*SEPTEMBER 3RD: ON THE WAY TO THE SCHOOLHOUSE*
Selena walked down the long pathway that led to the Ponyville Schoolhouse with her new friends and her older sister walking alongside her; Apple Bloom and Scootaloo to her left and Sweetie Belle and Nyx to her right. The five fillies were talking, laughing, telling jokes, and just generally having a good time amongst themselves. Sweetie Belle was currently telling the five-year-old filly a funny story about what happened to Apple Bloom and Scootaloo during one of their attempts to try and earn their cutie marks, with Selena showing signs that she was going to burst into a huge fit of uncontrollable laughter.
A big smile adorned Nyx’s face as she watched her little sister getting along and having fun with the Cutie Mark Crusaders. It was nice to see Selena interacting with fillies other than Twilight’s friends. Not only that, but it was also nice for Selena to make and have new friends that she can hang-out and play with.
It wasn’t that Selena was in any way, shape or form a recluse, but it was because of the fact that Selena actually happens to be… an outcast amongst the ponies of Ponyville. Because of her sweet, innocent nature and behavior, interests, and views on certain topics, as well as beliefs, Selena has been looked down upon by the ponies of Ponyville, including that of the fillies and colts, as the town’s local outcast. It was because of this that many of the fillies and colts began to bully the poor filly due to her being much different from the rest of the other ponies. It was also because of this that Selena would tend to do things in order to impress other ponies just so that she could fit in, with many of them being outright dangerous.
It was actually because of this that Selena became insecure and unsure about herself, always doubting herself and her ability to make friends. It was due to these insecurities and the constant bullying that drove Selena to avoid other ponies and only feeling comfortable around others that she knew like Twilight, Nyx, Spike, and the other members of the Mane Six.
The smile that was plastered on Nyx’s face instantly vanished and was replaced with a frown. Since the day that the bullying had begun, Nyx had been acutely aware of her sister’s insecurities and she has expressed her concerns about them with Twilight. Nyx had also suspected that the bullying had some connections to what led her sister to run away.
‘I wish it never had come to that,’ Nyx thought to herself, the frown on her face growing at the thought.
“Are you serious?!” Selena exclaimed as she laughed. The sudden shout and laugh snapped Nyx out of her thoughts. She turned her head to her left to see Selena laughing in hysterics.
Sweetie Belle simply nodded her head, which only served to cause Selena to laugh much harder and louder than before.
“I’m serious alright,” Sweetie Belle replied. “It took Apple Bloom and Scootaloo about half an hour to wash off all the tree sap and unstick their flanks from each other.”
Both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo simply rolled their eyes in amusement as they watched Selena laugh uncontrollably at the story Sweetie Belle was telling her. It was a very embarrassing moment for the two fillies and it was one that they have been trying to live down. They were solely focused on the laughing filly that they didn’t pick up the light sounds of giggling coming from Nyx.
It took about 5 minutes for Selena’s laughing fit to finally come to an end. When it did, Selena began the slow process of calming herself down, taking slow, deep breaths and wiping away tears that were trailing down her face during her laughing fit. When Selena fully calmed down, she turned her head to Sweetie Belle and looked her in the eyes.
“That has to be one of the funniest stories that I’ve ever heard,” Selena said.
“Glad to see that you find it so amusing,” Scootaloo replied in a very sarcastic tone, to which Selena took no notice before something instantly clicked in her brain. “Speaking of which, I came up with an idea on how we can earn our cutie marks last night that we should all try out a few hours after school today.”
This immediately caught everypony’s attention and they turned their heads to the orange Pegasus. Before any of the fillies could utter a single word, their ears twitched for they have picked up the familiar sound of a bell ringing in the distance. They looked ahead and in the distance, they saw the familiar silhouette of the schoolhouse up ahead.
“Looks like we made it,” Selena said with a smile.
“Looks like it,” Apple Bloom replied.
“Last one there is a rotten egg!!” Scootaloo declared before she took off galloping down the pathway towards the schoolhouse.
A competitive smirk formed on Apple Bloom’s face before she too began galloping down the pathway towards the schoolhouse, quickly catching up to the orange Pegasus in the process. Both Sweetie Belle and Nyx smirked before they too followed after their two friends. Selena, on the other hoof, just watched with intrigue and curiosity.
‘Must be something they do all the time,’ Selena thought to herself as she continued walking towards the schoolhouse.
*************************
“Good morning, class!” Miss. Cheerilee greeted in her usually happy and cheerful manner.
“Good morning, Miss. Cheerilee,” the class said, some of them were out of respect, some were to just please the mare, while two members of the class said it in an excited manner; those happened to be Selena, who happened to have the biggest smile on her face, and Nyx.
“Today’s lesson will be about the foundation of Ponyville,” Cheerilee said with a smile on her face.
All of the fillies and colts, except for Nyx and Twist, let out a loud bored sigh at the mention of the subject. Miss. Cheerilee’s smile began to weaken slowly after that happened. Her students, for a majority of the time, never expressed interest in any of the lessons she taught to them, usually falling asleep at some point during her lessons. Although the mulberry Earth Pony never showed it, seeing her students react like this was… hurtful.
Ever since she was a little filly, Cheerilee loved the idea of granting the gift of knowledge to other ponies and had the big dream about becoming a teacher. When she earned her cutie mark when she was in her mid-adult years, Cheerilee began her journey of fulfilling her dream of becoming a teacher. Months later, Cheerilee’s longtime dream became reality when she got the job to become a teacher at the Ponyville Schoolhouse and has been granting the gift of knowledge to countless fillies and colts ever since.
It always hurt the mulberry Earth Pony whenever her students behaved like this.
Just before Miss. Cheerilee’s smile could fully weaken and disappear completely from her face, something happened; something truly remarkable happened that caught Cheerilee and all the fillies and colts by surprise and this surprise ignited a small spark of happiness in the Earth Pony’s heart.
“YAY!!” It was a happy cry that had come from the new student, Selena, who had the biggest smile on her face and was hopping on her chair with uncontainable and uncontrolled excitement. “I’ve always wanted to know about the foundation of Ponyville!! This is going to be fun!!”
The smile returned on Miss. Cheerilee’s face upon seeing the amount of excitement and enthusiasm that Selena was displaying. It was honestly a nice and refreshing change, to say the least; a change that was needed. Aside from Nyx, who would usually ask questions just before recess began, Selena was the first pony in a long time to display genuine excitement, interest, and enthusiasm at the prospect of learning.
The other fillies and colts, aside from Nyx, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and Twist, were looking at Selena like she had just gone completely insane and gave her weird looks. They couldn’t understand how their new classmate could be so excited about this. For all they knew, the lessons were boring since they knew about some of these subjects. In their eyes alone, their new classmate was downright… weird.
Miss. Cheerilee proceeded to the chalkboard and grabbed hold of a small piece of chalk before turning her head back to her class.
“Without further ado, let’s begin,” Miss. Cheerilee said as she began writing on the chalkboard.
*************************
A big smile adorned Selena’s face as Miss. Cheerilee continued on with the lesson, the five-year-old filly jotting down notes in the process. To your average filly and colt, the lesson would appear boring and many would just drown out their teacher’s words, while the rest of the class would pass out from boredom. Selena, on the other hoof, gave it her uttermost attention, like it was the most important thing in the world, and jotted down notes so that she can show Twilight what she learned in school.
As Selena was jotting down more notes, something hard, wet, and slimy struck her pretty hard in the back of her head, causing her head to jolt forward. She stopped what she was doing and began looking around to see if she could find whatever it was that had struck her in the back of the head. When she couldn’t find what she was looking for, Selena began on rummaging through her mane with her right hoof to see if whatever it was that hit her was stuck in her mane.
It didn’t take Selena to find what it was that struck her. Her hoof came into contact with something small, wet, and very slimy. She grabbed hold of the object and removed it from her mane. Moving her hoof away from her head, Selena held her hoof in front of her face and then began to inspect the object closely.
The object that hit her was about the size of a bit and it was covered in this slimy and foamy-like substance that looked to be saliva. Selena didn’t have the foggiest idea on what the object was, but what the five-year-old filly can tell was that the object appeared to be made out of paper.
Thinking nothing of it, Selena flicked her hoof and the slimy object came flying off her hoof and vanished. She wiped her hoof on her flank before she went back to jotting down notes. For the rest of the lesson, Selena kept getting struck by those slimy ball-like objects, but she did her best to ignore it and stay focused on her schoolwork.
Unbeknownst to the five-year-old filly, a certain tiara-wearing filly was snickering sinisterly as she continued on peppering the back of the filly’s head with spitballs. This particular action didn’t go unnoticed by a certain alicorn and three fillies; the alicorn, the earth, and the pegasus giving the tiara-wearing filly a hardcore glare.
Nyx, in particular, was absolutely livid with seeing the sight of her most hated enemy picking on her little sister by peppering the back of her head with spitballs whenever Cheerilee wasn’t looking. Nyx had no clue on how Selena could stay focused on her schoolwork while getting repeatedly struck by spitballs, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was first, getting all those spitballs out of Selena’s mane during recess and two, have a ‘nice’ little chat with Diamond Tiara.
*************************
A few hours later, the school bell rung and all the fillies and colts came charging out of the schoolhouse for recess like their lives depended on it, as they all usually did. As the fillies and colts played together in the playground, five certain fillies were sitting underneath the shade of the tree that stood on top of the hill that overlooked the schoolhouse.
Nyx was helping her sister on removing the spitballs that Diamond Tiara pelted her with. An angry expression adorned the alicorn’s face as each spitball was magically removed from her sister’s mane. Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo also had an angry expression plastered on their faces. Sweetie Belle also had an angry expression, albeit not as intense as the others.
“I swear, if I see Diamond Tiara pull something like this again, I’m going to buck her to next week,” Scootaloo growled through gritted teeth, her wings flaring as high as her temper.
“You and me both, Scootaloo,” Nyx said. After she removed the last spitball from Selena’s mane, her expression softened. “Okay Selena, I’m done.”
Selena turned her body around so that she was facing her older sister and her friends, and she gave Nyx a small smile.
“Thanks, Nyxie,” Selena said, and she ran her left hoof through her mane. The filly grimaced a little when her hoof came into contact with the wet spots that were left behind by the spitballs. “Though I’m going to have to take a bath when we get home.”
“We can worry about that later,” Nyx said as the angry expression had begun to slowly creep back onto her face. “Right now, I’m going to have a talk with Diamond Tiara.”
As soon as Nyx said that, Selena immediately went a bit wide-eyed and an uneasy feeling formed in the pit of her stomach. She didn’t like the idea of her older sister confronting Diamond Tiara for she knew how that was going to play out.
Something in the back of her mind told her that it was best to stop Nyx from confronting Diamond and just simply ignore her and honestly, Selena couldn’t agree more with this feeling.
Nyx turned around and she began walking away to begin her search for Diamond Tiara. However, she was only able to take two steps before she felt a pair of hooves grab hold of her right hindleg firmly. She turned her head to look behind her, and to her uttermost shock, she saw Selena clutching her hindleg firmly in her hooves, a stern expression plastered on her face.
“Selena, what are you doing?” Nyx asked before she began shaking and tugging her hindleg to break free from Selena’s grasp, but Selena refused to let go.
Eventually, Nyx stopped trying to break free and she gave her sister a firm look.
“Let go of my leg, Selena,” she said sternly.
“No,” Selena said in a very stern tone, which caught Nyx a little bit by surprise. The black-furred alicorn had never heard her sister talk in such a manner like this before, and it took her aback slightly.
“No?” Nyx asked curiously. “What do you mean ‘no’?”
“I mean that I don’t want you to confront Diamond Tiara about this,” Selena replied. “The best thing to do is to just ignore her and forget about it. It’s not that big of a deal.”
“Not that big of a deal? Not that big of a deal?!” Scootaloo repeated before she snorted angrily. “Selena, are you out of your mind?!?! She pelted you with spitballs and you think that we should just ‘forget about it’?!”
“Yes, I do,” Selena said in that same stern tone. “It will become a big deal if any of you try to confront Diamond Tiara about it. It’s better to get pelted with spitballs than being called a freak or a creep every day.”
Scootaloo proceeded to give Selena the look that a pony would give if they saw somepony grow a second or even a third head out of nowhere.
“And how is ignoring Diamond Tiara going to get her to stop?” Scootaloo asked her curiously, her angry expression having soften a bit.
“Because by doing so, Diamond will eventually get bored, lose interest, and find somepony else to pick on,” Selena replied. “I’ve learned that after I decided to just ignore the bullying when I couldn’t deal with it anymore.”
Nyx, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo all looked at each other with surprise as they took in on what Selena had just said. Eventually, they looked back at Selena, who still held Nyx’s right hindleg in her hooves.
“Does that explain why you’ve stopped coming home down in the dumps for the past few months?” Nyx asked her.
“Yes, it does,” Selena replied and she finally let go of her sister’s hindleg.
“Well, now with that out of the way,” Apple Bloom turned her head to face Scootaloo, who was sitting beside her to her left, “Scootaloo, you said something about you coming up with an idea on how we can earn our cutie marks in our next cutie mark crusading trip that we should try out a few hours after school?”
Scootaloo turned to face Apple Bloom, a prideful expression plastered on her face.
“I sure did!!” Scootaloo beamed with pride. “We will earn our cutie marks for sure this time!! It will be so AWESOME!!”
Selena cocked her head to the left, a curious expression plastered on her face. She had never heard of this ‘cutie mark crusading’ before so naturally, she had become curious as to what that was.
“Cutie mark crusading?” Selena asked with immense curiosity. “What is cutie mark crusading?”
“It’s where me and my friends try out different things to try and earn our cutie marks,” Nyx replied. “Although me and Twist already have our cutie marks, we still participate in cutie mark crusading.”
Selena began tapping her chin with her right hoof as she took in on what Nyx said. The idea of cutie mark crusading sounded… really fun to the five-year-old filly, exciting even. Whatever it was that Scootaloo had in mind, she was making it sound like the most exciting thing in the world.
“Hey, Scootaloo?” Selena said. The Pegasus turned to face the filly in response to hearing her name. “What is it that you have in mind that you think will help you, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle earn your cutie marks?”
“I can’t tell you what it is for it is a surprise,” Scootaloo said, a smirk plastered on her face, “but what I can tell you is that it’s super AWESOME!!”
“Well, is it okay if I can join you girls in this?” Selena asked. “You are making it sound like a lot of fun and I really want to come along. Can I? Please?”
Selena gave her new friends the most adorable set of puppy eyes any of them had ever seen, along with the most adorable smile that has ever adorned anypony’s face before. The Cutie Mark Crusaders couldn’t help but lightly chuckle at the adorable display the filly was giving.
Nyx, on the other hoof, was a little bit nervous and apprehensive at this. She had no idea or any clue on whatever it was that Scootaloo had in mind, but knowing her, it was going to be something… daring. To top it off, Selena is expressing the desire on joining them on what Scootaloo had in mind.
In all honesty, Nyx really didn’t want her little sister to come along for the fear that Scootaloo’s idea was going to be something dangerous. The last thing she wanted was for Selena to get seriously hurt, or worse. She really wanted to tell Selena that she couldn’t, but out of nowhere, a thought popped up in her head.
‘As long as I keep an eye on her, I can keep her safe from danger,’ she thought to herself.
The thought did help ease Nyx’s nerves a bit, but the apprehension still remained. Nevertheless, as long as she stood by her sister’s side, then she can keep an eye on her to make sure that she stayed safe.
Nyx let out a small convincing chuckle before she placed her left hoof on Selena’s shoulder. The five-year-old filly turned her head to face her older sister.
“Well, I don’t see any reason to not include her,” Nyx said with a bit of a convincing smile. Selena turned her head back to her friends with a hopeful smile, silently hoping that they will allow her to come along.
Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo all looked at each other for a moment as Selena watched and waited with anticipation. Countless thoughts of them saying that she can’t join crossed her mind and they made her heart sink a little bit. She had been rejected many times by countless fillies and colts if she can participate in activities with them over the years, and she didn’t know what she would do if it happened again.
A long and tense moment later, the 3 fillies all looked back to the sisters and Selena’s hopes risen a little bit upon seeing the smiles on their faces.
“Sure, she can come along,” they all said at the same time. The moment that those words left their mouths, an overwhelming feeling of joy burst in her heart and a single tear rolled down her right cheek.
“YAY!!!” the five-year-old filly shouted happily as she began hopping with excitement.
Nyx watched this as a single thought played in her mind.
‘I hope that I don’t end up regretting this.’
Selena was so absorbed in her excitement and Nyx was so lost in thought that they failed to hear what Scootaloo said next, to which the Pegasus failed to notice. It also happened to be a very important bit of information and due to her excitement, Selena failed to take notice of it. If Selena had taken notice or heard this bit of what Scootaloo had said, then what would happen next a few hours later with the two sisters wouldn’t have taken place.
“We’ll be coming over to the library to come get you girls by 3:00 PM. Be ready by then.”
**************************
*4 HOURS LATER: GOLDEN OAKS LIBRARY*
*KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK*
Twilight removed her nose from the book that she was currently reading and turned her attention to the front door behind her. She was curious as to who it could be that was knocking on the other side of the front door but nonetheless, she put a smile on her face.
“Coming!!” she called out. She placed a bookmark in between the pages of the book, closed it, and rested it on the table.
Twilight stood up from her seated position and walked over to the door. Reaching the door, Twilight grabbed hold of the doorknob with her magic, twisted the knob, and pulled the door open. With the door fully opened, Twilight quickly found out who it was that knocked on the door.
Standing on the doorstep was Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo with helmets strapped on their heads; Apple Bloom was wearing a red one, Sweetie Belle was wearing a blue one, and Scootaloo was wearing a purple one. Parked behind them was Scootaloo’s scooter with a small wooden red wagon that looked big enough to hold at least 4 fillies attached to the back of the scooter.
The smile that was plastered on Twilight’s face grew a tiny bit more as she made eye contact with the three fillies.
“Hi girls,” Twilight greeted warmly.
“Hiya Twilight,” they all greeted back at the same time.
“Are Selena and Nyx home?” Scootaloo asked. Twilight nodded her head in response.
“Yes, they are,” Twilight replied. “Nyx is upstairs reading and Selena is in the bathroom taking a bath.”
“Is it okay if they can come out to play?” Sweetie Belle asked. “We are going to try out this new idea that Scootaloo had come up with that will help us earn our cutie marks and we said that we would come by at around 3.”
Twilight couldn’t help but smile at this. It just so happened that 4 hours ago when she came to pick her daughters up from school, Selena had excitedly told her that her friends were going cutie mark crusading a few hours after school and that she was allowed to come along. To hear that her youngest was going to hang out playing with fillies that she knew brought a great and refreshing feeling in her heart.
“I don’t see any reason why they can’t,” Twilight said before looking away to face the stairwell and call out her daughter’s names. “SELENA!! NYX!!”
**************************
In the upstairs bedroom, Nyx was lying in her bed on her back reading a book to help pass the time, waiting for her friends to arrive to tell her that it was time for them to go cutie mark crusading. Normally, Nyx was excited to go cutie mark crusading with her friends, as she usually did, but this time, it was different now that her little sister was going to come along.
Out of all the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Scootaloo was usually the one who came up with the more ‘daring’ and ‘awesome’ attempts on how she, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle can finally earn their cutie marks once and for all. Because of Scootaloo’s daredevil and thrill-seeking personality, many of her ideas consisted of activities that were more risky and a bit more dangerous. She was really concerned about whatever it was Scootaloo had in mind. She really hoped that it wasn’t going to be anything really dangerous.
“SELENA!! NYX!!”
The voice of Twilight calling out her and Selena’s name snapped her out of her thoughts. Nyx rested the book on her stomach as gently and carefully as she could as to not damage the pages.
“Yeah?” she called back.
“Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo are here,” Twilight replied back. “Can you go get your sister and let her know that they’re here?”
“Sure thing,” Nyx called back. She placed a bookmark in between the pages and set the book to the right side of the bed. She rolled out of bed and walked out of the bedroom, closing the door behind her.
“Oh, and can you make sure that Selena hasn’t fallen asleep in the tub again?” Twilight suddenly called out. “You know how she has the tendency to fall asleep whenever she is bathing or soaking in the tub.”
“Okay.”
Nyx walked down the hallway, stopped right by the bathroom door, turned to face it, and knocked a few times.
*KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK*
“Selena?” Nyx called out as loud as she could, hoping that it was loud enough for her sister to hear. There was no response, which instantly gave Nyx the impression that Selena had fallen asleep during her bath.
Letting out a soft sigh, she grasped the doorknob with her magic and then twisted it to the right. With the knob fully turned, Nyx slowly pushed opened the door and stepped into the bathroom.
**************************
If one were to walk into the bathroom, they would rightfully believe it to be vacant since there wasn’t any indication of anypony or anything in the room. However, that belief would be thrown out the window if one took the time to take a small peek inside the tub to spot the familiar dark gray filly lying down on her back completely submerged in water. Many would mistakenly believe that the filly was dead since she wasn’t showing any signs of movement as the filly was completely still as a statue, rightfully believing that the filly had drowned in the tub. However, the young filly was alive and well for the young five-year-old filly was smart enough to use a water breathing spell so that she can breathe while submerged in water, and if one were to look closely, they would catch the faintest sight of her chest rising and falling.
Selena was lying in the tub flat on her back with her eyes closed as she soaked in the water. She loved soaking during her baths because she loved the way the water felt and flowed around her body, as well as the warmth that permeated all throughout her entire body. It was the kind of warmth that could literally put anypony to sleep in a matter of a few seconds. It was also the kind of warmth that was capable of washing any negative emotions away and put their minds at ease.
That was exactly what has happened; at some point while she was soaking in the water, Selena had fallen asleep, and due to being a heavy sleeper, she didn’t hear the sound of her mother calling out her name, as well as the sounds of Nyx knocking on the bathroom door a few moments later nor the sounds of the bathroom door opening. She had no clue or idea she was going to be woken up by her older sister a moment later.
Once she fully entered the bathroom, Nyx slowly walked over to the tub as to not make too much noise. There were times where she was asked by Twilight to check up on her to make sure that the filly wasn’t sleeping. And some of those times, Selena had woken up and upon catching sight of Nyx, she would let out a small scream before she proceeded to whack her repeatedly on the head with the shower brush that was kept beside the tub until she left the bathroom.
Upon reaching the tub, Nyx grasped onto the rims of the tub and peered her head to see inside. Sure enough, there was Selena knocked out cold in the tub, her body completely submerged in water. Nyx couldn’t help but roll her eyes in amusement at this. She had no clue as to how Selena could fall asleep in such an uncomfortable place like this, but honestly, it wasn’t the time for her to wonder or question it.
Nyx turned her head to the right to see the shower brush was up against the tub. She grasped it with her magic, levitated it over the left side of her head, turned her attention back to her sister, and then proceeded to softly poke her with it. She saw Selena beginning to stir but wasn’t close on waking up so Nyx proceeded to poke Selena with the brush a bit harder.
After a few more pokes with the shower brush, Selena slowly sat up in the tub, her rich blue mane covering her eyes and face. Selena pushed aside the strands of her mane from her face and began rubbing her eyes with her hooves. After rubbing the fog of sleep from her eyes, Selena turned her head and looked up to see Nyx looking at her with the shower brush levitating by the left side of her head.
“Nyxie, what are you doing in here?” Selena said groggily. “You know I don’t like it when you walk in here when I’m soaking or taking a bath.”
“And you know that Mom doesn’t like it when you fall asleep in the tub every time you soak or bathe in it,” Nyx replied back in a jokingly tone.
“I can’t help it,” Selena replied. “The warmth the water provides is just so soothing that I can’t help but fall asleep. At least I’m smart enough to use a water breathing spell before it happens.”
“I’ll give you credit for that,” Nyx said and the two siblings chuckled for a little bit before calming down.
“So, why are you in here?” Selena asked curiously.
“Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo are here waiting for us and Twilight asked me to make sure that you didn’t fall asleep in the tub,” Nyx replied.
As soon as Nyx said that, Selena went a bit wide-eyed and she hopped onto her hindlegs, placed her front hooves on the walls of the tub, and she pressed her face onto Nyx’s, the latter moving her neck back a little.
“They’re here?!” Selena exclaimed in horror, which took Nyx by complete surprise.
“Uhhh… yes, they are,” Nyx said in a cautious manner. “Why are you so concerned about this all of a sudden?”
There was a very good reason as to why Selena was concerned about that all of a sudden; she was concerned because their friends didn’t know that she was an alicorn just like Nyx, and she was sincerely afraid that they could call off their friendship and shun her just like how the other fillies and colts have done.
Another reason was that she wasn’t wearing her necklace. She placed it on the table in the main lobby before she went upstairs to go take a bath before resorting to soaking in the tub. She couldn’t risk going downstairs to get it for the risk of them finding out her secret.
Selena looked Nyx dead in the eyes for a few agonizing moments before she finally broke it.
“Why am I concerned? Why am I concerned?!” she repeated frantically. “Nyxie, there’s a reason as to why this is very concerning!!”
Selena removed her face away from Nyx’s, moved over a little to the left and hopped out of the tub. She walked over to the towel rack that stood up against the wall a few inches away from the toilet, igniting her horn, and levitated a small gray towel from the highest shelf. As she began drying herself off with the towel, she expressed her concern clear as day.
“Nyxie, they don’t know that I’m an alicorn just like you, and I’m really afraid of what they will do or react if they find out about this. And second, I placed my necklace on the table in the main lobby before I came in the bathroom to soak. I can’t go down there to go retrieve it for the risk of them seeing me like this.”
After fully drying off her body, Selena began drying off both her mane and tail, and she continued expressing her concern to her sister.
“Nyxie, I’m really, really afraid of what they would do if they found out about this. What if they call off their friendship with me? What if they shun me just like the other fillies and colts? What if… they…”
The fear of what Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo would do upon finding out about her being an alicorn was starting to become too much for the filly. As Selena finished drying off her tail, the magic around her horn faded and the now damp towel fell onto the ground with an audible ‘plop’. Tears began welling up in her eyes as her lower lip began quivering slightly.
There was a short moment of silence before Selena broke it.
“I don’t know what I would do if that happened,” Selena said, her voice trembling slightly. “I know they have been my friends for only two days, but I don’t want to risk losing them. I don’t… want… to…”
Selena shut her eyes tightly as her body began trembling and the tears that were welling up in her eyes began trailing down her face. A frown formed on Nyx’s face upon taking in what Selena had said. She understood Selena’s fears completely and she could relate to them in a way, but she knew Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo well and she knew for a fact that they would never do such a thing.
She remembered how she revealed her wings to her friends a few years ago. She was afraid that they would get jealous of her having both a horn and wings just as Rarity told her sometime prior. To her shock, surprise, and confusion, they expressed that they weren’t jealous and accepted her for who she is, still remaining as her friends today.
After the memory faded, Nyx walked over to Selena, sat down beside to her left and wrapped her right foreleg around her. The sudden contact caught the filly by surprise. Her eyes shot wide open and she turned her head to Nyx, who offered a comforting smile.
“Selena, I know that you’re scared, but trust me when I tell you that they will never do such a thing,” Nyx said in a comforting tone. “I’ve been friends with them for years and they are the best group of friends you could ever have. When I became friends with them, I was afraid that they would become jealous of me having both a horn and wings. One night, we played a game called ‘Truth or Challenge’, which is our variation of the game ‘Truth or Dare’, and when it was my turn, I had decided to show them my secret and do you want to know what happened?”
Selena thought about it for a moment before nodding her head, curious as to what happened.
“They weren’t jealous at all. They accepted me for who I am and they remained as my friends to this day.”
“What are you trying to say, Nyxie?” Selena asked with uncertainty, tears still trailing down her face.
“What I’m saying is that there is nothing to be afraid of. I’ve been best friends with them for years and they are not the kind of ponies who will judge you for who you are. If they did, they wouldn’t be considered friends. The point is that you can trust them, Selena. Just because they’ve only been your friends for like two days doesn’t mean that they don’t care about you as much as they care about me.”
Nyx removed her foreleg from her sister’s back before she wrapped it around Selena’s left foreleg and continued on with what she was saying.
“They care about you, Selena, and you can always trust them to be by your side and have your back. Just yesterday before we went home after school, they expressed to me on how much fun you were and how great it was to be around you. Believe me when I say this Selena; they generally like you and you don’t have to be afraid of them shunning or abandoning you because that is something true friends will never do. Do you believe me?”
Selena looked at her sister with wide eyes as she took in on what was said to her before looking away from her sister, her eyes looking down at the floor. Maybe Nyx was right; maybe they wouldn’t shun or abandon her over her being an alicorn. Maybe they might accept her for who she is and still remain as her friends. Maybe… they can be trusted. Maybe… there really is nothing to be afraid of and that everything will be okay.
As those thoughts played in her head, a smile slowly began to spread across her face. She believed and trusted Nyx completely. Why wouldn’t she? Nyx was her sister and she had been friends with those fillies for a long time. Not only that, but she also knew that Nyx wouldn’t lie to her just to help her feel better.
Relief flowed throughout her body and the smile on her face grew even more. Turning to look back at her sister, Selena removed her foreleg from Nyx’s grasp and lunged forward, wrapping her forelegs around her sister, giving her a hug. Nyx wrapped her forelegs around her sister, returning the hug.
“Thank you, Nyxie,” Selena said softly. “I needed that. I love you.”
“I love you too, Selena,” Nyx replied back before the two sisters ended their hug. Just as they did, they heard Twilight call out.
“Selena!! Nyx!! Is everything okay up there?”
“Yes Mom,” Selena replied. “Me and Nyxie were talking about something; nothing major or anything.”
“Well come on, your friends are waiting for you both!!” Twilight called out before everything went silent for a moment.
“Now let’s get out of here and get you ready,” said Nyx. “We shouldn’t keep them waiting any longer. And don’t even worry about your necklace. I will go retrieve it for you if that helps.”
“Okay!!” Selena said cheerfully and the two sisters exited out of the bathroom and closing the door behind them, inadvertently leaving behind a damp gray towel on the bathroom floor and a tub that was filled halfway full of water.
************************
Ten minutes after their conversation in the bathroom, and Nyx helping Selena getting ready, the two siblings came downstairs and entered the main lobby, to which they were greeted by a very annoyed Scootaloo.
“It’s about time you two came down,” Scootaloo said in an annoyed tone. “What took you so long?”
Selena and Nyx looked at each other as small smiles spread across their faces. After a moment, they looked back to their friends, with Scootaloo tapping on the floor with her left hoof.
“Well, me and Nyxie were just having a sister-to-sister conversation,” Selena answered truthfully.
“Well come on then, let’s go!!” Scootaloo said before she charged out of the library and hopped onto her scooter. The Pegasus turned her head to her friends and began waving them over with her right hoof.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle both walked out of the library and hopped into the wagon. Selena and Nyx shortly began heading towards the wagon before they were stopped by Twilight, who immediately stepped in front of the doorway. The purple unicorn had a bit of a stern expression on her face and upon seeing this, the two siblings knew that Twilight was about to tell them something.
“Before you girls head out, I want to talk to you both,” Twilight began to say. “For starters, I want you both home by 6 for dinnertime.”
“Okay!” they both said at the same time. Twilight turned her attention to Nyx and looked her in the eyes.
“Nyx, I need you to keep an eye on your sister and make sure she stays safe and out of trouble,” the purple unicorn said in a stern tone.
“I will,” Nyx responded as she nodded her head, quickly remembering her previous idea. Twilight then turned her attention to Selena, the young filly giving the unicorn the uttermost attention.
“And as for you Selena, do whatever your sister tells you to do and please try not to do anything risky,” Twilight said in a stern, but also pleading tone.
“Okay Mom,” Selena replied with a small smile. The stern expression left Twilight’s face, which was replaced by a small smile.
“With that out of the way, have a fun time,” the unicorn said and she stepped out of the way. Selena and Nyx both gave their mother a quick hug before they walked out of the library and hopped onto the wagon.
“Alright then, let’s roll!!” Scootaloo said before the scooter began speeding down the street and disappearing out of sight in just a matter of a few seconds.