//------------------------------// // Chapter #28: The Study Room // Story: My Little Pony: Dark Star // by WestRail642fan //------------------------------// Chapter Twenty Eight. The Study Room. "So, let me get this straight." Zipp looked at a whiteboard as Shooting Star and Flurry Heart wrote over it, "You are the offspring of Empress Cadenza and Shining Armour." Zipp pointed to Flurry Heart who was grinning widely, "And you are the offspring of Cadenza and David." She then turned to Shooting Star who nodded. "And yet, despite me being the oldest, She gets to be heir to the throne." Shooting Star gestured to Flurry, the younger sibling sticking her tongue out. "Hey, I'm only the heir on a technicality..." Flurry grumbled, "Besides, we only found out you existed like 11 years ago..." She added. "I know, I know..." Shooting Star, face hoofed, "You had the fortune of having both parents raise you and be married when you were born." She rubbed her forehead in annoyance. "Hey, not my fault that Celestia forced Mom to give you up, Lillian, so don't take it out on me..." Flurry huffed her chest out. "I'm not saying it is your fault!" Shooting Star retorted, "Urgh! THERE’S A REASON FOR EVERYTHING OKAY!?" She shouted, throwing the board pen on the floor. Sunny and her friends all froze as they watched Shooting Star exit the room and slam the door behind her, "Um, is she gonna be ok?" Sunny asked, raising her hoof. Flurry Heart took a deep breath and cleared her throat. "We both have what you'd call a sibling rivalry. She thinks I've got it so lucky... It's all down to her being raised as an orphan..." Flurry rubbed her head, "Just give her a few minutes to calm down... She'll come around..." "She was raised an orphan?" Izzy asked, tilting her head, "That's so sad..." She pouted, ears flopping down. "But why?" Sunny raised her hoof, "Why was she raised an orphan, isn't Cadenza her birth mother?" "Mom is her birth mother." Flurry sighed, "But, Mom had only just turned 18 when she had Lillian, and she and David weren't married." The white alicorn paced around, "Mom was forced to give her up by Celestia, who was Equestria's ruler at the time." "Jeez, it's kinda harsh being forced to give up your own child if you ask me. I mean why was Cadenza forced to give her up??" Zipp asked, "Couldn't she have been given a maid or someone who would have looked after her?" The pegasus raised an eyebrow. "To be perfectly honest. I do not know, Mom doesn't really like to talk about it, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was a combination of her being unwedded and being so young as to why she was forced to give up Lillian..." Pipp watched as Zipp and Flurry chatted to each other, she pulled out her phone, sighing as she looked at the selfie she and David took a few days ago. "What's eating you?" Zoom asked, sitting down next to the pink pegasus. "Oh... Nothing Zoom..." Pipp sighed, placing her phone down next to her. "Come on, that's not nothing. You love the human don't you?" Zoom smirked, raising an eyebrow at Pipp. "Urgh... I do..." Pipp groaned, "He’s such a nice guy and now that we are here in the empire, he is finally reunited with his wife and daughter so it means I have to say goodbye." Pipp sighed as she took out a tissue to wipe off tears. "I know the feeling... I fell in love with a stallion, but his heart belonged to another mare, so I had to let him go... But it didn't stop me from loving him..." Zoom spoke softly, wrapping a wing around Pipp. "You... Loved someone too?" Pipp looked up at the older pegasus. "Yes, your father... We have been friends since foal hood. We joined the guard together, but... He always had a crush on your mom..." Zoom let out a long sigh, "I never stopped loving him, even after he married your mom or when Zipp and you came along." "I mean, I get he has a family, but we bonded so much and now I have to say goodbye to him... I'm not ready to let go of him yet..." Pipp said in a sad tone. "Ah, the wanderer returns." Flurry turned around as Shooting Star slowly closed the door behind her, tear stains on her cheeks, "Aww... Sis..." Flurry said, trotting up to Shooting Star and squeezing her in a tight hug, "I'm so sorry for upsetting you..." She added. "It's ok Flurry..." Shooting Star smiled, wrapping both wings around her little sister. "Huh, your bond is as strong as mine and Pipp's despite all that happened..." Zipp placed a hoof to her chin, deep in thought. "Reminds me of the time we had that fight during Portrait Day." Pipp said as she looked at her older sister from across the room. Zipps' ears perked up at Pipp’s remark. "yeah... I still feel guilty about that, sis, I'm sorry." Zipp replied, her ears flopped against her head. "It’s alright sis.." Pipp smiled at her sister. "Well, this is all lovely." Sprout spoke up, "But, we should really be getting back to Maretime Bay." He added, everyone in the room staring daggers at him, "What? We've done our job. The hairless monkey is with his weird little family we can-" Sprout froze when he felt a squeezing on his limbs, he looked down to see a golden aura wrapping tightly around him. Sprout squealed in horror as he was dragged across the room before Flurry Heart. "Who are you calling weird, pray tell?" Flurry spoke sternly, her horn fizzling as she held onto the stallion tightly. "Uh, Sunny... A little help?" Sprout turned to his cousin who had an unamused expression on her face. "I'm thinking." Sunny bluntly spoke, watching Sprout wriggle in Flurry's magical grasp, "I think it's time for you to get your just deserts." She smirked. "Oh, this is gonna be fun~" Dazzle smirked, pulling out a make-up bag from her saddleback. "What?! What's going on?!" Sprout screamed as Dazzle and Izzy drew closer. "Makeover!" Izzy shouted, pulling out her own make-up bag. "Oh! I'm so recording this!" Zipp chuckled, pulling out her phone and started to record Sprout's makeover. "WAIT NO! NOOOOOOOO!" Sprout yelled as the mares tackled him and began applying makeup onto his face, "HELP! ASSAULT!" He screamed. "You asked for it!" Zoom laughed loudly, wiping a tear from her eye. Zipp snickered as Dazzle and Izzy kept applying makeup all over Sprout's face, "You'll make a cute mare, Sprout and to be honest, your Mom would approve of this." She giggled behind her phone. "Ta-da!" Izzy shouted, holding a mirror to Sprout's face, "You look magnificent!" She giggled. "I look like a sidewalk hooker!" Sprout screamed. "And how do you know what a hooker is, hmm?" Sunny raised her eyebrow, smirking slightly. "Urgh!" Sprout groaned as all the mares in the room giggled, even Hitch and Thunder let out a chuckle at the sight of Sprout's makeover, "I hate you guys." He grumbled, fuming as he folded his hooves. "Do I even want to know what you lot are up to?" Cadenza spoke up, as she trotted through the door, David following close behind. "Oh, hi Mom!" Flurry waved quickly before laughing loudly at Sprout's face some more. "Pipp Petals? If I got your name right. Mind if I talk with you in private?" Cadenza cleared her throat. Pipp flinched, "Um... Yes, your highness..." She gulped before trotting towards the door. Cadenza closed the door behind the mare and the two slowly trotted down the hall. "So... How are you enjoying the Empire so far?" Cadenza softly spoke, breaking the ice between herself and the smaller pegasus. "I-It's fine..." Pipp stuttered nervously, "A bit colder than my home, but I'll manage." She chuckled nervously. "I know you and David fucked." Cadenza grinned knowingly. "W-wha? He told you?" Pipp panicked, her pupils shrinking. "No actually, he didn't," Cadenza smirked. "Then how did you..." Pipp looked down, cheeks burning red. "I'm the princess of love." Cadenza grinned, tapping on her crown, "And you, my dear, are completely radiating love right now." She giggled, poking Pipp's chest. "Please don't have me executed for sleeping with your husband!" Pipp panicked, breathing harshly. "Whoa whoa. Slow down." Cadenza placed a hoof on Pipp's shoulder, "I'm not going to have you executed, sure I'm a little shocked about it, but that's a little extreme." She added, "I'm not some evil power-hungry Empress." She giggled. "You're not..." Pipp inhaled sharply, "Have me..." She quicked exhaled, "Executed?..." Pipp fell to the floor, wheezing harshly. "No silly..." Cadenza mused, gently stroking Pipp's mane, "To be perfectly honest, however, I am a little hurt by it..." She added. "A little?..." Pipp's panting slowed down, "Why only a little?" She asked, slowly returning to her hooves. "Because..." Cadenza bit her lip, "Mine and David's marriage is legally over... Has been for nearly 4 years..." The empress looked down, "You mustn't tell him... I want to break the news to him gently..." She added. "What are you saying exactly?" Pipp tilted her head, "Are you saying that David is fair game?" She bit the inside of her cheek, "There's a chance!" Her brain practically screamed. Cadenza frowned at Pipp's remark, "Technically, yes, he is fair game..." She replied through gritted teeth, "He does not know, but I want to make sure I tell him when the time is right, can you please keep this between us, Pipp?" Cadenza asked sternly. "Yes, your highness..." Pipp bowed calmly, unsure of her feelings now, on one hoof, she felt sorry for David now, but on the other, she was glad that he was now single. Pipp and Cadenza soon returned to the family study room, where Pipp quickly sat back down next to Zoom. "Ohhhh what’s going on sis? Cadenza here give you a good telling off?" Zipp snickered, "Let me guess... It's because you and D-" Zipp found her mouth being held shut by Izzy. "Shush." Izzy said as the Empress slowly trotted past her and Zipp, "Your majesty!" Izzy quickly bowed before Cadenza. "That's... Not necessary..." Cadenza smiled nervously, a little bit embarrassed by the strange unicorn fawning over her. "Izzy, that's enough." Zipp nudged the unicorn, who quickly bounced back onto her hooves. "Aww..." The unicorn pouted. End of Chapter Twenty Eight.