Tension is an odd thing. Sometimes good, sometimes bad, and sometimes, present even though the rest of the house is sleeping. Tai senses this as he works, awake well before his girls. His focus doesn't exactly help, his hands and eyes on his task while his ears stay alert. Finally, he adds the last touch just as he hears what he expected.
A groggy brunette, a sleepy pony, and a drowsy blonde all manage to stumble their way into the kitchen, the first two clinging onto each of his legs.
"Good morning, girls." He smiles at them all.
"...why do we have to be up so early?" The filly whines, nuzzling into his knee.
"Because today is your first day of school." He pets her head softly. "I already made you all breakfast."
The girls are silent for a moment.
"Chocolate chip pancakes?" Ruby ventures.
"Yes, I knew you'd ask for that." He dramatically pulls the sheet off a stack of them.
She practically jumps on them, grinning thankfully at him before she takes the whole stack for herself.
Chuckling, he puts the next plate into Yang's hands. "Eggs and bacon, just the way you like."
The blonde leans up and kisses his cheek. "Thanks, Dad!"
A sudden weight on his shoulders tells him that a certain pony jumped onto his back from the counter. She rests her head on his shoulder, looking at him hopefully.
Hmm... now what could I have made that you would want..." He looks up, feigning ignorance.
He hears a quiet whimper right next to his ear.
"How about... this?" He pulls out another plate, this one with a large fluffy waffle topped with bananas and strawberries.
Her eyes widen and she grins, pecking his cheek before chowing down, laying over his shoulder as she does so.
Ruby looks up, frowning with her mouth stuffed. "Doesn't she get heavy like that?"
"Not as much as you'd think. She's pretty light, plus I'm used to carrying both of you." He gestures to the other girls.
The filly in question pats his head with a feathery appendage, which then darts forward to tickle his nose.
He snorts, waving it away gently. "Why don't you focus on your food? I've got a couple more things to do."
She turns and nuzzles his cheek with a smile, getting whipped cream on his face. "'Kay." She promptly resumes eating, not bothering to move from his shoulder.
Chuckling, Tai gets back to his other project while the girls eat.
Less than ten minutes later, Tai shuts the lid on the third and final box. "And there you go, all set for lunch."
Daring accepts it in her mouth, holding the handle between her teeth. "Fenk hyoo!"
Ruby looks at her little sister with a small frown. "I do not envy you."
Tai smiles sadly. "Sorry, the box is a bit too big to fit in your bags. Maybe I can work on a strap for it after today so you can attach it to the side."
"I could carry it." Yang offers.
While the filly looks up at her, hopeful, Ruby looks thoughtful. "...couldn't she just, you know..." She holds her own lunchbox above the pony's back.
Yang shrugs. "I dunno. She could try if she wants."
Daring looks to her sisters in befuddlement, the brunette's arm back by her side before she can see what she was talking about. "...try what?"
"She wants to know if you could just balance your lunch on your back." Yang explains.
Daring blinks, tilting her head to one side. "...can I?"
The bigger sister shrugs, taking the lunch box and setting it on her back experimentally while their father watches, amused and curious.
Though it starts to tilt to one side, Daring quickly catches it with a wing, helping it stay balanced on her back.
Tai smiles. "Well, I guess that's an option so you can still talk."
The filly nods once, looking towards her back, then up at him, pouting a bit. "...but now I'll drop it if I hug you..."
Smiling softly, he musses her mane. "It's just for today. I'll do some work on your bags tonight so you don't have to worry about it."
She smiles in return, but not quite as confidently. Turning, the filly gently nudges Yang's thigh, urging her to start heading off so they wouldn't be late.
Nodding, Yang waves to their father as she turns around. "Bye Dad! See you at school!"
Tai smiles at all of them. "Alright girls, have a good first day!"
"We will!" Ruby calls back, waving excitedly as they exit the house.
"I can still carry that if you want." Yang offers to Daring as they walk, pointing to her lunchbox.
She looks up at her, smiling warmly. "If it looks like it'll fall, then please do." After saying this, she spreads her wings and brings them up, pinning the box between them.
Her bigger sister smiles at that. "What classes do you guys have? Do you have any together?"
The two of them stop at the exit to the forest, looking at each other in confusion before the younger one addresses Yang. "We might not have classes together?"
Yang nods. "Yeah, lunch and gym are with everyone, but the others classes are kind of random where they put you."
Daring pouts quietly. "...so we won't be in the same classes? Not even with each other?"
"You could be." Yang pets her head. "I'm a few grades ahead of you, so I was just gonna see you at lunch and gym anyway."
Ruby's eyes light up. "Does that mean we'll get to see you spar with others?"
"Maybe. If they let us, sure you can." She smiles back. "I'll whoop their butts for you."
"Yay!" She hugs her sister, almost knocking her into a tree in her exuberance. "Thanks, Yang!"
"Oof! Hey, you're welcome!" She laughs, catching herself and her sister before they fall.
Daring bites the older girl's skirt, whining as she tugs on it. "Come on!"
"Alright, alright..." Yang grunts as she gets back on the path, setting Ruby down. "We definitely don't want to be late, I swear Dad can hear about anything we do at school if he wants to."
The golden pony looks up at her, curious. "He can?"
Yang nods. "Yeah, with him being a teacher, he knows the other teachers, and he can ask them about us."
She tilts her head to one side, thinking a bit. "...any chance he may be close to any of them, besides Uncle Qrow?"
"Umm... I don't really know any he's close to." She admits.
She clucks her tongue in response. "Darn..."
"We'll figure it out." She giggles. "For now, you want to see if you have any of the same classes?"
"Sure!" The two sisters respond as one, grinning at the blonde girl excitedly.
Nodding, Yang swings her backpack around and digs in it. "Okay, Dad gave me your schedules so we just have to check..." she pulls out three sheets of paper.
Ruby quickly snags one, looking at it intensely for a moment before sighing and handing it back. "That one's yours..."
"Yeah... my name's at the top." She says with a smile, handing her a different one.
She sheepishly takes it, looking at the page. "...homeroom is Miss River Song? That's a pretty name."
"Oh, I had her!" Yang voices. "She was nice, I think you'll like her."
Daring pokes the girl's arm. "What about me?"
"Here you go." She offers her a page as well, turning it so she can read it.
The filly scans the page, then tugs Ruby's arm with her paper down using her left wing, scanning it carefully. "...only two classes are different? That's great!" She looks up at her younger sister, beaming brightly.
It falters when she realizes she's not looking at her, instead staring at the ground where her lunchbox lay, open but with the food still inside.
"And that is big sis's cue to save the day." Yang closes and latches the box before picking it up. Taking a small hair tie out of her bag, she does a quick bit of work until the handle of Daring's lunch box is secure to the strap that goes across the filly's back. "There we go! That'll work for now."
The filly jumps up and hugs her legs. "Thank you! My wing was getting numb holding it up!"
Yang rubs her head. "Yeah, sorry, I just thought of it."
"Come on!" Ruby groans, gesturing to the road. "If we're late, dad might take away our cookies!"
Another child seems to have similar thoughts, their quickly walking form seen coming down a joining path.
Unfortunately, Daring isn't one of them who sees them, turning to nod to Ruby before rushing ahead, yelping when a foot hits her side and grunting as someone trips and lands on her. "...ow..."
"Hey, watch where you're going!" Yang shouts out as she and Ruby run over.
"Sorry, sorry..." The boy, as his voice reveals, groans, getting up and shaking his head.
The filly's leg twitches, her body splayed on the pavement, as shown after he stands up. "...help..."
As the boy backs off, shaking his head, Yang scoops her youngest sister back onto her hooves. "Are you okay?"
"...I feel like a pancake." She shakes herself off, looking up at the guy before her. "...I don't know whose fault that was. So... sorry, I guess?"
He smiles sheepishly at her, revealing teeth a bit sharper than they should be. At the same time his hand comes away from his head to show blue ears on top of it. "I'm sorry, too. I was just running a little close to be late and I'm not used to watching out for things shorter than me."
Daring suddenly leaps up at him, hooves hooked around his shoulders as she gives him a piercing stare. "I'm not small. I'm compact cuteness."
Ruby stares blankly for a bit before turning to Yang, pointing at their youngest sister. "How is he able to support her like that? Her hooves are in his gut..."
Yang shrugs. "Shock? Or maybe he's strong."
The boy blinks his icy blue eyes at the filly. "Okay, okay, not small, got it."
"Thank you." She nods once and jumps off him, gliding over to Yang and resting on her head. "I think I'm gonna stay up here, for now. Less chance of being kicked."
While Yang reaches up and pets her head, the boy checks over himself. When the boy does a little spin, it's shown he has a canine tail to match his ears. When he turns back to face them, he seems unsure. "So... are we good?"
Daring stares at him for a while, a frown on her lips, before slowly gesturing him closer with a hoof, the other taking her schedule from Yang's hand.
Ears and body lowering a bit, the boy moves forward, looking up at the filly. Yang looks on, curious.
She bops him on the nose with the now rolled up paper. "Bad puppy. Watch where you step."
He flinches even at the relatively light tap, the response coming automatically. "Yes ma'am."
Ruby just frowns at him, confused. "Ma'am? She's younger than I am!" She points at her face. "Am I a ma'am?"
"Well, umm..." He looks between them. "Neither of you really look like a 'ma'am', but she acted like the alpha."
The filly blinks, looking down at Yang. "What's an alpha?"
The girl shrugs while the boy chimes in. "The alpha is generally like the leader of the group. It's just how I was taught to see things."
The oldest girl hums in thought. "Wouldn't I be the alpha then?"
The brunette beside her shakes her head. "No, that would be daddy, right?"
Daring, having glanced around, asks nervously, "...what time is it?"
Yang checks her watch. "...time for us to really really get going."
She nods, pointing forward with a hoof. "Onward! To school!"
Giggling, Yang takes Ruby's hand and starts quickly heading towards the school, light padding behind them showing the boy is following them.
The filly turns to look back at him, still hugging the blonde girl's head securely. Her lunchbox bounces rhythmically against Yang's shoulder as she regards him thoughtfully.
He looks curiously at her, tail streaming behind him. "I think we go to the same school." The running seems not to affect him, his breathing still even.
"Huh. Neat." She giggles, reaching over and petting him like she would Zwei, unable to help herself.
He smiles at this, tail wagging behind him. "What's your name?"
"Daring Do." She giggles, bringing the hoof down to hold out to him. "You?"
He shakes her hoof eagerly, smiling his pointed smile once more. "Argent Gale. Nice to meet you!"
"Same!" She smiles, then looks from him to her sister and back. "...are you in Yang's classes?"
"Umm... maybe?" He looks to the blonde, curious. "I'll find out today."
Ruby just shrugs, no longer sure how to take all of this. They all look forward to see the school in front of them.
The building is one of the most grand in the area. Its design brings to mind a gently rolling hill with a few spots smoothed out to make platforms and courtyards.
Daring blinks in surprise at this. "...it certainly looks impressive..." She taps Yang's forehead. "We're going to make it, right?"
She checks her watch once more. "Mmm... yeah, we'll make it." The children join a few other stragglers heading inside.
Daring looks around as she's carried in, curious but not enough to let go.
Yang stops in front of a door, looking to both her sisters. "Okay, I think this is your first class. I have to go off to mine." At some point, the boy had disappeared, likely to his class as well.
The little golden pony whines pitifully. "Do I have to get off? I just got comfortable..."
Lifting her sister off her head, Yang hugs her. "I know, but I have to go to class, too. You still have Ruby."
She just pouts in response. "...but her head's not as comfortable as yours..."
Ruby shrugs, already inside the doorway. "To be fair, you do have more hair."
Setting the filly down, Yang offers her the lunchbox she had been holding. "You'll be fine. You can lay on my head on the way home."
She takes it from her, holding it in her teeth as she gives her best doe eyes. "Pwomiff?"
Yang giggles, nodding. "I promise. Now hurry up before you're late."
Daring nods, rushing into the room and bumping into the lady at the front in her haste.
She gives a small sound of surprise before looking down. "Oh, hello there. Go on and find a seat, class will be starting soon."
She looks up at her, then around the room, considering all the seats for a moment before climbing up onto a chair, her eyes barely visible over the desk.
The teacher, spotting this, grabs a textbook from the shelf and comes over. "Here you go. We can put this in your seat for a boost."
She nods, smiling as she climbs up onto the desk so the book can be placed in her seat. She doesn't notice the snickering from the back, simply grateful towards her new teacher.