//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 - Children Will Be Children* // Story: We Are All Just Puppets // by Zachurra //------------------------------// “Hurry up, Dol!” The young pale colored Unicorn fumbled with her footing along the steep slope. She brushed some of her long white mane away from her cloudy grey eyes, although no matter how much she tried one always seemed to be covered. “I’m coming!” The black coated Pegasus huffed and rolled his eyes impatiently as he waited for the grounded pony. He sat back on his haunches and started looking up at the clouds to pass the time. During which, the Unicorn continued to struggle and climb to the peak of the slope. Her hoof slipped, and soon the rest of her body followed suit. Before she could make a cry for help or even a scream of fright, she felt a hoof wrap around her own and save her from her descent. She slowly opened one of her tightly clenched eyes and saw a familiar pair of red eyes looking back at her. The Pegasus pulled her up to more stable land, to which the Unicorn gave a thankful smile. “Thanks Star.” The Unicorn said quietly, a soft smile still on her face “Don’t mention it.” He replied, ignoring her thanks. “Come on, hopefully you didn’t wake him up.” The two crouched low to the ground, quietly sneaking up along a group of rocks. They slowly peaked over, the Unicorn blowing upward to get her mane away from her one visible eye before returning her eyes to their target. Green scales rose and fell to the constant rhythm of snoring. A purple hand rose, scratching at them with its sharp claws. A grin spread across the Pegasus’ face as he nudged the Unicorn gently and pointed to a small, darkened cloud not high above them. She nodded as her horn began to glow, encasing the cloud in a white veil. She pulled the cloud came down just above the sleeping beast. Silently and carefully, the Pegasus fluttered up onto the cloud. His devilish grin never fading, he pushed off hard with his legs, causing a loud crack of thunder and a swift bolt of lightening to shoot out as he came back down. The beast awoke with a yelp. A few moments of silence passed before being disturbed by a single sound. “Hic!” Both ponies began cracking up on the spot as the dragon continued hiccuping, spurts of green flame shooting out each time. The Pegasus nearly fell off his cloud in amusement. “Darn-Hic!-it, Dark Star! What did I tell you about interrupting-Hic!-my three hour naps?” The dragon said, clearly irritated by his predicament “Aw, come on Spike! We’re just havin’ a little fun!” Dark Star replied, peaking over the side of his cloud “We?” Spike replied with a cocked eyebrow. He then heard a small rock fall to the ground and turned to see the young Unicorn trying to shrink as small as possible behind the larger rocks. “Don’t tell me he-Hic!-got you into this too, Pareidolia.” Pareidolia slowly made her way from her hiding place, her head hung low so that her mane touched the ground and her eyes were glistening. “I’m sorry Mr. Spike. We just wanted to have a little fun…” Spike huffed and put his hands on his hips. Despite how hard it was for dragons to lose hiccups, he just couldn’t bring himself to be mad at the young filly. Her ability to use innocence and cuteness to keep anypony from becoming angry was definitely a trait she picked up from her mother. “Oh, alright-Hic!- I guess I can let you off the hook just this once.” Pareidolia immediately perked up, a big grin beaming across her face. She quickly ran up and hugged Spike’s waist, to which he smiled and patted her head. Their scene was interrupted by another clap of thunder, causing them both to jump. Another awkward silence passed before they both let out a loud hiccup. Dark Star began laughing again, receiving a glare and raised eye brows from the two on the ground. ------------- “Hic!” Pareidolia whimpered quietly. “You’re fine, hiccups aren’t anything to worry about.” Dark Star said condescendingly as they made their way through Ponyville market. Pareidolia tried to hold in the hiccup that was arising. “Are we going home now Star?" She said quietly and looked up towards the sky. "It’s getting kind of dark out…” Dark Star looked up at the sky blackening sky, a slight frown on his face. “Yeah, I guess so… Mom’s probably worried sick by now.” Before the two siblings could begin their journey home, a voice cut through the crowd to them. “Hey, Dark!” A dark blue Pegasus shot through the air, coming to a halt just above the filly and colt. The frown on Dark Star’s face turned to a grin upon recognizing the voice. “'Sup, Thunder?” Thunderclap smirked, “Mom said the weather team messed up again with their precipitation schedule and are running behind. You know what that means?” As if on cue, a boom of thunder blasted through the air. Dark Star lifted off into the air, raising his hoof towards his friend who then returned the gesture. “Yeah, storm racing!” Just as the two were about to take off towards the coming storm, a soft voice arose amongst the sound of other ponies heading for cover. “Star? What about me?” Pareidolia asked. Dark Star bit his lip as he turned his head around, completely forgetting about his grounded sister. “Just head home Dol, I won’t take long.” Pareidolia hung her head, “But… I don’t like being alone…" Her hoof gently brushed against the dirt beneath her. "And I don’t really know the way home that well… what if I get lost?” Her brother sighed. A good storm like this only came around about once a month if they were lucky, and he didn’t even want to think about how lame he would look for turning his friend down just to go walking home with his sister. “Hey, are we doin’ this or not?” Thunderclap cut in, growing impatient. “Yeah, just one sec.” Dark Star returned to his sister’s side and spoke softly so that only she could hear. “Just wait here for a bit, I promise I won’t be long. Me and Thunder are just gonna go for a quick fly, and then I’ll be right back. Okay?” Pareidolia’s frown remained, but she nodded regardless. Smiling, Dark Star and Thunderclap shot off into the sky. The Unicorn watched them until they were just barely out of sight. She sat down next to one of the now vacant fruit stands and began drawing little figures in the dirt with the tip of her hoof. One was of a small pony with a line sticking out of its head and the other was of a larger pony that had a few lines and curves on its body, resembling wings. Between them she drew a small heart. She let out a small meep as she felt something cold and wet hit her on the head. She looked up, and was greeted by another raindrop landing on her forehead.