Silver Spoon Adopts a Naga

by Halira

Chapter 19: Principaled Discussions at Theaters

"You know, we should go out and do something," Silver said, as she closed the guidebook on nagas.

Twist and Sisstet turned from where they were sampling their freshly made peppermint sticks. "What did you have in mind?"

Silver shrugged. "I'm not sure. Maybe we could catch a play, then eat out tonight. Somewhere that serves meat, so you don't have to figure out until tomorrow."

Twist looked at the end of the kitchen counter, where the fish were still sitting, and laid her ears back. "Eating at a restaurant might not be so bad, and we have some financial flexibility if your parents are going to be helping. As for the play- um… you do know what Autumn Blaze is premiering tonight, right?"

Silver lowered one ear, not liking the tone. "What is premiering?"

Twist sat and nervously rubbed a hoof against the floor. "The story of how the Cutie Mark Crusaders came to be. I'm not so sure you want to see that one."

Her eyes went wide. Oh, this could be bad. "Well… I suppose that I might as well see it if only to see how awful it makes me look."

Sisstet flicked his tongue a few times. "Why would it make you look awful?"

She looked away. "I wasn't the nicest foal when I was your age. Actually, I was kind of a bully."

Twist arched an eyebrow. "Kind of?"

Silver snorted. "Okay, I was a bully, and I bullied the Crusaders a lot. If they're doing a play about how the Crusaders got together, it will have to show that."

Sisstet gave me a skeptical look. "But you're nice. You can't have been a bully."

Twist chuckled. "Oh, she and Diamond Tiara used to be a terror when they were young. Every foal in Miss Cheerilee's class was scared of them, except for the Crusaders. That might be why they picked on them even harder than the rest of us."

The reminder of how she treated others made Silver lower her head in shame, and Twist quickly cleared her throat before continuing. "But- she and Diamond Tiara turned themselves around. By the time we were all getting ready to graduate, the two of them were my best friends. They weren't just my best friends either, aside from the Crusaders, they were the two most well-liked and well-respected students in school."

Silver raised her head and smiled. "I wouldn't say that. Snails was pretty popular by the time he graduated, and I'm sure he was much more popular than Diamond and me."

Twist snorted. "Well, he was already a buckball star by then. Still one of the biggest buckball stars in the league. By the time he retires, they'll probably have a whole wing of the buckball hall of fame dedicated to just him."

"He might already," Silver laughed. "Did you know my parents tried to get me to date him? Said he was an up-and-comer in unicorn society, and I could do worse."

Twist walled over to her and gave a smooch. "Well, you just had to settle for me."

"You two do a lot of kisssy stuff," Sisstet observed. "Guardians never did that."

They must have at some point if there is an egg waiting to hatch. Silver thought to herself. Still, it brought up a significant concern. How comfortable with affection was Sisstet?

"Does it bother you, seeing us kiss all the time?" She asked. Twist backed away and gave the naga a concerned look.

He shook his head. "No, jusst different."

"Good," Twist said happily, and then laid another quick kiss on Silver's face. "Silver and I are a very kissy and cuddly couple. We might kiss and cuddle you at some point." Sisstet immediately retreated slightly at this announcement, and Twist's ears fell somewhat. "But only if you're comfortable with that. We would never want to make you feel uncomfortable."

Silver felt overwhelmed with love for her wife and immediately pulled Twist into a tight hug. She got close to her Twist's ear and whispered, "You are sexy when you get maternal, you know that?"

Twist giggled and pushed her away. "Not in front of the kid, Silv." Sisstet didn't seem to understand the exchange, and just let watching in silence.

Not feeling that put out by her wife temporarily brushing her back, Silver continued to grin joyfully. "So let's go ahead and go see this play. Sisstet, just remember that any portrayal they do of me in it is of me from a very long time ago, and creatures can change. I know Mint Cherry said some things to you earlier today that bordered on bullying, and I want you to keep in mind that he can get better, too, alright?"

Sisstet nodded. "Okay."

She frowned slightly. "But if anything like that happens again with him, or any other creature, you let me know right away. I have a low tolerance for bullying."

He nodded again, this time more vigorously. "Okay."

"Shall we get going?" Twist asked.

Silver nodded. "Let's go see this play."

---

They arrived at Autumn Blaze's theater within a few short minutes. The theater had been built about ten years before, just across the street from Ponyville town hall. It had quickly become a popular location to visit since the residents of the town had previously had to travel to Canterlot or Manehatten if they wished to see a professional theater production. There was already a small line to get in when they arrived, but a familiar couple was waiting just ahead of them.

"Silver!" Dinky said with enthusiasm; she had one of those fancy new cameras around her neck that didn't make a big flash. Dinky's husband and mother were with her as well, and waved. "Great to see you. Have you come out to support the foals?"

Silver let herself get pulled into a hug by the former teacher turned principal. "I'm embarrassed to admit. I didn't even know about this production until a few minutes ago. Where's little Dabble?"

The principal released the hug and beamed. "My baby is performing in the play, and you'll never guess who she's playing!"

Twist chuckled. "Let me guess, you?"

Dinky looked shocked. "How'd you guess?"

"Maybe because she's the spitting image of you as a foal," Silver replied with a chuckle for her wife.

Dinky looked smug about it. "It's just a background role, I don't think she even has any lines, but she's still in the play. Most of the cast are students from our school. It's shocking you just heard about it."

"Well, I have been caught up dealing with Candy Apple all year long, and right now am focused on Sisstet, so I've been a little out of it on the extracurricular activities, " Silver confessed. "Plus, if I'm portrayed in the play like I was as a foal, then some of the students might have conspicuously failed to mention the play as a result."

Dinky had turned her attention to Sisstet upon mention of him, and Silver could see the question on the principal's mind. Dinky was a fairly perceptive mare, and that had been one of the reasons that she'd been installed as principal when Cheerilee had abruptly retired early in the school year.

"We'll talk about him later, in private," Silver whispered.

Dinky nodded and then gave Sisstet a grin. "Good afternoon, Sisstet. I rarely see you away from school. I don't think you've met my husband or my mom." She gestured to the stallion standing by her. "This is my husband Button Mash; he has a very cool job. He helps design arcade games."

Button held at a hoof to Sisstet. "Nice to meet you, Sisstet." The young naga stayed quiet, but reached out a claw and gave an awkward hoofshake with the earth pony.

Dinky gestured to the older pegasus beside her. "And this is my mom. Say hi to Sisstet, Mom."

Derpy blinked and then tried to focus her eyes on Sisstet, which didn't work out, but she still smiled at him happily. "Hi, there! Some ponies call me Derpy, some ponies call me Ditzy, some ponies call me Muffins, and some ponies call me Bubbles." Derpy frowned and seemed to start getting distressed. "But I seem to have forgotten what my actual name is."

Dinky gave her mother a sad look and touched a hoof to Derpy's shoulder. "It's okay, Mom. We all know who you are."

Derpy started smiling again and instantly seemed to get distracted by a poster advertising the play.

Silver leaned forward and whispered to Dinky. "How's she doing?"

Dinky watched her mother out of the corner of her eye. "She's fine, most of the time, but she gets confused more often than she used to, and her memory gets fuzzy on some things. She still has an excellent memory for other creatures' names and the places they live, but sometimes confuses foals with their parents, especially if they look similar. She has even confused Dabble with me, and she'll seem to think I should be a foal still, like she can't separate the past from the present."

Silver looked at Derpy, and felt terrible for wondering if it wouldn't be better if Dinky got somecreature to look after her mother. Derpy was still an effective local mailmare. Doing that job might be one of the few things keeping Derpy's mind from slipping farther, as it gave her something to focus on regularly. What was worrisome was she was confusing her granddaughter with her daughter when she lived with them… maybe it was time to have her retire and have a full-time caregiver. However, It wasn't Silver's place to say anything. That was a decision for Dinky to make.

They were slowly ushered into the theater and took their seats. Silver ended up in the middle of the aisle, with Sisstet immediately to her left, and Twist just past him. Dinky took the seat on Silver's right, with her husband on her other side and Derpy getting the seat on the far end near the wall.

A unicorn passed out programs to them, and Silver sat and read over the cast. There were indeed about a dozen students from the school involved in the play. Most of them came from a year or two above Silver's class, and the remainder actually seemed to come from the first-year class. Her ears fell when she saw herself listed as one of the primary characters, although she didn't know the particular changeling student playing her that well. Dinky's daughter, Dabble Doo, was a first-year student and was listed as background pony number four, with an asterisk noting that to be Dinky Doo.

As they settled down and waited for the show to start, Dinky leaned over next to Silver and whispered, "So, what's going on with Sisstet?"

Silver glanced to her side and saw Twist explaining to Sisstet who each of the characters were in the play- including herself. "I'm attempting to adopt him."

Dinky's eyes widened. "You're serious? I won't ask what happened with his guardians, at least not here, but you really are planning to adopt him?"

Silver nodded. "Yes."

The principal smiled. "Well, good for you. You will make a great mother. I couldn't imagine my life without Dabble." Her smile went away. "However, as principal, I do need to advise you this may impact your teaching position."

Silver jerked her head around to stare at Dinky. "What do you mean?"

Dinky sighed. "The EEA has a policy where parents cannot be the teacher in a classroom that includes their kid. They say it could lead to favoritism in grading. I may be forced to reassign you to another class."

"I would never fudge Sisstet's grades," Silver growled.

"I don't think you would, but it isn't a matter what I think; it's a rule," Dinky replied. "If Dabble were a year younger, she would have been in line for my class if I hadn't been promoted to principal. I would have had to be reassigned. I don't make the rules; I just enforce them. We can cry about whether they are fair or not all we want, but at the end of the day, we have to follow them."

Silver was dumbstruck. The system was set up for one teacher to teach over a class for each of the years they were there; to follow them from their first day of school to graduation. Teachers built strong bonds with their classes, and those classes were almost like a family to them. Some of the students spent more time with their teacher growing up than they did their parents. Getting separated from her class that was still in progress was heart-wrenching.

"Who would take over my class? Where would I be assigned?" She asked in a low voice.

"I don't know who would take over the class yet," Dinky replied. "After the fiasco with career day, Ink Pot doesn't intend to return. I was hoping to retain her after she took over my class, but she plans to move on. With that in mind, I'm going to be trying to hire a teacher over the summer. None of our three apprentices are ready to take full control of a class yet, and I'm not going to be unfair to them and our students by dumping them into a position they aren't yet prepared for. I will likely assign you the position Ink Pot would have had by having you take over the incoming class in the fall."

Silver couldn't be mad at Dinky. The two of them had a long history since they apprenticed together under Cheerilee, and she knew her friend was unhappy about this as well. Dinky was only doing what she had to do.

"On an unrelated note, I have a small piece of good news," Dinky continued. "I finally got a reply back from Cheerilee, the real Cheerilee, in regards to the old student records. She'll be arriving back in Ponyville tomorrow to help me get them. I know you've missed her just as much as me. I'm going to try to convince her to spend a day or two."

Silver smiled. "That's great to hear. If you can convince her to hang around for a little while, I'd love to get a chance to see her."

Dinky smiled briefly, but only briefly. "And on unrelated bad news, we still have Candy Apple's decision coming up. Can I count on you coming to show the filly some support?"

Silver nodded. "Whether I end up being her teacher again after this, she's still one of my students. I'll be there."

They hushed as the lights dimmed in the theater, leaving only the stage lit. The show was about to begin.

Comments

[Darksoul85]

Great chapter and keep the good work up