My Little Pony: Family Does(n't) Matter

by ProbableSarcasm

Pilot: Family Dynamics

“We both know it is very unlike me to visit the parents of individual foals for their actions, because I believe with enough—and reasonable—discipline should be able to direct a child to the right direction,” Cheerilee began, her eyes never leaving the two parents but never lingered in either mare. “But I felt as this was necessary for this is the third time this week, that I had to calm down a filly’s parents because of a, quote on quote, hostile work environment.”

“Reasonable, as in detentions?” Twilight inquired, her mind processed the information faster than Trixie can chug down her piping hot tea and regret it.

“Being required to make apologies, chalkboard writing, detentions, all those sort of things,” Cheerilee looked up from her mug of steaming hot tea, her face expression showed hope but not a lot of it.

“I even had her spend the entire day with one of her classmates in a team-building exercise, and I’ve never seen a colt sprint with such speed in my life, but Plasma Dioxide ran as fast as Rainbow Dash on a lazy day…”

“Fast?” Trixie snorted in amusement, interrupting Cheerilee. Trixie was sitting next to Twilight, pressed against the lavender unicorn as a stallion would sit next to a mare. Twilight glared at Trixie from the side of her eyes, but Trixie didn’t catch the glare and still went on with her comment.

Trixie lacked her cape and hat, had her mane in a different hairstyle, but her use of third person personification still didn’t lack. “Not very fast, Trixie has seen Rainbow Dash on her ‘lazy days’, she won’t even move to get out of the way of Trixie’s fire crackers.”

Twilight sharply nudged Trixie in the ribs with a well-timed elbow, silencing the blue mare with an audible ‘HMPH!’ Trixie crossed her forelegs stubbornly over her chest, a glare forming in her eyes but she simply stared back into lala-land.

“Sorry, Cheerilee, please continue.” Twilight cleared her throat awkwardly, but offered Cheerilee a reassuring smile.

“Right,” Cheerilee cleared her throat, setting the teacup down and leaning forward. “Now, I would never question your parenting, but I have to know the kind of living situation she’s in in order to get into her mindset.”

Trixie looked cross, and Twilight looked uncertain.

Cheerilee backed up and tried a new approach. “It’s just a series of questions, and you can decide whether-or-not you want to answer them.” Cheerilee gently prodded her hooves together, self-restraint tactic she used.

Trixie turned her head to Twilight and hissed into her ear, Cheerilee sworn she heard an insult and her name under Trixie’s breathless whisper to Twilight.

Twilight thought for a second before shaking her head at Trixie, finally—some leeway for Cheerilee. At least Cheerilee knows now where the qualities of the parents come into the foal. “I know you’re uncomfortable with this, Trixie, but this for Twinkle Star.” Twilight stated, turning her head back to Cheerilee.

“Nebula,” Trixie flatly corrected.

“I beg your pardon?” Cheerilee raised an eyebrow, her head a pool of questions. “Nebula?”

“Twinkle’s coltish middle name, which I personally think is ridiculous.” Twilight sighed in frustration, she turned back to Trixie and gave a glare. Trixie returned the glare with a scowl.

“It is not ridiculous, it is an awesome name to have for any foal to have!” Trixie retorted, Cheerilee was left with mental question: how did these two mares stuck together for years now? “And since when did you care about names based on gender?”

“Since you tried to name her Trixie Lulamoon SR!” Twilight pointed out, “That’s not even how sub-names work!”

Their bickering and fighting continued for at least half an hour, constantly back and forth, never staying on just one topic but not to the point where it’s unforgivable.

“Well, excu-use Trixie, Princess!” Trixie obnoxiously retorted. Twilight raised an eyebrow and looked on her own back, she sarcastically searched for any wings. When she couldn’t find any, she looked back up at Trixie with raised eyebrow.

“I- well- shut up!” Trixie turned her head, defeated arrogance and hurt pride hung over the blue unicorn.

Cheerilee tactfully cleared her throat, having just about all the answers she needed. The two mares snapped back into attention with an embarrassed smile, Twilight had a tinge pink lacing her face while Trixie was trying her best not to storm out of the house in frustration.

“Oh, sorry! I guess we kind of lost focus… heh…” Twilight quickly jumped to gear, while Trixie remained silent but nodded with Twilight’s words. “You had questions, right?”

“Not any more, you two pretty much answered them.” Cheerilee calmly finished her mug of tea while Twilight struggled to find words in her embarrassment. “I do, however, have just one: do you ever fight in front of Twinkle—?”

“Nebula,” Trixie interjected sourly, “And Trixie doesn’t see how it’s any of your business.”

“Sure.” Cheerilee nonchalantly acknowledged Trixie, but kept her focus on Twilight. Twilight kept looking back at Trixie, whom didn’t look back to Twilight until she answered.

“Well, erm, I’d say sometimes… or… once?” Twilight pondered her answer, not actually keeping track of the amount of times they had actually done so. Cheerilee scratched her own cheek, trying her hardest to not slip her face into her hoof. “Occasionally? Rarely? I… erm… huh.”

“Bloody horse-feathers, Twilight, yes we do! All the time!” Trixie groaned, turning back to Twilight. Cheerilee noticed the remorseful look in Trixie’s eyes, which is uncommon for a mare like her—or at least what the other ponies think of Trixie. “Every event that we’ve been in for her, we’re either arguing or being completely over the top with affection.”

Cheerilee mused. She still remembered that time where she literally had to pull apart the two unicorns in an effort to keep things foal-friendly at a play, where Twinkle Star was the lead role and giving her monologue. If Cheerilee has ever seen a more disappointed filly in her life, she’d have to look at the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ photo album.

“Well, before we start anything of this assuming,” Cheerilee began again, waving her hoof in a motion of dismissal. “Let’s remember that Twinkle Star still has some good qualities, although selfish qualities, but still very good academically and otherwise.”

“She is smart,” Twilight softly smiled, “High passion for books—”

“She loves showing off her magical abilities, just like Mama Trixie!” Trixie’s eyes brightened when she concluded her thoughts, “She has a lot of self-esteem!”

“Pride.” Twilight corrected, but it went unheard.

“Our foal loves to read, build forts from materials just sitting there, practicing magic for all to see!” Trixie wasn’t praising or discrediting Twinkle Star, but spoke of the truth. “But to top it all off: our foal is a jerk who goes out of her way just to insult any-pony that dares to speak to her, can’t even remain a friendship with a bloody rock, and doesn’t take any pony’s conscious into consideration!”

Both Cheerilee and Twilight remained quiet, Cheerilee noticed a definite shadow on Twilight’s snout as Twilight hid her eyes with the bangs of her mane. Twilight looked up again, just in time for Cheerilee to see Twilight’s disappointment—or sadness—flush into the deep pools of violet.

“Ouch,” Twilight finally broke the second-that-actually-felt-like-a-minute long silence. Twilight shuffled, uncomfortable in the situation right now; Twinkle Star was their foal, Twilight’s and Trixie’s foal, and she was exactly like them at their worst. While it might be just unfortunate hereditary, there’s also the chance the impregnation spell had a complication—or a side effect that Twinkle keeps wrapped up.

“I agree, although rather hard, it’s true.” Cheerilee rubbed the back of her head uncertainly, feeling the awkward tension and the appropriate time to leave slowly arriving. “Twinkle is mean-spirit, and I think it’s rooted deeply into her head.”

“What do we do?” Twilight asked Cheerilee, even though her gaze was locked with Trixie’s in a seemingly telepathic communication. Cheerilee thought for a moment, discipline was completely laughed at, any opportunity to speak with Twinkle Star ends up with Cheerilee so frustrated she could slam her head into her desk repeatedly, and team building exercise are a complete joke.

“Honestly, I don’t know.” Cheerilee admitted, rubbing her snout in an attempt to keep herself busy while she thought. “I don’t like leaving it up to time, but only time will tell if she even makes a one sided friendship.”

---

“Eleven years old, and if you listened to what we have told you, you would have been on the road to be a better mare,” Pearl belittled, keeping her snout raised in retaliation to the work the three fillies were assigned. “I guess you don’t listen, as always Twinkly, you have to be daft.”

“We’re the exact same age, Pearl, did you forget that?” Twinkle Star continued reading her book, paragraph by paragraph, only raising her purple eyes occasionally to return a glare. “I mean, you never do any learning: I bet you don’t even know what three times five is.”

“Twenty-one?”

“You’re stupid.”

“You’re still a blank flank, Blanked Star!” Of course Twinkle Star had to be in the same detention time slot as her two bloodcurdling nemeses, one of which who happened to be of decedent of Filthy Rich and the other the daughter of some other politician.

“You’re both still worried about Cutie Marks instead of the fact we’re both in detention? No wonder why you’re so stupid.” Twinkle Star retorted quietly, raising an eyebrow at the two fillies on the opposite side of her desk. Gold Dust and Pearl—how fitting that they’re names goes along with how rich they are.

Like some poor sod would be given a name like Platinum Trousers and be bankrupted.

Gold Dust had her golden brown-speckled hair in a bun, she had a dark amber fur color which kind of looked like gold if you looked hard enough and didn’t know what gold remotely looked like. Her cutie mark was a pouch spilling gold dust, which is awfully fitting for her name. Her eyes were behind sunglasses, which was fitted with diamonds and ambers.

Pearl, well, Pearl doesn’t matter as much to Twinkle Star to be given a full introduction. Twinkle star doesn’t even know if Pear is her real name honestly, but it seems like Pearl didn’t care. Pearl was a glossy aluminum colored unicorn, her mane was in a pony-tail. Her cutie mark was exactly what Twinkle Star named her, a single pearl on a either a clam tongue or a velvet scarf.

“Nu-uh!” Pearl retorted, if Twinkle Star could even call that a retort.

“How’s about I make a deal? You both stop talking to me, you both get a hobby, you both do something great—and when I mean great, I mean completely handed to you—and you leave me alone so I can be better than you at everything,” Twinkle Star didn’t even put her book down as she said this, she hasn’t even once moved her eyes over to them. “Does that sound like a fair trade, I hope so, because I want nothing to do with you lot.”

“That’s why no-pony likes you, you’re so boring,” Gold Dust rolled her eyes, obnoxiously loud and her ‘accent’ only wanted to make Twinkle Star bash her head into solid gold had enough to make a monument to the stupidity that was Gold Dust. “Like, every-pony needs like a PHB in physics to understand what you’re trying to say.”

“I’m still, like, trying to figure out what ‘daft blockhead’ even means,” Pearl agreed with Gold Dust, as usual.

“It’s PHD,” Twinkle Star corrected.

“Same thing, like, really.” Pearl defended, but Twinkle Star rolled her eyes.

“Egh, who put you on the planet?” Twinkle Star murmured before flipping to the next chapter.

Comments

[Sparrow9612]

Well at least Twinkle doesn't seem to have Twilight's tendency to go bat-shit crazy. Yet.

[the other sans]

can’t even remain a friendship with a bloody rock
that they’re names goes along with
Twinkle star doesn’t even know
bash her head into solid gold had enough to make

1. I believe you meant Maintain.
2. Their.
3. Forgot to capitalise.
4. Hard.

At first glance, one does have to wonder how they stayed together like they have. Though guess this also answered my question on who was the mother of the relationship here.

[ProbableSarcasm]

6412453
Ah, thanks for that! Being proper is always a bugger to write, because I talk how I write. But thank you for pointing out my mistakes