//------------------------------//
// Chapter 13 
// Story: Oddball 
// by The Infinity Doctor 
//------------------------------//

My jaw dropped as I saw what condition the house was in, furniture was tipped over and broken, random junk was spread across the floor- utter chaos.

"What happened in here?" I asked myself.
"Y-you live here?" Alicia asked carefully.
"It usually looks a little better than this...hello? Is anyone there?" I called.

"H-Highness? Where have you been?" Hacker asked, appearing from behind the over-turned couch.

Alicia jumped at the sudden appearance of the changeling, once again clutching my hoof in a death grip.

"Hacker, what happened? It looks like a twister came through here!" 
"Something close to it- it was nuts! Apparently Discord escaped from the Canterlot Gardens, he was wreaking absolute havoc!"

'Find out later...'

"Where are the others? They didn't get discovered did they?"
"No, we got everypony into the hive just as it started"
"Then what were you doing up here?"
"Waiting for you, highness"

'Hello guilt, have we met?'

"Let's start getting everything back together, I'll go and get everyone"
Hacker bowed and began straightening the room; Alicia squeaked as somepony knocked on the front door.

"Mirror, take your sister to your room and stay there, I'll come and get you when they're gone" I said, slipping into pony form "Hacker, either go down to the hive tunnels or hide somewhere else in the house"
Mirror nodded and led Alicia further into the house as I grabbed the doorknob with my hoof- something that still baffled me to no end.

"Hello?" I asked, opening the door.
"Silent! Thank goodness!" Twilight cried, throwing herself through the door "Nopony's seen you in days! We thought Discord had done something to you!"
"Heh, yeah, he really threw us for a loop" 
"Is Mira okay?"
"Eeyup, we came through it okay, Mira's in her room right now"
"Do you mind if I see her?"
"Why?"
"Just making sure everypony is alright, Discord's magic did some horrible things to my friends and I..."
"Well, er, let me go and get her, then you can-"

"Daddy! Daddy! Look what Alicia can do!" Mirror said excitedly.

'Please be disguised, please be disguised' I prayed, slowly turning.

Thankfully she was, but another pony was standing right next to her, the indicators that it was Alicia were the tell-tale horns poking out of the mane and mismatched wings hanging from her sides.

"Mira- what did I tell you?" I warned.

Both of the filly's ears splayed backward, Alicia practically cowering. Mirror spied Twilight and realized her mistake, attempting to back out of the room. Twilight herself, however, would have none of that...

She was looking Alicia up and down, asking questions a mile a minute, trying to wrap her head around the mystery before her.

Alicia was just about ready to burst under Twilight's behavior, tears threatening to fall as she kept up her barrage of questions.

"Twilight" I said, trying to discourage her.
The purple mare rounded on me.

"Why didn't you tell me? What is she? What happened to her? How old is she? How long has she been like this? What does she eat? Where did she come from? Is she-"

'I sense a panic attack coming on'

She was cut off as I put a hoof to her mouth.
"Twilight, first of all, stop talking about her like she's not here, second- I think you should leave"
"Leave? Leave? I can't leave- what about-"
"Twilight, you don't need to worry about anything, I've got everything under control"

She opened her mouth to speak.

"And no, don't you dare send a letter to Princess Celestia"
"But Silent-"
"No Twilight"

I felt Alicia plaster herself against my side as Mirror tugged on Twilight's tail, Twilight looked to her. Mirror was almost snout to snout with her as she stood on the tips of her hooves.

"You ain't taking my sister away" she said defiantly "we're a family- no way, no how are you separatin' us" 

It felt like my heart was ready to catch fire and a happy thought crossed my mind as Twilight stood there, flabbergasted at Mirror's words.

'At least I'm doing something right...I'm so proud...'

Twilight stared at Mirror, then Alicia, then me. She took a deep breath and her coming panic attack dissipated.

"O-okay...I just need some time to process this...I'm going back to the library...I-I-I- need to think..."

She left the house, trotting down the street unsteadily.

I closed the door and sighed in relief, my heart thumping at a fast pace.

'Too close, too close, too close' I repeated over and over in my mind.

"Mirror, that was very dangerous, you could've revealed all of us- what were you thinking? Didn't you listen to my directions?"

As I was telling her off, I realized that this was the first time I had ever really gotten mad at her.

"I'm sorry, daddy" Mirror sniffled.
"You're grounded for the weekend, no crusading, and no leaving the house"

"...okay..."

"Good, I want you to go to your room and think about what you've done" 

She nodded slowly and trotted out of the room.

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose with my hoof, looking down, I saw Alicia beginning to tear up.

"What's wrong hon?" I asked, placing a hoof on her shoulder.
"Wh-why did she get in trouble?" she asked.
"Well...she did something wrong...changelings aren't ready to be reavealed to the ponies yet, at least my hive isn't, and god knows what would've happened to you if Twilight reacted any differently..."
"Is-Is it because I-I- look weird?"

'Jeez, I was hoping I was going to have this talk with her when she was at least a little older...'

"No Alicia, you don't look weird, ponies look to normal, that's the problem"

That elicited a small laugh from her, and sobered immediately.

"But it was my fault too! Why don't you ground me?"
"Wait a minute...are you actually asking me to ground you?"
"Yes! Please! It was both our faults! She and I both agreed to come out here"
"Well, okay, why don't you go and keep your sister company? I'll tell you when your time is up"

She hugged my leg, said- "I'm glad you're my daddy", and bolted into the hallway.

I felt my heart threatened to burst as Alicia left the room, my mind shifted back to other matters as I continued to clean up the disaster area known as the living room.

X X X X X X X 

I flopped onto the couch, finally having completed my task of getting the house back in order.

My nap was not to be, unfortunately, as I was tackled by Jane, her arms clamped around my chest, tears streaming down her eyes. A number of emotions were pouring out of her- sorrow, happiness, anger, to name a few, and yet again I felt a generous portion of love on the tip of my tongue.

'No, it can't be...please no...'

"Where were you?" she sobbed "After- after he arrived, I thought he'd done something to you!"

'Please tell me she just cares as a friend...'

"I thought I'd lost you..." she whimpered, squeezing tighter.
'Nonononono...I'm with Elaine! Stop it!'

"Jane, please stop" I pleaded, not cruelly "Don't do this to me..."
Despite my protests, she held tighter and refused to let go.

"Jane, I hate to do this to you..."

She looked up.

"...I'm involved with someone else, I'm sorry..."

"I-I-I-"

"It's okay" I said.

"How c-can y-you say th-that? I just embarassed both of us" 

"We're in alone in here" I pointed out, motioning to the living room.

"But- but- why are you so forgiving?"

"I don't know, it's probably just who I am" I shrugged "I'm more confused than anything, why me? Why not someone else?"
"I-I- guess...because...you gave us somewhere to live...and you've been good to us, I suppose...I guess I screwed that up now..."
"No, you didn't- it was an honest mistake, you don't need to beat yourself up over it"

She remained silent.

"Could you, um, get off of me now?" I asked.

She blushed as she scrambled off of me.

I stood up and stretched.

"I'm going to take a nap, I'll see you later" 
"See ya..." she said quietly.

I left the room and headed toward my bedroom.

X X X X X X X 

I yawned as I sat up in my bed, I stretched and stood up. I walked out of my room and checked on Mirror and Alicia. As I walked, the scene from earlier that day was playing through my head...they way Mirror had defended Alicia like that...it was just...heartwarming...I mean, they hadn't known each other for that long, but their bond seemed strong...I'm just so proud of her for standing up for her.

Mirror and Alicia were sitting on the bed, facing away from me, focusing on a coloring book.

I smiled unconsciously as I watched them, then walked back into the living room, transforming back into pegasus form.

I had just sat down when the doorbell rang.

'Who could that be?' I wondered, getting up and walking to the door.

I opened it, and Twilight, Spike, and the other five were standing there.

'How did I not see this coming?' 

"What do you want Twilight?" I asked, a little more harshly than intended.

"We came to see Alicia" she said.

"Why...why why why?" I asked.

"I-I-I'm just...unsure, I need to make sure she won't be...dangerous..."

"Twilight...she's a filly"

"I know..." she apologized "but I just need to be sure"

"A few minutes" I relented "I'll go and get her, make yourselves at home"

She nodded and I trotted into Mirror and Alicia's room.

"Alicia, I need you to come with me for a few minutes" I said.

Mirror got up to trot after her, when I stopped her at the door.

"Mirror, I need you to stay here"
"But-"
"No buts, this is something your sister and I have to do, I'll let you know if something goes wrong"
"...okay..."

I led Alicia into the living room, where Twilight and her friends were sitting.

"Daddy?" Alicia questioned.

"It's alright" I reassured "Twilight just wants to talk to you"

Twilight cleared her throat and stepped forward.
"Er, yes, I wanted to ask you a few questions"

'Yeah, a few...' I thought sarcastically.

"O-okay..."
"Alright, have you always been a draconequus?"
"A-A what?"

I really hope I'm not going to influence her by doing this...

'Alicia, can you hear me?'

'Daddy? Is that you?' 

'Yes, you are a draconequus, so you can say yes'

"Yes" she said.
"Were you created by Discord?" Twilight asked.

"No" she said.

"Are you here to cause the chaos?"

"No" 

"Like hay she's not!" Rainbow exclaimed "I bet she just wants us to fall for her act!"

I grit my teeth as Alicia cowered.

"Rainbow! What in the world is wrong with you?" Applejack asked.
"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you? We're just treating this like it's no big deal! We should have written to the Princesses about this!"

"She hasn't done anything to warrant that" I said "Quit jumping to conclusions"

"I'm not jumping to conclusions! She could be a real...threat...to..."

Rainbow's voice died in her throat as Alicia sniffled, tears gathering in her eyes.

"Why do you hate me?" she asked, wiping away the tears.

The six ponies and dragon were stunned, not expecting to see this kind of reaction from her.
Rainbow stuttered as Alicia sat on the floor, crossing her legs.

"I'm not dangerous...am I?" she asked, staring at the seven.

To my surprise, Fluttershy stepped forward and wrapped Alicia in a hug. She stiffened as Fluttershy's hooves pulled her closer, and relaxed as she leaned into the hug, returning the affection.

"Are you alright?" Fluttershy asked, pulling away.

"I'm- I'm- fine" Alicia smiled hesitantly "D-do you want to ask any more questions?" 

"No..." Twilight finally said "I think we've seen enough, thank you Alicia"

"N-no problem..."

Twilight and her friends left the house, leaving Alicia, Mirror, and I in the house.

"Alicia, I'm sorry you had to do that, Twilight was just curious, she wanted to know more about you"

"I understand" she smiled "Can I go back and play with Mirror now?"
"Sure, tell your sister dinner will be ready in a few hours, too"
"Okay"

She walked out of the room and I went into the kitchen, the entire situation that had just happened in the living room still fresh in my mind.

'Why can't they just understand?'

I'm sure they will eventually, I mean, look at Zecora, everything worked out with her, didn't it? Speaking of which, I should go and see her again soon, I'm sure Alicia would like her. I'll need to get Alicia signed up for school with Mirror, I'll need to go back down to the
schoolhouse and talk to Cheerilee again.

X X X X X X X 

Today was Alicia's first day of school, what I hoped would be a good experience for her turned into a disaster in and of itself. Maybe I'm exaggerating...see, what happened was, these two fillies always picking on Mirror and the Crusaders had chosen Alicia as their 
target, and well...I think you can imagine where things went from there...

So here I was, sitting in the schoolhouse, having a talk with Cheerilee, Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, and their parents. Mirror had decided to introduce Alicia to the Crusaders, despite her initial meeting with Twilight and her friends, she had taken a shine to the 
three, and vice-versa, it was almost impossible to separate them when all five of them were holding a meeting at our house.

"...she realizes the repercussions of her actions" Cheerilee finished.
"I think she does" Diamond's father replied "Do you have anything to say for yourself little filly?"
Diamond looked up at me, then muttered out a half-hearted apology.

I sighed as Diamond's father seemed content with her answer and she, her father, Silver Spoon, and her parents left, me soon following. As I trotted down the street, I passed a familiar house, and saw Berry Pinch waving at me through the front door.

"Hi Silent!" she called.
"Hi Pinch" I replied "What are you doing?" 
"I'm waitin' for Momma, we're going out for ice cream!" 
"Sounds fun, well you take care" 
"Bye Silent" 

I smiled to myself as I trotted down the road, back to my house. I walked into the house and sat on the couch, as I did, I heard a conversation being held by Mirror and Alicia from the bathroom. (I've got sensitive ears, don't I?)

"What do you think of this?" I heard Alicia ask.

"Uh, I don't know..." Came the voice of Mirror "I still think you should talk to dad about this..."

"But Diamond said-"

"You have to take what Diamond says with a grain of salt- what comes out of her mouth could fertilize Sweet Apple Acres for a year"

'Mirror, Alicia, come in here please' I asked mentally.

The clopping of hooves against the floor resounded from the back of the house, it grew louder as both of them entered the room. Mirror was the same, but Alicia had changed...her serpentine body and bangs had grown longer, her fangs were more pronounced, her wings had become a bit larger as well.

"Alicia?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"Yes daddy?" the older version of Alicia responded.
"What...did you do?"
She looked down and scuffed her hoof on the floor.

"Diamond and Silver Spoon said I was too much of a crybaby...that I needed to grow up..."

'Oh great...'

"Alicia, sometimes you need to ignore what they say...they're just bullies, what they say doesn't matter"

"But..."

"No, what you looked like before was who you were, you don't need to change yourself for others"
"R-really?"
"Yes, and don't let anypony tell you differently"

A small smile graced her features before she was engulfed in a ball of light, when it disappeared, Alicia had reverted back to her normal self.

I hugged the both of them as they returned it.

"That reminds me" I said "Did I ever show you the hive?"