//------------------------------// // The Conversation // Story: The Other Alicorn // by The Corn //------------------------------// Me and my sister talked on the way home. A lot. "So, were you ever gonna tell me that you fainted or not?" "Yes, I was, honestly." "Really? When?" "In my next letter to you." "You should have written about it in your LAST letter to me!" "I couldn't have done! It only happened a few days ago! I wrote my last letter before it happened!" "A few days ago?! Why didn't you write to me again as soon as it happened?!" "I didn't have time!" "What do you mean you didn't have time?! What could you have possibly of been doing that was more important than telling your OWN SISTER that you FAINTED?!" At this point I went deadly silent. "Oh... I see... Was it true? About what that dim-witted pink no-life said about you stealing her tiara?" I must admit, I laughed a bit at my sister's names for Diamond Tiara, but I quickly realised that it was not the time and I stopped laughing. "Uhm, well, yes. It is but..." "But what?! You fainted AND you stole her tiara?! You've only been in Ponyville for a few days and you've already gone crackers! Whatever's next, Princess?!" I just looked at the ground shamefully. Those words hurt. 'You've already gone crackers'. Even my own sister thought I was crazy. She didn't notice my pain, she just carried on. "Was that the reason why you didn't have time to write to me?! Was it?! You didn't tell me that you fainted because you were out stealing somepony's tiara?! Was that really your reason?!" A lump formed in my throat. My sister was ashamed of me. I'd let her down. I was a terrible sister and a terrible pony. Tears welled in my eyes. "Li-Stri, please... I'm sorry... I didn't mean... Please." (Li-Stri is my nickname for her. Pretty simple really, just short for Lightning Strike.) She turned and looked at me. "Cess', it's okay, I just want answers, I don't want to make you sad. Please don't cry, I love you Cess', you're the only sister I've got and I really just don't want to see you turn into a crazy pony, that's all." That's the thing about my sister; she's so forgiving. No matter what I do or how angry she is, if she see's me getting the slightest bit upset, she'll forgive me in an instant. Mum says it's because of my brother running away. She thinks that because she's already had one sibling run away, she can't bare the thought of having another one run away, so she'll do whatever she can to keep me at home, forgiving me for anything and everything I do. I never met my brother. He ran away just a month before I was born, but apparently him and my sister were very close. According to mum, they used to do everything together. I find it weird thinking about my brother becuase I don't even know what he look's like. I mean, I have a photo, but it's faded and torn and in bad condition. All I know is that he has blue eyes. That's all. Blue eyes. Of all the stallions in Equestria with blue eyes, how am I supposed to know if I ever meet him? I could have already met him and I wouldn't even know. Blue eyes. That's all I know. My sister never ever talks about him and I've never dared to ask about him because I knew they were very close and I didn't want to upset her by reminding her of him running away. As for my parents, well, whenever I've asked them they've said that he was close to my sister, but if I asked any more than that they would say that I was not old enough to understand and leave it at that. My sister caught me in my daydream. "What you thinking about, Cess?" She asked in attempt to change the subject. I spoke without thinking, "Our brother" I said. My sister stopped dead in her tracks. She looked as if she'd seen a ghost, all pale and ill-looking. "What?" She squeaked. "Oh, uh, nothing." I said quickly trying to move on. "No, go on, it's okay, tell me." Her eyes were wide and she was searching me for something, but I couldn't quite tell what. "Oh, well I was just thinking about our brother, that's all." "Why?!" She demanded. "Oh um, I don't know, I just was." "No tell me why" she pressed. "Oh well it's just becuse you're so forgiving and mum always said that it's because you don't want to lose me like you lost-" "Don't say it!" "Say what?" "You KNOW what!" "No, I don't know what, and you're really scaring me now, what's wrong?" "LIAR! You know EXACTLY what!" " I don't, I promise you Li-Stri! Please, just tell me what's going on!" "AND DON'T CALL ME LI-STRI!" "But I've always called you Li-Stri!" "HE ALWAYS CALLED ME LI-STRI!" Tears were streaming down her face. "He... He called me Li-Stri... It was his name for me... " She paused for a moment and shook her head "Urgh, look at me, I'm a mess. Can we talk about something else now Cess'?" "Oh, um, sure. So, err, Sisterhooves Social?" "Oh, yeah, Sisterhooves Social, of course. So, uh, got any idea how it works?" The rest of the conversation went on like this and our brother was never mentioned again, but all through our chat all I could think about was him. What did he look like? Why did he run away? What is everyone not telling me? Why is my sister so sensitive about him? Where is he? What is he doing right now? I had so many questions... I needed answers. The next day I got up extra early to go and find Twilight. She has a library and maybe she'd be able to find something about my brother. It was clear that my sister and my parents weren't going to give me answers, so if I wanted them, I would have to find them myself. I searched for hours. Every shelf, high and low. Eventually PinkiePie turned up to talk to Twilight and she found what I was looking for straight away. I have no idea how she did that, but she did, and I had no time to question it. My heart was thumping as I unravelled the paper. I didn't think I would find much. My whole life, everything about my brother, apart from his eye colour, had been a mystery to me. I had gotten used to the feeling of not knowing. I was prepared for the papers to be ripped or smudged or crinkled so that I couldn't read the writing and so that it would continue to be a mystery to me. But the writing was fine. And ther, in clear writing, was my all my brother's information. His name, his pony type, the colour of his coat etc... But there was one thing that I didn't prepare myself for. The papers said... Adopted.