[Friday Evening]

When I got to the door of my house, I quickly opened it, rushed inside, and slammed it shut. Wheezing from the sprint getting to my home, and drenched in cold rainwater dripping from my clothes, mane, and tail.

“Cyan Dusknight! Where have you been young stallion?!” A loud, familiar mare voice shouted that shocked me into place. I looked up, and saw my parents standing in the dining room. With dinner on the table that looked like it has been sitting there for a long time.

Mom was wearing a pink blouse and white skirt reaching to her knees, her mane was fixed from this morning, straightened to a neat, brushed style. Same goes for her tail. She looked at me with a mixture of worry and anger, which was understandable considering how long I was out.

My dad… Was not looking at his best right now. He was still in uniform from his work, a navy blue suit with gold trims, and matching slacks. Bands, medals, and patches were on various places of his chest and shoulders, signifying his rank and achievements from his services to the guard. One medal in particular that stood out was a red shield with a black, six pointed star I made earlier within it. Like his name, his coat was a marine color, with a long, dark black mane reaching past his shoulders. His same colored tail twitched a little, brushing the ground behind him. He crossed his arms, and looked at me with those deep crimson eyes, sure enough that’s where I got mine from, with a somber expression that could bring his cadets to their knees.

“Son? You better have a good reason as to why you made us worry for so long, and coming back so late in your state,” he finally spoke. They stood there silent, waiting for an answer from me as I trembled in fear of their presence, and gulped loud enough, not noticing how dry my throat was.

Okay. They’re DEFINITELY not happy with me right now. I can understand why, and I don’t blame them. I just hope telling them what happened will calm them down a little.

I took a deep breath, not noticing I was holding one for dear life, and breathed out. I made a deep sigh, trying to calm myself down.

“Okay. Just hear me out and let me go through my day before you ask any questions please,” I requested. They glanced at each other, then back at me with a small nod. “So I was hanging with Roxxie and Teala today. We saw the new Spider-Mare movie that came out recently, had lunch at the local pizza parlor, and lounged at the park afterwards. Emerald Brace and Copper Cut barged in while we were lounging.”

“The bullies you mentioned sometimes from school?” Mom asked, and I nodded. Dad just stood there and waited for me to continue.

“He was insulting me and my friends, boasting how unicorns are the superior race, while downplaying Teala and Roxxie’s own. He also questioned me… Being a unicorn if I can’t even perform high spells,” I took a deep breath, trying to keep my composure despite the horrid memory from earlier. My parents stood there silently, patient for me to clear my thoughts. “We got into a Magic Duel, to stand up for myself, and my friends, hoping to win it so he can take back what he said. We went until the third round, where I had to do a teleportation spell like Brace did-”

“WHAT?!” Dad yelled loudly, flinching me from the volume. “That brat! Does he KNOW the consequences of pushing a unicorn to do that spell?! I ought to-” Mom cut him off with a hand on his shoulder before she looked at me with concern.

“Did you get hurt?” She asked. I couldn’t lie about my pain after the failed attempt, so I gingerly nodded.

“I pushed myself too hard, and felt a bad burn in my horn and body after an explosion while I screamed on the ground. Brace just laughed at that, and called me a… failure as a unicorn before he left,” I could tell not too long after I said that my parents were furious, as I could feel it from where I was standing.

Mom tried to keep a straight face before she calmly asked. “What happened afterwards?”

I looked down, ears folded, regretting how I might have made my friends worry after my actions. “After the pain died down, Teala and Roxxie checked to see if I was okay. I couldn’t look at them after not being able to stand up for them, and just ran as far away from them as possible…”

Mom and Dad looked at each other for a moment, sadness on their faces as they empathized what I was going through. “I ended up in an alleyway sometime later," I continued. "I lost track of what time it was, and I didn’t have a watch on me, but I just lay there on the ground and sobbed my eyes out.”

“What were you doing on the ground?” Mom asked.

“… I tripped. I couldn’t even get up after my legs turned to jelly from all that running,” I answered before Mom rubbed my cheek with her gentle hand.

“You poor dear…” Mom sympathized.

“Anything else we should know about?” Dad asked, his expression lightened from the somber expression from earlier, which was a good sign on my part.

“I lay there for a while, until someone came up to me, and tried to cheer me up,” I continued.

“They didn’t ask you to do anything uncomfortable to you did they?” Dad asked, tightening his fist, ready to find the individual if they did anything wrong to me.

“No no, she was fine,” I assured.

“She?” Mom asked.

“Yeah. She was an older looking unicorn mare. Who was very kind, but really quiet though,” my parents raised an eyebrow at that comment.

I probably shouldn’t tell them how she had no irises or pupils either.

“Anyway,” I continued. “She wanted to help me and know what happened, so I told her the same thing I just spoke with you two. Then she did something… Interesting.”

“Interesting? How so?” Mom asked.

“She was showing me a trick that was unlike ANYTHING I’ve ever seen before. She turned a handkerchief into a dove!” I exclaimed.

“Ohh, she must be a show mare doing a small performance for you to cheer you up. That was nice of her,” Mom deduced.

While I wish that was the case, she DEFINITELY didn’t look like any show mare I’ve seen before.

I went along with her theory though, as that was the closest conclusion I could come to at the moment before I continued. “Well her magic was something to be admired though. If you were there, you’d definitely see why I thought so. Anyway, after that, she even offered to teach ME that kind of magic.”

“Did you accept?” Dad asked.

“Of course!” I exclaimed, but that gave Dad and Mom a reason to worry apparently.

“So what happened after that?” Mom asked.

“Well she gave me the first lesson right then and there,” I didn’t tell them about the weird ‘force’ thing that happened before that. Probably better not to mention that right now. “After I followed her instruction, I couldn’t believe that I pulled it off! It was just super amazing! Oh I’ve got to show this to you guys. Your minds will be BLOWN once you see this!” I exclaimed before I held my hand up, focused on it, and the black aura quickly appeared around my hand and horn. I then visualized the star from earlier before it emerged from the blackness, and floated in mid-air like before. I then morphed it to other familiar shapes as well, while moving them around in circles and other formations. “You see?! Can you see how AWESOME this thing is?!” I asked with excitement before I directed my attention to my parents, and their reaction wasn’t something I expected.

They looked surprised, that’s for certain, but instead of curiosity and awe, they looked at it with… fear. Especially my dad, which was something I’ve rarely seen unless I was in danger, but this time he seemed more… afraid. Mom matched with those expressions as well. I shifted my gaze between them with confusion and concern. They looked like they saw a ghost, and their coats even got a little pale from their natural colors.

“Mom? Dad? Is something wrong?” I asked as I dissipated the figure, and released the black aura. Dad was the first to move, and placed a hand on my shoulder.

“Son… Why don’t you go grab some dinner, and eat in your room tonight? Dry yourself off before you catch a cold while you’re at it before bed. Your mother and I have something important to discuss,” he said. I stood there in silent for a moment, surprised at the request.

This is the first time I’ve ever heard Dad asking me to eat in my room instead of with the family like usual. I would think he want to spend as much time with me and Mom as possible, with how busy they are with their jobs and all. This was a complete 180 from Dad all of a sudden.

I just tentatively nodded in response. “O-okay…” I complied before I walked to the dinner table, and grabbed the plate with a big piece of lasagna on it. I took the silverware as well before I walked up the stairs, and turned to my parents, who were watching my moves. “…Good night…” I hesitantly bid.

“Good night son,” Dad responded while Mom just stood there and nodded.

I continued walking up stairs, food in hand, and went to my room before I shut the door behind me. I placed my dinner at my desk, took off my damp clothes, threw them to the laundry basket, and levitated a towel from my bathroom before I dried myself off. As I finished, I looked at myself in the mirror, and jumped back in surprise, dropping the towel to the floor.

On my arms and sides of my hip, was a black, six pointed star like before. One of each side on the parts of my body where the cutie marks would be. I had to look down at myself, seeing if the mirror was playing tricks on me. They were still there. I gave the one on my left arm a tentative touch. A little tingly there. Then I touched the one at my side. It was a little more sensitive now.

It’s strange… I should be hopping and jumping around the room with joy after finally getting my cutie mark. I probably would be too… If I didn’t have this sense of anxiety in my body. I don’t know what my parents thought when they saw my demonstration. I would think they’d be happy and proud of me for making this big discovery, but it was the complete opposite of what I had hoped. Why did they reacted that way? Are they going to talk about it in their ‘discussion?’ I have to know what was going on.

I quickly and quietly put on a clean pair of clothes, and slowly opened the door. I could hear my parents’ voices from downstairs, but it was hard to hear what they were saying. I opened the door enough for me to slip through, walked quietly, and waited at the top of the stairs, getting a better hearing of the conversation from the living room while hiding myself.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Mom asked.

“It must be done. That magic is dangerous and could hold a potential threat to anyone around him,” Dad answered. “The place we’re sending him is secluded and safe enough where no one can be harmed. I don’t know how long it will take, but as of right now, nobody around Cyan, not even his friends, is safe. This is the best course of action for all of us.”

My whole body was trembling after what I had just heard. I quickly and quietly walked back to my room, gently closed the door behind me, and cast a sound-proof spell around my room so no one outside would hear me.

“My magic is… D-dangerous?” I asked with a tremble in my voice. “And my friends… Won’t be safe around me? Where is this secluded place Dad was talking about? Why do they want to send me away?” I tried to come up with the right answer for these questions, but my mind was clouded with fear, anxiety, confusion, and despair.

I don’t know where my parents want to send me away, but I think it’s safe to assume that… They think I’m some kind of monster, and I should be locked up before I hurt anyone.

My mind was drawing a blank. I couldn’t think straight at all at the moment except for one thing.

“… I got to get out of here,” was the best conclusion I can come up with at the time.

I hastily grabbed my back pack, and dumped all my school contents on the bed. I got to my drawers where I grabbed and packed many shirts, pants, and briefs in my back pack. I got to my closet, and stuffed one jacket in my back pack while I put on another one with a hood.

“…I need to let Teala and Roxxie know about this. They deserve that much after I left them like that,” I said to myself before I took two parchments from my school pile, and two quills with my magic before I set them on my desk after sliding my dinner to the side. I got their quills dipped in ink before I started writing.

To Teala/Roxxie,

It is with great regret to say that there’s absolutely no chance of me staying in Canterlot anymore. It seems with a recent discovery I found after we parted ways, told my parents about it, and what happened at the park, they came to the conclusion that I poise too big of a threat to be around them, and the two of you anymore. They want to send me someplace far away where I won’t hurt anyone, but I’ll be saving them the trouble. If what they said was true, I don’t want to take up any chances of being around you if there’s a chance I could hurt you, as you are one of the best friends I would ever ask for. I’m sorry that I won’t be able stay with you two, but it’s for the best for all of us that I was gone. I’ll always treasure the memories we made together up to this point, and it has been a great honor, and pleasure to be your friend. I wish you the best of luck in finding your cutie marks, and what the future has in store for you two. I’ll always love having the both of you being in a significant part of my life, and I’ll always cherish the memories we had made together.

Goodbye forever,

Cyan Dusknight

I finished writing before I rolled up the parchments, and tied them each with a fancy ribbon I had kept in my drawers for special letters. I looked at a picture frame on my desk, portraying me, Teala, and Roxxie having the time of our lives in an amusement park we visited one day. I took the photo out of the frame, and tucked it in a special pocket in my back pack before I zipped it up. I stuffed the rolled parchments in my coat pockets before I grabbed a few clean towels, tooth brush, tooth paste, and floss from the bathroom, and my piggy bank with all the bits I had saved to stuff in my back pack with my clothes, and zipped it up.

I went back to my closet and reached a sleeping bag that I had used for our family camping trips, and tied it around my back pack before I opened the window. The rain was still pouring harshly and blowing into my room, but that didn't stop me in the slightest. I levitated my gear, float them out the window, and softly landed it on the ground before I put up my hood, and did the same with my body. I got my stuff around my shoulders, and took one last look at what used to be my home, before I rushed out of the property under the rain.

After dropping off the letters to their respective homes, I ran to the main gates of Canterlot. As I was running through, I saw a pony in an alleyway wrapped in a tarp, standing in front of a big cardboard box, and had a small fire going in a drum in front of him with a makeshift roof overhead to keep the flames from getting wet. I couldn’t see any definite features, but I could see that it looked up at me from the distance as I looked back. I was sure the hood I wore was enough to conceal my face, but not so much with my horn. With a nod to the pony, wishing it luck for getting through the night, I kept running to the main gates.

The train service was closed for tonight, and even if they were still on, I couldn’t use it if I didn’t want anyone to see me. I then saw an alternative entrance, where it was a long stairway down through the mountain. I turned around to take one last look of the city as a whole.

“Goodbye Teala. Goodbye Roxxie. Goodbye Canterlot. You’ll be dearly missed,” I spoke to myself before I ran downstairs through the mountain.

Next Chapter: Chapter 10: A New Friendship is Formed! Cyan and Lumina's Fateful Encounter Estimated time remaining: 8 Hours, 3 Minutes