Family Matters

by Fateful Pony

Rough Childhood, Strong Beginning

Around Equestria in a Lifetime - Family Matters

Friday, January 1st, 2007
Los Pegasus - High Rise Condos
7:30 PM

Los Pegasus, the multicolored metropolis of the Western Equestria, was home to a three bedroom, two bathroom apartment rented in High Rise Condos for five ponies: Two stallions, two mares, and a single colt. The apartment number was ‘A105’, meaning they were on the first floor.

The apartment itself wasn't very flashy, but serviceable. Aged white carpet with signs of maintenance upon the floor, tan walls with relatively cheap paintings of abstract ponies, and furniture that seemed to date centuries back. The kitchen donned pearl white tiles that are regularly mopped. Stainless steel appliances and hardwood cabinets, while old, have been maintained accordingly.

In a dimly hallway rested three bedroom doors. To the right was Derpibra’s room, decorated with various DJ-Pon3 and Sapphire Shores posters, a race car bed, with a single window to allow him a marvelous view of Los Pegasus.

Derpibra, an eight year old colt, was sitting at a small hardwood table next to his Xbox 720, scribbling in his coloring book. He appeared to be sketching himself on a blank white sheet of paper. He thought of his story as he went along, slowly muttering to himself.

“Hi, I’m Derpibra, an eight year old, gray colt that looks sorta like a zebra with crossed eyes.” He seemingly began scribbling with much more haste as his brain raced on. “I live with my brother, sister, and both of my parents! They are really cool!” He skipped a line to continue writing on another subject of himself. “I love cars, video games, pretty much what other colts are into… except for one thing! Sapphire Shores! She’s so awesome! She goes all over Equestria showing off her dresses and stuff! I wanna be a traveller just like her!”

“What do you mean you can’t pay for his surgery!?”

“Huh?” He laid his pencil down with his wings that were somewhat greater in size than the average colt. Oh no… that isn’t Mommy yelling again is it…? He thought with a marginal amount of aversion.

The entrance to the cave that was his room, was only slightly ajar, and so he exposed the other side of the door with gentle pulls, to reveal his mother, Magistra, throwing a fit at his father, Sir Memphis.

Magistra, a middle aged pegasus mare, had a gorgeous light pink coat, and a pale sky blue mane that was nothing less than luxurious. Her eyes looked like that of amethysts, and her cutie mark being a lustrous turquoise dress, signaling she was adept at fashion designing. However, her true complexion was varied, a mix of frowns and sorrowful expressions from frustration.

“Listen honey,” The light magenta, white maned pegasus, Sir Memphis began. “Money is really tight. We may end up having to move out of this nice place just to save enough for it.” His midnight blue eyes suggested sincerity. “That, or we need better jobs, but we don't qualify for much of anything higher than what we have now.”

“Maybe we have to cut back then!” She retorted sharply. “I want the best for our colt! We got the surgery for Touchdown since he had crossed eyes too!”

Derpibra almost gasped. My brother had...surgery for his eyes? The thought of having scalpels and needles- possibly worse, anywhere close to him assaulted his mind like wildfire. I have crossed eyes too! What if…

“What are you two having a fight over now?”
Called a voice deeper than Derpibra's.

That’s my brother, Touchdown…

“We need to get surgery for your younger brother, for his eyes.” Sir Memphis elucidated.
“But me nor your mother can afford it. After we had Derpibra, funds have gotten even tighter.” He rubbed his shoulder.

“Yeah, no kidding.” Magistra remarked. “Why are we even broke together? It makes no sense!”

“Shut up!!” A bitsy voice screeched from down the hall, causing every pony to do as instructed.

Derpibra stood within the door frame, the bedroom light casting a soft shadow to his facade. He held securely within his tiny striped hooves a large Celestia plushie as a tear hastily trickled down his doughy left cheek. “Please…stop fighting…” He sniffled as more salty water escaped his vision.

The entirety of the room fell silent for a brief minute.

“D-Derpi…” His name escape Memphis’ breath. “How long…?”

“The last couple minutes Daddy…” He clenched Celestia harder.

“I’m sorry you had to see that… come here.” He caressed his son with the warmest affection. “You shouldn't have to deal with this… listen, Magistra?”

“What?” She curled a brow.

“We always seem to fight…we put our kids in uncomfortable situations…” He took a deep breath, uncertain of what he were to ask her. “....Do we work well together?”

She shook her head. “Don't seem like it. We’ve been battling for years. And guess what? It still happens!”

“Mamma…” He could scarcely look at her. “W-what do you mean?”

She gritted her teeth, readying herself to rant. “It’s always been a struggle for bits. And we always fight about it! Whatever happened to the days when we could go out without a care!?”

Memphis foraged for a way to share his way of thinking without clipping the wrong wire. “Times have changed…considerably. Accepting this change is part of being a parent-”

“And I suppose I’m not a good parent!?” She bursted suddenly.

His eyes shot open from fear. Damn it, I should've known I woulda struck a nerve with that one. “No! Not at all…! I-I mean, you are a good parent! It’s just…!” He struggled for an answer.

Derpibra curled into his father’s breast, terrified from Magistra’s sudden outburst.

“Touchdown, take your brother to his room. He has seen enough.” He relinquished Derpibra into Touchdown’s hooves.

“On it. C’mon bro.” Derpibra offered no resistance as he was transported to his room, for he was too upset to lift a hoof.

8:00 PM
Derpibra's Bedroom

Attempting to return his mind from the well-nigh harrowing experiences, he decided he should play Legends of Equestria on his relatively low grade laptop. Before he could make any substantial progress however, his father invited himself into Derpibra’s room with a somewhat depressed expression. “Son, I…”

Pausing the game, he sat reversed in hus hardwood chair. “Hey Daddy.”

“Hey.” Memphis somehow feigned a smile, but it quickly faded. “I’m sorry to tell you this… but… me and your mother agreed that we should split, since life seems harder for both of us to be together. I wanted to ask you one question before I pack up to go in a few days.”

Derpibra already adopted a discerning look of sorrow and confusion. All he could manage in response was grunt.

He took quite the breath before releasing it. “...Who do you want to live with?”

His mother cantered in steadily. “Take as much time as you need. I’m with you every step of the way Derpi.” She sounded reassuringly.

“...No.”

“Hm?” They both questioned.

“I shouldn't have to choose between my parents…!” Tears composed their existence once again.

Both parents haltingly exchanged looks with one another, experiencing each other's auras of guilt. But the final decision was made. And now… it was Derpibra’s turn.

Memphis developed a wrenching feeling in his chest; the guilt taking it’s toll on him. “Please son… I know it's hard to choose, but we only want what’s best for you. That’s why we are giving you the choice. There’s no wrong answer.”

“Ok...fine. If you really want me to.” Barely convinced, he made his absolute, final choice.

Sunday, October 25th, 2015
Los Pegasus - Diamond Flats, Apartment B210
12:30PM

“Alright Dad, I’m ready to head out to Ponyville!” Derpibra shouted across the apartment that looked remarkably similar to the last, other than the contemporary furniture.

“You grew up so fast.” Memphis sounded. He had numerous more wrinkles that he once did in the past. “You're finally eighteen.”

“Heh, yeah.” He gave a confident grin.

“Listen son, before you go,” He said as he made his way to the dark wood door. “Me and your mom, we are both sorry for what happened.”

“It’s okay. Not everypony is perfect.” He bumped into a nearby wall.

Memphis cringed from the impact. “Are you sure you don't want the surgery?”

“Positive.” He replied with a smile full of glee...and some pain from the wall.

“Ok, just making sure.” He slowly undid the locks before something struck him. “Ah, I almost forgot.” He lifted a painting, revealing a square hole built into the wall. “I’m gonna have to pay for the wall, but here. Ten thousand bits.”

Derpibra’s eyes widened. “But… but how?”

A small smirk grew on bus face. “I’ve been cutting away some of my paychecks to make this pile. I figured you would use it for college, but you have a different dream it seems.”

He nodded. “I want to adventure around Equestria in a Lifetime. Just like Sapphire Shores.”

Memphis patted his son’s shoulder. “Don’t be reckless. That’s the fastest way to lose your money. Hey, one more thing.”

He nodded. “Mm hm?”

“I want you to be a better father than I was. I want the mother of your kid to be able to provide as much as you can.” He sighed. “We weren't able to do much, but hopefully you can do better.” He gave him a bear hug, patting his back afterwards.

“I will dad. I promise.”

He smiled. “That a boy. Have fun.”

Derpibra departed to initiate an adventure that would soon change his life.

Next stop, Ponyville.
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Comments

[LightningSword]

You've made a good number of improvements from the last story. You've presented a difficult life and a difficult choice for your main character--even though he lives fairly well off, there's still conflict here, financially and domestically. Very nice.

You still have a few grammar and punctuation problems, but spelling has improved as well. My only other complaint here is that this chapter feels rushed. I feel like it should take its time, build up the world its establishing, and build up the lives of Derpibra and his family. We see the parents, but we only see the brother fleetingly, and we don't see the sister at all (I believe he mentioned having two siblings?). Setting up the conflict is good, but the events leading up to it are very interesting, and deserve fleshing out.

Overall, a significant improvement from your last story. I'm proud to be the first to comment on it.

[Fateful Pony]

6821251 A breath of fresh air for me! I'm glad to see that I managed to improve a lot! For a second I thought it was hopeless! I'm glad to see I'm capable of contributing to my most favorite site on the interwebs with a certain degree of success. I suppose the chapter could have been longer, but I tried to focus on a single idea, just to avoid going anywhere irrelevant. Thanks for the review! Now I feel more confident for my next story!

[TheOneAJ]

Huh... Can't say I hated it, but yeah, it felt rushed ad you tense threw me off... By chance you'd be up to a writting challenge? Something simple and straightforward to try writting.

[Fateful Pony]

6829973 A writing challenge eh? I was writing my (Hopefully better and not so rushed) sequel. But, I'll see what I can do. What's the challenge?

[TheOneAJ]

6830097 well, the idea is first, you tell me who your charcter is, if you can't chose, let's say spike and rarity. Now, I give you a commonly done story, but that's the idea, you can take lots of inspiration from others works.
Now, asumeing you want to go with, I'll say:
Write me a story, about Spike being turned down by Rairty. Maybe Rairty has seconds thought after she shoots him down, maybe he find comfort with twilight, or maybe it's about him bonding with somepony else (my fav backup choice for spike is sweetie belle)
HoWEVER, the story, for you, must be at least... 4000 words.
Sometimes it's 5000-8000, but I think 4000 is a good aim for you. It can (and I'd be happy to see) more than this, but the story must 4001 words

[Fateful Pony]

6830316 If that's the case, then you'll be pleased with my sequel (I hope) because that's the exact plotline it will follow, and it's gonna be... a spectacle. Like I said in my blog post, the sequel will be submitted by tonight or tomorrow evening.

[TheOneAJ]

6831135 huh, alright, though, I'd still recomed you try my challenge, on some other charter first for some practice... Now tell me, who is your fav charcter, and what is your favorite story type

[Fateful Pony]

6831286 It's tough because I love all of the characters from the show and I like pretty much all types of stories. Hm... let me think...