//------------------------------// // Discovery // Story: I'm no Mother, right? // by Sense of Humor //------------------------------// Chapter 1: DISCOVERY "But it's a seriously good book, I promise! " Twilight said between giggles and strengthened the opposing look of skepticism. "Drama, Action, Character building- All of it! Even a few hints of romance!" Starlight smirked her most sarcastic smirk just for her teacher. "Was romance reeeeeally your last resort to make me read 'The Hobbit'?" "Maybe?" "Ha! The last thing I'd like to read about is romance, Sparkle. And I just can't get past the title anyways...The Hobbit...It's so weird." She quirked one of her eyebrows. "Just what IS a Hobbit anyways? Some kind of theif warlock...?" "No! It's a mythical dwarfish pony!" Twilight responded defensively, as if the question had insulted her, and snorted. "What kind of theif would be named a Hobbit, anyways?! That's silly." "That book is silly." "Oh shut it, you." Huffing out a brief sigh, The Alicorn's ear flicked away a random gnat. "I'll bet Fluttershy's read the book." "I'll be sure to ask her about that once I'm there. " Starlight sidestepped a few fillies chasing after a huge ball. She watched them with a small smile of interest before turning her attention back to the lavender princess beside her. "...Fillies are so energetic these days. I could barely walk to the carnival without feeling tuckered out afterwards." Twilight nodded in agreement. "You're telling me! I was a blur when I was a filly, maybe faster than Rainbow Dash. Just a little ball of excitement and pigtails!" "No kidding? I had pigtails as a kid myself...although, you probably knew that already." "Yeah...Those were the days. Just a little mare having her own reading adventures with her best friends." Twilight looked as if she were reviewing memories, and good ones too. "My brother AND my mom." "Your mom? What's she like? You never told me much abo-" "Twilight, Dear!" The two of them turned around at the sudden voice and spotted an older mare trotting over to them. The mare had a coat that was the lightest shade of grey imaginable, topped with a mane of white and purple that was styled similarly to Twilight's. Sky blue eyes joyfully focused in on the princess as she drew near and Twilight apparently recognized her. "MOM!" "Mom?" Starlight questioned, but by that point her question fell on deaf ears. She watched her teacher embrace the other mare in a tight hug, before pulling apart with eager grins sent at one another. The unicorn suddenly blinked, smiled and blushed. "Oh...this is your mom?" "Yes! This is my mother!" Twilight sounded pretty excited to see her, not to mentioned looked excited. "What are you doing here by the way? Where's Dad? Did something happen to him?!" "He's at home, peeling the paint off the walls in his sleep." The unicorn grinned in a friendly manner towards her daughter's student. "Oh, and this must be the Starlight you were telling me about, dear!" "Yes, Mrs Sparkle?" Starlight nodded to confirm the theory. "That's me. I'm a little surpsied that she hasn't told me much about you." Mrs Sparkle narrowed her eyes at Twilight, causing the lavender pony to cringe. "Mooom! I was gonna!" "I'm certain you were, dear...Oh! I almost forgot! I wanted to give you something I bought for you just yesterday!" She suddenly levitated a book in front of herself, presenting it proudly in front of the two in a flash. Starlight didn't recognize it by the title: 'Brazen Bronco', but she could tell from a side glance that the Alicorn recognized it by that alone. Her teacher dramatically gasped as her eyes teared up. "This was my favorite fillyhood book...I thought I lost it!" "You did lose it!" Mrs Sparkle agreed as a matter o' factly. "This a new, updated version from the bookstore that's signed by the author himself! And it has a fee membership card that'll mail the other books of the series to you! It's the first of twelve!" While Twilight burst into a frantic, gleeful thank you essay straight from the deepest parts of her mind, Starlight offered them a thoughtful smile. It was heartwarming to see the two family members interact so peacefully and wonderfully, as they didn't have a grudge against each other at all (which they probably didn't). The huge smiles they both gave one another slowly sparked a bit of envy within Glimmer's heart; envy that manifested from this familial relationship and it's peek at it's benefits. Without even meaning to, she compared them to her own past. Just like with her father, her relationship with her mother had been limited towards only a few meager words exchanged from time to time. She often wondered as a foal if she really existed to them; all those times she came in with scratches and her mother would never bandage her up or console her when she cried- they were so distant from her that it was a wonder how she ate or had a bed in the first place. They were the ones that influenced her social life and caused Sunburst to be her only friend. In the end, it was her family that orchestrated her running away, right? "Starlight?" "Huh?!" She blinked rapidly at a worried looking Twilight and her worried looking mother. "Are you alright, dear?" Mrs Sparkle tilted her head. "She was offering to buy you a snack before you left for your friend's house, but you were staring at the ground...a little gloomily, I might add." Starlight weakly smiled and shook her head, turning to begin walking away from the two. "I-Im fine, Ma'am! Just caught up in my thoughts is all. Thanks Twilight, but I better get over there quickly. I'll see you later, I guess?" "...yeah." Twilight sounded confused and concerned even as she walked off. "I'll see you later." She was barely keeping herself from getting wet, even with the magic field she'd cast above her body to keep herself from being wet. The mare had to shake her head every four minutes or so just to clear her mane hair from her eyes, so that alone told her that her hairstyle would be done for a few more hours. Which was a shame, since she loved the hairstyle she had, parted on one side of her horn and curved a little. The walk from Fluttershy's house was supposed to be fine, since it hardly ever rained there! Why was the weather terrible on the way back to Twilight's? The pony could catch a cold because of this dumb weather put together by a few Pegasi and she couldn't be angry at them about it. Starlight hissed through her teeth when her hoof thudded into a puddle of mud, and she tried scraping off the brown stuff as she went along to no avail. The stuff was like thick, melted chocolate for crying out loud. "What rotten luck..." Starlight muttered under her breath and her walk slowed a little despite the obvious storm howling overhead. She was tired; too much so continue her quick pace home at least. The unicorn barely heard her hooves slap on the wet pavement thanks to the downpour masking the sounds and any other sounds that tried to reach her. Starlight began to find herself walking out of the Everfree forest, down a dirt road cutting through the middle of a grassy field and approaching a crooked old tree on the side of the road. On the right side of the road, a wall of stones about as high as her back stood, swashed with each little droplet from the sky. She wished could just stop and stay under the leafy umbrella of the tree, where it looked all dry and comfortable. The pony suddenly paused her walk, staring under the tree intensely at some sort of small shape there. A timid step towards it was taken. It was the body of a foal, curled up into a little ball. The unicorn gasped audibly. From what she could tell, it was a turquoise coated infant pony somewhere just under the age of Applejack's little sister, and somehow a bit smaller. What was he or she doing out here in this type of weather?! Where was the foal's parents?! Such questions and many others raced through her mind frantically, leading a face contorted into pure panic. She had to get it somewhere, maybe...no. She couldn't move out in a storm like this and was probably already freezing to death. She had to check and see if the poor thing was okay at least. Starlight trotted under the tree's canopy until she stopped right before the clearly shivering body of the foal. She hesitated only for a moment or two, then crept over to the side of the infant. It looked like it didn't have any scratches on it, and turned out to be a Pegasus as well..a very cold Pegasus at that. There was no doubt that the cold was getting to it, but she didn't exactly have a blanket she could magically whip up. So, she settled for the next best idea: she flattened herself next to the foal and scooted closer, eventually pushing her warmer against the side of The foal. The pegasus foal flicked it's head up at her instantly, peridot eyes widening in exhausted fear and it's small ears flattening against it's head. Starlight could tell from similarities in the foal's face and other foals that this was a female. "Hey, Hey! It's okay!" Starlight cringed at the fearful look sent her way, but didn't move an inch. She didn't want to scare her off into the rain and kill her by accident, which was an outcome that seemed more and more likely as time passed. "I-I'm not going to hurt you! I'm not!" The foal shuddered against the older pony. She was too afraid to move away, but also too afraid to be calm about the predicament. Starlight nervously looked down on her, and the pegasus looked up at her just as nervously. "I...uh...W-whats your name?" There was no response, unless you counted a curious tilt of the head as a response. "...Do..." Raising an eyebrow, Glimmer relaxed her shoulders. Even if she didn't look too much younger than Applebloom, perhaps she didn't know how to talk yet. "...c-can you understand m-me...?" At first, she didn't get a reaction. But after several silent seconds, the foal nodded timidly. "Okay. Good...Um...I-I'm gonna stay here with you...u-until the storm passes...is that alright with you?" The foal's eyes widened at her statement; she was clearly surprised by Starlight. It was another half minute of silence until...was she smiling? Starlight narrowed her eyes and noticed the cautiously optimistic, grateful little curve in her lips. It was a start for her calming down at least, especially the shy nods. The unicorn glanced up at the downpour and thought of something. "Do you have name you could...I don't know...somehow tell me?" The foal frowned. "I'll take that as a no." The pony sighed, allowing the conversation to trail off into comfortable silence. She didn't look down for quite some time as she was preoccupied about judging when the storm would end and when it would be safe to head back again. The light weight of the little pony suddenly slackened against Starlight's ribs, causing her to look down in surprise. This unnamed infant was...somehow alseep. That was a bit funny; with all this thunder and rain hitting the ground, you'd think that a little thing like her would be afraid. Instead she was quietly snoring in the midst of the storm, not shivering anymore and looking less afraid. Was it because of Starlight? The unicorn wasn't so sure. Still, If she HAD comforted the foal this much, then things were going off to a good start and it would be easier to take her to a hospital after the storm. The unicorn had to carry the little pegasus on her back when the rains died away, because she was still deep in sleep. Perhaps it was a sign that she'd slept so little before being found under that tree, for who knows how long. She didn't weigh very much either, which had Starlight worrying that she hadn't eaten very much either. The walk to the hospital didn't take very long and soon she was explaining what had happened and the foal on her back as well. They scooped the small thing up gently and assured the unicorn that they would do some health tests and examinations to see if she was alright. They told her that it would take a day to complete, and she nodded tiredly to acknowledge that news. Starlight was never aware of her worried stare at the foal during the whole talk, and no one else seemed to notice either. It was several minutes after they'd left that she finally departed from the hospital and made her way back to Twilight's castle. The moment she opened the doors, Spike was standing there with a grin. "Hey! You're back!" "Yep." Starlight agreed, stepping inside politely. From above, Twilight floated down. "Hey! Are you okay? That storm was a real doozy!" The Alicorn exclaimed. "You're soaked, I see. " "I'll get ya a towel!" Spike offered and ran off before anything else could be said. "I'm okay. Just been a crazy afternoon is all." Starlight shrugged, and sat down to avoid tracking water spots all over the lobby. "You see, I was going past this huge tree on a dirt road, and there was this filly all alone under the tree, keeping dry I guess..." Twilight's eyes widened. "Seriously?! What was she doing under there?" "I dunno. She looked a little younger than Applebloom, so it was pretty confusing to not see any parents." Starlight shrugged. "I stayed with her and made sure that she got to a hospital after the storm. She didn't seem alright when I saw her, hence why I took her." "Well, thank goodness you did that! Who's knows what would have happened to her if you hadn't!" Twilight smiled gratefully at her. "Maybe you describe her to me? I know a lot of the fillies around here, so it wouldn't be too hard to at least recognize a filly from Chererilee's school." "Well, she's got this greenish blue...I mean, turquoise coat and light green eyes. " "...ooookay...Hmm...uuuuuh...I don't recall there being any turquoise colored ponies around here." She responded with a shrug and a frown. "Maybe you just forgot?" "Yeah, maybe." "I'm baaaack!" Spike scooted to a halt in front of Starlight and allowed her to take the warm fluffy towel of his claws. He turned excitedly towards Twilight. "Now we can continue making the cookies!" "Oh! Right! " The Alicorn grinned towards her student again and gestured to the kitchen just behind the spiral staircase. "Spike and I were making a few batches of sugar cookies for the night! Did you wanna come?" Starlight thoughtfully smiled. "You know what? That sounds like a buffet waiting to happen." "I'm going to take that as a yes! Come on!"