Sisstet slithered closely behind Silver Spoon as she walked through town, trying to take in all the new sights while making sure he didn't lose her.
Before Sisstet had come to live with Silver Spoon, he had been to only a few places in Ponyville, or anywhere really. His entire world had consisted mainly of his home, the schoolhouse, the meat market where his guardians worked, and the places in-between that he had to pass to get to each location. There had been a few places that he had gone on field trips, but those were few and far between. If the field trip had required a permission form, he never got to go on it. It wasn't that his old guardians were unwilling to sign the papers; it was that his old guardians had no idea how to sign a form. He tried teaching them how to write a couple of times, but they always got frustrated and mad, and when they got angry, they got scary. That ended with him being left out of about half of the field trips where he would be stuck working on homework in the principal's office.
Now, it seemed he was off to see a new place every day, and today was no different. They were going to spend the weekend at Silver Spoon's parents, who lived on the rich side of town, a place he definitely had never been.
The houses here were so big! They also all had fences around them; some even had walls, like they were castles. He wondered if any of them had moats. If he had a moat, he would go out and lay in it every day. It would feel so good. Thinking about that reminded him of his itchy scales, and he had to stop to scratch himself. Silver Spoon would get a little ahead of him, but he could catch up. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the temporary relief his claws brought.
"Egads, does it have fleas?"
"Keep your distance, my heart. It could be wild."
He opened his eyes and saw two fancy-looking ponies looking at him funny.
"It's looking at us, love of my life," the stallion said as he backed up.
The mare backed up a few steps as well. "Do something, dear, before it comes at us."
Silver Spoon quickly put herself between him and the two fancy ponies. "Excuse me? He's a foal. Don't treat him like some wild animal. Just go back to strutting around and trying to convince everycreature you are important."
The mare raised her nose high. "Why! I never!"
The stallion raised his nose to equal height. "This neighborhood is declining in quality. We should consider moving back to Trottingham. Property values will plummet if they keep letting things like that into the neighborhood. Really, they should gate the community to keep the beasts out."
The two fancy ponies then walked away, still holding their noses high. Sisstet wondered how they avoided tripping while doing that. There was no way they could see where they were going.
Silver Spoon sighed and turned to look at him, looking sad. "Sisstet, I need to let you know, many of the ponies in this neighborhood can be rude. Don't let anything they say get to you. That being said, I know you are feeling physically uncomfortable right now, but try to avoid scratching yourself if you can. I'll see if I can get Madam Glass to run you a bath as soon as we get to my parents' house. That might help you feel better. Maybe she can rub some oatmeal on you."
"Oatmeal?" Sisstet asked in confusion. "Like you eat?"
Silver Spoon nodded. "Yes, but it can also help with itching." She looked down and whispered. "It also takes time to apply and remove, and I'd rather you had more time before you meet my parents. My parents are a lot like those two ponies we just saw. If they say anything to you that makes you feel bad, you tell me, okay?"
He cringed down. "They are mean?"
Silver Spoon bit her lip for a few seconds and seemed to be considering her answer. She eventually sighed and hung her head. "They aren't good ponies, but they aren't bad ponies. Some of the things they try to interest you in might be good for you if you are interested. We need their help, but any help they give will be because they think they are getting something out of it. Be on your best behavior while you are there, but make sure to tell me when you feel like they are saying something that isn't right—particularly when it comes to how they look at other creatures or what's important in life."
"I'm not ssure what you mean," he replied as he fought the urge to scratch.
The earth pony sighed again. "Just talk to me about whatever they talk to you about and tell me if they say anything you think is mean."
He picked his head up and nodded. That he knew he could do.
They continued for another minute or two down the road till they reached a great big wall made out of bushes—or maybe it was a regular wall that was covered with leaves? It was hard to tell which unless he got close and stuck his claws into it, but he didn't want to get separated from Silver Spoon again. Whether it was made of bushes or bricks, it had a gate, and it had a pony standing just inside the entrance, and Silver Spoon went up to talk to the pony.
"Miss Silver Spoon," the pony, an older unicorn stallion, said in a way that made Sisstet wonder if he just woke up or if he was getting ready to fall asleep. It was very tired and bored sounding. The stallion then looked at Sisstet with an equally bored and tired expression. "And this must be Master Silver Scale. That Master and the Mistress are expecting you. You may enter and proceed to the front door."
He didn't correct the stallion because Silver Spoon didn't try to correct him. He wanted to, but he didn't want to be sent away while they waited for whoever Silver Scale was. Still, it felt like lying, and lying didn't feel good. He would have to ask when he got a chance why Silver Spoon didn't correct the tired unicorn.
The gate opened to let them in, and as soon as he had fully slithered through, the gate closed behind them, and he heard it latch.
There was a white brick path that led up to a white stone house with silver streaks and lots of windows. The house was massive, just like all the others in the neighborhood—three stories tall.
There were extensive gardens with lots of ponies working in them. Many of the bushes were shaped like ponies except one; that one was in progress of being trimmed by a unicorn mare to look like some sort of snake monster. The mare stopped what she was doing to look at them, him in particular. She looked back and forth between him and the ugly-looking bush, then suddenly tossed her shears down on the ground and stormed off like she was angry. Did he do something wrong?
They went up to the front door, and he hid behind Silver Spoon as she knocked on it. She only gave two quick strikes on the door, but after about three seconds, the door opened, revealing an earth pony mare who looked so old that Sisstet couldn't tell if her fur was grey and her mane white because that was what they were supposed to be or if they had just gotten that way with age.
The mare may have been ancient, but her smile was young. "Young Miss Silver Spoon! I'm so glad you are spending the weekend here!" She then turned her attention to Sisstet. "And this must be the young Master Silver Scale. What a nervous-looking little dear."
"Hello, Madam Glass," Silver Spoon said with a beaming smile.
This pony seemed nice, and Silver Spoon seemed to like her, so he felt a little braver with her. "My name isn't Ssilver Scale. It is Sisstet."
Madam Glass blinked and then looked back at Silver Spoon. "The dear has a little speech impediment, does he?"
Silver Spoon nodded. "A little, however, he is getting better at speaking. It is worst when he gets nervous. I haven't talked to him about the Silver Scale name, but he is right; that is not yet his name. Please refer to him as Sisstet until when and if he decides he wants to be called Silver Scale."
The old pony nodded. "As you wish, young miss. Sisstet it is. Even the Mister and the Misses can't make me follow an order to call somecreature by the wrong name. It ain't proper. Come in, come in! It also ain't proper to leave you standin' at the door like a load of vagabonds."
They followed Madam Glass into the house, and the old pony shut and locked the door behind them. Sisstet looked around and was a bit overwhelmed by the sheer amount of stuff that filled the room; all of it seemed to either be made of silver or had silver on it somewhere. His eyes were drawn most to a painting above the fireplace that had a pony family and a filly that looked just like Silver Spoon—even with the same glasses and necklace.
"I shall be alertin' the Mister and Misses that you've arrived," Madam Glass announced as she weaved her way effortlessly through the maze of stuff as if she didn't even have to look where she was going.
"Wait!" Silver Spoon said in an urgent tone. "Can you tell them that Sisstet requires a bath before they meet him?"
Madam Glass stopped and looked at Sisstet. "The dear might be a little dusty from the road, but even the Mister and Misses would not begrudge him that while in their presence."
"He has a severe case of itchy scales due to a normal naga process of shedding skin, and a bath would help him feel more comfortable," Silver Spoon clarified. "I was hoping maybe you could give him an oatmeal scrub—gently, to further ease his discomfort. We don't want him to have his first impression with my parents be him scratching himself over something he can't help."
Madam Glass gasped and covered her mouth. "Oh my! That would be the wrong hoof to start off on, and I certainly want the young master to make a positive first impression. We can't have him scratchin' himself through it like he's got a case of fleas—and if some of the younger servants saw, oh the cruel gossip they'd spread! I'll let the Mister and Misses know to wait till I bathe him, and I know remedies better than oatmeal that can help soothe even the most persistent itches."
"Thank you," Silver Spoon said with a sigh of relief. "As always, you are always the best part of visiting my parents."
"You flatter me, young filly," Madam Glass chuckled. "Let me be gettin' to the Mister and Misses, and you can make yourselves at home while you await my return."
The ancient pony exited the room through a side door, and Silver Spoon turned towards him and sat down.
"I neglected to tell you that my parents are determined to have you named Silver Scale," she said gently. "They may get their way on that. It is hard to argue with them when they are paying for everything we need. I want you to know that even if that happens, you don't have to be called that if you don't want to be called that. It would just be a name on a paper. Even Princess Cadance has a second name that she seldom uses, Mi Amore Cadenza."
Sisstet flicked his tongue at the strange-sounding name. "What does Me Amorri Cadensa mean?"
Silver Spoon laughed. "That isn't quite the right way to say it, but it literally means I love Cadance. Don't you think that's a silly name to have?"
He tilted his head in confusion. "So… she loves herself?"
"You can see why she doesn't care for the name," Silver Spoon giggled. "Seems kinda self-centered, doesn't it?"
"Who would even name her that?" Sisstet asked, still completely confused.
Silver sighed. "I'm not sure if it is true or not, but I'm told that her adoptive parents were a little… happy when they adopted her, and when they were asked for a name by the pony registering the name, her adoptive mother cried out in Prench that she loved Cadance, not realizing the pony registering the name didn't understand Prench, and so she was officially named Mi Amore Cadenza. One big mistake that they didn't even realize happened until afterward."
This still made no sense to him. "Wouldn't they notice right away that the name wasn't right?"
Silver chewed on her lip. "They were… happy, and sometimes when grown-ups get happy, they drink a lot of cider, and it makes them kind of funny in the head for a while, and they can't think straight. Cadance's parents were delighted they were getting a daughter. That's an important lesson, don't ever drink lots of cider, or you might end up doing something foolish you don't remember."
"Oh," Sisstet replied, flicking his tongue in thought. "Did you ever drink lots of cider and do stuff like that?"
"Sisstet… let's not talk about that, okay?"
He hung his head. "Okay."
"The young miss, when she was drunk, told her parents they were disgraces as ponies and that flies circling dung were higher lifeforms than they were," Madam Glass said as she entered the room. "Although, she used much more colorful language to say it. Very improper behavior."
Silver Spoon's ears flattened to their sides. "Madam Glass! I would have rather that Sisstet not have found out that I said that."
"Everycreature says things they sometimes regret saying," Madam Glass said sagely before giving Silver Spoon a comforting smile. "The Mister and Misses do care very much for you, dear… they just aren't always the best at showing it, and I know that you care about them as well, even if you aren't the best at showing it either."
"I'd still rather he hadn't heard that," Silver Spoon repeated.
Madam Glass raised her nose up. "It is good for the young master to learn that family love can be complicated and that even though sometimes hurtful things are said, it doesn't change the fact that family is still family. Your parents may become his grandparents, and he'll be seein' the friction you all have. He needs to know that sometimes even you say things you don't mean in a regrettable moment."
Silver Spoon's ears swiveled backward. Sisstet cringed down a little because he could tell Silver Spoon was getting angry, and when his old guardians got angry, it never was a good idea to be in sight. "I said that after they kicked me out of the house."
"I'm well aware," Madam Glass said with a sniff. "And I spent much of the following two days after that consoling your parents as best I could to tell them they were not wrong in what they did, nor did you really hate them."
The gasp that emanated from Silver Spoon made Sisstet cower lower. "You agreed with them kicking me out of the house?!"
"Of course, young miss," Madam Glass replied with a nod. "You needed a push to get your life moving. You were such a mess after your abrupt return from business school—hence your drunken state at the time that you compared your parents unfavorably to flies. You now have a happy and fulfilling life. Would you have reached this point if your parents allowed you to stay, wallow in self-pity, and continue to drain their liquor stores? Kicking you out was the kindest thing they could do. Even Fluttershy herself would agree."
"Th-they felt… bad about it?" Silver Spoon asked in a shaky voice.
"Of course they did, young miss," Madam Glass replied in a kind tone. "They don't show their feelings much around others, even family, but old Madam Glass they don't keep their guard up around. I'm like part of the house, and no pony thinks much more of my presence than they do any of these old busts. I dare say that with how tied I am to this place that my spirit will reside here even after I am long gone."
Silver Spoon was crying, and Sisstet hugged one of her back legs to comfort her. She reached around and pulled him into her forehooves, hugging him gently and kissing him on the head.
"Now," Madam Glass said in a firmer tone. "The young master was needin' a bath and a scrub. Let me be gettin' to that before the Mister and Misses get impatient. Come along, young master Sisstet."
"Go on. It's okay," Silver Spoon assured him as she wiped her face. "She'll make you feel better, and I'll be right here waiting for you when you're done." She finished wiping her face and turned to give him a soft smile. "Madam Glass will take care of you."
"That I will," Madam Glass said with a beaming smile. "I have cleaned the bottoms of three generations of Silvers. I can clean another with no problem." Her smile dropped as she examined him. "Um...where exactly is your bum?"
Sisstet timidly pointed to his cloaca area, even though it was hidden currently by his scales.
The old pony tilted her head and stared at the spot before shaking her head. "If you say so. I'll figure it out. The body parts might be different, but a foal is a foal."
"Be careful when scrubbing him," Silver Spoon warned. "He is very sensitive right now, and it doesn't take much to hurt him. It isn't just him I'm concerned about in this case. He wouldn't mean to, but when he is in pain, he can lash out and bite, and his bites aren't anything like a pony bite. Those fangs aren't decorative; they do exactly what you think they would do."
The old mare seemed ready to protest that it wasn't a concern, then took a second nervous look at his fangs, making him feel self-conscious about them and try to hide them from view.
"Maybe we can find somethin' the poor dear can chomp down on," Madam Glass finally said after a moment's consideration. "My pa and I once had to set my brother's leg after he twisted it so much that the bones stuck out. Had to put a stick in his mouth to bite down on, we did, otherwise he might have bit off his bloody tongue like the fool he was. Might need something bigger than a stick here. I'll think of somethin', don't you worry, and I'll do my best to be gentle like he is a newborn babe. Come along, young master. Sooner we get this done, the better."
"Go on," Silver Spoon prompted again.
He knew Silver Spoon was trying to protect him and Madam Glass, but her cautioning about his bites made him feel bad about himself. He didn't want to hurt anycreature, and he didn't like the reminder that sometimes he could without meaning to. He flicked his tongue and silently told himself that he would make sure not to bite, no matter how much he might feel the need. With that promise to himself made, he quietly slithered out from behind Silver Spoon and approached Madam Glass.
She gave him another smile. "I know being in a new place is scary, and you aren't feeling your best. Let's take care of that second thing first, and we can work on the first after that, okay?"
"Okay," he answered, trying to sound brave and confident before following her out of the room.