//------------------------------//
// The First Turn 
// Story: What Are Little Ponies Made Of? 
// by Phoenix Quill 
//------------------------------//


"If some families are like fudge, then mine is peanut brittle.”
-Screwloose   


Steam Shine was tired, he had just now finally reached Canterlot from his daily commute to Cloudsdale and was few more bits richer now than he was in the morning. As his wings ached, he felt no need to rush to the royal district and simply glided. No, there wasn't a need to be on time for his weekly bowling engagement, and no need to get to the white building with purple trim he'd grown up in. No, even his mother and little brother could wait a few moments longer than usual.

He continued to absentmindedly ride the wind currents down, until it dawned upon him that he was directly over Trotway Avenue. With a smile on his face the stallion landed on the side of the road and walked the rest of the way to his destination. He looked up at the sign with a smile as he noted that the purple quill and question mark was repainted. Next to the rendering, in neat script the sign read, Black Shadows, Psychologist. "Looks like Emerald finally got around to helping with that rusty old sign," he thought to himself.

He reached out a hoof to the door and froze, his mane was sticking up all over the place, and his work coat was sporting a crooked collar. "Oh this won't do at all, she can't see me like this." Steam quickly spat into his hooves, and slicked back his mane before adjusting the rebellious collar, "And Steam Shine the Smooth strikes again," he mumbled to himself as he finally opened the door to step inside.

As expected, the waiting room he stepped into was the same as it ever was.  A neutral calming kind of room that could have adorned any psychologist's waiting room. It was filled with the tones that ponies who make a living by studying, and specializing in colors claim are calming to look at. Those desaturated shades of grey, some purple, and blue.

He frowned at the bland waiting room and walked forward to the desk, only to be disappointed that the receptionist had long gone home by now, which only made sense as it was past closing time. He then walked around it and opened the door into the back. Calmly, he made his way down the short hall, passing a few rooms used to store papers, the main office, and where his mother would see her patients. His goal was a lone door in the back that would lead him to the private home upstairs. 

Suddenly, the sound of shattering glass came from upstairs, followed quickly by shouts. "What's going on? Did somepony break in?" Reacting quickly, Steam Shine yanked open the door and galloped up the stairwell, thrusting with his wings in an attempt to push him faster than his legs could move. It did not take him long to reach the top, and when he did, he couldn't help but notice that the door was partially open. 

Steam Shine moved his way closer to the door, and was able to hear what was going on. Curious, he slowed down as the sound of a mare yelling at the top of her lungs at an unfortunate victim became obvious to him. He cautiously entered the doorway, and his jaw dropped at the sight that greeted him.

Black Shadows, the usually calm and collected psychologist had her horn aglow, a sheet of paper levitating next to her. Her anger however was more apparent in what she wasn't doing on purpose. As she continued yelling at her youngest son, her magic was discharging at an alarming rate, causing anything not nailed to the ground to go flying in all directions as the occasional glass object exploded suddenly. Steam Shine looked up, and spotted his brother hovering near the ceiling, moving frantically as he tried to dodge the volley of weaponized nick-knacks., "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?! Are you on drugs or something?"

As she screamed, a saucer flew from the coffee table and finally beaned Emerald Shadows on his forehead. He grabbed at his skull too late and fell to the ground while still trying to defend his actions. "OW! Ma! No, I'm not using drugs! The teachers just don't appreciate my art!"

"YOUR ART?!" the mare screamed as she attempted to ram herself into the now downed pegasus. Emerald quickly flapped his wings to dodge his enraged mother only to find his green tail wrapped in the blue aura of his mothers magic forcing him back down, "OH NO YOU DON'T! You are going to explain to me, RIGHT NOW how in Celestia's Equestria did you think that this was art?"

She held up a photograph of the offending piece, and Steam Shine squinted from where he was to see what he had done to make their mother so angry. The picture showed a wall with a rather crude painting of Princess Luna and Princess Celestia. The two regal ponies were standing tall with crossed eyes, slack jaws and tongues hanging out. Around them were different members of the nobility, some with their heads shoved up each other's rears. Others were depicted whispering into the ears of the princesses, who pointed over a field of soldiers, marching towards a machine that would grind them into bloody chunks as faceless, grey ponies were forced to clean up the mess that was left behind. Emerald scoffed at the photograph and shrugged his wings, standing proud with what could only be described as the smug look of superiority he responded simply with, "everypony is a critic."

Steam Shine raised a hoof, "Excuse me, but maybe I can-"

"NO." the reply came in stereo from mother and son before they turned back to each other. Steam Shine snapped his mouth closed and sat on the floor to watch the events unfold.

"I can't believe you," she started again, " you begged, BEGGED me to let you go into Luna's School of the Arts. I had to pay five thousand bits up front, to let you be enrolled in the first class of the school. PLUS an additional thousand bits a year to pay for classes and art supplies, and for what? For you to get yourself expelled! I have spent over nine thousand bits on you to go to that school, money that I can never get back! Now what do you have to show for it HUH!?" The mare screamed, causing her magic to flair up which accidentally sent a lamp flying in Emerald’s direction. It hit it's mark, causing the shattered ceramic to spray against the ceiling above him before plummeting together with Emerald, back onto the ground covered in a fresh set of small cuts.

As suddenly as the lamp had exploded, Black Shadows' temper had died off as she realized what she'd done. Both herself and Steam Shine rushed up to help Emerald, as her instincts as a mother overrode her anger she pulled the ceramic away from him. "Oh my, my little colt, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do that." Tears of regret began to pool up in her eyes, and both brothers in the room felt as if a knife were twisting in their chests. "Here, let me help you." 

Steam Shine offered a hoof to his brother, and Emerald took it. He shakily stood up and gave his older brother a rather defiant look. The look didn't go unnoticed, and Steam quickly backed away. Emerald looked his mother in the eyes with a look no son should ever give his own mother and decided to fan the flames by trying again to explain himself. "You know what? I don't care-"

"Don't care," the mare said numbly, interrupting Emerald before he could finish his sentence. “Don't care that you insulted the royals that OWN the school you were going to? Or don't care about the money I spent on you? Or is it that you don't care to apply yourself for a job?" As she continued talking, Steam Shine could see that she was getting irate again, and swiftly ducked out of her eyesight, just in case she decided to bring him into this, or turn on him next. "Why couldn't you have followed your real talent? The one you cover up with that stupid spray painted X on your flank?"

Even though she didn't yell, and the exploding objects had stopped a while ago, her words had struck a nerve. Emerald’s head snapped up to look dead on at his mother, a new fire glowed in his eyes as he spoke in a dark tone, "That X is a statement against the system, I can do anything that I want. I don't have to be a slave to a symbol on my flank."

Black Shadows seemed not to hear Emerald as she put the photo of the wall he'd defaced in a drawer. She then looked up at a set of swords crossed over each other on the wall instead of her son. "You could have been a captain by now if you joined the royal guard like your father."

That was all it took, one small off hoof comment and something snapped inside of him as he backed away from his mother. A hurt, and dead look suddenly haunting his features. "How dare you," he started off softly before suddenly yelling at full force. "How DARE you mention him!"

Steam Shine and their mother noticed that she struck a nerve as he began to pace the living room, making jerking motions with his head and wings. "He abandoned us all for Celestia, because of some misguided belief that he had to serve our princess." He continued to yell as he suddenly ran down the hall. "I told you then I would never be like him. I write my own destiny!"

"Son, wait!" Her cry came too late as the sound of Emerald’s bedroom door slamming shut echoed through the apartment, shortly followed by music being played at full volume behind the door. Steam Shine looked at his mom as she stood still in the mess that was her living room. Slowly, she blinked a few times before turning away, hoping to keep the tears inside. Finally, after almost a minute of inactivity, her horn sparked to life and began to pick up the broken objects from the floor. Instinctively Steam rushed over and tried to help his mother, only for her to push him away, "Not now... It's my mess. I should clean it up."

Steam Shine gave his mother a sad smile, "It's okay Momma, let me help you." She opened her mouth to protest at first, then closed her mouth and nodded as she moved away from him to another cluster of broken things. The work was silent, as the two ponies shuffled about the room, throwing the broken glass and splintered wood into the kitchen trash can.

The room was nearly clean when the loud music finally stopped, and the sound of a door opening reached the two ponies ears, they looked up to see Emerald standing in the hallway, overstuffed saddlebags strapped to his back and sides. "I'm going to stay with Steam for a while," he announced as he purposefully made his way over to the pair. "I need time to rethink my life. I'll come by when I know what to do." Emerald walked past the pair to the balcony overlooking an alleyway, he paused at the door, but did not look back as he spoke again. "I'll be back later with a cart for the rest of my stuff." He then slid open the glass door and stepped out to the balcony. For a few moments he stood there, eyes closed as he nodded to himself slightly, mouthing words that only he could hear, as if reassuring himself before finally taking off.

Steam Shine looked at his mother as she stared at the empty spot her younger son had just flew away from. Already he could see the signs that tears she kept at bay all this time, had finally won over and began falling from her eyes. As she tried to blink them away, Steam was unsure of what to do, and he lay a wing across his mom's back and tried to soothe her. "There there, its okay Momma, it will be alright. I'm sure he'll come home soon."

Black Shadows to her credit, managed to stifle back most of the tears and put on a brave face. "I know, he'll be okay with you," she smiled in a sad way as she continued to sniffle slightly. "I'm not really mad at him you know, just disappointed. He could have been great at being a guard, but he didn't want it," she shuddered a bit as she tried to hold the tears back, "I supported him anyway and now... I feel like he just slapped me in the face."

Steam Shine did the only thing he could think of and gave his mom a comforting hug, "It will all be okay Momma," he started, "He can stay with me for a couple weeks. Maybe I can get him at the factory as my assistant until he lands on his hooves again."

Black Shadows smiled through her tears. "You promise you can take care of him?" He looked down at his mother, and saw in her eyes a mare that was broken, and needed a promise. He silently gave his word by simply nodding his head. Suddenly he felt the collar from his work clothes shift around his neck, "You really are a handsome young stallion, you should keep your collar straight though if you ever want mares to look at you," he smiled despite himself as she spoke, because even with everything that had just occurred, she felt the need to mother him. "And all that grease, do you bathe in it or something?"

Steam Shine laughed a little as he rubbed his head. "Momma, I work on machines all day, I'm bound to get grease on me."

His mom kept fussing over him for a few moments, clucking her tongue as she did so before, thankfully coming to a stop. "Well get outta here, look after your brother. We can go bowling next week okay?"

Steam Shine nodded as he went out the same way his younger brother did. As he stood on the balcony, he looked back and tried his best not to look worried. "Okay momma, I'll be back next week. Are you sure you will be alright all by yourself?"

She laughed a little bit as she began again to pick up the last of the thrown items in the room, "Son, I've got a horn, this mess is almost done, and I can still use your father's sword if a burglar was idiotic enough to break in here." She pointed with a hoof to the wall where under the two decorative crossed swords and sheild, a well maintained military sword rested on the fireplace mantle.

Steam Shine nodded as he placed a pair of flight goggles over his eyes. He paused for a few moments to breathe in the air, and make sure he had everything with him. He then smiled slightly, looked to his mother and said, "Alright Momma, I'll see you later. Love ya."

"Love you too son,” she looked up at him for a few awkward moments, then finally finished off by saying,  “Be safe yeah?"

"Yeah, I will." He shut the door behind him, turned to face the railing and took off. He rose into the air a few hundred feet, and looked around for a few moments. He sighed as he took in the beauty of the city as the lights began to flicker on, then took off for his small apartment in the south end of Canterlot.





Emerald Shadows' word wasn't quite gold, but when he said something, he would more or less stick to it. It was well over an hour after the argument between his mother and himself, and Emerald was hanging out at his favorite diner. He was drinking coffee, only because it was cheap, and they always gave free refills of the stuff. He personally hated the drink, but felt that he needed the dark, bitter brew to calm his nerves. It naturally did not work.

"I don't get it," he thought to himself.  "She should be proud of me for not being as blind as everypony else. She's wrong, I've done what every great artist did by making a great truth known through art!" Despite the confidence he mentally shouted in his mind, somewhere in the back a much smaller one suddenly spoke up. "The same way that a punk with a spray can would, on the side of a wall." He snorted at the thought, pretending that it never even crossed his mind in the first place as he drained the last of his coffee. Giving off a small sigh, he looked at the clock hanging over the wall separating the dining room from the kitchens. "Seven o'clock, I should go," he opened one of his saddlebags and found a few bits inside. He quickly lay them on the table and walked out into the cool evening air.

Emerald took a deep breath, and reveled in the crisp scent of air pregnant with inevitable rain. The sound of thunder rolled across the sky as he spread his wings to take off, southward to his brother's home. The flight wasn't long by any means, but it did take awhile to find the location, due to the massive amount of similar looking buildings in the area. Finally, he spotted the correct multistory brick building, only because of the painfully obvious giant brass cannon on the roof. Emerald landed on top of the building and gave off a sigh, only for a voice to call out to him. "Hey Babe."

Emerald turned to the source of the voice to see his older brother leaning back in an old, torn barcalounger with his forehooves crossed behind his head. Despite how dark it was, he wore sunglasses over his face. Emerald scowled slightly at his brother before responding, "I thought I told you to never call me that."

"Sorry, old habit," the older brother said with a laugh. He sat up some and raised his glasses before continuing the conversation. "So, you want to stay here with me?"

Emerald nodded a bit as he adjusted his saddlebags. "Yeah, at least until I know what I'm going to do."

Steam rolled out of the chair and stretched on the rooftop before walking over to him. With a casual smile he bumped Emerald's shoulder with a hoof, "Well, come on let’s go in."

The two ponies opened the roof’s access door and wound their way down a couple flights of stairs before turning down one of the hallways. As they made their way down the hall, Steam pointed out that there were only four apartments on this floor, his one bedroom, a two bedroom, and two studio apartments. As Steam began to unlock the door, Emerald raised his ears to the sound of clacking, "Hey, what is that noise?"

Steam Shine raised an eyebrow, turned to the source of the loud noise and frowned. "Hm? Oh its just my neighbor working on another story."

The door opened as the two ponies filed in, "How often does he use that thing?"

"So often you won't even notice it," the older sibling casually responded. He tossed his keys on a table and shut the door behind them before continuing. "Now, you can stay on the couch for now, at least until things cool off between you and mom, okay? Emerald?" He looked around and could not find a sign of his brother anywhere in the living room. Steam turned the corner and looked in his bedroom to see his younger brother had already curled up asleep on his bed.

He sighed to himself and threw a blanket on his brother before removing his work clothes and throwing them in a hamper. He went to the fridge and pulled out a box of leftover noodles and munched on them contently for a while as his eyes skimmed the newspaper.

As the evening wore on, Steam was left alone with his thoughts, "Momma will get over it before Emerald does. If he really is anything like Dad, he can hold a grudge for a few days. I wonder… did I leave the welding torch on at work? No, wait, focus Steam... How long can you support Emerald before you go bust?"

Steam Shine placed the noodles down on the counter top and began searching through the cabinets in the apartment. Finally, he found what he wanted on a shelf in the living room, and grinned as he pulled down the abacus, "Okay, I make about two thousand bits a month, give or take depending on if I get over time or sick, rent is eight hundred a month, I spend almost three hundred on food, five hundred in utilities, with the rest of it going toward leisure shopping and R and D on my inventions. Double the food bill, and add one hundred in rent for adding him to the lease if I have to, and... I'm broke in a month. Unless I drop leisure shopping entirely... Oh boy."

He dropped the abacus down on the coffee table before settling on the couch and giving off a small sigh, "Maybe it won't be that bad, after all, how much can he need that I don't already have?"

Steam smiled to himself, finally content with the idea that things will be alright, and soon afterwards fell into a peaceful sleep.