You are Anonymous Junior.
It’s Tuesday afternoon, a few hours after school let out, and a few days after your fillyscout trip.
Scoutmaster Sweet proved that she wasn’t hopelessly dense after seeing Dad casually rip a log in half, biting her tongue and keeping her sexism to herself for a whopping full day.
You’re sure she screamed into a pillow or something when she got home.
That's neither here nor there, though.
Anyway, you’re sitting on the couch at home. Mom and Dad are out on a date, and your little brother Redcross is up in his room doing colt stuff… you think. That leaves you vegging out in front of the TV as yet another shitty commercial tries to shill something only an idiot would buy.
”That's right, ladies! A perfect gift this Hearth's Warming season for the mister!” A grinning, middle-aged pegasus mare behind a kitchen counter croons into the camera. She waves a wing down at the overpriced, shiny copper cookware set arranged before her. With the studio lights fixed on the pots and pans, the stock sparkling effect they probably added in during the editing is overkill. “Non-stick and E-Z-Clean™or your money back! I’m so confident in this deal, that we’re slashing the price and waving the shipping and handling!” The salesmare points to the corner of the screen, where the 99.99₿ price tag is crossed out and replaced with 49.99₿. “Send your mail order to-”
Bored, you let your hoof fall on the Channel Up button on the remote, moving up to some trashy soap.
”What… What did I do?” A haggard-looking mare on-screen stares up at her dirty ceiling as she lays in bed. On her old nightstand is an empty liquor bottle and a crushed cigarette box, making the grayscale of the video take the ‘gloomy’ factor to a level that's just cheesy. “I let him go… Why? Why did I say all of that!?”
The haggard mare reaches for the liquor bottle, only to look at it in dismay when she realizes it’s empty. With a growl that has entirely too much effort, the hallmark of a C-list actor, she throws it across the room where it shatters on the wall. The glass breaking sound effect is so obviously stock that you cringe.
You watch a grand total of ten more seconds before groaning. Your green eyes fall to the Pretendo Gamebrick on the lower level of the TV stand, but you’ve beaten every game you own.
“C’mon. Can’t there be something good on?!”
”But Willow Wood is good, sissy. ”
You turn towards the voice, barely hearing the dainty hoofsteps on the carpet.
Standing in the doorway of the living room with a big smile on his face is your brother, Redcross.
If you took more after Dad, then Red takes more after Mom. His mane and tail are a bright maroon, a few shades darker than Mom’s pink, and his eyes are a little lighter than Mom’s, being a ghostly blue. On his flank is his cutie-mark, a rarity for somepony only ten-years-old, and it’s the same as his namesake. That is, a red medical cross overlayed with the… the snake-staff thing, you forget the name. His smooth, light beige coat is the biggest cosmetic deviation. If not for his eyes and his mane being a solid color, he’d look a lot like the colty flower-shop owner, Roseluck.
Well, if Roseluck had a horn.
It's not that shocking that your brother is a unicorn. Your grandma is a unicorn, but you still think it’s a little weird that the gene popped back up between an earth pony and a human. Red’s sharp teeth and cutie mark lay to rest any doubts on who his sire and dam are, though.
...But unlike his almost-doppelganger Roseluck, Red’s colors work damn good for a colt. You’re no weirdo who would try to herd with her own brother, but you know he’s going to look good as he gets older. Already fillies at school give him funny looks, looks that you gently dissuade by threatening to buck heads off of shoulders.
Red hops onto the couch with you and settles, watching the TV with big, sparkling eyes. “Hard Boiled has to confess her love to the Mafia Donna’s son soon. It’s tearing them both apart!”
Resisting the urge to berate your baby brother’s absolutely pleb taste in television, you slide the remote over to him with a hoof and stand up, arching your back in a stretch that makes your spine pop pleasantly. “Have fun, then. I’m going to see what the girls are up to.”
Red turns to you, one ear twisting to the side in confusion. “You’re leaving?” He asks.
“Yep,” you slide down from the couch and start the walk to the front door. “Everything on TV sucks, I’ve beaten every game I own, I even did my homework. I’m bored out of my skull.”
”But…” Red hesitates. “Didn’t Mom say I can’t be home alone?”
“She did,” you agree, remembering Mom’s warning clear as day. Mom isn’t one to spank, but you know how all moms get with colts “But Miss Lyra and Bonbon are right next door. If anything happens, you can talk to them. You’ve been home alone before.”
Red shakes his head. “Nuh-uh, Miss Lyra is performing for the Canterlot Orchestra this week, and… I dunno where Miss Bonbon went, but she’s not home either.”
Bewildered, you trot to the side window of the house and peer out at your neighbor's house. Sure enough, all the lights are out. “Shit.”
”Sissy! You aren’t supposed to say that word!”
You turn and level Red with a flat look. “Are you going to rat me out?”
The colt holds his forehooves up to his mouth and shakes his head.
Well, if Red can’t be left alone, then it looks like he’s coming with you. Mind made up, you turn and keep walking to the door. “C’mon, Red. You’re coming with.”
The colt sticks his tongue out. “No. I don’t wanna be around a bunch of stinky fillies.”
You frown. “Don’t be a brat. There’s nothing to do here.”
Red rolls to his back on the couch, making his mane flare out like a berry-colored waterfall as he turns his attention back to the TV. “We can watch Willow Wood.” He says, picking up the remote in a magic aura of pink.
Gah.
“Besides watching colty garbage, I mean.” You roll your eyes and flick your tail. “C’mon. Are you really saying staying inside is more fun than going out into town?”
The colt hums under his breath, but doesn’t look away from the TV. Hazarding a look at the soap opera, you see a haunted-looking ‘Hard Boiled’ staring down a dark hallway as a shadowy mare that looks like her whispers in her ear.
A pathetic and cliche “Fight your own darkness” scene.
“Red, c’mon. I don’t ask for much. Do me a solid.” You wrinkle your snoot. “Why are you resisting so much? Heck, they’re practically your friends too.”
Whatever whimsy is gripping your brother finally seems to let go as he rolls back to his stomach, face locking into an expression of genuine thought. “Welllll” He holds the L on his word as he puts the remote floating in his telekinesis down. “Okay, but I want you to get me something from Sugar Cube Corner while we’re out!”
“Deal, just don’t tell Dad. He’ll kill us both for loading up on sugar.”
With Redcross FINALLY onboard, you grab your saddle bags, leave a note for your parents, make sure you have a few bits and your house key, then lock-up and head out.
Together, you and Red trot along the main road through Ponyville and up towards the smaller, ritzier part of town. Ponyville is a small place for sure, but there are enough well-to-do ponies who work in Canterlot and commute by train just to avoid Canterlot taxes. Like Apogee’s dad.
Luft and her sister Aryanne live on this side of town too, since Aryanne attends university in Canterlot. Zala on the other hoof lives closer to the center of town near the local guard barracks since her adoptive family is mostly guards.
As you walk down main street dodging stallions running to the market for last minute dinner ingredients, Red bumps your flank with his own and points a hoof. “What do you think they’re making there, sissy?”
Following his hoof, you blink and see a construction crew on break around what was an old laundromat. The boards covering the windows are gone, and inside you see that most of the flooring has been torn up. The place failed for some reason, you aren’t sure why, but it looks like the new owners have plans for it. “Dunno Red. Apo said she heard her dad talking to some investor friend about making an arcade in Ponyville, so maybe that?”
An arcade would be cool, you’ve got to admit. All the popular hangout spots in Ponyville are getting crowded as more ponies move into town, so somewhere new to meet the girls sounds great.
Red hums like Dad does when he’s thinking. “I hope it’s a new salon! The one dad and I go to is run by this creepy old mare,” the colt says with a shiver. “Euh! We only go in when she’s not there. She always talks funny to dad.”
‘Hitting on him.’ You roll your eyes, unsurprised. “Keep dreaming, Red. I think the town needs an arcade more than a salon of all things.”
Red just sticks his tongue out at you.
The further you go from the main road, the larger and more affluent the houses begin to look, the hallmark of entering yuppie territory. Once you pass Miss Rarity’s boutique, you can almost taste the smug in the air. As luck would have it, you don’t need to walk far, because you can See Luftkrieg and Apogee turn the corner ahead. Both of your friends smile and trot a little faster towards you and Red.
“Hey Junior. Hey Red.” Apogee grins as she and Luft come to a stop before you. She flicks an ear. “What brings you out here?”
“Looking for you, actually,” you say. “Nothing to do back home so I figured I’d see what you girls were up to. I had to bring the runt because my folks aren’t home.”
“Sissy!” Redcross whines, stamping his little hooves. “I’m not a runt!”
You smirk and press your wither to his, making a show of your half-hoof of extra height. His ears barely come up to your nose. Red might be tall for a colt, but you’re still the biggest pony in your age group by a longshot. “Really?”
Red puffs his cheeks out in annoyance. “If you keep making fun of me, I’ll tell dad!”
You roll your eyes but step off, knowing he’s a big enough cryfoal to actually do it. ‘Jeez Red, grow some thicker skin.’
“You’re not a runt, Red. Junior is just fat is all,” Apogee grins as Luft tries to hide a snicker behind one of her white wings.
Red, the little shit, giggles along with them.
“Fat, hmm?” You grind out, slinging a foreleg over Apogee’s neck, making the other filly go pale under her coat. She gags when you tighten your grip, drawing a smirk from you. “I’ll have you know that I’m a solid eighty equestrian pounds of mare and muscle. Don’t you dare besmirch my gains!” You shake her like a griffin nanny would a foal. Which is to say violently.
“Ack!” She paws at your leg. “Gains? I’ve never seen you set a hoof in a gym before!”
You just tighten your chokehold and make her cough. After letting Apo struggle for a few seconds, you let go and sniff with your muzzle held high in superiority. “So, where to?”
“We were going to go to the creek and try to sift for crawfish,” Luftkrieg lifts one of the flaps of her saddlebags, showing you a folded up net and a little steel pot inside. “We never had them in Germaneigh, so Apogee said she’d take me to catch some!”
“Crawfish? You mean crawmoms?” Red tilts his head. “Those little pinchy lobster things? Why do you want them?
You snort. “To eat, duh.” You almost forgot that pegasi like fish and the like. “You boil them until they’re red, then you pop ‘em open and eat them.”
“You like crawfish, Junior?” Luft asks with a curious blink.
You just smile wide and put your canine teeth on display, making Luft tap her forehead in a ‘duh’ moment.
“Eww…” Red grimaces as a shiver runs down his back. “They’re like bugs. That's gross.”
“No no, they’re really good! Honest!” Apogee says enthusiastically, leaning forward. “Just try one! You’ll like it!”
Red shies away, stepping behind you. “I dunno…”
“At least help us since you can grab them without being pinched.” You say, eyeballing your brother’s horn. “If you do, I’ll get you one of those Le Bombe eclairs from SCC when we head home if you don’t tell mom and dad.”
The bribe works wonders, because Red perks up instantly. “Okay! You’re the best, sissy!” He smiles and cuddles up into your side.
You smile. “Don’t forget it.”
The trot to the creek isn’t very long. You, Red, Luft, and Apo just follow the river cutting through town out to the edge of the Whitetail woods. There, the clear water crosses a shallow riverbed filled with smooth stones before it snakes deeper into the woods. The smell of the running water and mossy rocks tickles your nose, and the delicious phantom taste of boiled crawfish ghosting along your tongue makes your mouth water a little. No knock on Dad’s cooking, but fresh crawfish beats leftovers.
“This looks like a good spot!” Apogee declares, shrugging off her saddle bags at the edge of the creek. “Perfect angle for ingress and egress…” She pokes at the muddy shore. “Nice flat path through the river rocks…” A yellow hoof dips into the water. “The water isn’t even cold! Yep!” Apo beams and shakes the droplets from her hoof. “This is going to be a dinner of champions!”
“Dinner of champs, right.” You dryly reply, even if you’re eager for fresh crawfish too. “Any reason Zala isn’t here?”
Luft’s face screws itself up into a funny expression, as if trying to hold back a laugh while also being remorseful for laughing. “E-Er, she said that she doesn’t like shellfish.”
“A crawfish gave her a teaty-twister or something, gotcha,” you nod sagely, making Red burst out into colty giggles. “I get it. The little buckers are mean.”
Luftkrieg’s face breaks out into an appalled blush, but Apogee laughs so hard that her wings have to pop up to steady her lest she fall over. “Hahahaha!” Apogee bites her hoof to stifle herself. “Firsthoof experience?”
You say nothing as you wade into the creek and start flipping rocks for crawfish, but make a point to not step anywhere deep enough to submerge your teats. ‘It’s because the water is cold.’ You tell yourself. ‘Apogee has that pegasus thermal fat. She wouldn’t know it was cold out even if it was snowing.’
Luft shrugs her bags off and assembles her bamboo-handled net, then she and Apo follow into the creek after you. After some hesitation, Red tentatively steps into the water as well, his horn already alight with a rosy aura.
‘Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.’ You flip a few of the flat rocks in the creek over, turning the mud at the bottom of the creek bed and making dark little plumes, but get nothing to show for it. After a few more rocks, you frown. “Any luck?” You ask Red and the girls.
Red shakes his head, turning a rock in his magic around as he inspects it. “I’m not finding anything, sissy,” he says, dropping the rock back into the water with a ‘plop’. He shuffles his hooves, kicking up cloudy mud as he sifts through the creek bed. He lifts a hoof and grimaces at the muck on it. “Nothing at all.”
“Nothing yet…” Apogee mutters. She lifts a rock from the creek in her hoof and turns it over as Luft waits at her side, net ready. As the mud settles again, they find a whole lot of nothing. “Huh. Normally they’re teeming around this part of the creek. What's up with this?” Apogee tilts her head with a confused face.
Luftkrieg shifts the net held in the crook of her foreleg. “Were they washed downstream? Or maybe they’re stuck upstream?”
“I don’t think they’re downstream,” you look towards the lake. “They like flowing water, so whatever it is must be upstream.” You look back to your friends and baby brother. “Let's follow the creek and see what's up.”
As a group, you all wade further up the creek, stopping only briefly to overturn rocks only to yet again find nothing. As you walk, you feel your temper begin to fray as your stomach growls. If you find out someone has already fished the creek dry, then they’re going to be enjoying an after-meal snack of their own teeth.
“Wah..?” Luft’s eyes widen and she spreads her wings to stop everyone behind her. “Look!”
You look past her and feel your own eyes widen. Apogee’s jaw drops, and Red gasps before he cuddles behind you in fright.
In the clear water ahead, the creek is absolutely crawling with crayfish of all sizes. There’s so many that the river rocks are hidden from view, making the ground seem like it’s alive. All of the little crustaceans are crawling over each other to try and get to a mound of bodies in the middle, who are all crowded around something. The mound is so high that a few of them are poking out of the water.
“Wow, there's so many, and they're big too!” Apogee steps forward to get a closer look. “What are they doing?”
You push Red a little further behind you and turn broadside to shield your brother a little more. This is really making the needle on your finely honed strange-shit-o-meter tick past green and into yellow. “I don’t know. I just know this isn’t normal…” You say. Like Apo said, the crawmoms are much bigger than normal, easily almost twice the size they should be.
Luftkrieg sweeps her net through the water, scooping a few of the oversized crawfish up without any fuss at all. They don’t even try to scuttle away, instead just mindlessly trying to get to the center of the pile through the fabric of the net. Unnerved, Luft tips her net and dumps them back out.
“Should we go tell someone?” Red timidly asks. “I thought they were supposed to be under rocks and stuff.”
“They are,” you frown in thought. You really want to know whats going on, but even with as oddly passive as the crawfish are being, you’re not about to step between them to get the mound of bodies. “Hey, Red? Can you lift some of them from the pile and see what they’re crowded around?”
Still hiding behind you, Red rests his chin on your back and lights up his horn.
A few of the crawmoms are picked up in a pink aura and gently dropped back in the shallow water of the shore, squirming in protest all the while. Red pokes his tongue out in concentration as he shifts the crustaceans around faster than they can pile back up again.
Apogee and Luft take to the air with flaps of their wings, hovering over the crowd of crawmoms as the mound slowly shrinks. When an opening big enough for a hoof is made, Apogee darts down and grabs the thing all of the mini-lobsters are crowded around, pulling out…
“A pocket watch?” You furrow your brow as the silvery thing dangles in Apo’s grip. “Why would..!”
You don’t get to finish as the crawfish all shudder as one, then they all bunch up into a ball, grabbing each other with their pincers to act as one. then they surge up at Apogee like a wave!
“Ahhh!” Apogee freaks out and throws the watch at you as she flies up and away, missing being caught by inches. “Get away!”
The wave of scuttling crawfish follows the watch as it flies, trying to snatch it out of the air only to miss.
You raise your hooves with a flinch as the watch flies at your face, just barely nabbing it before it beans you in the muzzle.
With the dry sound of shells shifting, the huge wave of crustaceans turns its attention to you and a wide-eyed Red.
“Why did you throw it at me!?” You yell in panic. Before you can get an answer, you turn and snatch the dumbfounded Redcross by the scruff of his neck and sling him over your back like a sack of rice before bolting to the shore.
You dare not look back and silently urge your magic to start flowing so you can run faster as you hear the churning of the water getting closer and closer. ‘Shit shit shit! Faster, please!’ You almost beg your magic as a shadow looms over you.
“Junior!” Luft and Apogee scream.
In the frog of your hoof, the watch grows warm, and to your shock, the thick streams of mana running through your veins roar and flow like the water you’re tripping through. With a grunt and a leap, you fly through the air just as the crawmoms come down like a tidal wave, crossing a solid thirty human feet in one jump.
You land and skid to a stop, making furrows in the grass. Turning, you watch the crawfish crash down into the water and explode everywhere as they lose their grip on each other. Luftkrieg and Apogee land lightly next to you, their wings out and ready to flee.
In the creek, something silent seems to shift in the water. The crawfish, seemingly in a trance earlier, now freak out and scuttle away, all of them running and hiding under rocks. A moment later, and no one would be able to tell that a few hundred of them just tried to seize you.
You shift your shoulders and let Red down, then look down at the mysterious watch in your hoof.
The grass stains from your sliding landing do nothing to cover the brilliance of the watch. In the late afternoon sun, it shines a pure silver, unmarred by rust from its stay in the water. In the cover etched into the metal is a seven pointed star, each point ending on a corner of the heptagon-shaped body, while the back bears a rune you’ve never seen before. Filled with curiosity and dimply aware of Apo and Luft watching over your shoulder, you tap the button to pop it open and find… nothing.
The inside of the pocket watch is empty. Where the actual watch would sit is just the blank face of the other side of the back-casing. But on the inside of the cover, something is scratched into the metal…
“A memento from the First One dead…” You blink, wondering what in the world the ominous line means.
“Hic…”
You turn quickly toward the sound and bite your lip.
Red peers up at you with blue eyes filled with tears as his shoulders begin to shake. “S-Sissy…”
Uncaring if you get ribbed for it later, you push past Luft and Apogee to pull Red into a hug, tossing the empty watch down by your bags. “Hey, don’t cry. You’re alright…” You rub a hoof along his back. “C’mon, that was scary but everything is fine…”
The colt presses his face into your neck before shuddering and letting out a great, hiccuping sob that just hurts you as a mare to listen to. You just hug him close and let him cry it out, ignoring the itch in your eyes and the pounding in your chest.
Mares don't cry from fear.
After a minute, Red’s tears slow to a trickle, and he doesn’t whine when you let him go and back up a step. “Better?”
He sniffles and nods, looking at the ground. “Yeah…”
“Wanna eat some of those crawfish in revenge?”
He wrinkles his snoot. “What if they taste nasty?”
“Then I’ll eat yours,” you say, doing your best to be patient. “Then we can get you something sweet on the way home.”
Red sniffles again. “Okay.”
You turn to Apogee and Luft, who both still look spooked. “Still up for a crawfish boil? I’m starving,” you say, looking between them and the still upset Red.
Thankfully, both get your hint to mare up in front of Red. “Sure am!” Apogee smiles. “My dad made some boiling powder from scratch! They’re gonna taste great!”
Luft nods along. “Mein gott, I can't wait!” She smiles maybe a little too wide. Being an entirely too polite germane filly, seeing Red cry must have really tugged at her heartstrings. “Let's go!”
Red smiles back wanely.
You all head back to the creek, though Red takes some coaxing to get back into the water. With the crawfish acting normal again, they’re hidden under their rocks and the fun of catching them is back. Red squeals and dances around when one zips by his hoof, and Luftkrieg yelps and flails when one painfully pinches the frog of her hoof, but before long you all gather up a net of wriggling morsels.
You then find a nice spot to make a little fire, and proudly using the new knife Dad got you, you shave a stick down into tinder and start a little cooking fire just as you'd been shown. About twenty minutes later, you’re enjoying a dinner of bright red, fat crawmoms.
“Sissy…”
You sigh and swear to yourself. ‘Not going to get annoyed, I’m not going to get annoyed…’ You keep your mantra to yourself and take the crawmom that Red hoofs to you. With three deft motions, you crack the tail and both claws. “Red, you’ve got TK. I know you can pop them open,” you say, hoofing the steamy snack back to Red.
He blinks, then picks the crawfish up in an aura of pink. “But I like it when you do it. You always do it right,” he says, shoving the tail meat into his mouth and chewing slowly.
‘I… can't be mad about that one.’ You sigh again and crack your last claw between your teeth before sucking it from the shell. “Hey, Apo,” you swallow your bite. “Your dad’s boil mix is pretty good. Got a recipe?”
Across from you, Apogee glares and holds her tongue out as she pants. “What? It’s way too hot! Look at Luft!”
The other pegasus is red as a cherry, her white fur doing nothing to hide how she’s feeling the heat, but the crawfish are so damn good after a soak in the boil mix that she keeps forcing bites down. “Würzig, würzig, würzig…” she chants some germane nonsense with tears in her eyes and pops another hunk of tail into her mouth.
You shrug. “It’s not that bad. Red’s a colt and he’s handling it fine.”
Red looks up, his brow furrowed. “What's that supposed to mean?”
“It means Luft and Apo are bitchmade,” you smirk.
“Ha ha…” Apogee rolls her eyes, then she takes on a more serious expression. “Junior? What are we going to do with the watch?” She says. “Are we going to tell someone? It made the crawfish berserk and it’s obviously some kinda magic. Do we put it back?”
Both Red and Luft look at you too, Red with apprehension and Luftkrieg with conflict. “Who would we even take it to?” Luftkrieg ruffles her wings and tosses her head, throwing her mane out of her eyes. “Someone’s parents, mein sister?”
You shift on your haunches. The watch… You remember vividly how your magic, thick and sluggish as molasses, jumped to your command like an eager dog just holding the thing. How did it do that? And the inscriptions. Why a seven-pointed star? Who is the First One and how did they die? Why a watch as a memento? And to whom? Where are the other parts? The questions burn inside you, and just just want to know so bad.
“I heard the new librarian is some kind of expert spellcaster,” Apogee supplies, blinking her wine-colored eyes “She’s from Canterlot and worked for Princess Celestia or something. Maybe she’ll know what to do with it?”
“No.”
All the eyes around the dying fire turn to you, and Dad’s warning to be wary of Twilight Sparkle rings in your skull. “We’re going to be the ones to figure this thing out, so we’re not going to tell anyone.”
“Sissy,” Red looks at you with big, worried eyes. “What about the crawmoms and how they went crazy? What if the watch does something else?”
“We’ll lock it in a magic-proof box when it needs to be put away,” you reply back. “Do you still have that insulated box? The one that mom made you practice using your hooves with when you were little?”
Red touches his bottom lip with his hoof in thought. “I think so.”
“Easy. See?” You smile. “Gals… and guy. We’ve got a premium mystery on our hooves here. Don’t you want to find out about this thing? Or how it got here or who it belongs to?”
“Well… when you put it that way, maybe a little…” Apogee rubs one foreleg with another and smiles sheepishly when Luft gives her a flat stare. “What? If nothing like that happens again, it sounds like it would be fun! A gang of friends solving a mystery around a mysterious artifact they found by random chance one day? Or maybe it wasn’t chance at all and we were meant to find it!” She grins, actually amping herself up. “Will it do more or tell us more if we find the rest of the watch?”
“Exactly what I was thinking,” you grin back. “Red, Luft, you in? I think I can guess Zala’s answer already since zeebs are into kooky magic and all that.”
“I dunno sissy…” Red mumbles. “It sounds like fun, but…” he trails off and tucks a bit of his mane behind his ear with magic. “I don't wanna unless you're with me, okay?”
You smile and lay your head on top of his, your chin resting between his ears, making him smile. “Duh. If something happened to you, mom would skin me alive.”
Luftkrieg sighs. “I think I’ll be outvoted on this… but!” She levels you with a serious look. “I think we should tell someone if things get dangerous,” she says sharply. “Mein sister loses enough sleep as it is, so I don’t want to worry her over me.”
You smile and pull away from Red. “Sounds like we’ve got a new summer project.”
You and your brother arrive home just as the sun begins to set, right at the tail end of your curfew. Pushing open the door, you smile and shake yourself, airing your sweaty coat out in the AC. “That's the stuff…”
“Dad! Mom! We’re home!” Redcross scampers past you and into the living room with all the surgery energy of a foal-sized eclair. If anything lifts the spirits of colts, it’s got to be expensive sweets.
You follow Red after shrugging off your saddlebags by the door, trotting into the living room just as Red bounds up onto the couch and into Dad’s lap.
“Ah, there you two are,” Dad rumbles as he holds Red’s head and strokes the colt’s smiling cheeks with his thumbs. Dad’s fancy date attire is already gone and put away, leaving him in his pajama bottoms and a sleeveless white shirt. “Little late going home, no?”
“They’re fine, honey,” Mom says from her recliner. Her black dress is still on, but her pink mane is down. Her eyes are glued to the evening news on the TV as she talks. “They’re home before dark just like we said.”
“Hmm, true,” Dad concedes as you hop up on the couch and sit next to him. “Did you two enjoy your day out?”
Red smiles and nods. “Mmhmm! Sissy, Luftkrieg, and Apogee took me to the creek to catch crawmoms.”
“Hoho, really now?” Dad smiles back at Red and smooshes the colt’s cheeks in his hands, making Red giggle and playfully struggle. “No wonder the leftovers in the refrigerator are untouched. I may have to go out sometime…” Dad pauses, his eyes narrowing a little. “Redcross? Your eyes are a little…” he pauses to think of the word. “Puffy? Are you alright?”
You feel your heart stop as Mom looks over to Red intently. If he cracks and tells them what happened, you’re beyond dead for putting him in danger, even if it was an accident. ‘Red, for the love of Faust, don’t say anything!’
Red blinks. “O-Oh. Uh, a crawmom pinched my hoof really hard, Dad. It’s okay because sissy ate him though!”
Mom lets out a relieved sigh and turns back to the TV. Oh Faust you nearly had a heart attack. Sometimes you really love your brother.
“Aww…” Dad’s face softens. “Which one?”
Red shyly holds his left hoof up, and Dad leans in to kiss it with an exaggerated smooch sound. Thankfully, Dad doesn't look too hard. “There! Any better?”
Red smiles, but you roll your eyes. Kissing booboos when Red is ten years old? Really?
“Hrm?” Dad reaches up and wipes a finger across the corner of Red’s lip, coming back with a smear of creme. “I thought I smelled sugar on your breath. A lot of it. Anything to say?”
Red’s eyes bug out. “Sissy bought me it at Sugarcube Corner!” The rat bastard throws you under the carriage without a second thought.
Dad turns his eyes to you, one unamused eyebrow raised.
‘Kindly go fuck yourself, Red.’