New Moon (My Little Pony)

27 The Bud of Summer (2/4)

Flying my way to the school was a short trip for me as I landed before the school's gate. This place, Baltimare Academy, was kind of like the golden years for me when I was on my way to becoming a Wonderbolt. You may already know this, Leaf Clip, but my school was known pretty well for its ties to those large museums built all across the city. I was never much for history lessons, so I didn't care for it. My only goal at the time was to make a name for myself.

As soon as I entered through the school's gates, I already had a flock of pegasi fly to my side. "Yo, Lazuli." One of them called me. As you could probably tell, I was aligned with the jocks of the school. When I came into the picture, the flight team garnered a winning streak that they never before had. I was undefeated on the field, and ponies became distinctly aware of that as I was idolized as the school's secret weapon. I know, I know, you're jealous; you don't have to tell me.

"The lunch lady brought this weird looking ice cream that looks like a fish," one of the pegasi told me. "You gotta try it out." I didn't care much for the friendship I had with my teammates. Sure, they might have genuinely viewed me as their pal since I never discouraged them, but my eyes were always fixed on the long-term goal.

Before I was involved in the flight team, their performance was below average at best. There was no way that they could ever enter the Nationals. Lucky for them, I was able to mimic my father's training upon them and I had a knack to gauge the strength and weaknesses of others. In a sense, you could say I served as an assistant coach to the team. All of that hard work was just to increase my team's chances of success, but I also caused a side effect to unite my team closer than they ever were. I pretty much saw it as a convenient morality boost since it helped in some regards.

But they don't matter to this story. Who did was the mare that I happened to notice during my way into the entrance of the school. "Hey," said one of the pegasi. "It's that weird mare."

Our eyes dawned upon a lime mare that was pulling three buckets of water with her teeth and hooves. The water system at her greenhouse must have broken if she was doing all that lugging. The pegasi snickered at the mare's efforts, but I was more confused about why she was doing it alone. "Why is nopony helping her," I wondered out loud.

"She's part of the gardening club," one of the pegasi answered. "I heard that all of the members except for her graduated. Looks like she didn't have any luck in snatching up any new recruits."

"I'm not surprised," another pegasus spoke. "What idiot wants to hang around a weirdo that treats a plush toy like a baby? Does she think she's still a filly?"

"She's also from the countryside, right? I hear that they aren't that bright in the head."

That mare had only attended the school for a year at the time, but she managed to make herself infamous for her weird habit of carrying a plush toy of a foal around her. It honestly amazed how she could carry it with her without a care for others' thoughts. I mean, they weren't secretive about the jokes they made about her, and although she looked to find them hurtful, it never did stop her from bringing that thing to school. Either she was an idiot that couldn't get the point or she was idiotically brave.

I could never be like her. My image meant everything to me. Not because I cared for it, but because I believed my father did. I had to say high up in the hierarchy, so I couldn't risk stepping out of the bounds I made for myself to keep it that way. But, I couldn't help but admire that mare's persistence to be herself. Some part of me honestly felt jealous about that. I wished I had that kind of strength.