Daybreak

by Leafdoggy

Chapter 26

“C’mon.” Angel hopped over to the stairs and waved Daybreak along. “Let’s go do some experiments.”

“Uhh…” Daybreak hesitated, looking around the room at the outbreak of tables. “Shouldn’t we clean this up first?”

“Nah, I’m sure it’ll take care of itself,” Angel said, “and even if it doesn’t, it’s just tables. Who cares if there’s a forest of tables out there somewhere? It’ll be a tourist attraction.”

Daybreak pursed her lips, then got up and walked over to Angel. “Fine, but if this goes bad, you gotta tell our parents that I tried to stop you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Angel said as she turned and dashed up the steps. “Get a move on, Daybaby.”

“I’m not a baby!” Daybreak blushed and puffed out her cheeks. With a quick flit of her wings, she floated up the stairs behind Angel. “Geez, I’m the one who gave you the stuff.”

“And I’m really happy with the gift,” Angel said, “but I’m still gonna tease you. It’s funny.”

Daybreak landed at the top of the stairs and rolled her eyes. “Jerk.”

“Dork.”

Angel led Daybreak quickly through the old, dry house. Everything was clean and well maintained, but most of the furniture looked like it was generations old. Ancient dishes filled a glass cabinet in the dining room, and most of the wood was tarnished with age. Here and there, though, were signs of modernity. Their sofa was newly reupholstered, the paint on the walls was bright and fresh, the little technology they kept around was up to date. The house was a bizarre clash of new and old, and there didn’t seem to be any effort put towards lessening the divide.

Angel took them into the kitchen, which was by far the most modern room in the house. Aside from the tacky tiled floors and old, wooden wall decorations, everything in the kitchen was a few years old at most. New pots and pans, new plates and bowls, new knives, new fridge, new stove. Some of it even put what the castle had to shame.

“Geez, they must really like to cook,” Daybreak said.

“They’re pies,” Angel replied. “It’s in our blood.”

“Do you even have blood?”

“Not the point.” Angel started digging through drawers and cupboards, pulling out dishes and ingredients and dropping them on the counter. “We like to cook.”

“Even you?” Daybreak asked. She wandered up to the counter and watched as Angel started dumping tiny amounts of things into a mixing bowl, a process that, to Daybreak, seemed entirely random.

“Why else would we be in the kitchen?”

“I dunno, you said experiments,” Daybreak said. “I figured you’d just be dripping it on random stuff.”

“That’s a terrible idea,” Angel said. “One experiment at a time. We’ve got to be patient.”

“So, what’s this experiment?”

Angel finished stirring together all the ingredients she’d gathered up, then uncorked the vial and upturned it over the bowl, spilling nearly every drop into the mixture. Strangely, though, nothing happened.

“I’m baking a muffin,” Angel said. She walked over to a tall, thin cupboard and dug around in it until she found a small baking tin designed for cooking singular muffins, then filled it with the batter. Finally, she shoved it into the oven and jumped up onto the stove to start the baking.

“It didn’t look like it’s gonna do anything,” Daybreak said.

Angel hopped back down and shook her head. “It wasn’t supposed to do anything yet. Just be patient.” She washed her hooves, recorked and refilled her vial of magic, and waved Daybreak towards a screen door in the corner that led out behind the house.

"Shouldn't we keep an eye on it?" Daybreak asked.

Angel shrugged. "It's got a timer, the oven will turn itself off."

"Oh. Okay." Daybreak scurried after Angel. “How’d you know it wouldn’t just, like, blow up the batter?”

“Just cuz it’s chaos magic doesn’t mean it’s completely unpredictable,” Angel explained as the two of them walked outside. A chilly breeze met them that made Daybreak shiver. “I mean, clearly Discord has at least some control over it. I figured I should at least be able to get it into a muffin without it going off.”

As they talked, the two of them started making their way towards the inflatable castle set up near the house.

“So, it worked?” Daybreak asked.

“We’ll see,” Angel said. “It’s gotta do something.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Daybreak said. She made it to the massive structure first and jumped up through the flap that covered the entrance. “What do you think it’s gonna—”

She froze. The castle wasn’t empty like she’d assumed. She’d thought that surely, if somepony was there, it would be bouncing around. She hadn’t considered the possibility that a pony might just be asleep in it.

In the corner, Royal Gala was lounging peacefully against the wall. She looked up when she felt movement and grinned when she saw Daybreak. “Howdy.”

“Wh—” Daybreak turned to Angel as she joined them in the castle. “How long has she been here?”

“A few hours,” Angel said. “We were hanging out before you got here.”

“And you just left her here?”

“I wanted to chill for a bit,” Royal Gala told her. “It’s cool.”

Daybreak bounced over and sat down near Royal Gala. Angel followed and flopped over onto her back, gazing at the sky through the castle’s open roof.

“So, what’d you get her?” Daybreak asked.

“A moonrock,” Royal Gala said.

“Seriously? A rock?”

“It’s pretty cool,” Angel said. “I’m gonna show it to Maud. I bet she’s never seen one, she’s gonna freak out.”

Daybreak stared at Angel for a moment. “I don’t get you,” she finally said.

“Thanks,” Angel replied. “I do my best.”

“Well, what about you?” Royal Gala prodded Daybreak’s chest. “What amazing gift did you get her that’s so much better than my rock?”

Daybreak smirked. “I got her some real, actual chaos magic.”

“What the heck’s she meant to do with that?” Royal Gala raised an eyebrow at Daybreak. “Sounds about as useful as a fan in a windstorm.”

“They’re both pretty good,” Angel said. “I’m making a muffin with hers.”

“You could make a muffin out of mine if you really wanted to,” Royal Gala argued.

“It’s a rock,” Daybreak said, “all it can do is be a rock.”

“It’s not a competition,” Angel said. “And even if it was, my ma would beat you both, so get over it.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Daybreak said. She got up and started bouncing around the castle. “Let’s go do something, I’m bored.”

“You are doing something,” Angel said.

“Something else.” Daybreak groaned. “At least use the magic to make the bounce house bouncier or something.”

“Hmm…” Angel thought for a moment, then flipped over and sat up. “Yeah, sure, we can try that,” she said as she pulled the vial out.

“That’s it?” Royal Gala asked. “That ain’t very much.”

“I can get more,” Angel said. “Don’t sweat it. We can—” Angel cut herself off and glanced up at the sky as something caught her attention. Quickly, she swiped a hoof over the vial of magic, making it fade away into the shadows. “Dang it,” she grumbled under her breath.

Daybreak stopped bouncing and looked over towards her. “What’s up?”

“My aunt’s here,” Angel said, “which means—”

A sharp whistle pierced the air. High above them, a shape started to form in the sky, getting bigger and bigger every second. They were just barely able to recognize the shape as a pegasus before they slammed down into the castle with a deafening boom and a wave that bounced the three of them meters into the air.

Daybreak stuck her wings out and caught herself in midair, but the other two tumbled back down and bounced several more times before finally settling back onto the unsteady floor. Royal Gala was stunned, and Angel had an annoyed grimace on her face as she stared at the new guest.

In the center of the castle was a tall, lithe pegasus with dark gray fur and a burning orange mane. Orange and yellow stripes wrapped up around her legs like licks of flame, and her cutie mark was a blazing meteor.

The mysterious pegasus was a fair bit older than Angel, but still a few years from adulthood. She carried herself with pride and confidence as she stalked towards Angel, and smirked once she was looming over the smaller pony. “Hey, squirt.”

“Hello, Cinnabar,” Angel grumbled.

“Aw, c’mon, that’s no way to treat your favorite cousin,” Cinnabar said. She wrapped a leg around Angel’s shoulders, then ruffled up her mane roughly. “I’ve missed ya.”

Angel pushed herself out of Cinnabar’s grip and backed away from her. “Whatever.”

Despite the cold shoulder, Cinnabar’s grin never faltered. “So, who’re the new squirts?”

“They’re my friends,” Angel said.

“I’m not that small,” Daybreak mumbled.

“Aw, I don’t mean nothin by it,” Cinnabar said. With a quick flap of her wings, she zipped around the castle and scooped up Royal Gala and Daybreak, then set them down beside Angel so she could talk to all of them. Then, she stood up straight and put a hoof to her chest. “The name’s Cinnabar Pie. Great to finally meet little miss darkness’ pals.”

“Uh, hi,” Daybreak said.

“Howdy,” Royal Gala added.

“Cinnabar, did you actually want something?” Angel asked.

“Well, I wanted to say happy birthday!”

“Thanks,” Angel said. “Is that it?”

“Sheesh, alright, I can take a hint.” Cinnabar flapped her wings and floated into the air. “I’ll be looking around the farm if you need me.”

“I won’t.”

Cinnabar chuckled. “Love you too, squirt.” She waved, flapped her wings, and shot off into the sky.

“Ugh.” Angel went and sat in the corner with a deep frown etched into her face. The others followed and sat nearby.

“You okay?” Daybreak asked.

“I’m fine,” Angel said curtly. She paused for a moment, then mumbled “hate her” under her breath.

“She didn’t seem all that bad,” Royal Gala said. “What’s got your gizzards in a twist?”

“You don’t know her,” Angel said. “You don’t know what it’s like to have her be the only other kid at family stuff like this.”

“I guess I don’t,” Royal Gala admitted.

“Do you want us to help?” Daybreak asked.

“I don’t see how you could.”

“C’mon, that’s silly,” Daybreak said. “You can’t tell me you’ve never thought about getting her back. Now you’ve got two friends and a magic bottle. There must be something we can do.”

“I…” Angel looked down at her hooves for a moment. Slowly, her frown started turning into a grin. “Yeah, okay. Let me think of something.”

Comments

[Lore Horse]

Oh look, I see another dumb idea coming on. It's like when Angel, Royal gala, and Daybreak get together their intelligence seems to go out the window.

[prism heart]

10195284
Let's be honest here, they are the CMC version 2.0.

[RandomGuy101]

10195327
Ain't that the truth.

[Leafdoggy]

10195327
I gotta say, this comment really made my day. I mean, I'm sure it's fairly obvious where I got the inspiration for a trio of childhood friends from, but having them compared to the CMC positively is, like... Very flattering!

[Late-enthralled-shipper]

Not gonna lie, forgot about Spitfire and Marble. The flames made me think Maud and Celly, and I was so confused why RG wouldn't know her cousin, then my mind leapt to Spitfire, and I feel dumb.