Chapter 1
An image of my mom flashed before my eyes, my father being brutally dragged into the Hayseed Swamps. That was all I saw before my eyes shot open and I awoke from the ominous dream. I could breathe a little bit easier when I when I realized I was back in reality. My sister, Aqua Blossom, leaned over me.
“Are you alright?” she asked with concern, “Did you have a bad dream?"
I felt incredibly light-headed. As I stood up, my attention was quickly drawn to the sound of voices coming from downstairs. I heard my mother’s voice, as well as my father’s. I walked out into the hallway and crept quietly to the stairs. I looked down the staircase, but only saw the door and the shadows of my parents on the wall.
“You know what’s going to happen to them eventually. When it does happen, they won’t have control over it. It’ll take them a few days to learn how to shift from one to the other.” My mother’s voice was low and firm, which usually meant that what she was saying was important.
“Honey, why do you think we get monthly letters from the Princesses? They want to check up on us. Why do you think we are what we are?”
“Silver Stream! I will tell you this for the fourth time now! We are not like other ponies in Equestria!!” I heard the clip-clop of heavy hoofsteps get closer. I stood as still as a statue on the stairs, wondering if Mom was going to come upstairs and check up on me. I prayed to Celestia that she didn’t have that idea. “We are not like other ponies in this world! We’re anything but normal! We don’t even belong here.” She spoke in the most solemn and reprimanding voice that I’ve ever heard come out of her.
“But the Princesses know that. They also know that we’re not the blood-sucking kind!” I turned around and crept back down the hall towards my room. I saw a flash of magenta and purple zip past me.
“Where are you-” I said as I turned around and watched Aqua barrel down the stairs. I only stood there with a dumbfounded look on my face as the flash of my sister’s trail left me in the dust. After what I just heard, there was no way I could go down there and face my parents now. The last thirteen years of my life... Have I been living a lie? What were they talking about? What are we? How do the Princesses know and what do they have to do with us? I watched my sister disappear behind the wall that separated the kitchen and the stairs.
“Where is she- Oh, no!” I lifted myself up by my wings and flew downstairs. I stuck to the ceiling and silently flew around to the kitchen counter. I kneel down and begin to listen….
“Mom! Dad! What were you guys talking about?” I peeked over the counter and saw my sister trying to prod the information out of my mother with her adorable baby-doll eyes.
My mother took a long pause before answering. “Your father was just telling me-” she hesitated for a moment “-About something that happened at work... That’s all!” I saw her glance over to my dad, probably signaling him to play along with her.
My sister went upstairs, leaving it up to me to find out the truth. Eavesdropping behind that kitchen counter made me feel like a secret agent on a mission of espionage.
“Delilah! We have to tell them! They can’t live their lives and not know the truth about what they really are.” My dad’s voice grew more serious with every second that went by.
“Silver Stream, I agree. When the time comes, we’ll tell them. But I am not going to pounce on this opportunity and ruin their childhood!”
“She’s fourteen! She can handle the truth!!” my father screamed as he stomped the ground with a great deal of force. I was shuddering. I hated to hearing them fight like this, but I had to continue listening if I wanted to get more information.
“I know, but do I have to remind you of her grandparents?! My mother and father?!” I remembered them. When I was younger, they were always so nice to me. Rusty and Jasmine. “Do I?!” I peeked over the counter again and watched them. “Silver Stream listen, they-” she paused for a moment and looked around the room frantically. She looked like a shady dealer on the lookout for the police, “...Let’s talk on the back porch, please…” Hoofsteps came in my direction. I needed a place to hide, and I needed one quick! Suddenly, the pantry came to my mind. I peeked around the corner of the counter. I made a mad dash to the wall and opened the door to the pantry.
Wow, are we stocking up for the zombie apocalypse already? I thought to myself with a smirk as I looked up at all the canned food that was piled on almost every shelf. I heard the hoofsteps get closer. They had to pass the pantry to get to the back door. I flew up to the top shelf and hid behind some pots and pans. Good thing Dad installed the 9-inch wire shelf instead of the 3-inch ones, otherwise I would probably have gotten stuck trying to squeeze in. I landed on the wire shelving and knelt down as far as I could, lying on my stomach. I aligned the pots and pans along my body and put the last one right in front of my face, leaving a little gap between two of them to serve as a peephole. I watched their shadows stop right in front of the door.
Oh crap, I forgot to close the door! I thought nervously. Luckily, Mom and Dad didn’t seem to care too much. I sat and waited patiently. After what seemed like an eternity, they finally left the room. I removed the pots and pans to make room for me to wiggle out of my hiding spot. It felt good to stretch out my legs after practically being entombed in cookware in that tight space. With great haste, I flew up to my room. I fly up to my window and roll the window open.
Geez, I wish I had some butter or something! I thought miserably when I realized I was in for another round of cramming myself into something. I carefully slid the window open with my hoof and squeezed my way through with the little leeway I had. I was anything but comfortable for me. As I flapped my wings, I was praying that Aqua wasn’t following me. She’s not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer when it comes to stealth. I flew around to the front of the house and walked through the plant-filled path that led to the backyard. I ran under the porch, squatted down, and began to listen.
“Look, I get that you want to warn them, but I don’t think we’re ready to do that just yet.” I heard the sound of crying, and I knew it was coming from Mom, “I don’t want her or Aqua to end up like Rusty and Jasmine! If you want our children to end up kicking the bucket, then you must have a serious death wish!” I heard more sobbing. What did she mean? Were we going to die? Did we have some sort of genetic disease or something? Were we we going to die young? I hoped not. There were so many things in life I hadn’t done yet! I pondered these questions for a moment, but figured it would be best if I just listened to the rest of the conversation going on above me.
“All they wanted to do was find acceptance in this-” my mother stomped her hoof on the ground. Her voice got louder and was filled with anger, “-This damn world! For their children, for them! And it because of that desire that they were murdered! What if Midnight and Aqua meet the same fate and end up joining them?! This is what I fear, Silver!”
“Let me get this straight, Delilah. You fear our children are going to discover the truth about themselves and make the same blunder your parents did?”
“Yes, I don’t want a repeat of that Silver.” my mom’s breath was shaky. “Please don’t fight me on this, I-” she stopped herself for a second, “-We can tell them soon... But let me make the call on this one. Please!”
“Okay, okay. You can make the call on when to tell them. But if I could weigh in, I think we should do it before camp starts. I mean, school for both of them ends in two months. Less than that, actually.” My dad’s voice sounded much more tranquil than usual. His voice was never that calm when Aqua and I were around.
“That would mean taking them out of camp though. I don’t want to do that! They love camp!” said my mother. Her voice still sounded nervous, but it maintained a trace of objectivity.
“Delilah, we have to...”
“Okay, then. Let’s go inside.” I heard hoofsteps, followed by the sound of the door opening and closing.
“Omigosh, what the-” I stammered as I squeezed back through the window and saw my sister standing in front of me.
“Where were you?!” she asked. She sounded slightly irritated, “I've been going around the house looking for you! Mom wants to see us both.” She turned around and I just watch
Aw, crap! I thought. I was beyond apprehensive about what my parents were going to tell me. I was terrified! I can’t go back downstairs! Not now!
“I refuse!” I said to her, “I won’t go downstairs until I know the reason she wants to see me. Do you know why?” I looked at Aqua, giving her an inquisitive look.
“I think it might be about spring break, but I’m not sure. C’mon!” I walked out of my room, wondering what in the world I just got myself into. I watched as Aqua skipped down the stairs and into the kitchen.
“Where’s Midnight?” I heard my mother ask Aqua.
“I’m right here, Mom! I’m coming now!” I yelled down the stairs. I trotted down the hallway and set hoof on the first stair. “Oh brother, do I really want to hear this?!” I muttered nervously to myself. I trotted down the stairs and walked into the kitchen. “I’m here! What do we need to talk about?”