//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Helicopter // Story: My Overbearing Aunt // by Sketchy Changeling //------------------------------// Saturday morning. Probably the only morning where I didn’t wake up like a zombie. I still had some sleepiness left in me, though, so I decided to take a shower so the warm water would fully wake me up. I ended up feeling refreshed by the end of it. As I dried myself off, I heard a curious sound coming from my room. “What the hell is that?” I thought, but then something clicked in my head. “Oh, shit! That’s my cell phone!” I need to remember when I change ringtones. I scrambled out of my bathroom to get to my phone, which was lying on my bed. In my rush, I forgot to dry my feet, and I ended up slipping on one of the bathroom tiles just as I was about to exit the room. Despite taking a nasty fall, I crawled to my bed and was able to pick up my phone before I missed the call. “Hello?” I answered without looking at the caller ID. “Hello, Marcus! How are you?” said the caller, whose voice I immediately recognized. “I’m good, Rarity,” I lied as I got up off the floor. “I hope I didn’t wake you up, darling.” “Nah, I’ve been up for a while.” “Oh, okay. Well, Octavia and I were headed to the Canterlot Museum of Art today, and we were wondering if you would like to join us.” “Sure, just let me check to see if I have anything going on.” I walked over to my work desk and checked the to-do list that I had posted on the wall above it. I only had one thing to do: a research paper on the origins of Equestrian cartooning. I already finished five of the ten pages that I needed, and the paper wasn’t due until Wednesday, so I could afford to enjoy myself on a Saturday. “Yeah, I’m free,” I told Rarity. “What time are you guys heading out?” “We were thinking about going at around noon,” she answered. I looked at the clock. Nine-thirty. I had more than enough time to get ready. “Sounds good. I’ll meet you guys at the school’s main entrance.” “Fabulous! Oh, and the museum has a café, as well, so we can all grab a bite to eat while we’re there!” “Perfect. I’ll see you at noon, then.” “Of course, Marcus. Bye!” “Bye.” Once I hung up the phone, I started towards the door so I could get some breakfast, but then I realized that I hadn’t put any clothes on yet. I don’t think it’d be good for anyone if I went out into the hallway in the nude. Well, except for that one maid that Auntie Celeste said had a thing for humans. She probably wouldn’t mind. I threw on a T-shirt and some jeans from my closet and left my room to head to the dining hall. On my way there, I ran into Luna again. “Fully dressed at nine-thirty on a Saturday morning?” she asked as she approached me. “What’s the occasion?” “I’m going out with some friends to the art museum,” I answered. “Sounds fun,” said Luna. “Oh, and you’ll be happy to know that you won’t be seeing Blueblood at all, today. He’s going to be out all day on a date.” “Is he cute?” Luna let out a hearty laugh. “Oh, that’s hilarious! ‘Is he cute?’ Pure genius!” “You sure do love a good joke,” I commented. “In all, seriousness, though, I pity the poor unfortunate soul that has to spend an entire day with that guy.” “As do I,” the princess agreed, still stifling giggles. I couldn’t help but let out a chuckle myself. I never considered myself to be a comedian, but Luna seemed to like my brand of humor a lot. However, is it just me, or does Luna sound a little like Rarity? Nah, I’m just imagining things. When we got to the dining hall and went to get our breakfast, I noticed Luna’s peculiar choice for her meal. “A bran muffin?” I asked curiously. “Bland much?” “Before you even start,” she interrupted, “my advisor was concerned about my eating habits, and he insisted that I integrate more nutrients into my diet.” “The struggle is real,” I commented. Luna then let out an overdramatic sigh. “Ah well. I guess this is how it must be. Unfortunately for you, the size of my lower half will begin to diminish, leaving you with less to stare at.” I furrowed my brow. “You know, that joke tends to get old after a while, especially when that joke revolves around something I did over a month ago.” “Aha! So you admit that you were staring at my candies!” “Your goodies,” I impulsively corrected, “and no, I wasn’t!” “Deniaaaaaaaaal~” she sang before taking a bite out of her muffin. Her face visibly, and quite humorously, twitched in disgust, and I thought that she was gonna spit the bite out, but she swallowed her pride, as well as the muffin. “Ugh! This is disgusting!” she yelled. “I swear this diet is going to be the death of me!” I chuckled. “Good luck with that.” Later that day, I took a taxi carriage to the school, where Octavia and Rarity would be waiting for me. I checked my watch along the way, and I was making good time. I didn’t like being late to things. “Here we are, sir,” said the driver. “That’ll be seven bits.” You know, maybe taking the castle’s private carriage wouldn’t be a bad idea. “Oh, sure,” I said, as I handed him the money and left the cab. “Hey, Marcus!” somepony called. I turned around and saw Rarity waving at me with Octavia standing next to her. I smiled and approached the two mares. “Hey, Rarity. Hi, Octavia. I didn’t keep you two waiting for long, did I?” “Not at all,” Octavia said, waving her hand dismissively. “So, now that we’re all here, why don’t we get going?” So Rarity, Octavia, and I started walking toward the museum. Rarity had been to Canterlot before, and knew where the museum was, but Octavia, having been born and raised in Canterlot, knew all the shortcuts to get there faster. “So if we go through the park here,” she explained, “we’ll end up two blocks away from our destination.” “Wow, Octavia,” I said, “It’s like you know the city like the back of your hand.” “Well, I wouldn’t say that,” the mare nervously chuckled as she turned her face away from me. Was that a hint of pink that I saw on her cheek? No, I must be imagining things again. All of a sudden, my phone vibrated in my pocket. When I checked it, I saw that I received a text message from Auntie Celeste. The message read: 'Luna told me that you were headed to the art museum with some friends. Stay safe, and let me know when you get home. -Celeste <3' I sighed when I read the message and thought about putting my phone back in my pocket, but then I considered the possibility of Celeste texting me again because I didn’t respond, or worse yet, she might CALL me. I sighed inwardly and replied: 'Sure.' Short, sweet, and to-the-point. “Who was that, darling?” Rarity asked. “My aunt,” I answered with a sigh. “She was just checking up on me. She tends to dote on me a lot.” “I’m sure it’s just because she loves you,” the unicorn teased. “I don’t like that tone,” I said. “Are you making fun of me?” “Somewhat.” The three of us collectively chuckled as we walked across the park, but when we finally got to the museum, I got this strange sensation that I was being watched. “So, whose idea was it to come here?” I asked, trying to distract myself from that sensation. “Octavia’s,” Rarity happily answered. “She thought that is was a great way for us to spend time together, being lovers of art, and all.” “You really should stop speaking on my behalf,” Octavia muttered in embarrassment. “And you should stop being so modest, darling,” Rarity retorted nonchalantly. The feeling of someone’s eyes on me still wouldn’t leave me, even as we walked into the museum. While Rarity and Octavia discussed amongst themselves where to go first, I looked around the lobby for any suspicious characters. At first, I didn’t see anyone that stood out, but then I saw one particular mare. She was a unicorn mare that was taller than average, for sure, and she had a slender frame clothed by a white dress. A white hat adorned her head and a pair of shades covered her eyes. Her pink mane and tail looked matted down, and a few stray locks fell over her shades. Wait a minute… Those locks of hair were different colors than the rest of her hair; one was an aqua color while the other was a pale green color. Hang on; the only mare I know with a multi-colored mane like that is… The mare lowered her shades and looked right at me with her eyes. Her magenta colored eyes. She then proceeded to smile. “Fuck!” I thought! “It’s Celeste! Did she seriously follow me here!?” I decided not to panic and instead try to lose her. “So, have you two decided where we’re going first?” I asked hastily. “Well, there’s a collection on the fifth floor featuring art depicting interaction between the human and pony societies,” said Rarity. “Octavia and I thought that that would be a lovely place to start.” “Sounds great, let’s go!” I said, trying to mask my anxiety. The three of us left the lobby and got into the nearest elevator. As it went up, I tried to make sense of my situation. My aunt just followed me and my friends to the museum, and she went so far as to disguise herself, too! “Relax, Marcus,” I thought. “She’s probably just making sure you’re safe. I mean, she’s your aunt, and she has to look out for you. Sure, the way she went about it was a little creepy, but there’s no real harm done. Now that she knows that there’s nothing to worry about, she’ll most likely just leave.” I let out a relaxed sigh and smiled contently. I had to hand it to Auntie Celeste, though; it was clever of her to mat her mane and tail down and dye them pink, even though she missed a few strands. DING! I instinctively looked up and saw that the elevator had reached the fifth floor. When the doors opened, Rarity, Octavia, and I walked onto the floor and headed towards the collection that Rarity mentioned earlier. The place seemed to be decently filled. There were a good number of ponies and people there, but not so much so that you didn’t have breathing room. The three of us meandered around the exhibit, looking at the different pieces of art. Like Rarity said, here was a recurring theme of interaction between humans and ponies. “Rarity, Marcus, look at this one,” Octavia said. The piece that she was referring to was a watercolor painting of the Manehattan cityscape from two different time periods; the left side of the painting showed the city as it was seventeen years ago, before contact with humans was made, while the right side of the painting showed a present day Manehattan. “So this is what the city looked like before we humans came along,” I said. “There are a lot less lights and advertising.” “And all of the carriages are stallion-drawn,” Rarity noted. “You rarely see those these days. Most carriages are run by motor now.” She was right, too. After making contact with humans, ponies started to develop vehicles that looked like hybrids between carriages and cars. In the painting of Old Manehattan, there were just straight-up carriages. “I was only one year old when ponies and humans first came together,” Rarity explained, “so I don’t even remember a time when there weren’t humans in Equestria.” “What about you, Octavia?” I asked. She was older than Rarity and me, so she probably had a more vivid memory of the pre-human era. “Well, I was only three when the humans first came, so I don’t have that many memories of life without them.” “Makes you wonder what it was like, doesn’t it?” I asked. “Definitely,” the two mares said. We left the Manehattan painting and continued browsing through the collection. There were a few more pieces that caught our attention, but towards the end of the collection, there was one piece in particular that caught our eyes. It was a large acrylic painting that stood vertically on the wall. The painting depicted a hilltop with two figures standing on it; one was a human man, while the other was a mare. The man and the mare were holding each other in a warm embrace and sharing a kiss as the sunset cast a shadow over their forms, giving them a silhouetted appearance. “Oh, how romantic!” Rarity gushed. “I love it when romance is shown in art!” “It really does melt your heart,” Octavia agreed. “Look at the date,” I said. According to the date, the painting was made only several months after humans and ponies met each other. “It must have been quite the daring piece for its time,” Octavia surmised. “I’m sure that it was very rare for a human and a pony to be in a romantic relationship.” “Yeah,” I agreed. “Nowadays, it’s more common.” “Say, darling. Octavia and I never got your opinion on this painting.” Way to put me on the spot, Rarity. “Well, I think that the technique and colors are really nice…” I improvised. In actuality, I thought that the painting was more amazing than that. Like Rarity, I was a sucker for romantic art, but unlike Rarity, I wasn’t very comfortable with sharing that. The two mares looked at each other with unamused expressions. “Boys,” they said simultaneously. After leaving the collection, the three of us continued through the museum together. Each of us had one collection or exhibit of the place that we particularly liked. Rarity’s favorite was the collection of old Saddle Arabian fabrics, and Octavia really liked the collection of pre-Equestrian musical instruments. As for me, there was a nice pop art exhibit that caught my interest. After a few hours, the three of us decided to get something to eat at the museum’s café. When we got there, we were able to get a table right by the window. “I think I might be getting the hay fries,” Octavia thought out loud. “I never thought you were the type to like hay fries,” Rarity commented. “They’re a guilty pleasure of mine…” “Mine, too! Whenever I have them, though, they go straight to my hips.” That explained a lot, not that I’d complain. “I’ve never had hay fries,” I said. “Are they really that good?” “They are quite delicious, darling. You should try a plate.” “Eh, why the hell not. So I guess its hay fries for all of us, then.” Once we all placed our orders, the three of us engaged in some idle chatter as we waited for our food to arrive, but then I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. Actually, it was somepony that I noticed. Unicorn mare, tall, white dress, white hat, shades… You’ve got to be shitting me. Celeste was still here? Why!? Was she that concerned for me? She noticed me looking at her and took out her phone. A minute later I received another text. 'When will you introduce me to your friends? They seem like nice young mares.' My eye twitched when I read this. “Hold on guys,” I said to Rarity and Octavia, “my aunt’s texting me again.” And so the back-and-forth ensued. 'I don’t know, Auntie. Can we talk about this later?' 'Oh, I see. You’re on a date. Well, don’t let me keep you away from your lovers.' 'THIS ISN’T A DATE!!! Why would I be dating two mares!?' 'Polyamory isn’t very uncommon in Equestria, Marcus! :)' 'Will you PLEASE go home?' 'Fine, fine, I’m leaving.' I watched Auntie Celeste as she got up from her seat and left, but not before she ordered a piece of cake to go. Typical. It was obvious that I needed to talk to Auntie Celeste about this. As much as I loved her, and as much as I appreciated her looking out for me, there were some boundaries that needed to be set, and they needed to be set as soon as possible. By the time I had gotten back to the castle, it was minutes after four, and the first pony that I ran into (not including the royal guards) was Luna. “Oh! Good evening, Marcus,” she greeted. “I take it you had a pleasant time at the museum.” “Eh, yes and no,” I answered. “It’s a long story… well, not really a long story, but a story regardless.” “So tell.” Luna and I walked down the halls of the castle as I explained to her what happened with her sister today. “That sounds like Tia, alright,” she said, more to herself than to me. “She’s done the same thing to me before. It’s her way of showing concern.” “I know, but It’s making me feel a little uncomfortable, so I’m gonna talk to her about it.” “Fine, just be careful.” I stopped dead in my tracks. “Be careful?” “I tried to do that once when we were younger, and her response was… less than pleasant. I wish you luck, though.” With that, Luna and I parted ways, and I started to get second thoughts about this. Was it really worth it to talk to Auntie Celeste about this? It’s not like she did anything wrong. No, no, what I had to say had to be said, or else she won’t stop. If I ended up making her mad, so be it. With my mind set, I walked over to Auntie Celeste’s room and knocked on the door. “Coming!” she called out from inside. Her voice was followed by the sound of hoofsteps, and then the door opened. “Oh, Marcus!” she said with glee! “You’re back from the museum! How was it?” “I was fine, Auntie, but there’s something I need to talk to you about,” I tell her bluntly. She blinked. “Oh… Okay, come on in, sweetie. Make yourself comfortable.” I opted to take a seat on Celeste’s bed, and I took a deep breath as I want over what I had prepared to say to her. “So what is it you want to talk to me about?” she asked. “It’s about today, at the museum,” I said. “What do you mean?” “I mean when you followed me and my friends around. Just… why?” Celeste gave me a look, a look that told me that she really didn’t see anything wrong with what she did. “I was just making sure my nephew is safe. Canterlot may not be as big a city as Manehattan, but it can still be dangerous if you’re not careful.” “Don’t you think you can trust me to look out for myself out there?” “Well, yes, but I just want to be there for you in case anything happens.” I let out a sigh. “Auntie Celeste, I’m seventeen. I appreciate the fact that you’re concerned for my safety, but you can trust me to be responsible when I’m on my own.” She thought about what I said for a moment before speaking. “Okay, you’re right. I should have more trust in you.” I smiled at her, and she smiled back. What was I worried about? This went better than I expected. “But…” she said. “But what?” I asked. “Since we’re putting everything on the table, there’s been something about you that’s been worrying me,” she explained. “What do you mean?” I ask. “You seem to want nothing to do with me.” I look at my aunt incredulously. I wanted nothing to do with her? Just what the hell was she talking about? “You seem to be embarrassed of me, Marcus. You don’t want to be a prince, you want to keep your adoption a secret, you don’t acknowledge me in public, and you practically ignore me at home.” Oh man. I didn’t even notice this. Once I heard it, I started to feel guilty. “All I’m asking for is a little affection from my nephew,” she said. “Is that too much to ask?” I sigh. “I’m sorry, Auntie. I didn’t mean to make you feel like I was ignoring you. I’ll try to be more sensitive to your feelings.” “And I’ll try to be more sensitive to yours.” Man, while this was a touching moment, I couldn’t help but feel like I was in a sappy scene from a poorly written fanfiction. “So, how about you give me five hugs and three kisses every day while we’re at home, and I won’t try to give you any in public?” Celeste offered. “You gonna stop following me, too?” I ask. “Yes…” she conceded. “Then it’s a deal.” Auntie Celeste’s face brightened up and she gave me a tight bear hug! “Oh, thanks for being so understanding, Marcus! I’m so glad to have you as a nephew!” “No problem, Auntie.” I said as I hugged her back, and the poorly written fanfic feeling started to return.