Pip tells the story of how he and his new sister, Sunset Shimmer, became 'the best of friends' in his compelling diary entry. On the same end, Sunset Shimmer gives her own feelings in her logbook.
Pip tells the story of how he and his new sister, Sunset Shimmer, became 'the best of friends' in his compelling diary entry. On the same end, Sunset Shimmer gives her own feelings in her logbook.
A companion piece to Know Your Mare.
Will move on to an anthology of Sunset Shimmer and Pip stories as the time goes on.
How are you? I am fine. Mummy gave me this little Changeling to record my words for me. I think she called him a 'scribe'. I call him Skim. He kind of does what Luna does for me when I write those stories Queeny says will someday undermine the fabric of civilization. Fan fictions, right? Anyway, where was I? Talking to diary, yes. Thank you Skim.
It's been about a year since I was taken in by Cap'n and Queeny, and I really like it here. Except dinner... Queeny has her chefs make all kinds of 'healthy food' for me. Blah. And I don't mean healthy food like apples, I mean 'healthy' food like lettuce spat on by her so it bubbles and burns down to just healthy stuff. It doesn't taste good at all. But, it's good for me... At least that's what mummy says...
I got some big news too! Did you know, diary, that Cap'n and Queeny gave me a big sister?! It's amazing! Out of nowhere Cap'n blows this wad out during a dry streak for us all and -psh- bangs and mash, Bob's your uncle, apples and pears, I got me a sister. Really, Cap'n and I found her in this weird world filled with these 'homeans'. She looked like on of them, but Cap'n could smell it on her. The scent of magic! I don't know what Cap'n talked to her about, but after their little chitter-chatter, she came with us.
Now let me tell you... She's toppers. I always wanted a big sister, and now I got one. She's sharp as a whip and quick as a tack. Or... is it the other way around. No, that's right. Since she moved in, we've had so much fun! I even found out her favorite game of all time is hide and seek. But, if you ask me, she needs to brush up on the game. I mean, she's great at hiding; but she's not that good at looking. Sometimes it takes her half of the day to even find me. Maybe I'm that good. Anyway, I really really like her. Did you know that she's a great comedian? Evey time I go to her room, she pulls the same joke on me. It's a good one too.
I walk in, than she tells me to go back out and knock (which is what you should do in the first place if you're not a pleb). So, I go out, close her door, and knock. Then, every time, she says "the room you are trying to contact is unavailable. Please knock again later". That's a real good one if you ask me. Gets me every time. I just wish everypony else could see how great she is. She told me that she and Ms. Sparkle don't see eye to eye. Which is too bad since I think they'd make great friends.
That'll be all I've got for now, Diary. I'll have Skim tell you more next time. I'm going to go try and spend time with my big sis. BYE!
Log entry,
After nearly two years of living with those horrible hands and worthless limbs, I feel finally natural with my horn's magic writing my words. It feels like returning from vacation to your own room; the trip was nice and you gained a lot of enjoyment from it, but there is no greater enjoyment than the kind your own domain gives you. Even so, I can't say I really enjoy this knew home of mine. Then again, anything beats having to live among those filthy humans another day. Even a life with insects like these Changelings is a step up... A small step.
I would have said anything to get that Twilight out of my world, even swallowing my pride and summing up tears of 'pity' to get away. Granted, eight-hundred and so-and-so days of having to repair and be 'good' to all of those lowsome teens was more than enough punishment I think. But, it gave me time to think... Time to reflect on all of my past misdoings. And you know what? I learned something... I was aiming too short and left too many gaps in my plans. Next time, I will be more prepared.
From the promises of that twisted creature, I can be assured a great deal of help in my plans. Now I have a real army; real power; real goals and real resorces to get to those goals. When the time comes, I will make Twilight Sparkle pay for everything she did to me! I WILL HAVE REPAYMENT!
But... Before I can do any of that, I was given a stipulation... Pipsqueak. The armies, the power, the resorces; all mine... On the condition I be a 'good sister' to Pipsqueak. I was given a very tight leash. Five strikes a month is all I'm allowed before they throw me back through the portal and leave me with those humans again... Powerless. I can't go back, I burned too many bridges on my way back here. As long as I'm good to that little brat, I will soon get my hand--hooves on everything I need to exact my revenge.
All in good time. Although, if I can be very honest with you, there are a few things I will miss from that world. Namely my leather jacket. And of course the taste of hamburger... Mmm... Beef. I'll have a talk with the Crone about suplying me with leather and beef. I know it sounds sick as well as weird, but I really miss the that feel and that wonderful, mouthwatering taste... Just a little nibble is all I need. But first, I'll have to 'play' with the brat. He should be trying to come after me any minute now.
The empire of the Changeling horde had long since been a bastion dedicated to the image of horror and fear. Large, looming towers with jagged, black spikes jutting out from rooftops and side-walls. Links between builds were only made to look like inky black slides of stone that dangled black spires over the trenches between buildings. However, very recently, the Changelings were forced to build something outside of their skill range. A simple tower made of wood, stone, and binding spit. They were told to use plaster, but they didn't know what that was... The tower was made to house the 'civil quarters'. An area just for the queen's two special guests.
Inside the tower, if you didn't look out into the hell-hole around you, it looked and felt like a Canterlot home... Only with more black and less white. It was well tended to by order of the queen, making it for one of the more luxurious sites in the empire. It was in there, early in the morning, that Sunset Shimmer crawled down the stairs and picked the crust from her eyes with tugs of her magic. She walked across the main room of the tower and entered the kitchen, half awake but awake enough to know how to pour cereal. A bowl was brought to her along with a box of "Lucky Elements" by her magic's pull. Her magic pulled the box open and tilted it to it's side, guiding the cereal to pour out... But nothing came.
Sunset Shimmer opened her eyes a bit more, surprised by the lack of sound coming from her actions. She turned the box over all the way, trying to make something fall out; but nothing did except the puff of an empty cereal box. Slowly, the box started to crumple under Sunset's magical grasp, the cardboard of it cracking and bending in while Sunset started to growl lowly. "Pip..." she snarled lowly, letting the empty box fall against the kitchen floor, "If you're going to empty the box... DON'T LEAVE IT IN THE PANTRY!"
When Sunset screamed, Pip came scurrying out from the fridge behind her with a little trip in his steps. "I also drank all the orange juice! Sorry!" he yelled back to her as he escaped up the stairs and made way to his room.
Sunset Shimmer found herself in a very profitable situation. She now had all the power she needed to crush Canterlot and Celestia with it at a single order. However, the cost of keeping control over these new powers was a bit too taxing for her at times. As per her agreement with Chrysalis, she had to be a "good sister to Pip". A simple task, really. But Sunset Shimmer was not well known for being a 'ponies-pony'. Still, she mustered what she could whenever the time arose... As little or embarrassing as it may be.
"Now Pip, let me explain how this game works," Sunset sat across from Pip on the floor of her private bed chamber, "I say a word, then you say a word starting with the last letter of the word I said. Got that?"
Pip eagerly nodded, his little hooves clapping against the floor with excitement. Finally, he was in Sunset's room and playing a game with her. He didn't care if he had no idea how this game worked or not. "Let's get started..." Sunset Shimmer thought for a second; an easy word, but not too simple, "Element."
"Toys!" The game was afoot!
"Servitude."
"Dinghy."
"Servitude ends with an 'E', Pip..."
"Whoops!" Pip put his front hooves against his mouth, a little ashamed by his mistake.
When Sunset looked at Pip, it took a grand moment... But she started to smile with a sided degree of smug. "Well... I think we'll let that one go this time. So it's my turn again?"
Pip put his hooves down and smiled back with a gleeful nod to his big sister. "Yield."
"Discord!" The game was back on!
"Defeat."
"Toppers."
"I'm not sure that's a real word, but alright... Stealth."
"Ends with a "T" "H"... Home."
"Ego."
"Opossum."
The game came to a quick halt. Their eyes looked into one another, judging the other. Before long, Sunset started clapping her hooves together, her smug smile turning to compassion. "...Well played..."
Discord... Lord of all chaos. The world is nothing more then clay in his claw waiting to be molded as he wished it. At a single thought he could bring the dead to life, rot the flesh from the living, even make pizza fat-free. The heavens BOW to his magic; logic KNEELS before him! There exists no force in all the world that can hope to rival his almighty powers. Truly, he is--
"Father! Will you shut up and listen to me already!?" Sunset Shimmer stamped her hoof against the floor.
Discord, master of chaos, slumped on himself and drifted over to looking at Sunset closer. "Yes, darling? What can daddy do for you?" He baby talked her, knowing she hated it as much as her mother did.
"I'd like you to give me five seconds of your time or two bits of attention so I can talk to you, for starters," the little pony snarled at the embodiment of evil, making him cringe with slight fear.
"Alright, alright. Daddy's listening..." His long tail slithered out behind Sunset Shimmer and picked her up, letting her stand on the side of his tail so he could bring her up to face him, "What do you want? A toy? Make-up? A dancing clown?"
"No, no, and I already have one. I call it 'father'," a mane flip from Sunset Shimmer showed Discord he had just been snapped, "What I want... Is the Crystal Mirror."
"The mirror in the Crystal Kingdom? Hah! Even I can't get that. That thing has so many wards, enchantments, and whatever else you can think of stopping me from--" Discord was cut off by the most horrible, ear scratching sound the living mind you fathom.
Sunset Shimmer kept emitting the horrible sound from her pulsating horn, not letting Discord have a second's peace. "ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT! I'll get you the mirror, you brat!"
Suddenly, the sound stopped and Discord felt a little butterfly kiss against his nose followed by four hooves clapping against the floor. "Thank you, daddy."
...Things were much simpler when he only had a son...
Queen Chrysalis was known through out Equestria as a cold, sadistic sadist of a ruler. Within her kingdom she was known as a mighty, firm, and omnipresent empress. It didn't matter where you went; her name brought an image of fear or respect. Or, respect brought on by fear. The idea that was accepted among anyone that knew her name was that she was far from gentle and her name was void of kind. That is why when the guards view Pipsqueak, decreed prince, enter the chamber of their queen, they feared for his life...
"Queeny?" Pip eyed around the large chamber decorated with emerald tapestries and glass-windows, "Queeny? I wanted to talk with ya'." He kept calling through the room, looking all about but not seeing the queen.
The guards outside told him that Chrysalis had not left her chamber; so where could she have gone? Not on her bed. Not in front of her mirror. Not on her balcony. Where? Pip pondered on the thought for some time before his eyes drifted up, looking up into the dark, high ceiling. When he did, he saw Chrysalis curled up against one corner of the ceiling with a hungry, eyeing look set on Pip. When Pip opened his mouth to say something, he screamed as Chrysalis pounced from the corner and and caught the little colt into her mouth.
The scream, however, quickly grew into a fit of laughter as Chrysalis played her muzzle against Pipsqueak's belly and tossed him around a bit with shakes of her head. "M-Mommy! Mommy! That ti-tickles!" Pipsqueak howled in joy as his mother played at him more.
Quickly, Chrysalis knelt down and let Pip roll back out onto the floor; only for her to nudge her snout at him and snicker herself. "How is mama's little larva?" She baby talked the little colt.
"I'm great, mum. But... I wanted to tell ya' somethin' importan'." Chrysalis leaned closer to Pip, offering an ear to him... To which Pip clamped his mouth onto and tugged on it playfully, "I love you~~!"
Chrysalis now screamed and threw her head back, laughing as she tossed Pipsqueak onto her back. The two nuzzled necks to the other and smiled. The tyrant finally had a 'king'...
Was there ever a game you just hated? A game that when you looked at it or had to think about it, it just sent you up a wall? Some would say everyone has a game like that. Hide and Seek, Tag, rock-paper-scissors, you name it. There's always some game that one person just absolutely can't stand. For Sunset Shimmer, that game just so happened to be Pipsqueak's favorite.
"Ready, Shim?" Pip quivered with excitement, his tail wagging and flapping against the ground while he waited.
Simple Sunset Shimmer nodded, thus starting the game of champions. As always, Pipsqueak made his first move. "You, Sunset Shimmer... Are as cute as a bootie."
"Ugh... Alright. You, Pipsqueak... are really good at hoof painting..."
"Good one! Hmmm... You're a great dancer."
"You're... good at... reaching the bottom shelf."
"I am! You're good at this! So, uh... You give the best hugs."
"You have... a... talent for... seeing well."
"Wow! I do? This one will beat you for sure. You're the best mage in Equestria!"
"I'll agree with that easily. So, I'll say you have an excellent skill in winning people over."
"Cap'n says the same thing! So--" Pip just kept talking, but Sunset Shimmer felt her mind drifting to anywhere else... She hated this game so, so, so much... No one ever wins!
The time-tested challenge between all families... A war of age, personality, and philosophy... A war that is waged to this day, and as early as the dawn of life... Though the arms of war have changed, the matter at hand has always been the same. This is the battle of interest. The battle of time. The battle... of entertainment.
"But Sunset!" Pipsqueak pouted with his hooves thrashing about in the air as he whined.
"No buts! It was father's choice of movie last time, and I know you swayed his opinion in your favor. That's why I'm not letting you pick this time," Sunset explained her logic to her little brother.
"B-But... You always pick something so--"
"Don't you dare say it! There is nothing wrong with the classics..." Sunset Shimmer lifted up a DVD from a nearby counter and showed it to Pipsqueak, "See? This movie was all the rage on the other side."
Pip took one look at the movie before going pale and trying to make a break for the door. However, his hooves were quickly ripped off from the ground along with the rest of his body when a green-ish aura enveloped him. Against his will, Pip was plopped against the couch and had astral chains bind him to the couch, tears in his eyes. His sister took a spot next to him and put her movie in, starting the show.
As the screen turned on and the words "Sunset: Breaking Dusk" scrolled across the screen, Pipsqueak screamed and thrashed more-so against his spot on the couch while Sunset Shimmer just sighed in content and reclined back.
"What do you want, Pip? Can't you see I'm trying to reminisce about my old life?"
"Actually, no... Ya' slammed the door in my face 'fore I could get in."
"Do you have a point to bothering me?"
"...What's steak?"
"What's steak...? Heh... If only you knew... You couldn't hope to understand the beauty of steak, leather jackets, and a meat lover's pizza. It's something you can only experience to really understand it. Putting it into words is just a fool's errand. Which I'm not taking the time to deal with. So, if that's everything--"
"What if I could get you there?"
"...Get me where?"
"'Ome! Where we found you. That world be'ind the mirror thingy. What if I went with you there an' we could find a steak?"
"...Pipsqueak Discordia-Swarm... If you do really have a plan..."
What does a tyrant truly dream of? More power? Fear driven over the masses? Endless flights of weapons and armaments? Surrender from all their foes? Yes, all very true. And many tyrants achieve all of these things. However, all tyrants, in time, fall. Why? Because they grow greedy of course. A greed driven to capture the one thing that would truly make them a God. That one thing is immortality. To live forever. Ironically, it's the quest for that which ends up being their undoing.
This, however, begs a question. If in exchange for immortality, would a tyrant give up their power, grips of fear, endless tools of war, and enemy surrenders? Maybe not... Maybe instead of immortality though, they'll settle for succession.
Queen Chrysalis' bed chamber was to never be disturbed by anyone once she was conducting business in the sanctum. Guards would see her and the princess walk in, than just wait outside to prevent no intruders or onlookers. What happened behind that door of the queen's was left an enigma to all outside. Yet within, on the other side, the mystery was far from. Sunset Shimmer sat silently in front of a large vanity mirror as her eyelashes were plucked and primped by levitating tools. Much the same happened to her mane with a much greater focus to stroking down her and fixing every knot within each of her locks. When Sunset Shimmer looked into the mirror, her reflection just showed her with a dismal expression while a looming creature stood behind her with a glowing green horn.
Not a word was shared between the two aside from the resigned grunts when hair was yanked to roughly and eyelashes were pulled mid press. Aside from that, mother-daughter time went relatively quiet until Chrysalis had finished 'grooming' her 'successor'.
Have you ever heard the zebra proverb "revenge is a dish is best served hot"? It's a lost proverb on many, seeing as most just like their revenge cold, calculated, and timely. Yet, when you're young and brazen, time is something you don't like to waste with 'planning'. When you're young, you want revenge, and you want it now.
"Pipsqueak..." Sunset's voice wavered with a warning at her brother while she sat on the couch.
"Ah-ah-ah~~," Pipsqueak wiggled a hoof in her direction while he fit his movie into the player, "It's my turn to watch a movie. You promised."
"Fine... Which Daring Do movie did you pick out?" Sunset Shimmer leaned back onto the couch, already feeling bored.
"Don't you worry none, sis... I picked a really special movie for both of us," the TV flicked on and started to show the scene of Canterlot Castle.
Sunset's interested rose when she saw that the picture detail was very amateur, nothing close to movie quality. "What kind of movie is this?"
"It's Twilight Sparkle's 'ome movie... The day she was made a--Sit back down!" Pipsqueak shot his hoof behind him, stopping Sunset Shimmer from creeping off of the couch.
"Sis! Can I please come in!" Pipsqueak pounded away at the other side of Sunset Shimmer's door.
"No! Get lost! I'm busy!" She shouted back with a snarl.
A little time passed before Pipsqueak gave up and stalked away in his defeat. Sunset paid careful ear to the little colt's steps... Softer... Softer... Gone. He was finally gone and Sunset flashed her horn's magic on, plucking from the side of her bed a guitar. She tuned it for a second, plucking at the strings with the invisible control of her magic over the guitar. Once it was set, she hummed to herself a short bar before starting to play the guitar along with her.
Little Pippy, I remember when I first came here, Then I met you, little brother, such a dear. Even though you make me mad, You are still just mine, Little brother, 'Cuz I'm stronger, We're together, and you're kind. Even when Queeny yells at me, You will always stand by, Little brother, 'Cuz you're stronger, We're together, and you're kind. Little brother, Little brother, Little brother.
Wow. This must be my tenth letter to you this month. I'm sorry, I just worry you never get them. In case you do, they're always different. But, you would know that already if you already get all the letters, wouldn't you? Even if you didn't, you'd know. Your Santa, you always know. You know when I'm naughty, when I'm nice, and when I have moral dilemmas standing on the line that my mommy and daddy drew for me. I have big shoes to fill... But they aren't nice shoes, are they?
That's why I wanted to write this letter, Santa. I heard that Rumble and Twist both asked you for that new "PWN Station", and I wanted one too. But, and you already know this probably, I changed my mind. Playing with my friends would be nice. Even more nice because I live so far away from Ponyville these days. But, instead of a toy or something, I want to make a wish. You do that, right Santa? Your magic. You can grant any pony's wish with a wave of your... Horn? Do you have a horn? Never mind, I guess how you do it isn't important. What matters is that I really have a wish for you. It's a wish that, when you grant it, you NEVER need to visit me again for as long as I live... I'll still be a nice colt, promise.
So, my wish... It's actually a bit of a three part wish. But, the end of it is what I really want. First, I want Cap'n to get along with the princesses. He told me they used to have fun together. I don't know if he means normal friendly-fun or crazy-Cap'n-fun; but maybe they could still be nice to each other. If they got along, maybe Cap'n wouldn't be so "grinchy" every Hearth's Warming to them. Second, I want my mum to see herself -not how she looks at herself- but how everyone else does. I don't know how the other ponies in town see her, but if it is anything like how I see her, they see the most beautiful mare in all of Equestria. If she saw how beautiful she looks, maybe she'd be a little nicer. Finally... My sister. All I want for her is... Well, you already know that, don't you? It's been in every single letter of mine for the past three months. Just, please, she needs this.
If you can give this to my family, I would be the happiest pony in all the world. Because I know that for one day, they'll know how happy I am when I have them around. They're my family... I would never ask for anything except for their happiness.
Thank you Santa.
Love,
Pipsqueak.
Dear Imaginary-Corporate-Symbol-of-Greed,
I do not believe in you. Nor do I have any delusions that your merchandising order of fat-cats would care a bit about a simpering plea. However so, I do know you are at least living creatures with some semblance of humanity. For that reason alone, I demand you listen to what I have to say. I have a twisted, controlling mother. I have a wasteful, unreliable father. And to top it all off, I have a caring, idealistic brother. In his eyes, your greed is some form of charity and kindness. To be young and blind...
Nevertheless, because of his ideals, he thinks you will somehow produce a gift for him under our holiday tree...
Listen... I am a proud mare. But I am nowhere near proud enough to be above kissing your hooves and begging for one simple wish. Make my brother happy... Make my family happy. And if you fail to do this for him, I will find you... I will hurt you... I will ruin you... Then I will end you...
The Lord of Chaos: Discord. All pale in comparison to his omnipotent powers and possibilities. All that is can be undone by a wave of his paw or claw against the fragile world around him. We dwell within a cardboard world to him; so easily destroyed or quickly extinguished. It takes the work of gods to suppress his might for even the smallest amount of time. There can be no equalizer to his outstanding powers...
"Cap'n?" Pipsqueak tugged slightly at the furry end of Discord's long, mismatched tail.
The Lord of Chaos twisted a look behind him, looking down at the foot-high colt tugging at his poof. He reached his paw down and scooped the little colt up, cupping him there rather easily between his mitts. "Yes? What can I do for you, Jean-Luc Pipard?"
When Discord unfurled his mitts from over Pipsqueak, the little colt was calmly sitting on the base of Discord's palm and smiling politely. "...Can I hear how you an' mum fell in love?"
"Now, why would you want to hear a story like that, kid? It's so boring and blah-blah," Discord rolled his eyes, making them look even more odd given their usual form.
"Because I wanna tell Queeny it so she'll get crumpy!" Pipsqueak chirped back with his innocent smile.
Discord, deep inside his heart of hearts, felt the greatest swell of pride he had felt in a great long time. He wiped a small tear of pride from his eye and gave Pip a small pat to his head with one of his paw-fingers. "That's my boy..."
A leopard cannot change its spots. True, of course. A tiger can't change its stripes. Again, true. But consider this; do they ever need to change? Instead of expanding on the differences they have and what they could change to be more like the other, look at the similarities and how they can connect through those. A leopard can't change its spots and a tiger can't change its stripes; but they're both cats and they're more alike on the instead than the outside.
The that once was filled with flashing lights from the television now was as dark as night as the credits to the movie scrolled across a black screen. The music that went along with the credits was played very low; low enough that the small sniffles and light sobs of the two ponies seated on the couch watching the movie could fill the empty spots of sound. Pipsqueak hung close to his older sister, his eyes wet with tears as he watched the movie end. "S-Shim... Why?" He begged for an answer.
Sunset Shimmer shook her head at first, trying to collect herself and answer her brother. However, the moment she opened her mouth to speak, her voice faltered and she fell into a cracking sob as she spoke. "Stop crying, twerp!" She coughed out, still trying to hold back her own tears, "You look like a punk!"
"Y-y-you're cryin too!" Little Pip shot back.
Suddenly, just like that, they fell into one another as they wailed and sobbed like blubbering babies. So wrapped in each other, they missed as the title of the movie ran by with the credits: "Snowfall".
The Rite Passage is a part of all walks of life. No matter the nationality or spiritual beliefs, all must undergo one form of it at some point. In ancient times, a pegasi would not be acknowledged as one who could master the skies until they plucked a griffon's feather without taking flight to do so. This, of course, was eventually lost to history after griffon parents were knocking on the doors of delinquent pegasi homes so much that all the pegasi who were doing it became grounded. So the legends go.
Nevertheless, Rites of Passage continued to flourish. Not all were as brazen and so easily reported to your mommy and daddy when it went wrong; some of them were and still are very distinguished. Theses rites are met with honor by communities world wide. All very important. And all very much eagerly awaited to be taken by the ones who are set to undergo them the day they finally arrive.
"Please! No! Don't do this to me!" Sunset clung to the queen's leg, hooves looping through the gaping holes that riddled them.
In spite of the little mare's pleas, Chrysalis swung her front leg out before her, trying to wriggle Sunset Shimmer off of her. Yet the mare persisted, her grip like a vice against the changeling's leg. If it wasn't against her, Chrysalis would have admired the girl's ferocity right now. Still swinging her leg this way and that to dislodge the pleading Sunset Shimmer, Chrysalis scowled and gave a hiss of shame to the cowering mare. "Child, release me this instant. You are to watch your brother while the two of us are out."
Sunset couldn't count how many times the changeling queen had repeated that same line to her tonight. Mainly because counting the times would distract from begging her not to leave her alone. "Why? Why do you have to go!?" Sunset was almost in tears as she cried out to her caretakers.
Discord chimed in with a depressed sigh and a slump of his mismatched shoulders. "Because aunty Celestia believes we need 'couple counseling '." Air quotes were made for those two dreaded words; quotes made from a talon.
"Call a sitter. Call a princess. Call SWAT. Just don't leave me alone with him!" Sunset Shimmer finally released the leg she was using to barter for hope so she could make a gesture towards her point of panic.
Over across the room the family was arguing in was Pipsqueak sitting at a lone wooden table; a series of boxes stacked on the face of the table while Pipsqueak smiled a joyful look towards the three. "No fret. Got us some good ol' games 'ere! Smooze n' Laddah's anyone?"
Both 'Queeny' and 'Cap'n' waved graciously back to the little colt that looked so eager to play. On the other hand, Sunset Shimmer only looked more panicked and tried to grab for the queen's leg again. This time, however, Chrysalis took quick steps back to evade the mare. "Take care of him. We will return soon."
The two didn't wait for any more protest from Sunset before making their escape out the front door; shutting it squarely behind them to cut off any attempts from Sunset Shimmer of chasing after them before they could actually leave. That didn't stop her from slamming her hooves against the door, screaming at the top of her lungs for them not to leave her alone with him. Yet, it was all in vain. They were gone. And she was still there...
Alone...
With Pipsqueak...
And hours of board games...
"...Ya' can be the blue piece if ya wan'..." Pipsqueak called out to Sunset Shimmer over her despair.
The Laws of Nature are absolute. There can be no room for deliberation, no manner to misconstrue their meaning, no escape from their omnipresent control of every and all things. While The Laws of Nature are spoken in many tongues, their translation is universal before any are actually spoken.
What comes up, must come down. Some misunderstand this to be a fundamental law of gravity. No. It is one of the Laws of Nature.
Do not wear white after Labor Day. Nobody knows where it started, but it is a Law of Nature. Question it at your own peril. Break it at the expense of your own social suicide.
These and many others are what govern all. They grant us structure and reason where there was none once.The gift us a sense of community, where we once were divided and still are. Yet, all walks of life may look into another's eyes and know that the one they look to in this moment believes in the Laws of Nature. For without them, all would fall into complete chaos with no hope of sanity.
"Cap'n said that's 'ow the games played!" Pipsqueak huffed so his youthful cheeks would puff up as much as they could in a pout.
His babysitter was not impressed. Just like how she wasn't convinced by Pip's backwards reasoning. The chess board they had placed between them was nearly cleared of both Pipsqueak's black pieces and Sunset's white pieces, but the game was nearing its climax as both white queen and a bishop held the black king against a wall in an clear checkmate. No matter where Pipsqueak moved next, his king would meet his horrid end at the plastic figure of either a queen or her bishop. However, Pipsqueak had an ace up his sleeve.
True Chess dictates that a King is able to move twice in a single turn once per game. This would allow Pip to take Sunset's queen and escape defeat; his own pieces ready to deliver Sunset a sweet defeat the moment he escaped danger.
"You're taking Discord the lord of chaos and inventor of the 'thumb-war to decide all tiebreakers' word on this?" Sunset Shimmer desperately tried to sound shocked, but she knew Pipsqueak well enough already and her dry tone swept over instead.
"S'wrong with a thumb-war tiebreakah?" Pipsqueak cocked his head.
"He's the only one with thumbs!"
For a moment, the idea had to sink in to Pipsqueak. Sunset Shimmer watched as her little charge brought his hooves up to look at, bending them back and forth just to make sure there weren't tiny fingers hiding at the base of his hooves. Watching the mindless yet adorable action made Sunset snicker a bit, cracking a smirk in the process.
"Ain't that somethin'..." Pipsqueak remarked with wide-eyed surprise.
"With that earth shattering revelation under your hat, do you maybe think Discord could've been making up a rule with the whole King thing?"
Pipsqueak's hooves dropped to rest on the table, his eyes transfixed now on the defenseless king he was supposed to protect. He was careless in his service, resting on this last ditch plan as the whole idea of his plan. Yet here he was, beaten. This loss was entirely on him now, and he knew it. With a proud nod, Pipsqueak raised his head high.
"Ya' got me there, sis." With a little flick of his hoof, Pipsqueak toppled his own king.
"It's the right thing to do, Pip."
"Now I'm all a fluttah' what else Cap'n cheated me on," Pipsqueak returned to his huff, "Maybe that's 'ow Cap'n always win 'gainst me an' Queeny doesn't."
"Eh, something like that..." Sunset's horn flickered yellow as she commanded all the chess pieces to return to their original positions, "Wait... You beat Chrysalis at everything?"
"Mhm. She lets me know when I won. Sometimes I don' even know when I do! Like when we play Monopoly, she tells me I win when I land on the parky-car."
Sunset simply nodded along with Pipsqueak, a forced smile stretched across her face. Great. One parent always cheat to win, the other cheats to lose. Somehow, making up rules to board-games almost seems too petty for the lord of madness and the queen of deceit. Then, she remembers... No father wants to be beaten by their son, and no mother wants their baby to cry. And more over, there is no level of petty that's too low for them.
Biologically you're more likely to look like your grandparents than you are to look like your parents. "Looks skip a generation", as the saying goes, and there is some truth to that. Take the Cake Twins for example. At first glance, someone may assume that Mrs. Cup Cake had some explaining to do given one child looks nothing like Mr. Cake --or her for that matter-- and both are not Earth Ponies. But through biological science, it makes perfect sense when explained.
Changelings are a different story, in a way. Creatures primarily spawned by one brood-mother, they all tend to look nearly identical in their formative years. Black, blue eyes, crooked teeth, oddly slotted wings despite only just being born; the whole nine-yards. Save for later developments in their life-cycle, you wouldn't be wrong to say Changelings are all the same on a surface level.
Granted, both Changelings and ponies alike can be born with unique traits that set them apart. A changeling could be born with lavender or red eyes--even heterochromia--, a pony can be born with vitiligo or missing a hoof; sort of 'defects' at first glance, but actually unique quirks that simply happen through the process of generational growth. These things may be strange at first, but they're perfectly normal and can happen to anyone. It is one of the great spices to everyday life, and should be celebrated, not ostracized.
This all said, sometimes biology, quirks, species-differences, and unique chances in life cannot answer the hard questions. Questions that tear at the mind and threaten to fracture the very fabric of someone's world view.
"Sis, why don' 'ah' look like da other kids?" Innocent as ever, Pip looked up to Sunset for all the answers.
She knew this day would come... Surrounded by hollow black caverns, love-devouring insectoids, and two parents of vastly different species, she thought it would have come sooner, however. "Well, Pip, there's no easy explanation outside of ripping the bandage off. But, since dealing with a crying fit isn't how I want this day to go, let me try to explain."
Pipsqueak scooched in close, hugging close to Sunset's leg to hear this great wisdom. "You see... When a mommy and daddy love each other very much, they have a baby. But sometimes they didn't think that through, so they give the baby to a mommy and daddy who did, but never got around to step two. Or daddy couldn't finish step one. Either way, we call this 'adoption'."
For a moment the young colt pondered these weighty words. Pip's young muzzle scrunched in thought, turning things over to one side than the next before he spoke up again. "Does that mean ah'm adoption?"
"The active past tense is 'adopted', but yes," a brief drop came to Pip's face as the implication sunk in, "Buuut... So am I. And I'm pretty great, right?"
"...Yeah..."
"Aaaand the queen's pretty great, right?"
"Yeah," Pip's mood flew up as a broad smile made its way across his muzzle, "And Cap'n's great too!"
Some families try to make it a tradition to at least share dinner together whenever they can. Or if they're all so busy, they'll make it a treat for the end of the week. It's just a little something that families do to keep the family dynamic strong and healthy. It lets everyone know they're loved, valued, and missed whenever they're away.
The Discordia-Swarm family made it a blood contract that they'd have lunch together every other day. It was actually a lovely ceremony with tasteful decorations. Queen Chrysalis pushed for the sacrificial altar to have at least one actual sacrifice to finish the whole atmosphere, but she was talked down to sacrifice-substitute. It was still a well executed blood oath ceremony, but her heart was really set on the head of a princess as the center piece. At least Pip promised to make her one out of paper next time; he'd even stuff it with jelly if it made her happy.
He was a good lad.
But no matter if they took the oath and all put in a small piece of their blood into the goblet of community (Sunset still suspected Discord of putting tomato juice in on his turn), the lunch was still something only the queen looked forward to. Of course seeing family was great! They all tolerated-loved-accepted one another! Well, they all liked Pip... But that wasn't the problem. The problem was that Chrysalis always insisted on making the meal "like a mother aught to".
It would be a charming sentiment... From anyone else.
The hive's dining hall was emptied of drones so the family could enjoy their meal in peace with one another; a condition of the blood oath. While the Queen sat at her chair with a pleasant smile, the others looked less enthusiastic as they looked at their plates.
"Is everything to your liking? I can have another plate prepared if you enjoy it," her words dripped with teasing as much as genuine kindness. There was no way of knowing which was worse.
"...I feel like there's still a disconnect between what we eat, and what you eat." Discord grumbled, looking at the plate of pure nothing.
"That hurts. You know, some drones go to bed starving without a drop of love. And here I am giving you all a massive plate of my love and affection," the queen retorted.
"WE CAN'T EAT FEELINGS!" Sunset slapped her plate as she knew she'd go another day without lunch.
