Chapter 7: Sibling Troubles
In Nyx and Daylight's bedroom, Dusk, Nyx and Daylight were reading some Marvel Comics. They were looking at one character in a Spider-Man comic.
"See that?" Daylight asked.
"Wow, I can see the resemblance between that human and the reporter back in Manehattan," Nyx said.
"Hopefully, that reporter isn't too much like J Jonah Jameson," Dusk said, making Daylight snicker.
"How about we take a break and go out for some ice cream?" Daylight asked.
"Might as well tell Mom we're going out," Dusk said. Then they headed out of the room, going down the halls. They passed a room where Twilight and Fluttershy were drinking some tea. Dusk, Nyx and Daylight stopped in front of the doorway and Dusk said, "Hey, Mom."
"Oh, hey, kids," Twilight said. "You three going out?"
"Just for some ice cream," Daylight said.
"Not too much, you three," Twilight said. "We wouldn't want to spoil your dinner."
"It's 3:30," Nyx said.
"Oh, alright," Twilight said. "I'll give you kids some bits. But first, I'm gonna see how Zephyr Breeze is doing on his job."
"Who's Zephyr Breeze?" Daylight asked.
Fluttershy sighed annoyingly and said, "My younger brother. He's usually quite a slacker and a dropout of mane therapy school. Thinking he can do whatever he wants. But, he decided to move into my cottage, and I told him if he wanted to live with me, he'd have to get a job."
"Right now, he's cleaning the windows in the throne room," Twilight said. "Follow me." Then they all headed to the throne room, seeing just about all the windows cleaned. Twilight and Fluttershy were smiling, how pleased they were at the job being done. "Wow, Zephyr! This looks amazing!" They walked up to Twilight's throne, where Zephyr Breeze was playing a ukulele.
"Uh, you know, like you said, it was easy!" Zephyr Breeze said, giving a grin.
Fluttershy looked around for something and asked, "Where's Spike?"
"Up here!" came Spike's voice. Twilight, Fluttershy, Dusk, Nyx and Daylight looked up as Zephyr Breeze gave a nervous look. They saw Spike squeegeeing a window.
"You were supposed to supervise, not do all the work!" Twilight said.
Spike turned around on the ropes he made into a pulley system he made and said, "I was supervising! And then Zephyr asked me about different cleaning techniques and which one was best, and if I could..." He then realized something and got angry at Zephyr Breeze. "Hey! I did all the work!"
Twilight, Fluttershy, Dusk, Nyx and Daylight looked at Zephyr Breeze, who was backing up towards the door, saying, "Don't let him fool you. Old Spike is quite the taskmaster." He then quickly sped out of there.
Fluttershy was getting an unimpressed look from Twilight. Fluttershy grinned sheepishly as Twilight shook her head, and Spike came down with his arms crossed.
"Okay, I'm not going to slack off like that when I get older," Daylight said.
"Good call," Dusk said. "Well, we'll be out." Then Dusk, Nyx and Daylight headed out of there.
Out in the town, Dusk, Nyx and Daylight came out of the ice cream parlor. Dusk had two scoops of chocolate in a waffle cone, Nyx had a single scoop of vanilla, and Daylight had a banana split with two scoops of chocolate, one scoop of vanilla, whip cream, chocolate fudge and a cherry on top.
"I still can't believe that that slacker is Fluttershy's brother," Daylight said. "How'd Fluttershy's parents end up with a son like that?"
"Beats me," Dusk said. "That's a mystery we'll never solve." Just then, the sound of a baby crying came to their attention. "A baby?" They saw that the noise was coming from a house by their current location. They saw an earth pony colt, older than Dusk, coming out of a house where the baby crying is coming from.
Dusk, Nyx and Daylight ran over towards the older colt. Dusk then asked, "What's going on in there?"
The teenage colt sighed and said, "My newborn baby sis is making a fuss again. It's been happening for the past few months."
"Aren't you going to do something about it?" Nyx asked.
"Why should I?" the teenage colt responded. "It's not my problem anymore."
"WHAT?!" Dusk, Nyx and Daylight shouted.
"That's right," the teenage colt said. "Sandbar here is running away. No turning back."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Dusk said, getting in front of Sandbar as he started walking off. "You can't just run away. What about your family?"
"They're always spending a lot more time with the new baby," Sandbar said. "I can't even do what I used to do ever since Coral Currents was born. 'Sandbar, don't play your music so loud!' 'Sandbar, turn off the light so your sister can sleep!' 'Sandbar, watch your sister until I get back from the store!' I'm getting tired of it all!" He then sighed. "So, I'm leaving Ponyville and moving in with my aunt in Canterlot to get away from it all."
"But you can't just run away," Dusk said. "Especially if you're leaving a family that loves you."
"They don't have time for me anyway," Sandbar said. "So, I'm out." Sandbar then tried walking around Dusk, but Nyx got in the way. He then tried going the other way, but Daylight blocked the path. "Listen, I get you three are caring siblings, but nothing's gonna stop me from leaving this place."
"Your family does love you," Daylight said. "Just because they're spending time with your sister more doesn't mean they don't have time for you as well."
"And you definitely cannot run away to Canterlot," Nyx said. "You'll be around snooty ponies who think small town ponies don't belong around high class ponies."
"And how would you know that?" Sandbar asked.
"I originally came from an alternate Equestria and I met a snobby filly during dinner at a restaurant on my first Hearth's Warming," Nyx answered.
"Seriously?" Sandbar asked.
"You really should consider staying with your family," Dusk said. "Get to know your sister. After all..." Dusk then reached for Daylight and pulled her in for a hug. "...you don't know what you've got until it's gone."
"Yeah," Daylight said. "Dusk here and I used to be related by blood, but our evil aunt treated him badly and made him their personal slave."
"I got sick and they made me clean the house while they were out," Dusk said. "I was six years old."
"Wow," Sandbar said. "And your original parents didn't know that?"
"Until the day I died," Dusk said. "They came home, saw my condition, and took me to the hospital. But... it wasn't enough. I died in front of my parents, my aunt was sent to prison, my cousin was sent to boarding school for bad children and..." He then looked at Daylight. "My parents moved away to start anew."
"Time works differently between here and there," Daylight said. "Mom got killed when I was four... and my dad was offered to work on a cruise ship. Luckily there was a school for me to attend on that ship. But... my... my dad got lung cancer, and he died the day Princess Luna came and got me." She then sighed. "At least I'm here with my brother." Dusk put his wing around Daylight, and gave her a tight hug.
"Out of our original loving family, I'm all she has in this world," Dusk said. "Even though we're not related by blood anymore."
"But... I'm not so sure that I should stay," Sandbar said.
"Dusk and Nyx helped me out when I was having a hard time adjusting to this world," Daylight said. "Mostly Dusk. He's my hero. Be your sister's hero."
Sandbar then thought about what Daylight said. He then sighed and said, "I guess I do have a responsibility as a big brother." He then turned to go back towards his house. "Thanks for talking me out of running away."
"No problem," Dusk said. "Perhaps we should talk more."
"Yeah, we should," Sandbar said. He then headed back into his house.
Days have passed since then. Zephyr Breeze finally graduated from Mane Therapy training. Dusk, Nyx and Daylight were hanging out with the Cutie Mark Crusaders and the Tri-Pies. They decided to go to Sugarcube Corner for some sweets, but there was a line being held up.
"What's going on?" Daylight asked.
"I don't know," Raspberry Pie said.
"There hasn't been a line this long ever," Blueberry Pie said.
"Not even back in our Equestria," Cherry Pie said. "Let's go around back." Then they all headed around the back of the building and went through the back door. When they got to the front door, they saw somepony holding up the line. It was Sandbar, along with his baby sister. Sandbar was trying to pick something out.
"Oh, deary," Mrs. Cake said. "It's been half an hour. Why don't you choose something already?"
"I don't know," Sandbar said. "They all look so good."
"Just hurry up and pick one!" came a stallion's voice from the door.
Dusk, Nyx and Daylight looked at each other, trying to hold in their laughter. But they failed and let it all out. The Cutie Mark Crusaders and the Tri-Pies joined in, laughing at what was going on.