//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: First Impressions // Story: Courageous // by SleeplessScribe //------------------------------// Courageous Story 1 Chapter 1: First Impressions By: SleeplessScribe Ah, mornings in Ponyville were always so lovely. Well, unless the Pegasus ponies scheduled rain for that day, but even then it was in the afternoons for the most part. Spike was still asleep from a long night of staying up to help me study, and I thought he deserved a little rest for his hard work. I had some errands to run outside of the library, so I decided the best use of this amazing morning was to take care of them. As always, I prepared a checklist for myself, with the first item of which to be checking my checklist. “Hm, let’s see, restock on quills, pick up my new ‘101 Ways to Cross Reference Data Printing’, pick up those sweets for Rainbow Dash’s surprise, and double check my check list! Check!” With a delighted smile, I checked off the box for checking off my checklist. I couldn’t help but think back to two days ago when Rainbow gathered us all together. She was rather excited about something, and gave us each something to bring to a picnic today. Picnics, first off, weren’t really something Rainbow Dash would be one to organize, and second, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything not Wonderbolt related get her so excited. Regardless of her reasons, I made my way to the parchment store to pick up my quills, and of course, after I had gotten as many as I wanted, I checked the box off my list. The next stop was the post office to pick a book I had just ordered. Of course, the library had a copy of it, but I wanted to get my own copy for personal use. After all, you never know when somepony will come in needed to know how to cross reference their data from multiple research experiments! Once the book was in my saddlebag and its corresponding spot on my list was checked off, it was off to Sugarcube Corner. It was getting pretty close to ten o’ clock now, and ponies were actually out on the streets now. I have to admit, despite how I felt when I first moved here, I was very glad that Princess Celestia had me move to Ponyville. It was always so nice, and for the most part, peaceful. There was the occasional sleeping dragon and rampant draconequus attack, but for the most part, peaceful. Zoom! Allow me to add the occasional Rainbow Dash waking up at a decent time and flying around at top speed, knocking ponies down and causing them do drop their bags to the list of issues Ponyville had every now and again. Except, this wasn’t Rainbow Dash. Slowly, a bright orange Pegasus sporting a red and yellow mane slowly returned to me. His light green eyes widened as he rushed over, helping me up and picking up my book for me. “Aw no, did I do that? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. Are you hurt at all?” Well, at least he apologized. Picking up my quills, I turned to him and took the book back. “Oh, it’s fine. Just... watch where you’re going next time.” With closed eyes, he gave me a wide grin. “I’ll remember that.” The colt’s grin faded as he began to look around. “Say, would you mind helping me? I don’t remember anything since the last time I was here; would you happen to know if Sweet Apple Acres is where it used to be?” Pointing a hoof in the general direction, I gave him a nod. “It’s not too far down that path, just—" “Okay, thank you!” Before I could even finish my sentence, he took off. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. He knocked me over, asked me directions, and didn’t even bother to tell me his name. Who exactly was that Pegasus? As curious as I was, I didn’t have time to follow him and ask. I had yet to get those treats from Sugarcube Corner, and that little accident now put me behind schedule. Well, I’m sure nopony else would mind if I was late, but I still didn’t want to be, regardless. Mr. and Mrs. Cake already had the cookies and cupcakes ready for me as I came in. Mr. Cake was boxing it up as I entered, but I didn’t see Mrs. Cake anywhere. “Hello, Twilight! How’s your morning been?” Giving him a small chuckle, I set the bits down on the counter for him. “Um… I think ‘random’ would be the best way to describe it.” He gave me a concerned look as I picked up the box. “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” All I could do was shrug, honestly. “Neither one, really. This reckless Pegasus knocked me over, asked me for directions, and just took off.” “Well that wasn’t very nice!” I shook my head quickly at him, somewhat anxious to leave. “Oh no, he did help me up and apologize. He just seemed like he was in a hurry for… something. Well, anyway, thank you for the treats! I’d love to talk more, but I’ve got somewhere to be myself, take care!” The baker waved at me as I trotted out the door. “Have a good day, Twilight!” It was almost time for everyone to meet up. The spot Rainbow Dash had chosen was in a flat plain near Sweet Apple Acres, and if I wanted to get there on time, I had to really leg it! It’s a good thing I read so many books on running in preparation for the Running of the Leaves. Lucky for me, there were no more clumsy Pegasi flying around, so the trip to Applejack’s farm went uninterrupted. The picnic spot was just a short distance from the edge of the orchard, and as I approached it, I saw that both Applejack and Rainbow Dash were already there. However, the third pony that was with took me by complete surprise. As I saw the colt from this morning, part of me began to feel as if I should’ve known he’d be here. Applejack spotted me as I made my way over to them, waving at me with a smile. “Howdy, Twilight! Glad to see you could make it!” I set the box down on the blanket that the three were sitting around, trying to keep my eyes off the colt. “Good morning Applejack, Rainbow Dash.” As I trailed off, I wanted to hit myself as I realize that set myself up to say hello to him to without even know his name. However, a light orange hoof was extended to me, and as I looked at the Pegasus, he was smiling. “Nova Dash. Sorry I didn’t really introduce myself earlier, I was kind of in a rush.” After a short hoof shake, I was already feeling a bit less awkward around him. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, I’m Twilight Sparkle.” It took me a moment, but after I processed his words, I stared at him with wide eyes. “Wait a second, Dash?” Rainbow nodded and poked her head between us. “Surprise! Twilight, meet my brother, Nova.” I shook my head quickly, unsure of how to react to this. “Since when do you have a brother?” All three of them started laughing, but Applejack managed to finish first. “I didn’t believe it when she first told me, either, but after watching the two of them fly around for a little bit, there ain’t no way these two can’t be related somehow!” Both Pegasi gave me wide grins, but all I could do was raise a brow. “If you’ve had a brother this whole time, why haven’t you said anything?” Nova then turned to his sister with his jaw dropped. “What? Sis, you never mentioned me?” Rainbow let out a nervous giggle, rubbing the back of her head as she moved away from her sibling a bit. Her eyes darted from side to side, eventually focusing on me. “Well, the same reason you never talked about yours! Why say something when nopony asks you about it?” As Nova and I both said it, I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or be a little spooked. “Oh, that’s a good point.” When we finished, the both of us stared at each other for a moment. “That was weird. We did it again!” After a lengthy pause, Nova jumped up and made a noise that sounded like a cross between a dying duck and a flugelhorn. “Combo breaker!” Now it was time for all of us to laugh. Between breaths, Rainbow looked at her brother and set a hoof on his shoulder. “Bro, you are so goofy!” With a proud smile on his face and a hoof on his chest, he responded with a purposefully deep voice. “I try my best.” In the middle of our laughing fits, we heard a loud gasp as Pinkie Pie bounced up to us, followed by two white hooves that suddenly latched onto Nova’s head. “What the hay?” Rarity’s eyes were sparkling as she messed with Nova’s mane. “Good heavens, darling, what on earth do you do to make your hair seem so natural? Look at this, your roots are yellow, but each individual strand fades into red as you go up! This is simply marvelous!” The Pegasus obviously did not appreciate such an intrusion of personal space, and he made this clear through his grunts and audible throat clearing. As Rarity got off of him, a nervous grin on her face, Nova looked over to his sister. “It is natural! Why are you freaking out at a two tone mane, but not my sister’s that’s, like, six different colors?” Rarity closed her eyes as she spoke. “Well yes I— hold on a moment. Did you say sister?” Rainbow Dash once again stepped in, pushing the fashionista further away from her brother. “Rarity, I’d like you to meet my brother, Nova Dash.” While Rarity seemed quite thrilled to meet him, the half-closed eyes and straight mouth told me Nova wasn’t nearly as excited. “Just who is this chick?” In typical Rarity fashion, she lifted her head and placed a hoof to her chest. “I, my dear, am Rarity, owner of Carousel Boutique and the most beautiful pony in Equestria!” The colt seemed thoroughly unimpressed, fixing the mess Rarity had made of his spiky mane. “Pfft, I’ve seen prettier.” I was sure every pony here except Rarity wanted to bust out laughing, but the well-groomed unicorn’s reaction discouraged any sort of positive response. Her eyes widened as she stared at him, her teeth bared and gritted. “Excuse me? And who could you possibly know that is more gorgeous, more fabulous, more absolutely stunning than moi?” It took him no time at all to respond, and his voice was still flat and unfazed by Rarity’s disbelief and anger. “Fleur de Lis.” “You know Fleur de Lis?” Always one with a flair for the dramatic, Rarity raised a hoof to her forehead and pretended to collapse onto the picnic blanket, allowing Pinkie to hop over to her and hold her hoof out to the Dash brother. “Hiya! My name is Pinkie Pie! Nice to meet you, Nova!” He chuckled as he smiled at her. “Finally another sane pony! Nice to meet you too, Pink—“ As soon as his hoof touched hers, he began shaking as a loud buzzing was heard. Pinkie brought her hoof back, revealing that she had been wearing a hoof buzzer. Rainbow shot a mean glare at her friend, obviously not happy about the prank. “Pinkie!” “What?” Before Rainbow could respond again, Nova picked himself up and began to laugh. Grabbing Pinkie’s other hoof, he shook it with a delighted grin. “I like this one already, sis! You got me good with that one.” Everyone, except Rarity, started laughing again. Nova seemed nice enough, and Rarity’s current disposition towards him couldn’t really be put into the equation, seeing as how she thought it was a crime against the world not to think of her as anything less than gorgeous. Speaking of Rarity, she finally managed to get up, keeping her attention focused on our new friend. “Very well, then, Nova. I suppose I can settle for all of Ponyville instead.” He patted her head teasingly, still keeping his smile. “That’s more fitting, but honestly, I think she’s prettier.” All heads turned in the direction his hoof was now pointing, causing our timid friend to squeak and freeze in place. Rarity didn’t seem too upset by his response, though she was hardly pleased by it. “I suppose that’s acceptable as well. Fluttershy isn’t that bad looking of a mare either. I mean, she was a model.” With her head still raised and her eyes closed, she made her way to the other end of the blanket. Nova’s smile returned as he looked to the startled pony. “Is that her name?” Slowly, he ascended into the air, landing in front of Fluttershy and hold out his hoof. “Hi there, Fluttershy, my name’s Nova Dash.” As I watched her shy away from him, I was brought back to my first day in Ponyville. It took her spotting Spike and thinking he was adorable for her to work up the courage to even speak loudly enough to be heard. Nova tilted his head, moving toward her a little. “It’s nice to meet you.” Still she backed away, causing Nova to do the same. Fluttershy moved her mane just enough to watch him return to his sister’s side before she slowly made her way over to the opposite side of the blanket from him. After everypony had gathered, I took it upon myself to do a little evaluation. It doesn’t take long for ponies to draw conclusions and decide if they like or dislike somepony else, and based on my friends’ behaviors, I could tell who was going to act how towards him. Rarity was obvious, she avoided even looking at him as often as she could, and Rainbow was also obvious. I mean, she is his sister. Applejack gave me a little more trouble; she seemed like she didn’t mind him, but she could still go one way or another, and Pinkie Pie obviously liked him. Even if she didn’t like everyone she met, it was still obvious by her jokes and laughter that the two would get along well. Fluttershy, however, wasn’t giving me any clues at all. The kind mare sort of kept to herself for the majority of the time. She would occasionally take some food and look at Nova, but for the most part she just sat there and listened. A lot, and I mean a lot of questions were brought up, and a lot of times Nova couldn’t even finish answering one before another was asked, but all was silent when Fluttershy finally spoke up. “So… why haven’t you come to visit before?” Eyes darted from Fluttershy to Nova repeatedly, but he didn’t really seem all that unnerved by the question. With a simple shrug, he began his response. “Do you want the long version, or the short?” After four voices responded with “long”, the Pegasus cleared his throat. “Alright then, grab some snacks.” He waited politely for everyone to get ready for what I assumed to be a rather time-consuming story. “I entered into Junior Speedsters Flight Camp a year before my sister. In that year, I gained a strong passion for racing. When my sis finally did enroll, I balanced speed training and keeping the jerks off of her back, but eventually that came to an end. My love of speed and racing was solidified at my graduation when were put through an obstacle course. Not only did I finish first, but I broke the school record of 20 seconds by completing it in 14! In addition, after I left everyone in the dust and crossed the finish line, this baby appeared.” Nova paused for a moment, showing us the fiery lightning bolt stamped onto his flank. It was very similar to his sister’s, with the key differences being the fireball in place of the cloud, and the colors. “Once I saw this, I knew competing on the race track was my destiny. If that wasn’t enough to tell me I was born to race, I was also offered a scholarship to enter into Cloudsdale's Academy for Advanced Flyers, the training camp for the Equestrian Association of Airborne Racing! Of course I accepted, and I trained night and day so I could gain entrance to the minor circuit of the actual association. Once I was in, it only took a few years, some hard work, and a lot of wins for me to climb the ladder into my current spot in the professional circuit. One day, I am going to get enough sponsorships and cup wins to earn that much desired acceptance into the Wonderbolts!” “Wait just a second!” Rainbow jumped up, floating in the air and glaring at her brother. “You never told me you wanted to be a Wonderbolt!” He gave her a simple shrug, looking at her through one open eye. “Honestly, while it would be totally awesome to join that group, I’m happy where I’m at right now. Anyway, the reason I haven’t been around is because between racing in the lower leagues and continuous training, I just ended up getting distracted every time I thought about coming to see my favorite sister.” She rolled her eyes, touching down again and playfully hitting his shoulder. “I’m your only sister.” As they resumed their teasing banter, and Pinkie randomly joined in throwing fake, goofy insults at the both of them, I noticed Fluttershy watching him intently and nudged her. “Fluttershy, is everything alright?” The shy pony gave me a nod, turning to me. “It’s just… strange. Like looking at male Rainbow Dash. Except a lot sillier.” Fluttershy made a good point. While Rainbow Dash definitely had a sense of humor, Nova seemed a lot goofier than his sister. That could only mean two things: that he was either going to be a lot of fun to be around, or he was going to be an incredible bother, and I found myself desperately hoping for the former. Nova seemed nice, and it would be so great to have another pony to learn lessons of friendship from. This was going to be interesting, to say the least.