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// Chapter Eighteen 
// Story: The Nature of Nurture 
// by lola2901 
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        “Brio? Brio!? Where are you buddy!?” I yell, trying to sound cheery. “It’s nappy naptime! Granny Smith!” I turn to look at her, and she blinks sleepily as she looks up from her rocking chair.
“Eh? Whassat?”
“I set Brio down for a minute and now I can’t find him anywhere!” I explain, chewing my lip. “I already asked Apple Bloom and Big Mac’s wandered off again and-have you seen him?”
“Oh, yes, ah!” Granny Smith paused, rubbing her chin in thought. “Who’s Brio again? Maybe your momma knows where your friend is?”
I wince, wishing for the first time her memories would stop wriggling about. “Ah forget it!” I say, checking behind the chair. “Tell me if you see him! Brio! Brio!” Right as I hurry into the next room, I hear a sound.
A giggle.
Pausing, I turn back, ducking into the kitchen. There’s no sight of him, but I wait a moment, and I hear the soft laughing again, no doubt Brio. Carefully, quietly, I keep my ears pricked, following the sound to one of the lower cupboards. Letting out a sigh of relief, I open it.
A baby pony sits inside
I know it’s Brio, with his dark blue pelt and big pink eyes, and the siren’s gem in the middle of his fluffy chest, but he’s different, his tail gone. He’s standing on four wobbly hooves, laughing his patchy baby laugh as he smiles up at me. “Jay Jay! I di a wak!” He cooed eagerly, awkwardly taking a step before flopping down on his stomach, giggling.
“What in the tarnation have you gotten into, guppy?” I wonder out loud, gently scooping him up in one hoof. I need to see Twilight about this. She’s a smart gal with all those fancy books of hers; if anyone can explain what happened, it’ll be her. I hurry across the kitchen to grab my baby carrier for Brio, but Rarity designed it with a siren in mind. After a bit of fidgeting and tightening, it’ll at least work for his new chubby pony legs, even if it’s not the best. “Granny!” I shout, poking my head back in the living room. “I’m taking Brio over to Twilight’s! If Apple Bloom or Big Mac get home early, let them know there’s left over casserole in the fridge,” I let her know. She nods, but falls almost immediately back to sleep. Hoping she’ll remember for once, I duck out the barn door.
The walk to Twilight’s is quick, but she takes a little longer than I’d like to answer her door. “Oh, Apple Jack! It’s so good to see you!” she said, brightening.
“Sorry Twi, no time for pleasantries,” I say quickly. “Something happened with Brio and-I dunno, just take a look, alright?”
Pausing, Twilight levitated him out of the baby carrier, looking him over. She paused, then lit up. “Amazing! I read about this a few days ago. When sirens start maturing from babies into fillies and colts, they develop an ability to shift between siren and pony. Generally they’ll stay in their pony form for a while, but over time, they’ll develop the ability to switch between the two at will.”
I take a long deep breath in, letting it out with relief. “So he’s just starting to get older?” I say, glad when she nods. “How about that? You’re such a big boy!” I said, gently pulling him out of Twilight’s magic to give him a cuddle. “Jay Jay’s guppy is getting so big, yes he is!”
“That means he should actually start developing rather basic speech soon, too!” Twilight said brightly. “It’s been around, say, five months now? Although sirens generally start to mature a little faster than the average pony, but it looks like he’s actually developing his mental and motor skills even faster! Maybe due to how his age was in forced stasis for a while?”
“Five months?” I say in surprise, glancing between Twi and my guppy. “Has Brio really been here with me for five months?”
Twilight paused, considering this. “Well, Celestia brought his egg in summer, and now it’s late falls, so a bit more like four and two weeks, but about that, yes!” she said, smiling.
I chuckle, shaking my head in disbelief. “Sure feels like it’s been longer. Hey, mind if I come inside? It looks like he might have escaped his diaper when he transformed, nasty little bugger.”
“Of course, come on in!” Twi said brightly, opening the door wider and stepping to the side. “While your here, I want to show you some books about parenting I asked Celestia to send down from the Canterlot library! I figured you could borrow them!”
I pause halfway through the door, eyes on my hooves. Glancing out the window, I shrug casually. “Nah, I’m good. You keep ‘em.”
“You sure?” Twilight said in surprise. “They have some really good advice on making sure foals grow up in a good environment, and a new method on raising them to be responsible! It’s fascinating!”
“Really, I’m fine. They’d be more trouble than they’re worth,” I insist, closing the door behind me.
Twilight frowned at this, tipping her head to the side as if she couldn’t fathom a book ever being the cause of wrong doing. “Why?”
Grimacing, I chew my lip, glancing down at Brio, wriggling in my arms as if he might judge me. “I have dyslexia,” I admit. “Reading... reading’s always been real tough for me, so I don’t do it often. I spend my time outside instead.”
To my astonishment, Twi absolutely bloomed at this. “Apple Jack, why didn’t you tell me you have dyslexia?” she said, eyes wide as she broke into a bright smile. “You should have told me ages ago! This changes everything!”
“Why does it matter?” I ask hesitantly, hoping she’s not going to rope me into some sort of long dragging lessons to fix it.
“Because,” Twilight said eagerly, bouncing up and down on her hooves. “I have dyslexia too! Oh my gosh, how crazy is that!”
Blinking, I frown, raising an eyebrow. “Come again?” Pausing, I shake my head. “That’s sweet of you to say Twi, but I’m pretty sure somepony who reads as much as you doesn’t have dyslexia. Or do you have some kind of spell to help with it?”
“Nope, just hard work,” Twilight said brightly, smiling. She paused, flushing slightly. “It was definitely hard at first, but I loved stories so much, I just hard to figure out how to read anyway. Maybe sometime we could get together and I could give you some pointers?”
For some reason I can’t quite pinpoint, I hesitate. Shaking off the feeling, I smile. “Wow, that’s might impressive, Twilight. I guess it wouldn’t hurt. How about Wednesday? Pinkie already offered-begged, more like it-to babysit Brio so I could have a free day.”
“Wednesday’s great! How about we meet for lunch?” Twi offered eagerly, beaming.
“How does that sound Brio?” I coo, nuzzling the little foal affectionately. “Is mommy going to go to lunch with Aunty Twi? Is she going to go to nom noms together? Yes! Yes she is, yes she is!”
“Um, great!” Twilight said, laughing slightly. “I think?”