Acts of Love

by Krickis

14 – The Little Princess

Chapter Fourteen
The Little Princess

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It was lonely in the throne room all by herself. The others were coming, but Morning had gone ahead to wait for them. She was regretting that decision.

She looked over the room, from the stained glass windows – several of which showed pictures of her new parents – to the red carpet covering the floor, to the thrones themselves.

There were two, one for Princess Celestia and one for Princess Luna. Morning walked up to them to get a better view. It was easy to tell them apart – one had a sun on top of it, the other had a moon. They looked comfortable. A much better place to wait for the others than just standing around.

They wouldn’t mind, right? Morning gingerly walked over to the Solar Throne and climbed on top of it. It was just as comfortable as it looked. She surveyed the throne room, and for a moment, she felt powerful.

But then somepony came into the room, and not one of the ponies she was waiting for. No, it was a royal guard, and he seemed to be in a hurry.

He bowed before her. “Princess, we need your help immediately.”

“What?” Morning looked around. There was no one he could be talking to except for her. “You need my help?”

“Yes, Princess.” He lifted his head and frowned. “Changelings are attacking the city. You need to know what to do.”

“But what about the princesses?”

“You are one of the princesses!”

“Oh.” That was true. Twilight had told her that.

“What are your orders, Princess?”

It was hard to tell how long Morning stared at the guard, but eventually she answered. “Uhm, we should fight them.”

“Yes, Princess.” He stood up. “We’ll ready the troops at once. Come with me.”

Morning didn’t want to go with him, she wanted to hide. But she was a princess, and that meant she had to face danger head-on. So with her head bowed, she followed the guard.

“Princess, behind you!”

Morning spun around to see a changeling lunging for her. She screamed and ran. She ran as fast and as far as she could, forgetting about the guard. She didn’t know where she was going, all she knew was that she couldn’t stop, that no matter what happened, she just couldn’t stop running.

Down this corridor. Around that corner. No, not that room, into this other one.

Morning ran.

Then she stopped. She had breached the doors of the castle and was staring at the city outside. In the streets, changelings were fighting ponies, and the ponies were losing.

This was happening because Morning had ordered this. She had told ponies to fight, and she had been wrong. She watched in horror as the changelings fought and killed the ponies, and she couldn’t do anything about it.

It was all her fault.

---

“Morning? It’s time to wake up, sweetie.”

Morning stirred awake and looked up to find Fluttershy smiling at her. They were on the train from Canterlot to Ponyville, and Morning was sitting between Twilight and Fluttershy. She had chosen to take a nap since they’d had to leave early to catch their train.

She regretted that choice. When she closed her eyes, she still saw Canterlot under siege from changelings.

But she wouldn’t say anything. Good fillies didn’t complain about stupid dreams. She was a big filly, too big to be afraid of things like nightmares.

Besides, it was over now. The train was pulling into the station, and soon they’d be back at the castle.

Morning frowned. She wasn’t really looking forward to being back in a castle, even if it was their castle. In a way, she almost wished she was back at Small Steps. Not that she ever wanted to go back there, not really. But at least it wasn’t a castle…

“You’re awfully quiet.” Twilight poked Morning’s shoulder. “You’re not still half asleep, are you?”

“No, I’m awake,” Morning said.

Fluttershy giggled. “Don’t listen to her. Twily never wakes up quickly.”

“Which is what makes me the expert.” Twilight stuck out her chest proudly, which got a smile out of Morning. Even if she was an alicorn, it was easy to forget that Twilight was a princess. The same went for Fluttershy and Sunset, too. That helped Morning feel better, at least a little.

The train doors opened up, and even though they were in a private room, they could hear ponies shuffling about. That was their cue to get up and gather their things.

Since Sunset had stayed back in Canterlot to do something – Morning wasn’t sure what – it was just the three of them returning. That meant they didn’t have much luggage to carry; most of what they’d brought with them to Canterlot had been Sunset’s, since she always wore clothes for whatever reason.

With limited luggage for their return trip, Twilight carried most of their bags in her magic. Morning only had to carry one small bag, which was just a few toys, stuffed animals, and a book that she had brought.

Fluttershy opened the door, and then she extended a wing over Morning. After the incident with the reporters, she always made sure to hold onto Morning when they were going into a crowd. Morning kind of liked it, since it gave her a way to hide from everypony around her.

Even so, Fluttershy leaned in to remind her, “Stay close.”

Morning nodded and pressed up against Fluttershy as they walked.

There were some ponies out and about, as was expected, but no one seemed to be there for them specifically. They were able to make their way through the town to get to the castle easily.

Twilight and Fluttershy greeted ponies along the way. Morning mostly just ignored it. Once in a while, somepony would say something to her and she’d offer a quick ‘hello’, but generally she was quiet as they walked.

At least, she was quiet until a familiar voice spoke up. “Morning! Hi, Morning!”

Morning turned to see Pumpkin Cake running up to them. She blushed a little, embarrassed to be under Fluttershy’s wing around the older filly. “Hi, Pumpkin.”

“Hey, Morning,” Pound said before his sister could speak. He walked up far more calmly and kept pace with them. “How was Canterlot?”

“It was good,” Morning said. She didn’t let on that she was glad to be back in Ponyville. She couldn’t say that after everyone had gone out of their way to be nice to her in Canterlot.

“Did you really get to meet the princesses!?” Pumpkin asked.

Morning frowned, unsure of how to answer. Thankfully, Pound answered for her. “You know her moms are princesses.”

Fluttershy giggled. “Yes, we met with the other princesses.”

“You know, you two have met them before too,” Twilight pointed out.

“Yeah, they’re so cool!” Pumpkin stood up on her hindlegs and reached her forelegs into the air. “Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are so big!”

“Yeah, they are,” Morning said. “When did you two meet them?”

“At the weddings!” Pumpkin said.

“Remember?” Fluttershy must have decided it was safe, because she pulled her wing back so that Morning wasn’t hidden under it. “Pound and Pumpkin were the token bearer and flower girl at our weddings.”

“Oh yeah.” It was a little weird to think that her friends knew her parents before she did.

Morning blinked, unsure whether she was more surprised at the fact that she’d just thought of Pound and Pumpkin as friends or that she thought of Twilight, Fluttershy, and Sunset as her parents.

She didn’t voice these developments, of course. Instead she just asked, “So what have you two been doing?”

“Just school,” Pumpkin grumbled. “Oh, but maybe we can do something fun now that you’re here! We could explore the castle some more, or you could come to our house, or –”

“I think we need to get settled in at home first,” Fluttershy said with a smile. “We had a long day today, and Morning might be too tired to play. Maybe tomorrow.”

“We’re glad that you want to play together though!” Twilight said brightly. “If Morning wants to play once we’re all settled in, we’ll come get you.”

“Okay. We’ll see you later, Morning!” Pumpkin said with a wave.

“Yeah, bye,” Pound said, then he and his sister ran off as Morning waved to them.

“They’re good foals,” Twilight said. Morning wasn’t sure whether the comment was meant for her or for Fluttershy.

Either way, it was Fluttershy that answered. “Yeah, they are. I’m glad you all get along.”

That one was meant for Morning, but she wasn’t sure exactly what to say, so she just nodded. That seemed to be enough though, as they didn’t press for a more wordy reply.

Before too long, the castle came into view. Morning frowned when she saw it. The first time she’d seen it, it had been full of wonder. A possibility at a new life that was beyond anything she could have hoped for. Then she grew more familiar with it, and it stopped feeling like a castle at all. It was just the place where she lived, with the nice ponies that she lived with.

Now it felt like a castle again, and not in a wondrous way. It was the place that she belonged, because she was a princess now, and princesses were supposed to live in castles.

She turned to the others. She wanted to ask them about what they had felt when they had first become princesses. She couldn’t find the words, though. She turned her eyes back to the ground.

“Home sweet home,” Twilight said. Even though she was already levitating their luggage, she still used her magic to open the door to the castle. She waited for the others to enter, then followed inside herself.

Once they were through the doors, Twilight set down the bags she was carrying and called out, “Anyone home?”

Moments later, Spike’s door opened. He stretched and yawned as he walked downstairs. “Welcome home.”

“Spike, were you asleep?” Twilight frowned. “It’s the middle of the day.”

Spike shrugged. “It was just a little nap…”

Twilight sighed, then shook her head. “What am I going to do with you?”

Spike grinned as he grabbed two suitcases. “Nothing, unless you don’t want dinner tonight.”

Twilight grinned back. “You’re not the only one here who cooks anymore.”

“True, but I cook the best.”

Fluttershy pouted. “Aww, I thought you liked my cooking.”

That caught Spike off guard. “Er, I didn’t mean that! Of course I like your cooking!”

Fluttershy giggled. “I know, I’m just teasing.”

“Sunset’s rubbing off on you, Fluttershy.” Spike shook his head. “I always knew she was a bad influence.”

“Yeah, on you especially.” Twilight poked Spike in the stomach. “Come on, let’s get these bags upstairs.”

Morning followed the others up the stairs, carrying her one bag. They stopped to drop most of the luggage off in her parents’ room, then Morning dropped her bag off in her own room. There wasn’t any sign of anyone else.

“Are Mom and Dad around?” Twilight asked.

“No, they went to a matinée with some friends.”

Twilight nodded. “I’m glad they’re getting out of the house.”

“How are you feeling, Morning?” Fluttershy asked. “I know you had a little nap on the train, but are you still tired? You can take a nap for a bit if you want.”

Morning was kind of tired, but she thought back to the dream she’d had on the train. She didn’t want to have another dream like that. “No, I’m not tired.”

“We’ve got a pretty boring day, I’m afraid,” Twilight said. “I have to catch up on everything I missed while we were in Canterlot, and Fluttershy has to meet with Applejack to make sure everything went well with the animals.”

“You could come with me if you want,” Fluttershy said. “We’re not actually visiting the animals, but you could come see Sweet Apple Acres.”

Morning had been to Sweet Apple Acres once before, and it had been pretty interesting. Another trip didn’t sound bad, but to be honest, Morning kind of wanted to get away from castles and princesses, no matter how much she liked spending time with those princesses.

“Uhm, maybe I could go see the Cakes?”

“You’re sure you’re not too tired for that?” Twilight asked. “You don’t want to fall asleep in the middle of playing with your friends.”

“I’m not tired!” Morning was a big filly, she could stay awake all day if she wanted to.

“Well, okay then. We can go get them and invite them to the castle.”

“No!” Morning answered quickly, then looked away when Twilight frowned at her. She kicked at the ground and thought quickly. “I, uhm, I wanted to play outside.”

“Outside? That might be hard right now.” Twilight placed a hoof on Morning’s shoulder. “Fluttershy and I have work, remember? And so do Pound and Pumpkin’s parents, I’m sure. There wouldn’t be anyone to watch you.”

“That’s okay!” Morning stood as tall as she could. “We’ll be safe.”

Fluttershy walked closer and smiled. “Such a brave filly. But Twilight and I aren’t so brave, we’d be worried sick that something might happen to you three.”

“Oh.” Morning deflated. “Okay.”

Twilight and Fluttershy looked at one another, then Fluttershy said, “Do you think maybe Spike wouldn’t mind watching them?”

“Suppose we could ask.” Twilight smiled. “Come on, Morning, let’s go find Spike.”

There was something to be said about living with so many others, at least. They didn’t have to go far to find Spike, as he was just in his room. Twilight knocked on the door and he opened with a yawn.

Twilight frowned. “Spike, you weren’t sleeping again were you?”

Spike grinned. “No, I was just thinking about going back to sleep.”

Twilight groaned and looked at Morning. “Don’t ever become a teenager.”

Spike shrugged. “Not like there’s anything going on.”

“On that note, Morning has something to ask you.”

Morning turned to Twilight. She didn’t know she’d have to ask him… Twilight just nodded encouragingly, so Morning swallowed and looked up at Spike. “Uhm, can you take me and the Cakes outside to play?”

Spike ruffled Morning’s mane. “Sure. Maybe we can go to Whitetail Woods. I don’t think you’ve been there yet.”

“I thought Fluttershy said the woods were dangerous,” Morning said.

“No, that’s the Everfree Forest,” Twilight corrected. “Whitetail Woods are safe. Well, I wouldn’t want you kids playing there alone or anything, since you could still get lost, but it’s safe if you go with a grownup.”

“Oh, okay.”

“We’ll only go for a few hours before dinner.” Spike stepped out of his room and closed the door behind him. “Ready to get going?”

“Yeah!”

They said goodbye to Twilight, then left the castle with Fluttershy. She didn’t stay with them for long, though; once they got to a fork in the road, Fluttershy went one way, heading to Sweet Apple Acres, and Morning and Spike went the other way, towards Sugarcube Corner.

“Guess you’ve been cooped up while you were in Canterlot,” Spike said as they walked.

“We spent most of the time in the castle, and when we went out, we just took carriages everywhere.”

“Yeah, that’s Canterlot.” Spike stretched. “I like Ponyville, it’s nice to walk from place to place.”

“Yeah, Ponyville is much better,” Morning agreed.

They talked about Canterlot and Ponyville as they walked, which was nice. Morning felt a little more at ease around Spike, probably because he wasn’t a princess.

That’s why she wanted to spend the day with the Cakes, after all. They were just regular ponies, and they didn’t expect her to be a princess or anything. Did they even realize she was a princess? Morning hoped they didn’t.

She wasn’t about to ask them, in any event. When they walked into Sugarcube Corner, the Cake twins were sitting near the counter talking to Pinkie, who waved frantically at Morning and Spike.

The Cakes turned to see them as well, and Pumpkin ran up to them. “Hi, Morning! Hi, Spike!”

“Hello,” Morning said. “Uhm, do you want to go to Whitetail Woods with us?”

“Oh, we’re not allowed to play in the woods…” Pumpkin said.

“Let me talk to your parents,” Spike said. “Maybe they’ll let you if I’m there to watch you.”

“Okay, follow me!” Pumpkin ran into the building with Spike following behind.

Morning started to follow, but Pinkie called to her. “Yoohoo! Morning, come over here! I’ll get you something tasty to snack on.”

“You said we couldn’t have anything,” Pound Cake said with a slight frown.

“Because you already got a snack earlier, silly!” Pinkie ducked under the counter and pulled out a cupcake, which she gave to Morning. “Besides, Morning is a guest.”

“Uhm, you can have part of it,” Morning said, not wanting to get any special treatment. She broke it into pieces and gave one to Pound Cake.

“Well, sharing is important…” Pinkie tapped her hoof against her mouth in contemplation, then smiled. “I guess you can have some, but that’s it for sweet snacks today!”

The two foals happily ate the cupcake while they waited for the others to come back. Morning felt guilty when she realized they didn’t save any for Pumpkin, but by the time she returned, they had eaten all the evidence.

Pumpkin and Spike came back at the same time, though predictably, Pumpkin came back at a gallop while Spike only walked. “Mom and Dad said we can go!” Pumpkin told them.

“Aww, I wish I could go with you,” Pinkie said, though she didn’t look too disappointed. “Somepony’s gotta keep all these ponies fed though!”

“You can come next time,” Pound Cake said as he stood up.

“Here,” Pinkie pulled out another cupcake and gave it to Spike. “Share some of that with Pumpkin. She didn’t get any while these two horked one down.”

Spike laughed and broke off a piece for Pumpkin. “You got it, Pinkie.”

Even though she wasn’t that much older than Morning, Pumpkin was able to levitate the small piece of cupcake so she could eat it as they walked. Morning frowned and made a mental note to hide her own struggles with magic.

They left Sugarcube Corner, then slowly made their way out of Ponyville altogether. The three foals tried to run, but Spike reminded them not to get too far ahead, so they had to keep pace with him.

“Have you ever been to Whitetail Woods?” Pound asked as they walked.

Morning shook her head. “No. Have you?”

“Yup!” Pumpkin jumped on a fallen leaf, making it crunch under her hooves. “Every fall, we do the running of the leaves with our parents!”

“The running of the leaves?” Morning cocked her head to the side.

“It’s a local tradition,” Spike explained. “Twilight does it every year. I’m sure she’d be happy to do it with you if you want.”

“Fluttershy and Sunset don’t do it?” Morning asked.

“Sometimes they do.” Spike snickered. “I heard Twilight saying Sunset needs to get out and do stuff like that more often. She’s getting a bit chubby these days. Not that Twilight is one to talk, but you know.”

“It’s so weird that you call them by their names,” Pumpkin said. “But I guess calling them all ‘Mom’ would be confusing.”

“Yeah…” Ponies kept bringing that up, and Morning didn’t know what she thought about it. “They never asked me to call them anything else.”

“They don’t want to push anything on you,” Spike said. “It’s up to you what you want to call them, just like everyone else in the family.”

“Family is weird…” Morning frowned at the ground.

“Your family is,” Pound said. “Our family is easy.”

“Except Pinkie,” Pumpkin said. “She’s kind of like our aunt or our cousin or… I don’t really know.”

“Yeah, except Pinkie,” Pound agreed.

Spike shrugged. “Family is what you make of it. I’ve never lived with Pinkie, but she’s like family to me too, you know? Pinkie, Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity… they’re all family to me now.”

“So wait, are we family then?” Pumpkin asked Spike.

Spike laughed. “Well… family is weird. Pinkie may be family to me, but I barely know her family, so I wouldn’t call them my family.”

“Ugh, this doesn’t make any sense!” Pumpkin grumbled. Morning was glad she wasn’t the only one who was confused.

Spike just laughed. “Don’t think about it too much. Family isn’t about what you think, it’s about what you feel. If you feel like someone is part of your family, there’s no reason they can’t be.”

Pound Cake looked at Pumpkin. “So does that mean I can make Pumpkin not be my sister someday?”

“Hey!” Pumpkin rammed into Pound, causing him to take a few steps back. “I’m a great sister.”

“Yeah, great at getting on my nerves,” Pound said with a laugh.

“Aww, that’s just part of what sisters do.” Spike winked at the foals. “Trust me, I know all about that.”

“Yeah, but your sister is Princess Twilight!” Pound said. “She’s probably a much cooler sister than Pumpkin is.”

Pumpkin turned up her nose. “Well, Spike’s probably a cooler brother than Poundy is.”

Spike grinned sheepishly. “Aww, I’m sure Pound Cake’s a great brother. And sometimes Twilight and I don’t get along either.”

“But we never get along!” Pumpkin said with an exaggerated eye roll.

“You two play together all the time,” Spike pointed out. “I… don’t think I’ve ever seen either of you alone.”

Pumpkin opened her mouth to reply, but she seemed to be at a loss for words. In her place, Pound chimed in with, “Yeah, but she still smells.”

Spike and Morning snickered. The twins kept bickering, but even Morning could tell it was meaningless. The two of them actually liked each other a lot, but arguing with each other was part of how they interacted.

And true to form, they bickered all the way to the woods, to the point where they both seemed surprised when Spike announced, “Well, here we are!”

“It’s so nice here!” Morning said. “It’s like the woods in Hollow Shades.”

“Did you play in the woods a lot?” Spike asked.

Morning shook her head. “We only got to when the adults took us out, and they didn’t do it too much. Fluttershy took me once, though.”

“We can go from time to time now that you’re here if you want,” Spike said. “Whitetail Woods is nearby, and there are a lot of ponies to watch you.”

“Okay,” Morning said as she ran through the trees. She knew well enough to stay close to Spike, though.

Pound and Pumpkin were quick to follow her. “I know!” Pumpkin said. “We should play tag! It’ll be fun with all the trees around.”

“Uh, okay.” Morning had never liked tag very much, but she didn’t want to disappoint her friends.

“Great!” Pumpkin said. “Not it!”

“Not it!” Pound repeated after her.

“Huh?” Morning looked at the other two in confusion, but they just laughed and ran away. She frowned and turned to Spike.

He just shrugged, though. “Guess you should chase them!”

“Uhm, not it,” Morning said. “You’re it, Spike.”

Spike laughed at that. “Long dragon legs carry me around a lot faster than little pony legs, so it wouldn’t be fair if I played. I’ll just watch. Sorry, you’re gonna have to be it.”

Morning kicked at the ground in frustration, but she saw there was nothing she could do. So she looked around and saw where the Cake twins were waiting. They had both stayed reasonably close, but they’d run off in different directions. She could only go after one.

She made her choice and ran after Pumpkin. Immediately, the older filly started running as well. Morning ran as fast as she could, Pumpkin doing the same.

It was no good. Morning just wasn’t fast enough, and the distance between them only grew. She stopped to catch her breath, then looked around. Pound and Spike had followed them, but kept their distance.

Realizing there was no point in chasing Pumpkin anymore, Morning swivelled and ran after Pound Cake. He caught on immediately, and soon he was running as well. She gave it her all, running even faster than she had when she was chasing Pumpkin.

She put everything she had into chasing the colt down, but no matter how fast she ran, he was just faster. Morning narrowed her eyes and pushed herself even harder.

She had to catch up to him. She had to reach him, had to prove she could do it. She was supposed to be a big filly, she was supposed to be good at playing with big foals, she had to do this.

But she ran too fast. Without looking where she was going, she tripped and fell, sliding right into a bush. For a moment, she just blinked in confusion, the shock of what happened overriding any other feeling.

Once her mind caught up with what had just happened, she started sniffling as she righted herself. Her head hurt, and she was all dirty. She was caught in a bush, which meant sticks were poking her, but getting out was tricky because they were tangled up in her mane and tail.

She had to untangle herself, but first she tried to wipe the tears from her eyes. It proved to be a mistake, as she just got dirt in them instead. She wanted to cry harder, but she caught herself. She was with her friends, who were older kids. She didn’t want them to think she was a baby, so she took a few breaths to calm herself down.

That’s when she heard Pumpkin calling for her. “Morning? Where’d you go?”

She was going to call out, but she was afraid he’d be able to tell she was crying. Instead, she just worked on getting the sticks out of her hair so she could escape.

“She’s probably hiding to sneak up on you!” Pumpkin said. “Watch out!”

Morning blinked. They thought this was part of the game, and Pumpkin sounded close. As carefully as she could, Morning parted the branches to see what was going on outside of the bush.

As she had thought, Pumpkin was coming her way. Morning waited, biding her time as Pumpkin wandered a little closer. She gritted her teeth, hoping the branches didn’t hurt too much when they pulled her hair, and she lunged.

“Aaah!” Pumpkin jumped backwards, but not by enough. Morning crashed directly into her, the two fillies toppling towards the ground.

“Gotcha!” Morning decreed triumphantly. “You’re it!”

She expected Pumpkin to complain about being caught, or maybe to say something about how smart Morning was for hiding in the bush. She did not expect the older filly to start crying.

It started slow, with just a little sob, but before long she was crying openly. Morning quickly got off of her, but she didn’t get up. Instead, she just rolled onto her side and put her hoof on her head.

Morning wanted to do something, but she wasn’t sure what to do. She looked around, seeing that the others were running towards them. Pound Cake ran as close as Morning, where he stopped and stood next to her. Spike ran closer, kneeling down beside the filly.

“Are you okay? What happened?” Spike asked as he helped Pumpkin up.

Pumpkin just cried and moved her hoof carefully around her head.

“Did you hit your head?” Spike asked, to which Pumpkin nodded.

It was only a matter of time before they found out Morning was responsible. Then they’d all be mad at her, and the Cakes wouldn’t want to be her friend anymore, and Spike would tell Twilight and the others, and then they’d send her back to Small Steps because she was not a good filly.

She always messed things up. The first time she met the Cakes, getting into a fight at the orphanage, making Flurry cry in Canterlot… No matter what she did, Morning couldn’t stop being a bad filly.

It was too much. Morning started running, not sure where she was going. “Morning!” she heard Spike call after her, but she didn’t stop.

She ran around trees until she was sure that no one would be following her, then she dove into another bush. It had worked well the first time, and it was her best chance to hide out.

What was she going to do? She knew she had to face them eventually, but for right now… she just couldn’t. She needed time to think, she needed time to figure out what she would say to Spike, Twilight, Fluttershy, and Sunset.

But for now, she needed to hide. It was like her dream. She closed her eyes and imagined that she had to stay still or else the changelings would get her. If she just stayed where she was, if she just managed to keep from getting caught…

“Morning?” Spike prompted from right behind her.

Morning squeezed her eyes shut tighter. Spike didn’t know where she was, he wasn’t going to find her.

But he did. He parted the bush and gently pulled her out. She squirmed and tried to get away, but he held her tightly. “You know bushes don’t normally have tails, right?”

Morning stopped resisting and let him carry her back to the others. He held her cradled in one arm, and she blushed as she approached her friends. “Why did you run?”

“Because you’re going to be mad at me,” Morning answered.

“No one’s mad at you,” Spike said. “I saw what happened. It was just an accident.”

Morning frowned as Spike set her down. Pumpkin was sitting up now, but she was still sniffling. Pound Cake was sitting beside her.

Spike pushed Morning a little closer. “But accident or not, I think you need to apologize to Pumpkin.”

Morning looked down at the ground as she talked. “I’m sorry, Pumpkin. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“It’s okay,” Pumpkin said.

Morning wasn’t sure what to do next, so she just kept staring at the ground. Which meant it came as a surprise when Pumpkin wrapped her forelegs around her.

She looked first to Spike, who was smiling at her, then realized she was probably expected to hug Pumpkin back. She used one foreleg to hug the other filly, then asked, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I just bumped my head.” Pumpkin pulled away from Morning and sat down again.

“Pumpkin’s head is as hard as a rock anyway,” Pound said, nudging his sister.

“Yeah right!” Pumpkin pushed him back. “If you hit your head, you wouldn’t even feel it!”

Both of the Cakes laughed, and Morning smiled. She was glad she wasn’t in trouble, but even more, she was glad her friend wasn’t too hurt.

“How about we just take a nice walk before heading back?” Spike said. “I think that’s enough playing for one day.”

The Cakes groaned, apparently not interested in taking a quiet walk, but Morning didn’t mind. She liked being out in the woods, and was happy to see more of it. Plus if they weren’t playing, she wouldn’t have to worry about meeting anyone’s expectations.

Spike led the way, and all three foals fell into step alongside him. He would occasionally pause to show them a cool tree, flower, or bug, which he said he learned a little about from Twilight. Morning wished he knew more; she’d ask him about different plants that she thought were cool, but most of the time she was lucky if he even knew their names.

Despite their earlier groans, the Cakes seemed to enjoy the walk as much as Morning did. It was a nice day, and by the time Spike said it was time to head back, Morning joined in with the groaning.

“Sorry, but we don’t want to be in the woods when it’s dark.”

“Do scary monsters come out at night?” Pumpkin asked.

Morning shivered. “Or changelings?”

Spike laughed. “No, it’s just hard to tell where you’re going and we might get lost. There aren’t any monsters or changelings in Whitetail Woods.”

“Those are in Everfree,” Pound Cake said knowingly.

“Well… there aren’t exactly monsters in Everfree,” Spike said. “And there aren’t any changelings there. But there are dangerous animals in there, so you kids should stay away. Even grown-up ponies stay out of Everfree.”

“Not Princess Twilight and her friends,” Pumpkin pointed out.

Spike scratched at his spines awkwardly. “Well, it is true we sometimes have to go into Everfree, but we make sure we’re safe when we do. Plus we have Fluttershy, and she understands all the animals and knows what to do with them.”

“That’s so cool!” Pumpkin said.

Morning wasn’t sure it was so cool. She didn’t like the idea of her parents doing anything dangerous like that. She didn’t say anything, though; she didn’t want the others to think she was a scaredy-cat.

They talked about how the Element Bearers had to go into Everfree on official business to save Equestria. Morning didn’t contribute much to the conversation, spending her time instead hoping that they’d never have to do anything like that again.

It didn’t take too long to get out of the woods, at least. Their first stop was to drop the Cakes off at Sugarcube Corner. It was closed for the night, but Spike ignored that and opened the door to bring them inside.

“Welcome back,” Mrs. Cake said as they walked in. “Oh my, you two are filthy! You’re both going to have to take a bath before dinner.”

Pound Cake groaned, but Pumpkin didn’t seem to mind. “I’ll go first!” she said, before running off into the back of the building.

“So did you have fun?” Mrs. Cake asked.

“Yeah, we played tag,” Pound said.

“There was a little accident,” Spike said, causing Morning to tense up. “Morning got a little too excited and knocked Pumpkin down, and she bumped her head.”

“Well, she seems okay now,” Mrs. Cake said with a smile. “I’ll check on her after her bath.”

Morning blinked, surprised that she wasn’t in trouble. She didn’t question it, however.

“Do you and Morning want to stay for dinner?” Mrs. Cake asked.

Spike smiled. “That sounds great, but Twilight and the others are expecting us to come home for dinner. Thank you, though.”

“Well, don’t be a stranger! You’re welcome any time, you know.”

Spike thanked Mrs. Cake again, then nudged Morning who caught on and did the same. She said goodbye to Pound Cake, then they left the sweet shop.

Along the way back, Morning kept thinking about Everfree and her parents. Spike seemed to notice, as he turned to her as they walked. “You’re awfully quiet. Something on your mind?”

Morning looked up at him, then back down to the ground. “Do… Do Twilight, Fluttershy, and Sunset do dangerous things a lot?”

“Not that much these days,” Spike said with a shrug. “It used to feel like there was something going on every week, but lately all our adventures have been quiet ones.”

Morning scrunched up her face. “What’s a quiet adventure?”

“You know, like adopting a foal.”

“Oh.”

They walked quietly for a little while before another question popped into Morning’s mind. “Uhm, you’re adopted too, right?”

Spike chuckled. “What gave me away?”

“So is Twilight adopted?”

“No, Twilight and Shining aren’t adopted. When I was just an egg, Twilight hatched me as part of her entrance exam into Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. Then I guess they didn’t really know what to do with me, because my parents – Night Light and Twilight Velvet – adopted me.”

“So you were just a baby when you got adopted,” Morning said.

“That’s right. But as far back as I can remember, that hasn’t mattered one bit. My family – our family never treated me any different for being adopted. Just like it doesn’t matter where you come from.”

“We really do have a weird family, don’t we?” Morning blushed a little. It was the first time she had called them family out loud.

“Even more than that! Fluttershy and Rainbow adopted each other as sisters when they were fillies, I don’t even know the story behind that. And then there’s Sunset and Celestia. She won’t say it, but you can tell Sunset thinks of Celestia as her mom.”

“Wait, really? I thought she had a mom.”

“She does, but her mom didn’t take very good care of her, and Celestia did. So you see, none of your parents ever cared about being related by blood. And… that’s what makes our family so great!”

Morning nodded. She was still new to family, but she thought she agreed. As long as they didn’t go run off and get themselves hurt or anything. “Okay, but they’re not allowed to go into Everfree anymore!”

Spike laughed. “I’ll be sure to let them know.”

When they reached the castle, Morning felt a little apprehensive again. It was just so big, and the ponies that lived inside were princesses.

But… they were also family. They were her moms, and they were going to take care of her. That thought made the castle just a little less daunting.

Morning followed Spike inside, ready to tell her moms about the fun day she’d had with her friends.

Comments

[JMP]

A lot of little but important steps in this chapter. I really like that Morning is starting to consider herself part of the family and that she considers the Cake twins friends. Actual friends, not just another kid she tolerates. Still...Morning really needs to actually talk to her parents or anyone else in her family about what's on her mind. Her anxiety over being a princess, her constant fear of being sent back...

[Kessie_amarra]

Cute chapter! Morning is so adorable.
Thanks for the chapter!

[TheOneAJ]

I’m wondering, have you heard of Masking? This is a rather great representation of the struggles people in the spectrum go through when they mask to fit in >.> :)

[Krickis]

10573749
Little by little she's making progress. Still a ways to go, but we're starting to get somewhere here!

10573819
I'm glad you think so, Morning is a character I really wanted people to like

10573995
You know, I didn't actually intend to make Morning autistic, but autistic people keep telling me they relate to her lmao. It makes sense, considering I'm autistic and have spent the majority of my life masking, so like my experiences just wound up leaking into the character. I keep joking that Morning can have a little autism, as a treat.

[Lug13]

10573574
Nah, you give us plenty of reasons for optimism. Sunset's in a really healthy place and has seemingly cut the toxic people out of her life, Scootaloo and Amber Glow appear to be making progress on their transition, Luna's doing well.

Honestly? I expected a bunch of legalistic pushback from various hate groups regarding a poly trio adopting. The fact that this hasn't really happened suggests that even Equestrian is improving marginally.

You've given me plenty of room for optimism, and the fact that it was so hard-won makes it all the sweeter.

[Krickis]

10574225

I expected a bunch of legalistic pushback from various hate groups regarding a poly trio adopting.

Years ago when I was first planning this fic, that was what was going to happen. But man, I got burnt out with all the hate stuff and no longer feel like writing it lmao. The in-universe explanation for why this was so easy for them is basically "are you going to tell the god damn Princesses of Friendship and Kindness that they can't adopt a foal???"

And yeah, the drama's toning down lately because this phase of the story is coming to an end. Not sure if you saw me talking about it in any of the blogs or comments I've mentioned this, but WWB is a three phase story, and everything so far has been Phase One. But after Acts of Love and a short humanshy story called Coda, there are only one or two more long stories (I have to plan it out and decide if it works better as one or two fics) in Phase One, so all the ongoing drama is wrapping up so the Phase Two drama can take over in a few stories (which will be more adventurey in nature). So yeah, not that there won't be drama here and there, but largely for the rest of Phase One I'm wrapping up ongoing plot points, so optimism is pretty valid at this point in the story.

[Pony raider]

Well that was a surprisingly drama free chapter, except for morning getting stressed out about being a princess herself, it was cute how she wanted to play with pumpkin and pound cake it seems like she's really seeing them as friends, plus it was nice to see a chapter where she got some time with spike. Also it seem she is truly seeing twilight, fluttershy and sunset as her moms, although i'm a little curious as to the errand sunset stayed behind in canterlot for. Maybe we'll read about it later. Great chapter looking forward to more.

[Krickis]

10574343
Hehe I thought to myself if anyone pointed out the Sunset errand it would be you We'll actually check in with her and what she's doing in Canterlot next chapter, I promise something good for it! And yeah, Morning's finally settling into her new life with her new family and friends!

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

“They’re good foals,” Twilight said. Morning wasn’t sure whether the comment was meant for her or for Fluttershy.

They sure are.

Spike just laughed. “Don’t think about it too much. Family isn’t about what you think, it’s about what you feel. If you feel like someone is part of your family, there’s no reason they can’t be.”

Exactly.

“Aww, that’s just part of what sisters do.” Spike winked at the foals. “Trust me, I know all about that.”

Same here.

She expected Pumpkin to complain about being caught, or maybe to say something about how smart Morning was for hiding in the bush. She did not expect the older filly to start crying.

God damn it Morning.

Morning nodded. She was still new to family, but she thought she agreed. As long as they didn’t go run off and get themselves hurt or anything. “Okay, but they’re not allowed to go into Everfree anymore!”

That'll definitely be a tough one Morning.

[RoboRed]

That was adorable.

Morning still has that issue with keeping things hidden but she seems to be improving a bit in her interactions with other ponies.