//------------------------------//
// Fried Foods and Long Discussions 
// Story: What Are Little Ponies Made Of? 
// by Phoenix Quill 
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“My parents were the greatest, they always supported me no matter what in their own way. My mom would encourage me, and my dad would crush my soul by being gone. I like to think that kept me in reality. ”
― Mild Mischief


Steam Shine was sitting in a chair when Emerald came out from the back of the building. He quickly stood up with concern as his brother walked up with a frown. "So, how'd it go?"

Emerald sighed a little as he held up his I.D. badge. "Meet employee number twenty, eight, twenty four, dash one, one, three, eight."

Steam smiled as he wrapped a foreleg around his brother. "I told you that you could do it!" He quickly let go and lead the way out the door as he gave Emerald a playful punch on the shoulder. "Come on, lets go celebrate, I know a great café Silver and I go to sometimes. They have the best deep fried lilies, and coldest sarsaparilla west of Manehatten!" The two brothers flew away from the factory, and Steam lead the way to their destination. It was a small, round building using mixed materials to be sturdy, yet light enough that the clouds beneath it could hold it up easily.

Emerald glanced up at the sign. It had a picture of a pegasus winking out at the world, holding a basket of hay fries and an indistinguishable sandwich. Next to the winking pegasus, the name of the restaurant was written in simple red writing, A Little Hole In The Clouds. Emerald could smell the deep fried goodness coming from within the café and couldn't help but salivate slightly. Steam grinned widely as he lead the way into the building.

If the outside smelled good, then the smell inside was heavenly. The inside looked like it hadn't been updated in twenty years, with logos for long extinct brands, images of former pop stars and garish neon colors awash all over the place. Steam lead the younger brother to an open booth seat and let him slide in. "Trust me little bro, I'll cover the order. You are going to love it," with that said he was off.

Emerald put his forehoof to his chin as he let his eyes wander about the establishment. "I wonder what the work is going to be like. Maybe I can give the money back to Momma and let all arguments be over with. Wait…what is that?" His eyes had wandered to a corner of the building where a lone arcade cabinet stood. It was one of the older ones that used a projector with several sets of reels.

He got up and wandered closer to it, and read the title Wild Gunmare, underneath the marquee of the machine, was the recessed screen, and in front of him was a fake hoof canon on a string along with a holster on a belt. Emerald gave off a wide smile as he strapped the holster on, stood up on only his rear hooves and deposited a bit into the machine.

Footage of a dusty black pony with a western hat on his head galloped across a field. As the image played, a voice came out of the speaker, giving the basic rules of play. "After the eyes flash on the screen, SHOOT! Place hoof canon in holster, and prepare to draw!"

The scene changed and showed a silver unicorn walking down the streets of what looked like Dodge Junction on a budget. Emerald smiled as she nodded at him through the screen, a wave of nostalgia flooding him. Suddenly, her eyes flashed! Emerald drew the gun out and shot as quick as he could, and waited to see the result. The reels took only a second to change, and the mare on the screen fell over in an overly dramatic, bloodless defeat. The words You Win flashed on the screen before being replaced with Replace hoof canon in holster and prepare to draw.

The next round had a dirty grey earth pony with a horseshoe mustache on his face. He was wearing a sombrero on his head that partially covered his eyes, and a poncho that covered his body. Suddenly the pony on the screen whipped off his poncho as his hat flew back showing the flash in his eyes. Emerald reached for the gun, stumbled and the pony on the screen fired. You Lose.

The next three scenes went on for a few seconds each. Emerald was a little rusty, but still pretty good at this game, and defeated them easily. However, he missed  another shot on the fifth screen before getting a last chance warning. on the screen.

Then it showed a white pegasus with blue hair and eyes flying through the air. Unlike some of the others, who wore their holsters closer to their forehooves, or would hide their weapon completely, his hoof canon was displayed in a holster close to his flank. Drawing the players eyes to his cutie mark, the only one easy to see in the game. It was a black storm cloud with a lightning bolt that covered the sun from view. Emerald saw the mark, and shook with a mix of nerves and emotion for a few moments as he waited. The pegasus flashed a smile, showing his crooked teeth. "Son, you best step back if ya wanna see another day."

Emerald kept his gun holstered, he knew this trick well and waited. The game continued to play the footage of the pegasus slowly flying away. Before he got too far, the stallion looked back at the camera for a moment and there was the flash. Emerald yanked out the holster and fired. Only, he missed. The pegasus on the screen gave off a laugh before holstering his gun back up without firing a single shot. You Lose flashed across the screen before it displayed a game over and shut down.

Emerald placed the gun and holster back in its slot before heading back to the booth to find his brother sitting down with another pony chatting away. He was turquoise green with fire red eyes, his mane had matching tones of red with a silver base. The pony had an easy going grin on his face as he nibbled on a simple lettuce sandwich. Emerald smiled at the two as Steam looked up at him. "Hey little bro, I want you to meet Silver Streak!" The mentioned pegasus raised a hoof in greeting, "I was just telling Silver here about how you are going to be an assistant to us both."

Emerald scooted in the booth seat next to his brother and smiled. "Nice to meet you," he said as he looked the newcomer over from across the table, and offered a hoof to him.

"Nice to meet you too, Emerald right?" he said with a smile, and took Emeralds hoof to shake it.

Steam Shine grinned as he picked at his sandwich for a minute. "So I saw you playing that old game...did you beat Dad?"

Silver's ears went up at this question but he didn't say anything yet as he watched Emerald’s expression change. "No, I missed the target completely and he flew off, again."

"'Scuse me, but what do you mean 'beat dad'?" Silver asked with a hoof in the air.

Steam Shine pointed with a wing to the arcade game behind them. "Our dad is one of the bad guys on that game,” he explained casually. "For some reason, neither of us could ever get past him."

Silver looked at the machine as a colt got up to take on the challenge of Wild Gunmare. "Oh? Well then, better luck next time."

Emerald snorted as he picked up the sandwich that was passed to him. "Thanks," he said dismissively as he took a bite. The flavor exploded in his mouth and he couldn't help but give off a grin. "What is this thing made out of?"

"Oh its a new kind of soy product that is fried as a patty, with some flowers and garden vegetables served between a bun and secret sauce," Steam said dismissively. "It's probably deadly to ponies if they eat too much of it, and possibly radioactive."

Silver laughed as he pounded a hoof to the table. "That explains why I glow in the dark!"

The three ponies laughed for a little while before they went back to eating in silence. It wasn't until all the sandwiches were gone, and they were just picking at the fried lilies that the conversation picked up again. "So tell me Silver, what is it we exactly fix around the factory?"

Silver wiped his face with the back of his fore leg, much to Emeralds disgust, before answering. "What don't we fix I think is the better question. Team awesome, that's your brother and myself, go all over the factory fixing anything that needs to be repaired."

"Team awesome?" Emerald said with a snort as he chewed on his sandwich, "What is that some kind'a wanna be hoofball team name?"

Steam gave off a grin as he sipped on his drink before answering. "Well yeah, sort of. There are about half a dozen teams of two or three that work all over the factory. Some of us specialize in certain things, but for the most part we rotate on repair duties and make a game out of it."

Silver waved a hoof in the air as if to prove a point before he actually spoke. "So far, Team Frosty is in the lead because of those blasted air conditioning units for the snow and hail divisions." He paused to chomp on a fried lily, swallowed, then continued. "But, I hear those cloud generators are groaning again, probably time for a classic team awesome weld job to put us back in the lead!" Steam and Silver gave off a shout as they high hoofed each other with wide grins.  

Emerald watched their behavior in mild confusion. After the two settled down, he swallowed another mouthful of food before asking, "So we fix everything in every division?"

Steam picked at the lily fries for a minute as he thought of an answer. "Well, almost everything. Division seven has its own repair team, but other than them, yeah we go where we gott'a go in the factory."

"Everything from a burnt out bulb to an exploded steam engine we do it all!" Silver said with a near maniacal grin. He then ate a few more of the fried lilies as Steam began to laugh at the crazed look he was making moments ago.

The general mood was so contagious, that Emerald couldn't help but join in on the laughter. After a few moments he finally asked the question on his mind, "What makes division seven so special?"

It was a simple question that brought the other two stallions at the table to halt their usual off work shenanigans, and bring a serious look to Silver's face. "You mean you don't know?"

"I never told him," Steam started.

"You never told him?" Silver asked again in a near shout.

"Well I thought it could wait until he actually got to work on Monday!" Steam shouted at his friend and coworker.

Steam and Silver both face hoofed and groaned at the same time as Emerald watched in awe at the sheer idiocy of his older brother. "So, are you going to tell me?"

"You tell him Silver," Steam said as he grabbed his drink and started to gulp it down.

"Right right," Silver Streak said with a wave of his hoof. He then cleared his throat and looked over his shoulders, as if somepony could be listening. Satisfied that nopony was, he leaned forward and began to speak in a low voice. "Well, division seven is rainbows, and they don't let just anypony in or out of there. Not without clearance."

Emerald looked at Silver as he waited for more. After a few moments of waiting for him to continue with no results, he waved a hoof in a rolling motion as he waited. "And..."

"And, that's it," Steam Shine said with a crooked half smile. "It's just Silver and I like to guess about what they do back there that's so secret."

"Yeah like what do they use to make their rainbows to make them so consistently bright and vibrant." Silver interrupted. He stopped, took a drink of water before asking, "I'm sure a young pegasus such as yourself knows a bit about pony made rainbows right?"

Emerald scoffed as he grabbed the last of the fried lilies. "Not really, I know that it relies on pegasus magic, some colors and a liquid for the base."

Steam Shine was about to speak when Silver quickly held a hoof up and interrupted him, "You're close colt, I'll give you that," he grabbed his glass of water off the table and dipped the tip of his hoof in, "Anypony could make a natural rainbow by filtering light through water." He then tossed his hoof up, and the water flew in a fine mist, creating a small rainbow in the dim light. "Sometimes though,” he continued, “Different towns and cities request a rainbow for special events, or just to lift the town's spirits." 

He then pulled out a broken feather from his wing and dipped it in the water, "Now if you add color to water, and use some of that pegasus magic you got in you, you can mix your own rainbows where the color will stay separate, and can be painted onto the sky itself." After a few moments, the water turned the same turquoise color as the feather that was dropped in. Silver then dipped another hoof into the liquid, and grabbed the feather, using it to trace a line in the air, leaving a dull turquoise streak in the air. "It's not a full rainbow mind you, so it won't last long. But I think you'll get the point." Even as he said it, the dull line in the air faded away to nothingness, as if it were never there.

"Winsome and Rainbow Falls are the only two places where this phenomenon happens naturally," Steam then said with a contemplative look, "But we don't use it because of imperfections, it doesn't stick to the sky long enough, and just falls as colored rain." Steam Shine looked at a clock on the wall and sighed a bit before turning to Silver Streak. "Hey as much as I would love to just hang out and chat about the mysteries of rainbows all day, I gott'a get back to Canterlot."

Silver stopped drinking from his cup to give him a deep frown. "Already? What plans do you have on snob mountain?"

Emerald stood to let his brother out as the three filed for the door. "Gott'a go see how much it will cost to rent a moving wagon, talk to my landlord about adding him to the contract," he said as he pointed a wing at his younger brother, "And probably go food shopping because Sir Picky here doesn't like Toasted O's."

"What's wrong with Toasted O's?" Silver asked as they left the building.

"That stuffs for foals. I need real food. You understand right?"

Steam and Silver looked at each other with a grin. "NOPE," the two said in unison before bursting into fits of laughter.

"I'll see you Monday Steam, bright and early! Nice to meet you Emerald!" Silver called out as he flew away to enjoy the rest of his day off.

The two brothers looked at each other for a while with smiles on their faces before Steam took to the air. "Come on, we really have to get back to Canterlot now if you want to rent a wagon by the end of the day." Emerald gave off a groan as he took off after his brother.





The flight back to the capital city was uneventful to say the least, as well as Emerald's meeting with the landlord for the apartment. She was a friendly older mare named Fair Price, she was the color of a faded lemon with a mane and tail the color of copper with several streaks of silver. That was the only memory that Emerald wanted to remember about her, because her only other defining feature was that the old unicorn tended to mutter nonsense every few moments to herself, right before smiling and continuing the conversation at hoof. 

Not too long after that slice of awkward pie, Emerald and Steam Shine found a place that rented carts and carriages. Quickly they rented the cheapest cart that still worked before hauling it off to their mother's place. As the two ponies pulled into the back alleyway, Steam unhitched himself from the cart and looked up at the balcony window, then at the back door. "Which way you want to go in?"

"Depends, what time is it?" Emerald replied as he continued to get tangled while trying to unhitch himself.

Steam Shine looked at the watch just above his right hoof before facing his brother, smacking himself in the face. "It's only four o'clock."

"Front door then, she might be working," Emerald said with a frown as Steam quickly helped him out of the harness. The two brothers then flew up over the building, and landed on the front stoop before they entered.

Walking into the drab world of greys, purples, and blues that was the lobby for their mother's business, always tended to be disorienting to the brothers, especially during business hours. Across the room, an off white pony with tan colored mane looked up from behind her glasses, "Oh, it's you two. I suppose you are here to see your mother."

"That's right," Steam Shine started, "We're here to-"

"We're here to get my stuff out of her mane,” Emerald interrupted. “Can we just go back there and grab my stuff, we don't need to bother her."

The secretary took off her glasses and polished them on her shirt before speaking. "Emerald, by now you should know better than that. You can't just waltz in and out of here as you please, especially when she is seeing a client."

Emerald looked like he was on the verge of whining, which brought a look of amusement to his older brother's face. "Oh come on Miss File Marker, you don't need to be that way."

"It's what I am payed to do until I clock out. Now your mother is with a client so it's going to have to wait." Emerald gave off a grumble as the two pegasi sat down. The earth pony behind the desk grabbed some files before she briskly trotted through the door that eventually leads to their mother's analysis room.

Emerald folded his forelegs across his chest in a huff. "Hmf, she should know better than to make us wait in the lobby."

"Babe, momma's working and probably locked the door that leads upstairs. Besides we don't live here anymore."

"We might not live here, but all my stuff is still in there!" Emerald cried out as his wings flared. “And don’t call me babe! It’s weird.”

The door opened once again, and the receptionist came back to sit down. "She'll be right with you boys, her patient is about to leave now."

Steam Shine nodded and smiled wide at File Marker, then turned back to his brother. “There is nothing weird with calling you babe, it’s just short for baby brother.”

“Yeah?” Emerald started as he gave his brother the stink eye. “It’s also what ponies call each other when they are dating.”

Steam was about to respond to that, when the door opened again. This time a tan unicorn with a black mane done in a comb over stepped out, with an actual grin on his face, rather than the fake one worn by most ponies in Canterlot’s circle of elites. "So I'll see you next week?" he asked with a slight tone of worry.

The voice of their mother floated out from behind the open doorway, responding to the exiting pony. "Of course Sound Advice. Just remember, if there is an emergency, don't hesitate to send me a note and I will always listen."

"Thank you Momma B, I don't know what I would do without you," the unicorn said with a nervous smile. Sound Advice then grabbed an appointment card from the receptionist and walked out the front door, ready to face the world once again.

Steam Shine got up out of the chair and trotted over to their mom. "Black Shadows, everypony's momma, doing her best work. Once again thanks to your efforts, sanity seems attainable to yet another patient," he said with a smile as he gave her a hug. "How are you doing Momma?"

"I've been fine,” she said as she hugged him back. “Always a bit crazy when a member of Blueblood's house staff comes in, but other than that good."

While Steam was trying to be pleasant, Emerald was in no mood to visit, and he made it apparent in the way he spoke. "Hey Mom, we got a cart for my stuff."

Black Shadows blinked for a few moments at the bluntness of her youngest son. "Well, alright then. Let me unlock the door to the upstairs and you can get what you need."

The three made their way to the end of the hall, and she opened the door to the stairs. "Go on ahead Emerald, I want to talk to Steam for a minute before I send him to help. You need help with the furniture, right?"

Emerald gave off a shrug, "Steam doesn't have the room for my bed and stuff. I just want my art supplies, clothes and a few other things."

Their mother looked down at the floor for a moment in embarrassment as she spoke. "Oh, well I'll still send him up in a bit," she said. Emerald only nodded in reply as he headed upstairs. A few moments passed, and once the door upstairs shut, Black Shadows turned to Steam Shine. "Son," she said with a prod of her hoof. 

He did not turn however, as his attention was focused on a painting of his family. His dad, Stormy Skies smiled as he stood in his royal armor with Steam Shine on one side, and Black Shadows on the other. Emerald, being the youngest and wildest one, stood on his fathers back with a giant grin wearing his dad’s golden helmet. "It's hard to believe that was over seven years ago," Steam started as he looked at the picture. "Where does the time go?"

Black Shadows gave off a sigh as she magically tugged on her son's wing. "Down the drain, taking the good and bad with it. Come on Steam, into my office."

The two walked into the room and settled down, Momma in her usual desk chair, and Steam in the chaise lounge that clients would lay in. The dark grey unicorn gave off a sigh before starting the conversation. "Son, I feel like our family is falling apart."

Steam Shine cocked his head to the side as he raised an ear. "What do you mean mom?" he asked, suddenly very interested.

The mare gave off another sigh as she adjusted herself before explaining. "I mean, ever since your dad went M.I.A. on a mission for the princess, Emerald hasn't been the same. He's always so angry, he used to be so proud of his natural talent and now he is scared, no, ashamed of thinking he might be like his father."  The two looked at each other for a few moments, as a pause filled the air. Finally, his mother continued to speak with a heavy tone, "You already were mostly grown up at the time, and you found a job that suits you. But Emerald was still mostly a little colt when it happened. Now I feel like he is lost, and angry. Do you think it was the right decision to let him leave with you?"

Steam Shine clopped his forehooves together as he contemplated the idea for a few moments. He weighed his words carefully before he spoke up. "Well, he is very stubborn. He genuinely believes that he has to pay you back the money you spent on his schooling," he paused to think about how to word things before continuing. "I helped him get a job where I work, like I promised. The truth is, that odds are he will quit after a month and he will come home to you."

His mother frowned for a few moments before speaking. "You're playing games son. Even Celestia wouldn't make such risky move in chess."

"I'm just trying to keep everypony happy in this family mom," he casually responded as he kept his eyes glued on the ceiling.

Black Shadows’ eyes narrowed. "Be that as it may, you are taking a huge gamble, and are playing with your brothers future." She then gave off a massive sigh before turning to her desk. "Go help your brother, and promise me you will keep an eye on him at the factory. If he decides to pay me bits, I'll just save them for him."

Steam Shine got up from the couch and made his way to the door to help his brother. He stopped in the doorway and looked back at his mother with a kind smile. "You have my word," he responded simply before exiting the room. Once the door was closed, she waited for almost a minute. Once she was sure that she was alone, Black Shadows cried silent tears for the second time that day.