"Dinky, no!" Hissed Amethyst Star as she tailed her sister, stepping quietly in a vain attempt to dampen all the sound.
"Dinky, yes!" Cheered the little filly as she all but bounced up the stairs, giggling on her way with the innocence and exuberance of youth.
Amy groaned and continued to chase her, but the late hour meant she dared not catch up for fear of making a ruckus. The youth winced with every creaking step as they ascended, with Dinky zooming ahead before pausing in the middle of the hallway. The grey filly had a leg raised, peeking back at her sister's exasperated expression with a playful smile.
"You coming, Amy?"
The unicorn in question let out a breath of disbelief.
"No, I'm not, because we're not supposed to be dis--" was as far as she got before the rebellious little brat scampered on ahead. "Dinky--!" Was that a raspberry? Oh, that runt was so in for it.
Amethyst caught up to her little sister easily enough. Dinky had reached the door to their guest's room, only to find it locked tight. Her fruitless scabbling and disappointed pout had no effect, either, and she couldn't do much more before Amy's magical aura yanked her away. Sprawled over and pinned to the carpet floor, the filly looked up at her sister's displeased frown with a smile so innocent it belonged on a newborn colt.
"C'mon, Amy! Don't you wanna see him, too?" A snort was Amethyst's reaction while she tossed her head.
"After all that screaming a few minutes ago? Absolutely not. We can't just waltz into Heath's room." The very idea appalled her, especially considering what happened last time she tried that. Unfortunately, Dinky didn't seem to agree.
"Why?" Amy blinked in shock, but the filly's question seemed genuine. Impossibly so, the more she thought about it. Didn't Dinky know how improper it was to barge into a colt's room? Didn't she know how somepony as mistreated as Heath was would react to such an intrusion? Was she aware of how trauma worked at all?
Actually, the answer to those questions was probably 'no'. Dinky was pretty sheltered. Amy stopped short when she realized this and her pause grew lengthier when she couldn't come up with a good way to explain. Really, she didn't know too much about these things either and her ears began drooping at the sobering thought.
"I..." Dinky continued to stare with an expectant expression while she fumbled for words. "Well, Heath is..." wracking her brain, Amy finally came up with the not-inaccurate-but-still-uninformative: "...special." The filly blinked, growing incredulous, while her sister cringed slightly.
"Well, duh!" Exclaimed Dinky, "all colts are special! That's how come we gotta be careful and not roughhouse when they're around!" She stood as Amy's magic faded away, brushing herself off but still holding a chipper smile. "And they can't play any fun games with us at recess, or else Cheerilee says they'll get hurt 'n stuff!" Dinky looked proud of herself, while her sister shook her head with a confused frown.
"If you knew all that, then why barge in on Heath in the middle of the night?" The filly rolled her eyes, waving a hoof at the disapproving glare aimed her way. If Amy frowned any harder, her muzzle could very well gain an unnatural curve forever.
"I wasn't gonna touch him, silly! I just wanted a look at my new brother! He barely spent any time with us at dinner." Dinky was so oblivious sometimes, Amy had the sudden urge to laugh. She quelled it, of course, even though they'd definitely made way too much noise by now. She could only hope they hadn't woken Dad.
"That's because Heath..." but the words died in the unicorn's throat again. Dinky looked so curious, so innocent, so pure. How could Amethyst ruin that? How could she break the news without also betraying the colt in a way, either? Was it really her business to share what he'd been through?
A sudden voice that both youngsters recognized made them freeze in place.
"I can hear you two just fine out there."
Amy's mouth flopped open and closed, her spiraling mind scrambling for something to say as Redheart's voice resonated from behind Heath's door.
"You fillies can go ahead and come in. The door's unlocked, now. Don't wake your father."
This was all the invitation Dinky needed. A blink, and suddenly she was leaning against the door on her hind hooves, nuzzling the handle open. Amy followed at a much more sedate pace, feeling her ears pin themselves against her head as she pictured what might be within.
The youth was somewhat disappointed in that respect. Once Dinky all but hopped inside with a swishing tail, Amy's gaze was drawn to her Alpha Mare, laying on the rug mere feet within. Or, more specifically, her eyes landed on the small green-and-red form nestled up against Redheart's side.
Heath looked so frail, tiny, and--dare she think it--cute that even Dinky let out a squeaky 'awwww' as she approached. The filly came to a halt mere inches from where Redheart's tail was curled around the sleeping colt. After several seconds seeing him snooze away, though, her endeared smile became a disappointed pout.
"Why's he still sleeping? He's done nothing but sleep the whole time!" Dinky at least had the decency to speak in a hushed tone, but that hardly made her words any less inconsiderate, at least in Amy's opinion. Her Alpha donned a patient smile, but there was a noticeable firmness in her voice when she responded.
"Colts need their sleep, Dinky. Without magic to energize them, they can't stay up for as long as you can." Something occurred to Redheart then and she tilted her head, gazing between the two. "Speaking of, where are the others? I haven't seen them since dinner." Amethyst stepped into the room proper, circling around her while leaving a wide berth--Heath was sleeping soundly, but one couldn't be too careful.
"Derpy's in the nest with Dad. Minuette's in the basement, working on the new design. We were going to go help her like Mom said, but somepony wanted to terrorize our 'new brother.'" Those last two words came out with much heavier air quotes than Amy had intended and she cringed under Redheart's questioning look. Luckily, Dinky proved too great a distraction, bouncing yet closer and reaching towards Heath's face.
"I wanted to say hi! Can't we wake him up for ju--"
Redheart made no physical movements. As an Alpha Mare, she didn't need to. All she had to do was clear her throat and utter a soft:
"Back."
For the filly to freeze and take several steps away.
Amethyst froze too, feeling shivers down her spine at the commanding, powerful tone in the voice. Neither youngster dared think of disobeying her leader. They both stood stock still, staring at her with rapt attention. Redheart gave a gentle smile, which eased much of the tension, but they remained in place until she nodded a release. "It's best not to disturb him, okay, Dinky?" The filly in question edged closer with great trepidation before the mare held out a foreleg in an inviting gesture.
"Okay," agreed Dinky as she curled up against the front of her Alpha's barrel like an obedient puppy. It was some seconds until she found her voice again, spent being comforted by a reassuring nuzzle. In that time, Amy had unlocked her legs and sat on the carpet floor, squinting in the dim light. "Why, though? We get to wake Daddy up all the time!" Redheart let out a low hum, flicking her tail so it landed covering more of Heath's prone form.
"Like Amy said, Heath is special. I know you're excited to make a new friend, but you have to be even more careful with him." The earth pony gazed down, faintly apologetic, at the pouting unicorn all but buried in her chest fluff. "It's best if you stay away, at least for now. Let Heath come to you when he's ready, okay?"
Dinky didn't respond this time. For as rebellious as she could be, she knew when to listen to authority. Amy only wished she counted in that respect, but one couldn't have everything.
Seated on her haunches, the young mare found herself glancing about the darkened guest room. The four-poster bed occupying one corner looked so messy that it seemed a rabid bear had torn out of its confines. A connecting curtain rod had snapped, leaving the canopy in a heap on the ground. Amy's perceptive eyes noticed disturbed patches of carpet, like scuffed hoofprints leading from the bed to the door.
Speaking of which, being on this side of it, she saw marks of torn paint two feet or so up from the ground, like something small had desperately--yet fruitlessly--been scrabbling away at it. And not in a playful, silly way like her sister had minutes prior. This was a failed escape from what likely had been read as a life-threatening situation. Connecting dots formed an unpleasant picture in her head as Amy's gaze slowly dropped to the resting colt almost entirely hidden by pink hairs.
Amy's mouth opened, then closed. With a jolt, she tore her stare away, having realized Redheart was looking at her. With cheeks aflame, her attention was drawn to an open notebook lying some feet away. Curious, she approached with a cocked head. The book was vaguely familiar--maybe she'd seen it earlier that day, when she'd come to get Heath for dinner? Amy hadn't gotten a good look at the picture he'd drawn, though. She'd been too distracted by him talking about...
Amy beat those thoughts back with a shake of her head, igniting her horn with a pale blue glow. The notebook was levitated closer to her squinting purple eyes, which roved across the image in what dim light existed. Those eyes soon widened and she channeled more magic in efforts to make her horn brighter, all while furiously scanning the paper for every minute detail--of which there were surprisingly many.
"... wow..." she breathed, almost without realizing. Amy jolted, though, when Redheart's voice tore through her trance and reminded her where she was.
"What is it?"
The unicorn turned to face her Alpha, but couldn't make herself look away from the art she had become so invested in. Depicted on the page of one of her spare notebooks was clearly a city street, framed by skyscrapers like the ones she'd seen in Manehattan when she'd tagged along on one of Minuette's business trips. The art was greyscale, shaded with pencil markings, which fit the dreary atmosphere of a rained-upon city sidewalk perfectly. Figures traveled across the pavement, holding umbrellas above their tall, lanky forms as shields from the heavens.
The image seemed to come alive the longer Amy studied it. Blinking rapidly, she realized it'd been over a minute and she still had not answered.
"It's a drawing. Heath was drawing when I came to get him yesterday. This..." she trailed off, once more enraptured by all the details.
Almost as curious as the tall figures were the strange machines occupying the street. They resembled carriages like the ones popular in Manehattan, but without anything to pull them along. Amy's eyes wandered upwards as she pondered the art, but were then drawn to the very top of the page, where the underside of an umbrella was clearly depicted. That explains the perspective...
"...How old did you estimate him to be, again?"
Redheart hummed, shifting her penetrating stare to the colt in question, who mumbled something and inched closer in his sleep. Dinky had made herself comfortable at that point, leaning up against her front and shutting her eyes in like fashion. It wouldn't be long before the filly slipped into Princess Luna's realm of dreams, if only from boredom and there being nothing better to do.
Also more than a little because Redheart's chest fluff was just that comfy.
"Judging from his teeth and general size, the consensus was eight years. Is the drawing really that good?" The mare was skeptical, if her raised brow and slight frown were any indication. Amy nodded in response, every bit as surprised as her Alpha.
"There's shading, perspective, a fully-developed background," she began, levitating the notebook over to be inspected by a pair of icy blue eyes. "The machines don't look like anything I've ever seen, so they must have been imagined. Same with the umbrella creatures. These things take a lot of skill--I'd never expect anything like this from anypony under twelve." The picture wasn't perfect, of course, but its blemishes and mistakes were overshadowed by everything positive and Redheart definitely seemed impressed.
"It looks so..." the mare started, wrinkling her forehead as she studied the art in turn, "...dreary. Like there's no joy left. I'd hate to be there." Amy nodded along, but gazed vacantly at the wall with absent thoughts. This situation was quite curious. If Heath really was skilled enough to draw something like that, how could he be so young? She'd needed years of practice to reach that level and, though the unicorn had surpassed it now, she hadn't at his age to be sure.
How could a little colt do something so advanced? Was he really as young as they thought?
Amy found herself thinking back to her encounter with him, despite her own wishes. The look in his eyes, it still brought chills down her spine. The almost-victorious gleam as he sized her up. The casual frankness with which he addressed her, as if he was so used to that happening. The utter revulsion she'd felt when the dots connected. She couldn't even picture doing anything of the sort and yet he'd been so certain that--
"--Amy."
The youth jolted again, spun to face her Alpha, and formed a shaky smile. Redheart's raised brow stayed northward for several seconds before her expression softened and she patted the carpet in front of her with her free leg.
"Come sit. Let's talk."
Those were the last words any teenager wanted to hear from a parental figure, but Amy obeyed all the same. Steadfast, she avoided glancing down at the troublesome lump as she crept by him, though she did spare a look at her slumbering sister. Dinky wasn't sleeping quite so heavily by the looks of it, but she wasn't one to snoop in business not concerning her. Tonight notwithstanding, that was.
Amy settled herself down with the grace of a drunken seal, breathing shallowly as her eyes refused to focus. Across from her, Redheart ran a hoof through Dinky's yellow mane, brows creased. "You're still shaken. Did something happen before you went to get me?" The unicorn let out an airy chuckle, shaking her head in the negative.
"Nothing more than you'd expect," Amy dismissed, waving a foreleg. "I'm sure you've been through the same thing with him. Probably worse."
Redheart didn't seem convinced. Or, perhaps it was just that she knew Amy better than that.
"It's affected you all the same. I'm sorry for what he must have said. It's partially my fault you went through that, after all." The mare waited expectantly for the youth to respond, but Amy dipped her head instead, unable to find the words. Even if she did figure out what to say, how to describe what he'd assumed she would do, no sound would make it past the lump in her throat.
After a long pause, Redheart sighed. "Why don't you tell me how life is going? How's the internship with Rarity?" This was something Amy could discuss much more easily. It still took effort to speak, but keeping her thoughts on her employer helped a lot.
"It's good. She's very talented at what she does and I learn more every day." With a deep breath as the knots in her barrel eased up, the youth managed a genuine smile. "I can see why she was chosen to be in charge of decorations for the celebration. I envy her artistic mind, sometimes." Redheart smiled back, her teeth glinting in the scant light from the window to the side.
"Well, you're every bit as talented, too. You'll be helping her set everything up today, then?" A nod, then Amy reached back to grab her well-brushed tail, fiddling with its tip in her front hooves. A habit she'd had since she was little, it helped occupy her mind and focus her thoughts. Redheart noticed, if her deepening smile was any indication, but she knew better than to comment on it.
"Yes. It's going to be a busy day, but Rarity said she had a lesson prepared to teach while we're working, so I'm looking forward to it." Indeed, Amy was already imagining just what they'd go over while hanging ribbons and the like all across town. Any number of things, really; her teacher could get quite creative with relating one thing to another. Redheart cocked her head to the side with a thoughtful expression.
"Do you think--" she started, but cut herself off immediately when Heath stirred again at her side. This time, it was more than just readjusting himself in his sleep. The colt let out a soft whine and his brows creased, wrinkling his forehead. Redheart shifted, angling herself around him, and briefly looked back at Amy with an apologetic expression. "I'm sorry, but I have to take care of this. Can you..."
Heath whimpered and started to shake. Redheart's attention was redirected in an instant as she gently lifted his body in her hooves. Amethyst Star stood, nodding, while the sleeping colt grew yet more agitated as time went on.
"I'll take Dinky to bed," the filly lit up in a pale blue glow at the same time as the unicorn's horn and she swiftly opened the door. "I'll help Minuette downstairs, too. I'm sure she could use a hoof." Redheart nodded her thanks, now turned away completely as she focused on her charge. Amy left--almost eagerly--without further prompting, softly closing the door behind as she levitated Dinky ahead.
Amy sighed in relief, knowing her Alpha had things under control. Few in Ponyville were as skilled as she in comforting males.
Dropping Dinky off in her bedroom was easy, then the unicorn headed to the basement lab as promised.
Stoically, she refrained from thinking about her new 'brother' in the slightest. Amy wanted no part in the trouble he was sure to bring, that was for sure.
And she was sure that he was going to bring a lot of trouble.