//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Memories of the First Month // Story: My Overbearing Aunt // by Sketchy Changeling //------------------------------// It had been a month since I moved in with Princess Celestia, or rather, Auntie Celeste. I guess I have to call her that now that she's my legal aunt. I got my own room in Canterlot Castle, and it’s pretty spacious, too. Hell, I even have my own private bathroom. Auntie Celeste even had an interior decorator set up a mini studio in my room to work on my drawings. I checked the calendar on my nightstand. My first day of school was tomorrow, and while I should be excited, it was seven AM on a Sunday morning, so my body was still in zombie mode. A nice shower would take care of that, though. After my shower, I got dressed and left my room to head to the dining hall for breakfast. As I walked down the hall, I passed by a guard. “Good morning, Sir Marcus,” he greeted. “Good morning, Golden Shield,” I replied. I was still getting used to everyone calling me “Sir,” but they insisted on calling me by some kind of title. Believe it or not, they wanted to call me “Prince Marcus” at first. It was my first day at the castle, and Auntie Celeste took me to her throne room after I had gotten my stuff unpacked. “Now, Marcus,” she began, “since I’ve adopted you as my nephew, you’re part of the royal family now, and I’ve already informed the guards and maids that they will treat you as such.” “Really?” I whimpered nervously. “That doesn’t make me a prince, does it?” “You say that like it’s a bad thing,” she said. “I’m not saying that… It’s just that I’d rather not draw that much attention to myself, Auntie,” I explained. “Well, I have kept your adoption hush-hush so far,” she said. “I suppose if you don’t want to be a prince, I could give you another royal title…” Auntie Celeste pondered for a moment, and then she said “How about Duke?” I smiled, happy that she was so cooperative. “Alright, I can work with that, but just don’t make it public; I don’t want anyone treating me differently.” Auntie Celeste laughed. “You sound just like your mother. Okay, then. I’ll keep your status as a duke a secret from the public, but you’ll still be treated like one here in the castle.” “Thanks, Auntie,” I said gratefully. I continued down the hall and found the staircase I was looking for. At this point, I had figured out the quickest way to get to the dining hall from my room. There were still parts of the castle that I still hadn’t gotten familiar with, believe it or not. When I got to the bottom of the staircase, I saw Princess Luna walking in the same direction I was walking in. “Hey, Luna!” I called out. The blue-coated princess turned around and smiled. “Oh! Hello, Marcus. On your way to the dining hall, I presume?” “Nothing gets past you, does it?” I asked. “Nothing at all,” Luna boasted. I rolled my eyes at the princess. It’s hard to believe how much we’ve gotten used to each other. After Auntie Celeste and I sorted out the issue regarding my “royal” status, she wanted to re-introduce me to her little sister, Luna. My parents and I were invited to the celebration that was held upon her return two years ago, and it was the first and only time I had ever been to the pony world before moving into the castle. We didn’t talk. We merely looked at each other as my parents and her sister shot the breeze. My train of thought was derailed when Celeste and I stopped in front of the castle library. When she opened the doors and I saw Luna for the first time in two years, I was thoroughly surprised. "Hello, little sister," my aunt said to her. She looked much different from when I last saw her. For one, her coat was a darker shade of blue. Not only that, but her mane and tail had grown considerably, and it flowed in a manner similar to Celeste’s There were even little stars that twinkled in it, resembling a night sky. She also looked like she had grown taller, but I couldn’t tell since she was sitting down reading a book. When Celeste and I approached her, though, she stood up, and I found out for sure. She got taller, alright. Just two years before, she was half-a-head shorter than me, but now I was half-a-head shorter than her. On top of that, she appeared to look more like a grown mare rather than a fourteen-year-old filly. Her chest had grown considerably, and her body had a perfect hourglass figure, which begged the ultimate question. What the fuck happened over the past two years? “I’m sure you two remember each other,” said Auntie Celeste. “Barely,” Luna and I uttered simultaneously. “I guess you two wouldn’t remember each other that well,” said Celeste, and then she looked at me. “Anywho, since I’m your aunt now, I guess that makes Luna here your aunt, too!” “Uhhh…” Luna uttered nervously. “She’ll need a nickname like mine that you can call her by… How about Auntie Lulu?” Luna furrowed her brow at her older sister. “How about no.” She then looked at me. “Just call me Luna, okay?” she told me. “Sure,” I accepted. “I don’t know about you, but I’m famished!” Luna groaned, rubbing her tummy for emphasis. “Just remember that chocolate chip cookies don’t count as breakfast,” I remarked. “I can’t help myself,” she admitted. “Just like my sister and cake, cookies are my sour tooth.” “Sweet tooth,” I corrected. Another habit of Luna’s was constantly getting modern figures of speech wrong. “Oh, that makes sense,” she said. As Luna and I rounded the corner, we spotted somepony that was just leaving the dining hall, and it was somepony that I hoped not to see. Prince Blueblood. Now, any other guy in my position would’ve hidden behind their friend standing next to them (Luna, in my case), but my mom always said that that showed cowardice, something that she felt was an abysmal quality for a young man to have. I wouldn’t want to disappoint my mother. I kept a stiff upper lip and continued on, waiting for the moment where I’d inevitably cross paths with the winner of the coveted “Spoiled Brat of the Year” award. Blueblood made the first remark. “I was hoping not to see you around today,” he muttered coldly, yet calmly. “Likewise,” I returned with a tone that mirrored his. Thankfully, those were the only words we said to each other before parting ways. Once we got to the dining hall, Luna chuckled. “I had to hold in my admiration until he was out of earshot,” she disclaimed. “That was quite impressive, though. Most others can’t stand to even be in the same room as Blueblood.” “Well, it took me a while, but I think I’ve mastered the art of bullshit toleration,” I smirked as my mind flashed back to when I first met the spoiled Prince. It was after I was re-introduced to Luna, and Auntie Celeste was giving me a tour of the castle. We made a stop at one of the castle’s balconies. I think it was the fourth one, or maybe the third…I had lost count by then. “Just how many balconies are there on this palace?” I asked. Celeste giggled. “I don’t know. Maybe you can make a game of it and try to find out,” she answered. Why did she have to be so damn cryptic? “I’m seventeen, not seven,” I said with a roll of my eyes. Just then I heard a loud, annoying call. “Aunt Celestiaaaaaaaaaaa!!!” Celeste and I turned around to see a stallion standing before us. Judging from the way he was dressed, he didn’t look like a guard. In fact, he looked like he was somepony important. He had on a white suit that matched his just-as-white coat, and he had ice-blue eyes, eyes that had a high-and-mighty look to them. His light amber mane looked like WAY too much gel was used on it, he was taller than me by just an inch, and he had an expression of frustration on his face. Something told me that I wasn’t gonna like this guy. Then a bell rang in my head. He had referred to Celeste as her aunt. Was this guy supposed to be my cousin!? “What is it, Blueblood?” Celeste answered pleasantly, but I could tell that her tone was forced. “I need money,” he whined, his tone drilling holes into my eardrums. “Whatever for?” Celeste continued with her forced tone of concern. “I’m going out to dinner with a mare tonight, and I need a new suit,” he with a half-demanding, half-requesting tone. “What’s wrong with the ones you already have?” asked Celeste. Blueblood groaned in frustration. “Aunt Celestia, I simply can’t wear a suit twice in three months. You know tha- Hang on, who is this?” “Oh, so you noticed,” Celeste said, a little of her annoyance seeping out as she did so. “Blueblood, this is Marcus.” “Are you doing one of those charity things for inner-city kids?” he asked. I was going to say something, but somepony else beat me to it. “No, I adopted him as my nephew, and he will be living here,” Celeste corrected. “Seems like they’ll make anyone a prince these days,” Blueblood grunted. “My thoughts exactly,” I retorted. “And I’m not a prince.” “Oh, thank goodness!” Blueblood sighed with relief. “He is still a duke, though,” Celeste chimed in. “And?” the bratty prince asked. “It means that the only thing that makes you different from him status-wise is that you’re part of this family by blood,” she explained. Blueblood winced in disgust. “Are you serious!?” he asked incredulously. “This peasant is supposed to be my near-equal!?” “This peasant is about to throw you over this balcony!” I threatened. “Just try it, human!” Blueblood snapped back. “I’ll have guards all over you before you can even lay one of those filthy fingers on me!” Auntie Celeste cleared her throat loudly, and we ceased our bickering. “I expect you two to get along,” she said sternly. “Do I make myself clear?” Blueblood and I shot each other one last nasty glare. “Yes, ma’am,” we conceded. It was then that I realized that living in Canterlot Castle wasn’t gonna be all sunshine and rainbows. “The art of bullshit toleration?” Luna chuckled. “I don’t think my sister will take kindly to you using that kind of language around her.” “It’s a good thing I’m not around her, then,” I retorted. “Just watch yourself, okay?” she giggled as we got our breakfast. I got waffles and hashbrowns while Luna got pancakes with syrup and some butter, a little too much butter if you ask me. “That stuff’s gonna go right to your thighs,” I commented. Luna merely smirked. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” she asked. “It’ll give you more to ogle at, am I right?” “What are you talking about?” I asked. “I saw the way you were looking at me when my sister reintroduced us a month ago,” she teased. “I wasn’t looking at you like that,” I said defensively. “I was just surprised at how different you looked since I last saw you.” “I didn’t look that different,” Luna denied. “Are you kidding!?” I exclaimed. “You look COMPLETELY different than you looked two years ago!” “Calm down, Marcus,” Luna said with a chuckle. “I’m merely teasing.” I sighed and rolled my eyes. Auntie Celeste was rubbing off on her little sister. “So, I’m sure you’re excited for tomorrow,” Luna said as we sat down to her eat. “You must be really hopped for your first day at CUFTA.” “It’s hyped, Luna. Not hopped,” I corrected. “You know what I mean,” she said. “So, are you nervous?” “Of course,” I answered. “It’s the good kind of nervous, though. I mean, even though I’m going to the top art school in Equestria, I think my work can hold a candle to those other kids.” “You seem confident,” Luna remarked. “I’m sure you have the prowess to live up to that confidence.” “Well, I’m going to be in my room all day working on my skills to make sure of that,” I said. “I’m going at this full-throttle!” Luna merely laughed at my bravado. It was an encouraging laugh, mind you. She liked the fact that I pursued art as a career. She even insisted that she was somewhat of an artist because of how she arranged the stars in the night. “Well, I give you my best,” she said. I thanked Luna as I finished my breakfast, and I headed to my room to start my drawing binge.