Winter had settled upon Ponyville, the whole town was covered in a thin blanket of snow, just enough to get into the holiday mood. It had been nearly four years since the “Canterlot War of Light”, but things have been able to get back to a relative sense of normalcy. Ponyville had seen a good amount of change, the town had grown a bit, now incorporating a high school for further education beyond the standard school level.The town itself also expanded, adding more residencie homes and businesses.
Of course that had a lot to do with the recent addition to the town. A giant white oak tree, with diamond-like vines that ran up and down various areas of the trunk of the tree and its branches. Over the years the vines had wound their way around the tree, creating ornate patterns and every so often releasing an aurora glow. Yes, this was the Castle of Light, the home granted to Princess Twilight Sparkle, Equestria’s White Lantern, and newly dubbed Princess of Friendship.
It was also here where another important being resided, and she was currently sleeping. Adara, a teenage pegasus mare, who was in actuality the Entity of Hope, was rather enjoying the act of sleeping, having a physical body kind of required her to sleep, despite being a cosmic entity, but she found it rather enjoyable.
Outside the window, the clouds parted a bit, allowing for some rays of sunlight to come pouring into the bedroom, coming close enough to make Adara squirm under her sheets. It wasn’t cold in the castle, being at an even and warm temperature in contrast to the outside, but she was liking her self made cocoon of warm blankets and was reluctant to stir from her slumber.
Adara twisted around until she was facing away from the window, hopefully a pegasus pony would patch the clouds and cover the sun for a little bit longer. As Adara turned she felt something off, as if the weight of the bed had shifted, there was also the faint sense of a familiar presence. Adara managed to crack open one eye, groggily searching for the odd sensation. Her eyes opened fully when she saw who it was.
Lying next to her, staring into her bright blue eyes with violet, was the teenage mare she had come to fall in love with during her time in this world, Scootaloo. The tomcolt mare sported a cocky grin and a half-lidded gaze.
“Hey Adara,” greeted Scootaloo.
“Scoots…do you remember why you have your own room, and I have mine?” Adara asked.
“Maaaaaayyybeeee…” Scootaloo confessed with a playful roll of the eyes.
“It was a condition of allowing us to be together, it was okay when we were fillies, but we’re older now, and since we’re marefriends, it’s not really a good idea to have us in the same room, lest they think we were engaging in illicit activities.”
“Oh, yeah, I remember, Rainbow and Twi don’t want to risk us accidentally -- or intently -- doing it.”
Adara deadpanned at the bluntness that was Scootaloo’s simplification. “Yes, and because I care about you, and don’t want to separate from you, I want to honor Twilight and Rainbow’s rules.”
“Oooooh c’mooooon, it’s not fair that they get to sleep in the same bed, much less the same room, when we can’t!” Scootaloo whined.
“Well they’re married, so they’re allowed to sleep in the same bed and consummate their marriage as many times as they want and --” Adara blinked and then face hoofed herself. “For the love of Odym, I’m not getting into this! Hurry back to your room before Rainbow or Twilight find you here.”
Adara turned around, putting her back to Scootaloo as she tried to get some more sleep in before their normal time to wake up rolled around. Scootaloo, however, pouted at her marefriend’s attempts to make her leave. That’s when a sinister grin split across her face, making the orange pegasus scoot herself closer to Adara.
“Uh-huh, I don’t think you want me to leave,” said Scootaloo.
“I do.”
“Nope. If you really wanted me out, you would’ve used your powers to throw me out by now.”
“Too early to use powers, so just leave.”
“Hmmmm, nope, I want to play with my marefriend!”
Adara blinked. “‘Play with your marefriend’ what is thaAAAAAHT!!”
The cerulean pegasus yelped as she felt Scootaloo’s hoof grab hold of her flank from under the covers. Adara glanced over her shoulder, giving Scootaloo a pointed look.
“C’mon, it’s still early enough,” offered Scootaloo.
Adara shook her head. “I swear, your pervertedness has gotten worse since the day you turned thirteen a year back.”
“Hormones, what can I say?”
Scootaloo leaned forward and kissed Adara on the lips, the half asleep mare was brought to full alertness upon her lips meeting her lover’s. As much as she wanted to scold Scootaloo, she had to admit, this little makeout session was pleasurable. Adara brought her forelegs to wrap around Scootaloo’s neck, deepening the kiss, while Scootaloo maneuvered her left foreleg to grab hold of Adara’s right flank, making the blue pegasus yelp. Soft caresses and passionate kisses were shared between the two young lovers, Scootaloo managed to get atop Adara, looking down at her beautiful lover with sultry eyes.
“You know, if we stay like this, we’ll get caught,” said Adara.
“Guess we’ll have make this short, but sweet,” said Scootaloo as she lowered herself.
Suddenly, the door to Adara’s bedroom opened, making both mares turn their heads sharply in that direction.
“Hey, Adara, I was going to make us all breakfast and I wanted…to know…”
In the doorway was Spike, albeit, a much taller and older version of the pudgy little dragon he used to be. The “baby fat” had finally dispersed, giving him a lean, somewhat lanky look. Right now, said dragon was staring with wide eyes at seeing Scootaloo, sporting a wingboner, laying on top of Adara, both of whom were blushing redder than Butcher and Big Mac combined.
“Um…I don’t know…should I come back in twenty minutes…I-I don’t…”
“SPIKE!!!” Adara shouted.
“BRO, SERIOUSLY, HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF KNOCKING?!” Scootaloo yelled.
Later, both Spike and Scootaloo were at the dining hall while Adara got herself ready. Scootaloo preferred the messy mane look, which combined with its natural spikiness only added to the look. She had taken to combing it to one side of her face, covering her right eye slightly, having liked the look from when she got a glimpse of her older-self during the potion mishap some years back. Every now and again Scootaloo would look down at her flank and admire her cutie mark, a spinning wheel with a flaming wing, after discovering her talent for extreme sports riding. Spike was less so, having learned how to breathe full dragon flames, he pretty much bathed himself in fire to get rid of any unwanted dirt or grime.
Currently, both the drake and mare were sitting at the dining room table, enjoying some the spread of breakfast Spike had made for the family. Scootaloo looked to Spike, seeing that he still seemed a little flustered at what he saw this morning.
“Jeez Spike, we didn’t even do anything, so why are you so freaked?” Scootaloo asked.
“Because, you’re my sister now, I’m not supposed to see you in that state of affairs,” he said.
“Pffft, please, we’re adopted siblings, and besides, it’s not the same as if you walked in on Twi and Rainbow Dash in bed.”
Spike shuddered and nearly turned green, Scootaloo got the message.
“You walked in on them, haven’t you?”
Spike nodded, reluctantly.
“Still, you should consider yourself lucky.” Scootaloo stopped to take a bite out of her toast before continuing. “Do you know how many guys would kill to be able to have the chance at walking in on a couple of hot mares in bed?”
Spike cocked an eyelid at that. “‘Hot mares’? Adara, yeah, I could see that, you though…eh.”
Scootaloo spat out her toast and glared at Spike. “What do you mean ‘eh’?! You’re not about to say you wouldn’t spend the night with, me?!”
Spike nearly spluttered his tea before he regained his composure. “Okay, one: ew, you’re like my sister, and two: I thought you were into mares?!”
Scootaloo smirked at Spike. “Well, let’s just say that, I might make an exception in your case.”
Spike rolled his eyes and continued drinking his tea. “You better not let Apple Bloom or Adara catch you saying that stuff.”
The orange mare blew a raspberry and waved her hoof dismissively. “Please, Adara wouldn’t get angry for that, and AB, I could take her and --” Scootaloo noticed that Spike had a look on his face, a look that was a cross between a wicked smile, and giddiness. “Adara’s behind me…isn’t she…?”
“Uh-huh,” confirmed Spike.
Scootaloo gulped. “And so is Apple Bloom…?”
“Eeyep!” Spike confirmed again.
Scootaloo slowly turned her head around, spotting her own lover, Adara, now glaring at her. Right next to her was Apple Bloom. She was a bit bigger than both Scootaloo, Adara, and Sweetie Belle, sporting a broader physique from being able to applebuck with her older siblings. She no longer wore her pink bow, but instead had fashioned it into a bandanna which she wore around her neck.
“Oh no, please continue Scoots, Ah’m lovin’ how yer talkin’ about beddin’ my coltfriend.”
Apple Bloom’s amber eyes narrowed as she too gave Scootaloo a death glare. Scootaloo gulped, knowing that flight was not going to help her in this situation. Spike rose up from his seat and began walking away towards the kitchen.
“H-H-Hey where are you going?!”
“Oh, I thought I might fix some more food for when Twi and Rainbow wake up. Should take me all of five minutes, oh and I like to hum, loudly, when I cook. So I won’t be able to hear you girls,” added Spike as he disappeared through the kitchen doors.
“You backstabbing, son of a--!”
“Ahem!”
Crap…!
(Elsewhere)
A purple pegasus teenage stallion was busy in the kitchen, his body had tendrils of indigo light coming out from him and going to work setting up the kitchen for its future occupants, while simultaneously preparing the food. Although the Entity had figured out long ago how to use his hooves to do the usual daily tasks, he still felt the need to multitask with more than one limb, and it did make it faster.
Soon the pegasus heard the hoofsteps of somepony approaching. When he turned, he grinned at the sight of the teenage mare. She was light, purplish gray unicorn mare, with a golden mane and tail, and eyes to match. She yawned and had on a small, happy smile, slowly making her way towards the table still half asleep. Her cutie mark showed as a yellow star with streaking sparkles, a mark she had happily attained years ago and continued to pursue her studies in, surprisingly, magic.
“Morning Dinky,” said the pegasus.
“Morning Lyte,” replied Dinky.
“Guess, our Mothers…I mean, Shy and Mrs. Derpy… no wait, I meant… ah jeez.”
Dinky cocked her head to the side. “What’s up Big Bro?”
Proselyte sighed. “Sorry, it’s just that it’s still a little strange to call them…‘Mom’.”
Dinky scratched her head at that. “Well…what did you call the one who gave birth to you? That Life Entity you told me about?”
Proselyte used a tentacle to flip a pancake in the air and another two were dealing with the eggs and hashbrowns. “We really didn’t call him anything other than the Life Entity. He really had no name, and honestly our names were given to us by other sentient lifeforms.We revered the Life Entity, obeyed him, for he was the giver of all life in the universe, and without his power, we, the Entities, would not exist. Besides, I was just a simple cephalopod, I had no concept of mother or father. Does that answer your question, Dinky?”
The unicorn mare just blinked several times. “Wow, you’re complex, years later and it still a lot to process.”
The Entity of Compassion chuckled. “Understandable.”
Dinky rose up from her spot at the table and walked over to her adopted big brother. She then stood beside him and nuzzled his left cheek. “All I know is, you’re my family, and always will be. Don’t care if you are a giant space squid. So don’t sweat about whether calling Fluttershy ‘Mom’ or my Mom ‘Mom’, it’s not like they’re forcing you to.” Dinky pulled away and went back to the table. “Plus, it’s cool having a super powered big brother.”
Proselyte smirked and maneuvered his tentacles to place a plate of pancakes and eggs at Dinky’s spot at the table. Over the years, their bond as brother and sister had grown, making Proselyte forget sometimes that he was a cosmic light entity from another universe for a while.
Fluttershy and Derpy Hooves had married a long time ago, and with a little help, they managed to buy another house big enough for the four of them. Amethyst Star had moved out sometime ago, believing it was time to give her mother space and to support herself. She still popped in, since her new home was in town, she even got a job working with Princess Twilight as a liaison, helping the Princess and the Mayor, keeping things organized in the now growing village.
Dinky had shown a proficiency for magic when she was young, and had experienced a magical surge when she around eleven, at the same time earning her cutie mark. It didn’t take long for Twilight to jump on the opportunity to teach the young unicorn the ways of magic and everything else she learned at Celestia’s School. Of course, Dinky was extremely happy and giddy about being the personal student to the Princess of Friendship, and Element of Magic.
As for Proselyte, he did what he did when it was just himself and Fluttershy. The two of them converted Fluttershy’s cottage into a fully operational animal care clinic. Proselyte helped out, using his powers to gauge the emotional state of the animals during procedures and diagnoses. His healing abilities were key, allowing him to fix almost any injury. Although…
“So, have you talked to Momma Fluttershy about you looking into becoming a doctor?” Dinky asked.
Proselyte flinched. “N-Not yet…”
Dinky groaned loudly. “Lyte, you gotta say something! You’d be a great doctor! Actually, you’d be the best in Equestria!”
“I-I know, Dinks, I know…I just don’t want to leave her, y’know?” Proselyte placed some more plates of food onto the table before sitting there himself. “I love being able to help the animals at the clinic, but, I do feel as if I could do more…”
“It’s not like she’d be angry, Momma Fluttershy would want you to become a doctor.”
“Yes, well, the schools for such are located in Manehattan, and that’s pretty far.”
Dinky raised an eyebrow. “Says the pony who can teleport in the blink of an eye.”
“Point being, I don’t want to leave her alone, she was the first being in this world to open her home and heart to me, and has taken care of me as if we were blood related. I don’t want to abandon her,” said Proselyte with a little sadness.
“Lyte…”
Suddenly they heard a duo of yawns and hoofsteps coming from the downstairs master bedroom. Two pegasus mares approached the kitchen, one butter yellow, the other gray. Fluttershy looked bright and chipper, to a degree, while Derpy still seemed a little drowsy.
“Morning Dinky, Lyte,” greeted Fluttershy.
“Morning Muffins,” said Derpy sleepily.
Proselyte stretched out a light construct tentacle and reached for the pot of coffee that was brewing. He then poured his second mother a cup and served Fluttershy her usual brew of chamomile tea. Fluttershy had cut her mane short, which had surprised the family a while back, but Fluttershy explained it as signifying the end of her hiding and cowering behind it, she was a stronger mare, and had to be for her new family. Battling a trio of Negative Entity possessed hosts would boost the confidence of anyone.
The family of four was well into breakfast, discussing their plans for the day while trying to see if they could meet up for lunch with Derpy during her break at the Post Office. At that point, a knock came from the door, prompting everypony to turn their heads towards the front door.
“Was Sparkler supposed to come over today?” Derpy asked.
“I don’t think so,” said Fluttershy.
At that moment, the Star Sapphire insignia appeared over Proselyte’s forehead. He looked nervously towards his little sister who already had an annoyed look on her face, knowing exactly who was at the door.
Fluttershy got up and headed to the door, she then opened it and smiled at their guest. “Oh, Sweetie Belle, good morning!”
Sweetie Belle had grown to be a rather attractive teenage mare, she had the figure of a model, and a beautiful singing voice, her long purple and pink, curly mane had grown out into luscious locks, only adding to her beauty. Her cutie mark was that of a purple C clef, with a pink stars showering around it.
“Good morning Fluttershy! Mind if I come in?”
“Not at all, we were just having breakfast if you want any,” offered Fluttershy.
“No thanks, already had some at Sis’ place.”
The teenage mare entered the home and her emerald eyes immediately locked into Proselyte. She wasted no time in making her way to the teenage colt, sitting right beside him with an unapologetic smile on her face. Dinky’s left eye twitched, not believing the audacity that Sweetie Belle had.
Proselyte sighed inwardly, such was the situation between them, caught in the middle of a tug of war for his affection. Sweetie Belle had long ago expressed her amorous feelings for the teenage stallion, and Dinky also had strong feelings for Proselyte, but they bordered on the same affection that Princess Twilight had for her own big brother, Shining Armor. So she became a tad bit possessive of her newly acquired older brother, and not quite prepared to relinquish him to another mare just yet, even if that mare was somepony the family knew.
The result of this ended up having Proselyte playing “monkey in the middle”, both wanted his attention and affection for different reasons, and neither unicorn was willing to give an inch. Even now Proselyte could feel their aura’s clashing, despite their kind smiles. They were but masks, keeping hidden their true animosity.
“Sweetie Belle, how nice of you to pop in! Unannounced! So early in the morning,” said Dinky.
“Sorry, I had a bit of time to kill before I had to go to my music lessons, and I thought I’d just drop by and visit my favorite family friends,” replied Sweetie Belle.
“Oh, and what about Scootaloo and Apple Bloom? Why not visit them?”
“Well, Apple Bloom is a little far, and I didn’t want to be late. Scootlaoo is close too, but…Let’s just say that I’d rather not end up seeing something I don’t want to see, again.” Sweetie seemed to have mixed feelings about that.
“Uh-huh, noted.”
“Anyway, Proselyte, if you’re doing anything later, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out, maybe?” Sweetie Belle asked as she gave him a sidelong look.
Proselyte gulped. “Well…”
Suddenly, Dinky moved closer to Proselyte, wrapping her forelegs around his left foreleg. “Bro is going to be spending time with this family, isn’t that right, Lyte?”
“I…I…”
Derpy blinked slowly, letting the coffee awaken her senses as she tried to take in what was happening. “Am I missing something?” She whispered.
“Sweetie’s in love with Lyte, and Dinky’s being a little overprotective, kind of like Twilight was during Shining Armor’s and Cadance’s wedding.” Fluttershy explained.
The gray pegasus mare took another sip of her coffee. “Should we…um, do something, maybe?”
“Their young adult ponies now, Dear, we have to let them work out their relationships. Although, I do think Lyte’s at this limit and should be poofing away in three…two…”
“Oh I just remembered I need to head to the clinic and open up and get everything ready for the day okay see you all later!”
*Poof*
And just like that, Proselyte teleported away in a puff of purple smoke, leaving an empty space between Dinky and Sweetie Belle.
“He just poofed away didn’t he?” Sweetie asked.
“Seems like it.” Dinky replied.
“You were being too clingy Dinky.”
The purple-gray unicorn mare narrowed her gaze. “I’m clingy?! At least I’m not trying to openly flirt with him in front of his family!”
Sweetie’s cheeks went red. “‘Flirt’! I’m not flirting?! I’m just asking somepony I know and care about if he wanted to hang out!”
Dinky rolled her eyes. “Oh please, ‘hang out’, more like date.”
“And so what if I do mean date?! He’s allowed to date anypony he wants! Lyte’s a big stallion, he can make decisions without the approval of his little sister.” Sweetie then raised an eyebrow at Dinky. “Unless, of course, you’re jealous?”
“JEALOUS?!”
Fluttershy and Derpy rose from their spots and began putting away the dishes and leaving the two teenage mares to squabble.
“Should we do something about that?” Derpy asked.
“These things just need to happen, but I’ll have a talk with Lyte later at the clinic,” said Fluttershy.
Derpy glanced over her shoulder, watching as Dinky and Sweetie were still arguing. She then sighed and turned to her wife. “Y-Yeah, maybe I’ll talk to Dinky later as well.”
The two mares exited the house, gave each a brief kiss, and prepared to take off for their different workplaces. But Fluttershy paused when she saw the Flower Sisters all faint at once. Now this wasn’t an unusual thing for them, they fainted at the smallest things concerning their flowers, but one could never be too cautious. Fluttershy flapped her wings and headed towards the sisters, Derpy noticed her wife’s change in direction and followed along.
Both mares landed near the three sisters, each one the ground and giving off the occasional twitch of the hind leg.
“Um, Lily, Daisy, Roseluck, are you alright?” Fluttershy asked.
“NO! It’s horrible!” Daisy exclaimed.
“It’s a disaster, a horrible, horrible, disaster!” Roseluck added.
“The flowers, they’re…they’re…LOOK!” Lily shouted as she pointed to a patch.
Derpy and Fluttershy looked to one of the wagons containing an assortment of flowers, but oddly enough, all of them seemed to be wilting, or in the process of wilting. Suddenly, Roseluck stood up and put her hooves around Fluttershy’s face, smooshing as she stared at her with wide eyes.
“And those aren’t the only ones!” Rose then turned Fluttershy’s head towards stand with more flowers.
Again, oddly, these too were wilting and some were nearly dead altogether. Now that they took a moment to look, Derpy and Fluttershy noticed that all the flowers seemed to be doing the same thing.
“I don’t understand, what happened to them? Did you get a bad batch of fertilizer or plant food?” Derpy asked.
“No, we make our own formulated stuff, and it’s always made our flowers healthy, strong, and delicious,” said Daisy.
Fluttershy and Derpy nodded, their flowers were just as tasty as they were beautiful.
“But, recently, they’ve all started to wither! We thought that maybe they were having a bad reaction to the winter weather, but this isn’t normal hibernation plant behavior!” Lily explained.
“It’s as if they’re dying! We love flowers, we’ve always taken great care of them! There’s no reason they should be dying, especially with such light winter weather,” said Roseluck.
Fluttershy examined the flowers, she didn’t know why, but something was off about this; what it was though she was sure. It just felt…ominous.