//------------------------------// // The Dancer // Story: The Crooked Inheritance : A Lunar Rebellion Side Story // by Zelderon //------------------------------// “But mother, I think it would be a good experience for me,” I pleaded while helping my mother water the vegetable plot behind our house. I was laying on my stomach on a small rain cloud, hovering next to her head. “Star Buck, it just doesn’t seem to be the best use of your time. You should stay focused on your goals,” my mother said as she harvested chives for dinner, “You should stay here in Manehattan and use your break to further your studies. I could easily get you a job in Peppermint Oil’s lab. He’s always looking for apprentices to help him with his experiments.” “But it would only be for a month. The archmagus said she wanted to hold a preliminary trial session before her actual school opens. I think it would be a good opportunity for me to learn more about pegasus culture and maybe even pick up some ancient Pegasopolan.” Because I knew my mother well, I also added, “And I could learn more about controlling my pegasus magic.” To emphasize my point, I made a tiny arch of lightning come out of the tiny raincloud I was using to sprinkle my mother’s blueberry bushes with water. Sadly, I would miss out on eating this year’s fresh crop of blueberries if I went to Canterlot. “Your father and I still believe you should stay here over the summer. It’ll be more beneficial to your current career if you do something medicine-related during your break. You don’t want to be like your sister. She changed her mind so much about what she wanted to do with her life that I’m surprised she ever even got her cutie mark. If you stay here and apprentice yourself to a doctor, you might even finally get yours before the summer’s end.” My mother knew me well. My lack of cutie mark was a constant source of ire for me. I already knew what I wanted to do with my life and I knew that I was good at learning the knowledge and skills needed to be a good healer. Ponies told me I had a special knack for learning medicines, pony biology and caring for other ponies. So where was my mark? My sister received her mark before she even knew what she wanted to do as a career. She spent years jumping around different ones long after she received her cutie mark of a quill with an ink bottle in the shape of a five-pointed star. I looked my mother’s healer’s hoof cutie mark, a hoof print with a swirling spiral in the center, and thought about my father’s healer’s cross with 4 little stars, one in each of the spaces between the limbs of the red cross. I wondered if my cutie mark would take after my mother or father’s family cutie marks. I knew some ponies had cutie marks that did not look anything like their mother or father’s, but I was sure that mine would at least also be befitting of a healer. We worked in comfortable silence for a bit. My mother was alternatively harvesting sweet potato ivy and various other leafy vegetables and weeding while I careful controlled the amount of water coming from my raincloud to prevent the water from washing away soil. Eventually the raincloud became too small, so I let the remaining water vapor disintegrate and diffuse away. I flew down next to my mother’s side and started helping her wash her small harvest. Even though my mother was not a farmer and our plot of land was relatively small, she grew enough vegetables to augment every dinner. I sometimes marveled at her ability to make plants that most ponies would dismiss as dead lost causes grow large and healthy. Part of the reason why her vegetable garden was restricted was the grassy lawn my father cultivated around our house. He used grass seeds imported from Canterlot to recreate the well-kept lawns that he said were common in the unicorn capital. He and my mother were often at odds about the usage of space on our property. While my father preferred the heavily manicured lawns, hedges, and flower beds of his hometown, my mother preferred the natural beauty in wild vines and plants growing without the direction of ponies. My mother usually came home from the Manehattan Academy of Medicine an hour or two before my father did. My mother had just finished cooking dinner when he arrived home. I was in my room supposedly doing homework, but I was actually reading a memoir written by an old Long Patrol pony that Anvil lent me earlier that day during school. It had been a week since the archmagus visited. I heard from other pegasi in my class that she had sent them letters. Most of the pegasi in my class were born to earth pony parents, but some were born to pegasi who had just decided to live with the earth ponies rather than in Pegasopolis. My father and mother had to call me to dinner several times as usual before resorting to threats to make me leave my room and walk into the kitchen. We ate in silence for a bit before my father said, “Are you still bent on going to Canterlot, Star Buck?” “Yes, father, but if you and mother do not want me to go, of course, I will respect your wishes.” My father sighed and said, “Star Buck, your mother and I just want to look out for your best interests. We don’t want to unnecessarily complicate your life. If you really wish to go, you may go.” I looked up in interest and hope before he continued, “But be wary of Sunbeam Sparkle. You cannot possibly comprehend how many layers of schemes and machinations that mare has running at any given time. I suspect even Princess Celestia doesn’t know all that her Grand Vizier plots. I suspect this whole pegasus school idea of hers is just a small part of her grander scheme to centralize Equestria. She believes the 3 pony races should be united under one hegemonic political system, rather than be administered to as 3 separate tribes. She has spoken to me about it before and even though she does not believe in Celestia’s Unifying Theory of Magic, she truly believes that Equestria will be better off if it has a central power in Canterlot controlling all of Equestria. Do not let her use her for her own personal gain. She will use sweet words and gifts and favors, but keep in mind that mare will do anything to further her own hegemony.” When I told Anvil and our private hammer hooves instructor that I would be leaving for one month, retired Sergeant First Charger merely grunted and gave me a heavy pair of practice hammer hooves so that I would not “Become soft like one of those spoiled unicorn fops.” Anvil in her usual laconic way did not say she would miss me but gave me several of her books to read on the journey there. The day came when I had to leave for Canterlot. I shifted uncomfortably under my heavy saddle bags filled with various items my mother insisted I bring. My father continuously drilled me on things I could have forgotten and whether I had enough bits. I assured him that I had enough bits with me to buy a private army, but he just snorted and said things in Canterlot were more expensive than in Manehattan. I reminded him that at any rate they could always send me more if I needed it and that all our meals were already provided for. He gave me a slip of paper with the addresses and names of his siblings and relatives who lived in Canterlot. I had visited them a few times, but I did not know any of them very well. I had no intention of informing them I was in Canterlot. My mother was worried that it was too dangerous for me to fly by myself to Canterlot and both my parents agreed I should’ve planned to go with some of the other pegasi from Manehattan who would also be attending. I reminded them that I would be flying with a group of weather ponies who were going back to Cloudsdale and that the route was perfectly safe. When the weather ponies in question had all assembled I gave each of my parents a nuzzle. My sister, unfortunately, was unable to come because she had to be in Filydelphia that day to represent a client in court. The Equestrian countryside flew by as we made our way west. Some of the pegasi grumbled that I would slow them down, but my father had already bribed their squad leader to let me fly with them and I was able to keep pace with them since I’m naturally a strong flyer. I could see Canterlot in the distance when we finally branched off and went our separate ways. I swooped down lower as I neared the city. The tall, elegant spires of Canterlot always took my breath away. As I landed in front of the palace gate, I became painfully aware of how dirty I must have looked. My mane and tail were a mess and I was covered in sweat from the long flight. The ponies around me were are excruciatingly clean and well dressed. Sunbeam said that there would be someponies waiting at the gate throughout today and take us to her new school as we arrived. I looked around the mass of ponies for the wings and eventually made my way over to a small group of young pegasi around my age milling about who could only be the group I was searching for. As I made my way towards them, a pale unicorn with a deep mane with slight curls at its tips looked at a piece of paper and smiled at me. “You must be Star Buck. It’s nice to meet you. My name is Platinum Dancer. I will be one of your teachers for the next month.”