Kiwe woke to the sun on his face that brought a grumble and snort from the colt. He covered his head with his sheets, turned over, and promptly fell back asleep.
“Kiwe, awake to the morning the princess of this land has brought,” his mother pulled the sheets off him and snorted a laugh at seeing her son’s hind legs on his pillow. “Azikiwe?! Your head is missing, where could it have gone?” His tail twitched then curled as his legs moved down the bed. She pulled the blankets down and smiled at the colt.
“Mother, it’s too cold.”
“It’s spring and the heat is on.”
“Too bright?”
“Your eyes are closed still.”
“Ugh, mother,” he whined and opened his eyes, looking pleadingly at her, “five more minutes?”
“No, you have had enough time to sleep. Today begins a new day as your father has said so hurry your little tail out of bed,” she poked him playfully in the belly and he curled up.
“Mother, I have to use the bathroom, don’t do that.”
“Another reason to hurry as holding it is not good for your health,” she said wisely.
With a combination of a whimper and groan, Kiwe rolled over and let his horn tug the sheets. “Just cover me up and it’ll go away when I’m asleep. Mother, c’mon… lemme rest s’more.”
“Plead all you want to stay asleep but if you are not out of bed in the next minute-”
“Fine, I’m already awake anyway,” he grumbled and as he was standing his mother let the sheets and blanket go, covering him.
“And make your bed as it seems to be messy.”
She giggled at the standing colt covered in sheets and left the room as he shook himself free and huffed. Biting the sheets he reluctantly began to make his bed until nature’s call won the battle and he made his way to begin his morning routine.
“Mother, is breakfast ready?” Kiwe asked as he took his seat at the table. The sweet scent of cooking foods had filled the apartment before he’d been woken up, however he did his best to ignore it until he was in the bathroom and the smell was mulled by artificial fragrances.
“The food is ready, gather your father from bed so he can join us before you leave for school.”
“‘Kay,” Kiwe chirped and galloped down the hall to his parents room. “Father, please get up. It’s time to eat with us!”
A groan and flatulence responded before his father rolled lazily from the bed to his hooves and shook all over. “Ahm ohngmyway,” he grumbled and dipped his barrel to the floor.
“I’ll tell mother. Mother, he’s stretching then he’ll be here and it smells really good,” Kiwe grinned as he took his seat. His mother brought a bowl to him with eggs on top of oats and alfalfa.
“Eat well and grow your mind today,” she kissed the top of his head as he leaned down and took the first bite with eagerness. Something crunched in his mouth and he stuck out his tongue to pick it out of his meal and looked at something’s shell. “Grasshoppers and beetles are good for a growing colt,” she placed hers and her husband’s bowls side by side as Kiwe finished his mouthful and ate the remaining bug from his hoof.
A minute later, Crunch entered the room and took his seat. “Looks good,” he said and leaned down to take a bite, stopping when the crunch made him realize what he was eating. Kiwe and Nangila looked at Crunch as he slowed and hesitantly finished chewing and swallowed with a shudder.
“Another zebra add in, dear?”
She covered her mouth with a hoof and shook her head. “No, husband. I know how you dislike those that crawl on many legs in your food,” she giggled softly, “I put hay chips in yours so you may crunch with our son and I.”
Crunch relaxed and smiled. “Yeah, ponies aren’t too big on bugs… but why is it okay to eat bugs but not have him test magic on them?”
“A good question for all to hear. The answer is as simple as the balance of life, to offer respect is to get respect. The creatures we eat are used to nourish our bodies in the same way we nourish theirs when we are in the ground. To use them to test magic and spells that are still unknown is disrespectful to them and offers no benefits to them or us,” she said holding a beetle she’d cooked from the bowl on the front of her hoof before licking it into her mouth and biting down with a crunch that Crunch winced at.
“Yeah, dad. Plus they’re sweet inside,” Kiwe said smacking his food in his mouth.
“Azikiwe, mouth closed.”
Kiwe closed his mouth at his mother’s scolding but kept chewing and seemed to enjoy himself.
“Sweet, I’ll stick with less bugs and more hugs,” Crunch said as he leaned over and nibbled on his wife’s neck sending her into a titter.
Kiwe groaned and picked his bowl up in his hooves and tipped it back to fill his mouth, to block the view of his parents display of affection, and clear the bowl in one swoop. He exhaled and placed the bowl down. “Done, going to school now.”
He hugged his parents and got his saddlebags on, checked if his books and homework were inside, then left for school as he had done for days, in a pleasant routine.
***
“Get outta the way, freak,” a stallion shouted at Kiwe as he dodged and threaded his way through the busy streets to his school. He didn’t like to do it, but sometimes going under adults was faster than going around or waiting, however they never seemed to like it. He understood why, but it was faster and a bit fun to bug random ponies sometimes.
He made his way down the several blocks and finally he was in his school’s main hall. He didn’t hesitate to make his way to his locker and open it, a grin crossing his face when he saw a very tasty looking kiwi with a note on it.
Kiwi!
He leaned in and bit the fruit, chewing as he put his saddlebags in the locker and dropped the note the locker’s floor. A high pitched voice growled from somewhere behind him but when he turned he didn’t see anything amiss, so he swallowed his morning gift of fruit, closed his locker, and went to class.
He took his seat and Mist made a point to glare at him as she made her way into class, bumping into somepony on the way. “Uh! Get out of my way,” she ordered the green coated colt.
“Miss Mist,” Miss Caramel stood from her desk and stomped a hind hoof. “You do not speak to others that way. Go to your desk quietly,” she snapped her wing open and pointed to the filly’s desk. “Come here, dear. Once the class begins-” the rest of her conversation with the new colt was hushed between them, but ended with her nodding knowingly and him nodding sullenly.
Kiwe’s attention was on them until he heard his name whispered and looked at Mist who stuck her tongue out at him. Kiwe rolled his eyes with a shake of his head and placed his hooves on his desk, concentrating as his pencil rose in front of him and stayed in place in a golden light.
Miss Caramel called the class to attention. “Alright, class. Settle in, we have a new student today and he’s lucky because school’s only been in for a couple weeks since Hearth’s Warming so he should have little to catch up on. Go ahead and introduce yourself,” she gestured for him to begin.
“Uh, uhm, hi? I’m, uh…” he paused a second too long.
“He doesn’t even know his name!” a colt shouted from the back and the class erupted into giggles and laughs. The new colt blushed, curled his tail around his leg, and hung his head.
“Class, stop that at once. He’s nervous and you’re not helping him feel very welcome, acting this way. Now,” she looked at the colt and draped a wing over his back, “can you continue, or shall I?”
“Uh-I can, Miss Teacher.”
“Caramel, darling, you may call me Miss Caramel,” she said gently, coaxing the colt out of himself emotionally.
“M-my name is Jadeite Quartz, and I’m a crystal pony from the crystal empire… to the north,” he pointed a forehoof out the window and the class looked silently. “I’m here cuz-”
The class seemed to explode with questions at that moment.
“You’re from the Frozen North?!”
“Wow!” “I wanna go there.” “Where’s the Frozen North?”
“That’s so cool!” “Do you have a brother?”
“Can you turn all see through?!” “What’s it like there?” “It’s north, dummy.”
“How long did it take to get to here from there?” “Do you have any pets?”
“Class, class!” Miss Caramel opened her wings and held them straight up displaying her feathers beautifully and silencing the class.
“And then I said, ‘Hay fries? Are you crazy?’” A white pegasus filly finished as the class fell silent.
“That’s better,” she relaxed and looked at Jade, “it seems you’re popular already,” she said softly. “Class, this is Jade. He’ll be sitting in the open seat by Kiwe, so be kind to him, okay?”
There were scattered agreements as every eye was on the new colt. “Uh, where’s my seat?” Jade asked softly.
“By Kiwi, the zony!”
“Mist Spray?! I am growing tired of your attitude young mare. One more outburst or insult and you’ll be in the corner.”
Mist sighed and pointed a hoof at Kiwe, staying silent as Jade made his way to the open desk.
“Four open desks and he has to sit by the zebra,” a voice whispered quiet enough so the teacher didn’t hear. Kiwe watched the colt take his seat and look at the foals around him, his eyes meeting Kiwe’s then looking at his own desk.
“Class, eyes up front. We’re starting today with geology, focusing on shales, sediments, and minerals…”
…
“Class, recess! I’ll see you in thirty minutes after the bell,” Miss Caramel shouted over the sounds of desks, chairs, and foals moving in a rush. Kiwe waited and watched Jade as the green colt nervously watched the others scramble out until only the teacher and they remained.
Kiwe stood awkwardly by his desk and spoke softly. “Hello, I’m Kiwe. I can show you where the play yard is, if you want.” Jade looked up pensively, nodded, then slid to the floor and followed Kiwe out of the room and into the hall. “School is not so bad, right?”
Jade shrugged as he walked in silence.
“Do you like to play tetherball? Four square? Wallball?”
Jade’s ears perked and he looked at Kiwe. “What’s wallball?”
“Very fun, you take a bouncy ball and using your hooves, you bounce it to a wall and the other player has to do the same. No two bounces, no two turns. If you touch it and it goes astray your opponent gains a point and if the ball bounces more than once on the ground before it touches the wall or you get to it then your opponent gets a point. A game my mother taught me and I have taught several others, it is good for hoof eye coordination.”
“Well, I could try it, I guess. Um, so, where are you from? Your accent is really different,” Jade asked, glancing between the path he and Kiwe were taking.
“I am from Equestria, mother and father were moving when I came into the world, they were surprised to find I was not a girl. From Marethon to Manehattan in a single week, they arrived here with a baby and a home to seek. They found a nice place to raise me well, and that’s my story in a nutshell.”
Kiwe blinked and looked back at Jade, who’d stopped a pace ago, then quickly moved to catch up with a grin. “That was really neat, how’d you rhyme like that? I’ve never heard anything like it and can you teach me? Where do you live? Can I go there after school because I like music and maybe you can show me something cool!”
Kiwe’s smile grew into a grin as they reached the doors to the recess yard. “Y-yes, I would like that very much. I will ask my mother and tomorrow be in touch.”
Jade chuckled. “You did it again, do you rhyme a lot? Why do you rhyme at all? Is it hard to do it so often? Do you practice to get so good?”
They stepped out into the sunlight and sounds of the young playing a dozen different games, holding more than that many conversations. “My mother is a zebra and my father a pony, together they made me and I am a zony,” they snickered, “my mother rhymes and I leaned as well, it is not a skill I can use very well.”
“I beg to disagree,” Jade bumped his shoulder into Kiwe’s and the brown colt stumbled from the surprising strength Jade had, “that was impressive and neat. I think you could-”
A particular whiny voice chimed in.“Could what? All he’s good for is nothing.”
Kiwe stumbled over his forehooves at the comment and glared at Mist. “Go away, leave me alone, there will be a day you shall atone.”
Mist was in possession on a soccer ball and placed a forehoof on it.“Hey, did you know if you throw something at Kiwe, he blocks it,” she bent her leg back and hit the ball, hard, sending it sailing toward Kiwe, who took the strike to his face and stumbled aside into Jade, knocking them both over.
A surprised voice echoed over the fun. “Miss Mist?! What are you doing?” the supervising teacher shouted as he galloped through the playground and across the small field to the colts as they got up.
Mist looked puzzled and upset. “Why didn’t you block it, you numbskull?!”
The stallion held Kiwe’s chin in his hoof and looked at the damage the strike had done. “Oh no, you have a bloody nose, Kiwe. Can you go to the nurses station?”
Kiwe sniffled and whimpered but nodded and hurriedly moved back into the building. Jade glared at the filly and turned to follow as Mist was loudly scolded about safety by the adult.
“Kiwe, are you okay? That looked like it hurt, I have a cloth for your nose. It’s back in the classroom but-”
“No, no, I’m okay. The teacher had the final say. Jade, you should be playing, not following me to the boring nurse.”
“But, you’re my friend and I wanna make sure you’re okay.”
The quiet sound of hooves on marble slowed and Kiwe looked at Jade with a mixture of emotions inside himself and some managed to show in his expression, mostly confusion and hope. “Friend? Me, and you? Friends?”
“Um, well I thought so. Unless you don’t wanna be,” the green colt stopped and scuffed a forehoof on the floor.
Kiwe stopped and turned to face him. “No, I mean yes. Um, I’d like to be your friend, a lot. I haven’t had a friend here yet,” he scuffed the floor as well.
“Really? But, you’re so different, and that’s like, pretty cool, cuz you’re cool.”
Kiwe smiled honestly. “That’s the first time anypony’s said that about me, in a good way. Sure, we can be friends. Tomorrow we can spend time together after school, but I must speak with my mother and let her know of my plans, perhaps I will go to your apartment. Would that be okay, do you think?”
Jade thought it over, dragging the seconds out, hiding his smile before looking at the colt beside him. “I’m certain it is, there’s no way my parent’s will say no to a new friend for me.”
They shared a hoof bump in agreement and talked quietly into the nurses station where a tired and nasally voiced stallion looked him over. “Mister Kiwi, take a seat.”
“Kiwe.”
“Bloody nose? Here’s a cotton ball to hold against it, wait for a minute and let me know how the bleeding feels.”
The nurse walked through a door and left the colts alone. “Wow, he’s really bad at his job, and why’d he call you Kiwi?”
“I’unno. Ee’s inda layth-ee buht meenth woll.”
“Kiwe, take that off, you should know it doesn’t help,” Jade offered and the zony complied. “I’ll get some medicine from the drawer and we’ll be back to class in no time.”
“Recess,” Kiwe happily corrected.
“Sure, sure. Hey, what’s that filly’s problem?”
“Mist?” Kiwe inquired and dabbed his nose with the cotton. “She’s just mean by nature, but I don’t let her bother me because I don’t need her in my life until she is ready to be my friend as well.”
“That’s a very different way to think about it,” Jade said questioningly.
“Mother says that everyone is kind, they just don’t know it yet.”
“Everyone? That’s a weird thing to say.”
Kiwe chuckled and dabbed his nose again to see the cotton was saturated, so he set it aside on the chair he was on and sniffled. “There are more in the world than ponies, and one should not call a gryphon a pony any more than a diamond dog can call a pony mule. I asked my mother the same thing, that’s what she taught me.”
“Your mom’s kinda like a teacher, then?”
Kiwe smiled and opened his mouth, then hesitated and stopped smiling. “I do not know, it has never happened that I’ve had to know,” he shrugged.
“Oh, well, my mother is a cook somewhere.”
Kiwe’s ears perked and he sat taller. “A cook? A real one?” he smiled. “Can I see where she works?”
“Uhm, it’s not up to me. You’ll have to ask her,” Jade responded rubbing his foreleg with the other. “But she’ll probably be okay with that. Where’s the nurse, shouldn’t he be back by now?”
Kiwe’s smile turned to a grin. “Nah, he’s already probably in the lunchroom. He really doesn’t like this because he’s actually the lunch lady.” They shared a snicker and Kiwe slipped from the seat. “It was nice talking with you while my nose healed, though. Let’s go and have recess now, I’ll show you wall ball and how to really play. Just know that it is much harder than it sounds.”
“Mother, father! I made a friend at school,” Kiwe scampered in the apartment and dropped his bags as he closed the door with a slight buck. He made his way into the living room where his parents were looking at each other and Kiwe could sense the tension in the room. His parents’ attention included him, softening the aire in the room.
“Our son, your father has news he wished he had discussed with us sooner, take a seat so we may listen as a family about his decision.”
Kiwe looked at his father and felt the embarrassment, shame, and sorrow coming from him.
“Kiwe, listen to your mother and take a seat. I have something to tell you.”
Kiwe gulped and slowly walked closer and took a seat, cautiously curling his tail around himself. “Y-yes, father?”
Crunch flinched at the term and looked to his wife, who gestured from him to Kiwe. “Kiwe, you see, I have a new job offer and I took it. It was supposed to be a surprise, but , well, you see I’m moving to Whinneyapolis for a month to do training before I actually get the job.”
Kiwe’s heart fell and his enthusiasm vansihed. “F-father, you’re leaving us?”
“No, no! I’m just-”
Kiwe’s eyes watered as the pain of losing his father crushed his spirit and he hopped to his hooves and ran from the room to his own. Through his restrained sobs he heard his mother scolding his father as he hid his head under his pillow. A moment later he felt his futon shift and a body lay next to him, then began gently petting his mane.
The petting continued until he’s calmed and pulled his head from the safety of darkness. He looked at his mother and glanced to the door to see his father’s compassionate expression, then back to his mother.
“Now, now, do not fret. Our family is not over, this is merely a challenge we must all overcome so that in the end, the day will be won. Your father loves you still, just as always I will. He will leave for but a few days, and in his stead you should grow in many ways. He will grow as well, perhaps you’ll both come out of your shells,” she looked to her husband and nodded him over to her.
“Ah, son, I know I should have spoken with you and your mother about this before now, but it seemed like such a great surprise that I’d thought you’d be happy,” he hung his head as he sat beside the futon, “I forgot you weren’t ponies and see things differently than we do.”
Nangila placed a hoof on his shoulder. “Our people may differ, but it is not something that should weigh on your withers. I raised our son and taught him my people’s ways, I should have spent more time teaching him of where he stays,” she looked at Kiwe, “but he is learning his pony side, a side he cannot hide.
“If you heard when he came home, a friend he has made we were to be told. Our son, what do you know of father’s in zebra culture?”
He sniffled and rolled to his side, looking up at her. “That fathers leave the herd to begin new families and may never see their foals grow up,” he exhaled a shaky breath as tears dripped from his matted cheeks.
Crunch moved swiftly to Kiwe’s other side. “Oh, my son. My young stallion, I’ll never leave to start a new family. This is the only family I need, honestly. I’ll write every day and even send pictures and you can visit me in my hotel anytime your mother and you have time. It’s a half day train-ride, but if you leave late at night you can make it just in time for breakfast, right?”
Kiwe nodded and wiped the tears from his face. “S-so, y-you’re not leaving us, father?”
“That’s not the pony way, and even zebra’s don’t all do that, do they?”
Nangila chuckled. “That is true, if all fathers left the herd there would be fewer tales to tell of great stallions keeping their families well with many a word.”
Kiwe sniffled again and looked to his father. “Y-you’ll come back? We’ll see you?” His father nodded between each question and Kiwe relaxed slightly, letting a smile creep onto his face. “I love you, father. I don’t want you to leave us.”
Both his parents cooed at him and lay down, pressing him between them and smothering him with love and nuzzles. Kiwe’s frustration evaporated and he nuzzled into his parents’ affections with a hum and sigh. “Kiwe, you’re my son. Nangila, you’re my wife. I wouldn’t leave you both for anything short of death itself, and even then I’ll buck to my last.”
Nangila chuckled and kissed her husband on the cheek. “If it came to that, I would stand by your side to fight off the reaper of souls on the hottest of coals in the shallowest of shoals.”
Kiwe giggled. “You’re still rhyming mother.”
She nuzzled his nose a bit harder than usual. “I am trying to stop, and you know that well,” she hesitated and blinked twice, “so there.” They shared a family laugh and finally settled down. “Ah, when you came home you were quite elated, we are all listening so you may tell us, if you wish.”
Crunch perked up. “Yeah, uh, I heard something about a friend before all that unpleasantness.”
Kiwe sat up and wiggled free from his parents, sitting on his father’s back before he stopped squirming. “Well, I made a friend at school today. He’s a crystal earth pony and wants me to go to his home after school tomorrow. I have his parent’s address in my bags and I gave him our home address in exchange.
“Can I go play at his home after school tomorrow?!” He nuzzled his father’s ear as he asked.
“Agh, too loud,” Crunch said with a frown as he leaned away and rubbed his ear. “No need to yell into my ear, even if you are excited,” he looked to his wife, who nodded. “I see no reason you can’t go to your friend’s house,” he chuckled as Kiwe yipped and fell suddenly from his back.
“I’m okay,” Kiwe said happily as he stood between his parents, “I’ll get the address,” he hurried from his parents on his bed and out of the room.
He heard his mother tell his father, ‘We’ll speak more of this later,’ but it didn’t slow him. His parents left his room and when he got the paper he gave it to them in the living room. “Here, mother. His name is Jadeite but I call him Jade and his mother’s name is Sparkling Water and his father’s name is Glimmering Shine and they live in the eastern districts and he’s my age and he’s been here for a week because his parents moved here for work and they both work in administration and that means,” he inhaled a deep breath and continued rambling about his new friend as his parents nodded and did their best to listen intently.