m not a thestral. Everypony is now sparkling much like the Crystal ponies are. The bright sunlight makes everypony’s skin reflect sunlight. I almost consider putting on sunglasses. Then, I look over at Sunny.
First, she is shining (more so than usual). Second, her loose braid has been pinned up behind her head (1). Third, her green eyes now have a bit of a crystalline effect, making her eyes look like she has crystals for eyes. All in all, not a bad look. I probably look similar, but for all the reflectiveness around me, I don’t have a mirror.
Then I see her smile. Far and away the biggest I’ve seen since I’ve known her (which, in all honesty, is still less than 24 hours). This can’t be good.
“THIS IS SO AWESOME I DON’T WANT THIS TO END THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER YIPPIE WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” She proceeds to yell. If she noticed the alarmed looks, she didn’t care. Then she grabs me and drags me back to the carnival, to make the prize game workers regret everything.
That night, Sunny and I arrive at the dorms, with an absolutely massive pile of prizes floating behind us thanks to Espeon. I collapse into my bed after letting out the team. “Wow. That was quite a day.”
“Quite a fun day, but exhausting.” Sunny says back. Wait, she’s exhausted? How?
“Very exhausting.”
Speak for yourselves, I had to carry everything. Espeon pipes up.
“Yeah, but you didn’t physically carry it.” I retort.
It’s just as hard.
“Sure it is.”
“I hate it when you are having a conversation and I can only hear half of it.” Sunny points out.
“They make charms for it. Even more expensive than the bracelet you got me, but they exist.”
“Oh, well, dang it.” Sunny complains.
For the next half hour, we just lay there, taking it all in. “Cloud?”
“Yeah?”
“What are you going to do after school? I mean once we graduate?”
“Compete. That’s the one thing I’ve always wanted to do.”
“Are you going to travel around Equestria?”
“On hoof.”
“Could I come with you?”
Wat? “You sure?”
“I literally have nothing better. It’s either go back home to my family that can’t stop fighting, or run away and journey by myself, which is the more tempting of the two.” Sunny explains.
Her family must be worse than I originally thought. “Sure, if you think that you can handle being with me for the next few years.”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, I can’t think of anything I would rather do.”
“Is your family really that bad?”
She glances at me, and sighs. “Mom is a member of military, Dad is a part of the weather factory, and they both work long hours and get very little out of it. They get so angry that when they come home, they almost immediately argue. Who is going to make dinner, who washes the dishes, who picks the radio station, all trivial stuff. For a while, I was used to it. However, after meeting Pinkie Pie, I knew that they weren’t really a model family. I could count on one hoof the times they’ve said ‘I love you’ in the past year. I’ve always wanted to get away from them. They don’t love me. And if they do, they did a terrible job getting the message across.”
“Yeesh. I’m glad I just have a mother in the guard, and her subordinates who treat me like family. I’ve never doubted that Sky loves me. She has always been supportive of whatever I do. Still, for what it’s worth, your family are a bunch of (expletive)s.”
“I’ve used stronger language than that. Where did you learn to curse?”
“The guards, when they are messing with each other.”
“I could teach them a word or two. Would your mom approve?”
“No.”
“Dang it.”
I don’t know what I was thinking, but I walk over to her bed and climb in with her. “Need a hug?”
“Always.”
I scoop her into my hooves, and say reassuringly, “Don’t worry. You can stay with me as long as you want.”
I woke up with a golden mane in my face and a sky-blue Pegasus in my hooves. All in all, not a bad way to wake up. As a bonus, no Pokemon sleeping on top of me.
However, I soon realize a downside. Sunny has my hoof pinned beneath her sleeping form. So, yet again, I can’t move. Dang it.
After about a half hour, Sunny opens her eyes, facing me, and after a moment (I assume to complete the waking up process), she boops me on the nose. “If my mom saw this, she would be scolding me for about five hours.” Sunny tells me.
“I still stand by my original statement. Could you move? I’m kinda stuck.” I ask her.
“This is going to be a theme, isn’t it?”
“Probably, since I personally prefer waking up with you.”
“Out of context, that could be seen as (maintaining E rating).”
“I know. Please move. I kind of want to go threaten a manager today.”
With a grumble (clearly, Sunny is not quite booted up until about 15 minutes) she gets up and flies over me. I proceed to climb out of bed, and go to the bathroom to prepare for threatening. It is still odd, seeing a Pegasus in the mirror. I probably won’t get used to it. Ever.
After fifteen minutes, I walk out of the bathroom and duck, as Sunny flies over me into the bathroom at full speed. I close the door once she gets in, and look to see my team still sleeping. All of them sprawled on my bed (but it may become their bed), with Leafeon snoring in her usual volume (which is full bore, ear piercing volume, at least with thestral ears). I decide to leave them alone.
Sunny comes out of the bathroom, looking more like her usual self (and awake). She glances at me, then at the sleeping Pokemon. “Do you want to bring them with you?”
"Sure, but not going to use them to negotiate. Don't want to scar him beyond repair. I just want answers."
“Okay!” She opens up the window, oh dear. “LEEEET’S FLYYYY!!!” Sunny shouts, leaping out the window. I follow her, and together, we fly to the store, so see if this problem can be fixed.
We arrive at Changeling Cosmetics, and upon walking through the door, I see a store that looks like any other clothes store (thanks for showing me what they look like, moooooom), but I fail to see anypony running the store. Terrible business practice.
Naturally, I look for the Transformation spells. After about 15 minutes, I find them. I see one for an earth pony, one for a Pegasus, one for a unicorn, one for a gryphon, and even one for an alicorn (I guess some ponies are power-hungry). But I don’t find anything that helps my current situation.
“Hello, sir. How can I help you?”
I jump about three feet in the air. If I’d had my thestral hearing, I would have known he was coming. I look over and see…well, a changeling. A pony like creature with a horn, gossamer bug-like wings, and holes in his legs. I immediately know that this is Thorax.
“Um, yes you can. You see, the mare I’m living with-“
“WHICH IS ME!!!!” Sunny interjects.
“-bought a Transformation for me. It was a pink bracelet with a Pegasus disguise.”
“I remember. She couldn’t stop bouncing. But your problem is…” Thorax lets me finish.
“The Transformation hasn’t worn off. I’ve taken it off, and it hasn’t changed me back. I used to be a thestral, and I’m kind of scared I won’t be able to go back.”
Thorax blinks. Again. Finally, after about fifteen seconds, he begins really deep thinking. I can tell because his face scrunched up. “That shouldn’t happen. It should wear off once you take it off. Do you have the spell?” I show him the bracelet. “Thanks. Hmmmm…I didn’t miscast it, if that’s what you’re thinking (I was, thanks for asking), so there must be something about you.”
So the problem is me? Come on, I was hoping this could be a quick fifteen minute visit, complete with a working bracelet. Instead, I get this. Not really happy.
“Could you figure it out?”
“Not me, personally, but I would bet bits that Flurry Heart could find out. I’ll go and get her, be right back.” He then turns into a unicorn and teleports away. After about fifteen minutes, he comes back with a concerned Princess Flurry Heart in tow.
“So, Thorax, who needs my he-CLOUD?!” Flurry starts.
“I do need your help. At the very least, I can let you know that you will be down a thestral in class.” I say back.
“Okay, come with me. I have a lab that could tell us what is the difference.” She then proceeds to teleport, with Sunny and I going with her.
Ugh, teleporting stinks. How do unicorns do it?
After we arrived, I emptied out my lunch on the floor, and looked around. Machines and gadgets fill the room. In the middle, some weird device that looks like an X-Ray machine-but clearly isn’t-stands.
“Sorry, Cloud. Teleports are tough the first time.” Flurry apoligises.
“Don’t worry, Heart. I didn’t need that breakfast anyways.” I snark back.
“HOW DO YOU KNOW PRINCESS FLURRY HEART?!” Sunny shouts.
“My mom babysat her. Where do we begin?”
“Just stand in the middle. I’ll turn it on, and soon, we’ll know why the spell isn’t working properly.” After moving to the center, I hear a “3…2…1…Go!” and immediately, scans and noises come to life. Seeing as this is helping me, I stand perfectly still. After about fifteen minutes, the lights die down, and Flurry tells me to get off.
“Now, I’ll send this to Aunt Twilight, and she can tell me what she finds.”
It’s been an hour, and we haven’t gotten a response. How hard can it be? You’re just translating numbers into facts. Of course, I can’t really talk. I never liked math.
Vaporeon and Glaceon are taking a nap, not really surprised. Joltion and Espeon are arguing over what it could be that makes the spell not wear off. Leafeon is sitting in a corner, not really trusting all the equipment, and Umbreon is on my back, relaxing. Sunny’s Togepi is waddling around, with Sunny keeping close. And Flurry is going over…I assume curriculum for school. She shooed me away before I got close.
“Does it usually take this long?” I ask Flurry.
“No. Which could mean that something is really odd. Of course, she could have been dealing with a challenger at her Gym, or taking a nap, or-OW!” A scroll hits her in the face. After a second (to compose herself), she opens it up and reads it. As it unfolds, I see that it is about 7 feet long. This could be a while.
“I think I’ve found it.”
Finally. It’s been half an hour since she got the scroll, which means that it’s been a total of 1 hour and 45 minutes since I talked to Thorax at the store. I’m not a very patient pony. Character flaw of mine.
“So, what did you find?” Sunny asks.
“Well, there are two possible explanations. One is that your connection with Pokemon is affecting the spell, messing with the failsafe. The other is, well, more likely, but much more weird.”
“JUST SPIT IT OUT, PRINCESS!!” I shout. As I said earlier, I am not very patient.
“Okay, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. The other reason is, well, you are half Pegasus and you were almost born a Pegasus, so when you transformed into a Pegasus, it thought it was already in its default state. So instead of being able to go back to a thestral, which was the default, you are still a Pegasus, which it considers the default.” Flurry Heart explains. Neeeeerd!
Wait. WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT? “So my dad is a Pegasus, and it’s messing with the spell?”
“Yes.”
“Give me a second to figure out which word best describes this situation. I’d better use five. This is all mom’s fault.”
“Not entir-well, yes, it is all her fault, but accusing her won’t make this better.”
“I’m just stating the obvious. And, more importantly, can you fix it?”
“Sure, but we’ll need Thorax again.” Flurry Heart explains.
“More teleporting!!!” Sunny says excitedly.
“Yes, more teleporting, Sunny.” Flurry says, and then charges her horn.
“How do unicorns do it all the time?”
“I wouldn’t know. I’m an alicorn. But I think that it’s a tolerance. HEY THORAX!!!!!” Flurry shouts. The changeling walks over, with a look on his face that says “Did you help?”. “I think that we can fix this. And it won’t be too difficult. All we need to do is…” I lost them here, when they started talking magic. I zoned out, until they brought me into the back room. “Could you give us the bracelet?”
I hoof it over, and they immediately start messing with it. I look away, as they start using magic so bright my Pegasus eyes couldn’t stand it.
“Sure is bright.” I tell Sunny.
“Definitely. What about after they fix it? Are you going to keep it?” Sunny asks.
“You kind of bought it, so why not? It might come in handy.”
Finally, the lights die down, and I look at the bracelet. Now, with the black ring, there is also a light blue ring. “So, what’s different? Besides the blue ring.”
“What we did is eliminate the default mode. It is set to change between thestral and Pegasus, with no barriers. So don’t lose it. All you have to do is put it on your hoof, and you change between the two. It won’t work with anypony that isn’t a Pegasus or thestral, so don’t worry about doing some irreparable damage.”
“Sounds good. I’ll just slip it on right now, and” upset stomach, splitting headache, and I open my eyes, and see that it’s all a bit brighter. “It worked!!!” I shout in excitement (not very often I get this excited).
“Well, my work here is done. I’ll see you two tomorrow in class. I think you’ll find the dorms quite crowded.” Flurry Heart tells us.
“Thanks, Princess. Or is it professor?”
“For you, Flurry.”
“Really? Won’t the other students get jealous that I can call you by your first name?”
“I know I was shocked!!” Sunny inserts helpfully into the conversation.
“Not in the classroom, then. Take care!” And Flurry’s gone.
“Well, guess we’d better go back to our room. I’m spent.” I say, to nopony in particular.
“Well, I’m hungry, so we’d better get something before we go.” Sunny says. “Thanks, Thorax!!”
“I didn’t do anything special. That was all Flurry.” Thorax says sheepishly.
“You got her, though. So Thanks!!” Sunny says, not discouraged at all by his statement. “Seeya!” And she grabs me and flies out the nearby window (what is it with her and windows?).
“That stallion at the register sure was a downer.” Sunny says. We made it back to our room with some food from Burger Princess.
“Ah, well, at least we got something done today.” I say back.
“He ran away screaming. I’m surprised that you aren’t even slightly miffed.” Sunny says/asks (she managed to do both in one sentence. Wow.).
“It means I’m back to normal. I was quite surprised that he was still standing, to be honest. Quite a few ponies pass out on sight.”
“Like the burglar?”
“Exactly.”
We eat in silence. The Pokemon raid their food bag (and the occasional Prench Fry) and eat noisily. See, no manners.
After we eat, we play some board games that Sunny brought with her (who brings board games to an academy?), until it’s about 8 at night. Then, we climb into our bed (it’s official, we have our own bed. The Pokemon get their own.), and go to sleep. The academy awaits!
The lecture hall is huge. It looks a lot like the dorms room, but with less windows. The front doors loom menacingly at the top of a small set of stairs. Most students hate seeing those doors, as it means listening to a teacher going “blah blah blah blah blah” for about 3 hours.
Two students, however, are much more upbeat, one Pegasus that literally can’t stop being happy, and one thestral that has spent too much time near said Pegasus.
“Sunny, you do realize that we are about half an hour early, right?” I ask the mare.
“Of course! I want to pick our seats early, and help out the professor!” Sunny replies with exclamation points.
“If you say so. I’m just glad to be back to normal.” The past two days were kind of stressful, but once I was back to normal, I was able to relax. I’ve even used the bracelet a couple times, just to get used to the feeling. I probably won’t use it during class, but it could be practical elsewhere.
Well, the interior of the lecture hall is much livelier. It has several different posters of Flurry Heart, and a trophy case filled with her wins and her team. A team consisting of Dragonite, Blastoise, Scyther (the biggest question mark on her team), Zoroark, Togekiss, and Ampharos. I know that it would take a miracle for me to beat that team in a fight.
Taking the first right, we arrive in the room and see Flurry setting up a projector, with several slides being rotated through. Some of her early days, back before she won her first title over Starlight Glimmer, show up on the wall. It is quite refreshing, seeing her just as old as me, and still not the household name that she became.
“Hello, Professor!” Sunny beams. If Sunny lacks one thing, it’s subtlety.
“GAH, Don’t do that, please, Sunny.” The princess looks flustered. “You remind me of Pinkie Pie.”
“Well, I did live with her for a while, so she rubbed off on me!” Sunny answers.
“Sweet Celestia, please save us all.” Flurry says in a mock dread tone.
“Anyways, we came early so we could help you set up your stuff. And I couldn’t sleep past four.” I change the topic quickly.
“Anxious?”
“Nope, thestral’s slightly nocturnal habits. Never needed much sleep.”
“That means my spell did its job! Did you keep the bracelet?” Flurry asks.
“Sunshine here did buy it, so why not?”
“DON’T USE MY FULL NAME!!!!!” Sunny shouts. From right next to me. Ow, my ears!
“Well, since you’re here, I’ll go ahead and have you two pass out the books.” Flurry says. “I’ve got to get this projector set up.”
Passing out books is easy with a psychic-type. Espeon distributed all the books in about thirty seconds. Then Leafeon, neat-freak that she is, carefully organized each seat. I counted thirty seats. You would think there would be more.
“How many students are there this year?”
“Lemme look on the list and…twenty-seven. Certainly not the most, but far from the least.” Flurry answers.
Small class. Ah well, it means less ponies I freak out come time for class to start. Not for the first time, I consider transforming into a Pegasus, but then I realize I could set a counter on how many students run away screaming. Much more entertaining.
The class is about to start, and I count twenty that have run screaming. Of the other five, one is blind, and the other four are eyeing my up suspiciously. Probably asking themselves how much of a head start they would need to get away if I decided to bite them. From my estimates, the earth ponies need about three seconds’ head start to get out of the room before me. The Pegasus could make it easily, and the unicorns, assuming they can’t teleport, need about four seconds.
The blind Pegasus sits right beside me, opposite Sunny. She introduces herself as Snowdrop, and she wants to know more about Pokemon so she doesn’t have to be so helpless. Nice girl. As a bonus, she doesn’t give a bit about appearances.
Finally, the other students see that I haven’t eaten anypony yet, and file into their seats. A few look nervous, but at least they calm down enough to not glance at me every five seconds.
“Hello class! Welcome to your first class here at Flurry Hearts School of Trainers. I am Flurry Heart, and I will be your professor for these next three months! Now, you all probably know quite a bit about me, so I want to hear a bit about you. We’ll start off over here” she points over to the other side of the classroom “and go around the room, each of you telling me your name, where you’re from, why you want to go to a school for Pokemon, and one interesting thing about yourselves.”
So it begins. There are ponies that are from Cloudsdale, Ponyville, Canterlot, Manehatten, and a few locals. Several ponies want to compete, some want to just know more than what books have, and a few came here for a break in the monotony. Nopony really sticks out to me, though, so I’ll probably forget them soon enough.
Eventually, it gets around to me. “My name is Cloud Song, I’m from Hollow Shades, I want to compete, and my mother is the strongest Gym Leader in Equestria.” Several ponies look at me with surprise in their face, a few with accusation, as if saying there is no way my mother is the strongest Gym Leader, since their local Gym is way harder. “Hey, numbers don’t lie.” I say.
Next to me, Sunny bounces in her seat. When it gets to her turn, I get treated to a wonderfully ear-piercing shout. “Hi! I’m Sunshine Drops, or Sunny for short! I’m from Cloudsdale, and I came here to learn more about Pokemon! As for something interesting, well, I lived with Pinkie Pie in Ponyville for a while, and I can fire a Party Cannon! So SURPRISE!” A Party Cannon goes off somewhere in the rafters, and confetti rains down on everypony in the room. She must have set this up a few days ago, since there is no way she could have brought it in today without me seeing.
After about five seconds, everypony stops screaming, and start looking at Sunny with a look that says “What the hay is up with her?”
“Okaayyyy…anyways, that’s everypony here, so now I’ll go over what we will be doing here. This class will be split up into book lessons and field lessons. Book lessons are going to be in here, with lectures and other stuff that you ponies will probably hate with a passion, but it is necessary. The field lessons, however, will be more hooves-on, with actual Pokemon, with actual battles, with actual action. You will be learning as you go, which different Pokemon you feel more comfortable with, which strategies you go with, how far you think ahead, when to swap, and how to change it up when necessary. If you watch any of my fights, after about the round of 64, a strategy is very easy to recognize, so other trainers will be able to counter it. I almost lost in my third year to Sky Song in the round of 32, simply because she used my preferred opening against me. Adaptability is key. The time your strategy goes off without a hitch is the time you were so strong they couldn’t stop it.” Flurry lectures. I can tell the book lessons are going to be soooooo booooooriiiing.
“Now, this afternoon, we will have another lecture, with Princess Twilight Sparkle giving the lecture. She is the one who lets us have all these Pokemon, so please be polite. As for now, class is dismissed.” And everypony makes a mad dash out into the sunshine. I, however, stay back for a little while, for one reason.
“How did you get that cannon up there?”
“It’s simple, Silly! I just used a pulley system! Half an hour before class started!” Sunny answers. Wait. WHAT?! HOW DID SHE-don’t question it don’t question it don’t question it.
“Cloud? Could you come with me for a while? Twilight wondered exactly who she was reading about when I sent the data. She’ll want to meet you. Don’t worry, she won’t question you mercilessly, I hope.” Flurry voluntold me.
“I guess. I still need to ask my mom about this, so I won’t be able to answer every single question.” I say.
“Okay, she’ll get here at about 1, so go have lunch, and be at the station before then.” Then she teleports away. Just thinking about teleporting gives me an upset stomach.
Sunny had already left, I’m assuming to go do…actually, I can’t tell with her. That mare continues to surprise me. As I’m leaving, I see that one colt hasn’t quite left yet. What was his name…Thunder Crash? I think that was it. Anyways, he had stayed behind, with his wings spread out wide. “Ummmmm…Hello?” I ask tentatively.
“What is it with you? You stay behind with the professor, and walk away like it is nothing. You say your mother is the strongest Gym Leader. You wanted to keep track of how many ponies ran away screaming. Am I missing anything?” He says accusingly.
“The fact that my mother almost beat Flurry Heart?” I egg him on. I’m really interested to see where this goes.
“Now you’re just messing with me. But no matter. You are a freak, a wannabe, a nobody. Don’t act all high and mighty when you are really just a coward with high connections. I need to put you in your place. Unless-“
“Will you please stop with the evil monologue? I don’t have all day.” I interrupt him. Seriously, this guy thinks he can take me?
“THAT’S IT! YOUR BEATING COMES NOW!” And he charges at me. Really? Does he not realize that that is the worst way to start a fight? Oh well, time to educate this colt.
He unleashes a wide swing with his right hoof that I block easily, then I do a quick jab to the face. He stumbles back, and instead of pressing the advantage (I can almost hear my mom now, “KEEP ON THE OFFENSE”), I wait for him to recover. Simply because it’s clear he has no fighting experience whatsoever.
After a while, he charges me again, and looks like he’s trying to tackle me, as if we were playing hoofball. I dodge him by flapping my wings and soaring over him, and then embarrass him by yawning, saying “I’m going to close my eyes. If you aren’t gone by the count of ten, I’ll actually take this fight somewhat seriously.” Messing with this colt is fun.
He assaults me while I have my eyes closed. From what I can hear, he hasn’t learned his lesson one bit. Still charging right at me. Probably going for a knockout. Unfortunately for him, I stick a hoof out in his direction and he proceeds to run into it and clothesline himself. I open my eyes, look at him, climb over him, and grab my bracelet. Time to really mess with this Pegasus.
“Thestrals have super-sensitive hearing. And it’s been ten seconds, and I still can’t take you seriously. It’s quite funny, watching you fight. If a professional fighter makes it look like a dance, you make it look like a seizure.” I put on the bracelet and transform into a Pegasus. “Now, I’ll give you a bit of an advantage and use a form I haven’t gotten comfortable with. Still wanna fight?” He shakes his head no. “Good. And for the record, I’m training to be a guard. So I’ve seen ponies fight. You really are terrible at it.” I step off of him, and he quickly flies away, out the door, and to wherever he feels most comfortable.
“At least you didn’t hurt him.” Flurry says from behind me. I whip around and see her standing there, with a look on her face that says “I should be mad at you, but I can’t bring myself to be.” “I didn’t leave when I teleported. I noticed that Pegasus waiting for you, and wanted to see how this went. You did not disappoint.”
“I was barely even trying.” I say.
“I could tell. You managed to defend yourself, without threatening the safety of your attacker. Come on, let’s go meet Aunt Twilight.”
Nodding, I follow Flurry outside, and thankfully I’m still in Pegasus form. Golly, the Empire is reflective. “How did mom stand it?”
“Sunglasses.” Flurry says.
“Ah. I had actually wanted to do something worse to that colt.”
“Please don’t say anything illegal.” Flurry says apprehensively.
“I was just going to transform him into a thestral for a while, and see how he liked it.” I say, with a somewhat evil grin on my face.
Flurry, however, does not seem amused. “Seriously, don’t do that. He would be scarred for life.”
“Jeez, Flurry, calm down. I can think of only one pony who would like it, and that would be Sunny. She would probably flip out when she realizes that she can use it.” Little did I know, that a certain sky-blue Pegasus with a golden mane was within earshot. And she heard every word.
“THANKS FOR TELLING ME, GIMME!” and she snatches the bracelet from my hoof. Before I can even process that it was Sunny who took it, she put it on her hoof. I get treated to the sight of Sunny being engulfed in green light, and after it dies away, I see Sunny, but as a thestral. Her emerald eyes are now slitted like a cat’s, her wings are now featherless, less bird-like and more bat-like. Her ears now have fluffy tufts on the top, and when she smiles, I see her fangs. “So, how do I look?”
I’m half tempted to say something like “cute” or even, if I felt bold, “hot”, but I settle for “Like a vampony bit you.”
Flurry, however, stares in shock. “You just slapped that bracelet on, without a second thought, just to see what it was like?!”
“I told you, I lived with Pinkie Pie, she rubbed off on me.” The now-thestral says.
Flurry just shakes her head. “I just hope Pinkie isn’t coming with Twilight. I don’t think the Empire could handle two of you in the same city.”
“Knowing our luck, that will happen because you said it.” I point out helpfully.
Flurry cursed. Sunny smiles. “Knowing Pinkie, it definitely will happen. She’s like that.” Flurry curses even more.
“All right, let’s just get to the station before Twilight arrives.” Flurry says in defeat. My stomach rumbles. “After lunch.” I nod in agreement.
Sunny starts trying to fly, and after a little wobble at the start, she gets the hang of it. I’m coaching her all the way. “Thestral wings work best when you are moving forward, while Pegasus wings can work at any speed. Don’t stop moving and you’ll be fine.” I coach.
After getting the bracelet back, I transform into a thestral and fly around with her. What can I say, her joy in infectious. Then she squeals in delight after coming in for a landing (a perfect one mind you), but it comes out as a screech.
Now, our screeches can be different when we want them to be. Most of the time, a screech is just a screech, but a screech can also be a Screech, forcing an opponent to cover their ears and opening them up. It could also be like a Supersonic, disorienting the target it they aren’t prepared. Then the hardest one, the one Sunny pulled off first time, is a screech like a Sonic Boom, where our screech actually hits things with force. And Sunny just took the head off of the statue of the national hero, Spike the dragon. Oh dear.
To cap it off, Flurry unleashes the worst torrent of cursing yet. I join her.
Sunny, however, just says “Oops” in the most sheepish tone she can do. Then we leave, thanks to Flurry teleporting us away. Hopefully Spike doesn’t show up soon.
Sunny was hiding beneath me, trying to avoid the crystal ponies. Understandable, since she just destroyed the statue of Spike, the Brave and Glorious, with a thestral screech. I wouldn’t be much better. In fact, I probably would have gotten out of town.
Sunny, Flurry, and I are standing at the train station, waiting for Princess Twilight Sparkle to arrive, as well as betting on who else shows up. I bet that Spike would show up, and Sunny bet that Pinkie would show up. Flurry said both. I think she has the best odds.
As the train pulls in with a cloud of steam, I quickly avert my thestral eyes. Sunny is still a thestral, despite my constant pestering of her. Seriously, why does she like this form? I don’t feel comfortable in my Pegasus transformation.
As the ponies come off of the train, in varied amounts of a hurry, we finally see her exit the rear car. Princess Twilight. She’s just a bit taller than Flurry, with wings nowhere near the size of Flurry’s (seriously, Flurry’s are HUGE!), and a horn about as long as Flurry’s. She has a purple coat with a blue mane with pink and purple highlights. She walks with poise, very unlike Flurry, who doesn’t care about how she walks. I quickly remember who I’m meeting, and attempt to bow. Hard to do with Sunny underneath me. “Please, don’t bow before me. This isn’t a formal occasion.” Twilight tells me.
As I rise, I see Spike standing next to her. He’s almost shoulder height to her, with purple scales around most of his body, and green scales on his belly and back. As he smiles, I see his teeth, while nowhere near as sharp as mine, could cut something. Yes, I’ve almost won the bet. I just need-
“SUNNY! IS THAT YOU?!” I hear from on the train. Next thing I know, I’m lifted into the air, as Pinkie climbs underneath both of us, putting Sunny on her back and me still on Sunny’s back. I quickly fly off of them, look at Flurry, and say, “You win.”
“Win what?” Twilight asks.
“He thought only Spike would come with you. Sunny thought only Pinkie would come. I said both. Thus, I win the bet.” Flurry explains.
“Ah. And who are these two?”
“The one flying” she points a hoof at me “is Cloud Song, the one behind the numbers I sent you yesterday. The one on Pinkie’s back is-“
“I remember her now. She lived with Pinkie. It was Sunshine Drops, right?” Twilight asks.
“Yup!” Pinkie and Sunny answer at the same time.
“So, you’re the one behind those numbers. I must say-“ Twilight starts, but gets interrupted by a crystal pony running towards us, “Spike, the Brave and Glorious! Somepony has defaced your statue!” Spike blinks, then says, calmly, “Show me the damage.”
Thus, we are all running towards the statue that Sunny destroyed, with Sunny hanging back noticeably. After a couple minutes, we arrive at the scene of the crime, with Spike’s statue mostly unharmed, and besides the decapitation, it is still in very good shape for being a twenty year old statue. Spike, however, notices the decapitation. Then, he freezes up in shock. Twilight, to his defense, says, “Who. Did. This?”
Flurry then proceeds to do what any good pony should do. Throw their friend under the bus to escape punishment and get the truth out there. Sunny, meanwhile, attempts to fly away, but Flurry catches her with her magic.
Spike, upon hearing the story, turns and looks at Sunny with a look that says “How could you do this to me?” Pinkie, however, upon hearing the story, starts going into deep thought (well, relatively deep), and that scares me.
Fortunately, the tenseness of the situation is quickly resolved. How, you may ask? Two alicorns. Problem solved. The statue looks as good as new, with the head in its proper place above the shoulders. Sunny gets let go, but not after I slip the bracelet on and turn her back into a Pegasus.
The six of us are now eating lunch at a café somewhere in the Empire. Twilight is questioning me about the bracelet, but most questions I deflect to Flurry. Finally, Twilight asks me one more question, the one I knew was coming, but still wasn’t prepared for.
“You don’t know who your father is?”
I sigh in defeat. “No, I don’t. Not for a lack of asking, but mom is tight-lipped about a few things. My dad being one of them.”
Flurry stands up in a rush. “Well, I’ll ask her. And if that doesn’t work, I’ll order her to tell you.”
“That won’t work. Either she’ll spill the beans when you ask, or she won’t say anything at all. She’s stubborn like that.” I point out.
Sunny and Pinkie, who were ignoring us and gossiping with each other, suddenly gasp in shock. This can’t be good. “What is it?”
Pinkie Pie rushes over to me, grabs me, and shakes me violently. “WHY DID YOU NOT TELL ME YOUR BIRTHDAY WAS A FEW DAYS AGO?! I NEEDED TO THROW A PARTY! NOW MY SCHEDULE IS MESSED UP SINCE I WAS ONLY GOING TO BE HERE FOR A DAY BUT NOW I’LL BE USING TODAY TO PLAN AND I WON’T BE ABLE TO DO TOURISTY STUFF WHAT’S YOU FAVORITE FLAVOR OF CAKE?” Pinkie yells in one breath. Will ponies ever stop yelling in my ears? Probably not.
After a moment to collect myself, I say the one thing that will appease the pink party pony. “Mango.”
“Ugh. How could anypony like mangoes?” Pinkie gags. Wait, something she doesn’t like? Did I just make a breakthrough in the science of Pinkie Pie? I look at Twilight, and see absolute shock with a side of WTF on her face. To demonstrate to Pinkie, I gesture at my salad. It has lettuce, carrots, mangoes, onions, mangoes, and more mangoes. I then point to my side, which is three mangoes, and my drink, which is a mango smoothie. Pinkie, after seeing this, just stares off into space, with a look of sheer horror.
Sunny, having lived with the pony for the longest, says, “Congratulations. You just broke Pinkie Pie. I’ve seen this look on enough other ponies to know when somepony has seen something so odd, they just cease to function for the next half-hour.”
Flurry decided to add in “I think you broke Auntie, as well. Congratulations. You just managed to break the pony that defies reason and the pony who uses reason and logic all the time at the same time. I believe you will be getting questioned by both of them in the near future.”
Pinkie, even in her shocked state, manages to call dibs on questioning me first.
I managed to get far enough away from them before a half hour was up. I am now sitting at my chair in the classroom, watching the ponies file in. The number who freak out is down to three (including the one that tried to assault me, though I still can’t remember his name), which is solid progress. Sunny sits on my right, Snowdrop sits on my left, and Flurry is standing at the front of the class.
“Hello, students. Today, I bring you a special guest. She’s the Element of Magic, the Princess of Friendship, the Professor of Pokemon, and the Master of Friendship Lasers. I give you, PRINCESSSSSSS TWILIIIIIIIIIGHT SPARKLLLLLLLLLLLLLLE!” Flurry says in a tone that an announcer would introduce two boxers with.
Twilight pops into existence, glares at Flurry (Sunny whispers to me “I don’t get why she doesn’t want an epic introduction. That was awesome.”), and proceeds to look at the class with a smile. “Greetings. My name is Twilight Sparkle. And for the record, I don’t know how those friendship lasers work.” The class laughs. “And I am here to teach you the basics of Pokemon. Bear in mind, information is still being found on Pokemon. I, personally, learn a new thing every day, about either Pokemon or ponies. For example, today I learned that Pinkie Pie hates mangoes.” The class breaks out into laughter again. Until the Element of Laughter pops into class through the window, hissing “Mangoes are evillllllll!”
Fortunately, Sunny predicted this would happen. She does the best thing anypony could have done in this situation. She throws a mango at Pinkie.
Unfortunately, Pinkie’s Pinkie Sense kicks in, as she sidesteps. Fortunately, Sunny took that into account (since she lived with her the longest, she can predict it all) and smacked Pinkie in the face with the mango. It exploded, leaving her face covered in her worst nightmare. Pinkie did the only reaction she knew about this.
She proceeded to grab Sunny, drag her to the front of the class, and berate her like Sunny was her daughter.
It was really funny to watch (poor Snowdrop, she couldn’t see it). Watching Pinkie, one of the most immature, random ponies to ever exist, scold Sunny like that. It was priceless.
Sunny, however, looks like she’s about to die. It makes me wonder exactly how many times this scene has played out before, during her stay with Pinkie. Then, I realize a bigger question.
Does she consider Pinkie Pie to be her mother?
Finally, after about five minutes, Pinkie hugs Sunny, and sets her back into her chair. Pinkie then proceeds to fire herself out of a party cannon out the window. And thus, the encounter ended. And I gained something to hang over Sunny’s head.
“Okaaaaay…let’s continue on with the lecture. First, how many of you have Pokemon of your own?” Twilight gets us back on track. I raise my hoof. So does Sunny. And about ¾ of the class. “A good number of you. Okay. Simply spending time with a Pokemon is a wonderful experience. Now, a Pokemon can have up to two of the 17 different types. The types are Normal, Fire, Water, Grass, Electric, Rock, Ground, Psychic, Dark, Fighting, Dragon, Bug, Ice, Dragon, Steel, Ghost, and Flying. Different types have different weaknesses.
“Normal Types are very well rounded. Offensively, they aren’t great against anything, but they can hit almost any Pokemon with standard damage. Only Rock and Steel are resistant, and Ghost is altogether immune to Normal Type attacks. Defensively, they are solid as well, weak only to Fighting Types. They are also immune to Ghost.” Twilight is using the projector and some screens to show us what the types do. Poor Snowdrop, she can’t see it at all.
Twilight continues. “Fire Types are more of an offensive type. A Fire Type move is super effective against Grass, Bug, Steel, and Ice. It won’t do well against Fire, Water, Rock, or Dragon. Defensively, they are weak to Rock, Ground, and Water. They can resist Fire, Ice, Steel, Bug, and Grass. As a bonus, Fire Types often can inflict a Burn, which not only hurts a Pokemon, but it also lowers its attack stat. You will often see Fire Types with low Defense, simply because if they burn their opponent, they can easily take a physical hit.”
Twilight droned on and on about different types, but I zoned out quickly. I knew this stuff already. I read. And I watch my mom’s battles at the Gym. Nothing can beat real life experience.
Dang, Twilight sure can talk forever when she wants to. It’s been about three hours, and I’m barely staying awake. Flurry Heart, however, has fallen asleep. I quickly raise my hoof.
“Yes?” Twilight asks.
I point to Flurry Heart, who is in a deep sleep. Twilight looks, and upon putting a deadpan on her face, lifts an air horn and blares it in Flurry’s direction.
Flurry jumps into the air, flaps her wings, and realizes that she had fallen asleep. “Was I the only one?” She asks sheepishly.
No, she wasn’t. About half the class was asleep or getting there before the air horn went off. I, however, am rubbing my ears from the blast. Darn my thestral hearing. I’d consider changing, but I don’t want to freak o-SUN IN MY EYES, DECIDED, TRANSFORMING. A flash, a slight migraine, and I’m a Pegasus. Phew, the intensity certainly dies down. And as a bonus, everypony’s too busy either laughing or being ashamed to notice. Thank Luna.
Twilight finally looks at the clock, and seeing the time (about five in the afternoon), she yeeps in surprise, and quickly wraps up. After she’s done, she quickly flashes away.
Flurry retakes control of the class. “Alright, class (yawn), no homework for today, since most of you should know that stuff (yawn) already. Sorry, but Aunt Twilight’s (yawn) speeches always put me to sleep. She just keeps (yawn) talking in the same (yawn) tone of voice, and it’s so (yawn) soothing. Now, you are free to (yawn) go and take a nap, which Imma do right now.” And she curls up on the floor and falls asleep again. The rest of us sneak out quietly, so as not to disturb her.
Back at the dorm, me and Sunny let out our Pokemon, and collapse on the bed. Sunny looks really frazzled. I don’t think she can sit still for long periods. Then I remember that I have a question to ask.
“Hey, Sunny?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you consider Pinkie to be your mother?”
Sunny looks at me, blinks, and gives me a cruel smile. “I’ll answer if you give me a massage. I’m sore from sitting around all day.”
Being sore from sitting around, if only most ponies had that problem. I, however, have a new problem. I don’t know what constitutes a massage. Hey, I’m only 10. I’ve never been to anything like that. I voice my concern to Sunny, and she just rolls her eyes. “It’s simple, just rub your hooves on my body where I want you to. Got it?”
“Ummm…sure? Just let me know if I’m doing it wrong.” I say apprehensively.
“If you’re doing it wrong, you are screwing up big time. Now, lower back, a bit above the tail, please.”
Well, here goes nothing. I start to rub her lower back, softly.
“Harder. You are trying to relax the muscles, so you need to touch them.”
I rub a bit harder. Sunny says even harder. I rub harder. Sunny finally coos in appreciation, and just lays there. I keep rubbing her lower back, then her upper back, then her hind legs, then at the point where her wings fold into her back. After that, she just lays there in what I can assume to be bliss, and then starts to answer my question.
“I know she isn’t my real mother, but during those six months, she was a better mother than mom was my entire life. She always listened to me when I talked, always comforted me when I was down, and payed attention to me. She showed me how to bake, how to cook, how to throw parties, and how to make friends. Being with her got me my cutie mark. She didn’t scold me often, but when she did, I deserved it. Sure, she was a bit random, but she had a predictable randomness. When I left to go back home, Pinkie actually cried. And it wasn’t anything overly dramatic, just wept while the train took me back to my home. So to answer your question, it isn’t me considering her to be my mom, it’s her considering me to be her daughter. As for me, I can’t tell if she’s a mother or an older sister. Either way, she loves me, and I love her. That’s all that matters.”
At about halfway, I was tearing up, but didn’t cry in an attempt to save face. By the end, I was crying. “Come on, Sunny. You’re just too sweet. It’s almost illegal.”
Sunny notices me crying, smiles, and comes up and hugs me. “Hey, we just need to let it out sometimes. I should know.”
After about five minutes, she releases me, and regains her evil smirk that usually means trouble for me. “Now, how about I ask you something personal.”
I gulp. “I reserve the right to ask for something out of this if it gets too personal.”
“Silly, it’s a simple question. Have you ever kissed a mare before?”
“Well, I-wait, WHAT?!” She seriously just went there. I mean what the hay, Sunny! Who asks that sort of question? “I’ll answer if you do something for me.”
“I’ll preen your wings as a Pegasus.”
“I have no idea what that is, but sure.”
“You really didn’t get out much, did you?” Sunny deadpans. “Preening a Pegasus’s wings is almost better than a massage. The only reason I didn’t have you do one to me is because it requires a gentle touch.”
“Ah.” I transform into a pegasus, and lay down on my stomach, with my wings spread out.
“Now, let me know if it hurts.” Sunny says. Then, she begins to run her feathers through mine, straightening them out.
Sweet Luna, this feels AMAZING. I should go get a massage more often. Dang, this is awesome.
“Found a broken one. Here.” And Sunny bites on a feather and pulls it out.
That’s it. Thinking is done, enjoying this has taken priority. “aahhhhhhhhh”
All too quickly, it ends, and Sunny climbs up off of me, and asks the question again. “Have you ever kissed a mare?”
My brain is still in “enjoyment mode”, and as such thinking power is at a minimum. I know what she meant, my mom doesn’t count. So I answer truthfully. “No.”
Not one of my smarter moments.
Sunny, after hearing the answer, promptly flips me over, and kisses me on the lips.
…
Ummmmm…how do I say this while still maintaining an E-rating?
Sweet mother of Luna, what the hay is going on? My brain is torn between the “this is so hot” side, and the “where did this come from” side. I lean towards the former.
After it ends, Sunny winks at me, and says “Well, are you still functioning?”
I manage to answer, barely. “W-w-wow.” And my tongue decides to take the rest of the night off.
“Just so you know,” Sunny says, “that was my first kiss as well.”
“uuuhhh, Imma go to sleep, g’night.” I manage to get out, then I climb into the bed and go the sleep.
I turn around, and see all the Pokemon just staring at me, with a look of absolute shock that probably reflects Cloud’s brain at the moment. “What?”
Cloud’s Umbreon starts talking, but I can’t understand him. From the tone, I can gather that he wants to know where in the world that came from.
“It was a spur of the moment thing.”
Espeon starts talking, and I sense a bit of squee coming from her. Jolteon looks at her, then just sighs and goes to sleep on the Pokemon’s bed. Umbreon, however, continues talking, and the tone seems somewhat threatening.
“Hey, don’t worry. He’ll recover. And I don’t plan on hurting him. Actually, do you know where the mangoes are? I’m going to make him a cupcake!” I say cheerfully.
Umbreon points to the top shelf of his nightstand. I grab a mango, spin around, and say in my best Pinkie Pie impression (which I hope is good, since I lived with her for six months), “Let’s get delicious!”
Waking up next to Sunny never bothered me before, but today was different. It was awkward. After last night, I wasn’t sure if we were a couple, if we were just friends, or what have you. It’s confusing.
When Sunny wakes up, she acts like nothing ever happened last night. At least, not that I can see. She is very unpredictable on the inside. I figure that the only way I’m going to get answers is if I confront this situation head on.
“Hey, Sunny?”
“This seems familiar. Yes?”
She’s right, this is how last night started. “Well, about last night…”
“I’m a terrible kisser, aren’t I?”
“WHAT?! No, it’s not that! It’s just…why? Why did you do that? I know you’re random, but it’s a controlled randomness. You had a reason.” I finally got a huge weight off my shoulders. Now, for a reason.
Sunny blinks, then slaps me with a wing. “You are really dense, are you? WHY would I kiss you? Because you are the first pony that I like in a romantic sense, as opposed to a platonic sense! THAT’S WHY!”
Ooooooohhhhhhhhh. Dang, I royally messed up. I mentally facehoof, as outside I try to defend myself. “OKAY! I’m sorry! I’ve just never done this before. I just didn’t know exactly what you meant when you did that. For all I knew, it was just another one of your moments.”
Sunny looks amused. “You thought that because you said you’d never kissed a mare before, I accepted it as a challenge?” I nod. “Why am I not surprised? Now, are you satisfied? Or still confused?”
“Are we a couple or still just friends?” Hey, I’m a curious colt. And not very tactful.
“I don’t really know, actually. I guess we’re just us.” Sunny replies in a confused tone.
Dang, not even Sunny knows. “That’ll work, I guess.”
“OK! NOW HURRY UP OR WE’LL BE LATE!!!!!!” Sunny yells at me. Thankfully, I went to sleep as a Pegasus, so it’s not quite as bad as it could be. Still, message received.
The morning class was boring as all get out. I think that’s going to be normal. I had a ton of spare time, between my mom doing paperwork, my mom running a Gym, and my mom refusing to get a babysitter. So I read. Mostly about Pokemon. Thus, I know almost anything as far as facts go about each Pokemon.
The afternoon, however, is the fun one. Field class. Which means some good old fashioned Pokemon battles. Learning on the fly. What could be better? (Sunny would probably just say something like a triple layer cake with three different flavors and chocolate frosting all over. And as long as one of those flavors was mango, I would agree.)
Flurry splits us up, between the ones with Pokemon, and the ones without. She then tells us to let all our Pokemon out, and just see exactly what we have. After a flash, I see an assortment of Pokemon that one would expect for some beginners. A few Pikachu’s, a few Charmander’s, a few Snivy’s, and the like. Last up is Sunny, who lets out her Togepi. Nopony really pays her any attention, until I see her pull out a second Pokeball. Wait, she has a second one? What is it?
A moment later, she flashes the ball, and we all get treated to the sight of a Tyranitar. It towers over all of us, standing at 6 and a half feet tall, and almost seems like it’s challenging us to fight it. The rest of us, to our credit, only jump back a step. Vaporeon and Glaceon don’t seem fazed, but then again nothing usually does, and they have the type advantage.
Flurry hears the commotion, and turns around to see a Tyranitar with Sunny on its head. “What the-“she shoves her hoof into her mouth to keep from teaching new language “is going on here?!”
Sunny, with her usual expression on her face (a smile), answers in the way nopony expects. “It protected me from a horde of Blitzle, and hasn’t left me since.”
Everypony else stares slack-jawed. I, however, ask her something very important. “Why didn’t you use it when Togepi was stolen?!” I am slightly upset, in case you can’t tell.
“Because the building wouldn’t support it! Duh!” Sunny explains as if it’s all better.
That countered my argument. Flurry, however, looks it up and down, and says “This thing is incredibly strong. The last time I saw another Pokemon that strong was Starlight Glimmer.” She then pulls out a Pokeball, and her Dragonite flashes into existence. “Mind if we fight?”
Bring it on! Nothing has stopped me before! Tyranitar says in response, even though only the Pokemon and I can understand him. Sunny, however, looks like she’s a bit apprehensive. “The problem is, I’ve never fought in a battle with him without him destroying the surrounding hundred feet. So, I’m going to have to decline your offer, Professor.”
A chorus of “Awwww, come on!” rings around the clearing. Tyranitar, however, flings Sunny off of his head, and gets into a fighting stance. Apparently, Sunny isn’t in charge with this. I back up to what I deem to be a safe distance. This could get messy.
Tyranitar immediately leads off with a Dark Pulse. Dragonite gets out of the way by taking to the sky. I soon realize that Dragonite has the advantage of mobility. Sunny had better think of some way of countering that.
As for Sunny, she just lets out Togepi, and now starts to take control. “Rock Throw.” She says. Tyranitar chucks a rock at Dragonite, but Dragonite again gets out of the way. Now, Flurry decides offense is the way to go.
“Dragon Tail!” Immediately, Dragonite rushes in, with a glowing tail, and starts to swing it at Tyranitar.
Tyranitar, however, is taking none of it. He simply grabs the tail as it’s swinging, and uses Slam on Dragonite over and over again.
Flurry looks a little stressed, but quickly thinks of something. “Dragon Breath!”
Dragonite starts shooting an energy beam right at Tyranitar. Sunny, however, tells Tyranitar to use Dark Pulse. The two moves clash, but Tyranitar isn’t a very great special attacker. Eventually, the Dragon Breath reaches Tyranitar, and knocks it over. Dragonite then lands, and Flurry shouts “Sky Uppercut!” This could hurt for a Rock and Dark Type.
However, before Dragonite can attack, it gets hit by a Hyper Beam out of nowhere.
Technically, it didn’t come out of nowhere, it came out of Togepi. But that’s a minor detail. I had noticed Togepi using Metronome earlier, and apparently it turned into Hyper Beam.
Anyways, Dragonite falls over as well. Tyranitar manages to get up first, and uses Rock Throw. A direct hit! But then, Dragonite uses its own Hyper Beam, and proceeds to K.O. Tyranitar.
The students cheered as Tyranitar went down. It was loud, so it hurt my ears. Sunny quickly ran over to Tyranitar. She doesn’t even notice that Togepi is glowing. The rest of the class does, including me. I try to gesture at Sunny to turn around, but she’s too focused to see that Togepi is evolving.
After the light dies away, I see what Togepi has now become. First off, it just about doubled in height, so while not as tall as a pony yet, it isn’t a baby. Other noticeable changes, it grew wings, and its shell has disappeared, but the blue and red triangles are now a part of its white fur. And the name change. Can’t forget that. Now, its name is Togetic.
Sunny finally realizes that all of us (including Flurry) are staring behind her. She turns around, and sees that she now has a Togetic. I quickly cover my ears in anticipation for the shout of joy that is undoubtedly coming.
It was in vain. Her shout probably shattered windows, and my ears were assaulted by the sheer about of joy. Fortunately, she was a Pegasus, so she didn’t break anything again. Thank Luna.
Flurry now attempted to regain control over the class. She was failing, however, since every single student ran over to Sunny and her Togetic. I walk over to Flurry and ask “Should I get their attention?”
After a nod, I turn towards the mob of students, and Screech. Surprise, it worked. They turn around after rubbing their ears, and see me and Flurry waiting there.
“Thank you, Cloud. Anyways, that was a Pokemon battle. If you plan to compete, you will be a part of many a battle. But that doesn’t mean you are in charge. Pokemon aren’t stupid; well, maybe Slowpoke; and they act without your guidance. Your job as a trainer is to coach your Pokemon. Think of yourself as a hoofball coach. You can tell them how to play the game, but in the end, they play the game, and they do it how they see fit in the heat of the moment.
“Now, let’s split up. Grab a partner and look at each other’s Pokemon. No fighting yet. Just look at what they are and how they work.” Flurry finishes.
Sunny immediately grabs me and drags me over to the far side of the field. After we both let out our Pokemon (fortunately, Tyraniter is awake), I yet again ask Sunny about why she didn’t show me Tyraniter before.
“Silly, because I have to keep some secrets for a little while. And we haven’t exactly had an opportune time to let him out.”
“Ah. Well, we know each other’s Pokemon quite well, so what will we do?”
“Simple. We go into further detail!” Sunny cheers. Well, this was going to be fun. We spent the rest of the class going into detail about each of our Pokemon.
Now, I could have gone into detail as far as how each and every day went, but it all just blended together. The morning classes were boring, the afternoon classes were similar (I was a bit above the rest of the class in the afternoon), and Sunny was being her usual enigmatic self with a side of sheer joy.
Now, Flurry Heart’s birthday is coming up. We actually have a few days off of school for it (in an actual school, we wouldn’t, but since Flurry set it up, she makes the rules), so most students are going to be relaxing and chilling and all-around trying to forget about academy. I, however, have to go meet my mother at the station. She did say she would be coming for Flurry’s Birthday.
Me and Sunny are waiting at the station, at 10 in the morning, sitting there with some idle chat. Mostly sports. Hay, Hoofball and Buckball are awesome. She just can’t see that Cloudsdale isn’t a team worth rooting for. I’m trying to convince her that, but she keeps shooting me down. Togetic is flying around with my team, and all of them are quite restless, just waiting for the train. Even Vaporeon is antsy, and that never happens.
Finally, the train pulls in. It doesn’t take long to pick out mom, as she sticks out in a crowd being a thestral. It doesn’t take her long to pick us out because of the crowd of Pokemon around us.
She then rushes over and hugs me. Naturally. “CLOUD! I missed you sooooooo much! The house is too quiet without you around!”
“Mom? I (wheeze) think you (hack) broke a (cough) rib!” I manage to get out. She finally let go, and proceeds to look over at Sunny. Before mom can decide to hug her, Sunny takes the initiative and hugs her first. I snicker, mom hears, and she pulls me in for a group hug. “DANG IT!”
“Hello, Ms. Song!” Sunny says in her cheery voice. “How was the trip?”
“It was fine, Sunny. But now that I’m here, it just got a lot better.” Mom replies.
“YAY!” Sunny shouts. “Now, let’s go to the castle!” and she flies off. She never slows down, does she?
Mom just looks puzzled when we take off. “How did she know I was staying in the castle?”
“Mom, just don’t question it. It will be better for you if you do.” I reply.
Mom still looks confused, but heeds my advice, given that I have lived with Sunny for longer.
We catch up with Sunny before we get to the castle. Once we touch down, we see Flurry right away, yet again sticking out with the absolutely massive wings. Seriously, her wings are just so large, it dwarfs all us lowly pegasi/thestrals. Anyways, Flurry then comes over and hugs mom first, then Sunny, then me. At least she didn’t try to kill me.
Anyways, Flurry leads us into the castle. “Mom and Dad wanted to see you, Sky. At least before the party.”
Mom looks like she’s been through this already. “If Cadence is trying to hook me up again, the answer’s no.”
Sunny and I just burst out in laughter. When I realize that it was a serious comment, I only laugh harder. Sunny is practically squealing she’s laughing so hard.
Finally, after about ten minutes, I stop laughing enough to look somewhat sorry (but not really). We then continue to the throne room. There, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Prince Shining Armor are waiting for us there. Naturally, in the face of royalty, I bow. Sunny and Mom follow suit.
After we rise, Mom immediately goes on offense. “Don’t try to hook me up again. I’m sick of it.”
Cadence has the decency to look offended. “Not this time, Sky. I just wanted to share a drink between friends.”
Mom just glares. “I don’t drink alcohol. I’m sober.”
I decide to pipe up quickly. “She doesn’t even keep rubbing alcohol in the house.”
Cadence and Flurry snicker, Sunny outright laughs, and Shining Armor just smiles.
Cadence looks over to me and Sunny, and smiles knowingly. “I sense some young love in the room.” She then winks.
Right, freaking Princess of Love. I immediately start to disprove it, saying stuff like “we just live in the same room” and “we are a bit young”, but Sunny kills my defense with one action.
She kisses me on the cheek.
She does that a lot when she wants to shut me up. It works with a 100% completion rate. Unfortunately, she usually does it in private. This time, she did it in front of the Princess of Love, the most successful Trainer in history, the Prince of the Crystal Empire, and, most importantly, my mother.
This is going to be awkward.
Cadence doesn’t say anything, thankfully. She started it. Shining Armor just smiles, knowing exactly who is going to freak out. Flurry Heart just steps back, waiting on her questions for a little while. And getting out of the way.
My mom immediately charges over and starts asking questions rapid fire. “HOW LONG HAS THIS BEEN GOING HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU KISSED YOU DO REALIZE THAT YOU ARE JUST A TEN YEAR OLD HOW COULD YOU NOT TELL ME WHEN YOU WROTE TO ME!!!!!!!!!!!”
Umbreon gets between mom and I, making sure she doesn’t kill me. I start to answer questions. “It was after the first day of class, and it was all her. Ask Sunny for a number. Yes, I do realize that I’m still just a kid. And you’re much funnier when you’re angry.”
“I count 37 times so far!” Sunny pipes in helpfully.
If looks could kill, mom would have just killed me slowly, painfully, and torturously. Instead, she looks at Cadence, and says “If it’s all the same to you, I’d like that drink now.”
Three hours later, and mom is smashed.
I mean full on K.O.ed. Espeon is carrying her back to her room, with mom mumbling in her sleep. Something about grandfoals. I think.
Shining Armor and Cadence can apparently hold their fluids. That, or they weren’t drinking anything alcoholic. Either or. They were following behind us, guiding us to mom’s room. Of course, they were stumbling as well, and Sunny was making sure they didn’t fall over. A tall order when both of them are about twice your size.
Anyways, we make it to mom’s room, and after setting her in her bed, we leave as quickly as count of how many times she hit on dad.”
“No wonder she doesn’t have alcohol in the house. The thought of her constantly buzzed scares me.”
Flurry nods. “Especially since she’s a guard.”
“Sure thing. WAIT! Did she take you with her?”
Flurry looks shocked, then says “She didn’t take me, I went with her. She watched me during the day, I watched her at night. I made sure she didn’t run away with any stallion. I wasn’t always successful, but I tried.
“It was one of those nights that she snuck off that you were created.”
“ACK! STOP RIGHT THERE, EW EW EW EW EW EW EW EW!” I yell.
“Oh, I just forgot, we should ask her who your father is.” Flurry remembers.
“Tomorrow. I just want to relax for now.” I say.
Flurry nods, then Sunny grabs me and drags me away. Off to do whatever she decides. With very little input from me.
After dinner, we went back to our dorm room, and settled down for the night. “Sunny, did you really have to kiss me in front of my mom? I would have handled it if she wasn’t there.”
Sunny just giggles. And flashes me a knowing smile. “Your mom would have found out anyways. Cadence was there, remember?”
“Frick.” There goes my argument. Then again, Sunny has yet to lose an argument. She has logic in her brain. She just doesn’t show it when she’s goofing off.
Hopefully, mom won’t make a big deal out of it tomorrow. But my thoughts are she will torture me endlessly about this. I’d better prepare. This could get hairy.
The next day saw Sunny and I standing in front of the Crystal Palace, with a couple gifts. After we left last night, Sunny had dragged me along for gift shopping. I don’t know where she gets the bits from, since she bought quite a few things last night, and that first shopping spree when I arrived, and she’s been paying for quite a bit of our meals. I actually asked her this morning, and the response was, “Military mom, dad who works for a government regulated system, long hours, they make a ton of bits. More than we need.”
I probably should have seen that one coming, but I didn’t. We walk into the palace, and then walk up towards the throne room. I’m guessing that’s where the party is, since the palace isn’t that big. Mostly sleeping chambers, I would guess.
I was right. There’s a few guards standing out front of the throne room. As we walk up, they stop us. “The throne room is closed for a private function, please come back later.”
“They’re with me!” mom shouts from behind us. Thank Luna. The guards apparently recognize Sky Song, and they let us in. Inside, I see several Elements of Harmony, most notably Pinkie Pie, but also Twilight, AppleJack, Rarity, and Fluttershy. No Rainbow Dash, but I think there was a Wonderbolts show today in Manehatten.
The reason I say most notably was Pinkie, is she noticed Sunny, and proceeded to charge over and tackle Sunny to the ground. No one really questions it. It wasn’t just the elements and Crystal royalty. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna made it. And I thought there was too much royalty when Twilight visited. I can almost smell the sheer magical power in the room. I say almost, because I really smell the mangoes in the fruit bowl. And they smell GOOOOOOOOOD!
The Pokemon begin to split up. Leafeon goes over with Fluttershy, and they both just stay on the edge of the party. Umbreon stays on my back. Espeon and Glaceon mingle with the rest of the crowd (I swear they act like they are ponies instead of Pokemon). Vaporeon goes off to the side and relaxes. Jolteon goes over to Flurry Heart’s team, and begins to do…something. I assume chatting, but it could be Jolteon instigating a fight. I never can tell with him.
Anyways, mom grabs me and drags me over towards Flurry, who is chatting with all the other princesses. Upon arrival, Flurry hugs mom then introduces me to the rulers of the nation. I just stand there, as Celestia and Luna look me over. Have I ever told you that I don’t like being watched intently? Well, it goes ten-fold for when royalty do it.
Luna speaks first. “Thou wants to be a guard?” I nod. “Well, I have an opening that thou could fill.”
“I’m going to have to decline for now for multiple reasons. One, I’m only ten. Two, I want to compete with Pokemon. Three, I don’t want who I’m related with to determine where I guard. Four, I would rather guard Hollow Shades. Five, I’m nowhere near done with my training.” I list off.
Luna goes slackjawed, Celestia giggles, and mom and Flurry facehoof. Cadence changes the topic. “So, how is it with you and Sunny, anyways?”
(Expletive) my life. Did she really have to go there? Mom turns towards me, and asks the same question. But, before I can answer, something grabs my hind legs and drags me towards away. I turn around, and see Sunny and Pinkie. “NO! HELP! PLEASE, DEAR SWEET LUNA HELP ME! THERE IS FIVE ALICORNS THERE, CAN’T SOMEONE HELP ME PLEASE!!!!!” I shout in vain and the two energetic mares slowly drag me away. I can see them all laughing at my misfortune.
After the two mares drag me across the room, they let go of my legs. “What did you two want?”
“Simple, change me into a thestral, and let me go scare some ponies.” Sunny says with a smile.
“Fine, but I’m going to change too, see if I can get mom to do a double take.” I reply.
After slapping the bracelet on both of our wrists, and putting the bracelet back in my bag. I walk back over towards the posse of princesses, who don’t see me coming. I slide in next to mom. “Hey, Cloud. What did…” she looks at me. “What is this?”
“They wanted some help pulling a prank. What, is there something in my teeth?” I ask in feigned confusion.
All the princesses (minus Flurry, since she knows where this is going) are giving me puzzled looks. Mom is giving me an exasperated look. “I thought you got that bracelet fixed!”
I had this planned for a while. I knew just what to say. “The bracelet’s fine.”
“Then explain how you are just now a Pegasus?”
“I’m not a peg-“I start as I look back, and pretend to be in shock to see feathered wings instead of leathery ones. “Sonuva goat.” I say. I must admit, my acting has been spot on. Flurry and I worked on this for weeks. And it is totally worth it.
Flurry pretends to be concerned. “Where is the bracelet? Is it with you?” she asks.
I reach into my bag and pull it out. “Well, I’m not seeing anything different. What about you, Flurry?”
She grabs it with her magic. “I’m not sure. It doesn’t seem like it’s broken. Maybe it’s you.”
“I thought it being me was the problem with it the first time? Did the effect stay on me?”
“Maybe.” Flurry says. Then she whips it over and slides it onto mom’s hoof. One flash of green light later, and mom looks at the bracelet on her hoof. “What did you do?!” She turns around and sees feathery wings instead of leathery ones. “Sonuva (Expletive).”
Flurry and I immediately start to roll on the ground in laughter. Luna even joins in with a cackle. After I finally calm down, I start to explain what that all was. “The bracelet has no limiter. It will transform any thestral into a Pegasus and vice versa. That’s the only way it’ll work on me. It has the side effect of working on any other Pegasus there is.”
If looks could kill, I would be dead, and mom would be pounding away at my corpse. “Why did you think this would be funny?” She asks in a tone that says “If you don’t come up with a good reason, I will ground you for so long you will forget what the outside world is like.”
I do the smart thing. I point a hoof at Flurry and say “It was her idea.”
Whoops, bad mistake. Now the alicorn is glaring at me. Fortunately for me, Cadence decides to distract her daughter and my mother in one fell swoop. Unfortunately… “So, is Sunny a nice mare?”
(Expletive) you too, Cadence. Now I have to deal with that again.
However, I notice something odd. 3, 2, 1…
“SURPRISE!!!!!!” Sunny shouts as she drops into the conversation. Literally.
Everypony else takes a startled step back. I just stand there, having known it was coming (granted, it was for about three seconds, but that’s the most warning you’re gonna get with her).
Sunny then turns to Cadence and proceeds to ask, “Why are you asking Cloud here about me being a nice mare? Are you harassing him?”
Flurry bursts out laughing as Cadence tries to deny it. She doesn’t get far before Sunny points out “Thestrals have sharp hearing. Fess up, why are you harassing him?”
Cadence just sighs, and begins her defense. “I saw the love going back and forth between the two of you yesterday, and I just wanna know more about it. It’s a hobby of mine, being the Princess of Love.”
Sunny smiles, and trots back over to me. “Well, fire away!”
Wait…NO, NO NO, NOPE, SUNNY YOU (Expletive), WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO ME?
“So, Cloud Song, what do you like about Sunshine Drops here?” Cadence asks.
“DON’T CALL ME SUNSHINE!”
“Well, she’s incredibly forgiving, sort of wild, but not too much, and her happiness is contagious, almost like Pinkie Pie. Not to mention, she’s kinda cute. At least if the way the other colts stare at her during class is any indication. And when she tries, she’s really hot, I mean ‘supermodel’ hot.”
“So that’s why those colts aren’t doing well in class. We have a Siren in the room.” Flurry says as if it solves the world’s problems.
“Dawwwwww, so cuuuuuuuute.” Cadence squees. “Alright, Sunshine, what do you like about Cloud Song?”
“DON’T CALL ME SUNSHINE! Well, he’s blissfully innocent, really smart, has quick reactions to go with his quick wit, can handle my brand of crazy, and is rather cute when you fluster him like this.” And she kisses me on the lips, hard. Is she trying to eat my breakfast? Or is she trying to suffocate me?
After about thirty seconds, she finally releases me, and winks. I’m left gasping for breath. Sweet Luna, can she kiss. Celestia and Luna just stand there, jaws agape. Twilight is blushing heavily. Flurry is doing a “gag me” motion with her hoof. Cadence is also flabbergasted. Seriously, the PRINCESS OF FREAKING LOVE IS SHOCKED BY WHAT SHE DID! WHAT THE HAY!
Mom just looks back and forth between the two of us. She then says to Sunny, “I like you. My son could certainly do worse than to be with you. I have no qualms with this.”
Phew, mom isn’t mad. She then looks at me. “I’ll be expecting some grandfoals in a few years.”
(EXPLETIVE)!
Sunny just turns towards me, winks again, and walks away. “Good thing I’m supermodel material. Seeya, Cloud.” Is it just me, or are her hips moving back and forth more than usual? Fomp.
Well, it’s not just me. Come on, wings.
One of my wings slaps mom in the face.
Cadence manages to stutter out, “I g-guess I und-underestimated the a-amount of love she h-had.”
“No (expletive), Sherclop.” I snark back.
None of the other mares can even function now. Is it the fact that she’s not that much older than me? Or is it that she did that period? Cadence asks a rhetorical question. “How does she have that much love? How does she keep it hidden?”
“I have a theory. Her home life was terrible. She even told me one time that her parents didn’t love her. If her parents don’t love her, she doesn’t love them. So, if changelings can eat love, then love must be something physical. Usually, you gain love, either through other ponies, or through just your own capacity to love. Since she didn’t love anypony before, all her love has been stockpiled. Now that she has a way to vent her love, she is venting ALL of it. So, long story short, I’m screwed in every sense of the word. And she’s perfect bait for changelings.”
Cadence just blinks, and nods. “That makes sense, somewhat. But how does she hide it? I see almost below average levels of love. But when she kissed you, the amount of love she radiated was astronimical.”
“Don’t ask me. I can’t sense love like you.”
The other princesses (and my mom) start to recover. Some at differing speeds. Twilight takes the longest, Flurry takes the shortest. I start to walk away, but Celestia grabs me with her magic, and drags me back into the group. “Don’t worry, just one more question.”
How bad could this be?
“Who is your favorite princess?”
(EXPLETIVE EXPLETIVE EXPLETIVE)!!!!!!!!!!
“Do I have to answer?” I ask hopefully. All five princesses and mom nod. “Dang it.”
The problem here is no matter what my answer is, I get four of the five most powerful beings in Equestria who aren’t very pleased. I’m sure they won’t do anything, but still, I try not to make enemies that I can’t beat easily.
“Okay, first is Luna, because thestrals are nocturnal, so yeah. Second is Flurry, because I grew up watching her fight. Twilight and Celestia are somewhat tied, since I don’t have anything to go off of. Last is Cadence, because she kept trying to bring up my relationship in front of my mom.”
Cadence looks a little ticked off, but other than that, I think I managed that quite well.
And now, I make my daring escape from the presence of royalty, to raid the fruit dish for all of its mangoes.
After 3 months of boring morning classes and afternoon classes that had almost no structure, the class will finally graduate. I, personally, can’t wait. It’ll be nice to go and journey around with Sunny and our Pokemon. First, I’ll have to visit home. Otherwise, mom will track me down, and kill me. And I won’t be able to do anything about it.
She’s kinda awesome that way.
After a rather fancy (and unnecessary) graduation ceremony, Sunny and I went over towards the train station. The next train to Hollow Shades wasn’t due for another hour.
Now, since mom had essentially said “BREEEEEEEED!”, Sunny took that to heart.
Get your heads out of the gutter, nothing like that.
But anyways, ever since mom left, Sunny has been more…liberal with her kissing.
I’ve almost gotten an immunity.
But also, she’s been more public with it. She even did it in class once. Needless to say, my reputation in class went down by a long ways. Especially since Flurry caught it, and didn’t do a thing about it.
I swear, Flurry is so inconsistent with her rules. She doesn’t usually punish stuff, but I’ve seen ponies get punished for less than a kiss.
Or Cadence rubbed off on her daughter more that we know.
So anyways, I spent the next hour trying to keep Sunny from tasting my lunch. She was a thestral, and we thestrals have long tongues.
You figure out the rest.
Not that my traitorous Pokemon were any help. It was times like this where I wished that I couldn’t understand them. Then, instead of knowing they were laughing, I could pretend they were having simultaneous heart attacks.
When the train arrived, I wasted no time in getting out of Dodge. Unfortunately, the train ride was an overnight.
In other words, I was (expletived).
On the plus side, we had a bed. Now that I knew mom knew the princesses, I was no longer surprised by this.
“Cloud, do you wanna come in here for a sec?” Sunny says from the bathroom.
Naturally, I’m suspicious. “Why?”
“I completely forgot to ask you, but what is your favorite color?”
Favorite color. Hmmmm…didn’t really put a lot of thought into it. “I guess Gold. A color like your mane. Why do you ask?”
“To stall you, silly!” She then walks out, and I realize she’s wearing makeup.
Warning. Cloud.exe has shut down due to extreme levels of feminism. Proceeding to restart.
I had thought she was hot before. I mean, she certainly was easy on the eyes. However, now she went full on “I am going to (expletive) you senseless.”
Words would not do her justice. That, and I had pretty much lost all higher functions. About the only thing my brain knew to do was breathe, blink, and stare in awe at the mare that clearly knows her way around a makeup box.
I only vaguely remember climbing in bed a few hours later. I think before that, there was a few hundred kisses. Not all of them on my lips. But don’t quote me on that.
So, the next day, we got off the train. Sunny (thankfully) had removed most of her makeup. She left a little, but at least I could function. She had also gotten some earrings out and put them on. They were yellow teardrops (probably due to her full name), and while they weren’t too flashy, they certainly finished her look. Also, I like the gold color, and it matched her mane.
We took a rather roundabout tour through Hollow Shades, so I could show her where I grew up. We eventually made our way to the Gym, and I showed her around. The Gym was closed (mom was probably doing paperwork for both the guard and the Gym), but I have a key. I showed her the rather spooky ambiance, and the creepy, long, dark hallway. Essentially, I showed her all the scare tactics my mom used. Even got her to jump once.
The crew was happy to be home. I could see it on their faces. Even Vaporeon, who didn’t usually care about anything, was smiling, clearly happy to be at her old stomping grounds.
Finally, after an hour long tour, we made our way to the house. I flew in through the window, and unlocked the door. Just because she doesn’t care about chivalry, doesn’t mean I should just ignore it altogether. Just don’t expect me to do it all the time.
As I had guessed, mom wasn’t home. I showed her around. I did it in quite a bit of detail, since (according to Sunny) Sunny wasn’t going to live in Cloudsdale ever again. I immediately offered for her to live with me and mom in Hollow Shades. She accepted, whether it was because she really wanted to come over, or she didn’t have any other choice.
So, the two of us just hung out. We watched some of my old recordings of my mom fighting. Even her fight against Flurry Heart. Which, now that I looked at it, was a lot closer than most of Flurry’s fights. Apparently, a good strategy can overcome a clear strength difference. Unfortunately, Flurry’s team was just outright better, and came back from being down 5-3.
We then played some games. Umbreon beat the rest of us in poker (yes, Pokemon can play poker. It’s even legal. Except for psychic types.), and Sunny proved that she was brilliant at Monopoly. I would have accused her of cheating, but Espeon was in charge of the bank.
Finally, we hid under the table and waited for mom to get home. We were gonna scare the ever-loving (expletive) outta her. For once, all my Pokemon were in their balls, and we waited under the table for mom to walk through the front door.
A half hour later, and I was starting to cramp up. Mom was a bit later than usual. Finally, she came in the front door, carrying groceries. That explained it.
The two of us waited until she turned towards the kitchen, before we flew out from under the table, and landed on her back.
Mom squeaked, and immediately bucked the two of us off. She then turned around to see the two of us, and immediately ran over to crush-sorry, hug me.
She was a lot gentler on Sunny, but Sunny still tapped out before mom let go.
“I thought the two of you weren’t coming back until tomorrow! I didn’t think you were going to come back right away!”
“Well, we weren’t going to stay in the blinding empire of shininess any longer than we had too. Even as a Pegasus, we were still getting headaches.”
“Ah. I wound up getting some sunglasses. Really powerful ones. There was also something about an implant, much like the crystal ponies had, but it involved eye surgery, so I politely declined. And by politely declined, I mean made a gag me motion with my hoof and said a few choice words.”
Sunny then popped in. “I bet those words were something like (expletive) (expletive) (EXPLETIVE) (racial slur), weren’t they?”
Mom immediately lost control of her jaw. She then looked at me. “It was her parents fighting. Speaking of that, would you mind if Sunny stayed here? She really doesn’t want to go home.”
Mom turned back towards Sunny. “How bad?”
“Bad enough that I wish my parents would get a divorce. Nonstop fighting, general abuse, and complete neglect were common things. I envy Cloud here, even though he doesn’t know his father. And, as for I feel about my parents, well…they can go (expletive) themselves in the (expletive) with a (expletive) so hard they won’t be able to (expletive) again. They’re a bunch of (expletives) who don’t give a (expletive) about anything but themselves, and THEY DON’T (EXPLETIVING) LOVE ME!” Sunny then curled up into a ball and started to sob.
Mom looked at me, and mouthed one thing. ‘What the (expletive)?’
I had no answer. I had never seen Sunny look so angry. She was still crying on the floor, which in and of itself was different than normal. I had never seen her cry before.
I knelt down next to her, and simply hugged her. Not saying anything, for risk of making it worse. It was a whole two minutes before Sunny stopped crying. “Sorry, Cloud. I didn’t realize I had that much on my chest.”
“Hey, don’t worry. I’ve had more than one instance that I had to shout. Besides, you taught me some new words today.”
“Still, I never realized just how much I hated them. Now, if it wasn’t illegal, I would murder them in their sleep.”
That got me wide eyed.
Mom reached over and hugged us both. Not crushing us, fortunately. “Sunny, you can stay here. My colt needs a marefriend like you. Just promise me you don’t go and kill your family.”
She then lifted her mane up from around her neck. Back there, there was a scar that looked like it was caused by something sharp. It also looked deep. “This is from when my dad nearly killed me for talking back. I was fortunate my mom tackled him. We couldn’t have dealt with the charges. On top of probably both my parents losing my jobs, I would have been thrown into a random orphanage. They then threatened me not to tell by warning me that if I told anypony, they would kill me for real. I want the two of them thrown in jail for so long, they forget what the world is like outside of jail.”
“I can have that arranged.” Sky said, and not fifteen minutes later, with me and mom in armor, the three of us took off towards Cloudsdale with one mission in mind.
Make sure Sunny’s parents were locked up for good.
Now, despite our evidence, if the three of us apprehended Sunny’s parents, it wasn’t very likely that any court would believe it.
Thus, we went to the Cloudsdale guard, to see if we could get one of them to sign on.
Naturally, the captain wanted to see mom, since she’s a captain. He seemed like a nice fellow. His name was Thunder Clap, appropriate, since his coat was a deep, rich blue, with a bright yellow mane. All of that was underneath his armor, which was a lot lighter than ours. It was white, with a bit of gold trim.
Also, he had a level head.
“So, you’re telling me that she said she was almost killed by her father, who is one of the highest ranking members of the weather factory, and in order to protect himself, he threatened to kill her if she spilled the beans, which means she’s now as good as dead if her parents find out. And that doesn’t even include the broken bones received from beatings, and all the bribery in the hospital so they could keep her in their custody. It all seems a little far-fetched, but you are not a liar, Captain Song. I would much rather this not be true, if only so that I don’t have to arrest a Wonderbolt, but if it is true, due process must be given to them.”
“Correct.”
“Okay. The problem is, she’s the only witness, and we can’t arrest somepony on only one witness, especially if that pony is placing charges. Doubly so since she’s only 10.”
“Exactly. Which is why we need you to come with us. We have a plan.” Mom said.
“Is there anything else we need to bring?”
“A way to stay hidden. What more evidence do we need than a confession?”
Thunder Clap then got a sly grin. “I love the way you thestrals think. When do we start?”
Sunny added her two cents. “We should probably go there after about 1. If we’re going to be getting a confession, I’m going to need to appear alone, and probably have some sort of backup plan in case dad goes crazy. Which is more than likely.”
“Okay. I suppose we should do this tomorrow, then?”
“Yup!”
“The three of you can come over to my place for the night. I’ve got so much room, especially after the foals moved out.” The Captain offered.
It turns out our way to stay invisible is his wife, a unicorn named Rose Thorn. She apparently is quite powerful, since she lives in an area that requires a cloud walking spell. I left the bracelet back at my house, knowing that I would be asked about it, and not really wanting to explain it to every pony I met.
The plan is simple. Rose teleports into the house, and unlocks the door. Then, we all figure out where we want this conversation to happen. After that, Sunny sits in the open, with Rose, Thunder, mom and I hidden in the corners. After we hear enough, we walk in, charge her parents, and get them thrown in jail, with five witnesses. If they attack, Rose can hold them down long enough for the rest of us to sufficiently subdue them.
I offered Sunny my armor. She accepted, and after refitting a few straps (she’s a little smaller than me), Rose then works on turning the armor invisible, while still keeping Sunny visible.
I tuned them out. I was going to be in the same room as Sunny’s abusive parents, and forced to not immediately strike. In other words, I was (expletived).
We had settled on the living room.
It was the most open, largest room in the house. That, and she would be immediately visible from the front door.
It wasn’t too long before her parents walked into the house. Her father was a light blue Pegasus with a black mane named Stormy Night. Her mother was a light blue Pegasus with a white mane named FleetFoot. Now I’m really confused. How did she get her golden mane?
Anyways, the two of them were bickering over who would make dinner. Already confirming what Sunny had told me. The moment they saw Sunny, they marched over. “Looks like our daughter decided to come home.” Stormy Night said in a disdainful tone.
Sunny, to her credit, did not back down. Of course, she was wearing armor. “We need to talk. Now.”
Her parents both sat down on the couch opposite her.
“Now, I didn’t want to come back, but one of the friends I made said I should try to make up with my parents. He didn’t really give me a choice in the matter, and when he asked me why I didn’t, I said some really bad blood kept us apart. I don’t want to go away, but if you don’t act like parents, I very well might.”
FleetFoot smirked. “Is this about the incident?”
“If by incident, you mean incidents, then yes.”
“Sunny, we realize that you aren’t exactly happy with us-“
“BECAUSE YOU TRIED TO KILL ME!!!!!”
“-but we did it for your own good.”
“How is killing me for my own good?” Sunny asked in a tone that said ‘humor me.’
“Because,” Stormy Night said, “If you turned us in, you would have nowhere to go. We got away with it because you stayed quiet.”
“Not for much longer.”
Stormy started. “Y-you didn’t…”
“I filed a complaint with the guard the instant I got home. In about 15 minutes, you’ll be surrounded on all sides.”
Both Stormy and FleetFoot’s eyes burned with rage. Stormy yelled first. “DO YOU REALIZE WHAT WE’VE DONE FOR YOU?! WE GAVE YOU EVERYTHING! WE COULD HAVE GIVEN YOU TO AN ORPHANAGE! AND HOW DO YOU REPAY US?! BY BECOMING MORE ATTACHED TO THE MOST IRRESPONSIBLE PONY IN EQUESTRIA THAN TO YOUR OWN PARENTS! THAT’S (EXPLETIVING) HOW!”
Sunny didn’t give an inch. “WHY SHOULD I BECOME ATTACHED TO THE PONY WHO NEARLY KILLED ME?! WHO BROKE MY WING ONE TIME BECAUSE I DIDN’T DO THE DISHES! WHO BROKE A LEG JUST TO PROVE I SHOULD LISTEN TO YOU! WELL, YOU KNOW WHAT?! (EXPLETIVE) YOU IN THE (EXPLETIVE), YOU (EXPLETIVES)!”
“YOU DESERVED ALL OF THOSE! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH WE HAD TO SACRIFICE BECAUSE OF YOU?! OUR PUNISHMENTS COST US THOUSANDS OF BITS! I HAD TO NOT ONLY PAY THE HOSPITAL BILLS, BUT ALSO MAKE SURE YOU COULD COME HOME AFTERWARDS! WE BOUGHT YOU EVERYTHING YOU WANTED! THAT’S ABOUT 10 THOUSAND BITS! AND YOU’RE GONNA COME RIGHT OUT AND ARREST US!” Stormy shouted back.
He then pulled out a knife and went to stab Sunny in the neck. He didn’t make it far.
Rose Thorn held the two pegasi still, while having the three of us (and Sunny’s armor) reappear.
Thunder Clap then announced, “Stay down. The two of you are under arrest for bribery, blackmail, assault and battery, and attempted murder. Do not attempt to escape. Doing so will just add to your already lengthy criminal records.”
“Sorry, dad. You didn’t give me everything I wanted. I wanted a family. You were just related to me.” Sunny said in a voice that made it sound like she didn’t want it to go like this.
“Kid, what will you do now? You have no family. We never told any of our relatives about you. You have nowhere to go.”
I stepped in. “She’s living with me. Now, you’ve already gotten lucky. If it was up to me, you would have been killed the moment you sat down.” It was true. I was standing right behind them.
Another thing. Who puts a couch in the middle of the living room?
“You have no evidence! How can you convict us?”
“We all heard you admit to nearly killing her, and hospital records can be dug up. Anypony who worked on her can be called in and testify against you.” Mom pointed out.
Sunny’s parents just slumped over in defeat.
A week later, and they pleaded guilty.
Not that it helped them any. They got a life sentence, with possible parole in about 50 years. As opposed to either life with no parole, or the death penalty.
During that week, we seized her house. Now, Sunny owned a house in Cloudsdale. Completely paid off.
The press went crazy. Naturally. But when a Wonderbolt and a weather factory executive get arrested for attempted murder, well, it tends to make everything explode.
Also, Sunny is now my adopted sister/marefriend.
It’s incredibly confusing. Believe me.
Now, the three of us were flying back towards Hollow Shades. Sunny and I were going to take a few days to try to relax. And get used to being siblings. That’s gonna be weird as all get out.
Then, we would go out on a journey.
Sunny has expressed a desire NOT to compete, which means she’ll be going with me simply to hang out with me.
I, however, had a plan as far as where we would go. We would first head to Vanhoover, then go south to Seaddle, a bit east to Las Pegasus, then torch the east coast, with Baltimare, Phillydelphia, Manehattan, and Ponyville. Then, I would come home and challenge mom. All in all, the eight Gyms I would be facing would be tough as nails (except Ponyville, but it’s not supposed to be a challenge), but I felt ready.
The moving crew arrived today with all of Sunny’s stuff. And sweet Luna it’s a lot. A high definition TV, several movie players, a gaming console, and about 50 gazillion board games.
And the makeup. Can’t forget about the 30 pounds of makeup.
On top of that, there was a bunch of small stuff, such as old toys that held sentimental value.
The first day she was here, we spent it all unpacking and putting stuff away. Our house only had two bedrooms, since it was only me and mom living there.
“Sunny, where will you be comfortable sleeping?”
“I can sleep in Cloud’s room, mom.”
“Celestia, I will never get used to that. You sure?”
“We’ve been sleeping in the same room for the past few months now. Don’t worry.”
“There isn’t any room in there as is. His Pokemon are spread out all over the place at night.”
“Did I say same room? I meant same bed.”
“Well, that’s good-wait, WHAT?!”
I decided to put in my two cents. “The Pokemon slept on the other bed.”
Mom just stood there. She had a faraway look in her eyes. It was rather unnerving.
Where should the TV go? Espeon popped in. Uhhh…what’s going on here?
“Mom just learned that we slept in the same bed for the past few months.” I said.
Why is that a big deal? She wasn’t much better when she babysat Flurry. Umbreon said.
“Hey mom, where do you want the TV?” I ask in an attempt to snap her out of it.
“In the living room, on the south wall. Now, we’re going to have a talk about this new information.” She then grabbed the two of us by our ears and dragged us into my-well, mine and Sunny’s-room.
After we made it, she shut the door, and looked at the two of us. The next 30 seconds were awkward silence. For those of you who have been lectured by your parents, you know what it’s like.
“Why did it happen?”
“Practical reasons, actually. I was waking up with all of my Pokemon on top of me, and given that Vaporeon is heavy, I wasn’t able to get out of bed. Sunny offered her bed so that I could wake up when I usually do.”
“Have the two of you done anything-“
“NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO nothing like that, mom!” I yelled.
“Yeah, mom. Get your head out of the gutter.”
Mom then made a pouty face. “Thank goodness. I had a bet with Cadence. She thought you were going to…ya know. I said no. Thankfully, I’m right.”
“So, the only reason you’re happy is because you get some money from it?”
“Yup.”
Sunny then says the only thing that could make this conversation more awkward. “Pervert.”
We spent the rest of the day putting away boxes, while trying not to think about our mom like that. Mom, meanwhile, decided that working at the office is better than trying to win an argument with Sunny. A fact I can confirm.
Day two saw me introducing Sunny to the guards. The guards tried to do some playful ribbing, but Sunny turned it right back around on them.
“So, you think that a soft Pegasus like you can survive here in Hollow Shades?” Night Shade teased.
“You call me soft, but you wear armor to defend the place. Afraid you’ll get beat by a snow bunny without it?” Sunny retorted back.
I meanwhile, just sat in the corner and laughed at them. Hay, it was funny.
Night Shade then asked if she wanted to try on some armor. Now that she was, technically, the daughter of the captain, she was almost as popular as me. I was currently wearing my armor, and quickly got her suited up. I also used the bracelet to turn her into a thestral. Now, she was a light blue thestral with purple wings and a golden mane, covered in dark purple armor. Quite a color combination, and not in a good way.
Either way, she leapt out of the changing room (why we need a room to change, when we don’t normally wear clothes, is beyond me) and stared all of them down. And while they won’t admit it, the guards all took a step back. A few even messed their armor.
I finally showed them the bracelet, and told them the story of how we got it. Then told them the story of how we pranked mom at Flurry’s birthday party. Both stories had them rolling on the ground in laughter.
Then, we told them about what happened yesterday. None of them were surprised. I guess while I’m not around, my mom is a massive pervert.
Sweet Luna, my family is messed up. I have my mom, who liked to go out drinking and then…well, stuff. And now my sister, who is also my marefriend, who is the Element of Laughter version 2.0.
I dare you to say your family is stranger.
That night saw me and Sunny sitting at the train station. We were going to take a train to Vanhoover. From there, it would be a lot of walking.
Mom was trying to crush the two of us. Now that Sunny was her daughter, she went from ‘polite hug’ to ‘Imma kill you’. Not that Sunny minded.
“Mom, you can let go of us. We’ll be fine.”
“Nonsense, Cloud. I’m trying to give you as much good luck as possible. Shut up and deal with it.”
She couldn’t hug us forever, and when she finally let go, we had to get onto the train. We waved goodbye, and climbed onto the train, with full saddlebags. Thanks to magic, we had a tent, a couple sleeping bags, and several other assorted items. We wouldn’t need any on the train, as we were going to be in a sleeper car again. Which I’m glad for, since it’s a good 2 days non-stop from Hollow Shades to Vanhoover, and there would be several stops along the way. Have I mentioned I hate being in an enclosed space for extended periods of time?
