//------------------------------// // Nuovi Compagni // Story: Ab Initio-From the Start-Al Principio. // by Daxn //------------------------------// After looking around the entire classroom, Twilight found Lex Populi in the southern part of the classroom, where the cardboard "clock" was located. The pink filly was building with blocks what it looked like a wall, while a green colt with white mane was giving more and more pieces to the filly, and another filly, this one with white fur and a mane color similar to the mother-of-pearl, was extracting dolls from a nearby basket: Twilight assumed that the white filly and thr green colt were friends of Lex. Once she recognized her future "minor companions," Twilight went near Lex Populi, and said "Hello, Lex." The little filly, after a brief moment of startling, recomposed herself, smiled at Twilight, and said "Hi, Tiligh!" After letting out a chuckle at of the mispronunciation of her name, the mare lowered herself to the filly's face level. "What are you doing?" Asked Twilight. "I’m biwding de walls off Romea!" Lex said proudly, while pointing at what she had constructed. Twilight looked at it, and saw just that: a series of walls with towers irregularly distributed within the borders, of course, begin a filly's block construction, it was not completely accurate in its style (especially the domes, which were not in use during the time thsoe walls were built), but it was eerily similar to the original, all things considered. For this reason, Twilight was genuinely impressed, and praised Lex's abilities. "Oh my, Lex!” she said, giving the filly a genuine smile. “That’s relaly good. How long did it take you to make it?” The filly frowned, turning to the cardboard clock. “Uh... dunno. It’s still pway time.” Twilight gave an inward chuckle. Of course Lex wouldn’t have known how long it took her. Not only was there no real clock in the room, but she was way too young to be able to read... though Twilight herself had been reading before she’d even started kindergarten herself. “What’s that supposed to be?” a very rude voice said from behind them. Twilight turned to see a colt with a brown coat, and light-brown mane and tail. He had a look on his face that reminded Twilight of several fillies back in Ponyville who’d been making Apple Bloom’s life miserable before she’d met Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. “It’s de walls off Romea,” Lex said, Twilight noticing how quiet she’d suddenly become and recognising the look of a pony scared of something. This did not settle well in Twilight’s mind, bringing back a few of her own bad memories from when she was little and treated unfairly by others that were jealous of the fact she was Celestia’s person student. A loud crashing sound pulled Twilight from her thoughts and she saw several familiar blocks lying a her hooves. She turned saw that the colt had smashed Lex’s creation. “Wanna know wha’ I caw it?” he sneered at the cowering filly. “A big mess.” He laughed cruelling. The laugh sent a shock wave through Twilight’s mind, unlocking memories she’d thought she’d long put away, never to be seen again. “Ha! Whatcha gonno do, Sparkless?” one colt said, leering at her. “St-stop,” Twilight cowered, her hooves over her eyes. “Please. What did I ever do to you?” “You became Celestia’s personal student when you don’t even deserve it!” a silver-coated filly snarled, stamping Twilight’s model of Celestia into a lump of indistinguishable nothing. “Come on, where’s all that big magic we heard you used back at your exam?”another colt Twilight couldn’t see cut in, his voice dripping with mock-envy. “I bet that was just a fluke,” a filly out of her sight sneered. “Able to turn a dragon hatchling into an adult? Yeah, right, and I’m Nightmare Moon.” This was followed by a loud cacophony of laughter and the sound of a small filly crying. A small cry pulled Twilight from her horrid memories and her eyes widened. The colt was hanging in the air, suspended by the purple aura of Twilight’s magic, his eyes wide with fear. Twilight gasped, lowering the squirming foal and realising her magical hold on him. He ran off, crying for Nutriz, who looked up from her desk, having been writing out some forms. Twilight turned to Lex, who was staring at her with wide eyes. Twilight’s ears went flat against her head. Oh no. What had she been about to do to that colt. Had he not cried out and pulled her from within her mind... She shuddered as to what could have happened. What was worse, there was no way Lex would want to be her friend now. She was scared of her. That wasn’t a good start to any friendship. Fluttershy excluded because she was afraid of her own shadow. Twilight hung her head. “Sorry, Lex,” she said quietly and turned to go. “I understand...” “Tank you, Tiligh.” Twilight stopped and turned around. Lex walked up to her and nuzzled her chest. “I was weally scawed.” Twilight realized what was going on and returned the nuzzle. “What’re friends for, right? And call me Twily.” Unfortunately this friendship-making moment was cut short when Nutriz came over, the crying colt standing behind her, giving Twilight and Lex a smug grin that irritated Twilight. “Hard Time here says that you were being mean to him, Twilight,” Nutriz said, her voice very stern, taking the mare a little by surprise considering they were both adults, then remembered that for a long time she was no more than a student here, just like everypony else. From unbeknownst to her, Hard Time shot Lex a look that said she’d pay for what happened, from behind Nutriz’s legs, to which the small filly “Eep!” and a hissing sound could be heard. Nutriz took note of both the “eep” and the hissing sound, then returned her attention to Twilight. “Is this true? Did you hold him in your magic, planning on doing something not very nice to him?” A small part of Twilight’s mind wanted to remind Nutriz that she wasn’t a foal and she could speak to Twilight normally, but that was overshadowed by the desire to protect her newest friend and well as guilt over what she’d done to the colt even if he’d been a jerk. “I... I’m not sure what I was going to do after I’d encased him in my magic,” Twilight admitted, the guilt and worry about that apparent enough in her voice to make Nutriz lose her frown, to replace it with a slightly worried expression. Lex came a little closer to Twilight and her guilt turned to determination. “But he was making fun of Lexy and destroyed her blocks model of the walls of Romea!” she stated very clearly, which made the colt flinch, not having expected Twilight to care enough that she’d just try to get out of it and go away. “She was scared and I didn’t want to be.” Nutriz glanced back at Hard Time, a shooting him a quick glare, then turned back to Twilight, the concern from before back on her face. “But what possessed you to grab him in your magic?” Twilight looked to the ground, ashamed. “The way he was acting, and the way Lexy looked at him, so scared, so helpless... it... it reminded me of myself, when I was younger. It’s no excuse, and I hate to think what I might’ve done if Hard Time’s cry of alarm hadn’t snapped me out of it, but...” Nutriz now wore an understanding smile. She stepped forward and patted Twilight’s shoulder. “Well, no harm done to anypony and I’m glad you made a good friend. Now, go back to playing you two. If you’ll excuse me,” said, taking Hard Time in her magical aura, “there’s a little colt in need of a good spanking and some time in the Time Out Corner.” She walked off, Hard Time squealing and protesting as she took him through a door into another, much smaller room. Twilight turned to Lex and smiled. “Do you want to play? I promise I’ll do my best.” Lex’s eyes brightened. “Sure!” she cried, her voice full of excitement. “Come on,” she pulled Twilight by the hoof back towards the blocks, where the other two foals were waiting anxiously, “You godda meet Peawlie and Bwight Light.” Twilight spent the rest of playtime with Lex, Pearlie and Bright Light, playing princ and princesses. As time went on, Twilight realized her theory had been right. She was enjoying playing with Lex and the others, meaning her punishment wasn’t so bad as long as she had others to help her. “Aw, that’s so nice. Glad to see you having fun, Twily.” Twilight chuckled. “Yes, Pinkie, I know that— Pinkie? What in Celestia’s name are you doing here?” Twilight cried as Pinkie somehow popped out from a jack-in-the-box by Twilight’s back hooves, something that made the three foals’ eyes widen in utter bemusement. “Oh, I just wan’ed to see how you’re doing, Twily!” Pinkie cheered, pulling said mare into a bone-crushing hug. “Pinkie— you’re— joking me. Can’t— breathe!” she gasped, her eyes almost rolling into the back of her head. “Oopsie!” Pinkie let go out Twilight, who gasped once for almost ten seconds before she could start breathing again. “Pinkamena Diane Pie!” a voice Twilight had honestly hoped not to have to hear til after kindergarten called sternly. Pinkie suddenly looked very worried, her eyes darting left and right, looking for a hiding hole. But before Pinkie could find a suitable hiding spot, Twilight Velvet stepped into the room, giving the pink pony a very firm look. There was no noise from anypony. All the foals had stopped playing at the sound of the stern voice, all knowing what that tone implied. Somepony had done something bad. “My apologies, Nutriz. This one wanted to come in, even after I explained to her why she couldn’t and she must’ve gotten away from me without my noticing. Oh, goodness, how bad a mother does that make me sound, I can’t even keep track of one of the fillies in my care?” “That’s alright, Mrs. Velvet,” Nutriz said, though Twilight couldn’t help noticing a look similar to that of her friends when they’d seen what Velvet had done to them in her eyes. She obviously knew too well how mental unhinged her mother clearly was right now and was playing along for her own safety. “Pinkamena,” Velvet said, coming over to said mare and taking her ear in one of her hooves. “We will discuss this when we get home.” “Okay, bye, Twilight,” Pinkie said, waving to Twilight, followed by “Owie, owei, owie!” When the sound of Pinkie’s “Owies” faded away, Nutriz looked to her watch, got up and moved the cardboard clock to say “Potty time”. As she gathered all the foals and Twilight, Lex looked at Twilight a little confused. “Youw sistew’s kinda weird.” “Oh, Pinkie’s not my—” Twilight paused, thinking of her current living situation. “Well, considering the beagled state of my mother’s clearly delusional mind and the childish antics Pinkie usually enacts and that she’s staying at my house until futher notice...” She noticed Lex had a very confused look plastered on her muzzle. “Yes,” Twilight said simply. “For now, I would say Pinkie is, in all intensive purposes, my sister.” This seemed to somewhat satisfy Lex, who looked behind them and frowned. “You wet youwsewf.” “What?” Twilight cried, turning to look behind her, noticing the markings on her diaper had vanished, indicating wetness. “Oh, for Celestia’s sake! It must have happened when Pinkie startled me, and the fact that I didn't go to the bathroom before coming here didn't help.” "I don’t even wanna think what my mother will make of this," she thought glumly. "As far as she’s concerned both Pinkie and I are foals and this isn’t gonna help me pull her away from that ridiculous notion." She sighed. This is still gonna happen again. As the saying goes, “what happens in twos will always happen in threes”. When they reached the changing/bathroom and Nutriz asked who needed their diaper changed, Twilight reluctantly held up her hoof along with several of the foals, including Lex.