Star Fire
The earth pony business executive grit her teeth and snarled. "Star Fire, please murder this leech peddler."
Lightning Heart just rolled her eyes, setting down some papers on her new little desk. "Applejack you need leeches even less than you need caffeine. You just had a heart attack. Seriously, how many times do I have to explain that? I would have thought passing out from the impossible pain in your chest and poor blood circulation would be fairly memorable."
"Don't listen to her Star!" AJ pleaded, pleaded in a way only a mare separated from her coffee could. "Land's sake, I had a dang gun fight with Slice a second after waking up! There ain't no way a white chocolate mocha's gonna do me in."
Honestly she had a point. I probably would have just given her the cup, but the doctor shot me a steely look. "Miss Star Fire, if you care at all for your mother you will throw that cup in the trash."
The room went silent.
The doctor blinked. "Did... Did I say something wrong?
I put down the coffee. "My mother is dead." I said simply. And if you'd read my damn file you would have known that.
Lightning looked lost. "What? But you clearly identified Applejack as your mother on-"
AJ held up a hoof. "Doc, that's just what it says on the paperwork." AJ's expression softened. "Star, do you want me to...?"
I shook my head. "I can tell it. I was already 12 when my mother died and my dad had passed away a long time ago." I gave the business mare a smirk. "Applejack was friends with them from way back and I needed a place to stay so she officially adopted me, but... Well, we both knew I was too old to replace my mom or need much in the way of babying."
I gave the doctor a level look. "AJ's a good friend, and she's helped me out of a lot of jams, but she's not my mother or anything."
The doctor blinked, processing this. "I... I see. I'm sorry I misinterpreted your relationship." There was something... Off about her tone. Something that grated at me.
AJ chuckled and reached for the coffee. "Don't worry about it doc, you wouldn't be the first to-"
The second her hoof touched the cup I snatched it away with my magic. Without hesitating I downed the scalding liquid.
I felt my tongue blister from the heat. I couldn't have cared less.
I tossed the cup in the trash as I turned to leave the room. "Sorry, AJ. Doctor's orders."
#
Chell
All I wanted was a nice, drama free morning with my husband.
Instead, one of my children had an ice-pack on her head and a very guilty looking alicorn was sitting in my office... Which was of course what I called the crook under my husband's wing...
What? He's more than happy sleeping under rocks. Do you really think he'd mind me tucking a few folding chairs by his belly?
"Okay," I began, doing my best to control my breathing and project an aura of sanity. "Let's start from the beginning... Why was Twilight in bed with you?"
Flitz threw up her hooves. "It's not my fault! Dad told me to take her to bed!"
My husband, who's head was of course turned to watch this conversation, winced. "Flitz, I meant you should take her to her bed, not the communal bed... He looked away, somewhat bashfully. "I... I will admit, that might have been a bit confusing."
I bit my lip, made a mental note to talk to my husband about being more precise with his word choice, and continued. "Alright... So you brought her to the bed, what happened next?"
Twilight whimpered. "This is all my fault, I over reacted to waking up next to so many... new family members. I'm not used to doing that sort of thing." She stared at Flitz, on the verge of tears. "I'm really sorry I hit you."
The girl looked more than sincere. Finally Flitz sighed. "Okay, I get it, not a lot of ponies are comfy sleeping in giant buggy piles... For what it's worth I'm sorry too. None of us told you about that tradition and you've been through a lot recently."
Twilight smiled, then after a moment pulled Flitz into a carapace crushing hug. "I have really cool grandchildren."
Flitz's eyes bulged from the pressure.
Spike cleared his throat. "Um... Twilight, my kids tend to function better when you let them breathe oxygen."
Twilight blushed, letting poor Flitz go. She sucked in a deep breath. "Ow..."
The princess looked down. "Sorry..."
Flitz shook herself. "It's okay grand matron... Why don't we just get some breakfast okay? I hear Xax is making blueberry pancakes."
Twilight's ears perked up. "Ooh! I love blueberries. Do you think he'll have any alfalfa he could mix into the batter?"
Flitz shrugged, walking off with the princess in tow. "Maybe? We could ask..." They drifted off down the stairs to the hive proper, presumably discussing their favorite pancake additives.
That settled, I turned to the empty space in the corner of Spike's wing. "You can come out now Star."
Starfire dismissed her invisibility spell and wandered over, looking rather bitter. "I've really got to work on my veiling spells."
I smirked. "Dear, I've known you for over a decade. Did you really think your Aunt Chell wouldn't be able to tell when her niece was playing hide and seek? Although I can't imagine why you felt the need to conceal yourself." Or at least I couldn't imagine any healthy reason...
Star sighed. "Right now I don't want to hang out with the newbie all that much, okay? I know that's bad for the harmony of our magical wavelengths or whatever, but..." She shook her head. "I'm going to need some time."
I nodded. Spike looked like he wanted to say something, but thought better of it and turned away to his book. It wasn't much privacy, but it was enough. "Take as much time as you need dear, we seem to have hit a lull in the world collapsing around us..." I said cautiously. "Is there any chance this is a social call?"
She shook her head. "I really need to make more of those don't I? Nah, I'm just checking to see how Little Miss Purple is fitting in and whether you think she's well enough to try on some jewelry."
I tilted my head. "You want to try using the Elements of Harmony? Already?"
She nodded. The tree had grown the elements back long ago, but without the power of friendship they were nothing more than paperweights... Well, barring forcible magic extraction by potential bearers. Dame Sunset had written a few papers on that subject, but trying to use them like that was damaging and had a tendency to backfire rather spectacularly.
Frankly I think Sunset mostly published her work to make sure future generations knew just how bad of an idea it was.
I thought of the jumpy, obsessive mare having breakfast with my children and couldn't help but worry that forcing them on her would be an even greater risk... They were called the elements of harmony after all.
"Perhaps it's not time just yet. She's been here all of... Two days..." I blinked.
Star's eyes widened. "All of the crazy stuff that's happened has seriously only taken two days?"
I grimaced. "Perhaps calling this a lull in the madness is a bit generous." I picked myself up, dusted myself off and gave her a serious look. "In my professional opinion, we need to give the poor girl some time."
Star nodded, but I could feel her impatience building.
Well, best to defuse that. I gave her my most maternal smile. "Now, I'm afraid you're not escaping without having a cup of tea while we catch up. I was gone for a long time and it feels like this Twilight business is all we've been talking about."
She grumbled. "Are you going to show off your vacation photos?"
I giggled. "You know it."
#
Twilight
After breakfast I'd asked Xax to take me down to "the bedroom" again to try and get used to it. Exposure was essential for acclimation after all and I never wanted to end up hitting one of my grandchildren out of fear again.
It was literally a giant room covered with mattresses, pillows and blankets along with the occasional stuffed animal thrown in. The walls were covered in bookshelves and little music players with ear buds. The lights were dim, but there was more than enough to navigate with.
It was kind of fascinating honestly, I supposed changelings with their close familial bonds wanted to snuggle up to each other. There was a small number of changelings asleep here even now... All cuddled up in a little pile with a small army of stuffed animals.
Okay, given enough time to adjust to their appearances, my grand children's habits were absolutely adorable.
"A bunch of us work nights." Xax whispered, answering the unspoken question of why so many people were asleep at 11:00 in the morning.
I remembered what he'd mentioned about the security desk always having someone at it and nodded. Frankly this was turning into a fascinating case study. I wondered if I could publish a sociology paper on changeling social mores...
I found myself wandering over to the small pile of eight or so changelings, trying to get a better handle on their faces, when I noticed a startling splash of color in the middle of them. I leaned over to get a better look and...
I froze. I grabbed Xax, barely managing to keep my voice low. "What the heck is Pinkie doing here?"
Xax was taken aback. "Uh... Aunt Pinkie comes here all the time." He whispered. "She says she wants a safe place to nap... You know, with people who care about her?"
I blinked, then slowly turned back to my friend. When I first saw her I'd barely noticed she'd changed, but looking closely, as she cuddled one of my grandchildren with a deeply exhausted expression I noticed her skin hung looser than I remembered, and her mane was just a little less poofy.
I felt a pit forming in my stomach. There was only one way to deal with this. "Xax?" I asked quietly.
"Yes grand matron?" He asked.
"Would you please fetch me a pillow...?"