//------------------------------// // Part 11: Ye Of Little Faith. // Story: They Grow Up... // by overlord-flinx //------------------------------// Was it at all a secret to anyone? No. Would everypony pretend it was a surprise when they heard? Yes. Even to ponies that just rolled into town, the second they saw him, they could tell. Pip was, what some ponies call, "hard-headed". Or, more-so dense if anything else. However, who would ever be brave enough to look his him in the face and say he was? I just couldn't be done... If anything, his dense nature is what made him so interesting to fillies. He never seemed threatening or in any aims to get at you. It always seemed like Pip was just expecting the best from everything. From the manticore to the bunny. Pip had a very optimistic view on the world. Rather strange when considering his guardians... Disarm Honey emerged from the shadowed alley, accompanied by a tall and proud Sunset Shimmer looking around the familiar town space with a listless care. The two moved towards the fountain, hoping to meet Pip there. Mild surprise welcomed them when instead of Pip being there, 'Crystal' was nonchalantly propping herself against the fountain and watching them come closer. "You're back," she welcomed Discord, her eyes quickly moving to Sunset with a bright smile, "And my precious princess is with you as well!" Those words... They cut deep into Sunset Shimmer... Ripping into her flesh and causing blood to let. At least, that must have been the case as she had started to blush and shiver. "Mom... Not here..." she muttered, looking down at the ground where her hooves shuffled against each other. 'Crystal's' kind smile faded right away and she looked back to that devilish goat with vile spitting eyes. "If she's here, you must have brought her in to help your failing cause... A shame. The crown princess of the empire wastes her talents by helping a fleeting old goat like yourself..." Discord reeled back, utterly appalled by the comment. "Wow... I never knew how painful words could be until right now," he turned his goat head around and lifted his snout to the air in a snubbing motion, "I don't want to play with you anymore, Queen Mean-Draws! Come, Shim-Sham-Thank-You-Ma'am, we don't need to be around this negative influence." Sunset Shimmer just rolled her eyes and moved to follow Discord the Goat down the street. As the two moved away, they found they had to stop when they heard that most horrifying sound... The sound that made children cry, flowers die, and storms to brew. The sound of Chrysalis starting to laugh with such a smug tone to her. "Play the fool all you wish, Disarm. You'll inevitably come to see that all of this you plan on doing is sorely in vain," Discord and Sunset looked back at 'Crystal', seeing how she just leaned against the fountain while running one of her front hooves threw the reflective surface, "You can play your little games; you can jump around and work whatever ends you want... But the end result will be the same." Before either of them could press for a less ominous tag-line, Chrysalis sauntered off in the opposite direction on the road from Sunset Shimmer and 'Disarm'. The father and daughter duo exchanged a look of not just worry, but a new fix of determination. To them, this was now a declaration of war. Sunset Shimmer had no great intention of getting too overly involved in this... But her own mother had thrown down the gauntlet. And throwing down the gauntlet was something the Discordian-Swarm Family took very seriously. With that, Sunset Shimmer scraped her front hoof against the dirt road and let out a small scoff. "The game's on now, mother..." Pipsqueak... He's a dense child, of course... Tight with gritted teeth and a flaring muzzle, the young colt torqued his head back and braced all four of his hooves against the jittery surface of the warped wood tree. The rope between his teeth cut a hot twist against his lips as he groaned and strained to keep on pulling. He even believes in Santa Hooves still. However... A sharp, splintering crack pricked against both his ears as he felt his hooves were given a great deal of release against the wood. Not a moment was wasted as he let the rope drop from his mouth and his body was flung by his own force against the now split off piece of tree, causing it to stop suddenly and crack against his back with a hard sound. What do you think that Cutie Mark of his means? The force of the tree racked against his back for a good moment until the colt wiggled his back legs out behind him and clipped the sides of a nearby rock. Keeping himself and the tree piece up purely by his front legs and his aching back, he trudged the rock behind him under his chest with short bursting yanks of his hind-legs. Because he can make a map? Hah! A pee-brained larva could do that.Because he can read and understand any map? A fine talent, but not the real case, is it? No. He earned that Cutie Mark for one reason alone... Pip, huffing out the last of his straining strength, bucked his back hooves upward and momentarily knocked the tree slice off his back; opting him the slightest moment to squeeze under it and let the tree fall onto the hard rock. As the tree fell against the rock, the wood split down the middle and splintered off a long, warped piece of fine wood. Pip picked the piece up between his teeth, his lips still blistered by the rope burn he just took; yet he smiled and nodded his head. "Right-o! This'll do just fine!" He said with an upbeat tune before skipping out of the forest with the piece of long, fine wood in his teeth. That reason is because my son, Pipsqueak, is a born adventure and challenge taker.