//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: Daddy's Little Demon // Story: Ponies on Earth and their New Horizons // by TikiBat //------------------------------// Silver and Scarlet had been home for just over two weeks before they had finally heard back from Crescent Shadow. In that time life had gone on as usual, with lots of boring and uneventful work (compared to to their fun vacation), and plenty of other fun family moments. What would have normally been an uneventful bit of old fashioned correspondence between friends was underscored by the news that the letter contained. When Scarlet had talked with Crescent about sharing her notes and research, she never actually expected it’d go anywhere beyond that, but the letter that she held said differently.  To whom it may concern, Recently we received your compiled set of notes and research from our mutual correspondent Crescent Shadow. While your notes cover subjects that are considered elementary, Princess Luna and the rest of the program’s directorate were impressed that a pony from Earth was able to comprehend and hypothesize so much with such a basic understanding of the underlying Equestrian science and language. While normally such a minor set of notes wouldn’t constitute further review or consideration, your collected notes and research show clear potential and talent. It is with that consideration and understanding along with further recommendation from Princess Luna herself that we here at the Equestrian Astronomy Program would like to formally extend an invitation to you to assist in our program here in Equestria. We understand that this represents a particular challenge with temporary relocation, but our mutual correspondent has assured us that he will be able to assist you with the next steps necessary to join us for this venture. Attached with this letter is your approved visa and recommendation from Princess Luna, the dates for which you’re being invited to participate in, and the further instructions as transcribed from Crescent Shadow. Should you choose to accept this invitation, please contact our Earth-based office at your earliest convenience. Their information is enclosed. It has been my pleasure to deliver this news, and I hope that you will consider this research opportunity. From all of us in the E.A.P., thank you for showing such interest, and we look forward to hearing from you soon. Starry Skies, Program Director To say that both of them were more than just excited would be an understatement, and in fact, Scarlet had been so excited that she had quickly taken to the skies, swooping around their home and cheering excitedly, no doubt waking their neighbors in the process. Neither of them cared about that though, this was such an exciting moment for her that it was worth a few annoyed neighbors. After the reverie they quickly filled out the required paperwork that had been included, and Scarlet had written up her acceptance. Unsurprisingly enough, the program’s Earth-based team only had a physical mailing address, and no way to contact through phone or email. What this meant was that they’d have to mail it out in the morning sometime, but that wouldn’t be a huge issue. The return envelope was already paid for and would be sent as first class mail, so it wasn’t like they’d have to wait too terribly long for it to arrive.  The posted date was only two weeks away, which would give them plenty of time to prepare, and plenty of time for Scarlet to relax a little and get her excitement under control. Those two weeks had flown by in a blur, and Silver could tell that as prepared as Scarlet was, she was still nervous for the adventure ahead of her. He was too, but that anxious feeling was also overshadowed by the incredible pride he felt at her achievement, and despite being a little jealous that he wouldn’t be able to join her on her trip, he was still overwhelmingly happy for her.  The moonlit desert landscape zoomed past them as they drove towards the Phoenix airport. Silver and Scarlet sat in the back seat, Orion cuddled in between them and Marcus in the front. An adventurous sounding melody played over the radio in the background, almost seeming to emphasize the journey that was about to take place.  “Okay so you’ve got everything you need right? We’re not forgetting anything?” Silver asked her for what seemed like the hundredth time.  Scarlet laughed and rolled her eyes, “Silver, I’m good. I don’t need to bring that much with me anyways, just the essentials for the trip.” “Alright, alright, I just want to make sure you’ve got everything. This is kind of a big deal, after all.” She smiled. “Look, I appreciate the concern, but I’m good. Crescent’s already got my notebook, and I’ve got all the books and notes I needed to bring over.” The van pulled up towards the curb and came to a stop. “Alrighty, this is the end of the line,”  Marcus cheerfully called back to the family. Silver nodded towards him, “Thanks Marcus, go ahead and find a spot to park for a few. I’ll give you a call once we’re ready to go.” He returned a quick nod, “Gotcha boss.” The trio hopped out of the shuttle and Marcus pulled away while Silver walked Scarlet into the terminal and towards the airport’s security checkpoint, Orion happily trotting alongside the pair.  The trio stopped a short distance away and Scarlet turned towards Silver, hesitating for a moment, “So this is it. I’m actually going to go map out another world’s stars.” Silver gave an excited nod, “Yep! You’re about to become an interdimensional traveler! How does it feel?” She shrugged, “I mean, I’m a little nervous, but I think it’s exciting. It’s going to be weird being gone for so long, but this is like a once in a lifetime opportunity.”  “Well you never know, maybe you’ll impress them and they’ll let you come back again. This could really be the start of something big you know?” Scarlet smiled, “Of course, I know it’s only for this one project but hey, never say never. If I was able to impress Crescent’s boss then maybe there’ll be more chances like this in the future.” “Yeah, and hopefully we can come along next time too.” He added with a smile, pulling Orion close to him with a wing.  She looked down towards Orion, “And you’re going to be good for Silver, right?” The purple colt nodded excitedly, pushing away from Silver to cuddle up closer to her.  “Good, I’m gonna miss you, little buddy, but I’m only going to be gone for a little while.” Silver sighed, “It’s sure going to feel like so much longer, but I’m glad you have the chance to do this. Who knows when you’ll ever have the opportunity again?” She pulled him into a hug, draping her wings around both him and Orion, “I know, don’t worry though, I’ll be home before you know it. Are you sure you’ll be able to manage everything on your own though?” Silver nodded. “Yeah, it can’t be too bad, right? I mean, I’m just watching Orion, keeping an eye on the house, and keeping us fed. I think I can handle this for a month, what’s the worst that could happen?” She smirked. “Oh, I can think of about a dozen things that could go wrong, but if you think you’ve got it, I'll take your word for it.” He smiled, “Thanks Scarlet. You’re gonna have such a fun time, the least I could do is make sure you don’t need to worry about us while you’re gone.” “Okay, well I really appreciate it.” She shifted her saddlebags into a comfortable place on her back, looked towards the security checkpoint, and then back towards Silver. “Please just be careful while I’m gone… okay?” He paused and nodded, “Trust me Scarlet, I’m reading you loud and clear. I’ll keep the house clean, make sure Orion’s good to go, and all the other little things you reminded me to keep an eye on. You go and enjoy yourself and let me worry about everything out here. It’s not every day that you get to just hop dimensions and go look at another universe’s stars after all, I’m kind of jealous to be honest.” “Thanks, that makes me feel better.” She glanced down to her gauntlet to check the time, and then back over towards the checkpoint. “Well I better get going,” she pulled the two in for one final hug and a kiss goodbye. “I’m going to really miss you two, but I’ll be back before you know it.” She paused, “Please please please promise me you won’t burn the house down Silver.” Silver smiled, "I promise I won’t burn the house down. We’re gonna really miss you too, I can’t wait to hear all about your trip once you get back, now you go have fun!” She smiled and walked towards the security checkpoint as Silver raised his gauntlet and started to call Marcus. The moment he took his eyes off of the purple colt, he started to run over towards Scarlet, no doubt confused as to why she was suddenly leaving the pair. Noticing this, Silver immediately ran after him, quickly pulling him close and comforting him. “Hey buddy just relax, I know it’s confusing to you, but mommy’s just going on a vacation. You’ve gotta stay here with me, okay?” Orion glanced back over towards Scarlet with a concerned look spread across his face and tried to wriggle free, finally relenting when Silver pulled him closer. He sniffled a few times as Silver embraced him.  “Don’t worry little buddy, it’ll all be okay, I promise. I’m gonna make sure you have such a fun time that you won’t even realize when mommy’s vacation is over.” He said reassuringly. Silver’s gauntlet chimed once, as Marcus’ voice came through, “Silver? What’s up? Are you all set?” Without breaking his embrace, Silver spoke back a quick reply, “Yeah Marcus, we’re all set. Go ahead and pull up and we’ll meet you outside. I’ll just be waiting by the door with Orion.” “Alright, see you in a few minutes boss.” “All set to go Silver?” Marcus asked as he opened the van door.” Silver nodded, gently lifting Orion off of his back and setting him into the van, “Yeah, mind if we just hang out for a little white? I just want to watch the planes take off for a few, if that’s okay.” Marcus shrugged, “Sure, I’m on the clock so that’s fine with me.” “Thanks friend,” Silver added with a smirk. He hopped into the van and Orion excitedly jumped onto his lap, immediately looking out the window as Marcus walked around the van and took his seat. He buckled in and put his car into drive, pulling over to find a parking spot with the view that Silver had requested. Meanwhile Silver’s thoughts drifted to what the next month would have in store for him. Orion at least seemed to be in better spirits now, which brought a smile to Silver’s face as he watched the colt excitedly take in his surroundings, but he knew he wouldn’t stay this way for long. It was only a matter of time until the colt realized that something was up, and Silver knew that he would be in for a rough ride if he didn’t take charge and keep a hoof on the situation. “This work for ya boss?” Marcus asked, pulling Silver from his thoughts. Silver looked around and nodded, “Yeah, thanks Marcus. I just want to clear my thoughts a bit before we head out. My uncle always did this when we’d fly, it gave him a sense of peace even when he knew that he’d probably never know which plane we were on.” “Hey whatever works for you man, I’m just glad to help.” Silver smiled, “Thanks Marcus.” The human nodded, “Any time boss.” Silver stepped out and set Orion down, watching as the Colt excitedly started jumping around on the pavement. He smiled at this sight and looked towards the runway, watching the different airplanes take off, making sure to keep Orion in his peripheral vision. “It’s sure gonna be a long month, Marcus.” Marcus nodded while typing away on his phone. A few minutes passed before he turned towards Silver, setting his phone aside for the moment, “Don’t you two spend some time apart when you go on trips anyways?” Silver nodded his head, “Sure, for like a week, maybe even two, but we’re still able to keep in touch while we’re apart, be it through the dream realm or just plain old calling. We can’t do either of those this time.” “Aha, I see. So basically this is the first time you two have ever been away from each other for any significant amount of time without the ability to actually chat.” He nodded, “Yep. Don’t get me wrong though, I’m really happy for her, but it’s just a weird feeling knowing that she’s going to be gone for a month and there’s no way to get ahold of her. I mean, having Orion around is nice, but it just feels like we’re both already missing something.” “Your better half, eh?” He smirked, “You could say that.” Marcus patted him on the back. “Well, I’m sure you’ll survive, it’s only a month, what's the worst that could happen? The whole place goes up in flames and we enter DEFCON One?” Silver let out a few laughs and glanced over towards Orion, who was chasing a nearby lizard around, “You never know. I’ll get through it though, I mean it’s just taking care of a restless foal from the tribe that’s known for their protective and aggressive instincts. One who's never been apart from his mother for more than a day and is starting to show signs that he’s not going to be so docile anymore.” He let out a chuckle, “Ahh yes, so he’s becoming one of the little diablos that I’ve heard so much chatter about then? Sounds like you already know what you’re in for.” Silver nodded, “I kind of have an idea, I guess we’ll just see how well it goes. He’s only a foal, what's the worst he could do?” Marcus gave him a quick pat on the back, “Well good luck man, I think you’re gonna need it.” Silver raised an eyebrow, “You think so?” Marcus simply laughed, “Ha, that’s a good one!” Silver sat in the front seat with Orion cuddled up next to him. The colt was still awake, though for now he just sat staring out the window. The early morning sun had started to rise, and was shining brightly on the landscape, making Silver squint his eyes reflexively every time they passed a reflective road sign, Orion on the other hoof was perfectly fine with the bright world outside, finding more interest in it than Silver would have guessed a foal could find, especially a night pony foal. He never ceased to be amazed at how foals could find something interesting in seemingly mundane and boring experiences like a car ride. Still, Orion’s wide eyed interest in the world outside never failed to bring a smile to Silver’s face. Marcus turned the music down just low enough so he could actually hold a conversation and gestured towards the air controls. “Getting enough air? You’ve kind of been silent this whole ride.” Silver flicked his ears without thinking, shaking his head and then turning towards Marcus. “Yeah, sorry, just thinking about what I’m going to do for the next month. Usually we take turns watching him during work, but he’s gonna be with me 24/7. It’s exciting, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t really looking forward to it, but it’s just a lot to plan out right now.” The human nodded along, “Well why don’t you just relax and take it easy for a little while, you’ve got the next couple days off right? Just hang out and spend some time bonding with him, worry about planning work around it later. I know Diamond’s going to understand.” Silver raised an eyebrow, “You think? I mean he’s always been really accommodating for stuff like this, but I don’t want to make him do all the work when he doesn’t need to. It’s just not fair, you know?” Marcus nodded, “Isn’t that what the whole executive reshuffling was for? Setting up directors for the core divisions that answered to you two so you wouldn’t have to spend so much time making every single decision? Plus he hired that dull unicorn for a reason too, right? What was his name? Harding?” Silver shook his head, “Hard Case. He’s definitely a bit dry but the stallion really knows how to get things done.” Marcus smiled, “Well there you go, see? It’s gonna be a breeze. Hell I’m sure Scarlet will be back before you even realize it, so you might as well just spend as much time as you can bonding with the little diablo.” Silver let out a few laughs, “Oh come on, he’s not a diablo… yet.” He looked down at Orion, “I mean, you don’t think he is… right?” Marcus chuckled to himself, “I guess we’ll wait and see.” He straightened up in his seat and adjusted the mirror. “We’re almost home, you want me to just drop you off at your house?” He nodded, “Yeah, please. Are you going back to the advanced systems lab or do you have the day off?” “Nah, I’ve got the day off, why?” “Oh nothing, I just wanted to talk with Tinker and Sprocket about the memo they sent me. It’s no big deal though, I can handle it later..” “More of their standard fare budgetary requests?” Marcus asked, raising an eyebrow. “I think so. I’m sure they’ll wind up talking about city infrastructure again. They’ve been pestering me to approve the budget for the new APMs but we’re still dealing with construction delays on the new sectors so that’ll probably get pushed back a few months while we sort some contractor issues out.” “Did you guys think about requesting some more funding from Sunset Blessing?” Silver nodded, “That was one of their proposals, but I’d rather do this on our own. We’re almost close to paying her back for the initial land purchase too, Patrick said we should be able to finish up payments within the next fiscal year.” “And then we’re done working with her?” Silver shook his head, “No, not yet. She’s got some intriguing assignments so we’ll probably stick with her for as long as we keep getting those.” “The extra cash influx is useful, eh?” “Oh, more than you’d think,” he said with a smirk.  “Well we’re almost there, same time in a month?” Silver nodded, “Yeah, thanks for the ride Marcus.” Marcus hopped out of the van and walked around to open the door for Silver. Orion jumped down and rolled across the ground, earning a few laughs from Silver and Marcus. “Alright man, let me know if you need anything alright?” He nodded, “Alright.” Orion looked around at the empty home and then back towards Silver, giving him a look of confusion. Silver smiled, “Alright buddy, it’s just you and me until mommy gets back home in a month. Are you ready to have a fun time?” he excitedly asked the colt. Orion glanced around again and returned with the same confused stare.  “Don’t worry pal, we’re going to have so much fun! We’ll watch movies, play games, you won’t even realize she’s gone!” His face creased in worry, as if the thought of her not being around was the worst kind of fear imaginable. He quickly began to trot around the room, letting out a few sniffles as he hurriedly dug around every nook and cranny in search of Scarlet, much to Silver’s concern. Silver trotted over towards the colt and pulled him close with a wing, “Hey hey, calm down, buddy. I know you’re wondering where mommy’s at but it’s okay. I promise she’ll be back soon, she’s just on a little vacation, just like the ones I go on.” The colt glanced around a few more times before snuggling up close to him, earning a smile from Silver. “There you go, see? It won’t be so bad. Now why don’t you go grab your toys and I’ll get some dinner, we can play until bedtime.” After a few more glances around, Orion excitedly ran off towards his room while Silver trotted towards the kitchen. Their old rescue dog Cosmo perked up from where he was sleeping on a bed in the corner to greet Silver with a wag of his tail and a cheerful sounding bark the moment that he walked into the kitchen.  He smiled, “Let me guess, you’re hungry and already miss Scarlet too eh?” Cosmo barked again. Silver chuckled, “I figured. Just hang on pal, let me grab you something too.” He reached into the pantry and retrieved both the dog food and a box of pasta. He quickly filled Cosmo’s bowl and then began to start on their own dinner.  As he brought a pot of water to a boil he couldn’t help but wonder what Scarlet was up to. A twinge of worry also passed through him as he glanced back over towards Orion’s room. The colt wouldn’t take to being apart from Scarlet well, and even he was starting to wonder what the next month would have in store. As much as he had travelled during the early days of getting the Oasis set up, he was still able to actually talk with her while he was away, and even then his trips never lasted more than a couple weeks at most. This was new territory for all three ponies and he wasn’t sure whether it would be an easy month or a challenging one. He could hear a few soft crashes coming from Orion’s room, no doubt from the colt excitedly digging through his box of toys looking for whatever wound up being his favorite. Night pony foals had a well earned reputation of being called “diablos” by some of the local residents in and around the Oasis, and he could definitely understand why they earned that nickname.  Night ponies in general were more aggressive and protective than the other tribes, and even though Orion was still young, it was clear that some of those instincts were starting to take hold. Seeing that the water had come to a boil, he added in some noodles and gave them a few stirs. Orion cheerfully trotted out of his room, dragging a blanket with a bunch of his toys on it behind him, grinning proudly.  Silver smiled at the sight, “You’re not a little diablo right buddy? You’re gonna be good for me while mommy’s gone?” The colt let out a series of giggles and started playing with his toys while Silver watched on, unsure of what the month would have in store. Silver was peacefully resting in a dreamless sleep. It wasn’t something he did often, but sometimes he just wanted to sleep in peace and rest without distraction. Cosmo and Orion had gone to bed curled up together next to him, something that the dog no doubt enjoyed given that he would normally sleep at the foot of the bed alone. The house was peacefully quiet, almost painfully so.  A dull thud followed by a loud crash from somewhere in Silver’s room pulled him from his sleep, causing him to jump up out of bed and run towards the sound with reflexes that only a father could have. Cosmo jumped up and chased after him, curious to see what all the commotion was about.  Silver immediately caught sight of the colt in the act of climbing up his bookshelf. Much to his surprise, Orion was holding onto the shelves with his wings and reaching up towards one of the small plush toys that sat on top of the shelf. As Orion reached in vain, the shelf began to rock back and forth, threatening to tumble over entirely, causing another gasp of worry from Silver. He quickly but carefully grabbed Orion and pulled him loose from the shelf, making sure it was secure and earning a few annoyed flaps from the colt’s wings.  Silver gave him a quick pat on the back to get his attention. “Hey hey hey, calm down, it’s just me.” He gently set Orion on his bed; a large mattress covered with an assortment of pillows and blankets, then he leaned down to get to Orion’s level, “Hey buddy, you really scared me. I’m not mad but you need to be more careful next time, please promise me you won’t do that again, okay? Now what were you trying to get?” Orion looked up at the shelf again longingly. Silver followed his gaze, noticing which plush Orion was after. He nodded and stood up, pausing as he noticed what he had missed initially. The lamp that had formerly sat on the desk next to the bookshelf was broken into a handful of sharp glass pieces on the floor. He sighed and carefully stepped over it, grabbing down the stuffed night pony plush that resembled Scarlet and handing it over towards him. “Okay, is that better?” Orion smiled and pulled the plush close to him with his wings, burrowing into the pile of blankets and cuddling up next to the plush Scarlet.  He breathed a sigh of relief, “Alright good. Please come get me if you need anything else okay? Just… just stay where you’re at while I clean this up real quick okay?” The plush in question was one half of a set that was made to resemble the couple, an odd pair of items to have in the house, but it was a wedding gift from Scarlet’s grandmother and they couldn’t say no to her, not after she had painstakingly created them. Silver started to sweep some of the glass together as best as he could. There were still a few small pieces left, so he’d have to get the vacuum… and hope that Cosmo and Orion wouldn’t freak out at it.  An idea hit him, and Silver walked back over towards Orion, “Alright buddy, we’re gonna go to the living room so I can clean this up, you’re gonna have a little sleep over with Cosmo while I do this. That sounds fun right?!” The colt smiled and ran towards Silver, pulling the plush with him. Silver carefully picked him up and trotted out to the living room, pulling his door shut behind him as they walked out.  He laid out a few blankets on the low sitting couch and gently set Orion down on them, calling the dog over too.  “Alright Cosmo, please keep an eye on Orion.” Cosmo responded with a bark, walking around in a circle and then cuddling up next to Orion.  Silver paused for a moment, debating whether he should get a picture of the adorable moment before running to go handle the broken lamp. As much as he wanted to capture this moment to share with Scarlet, a quick thought back to the glass on the floor and needing to clean it up while the two were docile settled the debate for him. He calmly walked back towards his room, grabbing the vacuum from the hallway closet on the way over.  Not wanting to waste any time, he swept up the larger lamp pieces into a bag and set it to the side. There were still smaller pieces of glass on the floor and even though they probably wouldn’t cut up their hooves, Silver didn’t want to take any chances with leaving them there in the open. Wanting to get this done as quickly as possible, he turned on the vacuum and finished cleaning up the broken glass before Orion and Cosmo could react to the loud noise.  Happy that everything was all safely cleaned up, he turned off the vacuum and sat down for a moment. Just as soon as he thought that everything had gone off without a hitch, he heard another crash from the living room, earning another panicked reaction from Silver.  He darted out into the living room and gasped in shock as he watched Orion climbing into the empty space on the entertainment center where the TV had formerly resided. The TV in question was now lying face down on the floor, but that was the least of his concerns right now.  He ran over towards the Colt, unsure of how to respond. “What’s gotten into you little buddy? You’re gonna give me a heart attack at this rate!” Orion simply giggled and hopped onto Silver’s back. Silver trotted back over towards the couch and set Orion down again, this time making sure that he was still visible in his peripheral vision as he leaned down to inspect the broken TV.  Convinced that Orion wasn’t going to run off again, he turned to lift the TV up, sighing as he noticed that the screen was damaged with big black marks spreading over the LED like stripes. He pushed it off to the side, suddenly hearing the fast paced clip clop of hooves on the tile followed by a series of frantic barks as Orion suddenly started chasing the dog around the living room.  Silver watched as Cosmo ran in between the couch and lamp, getting tangled up in the tall lamp’s cord in the process and pulling it over and into the wall with a yelp. Orion began to giggle as he ran towards Cosmo, finally pushing Silver over the edge of what he could tolerate right now.  “STOP!” He shouted out, causing Orion to stop in his tracks.  The colt started to whimper as if he thought that Silver was mad at him, noticing this Silver quickly ran over and scooped him onto his back, taking the time to untangle the dog from the cord too. He trotted back towards his room, double checking that the glass was fully cleaned up.  He set Orion down onto his bed with the Scarlet plush close by and got down to his eye level. He shook his head, “I’m not mad at you buddy, you just scared me is all. I don’t know what we’re gonna do, but Scarlet’s going to kill me when she hears about this.” Orion cuddled up to the plush and proceeded to let out another series of giggles.