One week after moving to Crystal Heart
It was early afternoon and I was ready to run back to bed. Not because I hadn't gotten enough sleep, which I hadn't, but because today was the day I started my apprenticeship with Tibia in her flower shop.
"Are you alright dear? You seem tense," Tibia said to me as we walked through the shop.
There were a few customers browsing the flowers. The flowers were all growing from various baskets and planters all throughout the shop, sometimes there were flowers cut and placed in vases. They came in all different kinds and shapes.
"First day jitters," I replied nervously. "My last apprenticeship didn't end up turning out so well."
"Well, there were some extraordinary circumstances involved with that dear," Tibia said understanding. "Nothing like that could possibly happen here. I don't expect you to know what you are doing here yet, so we are going to take this nice and slow."
"I will do my best," I assured her. "I really do want to learn a good honest trade."
"Don't be so hard on your past experiences," Tibia said chidingly, with a smile. "The work you did in your old home might not have been a typical pony trade, but it was honest work, and the other work you do on the side with Mera is among the best work a pony can do, even if it isn't a trade."
Tibia was still referring to Mera by name for the moment because paperwork for the adoption had to be finalized still. It required a formal signature from Flurry Heart who still had yet to return from Harmony. We had been assured that she should be back within a week, and would be happy to sign the paperwork quickly once she returned.
The few customers in the shop gave me sidelong looks as I passed by them. They weren't hostile looks, just curious ones. A Thestral was not a common sight in Crystal Heart and for these ponies this was their first real opportunity to see one up close. I wondered if they were deliberately delaying making their selections just so they could spend more time looking at me. Despite them not being hostile, it still raised the old nervousness about being other from my teenaged years and early twenties.
It wasn't just me who they were sneaking glances at though. Tibia was in her true changeling form. While the patrons of her shop had long known that she was a changeling, Tibia was definite changeling name and Tibia never had denied what she was to any who had asked, her walking around in her changeling form was a very recent development. Even though Tibia was doing her best to calm me, she had signs of nervousness about her as well when she caught a pony glancing her way. She was my mother-in-law, which brought natural kinship, but more than that she was another who had to struggle with the feeling of being something somehow apart from those around her, and that brought an extra bond between us that I was quickly coming to appreciate.
"Today we will start off simple, something you don't need to know anything about flowers to do," she said to me. "The most basic part of shopping, making the sales. I am going to just have you sit behind the counter and collect bits for the purchases. You don't have to know all the prices, as I have set out a price list for you. All you need is some basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and be able to count. The list has pictures of each of the different flowers and their names, so you can start identifying them. Just collect payment, give change where appropriate, and be friendly to our customers. I will close at hoof if you have questions, or can't answer a question, so don't be embarrassed if you don't know something. Just ask me. I'll be introducing regular customers to you as they are ready to check out so you can get to know the regulars."
"Yes ma'am," I responded. That did actually seem simple enough.
Tibia took me to the counter and showed me a small drawer that was used for storing bits and gemstones. Gemstones were used in place of large amounts of bits, this was my first problem; I had no idea how many bits individual gemstones were worth.
"Um, I have never dealt with gemstones before, Tibia," I told her as I looked the stones over.
She gave me an odd look as I told her that, and looked back in the drawer.
"How do you carry around large sums of money then? You can't possibly carry around hundreds and hundreds of bits on you," she said with confusion. "I was under the impression you earned a fair amount doing scavenging."
"I did carry around all my bits," I said, and pointed to my life pack. "We have a bank account now, but I really could just carry everything on me."
"What if you ended up losing that life pack?" Tibia said with concern, looking at my pack.
"I guess I am just out of bits?" I said with a shrug. "At least I would have been. I suppose I can get more from the bank now."
"Dear, that seems very risky," Tibia said with continued concern. "If you had transferred them to crystals you could store the crystals elsewhere for safe keeping. I know a life pack is convenient, but you are putting a lot of risk having everything you own in that. Further, most of us can't afford something like that to carry our bits around in. This is Crystal Heart and the prices for unicorn services are fairly high. That just isn't practical for most ponies. Don't worry though, I will walk you through gem values."
I nodded and tried to shore up my courage. This should be simple, but I couldn't help being stressed. I was going to be dealing with ponies face to face, something that scared me even though I knew the Crystal Ponies were generally friendly to Thestrals. Add to that the fact I had never held down a job dealing with others more than a day, if you consider my job as a nurse a one day job, and the stress became even worse.
I sat down behind the counter and started looking over the lists and pictures of various flowers and plants, hoping that I could try to start recognizing them. I was familiar with a few of them, tulips, roses, daisies, sunflowers, and my own pearlwort. Many of the others were completely new to me, not to mention the variety of different colors and types that each of them were subdivided into.
After a moment or two of looking everything over one of the customers decided to be the first to deal with me. She was a orange colored mare with a red colored mane, and her selection I was thankful looked to be something I easily recognized, some yellow tulips.
"I think I will just go with these today," the mare said. She turned to my mother-in-law. "Tibia you are certainly making your shop one that is talked about lately. First you start coming to work in your true form, which I dare say gave many of us such a shock the other day, I mean we knew what you were, but we never had to really deal with it. Not that there is anything wrong with being a changeling mind you, but it just isn't normal for us. Now you hire on a Bat Pony for help. If we knew you were hiring I am sure you would have found many normal applicants who would have been eager for work." She turned back to me and looked mildly apologetic. "Not that there is anything wrong we you ma'am. I am sure work must be so hard to come by for some pony like you, especially if you took such an unusual job from what you are used to doing. It is good that you are doing good respectable work."
I don't know which of us tensed up more, me or Tibia. The mare wasn't being rude per we, but I really didn't like the way she said things. Was she implying I wasn't normal? Was she implying Tibia wasn't normal? I didn't want to say anything about it, so I just forced a smile and started counting up her flowers and checking the price chart that Tibia had given me.
"Pearl here is the wife to the mare I am planning on adopting," Tibia explained to the mare. "Alas for me neither Biblo nor Peridot seem to want to take on my shop, and I am determined to keep it in family. Pearl may not have any experience in this business, but she is eager to learn. If I can get a daughter-in-law who is interested in my shop I want to give her every opportunity."
"Wait, you are adopting a full grown mare?" The customer said in shock. "What prompted this? Have we met this mare?"
"Mera hasn't been by the shop either as if her," Tibia went on with a smile. "She is a relative without any family but mine." Not a lie I guessed. "Seeing as we are her only family, and she was moving to Crystal Heart to live near us I am taking her in as my own. She is a lot like Biblo in some ways, even has the same cutie mark, and is eager to reconnect with family."
"Is she that other Thestral we have heard word about? Or is she another changeling as well?" The mare said, looking between the two of us. Other customers in the store seemed to have somehow decided, all at the same time, to look at flowers closer to the counter. This was juicy gossip.
"Mera is a Thestral like me," I said, deciding to speak up. "We really do enjoy it here. We have been to a lot of places, Yazyakistan, Harmony, and lots of towns in the wilds south of Ocid. Crystal Heart is definitely the nicest place we have been. We have been outsiders everywhere we have gone, and it has been hard to feel at home anywhere. We are hoping that will change here. I have heard so much about how nice the Crystal Ponies of Crystal Heart are." Hopefully if I was just really accommodating and flattering they would stop looking at me like some curiosity. The lack of hostility was a vast improvement, but this pony showed there were still going to be ponies looking at me like I wasn't just another pony.
"Oh, you flatter us all." The mare gave me a smile at the compliments to Crystal Heart and its residents. "We really are the friendliest city in all the realm, and the most beautiful. I hope that you and your wife enjoy all we have to offer here. And I hope to meet miss Mera soon." I had a feeling that Mera want to punch this mare in the face, though I couldn't say for sure, best to have her avoid the shop for the time being.
I completed the mare's purchase and she left the shop. Her visit to the counter opened up the floodgates of ponies who were ready to make their purchases. Between them all I found myself having to answer many Thestral related questions, and trying to correct misconceptions. Will I light up like the Crystal Ponies during the height of the fair? I didn't think so. Did my ever have to wear anything over my wings so they didn't get cold? They got cold sometimes, but I had never heard of any clothing specific for them. Why was I working in a flower shop if I was a meat eater, and where did I get my food? I had to explain I could eat flowers just like any other pony, and though I can eat meat too I hadn't found any good source of it yet in Crystal Heart. Don't Thestrals only come out a night? I explained that we could function in the day fine, we just preferred nighttime hours, and that I would be only working in the afternoons and early evenings as a result. Was it true Thestrals ate manticores? A Thestral would definitely kill and eat a manticore if it was in close proximity to a pony village, it kept manticores from hurting ponies. Would I be making a cloudhouse for myself? No, I was a Thestral not a Pegasus. I wasn't sure if I could even make a cloudhouse, and if I tried to stand on a cloud I would fall right through like any non-Pegasus would.
And so the never ending questions went on as I just tried to do my job. There were a few times after finishing collecting a ponies bits for their purchase that I had to remind them politely that there were other ponies waiting in line. Tibia had to field her own string of customer questions. I didn't pay as much attention to those since I wasn't being spoken to, and I really was just focused on trying to move the line while making sure I was doing everything right.
Finally, after hours of this, the shop was clear and Tibia turned her sign to say it was closed. After locking the door she sighed and laid down on the ground.
"I am very sorry about all that. I should have expected that coming. They did something similar to me earlier this week when I first dropped my Crystal Pony form. They weren't this bad, maybe because they were already used to the idea I was a changeling. I can understand if you don't want to continue with this, it doesn't feel fair to you at all." She seemed exhausted as she spoke, and extremely disappointed. I could tell that she had a lot of hope in me wanting to work here, and that she felt that the ponies shopping had ruined that.
"I am not intending on quitting," I told her. Her ears perked up as I said it and she looked up at me. "Yeah, that was uncomfortable, really uncomfortable, but Sunset has gotten on me more than once about me giving up because things are rough. I can learn this, and I want to learn this. Crystal Ponies will get used to me, eventually, and things will settle down. Plus, I want to prove that I am not be given this job out of pity. A lot of them seemed to imply that I wasn't capable of doing normal pony work, because I am a Thestral. I am a normal pony, except for the whole immortality thing, and I want to be treated as one. I won't be treated as one of I don't make myself part of the community though. If I keep myself apart I'll keep being treated as something apart."
"You're a brave pony, Pearl," Tibia replied with a smile.
"Really? Do you feel brave when you have customers gawking at you for being a changeling?" I asked.
"No," Tibia said with her ears lowered. "I feel like I am a fool for thinking that they will accept me for what I really am."
"Do you want to go back to just hiding it?" I asked her.
"No," she replied again, with a shake of her head. "I am afraid to tell Diamond or any other pony, but it feels suffocating. Like I am just going through life pretending, that I am not being valued as me. Just the character I am playing. Changing forms is part of who I am as a changeling, yes, but staying confined to one because I am terrified of what ponies will think of what I really am isn't right or fair."
"So you aren't being brave, you are just doing what you need to do so you don't feel like you have to be ashamed of yourself then. All the hiding, worried about what other ponies will think of you, makes you think shameful things about yourself, and at a certain point it comes down to you having to either say you shouldn't have to be ashamed or hating yourself," I confirmed. She thought for a moment about what I said and nodded sadly.
"Mera fusses at me that I act like I am ashamed to be a Thestral," I continued. "And I need to start having pride in what I am. I have been making some real progress, but it can be lost if I let other ponies make me feel ashamed. I need to keep them from doing that to me, and that means I have to keep facing them rather than running away. I am not quitting."
"Pearl, I am still getting to know you, but I am glad my daughter found a pony like you, and I am proud to have you as my daughter-in-law," Tibia said as she walked over and embraced me in a hug.
***
One year after moving to Crystal Heart
The program that Peridot was part of was doing a dueling competition among its best students. There were more than two dozen fillies and colts who were going to duel with their preferred weapons, wooden training versions of them of course, to get the honor of claiming they were the best young fighter. Peridot was thrilled when she was allowed to be one of the combatants, she wasn't the youngest among the contestants, but she was among the youngest.
The entire family had come out to cheer her on. Diamond, Mera, and I were having a hard time soothing Tibia's worries over her youngest's well being though. Peridot was already in the Crystal Stadium getting ready for her first match. The rest of us were all outside the stadium trying to get Tibia to relax. The actual event wasn't going to start for another hour yet.
"Mom, she is going to be fine. She might get a few bruises, but that is to be expected," Mera tried to reassure the changeling. They were both hovering in the air about a pony length off the ground. Tibia, in her changeling form, was stress hovering. Mera was hovering so she could talk directly to her mother without having to keep looking up. Diamond and I were just sitting a few pony lengths away having a smoke of our pipes as we watched Mera try to reason with Tibia. Occasional passers by would look up at the two hovering creatures, some would look at Tibia with sympathy, others would try to stifle chuckles.
"They are using training weapons and she will be armored. I have done this myself, and without armor. She will be fine," Mera continued to try to reassure Tibia. "You know this is really important to her."
"She will be fighting colts and fillies that are basically full grown stallions and mares," Tibia whined from her spot. "They are so much bigger than her."
"She is very muscular, Mom, much more muscular than just about any other filly her age. She is in the same strength class as most adults, and stronger than many of them. Please, come down and stop worrying," Mera continued to plead. "She could probably kick Pearl's flank with ease."
"Hey!" I shouted in consternation at my wife.
"I'm sorry Precious but it is true," Mera called back to me apologetically. "You are definitely not as strong as her, and since biting and flying are against the rules she would leave welts all over your flank. You just aren't that kind of fighter."
"I'm not weak," I defended myself.
"I didn't say you were," Mera said with frustration. "I am just saying that I had to match you versus Peridot in a hoof wrestling match or a leg race Peridot would almost certainly win. You are definitely the strongest flyer out of you, me, and Mom, and if you were intending to rip out Peri's throat you likely would be able to do it. Since this isn't about flying, and you have no intention of ripping our sister's throat out, that's a moot point."
Discussion of the possibility of Peridot's throat getting ripped out had a pronounced negative impact on Tibia's nerves. She began bawling like a foal. This caused more onlookers to stare. Mera gave a frustrated huff, and pulled her mother down to the ground and gave her a hug and started petting her on the back.
"Mom, do you think you can take a form for a few minutes that doesn't have wings? I don't want to have to pull you out of the air again. You draw way too much attention to us in the air," Mera pleaded with the changeling. "Take your Crystal Pony form and come sit and calm down. You'll upset Peri if she sees you this upset when she is trying to duel. You don't want to upset her do you?"
Tibia kept crying, but gave a small nod of her head. A second later she was in the form of a middle aged pink Crystal Pony mare.
Mera shepherded her mother to come sit by us. Once her mother was sitting next to Diamond Mera came and sat down next to me with a frustrated sigh. She dug her pipe out of her badly and took a deep inhale off it after lighting it up.
"I am glad that you have gotten to where you can block out absorbing unwanted things," I said to my wife. "I don't think I could personally deal with trying to do that with you."
"I can only keep things out so long," Mera reminded me. "If she gets bad again you and Dad are going to have to be the ones to deal with it. It is exhausting and unnerving keeping that up that long."
"I'm sorry," Tibia said through held back sobs. "I just can't help it. I used to get so scared when Diamond had to go off and do anything with the guard. When he retired I felt like I was free to stop worrying about that kind of thing. Pinkie Pie decided to play a trick on me, and give me foals who all have such dangerous lives."
"We are all going to be fine, Mom," Mera said with another frustrated sigh. "Peridot is really strong and capable now, when she grows up she is going to be the kind of pony other ponies lose their bladders even thinking about fighting. Pearl and I are the things that give wild monsters nightmares, we aren't in danger either."
"She is right, Hon," Diamond assured his wife. "I think Peridot has the makings of being being a far more capable guard than I was in my day, and while I have never seen our other daughters in action, I have heard enough details to know they know how to keep themselves from getting too hurt."
"I know, in my head anyway, but it is hard to convince my nerves," Tibia said mournfully. She looked over to Diamond and snatched his pipe away from him and took a draw off it, which led to her choking on the smoke a moment later.
"Oh sweet Twilight! How do you three breathe with that stuff!" She said, still coughing.
"Well, first time we all did we typically ended up choking too," I said over to her. "You get used to it after a few tries, and then addiction starts setting in. I keep meaning to quit, but Mera wants her smoking buddy. Now that she has seen you try it she is likely going to try to push you into addiction. Mera is a regular heathen like that."
"You shouldn't say such uncomplimentary things about your wife," Diamond said, which earned him a smile from Mera. "Even if they are completely true." Mera's smile turned into a small frown and she gave her father a playful smack with her wing. Tibia actually let off a small giggle at this exchange, which was a definite improvement.
"It is true, you try to push that stuff like Hot Sticks does," I told my wife. "Remember what happened when you tried pushing it on Sunset?"
"Precious..I thought we agreed that we would never speak of that debacle again," Mera growled.
"What happened?" Tibia asked curiously.
"It really isn't that interesting," Mera said dismissively.
"Then you should have no reason not to tell us," Diamond chimed in. Mera gave her father a dirty look.
"Sunset lost her temper with Mera and set. Mera's tail on fire," I said, which caused Mera to groan with embarrassment. "Then when Mera was running around in a panic, due to the flames on her tail, Sunset threw her in a fountain. Mera hasn't tried pushing pipe weed on Sunset since then."
"And we are definitely never speaking of that again after this time," Mera said with an angry huff. "I heal fast, so the main thing that was hurt was my dignity."
"I would have never believed it, before this last year, if you told me that was something you would get in trouble doing," Diamond said with a laugh.
"Not the best hobby, but I enjoy myself," Mera asserted. "Gets a bit pricey up here though. I am guessing because it gets imported from elsewhere. I am actually tempted to just figure out how to grow the stuff myself."
"Oh, and take business away from Hot Sticks's poor destitute village?" I said with a laugh.
"I actually looked into it," Mera said. "Hot Sticks' village? That place is anything but poor. It is one of the most wealthy towns in its region, especially given its size."
We all paused as we noticed that Tibia was staring intently at Mera.
"Is something wrong, Mom?" Mera asked her mother hesitantly.
"Do you actually mean that?" Tibia asked hesitantly to her daughter.
"Mean what? That Hot Sticks' village is filthy rich? Yeah, that's true," Mera replied.
"No l, not that," Tibia said with a small shake of her head. "That you are tempted to grow the pipe weed yourself."
"I suppose," Mera said tentatively. "I hadn't given it serious thought, but it has passed through my mind."
"Hmm," Tibia grunted, then she took another careful puff of her husband's pipe. At least she wasn't panicking about Peridot anymore, but she definitely was thinking about something.
"What's on your mind, Hun?" Diamond asked her. "And can I have my pipe back now?"
"You can have it back when I am done with it, Dearest," Tibia said. "As for what I am thinking about; I am thinking about what I would need to do to get that kind of crop to grow."
"You are really focused on it," Diamond observed.
"I have been trying to get our daughter to take an interest in my business since she was a filly, and now she is expressing interest in growing this pipe weed," Tibia said. "Now she is expressing interest in growing something. I don't care that it isn't flowers, she is interested in growing plants, which is something I can bond with her over. I will help her, happily. Plus she says prices here are much higher than in the south, if we can produce it here we would be able to sell it without the middle merchants and make a sizable profit. It is a potential large expansion of my business, and one that I can leave to Mera in addition to Pearl. This shop is what I have to pass on to my daughters, if I can make it more successful I will take it."
"Well, you seem calmer now," Diamond observed. "So, can I have my pipe back?"
"Not yet, I am getting used to it," Tibia chided, and took another draw. "I have to have some clue about any product I am going to produce. I have to be able to judge the quality for myself, which means I have to use it."
"You really are serious?" Mera asked her mother with disbelief. "You want to start a pipe weed crop here?"
"I want us to start a pipe weed crop here," Tibia corrected. "I know you have had no interest in the same things I have do. But if this is something I can do with you, and leave as a legacy for you, a mother wants to feel she left something for her daughter."
"Well, if you really want to do this I will gladly do it with you, Mom," Mera said, as she came over and hugged her mother.
After this we finally went inside the stadium and took our seats. Tibia did have some of her earlier nervousness return as we watched the matches. The matches that Peridot was involved in caused the changeling to grip onto her husband tightly. Peridot for her part did exceptionally well, eventually placing third by the end of the day, which was an enormous source of pride considering she was one of the younger contestants. When she finally left the stadium to come greet us she was extremely pleased with herself, despite some minor bruising.
"Did you see me?" Peridot asked us all excitedly.
"Yes Dear," Tibia said as she gathered her youngest up in a hug. "We are all very proud of you."
"I know you were worried, Mommy, you don't have to pretend for me. I don't mind," Peridot assured her mother.
"I was worried about you, but that doesn't mean I am not proud of you," Tibia told her while hugging tightly. "And I am sure next time you will do even better."
"When you get bigger you can practice against me," Mera told her sister. "You'll get your flank kicked of course, but if you are used to fighting some pony like me these other ponies should become pushovers."
"Are you really that good, Sis, or are you just trying to impress me?" Peridot asked her sister with a sound of disbelief. "You never did any fighting when I was little."
"You are still little," Mera reminded her. "And yes, I am not exaggerating. I can neat multiple trained guards at once. The last pony I actually had trouble against was an Alicorn, but there was no winning that fight. She ended up bloodying my muzzle for trying."
"You fought an Alicorn?" Peridot asked in wonder, she looked to me for confirmation and I nodded my head.
"I didn't know she was an Alicorn at the time to be fair. I initially was worried that I was going to hurt her. It wasn't a fair fight at all though. Alicorns don't care about you hitting them, it doesn't do anything, and they hit way harder than you can."
"You did take down Meadowbrook with one blow," I reminded her. Peridot gasped in shock.
"I got lucky with her," Mera said. "I made her spell backfire on her. She ended up knocking herself out. And I am pretty sure the only thing I hurt on Pinkie Pie were her feelings."
"You attacked Pinkie Pie! Your own Alicorn!" Tibia gasped with dismay.
"She isn't my Alicorn anymore," Mera replied. "I don't have a personal Alicorn anymore. But Pinkie Pie is okay with me, we were on good terms last I saw her."
"Peridot, I am not going to worry about you as much anymore. Your sister causes me enough worry for both of you," Tibia said with a sigh. "Whatever you do can't possibly be as much trouble as all that Mera does."