Five Years Later
Green Guard rolled the dice across the table for a result of five; this was perfect, because this stretch of the board was dangerous and a five was the best result to hope for. He moved his token, an anvil, five spaces along the board, landing on a space designating Whiskey Avenue.
He glanced at his funds—three hundred fifty bits total—and then at the price of the space—three hundred bits. He knew he didn't get anything from the space himself, but Flathoof owned Scotch Lane and Bourbon Street as part of the set. The strategy was obvious: deny Flathoof the complete set, even at risk of bankruptcy.
With a devious grin, he pushed three hundred bits—plastic ones, of course, not actual legal tender—towards the bank. "I'll buy Whiskey Avenue."
Flathoof scrunched up his nose as he watched Gray—who always liked being the Banker—pass over the property card. "Smart move, sport. Tell you what, I'll buy that property off you for four hundred bits right now."
"Nope, you're gonna have to do better than that," Green replied.
Flathoof had done exactly as he expected him to, but he wasn't about to make it that easy. This was one of the two most valuable sets of property on the table, and Flathoof had been desperate for several turns to complete it.
"Four-fifty."
"Nuh-uh."
Flathoof grumbled. "Fine, five hundred."
"Throw in the Power Company and you've got a deal. Final offer."
"You little—" Flathoof grunted once, then sighed and smiled. "You are one shrewd operator. Fine, deal."
Green smirked as he and Flathoof exchanged the funds and property cards, then shook hooves on the deal. He loved playing board games with his family—because they were his family now—no matter how competitive they got at times. He loved spending time with them in general, and they didn't always have to spend time at the gym. Exercising the mind was just as important as exercising the body, after all, or at least that’s what the Overseer always used to say.
While Flathoof then busied himself buying houses to put on his new property, Green smiled then passed the dice to his left, over to the little filly playing with them, Rosewater. "Your turn, sis."
Rosewater was a pink-coated pegasus with a short blue mane, and unlike her mother she liked to dress in girlier clothes. Today she was wearing a light blue dress that would supposedly complement her mane, but Green didn't know enough about clothes to make a comment about it. That would be something to ask Aunt Insipid or Aunt Curaçao.
The board games they played were typically advised for an age group older than Rosewater was, but Gray and Flathoof had confidence in their daughter's ability to comprehend the rules and were always willing to lend a hoof when things got difficult. The "junior" versions of the games were just too simple for everypony else, and ironically more competitive because of the simpler rules.
The filly eagerly grabbed the dice in her hooves, then bit her tongue, shook the dice, and rolled them on the table. Nine. She leaned over and grabbed her token, a horseshoe, and counted out the nine spaces one at a time as she moved across them, "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine! I landed on… Northside Bus De-pawt?"
"Depot, sweetie," Gray corrected gently. "The 'T' is silent."
"Depot. Depot." Rosewater nodded excitedly, satisfied with her pronunciations. "Okay! So, um… nopony owns the depot, right?" She looked at her allotment of bits and counted them out loud. "One hundred, two hundred—" She gasped. "I can buy it! I can buy it!" She shoved the bits towards Gray. "I wanna buy the depot!"
Gray chuckled, took the bits and added them to the bank, then passed over the property card. "There you go. Lovely doing business with you, Miss."
"Yay!" She watched Flathoof placing his house tokens on his properties, and her eyes went wide. "I wanna buy a house too!"
Gray glanced over the board briefly, then shook her head. "You don't own a full set yet. You need to own a full set if you want to buy a house on them."
Rosewater's lip quivered. "But Mooom…"
"Ah ah, no begging. We play by the rules in this household, muffin," said Flathoof with a firm nod as he finished setting up his houses. "Don't worry, you're not too far off. You just need… White Wine Drive to go with your Red Wine Boulevard, and then you can buy all the houses you want on those two spaces."
Green perked up. "Oh! I just remembered that I own White Wine Drive." He turned to Rosewater and flashed the property card at her. "You can buy it off me if you want, Rosie."
"Look at the little entrepreneur over here," Flathoof chortled, shaking his head. He looked to Rosewater and grinned. "If you buy that from him, muffin, you can start building houses just like Daddy."
Rosewater looked at her large collection of bits—she had more than enough to buy the property at its normal value and then some—then at the house token that Flathoof had placed, then at Green. "Okay! How much do you want, Greenie?"
"Well, this space cost me four hundred bits originally," Green mused, making a show of stroking his chin. "But for you, I'll sell it for… one bit."
"Yes! You're the best big brother ever!" Rosewater threw her hooves around Green in a brief hug, then practically chucked the singular plastic bit at him before snatching the property card up like it was made of gold. "Yay! Now I can build houses too!"
"What happened to the shrewd negotiator from before?" Gray asked, giving Green a knowing little grin.
Green shrugged. "I was feeling charitable all of a sudden."
The game continued around the board for several more turns, taking nearly an hour before it was finally over. Games of Proprietaries tended to last a while, so they always made sure to set aside the proper amount of time to play on Family Game Night.
Gray went bankrupt first, having a series of bad turns in a row while moving towards the end of the board rotation and landing on Flathoof's property set twice, then on Rosewater's set twice. Green went out next after having the same problem, but it didn't matter much to him.
What mattered most was seeing Rosewater win after Flathoof went several turns in a row of landing on bad spaces, paying taxes and rent to his daughter, and not getting any income from her in return. Ironically, he even landed in jail more than once, grumbling about the game’s corrupt legal system all the while.
Green wasn't certain whether or not Flathoof noticed Gray subtly shifting her wings whenever the dice were rolled so that they would land perfectly in Rosewater's favor every single time. Flathoof said nothing if he did notice, and Green said nothing either, and of course Rosewater had no idea that her mother was cheating.
Once the game was done and the pieces and board were put away, the family left the embassy's lounge and made their way to the dining room for a late dinner. Gray tasked her assistant, a unicorn stallion named Highbrow, with getting things prepared while she helped Rosewater wash up before eating. He was little more than a butler, truthfully, but that's all the family needed.
Green didn't understand everything about the politics of the situation between Hope's Point and New Pandemonium City, but he did know that the embassy here in Hope's Point was hardly treated any differently than other buildings nearby. It essentially served as little more than a house for Gray and her family, with minimal staff—just Highbrow, really—to assist her in her ambassadorial duties.
The building was located on the surface level of the city in the middle of a city block that contained a wide variety of sights and sounds that would attract any tourist, or in this case, be of interest to a foreign ambassador. There were several different restaurants with different offerings from all over the world, entertainment venues like an arcade and a movie theater; as well as clothing stores, toy stores, grocery stores, and electronics stores. Anything the embassy’s residents needed was readily available.
The interior of the building was decorated to suit the tastes of the current ambassador, and Gray preferred things to be rather sparse and spartan. Thus, there wasn't a lot of clutter, but there was plenty of open space that could be used for whatever anypony wanted or needed to use it for.
Typically, Green used the space to play more active games with Rosewater when Gray and Flathoof had work to do or needed “private time”. His sister loved playing tag with him, because he was the only earth pony she knew who could leap high enough to catch her while flying.
Dinner today consisted of some take-out ordered from one of the nearby restaurants, one that specialized in hayburgers and hay fries. Rosewater was the only one in the family that ever ordered light; she didn't have the need at her age for the kind of diet the others did. Gray and Flathoof tended to eat the most, followed closely by Green, who, as Gray was always keen to point out, was "still a growing colt". He knew that he ate more than other colts his age by a large margin; he'd seen as much for himself when the family went out to eat instead of eating in.
As the kids ate, the adults talked business. Green knew Rosewater would mostly be tuning them out to quietly eat her hayburger, but he always made sure to listen in as much as he could, even if it didn't interest him much. It always paid to pay attention and remain observant; that was a lesson that Gray had taught him when he was younger and one that she lived by, so he would do the same.
"You see the weather reports about that big sandstorm coming?" Flathoof asked while sipping from his soda.
Gray shook her head. "I've heard about it here and there but haven't been watching the news about it. How bad is this one gonna be?"
"Oof, worst one yet. Supposed to be big enough to cover almost the entire continent for weeks. Your sisters say anything about putting in a lockdown order up north to keep ponies safe? I know it's been discussed before, but…"
"Yeah, Dawn said something about that." She took a big bite of her hayburger. "Said it’s the first time the city's been completely locked down in its history, rather than just a few districts here and there. And you're saying it's gonna be for weeks?"
"At least three, maybe four, yeah. Chief Storm already sent out word to our agents up north not to let anypony head out the land route at all until after the storm passes. Can't risk somepony getting stuck out there in the thick of it." He took another sip of soda. "Sounds to me like we're cutting that peace treaty signing pretty close."
"Ten days…" Gray breathed. "Hard to believe that we're just ten days away from making this peace thing a reality. Shame it took so damn long, right? I mean, better late than never, I figure. At least my sisters finally got the job done."
He leaned over to press his forehead against hers. "Hey, it's not just them. You've been a big part of this, too. No matter how much you want to act like you were just a go-between, what do you think any other ambassador is supposed to do, hmm? They'd still have to confer with the ponies in charge back home. You can just do it faster."
"Meh, a job's a job. Glad to be a part of it, I guess. Kinda wish I could be more involved with the signing, but I’m fine if we can’t. I don’t suppose Lockwood said anything to you about us maybe coming along?"
Flathoof shook his head. "Nope, it's just gonna be him and Blackburn for the actual signing, at least as far as what Dawn said was needed. You know how she is: minimal unnecessary business." He nudged her side softly. "Too much to ask for her sister to come visit after five years apart, I guess?"
"That's Dawn for ya."
"Well, anyway, the royal family's gonna take a little vacation afterwards, so we'll meet 'em all in Newhaven after they're done with this treaty business."
"Are they bringing the kids with them to the treaty signing?"
"Yeah, just as a courtesy from Lockwood towards your sisters, since this is kind of a rare opportunity. I don't think all of them have met Bluebolt and Fireglow yet, have they?"
Gray tapped her chin. "No, I don't think so, apart from Havoc and Red. Insipid hasn't visited since Fireglow was born, so she hasn't met him yet." She shook her head and chuckled. "Still hard to believe that we're all related now. We've come a long way since you were just a humble police captain and I was just an unemployed mooch focused only on making friends with Fluttershy."
"We sure have, haven't we?" He chuckled. "Heh, imagine the reaction of the ponies up north if they found out that the Shadow Associate's sister was married to Queen Blackburn's brother-in-law. What would that even be called? Sister-in-law… twice removed? I don't know how family trees work."
"Don't worry about it."
She leaned into him and pressed her nose against his ear, where she said something that Green couldn't hear but which made Flathoof's face redden, which meant they were talking about something private that he didn't want to hear anyway. So Green just turned his attention back to Rosewater and watched her eat her hayburger and fries, and gave her a smile when she looked his way, which she returned.
He'd never imagined ever being part of a family before, but now that he was part of one, he couldn't imagine his life any other way.
*****
Caramel sat at his desk that day in class and felt just a little confused. He'd noticed on today's curriculum that the upcoming lesson wasn't one of the subjects he was accustomed to, nor was it a special, fun subject like when his mom sometimes came and taught everypony basic cooking skills and recipes. She'd taught everypony last week how to use an oven now that they were old enough, specifically how to make cupcakes using a recipe she'd learned from her best friend Pinkie. Caramel had never met Pinkie before, but she sounded amazing.
Anyway, today's subject had nothing to do with history, nor with mathematics or science. The subject was just listed as "Life Development, Lesson One", whatever that meant.
Even so, he and his fellow classmates still sat at attention as Overseer Pedigree finished prepping the video screen for the presentation. He said it was about "puberty" or something like that, and while Caramel was certain that he recognized the word and knew what it meant, he didn't really understand it. Some of the smarter students seemed to get it and started to snicker a little, so he assumed it was a funny topic.
Over the years, his friends and fellow students had all grown more and more unique. They were slowly learning how to properly dress themselves and style their manes and tails in ways that they felt defined who they were, himself included. He still liked wearing his regular jacket when he wasn't doing training exercises, though he'd had to get bigger jackets as he got taller and more muscular; he was the biggest colt in the class now that Green Guard had moved.
Most of the other colts were also getting taller and more muscular, with the exceptions being those who didn't like doing physical activities as much. Sunspire, for instance, sat at the front of the class like he always did, and while he was taller, he was more… what was the word? Lanky? Yeah, that was it. Not like himself, no sir; Caramel had put on a good amount of muscle, because he liked spending time at the tower's gym and so did some of his friends.
He knew of course that he and the other students would be getting taller eventually, but he didn't know how to explain some of the other… changes that had been going on in his life. They were just difficult to think about, and he got nervous sometimes when he thought about them or noticed certain things. He'd never had any of these problems before the past month or so, and he figured that he wasn't alone.
Then, the Overseer got the attention of the class by rapping on his desk with his hoof. "Okay, everypony, settle down, and get ready to take notes. Today's subject is probably the most important one anypony here will ever have to learn, because it doesn't pertain to anything you've ever learned before. It has everything to do with you, and your lives going forward, so I want everypony to pay close attention."
Now Caramel was extra nervous; the Overseer always treated every subject like it was important over the years—all of the teachers did, actually, even the newer ones—but he'd never gone into such a spiel about any of them before. Whatever this "puberty" subject was, it sounded like it was extra important, and that meant Caramel knew he'd need to pay extra special attention to it so that his mom would be extra proud of him.
Once the video started, Caramel became acutely aware of just why it was such an important topic: it explained everything about the various changes he'd been noticing in himself and his classmates, the things that he’d been wondering about just a few minutes ago in fact.
It talked about how colts like him grew larger in size while fillies tended to stay slightly slimmer; it talked about why the voices of most of the fillies in class had already changed but why not as many colts' voice had done the same; it talked about how sometimes they might get pimples and how their manes and tails would get oily; it talked about certain parts of a pony's anatomy that were more… noticeable and fascinating to themselves and others.
It also talked about the fact that colts and fillies might start to take an interest in one another in ways that were different from how they'd view a friend or family member. Caramel didn't really get it, but he noticed that a number of his classmates' gazes shifted here and there to particular others in the class.
He didn't know why, but he couldn't help himself from glancing sideways towards where Marée de Rêve was sitting. When he did, he noticed that she was looking in his direction as well, and almost immediately they both looked away from one another. He didn't really know why he'd looked in the first place, nor why he panicked when she noticed him looking. Marée was his best friend, and he'd never felt nervous like that before. Why was her face red? Why did his cheeks feel hot?
The video also went over a number of things that were kind of gross, embarrassing, and humorous all at once. Part of it was regarding hygiene, particularly about the importance of cleaning parts of the body that might start smelling that didn't smell before. Another part started talking about the fillies' naughty parts as well as the colts', plus things like "estrus". It was all kind of fascinating, especially in regards to the fact that all of this puberty stuff was supposed to be preparing their bodies for adulthood, especially for… reproduction.
Caramel knew a little bit about sex and how foals were made, probably more than most of the other students did. His mom had told him a thing or two about why she couldn't have foals of her own once she felt he was old enough to understand. This video just helped to clarify things his mom had told him in regards to mares, and helped him understand more about a stallion's part in such things.
What the video also made clear though was that sex was something special and important done between two ponies, and that having a foal was a big responsibility. There was a lot of information in the video about "safe" sex, a term that sounded weird to him, as if the act of sex was dangerous otherwise? The instructions were extremely clear about how colts and fillies their age should not be engaging in such activities at all, though.
The other students were invariably giggling, fidgeting, or watching with rapt attention as the video went on, all the way until the end.
Once the Overseer shut off the video and returned to the front of the class, he cleared his throat and rapped the table again to quiet everypony down and get their attention. "Okay everypony, now, for a little clarification, this video was designed to be shown to colts and fillies that attend the various public schools out in the city, just like all of the other educational videos we watch.
"However, unlike those videos, it is worth noting a difference in the subject material for all of you. You are all aware that you were born different from the common colts and fillies out in the city. This has had an effect on your bodies and minds that causes all of you to develop differently and absorb information more readily than your more average peers.
"So, some of the information in this video is slightly inaccurate. Many of you are already likely further along in the puberty process than you even realize, because your bodies are engineered differently and mature faster than average. Nonetheless, it was imperative that we present this information to you, out of interest in your well-being."
That got Caramel to thinking, since the video did indicate age groups for colts and fillies and how soon they should be developing, and the ages presented were just a little older than he and his classmates were. Did that really mean they were all going through this phase earlier than average colts and fillies did? Would they be considered stallions and mares sooner? He'd have to ask his mom about it; he was embarrassed to ask the Overseer in front of the class.
The Overseer looked out upon the class with a hard look. "Your learning environment is far different from your peers in the public school system," he continued. "You all learn together, play together, eat together, and live together, and I am well aware that many of you have bonded together as friends."
This much was true, Caramel thought. Spending every day in the company of the same thirty or so ponies his age and forged bonds between many of them. Like him and his best friend Marée, for instance. His mom always liked to joke that he and Marée were like two peas in a pod, considering how much time they spent together. The same went for ponies like Cloudy Day and Double Trouble, or Rebel Noise's little skyball clique.
With a sigh, the Overseer added, "And I know it is unlikely that I or your other caretakers could ever be successful in preventing any of you from engaging in sexual activity as you mature."
A collective groan went through the class, as though they were disgusted by the very idea of doing anything like that with anypony in their class, Caramel among them. Why would the Overseer think any of them would do something like that? Gross.
"You all say that now, but you're all young and it won’t be long before you all reach your teenage years and your hormones begin raging out of control," Pedigree said with a cheeky grin. "Our lessons on sex education will continue throughout the remainder of the month."
The class groaned again. More videos about how gross all these changes were? No thank you.
"But," he continued, "I will also note to everypony in this class and the others that you do not need to be afraid of myself or any of the other caretakers being upset with you if you and a fellow classmate wish to engage in such an activity.
"We do, however, want you to do so safely. So, if anypony wishes to discuss the subject matter in the video, whether for their own curiosity or for practical reasons, myself and Miss Velvet are making ourselves available for questioning during our normal office hours." With a smirk, he added, "We want you all to be happy with whatever decisions you make, but they should be informed decisions."
He cleared his throat again. "So! I will now open the floor to the class: any questions regarding today's video?"
Every single pony in the class raised their hooves, even Caramel's. Yes, even Marée's.
*****
Razzle Dazzle sat at a round table that had been covered with a lovely white tablecloth, and which was laden with all of the amenities required for an afternoon tea party: there was tea, of course—a tasty chamomile, a crisp mint, and some lemon iced tea; a little tray of bite-sized sandwiches—cucumber with herbed cream cheese and radishes; a little tray of tiny treats—lemon meringues and strawberry tarts; as well as linen napkins, plenty of genuine silverware, and small plates. The tea cups were made to look like peacocks, very fancy.
She sipped daintily from her tea, at roughly the same time as the other fillies at the table did. The other fillies were all friends of hers: Chroma Key, a unicorn whose coat and mane were never the same color combination two days in a row—today she'd decided on a pink coat and a blonde mane; Sweet Lullaby, a unicorn with a light blue coat and a pink mane; Souvenir, a lavender-coated unicorn with a blue mane; and Plum Crisp, a plum-colored earth pony with an orange mane.
They all wore frilly lace dresses appropriate for their age, all of which matched in color: a pale lime green. It was always appropriate to dress properly for a social engagement, after all, and Razzle and her friends treated these social engagements with the same amount of due diligence that they treated their schoolwork and their training. It was lovely to have an afternoon to spend with friends, after all.
Most importantly, to spend the afternoon with Miss Insipid was a true delight. She sat at the other end of the table across from Razzle, her gorgeous mane done up in airy curls. Her dress matched those of the fillies present, and she'd complemented it with a sun hat decorated with flowers—fake, of course—and a thin veil that gave her eyes a sense of mystery to them. Miss Insipid always looked her best.
These "courses" were a rare occurrence, but they were always a pleasure. They were considered extracurricular activities, too, so Razzle was glad to be getting school credits for attending. All the other colts and fillies had their own favorite extracurriculars, but Razzle's favorite was Miss Insipid's "High Society Training". Nopony was more of a high-class mare than Miss Insipid, and Razzle and her friends figured if they could learn to be like her and get credit for it and see Miss Insipid's fancy loft apartment out of the tower, all the better.
It wasn't always tea parties, of course. Last month, Miss Insipid had taught them all how to properly apply makeup, which they'd all applied before coming to today's lesson. The month before that had been learning how to style one's mane for a variety of occasions; before that it was learning how colors complemented each other and the importance of dressing for the occasion; before that was learning how to walk like a lady. Razzle wondered how that would have played out if any colts ever signed up for these classes.
Today, though, was a tea party, because when somepony frequently engaged with high-society ponies, they needed to know how to properly sit, drink, eat, and converse at a social event, and tea parties were such an event that was, as Miss Insipid put it, "appropriate for fillies your age". Razzle figured that meant there were more adult parties where they probably drank adult beverages.
As everypony sipped from their teas, they followed Miss Insipid's example, with dainty, light sips so that they wouldn't spill their tea or look boorish. She then lifted a sandwich from the tiered tray on the table and set it on her plate, and the fillies all followed suit; Plum was able to keep up with the others despite her lack of unicorn magic, but needed a little help—Razzle was closest, so she did it—so that she wasn't reaching across the table.
The sandwiches were, incidentally, delicious. Razzle found it extraordinarily difficult to take small bites as was proper etiquette, but resisted that temptation. Embarrassing herself in front of Miss Insipid would just be the worst.
"So, how is everypony's schoolwork going?" Miss Insipid asked after everypony had finished their sandwiches, all while she was pouring everypony a fresh cup of tea.
Souvenir spoke up first. "I got an A on my math test last week," she said with a proud grin. "The Overseer was happy with how much I'm improving."
"Oh my stars, an A? Way to go, Souvenir, I'm super proud of you. Sugar?"
"Yes please."
Insipid passed over the sugar tray, and Souvenir carefully plonked a single cube of sugar into the teacup, then began to stir. "Ah ah," Insipid said gently. "Don't use circular motions, Souvie. Back and forth, or up and down, never circular."
Souvenir nodded and started stirring back and forth instead. "Like this?"
"Perfect! Just like that. And be careful not to spill. A lady never spills. Cha." Insipid smiled and looked to the others at the table. "Anypony else have anything they'd like to share about schoolwork? No? Well, how about anything you girls are doing in your free time?"
Plum raised her hoof.
"You don't have to, like, raise your hoof, Plum," Insipid said with a smile. "The proper way to get attention in a conversation is to, like, observe the group, and if it seems like nopony else is gonna jump in, then just do so yourself. Use your judgment, and always be polite. Otherwise, lightly clearing your throat will totally work. For. Sure."
Plum nodded, then looked to the others for a moment before clearing her throat. "I finished reading the Berry Trotter series last night. I really liked the ending, except that—"
Razzle and Lullaby perked up quickly. "No spoilers!" they exclaimed in unison.
Plum put a hoof over her mouth, embarrassed. "Oops. Sorry, I forgot you guys are still reading it. How far along are you, anyway?"
Razzle smiled. "I just finished Chalice of Fire last week. Oh my stars, it was so exciting! I was really worried about Berry the whole way through, especially when he had to escape from the dragon! And ooh, I can't believe how much of a jerk Moss Whistler was to Orange Ginger. She deserves better."
Lullaby stuck her nose in the air and grinned. "Well I finished Chalice last week. I'm just finishing The Phoenix Society, actually. Probably gonna finish it up tonight. Just you wait, Moss and Orange—"
"No spoilers!" Razzle huffed and narrowed her eyes. "Besides, it's not a competition, Lullaby. If it was, I started two weeks after you did, so that means I'm reading faster than you are."
"Are not!"
"Am so!"
Insipid cleared her throat to get the fillies' attention. "Girls, it isn't proper etiquette to, like, bicker and argue at a social function, especially over minor things like who can, like, read faster or whatever. Major unfresh. Now, apologize to each other right now."
Razzle and Lullaby glanced at one another, then hung their heads, embarrassed. "I'm sorry," they said in unison.
"Good." Insipid took a sip of her tea, then turned to Chroma with a smile. "How about you, Chromie? You've been super quiet today, much more than usual."
Chroma gulped, then nervously sipped her tea. "I don't really have anything to talk about today…"
"That's okay! Another aspect of being part of a social event like this is, like, knowing how to just sit there and listen." Insipid said, gently patting Chroma's hoof. "Sometimes you'll be at a table where everypony is a total chatterbox and you can't get a word in edgewise! And that's okay! You never have to talk if you don't want to."
"She's just embarrassed because she has a crush on Black Bolt," Souvenir giggled.
Chroma's eyes went wide in horror. "I do not!"
Souvenir nodded excitedly. "I saw her staring at him at lunch the other day."
Lullaby gasped. "Oh yeah, that's right! She was totally looking over at his table the whole time!"
Chroma's face was growing redder by the second. "Shut up! No I wasn't! I don't have a crush on him!"
Razzle and Plum joined in with Lullaby and Souvenir, chanting together: "Chromie likes Black Bolt, Chromie likes Black Bolt!"
"No I don't!" Chroma snapped, entirely red by this point—literally, her coat had turned a dark shade of red from her head to her tail, and her mane too. She pointed her hoof angrily at Souvenir. "You wanna talk about crushes? You have a crush on Switcheroo!"
Souvenir froze up instantly, a look of pure terror on her face. "Wh-what? No I don't! Switch is gross! He picks his nose!"
"Yeah, well, I saw you passing notes to him in class the other day, so what do you have to say about that, huh?"
Souvenir, red in the face, nearly fell out of her seat. "I wasn't passing notes!"
Razzle, Plum, and Lullaby chanted, "Souvie likes Switcheroo, Souvie likes Switcheroo!"
Insipid cleared her throat loudly. "Girls, please? This is, like, super bad etiquette at a social function. You are proper ladies, not a bunch of…" She paused for a second as though considering her words carefully. "Juveniles. Proper ladies do not taunt each other about schoolyard crushes and junk, okay?"
With her nose in the air, Insipid added, "Learning how to properly gossip like a lady is another lesson for, like, another day. It is an art. Now, you two apologize to each other, and we can move on with our lesson, okay?"
The two fillies looked at one another, then sighed and apologized. After that was done, Miss Insipid moved the lesson along to teaching the fillies how to properly dab—not wipe!—with a napkin, and what not to do with it, like blowing your nose or spitting food into it that you didn't like.
Razzle was glad that the conversation turned away when it did from the topic of crushes. She wasn't sure whether or not her friends knew she had a crush on Vermillion Blaze, and frankly would rather not find out if they did. She just knew that she'd have to be more careful when she was spying on him at the gym during physical education class if she wanted to keep her secret a secret.
*****
Rebel Noise swooped down as low to the floor as she was able to before soaring back up as fast as she could and tagging her opponent's flank. Heatblast—a pegasus colt with a blue coat and blond mane that always wore a visor over his eyes—had been so focused on keeping away from her that he'd been flying predictably, which of course left him open to a classic flanking maneuver. She tagged instead of tackled, as was typical in proper skybal games, because the adults wanted to avoid injuries; it was just as easy to tag, anyway, if not easier.
The instant that she tagged him, Heatblast froze up and dropped the ball he'd been dribbling on his head, as he was supposed to do according to these "junior" rules, and the ball fell to the floor. When it hit the ground, a whistle sounded, indicating that the ball was no longer in play and that the players were to return to their off-court positions.
"That was good work out there, Rebel," said Coach Brisk Gallop as Rebel and Heatblast flew off the court and landed on the ground in front of him. "Where did you learn to move like that?"
Rebel smirked and ran a hoof through her wild mohawk. "I learned by watching Miss Havoc's old matches. She's the greatest blocker ever!"
Gallop's mustache bristled, so it was hard to see that he was smirking underneath it. "She certainly is a talented player, one of the best I've ever seen. A shame we can't officially watch her in action these days, hmm?"
Heatblast shook his head and glanced at Rebel. "Good job, Rebel. I didn't even see you dip down that low," he said with a nod.
"Thanks," she replied. "You're pretty fast, Heat. I bet you'd have scored if it was somepony else."
He smiled back. "Thanks."
Rebel stood up straight and listened intently as Coach Gallop turned to the other pegasus colts and fillies that were present. She knew that the old stallion knew his stuff better than most pegasi; he'd retired two years ago from playing with the Rockets to serve as their coach, since that position was technically empty.
As part of that capacity, he'd been glad to help Miss Havoc out when she wanted to open up an extracurricular source for the students to learn how to play skyball. Rebel and several of her fellow students—all pegasi, natch—thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity not just to get out of the tower, but to train in a physically-demanding sport under one of the best. Having the chance to even train with Miss Havoc herself sometimes was a perk, but it was rare that she was in town long enough to do so.
Besides Rebel and Heatblast, four other students always signed up for these training courses: Razorwing, a colt with a silver coat and a red mane with white streaks; Hypercharge, a purple-coated colt with a red mane, and whose eyes were perpetually and completely red; Wildcard, a colt with a green coat and a blue mane, and who had prominent canines; and Skybreaker, a tan-coated filly with a brown mane, and who had a blue streak across her forehead that looked like an arrow. All of them were huge fans of Miss Havoc, mostly because she'd been the one to give them each a name.
They all wore a training jersey for class, and Miss Havoc had had them customized to not just be in the Mid-East Rockets colors of white with red trim, but to have their names on them as well. They weren't allowed any other accessories besides those they needed for keeping their powers in check or make up for a disability, hence why Heatblast wore his visor so that he didn't accidentally vaporize somepony by looking at them, and why Rebel wore her noise-filtering headphones so that she could safely hear everypony talk.
"As Miss Noise here just demonstrated," Coach Gallop said once everypony was paying attention, "the key to being a good blocker is to anticipate the opposing striker's path and hit from where they least expect it. It's rare for a block to be faster than a striker, or at least fast enough to catch normally; that's why they're strikers.
"For our next exercise, we'll learn the proper method of avoiding such a flanking maneuver, which requires that your opponent is able to watch and predict your movements. The optimal way to do so is via a maneuver called a 'feint', in which you give all indication that you are moving in one direction, then you move in another."
He glanced through the students before him, then picked two: "Wildcard, why don't you serve as our blocker. Skybreaker, you're the striker in this scenario, and you'll be demonstrating a feint for us."
He then beckoned Skybreaker over to whisper something to her, most likely how to go about feinting; he'd whispered to Rebel what he wanted her to do so that she could flank Heatblast earlier. He was a good coach—a great coach!—both for the Rockets and for this little "youth league" that Miss Havoc had started. The only issue was that there were only six students playing, not seven.
They needed seven, because as just six they were missing the last player needed to give them the proper lineup for an actual skyball team. Not that they'd actually have anypony to play against—there weren't enough pegasi in their class to make two teams, and they couldn't exactly play against civilian schools—but Rebel kind of wished that they could convince somepony else to come along just so they could all be a real team if only to say that they were.
But Blue Mist was always more concerned with stuffing his face with food and wasn't interested in athletics; Cloudy Day and Double Trouble were inseparable and would both want to play, and then somepony would need to sit on the bench—they needed seven, not eight; Serendipity was much too busy with her tutoring from Miss Dawn to dedicate time to skyball training; Marée de Rêve had already declined, claiming that skyball was too rough for her tastes, unless they needed a cheerleader or something like that.
Things just didn't work out, but that's just how the chips fell, as Miss Havoc would sometimes say.
At any rate, Rebel focused her attention on Wildcard and Skybreaker as they flew to and fro over the court, with the former chasing after the latter. Skybreaker was the faster of the two by a decent amount, which is why she was given the striker position for this exercise, but Wildcard wasn't slower by any meaningful margin. They were all too young and training together too often that none of them could really pull ahead of anypony else just yet.
Rebel watched as Skybreaker led Wildcard around in a chase for nearly a full minute before moving towards the goal ring. Just as she swooped in as if she was going left, with Wildcard right on her tail, she abruptly banked right and darted straight up instead. Wildcard nearly slammed into the floor; it had happened so suddenly. Skybreaker took advantage of the distraction to bolt for the goal, then struck the ball towards it. The shot went a bit wide, but it at least passed through the outermost of the three rings.
Gallop blew his whistle, and the two students flew off the court and back over to the training line. "That was a good move, Skybreaker," he said, his mustache bristling—did it do that every time he talked? "Once you get faster, you'll even have the time to properly aim your shot."
Skybreaker nodded. "Uh-huh. I panicked because I didn't know if Wildcard had gotten back behind me. I didn't want to look!"
"You always have to be aware of where your opposing blocker is," Gallop said. "Getting distracted and losing track of your opponent leaves you open to a hit, and statistically-speaking, that guarantees your team loses a point when you drop the ball. Also, remember to mix-up your dribbling! Your opponent has to be watching both you and the ball, and you can use that to your advantage."
The instructions continued as the students switched places to practice the maneuvers they'd seen so far, trading partners every few minutes when Gallop blew his whistle, just so that they could see how the plays worked from both sides and with different opponents. It didn't matter much to them in the short term, but they knew that it would be good practice for the future.
Rebel and her friends had determined by now who belonged in which positions if they were to ever form a team of their own, and even started figuring out "tiers" among themselves to determine assignments in a theoretical game:
Wildcard, Hypercharge, and herself were blockers, with Rebel being a "lead" blocker of sorts because she was the smallest and most maneuverable of the three yet could still pack a punch. Skybreaker, Heatblast, and Razorwing were the strikers, with Skybreaker being the "lead" because she was just a little faster and more maneuverable than the others. Their seventh would either replace somepony else or take goalkeeper; Wildcard and Razorwing had no problem taking the position if needed.
Once they'd finished their exercises, Coach Gallop called them all off the field for one last speech. "Good hustle out there, kids. You're all mighty quick for colts and fillies your age, so I have no doubt in my mind that you'll be able to find teams to play with when you're older." The edges of his mustache curled up when he smiled. "And having references from the Rockets certainly won't hurt.
"Now, before I send you all off to the showers before sending you home, do any of you have any questions?"
Rebel excitedly raised a hoof. "Coach, are the Rockets really planning on going pro next season?"
Gallop's eyes widened in surprise. "Who told you that?"
"I've been reading lots of rumors on the league's datanet message boards," she replied matter-of-factly.
She'd been a member of the forums there for the past four years under the username RocketRebel231, and had gotten into her fair share of flame wars with other users that didn't think the Rockets were the best team in the league—idiots, all of them. She did it on behalf of all of her friends, of course, keeping them in the loop of what might be happening behind the scenes.
"Hmm…" Gallop murmured, stroking his mustache with his hoof. He then shrugged. "I can neither confirm nor deny these rumors you're speaking off, Miss Noise."
"Awww, why not?"
"Because I can't just make a statement either way regarding such an important issue without the team owner's permission. If you want an answer, you can ask Miss Havoc, hmm?"
Heatblast huffed and crossed his hooves over his chest. "She won't tell us!"
"Well then what makes you think I would?"
"Because you're the cool old grandpa that's super nice to young colts and fillies like us so that we can succeed," said Skybreaker with a big grin, fluttering her eyelashes. "Right?"
Gallop chortled. "You've been watching too many movies, Miss Skybreaker. And I don't see how me telling you will help anything."
"Please?" pleaded Wildcard with wide, puppy-dog eyes that only he could pull off.
Rebel considered it cheating, since Wildcard could shapeshift his eyes—or as much of his body as he needed—to look like a genuine puppy's, or any other animal's for that matter. He had to be careful not to go too far with the transformation, though; Coach Gallop didn't know about their powers.
Gallop bristled his mustache and shook his head. "No can do, kids. I'm sure if you ask Miss Havoc real nicely, she might just tell you what's going on, though. Okay?"
The collective group grumbled in affirmation.
"Good. No go on, young'uns, hit the showers."
With another grumble, the students headed off on their way, with Rebel and Skycatcher making their way for the mares' changing room while the colts headed for the stallions'. Once there, Rebel took off her jersey first, then her headphones—the Overseer hadn't been able to engineer them to be waterproof just yet—before taking some earplugs out of her bag and plugging them in her ears and heading off to the showers.
Once there, Rebel couldn't hear a single thing; the ear plugs were specially-crafted to completely block all incoming noise rather than filtering it like her headphones did. With these plugs she was effectively deaf, but it was better than being in pain because of how loud the showers were, or if she or Skybreaker closed their locker door—it didn't even have to be hard—or even if Skybreaker just tried to talk to her in a low voice. Rebel hated it, but it was just part of her life.
She and Skybreaker chatted a little bit while they washed off the day's sweat, as they were comfortable enough with one another that they didn't mind showering like this; they'd seen that weird "puberty" video yesterday morning, and while they'd all laughed at the time, it had made the pair of them and their other friends think about things they'd never thought about before.
"Chatted" was technically a bit inaccurate, though they did still hold a conversation. Rather than using words, of course, they communicated with their wings using the wing language Miss Curaçao had taught them years ago.
<Do you think we can try again to get a seventh player after lunch today?> asked Skybreaker.
<I wanted to try asking Blue Mist again, maybe when he isn't eating,> Rebel replied. <Can you imagine how cool it would be to get a full team together? He'd be a good goalkeeper. Nopony's getting a shot past him.>
<I think we should keep trying with Marée, actually. She's faster than he is.>
Rebel rolled her eyes. <You're never gonna get Marée to join up no matter how many times you ask, Sky. She doesn't like flying like we do. That's why she spends all her time with Caramel.>
<Hmph. Oh well.> Skybreaker gave Rebel a small smile as she started putting shampoo into her mane. <It doesn't matter anyway. The six of us are tight without a seventh as it is. Even if we never find another player, I don't care if I get to be together with all of you.>
<Yeah!> Rebel replied with a grin. <The six of us can handle anything. Best friends forever?>
Skybreaker grinned wide. <Best friends forever!>
*****
Sunspire's head pulsed lightly as he adjusted his goggles for what was probably the tenth time this afternoon. Usually he could stand to keep them off for extended periods at a time, but for the past few hours he'd been uncomfortable with the sensations he was feeling, so he needed his goggles to filter everything out. They pinched his nose a little too tightly, so they weren't exactly comfortable; he'd have to ask the Overseer for another adjustment to the fit.
Without the goggles, the world looked like it was made up almost entirely of glowing lights. Anything and everything that used magic, even the most minute amounts, had a subtle sheen of light around it. The more powerful the source, the brighter the light, sometimes to the point of blinding; Miss Dawn, for example, was absolutely radiant, like… well, like the morning sun.
Not that he knew what the morning sun actually looked like. All the knowledge on that subject he had was from pictures he'd seen in books, and what little reading he was able to do on the subject. He didn't know what it looked like in reality, nor what its warmth felt like. He wanted to know those answers more than anything, though really he just wanted to experience what everything was like outside of the confines of the tower.
But Miss Dawn had her tasks for him, and he wouldn't do anything to upset her, so here he stayed.
After becoming comfortable with his goggles again, he parsed through the list of books stored within Pandora Tower's database, narrowing down his search with the sort of swift efficiency of somepony with as many years of experience as he was of age. He sorted as he went, discarding books and files that were of no use to him, not because they weren't of the proper subject matter or even because of mediocre reviews, but because of his personal experience with them.
It only took him a few minutes to put together a collection of books that fit the requirements he'd been given, after which he stored them all onto a data drive that could be inserted into any computer or datapad for future access. He then took this data drive with him from behind his desk at Pandora Tower's library and made his way towards the library’s reading area.
The library had been established years ago when Miss Dawn had decided that having a dedicated floor for ponies to study in would be a benefit to everypony involved. Considering that it had seen frequent use over the years, almost exclusively by Sunspire and his fellow students, it was obvious that the decision had been an exemplary one.
That Sunspire was given the responsibility of librarian duties also came with a sense of pride; he'd ensure that Miss Dawn noticed his skills and talents at every turn.
He found the "client" that had requested the materials he’d found: Miss Curaçao. She was seated on the comfortable couch that was present in the reading space, and by her side was a young unicorn filly with an indigo coat and a two-tone red and pink mane. The filly was currently occupied with something that Miss Curaçao was showing her on her datapad, clapping excitedly at whatever it was.
Sunspire cleared his throat quietly to get the pair's attention. "Miss Curaçao, I believe you'll find everything that you asked for on this drive. I personally chose documents and materials that would be most appropriate for your preferences."
"Merci, Sunspire," Curaçao said with a smile as she took the data drive from him and inserted it into the datapad.
"De rien," he replied, pulling from his limited, but still useful, understanding of Romantique; he wasn't anywhere near as fluent as she was, but was doing his best to learn.
Curaçao glanced through the materials that had been provided briefly, then glanced at Sunspire, eyebrow raised. "And you sorted through all of these yourself, oui?"
"Yes, ma'am. I took the liberty of choosing materials that I myself utilized when I was younger. They are not standardized texts like what my classmates and I were using when we first started our schooling, but I found them better suited for the task than the regulation materials."
Curaçao nodded. "Considering how well-read you are, I certainly have high expectations for the materials here."
"As do I, but I have little doubt that they should assist you with your homeschooling efforts for Jellybean."
"I trust your judgment, mon amie." Curaçao then put the datapad away in her saddlebag and got up off the couch, pulling the filly—Jellybean—along with her. "Come along, mon trésor. We'll have some lunch and then we can begin your lessons for the day, hmm?"
Jellybean pouted. "But Mama, I don't wanna do lessons…"
"Oh? But don't you want to go to the study group with the other students, hmm? I am sure your friends will be there, and maybe your cousin Caramel, hmm?"
"I do wanna see my friends…" Jellybean hummed, then nodded. "D'accord Mama, I'll go."
Curaçao grinned, then hoisted the filly up onto her back. "C'est une bonne fille." She nodded at Sunspire as she left. "Merci again, Sunspire."
He nodded back and watched his instructor and her daughter leave, then adjusted his goggles again before returning to his computer station and getting back to work. Miss Dawn had asked him to catalogue a few important documents for her, and he wanted to be sure that he took care of that before lunchtime.
He didn't get very far in his task before he was interrupted as two colts came up to the desk. One was Black Bolt, a unicorn with a jet black coat and a silver mane; the other was Silver Spots, another unicorn, though his mane was white and his coat was dark gray and covered with silver spots—hence the name, which Miss Gray had given him. The pair of colts were good friends with one another and in a majority of Sunspire's classes, and so considered him a friend too.
"Hey, Sunspire!" Bolt called as he strode over to the desk with a big smile on his face. "How are ya?"
"I'm well, thank you." Sunspire then put his hoof over his lips. "Also, shhh. This is a library."
Bolt raised an eyebrow and glanced out into the reading area, which was currently empty; Miss Curaçao had been the only client so far today, as most of their classmates didn't frequent the library on weekends. "But… there's nopony here? We're not bothering anypony who's trying to study."
"I'm trying to study," Sunspire noted with a grin.
"You're always trying to study," Spots huffed. "It's the weekend! We didn't get that much homework, either, especially not after puberty lessons." He snickered. "Hee hee, I hope the other videos we watch are as funny as that one."
"I fail to see the humor in a video so enlightening," Sunspire retorted, tilting his head. "The subject matter of sexual maturity is quite serious."
Bolt chuckled. "Heh heh, you said 'sex'."
Spots put his hoof over his mouth. "The video was talking about our wieners and fillies' no-nos. Of course it's funny." With his nose in the air, he added, "I don't care what that video says, I'm never gonna be interested enough in a filly to put my weiner anywhere near a filly's no-no."
"Is the purpose of this visit just to regale me with your opinions on the…" He glanced at Bolt and decided to avoid using the "sex" word again. "The developmental education video? Because I fail to see the benefit."
"Naw, we wanted to see if you wanted to hang out with us at lunch!" Bolt said with a grin. "They uploaded a new episode of Botch-o-Rama on the datanet this morning and we were gonna watch it over some snacks and drinks. You're in, right?"
Sunspire's heart sank ever-so-slightly. Botch-o-Rama was one of his favorite wrestling programs, sometimes more fun to watch than the actual shows and headliner programs from which it pulled its material. Had he really been so preoccupied with his assignments today that he didn't notice that the new episode was uploaded?
"Sorry, I guess I'll have to watch it later tonight," he said, hiding his disappointment. "I've got a lot of work to do for Miss Dawn, and it's going to take me a few more hours to do."
"So? You can take a break for a lil' bit then come back to it after lunch, can't you?" Spots asked.
Sunspire shook his head. "Sorry, but no. Miss Dawn wouldn't like it if I delayed my assignments for self-gratification."
Bolt frowned. "Aww, c'mon, bud. You'll only be gone for like an hour at best. Miss Dawn ain't gonna get mad."
"I already gave you my answer, Bolt. Please don't make me repeat it."
Spots snorted and turned away. "Fine, whatever. We'll just watch it without you, then. Let's go, Bolt."
Bolt shook his head and sighed. "Yeah, right behind ya. See ya later, Sunspire. Let us know if you change your mind, though. We can always hold off on lunch for a little bit. But we won't wait forever, okay?"
Sunspire nodded and waved them off. "If it comes to it, I'll let you know," he said, knowing full well he wouldn't be done in time to join them.
As the pair left, Sunspire sighed, then returned to his work, at least for a few seconds before he was interrupted again by somepony clearing their throat behind him. The sudden sound was so close that it shocked him; he nearly leaped out of his chair, spinning it around while he flailed his limbs. The chair stopped moving when the throat-clearing pony grabbed its sides so that he was face-to-face with her.
"Oh! Hello, Serendipity," he blurted, adjusting his goggles nervously. "You spooked me. You really shouldn't do that; I could've hit you."
"You would've missed," the filly said with a sly grin.
Serendipity was a white-coated pegasus with a short black mane with white stripes in the bangs. She also had a large splotch of black on her coat over her left eye that could be easily mistaken for a tattoo, but wasn't. She liked to wear a denim jacket over a tight-fitting gray t-shirt.
Sunspire paused, then nodded, realizing she was right. Like a few of his classmates, Serendipity's powers were always "on"; if he didn't have his goggles on, she'd be glowing gold right now. In her case, she just had an unnatural knack for achieving favorable outcomes in almost every situation she was in. He didn't tell anypony, but he suspected that that was why Miss Dawn had picked her as her apprentice. He didn't want to seem… jealous.
"Um, what can I do for you?" he asked her.
"You can tell me why you didn't go hang out with your friends, for one," she said, spinning his chair around once before stopping it so they were face-to-face again.
Sunspire tilted his head. "Huh? You mean Bolt and Spots?"
"Who do you think I mean, dummy?"
"Hmph. I'll assume that you heard our conversation, so you already know the reason," he answered, sticking his nose in the air. "Miss Dawn has given me an assignment, and I aim to complete it with expedience."
"Yeah yeah, I heard that, but you and I both know you could finish the assignment after having lunch with your friends and taking a break to watch your dumb wrestling show."
"Botch-o-Rama isn't dumb—"
"Don't change the subject."
Sunspire narrowed his eyes, then nodded firmly. "Fine, I could potentially finish my assignment by tonight even if I took an hour-long break to enjoy some leisure time, but I would rather not risk Miss Dawn becoming upset with me if I slacked off. I would think you of all ponies understand that."
She rolled her eyes. "Look, Sunny, I love Miss Dawn just as much as you do, same with Emp, Ruby, Blaze, and Chromie." She was referring to Empyrean, Rubedo, Vermillion Blaze, and Chroma Key, who had all been named by Miss Dawn and later assigned important tasks by her as well. "But all of us still make use of our free time and hang out with our friends."
"Maybe so, but I am permitted to make my own choices, am I not?"
Serendipity narrowed her eyes, then spun his chair around again.
"Please stop that," he said wearily. "It's making me ill."
She poked his nose with her hoof. "Fine, you're right, you can make your own choices, Sunny. I won't stop you if this is the kind of choice you want to make." She sighed and pushed off of the chair, causing it to bump roughly against the desk. "But I don't think it's healthy."
He sighed and rubbed his nose. "If you're done lecturing me, Serendipity, I believe you have delayed me enough from my work. I would like to get back to it, if you don't mind?"
Serendipity stared at him for a moment, then shook her head dejectedly and headed off towards the exit. "Good luck with your work, Sunny. If you're finished in time for dinner, I'm sure your friends would be happy to see you there."
He watched her go, then huffed and turned back to the computer station, reconfiguring his chair again after she had somehow put it entirely off-balance. He immediately returned to his work of sorting documents, and managed to get a fair few of them done before he was interrupted yet again, this time by the intercom at his desk.
The incoming ID was from Miss Dawn's office; Sunspire felt immediately quite nervous that he had delayed his assignment too long by talking with his friends.
"Sunspire," Miss Dawn's voice said from the other end. "I require your assistance with an important assignment. Are you currently preoccupied?"
Sunspire blinked. "Oh, um, n-no ma'am. I was just finishing up the documentation sorting assignment you required of me—"
"Ah, yes, I recall delivering that assignment to you this morning. No matter, I will see that it is reassigned and dealt with appropriately. This new assignment takes precedence. Report to my office immediately."
"Yes ma'am, right away ma'am," Sunspire said, saluting even though she wasn't physically present. The call terminated immediately after he confirmed his orders.
He took a deep breath, then straightened his jacket, adjusted his goggles, and locked up his workstation before hopping out of the chair and making for the elevator. Whatever this assignment was that Miss Dawn had for him must have been absolutely critical if she was taking him off of his other assignment, and clearly required his expertise, otherwise why call him?
Whatever it was, he told himself right then and there that he was going to fulfil it to the absolutely best of his ability and make her proud.