Nearly two weeks had passed since Sky and Sprinkle landed in what they had since learned was a place called Zephyr Heights. Two weeks since they got those tree bark messages from their mother. And two weeks that they had been sneaking around, rummaging through dumpsters and trash cans for food. “Mom’s SO gonna take us to the hospital when she realizes how much trash we ate.” Sky commented.
“Well we had to eat something.” Sprinkle said. “We’re in stranger danger land. We can’t rely on my mental link to locate mom and the other clones. We’re pretty much stranded with nothing but our brains, and our wings.”
“Ugh. I know. Still. I’d kill for some of mom’s homemade lemonade right now.” Sky said.
“If only we had the ingredients and tools, I coulda whipped us up a bottle.” Sprinkle said.
Sky had to do a double take. Did Sprinkle just… “Sorry, what?” She asked.
“Yeah…remember when mom and the clones were getting our mental link under our direct, complete control? Yeah Mom’s lemonade recipe leaked to us clones.” Sprinkle revealed.
Sky blinked. “So…your saying that this entire time you’ve been able to make Mom’s lemonade, and you’re only telling me now when we CAN’T?!” She asked. Her anger rising a little.
“We weren’t supposed to know.” Sprinkle said. “It was a total accident.” She defended.
Sky glared at her sister for a few seconds before taking a deep breath. “Sprinkle, we need to do something else. We can’t just sit around here anymore. We need to go out and find THEM.” She suggested.
“Sky. The letters told us to stay put.” Sprinkle reminded her.
“The letters are two weeks old, and we have no clue whatsoever if mom and the boys are still coming. For all we know they could be dead!” Sky countered.
“Sky, I woulda felt it if mom died. So she’s not dead.” Sprinkle said.
“Well it’s taking a heck of a long time for her to get here.” Sky remarked.
“Not only does she have five more foals to find, she also has to scour the entire world for all she knows. So of course it’s probably gonna take more than two weeks.” Sprinkle said.
“And how would you know? You aren’t scouring the world.”
“Because I’m following mom’s instructions.”
“Well her instructions should have an expiration date!”
“Hey! What are you two kids doing?” Called out a voice.
Sky and Sprinkle stopped their argument and both turned to see a pony they recognized as a guard…or some law enforcement. The stallion was looking right at them with an unamused expression.
“Aww crud.” Sprinkle commented.
“What do we do?” Sky asked.
“What do you think?” Sprinkle asked.
And with that, they whirled around and bolted. The stallion’s eyes widened and he called out. “Hey! Get back here!”
Sky and Sprinkle dashed through the alleyway environment they had been living in for the past two weeks. “Somepony saw us. Rats!” Sky said.
“They might not have if our argument didn’t attract them.” Sprinkle spat at Sky.
“You really want to do this now?” Sky asked. “Let’s fly!”
Sky and Sprinkle both spread their wings and flapped hard to take off into the air. The guard that was on their tail saw this and took flight himself.
What followed was a chase in the sky. Sky and Sprinkle weaved in and out of buildings trying to evade the stallion chasing them, but the guard kept up. Sky had an idea. She lit her horn and a smoke cloud appeared between them and the guard. The guard flew in. “Now’s our chance go go go!” Sky shouted. She and Sprinkle veered left, and landed on a terrace looking thing. They saw a bunch of tables with cloths, and proceeded to dive under the nearest one with a cloth that could hide them.
After a moment, they let out a breath and waited for the stallion to give up. “If we get caught—“
“Look, I’m sorry ok? I’m just irritated.” Sky cut Sprinkle off.
After a while, the stallion didn’t show up. Sprinkle took a chance and peaked out from under the table. She saw no sign of the stallion. “I think we’re all clear.” She said.
She and Sprinkle got out from under the table, and sighed in relief. “Oh thank Faust. Now let’s get back into hiding before—“
“Excuse me young ladies.” Came a voice that cut Sky off.
Sky and Sprinkle slowly turned, and what they saw nearly made them skedaddle right there. There, standing in front of them, was a Pegasus mare that they recognized was the queen of Zephyr Heights, Queen Haven. And judging by her expression, she was none too pleased. “…We’re so dead.” Sprinkle commented.
“Excuse me young ladies, but do you know what this terrace is?” Queen Haven asked.
“Uh…a terrace…?” Sky guessed.
“It is the private terrace attached to the quarters of the monarch of Zephyr Heights.” Haven said. “It is not for the common folk like you two.” She said.
“Ok. Yeah sure, no problem your majesty, we’ll just get out here then.” Sprinkle said.
They did not. After guards cut off their escape route, they were forced to follow Queen Haven to her throne room. As they entered, Sprinkle spoke up. “Uhm, I don’t know the law here, but technically speaking as you don’t have any legal custody over us and we’re certain you don’t know our parents one could argue that bringing us here against our will equates to foalnapping which is against the law where we’re from so maybe you should just let us—“ Queen Haven shot Sprinkle a glare. The glare that said ‘Do I look like I care?’ That shut Sprinkle right up. “I’ll just stop talking now.” She finished.
“This is not foalnapping. If this was a foalnapping, you would be sitting in one of our dungeons by now. Instead I shall summon your parents here and we will have a chat about their competency as parents.” Haven told Sky and Sprinkle.
“Excuse me? Our parents are plenty competent parents…even though I have no idea what competent means.” Sky said. A hint of growling in her voice.
“It means their parenting abilities Sky. But she is right, they are plenty competent.” Sprinkle told Haven. “And they’re looking for us right now so we should probably get going—“
“You will stay here until we summon your parents and we have a chat about how to properly raise a child. What are their names?” She asked.
“Like that’ll do you any good. They’re definitely not in the city.” Sky grimaced. She was starting to get annoyed with this mare.
Haven raised an eyebrow. “I beg your pardon?” She asked. “If they have left the city without you or arranging proper care for you then they abandoned you.” She told the girls.
That did it. That set Sky off. “They did not abandon us!” She growled. “Our mom is on her way right now to come get us!”
“So they did leave you without proper care?” Haven asked. “One of my guards reported you in an alleyway.”
Sky was just about ready to tackle Haven. Haven just pretty much abducted them, and was now implying that their parents didn’t have what it took to be parents. Sprinkle saw this and nudged her. The look Sky saw on her face said. ‘Relax. If you escalate the situation it’ll be worse for everypony.’ Sprinkle turned to Haven. “Our parents would never leave us without care if they could help it. And this time they could not do anything about it. As it happened so suddenly and fast.” She said.
“What happened so fast and suddenly?” Haven asked.
“There was a magical accident at our aunt’s observatory. There was no warning, no time to react. A magic portal sucked us and our family in and scattered us across the land. It was an uncontrollable event.” Sprinkle explained. “We don’t know where we are or where anypony else is. All we know is that our mother is on her way to come get us. Until she comes…Sky and I are on our own.” She admitted. She knew how it would sound but it was the truth.
Haven attentively listened to the Pegasus filly’s story, and her expression changed. “So, when you ran from the guard, that was…”
“Stranger danger behavior. Yeah.” Sky said. “We hid the first chance we got. Which unfortunately landed us right here.” She added.
“Why did you not just explain what was going on from the beginning?” Haven asked.
“Stranger danger, and the fact that you started insulting our parents before we could get a blasted word in.” Sky growled. “And the third reason? It’s a crazy story and you probably don’t believe it anyway.”
Sprinkle sighed and facehoofed. “Please excuse Sky Your Majesty. It’s been two weeks since the accident and she’s starting to get cranky about it. Maybe it’s the dumpster food.” She said.
“For what it’s worth. Yes it sounds crazy, but I do believe it. Strange things have happened these last few weeks.” Haven said.
“Yeah. Without a doubt. Now if you’ll excuse us. We’ll be on our way.” Sky said, turning to leave. “Come on Sprinkle.”
“Hold it there…Sky was it?” Haven received a nod from Sprinkle saying she heard correctly. “I can’t let you two go back out there.”
“You aren’t going to be able to call our mother here any faster. We don’t know where she is!” Sky exclaimed in frustration. Thinking Haven still wanted to talk to their mother about parenting.
“And until she shows up you two are unaccompanied minors that need a roof over their heads and food that doesn’t come from the dumpster.” Haven said sternly. “Look, I’m sorry if I offended you. I should’ve asked before making conclusions. I just hate the idea of foals without parents.” She explained. “Which is why I’ll offer you two a room here in the castle until your mother shows up.” She said.
Sprinkle’s ears perked up. “Really?” She asked.
“Yeah.” Queen Haven responded. “Foals should not be out on the streets. And they especially shouldn’t be eating garbage.” She added.
Sky had turned to leave and had her back to Sprinkle and Haven. Sprinkle walked up to Sky and smiled at her. “Sky. You know as well as I do that we aren’t really in a position to say no.” She said. “And not just because she’s a queen.”
Sky didn’t say anything for a good moment. After weighing her options, she squeezed her eyes shut, swallowing her pride that swelled when Haven started insulting their moms. Finally, after a few moments. She grumbled, and then sighed. “Thanks for the offer Your Majesty.” She said.
“Splendid.” Haven responded. “I’ll show you to your room.” She said.
Sprinkle and Sky smiled. Despite the rocky start, they were glad that somepony was willing to take them in.
To be continued…