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Rose Bramble walked into Miss Cheerilee's classroom, the room adorned with many bright and colourful decorations that anypony could expect from an elementary schoolroom. It wasn't overdone or overpowering in any way, with its pictures of smiling suns, flowers, and various other motivational sayings and phrases, so in a way, it was rather pleasant. Following the crowd of other schoolchildren that drudged into the classroom walking straight to the desk on middle far left side of the arrangement, her name drawn on the top of the desk with a washable marker.
Slinging her saddlebag off of her back and sliding it under the chair, she pulled herself up into her desk and immediately planted her forelegs on top of it, followed by her head. Spring break was over, and Rose could only wish that it lasted for just another week. It was not like anything out of the norm happened for her, only the usual things that happened on weekends. There was spring cleaning around the house, she made music with her sister every so often, she went to the park, sometimes even the pond for a swim, but otherwise, it was a rather sleepy week.
As the other fillies made their way into the class, chatting about what their week entailed, Rose looked around the room. Many talked about vacations, a few talked about awesome things they did with their family, while others, like her, just remained silent and indifferent, secretly envious of the luckier children. As she looked around the classroom, she couldn't help but notice that one pony was missing, one very important pony.
Where was Miss Cheerilee? Usually she was at the front of the classroom, greeting everypony that walked past her, asking everypony to settle down before beginning what lesson was planned for that day. Her desk and the chair behind it was empty. Rose sat up and looked around, trying to see if she had been caught up with one of the other groups of children discussing their week. No sign of her.
So Rose tapped the shoulder of the pony in front of her and asked, "Where is Miss Cheerilee? Did you see?" The other child only looked to the front of the class before shaking her head, looking just as confused as she was. The filly behind her shared a similar response to her question. She couldn't ask anypony beside her; to her right was a desk that had been empty the entire year, and to her left was a wall.
It wasn't much longer until the teacher walked in, wearing her trademark cheery smile as she stood in front of her desk and looked every student in the eye before saying, "Settle down children, settle down..." Slowly the room quieted down, a few hushes amongst the dying noise as everypony directed their attention to the purple mare at the front of the class, who just smiled and spoke again in her usual jovial tone when the room was silent enough, "Welcome back everypony, I hope you all enjoyed your break! I look forward to hearing all of your stories of the fun times you had after class today, but before we begin, I have a special announcement to make."
Rose blinked and canted her head to get a better view of the front of the class, brushing her dark green mane out of her emerald green eyes. "We are going to be welcoming a new student to the class today. He's moved here all the way from Baltimare, so be sure to give him a nice, warm Ponyville welcome." Miss Cheerilee then looked at the door and gestured for the colt standing in the doorway to come into the classroom. "You can come in now!"
The entire room shuffled in their seats to get a good look at the new colt, Rose included. He was a brown pegasus with a light brown mane, colourfully streaked and highlighted a crimson red, and sported a cutie mark with two multicoloured feathers that crossed each other. When he came to a stop beside Miss Cheerilee, the mare looked at him with a wide smile and said, "Now, go ahead and introduce yourself to the rest of the class, young stallion. Why don't you tell us a bit about yourself as well before you choose a desk?" As the teacher finished, Rose only continued to watch the colt, wide and curious eyes on the new colt on the block.
"Just remember, Crimson," the pony who was going to be his teacher said, a cheery smile on her face. "Ponies here are some of the friendliest you'll meet. I have no doubt you'll make friends in no time. Now wait here a moment; I'm going to give the class the news!" Crimson gave his own cheery smile to Cheerilee, and watched her turn and enter her classroom before allowing the smile fade from his face. He was, overall, unconvinced by her words; he'd heard them multiple times before, and their novelty wore off after the first couple relocations.
Idly, Crimson just stared forward, subconsciously rubbing his nose with the back of a hoof as he waited yet again to have to reintroduce himself to another class, waited to introduce himself to ponies he knew he probably wasn't going to know for more than a year or so. It was what he'd grown accustomed to, even though there was a certain part of him that was lonely. He wanted to make friends, but there was little point in doing so when he was just going to wind up moving again...
Finally, Cheerilee called him into the classroom and Crimson took a deep breath before lifting his head and marching in, a cocky grin on his face. When she asked him to introduce himself, he waved to the ponies seated before him and looked over what would be his classmates. "Heeeyy, my name's Crimson Bristle. I come from... well, not just Baltimare. I've been to quite a few cities. I like reading, doodling, music, playing games, and poetry. Oh, and the thing I did for spring break was pack up to move here." He hummed for a moment in thought, trying to remember if he forgot anything, then looked over to Cheerilee to show he was finished.
"Well, we're happy to have you here, Crimson. I hope you enjoy the rest of the school year! Now, let's give him a Ponyville welcome!" Inwardly, Crimson sighed a little bit as the class began to tap their hooves on the top of their desk in make-shift applause, knowing partly that it was forced, and that he had become jaded to it after having to experience it so many times. When the applause began to die down, Crimson awkwardly ruffled the wings at his back before lifting up his things and carrying them over to one of the first empty desks he'd seen, a desk that was next to a light grey, almost white filly with really striking green hair.
He settled into his desk and arranged some of his things, very aware of the many eyes that were still on him. That was always the worst part of the introductions: how everypony stared after being noticed. Yes, he was new, but it was just so... unnecessary... There wasn't anything he could do about it though, so he just had to resign himself to slumping back in his chair, an almost distant look on his face.
Rose, like the rest of the class listened to the new colt's introduction. It was all about the first impressions, no matter what, and everypony was grasping for some sort of impression of which group this pony belonged to. Was he a sports-loving pony? Maybe he was more of the bookish type of colt? Or maybe just one of those lazy ponies that just got by on minimalist grades, only looking to have a good time with their friends and start some trouble where they could?
The description that the colt, Crimson Bristle, gave sounded... oddly rehearsed. He just blazed through it like it was nothing, and he had done it so many times before. Rose scratched the side of her head in thought. Maybe he was just shy and wanted to get away from the class's total attention? He certainly seemed like he wanted to speed this up and get it over with. He wasn't as shy as some of the other new students she has seen introduce themselves to a class though, some others would speak in more quieter tones, or shuffle in place while glancing at the ground. He did none of those things, which was kind of intriguing to Rose.
Not to mention the fact that he liked quite a few things that Rose also liked. While playing games and music were something pretty much anypony could agree was a fun thing to partake in, the one thing that really caught her attention was his liking of poetry. Normally it was only the young mares that had a fascination with poetry, and Rose was no exception. It went hoof in hoof with music in the form of lyrics, and one of her hobbies was writing or improvising lyrics to songs that she and her sister Honey Dew would create.
Already she began wondering what else he could possibly have in common with her, and she watched him, enthusiastically tapping her hooves on her desk as he walked to the empty one beside her, setting his stuff beside the chair and hurriedly sitting down. She didn't want to be rude, but she couldn't help but watch Crimson for a while, looking him over as he sat next to her, slumping in his chair and staring off into the distance. Every so often, some of her other classmates would glance over at him to see what he was doing, but since she was sitting right beside him, she could just watch him out of the corner of her eye as she pulled one of the scribblers out of her bag, setting it on the desk in its usual place.
When he took his seat at the desk, Miss Cheerilee spoke up once more in that cheery and friendly voice that was so easily recognizable by the schoolchildren and everypony she's ever taught, "Now, I know you all have some exciting stories that you would love to share with the rest of the class, and really..." she grinned slyly as she leaned against her desk, "... just jumping into a lesson without hearing some of them is just too boring. So! Let's go down the rows here and when it is your turn, tell the rest of the class what you did over the break! Violet, why don't you start...?"
So Violet began to eagerly recite how she and her parents went to Canterlot, but Rose wasn't listening to that. She was waiting and watching the new pony. He was a cool customer, she would give him that, and he looked kinda cute with his streaked mane and tail. She did want to get to know him a little better, maybe even become friends with him too. So while Miss Cheerilee was focused on the other students, she leaned as far as she could towards Crimson, trying to remain inconspicuous as she whispered to get his attention, "Psssst! Hey Crimson! You like poetry? That's just the same thing for me! I'm Rose, most of my friends and sister call me Rosy though." When she was certain she had his attention, she gave him a smile and continued, "Nice to see new faces in Ponyville! You just moved here right? Where exactly are you living now, if I might?"
Even as Cheerilee leaned against her desk and began talking, Crimson still didn't break his gaze away from the desk in front of him. For the time being, all he wanted to do was get back out of class, maybe go exploring around this new town, see what it had to offer. There were always a few interesting places he managed to find on his own, and it was one of the only solaces he could find whenever he moved somewhere new.
His attention only refocused when he heard a quiet "psst", followed by his name. After blinking a few times, he glanced over to the pony who'd spoken--the same filly with the white-ish coat and the green mane. He gave a half-smile to her as he listened to her talk; there was something pleasant about her voice, something that made it easy to listen to... Then there was also the fact that she was rhyming her words. He didn't catch on at first, but when her second slightly-stressed rhyme came around, he gave a bit of an impressed lift of his brow.
"Nice to meet you, Rose," Crimson replied with his own whisper, not taking care to not try and act as inconspicuous as possible like Rose had. "I'd like to say, I really like your prose. As for where I'm living... well, if I told you I knew--" Crimson's response was cut short when Cheerilee spoke up again, her voice that like a mother's might be when she's warning her child not to do something. "Rose, Crimson, it's rude to talk over other ponies. I understand wanting to make friends so soon, but have some respect for your classmates." Crimson awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck at that and glanced down to the desk, waiting for Cheerilee to turn her attention away again.
As he did so, his eyes fell upon the notebook he'd drug out with some of his other supplies. After a moment's contemplation, he took up one of his writing utensils and began to jot down some words onto the paper, his words surprisingly neat for a colt. That was lame; is she always so quick to put to shame? My last teacher was soon to blame, if she is too then it would be so selfsame. As for what I was saying: if I told you where I knew I was living, I'd be lying. What about you? Have you been living in Ponyville for a while, or are you a new arrival too?
When he finished writing, Crimson double-checked his spelling before folding the paper up, and glancing over to Rose with his own "psst". When he saw he had her attention out of the corner of his eye he lifted the note up just enough so it would catch her attention before turning his gaze to Cheerilee. He planted his face in his hoof with a bored expression and stared, until he saw an opening to move. When that happened, he reached over and planted the note on Rose's desk before returning to his previous position, waiting for the filly's response.
When Crimson responded to her whisper, she couldn't help but grin slyly. She knew that talking in class was something that Miss Cheerilee frowned upon, and Rose was no stranger to being scolded to not talk to others during class time. Perhaps it would be different from the other times, Miss Cheerilee seemed pretty preoccupied with the other ponies across the room who were telling their stories, so maybe her attention would be off just enought to sustain a whispered conversation.
No such luck. Miss Cheerilee had caught on, as she always did, scolding the both of them before they could even get past the introductions. Rose cast her eyes to her desk, suddenly feeling the heat of embarrassment as she quietly and obediently replied, "Yes Miss Cheerilee, sorry..." She sank into her seat waiting for the teacher to return her attention to the pony telling the story before looking back at Crimson, just in time to see him pull a notebook from his bags. Maybe he didn't want to talk anymore. She couldn't blame him really, it was because of her desire to get to know him that he got in trouble with the teacher.
So she folded her forelegs on the desk and rested her chin on them, absentmindedly listening to the teacher and whichever filly whose turn it was to discuss something, starting to daydream and think a bit as she stifled a yawn with a hoof. Rose glanced back to Crimson again, watching as he scratched a few things in his notebook with the pencil in his mouth. What could he be writing...? A few more minutes of wandering thoughts, and she remembered what brief bit he did say. He liked her prose.
Smiling to herself, proud of the fact that she impressed the new colt with her rhyming prowess, she almost didn't hear the retuning 'psst' that he was giving her. Snapping out of her daydream she glanced over to him, watching as he continued to look to see what the teacher was doing. They looked each other in the eye for a second and glanced down at the folded piece of paper under his hoof before looking at her again. Another sly grin spread across her face; he was going to pass her a note. Resuming her facade of attention, she waited for the pass to happen, and when that swift blur of motion that was him leaning over to plant the note on her desk happened, she quickly hid it under her own hoof and swept it onto her lap, unfolding it and reading it over.
An uncontrolled grin spread across her face as she read the neat lines. It may as well have been poetry, since it rhymed perfectly, and that made her very ecstatic. He really was a casual poetry lover as well. Never before has she met somepony, let alone a colt, who did that exact same thing she did. Replacing the paper on her desk, she took her own pencil and started to write on it, her own cursive flowing a little more than Crimson's neat lines, but was still easy enough to read. When she finished, she waited for that one moment the teacher looked away before leaning over and dropping the note on his desk.
Quick to blame is her claim to fame, but compared to other teachers, she's not the same. I've lived in Ponyville all my life, through thick and thin, peace and strife. My place is a shophouse near the edge of town, but I am confused to why knowledge of your home is down. Did you always rhyme like this too? It puts a smile on my face to see you do. Are your parents picking you up after class? I could show you around the town a bit, and tell you who's who.
If there was one thing Crimson could say for this note-passing, it was that it was helping pass the time faster. The fact that Rose could also rhyme as well as she did was definitely a plus. But... that left the time between handing the note off to Rose and waiting to get it back from her so he could write again. He had nothing to do in that time, but listen to whatever nameless filly or colt drone on about how awesome their spring break was. Once or twice, Crimson felt his eyes droop and his head nod slightly, and despite his best efforts to thwart such a thing happening lest he miss any kind of signal from Rose, it still didn't seem to do anything to help.
Luckily, he missed no such thing. Just a few minutes later, Rose dropped the note back onto Crimson's desk when Cheerilee wasn't looking. Rubbing his eyes a bit, Crimson unfolded the piece of paper and scanned his eyes over the cursive there. She had some pretty nice writing, too... but then again, she was a filly. Fillies did generally tend to have good writing. Shrugging to himself, Crimson took his pencil to the paper again, pausing from time to time to think of the best way to word some of his sentences.
My parents coming by after class is something I doubt; they've left me to my own devices more times than I could count. It's let me explore, however, and to me that's always been for the better. You'd be surprised at how many cool things you could find, opening your eyes and letting yourself unwind. How about you; are you an explorer pony, too?
As for my own rhyming, no, although it's not an opportunity I'll choose to forgo since it takes a certain kind of finesse and tempo. For this some have called me a psycho, but when all you have is a dictionary with which to pass time thorough, you start to find yourself become something of a maestro. I liked your first line, by the way; the way it flowed was pretty neat.
Speaking of, I think it might be nice to get a tour of this place from a native, even though this place doesn't seem all that massive. If there's one thing I've learned in my days of exploration, it's that there are just some places that are out of the question. Then again, that just makes them that much more fun to sneak into, until you get caught... then that becomes a whole 'nother issue.
Oh, and why I don't know much about my home? I just moved here; I've had little time to roam. I know the general way to get back to where I live, but all I know is that I live in a house. I have no other information to give. Unless you were wanting to know something more specific, then I'd be glad to give you an answer that isn't so cryptic.
After once more double-checking his work, Crimson folded up the piece of paper yet again and waited for the right opportunity to pass the note and not draw attention to himself or Rose. When that time came, he leaned over and tossed the paper onto her desk and began to doodle onto another piece of paper, acting as if that was what he'd been doing all this time.
It was a lot of writing he did, and Rose sat there staring straight ahead as she waited for whatever Crimson could be writing. He was obviously putting some thought behind it if it was taking a while, and it went along with the fact that she was expecting him to rhyme his words together as well. She still couldn't believe that he could do that as well as she could, she thought that she was the only pony in town that could knit her words so gracefully, and now to be able to hear it coming from somepony else, maybe these two could become fast friends after all.
Her attention snapped to the note as it landed back on her desk, flashing a grin to Crimson as she unfolded it. He had opened his notebook and continued doing something with his pencil, most likely to pass the time, but perhaps it was also to throw off Miss Cheerilee in case she were to catch on to their little secret conversation. She has caught notes going back and forth between ponies before, and she had a tendency to read them out in front of the classroom in an overly thespian way, especially if they were love notes. It made the class laugh, and one could see the shades of red that the culprits would turn from a mile away.
Her eyes darted from line to line of his neat writing, mouthing the words to herself to feel the pace and the flow of the words herself, smiling with every clever little twist of words that was made. Reading something like this was a treat she was rarely able to experience. As she neared the end of it, she furrowed her brow in confusion at what he wrote. He didn't know exactly where he lived? Sure he just moved here and all, but there must have been something he knew about his home if he was to be walking home by himself, landmarks or anything like that. She glanced up at Miss Cheerilee quickly before she took up her own pencil.
Your words are a treat to behold, and they make me smile as though I look upon gold. You show a skill that is far and few, nice to see in somepony as new. I explore when I can, discovering new places around town always has its pros, but most of my time is spent with my sister and parents. She's in this class, Honey Dew is her name, just on the other side of the class by the windows.
We both make music, and my skill with words is useful, as she plays the violin and I sing and carol. Lyrics are what I usually write, so my skill with rhyming needs to be at its height, lest the words clash and fumble. Come recess, I'll introduce you to her, just pay her some mind, she is a lot nicer than she seems.
What of your family? You said you were from multiple cities, so they must do something that involves a lot of travel, which I would guess is why you have so little time to unravel. What are some of those places like? The only other place I've been is Salt Lick City to visit relatives. I've always wondered what it would be like to visit Baltimare.
Rose glanced up to see what Miss Cheerilee was doing, waiting for the best opportunity to pass the note. The purple mare was looking at the two of them out of the corner of her eye as she nodded along to the story of the other classmate who was describing their spring break. This would be tricky, she was suspecting something between the two of them. Rose watched carefully, waiting for her eyes to look away for the briefest of seconds to slip the note to Crimson.
There. She looked away to see who was next down the row to discuss their holiday. Quick as she could, she leaned over and tossed the note back onto Crimson's desk, quickly going back to propping her head up with her hoof as though she did nothing at all.
It seemed like it took a lot longer for the note to come back this time. Was Rose having trouble coming up with something to respond with, or was Cheerilee just looking in their direction for a longer time? A quick glance to Rose, then to Cheerilee showed it was the latter, even if it wasn't a direct look. Inwardly he sighed as he looked back to the doodle in front of him. They were starting to walk on thin ice...
A few more minutes passed before Rose finally tossed the note back onto his desk. It was starting to get trickier to do this: Cheerilee had almost made her way to his and Rose's rows. Exchanging notes at this point was going to be really difficult, if not impossible. Still, he had a note to read now, so he opened up the paper and began reading what Rose had put down, smirking a little bit at her prose. At the mention of her sister, Crimson glanced up and over to the other side of the classroom and to the desks seated next to the window. There were about three or four children seated next to a window, though, so without any further knowledge of who 'Honey Dew' was, he was unable to see who Rose's sister was. And what did she mean by 'she's a lot nicer than she seems'...?
Putting that to the back of his head, Crimson set his pencil against the note and began writing, once more taking the time to think of certain words he'd managed to find in the dictionary. I couldn't really tell you the difference between cities. About all I could tell you is that some are more rainy, some are harder to breathe in at first, and some are more prone to quick-freeze. I guess the ponies there are different too, but they always seemed little more than a revue. Though I don't think I've been to Salt Lick City. What kind of place is that? Is it esprit?
I tried looking for your sister, but I'm afraid I missed her. Of course, I also don't know how she looks, so I can't just look for her by the books. I suppose I'll just have to wait until recess to meet her, though I have to wonder what you meant by her being a lot nicer than she seems? That's kind of a strange way to introduce your sister. I know I used the same rhyme twice here, by the way, but I was actually being kind of serious so it all works out.
You sing, though? That's amazing. I'm actually a little surprised that I can't think of many singing ponies that I've met. I can't wait to hear you sing, if you want to show me; it will be awesome, I bet! And your sister plays the violin? Your family must be full of musicians, right? What do your parents play? And your grandparents? Wow, I've never met an entirely family of musicians before!
After finishing his response, Crimson glanced up to Cheerilee, who was indeed staring at the two out of the corner of her eye again. However, just as he went to look back down to his paper, he saw her eyes dart away once more. Taking the opportunity, Crimson quickly slipped the note back over to Rose, not even bothering to fold it or check his spelling or see if there was a rhyme he could do better. Once he'd done that, he returned his attention to the doodling on the other piece of paper, hoping that the suspicious Cheerilee hadn't caught on.
Oh boy that was close. The note landed on her desk and Crimson was back in his chair just as Cheerilee looked up to call on one of the students two seats in front of him. Either Cheerilee was losing her edge, or she was letting this slide on purpose, which Rose doubted. It would probably be better to play it safe this time around and not write a note until the beginning of recess as they were practically playing with fire at this point.
That wasn't saying she couldn't read what he wrote though. Some of his descriptions of other cities were vague. Not only did he skip out on naming some more of the cities he had been to, but the general descriptions of the weather patterns could really apply to anywhere. Then there was the issue of him not noticing her sister. She took some time to read back through what she wrote on the opposite side of the page, and realized she really didn't describe her sister too much. Oh well, he was going to meet her soon enough anyway.
She had to stifle a giggle at the fact that he thought that her entire family consisted of musicians. Cheerilee glanced at Rose again, giving her a look of questioning and asked, "Is there something funny that you would like to share with the rest of the class, Rose?" The light gray filly looked up at the teacher and thought quickly, her cheeks reddening once again in embarrassment, her heart racing as she feared that their little note-passing operation had been busted.
"Nuh uh Mis Cheery, just a memory that I find really funny... just remembered it... yeah." Her voice trailed off as she sank back in her chair under the inquiring gaze of the purple mare. The teacher looked at Rose again for a few more seconds before looking at the clock on the wall to say, "Well, those were some very lovely stories children, and time sure went by very quickly. Go and have your recess now, and when you come back, we will start on arithmetic again. Hope you've all been practising!"
Half of the class groaned as they shuffled out of their chairs. Of course nopony practised, they weren't crazy enough to do that. Rose stuffed the note in the pages of her scribbler and stuffed that in her saddlebag, giving a heavy sigh as she walked with Crimson out the door, "Phew... that was close, huh? I got to that part where you thought that my family was... composed... of musicians." She paused and gave him a cheesy smile from the pun she made, "Sorry, I can be corny like that sometimes. Honey calls me a dork when I do that, but my dad and I just love our puns."
They both walked outside and they started to meander towards the playground, "Oh, right, my family... Well, they aren't musicians really. My grandma is a baker, and my grandpa is a blacksmith, not really much musical history there. My daddy, he's an ex-monster hunter and now he's a blacksmith just like his dad. Mum... she is a tailor, but she doesn't really talk about what she did before that. She does have a really cool looking sword that hangs on the wall of their room with my dad's sword though, and she said she used to use it a lot. I think she used to be some sort of swordspony too."
She remembered one other detail about his note too. One of the questions she asked had gone unanswered, the one about his family. Did he just forget to answer the question, or was there something he wanted to hide? Rose glanced back at the schoolhouse just in time to see Honey Dew walking out of the back door, trailing the rest of the kids. Maybe that was a question that could wait for later, Rose had to introduce her sister to her new friend.
"Oh hay, there's my sister right now, HEY HONEY! OVER HERE!" She waved a hoof frantically at her little sister to catch her attention, and when she almost reluctantly plodded over, looking just as... well, blank as she always did, Rose introduced the two in an overly excited tone, "Honey, this is Crimson, the new colt. Crimson, this is Honey Dew, my little sister. We were just talking about our families and stuff and how he thought that our entire family was composed of musicians and maybe you'd want to come along and help me show him around town after class so that he knows where everything is and doesn't need to get lost which would absolutely suck." She took a deep breath after that and grinned waiting for her sister's no doubt energetic and inspiring response.
Crimson gave a shaky sigh of relief after Cheerilee looked away, able to breathe easy now that he knew he'd gotten away with passing the note back to Rose. It was risky, and probably would've been bad to give himself that kind of reputation on his first day in this town, but part of him didn't care. He'd be gone soon anyway, right? It didn't really matter all that much.
At least, he relaxed until he heard Rose giggle beside him. Catching his breath in his throat, he glanced over to the filly, and then over to Cheerilee, only to wince slightly when she asked Rose what was so funny. He thought for sure that they were busted, even after Rose did her best to lie about the giggle. But, still, Cheerilee seemed to buy it and sent the class off to recess. Did that really work? Was she that easy to fool?
Whatever the case was, Crimson gladly hopped out of his chair and began stretching his wings, even if the promise of math after recess kind of ruined the excitement. Still, he waited for Rose to jump out of her seat as well before walking outside with her. He gave her a slightly confused, but amused look at the pun she made; puns weren't something he heard very often, but apparently she loved making them along with her daddy. He was a little disappointed to hear that her family wasn't entirely made up of musicians, but at least things sounded like they were going better for her than they were for him.
Especially when she began talking about them. Almost enviously, Crimson stared over at her as they walked, a little jealous of how interesting every pony she listed off seemed. His jaw dropped a bit when she mentioned her daddy being a blacksmith and retired monster hunter, the awe evident on his face. Even her mother sounded awesome, what with the sword she kept in her room. Why couldn't he have a family like that?
Just as he opened his mouth to comment on that, Rose shouted back over to the schoolhouse, waving to get her sister's attention. Crimson raised an eyebrow at how loud Rose could be, impressed a little bit. He didn't think fillies could get that loud unless they were angry about something but there she was, yelling in an excited voice instead. Curious, Crimson looked on to where Rose had been waving to see just who her sister was, only to watch a stone-faced, almost sullen looking pony walk up to them.
Silently, the filly looked between both Crimson and Rose as Rose rambled on, barely even seeming to take a breath between words. Rose's sister didn't seem to miss a beat though, and immediately after Rose finished talking, Honey shook her head and spoke in a monotone, almost bored voice. "Miss Cheerilee is going to give us homework to do, Rose; I need to do that first. I was going to help mom today anyway, and you know she is going to worry that you won't be home right after school. So I have to tell her that you won't be there so you won't get in trouble."
Honey just shrugged after that and walked off again to another part of the playground, not even bothering to give a hello to Crimson. He just watched her go with a confused look, then looked over to Rose with a raised brow. "Heh, I guess that's what you meant when you said what you did. It kinda didn't seem like she didn't wanna talk... Or maybe she just didn't like me," he said with his own shrug before spreading his wings again, stretching them out.
"You've got such a cool family; everyone you mentioned sounds like they've done some cool stuff in their life. Like, your dad used to be a monster hunter? Do you know how cool that is? I bet he's got lots of super awesome stories to tell! And your mom sounds like she's got some kind of dark secret! What do you think it is? Maybe she used to work for the princesses? Maybe she came from somewhere outside of Equestria? Whatever it is, I'm sure it's really amazing!"
Crimson shook his body after that, flapping his wings a few times before looking over to Rose again, a playful grin on his face. "Say, can you fly? If so, are you up for a little race around the playground?"
Rose gave her sister the usual smile as she spoke. She was always the more logical one of the two of them, and her reasoning was always sound. If there was just one thing that she could probably do better with is to maybe try to smile every so often, but having known Honey since she was born, her smiles were few and very far between, but those odd times they did appear, they were incredibly heart-warming. She had a beautiful smile, if only she shown it more, maybe she would be a little more happy.
"Alright sis, thank you very much. Go try to have some fun, okay?" Rose watched her go with a sympathetic smile, sighing a little bit when she left before turning to Crimson, shaking her head at his question, "No... she doesn't like you, but she doesn't hate you either. She doesn't trust others too easily, and she's always had a hard time making friends because of it. That, and because she is just so sullen all the time. Probably doesn't help that she has had some trouble with bullies in the past..."
Rose shrugged and watched as Crimson stretched his wings, and Rose subconsciously ruffled her own to loosen up the feathers, "I shoo them away when I see them, but now that they know that I defend her, they pick on her when they know I'm not around. It's frustrating, really. I'm supposed to be doing what I can to try to stop them, but I can't be wherever she is at all times either. If only those bullies hadn't shown themselves, maybe she wouldn't be so... I don't know, wary of other ponies."
Offering a little chuckle at Crimson as he gushed over how awesome her family was, she replied, "Yeah, dad tells some stories about the things he used to hunt, mostly to tell us that if there were monsters under our beds that he would hunt them down and chase them away and stuff like that. Mum... well, everypony always says my mum acts a little strange, but to me she acts like my mum, so I don't really see what she does. She does have a pretty awesome looking hat though!"
Rose took a step back as Crimson flapped his wings a few times to exercise them, looking a little dumbfounded as he grinned at her playfully, asking her if she wanted to race. Her mouth dropped open and for a while, she didn't quite know how to respond. She wasn't a strong flier, more along the average side, and the idea of flying really fast wasn't as appealing to her as other pegasi found it. The idea of a race was new to her, as it was something that the colts usually did, being the more competitive ones than the fillies.
Not to mention Crimson looked like he could be a really strong flier. Just one look at those feathers and the developed muscles that controlled his wings, she could tell he had practiced before. The feathers were well taken care of, clean and properly groomed, and he looked really dashing and kind of awesome with his wings outstretched like that, like what she imagined the hero of one of the stories she would read every so often would look like. She couldn't help but gawk for a bit before shaking her head to clear her thoughts.
Offering him an equally playful grin accompanied with a light-hearted laugh, she too stretched and flapped her wings a few times in experimentation, what few quick flaps she made lifting her lightweight body off of the ground a few inches, "Yeah I can fly! I might not be as fast as some of the other colts here, but I can definitely hold my own amongst the fillies!"
She then walked up beside him, trotting in place as she looked for landmarks that they could use to set up boundaries, "Okay, so first one to go around the tetherball post, that big oak tree on the other side of the playground, and then around the schoolhouse before coming back to this spot wins." She took a starting position where she was standing, wings stretched and ready to go, a look of determination on her face, "Ready? On your mark, get set, go!"
Crimson watched Rose for a moment after asking his question, a slightly confused look on his face. Why did she seem so surprised he'd asked her to race? She was a pegasus; surely she'd raced other pegasi before? It was practically one of their race's favorite pass-times. Then again, not every pegasus was able to fly, so maybe he'd accidentally offended his new friend by asking her what he did...
What brief sullen look came across his face was replaced instantaneously by an excited one when Rose finally seemed to recuperate from whatever had just happened and flapped her wings, almost daintily lifting herself off the ground. Crimson had to stifle a laugh at that, but he returned the grin she wore, vigorously flapping his own wings as well, allowing him to hover just off of the ground while Rose began to lay out their course. Tetherball post, oak tree, and around the schoolhouse... Easy. With a course like that, he'd be able to show off some of the tricks he'd practiced, maybe impress some of his other classmates with them. The more and more he ran the course through his head, the more and more excited he got and the more restless he became.
As Rose took her ready stance, Crimson lowered himself to the ground and knelt down to the ground, taking on a runner's starting stance. His eyes locked onto the tetherball post, and the rest of the world around him seemed to fade away, save for Rose's mark. In his mind, he was repeating something to himsself, words of a song he enjoyed listening to while practicing, words that inspired him.
"On your mark..." Yeah I had what I wanted; it went away so fast...
"Get set..." Yeah I got to let go; we can dance like there's no tomorrow...
"So here we go!" Crimson cried out, releasing every bit of his pent up energy after Rose gave the start signal. The widest of grins spread across his face as he soared through the air, wings flapping and eyes deadset on the pole some distance away. He wasn't the fastest flyer in Equestria, but what he lacked in speed he made up for in endurance. The rest of the world was little more than a blur to him at this point--he couldn't even tell if Rose was ahead or behind of him. All he focused on was flying, and what tricks he'd planned along the way.
When he reached the tetherball post, Crimson reached out for the ball tied to the end of the rope, even readjusting his flight path to make the task easier on him. Once the ball was securely in his hooves, he hugged the object close to his chest to ensure he wouldn't lose his grip on it during the dangerous stunt he was about to pull. He abruptly changed his path outward, the opposite way of where he needed to go while still moving forward. Doing so allowed him to "ride" the ball along its apex, using the the rope that was tied to the pole to swerve quickly in the direction he needed to be in.
Once that moment came, Crimson pointed himself up before releasing his hold on the ball, essentially making himself slingshot up into the air, where he promptly folded his wings closer to his body while keeping them to curve slightly. After doing so he twisted his body in the air, letting the air sailing past him help him spin even faster and more efficiently, and for the moment he soared through the air like a spinning torpedo until gravity took its toll on his momentary gain in altitude and he had to flare his wings out again before he smashed into the ground.
Briefly, he shook his head and steadied himself, trying to get his slightly dizzy mind clear of its haze while at the same time spotting his next target: the oak tree. After getting his bearings back, Crimson sped along towards the second checkpoint, still unaware of whether Rose was in front or behind him. Whichever it was, he didn't care: he was just enjoying himself in the air, showing off to his classmates... were any of them even watching. Whether they were or weren't, the oak tree sped towards him quickly, and once more he readjusted his trajectory so he could pull off his next trick.
It was nothing fancy this time: simply an added flash to keep hype up as he went. Banking his body enough so he could drift around the canopy of the tree, Crimson skimmed along the leaves, his back and the backs of his wings barely touching them. When he finally righted himself again, a flurry of loose leaves rode on his backdraft, creating an explosion of swirling green behind him as he changed course to the schoolhouse.
He could think of no trick to use for the schoolhouse: it was just plain building, with nothing to exploit. So, he used the opportunity to pick up a bit of speed, his hooves outstretched before him to help make himself a little bit more aerodynamic. That stretch of the course passed by uneventful, save for the rush of the wind in his ears and mane, and the adrenaline pumping through him.
All that left was the landing. Hooves still outstretched, Crimson sped back towards the spot they'd started from, tunnel vision still keeping his focus away from the world around him. He had no tricks or such for the landing either, other than when he landed he kept his wings outstretched and stood on his back hooves, wildly kicking his front ones in heat-of-the-moment excitement. When that outburst ran its course through him, he lowered himself back on all four hooves and looked around, trying to see if Rose had beat him, or if it was the other way around.
Rose took off, and for a while, the two were neck and neck as they headed towards the tetherball post. It was nice to go fast for a change. Most of her flights were either lazy circles around the house, or slowly flapping after a member of her family who was more prone to gravity. It was rare that she was able to just let go and fly as fast as she could, feeling the wind in her mane and on her face. This was a race though, and she wanted to win this one just as much as she wanted to enjoy it.
Crimson was starting to inch his way ahead of her already as they neared the post, he veered off course to her surprise to grab onto the tetherball, using the momentum from it as a sort of slingshot to make the corner easier and shoot him down the course a little faster. She stared at him determinedly; it was an impressive trick, but two could play at this game.
Getting as close behind him as she could, she flared her wings and caught the turbulent backdraft that he was creating from going so fast, a trick her daddy taught her when she was learning how to fly, the extra burst of speed allowing her to slowly catch up again, and she watched him with a mixture of shock and awe. He was spinning so fast, it would be no small wonder if he managed to pull himself out of that and still keep a straight heading.
She wasn't sure just what he was doing, so she focussed on breaking out of his backdraft, folding her wings and diving back down to the oak tree, looking to cut as close of a corner as she could by going as close to the trunk as she could, flying under the canopy. Turning herself so that she could bank around this corner easier, she used the momentum from her dive to help her glide forward, before putting all she had into a few powerful flaps that slowed her down and allowed her to get her lightweight self back up to speed, missing the trunk of the tree by a meter.
Rose thought she was ahead of him at this point, as she couldn't see him in front of him, that is until she saw him pass overhead of her, trailing a bunch of leaves in his wake. He looked so awesome like that, with leaves trailing behind him and flying so quickly and effortlessly. She had to get in this backdraft again, otherwise she would have no hope of catching back up again.
Flaring her wings once more, she got up behind him, a few stray leaves whipping at her face and getting caught in her mane and tail. He only went faster from here, so fast that just riding in his backdraft was enough to sting her eyes and make her squint just to see clearly. They rounded the schoolhouse, and the final stretch lay before them. This was it, this was where she needed to spend all of her energy, the final stretch.
Giving a few more powerful flaps in conjunction with the colt's turbulent backdraft, she brought herself up beside him and then past him as the landing sped towards them. All she could think of at this point was just how rough this landing was going to be. She hit the ground with all four hooves and dug them against the ground and leaving a long trail of furrows where she landed, flapping her wings backwards to try to slow down faster. Her hooves hit a rock though, and with a loud "whoa!" she tripped and flipped right over onto her back with an "oof!", and she lay there for a few seconds, seeing stars as she rolled onto her side again.
Rose stood up and shook some of the dust from herself, not seeming at all phased by the fact that her landing was messed up near the end. The giddy grin on her face from the adrenaline rush was accompanied by her racing heart, as well as the dizzying feeling that she was still moving forward even though she was standing still. When she righted herself enough to walk forward, she trotted over to Crimson, wide smile still on her face.
"Wow Crimson! That was the most crazy flying I've ever seen! The way you just effortlessly pulled off those tricks and still kept going fast enough to stay ahead of me for most of that race... really, that was SO AWESOME!" She had to pause for breath this time, as she was still trying to catch her breath from that race and fluttering her wings in excitement. "Where in the world did you learn to fly like that!? That was amazing!"
Crimson still wasn't able to figure out which one of the two won; Rose was lying on the ground nearby, seemingly dazed. As Crimson trotted over to her, body still shaking from the adrenaline of his flight, Rose pushed herself up from the ground and met him halfway, her own wild grin on her face. He laughed breathlessly at what Rose said about his tricks and flared his wings out proudly again, his stance reflecting much of the same pride.
When she asked about where he learned to fly like that, his grin somehow managed to get wider and he lifted a hoof to tap the mark at his flank. "It was fate! I'm pretty sure the mark means I'm really good with my wings, so I love to pull off all kinds of stunts when I'm flying! I'm not really all that fast, but I make up for that in entertainment." Crimson flapped his wings a few times once more as another wave of giddiness washed over him, causing his body to shake again.
"What about you? We landed at the same time or something, right? So you're pretty good at flying yourself!" He took another look at her, then busted out into laughter before having to pause to regain some of his breath. "H-hold on," he wheezed, stepping closer to Rose and lifting a hoof up to her. "Y-you got some.. hehe... some leaves in your mane. Lemme get that for you." He then began to pick through what leaves he could find before stepping back and looking over her. "Yep, there we go," he said, offering a nod as well. "I think I got all of 'em. As funny as it looked, you look a lot better without them in your mane."
After playfully sticking his tongue out at her, he took a deep breath to help him catch his breath. "I don't even know who won, but that doesn't really matter; we both had fun, right? The race helped me realize I haven't flown like that in forever, at least. Man, did that feel good to do that again."
Rose admired Crimson's mark when he shown it to her, appraising it with wide-eyed wonder. They were two crossed feathers of multiple shades of red, simple and elegant, and more elaborate than some of the marks she had seen on some other children. The only one that was just as elaborate as his was probably hers. Proud of her cutie mark would be short-selling it, she adored the little flowering rose vine immensely, and always beamed in pride when somepony commented on it or asked her what it means or how she got it.
It would make sense that his mark was for really tricky flying too. She had seen flying like that before at some airshows that her daddy took her to see when the Wonderbolts were in town. Their flying was a sight to see, and how fast they went was something that she could only dream of. As he stood there with his wings spread proudly too, she couldn't help but continue to admire him as she stood there, gasping for breath. "I think we landed at the same time, but its hard to tell. I kinda fell flat on my back when I landed, so I didn't see..."
He then started laughing at her and she looked at him inquisitively, wondering what could be so funny until he told her just what it was. She giggled to herself as she tried to look up at her mane to see the leaves that were supposedly stuck in there. They must have become tangled up in her mane when she started riding his turbulent backdraft after the oak tree. Surprisingly though, he didn't leave her like that, walking up to her, she could feel his hooves brushing through her mane to pick at the leaves. It was a strange feeling, and she remained still as he did so, still giggling to himself at how silly it was, kind of enjoying the attention he was giving her.
When he finished and stepped back, giving her a quick once over to see if he got them all. She must have looked incredibly funny with them caught in her mane, but when he said that she looked a lot better without them, she could feel her heart flutter a bit as though it had wings of its own. Her own wings fluttered a bit as well in giddy excitement, lifting her off the ground a bit once more before she folded them against her sides again while sticking out her own tongue playfully at him as well.
"I haven't flown like that at all either, actually. Most of my family are unicorns, so I kinda have to take my flying slowly if they are going to keep up. The only other pegasus is my dad. He taught me everything I know, but he doesn't have very strong wings though, so I have to take it slow too if the both of us ever go anywhere. He always eggs me on to try going a little faster, but I never really felt like doing that. When he hears about how fast I went today... hehe, he's gonna be so proud of me!" She giggled to herself again and trotted in place out of excitement at the thought of making her dad happy.
At the thought of her dad and her parents however, she remembered that he never really did answer that question about his own parents and what they did for a living. Settling herself down she asked him, "What about your parents? Do they like hearing about and watching you fly like that? I could watch you do that all day, with all the flips and spins and twists and all those other really awesome tricks that you do!"