The Royal Fillies REDUX

by blazikenking

Difficulties

Dear diary,

I have mixed feelings about school. Language arts and math are very easy for me, and I've been helping my classmates understand and learn the stuff, though I have to hold back some frustration from time to time. No matter how often or how well I explained things, I can't understand it for them.

That quip once got me sent to the principal's office after the filly ran from the room in tears. Word problems were clearly not her friend.

Social studies and history are very interesting for me, which makes me stand out since most of my classmates get really bored in those classes. I even find myself tapping out tunes on occasion in history, though I haven't found any words.

The classes I really don't like are general fitness, flight, and magic. My hooves start getting tangled up at anything faster than a light trot, and it's even worse when we play hoofball. The less said about the incident with the stairs, the better. As for flight and magic. . . I'm at the bottom of those classes. I keep on forgetting that I have wings and a horn. The teachers stopped shaving points off my grades in those classes when it became clear that the teasing I got for it was worse. The only thing keeping me from outright failing them is my high understanding of the mechanics and magic underneath them, and the effort I put in when I do remember I have wings and a horn. If I pass those, it's going to be by a slim margin.

It's rare that I have homework since I do it all in the library during recess or while waiting for my next class to start. I don't know why I do it that way, but I'm the only foal in my year that does. It does give me more free time at home, though.

---

I released the magic on the quill I used to finish writing and let it fall on the pile of the four broken ones I used before it for the entry. I'd only remembered that I had a horn when I wrote 'magic' and the results can be described as legible, with a bit of effort.

With an exhausted sigh, I left the open diary on the dining table and went to the kitchen for some water. It took a lot of effort for me to do the little bit of levitation that I could manage. Writing by mouth was still faster and cleaner for me.

While I was getting a glass, I couldn't help but look at it. More specifically, how I was holding it with the bottom of one hoof. I understood the basic principles behind the magic of it, but something about it was still fascinating.

Mom was reading my entry by the time I drank my water and put the glass in its place. "I can tell where you remembered your horn."

"Yep." There was no denying the difference in my writing or my brief glance upwards.

"And where you broke the quills."

"Yep." The four ink splotches and my writing around them were impossible to miss.

She set the diary down. "I'm sure you're improving. You aren't writing in here enough for me to tell, though."

"I just don't have much to write about. I go to school, do school stuff, and come home."

"Have you made any friends?"

"No, not yet." I knew my classmates' names and some things about them, but I never really talked with them outside of class.

"You're in second grade and you still have no friends? Inova, a pony needs friends she can rely on. Auntie Twilight did not defeat Nightmare Moon alone."

"Yeah, I know. It's just. . ." I sat down at the table and flopped my head onto it. "Part of me always wonders if they're trying to be friends for a connection to royalty. I don't want to hear it, but I can't argue against it."

Mom flopped her head onto the table so we were looking eye to eye. "Inova, you're too young to be worrying about political motives. Where did you even get that idea?"

"I'unno, but I can't unworry about it. How did you make friends in school?"

"I talked with my classmates and worked on what we had in common, or just went out to do stuff and have fun. School isn't everything, you know."

"Yeah, but. . . That's most of what I do. Nopony wants to talk about school after school."

Mom hummed in thought for a moment. "Maybe you could see if anypony wants to go to the spa with you?"

"They'd just think 'free spa trip' and go along for that."

My answer was met with a frown. "Are you really that cynical?"

I shrugged. "I guess."

Silence reigned between us for a minute or so. "How about we go to the spa? Just us."

"What about Skyla and dad?"

"He had to take her to the castle for something important. Let's go."

I followed mom out and began the walk to the spa. It was a nice place to go to.

---

Shining Armor sat on the throne, a disapproving look on his face at the subject below him: his own daughter. "I thought you were better than this, Skyla."

She withered under his stern glare, and those of the ponies around her. "But. . . I thought it was okay!"

"You know that your mother and I explicitly told everypony in the Crystal Empire to treat you and your sister like anypony else. If these same issues were brought up for somepony else, the verdict would be the same."

"But. . . The signs all said-"

"If anypony was going around eating everything at a buffet like you do, the same thing would happen. 'All you can eat' is not a challenge. Skyla, not only are you officially banned from buffets for a year, I will also allow all restaurants in the Crystal Empire to kick you out if you let your appetite get out of control without paying appropriately."

The ravenous filly's eyes began watering up. Those watching the proceedings were less concerned about the rightfully extravagant punishment and parenting on display and more curious about how a filly that ate as much as she did remained in good shape.

He added one more thing to his decree. "And I will be sending letters about this to Princesses Celestia, Luna, and Twilight."

---

I cracked an eye open during a massage that hit a really nice spot between my wings. "Hm?"

"What is it, Inova?" Mom asked as she got a similar massage, her eyes staying closed.

"I feel a disturbance in the force, like a great pit was blocked off."

"What force are you talking about?"

The massage continued unabated, making it difficult to figure out what I'd just said, on top of not quite understanding what I'd just said. "I don't know. It felt right to say."

"You have to think more about what you say before you say it." It wasn't the first time she'd told me that. "If you don't understand what you say, how can you expect anypony else to understand it?"

"Sorry." I relaxed as the spa ponies gently cleaned my wings and straightened some feathers out. It felt great.

---

When we got home, I saw Skyla laying on the couch looking sad. "Sis?"

"It's not fair. . ." She complained. "It only happened once."

"No it didn't, and you know it," dad sternly said. "Cadence, I've banned Skyla from all the buffets for a year, and given restaurants the ability to ban her if her appetite causes problems."

"You WHAT?" Mom asked in surprise.

I picked up one of Skyla's forelegs and let it fall down. It was oddly entertaining, and even funnier the second time.

"You've seen how much she eats at the buffets," dad explained. "She was actually affecting their expenses to the point that they petitioned together for something to be done. They even brought in their financial documents to prove their claims. We should have done something sooner."

"Okay, twice," Skyla said.

"No it wasn't, and if anypony else did what you did, I'd have given the same verdict."

Mom took a calming breath. "You did the right thing. We need to work more on her appetite control. Where does she even put all that food?"

Skyla put up no resistance as I booped her snoot.

Dad changed the topic. "I smell lilac and jasmine. Did you and Inova go to the spa?"

"We did." Mom's answer somehow made Skyla deflate even more, which amused me.

Author's Note:

A short chapter this time. I wanted to add more, but nothing else came to mind.

Comments

[f0st3r21]

I know this story is primarily about Inova, but I’m growing curious about Skyla. I wonder if she could be a once-human, too given some of her strangeness.

We didn’t get there in the previous story version, but I am curious what the two sisters will do later as they grow. Something’s got to click with Inova eventually for some better flight and magic -even if she never becomes a pegasus savant or unicorn master. I think she’ll become a earth pony powerhouse.

[blazikenking]

11660870 I've got that click moment figured out. It'll just take a while to get there because I need to get more of the steps there figured out. Thankfully, some of those steps are already written, so that simplifies things a bit.

[Theresa]

I think shining is being unfair considering he and cadence should have done something about their daughter appetite as they could. The fact that that she has a larger appetite than most ponies is not her fault considering the fact the signs said all you can eat just because they never expect someone with an appetite size extra large to show doesn't make her fault. Maybe they should take her doctor to if something is wrong because appetites that large aren't common so something might be wrong without them realizing.

[woggs123]

Regarding future plans, personally I'm more curious about the human myths. The original posed that humans are major enough for there to be a local cryptid/fanfic club about us but didn't say more. If I had to guess, there's probably a reason it was a human soul They needed?

[blazikenking]

11660882 I'm not going to take the appetite thing too seriously. Just enough for character development and gags, but not much further than that.

11660919 The ways of the forces at work there are a mystery, and possibly incomprehensible. I wouldn't be surprised if an indecisive mollusk did or did not have a tentacle in it.

[Theresa]

11660998
I guess, you are the author but it still seems unfair like I said.

[Aiwhisper]

Love the rewrite so far.

[blazikenking]

11661635 Thank you. It's been fun and a challenge, sometimes at the same time.