• Published 5th Dec 2013
  • 32,230 Views, 2,612 Comments

My Overbearing Aunt - Sketchy Changeling



It's tough being an art school student AND having to live with Princess Celestia. This is my story.

  • ...
132
 2,612
 32,230

PreviousChapters Next
Chapter 7: Benefits and Apologies

It was Sunday night. The first day of my grounding had come to an end, and in retrospect… it wasn’t that bad. I mean, sure I couldn’t go anywhere, and I was still pissed about that. Plus there was the fact that I couldn’t be around Luna since she was a “bad influence” on me.

Oh, and there was the fact that I had two guards assigned by Auntie Celeste to follow my every move. They would wait by the door whenever I was in my room or in one of the castle bathrooms, and if I happened to see Luna around, they would direct me away from her, but I digress.

On top of that, I still didn’t know who this “Orion” guy was.

ANYWAY!

The point I’m trying to make is that there were a few benefits that came with being grounded.

Benefit #1: I don’t have Celeste on my back.

I know that sounds weird when you first hear it, but bear with me here. Celeste had two of her most trusted guards tailing me, and with them watching me, she didn’t feel the need to breathe down my neck like she usually did.

Benefit #2: No more hugs and kisses.

Needless to say, there’s been a lot of tension between me and Celeste since last night’s… altercation. Because of that, she didn’t make an effort to see me. Usually, she’d bother me to give her a hug, a kiss, or both, so I could meet my quota of five hugs and three kisses every day. Now that I’m grounded, though, I haven’t heard shit from her.

I assumed that she saw it as a punishment, but if you ask me, it was more like a reward. If I had to suffer through another one of Celeste’s vicegrip hugs, I was gonna kill somepony.

Benefit #3: I have more time to myself.

I’ve never had more time on my hands. All day I’ve been drawing away and working on school projects. I was pretty much caught up by the time noon rolled around.

Man, if Celeste thought that this “grounding” was gonna break me, she had another thing coming.

That night, as I was about to go to bed, I heard something peculiar, as though someone was trying to contact me. What made it even more peculiar was that I could’ve sworn that the sound was coming from inside my head.

“Hello… Marcus?”

I ignored the voice and got into my bed, but then I heard the voice.

“Hellooooooooooooooooooo? Testing, testing, one, two, three. Testing, testing, testing testing testing testing testing testing testing…”

That voice sounded familiar…

“Luna?” I thought.

“Finally, a response!” I hear.

“Why the hell is your voice in my head?”

“I’ve spent all day working on a telepathy spell so that we can stay in contact without having to be face-to-face. Now that I’ve established a psychic connection with you, we can mentally contact each other whenever we want!”

“You ever heard of texting?”

“You know I’m a total neophyte when it comes to modern technology. Well... besides video games. Regardless, isn’t this a lot colder?”

“A lot cooler, you mean.”

“You know, I was expecting a better response. Something along the lines of ‘Wow, Luna! What an ingenious plan!’”

“Sorry to disappoint you. In all honesty, though, this was pretty clever.”

“Thank you. So, how has your grounding been so far?”

“Bearable. I don’t have to deal with Celeste clamoring over me since her guards are keeping tabs on me for her, so that’s a plus. The only thing is that I’ll have to face my friends tomorrow.”

“What do you mean?”

“They were there when Celeste caught me, and I never told them that she was my aunt. They’re really gonna let me have it when I get to school tomorrow.”

“I’m sure that they will understand if you explain yourself,” Luna reassured. “Well, don’t let me keep you from getting a good night’s sleep. Have a good day at school tomorrow, Marcus.”

“Thanks, Luna.” I thought as I went to sleep.


The next day, as I was about to leave the castle to go to school, I saw that the guards stopped at the door as I continued out. I turned around and looked at them in confusion.

“You guys aren’t gonna follow me to school?” I asked.

“Princess Celestia will know when you are to be home,” the first guard said. “She has a copy of your schedule.”

How the fuck did she get a copy of… shit, I forgot. The school sent me TWO copies of my class schedule in the mail, one for me, and one for my parent or legal guardian, i.e. Celeste.

“Also, the princess has agents of her secret service watching you from the shadows, for added insurance,” said the second guard.

Are you fucking kidding me? Okay, maybe this grounding wasn’t as lax as I thought it was.

I had a bigger worry on my mind, though.

What was I gonna say to Rarity and Octavia when I see them later today? My mind flashed back to something that Auntie Celeste said when she caught me.

“So you haven’t told them about me, hmm? Looks like I’m not the only one you’ve lied to.”

Pshh! What did she know? I didn’t lie to Rarity and Octavia. I did tell them that I lived with my aunt, and they never bothered to ask me who she was, so I never told them. Technically, I didn’t lie to them.

But try explaining that to a female. Guy logic doesn’t work on them.

Then I remembered: I did tell them one lie. I said that my aunt said I could go when she actually didn’t, but that’s not so bad, right?

Right?

….Right?

Whatever. Fuck you.

By the time I thought everything through, I had already caught a cab and reached the school. I walked to where I would usually meet Rarity, but she wasn’t there.

This… wasn’t a good sign.

Hang on, now. I can’t panic. Maybe she’s just running late.

I made my way to her and Octavia’s room, and I hesitated before I raised my hand to knock on the door. I swallowed hard and meekly knocked, waiting for a response.

“Who is it?” I heard. It was Rarity’s voice.

“It’s Marcus,” I said nervously.

I heard nothing but dead silence, but I hoped that one of the mares was just getting up to open the door for me. Then again, if that was the case, I definitely would have heard hoofsteps.

I stood there for a good twenty seconds before I started to get the message. Rarity and Octavia were obviously very mad with me, and they didn’t want to see me. Man, I messed up big ti-

“Come in,” Octavia said.

I let out a sigh of relief and opened the door. When I walked inside, I saw Rarity and Octavia sitting on their beds, looking at me with disapproving faces.

Unlike the situation with Auntie Celeste, I actually cared that they were upset with me.

“I guess you two are pretty mad with me, huh?” I asked with a sigh.

“You could say that we are a little perturbed,” said Octavia.

“I guessed so,” I said with regret.

“What I don’t understand is why you would keep this a secret from us,” Rarity told me. “Why didn’t you tell us that Princess Celestia was your aunt? Aren’t we your best friends?”

“You are my best friends,” I defended, “I just didn’t want anypony to know that Celest…ia was my adoptive aunt.”

That was a close one. If they knew her nickname, they’d laugh at me. While that would lighten the mood, it’d be at my pride’s expense.

“If everypony knew that I was a royal, then they’d start kissing up to me and pretend to be my friends just so they could brag about it. I didn’t want fake friends, I wanted real ones.”

“You’re overreacting, Marcus,” Rarity dismissed. “We wouldn’t have treated you differently just because you were the princess’s nephew.”

I glared at the unicorn. “Really?” I asked. “You can really sit there and tell me that if you knew that I was Celestia’s nephew when we met, that you wouldn’t have treated me the least bit differently?”

Rarity instinctively opened her mouth to say yes, but then she hesitated, and she looked away from me with a hung head. “I guess not,” she conceded.

“Look, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry I kept you guys in the dark about this,” I admitted. “I should have told you guys once I knew that you were really my friends, and I promise that I won’t keep secrets from you anymore.”

The two mares looked at each other, then at me, and then back at each other. Octavia was the first to speak.

“Well, you did say sorry…” she said.

“And judging from how mad the princess was when she found you,” Rarity added, “I assume that you’re already in enough trouble…”

“So we’ll accept your apology… on one condition,” the earth mare finished.

“Name it.”

“Answer all the questions that we’re about to ask you, and answer them truthfully.”

I nodded my head and took a seat in a nearby chair. “Okay.”

Rarity asked the first question: “So, how long have you been Princess Celestia’s nephew?”

“Since August,” I answered, “so it’s been two months.”

Octavia asked the next question: “Since you’re part of the royal family, what is your title?”

“I’m a Duke,” I answered. “I was offered the title of prince, but I turned it down. My name would be all over the news in a heartbeat if I accepted.”

Rarity and Octavia continued to ask me questions about my life as a royal, and as promised, I answered them truthfully.

Then came the final question, which Rarity asked.

“How mad was Princess Celestia when you got home?”

I sighed. “‘Mad’ is a gross understatement. I got grounded for a month. Straight to school, straight back, and I’ve got guards watching me 24/7.”

The two mares looked at me somberly. “That was… unfortunate, to say the least.” said Octavia. I could tell that she and Rarity wanted to say that I got what was coming to me, but thankfully, they decided not to.

“So,” Rarity said, “I think we should be getting to class, Marcus. We have only ten minutes before it starts.”

“You’re right,” I agreed, getting out of my seat and heading towards the door with the unicorn following behind me. “See you later, Octavia,” I said to the earth mare.

“Goodbye, you two,” she said as we left the room.

As Rarity and I walked to class, we started to chat idly like we always did.

“I’m glad you and ‘Tavi were able to forgive me, Rarity. Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it, darling. Despite the fact that Octavia and I were a little mad at you, we could never stay mad at you.”

“Any particular reason why?”

The unicorn took a moment to think about it before answering. “Well, when you think about it, keeping a secret from me and Octavia and lying to us about being able to go to the party were the only things you did to use that were… reprehensible, for lack of a better word,” she explained. “Other than that, there isn’t much else we can hold against you. I mean, you’re always there for us, and you’re always willing to spend time with us when you get the chance.”

I chuckled “With that description, one would think that I was your gay friend.”

Rarity stopped dead in her tracks. “Wait… you’re not gay?”

I stopped dead in my tracks. “You thought I was gay!?”

Okay, maybe that sounded a little homophobic, but she just questioned my sexuality! I looked into Rarity’s eyes hoping for some sign that she was joking.

Thankfully, I found a sign not only in her eyes, but on her entire face. She couldn’t hold in her laughter, and she almost fell to the floor in joy-filled tears. “Oh, darling, I’m only joking!” she said in-between fits of laughter. “I’m in the fashion business. I know a gay man or stallion when I see one.”

“Don’t joke about stuff like that, though…”

“Oh, I’m sorry, sweetness,” she said, nudging my left shoulder playfully. She then looked down and saw what I was wearing on my left wrist. “Is that the bracelet I gave you at the festival?”

I looked down at the bracelet and said, “Oh, yeah. I looked really nice, so I decided to wear it. I put it on my left wrist since I’m left-handed. That way, I can always see it when I’m drawing.” I then paused for a second. “Why did you ask?”

“Just curious, is all,” Rarity said nonchalantly as we continued on to our class.


It was two in the afternoon, and my last class of the day was finished. Under the terms of my grounding, that meant that I had to go straight home, lest I get in more trouble. The second I walked through the castle doors, my guards showed up.

“Hey! I missed you guys!” I exclaimed in an attempt to channel my irritation through humor.

The best jokes come from negative emotions.

I decided to just go to my room. Classes were pretty exhausting today (probably because it was Monday), and I was in need of a drawing binge.

The walk to my room was deathly quiet, and the silence started to get to me, so I decided to make conversation with the guards.

“So fellas,” I said. “If I were to get into a… ‘verbal altercation’ with Prince Blueblood, and the argument began to get physical, would you stop me?”

The guards remained quiet.

“Hello? An answer would be nice.”

“We’re thinking about it,” said the first guard. I turned around and saw that the guards had faces of deep thought, like they were seriously debating over whether or not they would allow me to kick the shit out of Blue Balls. They looked up, then they looked at each other, and then they looked back up.

“We’ll have to get back to you on that,” the second guard told me.

Just then, when we rounded the corner, I saw somepony walking in the opposite direction as me.

Auntie Celeste.

Even though she was a good distance away from me, seeing her instantly killed my mood. To make things worse, the hallway we were in was a straight shot with no doors, so there was zero chance of her going in a different direction before our paths crossed.

As I walked, I kept my head to the ground so I didn’t have to look at her, and as we got closer and closer, I moved closer to the wall that was furthest away from her. I looked up for a split second and saw that Celeste had her eyes in front of her, not even paying attention to me.

Good.

Even when we passed each other, we didn’t even give each other the time of day. There was, however, a moment the air became incredibly tense the moment we passed each other by. It lasted for a millisecond, but it was the longest millisecond I had ever experienced. It was like all our respective frustration festered and boiled when they came in close proximity with one another, and the intense feeling left as quickly as it came.

When I reached the end of the hallway, I turned left, looked out of the corner of my eye, and saw Celeste standing and looking at me. She must have noticed me looking back, because she quickly turned back around and continued on her merry way. The expression she had on her face intrigued me, because it wasn’t one of anger, disdain, or even frustration.

It was an expression of sadness.

I thought on this the whole way back to my room, even after I had closed the door and changed into more lounge-type clothes. What was up with Celeste’s face? What reason would she have to be sad unless-

A gear clicked in my head, and an evil smile grew on my face. “Hey, Luna,” I thought. “Luna, you there?”

“You rang?” she answered.

“Curious question: how has Celeste been today?”

“Well, she did seem very preoccupied today. Why do you ask?”

“Because I think I know why. I passed by her in the hall earlier. She played it off like she wasn’t even concerned with me, but I caught her looking back at me when I passed her. She looked like she was sad.”

“Wait… I think I know where you’re going with this. Are you suggesting that Celestia… misses you?”

“I know it sounds conceited, but think about it. I didn’t see her at all yesterday, and aside from just a minute ago, I haven’t seen her at all today, either. I think that my keeping a distance from her is getting to her, but she doesn’t want to admit it since I’m supposed to be on punishment.”

“That does make sense, now that I think about it. Tia was never able to stay mad at me for more than three days.”

“In that case, all I have to do is wait her out, and she’ll cave! If I keep from acknowledging Celeste, it’s gonna get to her, and she’ll break like a twig.”

“You evil, evil boy,” Luna told me. “That has got to be the most despicable, diabolical, and awesome plan ever concocted!”

“I try,” I thought nonchalantly.

“Oh, I just realized, with my knowledge of Tia’s schedule, I can let you know where she is so you can avoid her, and on the off chance that you two bump into each other, you can just pretend that she doesn’t exist. The fun will be doubled!”

Oh yeah, my aunt was in for it now.

Game on, Celeste. Game on.

Author's Note:

Shit's about to get real. How long do you think it'll be before Celestia cracks, assuming that she will? We'll have to find out in time.

Don't expect that to happen in the next chapter, though. I plan on dedicating the next two or three chapters to developing Marcus's relationships with the other mares, so there can be more interaction between them. This way, whoever ends up with Marcus in the end will have sufficient development.

ALSO, if you haven't read my blog post on my potential spin-off to this story which will be written after its conclusion, do so NAO! http://www.fimfiction.net/blog/270577/moa-alternate-perspectives-more-info

Stay tuned for the next chapter.

PreviousChapters Next