Chapter 6: Family is Important
"What do you think Sunny Rays? Do you think we're going to win this little snowball war?" Moon Crest asked his daughter.
Sunny Rays looked up from the snowbank, only to duck as three snowballs were heading for her. She ducked just in time and they hit the fence hard. She shook her head, "unless we get some help, we're going to lose this time."
"Oh Horseapples," groaned Moon Crest. "I'll admit this about my sister, she's really good at throwing snowballs, and so is Concrete and Sun Drops. We really need help."
And help soon arrived in the form of Sunset Shimmer. She ran through the yard, ducking the snowballs flying past her and jumped over the snowbank to join her father and sister.
"I hear you guys need a little bit of help."
"Yes we do, we're getting pinned down," groaned Moon Crest. "We've tried throwing everything we got, but we can barely make five snowballs before they start up again."
"Then we'll distract them. Dad, you and I will throw our snowballs while Sunny Rays makes her snowballs, then on my mark Sis, you throw your snowballs."
"You got it Sis!" she saluted and began to work.
Sunset and Moon Crest started throwing as many snowballs as they could at the Slab family, but still it looked like they would lose.
"I'm finished!" That was until Sunny Rays shouted that.
"Good, now Dad, let's get down. Sunny Rays, fire them all!"
Using her magic, Sunny Rays made a grand total of forty-five snowballs float into the air. The Slab family gasped, but from where she was, Sunrise was just smiling.
"This won't be good," groaned Concrete.
The snowballs started flying towards them. Many hit Sunflower in the face, others knocked over Sun Drops and many hit Concrete on the side.
"Good plan, but Sunny Rays will run out of snowballs," Moon Crest whispered to Sunset.
"Not if we provide her with the right amount of snowballs." And she started making some snowballs of her own. Moon Crest nodded and went to work on the snowballs.
It wasn't long till Sunny Rays ran out of snowballs.
"Oh we got you now," chuckled Concrete. But before he could make a snowball, he and his family saw Sunny Rays lift more snowballs into the air and aim them, "oh you got to be kidding me."
Thanks to Sunset and Moon Crest, little Sunny Rays was able to keep the Slab family pinned down until they shouted; "we surrender! We surrender! Seize firing! Seize firing!"
Finally, the snowballs stopped. The Slab family groaned in defeat, while the Shimmer family cheered.
"We make the perfect team," smiled Moon Crest.
"We sure do Dad. If we were back in the human world, I'd swear you'd give Applejack and Rainbow Dash a run for their money."
"But we won't have magic there," said Sunny Rays. "How would we be able to beat them?"
"Oh I'm sure you'd find a way Little Sister," smiled Sunset. She lifted a hoof up and rubbed the top of her sister's head, messing up her mane, "after all, you are a smart cookie."
"Thanks big Sister."
"You're welcome." Then came a rumbling sound, it was coming from Sunset's stomach, "oh great, now I've given myself a craving for cookies."
"Oh I'm sure your mom will have plenty of freshly made cookies for us to eat," said Moon Crest.
"Oh yeah, and how can you be sure?"
"Cause I can see her lifting a tray of cookies out of the oven," and he pointed to the window of the kitchen.
Sure enough, the Shimmer sisters could see Sunrise bringing out a fresh batch of cookies out of the oven.
Once inside, the two families sat down to enjoy freshly made cookies and hot chocolate. It was all very delicous, "I wish I could make cookies like these back home," Sunset said to her mother, "but you know me, I'm not really that good at cooking."
"Have you been burning yourself again?" her mother asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Maybe a couple of times. My fault enterily, I was distracted and not paying attention to what I was doing. But the burns went away, and I'm okay, as you can see," and she raised her hooves, which looked fine.
It was only then that Sunflower noticed how quiet it was, "Granite's being quiet right now."
"He's probably just waiting for one of us to check on him, then run out once the door is open," said Concrete. "Well that's not going to work." He stood up from the couch and walked over to the door, "you hear that Son?! Your sneaky plan to get out of the basement isn't going to work."
Moments later, the pounding started up again, followed by the loud screaming.
"Geez, I wonder if that's what Pen Pal does at the mental house," Sunset muttered to herself.
Moon Crest wasn't really paying attention to the screaming kid, he was looking in his newspaper. "Says here that tonight's the first night of the Canterlot Hearth's Warming festival, and by the looks of it, there's more activities there this year than ever before."
"Can we go tonight? Please?" Sunny Rays asked as she showed an adorable face to her parents.
"Sorry Honey, I'd love to take you there, but I'm going to be busy tonight with deliveries," answered Moon Crest. "And I know your mother is going to be busy too."
"Oh," Sunny Rays groaned and looked down to the floor.
"I'll take you," said Sunset, jumping down from the couch. "It's been quite a long time since I've been to the Canterlot Hearth's Warming festival, and I think I'd have more fun with my little sister around."
Sunny Rays ran up to Sunset and gave her a big hug.
"Can I go with you guys too?" asked Sun Drops. "I would really like to see this festival too."
Sunny Rays nodded. Sunset looked to Sunflower and Concrete, "would it be alright if she came along with us?"
"I see no reason why not," answered Sunflower. Her eyes then looked over to the basement door, "but may I ask if you take Granite Slab too?"
"Granite?!" cried Sunny Rays and Sun Drops together.
"Uh honey, he's being punished remember?" Concrete asked his wife. "Plus he's been pounding on the door like a mad pony, I don't think taking him to a festival with other poinies around would be a good idea."
"I know, but if he can promise to be good, then maybe we should give him a chance."
Moon Crest wasn't enterily sure on the idea himself, that was until he heard Sunset say; "if he tries causing any trouble, then he'll have to deal with me. After all, I've taken on demon versions of my friends, sirens, Pen Pal and faced off aganist Dark Soul not that long ago. One little boy with a temper problem will be no trouble for me."
She said it with such seriousness in her voice.
Concrete looked back to the door, "if you can be good for the next few hours, you can go with your cousins to the Hearth's Warming festival. But you won't be going if you scream like a mad pony, do I make myself clear?"
"FINE!" snapped Granite. "Not that I care! I wanted to go to Appleloosa!"
The sound of hoofsteps could be heard as he walked down the stairs to his temporary bed.
A little later, as the sun was setting for the day, Sunset was once again writing to her friends back home. She told them about what Granite did, and that he was joining her, Sunny Rays and Sun Drops at the festival.
"It's going to be quite a challenge keeping an eye on him, so wish me luck girls, I think I'm going to need it."
"Break a leg Sunset," came a reply, which was from Applejack.
"Sunset, we're ready!" called Sunny Rays from downstairs.
Sunset closed the book, placed it back on her dresser and headed downstairs. Little Sunny Rays Shimmer and Sun Drops Slab were in their winter gear and looking excited. If it wasn't for the difference in colors and mane styles, Sunset could've sworn they were identical twins.
"Just give me a minute to get my things, then we're on our way."
As she walked over to the closest with her winter gear, her Aunt Sunflower was letting Granite out of the basement. He stared angerily at Sunny Rays, which made her quiver in fear.
"Now Granite, you need to be on your best behaviour tonight."
"Whatever, I'm out of here!" he snapped.
Sunflower stopped him with her magic, "we're only letting you because we don't want you to miss all the fun, but your cousin Sunset will be watching your every move, and if you do something stupid, it's back here for you and you'll be in the basement for the rest of the night."
"So you say, loser."
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that, now get your jacket, boots and scraf."
"Whatever," and he walked over to the closest.
Now Sunny Rays didn't want to go. Sunset walked over to her little sister and gave her a gentle hug, "you'll be fine Sis, trust me on this one. If I can kick Pen Pal's flank on top of a clock tower and save you, then I can surely handle any of Granite's temper tanturms."
"If you say so."
At last, they were ready. Concrete gave Granite one more warning, which he payed no attention to, then the four ponies headed out.
"I hope you know what you're doing honey," Concrete said to Sunflower.
"So do I, I better not regret my choice."
The four ponies were quiet as they walked towards the festival. Sunset tried to lighten the mood, "so Granite, why do you like Appleloosa so much? Is it because it's a Western town, or is it because of the activities there?"
"I don't know, I just wanted to go there, now shut up!"
"Okay, I was just trying to have a conversation."
Sun Drops huffed, "you'll get nothing out of my brother, he's always like that. You know back home, he doesn't have a single friend to talk to."
"Why you!" snapped Granite and lifted a hoof up. Sunset blocked him with her hoof, "stop interferring!"
"Stop that Granite, and behave. We're not that far off from my parent's house, we can easily turn around and drop you off with your parents." A firm look came to her face, "and I'm sure they'd love to have another chat with you."
This made Granite go quiet at once.
"Whoa, now that's a first," commented Sun Drops.
"What is?" asked Sunny Rays.
"Nopony has ever been able to make my brother stay quiet, even with other ponies saying those words to him. I got to give it to your sister, she's got quite a gift for dealing with troublemakers."
"Well she has faced dark demons and monsters before, I'd say that helps."
Soon, the ponies reached the festival. There were plenty of ponies there, all looking very happy and having a great time. There was plenty of Hearth's Warming food, like the treats from Honey Tree's stall, games to play like sleding and carollers singing many Hearth's Warming songs.
"It's wonderful," gasped Sun Drops.
"Kind of reminds me of the Christmas holidays back home," added Sunset.
Granite just snorted, "it's not that special," but he said to himself.
The four ponies went over to Honey Tree's stand first to get some treats. Tonight, since it was so busy, Honey Tree and Cheery Tree weren't working alone, they had another pony in there. It was their father; Olive Tree. Sunset wanted to talk with her old friend some more, but knew now wasn't really the best time, not with a line-up of twenty ponies behind her.
"What will it be Sunset?" she asked her friend.
"How about a few of your famous honey biscuits?"
"You got 'em, a few of my honey biscuits, coming right up."
She got out some fresh honey biscuits from the oven, and placed them inside four bags for the four ponies. Sunset layed down four bits, and an extra one, "that's for good service."
"Thanks Sunset, I'll talk to you later when I'm not busy."
Sunset nodded and with bags in tow, the four ponies walked away from the stall. Granite took a sniff at the biscuits and was about to open his mouth, when he saw Sunset stare at him, "my friend worked really hard on these, so I thank you to not say anything bad about them Granite Slab."
And with that, he went quiet.
As the night wore on, it was becoming hard for Granite to not say anything mean or nasty, but the firm stare and words from Sunset kept him quiet. Sun Drops was getting worried by this.
"He can only hold it back for so long before he blows it," she advised Sunset.
"Well if he does, he knows where he's going." She sighed as she looked back to Granite Slab, who was eating a honey biscuit. "Such a shame really, he's got a full life ahead of him and he wants to waste it by being nasty to others."
"It's his choice."
"Yeah, but I was like him once, and after being defeated by Princess Twilight and my friends back home, I changed and became who I am today."
"Well that's you, you'll never get my brother to change. He's heard it all before from class-mates, teachers and even the police."
"The police? What did he do to get their attention?"
Before Sun Drops could answer that question, there came a shout, "hey Granite Slab! You dumb loser! I thought I told you to stay away from here this year!" The four ponies looked to see a gruff looking pony walking over towards Granite Slab, and he looked to be just as nasty as Granite himself.
Sun Drops smacked her forehead with her hoof, "oh no, it's Gruff McColton."
"Who?"
"He's another bully at my school. He's always picking on any pony weaker or smaller than him. He and Granite are always arguing, and more than once, they get into hoof fights."
"It wasn't my choice you dumb pony!" snapped Granite. "My stupid parents and sister made me stay here with my cousins."
"Going soft are you?"
"No of course not, but then again, I'm not surprised you would think that Gruff. After all, you got a brain the size of a pebble."
Gruff McColton snarled angerily and stomped his hoof on the ground. Sunset stepped forward and stood between the two ponies, "that's enough of that Granite, causing a scene is causing trouble. Now let's go."
They turned to walk away, but that's when it happened, "yeah that's right, run away you stupid pony! You're such a softie, nopony will take you seriously after all this!"
"Why you!" And he charged towards Gruff McColton.
Sunset stopped him though with her magic, "you're not going anywhere. Last chance Granite, stop that or I'll give you a few choice words of my own."
Granite snorted. Sunset lifted him back over to the tables they were sitting at, and released him from her magic.
The moment could've ended right then and there, but Gruff decided to do something stupid. Despite his parents telling him otherwise, he charged towards Granite, raising a hoof as if to strike him. He would've hit him, but surprisingly to both of them, Granite was not the one that got hit, it was Sunset. She stood in the way and got her right hoof hit by the punch.
Granite was in shock that Sunset would do that, even after all the things he had been saying and doing.
"Sunset!" cried Sunny Rays and ran over to her big sister.
Sun Drops ran over too and stared angerily at her brother, "you really know how to defuse a scene, don't you dummy?"
Gruff's parents came over and used their magic to lift him away from the four ponies, "we are so sorry about that," said the mother. "Rest assured, our son will be dealt with for this cowardly attack."
"And he'll be dealt with for trying to pick a fight again," added his father.
Gruff groaned as his parents took him away. Sunny Rays asked Sunset to place her hoof around her for support, and that's what she did, "thanks Sis, I guess we're even now for when I helped you."
"Perhaps," she said with a cheerful smile.
"Why did you do that?" Granite asked. "You could've gotten a severe beating from Gruff McColton. You should've let me handle it."
"I don't think so Granite, fighting is the worst thing you can do. Besides, I had to step in there, it's what you do in a family, you look out for one another."
"Well uh...thanks."
Still, he did cause a scene and as a result, Sunset and the little ponies had to return to the Shimmer family house. Sunrise was shocked to see Sunset limping, "I'll be fine in the morning," Sunset reassured her.
As for Granite, his parents spoke firmly to him, "Gruff may've started the fight, but you took it too far!" snapped Concrete.
"I was hoping you wouldn't make me regret allowing you out," sighed Sunflower, "and you've made me regret sending you out. I don't know what's gotten into you, but now you've lost all chances to go out, until you can apologize to Sunset and everypony here for your attitude."
Granite didn't say a word though, he was just looking down to the ground.
"Well?"
"Forget it! I will not say a word to any loser!"
Sunflower shook her head unhappily, "fine then, go back into the basement and stay down there for the rest of the night! Maybe the time down there will make you see the error of your ways."
Granite didn't say another word as he walked down the stairs. He climbed onto his temporary bed as he heard the door close, and the lock being locked again. Now with nothing to do, he would have time to think things over, if he really wanted to.
Sunflower helped Sunset upstairs where she could look the hoof over, "lucky for you I'm a nurse back in Manehatten," she said. After a minute, she spoke again, "again you're lucky, you won't need bandages, it's just a bruise."
"I thought as much, but it's good to have a nurse's opinion, and thanks for helping me up the stairs."
"My pleasure, it's the least I could do."
She helped Sunset back to her room, where they found Sunny Rays waiting, "Moondancer has just arrived, she said something about you giving her something to give to the Princess."
"Oh yes, the book I bought today." Using her magic, Sunset lifted the gift wrapped book off the dresser and over to Sunny Rays, "will you give that to Moondancer? Don't worry, she's a friend."
"I know that Sunset, I've met her before."
"What? When?"
"A few weeks ago at the book store," she answered. She took the book in her magic and walked downstairs with it.
"Well at least my sister's making friends," smiled Sunset. She looked to her Aunt, "your son may've been rude the entire time we were there, but he did thank me for protecting him from that pony; Gruff McColton."
"Perhaps, but that shouldn't have happened in the first place. Rest assured Sunset, this will not be happening again. He's staying in the basement till we feel he's learned his lesson." She turned on her hooves and walked off back downstairs.
"Boy is he ever in hot water now," Sunset thought to herself.
Using her magic, Sunset brought over her journal once again. There was a new enterily which read; "how did it go?" She didn't even need to guess, she knew the message came from Rainbow Dash.
"Well girls, remember when you said 'Break a Leg'? Well I didn't break a leg, but it did get sore. I got hurt again, here's what happened..."