“Roller skating?” Celestialstar repeated. Her children had completed their first day at a new school, and she wanted to know how everything had gone, what the school was like, and what the teachers and students were like. Also, if they managed to drive anyone insane, yet.
The family sat around the coffee table in the livingroom, sans Lunartome, who was still out for the day. Celestialstar had managed to wrangle her twin spawn the moment they came in through the front door, the tale of their new school experience in another land one that just could not wait. And while the heat outside had come into full-force over the course of the day, the mother of two knew she would not get all of her answers right away, as the twins had their eye on the pool out back.
For now, she wanted to at least get some talk in. Also, she had made ice-cold smoothies for them, which was a good draw.
“Uh-huh!” Dreamstar and Starwishes nodded. They had already told their mother about how they had gotten themselves a tad lost that morning, about how big the school was, and their introduction to their new class, and then to their meeting of Sunny Daze and Peachy Pie. And of course, the eventual leading to their invitation.
“It sounds like you two had quite a day, and already you two have made friends!” Celestialstar said, overjoyed that her kids were already settling in. “Oh, however… I was supposed to tell you both this morning, but I forgot to tell you when you almost left the house naked as the day you were born. I had booked you in for a trim tomorrow, after school.”
“Aww…” Dreamstar moaned.
“Really?” Starwishes asked. They were disappointed, given they said they would go rollerskating with Sunny and Peacy.
“It’s not like it will take all afternoon,” their mother told them. “Besides, I had no idea you would have already made plans. It’s just a bit of a summer cut, not too much - just a bit of a shorten and tidy-up. Do you think your friends could wait for just a bit?”
The twins looked at each other, then back to their mother.
“Yeah, I’m sure they will…” Dreamstar reasoned.
“What time is the haircut?” Starwishes inquired.
“3:30,” Celestialstar replied. “I’ll pick you up from school… I could pick up your new friends as well, if they’d like a ride.”
“You just want to meet them,” Starwishes realised, smirking.
“I just want to get to know them,” Celestialstar assured her. “If they are going to be your friends, and they were to ever come over, I would need to know what is wrong with them to actually want to be friends with you, and what kind of medication they need to take.”
“HEY!” Dreamstar and Starwishes protested. They knew their mother was kidding, though.
“What planet they are from…” Celestialstar continued with a list. “And figuring out a way to stop them in their plans for taking over the Earth using you two as their doomsday device.”
“Mum, please!” Starwishes protested.
“We already promised that we would only ever use our powers for evil,” Dreamstar explained. “And there is nothing that can stop us!”
“Oh, we’ll see about that!” Celestialstar exclaimed, grabbing both of her children in a light lock in each arm, using her hands to rub their heads. The twins laughed in reaction to this attack, before pulling themselves free.
“Mum…” Starwishes began.
“Did Dad finish with the pool, yet?” Dreamstar completed the question.
“He did,” Celestialstar replied. “The pool is completely ready to go, and filled to the brim. I knew you two would have that on your minds when you came home, which is why I made these smoothies, so I could ask you how your first day was, before you vanished outside.
“It did work,” Dreamstar admitted to his sister.
“I still want to try the pool out,” Starwishes told him.
“So,” Dreamstar began, both twins turning to their mother.
“Can we?” Both twins asked in unison.
“I think I’m done with you for now,” Celestialstar replied. “Go nuts.”
“YES!” The twins cheered together, before pulling off all of their clothes at top speed, setting a world record, and dashing like the wind out of the back sliding door.
“Hey! Don’t leave your clothes just lying about the living room!” Their mother shouted after them - but it was too late. By the time she began her sentence, both siblings were had already left the deck, and were moments away from - and there it was, water splashing everywhere. She knew she had to be faster, next time.
Both twins resurfaced almost at the same time, and took a moment. Back at home, they lived right by the ocean, and given that the climate of their home islands were quite warm all year round, a swim was always an instant heat-relief for them. Here, they lived aways from the ocean, and up until today, the pool was out of action. The twins had badgered their parents about having a place with a pool, since swimming was a common pleasure for the two. They knew that there were other places to swim, such as a local pool, and of course a pool at the school, but for them, it just wouldn’t be the same - here, they would have to wear togs, swimming trunks, bathing suits… whatever they called them here now, anyway. Back at home, they would normally just swim naked, and it was more than just a preference for them.
The backyard of their new house was quite open - it had a generally flat lawn, which eventually sloped down a hill, and into a wooded area. That was another thing the family looked for, a spot closer to nature, a spot where they could have some form solitude and peace. Their old home was similar, although that was probably down to the fact that where they came from did not have very many people. Celestialstar and Lunartome wanted to at least have something similar, for they too felt that living right in the middle of suburbia would be too much of a shock.
Starwishes thought of something, but then realised that her brother had vanished. It was not long until she knew where to, as suddenly, she felt her brother make contact underneath her, and she was suddenly thrust up out of the water!
“Dreamstar!!” Starwishes screamed, but it was too late - she had already been rocketed into the air, as high as her brother could muster, and she splashed backwards into the water.
Dreamstar was laughing as Starwishes came up for air, and as soon as she caught a couple of breaths, she launched a retaliatory strike against her brother, jumping on top of him and forcing him underwater. The twins continued this playful struggle for sibling superiority, until sometime after, during which they were giving each other piggyback rides around the pool.
“So, how’s the pool?” The voice of their father interrupted their games. The twins hadn’t even noticed he was home, or that he had come out and onto the deck.
“Hi, Dad!” Starwishes greeted.
“When did you get home?” Dreamstar asked.
“About ten minutes ago,” Lunartome replied. “Your mother says dinner will be ready in five minutes.
“Five minutes?” The twins reacted, with shock. What time was it? How long had they been in the pool already? They looked towards the sun, which was lower in the sky than they had expected. They then looked at their fingertips.
“I’m going all wrinkly!” Dreamstar exclaimed.
“No! I don’t want to be old!” Starwishes cried. The two latched on to each other, in a tight embrace, feigning tears over their misery and misfortune at their ‘rapid aging.’ Lunartome stood there, wondering what half of the family his children got it from. He was certain it was not his.
“I left a couple of towels on the deckchairs,” their father told them. “We’re having dinner on the deck tonight, so you might want to get out of the pool, now.
The twins realised they were hungry… they hadn’t noticed it until just now. They got out of the pool, and each took a towel. Wrapping themselves in them and standing there, as the early evening sun, still quite warm, helped in their drying.
Their mother came out, and set some plates onto the deck table. She then went back inside, and then emerged twice more, once with cutlery, and then once more with their evening meal.
“Alright, dinner’s ready!” Celestialstar called out, though more to her husband, since her children were standing there, now mostly dry. “Lunartome!”
The twins hung their towels over the back of their chosen deckchairs, and took a seat. It was not uncommon for them to join the dinner table naked, just as much as it was not uncommon at the breakfast table. They were actually more used to being unclothed rather than clothed, something they had always been since they were little.
Tonight, the dinner served consisted of a summer salad, minted potato, and chicken. Only the chicken was hot, since Celestialstar did not have time to cook it earlier. Otherwise, that would have likely been cold, too. It was not until Lunartome joined them that they finally began dishing up and eating.
“So your mother tells me that you have some new friends,” Lunartome said to his children.
“Mhm,” the twins nodded, food in their mouth. Dreamstar swallowed first.
“They invited us to go roller skating tomorrow, after school,” Dreamstar said.
“You don’t know how to rollerskate,” Lunartome told them.
“We know,” Starwishes said. “But they said they would teach us.”
“Do you have rollerskates?” Lunartome asked. It was a half-rhetorical question.
“No,” Starwishes answered.
“But there is a place in town where you can hire them for the afternoon,” Dreamstar explained.
“Well I’m glad to hear you’re making friends,” Lunartome told them.
“What about you, Dad?” Starwishes asked.
“What did you do today?” Dreamstar added.
“Similar to you, I’d dare say,” Lunartome replied. “It’s a little busy, settling in, but the implementation of the embassy is going smoothly. I had a lot of paperwork to do today.”
“That sounds so interesting!” Starwishes said, sarcastically. Lunartome gave her a strange look with an amused grin, and nudged her softly on the shoulder with his fist.
“I also went looking around town today,” Celestialstar added to the conversation.
“Looking for potential shops?” Lunartome asked.
“Yes, I have,” Celestialstar replied. “I saw a cute little shop which I think would be perfect!”
“It’s going to be the best shop in the entire country!” Dreamstar cheered.
“You’re probably going to be so busy,” Starwishes told her, imagining the crowds.
“Haha, we shall see,” Celestialstar told them.
“I can count on you two to help out, can’t I?” Lunartome asked Dreamstar and Starwishes.
“Yep!” Dreamstar replied.
“Of course!” Starwishes added.
“Thanks, you two!” Celestialstar smiled.
Sunny Daze and Peachy Pie had no issue the next day with waiting for the twins while they had their hair mutilated. In fact, they welcomed the free ride into town, as a car with air conditioning beat a walk in the heat any day of the week. The twins also mentioned that their mother had potentially suspected that they were aliens, in a joking tone, to which Peachy jokingly wanted to know how she found out.
They had not made any new friends in school that day, although they did meet a few more students in passing. For the time being, the twins stuck to Sunny and Peachy like glue, especially since the mysteries of Canterlot High had yet to be imparted onto them. They also noted how a lot of their classmates had cottoned on to which twin was which based on what they wore, which made things less complicated for their class, overall.
Celestialstar was already waiting in the car for them when school was over. This made waiting outside for her not an option, and that they would not have to risk melting onto the pavement. One thing the twins did wonder, however, was given that they would be rollerskating, and given the heat, that it might be too hot. But their friends told them about how the skating rink where they would be going was all indoors, which brought a sigh of relief.
“So, you must be Sunny Daze and Peachy Pie,” Celestialstar said as they greeted each other at the car.
“Hello,” Peachy greeted.
“Hi,” Sunny waved a little. She seemed to be a little shy in this encounter, compared to when she first met Dreamstar and Starwishes.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to eat you,” Celestialstar assured her, as the others moved about, trying to figure who would sit where. The twins, given that they always sat together, usually sat in the back, since there was only a single passenger seat in the front. Peachy Pie nominated herself to sit in the front, leaving Sunny to take the remaining backseat.
It was not a very long drive, and the haircut appointment was soon over. Sunny commented on their haircut, telling them how good it looked on them. Peachy was more curious as to why they had to have the same hairstyle as each other. Celestialstar had offered to drive them to the rink, however Peachy informed her that it wasn’t too far from where they were parked.
“This is for you,” Celestialstar said to her kids, presenting them each with some cash.
“Thanks, Mum!” The twins sang.
“You’re father and I decided that we’d treat you the afternoon,” Celestialstar told them. “You kids go have fun!”
“Thanks! We will!” Starwishes grinned.
“Oh,” Celestialstar added, turning to Sunny and Peachy. “You’re welcome to come over sometime, if it’s okay with your parents.”
“That’d be cool!” Peachy Pie replied.
“Thank you!” Sunny Daze said.
“Please don’t break my children,” Celestialstar requested.
“We’ll try to keep them in at least three pieces!” Sunny chimed.
The skating rink was not as large as the twins had imagined - they had pictured something of a behemoth, when in fact the rink itself was probably only as twice as the size of the school hall. There did not seem to be very many people about, although Sunny and Peachy explained to them that it gets busier during the weekends, and school holidays.
“So… what do we do?” Dreamstar asked.
“First, we get you guys some skates!” Peachy Pie announced, gesturing over to the counter near the entrance. “Come on!”
The twins felt nervous. They had never been skating before, what if they weren’t very good? What if they would not be able to pick it up?
“Hello, girls!” The elderly man at the service counter greeted. “The usual pass?”
“Yup,” Peachy Pie replied. “Also, we have a couple of new friends who are new, and want to learn how to skate.”
“Ah, so I am guessing you will need roller skates, then,” the man realised. “What shoe size are you?”
“Um…” Dreamstar began.
“We… don’t really know,” Starwishes confessed.
“The shoe sizes are different here,” Dreamstar grinned, feeling a little awkward. “So… we don’t know.”
“That’s fine,” the man assured them. “We’ll just try some skates until we find a pair that fit you. Let’s see… I’d say, given by the look of you… let’s try a size 6.”
The old man presented them both with a pair of size 6 roller skates, which both twins got their feet into easily.
“Well?” Sunny asked.
“Too big,” the twins replied simultaneously.
“Let’s try a size 5, then…” The old man suggested, passing over another pair. These skates were much more snug, although Dreamstar wondered if it was still too big.
“Does it feel too loose?” Sunny asked.
“Well… not really,” Dreamstar replied. Starwishes inquired about the size 4, but found that it was too tight for her liking.
“We’re size 5,” Starwishes informed him.
“Great, let’s pay and get a locker to put our schoolbags into,” Peachy said. After paying, and entrusting their possessions to a locker (of which Peachy Pie took possession of the key), the next challenge was to begin.
Sunny Daze and Peachy Pie rolled ahead on rollerskates of their own, while Dreamstar and Starwishes were not quite as graceful, and found themselves holding on to each other for the sake of their health. They found their way onto the rink itself by pulling themselves along the rink’s edge. Once on the rink, they hesitated to let go of the railing.
“You guys are going to have to let go sometime,” Peachy told them. The twins decided she was right, but were a little nervous about how this would end up - with both of their rear ends on the concrete floor. They resolved to let go together, which they seemed to manage without falling over, and then gripping onto each other’s arms.
“Okay, good! Now you have to let go of each other,” Peachy Pie told them.
Dreamstar and Starwishes looked at each other. They themselves saw no need to let go of each other, they were quite fine with not collapsing in a heap.
“Okay, Sunny… you take Dreamstar, I’ll take Starwishes,” Peachy Pie told her co-tutor.
“Okay!” Sunny said, smiling. Peachy rolled over towards Starwishes, and took her hand, separating the twins. Sunny did the same, only with Dreamstar. Taking Dreamstar’s hand, she gently pulled Dreamstar along. He began to lose his balance, the wheels sliding out from underneath him - but Sunny caught both of his arms in hers, and managed to steady him.
“Okay, you have to just make sure you keep your balance, that’s important,” Sunny told him, smiling. “I’ll hold on to you, but we’ll start moving around. Don’t move your feet in crazy directions…”
“I’m not sure how to,” Dreamstar confessed, fearing that by the end of the day, he will have made himself quite familiar with the hospital.
“Just… have you ever been skiing?” Sunny Daze asked him. “Oh… wait, you come from some tropical island…”
“Yeah, I have…” Dreamstar answered. “There are mountains where I come from, some are high enough and get snow in the winter. It just doesn’t snow else except for those mountains. Starwishes and I went skiing a few times.”
“Oh really? I thought all of the islands didn’t have snow and it was basically summer all year round,” Sunny admitted, feeling a little bit stupid.
“You just have to be higher up,” Dreamstar told her. “Though, some years there isn’t enough snow for skiing and snowboarding…”
“Oh, okay!” Sunny understood.
“So… anyway?” Dreamstar hinted, wanting to know where Sunny Daze was going with this.
“Oh, right!” Sunny remembered. “Anyway, so when you ski, you just-”
“OH!” Dreamstar realised. “Because you control the skis with your feet!”
“Right!” Sunny exclaimed. “So, it’s a little bit different, but I at least think it’s sorta the same, so just watch my feet as well!”
“Right!” Dreamstar said.
“Just don’t overthink it, okay?” Sunny instructed.
“Got it!” Dreamstar replied.
It was a little bit awkward, and while it probably didn’t seem like it, it sure felt like there were some close calls. Starwishes herself had similar close calls, but both of them seemed to improve quite impressively - at least, from their own point of views. Peachy pointed out that while they were doing pretty well, they still looked awkward and seemed to go all over the place. Still, the twins managed to skate about by themselves, even if it wasn’t with graceful precision.
The afternoon wore on, and it was decided that they would end their skating date for today. The twins wanted to try one more lap around the rink, having found a growing courage in their skating, to which Peachy suggested a race. They took off, and while the twins’ awkward skate-racing impeded their ability to keep up with Peachy and Sunny, they at least were able to skate somewhat decently.
It was no real competition - Peachy and Sunny reached the rink entrance first. Skating to a stop, they waited for their pupils to finish.
“They’re doing really well, don’tcha think?” Sunny said to Peachy.
“Yeah, better than I thought they would, anyway!” Peachy admitted.
“I think we just found us some new skating buddies!” Sunny chimed happily.
“If they keep it up, they might even be able to challenge us to a decent race!” Peachy said, happily. “If they keep this up, they’ll be skating well enough in a couple weeks!”
“OH MY GOD HELP!!” Starwishes screamed.
“HOW DO YOU STOP THIS THING??” Dreamstar cried out. Sunny and Peachy took their eyes off each other long enough to realise their roles in the twin’s crash-landing, and creating a skate rink sprawl on the ground.
“Ow…” Sunny moaned. The twins agreed with their own post-crash moan-based commentary.
“Maybe a couple weeks is a bit too optimistic,” Peachy Pie groaned. “How about a couple hundred years?”