Creating A Hive

by Authora97

Training Time!

Raspberry held up a toy rat.

Cookie prepared to pounce on it. She knelt close to the ground, glaring up at the toy. With a hiss she ran at it. She leapt off the ground.

Raspberry kept the toy rat in place.

The griffon child missed the toy rat. She flailed her arms, trying to reach it. Raspberry tossed the toy rat in the air, letting it drop in reach of her wing. The griffon in body but kitten in brain reached for the toy rat. Fruitless in her goals, the kitten meowed.

Dynamite flew up to her mother’s side. She hovered in the air before landing. At seeing Cookie rolling mournfully on the grass, she laughed. “Still can’t catch a stupid mouse?”

Cookie sat up, glaring sharply at her sister. “Shut up!”

Dynamite made a face. “You’re stupid! You’re stupid!”

“I am NOT!” Cookie hissed. She went into a hunter’s pose, a growl coming out of her beak.

Raspberry dropped the toy rat into her hoof, throwing her arm over Dynamite’s shoulders. “Hey. You’re smarter than you’re sister, right?”

“Yeah!” Dynamite boasted. She added sticking out her tongue at her sister.

“You can fly faster than her, right?” Raspberry asked.

“Yeah!” Dynamite boasted again.

“So you can fly twenty laps around the house, right?”

“Yea- wait what?” Dynamite looked up at her mother. Her red eyes wide in dismay, her jaw dropping.

Raspberry was smiling innocently. The patented mother’s smile, of ‘do what I say or you are grounded’. “Twenty laps. Around the house. Flying.” She made a gesture of ‘get going’ with her hoof. “Go.”

Cookie laughed. Dynamite glared at her sister. The griffon- in the greatest act of vengeance an eight year old knew- stuck out her tongue at her sister. The blue pegasus whined. She still went out to obey the orders.

Raspberry smiled back at the giggling griffon. “You’re not off the hook either. Again.” She held the toy rat up in her magic.

Cookie groaned, but tried once more.

==CAH==

The Cutiemark Crusaders had a special event that they did once a week on Tuesdays. Tuesdays: Enough Shit Isn’t Going On Today, Do It Tuesday! Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo would go to Twilight’s library to learn new skills. Apple Bloom would learn potions, after being inspired from working so often with Zecora. Sweetie Belle learned magic, an important skill for any growing unicorn. Scootaloo learned about mechanics, which overtime would help her add upgrades to her scooter.

Twilight Time was the CMC’s new favorite thing. They started doing this not long after Lilac went up north for training. They had heard about their friend getting training from letters, and Lilac’s goodbye before going to Manehattan. They were so jealous at first. Not only did Lilac get to hang out in Babs Seed’s town, she got to learn all these cool skills! That didn’t seem fair.

So they complained to their sisters and pseudo sisters (in one case).

Their sisters went to the closest teacher of those skills in town.

Raspberry declined, saying she was already working with Lilac and her other children.

Their sisters tried again.

Twilight said yes.

So the Cutiemark Crusaders got to learn new things!

However, Dynamite Berry and Dark Justice heard about this training. They watched their mom and sometimes their aunt and rarely their dad leave town for a day. They heard about Dynamite’s friends getting specialized training once a week. They got excited.

They thought about what skills they could even learn. Dynamite had her cutiemark, but that didn’t really give her much direction outside of explosions=good. Dark Justice didn’t even have that, he had no idea what kind of things he wanted to learn.

Cookie was the second kid in their family to get Raspberry’s training. All that Cookie got to learn was how to fly. Which to Dynamite, was a basic skill that didn’t even need training, and to Dark Justice seemed like Raspberry just searching for any excuse to not do other works.

He was completely right, not that Raspberry would ever tell.

Raspberry had noticed the kids wanting to be included.

Her kids had asked something of her. What, was she just going to sideline them? Leave them in the dust to envy their other siblings? Get into a debate with them over which kids Raspberry liked more because of something as fickle as ‘Lilac and Cookie were here first’?

Unacceptable.

==CAH==

Raspberry approached her kids one Tuesday afternoon. She knew she was already stepping into fun territory, as Dynamite Berry’s friends were all busy at Twilight Time while Justice was a loner anyway. There was a decent chance they would tell her to screw off.

Dynamite landed in front of Raspberry, just completing the twenty laps around the house. Cookie had failed twice in that time to grab the toy rat. She almost had it, but failed to use the wings so Raspberry didn’t see much progress there. Cookie was at least getting creative with other ways to catch the toy rat. Raspberry would have to be more creative in return.

Justice walked out just to laugh at Dynamite. Dynamite shoved his side.

“Hey, Dynamite, Justice?” Raspberry called out to them. She held the toy rat up again for Cookie again. The griffon glared at her elusive prey. “Wanna learn something?”

“I already learned something, I’m exhausted!” Dynamite complained, flopping down to the dirt.

“Learn what?” Justice asked.

Cookie leapt for the toy rat. This time she hopped on Raspberry’s shoulders before going for the toy rat. Raspberry moved the toy rat out of range, leading to Cookie landing on the ground.

“I’m gonna give you a logic puzzle. You have to figure out a solution with the options you have in front of you.” Raspberry explained. “Wanna learn how to do stuff like I do?”

The two preteens excitedly jumped in front of their foster mom. “Yes! Yes! Yes!” They cheered.

“Can either of you tell me how I get this cat bird to fly?” Raspberry asked. “I’ll take whatever you can give.”

Justice eyed the toy rat. “Did you try holding it higher?” He asked.

Raspberry nodded.

“Huh.” Justice sat back, rubbing his hoof on his chin.

“Oh! Oh! Let me catch it!” Dynamite pleaded. “I wanna catch it!”

“Would that help Cookie?” Raspberry countered. “Show your work, please.”

“I catch it and then she chases me up really high!” Dynamite explained.

Justice saw that Raspberry was ready to argue against that plan. He stepped in. “Cookie really hates it when Dynamite takes her stuff. She’d probably fly to chase her.”

Raspberry considered it. Cookie was rolling in the grass, just groaning and bemoaning her skills as a hunter. After tossing the toy rat in her hooves again, Raspberry grinned. “Sisterly feud...why hadn’t I considered that yet? It’s how I got Killjoy to do anything.” She tossed the toy to Dynamite, who happily caught it. “Go nuts.”

Dynamite giggled darkly, in that proud way any sibling does when given the chance to annoy their sibling. “HEY COOKIE!”

Cookie stopped rolling in the grass. She turned to her sister. Seeing Dynamite’s excited waving of Cookie’s toy, her eyes thinned into that classic cat rage. “MINE!”

Dynamite responded by flying up into the air.

Raspberry and Justice watched with bemusement as Cookie chased the shadow on the ground. The griffon figured out very quickly that she wouldn’t get her toy back this way. She pushed down on her ground. To the amazement of her mother, her wings began to buzz. Cookie pushed herself off the ground, clumsy flying after her sister.

“I’m tempted to give you money for this.” Raspberry noted.

Justice smiled. He held up a hoof.

Raspberry smirked. For the audacity of asking for money, she slipped two bits into his hoof.

When Dynamite and Cookie eventually touched down, Raspberry gave Dynamite two bits and gave Cookie a biscuit.

“You did a good job.” Raspberry praised. “Cookie, go inside and brag to your dad. Better yet- fly into him.”

Cookie beamed. “He would be surprised!” She ran into the house.

Raspberry turned to the other two. “So...you know how I’m working with Lilac in Manehattan right?” The two kids nodded. “Wanna learn more stuff?”

They couldn’t agree faster.

==CAH==

The next day at school, Dynamite was explaining excitedly to her friends what she would be learning.

“She was gonna show me all the ways I can make explosions!” Dynamite cheered. “And like, there are a lot! We did a baking soda volcano. Did you know that was a thing? I didn’t. We exploded soda with mints! MINTS!”

“Mints can make stuff explode?” Scootaloo asked, eyes going wide. “I will never eat another mint again.”

Dynamite nodded, sagely agreeing. She was pretty sure Thorax was still cleaning soda from his wings.

“That’s so cool! Now it’s like you’re learning new skills just like us!” Apple Bloom cheered. She glared across the playground at their schoolyard bullies. “Unlike some ponies Ah know.”

Dynamite glanced in the direction of the bullies. Yeah, they were getting attention from everypony else at the school. What did that matter? Dynamite was learning how to blow stuff up with stuff from the kitchen. Yeah Justice was learning stuff too, what did that matter? “Hey is Sweetie Belle okay?”

Scootaloo waved a hoof over Sweetie‘s face. “Yeah, she’s just daydreaming again.”

Dynamite shrugged.

She would’ve asked more, or talked more about her cool new training when the bullies came over.

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were their usual annoying selves, right up until the Cutiemark Crusaders admitted to spending time with Princess Twilight.

“Hey! My mom is a princess too!”

“Well yeah but Ms Raspberry doesn’t count. She works with Ms Cheerilee.” Diamond Tiara dismissed. “Princess Twilight is cool.”

Which okay, yeah, Dynamite understood that.

==CAH==

The Cutiemark Crusaders gained popularity after everypony found out they hung out with a princess. The three were waited on, hoof and...uh...other hoof? Dynamite was learning human analogies, not all of them crossed over.

Dynamite got less excited to learn from Raspberry as the week went on. Raspberry taught the preteens all that she could. Justice was taking in all of it. Raspberry taught them about all the things she used to be a crime fighter, like the ponies in the police books. Raspberry taught Dynamite so many new ways to enjoy her special talent.

Yet nopony at school was giving her praise for it. But they praised her friends. That wasn’t fair!

Dynamite wondered why she was trying, if no pony was gonna give her attention for it.

==CAH==

Those feelings weren’t calmed by Saturday. The Cutiemark Crusaders were told by Diamond Tiara that everypony invited themselves to the next Twilight Time. Twilight Time was a weekly thing, and the CMC had to keep the attention on them! Sweetie Belle took the initiative to invite Twilight to a local hay burger restaurant.

Everything was going...well it was going. Sweetie Belle had only invited a short group of goals, only their whole class came instead. She scolded the large group, so they just watched from the windows.

Twilight on the other hoof had a happy lunch with her students and Dynamite Berry. Everything was going great. Until Pinkie Pie showed up, that is.

The party pony rushed into the hayburger joint. She looked more manic than usual. “Twilight! What are you doing here?” Pinkie asked.

The purple alicorn beamed at her friend, finishing her drink. “I know! I’ve been so busy I forgot how delicious everything-”

“You mean like that time you forgot you were supposed to distract Raspberry so she didn’t know I was finishing up her birthday party?” Pinkie asked. “And that time is today.”

Twilight yelped. “What?! That was today?”

“That’s what I said.” Pinkie replied. She turned to Scootaloo. “I did say that right?”

Scootaloo nodded.

“Good!” Pinkie cheered.

“Hold on. Her birthday is tomorrow!” Dynamite countered. “How can the party be today?”

“Yeah! Twilight doesn’t have to go!” Sweetie Belle agreed with her friend.

Pinkie giggled. “That’s the point, sillies! Raspberry won’t expect it if it comes today...or maybe she will. But she definitely will if Twilight’s not distracting her.”

“But can’t Thorax do it?” Sweetie Belle asked, desperate to keep her popularity while it was in range.

Pinkie laughed. “Pfft, HA! Thorax can’t lie to Raspberry! Everypony knows that.”

“Twilight can’t really do that either.” Apple Bloom countered.

“Hey.” Twilight whined, but didn’t argue. “I’m not lying to her. We’re working on a project. It’s the only thing that really stops her from paying attention. Thanks for the reminder, Pinkie.”

“You’re welcome, Twilight!” Pinkie cheered. She walked out the door, pausing to look out the window. The foals there ducked to avoid being seen. Pinkie would’ve made a comment before running out to finish party planning.

Twilight followed after the party pony. Though she didn’t make it far before tripping over one excited goal that wanted an autograph.

Dynamite was annoyed beyond comprehension. How had her mom messed this up? Raspberry wasn’t even here but she was ruining Dynamite’s chance to be popular!

“You seriously all want my autograph?” Twilight asked the large group of excited foals outside. “Okay, I’ll sign just a couple more for you, but then I really must go find Raspberry.”

“Wow, to think I’ve been to the Hay Burger so many times, never knowing it’s a regular hangout for a princess!” Pipsqueak cheered.

“This isn’t my regular hangout. I’m only here to be with them.” Twilight excused, trying to leave again.

“You mean, Princess Twilight decides where it’s cool to go based on where they go?” Pipsqueak asked, an unknowing voice for the foals.

Twilight didn’t deny it. She smiled once more at the CMC and Dynamite. “Thanks, guys, this was fun! See ya around!”

She ran off towards the library.

Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Dynamite managed to keep their popularity. But it was leaving a sour taste in Dynamite’s mouth.

==CAH==

Raspberry had found out about the party, to the surprise of nopony.

She was happily explaining how she figured it out to Justice. Dynamite was pouting in a corner. What made it more upsetting was that when Raspberry explained it, it made so much sense. Of course Raspberry would notice Thorax conveniently leave town or that Twilight wanted to work on their project so desperately all of a sudden.

She didn’t like it. It annoyed Dynamite. It annoyed her that things looked so easy. That everypony was getting attention except her.

Right now, Dynamite was slumping in a corner at her house. Pinkie had gone all out for the party, probably to make up for the birthdays she missed because Raspberry wasn’t in Equestria for them. Dynamite watched as so many ponies were celebrating Raspberry Stardust. They were gathered around the dinner table. Justice had moved over to talk to Killjoy, who was exchanging wide grins with her sister.

Cookie and Pinkie seemed to be having a contest on who could eat the most cupcakes in under a minute. The Cutiemark Crusaders were quietly arguing on the couch, trying to argue about how to handle their popularity. They didn’t even try to include Dynamite. Their sisters were all watching Pinkie and Cookie, laughing.

Twilight was talking to Raspberry, but by the looks of it Twilight wasn’t having fun in the conversation.

Dynamite could only hear little bits of it. “It’s safer to fall from 10 miles high than 10 stories because on average you’ll live longer. You live in a tree, right? Trees live underground and use the above part as a snorkel. If you microwave something, you are just shaking it really hard on the atomic level. Flamethrowers are technically a squirt gun.”

She wouldn’t like it either.

Twilight looked ready to scream. Dynamite wondered why the princess passed up hanging out with the Cutiemark Crusaders over this party. At least in the hay burger joint they were giving Twilight a relaxing afternoon.

“Okay, Pinks, really-” Raspberry spoke up. “There’s only so long that I can tell Twilight disquieting true facts before they start disturbing me too. What’s the next part of the party?”

“Not everypony’s here yet.” Pinkie replied happily. She was patting Cookie on the back, who was chewing on a final cupcake.

Raspberry had a face of confusion.

Somepony opened the front door. Everypony turned to it. Raspberry got out of her chair to get a peek.

What she saw had her surprised, at long last. Pinkie had succeeded.

“Lilac!” The Cutiemark Crusaders cheered.

Their friend had been gone over a month. It wasn’t long but she looked different. Manehattan has seemingly aged her from pre-teen to a genuine teenager. She stood taller, had a different confidence to her steps that wasn’t there before. She was cool.

Dynamite hated this whole week.

==CAH==

It came to a head on Tuesday. Dynamite was going into another Raspberry Time. She hadn’t been invited to the hang out at Diamond Tiara’s house. The Crusaders hadn’t even thought to invite her, more insulting. They had invited Lilac. Funny that. Pity she went out of town after her mom’s birthday.

Dynamite was left behind.

She had gone home, not really having anywhere else to go.

Her mom was already talking to Justice. Laid out in front of them were white notecards and colored sharpies. Raspberry was explaining a long complicated plot. Dynamite was certain it was from a book Justice had read over the week. Dynamite hadn’t read it. In protest.

Thorax walked up to Dynamite, beaming. Cookie flew behind him, landing on his shoulders. Dynamite had helped her fly. Was she given any credit? No.

“Hey Dynamite!” Thorax cheered. “Did you want something to drink-”

“Shut up!” Dynamite snapped. She flew off towards her room, slamming the door shut behind her.

She threw herself onto her bed, smashing her face against the pillow.

There was barely time to start screaming into it before somepony knocked on the door.

“GO AWAY!” Dynamite screamed.

“But wouldn’t it be great to yell at my face?” Raspberry countered.

Dynamite had to admit, it did sound great. However Raspberry suggested it so it was evil and the wrong choice. The door opened all the same.

She walked in, kneeling by the bed. Dynamite was happy her face was in the pillow so she didn’t have to see the princess’ stupid face.

Raspberry didn’t make any comments about it. “Okay. My birthday went too well, something had to go wrong. Commence the yelling.” She invited the hate, called for every bad feeling broiling in Dynamite’s head.

She didn’t lift her face from her pillow. “You ruined everything.”

Raspberry said nothing.

“Everypony was so excited, and I was gonna be cool for once, but then they said you were boring and normal and then I wasn’t popular and nopony paid attention to me but everypony loves Twilight and nopony liked-” Dynamite babbled. Her words were starting to get heavy as tears came to her eyes. She let them soak into her pillows.

Raspberry climbed onto the bed. She let her wing drape over Dynamite’s back, holding the sobbing filly to her side. “The Twilight Time thing?”

Dynamite mumbled an affirmative.

“Ah, okay.” Raspberry let out a small sigh. “I should have known better...you’re exactly like Killjoy.”

“Wha’?” Dynamite sniffled.

“Wanna learn how to blow them up?” Raspberry asked.

Dynamite turned her head, eyes wide.

“Yeah you wanna learn how to blow them up.” Raspberry blew out a breath. “It’s only fair. I told Killjoy not to kill people at your age, and she got upset cause there was nothing to do. So wanna learn how to blow shit up?”

“Yes!” Dynamite cheered.

Raspberry grinned wide.

==CAH==

An explosion rocked the small backyard.

Everypony in the family cheered. Dynamite excitedly beamed at them, happy at the praise. Justice and Cookie was excited too, beaming with their dad. They were shaking like a sugar hyped Pinkie Pie. All of them were wearing speciality headphones. Raspberry said it protected their ears. They could all hear each other, which Dynamite thought was a bonus. She could hear all of them.

Raspberry used her magic to float over another cardboard box, a drawing of a classmate of Dynamite’s on the side. Dynamite prepared another explosive. She handed over the box to Raspberry.

Killjoy was hovering above her sister. “You never let me kill kids.”

“Not actually kids, doesn’t actually count.” Raspberry countered. “Bomb ready, Dynamite.”

“Boom in five, four-” Dynamite warned, hopping in place with excitement. “Three, two, one!” Dynamite pressed down on the trigger.

The box exploded, along with all the fruit inside it. Mashed up fruits projected onto the family, hitting them with a surprising amount of coverage. Everypony cheered again. It was macabre. It was dark. They were cheering at Dynamite blowing stuff up, stuff dressed up as children. It was not the sort of thing one did in Equestria.

But they were Stardusts. As a rule, they were all dark as fuck. Especially the griffon who was cheering about being hit with ‘pony guts’. They were weird. They were the outcasts. They were the creatures nopony wanted to hang out with. But they had each other.

Later, Dynamite would write a diary entry on the back page of the entry written by the Cutiemark Crusaders.

So Twilight told me to write something down in this diary. Mom told me to write about something big that happened to me, and how I was changed by it. She makes me write reports like that all the time. She’ll teach me something then ask me to prove that I learned something. She’s weird like that. That’s what everypony at school says. For a while I agreed with them. Mom was really, really weird, like too weird.

But then I thought I was weird too. Nopony at school liked me either, just cause she was my mom. She’s only been my mom for a few months too- but she knew exactly I needed to feel better.

After I told her nopony liked me, Mom got everyone in the family to watch me blow up fruit. She even taught me new ways to do it. It was so cool! They cheered for me, for what made me special, what made me unique. Nopony else is like me, except my family. Which they are.

(Even if Cookie is annoying now that she learned how to fly.)