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// 08 - Fly The Nest 
// Story: If Twilight Was a Pegasus 
// by Cxcd 
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This was Firebird’s very first job. And a good one, at that.
For the most part, anyways. He had recently received the opportunity to be a waiter at one of Canterlot’s most fabulous restaurants. It wasn’t the fanciest, not by far, but it was definitely held in high regard by the locals of Canterlot. Although the pay was good, and the customers were mostly never rude, if a bit snooty and fussy with the way their food was prepared, it was just like any other job. Which meant that there were slow days. And, on a Tuesday evening, the sun having long since set, it was definitely a slow day.
It’s not like he didn’t like slow days, of course. Slow days meant he could spend most of his shift kicked back, chatting with his coworkers, reading a book, and doodling on his notepad so his boss thought he was busy. Really, he could do whatever he wanted, as long as he was present in the restaurant and getting paid for it. The restaurant was nearly empty, anyways. There were a few stragglers still eating and one small family in the corner that he wasn’t even the waiting for. All in all, the stars were aligning for him to be dismissed early. Which meant going home. It’s not like he needed the hours, anyways, and his bed looked mighty comfortable in his own head.
Well… he would’ve been allowed to go home early, if not for the fact that a blue Unicorn stallion burst through the doors like a bull on a rampage.
“Did we make it?” The stranger shouted. Firebird yelped in surprise, the notebook and himself both spiraling to the floor wildly in surprise. It took a few seconds to orientate, pulling himself up, and peering over the desk at the family that had filed in through the doors. It seemed like, much to his dismay, he was not going home early.
The stallion was at the front desk, and judging by his appearance, it was blatantly obvious he was a Canterlot local, with his slick back hair and fancy watch. Same went for his wife, a pale mare with a violet mane, delicate and fancy earrings, and even their son, although he wasn’t very dressed up.
But there were two Pegasi in the group that challenged Firebird’s expectations. One was obviously the daughter of the two bigger ponies, but one was obviously not. They both looked like Canterlot locals, but the fact they were Pegasi confused him. Firebird couldn’t remember the last time he had seen, if ever seen a Pegasus genuinely living in Canterlot. Or, rather, staying long enough to becoming acclimated to the style of living there.
“Uh…” He swallowed, still slightly shaken up about the scare. He sat back down on his stool and flicking open a book. It’s not like he actually had to look at the book for a table, rather, he just needed something to do as his brain began slowly clicking back into gear. “N-Name, sir?”
“The Sparkles.” Night Light said with confidence, resting his hoof causally on the desk in an attempt to look slick. Firebird simply nodded, letting his hoof glide across the rough paper that held reservations. He was surprised to actually find a name on that list, as it was mostly just instinct to check that list. But alas, the only name for the entire night was Sparkle. They were due at 8:00 PM. A rather late dinner.
Firebird let his eyes dart to the clock on his desk.
9:24 PM.
He let out a shrug. Not like anypony else was coming in for tonight, anyways.
“Right this way, sir.” He, intentionally this time, hopped down from his stool, levitating five menus from their cubby hole behind him and descending deeper into the restaurant.
“Made it!” Night Light sung gleefully, following the colt.
“I knew we would.” Velvet laughed. “Even if we were late, I’m sure that that they aren’t busy enough to give us a table.”She followed, adjusting the Pegasus on her back. Said Pegasus took a deep, lungful breath of the air.
“I smell brow-nies!” She said, her wings itching with excitement.
“That’s just sugar.” Shining sighed, trailing close behind. “Not everything made of sugar is brownies, Twily.”
“You can’t know that!” Twilight retorted, turning around on her mother’s back and pointing an accusatory hoof at Shining. “I think there’s brownies here!”
“We made brownies one time.”
Cadence was trailing behind, simply watching and enjoying the superficial argument breaking out. It was like watching two cats go at it, and it was quite entertaining. Twilight was right, of course. Cadence had seen a sign earlier for brownies as a dessert, and the smell though the restaurant was quite strong.
But Cadence held back from the family. She took a moment, stopping short, as her ear flicked towards the source of a sound. A noise that caught her attention. She stretched her neck upwards, resisting the urge to take flight to get a better look at her surroundings. A good distance away, she saw movement in one of the booths. Curiosity, being stronger than the will to follow her family, she began trotting towards the movement.
Of course, she wasn’t exactly sure what else she was going to find in a restaurant. There was a simple little family sitting in a booth. They were completely alone and isolated in their own little area. Despite this, however, each of them had a bright smile on their faces. It was glaringly obvious, even from all the way over where Cadence was standing, that they were tourists. It’s not that Cadence minded tourists, it was just that sometimes they could be a little intrusive. All three of them wore some variation of a gaudy floral shirt. The stallion of the family, sitting next to the mare, had a camera wrapped around his neck.
Cadence was about to turn around to leave, however, when she made an observation. Just a little observation, of course. Not earth-shattering, or anything like that. Just something that made her stop, a strange blankness befalling her visage.
The father said something excitably. From where Cadence stood, the words were almost completely lost over the long distance, but it was apparent that he was excited. The wife agreed, and the colt groaned something. The stallion quickly unclipped the camera around the neck and extended it out, turning so it faced them. The colt groaned once more, forcing a smile as all three leaned in over the table.
Click.
They were all Pegasi. That was the startling observation, and it made Cadence feel weird. She felt a tickling sensation in her gut that transferred to the bottom of her hooves. She could feel it in the tips of her wings, the ends of every hair on her coat. A shortness of breath. Heart pumping like she had run a mile and back. There was no reason for her to be feeling like this.
“Cadence? You coming?” Shining asked. He had come back from following his family, now cautiously tapping her on her shoulder. Cadence pivoted her head, her face no longer blank, but instead with a small frown on it. One of discontent. Shining couldn’t help but notice her eyes drift upwards and to Shining’s horn.
“Cadence? Hel-loo?”
And then, she snapped out of it.
“Oh- uh- yeah.” All evidence that she had been frowning vanished in an instant, replacing itself with confusion. “Um- yeah, sorry. I’ll just- uh- you lead the way?” Shining stared for a second longer, but eventually gave a wary shrug, turning around and trotting towards the table.
Cadence spared one last glance at the table of Pegasi before following Shining.
They look… happy. Am I happy?
Of course she was. For the first time ever, she had a real family. One that cared for her.
Right?
The table that Firebird had chosen for the family was towards the back of the restaurant and well out of the way. The family had begun filing in one by one, with Velvet and Night Light sharing a side of the table, as the other side had Cadence sitting the closest to the window, with Twilight squished between her and Shining, who took up the exterior of the booth. It was a tight fit, and Cadence felt a wave of anxiety wash over her face like a hot summer day as she watched them sit down.
“Ohyah.” Night Light leaned backwards, into the red cushion of the booth. “Ohyah. Months of planning for this.” He did a few quick stretches, rotating his chest and hooves around in an apparent attempt to crack his back. “Feels good.”
“Months? For this?” Shining asked. He leaned his upper body out of the booth, gesturing vaguely to the deserted restaurant. “For what? What was there to plan?”
Night Light closed his eyes and shook his head.
“You wouldn’t understand, kid. Wait until you’re as old as me, you’ll get it.” He nodded, opening his eyes and plucking the menu from the table with his magic and holding it out in front of him. “I already have dinner planned for two weeks from now, for the 987th summer sun celebration, Twilight’s first day at Kindergarten, and Cadence’s Birthday.
Cadence jerked her head upwards and away from the menu she had been trying to preoccupy herself with. It was an almost desperate attempt to get her mind back on track, but Night Light dropping her name grabbed her attention, perhaps a little harder than she would’ve liked.
“Huh?” She asked. “My birthday? That’s four months from now!”
“Yeah! And I already made plans!” He laughed, flipping the menu over like it was no big deal. “And I know my little filly wants to go to Manehattan one day, isn’t that right?”
“But-” Cadence paused, furrowing her brow in thought. “But… wait a second… How did you figure that out?”
“Puh-lease, as if it wasn’t obvious by the four, count them, four posters of the big apple in your and Twilight’s room.” He laughed. Cadence was just about to begrudgingly accept this information, when suddenly, Night Light continued. “As if I wouldn’t know my own daughter well enough.”
You don’t belong.
It almost made her choke on her own spit. She… didn’t belong. Printed onto her retinas, like staring at the sun for too long, was the serene scene of the small family of Pegasi, simply just trying their hardest to live out their lives in peace. The Sparkles, as they had begun calling themselves, had always tried to make her feel like one of them. To make her feel included. And, for the longest time, it had worked. But, for some reason, that colt, leaning into the photograph? It was like it awoken something in her.
She couldn’t get it out of her mind. She was part of the family, ever since years ago, now. It had been so long, she could barely even remember the face of the head-mistress at the orphanage. It wasn’t like the orphanage was bad, per sey, but it was still soul-destroying, knowing that nopony in the greatest, biggest, and capital city of all of Equestria didn’t want you.
	Why would any couple want to adopt when magic can solve all of their issues?
There was always a way. The mare in the family barren? There’s a spell for that. The stallion infertile? There’s a spell to fix it. Two mares? A licensed spell caster can fix it. Two stallions? As long as one of them was okay with being a member of the opposite gender for an extended period of time, then what was the harm? Why ever come to adopt when magic was the cure-all for any problem?
And then Shining tapped her on the shoulder.
“Cadence? He’s asking you for your drink.”
Cadence turned her head, dropping the menu and looking up at the waiter, tilting her head to the side as she blankly stared. Firebird, the waiter that had guided them to their seats, had a notepad out and was expectantly waiting for an answer. Cadence flexed her jaw, blinking mechanically.
“I’ll take a water please.” She said.
“Alright.” If anypony noticed Cadence’s sudden shift in demeanor, they didn’t indicate that they did. “I’ll be back in a few minutes. Everypony hold tight.” Firebird left the table, Cadence raised the menu again, and the rest of the group began talking once more. Cadence’s eyes glossed over as she read the words on the menu.
Was her hoof shaking? It sorta felt like it.
Was that a headache she was developing? No, she was imagining it. Right?
Well, whatever it was, it was less of a headache and closer to that of a brain fog. Like she had just finished being sick, and now everything felt like it was covered in a thick layer of blankets. It was getting harder to think… she was just relying on instinct to let her eyes read the words, even if she wasn’t digesting any information from the menu.
Family. A-ha. That was a funny word that did not apply to the ponies around her. Family wasn’t the right word.
Of course it is. They took me in!
No, in truth, these ponies didn’t share a single gene with her. The closest she came to being ‘family’ was the wings on her back, and the wings on Twilight. And, even then, that was just a freak accident. A completely random roll of the dye that landed her two extra limbs. They didn’t really care about her. They had simply brought her in to deal with the crazy Pegasus that had fallen into their laps.
I was never obligated to help take care of Twilight! They offered me Night Light’s office, and I said I’d rather be with Twilight. When Shining talked to me at school that one day, I could’ve easily said no. I said yes because I wanted to.
But that doesn’t change the fact that they were using her. Using her for their own benefit.
Cadence felt her vision begin to blur. Was it… tears? No- her eyes were dry… right? No- it definitely was tears. Why was she crying? Nothing was going on that would cause her to cry. She adjusted the menu so it was covering more of her face as the worming sensation in her stomach turned to a clenching, painfully tight sensation around her throat.
I- I have to get out of here.
There it is.
I- I really need to leave, don’t I?
Cadence quickly wiped her eyes with her hoof, letting the menu drop down to her lap. None of the other ponies around her seemed to notice her now red eyes. As calmly as she could, she took a breath, and made sure she wasn’t shaking anymore.
She was pushed against the window. She felt trapped. No- she was trapped. And she needed to leave.
“Shining, can I leave?” She said in a surprisingly monotone voice. Shining was too busy chatting with his parents to hear her, but Twilight sure did, looking up from her own kids menu.
“Huh?” She asked. “Who’s asking?”
“I am.” Cadence looked down at the tiny Pegasus in a harsh tone that made Twilight flinch back. “I need to-” Her throat tightened. “I need to get out.”
“Woah.” Twilight was, finally, the first pony to notice Cadence’s eyes. “Uh… Shiny?” She asked, nudging Shining in the ribs. He coughed, looking over with a grumble. “Cadence wants to get out of the booth.”
“Already?” He groaned. For an instant, quicker than the blink of an eye, Cadence saw the Pegasus colt. He took the spot where Shining sat, and it burned her eyes. “We just sat down…” He dramatically slid out of the booth, followed by Twilight, clearing the way for Cadence to get out.
Shining turned, looking down the booth and at Cadence. She gulped, her eyes still red and damp, and slowly shuffled down the booth. Only Twilight and Cadence really seemed to care, as Night Light and Velvet were still talking about the menu and holding it out at hoof’s length to be able to read it properly.
Finally, after the eyes of Twilight and Shining seemed to bore a hole through the top of her head, she hopped out of the booth.
And immediately felt her hooves give out, letting her chest take the full brunt of the impact. Air escaped quickly from her lungs, leaving her coughing and sputtering as she laid down. Her legs didn’t work, and that seemed to make Shining and Twilight suddenly full of concern.
“Cadence?!” Twilight yelled, gallivanting towards Cadence and sliding to her side. “Are you okay? Did I do that? I’m sorry, I didn’t-”
“Get back!” She shouted. Twilight’s ears immediately fell flat on her head as she took a few quick steps back. The family descended into complete silence as Cadence struggled to stand up. Concerned glances were exchanged with one another as the shaky Pegasus managed to wobble to her legs.
“What… happened?” Velvet asked. Shining wrapped a hoof around Twilight, who looked shocked from the yell from Cadence.
“S-She just fell over!” Twilight tried explaining, her voice quivering.
“Cadence, are you-”
“I’m fine!” She shouted. She tried taking a step forwards, but unfortunately her joints in her legs had turned to a paste, stumbling forwards and away from the table. “I’m fine.” She coughed, rubbing her eyes again. The world was blurry, and she felt bleary.
The deathly silence persisted. Everypony seemed to be in a state of shock, not exactly knowing what to do with Cadence. Her mane had turned into a complete mess, and just now, Night Light and Velvet noticed her red eyes.
“Cadence… are you crying?” Night Light asked softly.
“No. No, of course not.” She rubbed her eyes again.
Why am I lying?
	“I just…” She huffed, looking around the restaurant as if she hadn’t realized how she had ended up here. “I- no, I just- I- I need to leave.” She shook her head, an image forming clearly in her head of where she needed to go. “I… I need to… Far. Far away from here.” She began shakily trotting forwards, her hooves rocketing around like she hadn’t drank any water and was severely dehydrated. “I’m sorry, I-”
“Cadence, if you need a second outside-” Velvet tried, now also slinking out of the booth.
“No- I- I need to leave.” She reiterated. “I need to get out of here. I need to- far-”
“Cadence?” Shining spoke up. “Are you feeling okay?”
Cadence put her hoof against the door, the one leading out to the back ally. The surface was bronze, and therefore cold. She could feel it, permeating her hoof and sending a shiver down her spine. It was cold. It felt as if the doorknob was freezing her tears.
“I-”
Cadence threw the door open, the cold air punching her in the face and instantly turning her fur to ice. Despite this, Cadence pushed onward, out into the alley. Night Light and Velvet took over for Shining, holding Twilight close as he followed her out.
Cadence could see her breath, her nose turning a shade of pink and her ears stinging painfully. Just five minutes ago, it wasn’t nearly this cold when they had first entered the restaurant. Why was it so cold out?
“Cadence? Why did you yell at Twilight? Are you okay?” Shining stepped down the steps as Cadence put a healthy amount of distance between them. Cadence felt her mouth go dry, her jaw working to bring feeling back to her cheeks. She swallowed, her tears ice.
“I’m… not okay.” Cadence’s lip quivered. “I don’t know what’s happening, I-” She collapsed again, without warning. Shining yelped, leaping the distance to try and catch her before she hit the ground. The most he could do was lift her head up after the fact. “I can’t- I’m not fine! I’m so far from fine, I’m the least fine I’ve ever been in my life!” She choked on her own throat.
“What’s happening, Cadence?” Shining asked, trying to move her head so he could sit down.
“I need to-” She began trying to stand up, but stopped when she watched a single snowflake drift down from the sky. It landed nearby on a garbage heap, immediately melting upon touching it’s surface. “Is that… snow?”
“Huh?” Shining asked. Cadence tracked another snowflake, this time landing in a puddle of mystery liquid. “What are you talking about?” He asked as Cadence stood up.
“L-Look! Do you see it?”
“Cadence, see what?” Shining asked, now sounding panicked. “Cadence, there’s nothing there!”
“Look! Right here!” She extended her wing, letting a snowflake fall and land on the tip of her feather. She felt it melt this time. “Do you see this?”
“Cadence, it’s the middle of July! It isn’t going to snow!” Shining pleaded. He watched as the insane Pegasus trotted from spot to spot in the desolate ally, tracking invisible objects as they fell from the sky. “Cadence, you’re seriously scaring the… the hay out of me!”
“The…” Cadence gasped, looking up at the sky. It was filled with snowflakes, snowing like the middle of a blizzard. But, there, in the middle of the night sky, was a great big beacon of light. It was far away… very far away, but it was so bright and brilliant, Cadence couldn’t help but let a smile cross her face. “Woah…”
“Woah, what, Cadence? What are you woahing at?” Shining followed Cadence’s eyes, seeing nothing but the lunar moon hanging in the sky like a light bulb. “Cadence? Cadence?”
Cadence looked away from the light, her eye sparkling like she had just seen something grand. A smile crossed her face, completely forgetting about her weak knees, stomach feelings, and frozen tears.
“I need to go pack!” She said excitedly. “I gotta go see what that… thing is!”
“Cadence?” Shining stuttered, standing up. “NO- no, no, no! Y-You are not packing! NO!”
“I have to go see what-” Cadence was interrupted as Shining grabbed both of her shoulders and pulled her close in a half-hug and half attempt at restraining her.
“I-I thought you said- You were not-” He stuttered. “You are not leaving!”
“Oh, Shining.” She laughed, pulling herself away. “You don’t understand. I have to go see what that light is!”
“You-” In an instant of pink feathers, Cadence extended her wings and flew away, straight up and into the snowflake ridden sky. “You promised!” He gaped. “No, No! I- I can’t- I can’t let you do this!”
For perhaps the second time that night, he began galloping through the night streets. This time, instead of trying to find a notoriously hidden and out of the way restaurant, he was tailing a pink Pegasus.





Suitcase.
Cadence threw open her closet door. In it was a collection of dresses that she had, realistically, only worn once before at some sort of social event, and never again. But, at the bottom of those dresses, tucked beneath a particularly gaudy golden dress, was a beat up brown suitcase. She snatched it out, letting it skid across the ground as it dragged behind her.
The Photo.
On her nightstand, illuminated faintly by the fairy lights hung above her bed, was a picture, framed in a photo frame of her parents- or, rather, the closest ponies she had ever gotten to her parents. Night Light, Velvet, Shining, little Twilight, and right in the middle, Cadence herself. She seemed to have the brightest smile out of anypony there, leaning her head back so her white teeth were bright and large in frame.
She quickly dumped it unceremoniously into the suitcase. She was fairly sure she heard the glass crack as it landed into the unpadded surface.
Scarf and a hat. It’s cold out there.
Cold it was. All across the dome, the windows were already being covered by the sheets of snow that had been coming down. The house hadn’t had a chance to catch up, the glass frosting over heavily as the temperature of the room began dropping.
In a drawer by the bedroom door was her winter gear. Although fall wasn’t even close- actually she wasn’t sure how it was snowing at all- she still went and grabbed it. A red hat and scarf, both of which were knitted by Velvet herself. It was obvious that Velvet wasn’t exactly grand mare material, the hat being severely stretched and over sized in the signs of an inexperienced knitter. But, it was Cadence’s first Hearths Warming present, which made it special. She almost felt like part of the family.
She put it into the suitcase.
She wasn’t exactly sure how long she had spend packing her suitcase, but by the end, it was bulging outwards. She was certain if she had taken the time to properly fold and organize everything, it would’ve fit much more than the necessities she was carrying. But she was in a hurry. What for? The light, of course! It was already fading away, getting further and further as she spent more time packing.
Brush. You’ll want that.
Over by a makeshift makeup stand, in which there were several mirrors, was her brush. There wasn’t some grand, elaborate story behind her hair brush, only that it was there. She liked using it, and so it went into the suitcase.
With some force, she clicked the suitcase closed. She looked at herself in the three way mirror on her makeup stand. She looked cold. Her face had almost turned white from the frost in the air, her ears and cheeks a tinge of her old pink.
Then, the door behind her creaked open. Her eyes moved off of her face and into the door in the mirror, right behind her unkempt mane. A staggering Shining slipped into the room, heaving his chest in and out as he was severely out of breath.
“C-Cadence! W-What are you-” Then, Cadence turned around. “Gah! Why are you so pale?”
“I have to hurry if I don’t want to miss the light.” She said emotionlessly, although she hadn’t exactly intended for it to come out that way.
“No…” Shining gasped for air, a choking sound coming from his throat as he stumbled across the floor, weakened by all of the running he had performed. “No, no, no! You said this wasn’t going to happen! You said you were too old! You said you-” He choked again, sniffing something back. “You said you wouldn’t run away!”
Cadence clicked open one of the sections of the glass dome. It swung open, blisteringly cold air washing over her like a waterfall.
“I’m not running away. I’m running to.” She said, chucking the heavy suitcase out of the window. It slid down the dome, resting on the edge of the roof precariously. “If I’m not fast enough, I’m going to miss it.” The light was dangerously far away now. She almost couldn’t see it.
“Cadence, I can’t let you fly the nest!” He began approaching. “You promised me you wouldn’t! You promised!”
“Sometimes, promises don’t mean anything!” She shouted, no, screamed. Shining’s ears fell flat as he took one step backwards in surprise. “I have to leave! I have to chase that!” She pointed out to nothing. “I can’t stand it! I have to- omph!”
Shining wrapped both of his hooves around Cadence and pulled her to the floor. She rolled over, along with Shining. He rolled on top of her, pinning her hooves to the ground. “You stay here! Don’t even look at the light! It’s instinct, and it’s tricking you! It’s-”
“Get off of me!” She yelled, rearing her hooves back and bucking Shining in the stomach. He flew backwards, letting out a startled yelp of pain as both of his hooves clutched his gut. “You don’t understand! You don’t-”
For a moment, the house was completely silent. Cadence, now standing up, and looking down at the pony, holding himself close.
And then Shining let out a small sob.
Cadence’s eyes went wide open, and for the first time in a while, she felt lucid.
	“I… I have to go.”
With one powerful flap of the wings, and not even a second glance, she fled out the window, only pausing to grab her suitcase.