Til You Believe In Friendship

1| Life in Manehattan

Beat Link woke up as soon as the sun rose. As he sneaked out of his room, he felt some twinges in his head. Last night's lesson had been harsher than normal:

"...Phi...Golden Ratio...1.618...Worshipped by some...Feared by many..."

He studied this until midnight, not getting even 5 minutes. He had even dreamed of this number, growing continuously in a huge and proportionally endless spiral.

Getting himself ready, he gathered up some food, 20 bits and half a bread loaf. Today he was going further than usually. He left the warmness of his building and went into the chilly, faint morning. Only the early birds were on the streets this early in the morning; important businessponies who couldn't afford the luxury of a good sleep. He took the train and headed to the outskirts of the city. He was excited about what today was going to be. Today he was proving everypony wrong.

The calm sweep of the train passing by the bridge brought fragments of his short life to his memory: his first 33 volumes encyclopedia, the time he got straight A+'s in all his subjects, his own been refashioned so he could have more space for a library.

How he hated all of that.

But he had no choice. His parents were important intellectuals that worked at the Special Institute for Ponies with Special Abilities (SIPSA for short). His dad, "Professor L. Balance", used to be a judge, and now he gave Moral Values and Law classes. His mother, "Madame G. Words", knew almost all the languages and typographies known by ponykind, and helped by teaching Braille at the school. And almost all of his family had been incredibly smart and successful. Both his parents wanted Beat to continue with the tradition, so they forced him to study everyday all sort of things, from Equestrian History to Quantum Physics, passing through Forbidden Magic. And although their profession was for a good cause, Beat knew (and mostly wanted) that his special talent didn't rely on books or knowledge, so fighting between them was a very common stage.

A few minutes later he was walking through the foothills of the Crystal Mountains. He had discovered a cave near by a few days ago, and wanted to investigate. He found the entrance, the dark and mossy entrance. "Man, I would love to be a unicorn right now... or at least to have brought a flashlight" ­­he said to himself, thinking about his parents' magic abilities and feeling a little out. He closed his eyes, steeled himself and entered, feeling a little tremor on his tail.

The darkness inside was even worse. He hated darkness. The echoes of his steps and water dripping off the ceiling weren't really an aid. But it was now or never. His parents had kindly remembered that his birthday was the next day, and for his present they gave him a free and forcibly accepted ticket to "a lovely (and fully-paid) medicine school", and there was no turning back from there. This school was famous for not graduating a single pony without a cutie mark. And if he ventured there, his destiny would be sealed.

He went deeper and deeper into the cave. He had begun to think it was a tunnel instead, but finally found the end: a huge and moist cave, crowned by a tall ceiling that bathed the inside with a greenish light. Tough it was beautiful, there was nothing inside but a stinky lake full of damp water and some bats flying around. He sat down disappointed, and sad. He didn't want to go and study medicine his whole life. He knew it just wasn't his thing. But his parents wouldn't listen to him. For years he had been sneaking out from his house, trying and praying to find his special talent elsewhere. But he tried in vain. Now he had to give up.

Beat wandered in his own mind and lost track of time. He tried to return rapidly, narrowing his eyes at the bright sunlight when he got out... "The bright sunlight?! What time is it? I've got to return right away!" He stayed inside the cave more than he should had. Rushing through the trees, he arrived to the train station, forgetting to feed the pond's ducks. The way back to the city center seemed eternal. He could only imagine what his parents would do if they find them outside messing around, and even worse, trying to find his cutie mark by his own.

When he finally got to see his building, he trotted as fast as he could, but suddenly stopped and thought it twice. "I can't just burst in by the front door, what if they're waiting for me right on the other side?" His heartbeat fastened as he hoped for the worst. His little brain was working at full, making excuses and apologies, as well as escape plans if either pony tried to catch him. "Are they mad? What if they are super mad? What if they punish me? What if they hit me? What if they forbid me to do anything but to study nonsense and sleep, and eat, and pee, and poo?! What if..." Suddenly he remembered something. "It's Saturday. They don't work on Saturday. They must still be asleep" The relief he felt hit him like a wave, stunning him a little bit. "Ok, Beat, you have to chill; you know they don't bite... most of the time" The fact that his parent's free day was on Saturday had always annoyed him, but this time he was thankful for it.

However they may not be still sleeping; he had to use the fire escape to get in. Luckily, his window faced it. He climbed upstairs quickly, slipping as the height grew bigger. He got inside his room like a cat. He hid the saddlebags under the bed and crouched below the blanket. He heard them coming... their hoofsteps getting closer and closer. He reached his pillow just in time to hear his door suddenly open.

—WHAT IN EQUESTRIA ARE YOU STILL DOING IN BED?! DON'T YOU SEE WHAT TIME IS IT?! GET YOUR FLANKS OUT OF THERE, ITS BREAKFAST TIME! —, his mother yelled.

She left, but didn't give Beat time to even get his pulse normal. He heard her screaming: "And when you're done make sure you read all of this by midday; lesson is about to start!" as a pile of books entered magically to his room.

As soon as he had the door closed, Beat laid on his bed, gasping, trying to get his mind clear.

—The very best from "good ol' mamma"... —he sighted. What he didn't knew was that this day was going to be everything but normal. After all, magic tends to arrive in a really upbeat way.