North Star came out of his daze. He was still in the waiting room at the hospital, and Shining was still pacing back and forth anxiously. Dr. Heartbeat soon came into the room. “Congratulations Shining Armor, it’s a healthy filly.”
Shining was overcome with joy. “Can I see her now?”
“Yes, of course.” Dr. Heartbeat replied. “Come right this way.”
Shining looked down at North Star. “Follow me bud.” North Star followed Shining and Dr. Heartbeat down the hallway to Cadence’s room. North Star still had mixed emotions. Was he truly Shining and Cadence’s son? Would they love this newborn filly more than him?
Dr. Heartbeat led Shining and North Star into Cadence’s room. She was propped up on a bed, the newborn foal wrapped up in a blanket in her forelegs.
Shining smiled and kissed Cadence on the cheek. “I’m proud of you honey” He said.
Cadence looked over at North Star. “Sweetie, come meet your sister.” Shining picked up North Star and set him on the bed so that he could get a closer look. The filly yawned and opened her big, bright eyes.
“She’s beautiful.” Said Shining.
“That’s not all.” Cadence pulled back the blanket to reveal that the foal had both a horn and a big set of wings.
“By Celestia, she’s an Alicorn!” Shining nearly shouted.
“North Star, what do you think of your new sister?” Cadence asked.
North Star looked at the filly. For a few moments he was silent, and then he spoke. “She looks weird.”
Both Shining and Cadence could not help but chuckle. “And what makes you say that?” Cadence asked.
“She has big bug eyes and big wings.”
Shining put a hoof around North Star. “That just makes her unique, like you.”
The newborn foal then grabbed North Star’s hoof and began sucking on it.
Cadence smiled at the adorable sight. “Aw, she likes you already.”
North Star did not like his hoof being used as a pacifier and pulled it out. As soon as he did, the foal’s eyes teared up and and she let out scream so loud that everypony in the that wing of the hospital had to cover their ears. North Star quickly put his hoof back in the filly’s mouth, and she calmed down. Everypony else was in a commotion over what had just happened, and all of the other newborn foals were crying from the noise.
“Whoa, she’s got some set of lungs on her.” Shining said, his ears still ringing.
North Star just sighed and hung his head. He had a feeling that he and his new sister were not going to get along very well.
North Star returned to school the next day. It had been a few days since the incident, but fortunately he was given time to catch up with his work. North Star met up Summer Haze at recess, and she had a surprise for him.
“You got your cutie mark!?”
“That’s right!” Summer said happily. “Check it out.” She turned and showed North Star her flank, which bore the image of a rising sun.
“Wow, congratulations.” North Star continued to admire the cutie mark. “How did you get it?”
“Yesterday I was with my mom shopping at the market. Another pony walked by and dropped his bit pouch without noticing. I grabbed it and returned to him. He offered me a few bits as a reward, but I politely declined. Suddenly there was flash of light and there it was.”
North Star and Summer’s conversation was interrupted by a familiar voice. “Well well, if it isn’t the orphan!” The two turned around to see their longtime bully, Red Sea.
“What do you want?” North Star asked with an angry look.
“Oh, I was just thinking. During parents day, you said you wanted to lead the Crystal Empire when you grew up right?”
“Yeah, so?”
“Well, now that your sister has been born and your parents have a real child, that means you don’t get throne.” Red Sea said smugly.
“That’s not true! Take it back!.”
“But it is. You’re not the natural child of Shining and Cadence, you’re adopted. Your sister is their natural child and an Alicorn to boot. Face it, she will get the throne and you will not. You’re just a pathetic, hopeless orphan.”
North Star felt a rage build up inside of him that he had never felt before. He stared at Red Sea, green flames coming from his eyes. Suddenly, a beam of dark magic shot out from his horn. It stuck Red Sea, lighting his tail on fire. Red Sea then ran around the playground screaming.
North Star took deep breaths as he tried to calm down. Summer then tapped him on the shoulder. “North Star look!” She said pointing to his flank.
North Star looked and could not believe his eyes. He had gotten his cutie mark. It was a red crystal in the shape of a star.
Later that day North Star sat in his room. Both Shining and Cadence stood looking at him. “Do you mind explaining what happened?” Cadence asked.
North Star lowered his head. “I don’t know. I was so angry at Red Sea for making fun of me, then everything went dark. The next thing I remember is Summer telling me I had gotten my cutie mark.”
“North Star, we’re proud that you got your cutie mark but Red Sea could have been seriously hurt!” Shining said in a strict tone. “You’re lucky he only suffered minor burns.”
“As for your punishment, you are grounded until further notice.” Cadence declared. “And you will not be allowed to attend your sister’s crystaling.”
“Why does she even get a crystaling? I never got one.”
“Well…” Cadence tried to come up with an answer, but she could not.
“This isn’t about your sister.” Shining said. “You need to learn that actions have consequences. You should have handled that bully situation in a non-violent manner.”
“Whatever.” North Star turned and sat in the corner of his room. The crying of his sister caused Shining and Cadence to leave. As Cadence fed the little foal her bottle, she turned to Shining. “I’m really worried about North Star.”
Shining nodded in agreement. “This has been his first display of magic, and he has developed more of an attitude since finding out the truth about himself. And now that his has a sister he seems to be getting worse.”
Cadence looked at Shining with worried eyes. “So what do we do?”
“He’s no longer the little foal that we first met. He’s getting older.” Shining let out a depressed sigh. “I don’t want to lose him, but I am out of ideas.”
Cadence thought for a moment. “Maybe we could place a magic suppression ring on his horn?”
Shining tapped his chin as he contemplated the idea. “It’s worth a shot. I’ll ask Twilight for one when she arrives. Speaking of which, she and her friends will be here soon. I’d better go downstairs to greet her.”
North Star sat in his room and sighed. He looked in a mirror and tapped his horn. “Why me?” He thought to himself. He then heard a loud scream that he recognized as his sisters’. “Great, another temper tantrum.”
North Star then looked out of his bedroom window and saw snow falling. “Weird, it isn’t winter time yet.” North Star then felt dizzy, and collapsed on his bed.
North Star awoke in the darkness. The same pair of flaming-green eyes that he had seen before stared back at him. “You’ve earned your cutie mark. I’m very proud.” The voice said.
“But I got it by hurting another pony.” North Star said sadly.
“You were putting him in his place. He deserved to be punished for questioning your reign.”
“But I’m not even an Alicorn. Everypony knows that only Alicorns can be royalty.”
“LIES! You do not need wings to be a ruler. A true ruler has absolute power!”
“Who are you?”
The voice simply laughed. “You shall find out, in time.”
North Star then awoke. He looked outside to see that the snow had stopped falling and that the sky was clear. There was a knock at his door. North Star answered it and was greeted by Cadence.
“Honey, I’m so glad you’re alright!” Cadence said as she scooped him up for a hug. “You won’t believe what just happened.”