Hippo

Granola bit her lip when Applejack took a bite. "Well I wanted to be faithful to how I found it, but the old historic records I found pertaining to this type of apple are either lost, or have uninteresting names few ponies care to say. So I was gonna propose a name for it." Granola held her hooves up as if to measure her excitement. "The cosmic crisp apple." Applejack was very good at apple-tasting. When the orange mare chewed it carefully in her mouth, she had the look on her face of all the different flavors and textures associated with the apple. But it wasn't until she opened her eyes from her concentrated chew that she saw what really made the apple special. A vortex of colors, instead of the yellow flesh of a normal apple, radiated from the bite Applejack took. Granola was excited to see her reaction, and was pleased when her eyes widened at the spectacle. The gloss from the apple pony's eyes reflected the colors she saw. The vortex of colors in the flesh of the apple faded away after about fifteen seconds, leaving the much more predictable white-yellow pulp. Granola was so excited to tell Applejack everything. "Okay. So, about three years ago, I happened across a seed trader in Fillydelphia. I was in the market to buy rare plants and seeds for my own archival purposes. I was really just interested in collecting different flora. But one guy I bought from offered me a journal that belonged to an ancient pony farmer who collected seeds as well. I bought for quite a hefty price. At the time, I was afraid to admit to anypony that I did this because it had appeared I was swindled. Many of the texts in the journal talk about falsified fables and rumors of scientific findings that have no evidence or persuasion. But then, one of the pages talks about a rare type of apple that could be made if the seeds of three different kinds of apples were split into equal thirds and combined together." Granola pulled out the book in question and opened it up onto the table. "It goes on to say that the three apple types are honeycrisp, enterprise, and something called a roygeebiv apple." Granola looked up. "We all know what honeycrisp are. I wasn't sure what enterprise meant until later on I read that enterprise is a combination of macintosh and granny smith apples. When I attempted to breed this kind of seed, I could see that the type of fruit that could grow would indeed be a viable apple, so it must have been what the author called an enterprise apple. That only left me with roygeebiv. My first guess was zap apples, you know 'cause of the rainbow colors, roygeebiv, the letters of the col-, yeah, you get it. But I wasn't able to take a zap apple seed and produce any fruit until, you know." Granola started gesturing in a funny way. "The wolves and the storms and stuff." Granola paused to take a breath in her story, and she smiled. "But it turns out with a little patience and understanding how it all works, I was right." she tossed a few seeds from her bag onto the table. "These seeds are the combination of honeycrisp, macintosh, and zap apples. And when one successfully cultivates the seeds, with plenty of care and a little bit of time, BAM!" She pulled out another cosmic crisp apple and holds it up like a trophy. "The cosmic crisp apple."

Granola sat down at the kitchen table with Applejack. She heard Granny Smith's snore and immediately felt like maybe she was invaded the family's privacy. She would strive for the perfect time so that it was most convenient for everypony, but beggars can't be choosers. Applejack threw her an apple and asked for the details. Granola caught the apple. At first she was pensive, but then gave a smug smile and took a bite out of the apple. She would pull out an apple of her own in her saddlebag, and toss this one to Applejack, almost like a trade. The apple seemed ordinary on the outside, one of the mostly red kind, with several grains of orange color streaming down the sides. "Take a bite, AJ." Granola couldn't possibly explain it, so it was best for Applejack to see for herself. When a bite is taken out of the apple, the flesh of the apple has a very shocking appearance. The apple tasted juicy and sweet, with a tart aftertaste that bites back friendly for a few seconds. ((What the apple flesh looks like when a bite is taken out of it:))

Remington was reeled in by Moonlight, an affectionate side-hug that seemed like one would only give another pony if they knew them well. This mare is really friendly, he thought. As he was slightly pulled in, his glasses jostled slightly and so he lifted a quick hoof to straighten them out. When the professor had revealed what was inside the box, Remington went forward to grab a blindfold. The one he selected was orange. And when Rainbow Dash instructed the class to meet her outside, he showed the blindfold to Moonlight and insisted an important decision be made. As he walked out to the hallway with her, he mumbled his humility both in intentional and unintentional ways. "You want me to wear the blindfold? Or do you want to? It's not a big deal if you don't want to. Er, or maybe you do want to because you trust me and are not scared. You can trust me. Unless you don't yet, which is fine." Remington rambled. "Do you like the color? Is it orange, or is it like a bold peach color?" Remington was having some issue with this whole, 'keep calm when a cute-' no strike that, 'keep calm when a beautiful filly is talking to you' piece of advice that every young colt had been taught and none had ever successfully mastered. Even as he rambled off the wide list of options made from a selection of two regarding what was in front of them, she rolled her eyes playfully and started tying the blindfold around his head in a proper fashion. "This tangerine blindfold will look better on you for now, Remington. Does it hurt?" He pulled up his hoof to touch the blindfold to make sure it was there. Yup, it was there! The blindfold covered his squared glasses. "Um, yeah. That's fine." Remington stood still in the middle of the classroom and made a long pause. "Should I have walked out to the hallway first?" "Yes. Probably, hehehehe," she said as she checked around them to make sure she had space as other ponies in their pairs walked out into the hallway. "Can you hear me fine in there? If so, just follow my directions, okay?" "Okay." He carefully walked forward in the direction of the hallway. He knew eventually there would be a doorway so he started periodically reaching out his hooves to touch it. "Like, I got the door, Remington," she said as she debated watching him flail about for it some more. "You're doing great." Remington stepped out to the hallway with relatively-looking ease. However in his brain he was having a bit of a panic attack due to the lack of sensory perception. He would get used to it in a few minutes, hopefully. Rainbow Dash finished explaining the details of the hallway excursion and thought it was amazing that it was all setup in the time they were sitting in class waiting. When Remington found the classroom, the hallways seemed clear with no red X's. Unfortunately for him, however, he did not yet know the campus very well, so he probably wouldn't have been able to find the cafeteria on his own even without a blindfold. Remington looked around at nothing, because he couldn't see anything. He tested shifting his ears around in order to get the best possible depth perception by noise alone. It would only help him a little. "I'm ready." He said with a serious blindfolded look on his face. He started walking forward slowly. "Forward. Forward. No exes yet, Remmy! You have room, like, to strut your stuff," Moonlight said as she walked backwards. She made sure to speak a little louder- a lot of other pairs were at this too. She made sure also to look down and all around, because she didn't- ahh, there's one. "In two steps, go left. Like, your left." Remington pranced gaily for a few strides in reaction to Moonlight implying he had room to strut. Either she would think it was a funny joke, or she liked the way he strutted his stuff. Win-win. The other classmates had call-outs that were of varying degrees of voices. Some were loud, some were obvious. Changelings had a very unique way of speaking that was hard to mimic, unless you were a changeling. Moonlight had a very normal young mare voice, but she spoke in a very Applewood showmare-y style. And it was, like, easy to pick out. Remington only hoped that her inflectional pauses, while cute, did not cause a long enough delay to cause him to confront something with his nose. He turned left. He did a good job going left. Which was good, because one pair failed and- "Go right now."- and that was a shame because being the first to lose at anything was demoralizing. "You're doing super good. Like, look at you work it! Oh, go very straight. Exes on both sides. Okay, like, you're past it. They do anything rad like this at your old school? Right." Remington followed the coordination with his partner to the tee. So far so good. "I can't say I've ever done anything like this anywhere. P.S. 57 in Manehatten was pretty normal I think. But even though it was normal, I had a lot of fun with the friends I had there." Remington took equal strides forward. "Thought maybe one or two of them would transfer to Ponyville with me, but I guess I'm the only one." "Then I guess you're, like, the official Manehattan P.S. 57 Ambassador- STOP!" She said dramatically. He couldn't see her smile. He stopped immediately almost tripping on his own hooves in the process. He clinched his teeth like he was about to meet the business end of one of the stray benches or vases that littered the hallways. "There are, like, two tiles in front of you and to both sides that are totally exes right now. You're gonna need to, like, jump or hop over." "Can't I just walk around it?" "No, 'cause, like, it is a whole row!" "Oh." Remington though about how he would do this. Should he back up? "How long of a jump are we talking?" "You-size. Remmy size. Like, just imagine you're jumping over you." Did she just call him Remmy? Only his close friends and mother back in Manehatten ever called him that. As far as the obstacle in front of him, he had the ability to be graceful but he was no athlete. He had a hard time judging what he couldn't see. So he took two small steps back, pivoted his hooves to get a good launch, and skipped forward ahead before leaping forward. He got scared on his descent and fluttered forward a little. "Heh. You don't suppose I can just fly the whole thing, do you?" Thank Twilight he fluttered because he would have otherwise landed on her. "Oh, good jump. Like, you got hops! I don't think its cool to fly, like, the rest of the way though. Rad jump by the way," she said as she looked around. She had just made him jump over nothing and it was super fun, but now the real work begins. "Okay, this is gonna start getting, like, super hard! Take a breath and tell me when you're ready." Remington had no reason to take his time. In fact, the anxiety of not being able to see made him want to get it over with. "Sure, let's go." "Right. Left. And then right. Okay- one step forward, then, like, hard left. More left. Then right. Okay straightaway. Like, you're quick on your hooves, ain'tcha?" Remington wasn't sure if he was just supposed to rotate right or do a complete right turn. Same for going left. He just did what seemed natural to her commands and without giving back negative feedback, he felt like he was indeed acing this with her. "Yeah, we're making this look easy aren't we?" Remington did a goofy twist of the hooves during a quick change of direction, which could have easily have been mistaken for him break-dancing. "How much farther do we need to go?" "Almost done. Oh, like, do you want to go under a barricade of tables or, like, over it, Remington?" Remington paused, the confused ripple on his lips being the only visible expression he could show. "Define barricade." "Uhh, well. There are, like, tables blocking the path at the entrance. There is a small hole at the bottom where, like, the legs seem to be folded. Or you can, like, go over it, there is a scoche of a clearance." "Entrance? To what? Like in a doorway?" "Entrance to a cafeteria, dork," she giggled, "they had cafeterias in P.S. 57, right? Like, a big open doorway. Two big doors. Wooden. I think they're made of Mahogany? Maybe oak. But...no, the grain is ribbon like. DEFINITELY Mahogany." Remington wasn't aware of his surroundings for obvious reasons, but he could still hear the cheekiness coming from his new friend. "Okay, I get it. Um, I'll just go over the tables." Remington slowly walked forward to touch the tables. When he could feel the smooth surface on his hoof, he attempt to feel around and gain leverage. He tried pulling himself up over the table without using any wingpower. Without knowing how long this table was, he pulled himself too far and fell head over hoofs onto the cafeteria floor on the other side of the doorway. Moonlight for her role was happy to see he was gonna go over the table. Under looked rough and his nicely formed rear legs may have caused some problems. She helped guide him to the barricade and then happily started her trot to the other side from one of the open side entrances. By the time she made it to the other side she...had expected to see Remington. But there was no Remington! "Oh Remington, having-" she began as she looked up- just as the colt fell over the side and onto her, smashing her into the ground. "Naaaaaaailed it," she said with what was likely a mild concussion, head waving around with a dopey smile on. Remington would normally feel fuzzy landing on a new fillyfriend in this manner, and he was of course embarrassed, but not for the reasons one would imagine. "Yeah, nailed it." He got off Moonlight, took his blindfold off, and laid down looking up at her through his cracked lenses. He sighed. "I broke my glasses." "Awww, gag you with a spoon! That's, like, the worst. Professor Rainbow Dash, we have a problem!" Moonlight said as she got up. "We need to make sure you can see, Remington. How else can our unstoppable team remain, like, unstoppable?" "I mean, I can kind of see without my glasses, just not as good." Remington took the pair off his face, his eyes noticeably smaller due to the lack of refraction of his irises. "I'll have to get them repaired after school."

Fluttershy took a deep gander at all the commotion and noises, seeing Gallus in a blur moving around trying to fasten things quickly. She was never the kind of pony to acknowledge someone else's stress so she ignored it. But she would still be concerned with what Gallus was doing and if Zap Apple was in any possible danger. Gallus was a smart, responsible griffin, right? After Gallus dropped Scout on her, Fluttershy held comfortably and safely the way she does best. Scout would scramble on the blue griffin, but in Fluttershy's soft possession, the flamingo felt powerless to do anything. For him, the jig was up. "Is everything okay? I'm sorry to drop by like this, I actually forgot that you were sitting Zap today for Rainbow Dash. I saw Scout fly towards Rainbow's cloud and so I thought he might have come in here. Rainbow Dash gave me a key to her place in case I ever needed to borrow something." Fluttershy pulled Scout in front of her. "Now Scout, you know I only make you take this medicine because I know it'll keep you from getting sick again. I know it tastes bad, but just a couple more days of this medicine and I promise you I'll make you that special algae soup I know you love." Scout sighed and then nodded. Fluttershy pulled out a fairly large capsule from her saddlebag intended for swallowing. She held it to Scout's beak, he scooped it up and swallowed it, wincing as he did so. Fluttershy lovingly combed his feathers on his head. "There you go. That wasn't so bad, was it?" Now that Scout was catered to, Fluttershy turned to Gallus who was consoling Zap on his minor injury. But of course, any minor injury was a severe psychological emergency that needed several ounces of tender, loving care. She needed to get back to the sanctuary in order to help other animals with their needs. And since she got derailed with Scout's flying away, she was now behind schedule. Hopefully Angel fed the snakes like she asked him to. She walked towards Gallus and Zap and bent her knees to lower herself to Zap's level. "Oh you poor little thing. Does it hurt?" It didn't hurt. Maybe it would a few months ago but Zap was now several halves of years old now. He was starting to really fly well, he was eating big boy sized apples, and his mothers started mentioning how handsome he is on the regular. Of course, seeing Gallus stressed out as he was was interesting and entertaining to him. He didn't have the context that Gallus was a student of Fluttershy, only that he was a stinky bird cat thing which is supposed to sit Zap so that his mothers could spend at least a few hours without him asking either of them where apples come from for the sixteenth time. He knew he could use this moment to gain some leverage against his captor. "Yes." He said. "Fluttershy, I need a big band-aid from your cottage." Zap squeezed out of Gallus's inspecting talons.

Applejack nodded with a warm smile at the entry of her fillyfriend Coloratura. "Oh yeah? You told me to meet you upstairs in the morning, but I supposed that was assuming I'd sleep in. Honestly, sometimes I wish I could. But this ol' mare doesn't have much room for a lazy mornin' these days. Besides, I slept amazingly well. That bed was about as soft as honey is sweet." The toasted bread jumped up and Applejack caught it with a quick swipe of a plate. She quickly, yet carefully, smathered a healthy heap of apple jelly on the toast, spread it liberally, and then slid the plate towards Coloratura. The plate just made slight contact with her notebook. Applejack placed another slice of bread in the toaster. Applejack then began to tap into her old song-singing ways, something she often kept to herself. Seeing as she was with another mare who was a singer, it seemed more appropriate. Applejack sung her tone from her heart, and remembered the lyrics with her mind. "I can see the light of a clear blue morning I can see the light of a brand new day I can see the light of a clear blue morning Oh, and everything's gonna be all right It's gonna be okay"

Granola grimaced at the immediate appearance of Applejack. The mare was indeed tired. She began regretting giving her more business to attend to, but she was tired of waiting to deliver this proposal to her and she knew if she attempted to backpedal now, Applejack would force her to spill her guts and stay for the next family meal as well. Applejack rarely said no to anypony willing to talk business, especially apple business. Granola turned. "Oh hi, Applejack. I've been trying to get in touch with you. I know this is a very busy time of year for you but this shouldn't take too long. I happened upon what I believe to be a new kind of plant that is had not been seen or grown in Equestria for possibly a thousand years. And seeing as the plant is an apple tree, I can't think of anypony else other than you that could help me with it." Granola looked around, the autumn breeze starting to chill the evening. "Uh, mind if we go inside and talk about it?"

Zap Apple trickled down the stairs to see Gallus in a standoff against the flamingo. He heard Gallus' instructions and after a short comprehension test, he saluted Gallus with enthusiasm and pattered his way to the door. The door was locked of course, so he wasn't sure how he could open it. If he knew the mechanics of the lock he could probably open it. But if he had known, he would have attempted to leave with his mother before being stuck with the stinky griffin. He looked back at Gallus by the door. "I can't. It's locked." Instead of issuing the lack of knowledge he explained the length of his misfortune. "Dashie says I have to grow up a little before I can open the door, anyway." Just then, the door knocked on the other side three times. The knocks were hoof-induced and seemed urgent. Gallus was perplexed at the knocking wondering who it could be and looked back at Gallus with a puzzled look. Just then, the flamingo flew at Gallus, probably calculating it's best possible chance at escape the griffin's rage. The long-legged bird flapped and flopped around on Gallus smacking him lightly with his webbed feet. And then sound came from the door. The sound of keys turning the lock mechanism, and the doorknob twisting. Was it Dashie!? Zap thought. He rushed towards Gallus who was being attacked by the flamingo. "Gally! It's Dashie, she came back to get me!" When Zap approached the pink and blue tussle, he got a quick jab from the flamingo's right foot and it tossed Zap back a few meters from the commotion, and applied a very noticeable bruise on his left shoulder. Zap was not physically hurt all that much, but he knew that if his mother was coming through that door, there would be no quicker way to get her attention then by giving the best wail for empathy, and making sure the bruise was in the sight line of the door. And yet, a third sound started to chime in. ---BEEP----BEEP----BEEP----BEEP----BEEP----BEEP----BEEP----BEEP----BEEP----BEEP----BEEP----BEEP---- The cloudominium had slowly filled with smoke. The cupcakes were overdone, and the oven's attempt at making them nice and crispy started to vex the air quality of the room. And the smoke alarm above the kitchen area began making its warning heard.

Granola Gracie walked up to the farmhouse of Sweet Apple Acres. The sun had just set and the remaining ambient skylight was reflecting off the wet garbage along the orchard path from the week's long cider festivities. It had been a couple days since the cider rush had died down, but Granola figured the apples were prioritizing inventory before they clean up the farm. Applejack always ran a tight orchard. She visited the farm this evening in order to finally pitch to her tree-loving neighbor a new apple seed. Granola was a botanist. She loved caring for plants and flowers but also enjoyed investigating new species of fauna and even resurrecting lost plants from the ages. Recently she happened upon a discovery that would lead her down the path of possibly inventing a new species of apple. And she couldn't think of another pony that would be more helpful on this task. The brown earth pony gallantly and with a smile, knocked on the door to the farmhouse. Hopefully, Applejack was not too tired to meet with her.

The flamingo flew downstairs to the cloud floor where the front door was. It was lost inside the home and couldn't find an obvious way to escape. But did it even want to escape? The pink bird flew around the main lobby causing mayhem and knocking down lamps and shelves as he passed them. He tried landing on the coffee table, but slipped on the coloring supplies and flapped around to gain stability, spraying coloring supplies all over the room. Finally, the flamingo landed in a corner of the room, scratched a minor itch under its left wing with his large gnarly beak and looked around for his predator. He wasn't the brightest crayon in the box. Zap attempted to follow the pursuit, first in his best zipping flight, but quickly disengaged his small wings and elected to run down the stairs instead. "A fla-ming-o?" He asked in discovery. "Why is it here?" Though the bird was making a huge mess, Zap did not mind it as he was bewildered by the animal. "We should catch it. It can be my pet! Oh can I keep it? Can I? Can I? Can I? Can I? Can I?" He was so excited by the prospect of having an animal to take care of, he wasn't even sure Gallus could properly wrangle the bird up to begin with.

Applejack silently waited for Princess Luna to aggressively force her away from her exhausting labor to get much needed sleep, but after a waited a few seconds, forgot about the encounter entirely and began tinkering with the treadmill. One of many interruptions came from Prince Blueblood suggestion compensation for students volunteering to help. "We're already spread pretty thinly as it is, and even if it made sense, I don't think these students are as dexterous as you think they are." Just then, Silverstream tumbled her own cup of mug. Applejack looked at the prince half-lid. "See?" When the prince suggest a replacement mug, Applejack almost lost her fuse. "What!? Now that there just wouldn't be fair! All these ponies and critters waitin' in line all patient-like and you think a customer should get a freebie just because she's a student at your school!?" Applejack's rant was energized by her lack restraint. She was cranky to say the least. But a moment passed and Applejack apologized. "I'm sorry, Prince. I'm just a little on edge. But, no. I think we have plenty of cider today, but anyone who spills their drink needs to wait in line again. We wont charge them again, but we can't give them special treatment." Applejack had her ways of doing business. And though she was often begrudgingly stubborn to support her traditional ways of avoiding favoritism, there were times when she just ended up acting like a mule. Silverstream's eyes welled and she began to ball. She lamented at how she has failed the simple task of drinking and sharing. "It's my fault, Gallus. I failed." Silverstream covered her face, still lying on the ground. "You don't think they'll give us a free refill, do you?" Granola had just about enough of this cider nonsense. She appreciated the hard work the Apple family did, and loved the taste of the cider, if she to ever get a glass of it. But she was here to do business and upon inspection of the area for three straight days, she came to the conclusion that it was not a good time. So she turned around and went home. In the coming week, she would attempt to gauge the crowds around the cider season festival dwindling and when she felt Applejack was finally free to talk to, she would approach her then. ((Granola Gracie continues her ambition in this thread.)) Current fresh cider supply: Plenty Cider press #3 repair: 79%

Find a partner? Excellent. This was a great opportunity for Remington to meet others. He quickly looked at Moonlight but then looked away shyly. I just met her, maybe she doesn't know me well enough to partner up. Or maybe she met so well just now that it would be strange to partner up. Maybe I should find someone brand new, he thought. His internal thought processes of social interaction was overdone. He was silly to avoid exposure to Moonlight, but it was all under the guise of subconscious shyness he had for the filly. Remington was always a colt who was easy to make friends with fillies before. But something about this pink unicorn made Remington feel a little different, and the awkwardness would encourage him to repel. Remington spotted a male kirin on his left. The kirin was standing up panning the room as many others were. When his eyes seemed to meet with the kirin's, he smiled and waved him over. Immediately, the male kirin smiled as well and started walking towards Remington. As he approached, Remington spoke up. "Hi, my name is Remington, would you like to be my part...ner?" The kirin walked right passed Remington. On the other side of Remington was Moonlight, and behind her was a unicorn colt who the kirin was really walking towards. "Oh." Remington remarked to himself. He saw that most of the room was paired up and started slowly panning his head back towards Moonlight. "Um. Loonmight, I mean Moonlight. Um... ...Partner?" Remington held his hooves up like this was happenstance.

Gallus helped Zap back into the house and invited him to lead the investigation. And with that, addition help from the kitchen armory to keep his head safe from injury. Softly, he stepped up the stairs into the rooms Rainbow Dash reserved for guests to sleep over, but also to help store her many awards and trophies. He looked left and right into each room, all of them dark with no evidence of intrusion. But then a sound could be heard on the third floor. "It sounds like flapping." Zap quickly bolted up the last flight of stairs to the observatory room where more of Rainbow Dash's trophies are stored as well as many cataloged memories she has had with her friends in the form of framed pictures and old copies of Daring Do books. Zap looked into the room first and saw the creature. It was hideous! But he couldn't get a good look at it before it bolted out of the room and down the stairwells flapping its wings furiously and squawking. "Whoa! What is it!?"

After the performance, Coloratura felt the need to reassure with her friend that she wasn't in a dream. "Ra-Ra, that was amazin'! You're cutie mark glowed, and yer singin' was on point, and everything!" Applejack jumped. "Ra-Ra I think this is your true calling for sure. It ain't just a talent, you have singin' ability I ain't never thought possible." Applejack teared up slightly at the reality of seeing her friend find such a oneness with her talents and purpose, hoping that Coloratura would find confidence in that affirmation and that it would enable her to do whatever it is she might be destined to do with it. Applejack woke up. She wasn't sure what time it was, but because of her farm-nature, it was possible her body clock got her up at an early hour. She pulled herself out of her bed, did a quick stretch longways and sideways, paired with appropriate grunts, and walked out of the bedroom not before first grabbing a small bag she carried in her large pack. The halls seemed peaceful. She walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. Out of her small sack she pulled out a jar of genuine Sweet Apple Acres apple jelly. She went for a loaf of bread, sliced some of it off, and threw it in the toaster. Soon enough, Applejack would be able to taste a slice of home, and perhaps share it with her new housemates as well.

Zap's mind raced as he was clutched by his mother to the rescue. He was in pain, but it wasn't what he expected from an injury like this. It was highly uncomfortable, a small expression of movement from the broken limb would send him trembling with pain. But it wasn't nearly as uncomfortable as the embarrassment of him having to be carried off, not finishing the race, and abandoning all those he didn't know but were cheering him on. He wanted it to end, but he felt like his wing might be forever ruined. "Dashie, it hurts, but I need to finish the race." He said with a whimper, not minding the extra pain he would endure with a slight jostle from the panicked mother. "My wing hurts." Zap's mind continued to venture into uncharted territory and his worst fears began to muster. "Am I ever going to fly fast again?" His tears welled up. "Am I ever going to fly again?" In the corner of Zap's wet eyes, he could see the colorful array of apple trees that adorned the only place that could display that kind of splendor. Zap had always thought that he would go to the hospital like that one time when he coughed twice in a row and Applejack rushed him to the doctor. Why was he here? Did earth mommy know how to fix a wing? When they arrived to the farm, Rainbow Dash set Zap Apple down gently and called out for Applejack. Zap Apple then realized he still had the capacity to pick himself up with his legs. He did so, trying not to move any of his muscles that influence his wings. Once he stood up and looked back at his wings to see for the first time what the injury in question looked like. The wing actually looked pretty normal. But it felt like half of his wings were missing. It felt like he was constantly being stabbed in the back for making gestures with his feathers. He grimaced even though the look of his orange feathers seemed par for the course. It wasn't enough that it looked fine. It didn't feel fine.

Silverstream sipped on the tea she was gifted as the unicorn councilor encouraged her. She made no false pretenses about the challenges friendships have and how hard they can be to acquire. But something about Starlight that she had never seen before showed itself to her. Silverstream had never realized how Starlight came to be in her current position. All of the professors that her classmates and her look up to all have their own flaws, but they had always known them for their accomplishments. It became obvious after hearing Starlight lecture on how friendship-making is kind of a gamble that all of them got to where they were because of the chances they took in social situations. One or all of them had to have dealt with the same thing Silverstream was struggling with. Silverstream's eyes welled efficiently with her emotions, but only provided an obstacle for how she felt. She wasn't really all that sad, but she had to think clearly about how she was going to treat this next semester at the school. She knows that she has limited time with her friends, but she also has limited time to figure out what her next step is after they graduate. She always hoped that she would be with her new friends forever, but it was clear that was not likely the case. Silverstream pondered a moment, sitting in peaceful silence in Starlight's office. The silence could have easily been broken by either of them, but she soon was able to collect a thought worth sharing. "Counselor Starlight, I love it here. I love the school. I love my friends, the professors, sure. But I also love everything else about the school, how it brings others together, and how it constantly breaks barriers between individuals. I know that there is a chance that I will find myself following a path that leads me back to Seaquestria with the rest of my family, or Canterlot, or who knows where! But while I'm here, I want to be as involved in the school's purpose as I possibly can be. And not just as a student, but as an aide or assistant or something. Is that a thing? I know I can be a tutor, but is there like some kind of student position I can apply to that would allow me help make the school as successful as it can be?" Silverstream's urgency was met with a few possible hurdles. "I can get my parents to sign permissions slips if needed."

Moonlight had just made a pretty compelling argument for Remington to use make-up. He would skip the details and instead be entertained that the filly was even talking to him in this manner. It didn't feel right, but it also felt great. After her somewhat confusing explanation of things Remington has no idea on, he mustered all of his cognitive ability to respond in the most fitting way a strong young colt of his age could manage. "Yeah, cool." Was it cool? Was it intended to be a joke? Remington had zero clue. She then responded to the question of where she is from. "San Flankado? I've never been there, and I've been to a lot of places," Remington unnecessarily flexed. "I've been to Canterlot, too. But only for a short time. My dad works in the..." The flirtatious and nervously talkative conversation was interrupted by the Professor of Flash herself. Remington knew all about Rainbow Dash, seen her up close a couple times, but never had the privilege to talk to her and meet her. It was going to be awesome. He wasn't at all keen on learning any flying moves from her, but she sure seemed cool. "Wooo!" Remington cheered with the other students at Rainbow Dash's introduction. Were all the classes like this? If so, Remington was going to like it here.

Zap nervously flew training style with Gallus as he tried to describe to him the pink bird. "I couldn't smell it. Hehe, no. No, I didn't here it make a noise." Gallus wasn't fluttering too far from the cloud house, but he was getting nervous being with a complete stranger this far away from his anchor, and he started to look back at the cloudominium they were flying away from. Just then, he noticed the pink bird again, flying into a third floor window of the cloudominium. He gasped. "There it is! It just flew through a window. It's in the house. It had long legs and a beak, and and and it had wings." Zap stuttered as he quickly tried to relay information, because as soon as Gallus would look himself, he could see nothing.

"Whadya mean fixed? It's got a few scuff marks on it, but it should ring just fine. Now come on!" The two small ponies pattered their hooves to the stage where they saw the counselor in charge of the talent show motion to the two indicating they could go ahead and perform on stage. The audience was a lot smaller than Applejack had imagined, but it was still enough to make an impression. Applejack stepped on top of the stage and started to notice a little apprehensiveness from her friend. She set the triangle and the guitar on their stands and stepped towards Coloratura. "Listen, you're good at writin' lyrics. Don't you worry about the music, I can improvise. You sing whatever song you're feeling, and I'll seal the deal with a hit or two of the triangle. No pressure!" The counselor in charge of the talent show motioned to the two to continue with their routine. "I'm right behind you," she whispered. Applejack walked in tandem with Coloratura up to the front of the stage, grabbed her guitar and took a sitting stance. She would follow the singer's lead. She motioned to her with an encouraging hoof to indicate she was ready.

"Yeah", Silverstream said in unison with her brother's egging. She giggled but then tried to allow the inexperienced swimmer attempt to impress. "Sure, go ahead." The pink seapony relaxed her paddle as she let the current carry her effortlessly in the direction they were going, which was often disorienting. The roller coaster of the current maintained efficient speed while also twisting and turning up and around itself, sometimes looping, and twisting upside down. The three were about halfway through the stream. The only true perspective Silverstream could gain of which end was up, was the brightness of the water's blue hue. The surface was always in the direction of where it was brightest.

Zap caught his breath and lined up for another go at this relatively easy sprint course. He felt elated that he was improving, to finally hear the wind whistle around his ears was a sensation he had yet to experience. He wanted more. Having gained the confidence with the first attempt, he wanted to make sure his second attempt would be faster yet. He wondered how his mane would flutter through the air. He lined up, angled his hooves for a dramatic take-off, and waited for his rainbow mother to give him the signal. Once she finished the countdown, Zap zipped away. He was no where near breakneck speeds, but he was starting to realize the addictive properties of flying fast. The aerodynamics of his ears pushed air around him. Occasionally he would feel the air pressure around his flank. The strain of his wings scooping through the chilly air gave him goosebumps. He stretched his front hooves forward, attempting to mimic the posture he always say her mother perform. And once he got to his full speed, he was hooked. Time slowed as he hurled himself towards the cloud pillar. For a small moment, he could hear the faint cheers for him. It could probably just be his mother and her friends, but it also felt like he was racing in a Wonderbolt derby, leading the pack of blue and yellow lightning strikes, entertaining the upper crust and rural fans alike. He wondered what kind of pegasus streak his tail was making. Was it like his mother's patented rainbow? Or was it something completely different like an orange and yellow zigzag. Maybe it was a stream of apples, or maybe even a corkscrew of the many different apple hues a pony finds at the orchard. He glanced behind him to see. After catching a glimpse, he could see his streak but only barely. Unsurprisingly, it matched his tail colors, but it was a lot less streamlined than he thought it would be. Maybe he needed to go faster for a better effect. He looked forward again and noticed the cloud pillar approaching quickly. It startled him and caused him to angle up way too soon, and he over-corrected by pitching forward. His speed was still up, but his angle of attack was descending. He overtook the cloud pillar, and when he tried to bank the corner, he failed to protect his wings from the turbulent change of airspeed, and it caused him to flip upside down. And just like that, he was in a roll. He could not escape the roll, and only a few seconds would pass before his uncontrolled descent caused him to brace for impact with the tarmac below him. He crash landed on his backside, making an unsatisfying crunch with the pavement. For a few seconds, he tumbled with his momentum while the ground killed his speed. He slid to a stop and was immediately embarrassed. He wanted to get up and continue the race, so he attempted a recovering take-off. Maybe he could still put a fast time up. But as soon as he lept to take off, his wings shuttered and he fell back onto the ground. And it was at this moment he noticed the overwhelming pain coming from his right wing. Laying down, he looked back at his wing. His brown complexion turned paler when he noticed his right wing appeared to have another joint. Zap Apple had broken his wing and he began to cry.

Being invited to fly outside the house was pretty shocking to Zap. Forgetting that he wanted to leave with his mother only a few minutes ago, he was not too keen on actually flying away from his sitter to take on the jet stream by himself. He could probably do it, but his mothers both professed he was not ready to be a solo glider just yet. And not that he was scared, being prohibited from even leaning over the edge of clouds by his parents also enforced in him this ideal that Gallus was suggesting something mischievous. But he was in charge, so. "Dashie says I'm not supposed to go outside. But okay!" Zap cracked his first smile, leaping through the window next to Gallus, he fluttered in place for a little, and upon seeing the edge of the cloud the home was built on, clung to the griffin's back out of habit. "It was a big pink bird. Like almost as big as you!"

"Chaos?" Remington chuckled. "No, no. Not me anyway. I know I don't look like a colt from the city but it's because my parents aren't from there either. I lived there for most of my life, though. Books?" He rambled on. "I mean I don't know, I guess. Some books are cool, I've read a few here and there but I don't consider myself uh." He stammered at the realization that he was complimented quite flirtatiously on his glasses. "Oh, you uh like them?" Remington pretended to adjust his glasses. "They're kind of cu- cool, I guess. You really think so? I mean I like them well enough but yeah, heh heh. Yours are cute too. Not your glasses though, your eyes. I mean not your eyes, I mean if you had glasses. But your eyes are pretty, too." Remington blushed. A large part of him wanted to die. Remington had been a filly's colt his entire life. Much more of a reasonable friend to fillies than a boyfriend, however. Much more than not, his young life was spent having more female friends. But now that he was getting older, something about his demeanor for the female friend dynamic was changing, and like most colts, he had no idea what to do about it. He was fairly good at recovering, though. "Where did you come from? You said you're not from here?" There was no recollection of whether Moonlight had said she wasn't from here, but Remington gathered enough context in her voice that he was pretty sure she might be a transplant like himself.