Heir to a Silenced Blood

by Rock Slide

Childhood

Sunset sat beside Adagio’s hospital bed, her hand holding onto one of her wife's. Adagio's other arm was cradling their newborn daughter. Wrapped up in the bundle of blankets was their little one; she had peach colored skin, and her head was covered with cream colored hair with golden yellow highlights. Her eyes shining like the most beautiful of amethysts.

When she felt a squeeze of her hand, it made Adagio look away from their baby girl to the other love of her life. “What is it, Sunset?”

“I was just wondering, have you thought of a name yet?” Sunset asked with a bright smile on her face.

She had already thought about it, but she wasn’t sure how Sunset would react. Only after a few minutes did Adagio finally answer, “Yes, her name is Splendid Scale.”

~6 months later~

Adagio sat on the floor of her daughter’s room. The green carpet around her made her feel like she was sitting in a field of grass, but that was the point. The carpet fed seamlessly into the murals on the walls, almost making her feel as if she was actually back in Equestria. It felt calming, soothing.

As she sat there, she watched her daughter shuffle around the floor space. She had found it odd at first. Equestrian foals learned to walk at a very very young age, whereas the human baby before her would likely take another few months, and more so before she could talk.

Her little Splendid moved across the floor until she reached one of the walls. Across the bottom of this wall was a group of painted Ponies and Sirens. In the centre, Sunset was painted in her Unicorn form, and Adagio in her Siren form; and around them were their friends and fellow Princesses.

Splendid put her finger on the painted Siren, and looked at her mother, tilting her head with a quizzical expression.

“M-Mama?”

Adagio’s eyes became wide as saucers. Her little Scaly had said her first word, and she struggled to keep the tears at bay. Choking back sobs of happiness, she nodded her head vigorously.

“Yes dear, that’s me. Or it was me.” Her daughter tilted her head the other way, but her expression softened. She then thrust her finger at the light amber colored unicorn mare. “That’s your other mother, that’s Sunset.”

This caused the baby to lose the confused look, and she nodded instead, seemingly accepting what she had been told as if it was as simple as the fact that water was wet. Adagio smiled wiping the tears away from her eyes, as Splendid turned back to the wall, this time gesturing at the surrounding ponies and sirens. Adagio moved over to join her daughter and started to point to each pony or siren in turn. “This one is your auntie Rarity, this one is auntie Sonata, this one is…”

~Another year later~

Sunset smiled as she started to make dinner for everyone. Adagio currently in her office with Sonata and Rarity, working on whatever new design’s they had in mind for the boutique. She then began to whistle along to the radio playing in the background as she finished grilling the sandwiches.

Once everything was set on the table, Sunset went to the front of the kitchen so they could hear her from the office.

“Dinner is ready, everyone.”

She was moving back into the kitchen to sit at the table when she started to look for their daughter, Splendid, as she had just a minute ago been sitting on her own chair. “Splendid?”

A happy gurgle could be heard as an echo across the room. Sunset spun her head around, trying to locate the source. “Splendid, where are you?!”

“I eating apple under table, mama!”

Sunset’s eyes widened, kneeling down to look under the table, “Splendid, my sweet little peanut, can you come here, mama needs a big hug.”

Splendid giggles jumping into Sunset’s arms, not noticing her whisper softly, “I may have missed your first word, but I'm glad I was here for your first sentence.”

“Sunset? Splendid? Is something wrong?”

There in the archway stood Adagio, Sonata, and Rarity all with concerned looks on their faces. Sunset then whispered to Splendid, “My little scaly, why don't you go give your Momma a hug and tell her what you just told me.”

Splendid nodded lightly and soon Adagio found herself with little Splendid in her arms. “Oof! What's up my little Scaly?”

“I was eating apple under table, momma!” Splendid happily squeed with a bright smile.

Three huge gasps filled the room, and the newcomers to the room all shared the same expression; a combination of extreme disbelief, and momentous joy. The silence only lasted a few more seconds, as a high pitched whine could be heard, as both Rarity and Sonata battled it out to see how could pronounce ‘E’ the highest.

“Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”

Adagio pulled Splendid close to her breast, her chin nuzzling into the top of her daughter’s head. Little Scaly was now able to talk, but at this moment, Adagio wasn’t. Sunset came over to them, and wrapped them up in a wide hug. The trio stayed that way for a few seconds, before breaking apart.

“Our daughter talks!” Was all Adagio’s mind could come up with.

“I know, and I’m proud of her too.” Sunset smiled, “But dinner is getting cold, and I think I have something we can have to celebrate afterwards.”

Sonata and Rarity helped guide Adagio to her seat, big smiles still adorning their faces. The five tucked into their meals, often pausing to try and get Splendid to repeat words after them, to varying degrees of success. Once everyone had had their fill of the grilled sandwiches, Sunset headed out into the pantry, and the sound of rummaging could be heard.

“Ta-da!” Sunset stepped back into the room proper with a box under her arm. She placed the box upon the table, pulling back the tabs and opening the box. Inside, the box was filled with multiple plastic containers.

“Sunset, darling, what is this?” Rarity asked, her curiosity piqued.

“They were a gift, from Princess Twilight; given to us just after Splendid was born.” Eyebrows around the table shot up. “Each little box contains cakes or treats created by her dimensions Pinkie Pie, each magically preserved. The only instructions she gave with them was to save them for special occasions. I think today counts.”

The girls around the room were appropriately surprised, but also keen to have the chance to sample the other Pinkie Pie’s work. Picking through the boxes, Sunset selected one that contained smaller cupcakes, about the size she thought would be good for a foal.

Opening the box, she could feel the ambient magic of the preservation spell, and she carefully removed one of the cup cakes. “Here you go sweetie.” She cooed, passing the treat to her daughter.

Adagio removed the wrapper and held it up to Splendid’s mouth. Without missing a beat, Splendid dived in, stuffing her face into it, and taking a mouthful. She chewed for a few seconds, before swallowing. She burped, and giggled happily.

Sunset smiled and started to hand the other cakes around until she was interrupted by a sudden flash. She looked over in horror to see that Splendid had started to glow. But before anyone could do anything, it was already over, and the baby girl sat there still giggling happily.

Only now she sported fluffy pony ears and a long bushy ponytail.

Sunset suddenly felt woozy. Her eyes rolled back in her head, and she fell into darkness.

-------

When Sunset awoke, she found herself looking up at her living room ceiling. Shielding her eyes from the sudden intake of light, she slowly moved into a sitting position. Slowly, she acclimated to the brightness, and she took stock of her surroundings.

As it turned out, she was on her living room sofa. At the other end, Sonata sat, holding little Splendid, and playing with her. Much to her relief, she looked normal.

“Uggh. That was a weird dream.” She groaned.

“Hey, your back.” Adagio walked into the room, sat down next to her, and gave her a hug. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah yeah, I just had the strangest dream. I thought our daughter ‘ponied up’.”

“She did.” Sunset started coughing.

“WHAT?!”

“Hey, hey, calm down, she’s fine. Look at her, it only lasted an hour.” Sunset looked at her bewildered.

Unsure what to say or think, she just sat there. “She’s telling the truth, really.” Sonata added, with a smile, “And we took loads of photographs too. She was sooo cute!” The other siren let out a squee.

Still puzzled, Sunset asked the biggest question she had, “But how?”

“I hesitate to use the word, darling, but it both fits and doesn’t fit; it’s simple.” Sunset frowned at Rarity. “Magic, the cupcakes contained magic.” Sunset’s frown morphed into skepticism. Rarity held up the magic journal emblazoned with a red and yellow sun. “I managed to contact Twilight. She seems to think that her preservation spell may have also preserved any ambient magic in the cakes. And since the little one here is technically native to Equestria, her body responded to it like a drowning man to fresh water.”

Turning to Adagio, Sunset now looked worried. “Is she saying our little Scaly needs magic to survive?” Panic could be heard creeping in over the length of the sentence.

Adagio reached over and laid her hands on Sunset’s shoulders. “No, there is nothing wrong. I had a long conversation with the princess, but it is going to be something we need to address in the future.” She received a less worried, and more quizzical look. Adagio sighed. “In your studies, did you ever cover biology, or pony growing stages?” Sunset shook her head.

“What I have learned from Twilight - and I am paraphrasing here - is that young foals are fine without ambient magic; it isn’t harmful, but it does limit certain things. Like a unicorn would struggle with telekinesis, or a pegasus would be unable to fly. But this changes when they get older. Around the age of thirteen and up, a pony’s body hits puberty; one of the extra changes Equestrians have is with the magical ley lines that run through them.”

Sunset nodded. “I think I have heard something like this before. What does it mean for Splendid?”

“Right;” Adagio continued, “during the next few years, the ley lines will begin to settle. They determine how strong the pony is within their magic type, earth, pegasi or unicorn, and at the same time, cutie mark magic begins to course through them. This change feeds off of the ambient magic they have collected, helping them realise their destiny.”

Sunset’s eyes started to water. “Are you saying that by living here, we are taking away our daughter's destiny?”

‘Snnrrkkkt’. Adagio snorted. “No.” She started laughing.

“Hey!” Sunset battered Adagio on the arm, but her tears had quickly stopped. “What haven’t you told me yet, and why was it funny?”

“I’m sorry, it’s just I had the same reaction, and it took both of them to calm me down,” Adagio smiled towards Rarity and Sonata, who had all moved to the floor, playing something with Splendid. “And no, the ambient magic required for this isn’t that high, and as long as we get some, she will be fine.”

Sunset let out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding. “That’s a relief. But how do we get ambient magic?”

A list was suddenly produced by Adagio. “Twilight gave us a ‘few’ options.” Sunset looked on with an ‘are you kidding me’ glare. She blushed. “Ok, she gave us tons of options, but I’ve picked out the ones I like best.”

“Shoot.”

“Splendid was able to absorb the magic from the cakes. If we save them for a few years and get top-ups from Twilight, we would have to make sure to give her one every weekend. She burnt through the magic from one cake in about an hour. So the downsides to this would be the management required, and every weekend we would have to ensure we are home so that she can ‘pony up’, hidden from the outside world.”

“Well that doesn’t seem too bad, but I’m guessing there were better options?” Sunset asked.

“Only one better, actually.” Sunset gulped, but Adagio continued. “The better option is for once she turns thirteen.”

“And that is?” Sunset was on the edge of her seat.

Adagio bit her lip before she spoke, “Every few months we make a trip to Equestria.”

Sunsets head hit the seat cushions, losing consciousness again.

Comments

[forrest yuchnitz]

for a second i thought the cover art was the dragon age 2 symbol

[Rock Slide]

7459194 nope its the babys eventual cutiemark

[Harmony light]

This awesome keep up the great work