//------------------------------// // Ch. 7, Pt. 1: Mommy Visits and Friendship troubles. // Story: Noctis Ascending // by LEN NARD //------------------------------// Sunday, a few minutes after the tour of Noctis’s lab... Despite her initial statement of going home, Prism found herself sitting under the shade of a tree; the same one where the events that changed everything for her took place. Next to her was Cadance, the pegasus kind of just mindlessly followed her there without question. The blue filly looked around her surroundings. Birds could be heard chirping away to the sound leaves rustling in the gentle morning breeze. It was such a lovely day, bright and cheerful... quite the opposite of what she was feeling right now. She sighed. Her mom told her about emotional rollercoasters before; how it was just the worst! Ups and downs, zigs and zags, twists and turns. it’s an awful, awful ride to be in, and Prism was starting to believe she was on a front row sit at the beginning of one. She felt so high last night at the sleepover. Wanting to feel her crush’s touch again gave her a motivational boost that inspired her to fight harder, but being in that basement reminded her that who she was dealing with wasn’t just a normal colt, pulling her harshly back down to reality. Colts her age was still running around snot nosed with reckless abandon, but she remembered now that Nocturnal Solstice was different. He was a six year old that’s already making his own money, a genius who scored a hundred in the school placement test, have a real life lab with real life inventions and an earth pony who somehow figured out a way to use magic. Prism groaned inside. Her mom warned her about colts before, telling her that they are nothing but trouble, this was what she gets for not listening; liking a colt was exhausting! Crushes are so complicated! No wonder her mom doesn’t go on dates with stallions anymore. What to do now? Should she just give up? Should she keep trying? How could she impress somepony like him? She never felt so... standard, so ordinary, than she did when she emerged from that house. That tour made her realize how out of league she truly was. What could she do though? It’s pretty obvious at this point that the colt doesn’t care about looks. Stellar was probably the prettiest filly in the village, and even she could only hardly make him blush. Aside from Cadance, she couldn’t think of any filly else who could compete. She had been on the lookout for competition in their school and no one could pose a threat to her reign yet. It seems that her only hope was getting her cutie mark, which is going to be difficult since she doesn’t really know what else she’s good at. She’s good at using makeup and looking pretty, but since she didn’t get a beauty cutie mark on that, her destiny probably lies somewhere else. Ugh, I’m gonna have to search for my talent, aren’t I? She wasn’t looking forward to that. She heard those could get messy, and she doesn’t like getting messy. She shuddered to think how much dirt she’s going to have to clean from her mane. Though, it seems that she doesn’t have to think about it any further as Cadance chose that moment to finally break the silence. /-/ “So, the lab sure was something huh?” Cadance opened up carefully, a bit nervous. Her friend has been quiet ever since they walked out of her house. The blue filly said she was going home and hasn’t spoken a word since. It’s honestly kind of unnerving, the last time the blue filly acted like this was when she asked her about her dad. With every second that passed in silence, the more her worry built up, and it only gotten worse when the pink haired filly just walked passed her home. It took Prism a few seconds before answering. “Yeah... I guess.” She said in a sullen tone. Silence fell between them once more and once again, Cadance had to break it. “Noctis can use magic. That’s... cool, i guess. Sure didn’t see it coming...” Prism only nodded mutely, the blue filly’s mood seems to be getting worse. She probably doesn’t want to talk about it yet. Cadance mused. Understandable, she could feel her head hurt too just thinking about it. She should change the subject, then. Maybe that would get the blue filly talking again. “So, um, what do you wanna’ do today?” She prodded, hoping the filly would reply. When she didn’t, the pegasus went on. “Do you want to play tag, or hide and seek? Maybe go someplace else? I think the ice cream stallion is in the park today and-“ “Cadance...” Prism suddenly spoke, causing the pegasus to stiffen. Cadance gulped. “Uh, yes?” “I think, I’ll just go home for today.” Prism continued, her voice quiet and distant. “Oh! Hanging out at your house,” Cadance perked up. “That’s okay too, I guess-“ “Alone.” Prism added as the pink one moved to stand, interrupting the pegasus once again. Cadance froze. “W-What?” She stuttered in shock, feeling a bit hurt. “Prism?” The blue one looked away, heaving a sigh, she spoke. “I just... want to be alone right now.” Prism Show stood up. With a weak good bye, she started walking to the direction of her house. Leaving behind a stunned and heartbroken pegasus. /-/ Prism swiftly moved, wanting to get away as quickly as she could. Another moment under that tree, and she could have snapped. Every word that comes out of the pegasus’ mouth just seems to grate at her nerves. She took a deep breath, calming her irate self. It’s not her fault... Yes, Cadance did nothing wrong, she was just trying to make conversation. Probably to end the awkward tension that fell between them. It was very sweet of her, really, she gets it, but the pink filly just kept picking the wrong things to say. She just had to bring up her brother, doesn’t she. Prism sighed. It was just bad luck, really. She didn’t want to think about the colt at the time, and Cadance doesn’t know that. She continued pressing the wrong buttons and her temper started to flare up. It was the last comment that finally did it in. Bringing up the lab and the magic, and then asking her if she wants to do ironically mundane things, it was like some runabout way of pointing out how amazing her brother was and then reminding her uninteresting she was in comparison. at that point she just had to leave or else, she might have shouted at the poor innocent filly. Though, by the tragic look on Cadance’s face, she might as well have. By Celestia, she looked so hurt! She probably thought she hates her now. Prism breathed, she’ll just have to make it up to her later, but right now, she desperately needed to cool off. Relief washed over her as she finally made it to her house. With a twist of the handle, she entered, ready to take the longest bubble bath her nanny would allow, only to be greeted with a very excited mare. ”Yay! My baby’s back!” the jovial mare exclaimed, arms spread. “Now, give mama a hug!” Prism remained in place, hoof still at the door. “Mom! You’re... here.” Prism stated, genuinely surprised. The mare furrowed her brow. “you don’t sound happy to see me.” She pouted. “didn’t you miss mommy?” her lips trembled and her eyes started to tear up. She’s trying to guilt trip her into taking the hug, Prism realized and sadly, it worked. It always does. She approached her mother, deflated. Resigned, she braced herself for what’s coming next. She wasn’t even a meter away when she lost the ability to breathe air. “Mom, You’re crushing me!” Prism choked, tapping her mother’s back repeatedly like a wrestler signaling a yield. Let me explain. The mare currently bear hugging the blue filly was named Dainty Sips. She has chocolate brown mane tied in simple pigtails with straight bangs, turquoise coat and sporting a pair of thick rimmed glasses. Her cutie mark was hidden as she was wearing a pink shirt with denim overalls. She’s also actually a unicorn mare disguised as an earth pony and was referred to at work by a completely different name, but that’s a story for another time. A few seconds later, the mother finally let up and Prism greedily breathed in as much air as she could, like a diver breaching water. “Do you really have to squeeze me like that every single time?” Prism questioned irritably, giving her mother an accusatory look. She always does this. ALWAYS! She gets that the mare missed her dearly, but there has to be a better, less suffocating, way of releasing all her pent up love and affection. The longer she’s away, the stronger she becomes. It was like she store all of her love inside a bottle to unleash later in one big burst! Taking deeply one final breath, the filly’s expression soften. Now that the hard part was out of the way, it was now her turn to give her affection. She enveloped her mom in a gentler hug. “I missed you mom. Welcome back.” She greeted with a sigh, showing her mother how it’s done. The mare didn’t learn, for not even a second later, she reciprocated the hug. “Hngh!” it seems that the mare still some juice left in her. “Me too, baby.” the mare sniffed. “I missed you too, it’s been too long!” A month, that’s how long she’s been gone for work and sadly, that wasn’t even the longest time she had been away, but she had missed her darling filly’s first day of school and she just couldn’t forgive herself for that! Prism, smart filly, understood the necessity of it, that it was an unfortunate reality of being a single mother. The irony wasn’t lost on her, she chuckled bitterly inside. To keep your child, you must leave her behind. Her job was the only thing that’s preventing that bastard of a stallion from getting custody over their child. He was dead to her, and hopefully, Prism never has to meet that pathetic excuse for a pony. The filly must have sensed her turmoil as she looked up to her with concerned eyes. “Mom? Are you alright?” Prism inquired at her mother. Dainty wiped at her eyes. “It’s okay, honey. I’m fine.” She assured. “It’s just getting harder and harder to leave you behind. First grade! Can you believe it? My baby’s in elementary now! It feels like only yesterday I’m trying to convince you to eat your mushed carrots!” fresh wave of tears started pouring out, both hooves covering her mouth. “ooh, you’re growing up so fast! Next thing you know, you’re already having your first crush and battling your first romantic rival!” Prism stiffened, not expecting her mother to go there. “L-Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” She chuckled nervously. “I don’t even have my cutie mark yet.” The mare’s eyes narrowed with concern. The last statement seems to have made the filly visibly deflate, as if she was just reminded of something she didn’t want to and made herself sad. “Prism, is something wrong?” the mother asked, running a hoof comfortingly on the filly’s head. “I’m fine mom, really.” The pink haired filly assured, but the strained smile on her face wasn’t very convincing. “I’m just... tired, I guess. I was kind of in a sleep over last night.” She finished weakly, hoping the mare would buy her fib. The mare hummed. “Oh, right. Nanny did say something about that. If my own experience with slumber parties were any indication, there probably wasn’t a lot of sleeping involved, huh?” she smirked at her daughter, knowingly. Prism exhaled, finally relaxed, though looking around, she now just realized the absence of the other mare of the house. “Speaking of nanny. Where is she, anyway?” “I gave her the day off.” The mare explained casually. “YOU WHAT!” Prism shrieked in horror. “Please tell me you’re not making lunch.” The mare huffed indignantly. “Hey, I’m not that bad, I know how to cook!” “Yes, you are and no, you don’t.” Prism didn’t even bother lying to spare her mother’s feelings. It’s all in the sake of self-preservation! She still needs to bring her crush lunch tomorrow, and she can’t do that if she’s in a hospital recovering from food poisoning. “Last time you tried, Nanny was in pain for an entire week after eating your salad!” A pout formed on the mother’s face. “I just overcooked it a little...” She looked away, pink colored her cheeks. “You weren't supposed to cook the salad!” Prism scolded the culinarily inept mare she calls her mother. An exasperated sigh escaped the Prism’s lungs. Honestly, if the mare and the filly ever compete with each other in a cooking contest, the six year old would probably end up winning. Dainty Sips groaned. ”Fine, we’ll just eat out.” the mare relented. “Unless you want to rest first that is, then I’ll just head out on my own and bring back some take out.” She proposed. Prism thought about it for a moment. “No, it’s fine. We can eat out together.” She finally decided. She wanted a distraction anyway, maybe a day with mom was all she needed. “Maybe we could even do something fun together afterwards!” she suggested. The mare beamed at the idea. “Yeah, I’d like that.” Cadance remained under the tree minutes after the other filly had left, her gaze lingered at the spot where her friend had disappeared to. Her mind was hard at work trying to process just what the heck happened. How did this happen? Was it something she did? Something she said? Was it a recent thing or was it something that’s been developing for years that she’s just too dumb to notice? A chorus of chirps sounded somewhere and the pegasus was snapped out of her thoughts. A cold feeling crept up from the depths of her heart as it finally dawned on her just how alone she was sitting there. She quickly moved with an almost desperate speed towards the populated street and sighed with relief as the feeling began to slowly dissipate. It seems that her monophobia hasn’t fully disappeared yet, the incident at the tree probably triggered a relapse. Then a thought occurred to her. Did her phobia even gotten better in the first place? She’s always on her own when studying couples because she technically wasn’t allowed to learn about that kind of stuff yet, but she wasn’t truly alone those times, was she? Other ponies were there, of course duh, she was observing them. Come to think of it, she hasn’t been alone by herself until today. Sigh, just another thing to add in her growing list of problems. She can’t make other friends because she’s a pegasus and her brother was apparently a scary weirdo inventor wizard gangster scientist in the eyes of the public; she have strange and inappropriate feelings for said brother; her only friend probably doesn’t want to see her anymore; and now, she finds out her crippling fear of being alone wasn’t cured at all! What next? Scientists discovering that sugar is bad for you!? Great! Just great! Everything’s fine! Just freaking, flipping PEACHY! “Cadance?” A voice asked from behind. The pegasus turned and was met with Stellar Bell’s concerned eyes. “Are you okay? You look sad.” Cadance just stared at the redhead for a few seconds before her eyes blurred, a few hicks escaped her throat and her body started trembling. “Oh no, You’re crying!” Stellar’s eyes widened. “tell me, are you hurt? What happened? What’s wrong?” I felt happy, that’s what’s wrong! Cadance thought. She couldn’t believe she could feel this happy to see the white filly. After losing Prism, she thought that she’s going to be friendless again, but after seeing the redhead, she was reminded that she does have at least one friend still. Even though that friend was Stellar, the thought of still being able to call somepony a friend was immensely comforting. “Prism, she... she.” Cadance began in between hiccups. “She... SHE BROKE UP WITH ME!” She managed to finish. Letting out a pathetic wail, she began sobbing in full on the white filly’s shoulder. “Huh, I didn’t even know you were together.” Stellar said in an insinuating tone, trying to fluster the pegasus out of being miserable. “NOT ANYMORE! UWAAAA!” The pink filly only cried harder right there in the middle of the street. Whelp, that terribly backfired... Stellar deadpanned to herself. She looked around for anything that might help only to realize they were receiving odd looks from a lot of ponies. Right, they were probably making a spectacle of themselves. “It’s alright everypony, i got this. Just go back to whatever you were doing. Go now, shoo! Nothing to see here.” She wave her hoof dismissively at their audience and thankfully, the crowd dispersed quickly and without much difficulty. Stellar returned her attention towards the crying filly. “We should probably go somewhere little more private, does that sound okay to you?” Cadance only nodded and allowed the red maned filly to escort her someplace else. Stellar sighed, thankful that the pink pegasus wasn’t being difficult, though, she couldn’t help but feel a little annoyed. When the ‘Cadance Alarm’ suddenly started blaring off, she thought the worst has happened. She was glad that it was just a silly little friendship problem, but still! She just started peeking at Noctis’ magic when the alarm was triggered. It doesn’t matter anymore, she’s here now and Cadance needs her help. Better to just get it over with; the faster they solve this, the faster she could go back to playing around with potentially volatile magic. Now, wouldn’t that be fun...