//------------------------------// // Reasons Why // Story: Family Frustration // by PonyPixel //------------------------------// Silverstream followed Copper down the street, as the hippogriff was awing at all of the sights. "I don't know why Professor Rarity didn't show me this," Silverstream said. "This isn't all the much," Copper said. "Oh, look, here's the park." And she was right. Out of the many browns and beiges of the city, there was a nice patch of green grass. The two walked down the park path until they found a brown and red-headed filly. "Babs." "Copper, you made it," the filly replied. "And you brought a friend." She took a good look at Silverstream. "Aren't you one of those hippogriffs?" "Yeah," Silverstream replied. "Are you Babs?" "Yeah. How's mah cousin been doing?" "Really good. She's been helping me and my friends in lessons, even in potion-making." "Nice, but what are you doing here?" "Oh, Gallus and I are on a friendship mission. We're trying to help Copper and her brother's relationship." "Uh hu, good luck with that." "It doesn't seem too hard." "It will be," Copper said. "My brother has problems with meeting new ponies, let alone different creatures." "I'm sure we'll manage." SIlver then notice the river flowing under the bridge and she had an idea. "You want to do something amazing?" "Sure," Babs answered. The hippogriff led the fillies towards the river. She left her bags on the bridge and leaped into the air. Some glowing swirls surrounded her and she landed in the water before Copper and Babs could see her. After a few seconds, Silver resurfaced, but she looked different. "What happened to your beak?" Copper asked. "I'm a seapony now." "A seapony?" "Yeah, I've heard of them," Babs said. "They use some sort of pearl to change their bodies if they want to go on land or in the water." "You want to join?" the seapony asked. "You sure you want to leave your bags unattended?" Copper asked. "This'll be real quick." The fillies looked at each other and just shrugged. They walked down the hill to walk into the water and Silverstream used her pearl necklace to turn them into seaponies. "Whoa," Babs gasped. "This is freaky." "Don't worry, you'll get used to it." She did a backstroke and went underwater with the fillies following behind. Copper flopped around and just started thinking. "How do I swim like this?" she asked. "Don't act like you have two legs. Move your tail like you're moving both legs at the same time." Copper did so and she seemed to a lot better. "That's it." "This totally beats those swan boats," Babs said as she picked up speed and passed Silverstream. "Hey, wait up." The three seaponies swam around for a while. When they got back to the bridge the noticed a gruff-looking stallion looking through Silverstream's bags. "Who is that, and what's he doing?" She quickly changed back into a hippogriff and flew towards the stallion, but he already ran off. She checked her bags and saw that the only things that were left were some bits and her saxophone. "I told you not to leave your bag alone," Babs said. "This ain't like your home or Ponyville, there are a lot of bad ponies in this city." "I forgot to tell you about that," Copper said. "It's okay," Silverstream replied. "I still have my saxophone. The teachers would be fuming if I lost this." "You mah cousins sister?" Babs asked. "Yeah. What else can we do?" "We can go the ice rink," Copper suggested. "Ooh, that sounds like fun." The hippogriff picked her bags up and followed the fillies to the rink. Meanwhile, Gold Digger and Gallus arrived at a diner. The two walked in could see there was a line of ponies wanting to order some meals. "Digger, there you are," a mare cried from behind the counter. "I'm sorry I'm late, Dish," Digger apologized, "I'll get started right away." Digger put on a hairnet and help start cooking. Gallus didn't really know what to do here, so he just sat down at one of the tables. After a little bit, the line shrank away, so he thought it would be the perfect time to talk to Digger some more. "Yo, Digs," Gallus said trying to grab the unicorn's attention. "If you hadn't noticed, I'm busy." He placed some cooked veggies on a hayburger and placed a bun on them. "Table twenty-three." A pony came to pick up their meal as Gallus noticed a mare washing the dishes. "Hey, could I come back there?" "If you put this hair and gloves on, sure," the mare replied. She used her magic to levitate the net and gloves to the griffon and placed them on. "Okay, these are not made for ponies, not griffons." Gallus decided to stay aborn, but this proved to be a mistake as the wind from his wings blew some stuff around the kitchen. "Quit it!" Digger ordered. "Goldie," the mare said. The mare was a unicorn that had white fur with a silver mane and tail tied into a bun and dish for a cutie mark. "I'm really sorry about him, he can get cranky." "I noticed," Gallus said. "Name's Gallus." "I'm Crystal Dish and to my diner." "It looks nice." "Why did let him back here?" Digger asked. "Because I saw you drag him in here with you," Dish replied as placed some silverware into the drawers. "How do you put up with him?" the griffon asked. "He's a nice guy when you get to know him." "Yeah, I tried to get some more information from him, but he refused to talk to me. Look, this may sound crazy, but my friend and I are here to help G.D. over there with the relationship with his sister." "By who?" "If I told you, you wouldn't believe me. Anyways, how long has he worked here?" "About two years. He's a pretty good cook." "Table six," Digger said placing a plate of grilled cheese on the counter which a waitress pegasus flew up to. "Hey, Rose, how's your coltfriend?" "He's doing great," the pegasus replied picking up the plate. "His wings are still bandaged but he can walk now." "Great." The waitress flew off as Digger started cooking the next order. "See?" Dish said. "I wish I treated me like that and gave me a straight answer," Gallus complained. "Look, have you tried..." "I already tried figuring out what his interests are like. The only problem, he won't talk to me. Couldn't you get him to?" The mare sighed. "I'll try." She turned around for a second before looking back at Gallus. "Anything you want to order?" "I'll just take grilled cheese." With that, Gallus gave the gloves and hairnet back and flew back to his table. "Maybe I should go and check on Silver." The hippogriff was having a blast with Copper. Babs was fine with sitting on the bench watching the remains of Silverstream's stuff as the other two skated around the rink. "So, your brother's a chef?" the hippogriff asked. "Yeah," the filly replied. "I love the soup he makes." "What does he like?" "Well, usually he liked to go to the theatre with me, but he's too busy with his job. I want him to spend time with me." "I see why he try and spend time with you. This rink is so much fun." "Yeah, it was also one of his favorites." Copper stopped as her ears drooped. "...Hey, don't act like that. Who knows, maybe he'll have a day off." "He only gets one a week." "But weekends. Maybe we can talk to his boss or something?" "Do you not know how jobs work?" Babs asked. "Not exactly." "But I haven't talked to his boss," Copper said. "Still, I think that you should..." Babs couldn't finish as Silverstream and Copper removed their ice skates after getting out of the rink. "Are you two listening to me." "Babs, I just want to spend time with my brother again." "Yeah, who wouldn't want to help with that?" Silverstream asked. "I would want to spend more time with my brother any time I had the chance." "Yeah, but your brother's different from her brother," Babs said. "And I'm not talking about species, I'm talking about..." "Babs, I don't want to talk about that," Copper interrupted. "About what?" the hippogriff asked confused. "Nothing important. What do you do when your brother's angry?" "Well, I try and figure out what's bothering him. What's bothering Goldie?" The filly took a moment to reply. "...Stress from work." "That doesn't seem too hard. Where does he work?" "I'll show you." Silver picked up her bags and followed Copper away from the rink. "Yo, Copper," Babs said as she followed behind, "You should really tell her." "How far is this place?" Silverstream asked. "Shouldn't be too far," Copper said as she ran down the sidewalk. The filly suddenly took a sharp right which the hippogriff didn't notice she was flying just above the street. A stallion pulling a carriage swerved to avoid her but when he did one of the carriage's wheels broke off. "Watch where you're going you stupid fluffed up eyesore!" the stallion cried. "...Sorry," Silverstream apologized. Not knowing what to do, she just flew off trying to catch up with Copper. "Wait up!" "That was a weird looking griffon," the stallion muttered checking the damages of his carriage. Back at the diner, Gallus was enjoying the grilled cheese sandwich that he ordered. "Wow, she's right," he said, "Digger's a good cook." As he enjoyed his sandwich he could the gold and white unicorns walking towards him. "I'm supposed to check to see if my sister is home yet," Gold Digger groaned. "Look, he says he wants to help you," Dish said. "Just sit down and talk with him." The stallion just groaned some more as he sat across from the griffon. "Okay, so you're going to talk this time?" Gallus asked. "Yeah," Digger replied not really interested. "Finally. Look, I understand you probably don't have a good history with griffons. But I haven't been trying to scam you out of any bits, now have I?" "Not really. You caught me at a bad time. Dish said we'd be busy today but she said I could have time off in between shifts. I only had two hours to take care of my sister. She hadn't finished her homework yet and I told her to get it done." "Yeah, Ocellus would know how that feels. If you're curious, she's one of my friends at the School of Friendship. She's a smart cookie." "Yeah, and if that's not enough rent's due next week." "Ooh, that stinks. If it makes you feel better you make a really good grilled cheese." "Thanks. It's nice to be appreciated. Someponies don't appreciate something until it's gone." Suddenly, they heard some gasping and Gallus realized who the voice belonged to. He looked towards the entrance and saw Silverstream with Copper and Babs. "Hey, Silver, over here." "Gallus," the hippogriff cooed as she flew over to him, "You won't believe this city. There's a park and a skating rink, I thought you only skate in the winter." "Yeah, that is pretty fun," Digger said. "Why don't you get out more." "Because I have a job to do." "You know," Babs said, "I think I should be getting home." The filly walked out of the diner, leaving her friend, unicorn, griffon, and hippogriff. "Why'd she go?" Silverstream asked. "Probably because she doesn't want to get involved," Gallus said. "Is it really that hard to understand how getting bits works?" Digger asked. "Digger, she didn't know," Copper said. "It's got to be common knowledge. I mean, her home has to have some sort of currency." "Okay, buddy, calm down," Gallus said. "Well, sorry, it's not my fault that she misses normal education." The hippogriff gasped at what he said. "Hey, look, Silver might be naive, but she's not stupid." "So, what does she use for money?" "Seashells probably." "Why?" "Because I'm also a seapony," Silverstream said. With a flash from her necklace, she turned into the said creature. Gold Digger stared in awe. "...How did you do that?" he asked. "She has a magical necklace," Copper said. "Yeah, it's thanks to my pearl piece." "Okay, now you're getting weird," Digger commented. "I guess it's better than being dumb," Gallus said, "Or stubborn." "What do you mean?" "Well, I still don't get what's the problem with you and your sister." "He never spends time with me," Copper said. "Because I'm busy," Digger stated. "Bits are no objects." "What does that mean?" Silverstream asked as she turned back into a hippogriff. "Probably he's not wasting a cent," Gallus whispered. "The skates you and I use only cost three bits," Copper said. "And it is an object." "It's an expression," Digger explained. "Okay, how about we calm down," Silverstream said as she started getting nervous. "I could play something on my saxophone." "Stay out of this!" Digger ordered. The hippogriff coward which her friend didn't like. "Okay, what's your problem?" Gallus asked. "You have us at a bad time. Come on Copper." Using his magic, Digger lifted his sister into the air they left the diner. "I'll be back later, Dish." Gallus and Silverstream raced outside but the unicorn was already gone. "Wow, he's faster than he looks," the hippogriff commented. "And our mission has gotten a lot harder," Gallus added. "I barely got anything out of G.D. You have any better luck?" "Oh, yeah. I heard that Goldie was way more outgoing when he was younger. He and Copper were best friends and then, they started drifting apart. She didn't say why they just did." "Great, now a mystery. Why couldn't we go help somecreature we knew?" "We know where they live, so we can just go there." "I guess you're right." The two took off to catch up with the ponies. When they got to the apartment they could hear the stallion and filly arguing inside. "You never help me anymore," Copper cried. Gallus and Silverstream flew up to the window to listen in on their conversation. "Do you know how many hours I work to keep a roof over your head?" Digger asked sounding very annoyed. "I wanted to amazing things in my life, but I have to stay here and make sure you're safe." "Like getting me through school? When was the last time you helped me with my homework?" "I couldn't help you because of my job." "I feel like we should go in," Silverstream said to Gallus. "Shh," the griffon replied. He didn't want the arguing siblings to hear them. "That's what I mean when you don't help me," Copper cried. "Help you?" Digger questioned, "That's all I've been doing! I spend six days a week working my flank just to keep you alive. What's it going to take to get it through your thick sulk?! If you can't appreciate what I do for you maybe you should just live one of your friends." The filly started to cower from her brother's outburst. "Goldie... I..." "No, I'm going to keep going. Your school is a ripoff. Do you know how many bits it costs just one of your books? Ten bits. Ten BITS!" "We should get in there," Silverstream said. "Yeah, this is getting ugly," Gallus agreed. The griffon tried to open the window but it was locked. They went for the door as the stallion kept letting out his anger. "You think the world just works all the time for you?" Digger asked, "NO! Copper, you don't care for anything I do for you. You what, why don't you just leave? I don't care where, if it's impossible for you to be happy with me unlike how mom used to then get out of my life so we can all be happy!" The stallion panted as he finally noticed the scared look on his sister's face. Before he could more or say anything, Copper ran to her room with tears pouring down her crying face. Digger walked up to a wall and started banging his head against it. Gallus and Silverstream walked in finding the stallion in his guilt. "Ugh, knock-knock," Silverstream said without a lot of confidence. "What do you want?" "We wanted to talk to you," Gallus said. "...How much did you hear?" "It was a little muffled near the end but we did hear Copper crying." With that being said, Digger resumed banging his head against the wall. "What would your mom say if she heard about this?" Silverstream asked. "Nothing." "Wha... She would have to say something." "She can't." "But why..." "She's dead." Both visitors went silent. "Along with dad." Gallus and Silver looked at each other before breaking the silence "Wh-what happened to them?" the griffon asked. The unicorn sat down. "House fire. Dad did what he could to keep it down so mom could get Copper and I out. One of the roof beams broke and took mom with it and... We had to leave without her and dad." Digger's eye started watering up. "I was legally old enough to live on my own and I had to take care of my sister. I had my job at the diner and Copper was in a good school, but I... Could barely afford the school and rent... I just... Dad was smart... And mom... They..." He couldn't hold his tears back and start crying. Gallus placed his claw on his shoulder and gave him a tissue. "I know how it feels," the griffon commented. "I didn't have anyone looking out for me back in Griffonstone. Trust me, it's rough there. No roof over my head, having to steal food from other griffons, and if I got caught..." He cringed from think what he was going to say. "I got beaten up." "Jeesh." "I know. Honestly, I think you should be lucky. You have someone who cares about you, a nice warm home and judging by how Dish acted, you have other ponies who care about you. You could have it way worse." "When you put it like that, yeah. Sorry for being a stick in the mud earlier." "Well, when you have someone telling you they're sent by Princess Twilight's friends to help fix your problem, I would be suspicious too." The griffon and unicorn smiled before looking towards the hippogriff. "I think I know what we should do next," she said pointing to Copper's room. "You're right," Digger sighed. He walked up to the bedroom door and knocked on it. "Sis, can we talk?" There wasn't a response. "Look, I was frustrated and... Probably wasn't thinking straight. Just let me in so we can talk." Still, nothing but silence. "Copper, I know you hear me." After a few seconds without a response, Digger opened the door to find his sister was nowhere in sight. "Where did she go?" Silverstream asked. Gallus noticed the sheets were missing from the bed. He could see they were tied around bed's leg and were leading out the opened window. The three looked outside and could see the makeshift rope led all the way down to the sidewalk. The unicorn had a huge wave of guilt and fear on his face now.