//------------------------------// // Getting Out Before The Noise // Story: The Royal Fillies // by blazikenking //------------------------------// It’s Saturday, January 35th, early afternoon. I’ve been waiting and planning for this day since I heard the news back in April. All of my important things have been moved out, leaving only myself, my thaumechanical hands, and one final task. It was the task I wanted to do the least, but I knew I had to do it. I sat in the living room and cast out a brief telepathy call to mom, dad, and Skyla, asking them to join me. Moments later, they were sitting across from me. Mom looked like she was ready to burst at any second, her belly was so swollen. “Everyone, there is a reason I called you here” I started. I wrote this speech a month ago and practiced it alone after school in the auditorium. “I’m not sure if you noticed this or not, but I have been decreasing my presence around the house since April. My bedroom, formerly evenly designed between myself and Skyla, is now entirely her own design. I have been out more often and longer after school as well.” “Now that you mention it. . .” dad trailed off, his mind already at work. I continued. “I devised a plan moments after mom told us she was pregnant again. Mom, dad, I’m sure you remember how my own crying caused me to cry more.” “We do remember that” mom said. “I’m also a very light sleeper. With that in mind, and the fact that new foals can cry at any time, I quickly imagined myself losing sleep. I could imagine the sleep deprivation causing my grades to plummet and absolutely destroying my flight and magic progress. On top of that, I’d probably snap at everypony more often, and not in the Discord way. “Ever since I learned the splitting spell, my thoughts have found their way to darker areas. When I first imagined what I might do when sleep deprived, it was simply snapping at Diamond and scaring her. Now I’m worried that I might strike her as well, and the thoughts of what could happen terrifies me.” “That. . . does sound scary” Skyla said. “And so, in conclusion” -I paused to take a deep breath- “I will be leaving today in order to preserve the peace around this home. I’m sure it hurts, but it is necessary. Before I make my way out of the door, I will play one last piece for us.” I walked over to the piano, sat down at it, and put on my thaumechanical hands. After discovering my human side, I’ve made huge advances with them, thanks to having my own pair of hands. “What will you be playing for us, Inova?” “I haven’t given this piece a name yet, to be honest” I admitted before I put my hands and horn to work and played it. After I finished the piece, my hands were almost out of magic. I don’t know why playing a piece that’s not even three minutes long drains a full charge so quickly, which normally lasts around fifteen minutes. I did not take a bow once I was done. I simply levitated my hands off and walked out without saying ‘goodbye’. I could hear mom starting to cry as well for some reason. All the way to the front door, I kept my posture composed. Only after I had closed the door did I let myself feel the tightness in my chest and allow my eyes to water. I knew this would happen, and I really didn’t want to leave my family, but if I turned back now, ten months of meticulously planned work and effort will have been for nothing. After walking for a bit, I reached my destination and knocked on the door. It was answered by a familiar face. “Hello, Ms. Cutter” I greeted. “Hello, Inova” she greeted in return. “Did it go as planned?” “Yes, but it really hurts” I admitted. “I can tell. Come on in and we’ll have lunch. Diamond got something new from Mr. Slice earlier. She says it’s a new kind of pizza that he hopes you like.” I walked inside. “Really? Have you tried it yet?” “We chose to wait for you. Nicked put a low power heat spell on it to keep it warm. That was after I decided that taking it from the box was not how it should be served when a Princess is coming over and put it on a stone platter. We’ve done it before and it’s actually more enjoyable that way.” “Really? We’ve always just used the box and regular plates at home. It’s less cleanup work, and since we have high class stuff all the time, the lazy way is actually a nice change of pace.” “Seriously? The royal family eats pizza straight from the box?” “Well, when you put it that way, it does sound ridiculous.” Ms. Cutter laughed. “My family has more class than the royal family! Mwahaha!” She got so absorbed in her laughter that she didn’t seem to notice me quietly walking away. I made my way upstairs and to Diamond’s room. The door was closed, so I knocked. After a moment, it opened. “Hi, Inova” she said. “Hey Diamond” I greeted back. “Do you know why your mom’s evil laughing her head off?” “She does that from time to time. Just give her a few minutes.” A few minutes later, Ms. Cutter caught up to us. “So, what are you two going to be doing tonight? Hoof painting? Mane braiding? Colt gossip?” “No mom, we’re not going to be doing any of that” Diamond said. “You know we don’t do that kind of stuff.” “But isn’t that what regular fillies are supposed to do during sleepovers?” Ms. Cutter always did this when I came for sleepovers. It was time for my bit. “Ms. Cutter, I’m not sure if you’ve realized this or not, but I’m not exactly a regular filly.” “And how are you not a regular filly? Hm?” “I’m an alicorn. Most fillies are not alicorns. In fact, I would say a fairly large percentage of fillies are not alicorns.” Ms. Cutter put a forehoof to her chin in thought. “You make a very good point, Inova. Pizza’s ready at any time, so you get to make the supper call for tonight whenever you’re ready.” “Thanks.” I took on a faux-prench accent. “Now then, would you kindly leave Diamond and me alone? We have business to discuss.” “Oh, alright.” Ms. Cutter left us with a huff that I knew to be more playful than anything and closed the door with her green magic. Hers didn’t have the wavy glow most unicorns had, and she said hers still had a bit of a wave to it, but she’d lost most of it from focusing it away when working closely with small gems. An odd story, but the world’s full of them. Once we were alone, I turned to Diamond. “Want to see a spell I learned a few months ago?” “What is it?” Diamond asked me. “And how many times have you botched it?” “A splitting spell focused on me, and I haven’t messed it up at all, surprisingly. I will need your blanket though.” I felt a tiny bit of heat in my face, but my fur kept it hidden. Diamond obliged, taking the blanket off her bed with her mouth and giving it to me. “Can I ask why you need it though?” I felt my facial heat increase. “Umm, personal reasons. Y-you’ll see what I mean.” I took a breath and cast the splitting spell. It was the one spell I was able to say I really learned quickly. Once the spell was cast, human me was quick to wrap the blanket around herself, as usual. All four of me were standing. Earth pony me was the first to speak to Diamond. “So, what do you think?” Diamond was speechless and looking right at human me. “Equestria to Diamond Heart, hello, do you copy?” Earth pony me shook her a bit. Finally, she said something. “What is that?” She was pointing at human me. Unicorn me answered. “As you know, alicorns possess traits of all three pony tribes. The spell we cast gives each trait its own form. It seems that there’s human traits in Inova somehow.” “Shouldn’t that be a secret spell?” Pegasus me answered. “Actually, it isn’t. Information on this spell is open to the public, and aunt Celestia said that we can cast it any time. It’s just that a unicorn will get nothing from casting it.” “Oh. Why does your human part want to stay covered up like that though?” “No idea” human me answered. “I don’t like not having something covering me for some reason. My pony selves are fine with no clothes, but I’m not. The best we’ve come up with is that it’s something about humans in general.” The four of me came back together with a simple agreement over our shared mental network and unicorn me casting the spell. I was whole once again inside the blanket, which I discarded from me and levitated back onto Diamond’s bed. “So, pizza time?” I asked. “Sure” Diamond answered, still in her thoughts about what I’d shown her as we left her room and I called for dinner. “Can you show that spell to mom and dad?” she whispered on the way to dinner. “I guess so. It’ll just take a bit of prep.” I turned my vocal focus to the living room, where Ms. Cutter and Mr. Artery were reading a magazine and the newspaper respectively. “Supper time.” Diamond’s parents set down their reading materials and all four of us sat at the table, two large pizzas on two stone platters. They didn’t look like they had any regular sauce on them, and it looked like there was pasta on it. Mr. Artery used his magic (which looked just like Ms. Cutter’s for some reason. Probably a similar one) to distribute the slices. All of us got one each to start. It also seemed like they were all waiting for me to try the new pasta pizza first. Using my magic, I got the slice on my plate onto my forehooves and took a big bite. The cheese flavor was rather prominent, but the pasta’s texture was also there. It was surprisingly good, and I expressed this sentiment to everyone before my third bite. Everyone agreed that it tasted pretty good. Each of us was full with three slices, leaving half of a pizza. “I guess you two can have the leftovers for breakfast” Ms. Cutter said. “Yay!” Diamond cheered. I was perplexed. “What do you mean by ‘leftovers’ Ms. Cutter?” Three stunned gazes locked on me. “You’ve never had leftovers before?” Ms. Cutter asked me. “Leftovers are the food in a meal that’s not eaten, right?” This was a somewhat odd concept for me. “Yes. Did Cadence not make enough food for your meals?” “What? No, we always had filling meals. Skyla just ate everything that was left untouched, unguarded, or unclaimed.” Ms. Cutter blinked for a few seconds. “Oh, now I get it.” “How could you have not known of her appetite?” “We simply thought that there was always an exact amount cooked to feed and satisfy everypony” Mr. Artery said. “I see. So, how do leftovers work?” Ms. Cutter had Diamond show me what to do with the leftovers. Apparently, there’s no single way to contain every kind of leftover, but for the pasta pizza, Diamond had me float out four plates. She put two slices on one plate, the other two on another plate, then had me turn the remaining two plates over to be used as lids. They were then moved to the fridge. The whole thing was a rather exciting anticlimactic learning experience for me. That’s a description I’ll probably never use again.