Silver Spoon Adopts a Naga

by Halira

Chapter 34: Trainride to Crystal Empire

Sisstet stared out the window of the train car in fascination. Trees and hills zoomed by in the distance. He'd never been on a train before, and it moved so fast.

“Ya will get motion sick if ya keep staring out the window like that.”

He turned and looked at Candy. “We're on a big trip, farther away from home than we've ever been. I want to see everything.”

Candy stared at the ceiling and groaned. “Ahgh! It's just a train. We should be figurin’ out who our sixth member for S.M.I.L.E. will be.”

Caramel grunted. “Don't mind Sis. We all know how crazy she is, an' she's only gotten crazier since she got over that curse. Ya can keep lookin' out that window if it makes ya happy.”

Candy started pounding on her brother with a hoof. “Ah ain't crazy!!”

“Says the pony hitting meh over an' over. Ouch!! Stop that! It hurts!” Caramel fussed.

The door to their compartment opened, and Strawberry stuck her head in. “Everything okay in here? I thought I heard yelling.”

Candy immediately sat upright. “We're fine! Ya must be hearin' things.”

Caramel stared at his sister in disbelief. “Ya were just poundin' on me!”

“No, ah wasn't,” Candy said with a sniff.

Caramel scowled. “Sis, Apples don't lie. Sisstet, back meh up.”

Candy threw up her forehooves. “Okay! Okay! Ah mighta given ya some light pats.”

“Light pats?!” Caramel objected.

Candy sniffed. “It's all relative. Ya are alright. Ah ain't hurt ya none. Ya'll are all physically tougher than me. Yur an earth pony. Ah'm just a unicorn; unicorns ain't that athletic-like.”

Sisstet wasn't sure if he was physically tougher than Candy, plus she knew all kinds of magic. She could fry him with her fire if she wanted to. Honestly, she was kinda scary.

Strawberry frowned. “Candy Apple, you need to behave yourself. Please don't make me regret letting you tag along on this trip. Your brother and I don't want to have to worry about you getting into trouble while we get wedding supplies, and your friend doesn't need you stressing him out. This trip is a big deal for him. You need to be supportive, not a troublemaker. Do you want to be forever known as a troublemaker?”

Candy's ears sagged. “No, ah don't. Ah'll be good.”

Strawberry smiled and nodded. “Good. Do you want me to ask the train staff to bring you three some snacks?”

“Yes, please,” Candy said.

“Snacks sound good,” Caramel agreed.

“Okay,” Sisstet quietly said. He was a little hungry, but he was craving meat, and he didn’t think there’d be any on the train. Silver Spoon said her book told her that he would need more meat as he got older. She said he needed the protein to grow. He'd still need meat after he grew up to full size, but not as much. Everypony told him his full size was really big, like big as a house big. How many fish would he need to eat to get that big?

“I'll let them know, and they'll be here soon. You foals be good, and if you need anything, I'm right across from you; Silver Spoon and Twist are to the compartment to the left, and Silver Spoon's parents are to your right, ” Strawberry said. Shen then exited and slid the door closed.

“Nice of your grandfolks to pay to let us travel in the fancy part of the train,” Caramel said.

Sisstet hung his head. “They aren't my grandparents yet. Silver Spoon doesn't seem to like them, and they don't love me like she does.”

“Then why they doin' all this for ya?” Candy asked.

Sisstet flicked his tongue. “They want me to take over their family business…I think. Their business or Twist's business; I'm not really sure. It getss confusing.”

“An' Miss Silver Spoon don't like that?” Caramel asked in confusion.

Sisstet rubbed his hands against his tail. “I think sshe doesn't care about that. They fight about other stuff. Her parents use words like businesss, duty, wealth, responsibility, and reputation a lot. Silver Spoon just wants me happy. That stuff seems like it makes them happy, but it makes her mad. I don't really understand. I don't like that they fight. They pay for thingss for me I don't think Silver Spoon can buy.”

“Hmm, a mystery,” Candy said thoughtfully. “Could be a job for the agents of S.M.I.L.E.”

“Every darn thin' that ya don't get don't have to be some dang adventure,” Caramel scolded. “Yer suppose ta be stayin' out of trouble.”

Candy glared at her brother. “Hey there! Ah'm tryin' to find less dangerous adventures, since everypony wants to raise a fuss about meh doin' dangerous stuff on account of meh bein' too little or draggin' others into it. It's less fun, but ah'm tryin'.”

“Dangerous ain't fun,” Caramel insisted.

Candy laid on her back and sighed. “Is this meh life now? Forever dogged by meh brother to not have fun? Oh, the betrayal! El vu, Bruno?”

“What ya carrin' on about?” Caramel asked in confusion.

“Don't know. Ah've got a lot of weird leftover stuff in meh head,” Candy said as she stared at the ceiling.

Sisstet didn't understand a lot of things, but he wasn't sure if he would ever understand Candy Apple.

“Well, I'm going on an adventure,” Sisstet offered, not wanting to be left out. “I'm going to see other nagas.”

“Urgh, more naga that don't want to eat anypony. That's not very excitin’,” Candy muttered.

“Sis! Be nice!” Caramel scolded. “This means a lot to him.”

Candy rolled over to face Sisstet. “Sorry, Sisstet, that was plain mean an' uncalled for. Ah shouldn't have said that. Ah'm just so darn bored, and them naga are goin’ to be just like ya, all timid-like. That's good for ya, but not exactly excitin' for meh. Ah don't even think they'll let anypony but ya see ‘em, so ah don't even get a chance to make new friends.”

“We get to explore the Crystal Empire,” Caramel reminded her.

She rolled back on her back. “Wooo-pee, a lot of crystal stuff. We have a big crystal tree castle in town to look at already. Seen it, done it.”

“We can see Princess Cadance and Princess Flurry Heart,” Caramel offered.

“The dum-dum and her ma?” Candy asked. “Are ya tryin' to bore me? Although…maybe Dum-Dum will do something stupid and cause a catastrophe. That might be fun.”

“I think Princess Flurry Heart is still in Ponyville,” Sisstet reminded her.

Candy groaned but did not reply. She was kind of scary if she wanted something bad to happen. Sisstet decided not to tell her that he hoped nothing bad would happen. She might not like him as much if he did. However, Miss Flurry Heart was his friend, and he didn't like Candy calling her names.

“I don't think Miss Flurry Heart is dumb,” Sisstet said. “I think she's big and strong and has lots of magic. She goes looking for adventures, but sometimes things go wrong because of how big, strong, and ready for adventure she isss,” Sisstet said.

Caramel chuckled. “Sounds familiar.”

Candy glared at her brother. “What ya insinuating?”

“Ah ain't insinuating nothin'. Ah don't even know what insinuating is. Ya makin' up words?” Caramel snapped back.

“Are ya sayin' ah'm like Dum-Dum?” Candy demanded.

“Well, minus the big and strong part. Which makes it all the worse. The princess is at least big and strong enough to survive being a gosh-darn fool lookin' for trouble,” Caramel answered. “Remember how yer last adventure turned out? Yeah, ya sent that timberwolf runnin' with its tail between its legs, but ya nearly fricasseed yerself. Worse, ya almost got Miss Cheerilee and Cheese fricasseed, too. Ah don't want ya gettin' hurt or gettin' anypony else hurt. Ya got to stop lookin' for trouble. Ya ain't no big-shot hero. Ya just a filly who bites off more than she can chew.”

Candy got up and wiped her nose with her hoof. “Ya don't know anythin'! Ah'm goin' ta be a great hero. Ah got my mark for it an' everythin'. Ah don't understand why ya got to be so mean ta me about it!”

She jumped down from her seat and went to the door, which slid open due to her magic. She raced out the door and slammed it behind her.

Caramel groaned and stood up. “Dang-nabbit! Candy, ya can't go runnin' off like that! Sisstet, go get the grown-ups. Ah'm goin' to go chase down my sister before she goes and does some fool thing.”

The colt hurried after his sister, leaving the door to their compartment hanging open.

Sisstet flicked his tongue. There was bread getting close, with cherry jam and honey. It tasted very sweet, even at a distance. He could tell Candy was close to where the food was. She tasted like burnt paper and smelled slightly musky. Caramel had gone off in the wrong direction. Sisstet wondered if he should go to the grown-ups like he was told or if he should go after Candy since Caramel went the wrong way. No, going to the grown-ups was the right thing to do. He didn't know what he would do if he caught up to Candy. She seemed like she was upset, and chasing after a scary pony that was upset, even if she was his friend, was a bad idea.

He reluctantly left the window and its view. He made it as far as the door before a pony with a cart came up and blocked it. He could smell the bread and jam from this close.

The mare smiled. “Foals? The Crystal Train Company is pleased to provide you with these complimentary-” She looked down at him and suddenly stopped talking, just stared.

He stopped and gave her a timid wave. “Hi.”

”AAAAAHHHH!!! SNAKE! NAGA!!” the mare screamed, knocking over the cart and running away. The jam and honey splattered everywhere, including Sisstet's face.

He shook his head and clawed at his face, trying to get the sticky jam and honey off. There was even some in his eyes, and it stung a lot. All he could smell or taste were cherries and honey. He wanted to find a safe spot to coil up and hide from the screaming pony, but he didn't know where to go on the train that was safe to hide.

“FOUL MARE! YA HURT MAH FRIEND!!”

“Candy, no!”

“Sisstet!”

“Somepony, get some water before the train catches fire!”

There was so much yelling, and he could feel all the fear in the air. He couldn't see and could smell or taste things right, and his eyes burned. He didn't know where to hide, so he did the only thing he could and coiled as tight as he could and hid his head. Without even thinking, he started hissing to keep away anything scary.

“Twist! Stay back! He's in a defensive position. He's scared. He might lash out without thinking.”

“But we need to see if he's okay, and we can't leave him here if that fire-”

Water suddenly started coming down hard. Was it raining on the train? Why was it raining on the train? Everything was wrong. Sisstet tried to coil tighter.

“-never mind. They have an emergency sprinkler system.”

“Egads. This is quite the fiasco. I will have to lodge a strongly worded complaint to the management of the train company.”

“Spoon, is Silver Scale unharmed?”

“It's Sisstet, mother, not Silver Scale, and I don't know yet. He needs to calm down enough for me to see. Go make yourselves useful by trying to smooth this over with the train staff and keeping out of our way.”

“What do we do, Silver? Is he hurt?”

“I don't know, but we must let him calm down, or he might bite. I'm worried, but we have to do this right. Let's just keep talking so he can hear our voices and know everything is alright. How's Candy doing? He must be worried about her.”

“Um…crying…but she isn't trying to murder the serving pony anymore, so that's a plus.”

“If that serving pony hurt Sisstet, I might finish the job Candy started.”

Everyone seemed okay, and that was Silver Spoon and Twist talking. He tried to stick his tongue out to taste the air, but honey got on it, and he quickly retracted it. It was still raining, and that was wrong, so he stayed coiled up.

“I think he's loosened his coil a little, and he isn't hissing anymore,” Twist said. “Sisstet, are you okay?”

“Can we check you for injuries?” Silver asked. “We need to know if you're hurt.”

It was still raining, but they didn't seem bothered by that. Maybe it was okay. He'd never been on a train before, so maybe it rained on trains sometimes. If that was so, then he had to be playing with his toy train wrong. How could he make it rain when he was pushing his train? Did he have to wait until it was raining for real to play with his train? That would mean he wouldn't get to play with his train as much anymore, but he wanted to do it right.

He slowly uncoiled.

Silver Spoon suddenly gasped. “What is that? Is that blood!?”

Blood? He wasn't bleeding—at least, he didn't think so. His eyes stung from the food that got in them. He couldn't even see straight to know what was going on, and he still could only smell cherries and honey. Was he bleeding? Had he gotten hurt? Now he was getting scared again.

“Silver…what are you doing?” Twist said nervously.

“She hurt Sisstet. I'm going to-”

“Miss Silver Spoon, stop!” Caramel yelled. He isn't bleedin’. That's jam!”

Oh…Sisstet supposed that cherry jam might look like blood, and it was all over him. That made him feel a little better. He wasn't bleeding, but he still felt icky. He had sticky stuff all over his face. Maybe he could use the rain to wash it off. What was Silver Spoon going to do before Caramel yelled?

He uncoiled all the way and held his face up to the rain. The rain felt good, but it only washed some of the sticky jam and honey off his face. He needed help.

“Ssssilver Ssspoon?” he whined. “I need help. I can't get this sticky stuff off my face.”

“Yes,” Silver Spoon replied. “The towels from this cart are wet now, but they should do the trick. I'm going to come wipe your face. Before I do that, are you hurt? Is anything causing you pain or soreness? I don't want to hurt you accidentally.”

“My eyesss ssting,” he answered.

“Miss Silver Spoon, he isn't made of paper. Don't you think you're being overly cautious with him?” Strawberry said.

“Pot callin' kettle black,” Candy muttered from somewhere off to the side.

“You just tried to burn down the train we are currently riding on. Anypony who wasn't extremely cautious in dealing with you would be a darn fool. It's not the same. I know you have a lot of drive and energy, and you have nothing but the best of intentions, but you are very young, extremely reckless, and know too much about things a foal shouldn't know for your own good. You have a lot of knowledge and skills, but you severely lack in wisdom and experience, and those you can only get with time. Let's hope the Silvers can convince the train company not to press charges for all the damage you caused and for nearly maiming part of its crew. Now sit still and be quiet!” Strawberry snapped.

“Bet ya heard that there speech from Ma,” Caramel giggled.

“Except for the burning down the train and attacking its crew part, yeah,” Strawberry replied. “And don't think you're off the hook either, mister. You were supposed to be keeping her out of trouble. Your parents are going to be very disappointed.”

“Awww,” Caramel whined.

Sisstet felt a damp towel touch his face as Silver Spoon started wiping away the jam and honey from his eyes.

“Sisstet is a kid, but he isn't a pony foal,” Silver Spoon said calmly as she gently wiped. “In all the ways that matter, I can treat him just like any other foal, but I have to always remember that he isn't always going to react to things the way a pony foal would. That requires a lot of love, but it also requires being careful. He gets information about the world in ways that are different than us. He can get hurt by things that wouldn't hurt us. Also, unlike us, he's from a primarily predatory species. There’s nothing wrong with that, but that means he has methods to hurt others that we don't, and he can lash out without thinking if he's scared or hurt—so I have to be cautious when he's feeling that way. I don't want him hurting me or anypony else, not just to protect those around him, but even more so to protect him, because he has a sweet and gentle nature, and hurting anycreature would make him feel terrible and make others fear him. He isn't a monster and shouldn't ever have to feel like one.”

Silver Spoon cleared her throat. “And Candy shouldn't be made to feel that either. Yes, what she did was wrong and reckless, but she thought she was protecting her friend. She should still face consequences for this, but she does need to be praised for what she did right. Thank you for trying to protect Sisstet, but next time, Candy, please, go find an adult instead of trying to take matters into your own hooves.”

Candy muttered something, but Sisstet couldn't tell what. It didn’t sound like she was agreeing. He guessed she still didn’t think she needed adults to do things for her.

“Spoon!” Silver Spoon’s dad said as he returned. “You’ll be pleased to know that we have managed to placate the conductor. Candy Apple will be required to make a formal apology to the stewardess, and we have made promises for considerable financial restitution for the damages done. The stewardess will also formally apologize to Silver Scale for her highly unprofessional behavior—please understand we use that name because this is a formal matter, and he should be addressed properly. Everything is taken care of.”

“Thanks shall not be required. We desire this incident be swept swiftly under the rug,” Silver Spoon’s mom said. “Unfortunately, we will be confined to our car for the remainder of the journey despite the fire damage and the entire car being drenched in water. These are despicable travel conditions, not fit for the lowliest of beggars, but we were unwilling to press the issue considering how unfavorably this incident could reflect on the Silver family, and it is in Sisstet’s interest to also protect the reputation of the Apples, given his close relationship to these two junior members of that family.”

“She attacked mah friend. Ah, ain't apologizin',” Candy loudly reasserted.

“You're already going to be in a heap of trouble with your ma. Do you want to dig yourself deeper?” Strawberry asked with a blend of anger and frustration.

“Sis…if you don't apologize, we might get kicked off the train. We're in the middle of nowhere with no supplies. You might think you're tough enough to rough it back to civilization, but do you think everypony else here is? What about Sisstet? Do you want him to have to Slither all that way?” Bright Pear asked.

Sisstet had seen how much ground gad whipped by; he knew he couldn't slither that far.

“Miss Apple, I believe coming to your friend's defense to be a noble intent. However, it may conciliate you to know that the stewardess accidentally overturned the cart in her attempt to flee. It was not her intention to pelt Sisstet with condiments,” Silver Wright said.

“What's conciliate mean?” Caramel asked in confusion.

“It means calm me down, Dum-Dum,” Candy snapped.

*Ya don't have to be so rude in tellin' me!” Caramel snapped back.

“The mare is actually fretting over her part in this fiasco and worried she may lose her job,” Silver Sheet said, ignoring the brewing argument between siblings. “She was very distraught that she might be unable to provide for her foals if she becomes unemployed. Do you wish to be responsible for foals who had no involvement in these events, do you?”

“Suppose not,” Candy muttered as it stopped raining. “An' suppose ah don't want to make everypony walk to the nearest town. Ah'll apologize.”

Silver Spoon sighed with relief and smiled at Sisstet. “And I hope you have no problem with the stewardess apologizing to you.”

“That's fine,” Sisstet replied. It seemed like everything was going to work out…except for one important thing. “Silver Spoon, I have a question.”

“What's that?” Silver Spoon asked.

“Do I have to play with my toy train in the rain to do it right?”

Comments

[Numinos]

Heh, cute snek is cute : )