To Live Once More

It was a nice day in Ponyville. Birds were chirping, the sun was shining, and the town was up to its usual hustle and bustle.

Near the fountain, a skinny blue pegasus was staring at the fountain, a shiny gold bit in her mouth. She looked carefully at the statue, the pony seeming so happy and carefree, before returning her gaze to the water and making a wish.

I wish I could get over him, she thought, closing her eyes and dropping the coin into the fountain. I wish I could move on. I wish I could live again.


It had been a year since Spirit Hop had left her, off to fight in some country, far, far away, never to return. It was probably the best that it ended that way, seeing that she would be even more heartbroken if there hadn't been a clean break, but, though life had continued, her soul had not.

She sat on the edge of the fountain, staring at her reflection's perfectly styled mane and its pretty face. It was too bad that she couldn't see her mind, churning with stress and turmoil, but at least the ponies of Ponyville didn't really know who she was. It was very helpful, in fact. It meant she could enjoy quiet times like this.

What she couldn't control were the ponies themselves. A blue blur suddenly flashed past her, the wind knocking her over. She shrieked as she fell towards the water, trying to soften the blow by throwing out her wings.

Well, there goes my dignity, she thought, bracing herself for the impact.

(I assume the blue blur is me :P )

Fireseeker was rather excited. His new writing resources had arrived in the mail; books, papers and general research to help him write his novel. He had to collect them from the office in Ponyville but that was no problem for him.

With his saddle bags full, he flew done the street at speed. As he went past the water fountain he heard a shriek. Concerned, Fireseeker spun around to see a pegasus mare. She must have been sitting on the fountains edge as he went past as she was now falling towards the water.

With a spur of his wings, Fireseeker moved as fast as he could towards her. Mere moments before she hit a water surface, he scooped her up in his hooves. However, the extra weight threw him off balance and just as he cleared the fountain, they rather ungraceful crash landed on a grassy knoll.

With a mighty crash, Cloud found herself not in the water, but on a little hump in the grass. She groaned, rolling over and hating to her hooves, to find out who her savior had been.

To her surprise, it was, indeed, the catalyst himself! She was suddenly conscious of the mangled state of her mane, and she did her best to comb it out so the soft waves flowed naturally down her neck and shoulders. 

"Oh my goodness," she said, helping him to his hooves. "That was very kind of you, sir. Thank you so much. Are you okay?"

Somehow from the crash, Fireseeker had ended up on his back, surround by the contents of his saddle bags. Limply, he looked around to better see who he'd saved. The bright blue pegasus mare help him to stand for which he was grateful.

"Thanks," he said, before feeling guilty about the event. "I'm so sorry about that. I shouldn't have been flying that fast so low and I've really got to watch where I fly."

He gradually began to collect his spilled papers and books, glancing up at the mare. "I'm Fireseeker by the way."

Cloud blushed, embarrassment at falling in the first place at the front of her mind. She was a ballerina, for Faust's sake. That never should have happened.

"It's quite alright. I'm afraid I've been slacking off lately," she said, sheepishly focusing on the ground. "I'm Cloud Dancer, but most people just call me Cloud, since Dancer's a name I added when I started my career. It's actually nice to meet you, Fireseeker. Most ponies I know wouldn't even dare to perform such a heroic act."

She looked up through her lashes, blushing furiously. Now that she looked at him, he was quite attractive. Nothing like Spirit Hop, but still attractive.

"It was the least I could do considering I caused the problem," he admitted.

Cloud Dancer, Cloud Dancer. It sounded familiar. Fireseeker seemed to recall that name from somewhere. Subtly, he looked back at her cutie mark to confirm his suspicions.

"Aren't you one of the leading ballerinas in Canterlot?" he asked, "I swear I've read about you..."

Fireseeker trailed off when he noticed Cloud looking towards him in a strange way, her cheeks bright red. It looked rather cute. Adorable even. He glanced behind him to see what she was looking at but couldn't see anything.

(Oh Fireseeker, you oblivious fool :P )

"Oh," she said, forgetting about her status as one of the Canterlot Elite for a moment. "Yes, yes I am. I'm the Prima Ballerina for the Royal Canterlot Ballet Company. Funny that you should ask now, considering my very recent act of clumsiness..."

She laughed, her redness now because of her embarrassment.

"Enough about me. What about you, Fireseeker? What drives you to live life to its fullest? I found mine in a little solace called Weather Patrol, but my story is insignificant. I'd like to hear about where that speed came from."

Fireseeker was curious as to what recent act of clumsiness Cloud had meant but he felt it would be rude to pry. Not to mention, he was sure that if it was something bad, a mare in her position would have the paparazzi on her back already and he didn't want to add to that. As a writer, Fireseeker hated the paparazzi.

"Well, if you've got to get somewhere, why not get there quickly?" he remarked, chuckling a little. For a moment, Fireseeker suddenly seemed to dwell on Cloud Dancer, taking time to simply admire her.

When he realised he was staring, he gestured to the papers he'd packed back into his bags."I was actually heading home with these writing materials. I use them to, well, write."

Cloud raised an eyebrow (do ponies have eyebrows? Hmmm...) and smiled.

"One of my friends is a hobbyist author. She crams as many words as she can onto parchment between taking care of her foal and working. It sounds like a worthy pursuit, Fireseeker, and can get you very far in life."

She chuckled. "Silly me, a ballerina who couldn't keep her balance and almost fell into a fountain. What would the press say if they found out about it? Thank you very much, again, for preventing an even larger mess. It was kind of you to turn back and save me from a very messy situation."

Cloud stretched her wings out, rolling her shoulders and making sure all was in order.

"How about a little stroll in the sky? I'd like to hear more about your writing. I'm sure it's wonderful."

(Yeah, I'm pretty sure they do...)

"Well, it's only my words. They're nothing too amazing," Fireseeker replied with a shrug. He wasn't one to easily accept praise.

He spread his own wings out and smiled. "A flight sound like a great idea. After you."

He supposed he didn't need to get back home in a hurry. Plus he could make up for nearly making Cloud Dancer take an unexpected dip.

"Maybe you'll let me be the judge of that," she said innocently, then realized that she was making the request to a pony she barely knew. "That is, if you'd allow me to do so."

Cloud spread her cyan wings and took to the sky, hovering above the ground and looking down at the little square, where ponies were obliviously walking around and making idle chat with each other. Gently, she made her way up to a cloud, landing on her namesake and waiting for Fireseeker to follow.

"Come on up!" she encouraged. "It's very nice up here. The sun is shining, birds are singing, and there's a light breeze blowing through. This cloud is rather fluffy, too!"

"If you have some spare time, by all means, go ahead," said Fireseeker.

With a flap of his wings, he left the ground. The air felt rather warm from the sun's presence but the breeze kept it cool. He landed on the cloud besides Cloud Dancer and settled in.

"It is very nice up here," he stated, and without thinking, his mind and mount wandered. "One of the things I love about Ponyville since I came here was how scenic it is. Sure, there are the mountains around Canterlot or the sunset colours of the Appleloosan plains but it's just so...casually beautiful around here."

Cloud nodded in agreement, gazing around at the town sprawled beneath them. It was one of the reasons she had a home in Ponyville, as a matter of fact. The charm, the beauty, the ponies... It was such a lovely little town, and her second favorite home-away-from-home besides Cloudsdale.

"It's a lovely town, indeed," she answered, sighing in contentment. "When I first arrived here, I didn't realize how much I would like it. It's a very nice place in which to spend quiet periods between shows. I don't know what I would do without the reassurance of these ponies' warm welcomes."

She turned to face the stallion and thought again how handsome he seemed. Shaking her head slightly, as if the motion would clear her head of such thoughts, she leaned back and looked up.

"Did you go to flight school?" she asked. "I grew up in Manehatten as an adopted filly; I never got the chance, and I'm quite curious."

Thinking back on when he first arrived in Ponyville, Fireseeker could remember all the greetings he'd received, how welcome he was and even a party for him that had been organised, set up and held on the same day he had arrived...somehow...

Fireseeker turned towards Cloud in surprise when she asked about flight school. "You're from Manehatten too? So am I! I never went to flight school either but I took a few personal tutor lessons.

Cloud giggled, surprised. How lovely was that? There were so many new doors to open now, so many new conversations to have...

Wait a bit. What was she thinking about? She fought the urge to slap herself before responding.

"That's fantastic!" she said enthusiastically. "I sort of taught myself how to fly, and how to dance... see, I learned to dance when I was in the Cloudsville Weather Team Training Camp. I had just left home, and I couldn't do other things without Flight School Ed, and then somepony from the Ballet Company saw me and recommended that I try out for the job. I worked my way up through the ranks... and here I am now."

She blushed. "I'm the youngest Prima in a century."

"Wow."

Admittedly Fireseeker didn't know much about ballet (suffice to say his knowledge was limited to the the movie Filly Elliot) but even he could realise that was a big achievement.

"You must be truly talented," he said quietly, looking down at Ponyville below, "It must be nice to be recognised for it."

Cloud blushed, looking down at her hooves.

"Not at all," she admitted. "I hate the extra attention. I'd rather do the thing I love without being harassed everywhere I go in Canterlot. That's why I try to stay away as often as possible, see?" She hid her face. "I'm too shy. I freeze up when a million questions are launched at me like lances, but I've gotten better at responding. One can only run away so often before she finally has to face her fears."

She couldn't believe the blush on her face. What was going on? How was she reacting like this? Fireseeker was just a stallion...

"Forgive me. I've allowed this conversation to be steered back to me. What about you? Have you been published, yet?"

As Cloud spoke, Fireseeker couldn't help but notice that adorable blush return to her cheeks. Desptie the visual distraction, he listened to what she said and felt sorry for her. Not everypony was good at dealing with fame it seemed. He wondered how he would cope were he in her position.

"Oh, yes. Well, sort of. I write for a pulp magazine at the moment. Short adventure stories, you know? But I'm trying to write a novel at the moment."

"That sounds exciting," Cloud said sincerely, noting that he was giving her a rather dopey stare. What could that mean? "Like I said earlier, I'd love to take a peek."

Ooh, now she was getting tingles. To distract herself, she took to the air, flapping her wings almost lazily as a draft blew in.

"I'd like to show you where I live," she found herself saying. "I've got a housemate who spends a lot of her time in lots of different places around Equestria. She's an ambassador; I suppose it's her job. For now, though, I'm alone..."

She, innocent as she was, did not hear the implication one would assume were behind her words. She really did just want to show him the pretty little cottage, but it could have been interpreted any way.

(Haha, oh the innocent and naive)

Without thinking, Fireseeker stood up and nodded.

"Why sure, we can go to your place."

Suddenly something clicked in his mind. Had Cloud just asked him to come to her house, with just the two of them? Was she...?

Fireseeker's wings promptly unfurled as he struggled to control both them and a blush across his face. "W-well, actually I don't know," he stammered, taking a few steps back. "I dunno if we should...I mean you're a good looking mare and all but I-"

He was stopped in his ramblings when he somehow managed to trip on the cloud while backing away and landing flat on his back for the second time that day.

Only then did Cloud realize what she had implied.

"Oh, Faust, I didn't mean it like that!" she said, horrified, as the heat rushed to her face once more. "I'm truly sorry about it! Forget I said anything. Um..."

This was where Shy Cloud kicked in. She found that she couldn't say anything, shame on her face. What a sin against Faust, to even say something that could give the wrong impression. She did not realize that her humiliation had caused her wings to freeze up before she found herself, despite all attempts to keep her away, in a lake.

Her laughter rose from the ground as the water shocked her back to her senses. She had surfaced, lying flat on her back with her wigs spread for buoyancy. 

"I guess fate will take what it wants," she said cheerfully, her statement all but forgotten.

Fireseeker finally managed to recover himself when he heard a distant splash. Slowly, he glanced around him to see Cloud Dancer nowhere in sight. When he heard what sounded like her voice from below, he went to the edge of the cloud and peeked down.

She seemed to be laughing, floating in the the lake. In the lake.

Spreading his wings, Fireseeker glided down and landed by the lakeside, keeping a fair distance between himself and the water's edge.

"Are you ok? That was quite a fall..."

"Oh, I'm quite alright," Cloud answered cheerfully, watching the pegasus at the edge of the lake. "It's quite nice in here, actually. It's cool but not cold, and the water is quite clear."

It was a rather pretty lake. The water was blue with the sky, clear to about five feet down.

Suddenly, Something she saw as a rather devious idea popped into her head, and she suddenly started gasping, flailing around for a minute before sinking below the water and keeping herself down. She had a nice set of lungs on her, anyways. It was time to put them to good use.

Fireseeker had sat himself on the grass, not wanting to appear rude by leaving but he couldn't go in either. As he looked over the lake, he watched as Cloud swam.

Wait...

His blue eyes widened with panic when he saw her starting to struggle and suddenly go underwater. Was she drowning? Was something pulling her under. Fireseeker ran to the very edge of the lake and peered in, but stood there, riveted.

Despite the scene occurring right in front of him, he couldn't bring himself to take action. Terrible images flooded his mind as he imagined Cloud struggling underwater.

"Help!" he shouted out loud, trying to call to anypony nearby. "Somepony, anypony, help! She's drowning!"

Giggling, Cloud shot out of the water and tackled Fireseeker, spraying him with water and landing on top of him, her wet coat and mane hanging off of her body and dripping all over the place.

"Gotcha," she said deviously. "What's wrong? Don't like the water?" 

She rolled off of him and lay in the sun, letting it warm her chilled body and dry her off. She was incredibly filthy, and she felt so rebellious in doing so. Oh, her agent was going to throw a fit if she found  out... Which was not going to happen on her watch. She hadn't had fun like this in a very, very long time. 

She realized she had probably done something stupid, and she blushed again, hiding behind her hair.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do anything but to have some harmless fun."