The moon shined brightly up in the sky, noon had arrived. A small filly princess had just finished training and had the rest of the day to do whatever she wanted, as long as she was back before moon down and dinner. Today, however, the night was bright and perfect. There wasn't much wind, it was nice and cool, and the courtyard was perfect for getting stuck in a bush again. This little filly, however, had different plans than getting stuck in a bush because she thought it would be a good hiding spot from her older cousin.
"Feathers~!!" Bite Size squeed as she ran into her room.
The raven cooed as she saw her owner run into the room and unlatch the lock to her cage. The door flung open and she hopped out and onto Bite's head. She ruffled and fluffed up, then moved down and sat on her back. Bite gigged and nuzzled the large bird, who cooed happily in response, rubbing her cheek against her owners. Bite smiled and trotted back out of her room, her destination in mind, the Court Yard.
She trotted along the decorated and smooth, dark crystal halls of the castle, humming a little tune as she did so. Feathers chimed in with a caw or two in response to certain parts, always earning a little giggle from the filly. She pasted by guards, giving them a little wave. She passed by the kitchen and stopped for a moment. She knew that she wasn't allowed in there just after having lunch, more so with the large raven on her back. But, she only smiled and trotted on in, knowing that Feathers would be well behaved and that she might be able to sneak out a treat for both of them. She licked her lips, thinking about the delicious pie that the head chief, Lemon Zap. She barely managed to get halfway into the kitchen before she was called out by the mare.
"Bite Size, dear, what are you doing here after lunch?" The mare asked as she set down a freshly baked loaf of bread. Her eyebrows raised a bit as she looked at the princess filly. Bite stopped and looked up at her, looks like being sneaky with a raven on your back wasn't easy, more so in a very white kitchen.
"Well?" She asked again, this time looking away as she handled another loaf of bread.
"Well... umm.." Bite tried to come up with a good lie on why she was in here, other than she was looking for a certain pie.
"If you're in here to get a certain cherry pie, little missy, then I guess you'd have to reload a checkpoint and try again~." The mare teased.
"Awww!" Bite huffed and looked down.
"And you know the rule about having Feathers in here. I know she is a good bird, but she can still cause issues!" The mare scorned.
"Hm..." The filly looked back up, then walked over to the chef, "Can I pwease have some pie?"
"Hmhmhm~," The chef smiled, knowing the game they were about to play, "Alright, what is it you are going to promise me?"
The filly smiled, she knew this would work, "If you give me two small slices of the pie, I won't bring Feathers in here anymore~!"
The older mare thought it over, then shook her head, "You aren't supposed to bring her in here in the first place~."
"Aaaaaand~" The filly smiled, "I'll tell you whenever Auntie Night Blossom is going to raid the fridge~!"
"Selling out your auntie, huh~?" She mused, "May I ask why~?"
"She is getting chubby!" Bite giggled. This earned a soft giggle from the chef, who thought it over.
"Alright, alright~." She smiled, "Two slices of pie for that is a good deal for me and you."
Bite smiled with joy as Lemon walked over to one of the bigger fridges that held the pastries. She pulled out a nice, large cherry pie and a knife along with it. She cut out two, nice pieces and put them on a plate, then handed them over to her little co-conspirator. Bite took them both, putting one on her back and carried the other in her mouth. Feathers right then and there wanted to dig in, but Bite told her to wait until they were outside. With pie in hoof, a plot to catch her slightly chubby aunt in the act of raiding the fridge, and a happy raven on her back, she continued her quest to go outside and explore.
Walking along with pie in mouth and on her back, she finally got to the door that leads to the courtyard. She opened up the door and walked outside, kicking the door closed once she stood on the steps to the beautiful courtyard. The flowers were in bloom, the trees were full of leaves. The raven, who sat silently on her back, started cooeing, then crowing. She unfurled her large, feathery wings and flew to a nearby tree, perching herself on it and looking down at her owner. Bite Size giggled and walked over to the tree. She laid down at the trunk and began to eat the slice of pie she was given all while Feathers ate her own slice. They both loved the taste of the fresh, albeit cold pie, enjoying each bite they took of it. The first to finish and also the messiest was Feathers, whose feathers now contained a slight reddish tint that faintly smelled of cherry. Bite Size finished last, licking her lips to get the small amount of pie that remained. She looked back up at the tree to her beautiful, and now slightly red, raven.
Bite unfurled her own wings and flew up to sit next to her little bird buddy, and to get a birds-eye view of the nearby area in the courtyard. Who knew what adventures awaited them both? Maybe a stroll through the maze, finding the coolest looking spider in the weaver yards? Sneakily taking a mango or two from the tree? So many possibilities for them to choose, but that had to choose one. So, for confirmation, Bite looked at Feathers and asked, "What do you think we should do?"
Feathers merely cawed and looked at the maze. Bite followed the gaze of the bird and smiled. She looked back at Feathers, unfurled her wings, then said, "The last one to get there is a rotten egg~!"
Just like that, she took flight, her wings flapping and gliding through the wind. Behind her, Feathers followed suit, trying to catch up and pass her. Yet, even if the bird was almost the same size as the young filly, the young filly had an advantage, her gliding was a lot smoother and was a lot easier to manage without the worry of ruffled feathers getting in the way. She landed at the entrance, one wing still extended. Feathers soon landed on the wing and hopped onto Bite's back.
"Ready?" Bite asked, looking back at the bird.
"Caw!" was the reply she got.
In they went, the tall walls of leaves and vines blocking the view of the entirety of the maze, only allowing for the singular path for them to follow. Bite's hooves stepped against the soft grass as she navigated through the maze. She knew exactly which paths to take to get out of here, to reach the end. Yet, she didn't wish for that. She wished to find something of the past. Something her father left behind when he first explored the maze. She was on a mission to collect them and make the best Father's Day present she could with them, even if Father's Day was a long time coming. That just gave her more time on what to actually do if she finds them. So the adventure was mostly two-sided, on one hoof, she wished to explore the maze to its fullest, leaving not one turn unfounded, but also to find the rods that her father used to mark a way back to the entrance. She remembers that he told her he never fully collected all of the rods, opting to leave some there just in case they are needed. In some way, they were, so some were missing. That didn't dampen her spirit though, not until she gets stuck in the wall, but that only happened once and it was actually a shiny bug.
Her eyes scanned the walls, looking for anything shiny and white. So far, her search has yielded no results, maybe they looked different after 6 years of being in a maze? She didn't know if they could or couldn't rust, they were magic, but she didn't really know the... what did her aunt call it... elements it is made out of, least she thinks that is what it is. She pondered this, absentmindedly walking right past one.
"CAW!!" Feathers cawed loudly, snapping the young filly out of her thoughts. She looked up at the raven, her head tilted a bit.
"What is it, Feathers?" She asked, to which the bird looked at the rod and cooed softly in response.
Bite looked over and her eyes lit up. She smiled and with a new slight pop in her step, she went over and tugged on it to pull it out of the hedge. It put up a lot more fight than normal, yet, she continued to try and pull it out. Then came the snap. She fell backward while Feathers took flight to avoid getting squished by her owner. Bite held, within her mouth a part of the now broken rod. A blue liquid flowing out of the main part, which was still stuck in the hedge. It seemed that her father had put that one in a bit too deep, or the bush grew too tightly around it and weakened it. Either way, she at least got the part that held the gem. She got back up and laid her part down onto the ground and inspected the gem, as expected, it was a blue one.. but it was losing color. She frowned and looked back up at the other part, it clicked. She sighed and gently picked it back up. Holding it in her mouth, she spread her wings and flew into the air with Feathers. She flew out of the maze and back to her room to deposit the now black gemstone. Guess this one won't be of any use in the future. Her plan to explore the maze had been slightly dampened by the broken rod, a small project she was working on that involved them was now caught one short. Before she jumped back out into the courtyard, she checked the time.
An hour or so had passed when she explored the maze, not too unusual, it seemed time would melt into the green bushes of the maze sometimes if you weren't careful. With her spirits slightly dampened, she opted to go and see if she could go and fetch a large, ripe mango or other fruit from the garden. She knew that her grandmother would go there from time to time, sometimes even watering and trimming the garden herself alongside the staff.
Bite had been caught trying to steal from the garden more than once, each time was her trying to be more crafty than the last. The only time she wasn't was when her grandmother wasn't there and a few of the senior staff members were too busy trimming, hedging, or watering other plants to be too bothered about the filly.
She sighed and hopped back out the window, gliding with Feathers next to her to the garden, right over the spider weave, which produced the amazing silk some of the higher quality dresses were made out of. She remembers one spider there, the biggest one of them all. It was really friendly to her, but mostly it minded it's own business while she tried to feed it crickets. She smiled when she landed, remembering her spider friend as she observed the garden. So far, there were only a few staff members out, tending to the plants as usual, no sign of her grandmother.
"This'll be easy~," she grinned as she snuck into the strawberry patch to get to the mango trees, which were past the strawberries and through the watermelons.
her body was low to the ground as she walked past the strawberry plants. The watermelons and mangos were just insight. She slowed and looked at the ground carefully, making sure her hooves didn't make contact with anything dry or crunchy. She was successful, but her cover would be limited when she reached the- wait, where is Feathers?
"Stupid bird!" A thick German accent came from one of the workers as they tried to shoo Feathers away.
Bite smiled a bit, a distraction! She got up and made a silent dash to the watermelons, her hooves carefully navigating them in hopes that she didn't trip over and roots or watermelons. Through the melons, she can see the mango tree, which held many mangos, as she ran, her eyes tried to spot the largest one she can grab. Just as she tilted her head to scan some more, her hoof is caught on a melon root and she trips, smacking her face into the hard soil with a rather loud and unhappy thud and slight crunch. Two of the workers heard this and came over to find that one of the princesses had tripped on a melon root, face planted, and had broken her nose.
Soon, Lunar and Prim were notified about this as their daughter was brought to the doctor. Prim held her filly close while the doctor examined her. Lunar had gone off to go and get Feathers and put her in her cage for a timeout for bothering the workers. Bite sat there, close to her mother and with a doctor using healing magic to settle her broken nose, she sniffled softly, not minding the broken nose, she had gotten them once before when playing with her cousin. She was mostly embarrassed that she was found out and had tripped over a melon root while trying to steal a mango.
"There we are," the doctor said sweetly as her magic faded from Bite's nose," It'll sting for a little bit and you'll have to breathe through your mouth from time to time, but you'll be fine dearie."
"Thank you, Dr. Heartbeat," Prim smiled softly.
"Thank you, Dr. Heartbeat," Bite copied, looking down some as she felt her mother's eyes look at her. She was in trouble.
Bite hopped off of the table and walked alongside Prim, who's once soft smile had faded into a small frown.
"Dearie," Prim started," What were you doing out in the melon patch? Why didn't you tell the staff you were there?"
Bite looked down, her cheeks now warm with a blush," I-I was... trying to get to the mangos..."
Prim sighed softly and looked at her daughter," Dearie, you know you aren't supposed to be taking the mangos from the garden unless grandma tells you you can."
"I know.. but they're just soo good!" Bite countered, frowning softly.
"I know, but you need to be a big girl, don't' steal fruits from grandma, ok?" Prim stated it was more of a command than a statement.
"Ok..." Bite looked down, her ears and wings drooping a bit.
Prim lead her daughter back to her room and laid her down on the bed to get some rest and let her nose settle. Feathers was in her cage. her mother gently kissed her forehead and told her to stay in her room until supper. A little while later, her father walked in and asked her if she was alright, with a few questions of his own. She was in trouble for her repeated offense of doing this another time. She was grounded for a day from going into the courtyard. She pouted but didn't argue. Lunar gently kissed her cheek, then headed off out of her room, letting her rest.
Today didn't go as fully planned, but, she gave a small smile. She got to spend a good amount of time with Feathers out in the courtyard, to spend time with her friend, even if it lead to her getting a broken nose.
Checkpoint Reached: Birds of a feather flock together