//------------------------------//
// Ch. 24 Dinner time. 
// Story: School! Flying! Falling! Goofing! 
// by Lazydrill 
//------------------------------//

"Guess who's home~?" 

You heard your Dad call in a sing-a-long tone as you brought the last piece of silverware to the table. Summer was hopping onto her chair where she always sat but looked up as she heard your dad.

"Santa Hooves?" Your mother said sarcastically as she brought a steaming pan of vegetables to the table and sat it down on a coaster while she hummed a little tune.

You heard your father chuckle has he walked into the room, "If I would be Santa Hooves, all the foals would be mad at me, because I'ld keep all the presents to myself!"

"Don't be a mean Santa, Daddy!" Summer whined as she got off of her chair and trotted to your father, giving him a small pat on his right hoof with her own. Your father chuckled and grabbed Summer with his right hoof, bringing her up to his muzzle. Summer began to giggle uncontrollably as your father started to blew a raspberry on her tummy, "Hahahaha! Daddy! Stop!"

Your father briefly stopped, "You don't call your father a mean Santa, young filly!" 

Your dad resumed his raspberries, your little sister wailing her hooves in all directions with her wings fluttering like a humming bee. Summer squealed in delight and joy with tears in her eyes, unable to stop your dad's barrage. "S-stop! You're a friendly Santa!" your sister managed to squeak out through her laughing.

Your father stopped his assault and looked with a grin towards Summer as she breathed heavily, "That's my little filly. Don't worry, you know I would share the presents with you and your sister." Your father looked away from Summer, his eyes looking throughout the rooms if he was looking for something, "Say, speaking of your sister, where's Gloom?" 

Your mother came standing next to your dad, taking the still heavy breathing filly out his arms, "She's upstairs, dear." Your mother gently sat Summer down on her own hooves who shook her coat and ruffled her wings. "Gloom is not feeling well. Her tummy hurt when Rainbow Dash brought her home together with Static. She's now sleeping, so don't worry. I think her tummy hurt because of the nervousness from the first day at her new school."

You watched as your dad's expression changed, it was just a tiny bit, but you noticed it. His ears went a little sideways, his smile remained, although it was not as joyful as before. "Oh. It will be the nerves of the first day... She'll be okay, she is a strong filly."

"Don't you worry sweetie, tomorrow Gloom will be okay again." Your mom got close to your dad and she gave him a passionate kiss on the lips which he returned. Your mother parted from your dad and brought a hoof to your dad's cheek and held it while she looked into his eyes, "You worry too much. Our foals are as healthy as they can be." 

Your father nodded and grasped your mom's hoof, "I know... I know." He sighed briefly, "Is it alright if I check on her after dinner? She was sleeping now, wasn't she?"

"Yes she is. Our little colt has already checked on her a few minutes ago."

Your father looked to you and gave an approving nod. "You brought her home together with Rainbow Dash, Static?" Your dad asked you as he walked to you with a smile. Not wanting to give your dad anything to go on, you simply gave a nod, hoping he'll not prod for answers. "Nothing to add? Smart move. I wish I had done that with my parents." Your dad chuckled as he walked past you and gave a brief and firm pat on your left shoulder with his hoof.

Your dad walked past you and grabbed his flight goggles that were dangling on his neck. Raising them up and over his head, he gently put his goggles on a cabinet beneath his medals that were hanging from the wall. The goggles rested next to multiple picture frames, all filled with a photo your dad wanted to preserve. Some were from you, your sisters and your mother. Some were also filled with older photos, photos that had your dad in them with other ponies. One picture of those, stood directly under his medals, it was a photo of his old flight team. Your dad had often told you about the shenanigans he and his friends would pull on other ponies, some the shenanigans he noted as being 'legendary'.

"So... how was your first day of school, Summer? Made any new friends?" Your dad asked your sister as he went to sit on his chair. 

Summer pounced on her chair. She right away stood with her hind legs on the chair while putting her hooves on the table. Her tale swished as she began to tell your dad how her day went, "It was great, Dad! Me and Gloom have a very friendly class!" 

Your mother nudged your shoulder softly, making you look at her, "Take your seat, Static. Dinner is ready." You nodded back in response and went to take your seat next to your dad while your mother took her seat next to Summer, leaving one empty seat between you and Summer. Your ears lowered a bit as you pushed the empty chair gently to the side, allowing you to make it easier onto your assigned chair.

You wagged your tail to the side of the chair and sat down on it. "Gloom and I spent time in Ponyville after school! Ponyville is a really nice town with many friendly ponies!" Summer told your dad in excitement. "They even have a house that sells all kinds of cake and candies! It is called 'Sugarcube Corner'!"

"Sugarcube Corner?" Your dad asked with a raised eyebrow. He turned to your mother at the other end of the table, "Honey, didn't you buy there those cinnamon cupcakes once, those that burned my tongue?"

Your mother chewed her piece of salad and swallowed it before answering, twisting her fork around in her hoof while she hummed, "Uuhhmmm... Yes. I believe it was on the same day I went there to get some quills at that odd shop called 'Quills and Sofas'. Celestia knows why that store is like that... anyhoof. I believe it indeed was the place." Your mother chuckled with a hoof in front of her muzzle, "Your tongue burned for hours! The mare at the counter told me it was spicy, and you always said that you could handle some spice."

Your dad pointed an accusing hoof to your mother with a chuckle, "Hey, I CAN stand quite some spiciness! But what was in that cake came out of the pits of Tartarus!"

You couldn't help yourself but at least try to mock your father a bit, "You just couldn't handle the heat, Dad. But that's okay, we have Mom for the though things." You grinned and used your fork to put some salad in your mouth and started to chew it.

"I survived the heat!" your dad chuckled. "But indeed, it was too much, even for me." Your dad started on his own plate of food while occasionally letting out a small chuckle.

"Oh, uhm... dear?" Your dad looked up from his eating to his wife. "We... uhm... Need to talk with Static about the 'heat' after dinner..." your mother smiled uncomfortable.

"Why would we need to talk about cinnamon spice? It is just hot, nothing special." Your father shrugged and dipped his fork into his food. However, he didn't raise it up again as he narrowed his eyes and you could almost hear the grinding of gears in his head. "Wait... you mean 'the heat' heat...?"

Your mother nodded with her eyes closed, "Uh-mmhh. That heat."

Your dad left his fork in his food and raised his hooves to his face and dragged them down slowly, "About time... We should've explained him that four years ago."

You choked a bit on your food. Did you hear him correct? "Wait, what?! You were gonna tell me four years ago?!" you asked quickly as you dropped your fork onto the plate.

Your father shrugged, "Yup. At least, I wanted to. But your mother had different plans."

"Mommy, what is 'the heat'?" Summer asked, being completely left out in the dark about the subject.

Your mother collected herself quickly, "The 'heat' is something fillies go through when they get older, Summer. Don't worry, we'll explain you when you're older." Summer nodded with remaining curiosity on her muzzle, but seemingly satisfied enough with the answer as she began eating again. 

You noticed your mother sighing in relief before turning her muzzle to you and your dad, "Can we first have dinner without the subject?" You and your father nodded in sync. "Good. Now, Static," she turned her attention fully to you as she began to eat again. "What happened at school today that earned you a visit to the school infirmary?"

"You've been in the infirmary?" Your dad asked, worry and surprise noticeable in his voice. Summer turned also to you in curiosity, eager to hear what you had to say.

You shuffled uncomfortably on your chair, "I... I was. I had a flight accident at school." Now you peaked your father's interest as he gave you his full attention with his hooves clapped together on the table, his chin leaning on his hooves. Your mother continued eating, but her attention was also on you. "It is kind of an... odd story."

"Don't be afraid to share it, brother." Summer said encouragingly. "We all know Dad as some strange tales from when he was young." Your father fake-coughed in his hooves, trying to turn the attention away from him.

You sighed and recalled what happened today; "Well, it all started very normal. Me and my friends were making our way to class after break. We had gymnastics and were supposed to meet-up with coach Iron Wing in the courtyard. Making our way through the hall that led to it, we joked around a bit. One of my friends, however, thought it was a good idea to sit on my back and ride me like a chariot."

"Well I don't see how that is bad." Your father commented. "There are worse things that could happen, and I know about that."

You ignored his commented and continued where you left off with an eye roll, "Anyway, my friend got on my nerves just a tiny bit, so I tried few things to get her off of me, without success..." You could hear the distinct muffled and badly hidden chuckles of your dad and mom which made you groan. "...ugh, so without much choice left, I took off with her on my back while we were still inside the school and..."

Your mom interrupted you abruptly, "You know you're not allowed to fly inside the school!"

Your eyebrow twitched as you were interrupted again. Slowly dragging your hooves down your muzzle, you sighed. "No, Mom. It is allowed!" You clapped your hooves together and lowered your ears in slight shame as you remembered what happened inside the school, "...At least... hehe... as long as you don't annoy your fellow students with it... hehe."

Your mom narrowed her eyes, "...And? Did you annoy them?"

You chuckled weakly, "hehe, well... while I was flying towards the exit of the school, I flew by... or rather... flew through a couple that was about to kiss while they stood in the doorway..." You saw in the corner of your eye your mother looking at you with big eyes and her ears down in disbelieve. On the other side, hidden by his hooves, you swore you saw your dad having trouble to keep his laughter in.

"Eeewww! They were about to kiss? Good you flew through them." Summer said as she stuck out her tongue like she tasted something foul.

"Summer!" Your mom called your sister in a disapproving tone. "Love is something beautiful!"

"Yuck..."

"Hehehe. Alright, please continue, Static." Your father said with a raised hoof.

You looked to your mother who resigned and shook her head. Summer simply smiled and looked at you, waiting for you to continue. "Well... after I, by pure accident, interrupted the moment between the two, I flew out into the courtyard with high speed. However, Lucky still didn't want to let go, she actually enjoyed till that point..." You sighed briefly to yourself as you thought back to that particular point where everything went wrong, "...I was irritated that she didn't release me and even enjoyed it. I flew up into the air as fast as I could, in the hopes to get her off of me or release me."

Your father lowered his hooves while wearing a thoughtful expression and he briefly glanced to your mother who looked thoughtful as well. "I went up all the way to cloud layer twelve bu..." 

You stopped in your sentence as your mother stood up forcibly, slamming her hooves a bit on the table, "YOU DID WHAT!?" You lowered yourself in your chair as your mother looked furiously at you. "I TOLD YOU MANY TIMES NOT TO GO UP THERE!"

"Uhm... Mommy? What is cloud l-layer twelve?" Summer asked timidly with her ears a bit down at you mother's sudden outburst.

Your dad sighed calmly and glanced to you sister, his hooves laying flat on the table, "Cloud later twelve, Summy, is the highest and last cloud layer there is. I will not explain you the details, but going over it is very bad. Pegasi get very ill if they go over it for longer than ten minutes." Summer nodded gently and curled her tail around her flank.

You turned to your mother who sight in disappointment and sat slowly down again, "You know I don't like it that you go there... By Celestia..."

Your ears dipped to the side of your head and you looked down in shame, "I know, Mom. I was not thinking about it at the moment... it was only for a few seconds... I'm sorry."

Your mom looked to you with her own ears down, but with a small smile, "At least you're okay from that. It could've been worse. Just promise me to not do it again." You nodded to her with your left hoof over your hearth. Your mother nodded back in approval, "Good enough. Please continue."

"Okay, well, after I flew up there..." You thought back at the sight you beheld above the clouds, smiling inwardly at the beauty of it, "...It was a gorgeous view... the clouds drifting below you like a river of softness, the nice air flow of warm and cold was perfect. The sky up was crystal clear with the sun shining down onto the world." Your father coughed to get you back on track. "...Oh, right. Well, after I reached above the clouds, I closed my wings and let gravity pull me down back towards Cloudsdale, in the hopes that Lucky would let go off me and fly on her own."

You briefly glanced to your dad, who wore a big frown with a disapproving expression. You didn't look to your left, fully expecting your mother to  be giving you a death glare. Gulping, you decided to get to the worst part, "After I let gravity pull me down, Lucky finally released me. Only... she didn't release me by herself... she was unconscious."

"By Celestia..." You looked to your mother who had her right hoof in front of her muzzle and looked shocked as you mentioned Lucky's condition at the time. Your father seemed in thought as he had his eyes closed and breathed heavily through his nose.

"I noticed that she was unconscious and didn't waste time to try and grab her..." You left out the details of how Lucky changed into your sister when she fell, not wanting to make the story more complicated than it had to be. "...I succeeded in doing so, but I went too fast and couldn't slow down enough to make a good landing. I managed to curl myself around Lucky before hitting the clouds, in the hope of protecting her from the impact. After that, I woke up in the infirmary with these out-of-colour spots on my fur. These burn marks are nothing too bad, I got a cream for it from the doctor. The doctor informed me that Lucky was, thank Celestia and Luna, unharmed besides a minor state of shock." You sighed and awaited the judgement of your parents. Your ears flicking down in fear of what they might say.

Your dad was the first to speak up, "Static... That was incredibly dangerous and irresponsible of you." His voice was not angry, it was something worse, it was the voice of disappointment. "You did all that, with ending up in the infirmary yourself, with the possibility of having severely injured a close friend, just because you couldn't handle her on your back for a few minutes. Not to mention that you also went up to cloud layer twelve while you know very well your mother and I had forbidden you of ever going there."

You sank back into your seat with your head looking down in shame, your fathers words stinging you. "But..." Surprisingly, the voice of your mother broke the silence, "...While I agree with your father that what you did was very irresponsible, you did try, and managed, to save the very friend you got in that dangerous position while risking your own safety. Don't think that I praise you for doing what you did, you still did wrong. But you did good for thinking about her safety before your own and not hesitating to try grab when you saw her being unconscious." You looked briefly to your mother, her face nor angry nor happy, just an expression of disappointment and slight relief.

You suddenly felt a small pain in your left front leg, looking to your left you saw Summer looking at you disapprovingly while she retracted her left hoof, "That was stupid, Static. What if that was me or Gloom?" That question hurt you more than a hoof to the stomach.

"Summer... I would never..." You sighed and looked away from Summer, your ears glued to the side of your head.

You felt a pair of hooves wrapping themselves around your torso in a strong hug, "Don't ever do something so stupid again. I don't want you to get hurt big brother." You glanced to your left and down to Summer, her front legs firmly flung around you. She looked up at you with a small pout and big eyes.

You extended your left wing and softly curled it around Summer, "I'm sorry Summy. I promise I won't do it again." Your sister nuzzled into your coat and you nuzzled her mane in return. Meanwhile your parents had already started with cleaning the table while leaving you and your sister together.

As your mother brought the last piece of silverware away, your dad tapped your shoulder. You looked up at him and he motioned with his head to come with him to the living room, "I hope you learned from it. But now, we have to talk about maturing. And don't think you're getting away without consequences from what you did."

"Summer, Mommy and Daddy need to have a little private chat with your big brother. Can you go upstairs and stay with Gloom for the time being?" your mom asked as she began to make tea.

"Okay Mommy." Summer replied. She gave you a last nuzzle before releasing you and hopped down to the ground. Summer walked out of the kitchen and disappeared from sight, leaving you alone with your parents.

"Come Static. We have quite some things to talk about." Your mom said while she carried a plate with three cups of tea towards the table that was in the middle of the living room. Getting out of your chair, you followed her. The living room was nothing fancy, it had your everyday furniture in it, a simple rectangle brown, wooden table with four support legs in below each corner of the table. there stood two white couches made of clouds facing each other, separated by the table in between them. There also stood one big chair that was facing away from the kitchen and words the window at the front of the house.

Walking past the big chair, you took a seat on the right side couch with your parents taking their seats on the opposite. Your mother gently lowered the plate with the cups of tea onto the table with her mouth and took a seat next to your dad who was already sitting.

Taking your own seat on the couch, you ruffled your wings uncomfortably while waiting for your parents to get started.

"Well..." your mother said as she glanced t your dad who looked back with a small smile. "...Where do we start?"

Your dad chuckled lightly and sighed, "Lets start when colts start to mature. I'll begin with it, and when we get to the mare side of maturing, you continue. Sounds good?" Your mother hummed in approval and turned back to you. "It was about time we had this talk, but it is still difficult to start it. Are you sure you want to know?" Your dad asked teasingly.

You rolled your eyes and sighed, "Yes. Yes I want to know."

"Hehehe, alright then."