Field of wonder
Oct 18, 2014 16:08:22 GMT -8
Post by Zero on Oct 18, 2014 16:08:22 GMT -8
I was always seen as an outsider, a freak but my mom always said I was a “Special Foal” I never knew much of my past, where I came from or who my father was she would just clam up or change the subject when I asked about them, later I just stopped asking.
Where should I begin with this story? Perhaps from my first day at school, unlike other pegasi I wasn’t born in Cloudsdale, my mom never told me where I was born just that we lived in Fillydelphia and I went to school there. Was a bit intimidating seeing how I was the ONLY pegasus in the school so I was always the “outsider” but my problems here had only just began.
Fillydelphia District School
A mare in a lavender coloured coat and peach coloured mane stepped up to the school gates, she looked back to a little white pegasus foal hiding behind her “It’s ok dear” she said softly. The foal clung to her hind leg with one hoof while suckling on the other. She smiled at the cute scene he was putting on “Hun you will have to go in” she said to him
The pegasi colt shook his head still suckling on his hoof
“Would you want me to take you in?” she asked him, the colt nodded. She smiled again taking the colts hoof and the two trotted in. The school seemed to scare the young pegasi, it was an old gothic design, the older mare looked up at the large archway, she seemed a little intimated by it too.
As they made their way into the main hallway, she could see how modern the school was. Seeing all the other fillies and colts, mostly Earth and unicorns, running around this made the young pegasi colt hide behind her even more.
“Can I help you?” asked one of the pony teachers, a mare with a midnight blue mane and light tan body
“Oh yes, I am here to drop of my foal to the school” she responded
The teacher looks around then back at her “What foal?” she asks
The mare looked and saw the pegasi hiding under her “It’s ok sweetie you can come out” she says to him. Slowly the pegasus colt steps out, a white as snow coat with a rich red colour for his mane and tail, his eyes where a light blue he wore a blue scarf around his neck, he stands at the front looking up at the teacher.
“Aww what a cute one” she says leaning down to him “Hello there little one, what’s your name?” she asks him
The colt hides again
“He’s very shy” said the mare
The teacher stood back up still smiling at the colt “It’s ok, I know a new place can be scary but we will look after you” she looks at the lavender coloured mare “what is his name?” she asks
“Its Zero” she responds looking down at the colt
“Interesting name, will you come with me to the office, and we can get him enrolled here, miss?”
“Starbell” the mare said
“Starbell? I’m sure I know that name where you-“
“Yes, I was a dancer and a performer in my younger days, now they are spend looking after this little one” she said with a proud smile
“I used to watch you dance at one of the city’s top clubs” said the teacher, Starbell gave a little blush
“You can place Zero here in this class room while we sort out the paperwork”
Starbell nodded as she placed Zero in the class room.
The teacher there waved her hoof for him to come on in, he does so slowly then stops next to the teacher, standing at the front of the class “A new student has joined our class” she said, as all eyes turned to the pegasus “Now why not introduce yourself” she said, the colt looked up at her, his eyes wide, he covers his head with a wing “I see somepony is a little shy, that’s ok first days can be intimidating” she said with a smile “My name is Ms. Hackney” she said “what is your name?”
“It…..it’s…..” he starts looking over his wing “It’s Zero” he finally says
“Well then Mr. Zero welcome to my class, why not take a seat over there” she said pointing to an empty chair next to a light gray unicorn with a two-tone blue mane wearing black rimmed shades with a purple tint just on her muzzle
“Hi” she says to him
“Hi” Zero replies back
In the teacher’s office, Starbell was looking through the paper work she had to fill out
“I need to fill out some basic information, Ms Starbell” said the teacher as she wrote the information down “And the foals name is, Zero?” she added
Starbell nodded
“Ok fathers name?”
“Oh…I don’t know” she responded nervously
“It’s odd for an Earth pony such as you to have a pegasi foal, especially a white one. Was he adopted?”
“Yes” Starbell said without thinking “He was adopted”
“And did the orphanage tell you who the family was before?” asked the teacher
Starbell’s eyes went wide, she was hoping they wouldn’t ask, she had worked so well bringing up a foal on her own she just shook her head “no they just told me a pegasus mare from Cloudsdale who couldn’t look after him, he was the only pegasus there, I feel in love with his soft blue eyes, I couldn’t just say no” she said with a smile
“May I ask why you adopted?”
Starbell looked up at the teacher “some mares are lucky to have a foal, some are not”
The teacher marks down on the form
“And your occupation?” she asks
“Still a performer, now in Fillydelphia”
“Full time?”
“No just part time, have to spend some time with my little foal”
“Now class” started Ms Hackney “We will discuss what famous ponies have inspired us, now Vinyl why don’t you start”
“Oh yeah, some signer no drought” snorted a brown coloured Earth colt, his comment made some of the other fillies and colts laugh.
Vinyl just looked at him snorted as she got up “My inspiration is Starlight Dreamer, the famous rock pegasi from Cloudsdale. It’s her music, her awesome passion, and that’s what my chosen career will be”
“And what’s that Ms. Vinyl?” asked the teacher
“To be a DJ”
“Well that is very ambitious, thank you Vinyl”
She smiles and pokes her tongue out at the colts
“Now then, who will be next?” asked the teacher looking at the many raised hooves, she sees the new comer who doesn’t seem to want to be noticed “How about you” she says pointing to the pegasi
Vinyl gives him a nudge “She’s talkin to you” she whispers to him
“Oh me?” he says looking at the teacher who is nodding at him. He looks around the classroom before slowly walking up to the front
“Now Zero, who is your inspiration”
“For what?” asks the pegasi colt
“Well for…anything you want to be or do when you’re older”
He thinks for a moment, looking at the class and the number of eyes looking at him
“I…er….” He said stuttering
“We anit got all day ya know” shouted a unicorn colt at the back of the class
“I…..” Zero stuttered again as he looked at the eyes looking at him. He looked at the teacher, then over to the unicorn knows as Vinyl into her light purple eyes, his own eyes fill up with tears before he bolts out the class room crying in the hallway. In the class room the other young ponies laughing at the sceptical the pegasi made.
Since that day I have never been able to make friends easily, the problem with a school like that was they always remembered, it seemed the only pony that didn’t care was that filly, Vinyl, she did seem pretty cool. As I got older my wings started to over develop, they grew bigger.
Starbell was standing outside the doorway of her home, putting her little bag “Zero come on now or we will be late” she called through the doorway.
“I’m not coming out” shouted back a voice
“We are not having this argument again”
“Everypony will laugh at me”
“Oh come on now dear, no pony is going to laugh at you not while I’m here, now if you come down we can go to that store you like, the one with all those models” said Starbell
“Ok…I’m coming down”
A much older and slightly taller pegasi came out of the doorway, he wore a blue scarf around his neck, but unlike most pegasi his wings where bigger than normal, he held them tight against his sides. He looked around nervously as he stood next to Starbell “Mom I still don’t think-“
“Oh now hun, don’t worry no pony is going to notice” she says with a warm smile
The two walked down the street Zero felt a little more at ease his mom was right no pony seemed to notice him, he trotted happily long side her
“Mom” he started
“Yes dear?”
“Why was I born with these wings?”
“Well you are a pegasi, and they are born with wings” she responded
“No I mean with THESE wings, they are way bigger than normal”
“Oh you are a very special foal, only the good ones get big wings, it symbolises your big heart”
The words my mom always says about them, but somehow never truly convicted me this was true. They started out “normal” when I was a young colt, but as I grew they did too. They were getting better each day new feathers formed. I was a freak. Ponies would point and laugh or call me names I never went out much after that. And if I ever did I always kept myself to myself. But all of that was about to change, even if I didn’t now it at the time.
There was a bridge, known as the Celestia Suspension bridge it was large and modern and had only just been opened by Celestia and the then Mayor Chalieese and all the ponies where admiring its construction, unnoticed by all a little foal playing with a ball, it bounced to the metal railing the little foal climbed out of its carrier to get the ball. A slight gust of wind from a passing carriage blew the ball beyond the railing and the foal followed. Still unnoticed the foal slipped onto an unsteady platform, grabbing for the ball once in its hooves the little foal started to play with it again.
More carriages drive past shaking the ground and the support for the platform crumbling away, the foal still playing with their ball. A larger carriage drove past its six-wheels shaking the ground to the point small cracks appeared on the struts. Within a second they broke away dropping the platform a few feet below the road line the young foal cried out but they were drowned out by more passing carriages as it sank lower and lower still crying out, it was only after the platform was too far down did any pony see the foal
“THERES A BABY DOWN THERE!” a mare screamed
Other ponies ran to the edge looking over many panicking and asking what to do
“Somepony call the Guards!” called a colt
“Is anypony here a unicorn?” asked another mare
“We need a pegasus!” called another
Zero and Starbell trotted up to the crowd “What’s going on?” she asked a colt
“A foal is trapped down there, the guards are trying to find away to rescue them”
“THE STRUTS ARE BRAKING!” shouted a mare
The guards ran over as a unicorn was stripping his armour off
“COME ON MOVE YOUR FLANK” shouted their commander
Zero looked over the railings “They’re not gonna make it!” he says looking at his mom
The foal was now crying the ball had long since rolled off “Mommy mommy” it cried trying to hold on to a cable
Zero saw the guards moving too slowly
“If only we had a pegasi here!” a unicorn guard called out
Zero looked over to Starbell, he didn’t need to say anything she knew by his look what he was going to do.
He backed up from the railing taking in a deep breath before galloping and jumping over the railing as the other ponies watched this white stallion jumping over them. He fell down over the edge as the other ponies looked over but then Zero opened his wings to full length, his large wings swopping down just as the platform collapsed and the foal fell, just as he came under it, with the foal landed on his back, he then pushed up with his large wings pushing themselves away from the falling debris. Flapping up to correct himself before pulling up climbing vertical to the bridge, swooping over the ground who watched in amazement at this. He landed back on the ground “Hey it’s ok now little one your safe” he said to the foal who was still clinging to his neck and using his large wing as a slide for it, the foal then galloped to its mother.
The crowd looked over to the pegasi and his large wings, a part of him wanted to wait for applause or cheering for his heroic deed, but what did come out was something no pony ever wanted to hear.
“What a freak!” shouted a pony in the crowed
“Yeah freak!” shouted another
“What in Celestia’s name is that abomination?”
“G-get away from my foal…you…you Freak!” shouted the mare whose foal Zero had just rescued
“GUARDS!” a high end pony shouted “GUARDS ARREST THIS….CREATURE!” they shouted
The Royal Guards looked at each other unsure of what to do, to them the pegasi hadn’t don’t anything wrong.
The crowed started to gather, some larger male unicorns advanced with their horns glowing holding up large chunks’ of wood and metal. Zero started to back up against a wall. He didn’t want to fight but as they got closer he had to escape. Opening his wings to full length he could only see one option. He had to. No other choice.
Rising the large wings high as they could go he jumped up as he brought his wings down, their movement creating an updraft strong enough to push the crowed back but also giving him the lift needed to fly above them and higher to escape.
Starbell watched this unfold to her horror, her son risked his own life to say a foal and all they could was treat him like an outcast, a monster. She tried to call out to him as he flew over the roof tops. She saw one of the crowd storming up the group of Guards in the street, she started to trot over to them to intervene.
“And just what ARE the so called Royal Guard going to do about that…abomination?” snapped the colt, he wore a fancy hat and collar
Abomination? Who does he think he is? My son is a hero for Celestia’s sake she thought hearing those hurtful words.
“I’m sorry you feel that way sir, but that pegasi didn’t do anything wrong” sated the Guard
“Yeah, he saved that kid, didn’t you see that?” said a unicorn Guard next to them
“That may be so, but those…wings…aren’t…normal”
“The same could be said of that top hat your wearing” said a voice behind
“Who said that!” he snapped “Who would dare say something like that to me”
“I did” Starbell said stepping up to him
“How dare you say that to me, I have half a mind to-“
“To what? Hit me? Have me arrested? How dare I? How dare YOU to call my son an Abomination”
The top hat colt winced at the words spoken back at him, they felt like daggers to his ears “And just whom do you think you are?”
Starbell’s eyes narrow staring down this colt “My name is Starbell”
“Ma’am who is your son?” asked the Guard unicorn
“My son happened to be the very pegasi this colt is calling an abomination”
“Your son was the freak with the wings?” called out another pony from the crowed
Starbell looked over to them, many of them had anger in their eyes
“That freak of nature is related to you?” called out another
“Harbouring that, abomination!”
More calls came as the crowd got closer to her, realising they couldn’t get Zero, who had escaped, they were going for her.
As they got closer she closed her eyes ready to accept the fate, for her only son she would go down fighting.
She didn’t need to worry, the Guardians charged in and blocked the advancing group. Many had tried to push them back, the two earth Guards pushed back even harder “BACK” one shouted
The two unicorn Guards charged in their horns glowing “Everypony get back NOW!” shouted one of them as a beam of light shot out of his horn, the crowd suddenly stopped and many backed away fearing they would be hit by the unicorns beams
“I want everypony here to get home now, or we will arrest every pony here, you have five seconds to comply” he shouted his horn glowing more brightly as charging his magic powers. He turned to two pegasi Guards “I want you two to fly up and look for him, we will escort his mother back home”
As the unicorn Guard trotted beside Starbell on the way home he looked at her “Ma’am”
“Please call me Starbell…or Star”
“Of course, Ms Starbell, if I may ask dose your son have a father?”
Starbell sighed, she never liked being asked this question “No, Zero was…adopted”
“He was?”
“Yes, if you forgive me sergeant this isn’t something I like to talk about. I’ve worked hard to raise him alone”
“Forgive me if I stepped out of line, your son is a hero in my book” the sergeant sighed
As they entered they found Zero standing by the large window at the back of the house
“Have you come here to arrest me?” he said softly “Because I won’t resist, I will come quietly”
“Why would you think we are here to arrest you?” asked the sergeant
“They are right, I am an abomination I shouldn’t have a right to exist”
“Those ponies are full of talk. I have several pegasi guards in my platoon and they even see them as abominations”
“Yeah they are just surprised by your large wings” said another guard
“I risked my life to save that foal, and the thanks I get was being mobbed”
“Those are Earth and Unicorns, mostly the latter. They are jealous of anypony having ablates they don’t so rather than try to better themselves, they try to destroy what they are mostly jealous of. And those wings of yours are very powerful, even my pegasi are amazed by them”
Zero slowly opens a wing to look at it, to him they where nothing special just very large wings. He had spent a lot of his time on the ground, because of his mom and the others around he had never really used them to their full potential until now.
“Ms Starbell, could I have a word with you in private for a moment?” asked the sergeant
“What is it?” she asked him
The sergeant took off his helmet “I didn’t want to say this in front of your son, but there is a place a pony like him can feel he belongs”
“He belongs here, in Manehattan, this IS his home” she stated stamping her hoof
“I understand that, but you have seen yourself how many of the ponies here acted when he rescued that foal. You would think he would get a hero’s gratitude, but instead treated like he was a freak of nature”
“It’s because he’s a pegasi isn’t it?” Starbell asked, looking at a photo of Zero as a younger foal
“No ma’am its because of his larger wings. I’ve seen both Earth and Unicorn ponies have some form of…birth…erm”
“Defect? Are you saying that Zero’s larger wings are a birth defect?”
“Well no…that was a bad thing to say, I’m sorry, but you have to see for yourself, compared to one of my men, his wings are the normal size but for Zero they are larger, it makes him more….”
“Different?” she asked again
“Gifted, he was able to reach speeds much faster than any pegasi I have ever seen, even faster than a Wonderbolt. He can do so much more, be so much more, but here he’s seen as a freak”
“What are you saying?”
“Well… I’m friends with a former pegasi Capitan who runs a flight camp by Cloudsdale, he would be more than welcome there, and he can be with his own kind”
“But he IS with his own kind, he’s with me…his mother”
“You know you don’t have to talk about me like I don’t exist” Zero said in the doorway
“I’m sorry son I didn’t think-“
“No it’s alright Sergeant, you where thinking of another’s best interest” he said raising a hoof “I have listened enough to make up my mind. I will go to this flight camp, it would be nice to be with other pegasi”
“But..” Starbell said with a tear forming in her eye
“I will be ok mom, really”
“Then I will go and make the arrangements, I wish you both well for the future” the sergeant said as he trotted pasted leaving them in the room.
The next morning Zero was looking out at the sky from his room window, watching the clouds passing in the light breeze
Starbell had been working through the night to pack his things, she couldn’t sleep, she wasn’t sure what to pack, or what a pegasi would need. She picked up a small toy he had since he was a foal she just collapsed in tears looking at it.
“Mom is everything ok?” he asked poking his head around a door
“Yes…everything is ok dear” she said sniffling “It’s just…”
Zero trotted over to her giving her a nuzzle “You did a fine job of raising me be proud of yourself for that”
She just smiled to him. She got back up on all fours to continue packing, with Zero’s help.
Zero was speeding through the sky his tears streaming
Where should I begin with this story? Perhaps from my first day at school, unlike other pegasi I wasn’t born in Cloudsdale, my mom never told me where I was born just that we lived in Fillydelphia and I went to school there. Was a bit intimidating seeing how I was the ONLY pegasus in the school so I was always the “outsider” but my problems here had only just began.
Fillydelphia District School
A mare in a lavender coloured coat and peach coloured mane stepped up to the school gates, she looked back to a little white pegasus foal hiding behind her “It’s ok dear” she said softly. The foal clung to her hind leg with one hoof while suckling on the other. She smiled at the cute scene he was putting on “Hun you will have to go in” she said to him
The pegasi colt shook his head still suckling on his hoof
“Would you want me to take you in?” she asked him, the colt nodded. She smiled again taking the colts hoof and the two trotted in. The school seemed to scare the young pegasi, it was an old gothic design, the older mare looked up at the large archway, she seemed a little intimated by it too.
As they made their way into the main hallway, she could see how modern the school was. Seeing all the other fillies and colts, mostly Earth and unicorns, running around this made the young pegasi colt hide behind her even more.
“Can I help you?” asked one of the pony teachers, a mare with a midnight blue mane and light tan body
“Oh yes, I am here to drop of my foal to the school” she responded
The teacher looks around then back at her “What foal?” she asks
The mare looked and saw the pegasi hiding under her “It’s ok sweetie you can come out” she says to him. Slowly the pegasus colt steps out, a white as snow coat with a rich red colour for his mane and tail, his eyes where a light blue he wore a blue scarf around his neck, he stands at the front looking up at the teacher.
“Aww what a cute one” she says leaning down to him “Hello there little one, what’s your name?” she asks him
The colt hides again
“He’s very shy” said the mare
The teacher stood back up still smiling at the colt “It’s ok, I know a new place can be scary but we will look after you” she looks at the lavender coloured mare “what is his name?” she asks
“Its Zero” she responds looking down at the colt
“Interesting name, will you come with me to the office, and we can get him enrolled here, miss?”
“Starbell” the mare said
“Starbell? I’m sure I know that name where you-“
“Yes, I was a dancer and a performer in my younger days, now they are spend looking after this little one” she said with a proud smile
“I used to watch you dance at one of the city’s top clubs” said the teacher, Starbell gave a little blush
“You can place Zero here in this class room while we sort out the paperwork”
Starbell nodded as she placed Zero in the class room.
The teacher there waved her hoof for him to come on in, he does so slowly then stops next to the teacher, standing at the front of the class “A new student has joined our class” she said, as all eyes turned to the pegasus “Now why not introduce yourself” she said, the colt looked up at her, his eyes wide, he covers his head with a wing “I see somepony is a little shy, that’s ok first days can be intimidating” she said with a smile “My name is Ms. Hackney” she said “what is your name?”
“It…..it’s…..” he starts looking over his wing “It’s Zero” he finally says
“Well then Mr. Zero welcome to my class, why not take a seat over there” she said pointing to an empty chair next to a light gray unicorn with a two-tone blue mane wearing black rimmed shades with a purple tint just on her muzzle
“Hi” she says to him
“Hi” Zero replies back
In the teacher’s office, Starbell was looking through the paper work she had to fill out
“I need to fill out some basic information, Ms Starbell” said the teacher as she wrote the information down “And the foals name is, Zero?” she added
Starbell nodded
“Ok fathers name?”
“Oh…I don’t know” she responded nervously
“It’s odd for an Earth pony such as you to have a pegasi foal, especially a white one. Was he adopted?”
“Yes” Starbell said without thinking “He was adopted”
“And did the orphanage tell you who the family was before?” asked the teacher
Starbell’s eyes went wide, she was hoping they wouldn’t ask, she had worked so well bringing up a foal on her own she just shook her head “no they just told me a pegasus mare from Cloudsdale who couldn’t look after him, he was the only pegasus there, I feel in love with his soft blue eyes, I couldn’t just say no” she said with a smile
“May I ask why you adopted?”
Starbell looked up at the teacher “some mares are lucky to have a foal, some are not”
The teacher marks down on the form
“And your occupation?” she asks
“Still a performer, now in Fillydelphia”
“Full time?”
“No just part time, have to spend some time with my little foal”
“Now class” started Ms Hackney “We will discuss what famous ponies have inspired us, now Vinyl why don’t you start”
“Oh yeah, some signer no drought” snorted a brown coloured Earth colt, his comment made some of the other fillies and colts laugh.
Vinyl just looked at him snorted as she got up “My inspiration is Starlight Dreamer, the famous rock pegasi from Cloudsdale. It’s her music, her awesome passion, and that’s what my chosen career will be”
“And what’s that Ms. Vinyl?” asked the teacher
“To be a DJ”
“Well that is very ambitious, thank you Vinyl”
She smiles and pokes her tongue out at the colts
“Now then, who will be next?” asked the teacher looking at the many raised hooves, she sees the new comer who doesn’t seem to want to be noticed “How about you” she says pointing to the pegasi
Vinyl gives him a nudge “She’s talkin to you” she whispers to him
“Oh me?” he says looking at the teacher who is nodding at him. He looks around the classroom before slowly walking up to the front
“Now Zero, who is your inspiration”
“For what?” asks the pegasi colt
“Well for…anything you want to be or do when you’re older”
He thinks for a moment, looking at the class and the number of eyes looking at him
“I…er….” He said stuttering
“We anit got all day ya know” shouted a unicorn colt at the back of the class
“I…..” Zero stuttered again as he looked at the eyes looking at him. He looked at the teacher, then over to the unicorn knows as Vinyl into her light purple eyes, his own eyes fill up with tears before he bolts out the class room crying in the hallway. In the class room the other young ponies laughing at the sceptical the pegasi made.
Since that day I have never been able to make friends easily, the problem with a school like that was they always remembered, it seemed the only pony that didn’t care was that filly, Vinyl, she did seem pretty cool. As I got older my wings started to over develop, they grew bigger.
Starbell was standing outside the doorway of her home, putting her little bag “Zero come on now or we will be late” she called through the doorway.
“I’m not coming out” shouted back a voice
“We are not having this argument again”
“Everypony will laugh at me”
“Oh come on now dear, no pony is going to laugh at you not while I’m here, now if you come down we can go to that store you like, the one with all those models” said Starbell
“Ok…I’m coming down”
A much older and slightly taller pegasi came out of the doorway, he wore a blue scarf around his neck, but unlike most pegasi his wings where bigger than normal, he held them tight against his sides. He looked around nervously as he stood next to Starbell “Mom I still don’t think-“
“Oh now hun, don’t worry no pony is going to notice” she says with a warm smile
The two walked down the street Zero felt a little more at ease his mom was right no pony seemed to notice him, he trotted happily long side her
“Mom” he started
“Yes dear?”
“Why was I born with these wings?”
“Well you are a pegasi, and they are born with wings” she responded
“No I mean with THESE wings, they are way bigger than normal”
“Oh you are a very special foal, only the good ones get big wings, it symbolises your big heart”
The words my mom always says about them, but somehow never truly convicted me this was true. They started out “normal” when I was a young colt, but as I grew they did too. They were getting better each day new feathers formed. I was a freak. Ponies would point and laugh or call me names I never went out much after that. And if I ever did I always kept myself to myself. But all of that was about to change, even if I didn’t now it at the time.
There was a bridge, known as the Celestia Suspension bridge it was large and modern and had only just been opened by Celestia and the then Mayor Chalieese and all the ponies where admiring its construction, unnoticed by all a little foal playing with a ball, it bounced to the metal railing the little foal climbed out of its carrier to get the ball. A slight gust of wind from a passing carriage blew the ball beyond the railing and the foal followed. Still unnoticed the foal slipped onto an unsteady platform, grabbing for the ball once in its hooves the little foal started to play with it again.
More carriages drive past shaking the ground and the support for the platform crumbling away, the foal still playing with their ball. A larger carriage drove past its six-wheels shaking the ground to the point small cracks appeared on the struts. Within a second they broke away dropping the platform a few feet below the road line the young foal cried out but they were drowned out by more passing carriages as it sank lower and lower still crying out, it was only after the platform was too far down did any pony see the foal
“THERES A BABY DOWN THERE!” a mare screamed
Other ponies ran to the edge looking over many panicking and asking what to do
“Somepony call the Guards!” called a colt
“Is anypony here a unicorn?” asked another mare
“We need a pegasus!” called another
Zero and Starbell trotted up to the crowd “What’s going on?” she asked a colt
“A foal is trapped down there, the guards are trying to find away to rescue them”
“THE STRUTS ARE BRAKING!” shouted a mare
The guards ran over as a unicorn was stripping his armour off
“COME ON MOVE YOUR FLANK” shouted their commander
Zero looked over the railings “They’re not gonna make it!” he says looking at his mom
The foal was now crying the ball had long since rolled off “Mommy mommy” it cried trying to hold on to a cable
Zero saw the guards moving too slowly
“If only we had a pegasi here!” a unicorn guard called out
Zero looked over to Starbell, he didn’t need to say anything she knew by his look what he was going to do.
He backed up from the railing taking in a deep breath before galloping and jumping over the railing as the other ponies watched this white stallion jumping over them. He fell down over the edge as the other ponies looked over but then Zero opened his wings to full length, his large wings swopping down just as the platform collapsed and the foal fell, just as he came under it, with the foal landed on his back, he then pushed up with his large wings pushing themselves away from the falling debris. Flapping up to correct himself before pulling up climbing vertical to the bridge, swooping over the ground who watched in amazement at this. He landed back on the ground “Hey it’s ok now little one your safe” he said to the foal who was still clinging to his neck and using his large wing as a slide for it, the foal then galloped to its mother.
The crowd looked over to the pegasi and his large wings, a part of him wanted to wait for applause or cheering for his heroic deed, but what did come out was something no pony ever wanted to hear.
“What a freak!” shouted a pony in the crowed
“Yeah freak!” shouted another
“What in Celestia’s name is that abomination?”
“G-get away from my foal…you…you Freak!” shouted the mare whose foal Zero had just rescued
“GUARDS!” a high end pony shouted “GUARDS ARREST THIS….CREATURE!” they shouted
The Royal Guards looked at each other unsure of what to do, to them the pegasi hadn’t don’t anything wrong.
The crowed started to gather, some larger male unicorns advanced with their horns glowing holding up large chunks’ of wood and metal. Zero started to back up against a wall. He didn’t want to fight but as they got closer he had to escape. Opening his wings to full length he could only see one option. He had to. No other choice.
Rising the large wings high as they could go he jumped up as he brought his wings down, their movement creating an updraft strong enough to push the crowed back but also giving him the lift needed to fly above them and higher to escape.
Starbell watched this unfold to her horror, her son risked his own life to say a foal and all they could was treat him like an outcast, a monster. She tried to call out to him as he flew over the roof tops. She saw one of the crowd storming up the group of Guards in the street, she started to trot over to them to intervene.
“And just what ARE the so called Royal Guard going to do about that…abomination?” snapped the colt, he wore a fancy hat and collar
Abomination? Who does he think he is? My son is a hero for Celestia’s sake she thought hearing those hurtful words.
“I’m sorry you feel that way sir, but that pegasi didn’t do anything wrong” sated the Guard
“Yeah, he saved that kid, didn’t you see that?” said a unicorn Guard next to them
“That may be so, but those…wings…aren’t…normal”
“The same could be said of that top hat your wearing” said a voice behind
“Who said that!” he snapped “Who would dare say something like that to me”
“I did” Starbell said stepping up to him
“How dare you say that to me, I have half a mind to-“
“To what? Hit me? Have me arrested? How dare I? How dare YOU to call my son an Abomination”
The top hat colt winced at the words spoken back at him, they felt like daggers to his ears “And just whom do you think you are?”
Starbell’s eyes narrow staring down this colt “My name is Starbell”
“Ma’am who is your son?” asked the Guard unicorn
“My son happened to be the very pegasi this colt is calling an abomination”
“Your son was the freak with the wings?” called out another pony from the crowed
Starbell looked over to them, many of them had anger in their eyes
“That freak of nature is related to you?” called out another
“Harbouring that, abomination!”
More calls came as the crowd got closer to her, realising they couldn’t get Zero, who had escaped, they were going for her.
As they got closer she closed her eyes ready to accept the fate, for her only son she would go down fighting.
She didn’t need to worry, the Guardians charged in and blocked the advancing group. Many had tried to push them back, the two earth Guards pushed back even harder “BACK” one shouted
The two unicorn Guards charged in their horns glowing “Everypony get back NOW!” shouted one of them as a beam of light shot out of his horn, the crowd suddenly stopped and many backed away fearing they would be hit by the unicorns beams
“I want everypony here to get home now, or we will arrest every pony here, you have five seconds to comply” he shouted his horn glowing more brightly as charging his magic powers. He turned to two pegasi Guards “I want you two to fly up and look for him, we will escort his mother back home”
As the unicorn Guard trotted beside Starbell on the way home he looked at her “Ma’am”
“Please call me Starbell…or Star”
“Of course, Ms Starbell, if I may ask dose your son have a father?”
Starbell sighed, she never liked being asked this question “No, Zero was…adopted”
“He was?”
“Yes, if you forgive me sergeant this isn’t something I like to talk about. I’ve worked hard to raise him alone”
“Forgive me if I stepped out of line, your son is a hero in my book” the sergeant sighed
As they entered they found Zero standing by the large window at the back of the house
“Have you come here to arrest me?” he said softly “Because I won’t resist, I will come quietly”
“Why would you think we are here to arrest you?” asked the sergeant
“They are right, I am an abomination I shouldn’t have a right to exist”
“Those ponies are full of talk. I have several pegasi guards in my platoon and they even see them as abominations”
“Yeah they are just surprised by your large wings” said another guard
“I risked my life to save that foal, and the thanks I get was being mobbed”
“Those are Earth and Unicorns, mostly the latter. They are jealous of anypony having ablates they don’t so rather than try to better themselves, they try to destroy what they are mostly jealous of. And those wings of yours are very powerful, even my pegasi are amazed by them”
Zero slowly opens a wing to look at it, to him they where nothing special just very large wings. He had spent a lot of his time on the ground, because of his mom and the others around he had never really used them to their full potential until now.
“Ms Starbell, could I have a word with you in private for a moment?” asked the sergeant
“What is it?” she asked him
The sergeant took off his helmet “I didn’t want to say this in front of your son, but there is a place a pony like him can feel he belongs”
“He belongs here, in Manehattan, this IS his home” she stated stamping her hoof
“I understand that, but you have seen yourself how many of the ponies here acted when he rescued that foal. You would think he would get a hero’s gratitude, but instead treated like he was a freak of nature”
“It’s because he’s a pegasi isn’t it?” Starbell asked, looking at a photo of Zero as a younger foal
“No ma’am its because of his larger wings. I’ve seen both Earth and Unicorn ponies have some form of…birth…erm”
“Defect? Are you saying that Zero’s larger wings are a birth defect?”
“Well no…that was a bad thing to say, I’m sorry, but you have to see for yourself, compared to one of my men, his wings are the normal size but for Zero they are larger, it makes him more….”
“Different?” she asked again
“Gifted, he was able to reach speeds much faster than any pegasi I have ever seen, even faster than a Wonderbolt. He can do so much more, be so much more, but here he’s seen as a freak”
“What are you saying?”
“Well… I’m friends with a former pegasi Capitan who runs a flight camp by Cloudsdale, he would be more than welcome there, and he can be with his own kind”
“But he IS with his own kind, he’s with me…his mother”
“You know you don’t have to talk about me like I don’t exist” Zero said in the doorway
“I’m sorry son I didn’t think-“
“No it’s alright Sergeant, you where thinking of another’s best interest” he said raising a hoof “I have listened enough to make up my mind. I will go to this flight camp, it would be nice to be with other pegasi”
“But..” Starbell said with a tear forming in her eye
“I will be ok mom, really”
“Then I will go and make the arrangements, I wish you both well for the future” the sergeant said as he trotted pasted leaving them in the room.
The next morning Zero was looking out at the sky from his room window, watching the clouds passing in the light breeze
Starbell had been working through the night to pack his things, she couldn’t sleep, she wasn’t sure what to pack, or what a pegasi would need. She picked up a small toy he had since he was a foal she just collapsed in tears looking at it.
“Mom is everything ok?” he asked poking his head around a door
“Yes…everything is ok dear” she said sniffling “It’s just…”
Zero trotted over to her giving her a nuzzle “You did a fine job of raising me be proud of yourself for that”
She just smiled to him. She got back up on all fours to continue packing, with Zero’s help.
Zero was speeding through the sky his tears streaming
